When Supermen Attack
by Rod Hunsicker

The Recorder turned his visual receptors on the Asgardian. Thor's powerful figure filled his recording screens. Records were made of the Thunder God's physiological readings, his posture and whatever statements he made. Often Thor was silent and needed to be prompted to converse. Now was one of those melancholy times.

Behind them the Rigilians went about their tasks with usual efficiency. Thor was often amused by their enormous heads, supposedly housing enormous brains, but was never so rude as to comment on it.

The Colonizers were transporting Thor back to Earth after he had saved them from the threat of Ego, the Living Planet. The Odinson was anxious to return and learn if anything had happened to his beloved Jane Foster. And there was Tana Nile to contend with. The Colonizer Inspectors insisted that they would remove any menace she might represent to Midgard.

The star ship sped toward Earth.

A piercing siren woke Thor from his slumber. Instinctively his right hand closed on Mjohnir as he leaped to his feet. He had removed his helmet and cape, tunic and boots when he had laid down to sleep. He started to put on his boots when a sheering sound ripped through the ship and the whole vessel shuddered as it was forced out of hyperflight. Damage to the starship was massive. Only the supertechnological safeguards installed by the Colonizers kept the starship intact.

Thor decided he didn't have time to dress fully. Rushing to the central control room, he met the Recorder on the way. Both of them stopped in front of the forward viewing screen.

Outside, in the dead of space, a team of Colonizer Inspectors were confronting a sole humanoid figure. The intruder moved too swiftly to be trapped by the psionic domination of the Colonizers. It smashed into the group, gleefully ignoring their fabulous density increase, and smashed several of them to pulp. There were cries of near panic on the bridge as the Colonizers hurled one weapon after another at the enemy. Nothing worked; nothing hurt the stranger.

"Observation," said the Recorder. "I am witnessing the destruction of a Class A Colonizer starship. Enemy unknown. Humanoid, superhuman status, extremely dangerous."

The Colonizers were losing the battle against their enemy. If Thor was to get home he had to aid them immediately. The call to battle invigorated the Odinson. Ignoring his lack of raiment, Thor found his way out into space to confront this new foe.

The Hammer drove him to the enemy. An ordinary looking human male, with pale white skin, black hair, and dark eyes, dressed in rags, and suffering no ill effects of being exposed to the vacuum of outer space, was tearing into an unfortunate Colonizer victim. As Thor came up behind him, the enemy casually swept his hand back as if to swat the Thunder God. Thor blocked this slap with his left arm. First pain, then numbness seized his arm and the Odinson realized this foe was possessed of a strength beyond anything he had ever encountered before. A strength beyond imagining. This real, immediate danger ignited Thor's warrior spirit. With all his strength he brought down his hammer on the stranger's shoulder. In space there was no sound. The stranger spun his head around in horror, shock and pain. His shoulder was crushed by the mystic might of Mjohnir. Impelled by an instinct honed after a millennia of fighting, Thor whirled his hammer in a circle and smashed it into the back of the man's head. His skull caved in, and he was slain instantly.

Backing away, still unable to use his left arm, Thor scanned space for more enemies.Charging at him, hitting him in less time than thought, another stranger attacked. Without need of direction, Mjolnir placed itself between Thor and the attack. A terrible concussion hurled the Thunder God miles away. When he recovered his stunned senses, Thor used the Hammer to return to the battle site. The second enemy was hovering unconscious, both his hands and arms shattered where they had jointly struck the Hammer.

Many of the Colonizers were dead, their bodies littering space around their smashed star ship. The Recorder was nearby, recording all that happened in passionless efficiency, undamaged by any conflict with the enemy. Thor could not detect any more enemies

. Engineers and repair personnel stabilized the starship. Environmental controls were restored to a part of the ship, and in this place the survivors congregated. Several Colonizers were present, as well as Thor, and the Recorder who had completed his duties outside the ship.

"We will not be able to complete repairs at this time, Thunder God. We have established communication with Prime Central and they are sending another ship to transport you to Earth. There will be an unavoidable delay of 18 solar hours," said the remaining leader of the Colonizers.

"Dost thou know who or what these men are?" asked the Thunder God.

"Unknown species. One is dead, and the other is still unconscious. He remains outside in the vacuum under force field restraints. He has sustained significant injuries but is displaying a remarkable recovery rate. It is unknown if the restraints will hold him," said a Colonizer.

