[center][img]https://cdn.marvel.com/content/1x/004tho_com_mas_mob_03.jpg[/img][/center][indent][sub][color=gray][b]UOU Presents:[/b][/color][color=lightgray] THOR, GOD OF THUNDER[/color][/sub][sup][right][b][color=gray]ISSUE #3:[/color][/b] [color=lightgray]Heart of Ice [/color][/right][/sup][/indent][hr][indent][color=lightgray][sub][b]Winchester Point [color=red]♦[/color] Alaska [/b][/sub][/color][/indent]
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Silence descended on the Alaskan woodland as the monster died. Keith Kincaid lay with his back against the stream bank for several minutes taking deep, long breaths. He'd just watched one of his friends- maybe friend was a strong word- [i]coworkers[/i] transform into some...thing. Some terrible, monstrous thing, and then it tried to kill him. Him and the freak in the sleeveless breastplate. Keith still wasn't sure he hadn't hallucinated the other guy. He was a giant dressed for LARP camp in the middle of one of the harshest snowstorms Keith had ever seen. That, and every punch he threw carried the force of an artillery shell.

"Jane's not gonna believe any of this shit," he muttered, dragging himself to his feet.

It was a short walk to where Thor hunched over the remains of the Man-Beast. The big man was covered in blood, only some of it his own. That dip in the frozen stream had drenched him from golden-haired head to wing-tipped boot. His hands were balled into fists. He was shaking. Whether it was fueled by rage or him succumbing to the cold, Keith couldn't say.

Keith cleared his throat. "You saved my life," he started hesitantly, "thanks. But we really oughtta get out of here. I'm surprised you haven't collapsed yet, to be honest with ya."

Thor turned. His face was marred by grief, yet only for a moment. On looking the mortal in the eye a steel came over him like a mask, hard and unflinching. He rose.

"Nay, I must thank you. That abomination would have surely ended me without your timely intervention. You must be one of Midgard's finest warriors to face down such a monster so readily." Thor raised a hand to Keith in acknowledgement of his valor.

Keith blinked. The offered hand went ignored as Keith threw his own to the sky. "What the fuck, dude?! I'm a radio engineer, not- Do you know what that was? Why are you- I mean, Jesus Christ, what is [i]happening[/i]?"

"In truth, I know not the nature of the beast that assailed us," Thor confessed. "It seemed able to probe my inner thoughts. There are some manner of creatures I know of that can accomplish such things, though none of them are of your realm. I wonder how it came to be here..."

"How did [i]you[/i] come to be here? We're in the middle of nowhere and you look like you just stepped outta the Renaissance fair."

"I come from Asgard by by of the Bifrost," Thor explained, pointing up at the Aurora Borealis.

"Alright, don't tell me." Keith held his hands up, palms forward in surrender. "But we can't stay here. If you want I can take you back to my truck and I'll drive you to Winchester Point. We've got a base there. Jane can check you for, uh, hypothermia. Maybe we can find you a ride home."

"I have my doubts I will ever return home. Let us go to your abode, then. I wish to learn more of what attacked us."

Together, the two unlikely companions made their way through the storm stricken wilderness. It was a long walk, and each of them was already bone tired. Thankfully Keith proved a worthy navigator. He'd gone on a number of hunting trips up this direction; animals getting into the transmission array had damaged some of their equipment in the past, so they had the all-clear to trap and shoot anything they found in two mile radius of the station. When Thor asked Keith to explain what he was doing up here, Keith tried and failed miserably to get across the concept of a radio.

"You are telling me that you can speak into a device and another, identical device on the other side of your planet can hear what you say in the same instant? And you claim this is not sorcery?" Thor asked as he shoved a tree down over a crevice several dozen feet deep. Once he was sure the tree was secure, he climbed atop it and crossed to the other side of the crevice. Keith followed reluctantly.

"Radio waves travel at the same speed as light, man. A signal can loop all the way around the planet seven times in a second."

"Mine brother Hermod can do much the same. As our messenger, he is tasked with delivering the word of Odin to every realm on the branches of Yggdrasil. Once, he rode for nine days and nine nights to the depths of Helheim on a dare! None have ever replicated his feat."

Keith sighed. If anyone else had said that it would've been a joke, but after walking with 'Thor' for over an hour it was clear he either believed every word or had the best damned poker face Keith had ever seen. It wasn't worth trying to argue with him, nor could Keith coax out the truth. In all likelihood, Thor was a delusional mutant that wasn't up to date on his X-inhibitor shots. He'd need to contact the authorities- both about the monster and his new friend.

Relief warmed his weary bones when they broke the treeline and found the array station. The truck was right where Keith had left it, and there was no sign of anything that went bump in the night. Kieth all but fell over himself climbing inside to start the heater. Warm air brushed the frost from his cheeks. It was enough to make a grown man cry.

Afterward, he rummaged around in the back of the cabin for a spare set of cold weather gear. They didn't have any clothes in his new friend's size, unfortunately, but he could squeeze into the coat with a little effort.

"You have my thanks, mortal." Thor gave an approving nod even as he struggled to get the zipper more than halfway up the coat.

[i]'Might fit better if you ditch the fake armor,'[/i] Keith thought, adjusting the dials on the radio transmitter mounted in the dash. The storm hadn't subsided much but the northern lights seemed to be back to normal. If he bumped up the wattage on the transmitter he might be able to get a signal out- wouldn't help much with getting one back, though. Still, he needed to warn his team if he could.

Not that he knew how to explain a psychic, body-snatching monster without sounding fucking nuts.

