4 Brightburn vs Thor

The ride back on the Quinnjet was silent, standing near Loki was Brandon. So far he was a tad disappointed with the man. He was expecting a supposed god to be strong and fast enough to keep up with him. That said, he was somewhat glad that he was able to hit the man with his optic blast. For a moment he feared that it wouldn't hit it's mark. After all, it had been years since he used his powers in an aggressive way. He knew that he could quite a few things with the powers that he had. Though, the only thing that he doesn't know is if he could breathe in space. That would be a test for another day, for now he was focused on Loki. As well as making sure that the God of Mischief didn't do anything.

"Hey Kiteman!", Tony called getting the scarlet ire of Brandon to glance over at him, "Wanna talk about how you took reindeer games down? Cap here says that you were moving too fast for him to see, and that you shot lasers out of your eyes. Wanna talk about that?"

Brandon just stared at Tony, already not liking him. The man was more annoying the more he talked, he was the complete opposite of Steve. For a long moment, Brandon remained silent before turning his attention back to Loki.

"It's called superpowers, nothing special." Brandon stated briefly, though it only spurred everyone's curiosity about him. Everyone except Stark was able to see what Brandon could do. Albeit, it was only for a few moments with him shooting lasers and floating above the ground. That said, it was extraordinary for everyone currently there. Not even Loki knew what Brandon could do, and he's from Asgard where he believed the highest power was.

Now, after seeing Brandon in action for a bit, he didn't really know what to think. Was he a god like himself? A Midgardian blessed with powers? What was Brandon?

As the questions amounted for everyone aboard but Brandon. The caped males' super-hearing kicked off. He could hear the sound of ringing metal approaching them rather quickly. His face contorted into confusion, not sure what he was hearing. Then came roaring thunder and flashes of lightning, the only one who seemed disturbed by it was Loki. Brandon noticed this, then started to think back on something he learned from school.

'Wait... Loki...so would that mean...' Just as he thought this, a thud was heard atop the jet. Brandon turned his attention upwards and used his x-ray vision. It took him a second to change his normal sight to a different one, since he was still trying to get used to using his powers so much. When his sight could peer through the jet's metal frame, he saw a tall, muscular man. His eyes widened a bit, then narrowed as he prepared to use his optic blast. What stopped him was that he remembered that he was supposed to be helping Shield. The man somehow opened the back canopy of the jet, then went to go grab Loki. Brandon however struck, tackling the man right out of the jet in a burst of inhuman speed.

{Steve Rogers}

Steve didn't truly know what to think of Brandon, all he knows is that his existence is confidential if they all want to live. He's seen alot of weird things back in his days of fighting Hydra and Nazi Germany. Brandon takes the cake as being the weirdest thing that he's ever seen. Right as he saw Brandon tackle Loki's possible assailant or ally out of the Quinnjet, he ran over to see where they went. All he saw was flashes of lightning and red bursts in the clouds.

"Turn us around, we gotta go back!" Steve ordered, then saw Tony putting his helmet on.

"Don't worry, I'll go save Kiteman." Tony quipped before Steve placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Hold on, we need a plan of attack!"

"I do have a plan, attack."

Steve frowned, wanting to go after them and try to help. What stopped him was because someone had to guard and watch Loki. Just as he thought that, something collided with the Quinnjet and threw it off course.

"Hang on!" Natasha yelled back as Steve grabbed onto a nearby seat. He felt the Quinnjet spiraling and heading downwards.

Steve looked at Loki, anxiety apparent on the God of Mischief's face as he held onto his own seat. Steve looked back at the open canopy, noticing that they were going down. He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as Natasha called back.

"Brace for impact!"

Right as they seemed to be about to crash into the landscape. Something halted their crash landing, someone stopped them. Steve noticed their halt and heard metal creaking as the Quinjet was being moved. He opened his eyes and faced forward to find a pair of red eyes staring back at them outside of the Quinjet's cockpit. Brandon had returned and had caught them. Slowly, he set them down on the ground. Removing his hands from the Quinnjet, Brandon floated upwards then soared off into the air once again.

"Natasha, watch Loki!" Steve ordered, then got to his feet and rushed off to find the others. He heard no reply from Natasha as adrenaline rushed through his body. He just ran, moving about through the forest, hoping that he could make it there in time.

{Brandon Minutes Ago}

Brandon had tackled Thor out of the Quinnjet, his body colliding with the God of Thunder like a bullet train. What happened next was something he hadn't expected. Thor smacked his hammer into Brandon's face and sent him reeling downwards. Brandon was dazed and shocked. For the second time in his life he's felt pain.

