Marvel: 2010-05-30 – Norse by Norse west

She's on a quest. A quest to find somebody who, given he might well be taller than her, is proving to be so remarkably elusive that She-Hulk has to wonder if he's hiding in Asgard. Given she's had no success finding Thor...she's starting to wonder if it might not be a better plan to try and bring the God of Thunder to her. Dressed in her costume, she's, right now, jogging through the park. Trying to come up with a better way to be obvious.

She Hulk's plan does work cause she does indeed bring a lot of attention to herself. However it’s not from any Norse God. Instead it’s from the onlookers in the park, particularly (but not limited to) those of the male persuasion. Yes, the jolly green giantess does get a lot of looks and stares. Too bad Thor is not amongst the bunch. Maybe she'll need to do something a bit more noticeable to draw his attention.

She-Hulk slows to a walk. She blows a kiss to one of the men in the crowd, who looks like he's about to faint. Flickering a grin to all and sundry, she contemplates. No bad guys to fight...and that's a real shame right now. She's heading for the place where they got ambushed by trees...that IS the last place she saw him, after all.

The man in the crowd does indeed faint at the spectacular spectacle that is the She-Hulk, but other eyes are not so easily moved. From distant Asgard, a stony face watches the Emerald Avenger from a scrying sphere. "Behold! This Green Giantess was there when Thor did thwart my first attack. Perhaps I may use her as the bait for my next gambit?" Embolden by his evil plan, Loki casts another spell. This time his targets are the men around She Hulk rather than the trees. Loki chants in ancient Norse, <> Suddenly a bunch of male onlookers behind to shake as the arcane energy fills them. Before your very eyes, the literally 'hulk' out, growing in size and increasing in bulk, the raiment changes until the modern men are suddenly replaced with rampaging Viking warriors. The group of warrior men yell out in unison "We are the Berserkers! Argh!"

She-Hulk narrows her eyes. Great. Rule one, don't hurt them. They're clearly being manipulated or controlled. And it’s about the same place. "I'm tired of this. Whoever you are, why don't you come out and fight like a *real* man?" she says to the air. If it’s the same person...or whoever it is, she's sure they're watching from somewhere safe but nearby.

She-Hulk may have some compassion on her foes, but them (controlled by Loki's magic) have no care for her. The Viking Warriors heft their arcane weapons and immediate begin their attack. One wields a mace which he swings at She-Hulk. Another fighter flings a spear at her. One has a sword and he moves towards her. The last has an axe and he flanks the swordsman, obviously they are the second wave.

Okay. If she fights back, she might kill them. If she doesn't fight back...then...she might even get hurt. So...she steps to one side...she dodges the spear, but not the mace, which slams into her, although she lifts her hand a moment later to grab for the weapon. Maybe if she can disarm them...maybe... Those not affected are no doubt turning to stare.

Enchanted as they are by Loki's magic not only are the berserkers much stronger than normal humans, their weapons are all that more deadly. So She Hulk is going to feel that mace slam. Sure, the warrior isn't strong enough to go toe to toe with her, but he can cause her a few bruises and probably worse. And a group of near superhuman warriors, they might indeed be able to bring her down. The Mace man tussles with She Hulk and while he does not free his weapon, he does manage to hold on to it for the moment. That gives enough time for the second wave to move in; the swordsman and axe man quickly rush in on either side of the Emerald Amazon.

In the meantime, the onlookers have begun to get off of the battlefield, though they are still watching with morbid curiosity. Ambling into the park is a mild mannered physician. It's surprising that he is back here, considering the scolding he got for being late the last time he lunched in the park. But somehow the good doctor just feels at one in nature, almost drawn to this place. So Don Blake picks his way back to a quiet spot he knows. A shame it’s been turned into a warzone. He stops short, mouth agape as he spies a familiar green form fighting what looks to be like Viking Warriors. "What the?!?!" Don exclaims.

