Chapter 499: Thor the Thundere (5)

Chapter 499: Chapter 499: Thor the Thundere (5)

[Third Person Pov]

"I just want to make something very clear," Nick Fury said, his single eye locked on Nightwing and Gwen while addressing the rest of the Spider-Family that were present at the site. The words came out low and deliberate, the kind of tone that had once made entire task forces stand a little straighter. "I may be somewhat lenient with you people, but that does not mean you can just stroll in and out of a government-quarantined space whenever the mood strikes."

Harry waved the warning away with an easy flick of his wrist. "It’s all fine. Don’t worry about it. We’re here to help."

"Yeah, what he said," Gwen added from her perch atop a temporary railing. She kicked her feet leisurely in the air, completely unbothered by the stern look Fury was giving them. "We’ll even share whatever interesting data Bruce digs up. Scouts honor"

They were loitering inside the hastily constructed facility that ringed the massive crater. Temporary walls, floodlights, and sensor arrays had been thrown up in record time around the impact site. At the center of it all, resting in the churned earth like a relic waiting to be claimed, sat Mjolnir.

Outside the open perimeter, Hawkeye held a high overwatch position. Rain poured over him in heavy sheets, plastering his hair to his forehead and streaming down the collar of his jacket. He kept a steady eye on the crater below—specifically on Lizzy and Bruce, who were crouched beside the hammer with scanners and instruments already active.

The moment the downpour intensified, Lizzy lifted one hand. The falling droplets hesitated in midair, then settled over her and Bruce like a living blanket. In the next breath the water reshaped itself into sleek, form-fitting raincoats that clung perfectly to their bodies. A second later Hawkeye felt the same cool weight settle across his shoulders. He glanced down and caught Lizzy looking up toward his position, offering a playful wink through the rain.

He shook his head, amused, and tapped his communicator. "Just making sure we’re all still on the same page—are we absolutely certain that the hammer belongs to an actual Norse god? Or have you people simply been watching too much fantasy movies?"

Fury scoffed. "I only believe in one God, and I’m fairly certain He doesn’t swing around a magic hammer."

"Well..." Harry and Gwen drew the word out in perfect unison.

"Jesus was a carpenter, after all," Harry said, a growing grin spreading across his face.

"Yeah," Gwen continued, a teasing smirk visible even behind her mask. "So who’s to say His hammer wasn’t magic? The man already turned water into wine and walked on the stuff."

"They got you there, boss," Hawkeye chuckled over the open channel.

Down in the crater, both Lizzy and Bruce were laughing under their breath. Bruce’s mouth tugged into a lopsided grin as he glanced up toward the observation platform. "Honestly, if we hadn’t already met a variant of Thor, I’d still be skeptical myself."

Fury’s head turned sharply toward Gwen and Harry. "A variant?"

"Long story," Gwen said quickly, waving the question away before he could press further. She leaned forward on the railing and called down to the pair examining the hammer. "Anyway—anything you can tell us about it that we don’t already know?"

Bruce held up a wide handheld scanner, its holographic display flickering with cascading streams of data. "Not really new information, but the details are... extreme. The hammer isn’t made of any material we can identify. Its metal is quite literally not of this Earth. Highly conductive. Energy readings are completely off the charts." He scrolled through another set of numbers, brows lifting. "I’m detecting high levels of cosmic radiation, but it’s not lethal—or even particularly dangerous—to human tissue. Honestly, this thing has enough raw power to light up the entire planet and still have juice left over."

Lizzy crouched lower, one gloved hand hovering just above the hammer’s surface. Soft motes of light danced around her fingers as she read the residual energies. "I’m also picking up a ton of magic. This thing is heavily enchanted—multiple layers of it, woven in deep."

Harry casually tossed one of his escrima sticks into the air, caught it without looking, then tossed it again. "Any idea what the enchantments actually do?"

Lizzy pushed herself back to her feet, the water-formed coat shimmering under the floodlights. "Nope. Enchantments aren’t my specialty. That’s Spidey’s thing. He should be able to decipher them once he gets here."

Lizzy walked over to the hammer and placed both hands firmly on the handle. "Hnnn—!" She grunted, body suddenly radiating waves of intense heat that made the rain hiss and steam around her. Muscles strained. The ground beneath her boots cracked faintly. The hammer did not move so much as a millimeter.

She released it with a defeated sigh, the heat fading as quickly as it had come. "Damn. Whatever enchantment it’s carrying makes it impossible to pick up."

"Sword-in-the-stone situation, then," Harry inferred, still lazily tossing one escrima stick. "Only the future King of Asgard gets to lift the thing."

"Great. When we actually need him, he’s nowhere to be found." Fury rolled his one good eye, referring to Peter.

Gwen’s head tilted slightly as she listened to something on her comms. "Hm? Oh. Well, looks like you won’t have to wait long. Just got confirmation—they’ll be here shortly." She hopped down from the railing with easy grace. "And they’re bringing company."

Fury’s gaze settled on one of the monitors. "Good. Then we’ll finally get to meet this Norse God of Thunder ourselves."

A golden portal tore open a few yards from the crater’s edge, light spilling across the muddy ground. Jane’s vehicle rolled through first. Peter and the rest of the team slid out behind it, boots sinking into the wet earth. The passenger door swung open and Thor stepped into the downpour without hesitation. He didn’t spare a glance for the rain or the mud. He simply ran, leaping down into the crater in a single powerful bound, landing hard enough to send water and dirt flying; he grew muddy as he charged forwards.

Lizzy and Bruce stepped back at once, giving him space.

Thor’s eyes locked on the hammer. A short, almost disbelieving laugh of pure relief escaped him. "Haha..."

He reached out, slipped his hand through the leather strap, and closed his fingers around the familiar handle. He bent his knees, ready to hoist Mjolnir high the way he had done a thousand times before—

Nothing happened.

The hammer stayed exactly where it was.

"What?" Thor frowned, seized it with both hands, and pulled again. "Come on, buddy. Now’s not the time to sleep on the job."

He strained. Veins rose along his forearms. His boots sank deeper into the mud. The hammer remained perfectly still.

Up on the observation platform, Harry, Gwen, and Fury watched the spectacle in silence.

"Looks like he’s having a bit of performance issues..." Harry couldn’t help himself. "I hear some guys have trouble getting it up when they’re nervous."

Gwen and Fury both turned slow, flat stares on him. Harry pouted and looked away. "Spidey would’ve found that hilarious. You guys suck."

Down in the crater, Thor refused to quit. Veins now stood out starkly along his neck as he poured every ounce of his mortal strength into the effort. "Stop... being... stubborn!" he snarled at the silent weapon. Then he threw his head back and roared, voice cracking with desperation.

"I am Thor the Thunderer! Prince of Asgard! And I command you to heed my words, hammer!!"

The shout echoed across the crater. When it faded, Thor’s strength finally gave out. He collapsed to his knees in the mud, still gripping the handle, chest heaving.

"...Why?" was all he managed to whisper.

Peter appeared beside him without a sound and crouched down to his level. The rest of the team stood at the crater’s edge, watching in quiet pity—the sight of a once-mighty god reduced to a disheveled, rain-soaked man who could no longer lift the weapon that had defined him was not a very pleasant sight.

Peter reached out and rested a steady, reassuring hand on Thor’s shoulder. He had no clever words ready. For once, even humor felt wrong.

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