He caught himself in the air then put a hand up to his cheek, feeling the sting of being hit. Looking upwards Brandon narrowed his eyes on Thor. His scarlet irses shined bright red. He fired an optic blast from his eyes, aiming to pierce Thor through. The God of Thunder was hit and sent upwards into the air before catching himself. His chest steamed from where he was blasted. He glared down at Brandon, then called down lightning to strike at Brandon. The caped male narrowingly dodged the bolt of lightning then he returned fire with his optic blast. Both began doing a long-range battle with one another until eventually Thor and Brandon got into a beam struggle. Thor fired a concentrated bolt of lightning at Brandon, and Brandon firing his optic blast. The two men were fighting with nothing stopping them. It seemed that they were equally matched. That lasted until Thor winded up his hammer, then hurled at Brandon. The man kept firing his optic blast at it, but found that the metal wasn't melting or being stopped. Realizing his mistake, he was hit square in the chest and sent hurtling backwards through the air.

Brandon felt weightless as his back collided with the Quinnjet. He ricocheted off of it then finally stopped himself. That's when he saw that the Quinnjet was going down. Letting out a sigh, he pondered on letting the occupants inside die. Then something akin to a conscience. With a deep breath leaving him, he doved downwards to catch it.

'Come on..almost!' He thought as be flew around the Quinnjet's nose. With no effort, he caught the Quinnjet and stopped it from crashing. Natasha's face stared back at him, he could hear her heartrate going up once she saw him. She was most likely staring into his hueing scarlet irises. Slowly, he set the Quinnjet down onto the forest bround. Then he flew upwards and heading back into the fight.

As he soared through the air, his eyes landed on Stark, who was punching Thor to no avail. It seems his armor wasn't capable of harming him. Brandon soared forth, cocking his fist back as he used his own momentum as an advantage. As he drew near, Tony must have noticed him because he moved out of the way. Just in time for Brandon to hit Thor with a devastating clothesline that sent him into the forest below. The caped male wasn't done though, so he dived down, aiming to finish Thor. The God of Thunder however fired a bolt of lightning to which impacted Brandon's chest. It sent him crashing into several trees before skidding on his back.

A groan left him, he had never felt pain like this before. As he shook his head to focus, he saw Thor coming down with the intention to bring his hammer in to smash his face in. That was when an armored Tony came rocketing in and tackled Thor out of the air and into another tree. Brandon hastily got to his feet and got his barings before taking off after them.

Once Brandon arrived, he fired an optic blast from his eyes, which Thor dodged this time. Tony was hit and knocked to the side as Thor turned his attention to Brandon. The two glared at one another, both seemingly sizing each up now. Then with a breathe leaving Brandon he dove down at Thor, who flew up to meet him. Thor cocked his fist back and so did Brandon, both threw their fists at each other. A shockwave was made once their fists collided with one another. Brandon was the first to move though, grabbing Thor by his wrist then throwing him to the side. He chased after Thor but was smacked by the man's hammer.

Brandon however recovered quickly, and fired an optic blast at Thor. The God of Thunder lifted up Mjölnir and blocked the blast. Brandon used that opportunity while Thor was blinded and flew up to deliver a several punches into Thor's abdomen. Despite not knowing how to fight, Brandon had little to no choice since he didn't truly have any combat training. So a series of fists hit Thor in the abdomen, shoulders, and chest. To end it, he slapped the ears which sent the Asgardian reeling back and disoriented. Brandon ended his attack with his hands raised over his head, interlocking them together, before bringing them down atop Thor's head. This sent the God of Thunder spiraling downwards and into the forest once more, creating a crater where he impacted. Brandon flew downwards once more, surprised that Thor was still standing.

'Kill him....' A soft voice whispered at within Brandon's mind, a voice that he knew very well.

'Kill him...he's just becoming an annoyance anyway right?'

The voice was so enticing, so warm, so inviting. He knew who that voice was, it was Tori...his mother.

Once Brandon was near enough, he noticed that Thor's eyes were hueing with electricity. That was when a powerful bolt of lightning came down and hit Brandon right in his back. He let out a cry of pain as he fell down and was met with Thor bringing Mjölnir up to uppercut Brandon back into the air. He wasn't done though, Thor sent Mjölnir at Brandon and sent him further away into the forest. Brandon tried to move the hammer out of the way but it wouldn't budge an inch. He gritted his teeth beneath his mask frustrated at why this damned thing wouldn't move.

