The tide of gumm-gumm warriors struck the Hulk. Many of them were mind controlled, and for the others?

It was a fleshbag. Green, big, but a fleshbag. Fleshbags were to be eaten, not feared.

And then they hit the Hulk, in the same way a vase hits the floor. Gumm-gumms and parts of gumm-gumms flew all over the throne chamber.

Others were shattered by bolts from Iron Man’s repulsors or killed by minimissiles from his shoulders.

And below them, Jim and Captain America also fought. Jim dodged a blow from a warrior while Captain America brought his shield down on one warrior, spinning around and using its disintegrating body as a shield from another blow before he killed it. Jim did the same to the warrior facing him before a gigantic creature slammed a taloned paw down, crushing a few warriors under its bulk.

“Dog!” Gunmar roared, charging Hulk.

“Not Dog!” Hulk roared back, throwing a punch that Gunmar only barely avoided, while the lord of the Darklands threw a punch that could shatter stone.

Hulk laughed at the impact, and then Gunmar jumped back, saving himself only by the benefit of throwing a warrior into Hulk’s way.

“Cap, this is getting crowded. Everyone shield your eyes. Sun in a can coming up.”

Jim had assumed that Tony was talking about special lights. Moments later, he realized that Tony would never stop at “just making lights.”

The twin rockets contained a modified version of Tony’s repulsor and fusor technology, crushing hydrogen down, fusing it…and the complex network of devices around it turned that fusion energy into light—the same type of light that Sol produced, filtered through earth’s atmosphere.

For the first time, the Darklands saw the light of day.

It was not the true sun, and so it did not have the mystical power of that light, but even so, the trolls shrieked in pain and terror as their skin started to smoke, crack and turn to stone, as their eyes were dazzled by the light. Jim ducked under one blow, killed the flailing warrior, and then jumped to where Nomura was writhing in agony.

“This is going to hurt,” he said and, with two slashes, cut through the spikes holding her to the pillar. Nomura shrieked as Jim pulled her behind the pillar. “Stay here,” he ordered.

“You are… Too forgiving, Little Gynt,” she said.

“He tortured you,” Jim said, as if that answered everything, and then dove back into the fray, the eclipse blade slicing stone flesh like paper.

They’re killing the trolls! Claire stared as one of the shopkeepers, someone who sold gourmet socks, collapsed into lifeless stone. They’re not even trying to fight! The trolls were confused, and terrified, and many of them were just shopkeepers for all that they were big and tough…

A little whelp, wailing and tottering along on its legs as a changeling chased it, brought her back, and suddenly she was angrier than she’d ever been.

The changeling was raising its sword when suddenly from a portal, Claire stepped out and impaled it with her staff, the attacker vanishing in a puff of oily smoke as it died. She whipped the staff back, and the whelp vanished, only to appear in the bridge chamber, safe, at least for now.

“Get them into the bridge chamber!” she shouted. “We have to protect the trolls!”

“Claire, give me a boost!” the coms crackled with Hawkeye’s voice. “I can give you top cover.” Claire portaled next to Hawkeye and then up to the roof of the chamber, where he took his place on a narrow ledge. “Good. Jarvis, can you mark Claire for me?”

“Done, sir.”

“I’ll try and clear zones for you, but get the civilians into the chamber as fast as you can—the bad guys won’t take long to start targeting you.”

“Right,” Claire said.

Below, Toby and Arrrggghhh had charged into the fray, Toby’s hammer turning the region around Arrrggghhh into a death trap for his enemies while Arrrggghhh gathered the smaller trolls and put them on his back, before turning and charging back for the chamber, a great ark with Toby a modern-day Noah. He spilled them out between Fury and Natasha, the two keeping up an accurate and deadly fire, as Barbara helped the smallest whelps into the chamber. Angor had started raising his golems, the ancient assassin sending them forth to battle the enemies before he threw himself into combat with a laugh of eager anticipation—and very few changelings or even Kruberra seemed willing to face him.

And below, the sounds of combat, explosions, roars, and bellows of pain seemed to be getting louder and louder.

