Chapter 43: "Taking the Hammer from the God of Thunder."
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"Dear viewers, we meet again."
A helicopter hovered several kilometers outside Times Square.
"It's an honor to witness our human hero—Superman—once more in action today."
The reporter sat inside, narrating while the cameraman skillfully zoomed in for a close-up of the figure in the distance.
"And on the other side, we have a man claiming to be the God of Thunder."
Following instructions, the cameraman turned the lens to capture the other figure.
"To challenge our hero—what guts! But is it bravery… or just pure ignorance?"
"Next up, let's find out who'll come out on top in this epic showdown."
"But personally, I fully support our hero—Superman! He's the strongest, and I'm sure he'll win!"
"Now, let's wait and see how it all unfolds!"
As the reporter finished his intro, the cameraman immediately zoomed out to a wide-angle shot, capturing both figures in the sky.
"Ah!"
At that exact moment, Peter's eyes flared up with a creepy red glow, and Thor couldn't hold back anymore either. He let out a furious roar.
With his roar, the clouds swirling in the sky above started rolling violently, like they were building up an unimaginably powerful force.
CRACK!
A thunderclap shook the heavens as a lightning bolt as thick as a barrel struck Thor's hammer.
Wild lightning and thunder wrapped around the silver hammer.
In the next second, Thor pointed Mjolnir straight at his opponent without hesitation.
There were no warm-ups or testing the waters—Thor went all out from the start, unleashing his most powerful thunder god energy.
He was determined to crush his opponent in one overwhelming blow.
But just as Thor's hammer erupted with a violent surge of lightning—
Peter didn't hesitate either. The red energy building up in his eyes burst out all at once.
Two blazing-hot red beams shot straight toward the silver lightning, carrying a terrifying force behind them.
In just a blink, the two attacks collided head-on.
BOOM!
The moment the energies clashed, an earth-shaking explosion erupted.
Then a massive shockwave rippled outward at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Even helicopters circling several miles away were caught up in the blast, tossed around like tiny boats in a stormy sea—some nearly flipped over.
"Get back—further back, now!"
They thought they were already far enough away, but without a second thought, the pilots flew even farther back.
As the terrifying shockwave spread outward—
The two forces were still locked in a standoff in midair, neither backing down.
There's a saying: "The one on the left always loses in a beam struggle."
But this time, even on the live camera feed, it was clear—the red, flame-like energy on the left had the upper hand.
The silver lightning was being eaten away bit by bit by the red beams.
In just a few seconds, the lightning couldn't hold out anymore.
The crimson beams completely took over the sky and slammed straight into Thor's body.
The impact sent him flying several kilometers away like a ragdoll.
The force was so intense, he couldn't even hold on to Mjolnir—it flew out of his hand and plummeted to the ground.
THUD!
The hammer smashed into the ground, blasting a crater several meters deep into the earth.
"Director, should we...?"
Staring at the hammer that had fallen nearby, Coulson looked tempted.
"Everyone else, stay alert. We're going to check it out," Nick Fury said without hesitation. He knew exactly what that hammer represented.
"So this is... Mjolnir?"
They walked up to the crater. Staring at the silver hammer in the center, everyone felt a strange, indescribable urge.
Captain America slowly stepped forward, his eyes filled with curiosity and anticipation.
"Cap…"
Seeing him reach for Mjolnir, Coulson couldn't help but look a little worried.
But Nick Fury said calmly, "Let him try."
Without waiting, Cap slowly placed his right hand on the hammer's handle.
[Hammer of the Gods]
To everyone's shock, Mjolnir started to tremble.
"Wait… can he actually lift it?"
Nick Fury and the others were stunned by what they were seeing.
[Will drive our ships to new land…]
The song still echoed around them, and as if answering some kind of call, Mjolnir suddenly shot up into the sky and vanished.
"Cough, cough... I wasn't even pulling yet—it flew off on its own!" Cap looked down awkwardly at his now-empty hand.
"How pathetic."
High in the sky, Peter looked calmly at the now-defeated Thor.
If this had been Thor after Infinity War, fully awakened with his thunder powers and wielding Stormbreaker, he might've had a chance.
But right now? This version of Thor was just… too weak.
"I've got better things to do. Might as well check out whatever that weird energy is over there."
Peter slowly turned to look in the direction that had been pulling at his senses. Whatever it was, it was still calling to him—stronger than ever.
But just as he was about to fly over and investigate—
A sharp whooshing sound came from behind him.
"Oh, you're not done yet? Fine. I'll keep playing."
Peter turned around. Thor was flying at him again, spinning Mjolnir in hand, tearing through the sky at supersonic speed. Peter's eyes turned cold.
[Valhalla, I am coming…]
With epic background music blasting in the air, Thor looked like he had activated a full power-up—his godly energy had fully awakened.
His eyes crackled with silver lightning, and his silver armor pulsed with electricity.
Behind him, a long, trailing streak of lightning lit up the sky like a silver comet.
When he was just a few hundred meters away from Peter, he stopped spinning the hammer.
Pointing it straight ahead, Thor shot forward at supersonic speed, slamming toward Peter like a human missile, radiating pure force and unrelenting power.
But Peter?
He didn't flinch at all. His expression stayed calm, just a little colder than before.
He slowly raised his hand.
BANG!
Thor shot forward like a missile—aimed straight at Peter.
But the massive impact that should've followed... never came.
There was barely any noise at all. Honestly, it was weaker than when they were clashing beams just a minute ago.
Just a soft thud—and Thor's charging body was completely stopped.
"What the hell…?"
Thor stared at Peter in disbelief, his neck caught in a single hand. Sparks still danced in his eyes from his lightning, but the shock in them was even stronger. Peter had stopped him—effortlessly.
"No way. I refuse to believe you're this strong!"
Fueled by sheer unwillingness to accept defeat, Thor lost it. With a furious roar, he swung Mjolnir at Peter's head.
But even that didn't make a sound. Peter caught the blow—again, with just one hand—like it was nothing.
"That's… that's my Mjolnir. Give it back."
To make things worse, Peter casually snatched the hammer out of Thor's hand like taking a toy from a child.
Whoosh!
Without a care, Peter hurled Thor's body to the ground. Then, with curiosity in his eyes, he examined the hammer in his hand.
Boom… Boom!
Suddenly, another loud explosion echoed in the distance—this one different from the sound of Thor hitting the ground.
Peter's attention snapped toward it, eyes turning colder by the second.
His grip around Mjolnir slowly tightened.
"….."