So he moved out of the way, feeling pain laced across his body. He could even taste the iron of blood in his mouth. For a long time he didn't think that would be possible. Gritting his teeth with frustration and anger, he a turned and soared back to continue his fight with Thor. The cape at his back flapped with the rushing wind behind him. As Brandon neared Thor, he turned to find Mjölnir coming at him at a rapid pace. Quickly he dodged the hammer from hitting his back, then went for Thor. Brandon came down at Thor with a cocked back fist, but before he could deliver a punch the God of Thunder caught it with a grunt.

He hadn't expected anyone to have power like this to be on Midgard. Thor raised his hammer and moved it to strike Brandon, but Brandon caught his wrist and held it from striking him and let out a grunt from the effort in holding it back. The two glared into each other's eyes, both seemingly equally matched. That was until Brandon's eyes hued with power. He was about to fire a blast right into Thor's eyes just like he did to his father. Just as he was about to do that, a shield came rocketing in and hit both combatants. It hardly hurt them, but it did get their attention to a now arriving Steve Rogers.

Behind Steve was Tony who's armor was slightly damaged from his bout with Thor as well as Brandon's stray fire. Brandon and Thor stared at Steve as he looked to the both of them.

"What do you want with Loki?" Steve demanded from Thor, wanting answers.

"I am here to stop Loki's schemes and recover the Tesseract!" Thor exclaimed, frustration and anger laced with his tone. Steve slowly nodded before stepping forward a bit.

"Then prove it, put the hammer down."

"Poor choice of words..." Brandon uttered before being smacked by a back handed strike from Thor's hammer.

"You want me to put the hammer down!?" Thor spouted before jumping up and coming down at Steve with Mjölnir. What happened next was a shockwave even bigger than the one that Brandon did with Thor just with their fists connecting. A sort of bell like sound was made as Thor, Tony, and Brandon were sent off their feet and flying away. Brandon's back went through a tree and hit a boulder, indenting his back into it. He groaned once more, then slowly removed himself from the boulder. After stumbling a bit, he looked over to find Thor, Tony, and Steve standing up and looking at each other.

"We finished here?" Steve asked, then looked to Brandon who was walking over.

Brandon was glaring at Thor, feeling unsatisfied with the ending to their battle. The words that Tori had spoken about earlier beginning to ring in his ears, causing everything to become silent for him. His fists started to ball up, his body tensing as a familiar feeling started to come over him. His adrenaline was making his heart thump in his ears, his own eyesight changed from just seeing Thor to seeing nothing but red. That was when the voices from the ship that brought him to Earth began to whisper in his ears. Their voices vetting louder and louder until a hand clasped around his forearm.

Steve Rogers had approached him while Brandon was in a hypnotic daze. He looked at the Captain, feeling himself return back to normal and his body finally relaxing.

"Breyer?", Steve called, "You good?"

"Yeah..." Brandon replied, then pulled his arm out of Steve's grip. With a turn, he began walking back to the Quinjet, his cape billowing in the wind as his back faced the trio. Brandon was scared, not of them no but of what had just happened. He hadn't felt anything like that since he was twelve years old. The need to kill, the want to be covered in blood not his own, the desire to conquer the world...

{One Hour Later}

Brandon stepped off the Quinnjet as it arrived back at the Helicarrier. His body was sore but healing at a rapid pace after his skirmish with Thor. He wasn't sure that the supposed God of Thunder would actually be able to hurt him. Considering that Loki couldn't even touch him or even keep up with him. As he continued to walk away, intending to go find his dog Cade. He heard heavy footsteps heading his way.

"Warrior!", Thor called as he stormed over with a beaming smile, "You fought well last night, we must spar some time soon. You would have made a great Asgardian, tell me, what exactly are you? I have never seen nor heard tale of one such as yourself."

Thor placed a hand on Brandon's shoulder as he reached him. Then he did the same thing as everyone else did, he held a hand out to Brandon for him to shake. Brandon stared at Thor's hand, processing what he was doing, then slowly he took the man's hand and felt a firm grip from him. Beneath the mask, Brandon was smiling to himself then began to speak.

"You weren't so bad yourself, you got a mean swing." Brandon complimented, then returned the grip that Thor gave him. A smug look came about Thor before patting Brandon on the shoulder. Then he turned to head off after Loki who was being escorted by Shield agents.

