69 Chapter 69: Prelude to the God of Thunder

Evening, the same day.

"Hey, you still need a lift?" Jane called out to Thor, who wanted to buy a horse at a pet shop.

She couldn't wait for the answers, so she is going to do something she had never done before.

Even though Dr. Selvig had repeatedly told her that the guy is delusional and dangerous, the part of her brain that holds desire back couldn't stop her any longer. 

She rides with Thor into the desert, to the place where the satellite crashes. 

"I've never done things like this before. Have you ever done things like this before?" Jane is exhilarated. 

Her heart keeps pounding. She didn't know whether it is because of the guy next to her, or the premise that the answers to her life's work is in that crater. 

Whenever Thor looks at Jane's excited face, he couldn't help but smile. He answers her question. "Many times. But you're brave to do it." 

"Well they are very rude, and they have blocked me from proving my life's work. I have enough justification." Jane smiles. 

In the original timeline, she goes with Thor as she had lost everything. Every data of the experiment is taken by Shield. 

Now, she does it so that she can understand what is going on. Her theory is that the guy next to her comes from the wormhole that occurs. 

The data from the suspected Einstein-Rosen bridge had proven to her that it's connected to other places in the universe. 

"What you seek is a bridge," Thor explains a little. However, he didn't pay enough attention to his mother's teaching that he didn't delve into details about it. 

"Like the Einstein-Rosen bridge?" Jane confirms. 'I knew it!' She celebrated in her head. 

"More like a Rainbow bridge," Thor said, curbing her enthusiasm. 

"God, I hope you're not crazy," Jane mutters. 

"You think of me as strange," Thor asks. All the times in his life, when he meets with a mortal, they will be in awe of his capability. 

"A little bit" Jane replied playfully. 

"Good strange or bad strange?" He asks. 

"I… don't know yet." Jane dismissed the questions. 

Now that he has lost his power, this is the first time in his life that he actually notices something else about these mortals. Things that he had never cared to notice before. 

"You're very smart Jane. Smarter than other mortals." He blurted out his true thoughts.

They are driving 50 miles to the desert. They talked for a while, without realizing their budding feelings towards each other. 

… 

In the hidden island. 

Ryan had finished his talk with the team of women.

"Don't fight, just focus on evacuation. I will place some other helpers at the place.". The girls voluntarily want to help, so he will reward their kind deeds later on. 

Many others want to do the same, so he picked the most talented ones. And if there are too many new people suddenly appearing at the place, it will arouse suspicions. 

Afterward, he is fulfilling his promise to Park Shin. At the training area, Ryan and Park Shin are facing each other while surrounded by the audience. 

Almost all of the islander is there, cheering for the warriors. The fight will take place in a 50m² arena, with some boulders scattered in the area. 

The fighters had changed into a white training outfits. Ryan uses a wooden sword, while Park Shin is using a steel sword. She is dissatisfied seeing him giving handicaps to her.

"You should take me more seriously." Park Shin said annoyed. Her black hair is tied in a ponytail. Even though her shirt is a V-neck shirt, her chest is too flat for it to show anything. 

"It's okay. After all…you're weak." Ryan incited while smirking. Park Shin is now angry. She puffed her cheeks. 

Gwen is new to all of this. She asks "Did he fight here a lot?" It's not that she didn't feel worried for her lover, but she knows that it is unnecessary. 'There is no way he will get hurt', she thought to herself. 

"Sometimes. Most of the time he is fighting with another guest. He gave out guidance if he had time." Annika explains.

Gwen nods. She already knows that Ryan is a talented martial artist, as he had been teaching her combat skills for a few years. She is excited as this is the first time she will see how he actually fights. 

Parts of her wanted Ryan to suffer a little bit as revenge for all the times he put her in perilous training. 

"Popcorn?" Sive, who is sitting next to Gwen, offered.

"Thank you." She takes the snack and pops one in her mouth. Sive giggles. The kids like Gwen who isn't a pretentious person. Kids are surrounding her from all sides. 

Gwen turns her attention to the battle. She is too naive about the island. She had no idea what was waiting for her at this time.

