It took me a little while but I finally found Thor after a couple minutes of walking through the compound. Thor is currently sitting on a bench by the river bank all by himself as if he's lost in his own thoughts. I slowly approach the warrior from the side so that he can see me as I let out a fake cough to announce my presence. AHEM. Thor turns to look at me as he puts a smile on his face. "Spider!" He raises a metallic flask towards me. "I was beginning to fear that you would never come out of your room. Was that your first time adventuring with a world ending threat?" He switched the flask to his other hand so he could move Mjölnir behind him to make room for me. I nod my head as I sit down on the bench next to him.
"I knew this job was going to be dangerous and serious but I never thought my debut would be so catastrophic. I mean just how the Hel did we let Ultron get so close to destroying the world in just one strike?" I begin to bounce my legs and rub my hands on my knees to try and show that I'm nervous or anxious about the situation. I mean I'm faking it for Thor, yeah but I still can't believe how close we were to not saving the world either. Even in the original movie, this event was considered as the biggest failure the Avengers had made…well maybe it's the third biggest, but still. Even with me being involved, not much had deviated from the movie. Ultron had nearly won and he had made the same impact on the world, the Hulk is now off world, Quicksilver still dead and Wanda is still grieving. Pretty much the same outcome except there's one more extra Avenger than before.
"Well Spider, that's a question you'll have to ask Banner and Stark since they designed the thing." Thor smiles and takes a sip of his flask before offering the canister to me. I quickly shake my head as I put up my arms to turn down the off. "Sorry, I'm not old enough to drink. And if that's the same Asgardian liquor from the party then definitely not. I still have a couple of projects I need to do for the next couple of days and I can't take any until my schedule is free." I let out an awkward chuckle as Thor let out a laugh with me. "Ah you humans and your drinking age. See on Asgard during hard times of darkness and cold winters, we would let children drink just a little bit of the adult beverages to go to bed and sleep peacefully…well that was when things were bad and desperate. Now as long as a child can carry a sword and join the fight. Well that just means they're old enough to join the men and women's table." Thor lets out a hearty laugh before taking another sip of his flask.
"Is that because you Asgardians age so slowly that time is nothing but a number?" I stop bouncing my leg as I focus shifts from Thor's face and onto his hammer, one of the most prized and desired weapons across the universe. Thor seems to notice the slight shift of my head and mask as he begins to close his flask before putting it away. "Why yes. That's actually the reason why we have the rule. See I, myself, am over 1,5000 years old but I never got to taste my first drop of alcohol until I was nearly 50 years old since that was the old rule set by my grandfather Bor. I got the rules to change of course since it wasn't fair for the warriors younger than myself to fight and die alongside me without us sharing a toast of mead." I slowly nod my head before shifting my focus back on to Thor. "Thor I know we've barely just met but I have a favor I would like to ask you if that's alright."
"If you're asking for a sip of my liquor, it's too late now. You're a responsible warrior and I must hold you to your words." Thor puts on a smile before placing his hand on where his flask is sitting underneath his jacket. I let out a laugh before shaking my head. "God no, I'm good on that offer. No thank you." I cross my hands together to make an X before dismissing them and shifting my body to face him. I'm about to ask for a very big and personal favor so I must set the tone properly or else he'll think it's another bit that we're doing. "No, ah what I want to ask you is. Is it possible for you to grant me permission to come and visit Asgard? I am very curious about your people and the magic your society uses on a daily basis."
Thor remained silent for a couple of moments before he finally spoke up. "Spider…what you're asking for is a big task. Not for me but for you. See, the only way to Asgardian from Midgard is through the bifrost and I only come to Midgard every couple of months to every couple of years. Granting you permission to come and visit is no big deal for me but if you don't come with me when I leave in a few days… Well I'm afraid you'll have to wait until the next time I do come back to visit Midgard. Which I don't know whe-" I raise my hand to stop him. "Please Thor, I can find my own ways to Asgard. I just need to know if I have your permission to come and visit whenever I can get around to doing so."
Thor puts on a contemplative face while looking at me for a couple of moments. Suddenly a flash of lightning flared up in his eyes as he quickly stood up from the bench. "There is one thing that can always guarantee you passage into Asgard." Thor raises his finger into the air and he turns to look around us. "It's never been done before until a few days ago but I'm willing to give you a chance. If you can pick up the hammer then I can guarantee that all of Asgard will never have a problem with you showing up unannounced." Thor puts on a smile as if he had just remembered about his classic paradox. Anything is always possible and can be a priority on his list of things to do if the person is also deemed worthy enough by Mjölnir.
