The air hung heavy and still. Even the wind on the roof of Stark Tower seemed to pause for a moment at that provocative line.
"Oh ho ho ho..."
That signature three-part laugh still echoed, carrying a chilling, penetrating quality that sent shivers down spines.
But the next second, Frieza, hovering in mid-air, suddenly stopped laughing. A flicker of annoyance crossed his crimson eyes, and his long, elegant finger tapped lightly on his lip, like a gentleman who had made a social blunder.
Whoops, I slipped up.
Did calling them "Earth Monkeys" and "Alien Barbarians" sound a bit... uncivilized?
As a distinguished Emperor of the Universe and the future head of a high-end real estate empire, he couldn't just throw out insults like some street thug. It lowered the caliber of Lord Frieza and certainly didn't match the sophisticated corporate image he intended to build across the cosmos.
After all, he planned to hire these so-called Super Heroes as security guards and janitors later. An employer couldn't be too crude; he needed corporate culture and refinement.
So, under the stunned gazes of the Avengers, Frieza slowly lowered himself a bit and cleared his throat.
"Ahem."
He adjusted the collar of his expensive suit, his face instantly switching back to that gentle, harmless smile. He even offered a courteous, slight bow to Thor and Captain America.
"My apologies, gentlemen. I misspoke."
Frieza's voice was warm and magnetic, like he was hosting a high-society dinner party: "In this exciting moment, I became a little overzealous. Please forgive my poor choice of words."
The Avengers exchanged confused looks. The tonal shift was so fast they couldn't keep up. One second he was threatening mass murder, the next he was apologizing? Was this "Super Villain Etiquette"?
Frieza paid no attention to their confusion. He spread his hands, continuing in an utterly humble and sincere tone:
"You people... ah, I mean, you courageous Earth Natives, and you, Prince of Asgard. Since you've shown the courage to challenge me, the Emperor of the Universe, I certainly appreciate that bravery."
Here, the curve of his smile widened slightly, his eyes filled with the playful, predatory expectation of a cat watching a mouse.
"I see potential in you all. So please, don't hold back. Show me your power, prove that you have the right to survive in this universe."
"Or, perhaps... prove that you are worthy enough to make me break a sweat. Just a tiny bit."
Though his words were polite, the inherent arrogance and contempt were impossible to hide. It felt like a world champion boxer standing outside a kindergarten, telling a bunch of kids waving plastic shovels, "Come on, show me your best fighting skills."
It was an infuriating display of superiority.
"Is this guy completely nuts?" Tony Stark rolled his eyes behind his faceplate. "J.A.R.V.I.S., analyze his mental state. I suspect antisocial personality disorder combined with severe narcissism."
Thor, however, had no patience for flowery language.
As Asgard's God of War, the hot-tempered Avenger only trusted the hammer in his hand. In his view, anyone who threatened Earth or insulted Asgardian honor deserved only one fate: to be flattened into a paste by Mjölnir!
"Enough! Mortal! No matter who you are, no matter how strong you are!"
Thor roared, the muscles in his arm instantly bulging, veins coiling like dragons. He spun Mjölnir, the mythical weapon turning into a silver blur, creating a deafening whistle.
"For Asgard! For Midgard!"
"Die!"
CRACK!
Thor threw the hammer with nearly all his strength. Mjölnir, charged with the power of lightning, tore through the air with a massive sonic boom. It was a silver meteor aimed straight at Frieza's face!
The speed was so incredible it left a ghostly trail in the sky.
"Yeah!" Cap couldn't help but cheer internally. That force, that speed—if he tried to take that hit with his shield, he'd be knocked back fifty feet.
Facing the unstoppable attack, Frieza merely stood still, making no move to dodge.
He watched the incoming hammer and even had the leisure to offer a critique: "Such a direct attack. So crude."
The next second.
Just as the hammer was about to smash his handsome face, Frieza slowly raised his right hand.
No fancy moves, just a simple, casual grab forward.
SMACK!
A dull thud.
The hammer, containing the crushing force of a thunderbolt and enough power to smash an aircraft carrier, came to an absolute dead stop in mid-air!
It was held firmly by a single, long, pale hand clamped around the hammer's head!
The ferocious kinetic energy instantly vanished, and the scattered lightning around the hammer was extinguished instantly, like a snuffed-out match.
"What...?" Thor's eyes widened, nearly popping out of his sockets.
Catch the hammer with his bare hand?
How is that possible?!
However, the moment Frieza grabbed the hammer, his expression subtly changed.
Heavy.
It was unbelievably heavy!
An unimaginable weight instantly transferred from his palm through his whole body. This wasn't the weight of a metal object; this felt like grabbing a whole planet!
Taken by surprise, Frieza was pulled down by the terrifying gravity. His feet crunched through the concrete floor, sinking deep into the rooftop, all the way up to his ankles.
