Just as Quicksilver spread his hands and awkwardly told Thor that he surrendered, Axel walked out of the flames and appeared beside Thor's hammer.
Thor was stunned by Axel's sudden arrival. He frowned and asked, "You're back? That fast? And why did you appear here?"
"Oh, I came back because your hammer locked onto me."
As Axel spoke, he casually reached down and picked up Mjolnir.
The immense weight immediately pulled his right hand downward. The hammer nearly slipped from his grasp, but flames instantly erupted around Axel's hand, forcing Mjolnir to remain suspended in his grip.
From a distance, it looked as if Axel had simply covered Thor's hammer with a layer of flames. Anyone watching would have thought Mjolnir had gained a fiery enchantment rather than struggling against Axel's grip.
However, the flames did not last long.
After only a few seconds, Mjolnir seemed to realize it could not escape. The hammer finally accepted its situation and remained in Axel's hand.
Axel swung the weapon lightly and grinned.
"Nice hammer. Here you go."
"Uh..."
Thor looked at the hammer Axel handed back to him, his expression complicated.
For some reason, he felt like something about Mjolnir had become strange.
Still, Thor did not dwell on it. Axel was a guest of his father, Odin. Even if a guest was not as powerful as the All-Father himself, they were still likely stronger than Thor.
After all, Thor had already experienced being defeated by his godmother Flame Hair and his uncle Little Devil.
More importantly, his thoughts were focused on the nine pairs of eyes he had seen inside the illusion.
He had no time to worry about his hammer.
Thor took Mjolnir and let it hang at his side before looking toward Axel.
"Axel, what did my father want to discuss with you? What important matters did you talk about? Is some disaster about to happen in the Nine Realms? Did my father tell you anything?"
"Huh?"
Axel yawned and shook his head.
"Nothing major. Just boring things like saving the world. It was enough to put me to sleep."
He glanced at Thor.
"As for you, if your father didn't let you listen, then there was probably a reason. Don't you think?"
After saying that, Axel raised his hand and grabbed Quicksilver by the shoulder, pulling him over.
"Forget about that. Let's talk about you, Pietro. Have you met Tony yet?"
"Yeah, but it didn't go well."
Quicksilver answered awkwardly before pointing toward Wanda and himself lying on the ground.
Axel noticed Wanda nearby and froze slightly.
He immediately pushed Quicksilver away and walked over to the unconscious Wanda.
After standing there for a moment, Axel glanced around suspiciously.
"Ahem. Whose lost property is this?"
He looked left and right.
"No one claiming it? Then I guess I'll pick it up."
Axel bent down and lifted Wanda into his arms.
As he carried her, he shook his head.
"The world really is getting worse. Even someone like this gets abandoned."
He looked toward Thor and the others.
"Anyway, you guys keep fighting. I'm taking this girl to get a vaccine and some documents."
"Axel!"
Quicksilver immediately shouted and rushed forward, trying to take his sister back.
Looking at Pietro, who looked ready to fight, Axel clicked his tongue.
"What are you angry about? You actually think I would take advantage of someone when they're unconscious?"
Axel smirked.
"Look at my face, then think carefully about who is taking advantage of whom."
"New York being destroyed is already bad enough, but the entire country is falling into chaos. In this situation, where is safer than staying beside me?"
"Or do you two want to keep fighting Hydra and playing hide-and-seek with superheroes?"
"Just the two of you? Do you think this is some ridiculous world where children save everyone?"
As he finished speaking, Axel swung Wanda slightly and used her foot to kick Quicksilver away.
The impact sent Pietro stumbling back.
At that moment, Wanda slowly regained consciousness.
Before opening her eyes, she immediately noticed that she was being carried.
When she looked up and saw Axel holding her, her expression froze.
It was not because she was falling in love.
There was no room for romance in a battlefield filled with gunfire, destruction, and death.
Her confusion came from the situation itself.
She remembered being knocked unconscious by Thor. Axel had disappeared into the Bifrost. How was he suddenly here, holding her?
Had several days passed?
The sound of gunfire around them interrupted her thoughts.
Clearly, not much time had passed.
Wanda grabbed Axel's armor and asked quietly.
"Where is Tony Stark?"
"Seriously?"
Axel immediately cursed.
"See? This is what people are like. Lying in one man's arms while asking about another man."
Wanda widened her eyes.
"That isn't what I meant."
"Haha, I'm joking."
Axel shrugged.
"You were lying on the ground, and I happened to see you, so I picked you up."
"Don't thank me for my kindness. Even if it was trash, I would still pick it up."
He glanced at her.
"Also, your clothes are too tight. Doesn't it feel uncomfortable? Wearing something too small all the time isn't good."
"Ah..."
Wanda stared at him speechlessly.
Before she could respond, Axel casually dropped her.
Wanda immediately used her magic to stabilize herself and landed safely.
Axel looked at Wanda and Pietro.
"I gave you two a chance."
"But you failed."
"Even without me interfering, you wouldn't have been able to defeat Tony Stark."
"So now, shouldn't you two stop and think?"
"Let's find somewhere to rest. This is only my second time visiting New York. I don't plan on wasting the entire trip dealing with Hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s problems."
Axel waved toward them.
Wanda instinctively stepped back.
Pietro moved beside her and said, "Axel, our conflict with Tony still..."
"You don't seriously think you have some endless feud with Tony, do you?"
Axel shook his head.
"If Tony had personally killed your parents, then fine, revenge would be understandable."
"But that isn't what happened. With your actual relationship with Tony, getting angry is one thing. Continuing to demand his death is another."
