Looking at Thor kneeling in the ruins with his arms spread wide, his howl to the heavens filled with loneliness and loss, Heisenberg suddenly felt like he had stepped into the DC Universe.
Because what he was seeing looked exactly like Aquaman in that Yi Jian Mei meme.
"Ahem!"
He could not help coughing twice, then reached out and rubbed hard at the handprint on Mjolnir.
Well...
The handprint on Mjolnir faded a little, but the runes on the hammer's surface faded with it.
"Umm."
Heisenberg felt a little awkward.
It seemed he had played with it a bit too hard...
So he could only put on an expression as if nothing had happened, walk over to Thor, and wave the hammer in front of him.
"Hey, buddy!"
As he spoke, the motion of swinging the hammer dragged out a trail of crackling sparks.
Crackle! Snap!
Violent bursts of sound and flashing lightning immediately reflected in Thor's dull, lifeless eyes.
"It still works. Pretty powerful too. Here, take it back."
After saying that, Heisenberg quickly bent down and handed the hammer back to Thor.
Thor looked at the hammer he had seemingly regained.
Then he looked at the extra scuff marks on its surface.
"No!!!!!
My hammer!!!
It's not even my shape anymore!!!
And now it's being rejected too!!!
Aaaargh!!!"
Bang!
Thor threw Mjolnir straight to the ground, then turned and ran, charging into the distance as fast as he could.
Even as he ran, Heisenberg could still hear his unending cries of anguish.
Their Asgardian prince seemed to have completely lost his faith in life.
Seeing that, Heisenberg spread his hands helplessly and said to the Justice League decorations not far away, "Go keep an eye on him. He's Thor, after all. I still need him for something in a few days."
The moment he finished speaking, Bullseye and the others all stepped back almost in unison.
The way they looked at Heisenberg was full of fear.
Their boss was simply too terrifying!
That had been an enemy none of them could handle even if they all attacked together!
But the moment their boss made his move...
No.
Their boss had not even made a move, and Thor was already down!
Just thinking about the God of Thunder from a minute ago, still full of spirit and swagger, then seeing him turn into a tragic wreck who looked like he had forgotten how to breathe...
And the worst part was this.
Even after all that, the boss still wanted to use him!
...
Heisenberg noticed the looks they were giving him and clapped his hands irritably.
"Stop standing around. Take Thor out for a few drinks, it'll cure him!
Also, Rumlow, is the blueprint for the Injustice League base ready yet?"
"It's the Justice League!" Daredevil interrupted before Rumlow could speak.
Heisenberg glanced at him and said flatly, "Yeah, Justice League. Anyway, is the base design ready?"
"Don't worry, boss. Construction can begin by the day after tomorrow at the latest. But do you want to stay at the nightclub these next few days? The Justice League base is supposed to be built at the theater where you live now, and construction's going to be noisy."
"No need."
Hearing Rumlow's suggestion, Heisenberg casually pointed at the ruins underfoot.
"Since Central Park's already been trashed this badly, buy it.
Build the base here!"
"Yes, sir!"
Rumlow immediately nodded and accepted the order.
Seeing that, Heisenberg turned to leave, but Bullseye suddenly called out to him.
"Boss!"
"Hm?"
Heisenberg looked back, only to see Bullseye pointing at Mjolnir on the ground as he asked, "Are we just leaving this thing here?"
"Leave it. Thor can come get it himself. Once he's had enough fun, he'll remember how good the hammer is."
Heisenberg answered calmly.
"But boss, don't you need this thing? It counts as a divine weapon at least, right?"
Bullseye asked in confusion, but Heisenberg merely nodded with disdain.
"Heh. It's useless to me. You guys can play with it."
As he spoke, Heisenberg shot into the sky and vanished in an instant.
...
After he left, Bullseye and the others all stared at each other.
A full five or six seconds passed before Rumlow finally spoke.
"Ahem," he said. "Don't get discouraged. Thor really isn't the kind of problem we can deal with.
Don't compare yourselves to that kind of monster. At the very least, we can still fight Captain America. He's one of the most traditional superheroes around, but he isn't our match!"
The moment he said that, the wrinkles on Daredevil's face nearly twisted together.
"Fuck!" he cursed. "We're the goddamn Justice League. Why the hell are we supposed to fight Captain America?!"
"Just an example, haha, just an example. Come on, let's hurry up and chase after Thor!"
After saying that, Rumlow made as if to leave, but then he noticed Bullseye was still standing there staring blankly at Thor's hammer.
So he turned back and asked, "What, can't let it go?"
"Of course I can't. This is Thor's hammer. Even with two extra handprints on it, it still represents unbelievably powerful strength!"
"Hahaha!"
Rumlow laughed especially hard after hearing that.
"Forget it, man. We can't lift it. And even if we could, we still wouldn't be able to survive a single move from the boss.
So as long as the boss is standing behind us, that's enough. Let's go!"
"Mmm."
Bullseye nodded, then followed the others into the car he had driven over.
Once the car started moving and headed in Thor's direction, Bullseye suddenly remembered something and casually asked Daredevil, "By the way, Matthew, you didn't try lifting that hammer just now, did you?"
"He didn't. My little man was just about to give it a shot when I happened to arrive.
So I beat him to it instead, haha!"
Elektra answered for Matthew with a laugh, then curled herself into his arms and softly asked, "How about we go back later and let you try too, darling?"
"No need."
Daredevil shook his head with disdain.
Elektra gave him a quick kiss, then turned and teased Bullseye, who was driving.
"Look at my man, then look at you. It's just a broken hammer, right?"
...
Meanwhile, Heisenberg returned home.
The moment he stepped through the door, six long-legged women all bowed to him at once!
