Chapter 125

Laura and Frank stood in front of Jane's house, watching as the agents escorted the incapacitated individuals away.

Coulson was on the phone, his expression not very good.

"So, the scientist you took things from has an unknown relationship with Damian?" Fury asked on the other end of the line, massaging the space between his eyebrows.

"Yes, she called Damian herself, and soldiers arrived within minutes, one of them being the same person who appeared at the Expo," Coulson said, glancing at Laura. At the same time, he couldn't help but think it wasn't his day.

"Just give her things back and withdraw, also check on the one who caused this," Fury said coldly. After hearing Coulson's account, he couldn't help but suspect Stiwell, it was too 'impulsive.'

"Yes, sir," Coulson replied after a moment of silence. After all, Stiwell was his friend, and he assumed the impulsive action was for his safety.

Fury couldn't help but sigh after hanging up the call, he'd have to try harder to reassure those idiots at SHIELD that this was just a misunderstanding.

Fury looked at the wall as he thought about this situation, most countries in the world were affiliated with SHIELD, but Madripoor was not the case, he just hoped that this situation would calm down and not escalate into something like a war as they wouldn't stand a chance.

It might even give Damian the excuse to expand his territory.

"Let's go," Coulson said to his group, giving a final glance at the two giant soldiers.

Once all the agents were gone, Jane, Darcy, and Erik emerged.

"Now I'll have to tidy everything up," Jane said, making a face.

"Telling them to tidy up would be pressuring them a bit," Laura said, laughing.

"I hope this doesn't cause problems for Damian," Jane said, a little worried. Things escalated in a way she never expected.

"Don't worry, my king might be pleased if they try to provoke him," Laura said, smiling.

"By the way, my king sent this to you and said you should wear it always," Laura said, handing her a small box.

"We should go back, be careful," Laura said, bidding farewell to everyone.

Frank gave a slight nod to everyone before boarding his ship with Laura and returning to New York.

Jane looked at the box in her hands with a faint smile.

"Now to tidy up," Darcy sighed before starting to gather things.

"Speaking of which, I need to go out and do something, sorry," Jane said, giving them an apologetic smile before getting into her van and driving away.

"She'll probably go after that crazy guy," Darcy said, looking at the van in the distance.

"Most likely," Erik sighed.

Jane drove quickly toward the crater she had heard about, hoping to find Thor and get some answers from him.

After driving for a while, Jane was halfway there and biting her lip in worry, unsure if Thor had gotten lost.

Fortunately, a blond head shimmered in the distance, and Jane smiled before honking the horn and pulling up next to him.

"Hey, need a lift?" Jane asked with a smile.

"It would be nice," Thor said with a smile before climbing into the vehicle.

Jane drove off quickly, somewhat excited at the thought of infiltrating a SHIELD base, even though she knew it was really just Thor, and she was just giving him a ride.

"It's been a while since I've done something like this. Do you usually do things like this?" Jane asked, smiling.

"Many times, but you're brave for doing it," Thor said, smiling back.

"They just tried to steal my work, it's just a little revenge, plus I'm curious about what they're hiding and your connection to it," Jane said, looking at Thor.

"Do you think I'm strange?" Thor asked, slightly amused.

"Just a little," Jane joked.

"Good strange or bad strange?" Thor asked, smiling.

"I'm not sure yet," Jane said, looking at Thor as she laughed.

"And what about the answers you promised?" Jane said, changing the subject a bit.

Thor fell silent for a moment before speaking.

"What you're looking for is a bridge," Thor said.

"Let me guess, a rainbow bridge," Jane said, rolling her eyes. She knew all the mythologies quite well; it was one of her electives at Madripoor University, and Damian had specifically recommended she take it.

"Yes, exactly, you're very smart," Thor said, smiling, somewhat impressed.

"I just hope you're not crazy," Jane said, smiling and shaking her head as she continued driving.

It was nearly dusk when Jane and Thor arrived at the crater.

Jane parked her van at a safe distance before approaching the crater with Thor.

Jane used binoculars to look at the base that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

"Wait here for me, I'll be back in a moment," Thor said, taking off his jacket and handing it to Jane.

"How are you going to get out?" Jane asked, confused.

"When I retrieve my hammer, I'll fly out," Thor said confidently before approaching the base.

"Of course, flying, how did I not think of that?" Jane said, looking at him in disbelief.

Thor crept forward before reaching the fence and lying down, bending his legs he began to break the mesh at the base before breaking it apart bit by bit.

