"This was my hammer to begin with. I should be able to lift it..."
"But not anymore. Odin has denied you the right to wield this weapon," Duncan interrupted Thor.
Thor's face was ashen. He said nothing, his spirit utterly crushed.
"My offer still stands. If you're truly willing to do whatever it takes to regain your strength, you can come to me for help."
Duncan's voice grew heavier. "However, the power I offer is different from the divine strength you once wielded, though they won't conflict. Perhaps one day, you'll be able to lift that hammer again, reclaim your godly powers. If that happens, you'll have two sources of strength at your disposal."
As he spoke, his tone was utterly serious. If Thor nodded, he was fully prepared to select the finest facehugger for him.
Of course, afterward, Thor would have to obey his commands.
At this stage in his life, Thor knew nothing of humility. He was hot-tempered, violent, and worshipped brute strength above all else.
Duncan turned his gaze toward the embattled deviant leader, who was struggling to fend off relentless attacks. "See? If you'd waited a few more minutes and struck when he was at his lowest, you might have had a better chance. You were too impatient."
His casual, conversational tone utterly enraged the deviant leader.
The creature went into a frenzy, its body sprouting tendrils of flesh, its razor-sharp claws tearing at anything in reach. An unfortunate Xenomorph failed to dodge in time and was gutted on the spot.
Swish!
A mass of fleshy tendrils shot forward, absorbing the fallen Xenomorph alive.
But that was the extent of its abilities. The Xenomorphs worked together too seamlessly, constantly forcing the deviant leader into a desperate scramble. Whenever it set its sights on killing one, the Abomination Xenomorph would strike with brutal precision, interrupting its actions.
After all this fighting, the deviant leader had only managed to kill a single Xenomorph.
"How does your own kind taste?" Duncan asked.
Boom!
The deviant leader's eyes widened—just before the Abomination Xenomorph's fist crashed into its skull, leaving it momentarily dazed.
"The power it got from Juggernaut is impressive. Even that attack didn't leave a scratch..." Duncan mused. By now, he'd gauged the creature's strength.
With a subtle mental command, the surrounding Xenomorphs "accidentally" allowed a few more deviant to break through.
"Duncan, I'm deploying agents to assist. We'll clear out these deviants together," Coulson's voice rang through a loudspeaker.
"If you'd said that before they reached the camp, I might have believed you were sincere," Duncan retorted without an ounce of courtesy.
Coulson, unfazed, remained focused on the monitors before him. Some screens had gone dark, damaged in the battle, but the remaining cameras provided enough information.
His attention was drawn to the battle outside the camp. Once again, he observed the Xenomorphs in action, silent and contemplative.
The scene was gruesome, yet he couldn't help but be impressed.
For a brief moment, Coulson envisioned what it would be like if S.H.I.E.L.D. controlled these creatures. With such a force at their disposal, the possibilities were endless.
"Clint, position our agents within the camp structures and open fire on the deviants. If possible, capture a few alive," Coulson ordered.
Duncan might be an ally for now, but these deviants were nothing in comparison.
Coulson wanted specimens. Duncan wanted them even more.
In just a short while, four deviant creatures had breached the camp. Gunfire erupted, but several agents were quickly slain.
Whoosh!
Hawkeye drew his bow and fired, his arrows striking a deviant's limbs before the attached explosives detonated.
A series of explosions rang out. He assumed the creature was dead—but when the smoke cleared, what he saw shocked him. The deviant was actively regenerating its severed limbs.
"Everyone, focus fire! Don't give them a chance to heal!" Hawkeye commanded over the comms.
Despite their efforts, two deviants still managed to reach their leader.
"Is Duncan really incapable of stopping these creatures?" Coulson frowned. Based on his knowledge of Duncan, this seemed like an uncharacteristic oversight—especially given that the Xenomorphs still held the numerical advantage.
The deviant leader extended its tendrils, stabbing into the two newcomers, channeling immense energy into them.
Before their eyes, the two lesser deviants began to swell, their bodies rapidly bulking up, their physical strength surging.
"That's more like it," Duncan thought with satisfaction.
As their leader, the deviant had the ability to distribute its power among its subordinates. But in doing so, it weakened itself.
By keeping up relentless pressure and using the Abomination Xenomorph for precise strikes, Duncan was forcing the leader to expend its energy on its minions.
It was a calculated strategy—because without breaking through its defenses, he had no chance of implanting a facehugger.
The weaker the leader became, the greater Duncan's opportunity.
"Only letting two in feels risky... But if I allow two more..."
Duncan calculated swiftly, observing the battlefield through his Xenomorphs, adjusting their movements with pinpoint precision.
One of the newly-empowered deviants locked onto Duncan and lunged.
Its gaping maw snapped forward, aiming to crush his throat.
Duncan glanced at Thor. The demoralized god made no attempt to dodge, his spirit utterly broken.
With a sigh, Duncan took matters into his own hands. He sidestepped the attack, thrust two fingers into the creature's eye socket, and ripped out its eyeball.
"People always assume I'm weak. I'm no summoner who fights through pets alone."
Casually flicking away the gore, he shrugged off his ever-present travel bag and tossed it to the ground. It was time to fight.
At that moment, elsewhere on the battlefield—
Loki stood in an unremarkable clearing, quietly observing the battle.
Seeing Thor in danger, he almost intervened but held himself back.
"So this Midgardian defeated that Eternal? Not entirely useless, I suppose... but that hardly explains why Father is so interested in the Eternals."
Loki was perplexed. He refused to believe Odin was acting without reason. There had to be something he wasn't seeing.
As for Duncan…
"Since he saved my idiot brother and commands this warrior brood, I suppose I'll spare his life."
Loki's eyes flickered toward the deviant leader, then to the Abomination Xenomorph. A slow, wicked grin spread across his face.
The Second Sorcerer of the Nine Realms was always brimming with confidence.
...
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