“Sacred Invasion, Part 1: The God Squad”
July 2008
SECRET INVASION TIE-IN! The Greek Goliath gathers the most powerful super-team ever assembled to counter-attack the Skrull gods! Face front, True Believers, and prepare for the pantheon-pounding premiere of... THE GOD SQUAD! We open with a prologue where Urania, the muse of prophecy, discovers the truth of the Skrull invasion, which explains how Athena knows. Big A further explains that she, in her mortal disguise as an Atlas Corporation security consultant, tracked down a Skrull and killed it, and now has warned all the other Gods. The Skrull situation concerns them all because: A) The Skrulls conquering Earth will lead to... B) A power shift in the cosmos where the Earth gods will not be needed, leading to... C) Demogorge the God-Eater eating them all. Ergo, Athena proposes that they sent an army to kill the Skrull Gods, Kly'bn the Eternal Skrull and Sl'gur't of the Infinite Names. Herc, Athena says, will lead the army. Herc is not happy about this, and kicks over a tree; Athena covers and says he's just anxious to kill some Skrulls. Hodiak, the Inuit Skyfather, volunteers Snowbird; flashback intro shows Snowbird beating up Michael Pointer/Guardian, since he killed everyone; she tells that her marriage is over, Alpha Flight is dead, and until the Great Beasts return, she has little interest in the human world. Hodiak then appears and tells her she is needed (apparently Athena let everyone know in advance so that they can have their armies ready). Back in the present, Herc is still freaking out, complaining about Athena manipulating him and not saying anything; Cho says it's not like he's never done this before; Herc says it's exactly like that: he was never the leader; real leaders inspire (Captain America) or "sweet-talk gold out of its luster" (Jason). Herc tries to get Amadeus to leave, saying Athena must have some plan for him, but he refuses. The Incan Skyfather, on behalf of the Aztec/Mayan/Incan grouping, volunteers Ajak/Tecumotzin; flashback shows Ajak was working as a gardener before the Southern gods approached him, and agreed because he hopes to gain knowledge of the Celestials and their ways (since the Skrulls are the Deviant branch of their race, who killed the Eternal strain), to spite Makkari, who has usurped his place as interlocutor with the Dreaming Celestial. The Japanese Skyfather, Izanagi-no-Mikoto, volunteers Amatsu-Mikaboshi (who is brought in chains), because he is a skilled shapeshifter, which would be useful. Herc and Athena are both very dubious (Athena's expression is priceless), Herc to the extent that he decides to thrash Amatsu instead. Ajak tries to stop Herc, but Herc punches him out; Snowbird steps in, and they spar briefly; she matches his moves, and he stops to compliment her, mentioning the time they fought Attuma together; Narya says he is still skilled, "the fact..heartens me." While they're talking, Mikaboshi has gotten up again and jumps at them; Ajak blasts him, and Amatsu falls on Snowbird. Herc grapples with Ajak while Snowbird (polar bear form) fights Amatsu. Suddenly, Demogorge arrives, cackling at the gods squabbling amongst themselves. He reverts to his Atum form, and says he is here at the request of his son Horus; he uses a really, really awesome shepherd analogy to describe his reason for agreeing. Altjira, the Australian Skyfather, volunteers a magic ship that will take them where they need to go, although he had been expecting a bigger complement; Athena agrees and complains that five guys isn't exactly what she had in mind. Anansi, the Spider-God from Africa (thank you, Gargoyles!), says that no one trusts Athena, since they assume she's got some other plan in the works, such as trying to seize on of their kingdoms for the Greeks while they're at the wars. He further wonders why they haven't brought the Asgardians in on this; Athena says the whole Ragnarok situation means she doesn't trust them; Anansi dismisses this, and says that Thor would make a superior leader for the team; Herc is annoyed at this, and jumps on the ship, saying that he will lead. Everybody else follows, but even as the ship starts to enter the Dreamtime (the realm it travels through), a Skrull invasion fleet arrives, headed for San Francisco. Herc wants to go back and fight them, but Athena (now, like all the other gods, a starry head) says it's too late. As she fades away, Athena warns Amadeus that Urania made a second prophecy: the gods' efforts will fail, unless Cho, when Herc is at his weakest, does the hardest thing he has ever had to do. Athena vanishes, leaving Cho wondering what that means. Amatsu asks Hercules if Athena's eyes have always been green. — Description from Comic Vine community (comicvine.gamespot.com).