Climbing through the hole he had made, he began to run towards the centre of the base, the alarm had already gone off as there was a camera that had seen him break through the fence.

"Sir, we have an intruder," an agent said to Coulson.

"Stop him without killing him," Coulson said looking at the images, anyone who would risk their life to get into this place is either a madman or knows something.

"Barton, I want eyes upstairs," Coulson said into his communicator.

Thor entered a corridor and started running down it, two men came running from the other side.

Thor quickly ducked to dodge a hook and then punched the guy's jaw sending him to the ground.

He quickly stepped back to avoid the other guy's neck grip, then punched him in the face and kept moving.

Thor faced several agents, fortunately, there weren't many, and quickly found his hammer.

Thor circled the hammer with a very happy smile before slowly reaching out his hand.

"Sir, last chance," Clint said, he had seen many strange things and didn't think letting the guy touch the hammer was a good idea.

"I want to see it," Coulson said, the blond man's expression caught his attention. He seemed to have a clear understanding of what the hammer was.

Thor grabbed the hammer with a smile before trying to lift it. The smile quickly faded as he exerted more force but still couldn't lift it.

Soon, Thor had both hands on the hammer, his arms bulging as he grunted and strained to pull with all his might.

Thor finally let go of the hammer before looking up at the sky. He knew it was futile; he couldn't lift it. Thor knelt halfway to the ground, his expression vacant.

He felt like he couldn't sink any lower at that moment.

Some agents quickly grabbed him and took him to a room before locking him up.

Coulson stood in front of Thor, looking at him.

"You know, I've had a bad day today. First, half my agents got beaten up, and now you nearly beat up the other half," Coulson said, smiling without any joy.

"That's sad."

"In my experience, it takes someone with a lot of training to do something like this."

"So... where were you trained?" Coulson asked, looking at Thor.

Thor just looked away, genuinely depressed; he didn't know why he couldn't lift his hammer.

At that moment, there was a notification on Coulson's phone, so he stepped out to see what was happening.

"Either way, we'll find out everything. We're good at that," Coulson said before leaving.

At that moment, a black-haired man appeared in front of Thor in a sleek coat.

"Loki, what are you doing here?" Thor asked in surprise.

"I had to see you," Loki said, looking at Thor.

"Tell me, is it about Jotunheim?" Thor asked.

"Let me explain to Father," Thor said, looking at Loki with a glimmer of hope.

"Father is dead," Loki interrupted abruptly.

Thor's expression turned blank as he stared at Loki.

"What?" Thor asked, almost pleading that he had heard wrong.

"Your behavior and the threat of another war were too much for him," Loki said, acting melancholic.

"It's not your fault; I tried to calm him down so you'd return, but he wouldn't listen."

"It was cruel to place the hammer in front of you, knowing you couldn't lift it".

"Now the weight of the throne has fallen on me," Loki said, sighing.

"Can I come back?" Thor asked, a hint of hope in his voice.

"The truce with Jotunheim is conditional on your exile," Loki said, extinguishing any hope in Thor's heart.

"But if we search—"

"No, Mother has forbidden your return," Loki said, interrupting Thor.

"This is goodbye, brother."

"I'm so sorry," Loki said, putting on a sad expression.

"No... Loki, I'm sorry, for everything. Thank you for being my brother and coming here," Thor said, a tear sliding down his cheek.

"Goodbye," Loki said, turning away and revealing a genuine look of sadness. He almost wanted to turn back and say it was all a joke, but he just closed his eyes and disappeared. It was a bit shocking for Loki to see his brother like that, seeing him regretfully made his plans harder for him.

Thor sat in his chair with a sigh, thinking he had hit rock bottom, but apparently, he was wrong.

"Goodbye, brother," Thor murmured.

"You have a visitor," Coulson said, entering Thor's makeshift prison with a terrible expression. That day was the worst he had had in a long time.

"Hello, Dave," Erik said, entering and smiling cheerfully at Thor.

"Come on, I'll take you home. You shouldn't have had so much," Erik sighed.

Coulson led them out, his expression horrible.

"Make sure to tell Miss Jane to keep her boyfriend away from bars," Coulson said, almost grinding his teeth. He didn't believe them one bit, but he had no choice but to let him go. He didn't want a late-night visit from soldiers in green suits.

"Follow them," Coulson said before going to his temporary room and lying down. At this rate, he'd go bald even faster.

