Uncle?

Seeing Thor's look of disbelief, Luke shook his hips.

A token swung at his waist, catching Thor's attention.

"That's..."

Thor looked stunned, and Luke smiled at him.

"Who made that token? Who dared forge my father's handwriting?"

Luke's smile turned into a look of utter confusion. How could it be a forgery? Your father personally gave this to me.

Seeing Luke's bewilderment, Thor laughed.

"Whether you're a Midgardian or anything else, wherever you made that token, don't think I'll believe you, because!"

Thor looked at Luke and declared smugly, "My father is an only child! He has no brothers! And certainly no royal brother!"

Luke stared at the resolute (idiotic) Thor in disbelief.

"Can't you feel your father's divine power?" Luke pressed the token hard against Thor's face so he could get a good feel for it.

Thor tried to push Luke's hand away, but without his divine power, his strength was no match for Luke's.

Burning with shame and anger, Thor was forced to endure an insect's humiliation. Putting on an indomitable front, he roared, "If my father hadn't taken my divine power away, how could I let you humiliate me like this? Hock-ptooey!"

A glob of spit flew out, but of course it didn't hit Luke. After all, Luke was holding his head down.

Instead, the spit landed on someone else's leather shoe.

"Oho." Luke looked at the innocent Coulson, then back at Thor, who would sooner die than submit.

Coulson stared expressionlessly at the spit on his shoe, then raised his foot slightly to let the rain rinse it off, washing his sock and foot in the process.

"So, how did you pick up a nephew now?"

Coulson ignored the fellow being held down and addressed Luke.

"Uh, we just made it official yesterday. I became sworn brothers with his dad yesterday."

The ignored Thor finally escaped while Luke wasn't paying attention. He scrambled out of the pit, turned, and shouted smugly at Luke.

"My father is the revered god-king of Asgard! Why would he associate with someone like you? If my divine power weren't sealed, I could smash you to pieces with one swing of my hammer!"

Luke sighed at the sight of the idiot. Why would Odin think of handing the throne to this fool? He had finally escaped an enemy he couldn't beat, yet instead of running, he stood there making threats? He was in the enemy's headquarters!

If this fellow became king of Asgard, it would be a miracle if Asgard didn't fall.

Oh, wait. Asgard really did get destroyed. Ragnarok might have been to blame, but Thor had played a part too.

After all, Thor was less a god of thunder than a Hammer God. Without that hammer, he was just a somewhat stronger brute.

If he could awaken sooner, what was there to fear from Ragnarok? He could just beat his sister back into the Underworld.

At that thought, Luke shouted at the smug Thor, "You keep saying you could smash me if you had your hammer, but does not having a hammer mean you can't be the god of thunder?"

Luke easily walked up the stairs beside the pit and approached Thor.

"Is your father called the god-king because he possesses Gungnir?"

"No!" Thor answered firmly. "My father is the god-king because of his incomparable power."

"Then why would not having a hammer stop you from being the god of thunder?"

Thor was momentarily speechless, unable to find a rebuttal.

"If having a hammer is what makes you the god of thunder, then you can only be called the Hammer God!"

As Thor sank into thought, Luke grabbed his hand and shot into the sky.

Even carrying another person, his current energy let him reach nearly five hundred meters per second.

Ignoring Thor's shouting and yelling, Luke soon reached a height of over thirty thousand meters.

In the moonlight, Luke studied Thor, who dangled from his hand. Even facing the sound barrier head-on only made him somewhat uncomfortable?

But.

"From this height, even an Asgardian would splatter into a puddle of flesh if he fell. Want to give it a try, Hammer God?"

Thor realized this and stopped struggling, clutching Luke's hand tightly instead.

Thor glanced at the clouds below and couldn't help closing his eyes. He could once have faced this height without a care, but now the sight terrified him.

Seeing Thor's fear, Luke slowly lowered his hand, letting Thor get a good feel for the planet's gravitational pull.

Watching Thor shut his eyes and bury his head in the sand, Luke said slowly, "Aren't you a god? Why don't you even have the courage to face this danger? Or are you just an ordinary Asgardian who only has divine power when he holds that hammer? Thor, the Hammer God?"

Luke used provocation on Thor! It was super effective!

Sure enough, Thor opened his eyes. Not only did he give Luke a stubborn look, but he even glanced provocatively downward.

Single-celled organisms are so easy to fool.

Luke gave a sly smile, then pried Thor's hands loose.

"Just do it! Do it!"

As Thor fell, Luke went into free fall too, following him down. He took out a camera to snap pictures while shouting at Thor.

"By Odin! Aaaaaah!" Thor kept plummeting. This planet's damned gravity was going to kill him!

"Thor, only you can save yourself now!"