Thor, what are you doing? Claire wondered as she portaled another group to safety. A Krubera warrior raised its hands to bring them down on her—and then it exploded from one of Hawkeye’s arrows. Far above, Hawkeye gave Claire a thumbs up. Claire nodded and then portaled to another group of trolls, these ones crowding away from a pair of changelings with maces.

She could already feel her heart hammering. Just gotta get ‘em all out. I can rest after that…

Jim tasted blood when Gunmar belted him across the chamber into the stone corpse of one of his soldiers.

There were a lot of those now, and even the great monsters, the nyaga-somethings were going down in the face of Iron Man’s weapons and Hulk’s savagery, while others had been killed by him and Captain America.

And those two stars were still blazing in the sky. Even the trolls that weren’t burning, like the stalkings, had a problem seeing.

But Gunmar was fast, and he’d jumped over to directly confront Jim.

“No matter how many of my soldiers you kill, it will not save you—” Jim rolled to the side, barely avoiding Gunmar’s blow as Captain America’s shield struck him in the temple. The troll roared in fury and threw chunks of dead trolls at the Avenger, but somehow, he was never where the projectiles were.

I’ll never be that good, especially if I die today! Jim threw his glaives and attacked Gunmar, but the warlord dodged them, moving far too fast for his size. A group of warriors attacked Captain America (in preference to their brethren, who were busy committing suicide-by-Hulk), keeping him away, and Gunmar kicked Jim again, sending him flying across the chamber, hitting a corner where there were odd crystalline patterns.

Jim felt something give way in his chest, and a burning sensation started to spread across his body.

“You think he will help you? You think your allies will save you?” Gunmar laughed. “They cannot even save themselves!” Gunmar raised his sword and brought it down—not on Jim, but on the crystals. They started glowing, blazing in power—

“Cap, it’s a trap!” Jim screamed. He thought he could beat us, but he prepared…

And then the cavern started to explode as the ground gave way under Jim. He fell, bouncing off what seemed like every bit of rock in the Darklands, and then hit the ground, agony flaring. Jim tried to breath, but something was keeping him from getting enough air…

“You can kill every one of my soldiers, but it will not matter.” Gunmar smiled. “My Decimar blade will rip your mind from you, and once your friends have ‘won’ you will tell them that you killed me, return beyond the bridge and eventually work my return.”

Oh. Shit.

“So will you surrender and save yourself the pain, fleshbag, or must I beat your defiance out of you?”

Jim got to his feet, and God, everything hurt. He looked up at Gunmar towering over him. I hope the others are okay. If Gunmar thought that the Avengers, who had been told about his blade, would just accept Jim’s story… It doesn’t matter. He’ll never get out.

Well, it mattered to Jim. He wanted to see Claire again, joke with Toby, spend time with Arrrggghhh and Blinky… Just sit around playing video games with his friends or ride his bikes.

But he guessed he wasn’t getting that, and he sure as hell wasn’t going to make it easy on Gunmar.

Jim spat to the side, noticing that his saliva was bright red. “You know, you keep saying how you’re going to get vengeance on me for your son, but you never actually try. Are you just afraid, or didn’t you care about Bular?”

Gunmar’s roar of fury shook the chamber, and Jim realized that he’d pushed the one button that would make Gunmar forget all of his plans.

Gunmar charged him, and Eclipse and the Decimer blade met, sparks flying, Jim’s armor blazing with his defiance. But then the moment passed, and Gunmar struck Jim, his armor barely holding, then kicked him down. The sword flew from his hand.

“So you end, groveling in the dirt.”

Jim rolled over, trying to get up, but Gunmar’s blade was coming down and—

Struck a familiar shield. Captain America was standing over Jim, taking the blow on his shield.

“Stark and Hulk are finishing up top. They’ll be down in a few seconds.”

“Then I will finish you both off,” Gunmar growled.

“You can try,” Captain America said. Jim slowly got up, wincing, as Eclipse flew back into his hand. “You want to sit this one out, Jim?”

“No, Captain,” Jim said. “I can handle it.”

