Chapter 426: Civil War II (Thor Arrives!)
Before the agent could finish his sentence, a violent shockwave accompanied by an electromagnetic pulse swept through the area. Every vehicle was overturned, including the one Nick Fury was using for cover.
Infinite clouds of dust were kicked up; sand and stones flew through the air as if the end of the world had arrived. Even the equipment the agents used to track energy fluctuations was jammed by the electromagnetic interference, failing to produce an image. Cameras surrounding the town flickered and hissed with static, while journalists were sent tumbling to the ground.
In the center of the town—
Ahhh-ah~ Ah~ Ahhh-ah!
A song began to blare, echoing around the battlefield.
"Thor!" Natasha Romanoff couldn't believe her eyes. Standing before them was their old comrade, Thor Odinson.
Thor was currently radiating lightning from every pore. The sheer majesty of the thunder and lightning surrounding him was so intense that the Avengers behind him almost didn't recognize him.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa~ How did you get here? And can you turn the music off?" Tony asked, both confused and exasperated, as he turned to Scott Lang.
Scott turned off the music, looking a bit sheepish. "I just thought the moment needed a proper soundtrack."
The massive Hulkbuster armor nearby had been completely totaled, reduced to a heap of scrap metal slumped on the pavement.
"Thor," Steve greeted him.
Thor was breathing heavily, his chest heaving. He turned and panted, "Long time no see, everyone."
Steve didn't say much; he stepped forward and gave Thor a firm hug. Thor released him and explained, "I heard you were in trouble, so I dropped by."
"How did you know?" Tony asked. By all rights, Thor should be in Asgard. How could Asgard know about their situation on Earth?
"A mysterious person appeared in Asgard. He helped me defeat Hela, and then he transported me here to Earth. He said you were in big trouble and needed the God of Thunder to save you," Thor explained.
"Wait, what happened to your eye?" Natasha noticed that Thor was now wearing an eyepatch over his right eye.
"A very powerful woman poked it out," Thor said, sounding a bit embarrassed.
"Well, we happen to have one of those right here," Tony said, pointing behind Thor.
Thor turned to see the glowing Carol Danvers. "Hello. I am Thor."
"Hmph. Another one here to help Stark," Carol frowned. She was annoyed by how many useful allies her opponents had, while her own side was hiding in the back. Still, she didn't care much; she figured she could handle it alone.
"Listen, I don't know why you are fighting," Thor said. "And I don't care to know. But Stark is my teammate. I'm backing him up." Having awakened his true power, Thor's strength was unprecedented, and his confidence was through the roof.
"How did that last hit feel?" Carol smirked.
"Oh, it was fine," Thor bluffed. In reality, that strike had nearly torn through his lightning. If she hadn't inexplicably pulled her punch at the last second, Thor might not have stood his ground.
Carol stared at Thor. She could feel a powerful energy within him. More importantly, she knew he wasn't even at his peak; Asgardians grew stronger as they aged—a fact she knew from her travels across the galaxies.
"Enough talk. Let's go," Thor said. He needed to get back to his refugee ship soon. Although the mysterious man had helped defeat Hela, Asgard was still destroyed. Thor had no choice but to lead his people away from their home.
"You seem very confident," Carol said, preparing to teach Thor a lesson about true power.
"Naturally!"
Thor's eyes flickered with the power of the storm. Thousands of lightning bolts danced around his body, coalescing into dragons of thunder that surged across the field. Carol pressed her fists together and fired a dazzling beam of pure energy to meet the hissing thunder dragons.
BOOM!
The collision of lightning and pure energy momentarily outshone the sun. Everyone shielded their eyes. A roar that shook the heavens filled their ears, vibrating through their very bones.
As the sparks faded, the two combatants at the center were revealed.
"You are quite strong," Thor grunted. His hands were caught in Carol's grip, and he found himself unable to break free. He had only experienced this kind of raw strength from his sister, Hela.
"Is that so?" Carol and Thor began a test of pure strength in the clearing.
"This makes no sense. Why is Thor here?" Silas Parker was completely baffled.
The timeline for Thor was supposed to lead into Ragnarok, so Silas hadn't interfered at all. Was it because the Hulk never went to Sakaar, causing a butterfly effect? Silas had been worried about whether Thor could beat Hela without the Hulk's presence. In Asgard, Hela could draw on the power of the dead; even an awakened Thor was no match for her unless he used Surtur to trigger Ragnarok.
"Where did the variable come from..." Silas really wanted to head to Asgard to see for himself. Unfortunately, he didn't have the coordinates, and the Shadow Kingdom couldn't reach that far. His own portals were limited in range as well. Unless the Bifrost was active, he was stuck.
"Is someone else pulling the strings?" Silas had thought he was the one in control, but it seemed he wasn't alone. Was it Thanos? Thanos was always watching Earth, especially since both the Mind Stone and Time Stone were here.
The Avengers joined the fray again. With the awakened God of Thunder on their side, the situation improved significantly. They were no longer being unilaterally dominated; they could finally start making an impact.
While Carol was focused on Steve, Scott Lang ambushed her from his shrunken state. Before she could swat him, Natasha and Clint launched a combined assault. Just as she went to fire an energy blast, Wanda bound her with Chaos Magic.
"Now! Hurry!" Wanda shouted. She was pouring every ounce of her strength into restraining Carol.
"Got it!" Pietro used his super speed to blur around Carol, delivering rapid-fire punches to her face every time he passed. Sam provided suppressing fire with his submachine guns, while the heavy hitting was left to Tony and Thor.
The Avengers seemed to have the upper hand, but it was an illusion. Their coordination was flawless, but they weren't dealing any real damage. Carol remained uninjured; the only reason they were landing hits at all was because of Wanda's impressive crowd control.
"If I still had my hammer, she'd be down by now," Thor shouted during the exchange.
"Hammer?" Tony realized he hadn't seen Mjolnir once during the fight. Usually, it would have been flying around by now. But there was no time for talk; they had to drive Carol back.
"Ah! ENOUGH!"
Carol suddenly exploded with power. The Chaos Magic binding her was blown away like smoke. Wanda was sent flying, feeling utterly drained. Her vision swam as exhaustion took hold.
"Wanda!" Pietro tried to run to her, but Carol spun and caught him with a brutal punch to the back.
Thud!
Pietro crumpled to the ground like a broken kite, his status unknown.
"Pietro..." Wanda gasped from the ground. Her ears were ringing, and her blurred vision could just barely make out her brother's fallen form.
Carol grabbed Tony with her left hand and Thor with her right. "This boring fight is over."
"Let go of Mr. Stark!" Peter Parker leaped out and aimed a kick at Carol.
Carol smirked and swung Tony into Peter's path.
"Oh, wait!" Peter tried to stop his momentum, but it was too late. His right foot slammed into Tony's back.
Bam!
Fortunately, the iron suit absorbed most of the force, but Tony was still left reeling.
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