BOOM.
The Bifrost touched down like a meteor strike, scorching the sand into glass. When the light faded, something stepped out of the crater.
The Destroyer.
It wasn't pretty to look at, just a hulking mass of enchanted Asgardian metal shaped vaguely like a warrior. But the pressure it radiated was absolutely real. The Warriors Three and Sif felt it even more acutely. They knew exactly what this thing was capable of.
Volstagg, the portly warrior who looked like a Viking Santa Claus, tightened his grip on his war axe. "Damn it. It's the Destroyer armor... This is Loki's doing, he doesn't want Thor returning to Asgard."
Sif's expression was grim as she watched it advance. "We have to protect Thor. Without his powers, and Mjolnir, he's completely vulnerable."
The Destroyer's footsteps shook the ground with each stride. When it stopped five meters in front of them, the helmet section suddenly blazed with heat. The faceplate split open, revealing a furnace of orange-white energy.
FWOOSH.
A beam of concentrated heat energy lanced out, cutting through the air like a laser. The Asgardians scattered, diving for cover as the blast hit the ground where they'd been standing. Even without a direct impact, the explosion was powerful enough to send shockwaves rippling outward.
Fandral, the swordsman, was first to counterattack. He rolled to his feet and charged. He swung his blade hard against its armor, but it only threw off a shower of sparks without leaving a single mark.
The Destroyer moved fast. One massive arm swung around and caught Fandral in the chest. The warrior flew backward, sailing ten meters before hitting the ground hard enough to bounce twice.
"Don't get eager, Cap," Mario called out, putting a hand on Steve's chest as he moved to intervene. "It's not your turn yet."
Steve looked at him with confusion. "They're getting slaughtered out there. We need to help them."
"Just wait. Trust me on this."
Even as Mario spoke, Sif attempted a flanking maneuver, using her shield to deflect another heat beam before driving her spear toward the Destroyer's neck joint. The blow connected, but again, the armor held. The Destroyer pivoted and backhanded her across the battlefield. She hit the dirt and stayed down, struggling to breathe.
Thor had barely reacted when Fandral went flying. But seeing Sif hurt? That broke through his shock. Despite having no powers, and no way to survive a fight with the Destroyer, he started walking toward it anyway.
Steve shot Mario a look that clearly said, This is your definition of "under control"?
Mario gave an awkward grin and spoke into his comm unit. "Ivan, time to field test the new toys."
"Roger that."
A roar of repulsor engines filled the air. In the distance, several dark shapes lifted off from their hidden positions and streaked toward the Destroyer at high speed.
The Destroyer sensed the incoming threats immediately. It shifted into a combat stance, faceplate opening wider as heat built to critical levels.
An energy beam shot skyward, intersecting with one of the incoming suits. But the suit had come prepared, a massive shield absorbed most of the impact, though the force still sent it tumbling backward. Mario could see the shield glowing red-hot and warping from the heat.
"Shit. Does this thing have armor-piercing damage too?"
He pulled out a white wooden staff.
"Freeze."
[Freeze:
Tier: Novice
Element: Ice
Mana Cost: 5
Effect: Applies Frostbite II for 10 seconds]
Instantly, frost spread across the Destroyer's surface like ice forming on a windshield. Its movements turned sluggish and jerky.
That's when Ivan's battle suits opened fire. Multiple energy beams converged on the Destroyer's chest, the combined impact driving it backward and leaving deep gouges in the desert floor.
But the freeze effect didn't last nearly as long as it should have. Mario had expected ten seconds of control, he got maybe one before the frost melted away.
Either this thing has crazy magic resistance, or my spells are way too low level.
The tip of his staff glowed again. This time, jagged spikes of ice erupted from beneath the Destroyer's feet, piercing upward and coating it in another layer of frost. Mario counted silently.
[Ice Spikes:
Tier: Advanced
Element: Ice
Mana Cost: 30
Effect: Summons ice spikes dealing 5 damage and applying Frostbite for 4 seconds]
Two seconds. The frost melted again.
The Destroyer had finally noticed Mario's existence. Ignoring the battle suits that could barely scratch its armor, it turned its full attention toward the source of the annoying control effects.
Its faceplate opened again, but this time, the energy building inside wasn't the orange-white heat beam from before. This was pure white, so bright it hurt to look at directly.
CRACK.
The beam lanced out with enough force to ionize the air in its path. Mario's response was pure instinct, and threw an ender pearl. He blinked out of existence and reappeared ten meters to the left just as the beam hit where he'd been standing.
There was no explosion this time. Just a perfectly circular hole in the ground.
Mario checked its health bar. The Destroyer, which had started with a maximum HP of 1000, was rapidly climbing.
1100...
1200...
1300...
Within seconds, it hit 2500.
"Are you kidding me? This thing can level up during combat?"
Ivan's battle suits had formed a perimeter around the Destroyer, unleashing every weapon system they had. But nothing was working. It shrugged off the tethers like cobwebs.
A heat beam tore through one suit's shield and left a gaping hole in the armor's torso. If the other suits hadn't interrupted its follow-up attack, that blast would have vaporized the entire unit.
Then white light enveloped the damaged armor. The hole began closing.
A silver-white totem had appeared beside the suit.
[Totem:
Tier: Advanced
Element: Healing
Mana Cost: 40
Effect: Heals 1 HP per 0.4 seconds, damages undead enemies]
If I can heal iron golems, why not battle suits? Perfectly logical.