Brandon watched Thor leave, then turned around as he walked to a secluded section of the hanger bay to find Cade. He took off his mask, and let out a three pronged whistle. A bark was heard, then came the black running form of Cade. He jumped and was caught by Brandon who let out a slight chuckle.

"Yeah, I missed you too buddy." He greeted, then knelt down to set Cade down. That was when he heard another pair of footsteps heading his way. These were more light, straightforward, as well as familiar. Brandon glanced back to find Natasha approaching him with a curious look on her face.

"So it's alright for a complete stranger to shake your hand but not us?" She questioned, her voice laced with that of an interrogator rather than that of greeting. Brandon gave Natasha a blank look, his eyes still crimson red. Then he rose to his full height, towering over Natasha. He then held out his hand, allowing Natasha to take it and shake his hand.

Natasha gave him a skeptical look, then stepped forward. She moved her hand forward and took Brandon's hand in hers. For a few seconds nothing happened, until Brandon seemingly squeezed her hand. Natasha winced then tried to pry Brandon's hand away from hers. She could feel the bones in her palm and fingers beginning to crack under his godly grip.

Letting out a cry of pain, Natasha got onto her knees. It looked as if she were about to plead to Brandon. Before she could, he released her hand. Natasha held her hand protectively, then stared up at him with fearful eyes. She let out a few pants, trying to understand why Brandon would do that.

Brandon stared down at her in silence then turned to look at Cade. He knelt down and began to stroke the dog gently. As if the aggressive grip that he had given Natasha was no longer there. As she stood up, feeling that her hand was somewhat back to normal.

"You act like you and I are friends, all I am is a means to an end", Brandon suddenly pointed out with a tone filled with malice, "Tell me something, if you've ever had what I've got. Would you look at everyone around you and want to be their friend or more? Would you try to associate with them knowing full well that you could kill them with just a finger? Would you shake somebody's hand knowing full well if you squeezed for just a second...it could shatter their bones?"

Natasha was taken aback by his words, processing them until she finally understood why he'd shake Thor's hands and no one else. He was protecting them in his own way, he didn't trust in himself. Brandon did not have total control over what he could do with his powers. Yet it didn't answer a questkon that came to mind.

"But...how come your-" Before she could finishing asking, Brandon answered her question.

"My powers respond to alot of thing, and stress is one of them. I haven't been around this many people before. I am out of my element out here. Cade can help me not be stress, that's why he's here...to make sure that i don't end up killing you for something so little as wanting a handshake from me."

Natasha went to speak, maybe even apologize, but she held her tongue and sighed. With a turn, she began to walk away, not even sure how to talk to him after that. Cade gave Brandon a look, one that Brandon returned with a raised brow.

"What?", he questioned, "I was not harsh, people like her just need to understand that I've got boundaries and I need my personal space." Cade moved out of Brandon's grasp and circled him.

"You're starting to act like I'm the bad guy...here."

He frowned, realizing that he technically was the bad guy. He was a killer, a ruthless one at that, a mass murdering psychopath. One would think that he regrets killing so many people. The only thing that Brandon regrets was that he killed his parents. Everyone else's blood who was on his hands were an afterthought. Their faces forgotten and existence as well.

Brandon still was the monster here aboard the ship. He had almost forgotten that. Of course, he should remember that. Brandon closed his eyes, then began to inhale and exhale. Trying his best to forget all that he had done. No matter what thoughts that he tried to occupy himself with, the deaths that he caused still came to him. The people whom he killed showing up in his mind, their corpses still fresh in his mind.

Cade nuzzled Brandon'sleg, trying to comfort him. He sensed his friend's discomfort. Brandon opened his eyes, the irises having gone back to normal. He looked down at Cade and gave him a slight smile.

"It's alright, I'll be fine." He reassured before turning and beginning to walk and join with the others. Cade walked beside him as Brandon slowly put the mask back on his face. At the back of his mind, he could hear distant whispers come from the mouth of someone who he did love. The one human being who he let down despite her kind words. Tori Breyer, his adopted mother.

'Do you really think what you're doing is gonna change anything?', Her sweet voice whispered, 'After what you've done? Come up with all the excuses you can think of. You still did it. You still enjoyed it. No matter where you go, what you become, you'll still be the same little freak that I took in. An outsider to everything and everyone. A monster...'

No matter if those words were real or fake, they still hurt Brandon. Because it was none other than his own mother saying those words. Regardless if that was really her speaking or not...