Raiden floated amidst the lightning, the purple arcs of electricity surrounding her gradually subsiding—but her violet pupils remained as cold as an abyss.
She looked down at Thor, who knelt on the stained-glass floor, as if examining an object worthy of being sculpted.
"Follow your companions and leave this world."
Her voice was like ice, each word carrying undeniable authority:
"This is the final act of mercy."
Thor slowly raised his head, his gaze sweeping over his heavily wounded comrades nearby. Sif's silver armor was shattered, Volstagg's divine power nearly exhausted, and Fandral and Hogun lay unconscious.
His fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.
"The Thunder God from another land..."
After a long silence, Thor finally spoke, his voice low yet resolute:
"I beg you to spare them. In exchange, I am willing to give my own life."
At that, Sif struggled to lift her head, her charred face twisting in horror. "Thor! No—"
Thor raised a hand to silence her, then turned back to Raiden.
"My return will inevitably trigger civil war in Asgard. Countless lives will be lost—so I will not go back. But I cannot stand by and watch my comrades die because of me."
He met Raiden's gaze without flinching.
"As long as I die and leave behind testimony proving this was my voluntary choice, Asgard need not descend into war. My father and Loki will have no cause to unleash their wrath upon this world."
So kill me, and everything will be over.
"Thor, you're insane!" Volstagg roared, trying to crawl forward—but his injuries sent him crashing back to the floor.
Thor didn't look back. Step by step, he walked toward Raiden.
With each stride, his mortal frame seemed to glow with divine radiance.
Ripples spread across the glass floor beneath his feet, as if answering some ancient call.
"I swear in the name of the son of Odin!" Thor stopped before the storm, raised his eyes to the seething lightning above, and declared:
"This is my choice—freely made, and answerable to no one."
Sif let out a desperate sob, straining against an invisible force that held her fast.
Raiden watched him in silence, the lightning around her beginning to coil slowly inward.
Then—almost imperceptibly—the corners of her lips curved.
"Interesting."
Her voice remained iron-cold, yet the killing intent in her eyes had softened. She spoke with quiet condescension:
"Thor Odinson… you're finally starting to look like a god."
Thor stared at her, bewildered.
Before he could decipher her meaning, Raiden raised her right hand, fingers outstretched as if summoning something from the void.
---
Meanwhile, in the New Mexico desert, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s temporary base descended into chaos.
"Sir, something's wrong! All systems are down—emergency power won't engage!"
A technician's voice cracked as monitors blinked out one by one.
Agent Coulson leapt to his feet, but his headset filled only with static. He shouted over the din:
"All personnel—execute EMP protection protocol! Activate the Faraday cage emergency system!"
Too late.
Mjolnir, resting in its crater, erupted with blinding lightning. The hammer trembled violently, its ancient runes writhing like awakened serpents.
"Sssss—!"
A visible shockwave pulsed outward, frying every electronic device it touched in showers of blue sparks.
"Fall back! Everyone, fall back!" Sitwell yelled as agents scrambled away.
The moment the order left his lips, Mjolnir shot skyward—hovering midair, wreathed in stormfire.
Splash…
Metal supports melted like wax. Molten iron pooled on the ground, and reinforced alloy frames twisted under the unbearable heat.
"My God... what is this?!" a young agent whispered, suddenly doubting every law of physics he'd ever trusted.
BOOM!
Before their stunned eyes, Mjolnir transformed into pure lightning, splitting the heavens and vanishing—leaving only a smoldering crater and a team of gaping S.H.I.E.L.D. agents in its wake.
Coulson could've sworn he felt something in that departure—not just power, but impatience. For all its might, the hammer moved like a loyal hound racing home.
---
Back in the Pure Land of One Heart, Thor still grappled with Raiden's enigmatic words when the sky above convulsed.
A bolt of familiar lightning tore through the thunderheads—faster than thought, brighter than judgment.
Thor squinted—then froze.
Mjolnir.
A grin broke across Thor's face. Of course. After a thousand years of battle, his hammer would never truly abandon him. Odin's decree had bound it—but now, sensing his peril, Mjolnir had shattered spatial barriers to return.
He reached out, heart swelling with hope—
—only to watch, shattered, as Mjolnir flew straight into Raiden's hand.
The moment the hammer met her palm, it blazed with unprecedented radiance. Silver-white lightning erupted around her like jubilant thralls, and the runes shone brighter than they ever had in Asgard.
Raiden gripped the handle with effortless grace—as if plucking a cherry blossom from a spring branch.
In her grasp, Mjolnir was no weapon. It was a hound curled at its true master's feet.
"This... is impossible... Mjolnir?!"
Thor's voice cracked, eyes wide with disbelief.
Raiden gave the warhammer a casual swing—and the very fabric of the Raiden Prison trembled.
She glanced down at it, violet eyes reflecting the dancing storm.
"I've said it before," she murmured, "I am not your master."
Then, with indifference, she tossed Mjolnir back toward him.
Halfway through its arc, the hammer stopped.
It hovered. Trembled. Hesitated.
Then—turned midair and flew back to her side.
Raiden didn't even look up. With a single, languid clap of her left hand—
CRACK.
An invisible force, vast as a mountain collapsing, struck Mjolnir like a divine gavel.
The hammer rocketed back faster than it came—
BANG!
—slamming into the ground before Thor, embedding itself inches deep, lightning sputtering from the cracks.
Thor stared at the hammer. Then up at the purple-clad figure still floating in serene
dominion above.
Raiden flicked her sleeve as though brushing away dust.
"Take your toys," she said coolly, "and your companions. Leave this world."
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