“Call me Steve.”

And then Gunmar roared, and there was no time for talk.

Trollmarket was chaos. And not the good kind. There were trolls running in panic, and Claire was portalling all over the place, focusing on the injured or whelps. “The bridge chamber!” she shouted. “Go there!” Another changeling charged at her, died from an arrow, while Toby brought his hammer up, turning a Kuberra to fragments.

Claire was getting more exhausted by the moment. She was sending person after person through, but there seemed to be no end.

She stumbled, and suddenly a changeling was driving for her, and she wondered if Hawkeye would be—

The changeling screamed out, a blade punching through his torso, as Angor Rot kicked him to the side. “Apprentice, beware how much you use the staff.”

“I’ll stop when I’m done,” Claire wheezed out, reaching out and taking Angor’s hand. Behind him, his golems were forming a wall between more fleeing trolls and the attackers.

But there were so many… Claire took another breath. “I’m okay.” And when did I start saying that to Angor? Then she noticed that they weren’t the only ones. Now Glug and some others were charging forward, the guards…

“They’re fighting back!” Claire said.

“Their whelps are safe,” Angor said.

“Not all of them,” Claire said and then portalled away. Just a few more. Just a few more, she chanted, ignoring the spots forming at the periphery of her vision.

Toby and Arrrggghhh were backing away, a few remaining refugees huddling in their protective shelter. Several Kuberra charged them when a lithe form literally exploded into their midst, slicing them with a gleaming green knife.

Black Widow? Angor gave her one of her blades? If so, it was a smart move. She was moving like the trolls were standing still.

Then Claire heard another cry.

Another whelp. She portalled through, looked at the mother and child, opened the portal to the bridge. “There you—”

A tremendous impact struck her, pain flaring through her entire body.

“Warning, massive torso trauma. Suit integrity at 40 percent,” Jarvis said as Claire tumbled through the air, catching a glimpse of the stone, nearly the size of a small car, that had hit her. Then she hit the wall, and there was nothing but pain.

“Your weakness and foolish pity made you predictable,” Usurna said. “Now, move! With the fleshbag sorceress down, they can no longer flee!”

But now, Vendel roared out. “Trollmarket! Defend our trollhunters!” Suddenly there were trolls flooding out of the safe place.

What, but you’ll get killed… Claire muzzily thought.

“Claire!” Now Toby hit the ground next to her, and above him, Arrrggghhh roared in fury, no longer just defending. For the first time in hundreds of years, all, troll and human alike, saw why he had been Gunmar’s greatest general. Toby smashed one, two, three changelings, and Arrrggghhh was just slaughtering anything that got near him. Hawkeye and Black Widow were now in the midst of the fray, seeming to know what their enemies were going to do, before they did it.

And charging towards Claire were Nick Fury and…

Barbara?

“Claire, honey, pull the helmet back,” Barbara said. Claire nodded. The helmet had a lot of red stuff on the outside, made it hard to see. Then she opened it and coughed once, whimpering in pain, and saw…

Blood. Lots of blood, dripping down from her mouth onto the ground.

Huh. Hadn’t been on the outside of her helmet at all.

“Claire, we need to get the armor off.”

“That is not recommended Dr. Lake,” Jarvis said. “The suit is preventing the further movement of Ms. Nunez’s ribs. She has at least two punctures to her lungs, and internal bleeding is quickly becoming serious.”

“Gre—”

“Don’t talk, Honey,” Barbara said. “We need to get her to a trauma care unit.”

“That’s not likely.” Fury said, pegging another changeling, even as more reinforcements came forward.

“Kill them,” she dimly heard Usurna’s voice. “We still hold the advantage…”

And then Claire blinked.

Since when did it rain underground? Since when did you hear thunder?

And why was one of the Jörmungandr’s heads flying up into the air to shatter as a blazing hammer passed through it.

And everyone was silent as Thor flew up, lighting flickering over his body, his expression terrifying, a cross between utter rage and joy at a battle to be had.

“FOR ASGARD AND TROLLMARKET!!”

And then Thor Odinson went to war.