Thor's roar echoed through the pipes.
Dozens of beams erupted at once.
Thor neither dodged nor defended himself.
He spread his arms and stood in front of everyone.
"BOOM!!!!!"
Blinding light swallowed his figure.
"No!!!"
Loki let out a despairing howl.
He tried to rush forward, but Sif and Viper held him back with all their strength.
"Let me go!!" He struggled frantically.
"Let me go!!"
"It's useless!" Sif's eyes were already red. "He's buying time for us!"
"Go!"
She gave Loki no further chance, dragging him and the equally stunned Viper upward through the pipe without looking back.
Behind them, within the blinding curtain of light, Thor was not instantly vaporized.
Even stripped of Divine Power, his body was tougher than any alloy in this world.
The beams left charred wounds across him, stripping away his flesh piece by piece.
Agonizing pain gnawed at his nerves, yet he still did not fall.
With his own body, he opened a safe passage for his companions behind him.
He slowly lowered his head and, through the light, saw his brother being dragged farther and farther away by the two women.
A relieved smile appeared on his burned, mangled face.
"Hey, brother."
Using the last of his strength, he murmured softly.
"This time..."
"I'll be the one protecting you..."
Those were the last words he left in this world.
Then, his body could no longer hold on. Amid an even more violent barrage of concentrated fire, he was completely reduced to dust that scattered through the air.
"Fuck."
In the void, Kara stared blankly at the scene on the screen for a long time before finally uttering those two words.
There was no teasing expression on her face, none of the ease of watching a show.
"He obviously didn't have to