What Has Come Before: While Thor is away, seeking the being called Infinity, and trying to halt his path of destruction, Odin is taking his Odin Sleep, leaving Balder on the throne. A string of events, including Balder falling ill, cause Loki to sit on the throne. Even as Loki takes the throne, however, Galactus and Morg appear, ready to strike Asgard, each seeking the power of Asgard for their own!

alactus stands, looking at the prize in front of him—more power than he has ever attempted to consume in one setting. So much power, in fact, that perhaps he will never feel the pangs of hunger again. His hunger, and addiction so great that it eats away at his very being, and causes more of his nearly-forgotten humanity to slip away out of his grasp with each new hit. As Morg watches from a safe distance, out of sight of his former master, Galactus levitates closer to Asgard, even as noble Heimdall can be seen on the rainbow bridge, standing ever vigilant against any such invasion to the golden realm.

“You…one called Heimdall,” Galactus utters in a commanding tone, “I have come to consume Asgard. You may inform the citizens that they have one hour to evacuate the city, unless they wish to be consumed with it.”

“I am not one of your heralds, world-devourer,” Heimdall fires back in contempt, while raising his sword. “Know ye this…if thou does seek to destroy the golden realm, thou will have to defeat me first, aye, and then every warrior in the realm.”

Inside the golden realm, on the throne of Odin, his son Loki sits, his hand running through his down-turned head, as he looks on, amazed at his turn of luck, as the message makes its way to him that Galactus has arrived.

“For eons have I waited to sit upon this throne,” Loki silently muses, shaking his head in disbelief at the turn of events, “and now, when the time hath come—now, the cosmic cannibal Galactus hath decided to use this moment to launch an attack ‘gainst the realm?!”

Loki stands, surprising Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg with his sudden burst of courage. “Nay, this I will not allow!” he exclaims with a command in his voice that his frequent opponents have not seen before. Turning to Hogun, Loki bellows: “Hogun, thou art one of our greatest warriors. The task at hand will be most taxing to Asgard, but thee may be able to assist much.”

“What do you have in mind?” Hogun asks, also eager to defend Asgard, casting off for a moment his disdain at following Loki's orders. He sees, perhaps for the first time, an earnest desire in the trickster to actually work together with them to defend the very realm that he has many times sought to destroy.

“The Destroyer armor awaits,” Loki says, walking with Hogun down a long corridor, followed closely by Fandral and Volstagg. “I have recently…extricated it from that idiot mortal who hath occupied it, and returned it hither. Just it time, ‘twould seem.” As they enter the room housing the Destroyer armor, he looks over at Hogun. “I can think of no one better, in this dire moment of need, to occupy the armor than thee.”

Hogun nods, as Loki walks them over to the armor, and prepares a spell that will enter Hogun into the armor. “There is no risk that I would not take to defend Asgard from invasion.”

“Indeed,” Loki responds, nodding. “This I know.” So saying, he uses his mystic powers, casting a spell, as Hogun turns immaterial before the eyes of his comrades, and seems to float into the shell of the Destroyer. The figure of the Destroyer, which was once immobile, starts to move, slightly at first. Then, it turns to face Fandrall and Volstagg, who backs up slightly, involuntarily.

“He yearns to destroy,” Loki comments. “If we do not send him to battle, he will likely wreck this palace entire.” So saying, Loki sends out his mystic energy again, as it encompasses the Destroyer. The latter, sensing an attacks, starts to move towards Loki, who then works with more urgency at his task. Soon, the Destroyer disappears. “I have transported him outside, where he can do the most good…by destroying that gluttonous Galactus."

“Aye,” Volstragg remarks. “And not a moment too soon.”

“Verily, ‘tis so,” Loki agrees.

“We shall go into battle as well,” Fandrall comments as he brandishes his sword, turning to Volstagg, who walks towards him, reaching for his sword. “The cosmic cannibal shall not take Asgard as his latest meal.”

