บท 41: You don’t want it

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Thor's heart raced as he heard the news. With a powerful swing of Mjolnir, he vanished from sight.

"Queen Frigga, we'll have to continue this later," Alex said urgently, his voice filled with determination.

Sif quickly saluted and followed Thor out.

At the Rainbow Bridge, a river of shimmering colors flowed with immense energy toward the Rainbow Control Room. The circular device in the control room emitted a beam of light that crossed the cosmos of Asgard and disappeared into the dark void. This was no ordinary teleportation energy; it was a weapon of mass destruction.

The beam was aimed directly at Jotunheim, the realm of the Frost Giants. The divine light, now a thousand times stronger, pierced the planet's crust, causing mountains to collapse and the ground to tremble. If left unchecked, it would penetrate the planet's core and cause Jotunheim to explode.

"Loki! What are you doing?" Thor demanded, his voice filled with anger.

"I'm proving to our father that I am worthy of being his son," Loki replied coldly. "By destroying the Frost Giants, I will end the threat of war between our worlds forever."

"You are not qualified to decide the fate of an entire race. Stop this madness immediately."

Thor, who had once sacrificed his life for the people of Earth, could not stand by and watch the destruction of an entire race.

Loki laughed maniacally. "I can't stop it now, brother. Just watch."

Enraged, Thor struck at Loki with a bolt of lightning, but it passed through an illusion.

The real Loki appeared behind Thor and struck him with his scepter, nearly knocking him off the Rainbow Bridge. Thor summoned Mjolnir and charged toward the control room, but more of Loki's illusions intercepted him.

"Alex, get to the control room and pull out the Guardian Sword!" Thor shouted.

"On it!" Alex responded, sprinting toward the control room.

Suddenly, Loki appeared in front of Alex, scepter in hand, ready to strike. Without hesitation, Alex sprouted eight arms, moving in all directions, and unleashed a barrage of punches. One hand caught the real Loki, sending him sprawling with a dented chest.

Ignoring Loki, Alex continued toward the control room, but the intense energy forming a natural shield blocked his path. He pushed forward step by step, but the ground beneath him crumbled under the pressure, forcing him back.

"Thor, I can't get in. Lend me your hammer!" Alex called out.

Mjolnir flew into Alex's hand, and he swung it with all his might at the Guardian Sword, combining his strength with the power of thunder and lightning. Despite advancing a bit, he was still repelled by the energy barrier.

"Damn, even this won't work?!" Alex cursed under his breath.

Realizing the barrier could not be penetrated, Alex noticed that the pointer device emitting the rainbow light was unprotected. He leapt onto the spherical pointer, which was rotating at high speed, and tried to reverse its direction. His hands were bloodied, but he persevered, attempting to lift the pointer upward.

"Don't!" Thor shouted, but his voice was lost in the chaos.

As the pointer slowly tilted, the beam of light moved away from Jotunheim and into the void, but this only redirected the destructive energy to other parts of the universe. Thor, desperate, hammered at the Rainbow Bridge.

Alex, thinking Thor was asking for more effort, pushed harder. "Help me out here!" he yelled back, misunderstanding Thor's intentions.

Thor, realizing that the only solution was to stop the Rainbow Bridge, continued to strike it. Cracks began to appear.

"Don't smash it!" Alex screamed, but the noise drowned out his voice.

The cycle continued: Thor hammered, Alex pushed, each misunderstanding the other. Finally, the Rainbow Bridge shattered under Thor's final blow.

With a deafening explosion, the beam of light dissipated, and the energy dispersed into the cosmos. Alex and Thor, both exhausted and battered, looked at the ruined bridge.

In the aftermath, Thor approached Alex. "We did it," he said, breathing heavily.

Alex nodded, "Yeah, we stopped it. But at what cost?"

The shattered remains of the Rainbow Bridge glittered in the fading light, a reminder of the immense power and responsibility they bore as protectors of their realms.

The Rainbow Bridge shattered with a deafening explosion, sending chaotic energy waves across the Asgardian Cosmic Sea. The impact caused massive waves to flood the Rainbow Control Room before they fell into the void, disappearing into the endless expanse.

