There was a strange mark etched into the statue—like a gateway leading to eternity. And to open that gate, the Bifrost would serve as the key.
Gorr the God Butcher had prepared extensively for this moment. Now, the time had come. He raised Stormbreaker and aimed it at the mark, forcibly channeling the Bifrost into it.
Brilliant arcs of rainbow light surged from the axe, crashing into the statue. Immediately, something stirred. The entire temple began to tremble.
Gorr wasn't alone. He had brought the kidnapped Asgardian children with him—and now, they were all in danger.
As the temple shook, a massive statue collapsed—falling directly toward the cluster of children below. If it hit, the result would be catastrophic.
Outside the screen, many viewers gasped in horror. But at that critical moment, Thor arrived—just in time. With a mighty heave, he caught the enormous statue, holding it up above the children and sparing them from harm.
The kids were ecstatic. Heimdall's son, in particular, shouted with joy, "I knew you'd come!"
Though they'd been terrified during the abduction, Heimdall's son had inherited his father's powers and was able to reach out to Thor—allowing him to appear in spiritual projection and speak to them.
Even though the initial rescue attempt had failed, Thor had visited the children often, offering reassurance and promising them—again and again—that he would get them out safely.
Seeing this, Annie praised him on the other side of the screen, "Thor… he's a true god. Just like Homelander, or Queen Maeve, when people are in trouble, they go."
Thor beamed. His time in this game had been rough. New players had taken issue with him, especially the loudmouth Deadpool and the ever-suspicious Billy Butcher. The latter had even pinned Thor as some kind of mastermind pulling strings behind the scenes.
Stephen—from a parallel universe—was also wary of him. But now, with Annie acknowledging him, Thor finally felt understood.
He flashed a wide grin. "Ah, it's nothing. Really. This is what I do. I've been fighting for the little guy since I was a kid."
Billy let out a disgusted scoff. "Oh please. You're all the bloody same. Bunch of self-righteous, back-patting hypocrites."
Hughie Campbell couldn't stay quiet either. His face flushed as he said, "Look, I'll admit—Thor did the right thing here. But the Supes from Vought? They're not what they pretend to be. A lot of them have blood on their hands. They're not heroes. They're killers."
Annie shot him a sharp glance but didn't reply. Her expression said enough: You're with that lunatic Butcher. You're no different.
Among the players, Deadpool and Billy Butcher were the least liked.
Deadpool, well—he was Deadpool. All that non-stop trash-talking and trolling made him impossible to deal with. And Billy? His fanatical hatred for anyone with powers made him insufferable.
Hughie didn't stand out much. But in the last few quiz rounds, he'd made it clear he was aligned with Butcher, which told everyone exactly where he stood.
People chatted briefly about it, but their focus quickly shifted back to the screen.
Thor had saved the kids—but Gorr was still there, and the gate wasn't fully open yet. The Bifrost needed time to do its work, and Gorr had to stall Thor to prevent him from interrupting the ritual.
And Gorr went right back to his old playbook. Plunging the Necrosword into the shadows, he summoned horrific creatures from the darkness—snarling, monstrous beasts that slithered out into the temple.
Meanwhile, Thor turned to the children for a quick pre-battle pep talk. He was alone here—no team, no backup—and he couldn't protect every single child in the chaos to come. They needed to learn to defend themselves.
Watching Thor seriously instruct the kids to take up weapons and fight with Asgardian courage was both heartwarming and absurd.
After all, this was the same Thor who had once tried to recruit gods from Omnipotence City to take down Gorr. He'd even tried to convince Zeus to join his team.
Now? His "team" was a bunch of little kids. And he was their class monitor.
Still, the children were brave. Fired up by Thor's speech, they began grabbing anything that could be used as a weapon. Rocks were understandable—but one girl even raised a stuffed doll like it was a warhammer...
Looking at the swarm of terrifying shadow monsters on the other side, it was hard not to worry—was Thor about to lead these kids on a suicide charge?
Fortunately, the temple was huge, and Gorr was at the far end. His monsters hadn't reached them yet. This gave Thor and the kids a little time to prepare.
Thor, ever the showman, used the moment to give a rousing speech.
"Today," he declared, "is a day that will go down in history. A day your grandkids will talk about for centuries. Today—we are Space Vikings!"
He wasn't joking. He was giving the kids courage, urging them to stand tall.
Then, invoking a spell with Zeus's lightning bolt in hand, he said:
"To all those who are brave enough to hold a weapon… and believe they'll make it back home—you are worthy... of temporary access to the power of Thor!"
"PÁVÓR!" he roared.
With that, Thor channeled lightning through Zeus's bolt, sending arcs of radiant golden electricity toward each child. The bolts struck them one by one, linking them in a crackling chain of power.
The mood shifted—now it was electrifying.
Everything was ready. Thor, wielding lightning, charged ahead—leading his kid army straight into the horde of monsters pouring in.
Thor's might was beyond question. Even without Stormbreaker, with Zeus's lightning in hand, the shadow beasts were nothing more than cannon fodder.
But the real surprise? The children.
Empowered by Thor's magic, each one—armed with rocks, sticks, or plush toys—rushed into battle with fearless energy. They weren't just holding their own. They were winning.
The tide turned almost instantly. The kids had this under control.
Which gave Thor the opening he needed—to face Gorr the God Butcher head-on.
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T/N:
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