Deep in the mountains of Norway, several dark silhouettes made their way up a worn earthen path, heading towards a small cottage, at the head of these figures was a man in a cloak, "Ragnar!" he shouted, as he stopped in front of the cottage, his voice haughty and demanding, "Ragnar! Come out! Your time of hiding has come to an end!"
The door to the cottage slowly opened and a silver haired man walked out, dressed in a simple homespun tunic and pants, with a brown belt tied around his waist, his blue eyes glared at the cloaked figure, "Thrif," he growled.
"that is not my name." the cloaked figure said.
"I do not care which of the medallions you carry, you will always be Thrif to me." Ragnar said, looking past Thrif to the others behind him, "Frost Giants…" he muttered, "You turn on your own kind?"
"that's what happens when you become a god,"
"you may have power, but god you will never be," Ragnar snapped, "away with your delusions!"
"that, is where you are wrong, dear brother," Thrif said, pacing, he slowly put his hand into a hidden pocket and pulled out several chain necklaces, charms of varying shapes and sizes hanging from each one, 'I control the medallions, and once I take yours, no one will be able to stop me!"
"You…you killed, our brothers and sisters?" Ragnar croaked out, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"it was a necessary evil," he said, "the old ways are finished, Ragnar, you have lost."
"so long as I have breath in my lungs, and my family line continues on, you will never win!" he reached into his Tunic and grabbed hold of his own necklace, hiding the charm from sight as he started to chant in an ancient language, long forgotten.
"Kill him!" Thrif shouted, the frost giants materialized ice spears and threw them at Ragnar, just as they slammed into him a bright light shone, when it disappeared, Ragnar lay on the ground, his breathing raspy and ragged from the spears that riddled his body, his medallion was nowhere to be seen.
"where did you send it Ragnar!?" Thrif snarled, grabbing the dying man and hauling him up, "where!?"
'I sent it…to someone who will use it t-to stop you…" Ragnar rasped, spitting blood on Thrif's cloak, "a noble warrior of mine blood-line, of fiery red hair and pure of heart…he will defeat you…bro…ther…"
Thrif numbly let Ragnar slip from his hands as he shook with rage, "no…NO!" he turned and lashed out at the nearest giant, killing it instantly, the others cowered under his fierce aura.
"w-what do we do now?" one asked, bowing in front of Thrif,
Thrif took a few deep breaths, "find his heir," he growled, "Find him, and slaughter him, then bring me the medallion. NOW!"
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Nathanael woke up with a slight scream of panic, looking around the room wildly.
"Mr. Kurtzburg," the teacher said as the other children in the class laughed, "please pay attention!"
"S-sorry Miss…" he mumbled sheepishly, leaning back in his chair, must've dozed off… he thought to himself as he ran a hand through his hair, such a weird dream.
"hey Nath," Juleka whispered from in front of him, "what was that all about? One second you were asleep, the next- "
"just a bad dream," he whispered back to her.
"next time, don't be so vocal, "she said with a chuckle, "Scared the living shit out of me."
Nathanael just chuckled, "Sorry if I disturbed your nap." He said as the bell went off, he jumped up and went out the door, Juleka and Rose following behind him.
"so what were you dreaming about that scared you so much?" Rose asked, skipping alongside Juleka as she pulled her phone out.
"I can't really remember." He said, scrunching his eyebrows together, "I remember…some kind of monsters…but that's about it."
"well, whatever it was, hope you don't see it again." Juleka said,
"Yeah…It wasn't the best…" he said,
Juleka looked over to Alya and Marinette, smiling, "hey look, Marinette's stumbling over herself again."
Nathanael looked over, and gave a half-smile as she stutteringly tried to talk to Adrien.
"you good Nat?" Rose piped up, looking at her friend with slight concern.
"why wouldn't I be?" he asked in confusion.
"well…we know you had a crush on Marinette…and you used to get pretty sad when Adrien would talk to her."
he shrugged, 'I guess I don't feel the same way as I used to…I mean…ever since I got akumatized…"
Juleka and Rose shared a look, it was an unspoken rule around the school to not talk about the times they were akumatized, "guess things just changed huh…" Juleka said softly.
Nathanael nodded, "Marinette is wonderful…but she's not the girl for me."
