"Stop! Loki!"
Thor slammed Mjolnir down onto the teleportation platform, but the wild energy surging from the Bifrost had already spiraled out of control. His hammer didn't quell it instead, the backlash sent him flying backward.
Grimacing as he stood, Thor shouted in fury,"Why are you doing this?!"
Loki, adorned in his horned helmet, his eyes wide with emotion, shouted back,"I want to prove to Father that I'm worthy! When he wakes up, I'll tell him that Loki was the one who wiped out Jotunheim, that wretched realm! Then the throne will finally be mine!"
Thor's face twisted with rage, his voice shaking,"This isn't victory, it's genocide! You can't just erase an entire race!"
Loki laughed bitterly."And why not? Don't tell me you've developed a soft spot for the Frost Giants. You used to kill them with your bare hands."
His expression shifted suddenly. With a strange glint in his eye, he murmured,"You've changed."
Thor stared at him."I have, Loki. I'm not that man anymore."
"And neither am I. So pick up your hammer and fight me!"
With a sudden strike, Loki slammed his staff into Thor's chest, launching him across the platform.
"I never wanted the throne, I just wanted to be your equal!"
Thor rose slowly, clutching his ribs."I won't fight you, brother."
Loki's voice turned cold."I'm not your brother. I never was."
Thor was stunned."Loki… you've lost your mind."
"You think I'm mad? Is that it? Is that what you see when you look at me?!"
His voice cracked. Tears shimmered in his eyes but never fell.
"What happened on Earth to make you this soft? Was it that woman? Oh… maybe after this, I'll pay her a little visit."
The sorrow Thor had felt for his broken brother evaporated. Loki's threat to the woman he loved snapped something inside him. With a roar, Thor charged, hammer raised high.
"AHHHH!"
Mjolnir collided with Loki's scepter in a thunderous clash, sending Loki sprawling to the ground. Thor, the mightiest warrior of Asgard, was not someone a mage like Loki could withstand head-on.
Thor took one long step forward and raised his hammer again. Loki rolled aside just in time and retaliated, slashing with a burst of golden light from his staff.
Thor felt a cold sting on his abdomen. Instinctively, he swung his hammer in a sharp arc, intercepting the next strike with a resounding clang.
Loki lashed out with a kick that sent Thor flying, then hurled his spear at Thor's exposed throat.
The battle had consumed them both. They were no longer brothers just warriors in a duel to the death.
As Thor struggled to regain control, the spear nearly touched his throat.
"Damn it, Loki! I'm still your brother and you're trying to kill me?!"
Thor's gaze hardened. Rather than retreat, he lunged forward and caught the incoming spear with his bare hand.
If their strength had been equal, this would've been suicide. A longer weapon typically dominates the field unless the opponent is strong enough to break the rhythm.
As they say: a spear dances like a dragon it thrives in constant motion.
But Thor crushed that motion in an instant. He clamped the weapon beneath his arm fast, precise, absolute.
"Stop, Loki!"
Loki's face flushed as he struggled, but the spear wouldn't move."You're not going anywhere," Thor said coldly.
"Screw you!"
Loki suddenly kicked Thor in the stomach and let go of the spear. The unexpected move threw Thor off, and fury surged in his chest.
You thought I'd stay passive just because I held back my claws?
Fine. You want this? Then take it.
Mjolnir swung with full force, striking Loki square in the chest. The impact launched him over fifty meters, smashing through the teleportation platform's wall before he slammed hard onto the Bifrost.
"Help! Help!"
Loki teetered off the edge of the bridge, clawing at its rim. Below him stretched the endless expanse of space falling meant death, or worse.
"Brother, help me!" he cried, sounding genuinely terrified.
Thor's anger had passed. He couldn't let Loki die.
He reached out only to grab empty air.
His heart sank. Too late.
Then a sudden flicker behind him.
Loki.
Shhk!Loki's spear pierced Thor's side before he could react, sending him crashing to the ground.
Loki burst into crazed laughter, and instantly split into dozens of identical copies phantoms surrounding Thor.
"That's enough!"
Thor roared. Raising Mjolnir high, he summoned lightning. The sky cracked, and bolts came crashing down, obliterating the clones and striking Loki's real body as well.
The real Loki collapsed with a groan, unable to rise.
Thor stepped forward and pressed Mjolnir down on Loki's chest. Loki gritted his teeth, grasping at the hammer with both hands but it didn't budge.
Thor turned to face the teleportation platform. It was overflowing with chaotic energy. He hesitated. Just getting close made his body feel like it might be sucked in.
Brute force couldn't stop it now.
"Look at you, mighty Thor," Loki sneered. "All that strength and still useless. You can't stop it! You have no way!"
Thor remained silent. Then his eyes dropped to the brilliant rainbow bridge beneath his feet. Resolve flared in his gaze.
CLANG!
Mjolnir flew into his hand. Thor raised it high, then slammed it down.
The impact echoed like a thunderclap, making the entire bridge tremble.
Far away in the royal palace, Odin stirred. His single eye snapped open.
Clang, clang, clang!
Thor continued pounding the Bifrost relentlessly, murmuring to himself,"Eighty, eighty, eighty…"
Freed from the weight of the hammer, Loki sat up slowly, bewildered. When he saw what Thor was doing breaking the Bifrost with his own hands, his eyes widened in shock and disbelief.
(End of Chapter)
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