"You can go all out. " Ryan said to Park Shin.

"That's the plan," She said coldly. She is getting ready in a battle stance, while Ryan is just casual about it.

"I will wipe that smirk off your face," she declared. Quickly, Park Shin closes their distance. She swung her sword to his left, targeting his waist.

The sword almost touches him, but his figure disappears. Park Shin is stunned and she stops in her tracks. A wooden sword is placed at her neck from behind.

Ryan is already behind her. " Don't focus on one thing. See the whole picture when you want to attack." He guided her. 

He can tell where she is going to attack by reading her pupils. Park Shin calms down a bit. Ryan backsteps and puts together some distance between them. 

"AGAIN!" Ryan said. Park Shin nods. She gets ready for the second round.

Ryan gestured to her to start. She exploded into speed one more time and closed the distance. This time, he blocks her sword. 

He deflects it after receiving the attack, making her stagger a little. She quickly stabilizes herself in a low posture and swings her sword at his feet. He hops lightly avoiding the sword.

Park Shin attacks while Ryan dodges or blocks. He only uses fake attacks and stops his blow before it could injure Park Shin. He did it a few times before the young girl gave up. After all, it's not a life or death battle. 

"You're getting better. Good for you. " Ryan complimented truthfully.

Park Shin said while breathing heavily. " Thank…You." She is the top 3 combatants on the island among the women, but facing Ryan or Kai, she is like a little kid.

"You can use 'chi' this time," He allowed her to use her full capability.

"We agreed only on swordplay," She confirms. This wasn't the deal. She didn't want to overstep. 

"Well, Gwen is here. I need to show her my charming side, " He said playfully. It irks Park Shin greatly. He didn't take her seriously at all. 

Ryan didn't realize that Gwen is already agape at the audience stands. Ryan and Park Shin move extremely fast. They broke through human limits.  

Gwen can barely see the swordplay, and she has been strengthened to Captain America level. 

"Ohh, they are getting serious," Annika mutters. Gwen asks with a shaky voice, "They were not serious before?"

Park Shin's sword is then coated with pale pink energy. "Mount Hua Sword: 4th Form, Scattering Cherry Blossom ". Her slash turns into tiny pieces of energy that mimic flower petals and attacks Ryan. 

He enters tranquillity. Casually, he broke the techniques by blocking and deflecting all the attacks in his path with imperceptible speed. 

"[ Water Breathing Style: 11th form. Dead Calm] " Ryan mutters. He didn't even use any type of energy to break the techniques. 

The audience cheers to see the battle. Even Gwen cheers along. "Now this is the definition of extraordinary!"  

"She is hopeless," Annika said while shaking her head. Park Shin told her she wanted to fight Kai or Ryan and become the first ranked swordsman on the island. She still has a long way to go. 

Park Shin is getting ready for one last attack. Annika got a naughty idea. She whispers to some of the girls next to her. They all agreed with her idea. 

Gwen is still having fun and is oblivious of the schemes currently going on besides her. "On my mark. Three... Two... One!" Annika exclaimed. 

Park Shin is approaching Ryan while thrusting her sword toward him. He is still at ease. He looked at the audience as someone was calling her name, then he saw a row of beautifully shaped melons displayed for him. 

10 girls in a row are showing their chest and jiggling it for Ryan. His brain is short-circuited, and he neglects the sword coming at him. 

'My sword will finally connect.' She is very happy about it.

At the last moment, Ryan snaps out of his stupor and avoids it a little bit, making the sword only nick his clothes. 

"That's a little unfair isn't it," Ryan said while smiling. Park Shin doesn't know what happened behind her. 

"Don't be a poor loser," She said haughtily. She turns to the audience to announce her success. At the time she finally sees what Ryan sees. The row of buns. 

The girls put their clothes back on before Gwen realizes what they are doing. Gwen is looking at Park Shin's reaction. 'She becomes depressed when seeing the audience?' 

Gwen looks at Park Shin's point of view, but when she turns to look, there isn't anything wrong. She is puzzled by the development. 