"that's so sweet!" Rose exclaimed
Nathanael and Juleka rushed to hush the overly excited girl, "a little louder Rose, I don't think they heard you in Scotland!" Juleka whispered fiercely.
"sorry," Rose said sheepishly, looking at her phone as it chimed, "it's prince Ali!" she exclaimed happily, hugging her phone.
"what does the royal pain want?" Juleka asked good naturedly.
"he's in town again and wants to pick me up! I'll see you guys later, I gotta go!"
Rose took off once more, waving good-bye to her friends as she did.
Juleka rolled her eyes and gave a small chuckle, "glad to see those two are still getting along."
"at least someone got who they wanted, right Juleka?" Nathanael asked.
"you'll get your lovely lady soon enough," Juleka said Dryly, "now come on, we have a project to work on."
Nathanael walked into his room, tiredly dropping his book bag on his desk chair, he had spent the better part of three hours working alongside Juleka in the library, staring into books for hours on end hadn't helped his sleepiness; the only reason he hadn't fallen asleep was because he had Juleka hitting him with her book every time his head drooped.
"I can finally get some sleep," he muttered, starting to pull his shirt off, as he threw it into the dirty laundry, something on his desk caught his eye. He slowly walked over to the old wooden desk, where a small box was resting atop his used sketchpads, "what is this?" he mumbled as he opened the box, revealing a silver pendant on a chain, the pendant itself was shaped in the likeness of a hammer, attached to a bead that kept the hammer on its chain, the design reminded him of vines intertwining randomly throughout it.
He slowly reached out and touched it, the instant he did it felt like he was hit by lightning, his whole body tensed up and his eyes widened as visions and scenes played out in his mind, battles fought on far away battlefields. Somewhere far away he heard a scream, though he couldn't tell if it was his or someone else's as he fell to the ground and faded into darkness.
"wake up…"
"Nnngh…ow…" Nathanael groaned, holding his head.
"I said wake up boy!" a voice roared, making Nathanael jump in fright, he looked around his room, everything seemed the same, except now, he wasn't alone.
Sitting on his desk was a man in a brown tunic and tan pants, a cloak was held together by a simple silver leaf pendant, his silver beard and hair was wild and unkept, and his milky gray eyes were glaring at the downed boy, "didn't you hear me?" he growled, "I said get up, and be quick about it."
"w-who are you?" Nathanael asked in fright as he stood up.
"isn't it obvious?" he grumbled as he stood up and paced around the young man, "I'm Thor!"
"uh…I…isn't thor supposed to be like…young…muscular, hammer, warrior-like?" he asked.
"BAH!" Thor snapped, making Nathanael flinch in fright, "damn movies now a days make me look like a muscle-bounded idiot! Do they not realize that Norse Gods age? Albeit slower then you humans, but age non-the less!" he limped back to the bed and sat down, "yes boy, once I was young, muscular, in my prime! But since then, I've aged! Now I'm just a wizened old man!"
"and…no offence your…godliness…but why are you here?"
"The amulet." He said, pointing at Nathanael's chest, he looked down and gasped.
The necklace was now on him, but that wasn't what he was surprised about, no, what surprised him was that he was no longer a skinny, lanky kid, he now had-
"I have muscle!" Nathanael exclaimed, looking down at lean, cut muscles that had not been there a few minutes ago.
"yes you have muscle, now can we-hey!" Thor objected as Nathanael ran into the bathroom, "what the…" he whispered as he looked himself over; he poked his abs a couple of times, feeling the hard muscle, "okay, what's going on, who are you, why are you here…and how'd I get muscle?"
"I can answer all of your questions." He said, "as I said before, I am Thor, God of thunder, Protector of humanity, as to why I am here, well, it's because of the amulet that you now where around your neck." He stood and walked to the window, "you see, once, I was a powerful god, allowed to do as I pleased, go where I wanted, until the councils of ancients decided that we gods were too powerful to allow to do as we please, yet they also realized that the world sorely needed its protectors; so they found a middle ground."
He walked over to Nathanael and tapped the necklace, "many of us were bound to certain amulets, all of our power, knowledge, and strength, would be able to be wielded by humans in times of strife, that, is where you come in, a new threat has surfaced, one that hasn't been seen on this planet for over a millennium, the last wielder of Mjolnir has fallen, and you have been named his heir."
"so…I'm a superhero? Like Ladybug and Chat Noir?"
