Failed to Melt

A few days later, in the basement of the New York Sanctum.

Chen Xiao crouched on the floor, turning a palm-sized fragment over in his hand. It had once been part of the faceplate. He had shattered it during the fight, making it the perfect sample for his experiment.

The Destroyer's remains lay in the workshop where Chen Xiao usually repaired magical artifacts. Under the dim yellow light, the wreckage gleamed coldly.

Daniel stood in the doorway, still clutching a rag. He had been upstairs cleaning artifacts when he heard the noise and came down.

"...Are you building another Gundam?"

Chen Xiao didn't look up. "I'll say it again. This is Uru Metal, spoils I took in battle! I'm going to melt it down and make a staff."

Daniel was silent for two seconds.

"...You're serious?"

"When am I not?" Chen Xiao glanced at him, then went back to studying the fragment.

Daniel looked at him. His expression didn't change, but his eyes said, You're hopeless.

"A staff," Daniel repeated, his voice as flat as tap water. "A long staff?"

"One that extends and retracts. Good for close combat, and it can serve as a magic staff."

Daniel turned and left. From the stairwell came his voice: "Have fun with that. I'm going back to repairing artifacts."

Chen Xiao ignored him. He set the fragment on the workbench, flexed his fingers, and aimed his palm at it.

A thick arc of blue lightning leaped from his palm, carrying a wave of heat. It struck the fragment with a hiss, filling the basement with dazzling blue light. The fragment began to change color, from gray-white to dark red, then orange-red.

The arc held for half a minute.

The fragment glowed orange-red. It hadn't melted.

Chen Xiao frowned and poured in more power. The arc shifted from blue to a blinding blue-white, and the smell of ozone grew thick, as if lightning had struck the room. The fragment went from orange-red to bright red, its edges beginning to glow.

Another minute passed.

At last, a tiny bit of the edge melted. A patch the size of a fingernail looked like a bite taken out of a chocolate bar. One drop of glowing liquid metal dripped onto the workbench with a hiss, scorching a pit into it.

Chen Xiao stopped and caught his breath. He looked down. Ten minutes, and he had melted one tiny corner. Smoke still rose from the scorched pit.

Daniel had reappeared in the doorway at some point, holding two cups of cola. He set one on the table, looked at the fragment with its barely melted corner, then at the sweat on Chen Xiao's forehead. He took a sip of his own cola.

"...Are you planning to finish that staff next year?"

Chen Xiao took a long drink of cola without answering. The bubbles burst against his tongue. He stared at the fragment, frowning.

Daniel glanced at the pile of wreckage, his voice infuriatingly calm. "Why not use something else? The hardware store sells steel pipes."

"Shut up."

Kamar-Taj, the tea room.

The blue arcs around the portal hadn't faded before Chen Xiao settled onto a cushion.

The Ancient One held a teacup, steam rising from it. She lifted her eyes to him, then lowered them again.

"Got into trouble again?"

For once, Chen Xiao wasn't grinning. He sat up straight with his hands on his knees, as proper as he had been when he first became her disciple.

"Master, how do you melt Uru Metal?"

The Ancient One took a sip of tea. She didn't answer right away.

"Uru Metal comes from Asgard. The Dwarves forge it using the core of a neutron star." She set down her cup and looked at him. "Do you think your lightning can match a star?"

Chen Xiao opened his mouth, then closed it.

The corner of her mouth twitched, as though she were mocking him.

"So you've come to ask me for help."

Chen Xiao nodded. He didn't say anything like "Your disciple is incompetent." That would be melodramatic. He couldn't melt it. That was that.

The Ancient One glanced at him, picked up her cup, and took another sip.

"Wait here."

Chen Xiao froze.

"I'll contact Odin." The Ancient One set down her cup and raised her right hand. With her index and middle fingers pressed together, she traced a golden magic circle in the air. It spun, growing brighter as patterns emerged around its edge.

She closed her eyes and moved her lips. Chen Xiao couldn't make out the words. It wasn't English or Chinese; it barely sounded like human speech. Every syllable carried weight.

A voice came from the other side of the circle.

"Ancient One."

It wasn't loud, but every word sounded like a stone rising from the seabed. Deep, steady, beyond dispute. Odin.

Chen Xiao straightened his back without meaning to.