Park Shin pouted. She got double blows. First, her success is a fluke. Second, because it's all bigger than hers.  She is writing circles in the sand. 

Annika ignored her and went to Ryan. 

"We should go take a look at the town now. The sun is almost down there." Annika said calmly. 

"Are we going to ignore what happened?" Ryan asks with a shy smile. 

"What happened?" Gwen chimes in.

"N-nothing happened," Ryan said nervously. Gwen is puzzled again. 

Annika just displayed a genial elder smile at Ryan and Gwen. He now realizes that he is helpless to fight against the woman on the island. 

… 

In Russia. 

Natasha is following Spymaster's trail. At that time, the espionage master is meeting with Justin Hammer. 

"Hold on, I've never said anything about killing Stark." Spymaster is in a discussion with Hammer. The guy offered him 100 million dollars if he could kill Stark. 

They are dealing at the docks. Hammer submarine is docked inside a big warehouse that is connected to the waters. It is where a big ship is stored. 

Justin Hammer wants to deal as near to his submarine as he can so that he can escape anytime. However, the deal is making him mad. 

"It's either that or you can leave your suit here. I will find someone to take over and do what I ask." He threatened. His last aim in life is to kill the abominable Stark. 

And maybe the Knight kid too before he disappears forever. Not disappearing by killing himself, but he had a base on a hidden island where he had stocked his riches there. 

Even though Spymaster invites Justin Hammer to meet, he didn't expect that the guy is a lunatic. It's a very rich thought coming from a lunatic himself. 

"I won't kill him, after all, who will kill a golden goose. I want to steal from him. " Spymaster clarifies.

"If you by any chance manage to do something else during the time I steal, that will be a good thing for you isn't it" He smirks behind his mask. He wanted to steal, he didn't care about anything else. 

Justin Hammer realizes what he insinuated, but he isn't satisfied. "How do I know that you're capable?" he asks. 

Spymaster laughs in derision. "I have managed to get everything from Vanko and your company before this. Do you still think about whether I'm capable?" 

His tone changed to cold. "If you still are, that means you're an idiot. I don't need your deals. You can go f*ck yourself." He gets up to leave. 

"H-Hold on. " Hammer said hurriedly. Spymaster smirks as his ploy is working. 

"Let's talk terms," Hammer said. Before they can finalize it, a gunshot is heard from the outside. 

Natasha is in disbelief. She had infiltrated quietly and was eavesdropping about the deals when suddenly she heard the sound. 

'Is my position blown?' She thought. Outside the base, a blonde woman in an oni mask is tearing the security around the docking bay apart. 

Fresh blood splatters on her terrifying mask, striking fears in the heart of the ones that are still alive. 

She uses dual welding techniques, with a sword in each hand. The silver sword now had been basked in the blood of the unworthy. 

"This is too tiring for me. So I will kill all of you. Case closed. Right?" She storms the front and says it to the Spymaster and Justin Hammer. 

Hammer paled, while Spymaster was happy. "Your sword looks good. It will be better on me" He wants the sword. Really badly too. 

"Sure, I'll put it through your body. Let it stay there forever. How about it?" She didn't say anything, but to be so close to Natasha had stressed her out. 

Any longer then she won't be able to control herself. She regrets volunteering for the mission, a lot. 

The ground cracked when she started to run. Hammer is scared shitless seeing her speed. Even Natasha's eyes widened. 

She aims her sword toward their neck. Spymaster takes the lead instead of Hammer. He manages to block Yelena's attack, surprising her. 

He grabs the sword. "Mine!" He claimed. 

Yelena snorts in derision. "Crazy." She kicked him in the abdomen, making him back away a few steps. A clear print of her foot can be seen in the armor. 

Spymaster becomes a little solemn. "Are you from Shield?" He asks carefully. 

Yelena didn't answer. She closes the distance between them. 

Spymaster yelled quickly. "I know about something important. A nuclear bomb!" 

There is an anonymous order a few months back, to steal the material required to build nuclear bombs. He did it happily at the time. Now, he is using the information to save his life. 

When he first blocks the attack, his armor is already badly damaged. The kick makes the damage worse.

