Here's a new chapter.

The situation in Italy is really bad, but I was still able to finish it. Please, give me some love, I need it!


XXXX


Chapter 11:

When Bruce Banner's fist collided with Ghidorah's body, convinced that his strength would break through the titan's skin with great ease, he found himself greatly surprised to discover that the scales of the beast were much more resistant than what he initially thought. And not only.

The creature's skin behaved like a spring, which absorbed all the residual energy caused by the impact, returning part of it as in a flashback.

However, the blow still had the desired effect. Ghidorah bounced backwards, landing with its tail in the Hudson River and taking along a frail bridge that with heroic determination had held up to that point under the pressure of the afternoon.

Bruce grunted in pain. During his previous clashes with the army, the weapons used by the military to fight him weren't even able to pass the superficial layer of his skin, and the great wave of energy emanating from the Gems had ended up simply burning his right arm. But this time the pain was overbearing, just like when he fought Thanos.

Ghidorah, meanwhile, used the hooked wings to remain anchored to the river bed, but it too was suffering the effects of that blow. The pain started from the belly, like a huge punch delivered by an opponent of its own size, and imposed itself across its entire body.

The muscle bundles ached and the bones creaked, while its vision became confused, but only for a second.

Dense rivers of saliva fell from its jaws, dripping mixed with blood into the clear water of the river.

The monster gritted its teeth and screamed with pure anger.

It got up with great difficulty, while hatred germinated in it at an exponential rate. It couldn't allow those miserable creatures to make fun of it. It had to eliminate them, now that it had reduced their strength to a minimum.

It shook its body to dry itself from the water that wet it from the knees and opened its jaws slightly, only to realize that it was no longer able to produce its electric beams. It snapped its tongue in annoyance. Evidently it had made too much use of them during the other battles, and now its body needed to recharge. It would take at least ten minutes.

No problem, it thought with renewed fury. It would have done it roughly.
It contracted the deformed teeth in a choleric grimace, taking two short steps forward in the now increasingly murky water, and finding itself in front of the figure of the new opponent.

The green goliath was on top of the cornice of a small skyscraper, yet Ghidorah still managed to overcome it in height.

Bruce looked up at the huge silhouette of the creature, then hissed an apparently impressed whistle.

"Wow, you're really big", he said aloud, while the dragon stared at him with a furious glint in its eyes.

The Avenger took a brief look at the surrounding area. After doing that, he began scratching his head in an embarrassed way. "I'm sorry it took me so long, I got stuck in traffic."
"Do you dare challenge me? Fool!" Ghidorah growled, lowering its middle head to the face of the new threat.

In response, Bruce just snorted.

"Yes, you are not the first to call me that", he muttered with an amused smile.

The action seemed to further irritate the dragon, who triggered its forked tongue. "I defeated all the warriors that your people sent to kill me, yet you persist in your attempts to face me. Why haven't you figured it out yet? You can't defeat me! You are only ants in the presence of a king!"

"Yeah, it's true, we are rather stubborn. It's one of our biggest flaws ... and an even greater strength", Bruce said, tightening both his eyelids.

"You need know this: the Avengers will not give up until they cannot breathe. So will everyone else. Me? I have a slightly different problem", he admitted, taking off his glasses and placing them on the corner of the building. "I feel like living in a world made of paper. I must always be careful not to break anything and not to hurt anyone. I can never afford to lose control, not even for a moment, or someone could die."

He took off his shirt and jacket, folding them and putting them near his glasses. All under the incredulous gaze of the middle head, while the other two stared at the man's actions with disdain and evident curiosity.

"But you are strong, aren't you?" Bruce asked, cracking his neck. "So, the great opportunity has finally come for me to let go ... and prove once and for all what my true power is."

After hearing these words, Ghidorah let out a low and grating growl, spreading the immense wings one more time a taking a defensive position. At the same time, Bruce held out his hands and slightly spread his legs.

"I haven't completely transformed myself for ten years. Honestly, I don't know what will happen", he said almost to himself, while Ghidorah's tail began to vibrate like that of a rattlesnake.

Then the man took a deep breath. "On the other hand ..."

BOOM!

The explosion caused by the release of energy was immense.

Just a hundred yards down the axis of roads leading to Central Park, a bright green spark flickered in the clouded sky, like lightning flashing upwards instead of towards the ground. A moment later, the titanic explosion ripped through the centre of the storm like a lantern.

The resulting shock wave erased first the building on which Bruce had been up until a few seconds earlier, then the trees adjacent to the neighbourhood, and then much of the road.

