In Thor-Girl's memory:
She used to live a peaceful life on a peaceful world, protected from anguish and terror – until a powerhungry madman by the name of Thanos slaughtered her entire people. That day she learned the true nature of evil. But she also learned that of good, as Thor took on the cosmic madman. Thor did not know her. She was called Tarene. Yet the Thunder God risked his own life to save hers. His valor and inner strength made her want to be like him, and when she learned that the power the madman sought was within her, Tarene became Thor Girl! What followed was an awakening. To find that she never needed her family's coddling allowed her to forge a path of her own choosing, and to discover her true self. When the opportunity came to repay Thor his generosity, she gave no second thought to placing her life before his, and while she did not have to make that sacrifice against Surtur, much of her power was spent in the act. She was a shade of her former self... and like her fight against the Grey Gargoyle, she was vulnerable.
Present:
Those days of peace and protection – of coddling – now Tarene finds she longs for their return. 'Tarene – it's not your fault!' Suzy Sherman a.k.a. Ultra Girl calls out to her good friend as she speeds through the air after her. But Tarene does not answer. 'With all that's happening, people are just losing it right now. If it wasn't seeing you with your hammer, it would've been -' Suzy begins, to which Tarene interrupts and points out that it was that – ut was her presence that caused the panic to escalate, and now innocents are dead and their teammates have been taken to hospital. Ultra Girl reminds Tarene that Red Nine wasn't even in the crowd, he got cold-cocked by a looter. 'Nevertheless. Prodigy has requested my compliance, and so it will be granted' Thor Girl replies as she and Ultra Girl arrive in Virginia, and drop down to where Prodigy a.k.a. Ritchie Gilmore is conducting a press conference. 'Wow. Someone tipped off the press, apparently' Ultra Girl points out. 'Yeah. I did' Prodigy replies. Annoyed, Suzy asks him why he did that. 'What, you're gonna hang her out to dry?' she snaps. Prodigy tells Ultra Girl to just bear with him.
As camera crews aim their cameras at Prodigy, he puts an arm on Thor Girl's shoulder and quietly tells her to follow his lead, and keep herself in check. 'This is going out live, and any kind of outburst would just cause more trouble, agreed?' he remarks. 'What are you -?' Thor Girl starts to ask, to which Prodigy assures her that this wasn't his idea, and that he has issues with it, but it makes sense. 'Trust me, you'll be helping' he assures Thor Girl.
Prodigy turns to the reporters and tells them that he would like to make a statement. Thor Girl stands at his side, while Ultra Girl stands near her friend, and several government agents in black suits surround them. 'As you can clearly see, Thor Girl is not a threat' Prodigy begins. He explains that she is not one of the hammer-wielders they have all been seeing the horrific reports about. 'She has always been – and remains – a hero' Prodigy declares. Prodigy states that he does understand that in a time of such uncertainty, words provide only so much comfort, which is why, after the unfortunate loss of life in Atlanta, Thor Girl has come of her own volition to turn herself in. Thor Girl's eyes suddenly widen slightly.
Meanwhile, in Illinois, Abby Boylen a.k.a. Cloud 9 watches her television and is shocked to see Thor Girl led away by government agents. She picks her mobile phone up and calls Melati Kusuma a.k.a. Komodo. 'Ugh, this is making me sick, Melati. Physically sick!' Abby exclaims. She rises up on some cloud in her living room and reminds Melati that she told her the Initiative would pull something like this. 'But so soon and so blatant, it's -' Abby begins, when suddenly, she hears shots fired outside. 'Holy -!' Abby gasps. Outside, two men are fighting. A vehicle loaded with groceries seems to be the cause of the trouble. 'No! Get your own stuff!' the man who owns the vehicle shouts, firing his gun again. 'I just wanted something to help my family, and you pull a gun?' the other man asks, while his family stand nearby. 'I've got my own family to -' the first man begins, before the second man punches him, causing him to drop the gun. The second man picks the gun up and aims it at the first. 'All you had to do was share. Now I'm taking your car and the keys to your cabin and you and yours can go straight to -' he begins, before he finds himself interrupted as a cloud moves across his face.
