"Thunderstorm!"
Living by the principle that the louder you shout, the higher the damage output, Thor roared as he pointed Mjolnir at Tony. A lightning bolt as thick as a barrel exploded from the hammer, blasting straight toward him!
"Bring it on!"
Tony crossed his arms to block. With the assistance of his magnetic field, he only slid backward a dozen steps, tearing through part of the Helicarrier's optical camouflage panels before coming to a stop.
"Now that's what I'm talking about!"
The numbing surge of electricity sent a thrill through Tony's body. Then came J.A.R.V.I.S.'s report in his ear—music to his soul.
"Sir, energy reserves at 1000%."
"Then what are we waiting for? Fire!"
With his armor overcharged, Tony immediately returned the favor with a fully powered Pulse Beam Cannon.
"What?!"
Thor had just unleashed his ultimate move and hadn't expected Tony to tank it so easily. Caught off guard, he was blasted backward, slamming hard into an F-35 fighter jet.
BOOM!!!!
The jet exploded.
Mjolnir flew from his grasp. The explosion hurled Thor back again, dropping him not far from Tony.
"Perfect timing!"
"J.A.R.V.I.S., now!"
"Brotherly Restraint!"
Tony grinned crookedly. His Mark VI Armor, forged entirely from Leon's Living Adamantium, instantly disassembled into its base components.
Under the dual enhancement of Tony's magnetic manipulation and the armor's autonomous flight systems, the parts shot toward Thor, who was just pushing himself up.
In an instant—
Like a mechanical iron maiden clamping onto its prey, the components latched onto Thor and reassembled into the heavily scuffed yet completely undamaged Mark VI around him.
"AAAAAAH!!!"
Thor roared in fury, straining to break free—but it was utterly useless.
He could not overpower the fiery brotherly combo of Leon and Tony.
Tony's magnetic compression, combined with the armor's reverse-thrust output, pinned Thor in place.
In the end, Thor found himself in an embarrassing position reminiscent of the beginning of Avengers: Infinity War—completely immobilized.
"Well?"
"Had enough?"
Tony tapped the Mark VI helmet now covering Thor's head. Thor was forced onto both knees, hands braced against the deck, struggling.
"I haven't lost!"
"Mjolnir!"
Though immobilized, Thor could still summon his hammer. Responding to the call, Mjolnir streaked toward him.
Tony tried to intercept it.
But the moment he grabbed the handle, an unstoppable force dragged him along, sending him crashing headfirst into Thor.
BAM!!!
"What the hell?!"
"Why is this thing so heavy?!"
Tony's forehead collided intimately with the Mark VI helmet, instantly raising a swelling bump. Grimacing in pain, he popped his partially dislocated arm back into place.
"Mjolnir, move!"
"Don't tell me you're this inconvenient!"
Thor tried to use Mjolnir to lift him—but since he couldn't swing it, nothing happened.
He then attempted to channel an even stronger lightning blast than before, hoping to overload the Mark VI into shutdown.
Mjolnir remained silent.
Without direct physical contact, it was effectively in a wild-state—unable to unleash its power.
"Almost scared me there."
"I thought your hammer had gained sentience like Leon's Arcee."
Tony exhaled in relief and grabbed Mjolnir's handle again.
"Up you go!"
He strained with all his strength, boosting his magnetic manipulation to maximum, lifting the deck beneath the hammer rather than the hammer itself.
He'd tried manipulating Mjolnir and Thor's armor directly with magnetism before. It wasn't completely ineffective—but close enough.
Enchanted Uru was highly resistant to magnetic influence.
"What's up with this?!"
As Tony pushed harder, he reached a critical threshold—only to stomp straight through Nick Fury's Helicarrier deck.
Mjolnir didn't budge.
"Heh."
"Give it up. Only I can—what the hell?!"
Thor's smug laughter froze mid-sentence, his expression turning ghostly pale.
Because—
"Tony, that's enough. If you two keep this up, Fury's Helicarrier is going to sink."
Captain America stepped in to break things up.
After pulling Tony out of the deck like a stubborn carrot, Steve Rogers casually picked up Mjolnir from the floor—completely unaware of the gravity of the situation.
"Uh… Captain Rogers, how did you do that?"
"Do what?"
"That hammer. How are you lifting it? You're just a super soldier."
Even right after his Extremis-level enhancements, Tony was certain his raw strength surpassed Steve's Super Soldier Serum by far.
