The Prince's Transformation (Part 2)

"Have you heard? Nobody can pull that hammer out of the wasteland."

While Jane went to pay the bill, a conversation from the next table drifted over.

Thor's hand froze.

Two middle-aged men in work clothes were talking. One held up his phone for the other to see. "My cousin went there and filmed it. Look, it's silver-gray, with patterns carved into it. They say it came with a meteorite. The police have the whole area surrounded, with layers of barricades."

"What's so special about a hammer that they need to surround it?"

"They say it's an alien weapon. Humans can't pull it out. Tons of people have tried, but it won't budge. My cousin said some old guy in a pickup hooked it up with a tow chain and tried to yank it free. He tore the tow hook right off, but the hammer didn't move at all."

Thor set down his cup. The bottom of the stainless-steel cup made a soft clink against the table. His eyes lit up.

"The hammer you mentioned." He turned toward the next table. His voice was not loud, but every word was crystal clear. "What color is it?"

Both men looked up at him. Blond hair, a stretched-tight T-shirt, a stainless-steel cup in his hand, and an expression far too earnest for casual conversation.

"Gray. Silver-gray." The man holding the phone answered. "It has all these twisting patterns carved into it. Why?"

"Which direction is it?"

"West, about twenty kilometers away. You want to go too—"

Thor stood up without hearing the rest and strode toward the door.

By the time Jane chased outside, Thor was already standing by the roadside. He looked left and right, his gaze sweeping over the whole street—the gas station, grocery store, hardware store, post office—while his frown deepened.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for a mount."

"What?"

"A horse," Thor said. "I need a horse. Twenty kilometers is too far to walk."

"We can drive you there."

Thor looked at her. There was no arrogance in that look, no mockery, only pure, heartfelt confusion. How could anyone compare a metal box to an Asgardian warhorse?

"The metal box is too slow," he said.

Jane took a deep breath. "That Corolla is faster than a horse."

Thor's expression shifted from confusion to concern, the kind of concern one might show Loki—the concern reserved for someone intellectually impaired.

"I don't believe you."

Then his gaze stopped on a shop window at the corner.

A pet store.

He strode over. Jane followed behind him, a sense of dread rising within her. He pushed open the glass door, and the wind chime above it rang out in a series of jingles. The shop smelled of wood shavings and animal feed. On the left stood a row of glass tanks, hamsters racing madly on their wheels. On the right were stacked cages, with several cats curled up asleep inside. Straight ahead was an aquarium, tropical fish gliding beneath colorful lights.

A young clerk in a green apron approached with a professional smile. "Can I help you, sir?"

Thor straightened his back. "I need a horse!"

The clerk's smile froze. He looked Thor over—blond hair, a tight T-shirt, ill-fitting jeans, flip-flops—then looked around at the cats, dogs, hamsters, and tropical fish. His expression changed from confusion to wariness, then from wariness to alarm.

"We... don't have horses," the clerk said slowly, as if speaking to someone not entirely lucid. "Only dogs, cats, and birds."

Thor frowned. He surveyed the whole pet store, his gaze traveling from the hamsters to the tropical fish, from the fish to the cats, and from the cats to a rabbit gnawing on a chew stone. Then he turned back to the clerk.

"Then give me one," he said, utterly uncompromising. "As long as I can ride it."

The clerk stared at him for a long while.

Then he slowly picked up the landline receiver on the counter and dialed a number.

"Hello, police station? This is a pet store. A blond, muscular guy just came in asking to buy a horse. Yes, a horse. He also said any pet he could ride would do. Yes, I think there might be something wrong with his head."

Jane rushed over and grabbed Thor by the arm. "We're leaving."

"But—"

"Now."

She dragged Thor out of the pet store. The wind chime above the door jingled again.

On the other side of the portal, Chen Xiao inhaled cola through his nose. He coughed until tears came out, one hand pounding his chest as the blue portal in midair shook violently, nearly collapsing.

"As long as I can ride it." He repeated it, laughing until his voice cracked. "A hamster. He wanted to ride a hamster."

It took him a long while to calm down. He wiped the corners of his eyes with his sleeve, then saw Thor standing outside the pet store and looking back at the display window. Inside, an orange cat sat behind the glass, lazily licking its paw with an indifferent gaze.

Thor stared at the cat for a long time.

"I only wanted a mount," he said.

There was something deep in his voice, something beyond comfort.

Chen Xiao's smile faded. He had seen Thor riding a white horse in the movies—its mane streaming like fire in the wind, his cape snapping behind him, Mjolnir raised overhead as lightning split down from the sky.

And now, the God of Thunder stood outside a pet store in an ill-fitting old T-shirt, jeans barely hanging off his hips with the help of a belt, flip-flops dragging on his feet, staring at an orange cat licking its paw and saying, "I only wanted a mount."

Only foreigners could make such fools of themselves. Asgardian foreigners were no exception.

For some reason, Chen Xiao felt a little sad.

Jane sighed. "Get in. I'll take you there."

Thor turned to look at her. "Your metal box?"

"It's faster than a horse. You'll know once you try it."

Thor fell silent for a moment, then followed her to the car and folded himself into the back seat. His knees pressed against the front seatback, making him look like a large dog stuffed into a shoebox. The Corolla started up and headed west.

Second floor of the motel. With a sweep of his right hand, Chen Xiao dispelled the blue portal into the air. In a flash, he appeared on the roof and watched the Corolla's taillights grow more distant until they became a tiny dot at the end of the desert highway.

His phone vibrated. A message from Tony read: "Why has it gone quiet over there?"

Chen Xiao typed: "I was just watching a god look for a mount."

"...Did he find one?"

"He did." Chen Xiao thought about it. "A Corolla."

Tony sent an incomprehensible meme. "I'm booking you an appointment at a psychiatric hospital right now."