"Our sensors have picked up indications that there are more of these beings in this solar system. This is unpleasant news considering the extraordinary power level of each one," chimed in another Colonizer.

"Where are these others?" asked Thor.

The Colonizer described the coordinates. Thor laughed and called the Recorder to him."Dost thou understand what this one hath said?"

"Of course," replied the flat voice of the Recorder.

"Then thou will lead me to these others. Let us take the issue to them, rather than wait on their whim," said the Thunder God.

"If that is what you wish, Thor. I will record the meeting," said the Recorder.

There was a slight atmosphere breathable by the Thunder God. Gravity was light and in the horizon the red-orange sun burned dully. The landscape was rocky, dotted with purple and dark red foliage, with no signs of any animal life or water. The sky was dark and cloudless.

Thor held up his hammer in an effort to pick up the trail of his quarry. It trembled like a divining rod, began to jerk in his massive hand, before pulling him along. Lifting the Recorder with one hand, Thor whirled his mystic mallet about his head and let it pull him more efficiently to the enemy.

Moments later he saw several human figures standing on a flattened hill staring up at their approach. One was a male and the other two were female. None of these people showed aggression as Thor and the Recorder landed nearby.

One of the women, raven haired, dark eyed with pale white skin, walked boldly over to the Thunder God and Recorder. There was a slight smile on her beautiful face and a catlike sway in her seductive walk. She raked over the Odinson with those black eyes and her smile widened.

"Ah, the first visitor to our little home worth looking at," she said, "and what a manly visitor he is. My name is Yasma-Re. What's yours?"

It was not surprising to Thor that he understood her language. He rarely had trouble conversing with strangers. It seemed that some magic connected with his Asgardian heritage enabled him to speak the languages of others. It was her forward attitude that annoyed him. Slipping the handle of his hammer into his golden belt, the Thunder God folded his arms over his chest.

"I am Thor," he replied, enough of an answer to satisfy anyone. "Why did your people attack our vessel?"

"Oh, were the boys acting up again. They are so frustrated since marooned in this miserable star system. We had such high hopes for better things," said Yasma-Re. She stood before him with her hands clasped behind her back. Her large breasts strained against her sleeveless black blouse. A scanty black miniskirt of some silky material covered her loins, and her only other attire was a pair of shiny black boots.

"Verily, the 'boys' did act up," said Thor. His deep voice dominated this small world's thin atmosphere. "They nearly destroyed our vessel and have slain several Colonizers."

A new alien joined them. A smaller woman with cold blue eyes flew into their midst. "But you are not slain, Thor. How is that?"

Thor smiled softly. "The son of Odin is not easily slain. Brace yourself, woman, for one of those who attacked us has been slain, and the other is sorely wounded. Their acts of piracy and vandalism have been punished."

Anger blazed blue in her face as the small woman nearly launched herself at Thor. Yasma-Re quickly held her back with a tight embrace.

"Savage, how dare you attack your betters," screeched the small woman. Thor kept his arms folded on his chest. He was unsure what to do next. If this woman was nearly a strong as the men she might be stronger than he, and this would force him to meet her attack with deadly force if he was to survive.

"Calm yourself, Ritai," warned Yasma-Re, "let us investigate what happened before we take action." She turned to the Thunder God again. "Which man was killed?"

Thor described the man he had killed. The other aliens had flown over and were hovering in the air nearby. Thor placed his hand on the head of the Hammer. The woman called Ritai calmed a bit, and Yasma-Re cocked a lovely eyebrow and stared oddly at the Asgardian.

"Big boy, you are in deep trouble," she said. "The man you killed was Crol-do, the younger brother of our leader, Prim-do. He is the most powerful among us. When he returns he will kill you."

"What are you people doing here on this desolate planet. The Recorder hath told me that no advanced life forms live on this world."

Another of the floating people came to rest beside Yasma-Re. He was an older male, dressed in what remained of a flowing robe, with the high forehead and lofty look of a scholar. He studied the Odinson for several minutes before offering his counsel.

"You are the first of the powerful to come after us. I predicted this would happen. We do not belong in this reality. We must return to the reality that spawned us," he said solemnly, more to his people than to Thor.

"What are you talking about?" asked the Thunder God.

The old man landed in front of Thor and cradled his chin in his hands. His eyes rotated in their sockets, and he smiled pleasantly.

""I'm talking about a mistake," he said. "A mistake. That's what brought us here. Another mistake is staying, but how can we leave. Despite the power in our bodies we cannot find a power source to energize the machine. So here we stay until this reality destroys us."

