THE FOLLOWING morning, Thor received a visit from four heavily armored friends who erased any lingering doubt in Erik’s, Jane’s, and Darcy’s minds that Thor truly was from Asgard. Thor’s closest companions, Lady Sif and the Warriors Three—Hogun, Volstagg, and Fandral—had arrived via the Bifrost. Their spectacular Asgardian battle armor attracted the notice of everyone in the town, including a duo of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents that Coulson had sent to shadow Thor and Selvig after he let Thor go.
Thor embraced his longtime companions, overjoyed to see their familiar, brave faces.
“Oh, my friends!” he shouted. “This is good! This is good! My friends, I have never been happier to see anyone. But you should not have come.”
“We have come to take you home,” Fandral said.
“You know I can’t go home. My father is dead because of me and I must remain in exile.”
Lady Sif shook her head. “Thor, your father still lives.”
Thor looked stunned.
Before anyone else could respond, a funnel formed in the otherwise-cloudless desert sky, and with it a whipping sandstorm that shook cars and cut anything in its path appeared as if from nowhere—just as Thor had when he first arrived on Earth.
“Was somebody else coming?” Darcy asked, not sure what to make of any of this.
As if on cue, the dust lifted and revealed a huge, otherworldly, humanlike figure covered in metal. It was the Destroyer.
“Is that one of Stark’s?” Agent Sitwell asked Coulson.
“I don’t know, that guy never tells me anything,” Coulson replied.
Coulson stepped up to the twenty-foot being, held up a megaphone to it, and announced, “Hello. You are using unregistered weapons technology. Identify yourself.”
In response, the Destroyer revealed its face—a fiery furnace—and began to shoot energy from it, vaporizing anything it came into contact with.
“Jane, you have to leave,” Thor said.
“What are you going to do?” Jane asked.
“I’m staying here,” Thor replied.
“Thor’s going to fight with us!” Volstagg pronounced.
“My friends, I am just a man. I’ll only be in the way, and at worst get one of you killed. But I can help get these people to safety.”
“Well, if you’re staying, then so am I,” Jane said.
Thor helped Jane clear the town, loading people into trucks, helping people find their way in the chaos. And while Thor, Jane, Erik, and Darcy did their part, the four Asgardians faced the Destroyer, which they knew the jealous and bitter Loki had sent to Midgard to vanquish his brother.
But one after another, the Asgardians found it impossible to fend off the Destroyer. While Thor’s friends—mortal and immortal—took cover, Thor knew what he must do. As Odin’s son, as a prince of Asgard, he must combat the Destroyer.
He spoke to Loki from across the Realms.
“Brother, whatever I have done to wrong you, whatever I have done to lead you to do this, I am truly sorry. But these people are innocent. Taking their lives will gain you nothing.”
He stepped up to the Destroyer, whose entire body was blazing beneath its armor.
“So take mine,” Thor said, “and end this.”
With that, the Destroyer closed its faceplate and turned to walk away. Thor was smiling, comforted that his words had reached his brother. But as it was leaving, the Destroyer backhanded Thor and sent him flying hundreds of yards across the dusty town.
“No!” Jane yelled, running over to him.
Thor heaved, bloody and beaten, not able to withstand the blow without his powers.
“It’s over,” he said to Jane. “You’re safe.”
Thor closed his eyes. A mighty hero had fallen. His stunned friends looked on as the Destroyer walked off into the horizon.
At that very moment, fifty miles away, Mjolnir began to rattle, shake, and finally break free from its stone encasement. It shot across the desert and landed right in the hand of Thor. Lightning struck, sending a blast of sand and smoke into the desert sky. When the dust cleared, Thor stood, outfitted in his armor and cape. He had proven himself worthy of Mjolnir by his selfless deeds and actions.
Thor twirled Mjolnir victoriously over his head, whipping up a twister that sucked up the Destroyer. Thor battled it in the heart of the storm, easily defeating the being and sending it crashing to the ground before making his own triumphant return.
Now he needed to journey over the Bifrost and return to Asgard to confront his brother. But before he could move to do so, Agent Coulson approached him.
“Excuse me, Donald?” he said. “I don’t think you’ve been completely honest with us.”
“You and I fight for the same cause—the protection of this world,” Thor said. “From this day forward, you can count me as your ally. If you return the items you have taken from Jane.”
“Stolen,” Jane clarified.
“Borrowed,” Coulson protested. “Of course you can have your equipment back. You’re going to need it to continue your research.”
Jane beamed.
Heimdall opened the Bifrost.
“I must return to Asgard,” Thor said to Jane. “But I give you my word, I will return for you.”
And with that, Thor and his Asgardian companions were sucked into a prismatic portal and away from Earth.