The strong man stood up from the ground and glanced at the curtain Thor had torn open behind him. He shook out his hands once, then walked away.
...
Harry watched as Phil Coulson switched the monitor feed back to the crater left by Thor's Hammer. The hefty blond man was stepping right into the center, where the hammer had landed.
It was amusing to see Thor unable to lift his own weapon, but since Harry already knew exactly how this scene would play out, he felt no real interest.
"Coulson, that big guy—is he one of yours? He's pretty strong," Harry said, tilting his head and gesturing vaguely, his tone full of casual doubt.
"Yes," Phil Coulson nodded with a smile. He understood perfectly what Harry meant. Norman Osborn, Harry's father, was one of many military collaborators back when they studied human-enhancement serums. Coulson had no intention of hiding that.
On the monitor, the blond intruder stood before the mysterious hammer, frozen in place, preparing to make his attempt. To deepen S.H.I.E.L.D.'s friendly relationship with Harry, Coulson didn't mind explaining more.
He continued, "After Captain America succeeded in the super-soldier experiment—the Rebirth Project—his power was remarkable. But when Dr. Abraham Erskine was assassinated right after his success, everything halted. Even so, the military's enthusiasm for super soldiers didn't fade. They poured resources into the Strategic Scientific Reserve to recreate Erskine's formula, but things didn't go as planned."
"So?" Harry frowned with curiosity. He knew nothing of these classified details, so he followed Coulson's words immediately.
"At first, military scientists tried to reverse-engineer the serum from Captain Rogers' blood. They thought it would be the fastest way to replicate a super soldier. But before they could finish the process, the Captain disappeared. The higher-ups pushed harder, but nothing worked. Eventually, all samples of the Captain's blood were used up. Well… all except one, but that particular sample doesn't belong to the military, so that's another matter."
Coulson curled his lip as he added, "But even then, the military didn't give up. And that eventually led to Dr. Bruce Banner—or the Hulk. Though, of course, Banner's case isn't entirely related."
Harry squinted slightly. "The military has the Hulk. The predecessor of your S.H.I.E.L.D. was the Strategic Scientific Reserve. That means S.H.I.E.L.D. worked on similar research. Did you succeed? Is that one of your results?"
He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, glancing at the burly man who had blocked Thor earlier, then turned back to Coulson.
"No. Our research can't compare to the Hulk created by the military." Coulson shook his head. "The Hulk is… unique. And our results can't be mass-produced anyway. This one here—he's just like Banner. Another accident. But nowhere near as strong as the Hulk."
Harry nodded. He believed Coulson—or at least believed that Coulson himself believed what he was saying. Whether Nick Fury was hiding deeper secrets was another matter entirely.
"How many successful cases do you have?" Harry asked.
"Just this one. Even Barton hasn't taken any serum," Coulson replied.
"I see." Harry nodded. As far as he knew, Hawkeye Barton and Black Widow Natasha Romanoff were Fury's most trusted and accomplished agents. Natasha had once undergone enhancement, so she didn't count in this category. But Hawkeye had not—which meant the serum developed by S.H.I.E.L.D. was still unstable and flawed.
"It's starting," Coulson said.
His words brought Harry's focus back. He looked at Thor on the screen.
"Yes, it has," Harry murmured.
Thor had already placed both hands on Mjolnir's handle and begun to pull.
Inside the crater, Thor grasped the hammer with joyful anticipation. At last, he would soon be free of this frail mortal shell.
"Heh…"
Thor tightened his grip, smiling as he pulled.
But—
"…Hm?"
His smile froze. His brows knitted tightly. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
He couldn't lift it.
In disbelief, Thor immediately placed both massive hands on the handle.
"—Ha!"
With a shout, his muscles bulged and his posture radiated determination.
Thunder cracked across the sky. Dark clouds rolled overhead, as though answering Thor's courage, and thunder roared continuously. Inside the lab, the scientists' equipment began registering unusual readings.
"Sir, the instruments show a sudden magnetic field fluctuation, centered directly on the hammer. That means it was caused by the hammer!"
"Understood," Coulson replied, ending the call.
He clasped his hands and stared at the blond man on the monitor who had triggered the reaction.
As he suspected, there truly was some kind of connection between this intruder and the mysterious hammer—but just knowing that didn't explain what the hammer really was.
Rain began to fall, first light and then quickly heavier, soaking the land in moments.
Inside the crater, Thor had already fallen to his knees. He hung his head so low his drenched blond hair completely hid his face, making his expression impossible to see. As the God of Thunder, the irony was cruel: his own hammer lay before him, yet he couldn't lift it—not even enough to make it tremble.
"All right, the show's over. Ground units, move in," Coulson said into his radio.
Thor's failed attempt was done. The agents outside moved in to secure the area. But none of it mattered to Thor.
"No… no…"
Thor repeated the words over and over, barely noticing the agents who bound him and dragged him away.
---
A/N: 30% OFF ON ALL THE FANFIC FOR FEW DAYS CODE "NS300"
A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
Support: patreon.com/Narrator_San