The various survivors who were in the area began to scream, but were never able to hear themselves because of the devastating and progressive roar caused by the sudden release of ten years of repressed anger, mixed with gamma energy.

Most people covered their eyes and staggered back, trampling on other civilians and dropping everything they held in their hands.

Then, the green light began to clear ... and the figure of Bruce Banner came out of it.

Although he seemed mostly the same as before, Ghidorah still managed to notice some substantial differences. The man's black hairs, for example, had grown longer, and went up to his shoulders.

His musculature had become more pronounced, covered with veins, and the skin was illuminated by a faint glow, like a Plutonium bar. And then there were the eyes: no longer brown, but a pair of green emeralds, mixed with red capillaries.

Hulk raised his right hand.

The Avenger's muscles produced high-pitched noises of contraction, when his fingers tightened on each other so vehemently that they could almost solidify the air.
His body wrapped in an aura of pure power that he would soon unload on Ghidorah with the force of a cataclysm.

He smiled, showing pale teeth, and took a deep breath.

"Hulk ... SMASH!"

He jumped towards the dragon and beat him in the chest, throwing it away from the street, and then down towards the lower part of the neighbourhood, where the ruined remains of the city were untangling.

Like a ram that nothing on Earth could have stopped, the green goliath made another leap against the body of the hydra, hitting it with all the weight of its mass.

The energy of the impact was absorbed instantly by the monster's skin, crossing its thick layers - the result of millions of years of evolution - like a tidal wave ready to overwhelm anything in its range of action.

Further down, the squadron of policemen led by George Stacy, New York Commissioner, saw the over one hundred and fifty meters of the immense Ghidorah fall upon them, when they were now about to complete the evacuation of the neighbourhood.

"Oh, shit ...get these people out of here!" he swore loudly, dispersing with the other policemen, trying to avoid the trajectory of the body.

Then, they watched the dragon land on its back, two hundred meters from their position.

"My God!" an office exclaimed, who, along with his superior, had chosen that specific building as a shelter. "Sir ... w-what do we do now?"

Both had their eyes frozen on the huge mass lying on the ground, which seemed to be suffering greatly from the roughness of the fall.

Shortly thereafter, Hulk landed on the beast's body, raising a dense cloud of dust and debris that fired upwards like a firecracker.

The police captain studied the surrounding area, and a little further up recognized the Deus Ex Machina of that unexpected development, and ... he couldn't believe it.

"Well, boy. It would seem that they have just put us on the bench", he concluded, resigning himself to the evidence.

Ghidorah got up from the ground, shaking off the rubble of the buildings that had tried in vain to stop its advance.

The three heads hissed in unison, while the figure of Hulk landed in front of them with a roar.

"Hulk smash stupid dragon!" the green goliath said, slamming both fists against each other.

Ghidorah spread its wings like a cobra's hood, waving its tail like a rattle.

Then it began to run, exhibiting a speed that could never be attributed to it. It ran, while releasing its battle cry, and leaning its heads forward, ready to break through the last defence erected by the inhabitants of that planet.

Some passersbys shouted. Others covered their eyes and took refuge in their last, senseless prayers, while Hulk also began a daring charge towards the opponent.

The most deluded - those who still believed they had hope - tried to escape in the most casual directions, but if their rational minds, asphyxiated by the blind instinct for survival, could have expressed themselves, they would almost certainly have told them to give up. At that speed, they would never leave the area in time.

And when the two monsters met in mid-air, the resulting shock wave shattered every window within a radius of at least three kilometres.


XXXX


In the power plant, the radio was broadcasting a classical music program on FM.

The music was 'Janacek's Sinfonietta'. Not exactly the most suitable music to hear in a building of that type. And besides, not even the local keeper seemed to listen to it too carefully.

The middle-aged man was busy watching in silence the endless line of machinery in front of him, like a skilled fisherman who, standing in the bow, scrutinizes a threatening eddy of currents.

When, sunk in the chair he used for occasional breaks, he listened to the music with slightly narrowed eyes.

At that precise moment, a loud clang! attracted his attention.

He saw the door he had entered while it was unhinged and thrown directly against the opposite wall of the room. Shortly thereafter, Spiderman's figure stepped into the wing, holding Captain Marvel in his arms.

"Well, this is something that is not seen every day", the man thought, while the superhero walked towards him.

"Where is the generator of the plant?" Peter asked, panting, receiving an arched eyebrow in return.

"Do you have permission to stay here? This is a reserved area", the guard said with a bored voice. Superheroes or not, he would continue to do his job. After all, he certainly didn't want to be fired because of simple negligence or favouritism.

