Another base staff member charged at Thor with a high kick. Thor, unbothered, raised his right leg and blocked the strike mid-air, countering effortlessly.
Bang!
Their legs collided. The attacker winced in agony, while Thor remained perfectly composed.
Even without his divine powers, Thor's physical strength alone was likely second only to the Hulk in his enraged form.
Without giving the man a chance to recover, Thor stepped forward and landed a powerful right hook. The blow sent the staffer flying, knocking him out cold.
Thud!
The man crashed to the ground, unmoving.
"I need someone on high ground!" Hill barked into her walkie-talkie.
Hawkeye Barton grabbed his alloy compound bow and a quiver of arrows and sprinted out of the command room. Outside, the rain was pouring so heavily it was hard to even see straight.
With one swift motion, Hawkeye leapt into the lift basket and ascended toward the base's highest point.
If Aetheris were present, he would've had a heart attack. Standing on a metal structure during a thunderstorm? Rising that high into the sky? If Barton had offended the heavens recently, this was practically begging for retribution.
As Thor advanced toward the base's core, more and more personnel tried to block his path.
But he didn't falter. As Asgard's mightiest warrior, the more opponents there were, the more alive he felt.
One man launched himself at Thor with a spinning left kick aimed at his head. Thor didn't even flinch. He casually extended a hand.
Zzzzt!
The man shattered the energy shield but was instantly flung away like a ragdoll.
Thor followed with a scorpion kick to an enemy sneaking up from behind, catching him clean under the chin. He sidestepped two more attackers rushing in from either side, spun mid-air with a perfect 360-degree twist, and landed lightly on his feet.
Hill watched the surveillance feed in stunned silence, momentarily forgetting to issue commands.
She felt like she was watching a martial arts blockbuster something from an epic production of the East.
That mid-air 360 spin and taking down three men in one breath was this man even human?
Could this absurdly handsome lunatic really be the God of Thunder?
"Ma'am, the hammer is emitting extremely powerful electromagnetic pulses. Our systems are struggling. The base's hardware is barely hanging on," reported a bald man with gold-rimmed glasses.
"I don't have time for this. Barton, keep the updates coming!"
Rain soaked Hill's clothes, which clung to her frame, emphasizing her curves.
One of the outsourced software engineers stole a glance and immediately got a nosebleed.
He silently cursed himself for being weak, maybe it was the spicy food he had for lunch.
No one around noticed.
Above, Hawkeye steadied himself against the whipping wind. From his high perch, he readied his compound bow, locking eyes on the rapidly advancing Thor.
"What's the game plan? Should I take the shot, or just keep watching everyone get wrecked?"
"Just track him for now. Don't make a move unless I say so!" Hill commanded, descending from the platform and heading toward the camp's center.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Thor broke through the final defensive line. Mjölnir was finally in sight.
A thrill ran through him. His entire body quivered with anticipation, a wide grin spreading across his face.
Thud!
Out of nowhere, a massive security guard a towering Black man over two meters tall slammed into Thor, knocking him to the ground.
"Heh, strong. But I've faced stronger," Thor said, pressing off the ground with his right hand and flipping upright. He lifted his left arm forward, right arm back, then nonchalantly brushed his thumb across his nose.
"I'm gonna hit you!"
It was his favorite line from a recent Earth movie he'd seen.
The big guy blinked in confusion."Kung Fu?"
Thor didn't answer. He struck down with an open palm. The giant instinctively raised his arms to block, but it was a feint—Thor dropped into a deep stance and drove an iron elbow straight into his chest, using the full force of his waist and legs.
Crack!
A sharp crack echoed through the air. The man was launched several meters away, his heavy body crashing into the mud.
"We Asgardians are not the sick men of the Nine Realms!"
Thor shook his head and turned toward the crater's center, where Mjölnir awaited.
Underwear!
A bolt of lightning lit the camp, Thor was already standing next to his hammer.
Framed by the flashing sky, he looked like something out of legend. Everyone instinctively turned to look at him.
"Give the order already, or I swear I'm going to start rooting for him!" Hawkeye shouted over the comms.
Hill looked down at Thor, who was beaming like a child expecting praise.
"Wait. I want to see what happens."
The rain kept falling in sheets, draping the camp in darkness.
Thor steadied his breath. That hammer had been with him for over a thousand years more than a weapon, it was part of him.
Now, standing before it, he felt like a soldier returning home after exile.
"Come to me."
He grasped the handle with his right hand.
Nothing.
Frowning, he grabbed it with both hands.
"Ahhh...!"
Veins bulged across his arms, muscles straining beneath rain-drenched clothes. Gritting his teeth, he gave it everything he had.
But Mjölnir didn't budge.
It was as if the hammer had fused with the earth. No matter how much strength he summoned, it remained still.
"This can't be. No, this is impossible!"
Thor stumbled back, staring at his empty hands. He raised his eyes to the storm above.
"Why!"
His voice roared through the camp, full of fury and disbelief.
But the heavens offered no answer only more thunder and rain.
Thud.
Thor dropped to his knees. At that moment, he looked like a defeated rooster—crestfallen, broken, utterly stripped of his will.
Hill felt a strange weight in her chest. A bit of relief, yes but also a touch of regret.
God of Thunder? Thor?
She had actually believed the nonsense Tony Stark had spouted. What's wrong with her? Was she, a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, just another woman fooled by a fantasy?
She sighed and picked up her walkie-talkie.
"Show's over. Ground forces, move in."
Seeing Thor so utterly defeated, Hawkeye slowly lowered his bow. His expression was hard to read.
That proud, golden-haired warrior reduced to this?
Why?
He had fought through all those guards, risking life and limb, just to see if he could lift a hammer?
It didn't make sense.
At Hill's command, more than a dozen heavily armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents charged in and cuffed Thor's hands behind his back.
(End of Chapter)
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