Another of the floating people laughed. "You speak nonsense, Trim-zel. We are powerful here. What can destroy us?"

"Apparently something has destroyed one of us. This blond brute before you has killed Prim-do's brother. We are not as invulnerable as we predicted we would be. Its not just the solar radiation of this queer sun, but the very disparateness of the reality we have entered. Perhaps there are cosmic limitations to power in this reality. I don't know. I do know that we are not the ultimate supermen we should be."

Ritai-ru edged toward the Thunder God again, her fingers twitching in her eagerness to strangle him. "We have only this fool's word on that. And we have not tested his word or his power."

"There will be time for that, Ritai," said Yasma-re. "I'm sure Prim-do would like to test him personally."

Trim-zel scampered closer to Thor. "Would you like to see the machine that brought us here?"

Thor nodded. With a mighty swing of his hammer he followed the flying scientist to where a large piece of machinery lay in a barren crater. It might have fallen a long distance to create such a crater but the machinery was unscratched.

"Here it is," ranted Trim-zel. "Unharmed and without power. Useless to us. Unless Prim-do can discover a new power source. That's where he is, you know."

This might explain the attack on the Colonizer starship. A search for a power source to fuel this machine. It supplied a motive, but was not an excuse for vandalism and murder.

"When will he return?" asked the toneless voice of the Recorder.

"Oh, who knows. When he succeeds, I guess. We have little need for nourishment anymore. This weak sun provides us with that much power."

"Is this what you truly want? To go home?" asked Thor.

"It is the sensible thing to do. We had sought a parallel universe within our own reality. A place where or Daxamite bodies would become superhuman. Vastly superhuman. Then we could venture out into the universe utilizing a velocity measured in multiples of light speed and do as we chose. But we failed and came here. We've been stranded here for a year. You see our clothes have suffered a bit, but our bodies remain strong. Just not strong enough. Not as strong as expected. Nor nearly as fast," explained Trim-zel.

"A power source might be provided, if you truly want to leave," said Thor. Walking about the machine he considered the possibility of using the interdimensional magic of the Hammer to energize and banish this machine and its owners back to the reality they came from. His musings were interrupted by a woman's triumphant cry.

"Prim-do has returned," cried Ritai-ru. "Hear me, Thor, our leader has returned. And your live will be measured in moments."

Thor fastened his steely blue eyes on the floating man. "I am Thor, the son of Odin and Prince of Asgard. I flee no one."

"Prim-do is a brute. He thinks with his glands and his muscles. He will not listen to reason. He will only act on his rage. This is serious. You must flee."

Thor ignored the Daxamite scientist. He turned to the Recorder. "What doest thou think of that which has been said?"

"Analysis has shown these humanoids to be ultra alien. Power levels are extraordinary. Safety is minimal. Returning them to their own reality is desirable. These statements are based on recorded facts and the advisement of the Colonizers." The Recorder was in constant communication with the Colonizers. The results of their analysis on the defeated Daxamites had been finished and forwarded to the Recorder for Thor's use. The status of their star ship and the ETA of the rescue ship was also made available to the Thunder God.

Ritae had flow back to the others with the intention of informing Prim-do of everything she knew about Thor and his involvement with Crol-do's death. She found him talking to Yasma-Re. He was a big man, well over six feet, with flowing black hair, black eyes and clear white skin. He was massively muscular, in the manner of a professional athlete, although his superhuman power was based on Daxamite physiology rather than muscle mass. His huge hands gripped Yasma-Re's shoulders as she explained to him about Thor. The others had informed Prim-do about the Thunder God immediately upon his arrival, so Yasma-Re stepped forward to try and calm their leader down.

"Where is this alien, now?" demanded Prim-do. "And where is my brother?"

Yasma-Re struggled to escape his brutal grip unsuccessfully, her eyes linked with his in an effort to calm him down. "Wherever the alien star ship is? I don't know. The alien went somewhere with Krim-zel. I warned you and the others about attacking agencies in this universe you know nothing about."

"Shut up, woman," commanded Prim-do, "or witch, as you surely are. Don't try your pseudo psychological fake magic junk on me. I am in command of this project. You are here for my convience, and nothing else. Is that clear!"

He pulled her face back by her hair. Heat began to build up in his eyes and Yasma-Re began to fear that he would burn her face off. Prim-do was a self made man, a world class athlete who had accumulated immense personal wealth. A man of great passion, and one whom other people followed meekly.

