Thor didn't flinch.
"What are you doing?! If you destroy this bridge, you'll never see that woman on Earth again!" Loki shouted, voice trembling in disbelief.
Thor ignored him, raising his hammer once more and smashing the Rainbow Bridge with unyielding force.
Loki lunged, grabbing Odin's fallen spear. He leapt into the air and thrust it toward Thor's back.
Thor exhaled softly.
"Forgive me, Jane."
With that, he summoned all his strength and brought Mjolnir down upon the fractured Rainbow Bridge.
BOOM!
The bridge shattered in two. A surge of dark energy erupted from the fracture, forming a violent shockwave. Thor and Loki, caught at the center, were hurled away like broken kites, swept far into the distance.
Crack… crack… crack…
Without the power of the Rainbow Bridge, the transmission platform lost its energy source. The spinning emitter smashed into the tower bridge, disintegrating as it fell.
The beam of dark energy aimed at Jotunheim vanished in an instant.
In Jotunheim, the people who had been kneeling in prayer looked up, wide-eyed. The apocalyptic destruction had simply disappeared. Believing the gods had answered their pleas, they fell to the ground once more, weeping in gratitude.
"I swear I'll never peek again," an old man muttered solemnly.
"I'm done sleeping with my neighbor's wife!" said his neighbor, Big Brother Wang.
"I swear I'll never cheat on my husband again!" sobbed the old man's wife, clinging to the others in relief and joy.
Back in Asgard, at the jagged edge of the broken bridge
Odin stood firm on the shattered remains, holding Thor by the ankle. Thor gripped Odin's scepter, and at the very end of it, Loki dangled helplessly.
Odin's one eye gazed down at Loki, his expression unreadable an overwhelming mix of sorrow, calculation, and inevitability.
This had all been part of the plan.
Stripping Thor of his divine power and casting him to Earth, Loki's accidental discovery of his origins, even Odin's own coma it had all been a masterstroke. Every move, calculated to force Thor to grow, to become a true king.
Loki? Jotunheim? Earth?
Pawns. All of them. Instruments Odin used to sharpen Thor into a worthy ruler.
This was the art of kingship no room for love, no room for attachment, only loneliness.
Loki clung tightly to the scepter with one hand, tears streaming down his face as the cosmic storm howled around him. He looked up at Odin.
"Father… I could have done it. I could have destroyed Jotunheim for you… for us."
"No, Loki," Odin said coldly.
What?
Loki stared at him. In that single eye, he saw no disappointment only power, manipulation, and cold clarity.
In that moment, something shattered inside him.
He understood.
He had never been more than a tool.
How pathetic.
How utterly laughable.
Everything he had done all the schemes, the betrayal, the desperation had been for his father's recognition.
But it had all been meaningless.
He turned his head and looked at Thor, still struggling to hold on, his face filled with pain and sorrow. Even now, after all Loki had done to him, Thor still wanted to save him.
His brother, the one he'd viewed as an enemy, was the only one who truly loved him.
And the father he had revered was the one who cared least.
In that moment, life seemed hollow. What was the point of living, when it was only pain?
"Loki, no!"
Thor cried out in panic as he saw the look of resignation cross Loki's face.
Loki smiled faintly.
Goodbye, brother. Goodbye, Mother.
He let go.
His body fell like a drifting leaf, swept into the raging current of the cosmic storm. Not even a ripple remained as he disappeared into the endless, starless void.
Thor screamed, "NO!"
But it was useless.
He could only watch as the mischievous boy who used to call him "brother" was consumed by the cosmos.
A part of his soul seemed to vanish with Loki leaving behind an unbearable emptiness.
On Earth, in the windswept outskirts of a small town.
Jane Foster stood frozen, staring at the sky. She, Darcy, and Erik had been waiting for hours from bright noon to pitch-black night but Thor never came.
"He's gone," Darcy mumbled, her neck aching from staring upward too long.
"Should we keep waiting?"
"He's not coming back."
Jane whispered those words as she pulled her coat tighter around herself. "Let's go. We've got class tomorrow."
"Jane..." Erik began.
"It's fine," she cut him off. "If he wants to come, he'll find me."
Vroom.
Jane started the engine. "Darcy, Erik, it's dark. Let's go. If we stay any longer, we'll miss the last bus."
"Alright." Darcy shrugged and gave Erik a helpless glance. They both got in.
Jane, feeling a mix of frustration and sorrow, switched on the radio.
A slow, haunting melody began to play:
"Hello darkness, my old friend I've come to talk with you again Because a vision softly creeping…"
No matter where you are in this world, I'll find you!Jane made a silent vow.
No matter what.
In Hill's car, Andrew sat in the passenger seat, visibly bored.
But his eyes soon drifted over to Hill's side profile and refused to move.
It was… mesmerizing.
From his angle, the right hemisphere of her chest filled his entire view, pushing against her tight uniform. The left side was hidden, but it didn't matter the right alone was overwhelming.
Her seatbelt pressed cruelly against the curves, and every bump in the road caused a gentle bounce that made his gaze linger.
Not only was she stunning, she had a figure to match.
Andrew suddenly felt envious of Nick Fury, of the car seat, of the seatbelt.
He wondered what it might feel like to lay his head there again, to experience that warm and comforting softness.
As she drove one-handed, Hill shifted slightly, adjusting the seatbelt as it dug into the wrong spot.
That felt better.
(End of Chapter)
Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon
https://patreon.com/Glimmer09