"This is Keith to base, come in. Russ, some crazy shit has happened and I need you to [i]pick up. Now."[/i]

All that came through was static. Static, and a strange, keening whine. Must've been more interference. Strange way for it to manifest, though. There was a clarity to it almost if as it [b][color=2E2C2C]'COME AND SEE'[/color][/b] talking.

"[b]Bzztttt[/b]..eith is that...[i][color=2E2C2C]I will make you perfect[/color][/i] can't hea-[b]BRRRRT[/b][i][color=2E2C2C]Mold your flesh as if it [color=white][b]zzzzt[/b][/color] is clay in my hands[/color][/i] rrrr...you. Say ag [i][color=2E2C2C]Sins[/color][/i]ain?" [i][color=2E2C2C]of your humanity washed away in my image.[/color][/i]

Stars spun in Keith's eyes. His jaw slackened. The words behind the broadcast coiled around his brain like a serpent. Beneath his skin, something crawled.

Thor drove his fist through the console with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

The sudden explosion of sparks and plastic woke Keith, who blinked a few times before his face twisted in baffled anger. "What the hell was that for?!"

"Your magic box is vulnerable to the same mental emanations that creature used. I could see your sanity slipping away."

"Oh, you're one to fuckin' talk." Keith slammed his forehead against the steering wheel. After a few more impacts, he was satisfied he'd bashed whatever remained of his rationality out. A giant, red mark covered half of his face, but he felt better.

Lines of worry crisscrossed Thor's face. "We ought to return to your base camp with all due haste. I do not believe our troubles are over."

"On that we can agree." Keith sighed, starting the car.

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Winchester Point was burning when their truck pulled into the yard.

The main building was a long, single story structure shaped like the letter U. It was a boxy, ugly building, and its leftmost arm was on fire. Black smoke and ash choked the air. Flames danced along the wooden rooftop, stifled by the cold but not wholly choked out. This was the main building where the crew lived and did most of their work. A secondary structure on the right-hand side was [i]also[/i] on fire. That was the garage, and the open vehicle bay showed their ATVS, trucks and snowmobiles were all ablaze.

"Shit, shit, shit." Keith cursed under his breath, throwing the truck into park and jumping out. "Do you see anybody?"

"Nay. The smoke clouds my vision as well."

"We need to get inside. People might be hurt. Come on!"

Smoke-choke air burned their lungs as the two ran into danger. Thor went first, tearing the door off its hinges and throwing it aside. Mounted on the wall just in the entrance were a fire extinguisher and a fire man's axe for just such an emergency. Keith retrieved the former and started cutting a path through the hallway to the sleeping quarters. Thor took up the axe. It lacked the comfortable heft of his signature weapon, but its edge was sharp. This would do.

[sub]'Have you come to witness my works, Son of Odin? Will you surrender your flesh to our choir? To join godhood and mortalkind...We will be the envy of the universe...'[/sub]

Thor gritted his teeth. "I have had enough of you. I will take your mocking tongue."

[sub]'I have no tongue yet I have many voices. No arms, yet a thousand hands do my work. You inhale me with every breath you take, child of lightning. To resist is pointless. You are a shell already- stripped of all that made you...you.'[/sub]

Shutting out the voice, Thor pressed on, shouldering past Keith to delve into the fire. Flames licked at his flesh. Pain seared his muscles as the fire caught on his clothing. Thor cared not.

He found the source of the flames only moments later. It lay in a pool of dismembered limbs and meat. Parts of it were identifiably human, like the face of a man twisted in fear. Others were covered in thick fur, like that of a dog or a wolf. All of it was sloshed together into one, horrific whole. The gore pile was drenched in a stinking liquid he couldn't identify- that seemed to be the source of the fire.

"Another monster," Thor called over his shoulder to Keith, "and someone else seems to have taken care of it first. Rejoice, friend. Your comrades struggle on."

Keith wasn't as enthusiastic about the find as Thor. He had to fight to keep the bile from rising in his throat. The stench of the thing was unbearable, like rotten meat cooking in a copper pan. "Jesus H. Christ."

Down the tunnel came the crash of steel, the snapping of wood and a scream. It sounded only partially human.

Without another word Thor was off at a dead sprint. He covered the full length of the hallway in a quarter of the time a normal man might have, and he was moving so quickly he couldn't stop at the turn without bashing into the wall. Past a pair of double doors lying on the floor was a large, open chamber filled with tables and benches. It reminded Thor of a mead hall, though it lacked the homely feel with its bare steel and white tiles instead of hardwood and furs. All the blood on the ground didn't help the atmosphere.

Two more monsters lumbered across the room. One had a pair of stately antlers growing from a stump in its neck where a head should've been. Its face was instead lodged in its chest cavity, and it rotated fully in place to stare at Thor with cold, empty eyes. The other thing had two heads: a dog that was barking and snapping at him, and a woman's head, hanging at an odd angle like it was broken. 'Her' jaw hung limply to the side, shattered.

"Look out! Get back!" A man on the opposite side of the monsters yelled at Thor. He had long, flowing hair and a beard to match, and on his back was a strange pair of cylindrical containers. The stranger lifted a tube toward the wolf-woman hybrid and doused it in a spray of fire.

Keith came rushing in a moment later. "Shit, Russ! You're aliv- ah, fuck me." He skidded to a stop at the sight of the monsters and promptly left the room.

"Keith?! Who in God's name is this guy?"

Thor took the fireman's axe in both hands, lifting it high as he charged.

[b]"For Asgard!"[/b]
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