'The hell? Can't see a -' the man begins, before someone kicks the back of his leg, and punches him in the face. He drops the gun and his attacker – Cloud 9 – picks it up. 'Executing a neighbor in front of your family...not to mention firing into a whole bunch of gas cans. You're really something' Cloud 9 tells him as she removes the cartridge from the gun. She turns to the first man: 'And you. Offer them space at your cabin, for crying out loud!' Scowling, Abby tells them that they are human beings, and when things turn to crap, they don't go around hoarding and looting and killing. 'We're supposed to lend a hand!'
New Jersey, 'We need your help! Gravity!' someone shouts to the young hero also known as Greg Willis. Gravity turns to his crime-fighting partner Angelica “Firestar” Jones and informs her as they hover in the air that he heard someone say that Captain America was murdered. 'That can't be true...can it?' he asks. As civilians run in panic beneath them, Firestar tells Gravity that it doesn't matter, not now, anyway, before reminding him that he is supposed to be in charge of this team. 'We both are, technically...' Gravity begins, but Firestar flies towards a burning building and tells Gravity to get his head on straight, as they need him. To assist the panic-stricken civilians, Frog Man a.k.a. Eugene Patillio points them in a safe direction, while inside the building, the Scarlet Spider called Patrick fires some webbing which breaks open a window, and tells the civilians trapped nearby to stay down and breathe shallow. 'I'll get you out!' he assures them. Gravity finds his way inside, and comes across Geiger a.k.a. Delilah Dearborn who is carrying some unconscious civilians down some stairs. 'Hey! What can I do?' Gravity asks her. 'You're asking me?' Geiger responds.
'Sir? Sir, how badly are you hurt?' Firestar calls out as she bursts into a room, where she finds a man slumped against a wall, clutching his bleeding arm. 'He – he -' the man utters. 'Is that – is that a bullet wound?' Firestar asks. At the same time back outside, Frog-Man leaps towards a SWAT officer. 'You're not a fire truck! What's going on?' Frog-Man asks. The SWAT officer explains that they are chasing a Raft fugitive across town who keeps using innocents as shields. 'Punk killed three of my men!' he adds. 'What?' Frog-Man asks. 'Kid, you got a deadly felon in there!' the officer announces, motioning to the burning building. Back inside, Gravity enters a room where a woman runs past him, 'Shooter! Shooter!' she screams. 'Say what...?' Gravity calls out. 'You deaf? She said “Shooter”!' a voice declares, and Gravity turns – as he is shot in the chest by Crossbones. 'Heh. Heroes' Crossbones mutters as he stands over Gravity's body.
Thor Girl has been placed in a cell. She paces back and forth, arms folded, then scowls. While outside walking down a corridor, Prodigy assures Ultra Girl that he knows what it is like to be imprisoned, and that he wouldn't do this if he didn't have to. 'It's for appearances. It has to look legit for the staff and the security cameras. I'll let her out... just as soon as this mess blows over. I swear' Prodigy declares. 'And when will that be?' Suzy asks. 'You know how many crises I've got on my place right now? It was already crazy when the hammers fell...but now that the Capital's been attacked and Captain America's been killed -' Prodigy begins, before they enter a monitor room, 'Here. Better just to show you' he tells Suzy, who goes wide-eyed as she looks at the scenes of horror playing out before her. 'It's...everywhere' Prodigy points out. Motioning to the monitors, he explains to Suzy that these are just the incidents that ffall under his purview. 'It's worldwide. Virtually inescapable. Godlike monsters are tearing the world apart, and the masses are losing it. As far as they're concerned, these are the end times' Prodigy declares.
