Night fell, and rain poured down in sheets.
Thunder rumbled over the deserts of New Mexico, as if answering the fury of some deity.
The chain-link fence around S.H.I.E.L.D.'s temporary base had been violently torn open. A burly man with long blond hair and a mud-stained T-shirt charged through the agents like a beast gone berserk.
"Stop him! Hurry!"
The agents' shouts rose and fell, but even without his divine power, the burly man still had the formidable physique and fighting skills of an Asgardian. Throws, elbows, charges—the highly trained agents seemed like children who had only just learned to walk beside him.
Tony Stark, watching from a high vantage point, took off his sunglasses and whistled.
"Wow, who's this guy? The WWE Champion? Those muscles are only a little better than mine."
"That's Thor."
Jiang Li leaned against the railing, a can of soda in his hand, watching the man roar in the mud. "Or, more accurately, the former God of Thunder."
"God of Thunder?" Tony scoffed. "The one from Norse mythology? Come on, Jiang, we're scientists, not readers of fairy tales."
As they spoke, Thor knocked down the last agent in his way.
He was soaked through and covered in mud, but his blue eyes burned with fervent hope.
He saw the hammer.
It was his Mjolnir. The power his father had left him.
"I am... Thor!!"
Thor roared and charged into the crater, grabbing the hammer by its handle.
At that moment, everyone held their breath.
Coulson's finger rested on the trigger, Hawkeye had drawn his bowstring taut in the tower above, and Tony's mechanical arm was fully charged.
Thor smiled with confidence.
If I can pick it up, I can become the God of Thunder again. I can return to Asgard!
"Rise!"
He yanked with all his might.
One second passed.
Then two.
Rainwater streamed from Thor's blond hair into his eyes, and the smile froze on his face.
The hammer didn't budge.
It was as if the hammer had grown into the ground.
"No... this can't be..."
Thor panicked. He gripped the handle with both hands and threw all his strength into pulling. The mud beneath his feet churned as he braced himself, veins bulging in his neck as a beastly growl rose from his throat.
"Arrrrrrgh!!"
The hammer still lay there, cold and unmoved. It didn't even give off a spark to comfort its former master.
"Father..."
Thor's strength gave out. He let go, slumped into the muddy water, and stared up at the stormy sky before letting out a despairing roar.
"Why... why did you abandon me?!"
At that moment, a god's pride was utterly shattered.
"Rough."
Tony shook his head, the amusement gone from his eyes. "Looks like he's just some lunatic. Coulson, have your people cuff him."
"Wait."
Jiang Li crushed the empty soda can in his hand and casually tossed it into a trash can. "The show's only just getting started. Tony, do me a favor and tell the agents to stand down. I'm going to talk to him."
"Talk? To a lunatic?"
"No. To a power bank that's run out of juice."
Jiang Li straightened his collar and walked down the slope into the crater.
Thor was on his knees in the muddy water, his eyes vacant. He looked like an empty shell without a soul. Jiang Li walked right up to him, but Thor didn't react.
"Hey, buddy."
Jiang Li crouched down and looked at the legendary Mjolnir. "This is your precious hammer? Doesn't seem very cooperative."
Thor looked up, his gaze hollow. "Mortal... you don't understand. I'm not worthy... I'll never be worthy of it again."
"Whether you're worthy is up to your dad to decide."
Jiang Li stood up and pressed his left hand against the Omnitrix on his chest. "But the energy field around this hammer looks a little too strong to me. Maybe it's locked up because it's overcharged?"
"What?" Thor didn't understand.
"Watch this, blondie."
A wild grin tugged at Jiang Li's lips. He spun the dial rapidly and locked onto the brand-new icon he had just unlocked.
"If you can't pull it out, I'll help it... let off some steam!"
"It's Hero Time!"
Black light erupted in an instant!
This time, the transformation effect wasn't green or red. It was an unfathomable black, threaded with flickering golden arcs of electricity.
When the light faded,
a slender black alien stood in the rain.
He had a single, enormous green eye, two long plug-like antennae sticking up from his head, metal plugs at his fingertips, and a cable-like tail behind him.
"Feedback!"
"What the hell is that thing?" Tony gaped from the platform. "A walking lightning rod with a tail? Or a sentient electrical outlet?"
Jiang Li, now Feedback, flexed his fingers, and electricity crackled around them.
He could feel it.
The hammer in front of him contained an immense, suffocating amount of energy. It was the Odinforce, the laws of thunder, one of the purest forms of energy in the universe!
"Delicious..."
Jiang Li reached out with both hands and pressed the plugs at his fingertips against the surface of Mjolnir.
"I'm going to drain you dry!!"
BOOM—!!
The moment he made contact, Mjolnir, which had lain lifeless until then, began to vibrate violently!
It sensed the threat!
A dazzling blue bolt of lightning burst from the hammer, trying to repel the intruder. But that was exactly what Feedback wanted!
"Just what I was hoping for!"
A wild light flickered in Jiang Li's single eye.
Feedback could absorb any form of energy in the universe and convert it into power of his own! He could even withstand the Big Bang. What was a little Thunder God power to him?
"Bzzzzzt—!!"
Terrifying lightning surged along Jiang Li's fingers and poured into his body.
The two antennae on his head blazed at full brightness, while the tail behind him lashed the air like a whip. Each strike sent sparks flying.
"Ahhhhh!!"
Jiang Li let out a long, ecstatic cry.
It was enormous! This energy was purer than any electricity he had ever absorbed!
Nearby, Thor, who had been utterly devastated, stared in shock.
What was he seeing?
A black monster was... violating Mjolnir's lightning?
"Stop! That's my hammer!!" Thor tried to rush forward, but the escaping current blasted him away.
"It's my power bank now!"
Jiang Li increased the suction.
The runes on Mjolnir, which had gleamed silver and radiated authority, began to dim. Its once-overwhelming divine radiance was being ripped away!
[System Notice: Absorbing high-dimensional energy (Odinforce fragment).] [Energy Reserve: 200% (Overload State)!]
"Burp—"
Three minutes later,
Jiang Li abruptly let go and belched, sparks of electricity crackling from his mouth.
He felt like a balloon on the verge of bursting, with lightning shooting from every cell in his body.
The hammer on the ground wasn't damaged, but its surface had turned dull and gray. It looked like a piece of scrap metal tossed by the roadside, its former brilliance gone.
"Whew... that was a lot of juice."
Jiang Li glanced at the dumbfounded Thor and grinned, baring a mouthful of fangs crackling with electricity.
"Buddy, your hammer's out of power. You can try lifting it now. Maybe it'll be a little lighter?"
With that, Jiang Li raised a hand and pointed one finger at the sky.
"Thanks for the meal. Now, I'll give it back to you!"
BOOM!!!
A massive pillar of lightning, streaked with gold and blue, shot from Jiang Li's fingertip. It pierced the heavy rain clouds and surged straight into outer space!
For one instant, the entire night sky over New Mexico shone as brightly as day!
Asgard, Golden Palace.
Though Odin was asleep, Loki, who had taken the throne in his place, sat upon it with Gungnir in hand, watching Earth.
When he saw the pillar of lightning shoot into the sky, and the black alien who had drained Mjolnir until it was "scrap metal," the sinister smile on Loki's face froze.
"What kind of monster is that?"
Loki tightened his grip on Gungnir, a flicker of wariness and murderous intent in his eyes.
"No mortal could wield that kind of power... It could threaten my plans."
He turned toward the far end of the Bifrost.
"Destroyer," Loki ordered in a low voice. "Go to Earth. Kill Thor. And while you're at it... crush that black insect for me."
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