SIGH. Fuck! This fucker still has a long way to go before he's anything like Infinity war or Endgame Thor. He still hasn't grown out of his fratboy persona and thinks this is all a game huh. Well then. "I see. So all I have to do is pick up your hammer and everything should be good? This isn't a trick right, Thor?" I point my finger towards the hammer that's still sitting on the bench. Thor nods his head in a quick response. "Yes of course but if you can't pick it up then you'll just have to come with me to Asgard whenever I'm around. You would always be a special guest to Asgard but you won't get the privilege of coming and going as you please. That is reserved only for those who are worthy."
I swallow the rising lump in my throat before reaching my hand out to the handle of the hammer. It has been a long time since I had seen something as ancient as this hammer, however none of those relics I've seen are on the same level as Mjölnir. A hammer that's capable of bestowing the powers of a god to any mortals that's worthy enough huh? I slowly twist my wrist to get a feel for any magical fluctuation between myself and the hammer.
.
.
.
There's nothing??? That can't be right. Even with my spider senses I can feel the slightest change in air temperature and wind movement but there's nothing. I can't sense anything around me or the hammer. Is this…is this the blaring alarm of my senses going off or is this my body's way of telling me that nothing is wrong…but I don't feel the wind anymore.
I shift my eyes to Thor for a moment before looking back at the hammer. I slowly close my eyes as I take in a deep breath. I try to remember and recall all of my steps I took to get here. Being judged as worthy by Mjölnir would be greatly beneficial but it's by no means an end all be all. It would only aid me in my journey with the Asgardians but I had never planned on relying on such a weapon to give me any leverage with the civilization. I slowly let out my exhale as I try to hone my senses even more on the hammer. Right now there is only me and Mjölnir in existence. Everything else is secondary to the test that's mere centimeters away from my hand. I take one more deep breath and hold on to it for a moment before slowly releasing the air from my lungs. As I exhale my breath, I slowly open my eyes to gaze upon the hammer as I move forward to pick it up.
WHOOOSH
The hammer disengages from the surface of the wooden bench without leaving any imprint or damage as I hold it in my hand. "HOLY SHIT!" I quickly snap my head towards Thor to see that the simple smile on his face has grown into a full grin. "Haha I knew it. I knew you had it in you Spider." Suddenly I feel a rush of electricity flowing through my body and into the hammer. I quickly drop the hammer back down onto the concrete pavement before the surge of power becomes too great. THUD! BZZzzttt. As the hammer lands on the pavement it causes a small spider web of cracks to form underneath the impact as well as releasing small tiny yellow sparks of electricity. "Is that-is that supposed to happen?" I face Thor with a look of horror behind my mask. It felt like the hammer was sucking all of the electric potential from my body and focusing it all on the surface of the weapon.
"Was what supposed to happen?" Thor reaches his hand out to call for Mjölnir. Almost instantly the hammer begins to float up and gently ascend into the palm of his hand. "You've picked up the hammer and now you've gained passage to all of Asgard." Thor's grin slowly turns back to a smile as he places a hand on my shoulder. "If you truly don't want to come with me when I leave then I look forward to seeing you in Asgard, brother. Besides Vision, you are the only other person to have fully picked up the hammer. I would be honored to share a toast and feast with you in the great halls of Asgard." I slowly nodded my head but my attention was more on my right hand than anything else. The hammer really is just a tool for Thor to focus his lightning powers on, except he is not fully aware of this fact. Even after welding the weapon for centuries, he still only saw it as his only source of power and worthiness.
"Thor, why does it feel like the hammer was trying to suck away all of my electric energy?" It has been a long time since I've felt weak and inadequate when touching a relic. Even the Darkhold couldn't make my flinch but that hammer. It was like getting my arm sucked into a vortex, and behind the vortex is the power of an endlessly hungry typhoon. Even though it was sucking up so much of my energy, it also felt like the hammer can amplify my energy by several times. I'm sure this is what Thor is used to fighting with. He has so much electric potential that he himself can't handle it properly and he has yet to learn how to control it because he's been playing with training wheels. He would only have to use a little bit of his powers and the hammer would amplify it to either the same as his full potential or greater depending on how much he would give to Mjölnir.