Erik took Thor to a bar before sitting at the bar with a sigh.

"Thanks, Erik. I'm sorry for the trouble I caused," Thor said, looking melancholic.

"What happened to you?" Erik asked, confused, looking at Thor. Before, he seemed full of life and arrogance; now, he looked like a walking dead, and he wondered if he had been tortured.

"I messed everything up in my life," Thor said, looking at Erik, a sad smile on his face just thinking about his father.

"It's not so bad to realize you don't have all the answers. That's when you start asking the right questions," Erik said softly, seeing that Thor seemed open to listening.

"It's just that, for the first time in my life, I have no idea what I'm supposed to do."

"My father wanted to teach me something, but I was too foolish to realize it," Thor said, looking at his drink.

In SHIELD's makeshift camp, Mjolnir trembled slightly, causing some rocks to fall from its base, which prompted the scientists' commotion.

"I don't know if you're hallucinating or crazy, I don't care. Jane is important to me, and I've noticed you exchanging looks," Erik said, looking at Thor.

"I swear, the last thing I want to do is hurt her," Thor said, reacting seriously.

"In that case, I invite you to another round, and you're leaving tonight," Erik said seriously.

Thor fell silent, looking at Erik before nodding slightly.

"Two boilermakers," Erik said to the bartender.

Erik and Thor clinked their glasses before starting to drink.

As they drank, they couldn't help but look at each other before unconsciously starting to compete over who could drink faster.

With each round, they accelerated even more as they watched each other drink quickly.

Finally, both finished their drinks, with Thor winning by a good margin.

Erik slammed his glass on the table with force, panting a little.

"You're not bad," Erik said, looking at Thor.

"Give us another round," Erik told the bartender, forgetting that it was supposed to be just one drink.

Erik started drinking quickly before Thor to try to beat him, only to be disappointed when his glass was still half full, and Thor had already finished.

After downing a glass in a short amount of time, Erik's mind wasn't so clear anymore.

"Another," Erik said to the bartender, he would definitely beat him in the next round.

After another defeat, Erik could only stare at Thor's glass dazedly.

Seeing Erik's gaze on his glass, Thor couldn't help but chuckle softly as he regained some of his usual cheerfulness.

"I'm sorry, my friend. It's hard for anyone in this realm to outdrink me," Thor said loudly, patting Erik's back.

"Did you hear that? That princess thinks she's great at drinking," a man said to his drinking buddies, the trio thoroughly drunk.

The group laughed at the comment as they continued drinking.

"Hm?" Erik said, getting up a bit unsteadily before slamming his glass on the table of the group.

"Did you say something to my friend, the god of thunder?" Erik shouted menacingly, with an expression that looked like he was going to start fighting immediately.

Thor followed, amused by the situation; this atmosphere really reminded him of home.

"Old man, better go home and take your meds," another man from the group got up.

"I don't need meds to visit your grandmother," Erik said, punching a guy in the face.

The guy fell to the ground, drunk and off-balance, just seeing his two companions getting up before falling asleep on the floor.

One of the fallen guy's companions was about to punch Erik in the face; fortunately, Thor pulled him away by his shirt, making him miss the blow.

"Come on, friends, it was just a little scuffle," Thor said, laughing and addressing the two drunk guys.

The guy snorted and only punched Thor's face weakly.

Thor also got annoyed and punched both guys, knocking them out on the table.

"That's it! Hahaha," Erik laughed, holding onto Thor's clothing to avoid falling.

"I think it's time to take you home," Thor laughed, picking up Erik and carrying him over his shoulder like a sack.

Erik babbled about all sorts of incoherent things on the way back until Thor found Jane's house.

Thor knocked on the door, and after a few seconds, Jane opened it, smiling at the sight of him before a concerned expression took over as she saw how Thor was carrying Erik.

"Come in. Did something happen? Is he hurt?" Jane asked worriedly.

"Don't worry, he's fine," Thor laughed.

"Lay him on the couch," Jane said, pointing to the corner.

"How did this happen?" Jane asked.

"We drank and fought," Thor said, more animated.

Erik lay down on the couch and grinned amusingly at Jane.

"I still don't believe you're the god of thunder, but you should be," Erik said, laughing before falling asleep.

Thor smiled and headed for the door.

"Can we go out and talk for a while?" Jane asked, smiling.

Thor hesitated, remembering his conversation with Erik, before nodding hesitantly.

"Sure," Jane said, smiling, before leading him to the garden and sitting down.

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