“We’ll rebuild. Asgard…Manhattan… the world. We’ll rebuild it all. Like the rest of the world, we’ll dig deep and find the strength to get out of bed tomorrow morning and start all over again. The Avengers will bury our dead, mourn our losses… And then get back to work…”- Steven Rogers
The Serpent awakens from his dark prison beneath the ocean and set free by Skadi. As he begins to spread fear throughout Earth, the Asgardians head to Asgard, leaving the heroes of Earth to fend for themselves while the fear generated by the general human populace helps power the Serpent. Seven special hammers fall from the sky and grant super-humans the powers of the Worth in order to help Serpent spread chaos across the world. At Ground Zero in New York, Steve Rogers and Sharon Carter on on-hand to try and quell a disturbance when a violent riot ensues among protestors and police are forced to shoot tear gas into the crowd. Elsewhere in Antarctica, Sin arrives and breaks into one of Red Skull’s secret bases, killing all the Nazi guards and opens up the main vault to discover a hammer and is transformed into Skadi. Back in New York, both the Avengers and New Avengers assemble near the ongoing riot to see if some unforeseen force is responsible while Rogers voices his disappointment in humanity. Iron Man comes up with a plan to rebuild Asgard in Broxton, Oklahoma, asking Rogers and Thor to be present for publicity to show unity between Asgard and Earth. Later, the Avengers address Asgard and Broxton on their plans to rebuild Asgard while Odin watches the team as they make their public address. While Odin watches the Avengers, the Watcher is keeping an eye on Odin as he goes on a rant about how the Watcher has no right to judge and then rants about Skadi and the fact the Final Prophecy is on hand. Thor suddenly appears and asks his father to stand with them as they announce their plans to rebuild, but Odin states Asgard could be rebuilt with a simple snap of their fingers back in Asgard-space.
Thor then states Odin needs to accept humans and Odin starts beating on Thor, saying humans are just useless ants and asks Thor if he is a man or god to which Thor says man. In the Pacific, Skadi swims into the darkest depths of the ocean where she finds an underwater tomb guarded by giant sea dragons and after taking the dragons out, she bursts into a tomb where an Old Norse god steps forward and states he is the true All-Father. When Odin senses the Serpent is freed, Odin interrupts a huge feast between the Avengers and Asgardians and gives the order for all Asgardians to leave and go home. Thor disagrees and begins fighting with Odin so the All-Father takes away Thor’s ability to wield Mjolnir and brings him back to Asgard after recreating the Rainbow Bridge, leaving Earth behind. The Serpent senses Odin’s knowledge of his release and summons the Worthy by sending seven comets to Earth, landing in various locations while the Avengers are standing around a tree made of green energy with six blue orbs, containing stars inside. When Spider-Man asks Rogers what just happened, Steve answers by saying the gods have left and Earth is on their own now. Back on Asgard, the Asgardians return in preparation for war against the Serpent and his Worthy while Thor urges them not to abandon Earth so Odin imprisons him for his insolence. Back at the Raft, Juggernaut witnesses something fall from the sky and crash into the prison where he is the only one that can hear the noise being emitted from the fallen hammer so he reaches out to touch it and is transformed into Kuurth, Breaker of Stone.
A prison guard near him catches Kuurth’s attention so he’s blown up by the hammer in one swipe, along with the entire island. News reports begin reporting similar events worldwide so the Avengers deploy squads to each location while Reed Richards informs Commander Rogers of a hammer landing on Yancy Street and asks him to notify Ben Grimm. Meanwhile in Brazil, Bruce and Betty Banner are discussing their marriage when they see an object fall, so both head off to investigate in their Hulk forms and find a hammer. Bruce hears a noise being emitted from it and picks it up which transforms him into Nul, Breaker of Worlds so he warns Betty to run before going on a rampage. In South Africa, Absorbing Man tries pulling out one of the hammers but fails and Titania hears the sounds from the hammer and picks it up to become Skirn, Breaker of Men and tells Creel his hammer is located up north. Meanwhile, the Serpent and Skadi mobilize their troops while in the Pacific; Attuma obtains a hammer and becomes Nerkkod, Breaker of Oceans while the Serpent unleashes his army on Washington D.C., laying waste to the city. Bucky Barnes (as Cap) leads Black Widow and Falcon against Skadi’s invasion so Skadi charges Cap while in Asgard-space, Loki tricks the guards watching over Thor into eating food which puts them to sleep and he sets Thor free. Back in Brazil, Red She-Hulk is on the Run from Nul while trying to save two children and is nearly killed until Spider-Woman, Protector and Ms. Marvel arrive to engage Nul. In New York, Reed asks Ben to try and lift the hammer which transforms him into Angrir, Breaker of Souls and he destroys the surrounding area with a single stomp.