He wielded his frost staff in one hand, constantly applying crowd control effects to keep the Destroyer off-balance. His other hand rapidly cycled through different staffs as the situation demanded.
His strategy was simple: grind this thing down through sustained damage over time.
"Cap! Get in there! No need to fight fair!"
Steve had been waiting for permission. The moment Mario gave it, he charged forward with his shield raised. The vibranium disc slammed into the Destroyer's head, and while it didn't do much damage, it sure as hell got its attention.
The Warriors Three rejoined the fight, surrounding the Destroyer and attacking from multiple angles. It tried to counterattack, but every time it wound up for a strike, one of Mario's spells would interrupt it with a stagger effect.
Thor stood frozen with Sif leaning against him for support. He watched the Destroyer getting beaten down.
"This is..."
Something inside him broke. He realized that even if he regained his full godly power, he wouldn't be able to withstand this kind of coordinated assault.
The main problem was Mario's fighting style. His attacks weren't particularly powerful individually, but they were devastatingly effective. Slowing, freezing, burning, poisoning, all sorts of debilitating effects that stacked and compounded. And his healing abilities were bizarre. He could repair inanimate metal. That shouldn't be possible.
Thor made a mental note: In team fights, always kill the support first.
The sound of fists and weapons striking metal echoed across the desert. With Steve and the Warriors Three adding their strength to the assault, the Destroyer's health bar started dropping.
Mario's grin grew wider and wider as the HP fell below 1000. He shouted to his team, "Keep it up! We're almost there!"
Two minutes later, the Destroyer's movements ceased.
He was already walking forward to claim his loot when he noticed something wrong. The health bar hadn't disappeared.
In fact, the maximum HP had just jumped to 10,000.
"GET BACK! NOW!"
Thanks to Mario's earlier commands, everyone instinctively retreated from the Destroyer's body.
BOOM.
A shockwave erupted from it, sending dust and debris flying in all directions. Sharp spikes burst out from its metal plating. It was alive.
"There's a second phase."
At this point, Mario refused to believe Loki was still controlling the armor. If it really were Loki, he wouldn't be able to draw out this kind of power.
The Destroyer moved again, and this time golden light descended from the sky into its hand. The light solidified into a weapon.
The Warriors Three recognized it instantly and went pale. That was one of Odin's personal weapons. The Allfather had more than just Gungnir in his arsenal.
This thing had been a nightmare without a weapon. Now it had entered a second phase AND armed itself with a god-tier blade?
He gripped his staff tightly and glanced at his inventory. Soul Sand. Hundreds of Wither Skeleton skulls. He turned toward Coulson, who was watching from the sidelines.
"Get your people out of here and—"
He stopped mid-sentence. There was someone standing next to Coulson.
Mario's tense expression immediately relaxed.
Coulson asked, "Get them to do what?"
"Grab some popcorn and enjoy the show."
Mario raised his staff and flicked it toward the Destroyer. An ice spike erupted from the ground and struck the armor's leg. The construct's body flashed red, a symbolic "-1" floating above its head before the health bar instantly refilled. The debuff didn't even apply. There wasn't a trace of frost anywhere on its surface.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The Destroyer's footsteps grew heavy, leaving deep impressions in the hardpacked sand. It raised its sword and charged directly at him.
He didn't even bother raising a shield. In fact, he calmly put away his staff entirely. Just as the Destroyer reached him, a figure stepped between them.
"Stop, Loki!"
Thor spread his arms wide, standing protectively in front of Mario.
"Even though you're not my blood brother, I've always loved you more than anyone! I don't know what I did wrong. But if I hurt you, I'm sorry. These people are innocent. Killing them won't gain you anything. If you need to kill someone, kill me. Let this end here!"
High above in the Asgardian palace, Odin, who was pretending to sleep through this entire mess, listened to Thor's speech.
Without his interference, the armor would have been dismantled and hauled away five minutes ago. The sorcerer was dangerous and far too young to be this powerful. He had originally intended to eliminate this potential threat while he could. After all, dirty work like that was best handled by the King himself. But now, seeing his son standing protectively in front of the man, he changed his mind. He would let Thor handle the sorcerer situation, whether as friend or foe, he would respect his son's choice.
The spikes on the Destroyer's body slowly retracted. Mario watched the health bar drop from 10,000 back down to 1,000.
Being the favorite son has its perks.
CRACK.
Before Thor could say another word, the Destroyer punched him in the chest. The blow sent him flying backward. The sword hung limply in the armor's hand as if forgotten. It didn't even bother to finish Thor off.
Thor crashed into the ground and lay motionless. Jane started to rush forward, but Selvig held her back.
Then, lightning split the sky. Mjolnir streaked through the air from the distant camp. Thor, as if sensing it instinctively, reached out and caught the hammer.
Armor fragments materialized around him in a burst of light, assembling into his magnificent battle suit. He was back at full strength in an instant.
Spinning Mjolnir rapidly, he summoned dark storm clouds above. A massive vortex of thunder and lightning swirled across the sky as the God of Thunder took flight.
The Destroyer's faceplate opened, releasing a blinding beam of heat energy. But Thor met it head-on, deflecting it with his spinning hammer.
Then, from above, he descended, bringing Mjolnir down onto the Destroyer's body.
BOOM.
The impact created a blinding flash and a shockwave that knocked all the normal humans to the ground.