Carol looked up, tightening both eyelids.

"He asked you a question", she said coldly.

The man, however, merely shrugged, taking a walkie-talkie out of his pants pocket. "And I repeat to you that this is a reserve area ..."

He didn't have time to finish the sentence.

The woman, still supported by Spiderman, reached out with a quick jerk and grabbed the collar of the guard, pulling him towards her.

"I want to be kind", she growled through clenched teeth, while her eyes began to light up with an intense golden glow. "I will count to five. One ... Four ..."

"If I were you…well, I would do what she says", Spiderman said with a shrug.

The man swallowed in fear.

"R-right there", he said pointing to a well-defined corridor to the right of the couple. Above the entrance stood a sign with the word DANGER written on it.

The frown on Carol's face was quickly replaced by an accommodating smile.

"Thanks for your cooperation", she said pleasantly, letting go the guard and patting his head.

Peter began to walk towards their new destination, his arms tightly wrapped around his lover's body.

"Did you really need to scare him like that?" he asked nervously.

Carol just looked at him impassively.

"We are a bit in a hurry", she said with vaguely sarcastic tone, pointing with her free hand to her battered figure. Internally, Peter found himself in agreement with the woman's words.

After almost a minute, they reached the room where the main generator of the building was located, a huge jumble of wires and machinery connected to a control panel.
"Well, here we are", the vigilante declared.

At that precise moment, Carol lost her grip on her companion's shoulders and collapsed to the ground with a loud thud.

Peter's lenses widened in surprise and terror.

"Carol!" he shouted, crouching next to the woman and hoisting her head in his lap. Her mouth was stained with blood and the bruises clearly visible in the tattered parts of the suit had started to become more evident.

"Tear that cable ... and pass it to me", the superheroine whispered, indicating a large plastic tube that started directly from the generator panel.

Peter nodded quickly, gently placed the blonde's head on the floor of the room and ran to the generator.

Once there, he grabbed the cable with both hands and took a deep breath.

"Please, be careful", Carol muttered behind him, which made the boy smile. She was the one on the verge of death, yet she continued to worry about him. Sometimes, that woman could be really stubborn…another thing that they had in common.

"I will do my best not to be electrocuted", the vigilante replied ironically, appealing to all the strength he had in his body to separate the tube from the panel.

Sparks and electric discharges began to scamper at the exact point where the cable had been cut. Peter did his best to keep it away, although he still managed to sense the static electricity running through his suit.

He walked to Carol and lay the tube next to her.

She wasted no time and grabbed it with her right hand. Then, she brought it to her chest.

The reaction was practically instantaneous.

The woman arched her back and hissed as a huge amount of electricity ran through her body. At the same time, the blonde's figure began to light up, more and more intensely.

"Close your eyes!" she screamed, and Peter did just that.

A few seconds later, a flash of immense power enveloped the entire neighbourhood like a blanket made of pure light, illuminating the darkness of the storm.


XXXX


Hell's Kitchen now looked like a ghost neighbourhood, since all the inhabitants had found refuge or had been evacuated. There was no longer a living soul on the streets.

In the middle of that empty city, only two vehicles moved between the street lights. These were the vans that the local police was using to evacuate the prisons of the various districts.

Inside those cars with sparkling headlights, criminals with malicious eyes stared at each other, as if to wait a secret signal to start a well-designed plan.
One of them suddenly shouted, falling painfully from the seat.

"Hey, what's going on over there?" one of the escort agents - who were with the prisoners on the back of the van – asked . And immediately they bent down to help the man to get up.

Under normal circumstances, they probably would never have fallen for such a trick. However, the arrival of Ghidorah and the situation in general had made them scared and unwary beyond measure.

"Now!"

The criminals, who until then had been calm, suddenly shot and stole the guns from the holsters of the two policemen, hitting them violently with the crates. They pulled out the keys to the handcuffs, hung on the couple's belts, and after about a minute they were all free.

Kicking open the back door, the prisoners leapt away, rolling on the ground and scattering in all directions.

On hearing suspicious noises coming from the back of the van, the policeman behind the wheel braked abruptly and stopped the vehicle, producing a loud squeak on the wet road. He opened the door and jumped out.

"Stop! Stop or I'll shoot!" he screamed, noting the silhouettes of prisoners that stood out in the light of the street lamps. Above them, the storm caused by Ghidorah continued relentlessly.

The policeman fired a few warning shots at the fugitives.

One of the prisoners, hit in the leg, fell forward. The others vanished immediately, hiding in the alleys.