“Indeed not,” Loki adds. “Go then, and I shall seek more assistance for Asgard.” As Fandrall and Volstagg leave his presence, Loki's face turns to a scowl. “That idiotic cosmic menace!” Loki thinks to himself. “All was in readiness for my ascension to the throne. Now, I must use those who were to secure my position on the throne to help preserve a world to rule. For his interference in my plans, that galactic glutton shall pay dearly. He will soon what it means to cross the path of Loki!”

eanwhile, to allay any concerns that we have forgotten the star of this title, let us turn our attention out into the distance of space, where we find Thor, who has the Recorder in tow behind him, carried by way of the mystic energy from Thor's hammer.

“'Though I would gladly help the Rigelians,” Thor ponders aloud, “Asgard must always come first.”

“Observation,” the Recorder utters in his emotionless tone, “If the menace is the same, it will not matter.”  

“Aye, friend Recorder,” Thor agrees. “I think the menace of Infinity hath returned. Although he did create a swath of destruction that continues throughout this region of space…” Thor hesitates for a moment, as they pass by another destroyed world, Marv-Wolf, “…there can be little doubt that his goal is Asgard itself.”  

“Statement: There will be time to help the Rigelians later,” the Recorder points out. “They will need help rebuilding their lost bases.”  

“Aye,” Thor agrees. “And I will gladly help my friends, the Rigelians. However, I fear that Infinity seeks to continue his swath of destruction until it consumes Asgard as well.”  

“Question: If that is the case, should we not seek to arrive at Asgard before Infinity?” Recorder asks.  

“'Tis true,” Thor assents. “I only sought to prevent further destruction in Infinity's wake, but I hath yet to see him.” Thor stops flying, as he allows Recorder to drift up to him. He then swings his hammer, creating a massive circular vortex, which soon surrounds him and the Recorder. As the vortex increases in intensity, it affects the gravity of neighboring planets, and meteors, as they start moving inexorably towards the vortex. Before they arrive, however, Thor and the Recorder are gone, teleported with Thor's powers out of this system.

utside the realm of Asgard, but in sight of the glittering city, Galactus fires cosmic energy from his eyes at Heimdall, who stands firm against Galactus. Heimdall lifts his enchanted blade, which was crafted by the trolls, but enchanted by Odin himself. The blade, held in Heimdall's powerful arms, cleaves the energy in half, as it strikes the blade, the energy continuing downward, where it strikes passing meteors, destroying them!  

“Out of my way, godling,” Galactus pronounces, in his arrogant tone. “You cannot stop me from consuming this prize. Evacuate it, or see your entire race perish.”  

“Well do I know of thy genocidal ways, world-devourer,” Heimdall responds, as he stands on the rainbow bridge, the gates of Asgard rising behind him. “As I told thee, you will have to defeat me—aye, and every warrior in Asgard—‘ere we stand aside and let thee have our home. Thy madness is great indeed if thou thinkest that we will merely let thee have Asgard to satisfy thy never-ending thirst for power. Have at thee, because Asgard will not fall without more fight than thou art prepared to offer.”  

Galactus cannot believe his eyes—one single denizen of Asgard stands alone, unprepared to give way before him. Galactus is not used to such resistance, and he did not expect to see Asgard's warriors stand alone, without Odin. His own colossal arrogance makes his anger seethe and burn within him, ready to explode outward in rage.  

However, before he can attack again, the Destroyer teleports instantly before him. “What?” Galactus asks, surprised to see the Destroyer. “Away, my former herald. Do not get in the way of my feeding.”  

The Destroyer, however, ignores Galactus' commanding tone. Instead, he grows larger, matching Galactus' size, as he moves forward, striking Galactus with a terrible blow that drives the world-devourer back, shattering some of the armor on the top half of Galactus' face, as the world-devourer falls back through the air, reeling from the power of the blow.  

“Such power, such rage,” Galactus utters, as he tries to recover his senses. “Seldom have I seen its like. But how could a former herald of mine harness such power? You were once but an empty shell, to be animated by my energy…now…!”  

The Destroyer wastes no words, and is upon Galactus, striking him again in the face, shattering the remainder of Galactus' facial armor, as energy seeps outward from where the armor once covered his face.  