Axel raised his hand and tapped Wanda on the head.
"Besides, Tony is still useful. My friends need his intelligence for certain things."
He looked at Pietro.
"And Quicksilver, didn't I already give you advice? I told you to kidnap Little Pepper. Why didn't you do it?"
"I'm looking for revenge, not becoming a criminal."
Pietro rolled his eyes.
"Why would I kidnap a woman?"
Not far away, Clark returned after checking the situation at City Hall.
He first looked at Thor with admiration.
The lightning Thor had summoned earlier had genuinely impressed him.
Clark already possessed incredible strength, speed, and vision, but seeing such a dramatic ability still made him curious.
He also had heat vision now.
But compared to lightning, it still felt less impressive.
Clark looked back at Axel.
"Axel, Tony escaped mysteriously. If I'm right, he should have returned to his company. Should we go there?"
"Why?"
Axel shook his head.
"To watch him act like he's in a movie?"
"I'll take these two kids somewhere safe, probably near Midtown High School."
"You and Lex can handle the rest. When you're finished, come find me."
"Don't be late. We need to leave before ten."
"No problem."
Clark nodded.
"But the Hydra situation won't be solved before then. We will probably need to return tomorrow and continue helping."
Axel frowned.
"Why do you always feel responsible for helping S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
"This isn't Gotham."
Clark looked at him seriously.
"Because we caused part of this situation."
"If you hadn't exposed Hydra earlier, they wouldn't have launched their attack today."
"From my perspective, Bruce and I can't simply ignore it."
"We aren't asking you to fight with us. We only need transportation."
"We'll handle the rest."
"After returning to Gotham, we plan to contact more allies. Zatanna and the others can help as well."
"If you really don't want to transport us, we can ask Miss Ciri. She has been discussing modern warfare with Floyd recently, so she might be interested."
Axel waved dismissively.
"Fine, do whatever you want."
"Just don't interfere with my sightseeing."
"I'm taking these two idiots away. Remember to find me before ten."
Axel disappeared into flames with Wanda and Quicksilver.
Watching him leave, Thor looked slightly envious.
Clark noticed and approached him.
"Are you not angry?"
"We indirectly caused this chaos, but Axel only wants to watch from the side."
Thor spun Mjolnir.
"Why would I be angry?"
"If every problem requires the strongest person to solve it, then why should anyone else become stronger?"
"In Asgard, my father does not fight every battle himself."
"If all honor belongs to the strongest person, how would anyone else earn glory?"
"Would we simply compete over who can flatter my father better?"
A moment later, Thor launched himself into the sky with Mjolnir.
Lightning surrounded him as he flew toward the Helicarrier.
Meanwhile, inside the Helicarrier.
A damaged aircraft landed on the deck.
Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff supported the injured Phil Coulson on both sides and handed him over to the medical team.
Before being taken away, Coulson still waved at them.
"Don't worry about me, Captain. I'm an experienced agent."
"After I was injured during the Battle of New York, I went to Tahiti to recover."
"This time is the same. Think of it as another vacation."
"Vacation, yes."
Steve forced a smile.
"Tahiti..."
He watched Coulson disappear.
Afterward, Steve frowned.
"I didn't know he was still alive."
"Wasn't he... with Loki?"
Natasha shook her head.
"I don't know the details."
"But it must be some classified S.H.I.E.L.D. technology."
"Either way, Coulson being alive is a good thing."
At that moment, Natasha turned and greeted Maria Hill approaching them.
Nick Fury followed behind Hill.
Seeing him, Steve became even more confused.
He raised his injured arm, wiped away sweat, and asked:
"Nick, I thought you went to the militia positions outside the city."
"When we separated, you said you were going there to resolve conflicts and bring more people under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s command."
Nick Fury took a deep breath.
"Captain, the plan changed."
"Thor's arrival ended the chaos at New York City Hall faster than expected."
"Now we need to take advantage of the opening he created."
"We must reclaim City Hall and restore control over the city's media networks."
Nick turned and led everyone back toward the bridge.
Many systems had been damaged by stray bullets, but enough remained functional.
He opened a map displaying the current battles across the United States.
Since Hydra's uprising began, this was the first time Steve had returned to the Helicarrier and seen the full scale of the disaster.
The burning symbols across the map made his chest tighten.
He slammed his fist onto the table.
"When I woke up, I thought the war was over."
"But you told me the world still needed me."
"I don't want to be needed, because being needed means people are still suffering."
"But S.H.I.E.L.D. was her life's work."
"So I put on my uniform again."
"Not as a soldier chasing glory, but as someone trying to repay the promise I failed to keep."
"I thought my efforts, combined with everyone's efforts, would at least prevent more people from suffering."
"And this is the result?"
"Under our watch, Hydra rose."
"The war in Europe did not happen, so the battlefield moved here instead?"
"Is this what all our efforts achieved?"
Bang!
The table cracked slightly from Steve's strike.
The force behind Captain America's anger was overwhelming.
Nick Fury watched silently.
When Steve was not angry, he saw himself as just another soldier.
But when Captain America truly became furious, that anger represented everything he stood for.
It was the anger of Steve Rogers, the soldier, the Avenger, and the leader of the Howling Commandos.
Nick Fury understood the weight behind it.
He took a deep breath, stood up, and admitted:
"It was my mistake."
"I was completely deceived by Pierce."
"For thirty years, I never realized that Pierce was a Hydra agent."
===
Read chapters ahead on Patreon, with every chapter organized into collections.
P-a-t-r-e-o-n.com/_Zeph.