Back in Asgard, Thor and Loki escape while the God of Mischief explains Asgard has been built as a war machine in preparation to attack Earth and stop the Serpent. Loki then leads Thor to a small group of Asgardians who disagree with Odin’s plan, but they are all discovered so Thor persuades his father to give him time to defend Earth and is given back Mjolnir. In D.C., a battered Cap continues to fight Skadi, but is soon beaten to the ground and his bionic arm is torn off while Skadi’s hammer pounds into his chest. After being left to die, Black Widow, Falcon, Shang-Chi and Valkyrie gather around him and with his last breath, Bucky tells Natalia to warn the other heroes the Serpent is coming. Thor returns to Earth in Broxton where he’s greeted by a mob of angry people who tell him to move on and he flies away while onboard the Quincarrier, Stark, Natalia and Nick Fury stand over Bucky’s body, and Natalia question the two men about their knowledge of the Serpent. Thor suddenly arrives and tells them the Serpent feeds on fear which makes him stronger while also mentioning Odin plans to destroy Earth to also kill Serpent. Fury then tells Tony and Thor to get Steve Rogers who resumes the role of Captain America and asks for the rundown so Stark tells him about the Worthy’s hammers and is told to come up with weapons to counter them. Thor explains a prophecy involving him slaying a serpent and dying at its hands so Steve asks Thor to speak to the Serpent while Maria Hill asks Steve to come see something. In British Columbia, a boy who is fishing witnesses several Atlantean bodies float to the surface due to Nerkkod and the Serpent is given full power.
The Serpent’s staff becomes a hammer which he uses to raise his citadel and Hill, Thor, Steve and Tony witness its rise from a computer monitor so they head off in different directions. Thor heads to Antarctica to confront the Serpent while Tony heads to Oklahoma to speak to Odin and Steve lands in Manhattan to join the Avengers in their fight against Skadi’s forces. The Serpent becomes aware of Thor’s arrival and sends his troops while Stark sacrifices his sobriety by drinking a bottle of wine given to him by H.A.M.M.E.R. Industries as congratulations for rebuilding Asgard. As Thor continues wiping out Serpent’s soldiers, the Serpent arrives and in Manhattan, Skadi spots Steve from a rooftop and jumps off the rooftop to attack Steve, while Tony manages to gain an audience with Odin. The Serpent explains to Thor about how he was the first king of Asgard and that Odin is his brother, making the God of Thunder his nephew. Serpent offers Thor a chance to ally himself to defeat Odin, but he is refused and Thor attacks the Serpent to be suddenly sent to New York to instead face Nul and Angrir. As Thor fights Angrir and Nul, Cap and the Avengers take on Skadi while Stark requests an opportunity to build new weapons in Odin’s workshop. During Thor’s fight, Thor sends Mjolnir through Angrir’s chest and while in battle with Nul, Franklin and Valeria Richards find Angrir who has gained his humanity on the verge of death. As Cap fights Skadi, the Serpent arrives on his citadel and proclaims the world is now his while ordering everyone to bow down. The Serpent then joins Skadi on the ground to be challenged by the Avenges, but their efforts fail as they are all blasted by the Serpent’s hammer and Cap’s shield is destroyed.
Then with a swing of his hammer, the Serpent completely destroys the surrounding area and when Cap awakens, Spider-Man is by his side to inform him the Serpent and Skadi left and asks if he can leave to be with his family. Meanwhile, Franklin uses his powers to release Angrir’s control over Ben and returns him to normal as well as healing him while Thor is fighting with Nul until he sends him into orbit and collapses from exhaustion. After recovering, the Avengers carry Thor to Asgard to heal him and when they arrive, Odin and his army stand ready to decimate Earth and when Cap orders Odin to heal Thor, they are forced out and sent to Broxton. Meanwhile, the Serpent and Skadi are heading for the World Tree while Spidey searches the streets for Aunt May and eventually finds her, ensuring her safety. In Asgard, Odin tends to Thor’s wounds and offers him another chance to join him rather than dying with the humans, but the God of Thunder declines and Odin confesses the Serpent to be his brother. Odin gives Thor his old armor and the Odinsword and is asked if the Serpent is truly the All-Father, to which Odin confesses he has lied about many things. In Svartalfheim, Stark shows Thor and Odin his newly forged weapons and states in order for him to use his armor as an upgrade, he must jump into a cauldron of Uru and he dives in with the rest of the weapons. In Broxton, Cap orders the Avengers to hold the Serpent back as long as possible and then wanders off to join the residents of Broxton at the border to tell them to either stay and fight or return to their families so they all leave and Cap prepares for his fight.
Outside Broxton, Cap begins spraying bullets as the Serpent and, the Worthy and the Thule Society converge on the World Tree, but Thor and Iron Man arrive with dwarves from Svartalfheim, bearing the weapons he forged with Uru and blessed by Odin. The weapons are then distributed to various heroes and they head off to aid Cap in his fight so the Serpent transforms into a massive dragon and battles Thor while the Avengers take on the Worthy. When Thor hurls Mjolnir into the Serpent’s mouth, it bounces near Cap who then picks it up and yells, “Avengers Assemble!” As the battles rages on, the Serpent declares all humanity will end and as Odin prepares his assault, Thor slays the Serpent with Odinsword and dies in the arms of his father while the hammers of the Worthy flee their hosts and the chaos around the world subsides. The next day as the Avengers prepare Thor’s funeral, Odin takes his brother’s corpse to Asgard and casts out all Asgardians while blaming himself for not saving his family. That Sunday, Bucky is supposedly buried in Arlington National Cemetery and the next day, Iron Man helps the dwarves melt down the Asgardian weapons and Cap is given a re-forged shield infused with Uru, making it stronger than ever but retaining a scar. On Wednesday, the Avengers are standing in Manhattan as Cap declares a new day when as they rebuild the world and mourn all those lost.
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