"Director!" Black Widow snapped, breaking Fury out of his daze. "If we don't act now, this disaster will be worse than the one in September all those years ago!"
"Alright then."
Nick Fury hesitated no longer. He didn't grab the BB device Captain Marvel had given him. Instead, he pulled out his phone and dialed a secret number.
After a moment, someone picked up.
Nick Fury took a deep breath. "General Ross! Your super soldier is needed on the front lines—early."
The devastation in Manhattan was unimaginable. It was hard to tell whether this was Manhattan or some bombed-out oil country.
Loki's Destroyer, focused solely on killing Yujin and Thor, fired relentless beams of energy.
In just twenty minutes, North Sea Street, the People's Hospital, the affiliated elementary school, Central Park—all were reduced to rubble and debris.
Yujin and Thor weaved between buildings using their flight, but the Destroyer pursued relentlessly, leaving the situation at a standstill.
"This isn't going to work!" Thor shouted, clutching Yujin's waist tightly, afraid of losing his grip.
"Then what do you suggest we do? Wait for Loki to mercifully let us go, or wait for Odin to wake up?"
Thor gritted his teeth, feeling for the first time a deep annoyance toward his own brother.
Just as despair was closing in and the Destroyer was about to catch up with them, a familiar roar of engines sounded from the sky.
Both of them looked up.
Iron Man, Tony Stark, clad in his red-and-gold armor, streaked through the sky like a blazing red comet.
He stopped in midair, quickly adjusting his stance. The repulsors in his palms glowed brightly, and then two dazzling beams of energy shot toward the Destroyer.
The moment the energy blasts hit, a loud explosion erupted, sparks flying everywhere.
But the Destroyer barely faltered. Its massive, impenetrable body seemed capable of withstanding any attack, and it continued advancing relentlessly toward Yujin and Thor.
"Yujin! What the hell is that thing?" Tony Stark shouted into the air.
"It's a monster made from a material even harder than the vibranium I asked you to get!"
"What do we do then?" Stark was dumbfounded.
At that moment, Yujin had a sudden idea. He shouted, "Tony! Take Thor to New Mexico and pull out the hammer!"
Though puzzled, Tony understood the urgency. Without hesitation, he skillfully adjusted his flight path, swooped down to Thor, and steadied him with his mechanical arms.
"Hold on tight, Thor!" Tony shouted, then kicked the engines into full thrust and soared into the sky.
Once Thor was taken, the Destroyer paused, its enormous head slowly turning to lock its gaze on Yujin.
Through the Destroyer's vision, Yujin felt as if he could see Loki hiding in Asgard, his face twisted with pride and hatred.
Clearly, Loki wasn't in a hurry to kill Thor; he wanted revenge on Yujin first, to avenge the earlier intimidation.
Sure enough, back in the palace, Loki's lips curved into a smug smile as he prepared to charge the Destroyer and strike Yujin in one decisive blow.
But at that moment, something flashed before Loki's eyes—a figure he never wanted to see appeared atop the palace.
Odin?!
"F-Father!" Loki scrambled to his feet on the throne. "L-Let me explain!"
Odin, however, showed no intention of listening. He raised his hand, and a bolt of lightning shot toward Loki.
Loki covered his eyes in fear, and for a brief moment, regret washed over him.
But when he released his hands to check, there was no burning sensation as he had imagined.
He opened his eyes, and the palace was empty. Odin was nowhere in sight.
"Damn it… that 'magic' again! It can affect me even through the Destroyer's vision?!"
Loki frantically reconnected to the Destroyer's perspective. The screen flickered, showing only aircraft and cannons—Yujin's figure was nowhere to be seen.
The S.H.I.E.L.D. branch sat on the edge of Hammer Town, New Mexico.
This branch had been established solely because of a massive hammer that had fallen from the sky and refused to move.
To make studying it easier, a special branch office had been set up right here.
Iron Man escorted Thor to the site, where Agent Coulson had been waiting for some time.
A brand-new hammer lay on the open ground, patiently awaiting its master—Thor's touch.
Thor approached the hammer with a mix of anxiety and anticipation.
Every step felt unbearably heavy.
His eyes were locked onto the hammer, filled with both nostalgia for the godly power he once wielded as the God of Thunder, and a nervous uncertainty now that he was just an ordinary man.
Standing before the hammer, Thor took a deep breath and slowly reached out to grip its handle.
He gritted his teeth and began to exert all his strength.
Veins bulged along his arms, muscles tensed, and he used every ounce of effort to lift the hammer.
Yet, the hammer remained as if rooted to the ground, unmoving, lying there quietly, as if silently mocking Thor's current helplessness.