The Ancient One spoke as casually as if they were chatting over tea. "Your Majesty. My disciple took apart your Destroyer. He has the remains now."

The other side fell silent for two seconds.

"I know. Heimdall told me." There was something in Odin's voice, as though he had expected it.

The Ancient One said, "He wants to make a weapon from the remains. He isn't capable of melting Uru."

Odin said, "So you came to me."

The Ancient One didn't reply. She waited with her teacup in hand.

The magic circle's golden light flickered. Odin spoke again. "That belongs to Asgard. Asgard should have the right to decide what happens to it."

"He says it's payment for his hard work."

Two seconds of silence.

Then something entered Odin's voice: a rare, almost human warmth. "I can have Eitri, king of the Dwarves, forge a weapon for him. He can use those remains and raw Uru ore from Nidavellir."

Chen Xiao pricked up his ears.

The Ancient One raised an eyebrow. She set down her cup and looked at the magic circle.

"What's the condition?"

A hint of amusement entered Odin's voice. "Straight to the point, Sorcerer Supreme. The condition is simple: your disciple will owe Asgard a favor."

The Ancient One turned to Chen Xiao.

Chen Xiao opened his mouth to ask, "Why should I?" but the Ancient One's gaze stopped him. Her expression was perfectly calm. It meant: Be quiet.

The Ancient One turned back to the circle. "A favor is acceptable. It cannot violate the principles of Kamar-Taj."

"Naturally."

The circle spun once, and its golden light began to contract. Odin's voice came through one last time. "Have him prepare the design. Someone will take it to Nidavellir when the time comes."

The circle vanished. Golden motes drifted through the tea room like fireflies for a few seconds before going out.

The tea room fell quiet. Outside the window, wind rustled through the bamboo.

The Ancient One picked up her cup and took a sip, speaking as though nothing had happened. "The king of the Dwarves will contact you in a few days. Tell him what you have in mind."

Chen Xiao sat on his cushion, opened his mouth, then closed it again. He was silent for a long while.

"...I just wanted to make a staff. How did I end up owing Odin a favor?"

The Ancient One didn't even look at him. "Wondering won't change it."

Chen Xiao said nothing.

He wanted to argue, but the Ancient One had already raised her teacup and fixed her eyes on the tea. You may leave. He swallowed his words.

He stood, bowed, and walked to the doorway. There, he paused and looked back.

The Ancient One held her teacup as she gazed out the window. Evening sunlight slipped through the window frame and fell across the side of her face.

"Master."

She didn't turn. "Yes?"

"Is the king of the Dwarves... reliable?"

The corner of her mouth twitched.

"More reliable than you."

Chen Xiao had no answer. He left.

Back at the Sanctum, Chen Xiao lay on the sofa staring at the ceiling, his eyes unfocused and his mind blank.

Daniel came down the stairs with an ancient book in hand. He glanced at Chen Xiao, then looked again. Chen Xiao hadn't moved in three hours.

"You're still lying there?"

"Yeah."

Daniel walked to the coffee table, put down the book, and poured himself a glass of water.

"What did Odin say?"

"He agreed. The king of the Dwarves will make me a weapon." Chen Xiao's voice was muffled, his face buried in a cushion.

Daniel took a drink. "Then why are you still sprawled out here?"

Chen Xiao closed his eyes. "I have to draw the plans myself."

Daniel set down his glass and spoke as if reading from a textbook. "So why aren't you drawing them?"

Chen Xiao lifted his head from the cushion and glared at him.

Daniel's expression didn't change.

After two seconds, Chen Xiao buried his face in the cushion again.

"...Can you shut up?"

Daniel turned toward the stairs, then stopped after two steps.

"By the way, that man's injuries have healed. What are you going to do with him?"

Chen Xiao struggled to prop up his upper body and rolled his eyes at Daniel.

"Let him decide for himself. I'm not his dad."

Chen Xiao dropped back onto the sofa and stared at the ceiling. A hairline crack ran from the light fixture to the corner of the room. He had never noticed it before.

His thoughts scattered in every direction: Uru Metal's melting point, the Dwarf king's forging methods, the plans for his staff, the favor he owed Odin, Tony's palladium poisoning, when Thor would next come to Earth, what the Ancient One had meant when she said, "It will come when the time is right"...

He rolled over and buried his face in the cushion.

"What a pain."