"I have no idea who those two are," he said, "but if they have powers, then most likely they have an amulet of some kind."
"they call it their miraculous'." Nathanael said as he scratched his chin, "never sure what it was…but now this makes a little more sense."
"Miraculous?" he asked, chuckling a little, "I believe that's what the oriental gods called theirs."
"so…what do I do?" Nathanael asked, "how am I supposed to know what this 'big threat' is?"
"oh that's easy, they'll be trying to kill you," Thor said, "Frost Giants are not ones for trying to simply trick you into giving up your amulet, no, they will try and kill you, and anyone who gets in their way."
Nathanael sighed, "great, now I have a target on my back, "he muttered, 'Brilliant, just brilliant."
"you'll be fine." Thor grunted, "you have power."
"I don't think muscles are power."
Thor shook his head, "if you want to activate your power, you must touch Mjolnir-the pendant around your neck- and say 'Mjolnir, to me' and you will gain more than just muscle."
"so I just put my hand on it and say-" he stopped as Thor grabbed his hand before he could touch the pendant.
"you might not want to do that in here." He said, "might destroy your house."
"r-right…lets go somewhere else and see what I can do."
"Let's go then," Thor said, standing up. and heading towards the door.
"I…I don't know how my mom will react to seeing a old man following me outside…"
he groaned, "I hate this part of the job," he muttered as he slowly started to shrink and grow more hair, his nose and mouth elongated and a pair of curved horns sprouted from his temples, soon he was floating in front of the confused Artist as a small, angry goat.
"y-you're a…a- "
"Goat, yes, can we go now?"
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Nathanael stood in the parking lot of an abandoned factory, shivering as he zipped up his jacket more, "okay…no one's around…" he looked over to thor, now back in his original form, sitting against a rusted out truck. "so…how do I…power up again?"
"call Mjolnir to you." he said, "and it will come." He stood, "when you call, I will be transported into the amulet, you remember everything I've said?"
"Yes," Nathanael said,
Thor nodded, "so do it."
Nathanael took a deep breath, "um…Mjolnir…come here?"
instantly lightning struck him, Thor smiled as he disappeared into the amulet, Nathanael felt his entire body tense as power flowed through him, for a split second he thought he caught a glimpse of an unknown face, but it went away as soon as the lightning did, he shook himself a little, then looked down.
"what the…" he started, noticing several differences, for one, he was no longer wearing his usual clothes, instead he wore a sleeveless chainmail shirt, with brown trousers underneath, a belt was tied around his waist, with a four foot long staff of iron strapped to it , attached to his shoulders was a wolfs pelt; and on his head rested a Gjermundbu helmet with an aventail, a pair of metal wings were pinned to the sides for decoration. Another thing that was surprising was that he now had a full beard, going half-way down his chest, eight different strands were braided with a single bead attached to each.
"eight braids for eight wielders." Nathanael recited, remembering what Thor had told him, and then looked down at his hand, where he clutched Mjolnir.
The ancient hammer was three feet long, with the head being easily a foot in width and half a foot in length, it's handle was oak wood, polished and smoothed by the many hands that had wielded it, the leather wrapped around the handle was old and worn, and felt as if it molded to his hand. He looked at the head once more, and found several runes inscribed on it, runes that he could read.
"I am Mjolnir," he muttered, "protector of Humanity, guardian of Asgard, and wielded by a chosen hero." He swung the hammer a couple of times and smiled.
"okay…okay…what did he say…hammer can only be picked up by me…can summon lightning…can…fly?" he shook his head, "That just doesn't make any sense." He muttered, absent mindedly spinning the hammer by It's leather loop, suddenly an idea came to mind, "didn't thor in the movies…" he swung it faster and faster until he suddenly let go of the handle and grabbed hold of the leather loop, letting it carry him into the sky, he laughed as he flew, looking around the town as he realized the he had enough force behind him to sustain flight for quite a while. He carefully adjusted the hammer so it pulled him to the Eiffel tower, he landed on the very top of the gigantic monument, looking out over the city, he looked at the hammer, then smiled as he thrust it up to the sky, instantly lightning flew down from the sky, slamming into the hammer, Nathanael laughed as he felt the power of the lightning course through him, he brought the hammer down and pointed it over the Parisian skyline, laughing out loud as it boomed and thundered and arced cross the sky.