She had tried to influence him in the past, subtly and without success, though he had used her ability to influence others to achieve his goals. Now his goal was immediate and urgent.

"Yes, Prim-do, its clear. You are the master here," she said weakly. At the moment she could not argue the reality of her situation. Prim-do had always been blessed with more power than most others. On Daxam it had been of a physical and clever variety. Here, in this twisted alien universe, he was still the strongest. She realized now, that part of her hoped that Thor might be stronger.

"Then answer my question!"

"Krim-zel has taken him to the Translocator," she answered, and hoped that the alien would prevail against this man she had grown to hate.

"Hah!" laughed Prim-do. He was not happy, just glad to get to the creature who had insulted him. The creature who had defied his will by slaying his brother. Yasma-Re reflected that he had not even stopped to check if his brother was actually dead. Perhaps he already knew.

The air screamed. Prim-do tore a hole in the atmosphere and raced ahead of the explosion toward the Translocator and Thor.

There was little warning. A tingling in his hammer, nothing more. It was enough to whirl the battlewise Thunder God around and too late to prevent the blinding attack. Thor never saw what hit him, never even felt the blow. His body shot into the air and smashed into a rock wall a half mile away. The wall shattered as the Asgardian's body was embedded three feet deep.

Thor was barely conscious. The battle instincts of a mind trained to fight for more than a thousand years fought to bring the Thunder God back to the fight. In his hand the Hammer tingled, raged and called Thor to rise up and smite his attacker. Half aware, the Odinson responded.

"Fool," screamed Krim-zel, "what have you done?"

Prim-do paused before continuing his attack on Thor. He regarded the scientist with smoldering eyes. This was the man who made his dream of achieving superhuman status a reality. For that reason he was forever lenient with Krim-zel. And also because he might need him in the future. "Cavorting? I don't cavort, you idiot. I'm looking for a power source for the Translocator. I may have found it. This alien has unusual technologies. Have you found it for all your searching?" asked Krim-zel. "Well, have you?"

It was only because he had long ago conditioned himself to ignore the ranting of the scientist that Prim-do didn't strike him then. He hovered above Krim-zel and the Translocator with his eyes burning red.

"No, I haven't."

Krim-zel shook his head. It was his belief that Prim-do really wasn't looking for a power source earnestly. Despite the forlornness of their exile in this minor solar system, Prim-do wasn't ready to risk returning to Daxam and loose his superhuman powers.

"I have. We landed in the wrong place. I told you that. We have to get back to our reality, and the yellow sun that will make us like gods. Isn't that our goal?" Krim-zel decided on a little diplomacy.

Prim-do glanced over at Thor and saw him crumble the rock that had outlined his body and drop freely to the ground below.

"Yes, it is our goal. But the alien's crime remains. He must be punished," said Prim-do.

"Punished: yes. Killed: no. He may be of assistance to us," reminded Krim-zel.

Prim-do smirked. Then he was off.

"You are a pitiful foe. Hardly worth my trouble. How you killed my brother I don't know, except that he wasn't much of a man. But you did kill him and now I will crush your bones into dust," vowed the Daxamite.

Thor shook his head free of confusion and glared at his new enemy. The spirit of war was descending on the Asgardian. He whirled his hammer around his head and hurled it at the Daxamite. Prim-do laughed and leaped nimbly to one side. The Hammer passed on by, turned and smashed into Prim-do's broad back. It was the Daxamite's turn to hit the rock wall then, as the power of the Odinspell nearly broke his spine.

"I am Thor, Prince of Asgard, Lord of the Thunder and the Storm. Learn now the folly of your words. Let the battle truly begin," roared Thor.

But the rock was nothing but paper to Prim-do. He tore off the whole side of the cliff and dropped it on Thor. The whirling hammer defended the Thunder God by reducing the cliff to pebbles, and turned these stones into missiles shot back to the Daxamite. They bounced off his nearly invulnerable body without harming it.

Prim-do smiled. It was an ugly smile. "So your power is in your hammer. That is the power source Krim-zel needs. Okay, I'll take the hammer after I crush your body and spirit."

He launched himself on the Thunder God, moving with the speed of an angel. Blow after blow struck Thor and drove him back. Some of these blows he deflected with Mjolnir, and some he didn't. There were so many. Occasionally he got in one of his own. Finally he was hit by a roundhouse punch that sent him up into space.