Stunned and concerned about his prospect of survival, Galactus sends out a cosmic energy blast that strikes the Destroyer squarely in the mid-section, driving him back slightly with the force of the blast—a blast that in the past has laid waste to far lesser foes. Galactus soon learns, however, that the Destroyer is certainly not in that category.  

Morg, previously away from the battle, watching and waiting for the opportunity, soon realizes that Galactus is doing poorly against his foe. Though he is want to assist his former master, whose interests are contrary to his own, he is more concerned about facing the Asgardian warrior alone. So, while the Destroyer's back is turned, he strikes, sending out a cosmic blast of energy—a blast that would put down the Silver Surfer—that strikes the Destroyer in the pit of his back. The Destroyer, who was built to combat Celestials, merely stumbles forward two to three steps, before turning around to face his foe.  

Morg is stunned, used to dealing with far less powerful cosmic threats, and himself believing what Galactus had said earlier, that the Destroyer was merely one of Galactus' former heralds. When the Destroyer glares at him, sending out twin bursts of energy from his fingertips that pummel the rogue former herald, Morg can only fall back, landing hard on the Rainbow Bridge.  

Immediately, Heimdall rushes over to Morg, who struggles to get to his feet. Heimdall, a trained warrior of eons, is upon the rogue cosmic villain quickly, swinging his two-handed sword at Morg, striking him across his mid-section, as a mixture of cosmic energy and blood starts to flow from Morg's stomach, as he doubles over in pain.  

“Thou and thy ally, the fiend responsible for mass genocide,” Heimdall challenges, brandishing his sword again, prepared to strike a death blow against his foe, “will soon learn that Asgard is not easy prey!”  

“This does appear to be a miscalculation,” Morg silently considers, raising his hands to fire out twin cosmic blasts of energy at Heimdall, “and perhaps a deadly one. I cannot believe that Galactus could have made such a grievous error, presuming that this great source of energy could so easily be taken by the absence of one being, however powerful.” Morg blasts at Heimdall, who raises his sword, deflecting both blasts with a mixture of skill and amazing speed, stunning Morg, who expected his cosmic powers to take down someone he presumed to be a mere swordsman.  

Morg, however, is not without his tricks. He slams his foot on the rainbow bridge, throwing Heimdall off-balance. Using this moment to surprise his foe, he then blasts Heimdall with his cosmic energy, driving him back, crashing onto the rainbow bridge.  

As Morg gets to his feet, however, he is assaulted by a large metal ball, connected to a chain. This chain, as he turns to discover, is being swung in the air by the Absorbing Man! “A human?” Morg asks, surprised to see someone with the bearing of a common criminal in this majestic realm. “A human prepares to defend Asgard as well?”  

“I don't give a rip about Asgard,” Creel argues. “I'm here for my own reasons, and they ain't any of your business!”  

“Fool!” Morg admonishes, blasting Creel, sending him back a few steps. “I am a former herald of Galactus! Do you think your…ball and chain…can stop such as myself?!”  

“A former herald of Galactus, huh?” Creel responds, sneering at the suggestion. “I guess he wasn't much to work for. I've met a lot of his old workers…and I ain't been impressed with any of ‘em! I'm used to fightin' Thor and the Hulk. Some panty-waist herald, like you or the Surfer, don't impress me none!”  

“You dare?!” Morg is enraged at the suggestion. He sends out trains of blasts at the Absorbing Man, who swings his ball and chain, blocking most of the blasts. Some, however, do get through, and slam into Creel with tremendous force. He gets to his feet, however, glowing with cosmic energy.  

“Thanks, pal,” Creel mockingly says. “Ya just made me stronger.”  

The Destroyer now turns his attention to Galactus, who stands before him. Galactus strikes the Destroyer, driving him back a short distance. The Destroyer then turns to fight Galactus, and the two exchange blows. Galactus uses his powers to blast the Destroyer, causing him to fall down, towards the Rainbow Bridge. As the Destroyer falls, he smashes into the Rainbow Bridge, and tumbles downward, rolling off the side of the bridge.  