Luke shouted at Thor, but Thor was louder.

This was awkward. When Thor failed to respond no matter how much he shouted, Luke simply floated over and delivered two hard slaps to his face.

"Thor, only you can save yourself now! Think carefully. Who exactly are you?"

Leaving him with those words, Luke slipped straight into the Shadow Dimension, cutting off Thor's last shred of hope.

Thor had finally calmed down through physical means, only to see Luke disappear.

Looking down at the long drop below him, Thor was terrified, but the pain in his face kept him calm.

"You damned bastard! I, Thor, will feed you to the fish in the moat!"

Thor shouted, but no one answered. The constant pain in his face reminded him of that bastard.

"What do you mean, who am I? I'm me!"

Thor shouted as he quickly passed through the clouds. Now he could make out the blurry ground.

Watching the ground draw closer and closer, Thor couldn't help closing his eyes again.

"Aren't you a god? Why don't you even have the courage to face this danger? Or are you just an ordinary Asgardian who only has divine power when he holds that hammer? Thor, the Hammer God?"

Luke's voice seemed to echo in his ears. In a daze, Thor thought, Aren't I a freaking god? Aren't Asgardians like gods to Midgardians?

Then I am a god! I am Thor, god of thunder!

As though something had clicked, Thor's eyes snapped open, and he stared at the approaching ground.

He seemed only a thin membrane away from that unknown realm, but he simply couldn't break through. Thor shouted something and hurtled straight toward the ground.

Still a failure, then. Luke had appeared beside Thor at some point. Whenever Thor closed his eyes, he kept repeating his earlier words, though he had no idea whether any of them had sunk in.

As the ground drew closer, Luke could only approach Thor first, ready to take him into the Shadow Dimension. He happened to see Thor open his mouth and was about to listen to what he had to say.

?

Seriously? I thought you were going to shout something important, and you're still cursing me at a time like this?

Luke shook his head, but still took Thor into the Shadow Dimension.

Looking at Thor inside the Shadow Dimension, Luke sighed and canceled his momentum. He planned to throw Thor back out quickly, before he was assimilated by the Dark Energy.

Imagining Odin seeing a crippled Thor and stabbing him viciously with Gungnir, Luke broke into a slight cold sweat and prepared to throw Thor out.

Normally, Luke could freely toss something without energy into or out of the dimension. But just as he was about to throw Thor out, a surge of energy suddenly erupted inside him.

Powerful currents burst from Thor's body, annihilating the Dark Energy inside him and in a small circle around him. Unfortunately, this was Luke's home turf.

Hundreds of thousands of units of Dark Energy seemed to be provoked, all surging toward Thor.

Startled, Luke hurriedly slowed the Dark Energy, barely maintaining the empty circle Thor had created.

"Don't resist. I'll send you out!"

Having exhausted all the power that had just appeared in his body, Thor had been staring in despair at the seemingly endless Dark Energy around him. Then, a moment later, his enemy appeared before him.

With his divine power restored, Thor was shocked to sense his father's divine power in the token at Luke's waist.

So this guy really is my uncle?

Neither resisting nor having any energy left to resist, Thor was sent straight out of the Shadow Dimension and back to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base.

Coulson had been rather puzzled when he watched Luke shoot into the sky with Thor.

Earlier, he had asked someone to investigate the information revealed during Luke and Thor's conversation. Just after the results came back, someone suddenly appeared in front of him.

Thor slammed into the ground, landing on one knee as several uncontrollable flashes of lightning flickered over his body. After several deep, forceful breaths, he finally controlled the energy that had just awakened inside him.

"My God, this is..."

Suddenly realizing he was kneeling before a balding man, Thor jumped in surprise and hurriedly stood.

"It's fine. Consider it an apology, Coulson."

Luke appeared behind Thor, putting away his camera before speaking.

"So you really are my uncle?" "So he really is Thor?"

Thor and Coulson turned toward Luke and spoke at the same time, leaving him momentarily stunned.

He wasn't running on dual cores. How was he supposed to listen to them both at once? Helplessly wiping the rain from his face, Luke sighed.

"So, are we going to keep standing in the rain to talk? It might have atmosphere, but I'd rather be in a warm room."

Coulson glanced at Thor, then turned and walked into the tarp-walled room.

Thor stared at Luke for a moment before following Coulson inside.

Luke glanced at the hammer at the bottom of the pit. This fellow didn't even want his hammer anymore.

Picking up the hammer, Luke trotted happily indoors, where he saw his phone still charging.

He tossed the hammer to Thor and lunged over to pick up his phone.

"What's wrong?"

Luke asked in confusion at Thor's displeased expression.

"I'm not the Hammer God. I'm the god of thunder!"