The violent explosion destroyed the Rainbow Control Room, causing the spherical device to collapse and fall, ceasing its rotation. Thor, Loki, and Alex were hurled high into the sky by the force of the explosion. Alex, who couldn't fly, found himself plummeting into the void below, unable to use his strength against the powerful impact.

As they accelerated toward the cosmic sea, Alex saw Sif rushing towards them. Unfortunately, the explosion's aftermath was too strong, sweeping her away before she could reach them.

In the palace, Odin, the All-Father, woke suddenly from his sleep, sensing the catastrophe. He disappeared from his chamber and transformed into a beam of light, racing toward the Rainbow Bridge. From a distance, he saw the three falling figures and, with great effort, managed to pull Thor and Alex to safety, one in each hand.

Loki, left behind, watched in disbelief as his father chose to save Alex, an earthling, over him. His eyes filled with resentment, anger, and despair as he fell into the void, eventually disappearing from sight.

The Asgardian Cosmic Sea seemed endless, with waters flowing from and into nowhere. Alex knew that whatever lay beneath the cosmic sea was undoubtedly dangerous, perhaps even life-threatening, based on the reactions of Odin, Thor, and Loki.

In the original plot, Odin had captured both Thor and Loki. Loki had quarreled with Odin, who, in his anger, let Loki fall into the void, only for Loki to somehow return with Thanos to wreak havoc on Earth. But now, Odin had intentionally saved Thor and Alex, leaving Loki to fall.

The All-Father pulled Alex and Thor up and sighed heavily, flying back to the palace. Thor, silent for a long time, looked in the direction where Loki had disappeared, a mix of guilt and pain on his face.

"My father chose to save me. I don't know what will happen to Loki..." Thor said, his voice heavy with emotion.

"Don't worry, Loki has a strong fate. I guarantee you, he's still alive," Alex reassured him.

"Really?" Thor asked, hope flickering in his eyes.

Alex nodded confidently. This comforted Thor, who felt a bit better.

After a while, Thor spoke again. "Alex, my friend, you may have caused big trouble earlier."

With a little explanation, Alex finally understood why Thor had been so adamant about not pushing the rainbow needle. Alex, having spent too much time on Earth, lacked the necessary cosmic common sense.

Alex tried to comfort himself, thinking that the universe was vast and the chances of hitting a planet, especially one with intelligent life, were slim.

The two men stood on the cosmic sea's edge, stars twinkling above and the sea flowing beside them, a scene of destruction nearby, giving a strange sense of poetry.

Alex looked at the starry sky and asked, "Thor, do you think there are fewer stars now?"

Thor squinted and looked for a long time. "Hmm... um... it should be no less."

"You can't tell the difference, can you?" Alex asked.

"I'm not Heimdall. Who can memorize the stars in the sky all day long?" Thor replied.

"Okay," Alex conceded.

They returned to the palace to rest. With the Rainbow Bridge broken, there was no hope of returning to Earth soon. Alex lay on his bed, reflecting on the day's events and comparing them with his memories of the original plot.

A chill rose in his heart as he thought about Odin's actions. The All-Father was not simple. The entire sequence of events, from Odin picking up Loki to the present, seemed meticulously planned. Odin's sudden awakening and selective rescue during the explosion suggested a deeper scheme.

As Alex pondered, he realized that Odin might have always intended to use Loki to destroy the Frost Giants, making Thor the benevolent king of Asgard. If this was a plan spanning thousands of years, the only other person aware of it would be Frigga, the God-Queen.

The next day, a celebration banquet was held. Despite the destruction and chaos, they had emerged victorious, and morale needed boosting. Thor, dressed in his Asgardian robes, called Alex to join him before the banquet.

As they took in the scenery, Alex looked at the sun and asked, "Is that sun real?"

"Yes, it is," Thor replied.

"Who built Asgard? It's incredible."

Thor shrugged. "Some say it was built during my father's heyday, but I don't think he was that powerful."

Just then, Sif approached from a distance.

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