The siren of a patrol car rang out on the street. Some criminals sprawled their hands in surrender. At the same time, the lights of the steering wheel illuminated the figures of three prisoners intent on escaping into the side alleys.

"Stop, you!"

The various agents, divided into groups, and began to chase them.

The three fugitives, running at breakneck speed, spotted a car parked in front of a gas station. It was loaded with jerry cans and carried a yellow flag on the top that waved in the storm.

They entered quickly in the middle and, after tinkering with the wires placed under the steering wheel, they started the engine and started at full speed.

"Damn!" the first policeman who arrived on the spot exclaimed, stamping his foot on the ground with frustration, as he saw them go away.

However, the rush of the criminals was very short-lived.

The policeman heard the shot of a firearm and the sound of a wheel tire bursting. The car swerved to the side. Slipping on the wet road, the wheels screeched deafeningly.
Gasoline spread all around, and something created friction with the asphalt igniting a trail of sparks.

It all happened in an instant.

The prisoners' car stood out in the dark like a fiery meteor, and - as fast as a bullet - it crashed into a wall. The explosion of the fuel cans lifted the vehicle in mid-air, causing a large column of flames to skyrocket.

The gasoline spilled from the car, wrapped in a hot flash, set the cans on fire and, in seconds, a second crimson red flame gushed in the night sky.

The young policeman gave a start and took a step backwards. He turned and felt his breath cut in his throat.

In the middle of the blanket of fog, with a plush gait turned towards him, there was a man of massive build, wearing a black leather jacket and an equally dark shirt, on which a pale skull was drawn.

The scarred face, marked by hard battles over the years, had a serious and impassive expression. In his right hand he carried a sawn-off shotgun, and in his left hand a small automatic machine gun.

Like any other policeman in New York, the young officer would have recognized that individual even in a crowd. There was no doubt! He was Frank Castle ... also known as the Punisher.

When the man was younger, and not yet a death machine raging through the slums of New York, his wife and children were taken away from him. This event prompted him to become the Punisher, a man determined to eradicate street crime in all its forms.

But as stated, this happened many years ago, and in the great universal design it wasn't even noteworthy.

"Don't move!" the officer ordered, pointing his gun in the man's direction. After all, he was still a vigilante wanted by the law and had just committed a triple murder in front of him.

Frank didn't seem to hear him. He kept walking, raised his rifle and, before the policeman could pull the trigger in his weapon, he fired a shot that hit something behind the man.

The officer heard an animal screech, which made him turn around.

A few steps away from him, now lay the dying body of a strange insect as big as a dog. From the exact spot where Frank had hit him, a strange green liquid was leaking, probably its blood.

"Oh my God", the agent murmured.

At that precise moment, he noticed a series of shadows that began to crawl vertically from the walls of the buildings.

The man swallowed hard, while the fleas fell on the road surface like leaves in the wind, showing their sharp teeth and growling in his direction.

The warden was so focused on those horrible beasts that he didn't notice that Castle had stopped right next to him.

"You should go home, boy", he said with a low and authoritarian voice, making the policeman jump.

The man briefly passed his gaze from the vigilante to the army of insects, before attempting a quick run in the opposite direction.

Frank snorted contemptuously and reloaded his weapons. At the same time, the fleas leapt forward.

"This must be my lucky day", the man muttered.

Just a few seconds later, a cacophony of shots rang throughout Hell's Kitchen, attracting the attention of a distinct figure dressed in red.


XXXX


The devastating battle between Ghidorah and the Hulk had been going on for nearly twenty minutes, and their battlefield had expanded to destroy without no effort even the Chrysler Building.

The fight seemed to have been temporarily set aside, while the huge three-headed monster was intent on targeting the opponent with repeated bundles of electric beams.
Hulk began to throw whatever it came within his range - from the cars to the larger trucks - against the dragon, aiming at what his primitive mind suggested to him were the alien's weak points.

The hydra, standing in the crimson flames, continued to target the Avenger stubbornly.

Hulk dodged the final blow and launched himself against Ghidorah.

The frightening struggle between the two monsters came to pass over the city subway, near the place where numerous civilians had hidden. Many of them held their breath as the most frightening battle that ever took place in that city continued above them.

The two creatures, continuing to target each other, ended up falling into the Hudson River once again.

The ceiling of the subway collapsed, and the water of the canal poured into it with a tremendous roar.

An immense mass of water headed for the fugitives, dragging chairs and wagons with them. With desperate cries, people were sucked in by the current, which also uprooted the tracks in a single instant.