"Oh it just means that you're not quite ready to weld Mjölnir. See it's a weapon of the gods so while you, Spider, are a very strong mortal. You're still not quite strong enough to fully use the hammer." Thor spoke as if it was a simple matter of fact and nothing too serious. He has found someone else who is as worthy as him but is not quite strong enough to use Mjölnir the same way as him. Welp if that's what he thinks then that's his opinion. "Ahh I see. Well then, maybe someday I'll be able to catch up to you. Anyways, I have to go take care of some stuff now. I've been gone from my city for far too long and I'm pretty sure the bad guys had missed my company. Anyways thanks Thor. I look forward to some of that stuff you got in your flask." I give Thor a fist bump before heading back towards the main building to grab my stuff.
Once I arrived in the corridor to my room, I noticed that the door to my room is left slightly jarred. Which, I don't remember leaving it like that. But this shouldn't be too big of an issue right? I'm in one of the most safe and secure buildings in the world and I'm right next to the most powerful human being in the universe. If there's anyone dumb enough to try and break into the Avengers facility it would only be me and Scott. I shift my gaze onto Wanda's door as I walk over to check on her. I gently knocked on her door but just like before, it remained silent. I try knocking on the door again but a soft mist of red trailing out from my room caught my attention. Oh no. Don't tell me she's going through my dirty clothes.
I leave her door alone as I enter my room. Well shit. I have an awake but slightly less distressed Wanda sitting on my bed watching her show like it was her room all along. "Ah I see you had invited yourself into my room. How was your nap Wanda? I assume you finally got some rest?" I close the door behind me as I slowly approach her. "I-I couldn't get comfortable enough to watch my show. I'm sorry if I overstepped our boundaries." Wanda's face became slightly saddened once more as she paused her show. "Hey it's alright. You are always welcome to be with me anytime you want." I take off my helmet so that she can see the smile on my face.
"Are you sure?" Wanda's eyes begin to tear up slightly as I come into reaching distance of her. "Of course Wanda. I like you. A lot actually but you already know that. I really don't mind spending time with you and having you around for company. It's just that ah well I have a ahh" I let out an awkward laugh as I scratched the side of my head while getting down to sit on the floor next to her. "Just that what?" Wanda looks down at me from the top of the bed. "Well I sort of have to go back to New York City. I have a student I need to meet up with because I promised him I would come back after taking care of some business. And well, that was nearly three weeks ago." I tilt my head up to look her in the eyes as I pass my helmet over to her. "I see…so when can I expect your company again?" Wand shifts her eyes away from me as she begins to trace her fingers around the eye socket of the mask.
"I thought you didn't want my company. What made you change your mind?" I give her a smirk before breaking into a chuckle to show that I'm trying to joke with her. "I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I just. I just wanted to be left alone with my own thoughts. I didn't feel like I deserved to be treated kindly. Especially not by you." Wanda stops fiddling with the mask as her cheeks begin to turn slightly red. This time no chaos magic is involved. "Welp, I'm glad that you don't detest me, Wanda. I was a little worried that you never wanted to be in the same room with me ever again after viewing through my head. I ah I'm sure you've already figured this out but I'm really not a good pers-" Wanda shakes her head to tell me to stop. "Please SiChou, we've both done horrible things in our past that lead us here…I just wish I hadn't sent my brother to his death. I-I it was all my fault! Oh GOD!!" Wanda begins to bawl out again as her survivor's guilt and familiar grief comes back to the front of her mind.
I can only nod my head and bite my lips as I remain on the floor. There's no feeling as terrible as survivor's guilt. When you've done nothing wrong yet still have the unshakable feeling that you did not deserve to be here. I should know because that's something that I personally struggle with on a daily basis…SIGH. I slowly get back on my feet as I walk over to try and comfort Wanda. Since there's only so much I could do that's appropriate for us right now, I reach for my blanket and cover her with it. "It's alright Wanda. I'll be here for as long as you need me. I can go back to New York later tonight." Wanda continues to wail and cry her heart out as she tries to slowly nod her head. I guess even when she's in her extreme state of emotions, she can still hear her surroundings to some degree.