Even his perfectly straight posture involuntarily bent slightly.
Seeing this, a glimmer of excitement flashed in the Avengers' eyes.
"Ha! I knew it!" Tony shouted. "That's Odin's magic! No one can just pick that up! He overplayed his hand!"
Thor also felt a wave of relief and reached out to recall his hammer: "Foolish mortal! Mjölnir is not for just anyone to touch!"
In their minds, Frieza had caught the hammer, but he had paid a massive price. The next second, he would be crushed by the weight or yanked into the sky when Thor recalled it.
However.
"That's... interesting."
A low voice came from Frieza.
With a series of audible cracks and pops of his bones, his slightly bent spine slowly, painstakingly, straightened itself!
The hand gripping the hammer, though slightly trembling and bulging with veins, held the hammer's head in a death grip, unmoving!
"Honestly, I have to admit, this hammer... has some heft to it."
Frieza took a deep breath, his internal energy (ki) surging wildly.
Odin's enchantment?
That silly spell about "only the worthy can lift it"?
Frieza sneered internally.
For someone deemed "worthy," like Captain America, the hammer weighed maybe thirty pounds—a mere toy.
But for the "unworthy," the object was forcing them to resist Odin's magic, resisting the hammer's true weight, said to be forged from the core of a dying star—around 4.6 billion tons!
Of course, that number was exaggerated, but the weight imposed by the magical rule was undeniably immense.
"It seems... I am not considered worthy."
Frieza looked down at the hammer, which was still buzzing and attempting to wrench free from his grasp. His eyes grew cold.
The hammer was rejecting him.
It was resisting the grasp of an Emperor of the Universe!
"Hmph. A mere piece of junk, daring to be picky with Lord Frieza?"
Frieza was irritated. Deeply irritated.
He was the man destined to rule the universe. How dare an inanimate object give him attitude?
"If you won't acknowledge me..."
Frieza's fingers began to tighten, his fingertips digging deep into the incredibly tough Uru metal, making a sickening, metallic screech.
"If you refuse to submit to me..."
"Then be destroyed!"
On the opposite side, Thor, who was ready to charge forward and retrieve the hammer, suddenly halted.
He witnessed a sight he would never forget, a sight that made him doubt everything he knew.
Frieza's mouth curled into a cruel, cold smile. The muscles in his arm bulged like steel, and a purplish-red aura of energy erupted violently around his palm.
"Shatter!"
CRUNCH!
CRACKLE-CRACKLE-CRACKLE—!
Accompanied by a sharp, heartbreaking sound of tearing metal.
Mjölnir—the symbol of Thor's power, the indestructible artifact that had accompanied him through the Nine Realms—was, in Frieza's hand...
CRACKING!
Thousands of tiny fissures instantly covered the hammer's body. Blinding lightning spewed from the cracks like an exploding star.
"NO!!!" Thor let out a scream of pure agony and despair.
BANG!
The next second, the hammer completely exploded!
It turned into countless shards of twisted scrap metal, clattering tragically onto the concrete floor.
Silence.
A deafening, deathly silence.
The entire rooftop seemed to become a vacuum; even the wind stopped.
Thor remained frozen, his hand still stretched out, his eyes empty as he stared at the pile of debris on the ground.
Broken?
His 'Mew-Mew' hammer... was crushed?
How was this possible? That was Uru metal! It was forged in the core of a dying neutron star! It was a thing even the Hulk couldn't destroy!
Even his sister, Hela (though he didn't know about her yet), couldn't have done something like this!
It wasn't just Thor; even Loki was dumbfounded.
He had already witnessed Frieza's terror, but in his wildest nightmares, he never imagined this guy could be this insane.
Crush Mjölnir? Is that even something a living being can do?
"This... this doesn't compute..." Tony's display screen was flashing error messages behind his faceplate. He swallowed hard. "J.A.R.V.I.S., tell me this is an illusion."
"Sir, I regret to inform you that this is reality. The target's grip strength... cannot be calculated. It has exceeded sensor limitations."
> [Ding! Detecting Thor's worldview collapse, generating extreme fear. Fear Factor +10,000!]
> [Ding! Detecting Loki's Sanity Plunge, Fear Factor +5,000!]
> [Ding! All Avengers are in Shock. Fear Factor +8,000!]
Listening to the system notifications, Frieza's mood improved slightly. Crushing the hammer was worth it; the Fear Factor was piling up fast.
Frieza dusted the metallic residue off his hands, his lips curling into a look of sheer distaste.
"Ugh, such poor quality. I thought it was supposed to be tougher."
That single sentence was the final straw, completely igniting Thor's fury.
"You... you destroyed it..."
Thor's eyes were instantly bloodshot, overwhelmed by grief and rage. A bestial growl tore from his throat.
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!!!"