Having
returned to Earth, Thor is flying about, enjoying the freedom of the skies.
Meanwhile, Hercules is wandering the streets, taking in the misery of the world
when he hears a scream. Dashing upstairs in an apartment house, he finds a
knife-wielding punk robbing an old man, then stabbing him. Herc chases the kid
to a rooftop, past the victim who is muttering, “He said I’d never die” and captures
the punk, bringing him back to the apartment in time to see the old man light
the gas then strike a match, blowing himself up. Thor arrives at the scene of
the blaze and summons rain to extinguish the flames. Police Detective Sergeant
Ralph Blumkenn introduces himself to Thor and Herc and at lunch informs them
that the old man was the fourth person to die while muttering about some sort
of life following death, the first three being a science teacher who set
herself on fire, a construction worker who touched off dynamite, and a hijacker
who killed the pilots of a plane, causing it to crash. When the heroes seem
skeptical, Blumkenn leaves and Thor and Herc decide to help. Thor calls to Odin
for aid; the All-Father claims he can’t help but sends them one who can, as Sif
appears. Thor is so occupied with the arrival of Sif that Herc grows mad and
stalks off to solve the mystery himself….
A
few blocks away, Herc realizes he is being followed but when he turns around to
grab the baddie, he finds himself under attack by a sort of solid shadow man.
The two battle until the shadow maneuvers Hercules back toward a manhole which
opens and Herc is seized by weird creatures and dragged out of sight….
At
the hospital, Sif shows Thor how well Krista is recovering from her injures,
thanks to the surgical expertise of Dr. Don Blake. Suddenly, Hercules falls
into the room, mutters, “Where darkness dwells, dwell I” and collapses. Thor
vows vengeance….