Boom~Rumble!
Wave after wave of violent energy detonated in the sky, engulfing the air around Soren in a blinding flashes.
From the outside, all anyone could see was a roiling sea of fire swallowing his entire position. The explosions and heat washed over the battlefield.
Not a single trace of him was seen.
"He's finished…" Valkyrie muttered, unable to hide a note of regret.
As a former elite among Valkyries, she knew exactly what happened when someone took a full barrage head-on.
Even gods could fall under that level of concentrated fire. "No living thing could survive that."
"You underestimate him," Freyja replied coolly.
"Even that level of punishment can't scratch him." She knew Soren and knew the terrifying depth of his abilities.
Valkyrie blinked, startled by her certainty. Ever since learning Freyja's true identity, Valkyrie had admired her deeply… yet whenever the topic turned to Soren, Freyja spoke with an edge…
Now, though, all Valkyrie heard was unshakable confidence.
The flames began to die down.
Warships one by one halted their bombardment, eager to confirm the kill.
After all, if Soren had been vaporized into dust, no one wanted to dispute who dealt the final blow… not with so much reward at stake.
As the curtain of fire peeled away, Freyja's lips curved upward.
There he was.
Soren stood in the sky, not so much as a burn mark on him.
"What~what?!" Valkyrie shouted, her disbelief echoing across the broken arena.
"NOO!" Panic erupted among the mercenaries.
"Launch everything you have! NOW!" one commander screamed. "That thing isn't human, hit it again! Harder!"
More fighters arrived, more mercenaries flooded in, greed overwhelming fear.
Thousands scrambled to be the one to bring down the monster who stood untouched after surviving a barrage meant to level cities.
Another wave of attacks roared to life.
"You want another round?" Soren laughed,
"Fine."
He had simply allowed the barrage to wash over him, curious about the true power of Sakaar's warships. Now that he had felt it for himself?
He was done observing.
Just as the next assault began, a silver blur rippled in space.
And then he appeared directly in front of the fighter whose firepower had been the most intense.
"Careful! CAREFUL!" the pilot screamed.
His hands flew over the controls, trying desperately to jerk the ship away. The mercenary's confidence had already collapsed, anyone who stood untouched after that kind of bombardment wasn't a man.
He never got the chance to flee.
Soren's smile widened.
He extended one hand…
The fighter froze mid-flight, dragged into an invisible, crushing force. Its engines flared desperately, trying to pull away, but the ship couldn't move a single inch.
Soren's mastery of Magneto's magnetic power was at its peak and wrapped around the steel craft like a fist closing around paper.
The warship trembled violently in his grip, helpless before him.
Soren's awareness of metal and machinery stretched like a web across the battlefield. Beneath his fingertips, he could feel the heart of the fighter before him, the pulsing hum of its energy core.
He curled his fingers into a fist.
That was all it took.
Without waiting to watch the result, Soren flickered out of sight.
A heartbeat later… BOOM!
The fighter behind him detonated in midair, blossoming into a brilliant fireball that tore itself apart in a thousand flaming shards.
Pieces of molten steel rained down onto the streets below, sending mercenaries scrambling in every direction, screaming as the wreckage fell.
He reappeared in front of his next target, hand already reaching.
With a soft crunch, he crushed the core between two fingers and the ship erupted instantly.
A single man casually popping energy cores.
To the mercenaries watching, it was nothing short of monstrous.
One vagrant pilot, shaken and pale, saw Soren materialize in front of his cockpit and broke down completely.
"G-GET AWAY FROM ME!" He roared as he yanked the triggers.
The mounted guns opened fire wildly.
Bullets streamed everywhere… everywhere except toward Soren. Instead, stray rounds ripped through nearby fighters, shredding armor, punching through hulls, igniting engines.
Several ships spiraled down in thick plumes of black smoke.
With a flex of his magnetic power, the fighter's heavy cannon jerked under his control.
Its barrels swung around violently, like a beast rebelling against its rider, pointing directly at the surrounding aircraft.
"What the?"
A rain of bullets tore through the sky.
"He's gone mad!"
"Whose side is that idiot on?!"
Shouts of outrage burst across the comms as friendly fire turned the mercenary fleet into chaos.
Soren simply vanished again, leaving the fighters to rip each other apart.
And they obliged.
The struck mercenaries retaliated instantly, missiles streaking through the sky, explosions blooming everywhere.
In seconds, the air battle devolved into a complete free-for-all, a violent, uncoordinated storm of fire and smoke.
…
"…" Back inside the shattered building, Thor, Valkyrie, the Hulk, and the others glanced desperately around.
"Where is he?" Thor demanded. "Where did he go?"
"Right here. Best seats in the house." But a voice spoke behind them.
They spun around.
Soren stood at their backs with one arm draped around Freyja's waist. Taken completely off guard, she stiffened in surprise.
"Soren! What do you think you're doing?"
Her face flushed with sudden embarrassment, but he only smiled innocently, eyes drifting toward the raging aerial battle outside.
Because above them, a chain reaction had begun.
Missiles found stray targets and damaged ships collided mid-air.
Explosions set off more explosions.
The sky was now a churning storm of fire.
Soren tightened his arm around Freyja ever so slightly, completely unconcerned with her glare as he leaned back comfortably.
"Relax, sit back, grab some popcorn."