Location: New Mexico – Crater Site
Time: 3:42 p.m.
The hammer hit the Earth like a god's heartbeat.
It left a crater thirty feet deep, scorched sand to glass, and triggered seismic sensors in four states.
SHIELD was already on it.
So was I.
Because thirty seconds after Mjolnir landed, my system went haywire.
---
[System Alert]
> FOREIGN TECH DETECTED: CLASS—PRIMORDIAL
STATUS: ASGARDIAN ENERGY SIGNATURE DETECTED WITHIN HOST
ANALYSIS: IMPRINTED RESONANCE (0.001%)
WARNING: MULTIVERSAL INTERFERENCE IMMINENT
That got my attention.
Asgardian energy... in me?
I didn't touch the hammer.
Hadn't even seen it.
Yet something inside me had resonated with it.
I needed answers—and that meant getting close to the artifact itself.
---
Location: SHIELD Quarantine Zone – Perimeter Fence
Time: 4:11 p.m.
Security was tight.
SHIELD tents surrounded the crater. Agents scanned every angle. Darcy Lewis and Dr. Erik Selvig talked beside Jane Foster's trailer, eyes locked on the object in the distance.
The hammer.
Mjolnir.
Embedded in the center of it all.
I wore a stolen SHIELD uniform and a holographic face rig courtesy of Stark. My name tag read "Agent Simons." The system's stealth module and Witcher senses kept me off their radar.
But I wasn't here to steal the hammer.
I was here to scan it.
[Scan Active]
> Object: Mjolnir
Material: Uru Metal
Enchantment: Odinforce-locked
Energy Type: Divine Static Resonance
Status: Host Resonance = Trace Detected
Compatibility: 0.03% (Growing)
My breath caught.
That shouldn't be possible.
Unless…
The system wasn't just giving me Earth-bound powers.
It was syncing me with the whole MCU timeline—including the divine stuff.
---
Then it got worse.
Another alert pinged.
[Incoming: Temporal Rift Detected – Source: Bifrost Transit]
A beam of iridescent light split the sky like a god's judgment.
Thor Odinson had arrived.
---
Location: Outskirts of Town – 10 minutes later
Time: 4:22 p.m.
I watched from a distance as Thor stumbled through the desert like a lost tourist, yelling for Mjolnir and punching anyone who got in his way.
Classic Odinson. Arrogant. Confused. Mortal.
This was pre-redemption Thor.
The one Odin banished.
But still—he was a god in a man's skin. And that meant he was dangerous.
I stayed out of sight.
But the system didn't.
---
[System Message: New Sign-In Reward Available!]
Reward: "Character Template Fragment – Thor Odinson (Lightning Pulse I)"
> Skill Gained: Passive lightning resistance + Minor electric pulse discharge on touch
Status: Auto-equipped
I staggered as static electricity jumped from my fingertips.
Lightning danced across my veins like glowing threads, tingling and crackling with potential.
Just being near the hammer had unlocked a sliver of Thor.
My system was evolving.
Adapting to contact with cosmic forces.
I wasn't just leveling up anymore—I was syncing with divinity.
---
That night – SHIELD Temporary Command Center
I broke into the internal server while the agents slept or sipped weak coffee.
The system had been tracking energy shifts.
And something new showed up.
[Hidden File Recovered: PROJECT NIGHTFALL]
> Summary: Unknown entity intercepted S.W.O.R.D. subspace message. Source: Nexus disturbance in Manhattan. Signature: Shadow-based quantum waveform. Similarity to Wakandan vibranium pulse: 16%.
Cross-reference: No known entity. Possible multiversal bleed?
It wasn't about the hammer.
It was about something else.
Something that entered this universe the moment Thor did.
Another player.
---
Suddenly, I wasn't alone in the game anymore.
And I had no idea what side they were on.
---
Location: Manhattan – 48 Hours Later
Time: 2:03 a.m.
The city lights were calm for once. Traffic murmured like background noise. The kind of stillness that only came before chaos.
I sat at the rooftop of an abandoned library, scanning data on my HUD.
Ghostblade Mode: Active
Current Templates Fused: Wick + Deathstroke + Geralt
Active Perks: Lightning Pulse, Aard, Tactical Prediction, Instinctive Combat
Then a flicker.
A distortion in the shadows across the street.
I zoomed in.
There—something moved against the laws of physics. Light bent around it like a cloak. Footsteps made no sound. Presence was non-existent.
Except… to me.
[Witcher Senses: Enemy Detected – Quantum Signature: Unknown]
It leapt.
I dodged, blade drawn in one fluid motion.
Steel clanged against void-born claws.
The thing hissed—neither machine nor man.
It moved like venom.
Spoke like madness.
"You do not belong here."
"Neither do you," I replied, slashing upward with Aard-boosted force.
It staggered back. Not much. Just enough.
I analyzed it mid-combat.
[Scan Active]
> Entity: Unknown
Structure: Non-terrestrial, fused shadow material, quantum-phased matter
Name: [UNDECIPHERED]
Codename Assigned: "Shadowborn"
I landed a palm strike to its chest and discharged the Lightning Pulse.
Crackling energy lit up the street. The creature shrieked as arcs tore through it, briefly revealing a humanoid skeleton underneath black armor made of living shadows.
Then it vanished.
---
System Message:
> New Quest Unlocked: "Dark Mirror"
Objective: Track and eliminate Shadowborn entity
Reward: Legendary Template Draw + Mystery Trait (Asgardian Origin Possible)
I stood there, breathing heavily, surrounded by the silence of a street that didn't realize it almost became a war zone.
The Shadowborn had come for me.
And it wasn't Hydra.
It wasn't even this world.
It was something older.
Something that saw me not as a threat—but as a rival.
---
Back at my safehouse, I stared at my inventory.
Wick's combat instinct.
Geralt's potions.
Deathstroke's tactics.
Moon Knight's cloak.
And now… a spark of Thor.
I was changing.
The system was changing.
And the MCU?
It wasn't ready for me.
But it better learn quick.
Because I had a feeling the Shadowborn was just the beginning.
---