On the ground, Prim-do nursed his hand which had struck the Hammer at a bad angle.It was bruised, nearly broken.

Thor held on to his Hammer as he kept rocketing upward. He broke out of the planetoid's scanty atmosphere and felt the severe cold of space. In space there was no words. No sound in the vacuum. But somehow he heard Prim-do.

"Cold, little man?" taunted the Daxamite. "Well, I have something to warm you."

Thor raised his hammer defensively. Prim-do released the pain, and heat flowed from his eyes at the Thunder God. Enough heat the shear off the top of a mountain. The Hammer defended its master, catching the heat, holding it with the power of the Odinspell and its uru metal, until all of Prim-do's fury was blended with Mjolnir's own.

Then, with the speed of lightning, and the fury of the storm, Mjolnir released this deadly energy back at the Daxamite. Thor held his beloved weapon with both hands, to steady their aim. His hands were nearly blacked from the agonizing backlash of power, but still he held. Together, he and his hammer struck the enemy with the mightiest blow. Prim-do screamed, flung up his arms as his skin blackened and burned, and fell to the planet's surface. Pulled weakly by its distant gravity, the Daxamite fell slowly at first, then accelerated until he crash landed and ceased to move.

Thor slipped the thong at his hammer's handle over his wrist as he felt himself loose consciousness. Then he was falling.

"Jane," he muttered. From a distance she replied, "Yes, I'm here. All is well."

She stepped over him. straddling him, rousing him until she nestled his seed within her.She tossed her hair wildly. Thor thought it was brown, but it was black like the night. Brown, then black, then brown again. In the midst of his pain/pleasure Thor thought something was amiss. But he was to tired and beaten to care.

"What has happened, friend Recorder?" he asked.

"Fact: The Colonizer starship #11009 has been destroyed. Fact: Colonizer starship #256888 has arrived to transport us to Earth. Fact: Thor has recovered," replied the Recorder.

"Starship destroyed?" wondered Thor. #11009 was the vessel that had carried him this far back to Earth.

Yasma-Re flew to his side. She had easily heard their conversation. She placed a warm hand on Thor's shoulder. It felt odd, seemed odd, for her to do that. Familiar, pleasant, and incorrect at the same time. Yet, Thor made no move to remove her hand.

"I had wondered why Prim-do never checked on his brother's death when we told him about it. It was because he already knew. He had already found the Colonizer vessel and his brother's corpse. He destroyed the vessel, killed all aboard it before returning to our planetoid. Another reason for his unreasonable rage," explained Yasma-Re.

When Thor looked questionably at the Recorder, the machine man confirmed this data. "Rescue has been effected, Thor. Transport via Colonizer starship #256888 is waiting."

Yasma-Re laughed. "The Colonizers insisted on putting you on their star ship, to take you away, but we insisted they do not. We still need you to help us go home."

Thor squared his massive shoulders. "Is that what your people wish? All of them?"

"Yes," she replied. "This is not the place we set out to go to. We all know that. Proof is in how you defeated our strongest males. All of us accept that now."

Thor hid a sardonic smile. Were it not for Mjolnir, his battle with the Daxamites might have been far more tragic. He had rarely seen a foe with such speed and strength combined. He nodded at the woman and followed her into the air.

"Hey, Krim-zel, I have brought Thor," cried Yasma-re. She and the Thunder God landed nearby. She wet her lips as she studied Thor.

"I will be sorry to leave this Universe if I must leave you, Thor. I have never met a man as noble as you," she said. In this moment of sadness and farewell, Thor marveled at how beautiful she was. He nearly succumbed to dizziness as her face and Jane Foster's swam before his mind.

"I am prepared to help you leave. To return home," said Thor.

Empty words from a man-god with nothing to say. She leaned forward and smiled. "May I have a farewell kiss?"

Thor frowned. "I am reminded that I must be faithful to another, but I suppose one kiss would do no harm."

She kissed him. He almost remembered something. Almost.

"Hurry, hurry," urged Krim-zel. "Everything is ready. Let's get inside, Yasma-re."

Thor and the scientist discussed what must be done briefly. The Daxamites entered their machine and waited.

Summoning the wind, the storm and the magic, Thor created a whirlwind capable of cutting through the fabric of dimensions. The magic of the Odinspell linked to the trail that the Translocater had used to enter Thor's reality and hurled it backward the way it came. The storm calmed and the magic disappeared.

A wave of sorrow passed over the Thunder God. Regret that he would never see the Daxamite woman again. Or would he?