It would take a lot to actually *stop* a Hulk. This group seem capable of slowing one down, which might cause even more gawking. She-Hulk braces herself, then attempts to spin mace guy into sword guy. By his weapon. She might not want to hurt these guys, but if she gets badly hurt herself...SHE might go berserker. Keeping control is paramount, and that means avoiding taking too much damage. The axe man manages to hit her in the shoulder, and even break her skin, green blood dripping from the wound. "Grah!"

The Mace guy goes flying into sword man, both combatants going down. For his part, spear man is trying to retrieve his weapon since the god of mischief didn't see fit to equip it with a return to thrower enchantment like Odin did with Thor's hammer. It's that kinda short sightedness that's going to cause him to lose in the end. Axe man lets out a bellow as he strikes true. "Yar!" Isn't that pirate speak? In any case, emboldened by his strike, he moves in to cut She Hulk again.

Donald Blake hobbles quickly into the cover of some nearby trees. "This can't be a coincidence. Another strange attack upon that green woman in the park? Someone is behind his, but whom?" The lame physician holds his walking staff aloft. "Donald Blake might not be able to figure this out, but the Mighty Thor will resolve this issue!" With that, he strikes his cane upon the ground. The heavens boom and flash as mortal man is replaced by divine deity. With a huge leap, Thor lands in the middle of the fray. "Hold bold warriors! Cease thy combat and go thy way, least you feel the wrath of the Thunder god!"

Of course, the cut is already starting to heal, but this time, she spins to the side, dodging, and trying, if she can, to land on that spear. "They're ordinary people under some kind of control!" she yells...well, she got Thor drawn out, sort of. Or whoever did this did. Maybe she can get him to stick around once they're dealt with.

The Norse Thunder god nods to She Hulk. "I do smell the scent of foul magicks; but no matter. Not even the blackest of enchantments may resist the power of the Mighty Thor!" The Asgardian wheels his hammer like crazy and then lets it fly. The enchanted weapon flies towards the axe man, slamming into him. It seems the warrior flying. She-Hulk does indeed land on the spear, preventing its wielder from grabbing it. He turns on her with a growl, only to be knocked for a loop as the rebounding Mjolnir. In short order, the remaining foes are felled.

From his obsidian throne in far away Asgard, the god of Evil curses bitterly. "Vainglorious dolt, Thou hast beaten me yet a second time! But very soon thou shall fall beneath my heel and then thou shall call Loki lord!" That being said, Loki cancels his enchantment. In a flash of light, the Viking berserkers disappear and are replaced by the again modern day men. The gents look a little confused and dazed, but really no worse for wear.

The mighty Thor strides over to She-Hulk. "Well met, Green Giantess! Again fortune has favoured you to be in my presence another time." Thor glances over at the Vikings turned yuppies. "What strange events are these that seem to follow thee?"

She-Hulk shakes her head. "I have absolutely no clue. I was actually looking for you." She flickers a grin, then glances at the men. "Sorry about that. I hope I didn't break anyone." The green giantess seems to already be pretty much healed.

Thor raises an eyebrow at that. "For me? And why doth thou seek the god of Thunder?" If Thor has any ideas, of any kind, he isn't voicing them. Nope, he's just standing their looking stoic. Mind you, he is a Viking god and all so on might image some of the reasons on his list.

"Actually, it was Iron Man who was looking for you. I offered to help out." To keep an eye open. "You're pretty elusive for a big hunky guy." A grin at that. "So...got a few to talk?"

Thor shrugs. "Yes. I have a ... few." Thor has all the time in the world; Donald Blake, not so much. But as the good doctor isn't here at the moment, his needs easily get shoved aside. Seems like someone is going to get yet another scoulding from his RN. C'est la vie, I suppose. Thor hooks his hammer to his belt and even removes his helmet. Guess that's similar to a taxi going 'off duty'. "For what cause doth this Iron Man seek the son of Odin?"

"Well. Actually, he's putting together a team of superheroes and wants to know if you'd be interested in joining." Isn't that such a Stark move? Send the pretty girl out to do the recruiting? Of course, she still does have to get Hawkeye out of jail...

