AN: This is something very different I'm trying out. I've never done something like this before, and it was a bizarre idea I came up with. Let me just say I got some puzzled looks from people I've talked to about this idea. This is a romantic comedy mini-series surrounding Thor (the Marvel Thor). The series will be eight to ten chapters at the most, most likely eight. Please leave feedback and tell me what you think!
Thor opened his eyes and blinked against the glaring, unguarded light of the sun. He felt tears cloud his eyes and stream down his cheeks. His breathing came slow and steady at first, then turned brisk and heavy. He sat up and rubbed his face with his hands, groaning as he felt the muscles in his back strain. He stiffened when he felt his hands against his face. They felt soft. Softer than he was used to. He took them off his face and looked down at them, surprised at how they looked. They looked young and smooth, unlike the coarseness he was used to from years of fighting across other realms.
Then Thor realized something. Where was his hammer? Where was Mjolnir?
He looked around the ground he was sitting on, feeling his hands along the tall grass.
"Father," he groaned. Where was he?
Thor finally gathered the strength he needed to get back onto his feet. He stumbled trying to get himself up. He fell forward on his face. He raised himself back up, then fell back on his face again.
"Father," he groaned again.
"Hey!" Someone shouted. Thor looked up from his uncomfortable place in the grass to see a young man running towards him with concern etched in his face. He wore a snapback with thick black hair sticking out in crazy directions underneath it. He had wide ocean-blue eyes and wore an Avengers themed shirt.
"Are you alright, man?" He asked. The boy offered his hand for Thor to take. Thor took his hand and let the boy help him get back up.
"Where am I?" Thor asked.
"What do you mean? You're right by the school dude," the boy replied.
Thor frowned. "School?"
"Dude, did you get stoned or something?" The boy asked. Thor looked around and saw the school building that the boy was talking about. It was a large, dark-red building in the middle of nowhere with a small parking lot. Nearby was a windmill that wasn't moving since there was no wind.
"Come on, I'll get you over there. Classes start in ten minutes. Where are your books?" The boy asked. Thor frowned again, but allowed the boy to put an arm around him and lead him towards the building.
"I'm afraid I don't quite understand," Thor admitted.
"It's okay, I get it. I've been in your place before and it probably won't be the last," the boy said. He got Thor to a bench by the stairs that led up to the front doors of the school.
"Wiley's my name. What's yours?" The boy asked, holding his hand out. Thor looked down at his hand in confusion, wondering why he was doing that.
"I am Thor, the god of thunder," he replied.
Wiley laughed. "You mean like the Avenger? Oh you wish. I wish I was Thor sometimes too. You're probably still recovering from your hangover."
"You dare insult the mighty Thor?" Thor yelled, standing straight up from the bench. Wiley stepped back and raised his hands in the air.
"Whoa, okay. I get it, you're Thor. Hi Thor. But seriously, you should let me know what your real name is eventually. You seem like a pretty cool guy."
"I'm a god," Thor said.
"I like to think I am too. Pretty humble right?" Wiley asked with a mischievous grin.
Thor sat back down and rubbed his face. What was he doing here on Midgard? He wanted to get back up to Asgard. But there's a reason why he was sent down to Midgard. What was it?
A loud sound went off, and Thor leaped up on top of the bench and raised his hand to summon his hammer. No hammer came. The sound continued.
"What is that sound? Are we under attack?" He demanded.
"School's in. Get off the bench," Wiley answered. With a face that was burning from humiliation, Thor stepped off the bench and followed Wiley into the school. Dozens of young people around Wiley's age were walking in small groups to their classrooms.
"You can borrow my textbooks if you'd like. I never use them anyway," Wiley offered as Thor followed him into the classroom. Thor looked around the room and spotted an empty seat. He was stunned that no one was looking at him funny. He was after all a grown man in a school for young people. He was also the god of thunder, there was that too. He took a seat next to Wiley. In front of the room stood an older man with a beard similar to Odin's and he wore tiny glasses where his eyes constantly squinted behind them.
"Bentley," he said.
"Here," Bentley answered.
"Jacob," the teacher said.
"Here," Jacob answered.
The teacher continued calling people out for them to confirm they were there.
"Donald," he said. This time there was no answer.
"Donald," he said again. His eyes landed on Thor and he frowned.
"Donald, I expect you to pay attention," he demanded.
Thor stood up. "How dare you—I mean of course, yes, my name is Donald and I am here."
Laughter erupted across the classroom as Thor sat back down, drumming his fingers on his desk. The teacher raised his hand, silencing the room immediately.
"Next time, pay attention when your name is being called," he said.
Thor hated responding to someone who had no authority over him. "Yes, of course."
How did he get the name Donald?