Galactus, content that no one else is fighting him for the moment, starts to set up his equipment, which he plans to use to consume the enormous energy of Asgard. He looks down for a moment, seeing Morg battling Heimdall and the Absorbing Man. “What happens to Morg, who sought to interfere with my feeding,” Galactus considers, “is not the concern of Galactus.” He continues to assemble his machinery, even as he looks back, to make sure that no one rises to challenge him. “All that matters is that Galactus survives. No civilization, no matter how old, is as important as the survival of Galactus.”  

“This we hath heard most often!” a voice announces, as a familiar hammer streaks forward, shattering Galactus' equipment in its wake, causing the metallic pieces to explode outward, becoming debris in the space surrounding the majestic city floating in space. “Indeed, thou hath e'en used thy methods of mind control to convince others not to slay thee on that ground. However, well do I remember thy account to me of thy origin…all of which was beheld by a Watcher. Thy lies and delusions of cosmic importance may impress and befuddle the minds of thy cultists, but they hath no meaning here in Asgard, where we know much better!”  

“Thor!” Galactus exclaims, shocked at this turn of events. “I thought you were in space, on some mad quest.”  

“Mad quest, eh?” Thor responds, as he reaches out, catching Mjolnir, which quickly returns to his outstretched hand. “You would not understand such things, eager as thou art to commit genocide on a cosmic scale. I sought to stop one much more powerful—and dangerous—than thee.”  

“Genocide?” Galactus argues, as he grabs Thor, holding him in his grasp. “You know well my importance to the universe, how I merely help nature on its way, destroying only those who need to die, to cultivate the universal garden…”  

“Aye,” Thor responds, has he grabs Galactus' fingers, sending out waves of electricity through Galactus' fingers, causing him to release the thunder god, who flies upwards. “I hath heard that fairy tale, but thought thou would know better than to utter such nonsense here. Hath thou not many times sought to destroy the Earth—and other worlds besides—only to be turned back by superior forces, or by other means? Were these worlds ‘weeds' that the gardener was unable to stop?”  

“Your presumption is too much, thunder god!” Galactus urges, blasting at Thor, who deflects the cosmic energy with his hammer. “Even an Earth writer came to my defense…”  

“Aye,” Thor replied, “who was as mad as thee. My father Odin, however, would have words with thee. ‘Twould seem that thou managed to cloud the minds of the others, making them believe that Odin came to thy defense, that he helped them believe that thou must survive, to perform some purpose. The all-father liked not thy use of his good name in thy unjust war ‘gainst life. To think that one such as thee, whose very name is synonymous with genocide and destruction, serves some function to preserve the life of the universe, is so mad that only madmen could accept this foolishness.”  

“I am Galactus!” the cosmic foe proclaims. “That is reason enough.” So saying, he unleashes more cosmic energy at Thor, who flies swiftly, avoiding these blasts.  

“There will always be those who use their name to excuse their crimes,” Thor argues, as he flies forward, striking Galactus with his hammer, the blow smashing into Galactus' face, causing cosmic energy to be released from his metallic armor. “This makes the crimes no less crimes by the excuses of the utterer. Long hath I known thee, Galactus. E'en thy former herald, Silver Surfer, hath worked to prevent thy mass murdering ways. Thy death will not usher the end of the universe, as some madmen claim. It will only bring about the end of another genocidal madman, who believed himself the final judge of mass civilizations of beings.”  

Thor moves forward, preparing to strike again at Galactus, but is halted in his tracks. Suddenly, darkness falls like a shroud over Asgard. Galactus, looks up, trying to find the cause of this great shadow. As he does, his eyes reflect the fear that grips him.  

Down below, Morg, Heimdall, and the Absorbing Man all look up, stunned by the sight before them. As they all look up, they see that a giant being stands in their midst, pulsating with vast amounts of energy, his very presence casting a dark shadow on Asgard and the space that surrounds  it. He is the one called Infinity!  

To be continued…

NEXT ISSUE: As if Galactus and Morg weren't enough, Asgard is threatened by Infinity! Find out just what this means, as Asgard, and the universe itself stands in the balance!