Still in shock, Ultra Girl tells Prodigy that she will go back to Atlanta, but Prodigy tells her that she alone won't cut it, and it is better if she fits in with one of the other groups. Suddenly, an announcement over the intercom reports that there is an urgent update from New Jersey. 'Put it up' Prodigy responds. A monitor displays an announcer who is reporting on terror in New Brunswick, where the escaped criminal Crossbones has been laying waste across the area, leaving a stack of bodies in his wake, and that rumors from fleeing victims suggest Crossbones may have taken the lives of one of more heroes. Ultra Girl asks Prodigy who is in New Jersey, to which Prodigy tells her Gravity and Firestar's team. 'Firestar?' Ultra Girl asks. 'How fast can you fly?' Prodigy enquires.
Back in her cell, Thor Girl sits slumped on a bench. She recalls that according to Prodigy, this cell is designed to temporarily detain super-powered beings. She knows that with her former powers, she could break free. Maybe even without them if she really tried. 'But I supposedly need not resort to that, as I am to be released as soon as -' Tarene thinks to herself, scowling, when suddenly, a voice from outside the cell calls out to her: 'Good day, Tarene. Or do you prefer Thor Gir? Either way, we'd like to ask you some questions' two government officials, obscured by the frosted window on the cell door, remarks. 'In regards to what, exactly?' Thor Girl exclaims, leaping to her feet. One of the officials warns Tarene that becoming defensive will not help her current situation. 'Which is...?' Tarene replies. One of them states that detailed imagery of the terrorists presently attacking here and abroad indicates that their battle armor and weaponry bear markings that are distinctly Asgardian in nature. 'Considering your special relationship with Asgard, we would appreciate it if you'd enlighten us as to these terrorists' ideology. Maybe their plans. Any targets?' the other official inquiries.
'I would not know. As you are aware, I was in Atlanta when first -' Thor Girl starts to reply. 'That's where you murdered the police officer?' one of the agents interrupts. 'I did nothing of the sort. I was fired upon -' Thor Girl explains, to which one of the agents asks if they are to understand that she does not wish to cooperate. 'You -! I AM! I -!' Thor Girl shouts, reminding the agents that she is not under arrest, and that they have no right to told her here nor question her thus. 'You will free me now, cowardly vermin, so that I may have words with -' Thor Girl begins, before she is struck by a powerful surge of energy, that that topples her over.
Back in New Jersey, 'Murderer!' Frog-Man declares as he leaps towards Crossbones, who responds by kicking Frog-Man in the stomach, knocking him back. 'Been working to get my groove back ever since being locked up, and I gotta say...you kids make for a fun warm up!' Crossbones declares as Geiger rushes towards him and he slams her into a desk. Firestar appears and blasts Crossbones with a surge of microwave energy. 'Swift one, ain't ya, Red?' Crossbones remarks as he dodges the attack. 'You're gonna be the next one to go...after your goggled pal' Crossbones adds, before tossing two knives towards Firestar who looks on, shocked. 'Not gonna happen, Bone Dome!' Scarlet Spider calls out as he covers Crossbones in webbing. Crossbones starts cutting himself free, and looks up: 'Oh, just a fourth-rate Spider-Man. For a sec, there... I thought I might have to break a sweat' Crossbones exclaims as he bursts free and punches Scarlet Spider in the face.
Firestar surrounds Crossbones in flames and tells him that this ends now. 'Yeah...what she said' Gravity declares, surrounded by a force field, he holds Crossbones bullets that were fired at him and lets them drop to the floor. Geiger and Frog-Man stand at his side. 'Heh. Tough little bugger...tougher than a grenade?' Crossbones asks as he tosses one towards Gravity. 'GRAVITY! I'e got -' Geiger exclaims as she leaps forward and grabs the grenade, holding it against her as it explodes.