On the way out the door after class, Thor felt someone bump up next to him. He looked to see a fairly tall girl, strangely as tall as he was, rushing past him. She had short, cropped black hair and a long-sleeved gray shirt with jeans.
"Sorry," she called back as she continued her way down the hall.
"It's…alright?" Thor replied. He watched after the girl as she turned a corner to get to her next class. Wiley came up next to Thor.
"Dude, I thought it would be a great time to take a selfie with my new bestie," he said. He raised a device in the air that Thor recognized as a cell phone and Thor saw him and Wiley on the screen as Wiley snapped a photo.
"This takes an instant trip to Facebook," Wiley said.
"Now wait a minute…"
"Done. Now, do you need a ride? I can give you a ride back home," Wiley said. Thor thought about this for a moment.
"Um, I do not think my father wants to see me right now. Is it alright if I may retire to your chambers for the night?" He asked.
"First of all, don't talk like that. The ladies don't find that attractive. And second of all, you absolutely can, man. Just stick with me and everything will be just fine," Wiley said.
Thor screamed when he saw himself in the mirror at Wiley's house. He had taken off his shirt and turned around to face the mirror in the bathroom.
He looked so much younger. He looked like a young man, like Wiley. His normally long golden hair was now short and only extended as far down to right above his ears. His beard was nothing but dark fuzz sprinkled around his chin and his upper neck.
"What kind of black arts is this?" He demanded. Wiley knocked on the door.
"Donald? You okay in there?" He asked.
"Um, yes. I'm fine. I just noticed some—changes."
"It's puberty, man. I'm already done with mine."
"Wait a minute. Puberty is when you turn younger?" Thor asked.
"Um. No man. It's the complete opposite. Your mommy and daddy never gave you the talk?" Wiley asked.
Thor frowned. He felt like his father had a lot of explaining to do once he gets back up to Asgard. He already missed his home. He wondered how Lady Sif and the Warriors Three felt about his absence.
Thor got a sleeping bag next to Wiley's bed. He tried going to sleep, but kept getting startled awake. He could hear his father speaking the same thing over and over again.
If a woman in the school falls in love with you, then you may return.
Those were his last words to him before Thor woke up on Midgard. What had happened that led to this? Why did a woman have to fall in love with him?
Thor took a look around at the young women passing by him in the hallway at school the next day. He silently prayed for his father's guidance, but he didn't get anything. He felt more alone than he has felt in a long time.
"Wiley, I need your help," he said to his friend walking alongside next to him.
"Anything man, what is it?" Wiley asked.
"I need to find a girl that will fall in love with me," he answered. Wiley froze in his tracks.
"Need to?"
"Yes."
A wide grin broke across Wiley's face. "You've come to the right guy then. I'll help you."
"You have a woman yourself?"
"No, I don't. But I can still help you."
"Then you can start by telling me about the women here. Tell me their names and a bit about each of them," Thor said.
Wiley whistled. "Someone's anxious. Alright, I'll tell you. That one over there is Jenny," he motioned to a short, red-haired girl with freckles peppered down her nose. Before Thor could get a good at her, Wiley pointed out another girl.
"That one over there is Rachael. She's had three boyfriends in this school already and she was the one that initiated the break-up with all of them. I think she's really picky."
"That doesn't sound like the kind of lady I would want to try and be with," Thor admitted.
"I don't blame you. That one over there is Jane Foster. She's a huge geek in lab," Wiley said. Thor took a moment to look at her. She looked pretty beautiful, with long blonde hair and scarlet lipstick. Her eyes were a nice chocolate brown.
She looked good. She was a beauty for sure.
"No, it's not her I want," Thor finally said.
"What? She seems like the kind of girl you would like."
"Nay, my friend. She's not the one," Thor insisted. Wiley almost looked appalled. He shrugged.
"Alright. If you say so."
Then Thor spotted the girl that had bumped past him yesterday. The one with the short, black hair. She was wearing the same gray shirt with the jeans.
"What's her name?" Thor asked. Wiley raised an eyebrow when he spotted her.
"That's Angel Valkyrie. You wouldn't like her," he replied. He said it in a way that almost sounded resentful.
Thor thought about what Wiley said, but he couldn't stop looking at her. There was a depth in her eyes that he found attractive, as if she has seen what most humans can only dream of seeing. She was gazing downward at the floor, and she walked quickly. She walked with her posture somewhat bent forward, as if burdened by the weight of her backpack.
What was additionally intriguing was the fact that her last name was Valkyrie. It reminded him of the Valkyries from Asgard. Maidens of Odin's that bore the bodies of slain warriors to Valhalla, the halls of the dead.
Thor started going after her, then started picking up the pace, making sure to catch up to her. He reached his hand out to touch her shoulder. He was almost there.
Father, I'm coming home soon. Very soon now.