"this is exhilarating," Nathanael said breathlessly, looking around Paris, hooking the hammer onto his belt, "lets see how my jumping is…" he squatted down and then jumped, going flying into the sky, he travelled a couple of blocks and landed on top of a building, letting out another joyful laugh he jumped once more, this time landing atop the Dupain-cheng bakery, he almost fell through the trapdoor and instead landed on the roof with a loud "oaf." He quickly sat up with fear in his eyes.
"d-did she hear that?" he asked himself and slowly peaked into her room, he gave a sigh of relief when he found that she wasn't home, "thank god." he mumbled, climbing back onto the roof, "okay…now what else can I do?"
"GET AWAY FROM ME!"
Nathanael looked around, "that sounded like…Alya…" he quickly jumped from building to building, looking around until he saw her in an alley, surrounded by three men, all of them looking at her with lecherous eyes.
"come on, come and play with the big boys."
"you get any closer to me and I swear to god I'll-" she stopped as the guy grabbed her by the throat and pushed her against the wall.
"you'll what? Girlie?"
Nathanael growled as he dropped into the alley, landing with a loud thud! Making the men look over at him, "Who the fuck are you!?" one asked.
Nathanael straightened up "let her go," he growled.
They started to laugh, "and who are you to-" one started, only for Nathanael to shoot forward and punch him in the throat, making him double over, holding his throat.
"I will not tell you again," Nathanael snarled, 'let. Her. Go."
the one pinning Alya to the wall let her go and turned to Nathanael, pulling a knife out, "come on then." He said.
Nathanael stared at him, then pulled out his hammer, "Here, hold this," he said, handing the hammer to the other guy, who instantly buckled under its weight as soon as Nathanael let go, as he fell, Nathanael shot his knee up, catching the guy in the chin and sending him smashing into the wall, he picked up his hammer once more, striding towards the last one.
"s-stay back man." He said in a high pitched voice, "don't come any-"
Nathanael struck him in the chest with the hammer, sending him flying out of the alley, "jack ass." He growled, looking at Alya, "are you-"
"Wow! That was incredible!" Alya shouted, making Nathanael flinch. "how were you able to do all that? Why couldn't that guy lift the hammer? How'd you crack the asphalt?"
"Crack the…" he looked back to where he landed, seeing a small crack in the ground, "oh…" he looked back at Alya, "um...hehe…"
'and who are you? I don't think I've ever seen you before." Alya said.
"I'm…I'm…" say a cool name, like Raze, or Grifter, or Supernathan! "I'm Thor." Nathanael said, wincing slightly.
"Thor?" she asked in surprise, "like…god of thunder? Thor?"
"God of thunder, protector of humanity, guardian of Asgard…"
Alya shook her head, 'NO way…I'm talking to an actual God!"
"Well I better get going!" Nathanael said, picking up his hammer and swinging it quickly, 'Places to go, people to save, be safe, don't go down anymore alleys, goodnight!" and with that, Nathanael flew into the sky, arcing back to the abandoned factory, coming to a quick stop through the side of the wall of the factory, "ow…" he groaned as he picked himself up, "gotta work on the landings…" he stood and walked out of the factory, stretching, "okay…what-" he stopped as suddenly lightning struck and he was no longer carrying Mjolnir.
"you used the lightning attack didn't you?" The cranky goat asked Nathanael.
"um…maybe…"
"using that attack will severely drain my powers." He snapped, "and limits your time in the form."
"s-sorry."
He glared at him, "don't do it again," he muttered "so how'd it go?" he asked, landing on Nathanael's shoulder.
"it went…good…I need to work on landing…kinda keep breaking concrete and breaking through walls."
"mhmm…did anyone see you?" Thor asked.
"y-yes…one of my classmates Alya was in trouble, I had to help her."
"Good…did you tell her who you were?"
"um…yes and no…" Nathanael said, scratching his head, 'I…I sorta gave her…your name."
"you called yourself Thor?"
"y-yes?"
"good," he huffed, "no one can know your true identity, that's what led to the downfall of the last wielder."
"R-really?"
Thor nodded gravely, "now let us be off, I'm hungry and I'm sure you have things to do tomorrow."
Nathanael just nodded, starting to walk, "why are you a goat again."
"It's inconspicuous and means i don't have to walk, now shut up."