The Norseman rubs his chin. "Did not that purple armoured madman suggest that we were or would be a team? So now Iron Man doth desire to fulfill this prophecy?" Thor shakes his golden locks, letting the wind blow his hair about. Why the Fabio move is not clear but it does draw a few sighs of appreciation from the crowd. "Long hast it been since the Scion of Asgard has ridden into the battlefield with a band of valiant warriors by his side..." Thor ponders the matter for a moment. Then in true melodramatic fashion he answers, "Thor says thee....yay!" As he answers, he also pumps a fist into the air. And yes there's an accompanying crash of thunder and flash of lightning cause this is Thor we're dealing with, so the whole thunder and lightning thing is a given and should be expected.

She-Hulk can't help but laugh. "Okay. Stark's going to convert his old family home into a headquarters for us, apparently. Not sure how much work needs to be done." Or how much she can offer to do the heavy lifting for. She's better than a crane, after all. "And yeah, he did, but it's a good idea, madman or no madman. I know I could use the backup on occasion."

Okay...not to foster the stereotypes of dumb blond muscle jocks, but Thor fixes She-Hulk with a confused look. "Who is Stark and what is this headquarters for?" I dunno...maybe he's helmet is too tight or he's taken one too many head blows in battle. According to myth, Thor was supposed to be a wily fighter but golden boy here seems to be lacking in the logics a little. Or maybe he is just new to all this superhero stuff. "Shall we not simply ride into battle like true warriors?"

"Stark's Iron Man's sponsor. He's very rich. And he has a lot of people who can help with logistics." She-Hulk is often assumed to be a stupid bimbo, especially as she often acts like one. She's totally not. "Somewhere to discuss tactics, somewhere to crash after difficult missions." She's assuming he...well. He's surely not *stupid*.

Thor ahhs, seeming to get what She-Hulk means. "Tis our stronghold. Verily, we shall need a warrior's fortress wherein we can drink and feast our conquests in battle and which our foes may storm and yet fall before us as we rain down death and steel upon them as their blood crimsons the battlefield!" Some is getting a wee bit carried away with the carnage and killing allusions. But fortunately Thor seems to come back to himself after his moment’s revelry. "Aye...you may tell Iron Man that the god of Thunder shall stand beside him as comrades-in-arms."

"Now, *I* would like to try and find out who keeps making weird stuff happen every time I come here. I hate hurting people who aren't responsible for their actions." She HATES it. Although it seems they are none the worse for the tussle.

Thor sighs. "Aye. There is some sly fiend behind these attacks. Rest assured that the son of Odin shall root out this evil!" In other words, he'll look into it.

She-Hulk nods. "It's magic, right?" A pause. "I hate magic. Unless, of course, it's on my side." Because, of course, she doesn't understand it. Never mind that the uninitiated might accuse HER of it.

"Indeed. Someone wove dread enchantments to awaken the treants and transform these men into berserkers." Thor holds his arms across his chest. "Whomever is the culprit, they are powerful as neither of these are simply feats. No mere parlour mage or charlatan could achieve such." Phew. Thor isn't stupid, thank goodness. He's Norse. That explains so much.

She-Hulk nods. "Okay. So a fairly powerful magic-type, a coward...as he or she hasn't shown themselves...somebody who doesn't care about collateral damage. And they seem to have it in for me." She frowns. "As far as I know I haven't upset any sorcerers."

Alas She-Hulk hasn't upset any sorcerers but Thor has. But given that his origins are still a mystery to him, he doesn't know that yet. Mores’ the pities because it’s all very obvious who is behind this but for now they’ll never know. "When shall our band of heroes met? The mystery of thy attacker must be revealed lest you fall to his machinations before we can defeat him." Translation: Time's a wasting and we need help to figure this out.

"Hrm. We don't have anyone who's an expert on magic, but I'll talk to Iron Man and Captain America about it." Hawkeye...is still in jail.

Thor simply nods cause he isn't 100 per cent sure who all these people are again. I mean, he only met them in that one fight and there was all those explosions and stuff happening. "Indeed. Well...." Thor looks off in the distance for a moment. "Where duty doth call or danger, the might Thor must need answer." In other words, 'Gotta go. See ya.'