Thor set the hammer aside, several flashes of lightning flickering over his body.

"I know, I know!" Luke hurriedly moved his phone away before this idiot could break it.

Finally satisfied, Thor quickly picked up his precious hammer.

He had only been responding to the fellow's earlier question. Now that he had his hammer back, Thor finally breathed a sigh of relief.

With his divine power restored, Thor could naturally lift the hammer again. And compared with his previous crude approach of smashing with it or releasing lightning, he could now fight in more varied ways, such as smashing while releasing lightning.

Feeling the feedback from his precious hammer, Thor chuckled foolishly, then quickly remembered there were outsiders present and resumed his dignified demeanor.

He hurriedly reined in his smile, only to meet someone's disdainful gaze.

This fellow was exactly like his father.

Seeing Thor like this, Luke knew he was Odin's biological son. They were practically one hundred percent in sync, leaving him at a loss for words.

Thor composed himself before asking Luke, "So you really are my uncle?"

"Yes, my good nephew. Let me hear you say it nicely."

Luke spoke with a smile.

"...Uncle..." After a long silence, Thor finally called him uncle.

Luke promptly nodded in acknowledgment. "Yes, my good nephew. Unfortunately, I don't have any presents. Want some Happy Beans? I'll have a ninja win you some right now."

Watching their display of "deep affection," Coulson found himself unable to get a word in. After a moment's thought, he addressed Luke.

"So this guy really is the god of thunder from mythology?"

"The genuine article!"

Luke nodded.

"And Odin and the others exist too?"

"Of course! I just became sworn brothers with him yesterday!" Luke shook the token at his waist. "I'm now a diplomatic representative specially appointed to Earth by Asgard's royal family. Mind your manners when you talk to me!"

Coulson couldn't be bothered to play along with Luke's antics. Just thinking that those myths were real made him certain his hair was doomed.

Remembering that Thor had spat on his shoe earlier, he hurriedly had the agents take it away for analysis, along with all the rain-soaked soil. Who knew what they might discover?

Why did I wash my shoe? Great. Now the director is bound to give me a dressing-down!

Coulson sighed helplessly, but soon rallied. As an agent, he was quite capable of taking things in stride.

After sending the director a brief message so he could stay up with him, Coulson returned to his seat, intending to gather more information.

"My father was here yesterday?" Thor asked first. He had plenty of questions now.

"Technically, he wasn't here. I just spoke with his astral form for a while."

Coulson nodded silently, recalling when Luke had spaced out yesterday. That was probably when it happened.

"My father... did he say anything about me?"

Luke had already started a game. While it loaded, he glanced at Thor.

"He didn't really say much. You probably won't get to be king, though."

Thor smiled self-deprecatingly. "I really am unqualified to be king. My power is still too weak." Remembering his helplessness in the Shadow Dimension, that sensation of countless dangerous enemies watching him, Thor felt rather powerless.

He was still too weak...

But looking at the token at Luke's waist, Thor consoled himself. "This man is Father's brother! Of course he's this strong! Besides, it's not like I was completely helpless. I could still resist. As long as I keep getting stronger, I can defeat this uncle, which more or less means..."

Lost in his marvelous fantasy, Thor wore a strange smile and fell silent.

Coulson gave Thor a strange look, resisting the urge to wipe away his drool, then asked Luke, "What do you think they are? What effect will their existence have on us?"

Luke glanced at Coulson. "Don't worry too much. They're different from the gods in mythology. You can think of them as technologically advanced aliens..."

Remembering that life in Asgard was even more primitive than in Kamar-Taj, Luke abruptly fell silent for a moment, but continued, "They're pretty powerful. They have the Bifrost to transport armies in large numbers. Keep it running, and it can also serve as a planet-destroying cannon."

Coulson wiped the rain from his face and continued, "Anything else?"

"Take Odin. He isn't as powerful as he is in mythology."

As Coulson gradually leaned closer, Luke said casually, "He can't destroy the universe or anything, but smashing a couple of planets is fairly easy."

Without a blush or a skipped heartbeat, Luke stated Odin's power at his peak. Odin still possessed that kind of power now, but his body could no longer withstand it.

Luke glanced at Thor, who was still lost in his marvelous fantasy, and whispered to Coulson, "This guy is Asgard's crown prince. You understand, right? His status is just a tiny bit lower than mine, but you still can't ignore him. Get what I mean?"

Pretending to understand the first meaning but not the second, Coulson looked at the foolishly grinning Thor and felt that simply keeping this fellow from coming to harm on Earth and causing a diplomatic incident was already a difficult task.

Well, I'd better give the director a brief report first.

Coulson couldn't make decisions on something this big and could only leave it to his direct superior, unaware that an agent had secretly sent some information out.