Outside, a fire crew has gathered and commenced putting out the flames. 'Sorry I didn't make it here sooner... but at least you're alive' Ultra Girl remarks to Firestar as she walks over to her former teammate. 'Yeah. Barely' Firestar tells her, while the Scarlet Spider puts an ice-pack to his head. Gravity and Frog-Man watch as Geiger is put on a strecher and loaded into an ambulance, while paramedics tend to her. 'Geez, dude, I didn't know you could stop bullets...I mean, mostly stop, I guess' Frog-Man remarks to Gravity, who asks to be left alone. Firestar rushes over to him, as Gravity declares that he is no kind of team leader, and Crossbones wiped the floor with them and he almost got Geiger killed. 'That's not -' Firestar begins, but Gravity takes to the air and flies away, calling out 'No. That's it. I – I don't have the nerve for this anymore. I'm done'. Firestar, Ultra Girl, Frog-Man and Scarlet Spider all watch him leave, and they are all speechless.
Meantime, in Las Vegas. 'What are you doing?' Roger Brokeridge a.k.a. Hardball asks his former Heavy Hitters teammate, Komodo, as she taps away at her phone. 'Abby won't answer. Something happened at her place and I haven't been able to reach her since' Komodo replies. 'We've got bigger problems to deal with, Melati' Roger points out. 'Tell me about it. Two-Gun Kid is freaked. They've got major riots down in Phoenix and I should be there' She tells Roger that she should not have let him talk her into coming here with him given everything that is going on. 'Hey! That's my -' Komodo exclaims as Hardball takes her phone. 'All mass transit's shut down, so you're not going anywhere. We could use the extra manpower' he declares. 'For what? You and LVPD have all but declared martial law. There's virtually nothing happening here' Komodo points out as they stand in an deserted Las Vegas street. 'Like that's a bad thing?' Hardball asks. Komodo asks Hardball to give her phone back. 'No' Hardball replies. 'Why the hell not?' Melati snaps. 'You can't be calling out anymore' Hardball declares.
'What? Blondie, hand me my phone or so help me -' Komodo threatens, but she is interrupted when the Heavy Hitter called Telemtry a.k.a. Marina Zane flies over to them, informing Hardball that she has Prodigy on the line for him. 'Good. Bring him up' Hardball responds. Telemetry extends her hand and from it, a projection of Prodigy is displayed. 'Great job so far, Hardball. I'm glad to see you have a strong stomach for crisis situations' Prodigy congratulates Hardball, who replies 'I've had my share'.
'Noted' Prodigy remarks, adding that he would like to pick Hardball's brain on that subject, before reporting that right now there is something more urgent he needs to prepare for. Prodigy reveals that Homeland has been tracking one of the hammer-wielders who has been heading Westward from the East Coast, and who has just made a course correction and is now headed to Las Vegas. Prodigy reports that virtually every town the hammer-wielder has come across has been levelled. 'He can't be stopped, but your team will have to try, or else Vegas is history'. Hardball and Komodo go wide-eyed as Prodigy informs them they have to stop the Juggernaut.
Back in Thor Girl's cell, Tarene is still being struck by the energy. She tells herself that she suspected Prodigy was capable of some level of guile, but for him to be duplicitous on such a scale defies belief. Tarene decides that it is she who must take blame, for allowing herself to know fear has brought her here, trapped and without allies. 'Is that enough for you, Tarene? We do have higher settings' one of the government officials calls out from outside. 'You... may rot...' comes Tarene's response as she falls to the floor. One of the officials tells Tarene 'That's an unfortunate response. If you have no interest in helping humanity, then we may have no recourse but to -'. The agent stops speaking, and gas starts to filter into the cell. Thor Girl returns to her feet, and fists clenched, declares 'Gas? If you believe your poison will have any effect upon me, you are sorely mistaken!' Suddenly, Thor Girl looks surprised, as a voice calls out 'That's the Thor Girl I know, all right. Never backing down...but, for the record, I'm not a poison. I'm a friend!' A familiar figure glides into the room, as the government officials can be seen collapsed in a heap. 'Cloud 9!' Thor Girl exclaims. Cloud 9 smiles and declares 'I'm busting you outta here, girlfriend. We've got work to do!'
