Thor was the God of Thunder, not the God of Hammers. Even with his divine power stripped or sealed by Odin, his body could still instinctively react to it.
When Adam channeled Mjolnir's lightning into him, Thor woke up immediately. His body healed at an accelerated rate, as if pumped full of stimulants.
Thor quickly checked himself, looking at the closing wound on his chest and peering inside.
"Don't worry, there's no Xenomorph. I removed it right away," Adam said, dragging over a bullet-riddled chair and sitting down in front of him.
"Is the battle over? Where's Loki?"
"He escaped. He took a big loss right after arriving on Earth... maybe he'll learn something from it. But he's probably not in great shape. Using that much magic must have taken a heavy toll," Adam replied.
Thor breathed a sigh of relief. Loki was crafty; as long as he got away, Thor didn't need to worry about the rest. Then he fell silent, staring bitterly at Mjolnir in Adam's hands.
Even with his straightforward mind, Thor didn't need the full details. Just seeing Mjolnir being casually tossed around by Adam filled him with sorrow.
First Magneto, now Adam. He couldn't say a word. The blow to his pride was devastating.
"Midgardian, I challenge you," Thor declared, standing up. He glanced reluctantly at the divine energy fading from his body, then spoke with determination.
"Why, son of Odin?"
"You humiliated me. As an Asgardian, honor is everything."
"How exactly did I humiliate you?"
"You used the creatures that follow you to parasitize me."
"But I took it out again. Of course, the power I promised you is gone too. Wasn't that what you wanted? You were willing to pay any price to help Loki, and you succeeded... I helped Loki escape. As an Asgardian who values honor above life, as Odin's son, is challenging your benefactor to the death how you repay kindness?"
Adam's expression remained mild.
He didn't mention that the way he had "helped" Loki escape involved teaming up with Magneto to gang up on the trickster god and force him to run.
Thor opened his mouth, then turned to leave. "Fine. I'll go find a place to end myself."
Adam nodded slightly. That was exactly the kind of thing Thor would do.
But as soon as he moved, several doctors swarmed him, grabbing on desperately.
"Wait! At least let us finish studying your body!"
"…"
Adam waved his hand. A few Xenomorphs promptly ushered the doctors out. He sent Raven to clean up the corpses outside, then turned back to Thor. "I've seen your courage in the face of death. But as Odin's son, you've shown none of the responsibility that title demands."
"What do you know?! I made a grave mistake. I'm no longer the God of Thunder! And even Mjolnir chose you." Thor looked devastated, his heart truly broken.
The proud God of Thunder, who had lived for over a thousand years, had never suffered such humiliation!
"You lose your powers and this is what you become? You are the God of Thunder, not the God of Hammers. I never heard that Odin stopped being the All-Father when he lost Gungnir and the Destroyer armor. As Odin's heir, you are still a god... even without Mjolnir. Powerful divine energy still sleeps within you," Adam said.
In the original timeline, Thor would only awaken his true strength during the battle against Hela, evolving into a hammerless God of Thunder 2.0.
Adam planted the seed now, whether it took root or not.
Thor fell silent, deep in thought. "Give me Mjolnir. I feel like…"
"I don't care what you feel. I decide. Why would I give Mjolnir to you?" Adam gripped the hammer tightly.
He had only recently gained divine power. He could confirm for now that it was a form of bodily energy. Combined with examples from various cosmic pantheons, it seemed capable of genetic inheritance. There was no way he would casually return something this valuable to Thor.
"…Lend it to me!" Thor's voice sounded heartbreaking.
"No." Adam refused flatly. "I won't lend my power to an outsider who offers me no value."
"You could only lift Mjolnir because you parasitized me with that creature."
"…Surprisingly sharp," Adam admitted with a nod. It wasn't hard to guess, but he was impressed Thor had figured it out so quickly.
He pointed at his own chest. "According to you, my followers... the Xenomorphs... can parasitize hosts and absorb portions of their genetic material. I gained part of your genes through one, which allowed Mjolnir to accept me."
There was no point hiding it. All kinds of wild rumors about him and the Xenomorphs had already spread across the internet.
After all, the world had suddenly become a lot more lively lately, with superhumans appearing everywhere.
Even if Thor had gone through his original character development and lived as a mortal on Earth for a while, he would have found information about Adam online and pieced most of it together. So Adam saw no reason to conceal anything.
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that, rounding up, my body carries some of your bloodline. Brother Thor... in other words, Mjolnir ultimately chose you. It only accepts me because of you." Adam spoke openly.
It wasn't embarrassing. He had failed when he first tried to lift the hammer, and Thor had seen it.
Thor's head was ringing.
"Let me talk about something that might interest you: Loki is probably still on Earth. He's looking for a chance to negotiate with you. You should listen carefully and think it over," Adam said, turning to look to the side.
Thor followed his gaze and recognized an Eternal. Then his face changed dramatically as the Eternal convulsed violently. The chest burst open, and a Xenomorph emerged.
"This!!"
"This is a Xenomorph. Of course, I can decide whether it needs to chestburst. It's just a thought," Adam said, extending his hand. The newly born, smaller Xenomorph displayed incredible speed, becoming a blur as it instantly climbed onto his shoulder.
In a few hours, the little one would rapidly grow into a two- or three-meter-tall adult.
Thor finally understood how terrifying these creatures truly were.
Parasitizing hosts to steal their genetic material… or the superpowers contained in their genes…
He couldn't help looking down at his now-healed chest again.