The sight made him frown in surprise.
"Billy!"
He shouted. Billy promptly emerged from the guest room and, from far away, eagerly began explaining.
"Boss, these are the top models who worked as greeters at tonight's charity banquet. I thought after being so badly frightened, they must surely need your comfort!"
"You..."
Heisenberg froze for a second, then nodded expressionlessly.
"Just this once!"
"Understood. But there's one more thing I'd like your opinion on. Ms. Pepper is currently resting in the waiting room. Do you think we should also..."
"Cough?!"
Heisenberg instantly went dumbfounded. He roared at Billy in utter confusion, "Send her back, damn it! Is there nothing in your head except a single reproductive organ? Why the hell would I be interested in her?!"
"Well..."
Billy was just about to explain when the nearby window suddenly tore apart.
Iron Man, having put his armor back on for once, landed in a perfect superhero pose right in front of Heisenberg, burning with rage.
Before he even straightened up, he flipped open the faceplate and shouted at Heisenberg, "You son of a bitch, what are you planning to do by bringing my woman to your house?!"
"Get lost. Don't annoy me."
Heisenberg was in no mood for him either. He casually draped an arm around two of the models while looking at Billy.
"Don't try making decisions for me. Explain it to him yourself. Don't bother me."
With that, Heisenberg ignored everyone and led the models straight toward the bedroom in the distance.
And the next day, Billy got another break.
This time, it was going to be a much longer one.
After all, his arm was broken.
...
While Heisenberg was resting, S.H.I.E.L.D. had not stopped moving.
The moment Loki appeared, Barbara had already headed toward the area near Ehrenburg Restaurant to observe the situation.
And after Natasha shook off Tony and drove away, Barbara immediately got on her motorcycle and chased after her.
At the same time, Hill had Captain America and the others board a Quinjet and rush back to New York as quickly as possible.
As for Hill herself, she personally led the pursuit force, taking Barton, Melinda, and the rest of the main combat personnel with her as they launched a full-scale hunt for Natasha.
To be honest, Natasha truly was the very definition of an elite among humans.
The chase dragged on until four in the morning. Only after Captain America personally returned and joined the operation did they barely manage to subdue her.
A trial?
Don't joke around.
S.H.I.E.L.D. still needed Natasha's abilities.
To S.H.I.E.L.D., killing two people was nothing. That was just the kind of unreasonable organization they were.
Had nobody seen the original timeline, the one from the movies?
When Barton was mind-controlled, he directly caused the deaths of hundreds of agents aboard the helicarrier, and Coulson himself even died once in that incident.
And yet Barton still dusted himself off and went right back to work.
Whoever held the power got the final say. S.H.I.E.L.D. had the right to handle its own agents however it wanted. That was the authority the United Nations had granted them, hehe...
As for Natasha, after Agent Melinda used physical means to remove the mind-control effects from her, she only went through about three minutes of low spirits before pulling herself together again.
As she strapped on her gear, Natasha said one last thing to Melinda.
"Tonight was seriously insane. I really thought I was going to die in that man's hands!"
Hearing that, Melinda looked at her thoughtfully and said quietly, "This may hurt to hear, but the truth is...
You, me, Barton, even Captain America and the Hulk...
To that man, we're all just small fry. Small fry not worth his personal action!
His enemies are gods, and we aren't even worthy of his attention!"
"Heh..." Natasha gave a helpless smile. "Yeah, not worthy. But maybe that's for the best.
At least I'm still alive. At least I can still do something to make up for it, even if it's something that can never really be made up for in this life."
...
Leaving aside Natasha's little issue, Captain Rogers had now brought his people close to Thor's hammer.
But he ran into a bit of trouble, because far too many Nuke Gang members had gathered around it.
At the center of the crowd, Bullseye had just let go of the hammer with a face full of strain, while the bunch of guys not far from him immediately burst into laughter again.
"Boss Bullseye, that's the nineteenth time you've tried to lift it!"
"Yeah, hahaha, you planning to try a few thousand more times?"
"Wonder who's lucky enough to actually lift this thing?"
"Like the boss?"
"That's not luck, that's strength. Unbelievable strength!"
Amid the uproar of the Nuke Gang, Captain America walked into the middle of them in uniform.
"Guys!"
He called out to everyone.
"I don't know whether you recognize me, but I'm a Brooklyn kid too. Thor's hammer is far too dangerous. We need to find a way to isolate it, at the very least so not every citizen can just walk up and touch it!"
The moment he finished speaking, someone in the Nuke Gang immediately replied, "Cap, I'm your fan! Sure, I rob, kill, and burn, but I grew up reading your comics!"
"Then my comics owe your parents an apology."
Rogers answered helplessly, then moved through the crowd and came to stand beside the hammer.
He looked at it, then at Bullseye, and while bending down to reach for it, said, "If only we could lift this thing. Leaving it here, I really don't think it's all that saf..."
Crackle!!!
Bzzzt!!!
Before he could finish speaking, he had already lifted the hammer!
As countless Nuke Gang members shouted in shock and excitement, thunder and lightning suddenly filled heaven and earth, and endless bolts of lightning came crashing down directly onto Captain America.
In that brief instant, Captain America felt himself become countless times stronger. It was as though he truly possessed the power of a god!
And at that exact same moment, in the nightclub at the Science Academy, Thor, who had been happily drinking himself silly with Rumlow, shot to his feet!
He rushed straight to the wall of the nightclub, kicked it open with one blow, and stared toward Central Park in utter disbelief.
Feeling that lightning, lightning that was incomparably familiar to him, and the fully awakened presence of Mjolnir...
Thor did not even have time to think before he dropped to his knees.
"No! No no no!!!"
/-\
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