Heroes Assemble!

Destination: Space

"Thor? Are you alright?" Carol asked worriedly.

"He looks to be in some kind of trance," Doctor Strange replied. "If I had to guess, I'd say that his Astral Form has gone somewhere else but from what I know of Thor Odinson, that's impossible."

"Astral Form?" Carol asked.

"We all have a physical form as well as the part of us that makes us who we are, our personality, our memories, our consciousness. With the right training and skill, it's possible to journey to other places using just our Astral Form while leaving our physical bodies behind. I use the technique quite a lot actually," Doctor Strange explained. "However, I was under the impression that Thor had never had that training."

"No," Carol frowned, staring at the unnaturally still form of her friend, "no, that's not something that Thor's ever mentioned being able to do. What should we do? Should we move him?"

Whatever the Sorcerer Supreme was going to answer was rendered moot as Thor unexpectedly took a deep breath and his eyelids flickered rapidly.

"Thor?" Doctor Strange asked. "Are you alright?"

"I am," he replied before his face hardened.

"What happened?" Carol asked. "It looked like the lights were on but no one was home?"

"Heimdall allowed me to See what was happening on Asgard," Thor replied. "It was as though I was there; I could see and hear everything and speak to him, although no one but he could see or hear me."

"Really?" Doctor Strange asked interestedly. "He projected your Astral Form to himself on Asgard?"

Thor looked at him. "Your words mean little to me."

"That's alright," Doctor Strange replied. "I understood. Your experience was simply one that I didn't know was possible. However, now that I do, I look forward to learning it myself."

"What's going on, Thor? Did you find your father?" Carol asked.

"My father, Odin, is dead," Thor replied.

"I'm sorry," both Carol and Doctor Strange said simultaneously.

"My thanks," Thor nodded. "However, now is not the time to grieve; there are far more important things that need to be dealt with."

"More important?" Doctor Strange asked.

"Indeed. It seems that the All Father's passing released my sister from whatever prison Odin had her trapped in," Thor told them. "Already, she's returned to Asgard and slaughtered not only the Legion of Asgard but also killed my brother."

"Loki's dead?" Doctor Strange asked sounding extremely interested.

"You have a sister?" Carol asked.

Thor gave the Doctor a hard look before focussing on Carol.

"Apparently. The goddess of Death, she calls herself. An apt description, now that I think on it. And she has claimed the throne as well."

"But if Odin's dead, wouldn't that make you King?" Doctor Strange asked.

"I would have thought so," Thor frowned. "But if she is older ..."

"If she's going to go around killing, then she's not exactly the best choice to rule in my opinion," Carol stated.

"As bad as it is, at least she's restricted to the one world and without an army to trouble any others," Doctor Strange added.

"I'm not so sure of that," Thor replied. "Just before Heimdall sent me back, she said something about raising her own army from the dead."

"Necromancy? She's into necromancy? That's never a good thing," Doctor Strange frowned. "She's going to have to be stopped. Having Asgardian undead roaming the planet and the galaxy is bad for business."