I stumbled out of the diner, my legs feeling like overcooked noodles. The desert air, which had been refreshingly cool earlier, now felt like a damp blanket on my skin. My vision kept blurring, then snapping back into focus, then blurring again. I laughed, a little too loud. Thor, the giant golden retriever of a god, hardly seemed affected. He just chuckled, a deep rumble in his chest, and slung a beefy arm around my shoulder, keeping me upright.
"By the nine realms, young Ethan," Thor said, his voice surprisingly clear, "your mortal spirits are potent indeed."
"Tell me about it," I slurred, trying to walk in a straight line and failing spectacularly. "Thought my augmented stats could handle anything. Guess alcohol is my kryptonite."
Hawkeye, the quiet observer in all this chaos, just watched us. His face remained completely neutral, but I could almost hear the sigh of exasperation. He looked like a seasoned gamer watching a noob fail at a tutorial level.
Thor's firm grip was the only thing keeping me from face-planting in the New Mexico sand. We somehow made it back to the temporary SHIELD base. The desert night was still and quiet, a sharp contrast to the lively diner we had just left. The SHIELD agents on patrol, all sharp eyes and rigid postures, gave Hawkeye respectful nods as we passed. Their gazes lingered on Thor, then on me, the lanky kid Thor was practically carrying. I could feel their silent judgment. Probably wondering if SHIELD was now recruiting drunk teenagers.
"Quite the evening, Agent Barton," one of them said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
Hawkeye just grunted in response, ushering us into the main observation tent.
Thor rested Ethan on a cot inside the observation tent. My head spun, a chaotic carousel of half-remembered conversations and the taste of cheap diner coffee. BlackGatomon and Gatomon, bless their digital hearts, were already curled up on the cot next to me, purring softly.
Thor then walked out of the tent, his large frame silhouetted against the vast expanse of the New Mexico desert sky. He gazed up at the stars, which seemed so much clearer out here, away from the city lights. His thoughts drifted to Asgard, a world of shimmering bridges and celestial palaces.
Suddenly, a ripple appeared in the desert air, solidifying into a figure only Thor could see. Loki, his dark hair slicked back from a sharp, aristocratic face, stood before him. Loki's green and gold Asgardian armor seemed to absorb the starlight, a stark contrast to the rough desert landscape.
"Loki?" Thor's voice, usually a booming thunder, was a surprised murmur. "Brother, what are you doing here?"
Loki's expression shifted, morphing into a mask of solemn grief, a performance worthy of an Oscar. "It is Odin, brother."
His voice was a low, sorrowful tone, designed to convey deep regret. Ethan felt a flicker of disgust. This guy was playing Thor like a fiddle.
"Jotunheim?" Thor asked, his face now etched with worry, all traces of his previous merriment gone.
Loki sighed, a sound heavy with feigned sorrow. "Father… he is gone. His strength failed him."
Ethan watched Thor's shoulders slump. The giant god, so full of bluster and life moments ago, looked like a child who had lost his favorite toy. It was a brutal move, a tactical strike straight to Thor's emotional core.
"I am sorry," Thor whispered, his head hanging low.
"The truce with Jotunheim is conditional on your continued exile, brother," Loki added, his voice still dripping with false sympathy, twisting the knife further. "Your banishment ensures Asgard's peace."
Thor nodded, a defeated warrior accepting his fate.
"Thank you for coming, brother," Thor said, his voice quiet.
"Farewell, Thor," Loki said, his form beginning to shimmer, about to vanish into the desert night.
Swoosh!
A blur of white and black fur launched from the ground. Gatomon and BlackGatomon, moving faster than Loki could react, struck the exact spot where the trickster god had been standing. The attack connected with an invisible barrier, sparking with a CRACKLE of displaced energy. Loki materialized with a frustrated gasp, his illusion shattered. He stumbled backward, regal garments rustling as he regained balance, a hand raised as if to ward off another blow.
"What in the blazes?!" Loki exclaimed, his carefully crafted sorrow melting into annoyance. "Who dares to attack a prince of Asgard?"
Gatomon and BlackGatomon stood ready, claws extended, their eyes fixed on Loki. They had been waiting. They just knew.
"They're not just some common beasts, Loki," Thor's voice rumbled, stepping forward, his expression changing from despair to confusion, then to protective anger. "They are my friend's companions. Do not harm them, for he is my brother!"
Ethan stumbled out of the tent, his legs still wobbly, the desert sand crunching under his boots. He blinked, trying to clear the alcohol-induced haze. Loki, standing there, visible to everyone now, was an unexpected sight. Ethan thought the guy wouldn't show up, after all the time he had been waiting.
"Thor," Ethan managed, his voice a little hoarse, "tell your cats not to harm my brother!"
"I can't do that," Ethan replied, shaking his head. "Not happening."
Thor looked at Ethan, a plea in his eyes. "Ethan, please, he is my brother."
"Is he?" Ethan shot back, a sudden clarity cutting through his drunkenness. "Is your father truly dead, Thor?"
Thor hesitated, looking at Loki, who remained silent, his expression unreadable. "Loki said so."
Ethan scoffed. "And Loki isn't the god of mischief and deception? How can you believe his words so easily?"
Thor's gaze, heavy with confusion, swung back to Loki. "Brother, is our father truly... gone?"
Loki's lips curved into a sad, knowing smile. He projected sincerity, a master actor on a cosmic stage. "Would I lie about such a grave matter, brother? Do you truly believe the baseless accusations of a mere mortal?" He gestured to Ethan with a dismissive flick of his wrist.
Ethan, despite the lingering buzz from the alcohol, found his thoughts sharpening. This was Loki, the grand deceiver, playing his greatest hits. The emotional manipulation was so blatant it was almost insulting. He had to shut this down before Thor did something monumentally stupid, like giving Loki a hug.
"Cut the melodrama, Shakespeare," Ethan called out, his voice clearer than he expected. "This whole 'dead father' routine is as old as time. You're the reason Thor got banished in the first place, remember? If I can stop you here, right now, before you mess up anything else, then this whole timeline gets a patch."
Loki's feigned sorrow vanished, replaced by a flicker of irritation. His eyes, cold and calculating, fixed on Ethan. "You dare to fight a god, mortal?"
Ethan laughed, a short, sharp bark that cut through the desert night. "God? You're more like a glorified troll with a fancy cape, buddy." He held up his Digivice, the white smartphone glowing with a familiar orange light. The familiar rush of power started in his core, shaking off the last remnants of his drunken haze. This was it. Game on.
[SPIRIT EVOLUTION]
[BEETLEMON!]
A blinding flash of yellow and blue light erupted around Ethan, momentarily engulfing the small group. The air crackled with raw energy, throwing sparks against the dark canvas of the desert. Ethan's form twisted and grew, his human frame stretching and expanding into a towering, armored warrior. Blue and yellow plates, reminiscent of a beetle's exoskeleton, snapped into place with rhythmic CLANGS of metal. A massive horn crowned his head, sharp and gleaming. His hands, now oversized, flexed, ready for a fight. Wing-like armor folded across his back like protective shells. He felt the familiar hum of electricity coursing through his new body, a powerful surge of thunder at his command.
Beetlemon stood tall, his internal sensors online, processing the surprised looks on Thor's and Loki's faces. The desert wind whipped around his new form, a stark contrast to the stifling heat he had felt minutes before.
"Now, let's see how well your 'godly' tricks work against some good old-fashioned thunder and fists," Beetlemon rumbled, his voice a deep, resonant echo. The ground beneath him vibrated slightly with his power.
***
Donate Power Stones to support this novel
Advance chapters in patreon.com/Najicablitz