Sweat began to bead on Thor's forehead.
Refusing to give up, he pushed harder, a low, frustrated roar escaping his lips, full of stubborn defiance.
No matter how much force he applied, the hammer did not budge.
It stayed the same—cold, rigid, and unmoved.
Tony Stark, standing nearby, watched Thor's struggle with curiosity fully piqued.
He stepped forward and gripped the hammer himself.
Activating his suit's thrusters, a sudden surge of power erupted.
Flames from the thrusters scorched the ground around him and kicked up a cloud of dust!
Still, even with this, the hammer remained motionless.
It seemed utterly unyielding—no matter what tricks or tools were used, the hammer gave no reaction.
Thor stared at the unmoving hammer, his face full of disappointment and frustration.
The once effortlessly wielded weapon now felt impossibly out of reach, and the disparity crushed his spirits.
Just then, a whooshing sound came from the sky.
Everyone looked up, and a figure came racing toward them.
As the figure drew closer, it became clear it was Yujin.
The moment Yujin landed, he seemed drained of all strength.
His legs buckled, almost causing him to fall.
He bent over, hands on his knees, gasping for breath.
His chest rose and fell violently, and sweat poured down his forehead.
It was obvious the sprint here had drained him almost completely.
After a long moment, he managed to straighten up and looked at Thor, his voice hoarse as he asked, "Still can't lift it?"
Thor only shook his head silently.
His expression of defeat said everything.
Before anyone could fully process the heavy silence, the once clear sky suddenly changed.
A brilliant rainbow, sharp as a giant blade, cut down from the clouds, stretching straight toward them.
With a deep, rumbling roar, the rainbow's light revealed the relentless Destroyer at its end.
S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, seeing this, raised their weapons and opened fire on the Destroyer.
For a moment, gunfire erupted, bullets raining down on the Destroyer like a storm.
But the bullets hitting its incredibly tough body were like ants trying to shake a tree—only a few sparks flew, and not a single bullet caused any real damage.
Hawkeye leapt out from behind cover, his eyes sharp as lightning.
He quickly notched several specialized arrows and drew his bow to its limit.
"Fshhh! Fshhh! Fshhh!"
The arrows shot toward the Destroyer with a fierce whistle.
They struck their target with precision, but only scraped the surface, leaving shallow marks.
They could not pierce the hard body forged from Asgardian metal.
Soon, even those shallow marks vanished, leaving no trace behind.
Iron Man's armor energy surged rapidly, gathering at his palms.
The repulsor beams in his hands flared brilliantly.
"Boom! Boom!"
Two massive energy beams shot toward the Destroyer, their impact stirring violent gusts of wind.
Dust and rocks from the surroundings were lifted into the air.
The beams slammed into the Destroyer with blinding force, a light so dazzling that everyone squinted.
But when the light faded, despair hit the onlookers.
The Destroyer had only shifted slightly, its impenetrable body showing no visible damage.
Tony Stark's brow furrowed, surprise and frustration gnawing at him.
He gritted his teeth and increased the armor's energy output, every device on his suit flashing dangerously—clearly operating beyond its limits.
A sharp "zzzzt" crackle of electricity filled the air around the armor.
Small energy beams shot from different parts of the suit, intertwining into a dense net of light, trying to envelop the Destroyer and deliver a fatal strike.
Yet, the Destroyer remained unmoved.
The beams sparked faintly on its surface but quickly vanished without effect.
Its massive form stood firm, radiating an intimidating pressure, silently mocking the humans' helpless attempts.
Everyone watching the seemingly invincible Destroyer felt a wave of hopelessness.
The faint hope they had clung to moments ago was mercilessly crushed by the cold, unyielding presence of the metallic giant.
Loki, seated in the celestial palace, watched the scene unfold and couldn't help but chuckle.
These lowly Midgardians actually thought they could use their laughable technology to attack Asgard's most advanced mechanical destroyer.
It was like a tank rolling across the African savannah, or a wild boar charging at a tank—utterly ridiculous.
Just as everyone was losing hope, suddenly, Yujin looked up!
In the distance, a heavily armed helicopter came speeding toward them, drawing everyone's attention.
Loki didn't hurry to act. He waited silently, curious to see what tricks these "primitive" humans could pull off.
Before long, the helicopter finally hovered above the destroyer!
Among the crowd, Yujin's Sharingan fixed on something poking out of the helicopter, and his heart leapt with joy!
Though Captain Marvel wasn't here, a true powerhouse had arrived: the Hulk's nemesis— The gamma-radiated monster, Abomination!
****
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