The Symbiote Dragon Grendel was the most powerful enemy the Avengers had ever encountered.
Even the Chitauri army relied on overwhelming numbers to wear down the Avengers, but until now, the heroes had never faced an enemy against whom all their attacks were almost completely useless. All their current attacks were merely distractions; they couldn't harm Grendel at all. The only two effective attacks came from Johnny Storm and Jack of Hearts, but their damage was very limited.
The massive symbiote dragon spewed black flame onto Goliath, who collapsed onto a skyscraper. Below him, Captain America and his team quickly dodged the falling debris before regrouping to attack.
"Tony, have you guys figured out a way to solve this?" the Captain asked while taking down a symbiote drone that had appeared on the street. He had no other choice; he couldn't fly and he couldn't beat the dragon. His job was to stop the tidal wave of symbiote fodder from getting past their defensive line. To prevent high-frequency sound waves from interfering with the team, the Captain had even shut down the sonic emitters at the base of Avengers Tower, leaving only the Ultron robots to continue the sonic attacks against any symbiotes that breached their perimeter.
Frankly, the Captain didn't want to be here. But Captain America's presence meant that the fight wasn't over. It meant they hadn't given up. As long as he stood there holding the line, there was still hope. And so, the Captain had to be there.
"Ugh, it'll take some time," Tony said, working from the Baxter Building. Hank was currently shrunk down, inspecting Reed's latest research. On the way, they had collected some symbiote samples to study, but so far, the results weren't... satisfactory.
"We got an idea from the ice caps and from that kid, Iceman. Symbiotes fear fire and sound waves, but they also have to obey the most basic laws of physics. At low temperatures, their molecular movement slows down. So Reed is using his polymer materials to design a, well, an anti-symbiote suit. But there's not much progress. We can only achieve a twelve-second delay."
Was a twelve-second delay useful? Maybe, but not by much, which was why Tony and the others didn't think it would work. The Captain sighed helplessly. Alright, it looks like we're still on our own.
For now, stopping Grendel's advance was primarily up to Ant-Man's old friend, Goliath, who was using Pym Particles to grow to a massive size and forcibly hold the monster back. Iceman was also doing his best to trap Grendel in ice.
"I can't find a thing."
Ghost reported to the Captain after emerging from Grendel's body. "The inside of that thing is just black goo. He's not a dragon possessed by a symbiote. He's an entire mass of symbiote that just looks like a dragon."
"Look out!" Emma Frost's voice rang out in everyone's minds. Iceman immediately created a massive ice wall to block Grendel's next blast. The black fire was barely held back before Jack of Hearts, the Human Torch, and Living Lightning launched another wave of attacks on Grendel.
This time, things were different, but not in a good way.
The three heroes were suddenly thrown back. Then, a figure gradually emerged from the back of the symbiote dragon. Knull, clad in black armor, looked at the heroes resisting him with a hint of dissatisfaction and helplessness. "How... disappointing. I thought this world's guardians would be more capable. I didn't expect them to be unable to even stop my pet."
If your symbiotes weren't so elusive, we would've had the Hulk take you out long ago, everyone present thought in unison. But Knull simply smiled and drew a jet-black symbiote longsword.
"It seems you lack motivation. Tell you what, the lives of everyone in that tower there might make you a little more serious, don't you think?"
Meanwhile, Spider-Man had arrived at the scene. He was about to leap into the fray, but he suddenly stopped. He just sat on J. Jonah Jameson's car, even helping him adjust the camera angle to make the broadcast clearer.
"You don't seem very worried, Spider-Man."
Despite his general dislike for masked superheroes, J. Jonah Jameson couldn't help but ask Spider-Man why he was so calm. Of course, Peter couldn't tell him that his Spider-Sense was rapidly fading. Instead, he simply activated his super-senses and replied calmly, "You don't hear it, Jonah?"
"Hear what?"
"The sound of thunder."
A gigantic rainbow shot through the sky, and a boundless cloud immediately covered Manhattan. Lightning and thunder intertwined, keeping the city visible even in the dark clouds. A violent roar of thunder echoed, and the symbiote biomass clinging to the buildings across Manhattan quickly disintegrated. One after another, symbiotes shrieked in agony and crumbled into piles of residue. People were freed from the symbiotes' control by the lightning, leaving behind only a few symbiotes that were immune to the sound waves. Like vampires seeing sunlight, the remaining symbiotes scurried back toward the wreckage of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
The rainbow bridge faded, leaving only a golden-haired, blue-eyed god in a shining silver armor and helmet suspended in the air. He held his divine hammer and aimed it directly at Knull.
"Hear me, Knull! My name is Thor, God of Thunder, Son of Odin, Prince of Asgard!" Thor stared at Knull and declared, "This world is under my protection!"
This thunder, this lightning... So this is the one who sealed me within Grendel all those years ago, Knull thought, frowning before he began to smile. He raised his hand, and Grendel flapped his wings, flying toward the lair they had built earlier. He landed on his throne and sat down nonchalantly, with Riot returning to his side.
"My Lord, why did you..."
"Gods are a pain in the neck in any world, and even Grendel can't be sure of a victory. Besides, they were due for a win. Everything has been going too smoothly."
Knull clapped his hands with a smile, and the Hulk, now covered in an upgraded symbiote, walked out.
"Besides, we have a monster to deal with that so-called God of Thunder, don't we?"