If Adam hadn't removed it, would he have eventually…
As for the bloody act of parasitism and chestbursting, it didn't shock Thor much. If anything could be criticized, it was doing it to someone who had lost their fighting strength... but even that wasn't a big deal to him.
Thor himself was a hot-tempered warmonger. Before battling alien races, he might offer surrender if he was in a good mood. But if they hadn't started fighting and the enemy didn't think they would lose, why would they accept? Then Thor would happily smash them with his hammer.
Hela was even worse... far more ruthless than Thor. The number of people she had killed could fill all of Asgard.
Odin had raised quite the pair of warlike children.
"I already told you... I removed the Xenomorph right after implanting it. Otherwise you wouldn't have survived this long."
"Don't joke around. Even if it had chestbursted, I wouldn't have died. Even without my powers and strong healing, Loki would have used magic to repair my body," Thor countered.
Adam nodded. He believed that. Loki could borrow power from cosmic entities to restore the body. With his magical skill, he might even create a new set of chest organs from nothing.
The price, however, would be another matter.
"Thank you for your honesty. You're a despicable but straightforward warrior. In different circumstances, we might have become friends. But I won't join your group. The God of Thunder... former God of Thunder, son of Odin... will not become your follower," Thor said, shaking his head.
He understood what Adam was implying: a second chance. If he wanted Mjolnir back, he would need to be parasitized again and become one of Adam's people.
The first time, he had agreed because the situation was dire. He had been willing to help Loki and planned to die afterward to preserve his honor.
The final outcome hadn't gone as expected. He had been parasitized but not fully, and he hadn't gained the "power" from Adam to help Loki in battle. That left Thor feeling awkward... half in, half out, stuck in limbo.
But this time, it was impossible. He would rather live as a mortal than surrender what little dignity he had left.
"Thor, my brother, you should know that some things, once done, can be done countless times."
"Shut up! Even if you're a powerful Midgardian with access to ancient secrets, you don't get to call me that! I'm not your brother!!" Thor jumped up. "I told you... there will never be a second time!"
"You look like a lion whose tail just got stepped on. Look at that messy hair. I'll give you some money later... go buy a couple bottles of shampoo at the store. This is the start of your life as a mortal."
If Thor still had his powers, he could have simply washed himself clean with divine energy.
Thor stormed out of the battered building under the watchful eyes of the Dum-Dums next door.
Honestly, Adam had lost count of how many batches of Dum-Dums had rotated through the neighboring building.
"Major intel... Thor just left! Adam didn't stop him or send Xenomorphs to follow. This is our chance!"
"Report to Fury immediately!"
The Dum-Dums grew excited. Some of the smarter ones were already calculating how much Fury would pay for this information. Their original body was always short on cash, and these clones monitoring Adam had no idea what the main body was up to.
Not long after, under the dumbfounded stares of the Dum-Dums, Thor came back.
"Mr. Thunder God, what are you doing?" one Dum-Dum in an apron, diligently selling raw meat, shouted.
Thor looked up at the neighboring building. From bottom to top, identical faces were pressed against every window, staring at him.
Bang!
Thor punched open the broken iron door, sending the already ruined slab crashing down.
"Welcome back, Thor Odinson. I assume you spoke with Loki?" Adam sat calmly in his chair, not even changing posture.
"Yes. Things have changed."
Thor's eyes were bloodshot, faint tear tracks visible on his face. Grief and self-blame filled his expression, but he still pointed painfully toward the neighboring building. "By the way, there's a bunch of idiots watching you from that direction. You should be careful."
"They're watching you. But your assessment is spot on. The professional standards of these agents are heartbreaking. I wonder what the elite clones are busy with," Adam said with a sigh.
Thor looked around, dragged over a half-destroyed sofa, and sat down heavily. The frame-less couch collapsed with a crash, but he clearly didn't care. Lost in pain, he said, "Father is dead."
"My condolences."
"I said the All-Father, the strongest in the Nine Realms, ruler of Asgard, Odin the All-Father is dead!"
"Yes, I heard you. What do you plan to do? Do you want to explain in detail how my father is gone?"
Adam pointed seriously at his own chest.
Elektra, who had been carefully supporting herself on a Xenomorph while testing her newly grown leg, nearly lost her composure. She drew her broken blade and gave herself a slash, then looked on in shock.
Thor's eyes welled with tears. "You said earlier that you were my brother, carrying Odin's bloodline."
"Get to the point. What exactly are you trying to say?"
"War has broken out. Loki has rushed back to Asgard to lead the army against the Frost Giants." Deep worry and hatred flashed in Thor's eyes.
He hated his own uselessness, which had indirectly caused Odin's death, and he hated Jotunheim for striking while Asgard was vulnerable.
But most of all, he worried about how Asgard... without a Celestial-level powerhouse... could withstand the powerful Frost Giants.
Adam stroked his chin, observing Thor's expression. The grief was genuine.
If it had been Hela receiving this news, she would have danced on Odin's grave within minutes.
But the siblings shared one trait: both were supremely confident that Jotunheim was trash. If they went personally, any number of Frost Giants would die!
The problem was that Thor currently had no powers and couldn't contribute at all.
Thor finally stated his purpose.
"I know it's ridiculous to ask you for help, but I have no other choice… I want to borrow troops! I need to lead a powerful and loyal army back to Asgard and counterattack Jotunheim!"
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