Yelena almost decapitated his head when a bullet was shot separating the two. 

Natasha had come out of the shadows. " I don't know who you are, but could you let me talk to him first?" She asks nicely to the masked woman even though her heart is palpitating. 

Yelena stays silent. Spymaster sees an opportunity. "You must be from Shield. Save me and I will tell you the information." 

He is grasping at straws. Justin tries to run away in the chaos, but Yelena throws her sword right to his head, killing the guy instantly. The low-level villain couldn't even make an impact before he is welcomed by death. 

He even plans to buy missiles to shoot the Stark tower down. Now the missiles will go to the owner of the spider drone who has recorded his every move and knows every single one of his secrets. 

Yelena moves toward the Spymaster. 

"Romanov, you need to get the information. If that is true, then we need him alive." Maria Hills ordered using the communication line connected to Natasha's earpiece. 

All the events here are already known to Shield. They are now desperately searching for information about the Oni Mask girl. 

Natasha had no choice. She shoots warning shots at Yelena, stopping her in her tracks. 

"Please, let me speak to him first. You can kill him after." She tries to convince the superpower. 

The Oni Mask is now turned towards her. She got goosebumps seeing the blood-splattered mask. 

"1 Minute," Yelena said. If it is any other person, she won't care. But that is her sister. 

Natasha nods. She has two jobs now. First to get information about Spymaster. Second, to do the same about the Oni girl. As soon as the Oni girl shows signs of cooperating, Shield is already analyzing several ways to talk to her. 

Natasha approaches Spymaster. "Your information is worth it, otherwise you will die here." She insinuated. If the information is fake, then she won't interfere with the Oni girl's job. 

"It's true. I had…." He told about his feat, and where he stole it. Shield quickly confirms that what he said is true. 

"I can lead you to the buyer. You guys need me alive." He tries to say it calmly, but fear flows along with his voice. He glances at the Oni girl, fearing for his life. 

"Times up." the oni girl said, making Spymaster soaked in cold sweats.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you kill him. How about you follow us back? You can kill him anytime then." She holds her gun steady. 

"Sure." The Oni girl said easily, making Natasha confused. The girl waltzes to the thief's position. When she is close, she breaks into her top speed and gets in front of Spymaster. 

"S-save me" Spymaster yelled towards Natasha who is shooting towards Yelena. She blocked the bullets with one sword while thrusting another towards the suit. More accurately, the arc reactor in the suit. 

*Bzzt* The arc reactor is broken. Spymaster is still alive. Natasha stops shooting at her. 

Yelena turns back to where she walked from. Once she is outside the building, she disappears. 

Natasha is glad that she didn't kill the witness. She doesn't know why, but her sixth sense tells her that she knows the Oni girl. 

A team of Shield agents comes to extract the witness. They tried to find the Oni girl trace, but there are no leads on that. 

"Who is she? And why did she target you?" Natasha asks Spymaster. 

"I don't know." This is his first time meeting the woman too. Natasha got a new job now, to find the Oni girl. As she had an entanglement with the superpower before, she is tasked with the job. 

"Couldn't you have tasked me in New York?" she complained to Hill. It seems that meeting Kai has to wait again. 

While Natasha is searching for the Oni girl, inside the van that is extracting Spymaster, a problem occurs.

"Where the hell is he?" An agent yelled. The witness is gone. 

It's very easy for the Spymaster to get out of the restriction. He had abandoned the broken suit and escaped using his best capabilities, disguise, and espionage. 

"That was scary. Now, it's time to go to New York." Spymaster who is disguised as an old man in a small town in Russia said.

… 

In the desert. 

Jane is looking at the encampment around the crater using binoculars. 

"There is no satellite crash. If it is, there is no way they will build a city around it, " she said. 

Whatever is in the crater, is guarded by a large number of trained operatives. 

"You're going to need this?" Thor takes off his coat and places it on Jane. He gets a feeling that it is going to rain. He is moving towards the encampment. 

Jane stops him. "Are you crazy? Do you think you are just going to walk in, grab your stuff and get out?" 

"No. I'm going to fly out."