"You just… grab it and lift it. The balance is pretty good. It's comfortable. Feels light."
Still oblivious, Steve casually tossed Mjolnir once before offering it to Tony.
"Maybe your grip was off. Want to try again?"
"Really?"
Tony accepted—
THUD!
Mjolnir dropped straight down, dragging Tony's arm with it like dead weight.
"Shit!"
"This is definitely not my problem!"
Tony's base strength could slap "America's Ass" back into the womb if he wanted to. This was absolutely the hammer's issue.
"Thor. Care to explain?"
After several failed attempts, Tony gave up and turned to Thor, still restrained.
"…."
But Thor refused to mention the enchantment—that only the worthy could lift Mjolnir.
He wore the expression of a man questioning his entire existence.
"I lost T T."
And lost completely.
"Well then."
"If little bro admits defeat, what's left to say?"
Tony snapped his fingers.
The Mark VI disassembled instantly, its components flying back toward the Helicarrier's dedicated armor hangar.
"Don't be sad, Brother. You're still young. The future's yours."
Tony wrapped an arm around Thor. Thor nodded stiffly, forcing a smile more painful than tears.
After recalling Mjolnir, he wandered off alone to contemplate life.
Tony shrugged at Steve.
Steve facepalmed.
…At least this might be good for team cohesion?
Helicarrier – Bridge
Back on the bridge, Nick Fury smugly extended his hand to Steve.
"I win."
"You got me."
Steve flicked a one-dollar bill from his pocket into Fury's palm.
Tony passed by and gave Steve's rear a quick smack.
"Nice glutes, Cap. Interest on betting me."
"Tony!"
Steve was speechless. Getting smacked was one thing—Tony had even squeezed.
Inside the Helicarrier – Banner's Lab
"You really can control the big green guy now?"
Natasha Romanoff sat cross-legged on a lab table opposite Bruce Banner. Even in her tactical black suit, her presence was disarmingly captivating.
Banner awkwardly avoided eye contact.
"Technically, not control. Negotiate," Banner corrected. "We're equals. Hulk and I have to reach an agreement."
"The problem is his anger. But his power comes from anger. Leon advised against suppressing it for absolute rationality."
"That would be throwing away the watermelon to pick up sesame seeds."
"Earth needs an angry Hulk. Sometimes destruction is necessary to protect what matters."
Natasha nodded.
With Leon frequently off-world and Thor rarely on Earth, Hulk was their strongest immediate ally.
"Hey, are we discussing who's sleeping where tonight?"
Tony's arrival shattered the pink-tinged atmosphere. Banner quickly withdrew his gaze.
Natasha smoothly sidestepped Tony's reaching hand.
"Finished your friendly boys' sparring session?"
"Our God of Thunder is in emotional timeout," Fury said dryly. "Status?"
"They're still within U.S. territory. Narrowing further will take time," Banner replied.
"What's their objective?" Tony asked.
"An alien army," Fury said. "They intend to use the Tesseract to open a portal—bigger and more stable than before."
Tony stepped up, hijacked Banner's console, and began typing at impossible speed.
"They'll need a high-density energy source to activate the Tesseract."
Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Since when are you a thermonuclear astrophysicist?"
"Last night."
"Coulson's report. Selvig's notes. Extraction theory papers. My father's Tesseract research."
He glanced around smugly. No one responded.
"At least heat the Tesseract's energy shell to 100 million degrees Celsius," Banner added.
Tony gestured toward him. "See? Professional."
"If Selvig stabilized the Quantum Tunneling Effect, any Earth-based reactor could trigger an ionic cascade. With a micron-precision targeting device, they could open a sustained portal."
Working together, the two geniuses quickly narrowed the Tesseract's location to within half a mile.
Fury, Steve, and Natasha could only watch in awe.
"Bingo!"
Tony snapped and projected coordinates onto the main screen.
"Hawaii?!" Fury's eye twitched.
"Don't tell me we're panicking here while two aliens are sipping cocktails on a beach."
"Fury, if you want to see bikini girls in Hawaii, just say so."
Fury snorted.
"I'm concerned about innocent civilians!"
"Agent Hill, set course—Hawaii. Full speed!"
Ignoring the judgmental stares of Tony, Natasha, and Banner.
Meanwhile—
Far away in Hawaii.
Leon and Loki were indeed lounging on beach chairs beneath the blazing sun, admiring the sand, sea, and generously proportioned bikini-clad beauties.
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