Straight after the Foster crew drove off, hoping to get Thor some medical attention, another impact occurred.
Voom!
Mjolnir fell from the sky like a meteorite, and the sound it made hitting the earth reverberated with a hard-hitting bass sound.
Even over a mile away, I could feel the shockwave pass through my chest.
Naturally, I immediately drove over to the site of the impact.
By the morning, there would be plenty of hicks crowding around trying to take turns pulling the hammer with their trucks, so now would be my only chance to see it up close.
I hopped over the border of the crater, and past that crater was a second crater.
The second crater was far smaller than the first, but it was somehow more impressive, because the thing sitting at the centre of it was the size of a handheld tool and had just hit the ground with enough force to register on seismic equipment.
I walked toward it slowly.
The ground was hot, having been scorched by the impact of Mjolnir, but my shoes managed to guard me well enough.
At the centre lay Mjolnir, proudly embedded in a rock as if it were the sword in the stone itself. Unsurprisingly, the hammer appeared completely pristine despite the violent impact it had created.
I stared at it for a moment.
"Well, since I'm here..."
Nng!
Unsurprisingly, the hammer didn't budge.
"Yeah, whatever, I'll get a way better weapon anyway, so I don't need something like this." I coped with the reality of my unworthiness.
I turned around and walked back to my car, leaving the site as the early morning sun began to rise.
---
By the time I had gotten back to the motel and slept for a few hours, word had already spread.
I could hear it from my room. Voices outside, engines, the general commotion of a small town that had collectively decided something interesting had happened and needed to go look at it.
I pulled on my jacket and went to see what the fuss was about.
The crater site was already busy. A loose gathering of locals surrounded the outer edge, each trying to take their turn at pulling the hammer.
Eventually, a certain someone had driven their truck right inside the crater, attaching a tow chain to the hammer.
The truck revved hard, tyres spinning against the dry ground. The chain snapped taut.
Mjolnir didn't move a single millimetre.
The crowd erupted like it was a sporting event.
There was no need for me to try to blend in here; practically all the men in the town had come to the impact site. After all, a town like this perfectly exemplified the saying that 'nothing ever happens'.
From my car, I saw a man in a suit on the opposite side of the crater making a call with a tense expression.
S.H.I.E.L.D. would arrive and lock down the site within a few hours, after which Thor would try to storm the site to get his hammer back.
I had no interest in dealing with that nonsense.
---
Considering that the town was so small, it was pretty easy to find the diner that Thor and co. were eating at.
By this point, Thor had already broken out of the hospital, been picked up by Jane, and asked for food.
"Another!"
I walked into the diner right as Thor smashed a mug of coffee on the tiled floor, garnering the attention of everyone present.
"What was that!?" Jane asked Thor with an accusatory tone.
"It was delicious, I want another!" Thor replied with a smile as if his previous action was completely normal.
"Well, you could've just said so."
"Hah, I just did?"
I eavesdropped on their conversation at a table not so far from Thor's group.
The waitress approached, giving me a look that suggested she had already had enough for today.
"Just a coffee, thanks."
I turned slightly, pretending to look at the menu board, and used the opportunity to take a look at the group.
Thor, still bearing the long blonde hair he eventually lost in Ragnarok, sat looking amused at the situation he had just caused.
Jane was across from him, looking irritated by his strange behaviour.
The older man, Eric Selvig, seemed tired but interested, and the other woman, Darcy, simply seemed amused by everything.
I was thinking about whether or not I should start a conversation with the group before the decision was made for me.
"You."
I turned.
Thor was staring directly at me. Not with curiosity, but with the look of a warrior trying to determine whether or not he had to start throwing fists.
'Damn.'
I was confused and impressed by the fact that he had been able to identify me. For now, I decided to act confused.
"Me?"
"You were the one with red eyes."
Truly, I was even more confused.
Right now, I did not have my Sharingan activated.
And even so, when Thor actually saw me back at his impact, he would've only seen my eyes, the rest of my features being hidden by the cloud of dust that had been kicked up by his landing.
As I stared at him silently, I eventually came to a conclusion.
The fact that he was able to get up after being hit by an RV was ridiculous. Perhaps some of his godly power still lingered in his body briefly after being cast down?
That godly power could've given him the improved vision to see me through the dust.
Finally, having come up with an answer, I decided to break the tense silence that had been created between us.
"I wasn't going to do anything, y'know." I spoke calmly.
Thor studied me for a long moment, his eyes narrowed with the intensity of the warrior-god that he was.
Jane, Darcy and Eric alternated looking between us, wondering what kind of exchange was occurring.
"Uh, Thor, please, let's not bother anyone more than we already have." She was confused by the fact that I had responded, but regardless, she wanted to avoid the brewing trouble.
Anyway, it would only end up being troublesome for Thor. Without his godly power, I would be able to beat his ass.
"This man," Thor pointed towards me, "He was there... when we all first met, though he hid himself from your mortal eyes."
Jane looked at me, as if expecting me to deny Thor's words, but all I did was smile.
As silence continued to reign between us, I decided to be a little less cryptic and mysterious.
"Well, he's right, I was watching."
"Watching." He repeated my words.
"Yeah, not every day you get to see a god fall from the sky."
"Ho, you know of me, mortal? I was beginning to think that Midgard had forgotten the prince of Asgard." The fact that I had recognised Thor as a god seemed to make him happier, though he quickly remembered our standing and switched to a frown.
"Whoa, wait, you believe all that crap he was saying about him being a god?" Darcy asked, interjecting herself into the conversation.
"Hm... I guess you could say that, but he certainly isn't a god right now."
Thor's expression darkened at my last words, a flash of something wounded passing across his face before he schooled it back into a frown.
"You dare-"
"Relax," I said. I stood up, dragged a chair over to his table and sat. "I'm not insulting you, but ehm, we both know that's the reality right now, isn't it? And more importantly, I bear no ill will towards you, that I can promise."
A tense beat passed.
Then, unexpectedly, Thor let out a short laugh.
"You speak plainly."
"Usually."
"Most men would not say such things to my face, yet you speak as such whilst knowing who I am."
"Well, would you prefer I treat you like a lunatic like these lot?" I shrugged.
Thor studied me for a moment with an expression I couldn't quite read.
Jane was watching the exchange with the focused attention of a scientist who had just observed something unexpected and wasn't sure yet what to make of it.
"You said you watched me fall," Thor said. "What else do you know, crimson-eyed mortal?"
I considered how to answer that.
"I know a thing or two," I said finally.
Thor looked at me for a long moment. Then he turned to the waitress and pointed at my cup.
"Bring my friend another coffee!"