Meanwhile, between the waters of the river, the battle between titans proceeded relentlessly.

The Hulk leapt in mid-air until he found himself in front of Ghidorah's middle head. His huge fists rang out on the face of the beast.

Finally, he pulled a knee between his teeth, moving his skull several meters.

The dragon, in turn, snapped his right head forward, nailing the Avenger's body to the muddy river bed. Hulk pushed the alien away using his feet and threw his fists on the legs of the monster, causing it to stumble.

With a jump back, he landed on the sidewalk that bordered the canal.

Then he grabbed a lamppost in his hands. The metal screeched as it was ripped off the sidewalk.

Finally, the green goliath raised the instrument as if it was a club and smiled.

The next blow hit the middle head of Ghidorah, and the vibration spread along the surface of the river, rippling it.

The dragon let out an irritated hiss and lunged forward.

It grabbed the Avenger's body with its hind legs, slamming it against the city road surface and dragging it for a length of at least two hundred meters.

It stopped abruptly, letting Hulk to continue his advance uninterrupted, until he crashed into a tax building.

The green goliath emerged shortly afterwards from the rubble, covered with soot and pieces of concrete.

With the immense skyscrapers in the background, he pounced Ghidorah three times, looking for a breach in what seemed an impenetrable defence. The dragon counterattacked, snapping its jaws like a snake.

The two titans continued hitting each other, punch against bite, colliding repeatedly and causing a deafening crash, while the surrounding buildings ended up razed to the ground by the occasional beams released by Ghidorah.

Terrified by that incredible spectacle, the civilians who had not yet managed to find shelter forgot to run, remaining still and motionless to observe the scene.

With threatening roars, the dragon and Hulk continued to fight, studying and testing the amount of energy left to the opponent.

The instant the Avenger seemed to be in trouble, the three-headed monster spun around and hit him with its tail. The green goliath collapsed forward and Ghidorah, taking advantage of this moment of weakness, began to forcefully strike the hooked part on the opponent, repeatedly and without pity.

It seemed to many that the end had come for Hulk. His fighting spirit seemed to evaporate little by little. Then, as if from nowhere, he let out a roar of pure anger.

He avoided the last blow of the tail and jumped forward, pouring all his mass on the chest of Ghidorah with a violent blow. The monster was thrown against the Empire State Building, destroying its side and making the ground tremble.

After the collapse of the side facade, the structure of the building gave way. The symbol of the city centre was reduced to simple rubble in a few moments.

Rolling, Ghidorah sank into the road surface, raising a dense cloud of dust and debris. At the same time, the skyscraper fell on it.

Hulk landed shortly thereafter, admiring his work and shouting for victory.

"Stupid dragon!" he said, raising both his arms. "None is stronger than Hulk!"

In that precise moment, the figure of the hydra emerged from the heap of debris and pieces of building, breathing heavily.

The left head let out a strange lament, almost a cry for help, while the other two turned furiously in the direction of the opponent.

Hulk narrowed his eyes, preparing to attack once more.

He threw forward, ready to hit the beast ...but he didn't get the chance.

An intense red glow fell against his body, sending him against the top of a skyscraper.

Wanda Maximoff stepped onto the road, her long hair hanging in mid-air and her eyes flashing.

Resumed by the sudden blow, Hulk rose to his feet and looked towards the new threat.

He snarled and jumped forward. However, just before he could even be one meter from Scarlet Witch, she raised her hand and simply grasped the Avenger's body telekinetically, slamming it first against the road surface, about three times, then against another building.

Hulk was tossed across the street, like a pinball ball, while Ghidorah rose from the ground with a satisfied smile.

"Do you know that a living and a dead body contain the same number of particles? There is no substantial difference in their structure", the middle head commented, approaching the couple.

"Life and death… are just non-quantifiable abstractions", it hissed, lowering the long necks to Wanda's height. "That's all you are for me: renewable energy. Only food."

Having said that, it nodded quickly at Scarlet Witch.

The young woman didn't hesitate for a moment and pulled the figure of the Hulk towards her. Then, she spread her arms, and the green goliath followed her movements, like a puppet.

The Avenger snarled and tried to free himself from that unknown force, but found himself unable to do so.

"Keep him like this", Ghidorah ordered, while the various jaws of the dragon began to light up with a familiar golden glow.

Hulk dilated his pupils. Even his mind, albeit primitive, was well aware of the fact that such a shot, fired at such a close distance, would have caused considerable damage even to someone like him.

He growled, more than determined not to show fear or weakness in the face of the hydra.

And it was at that moment ... that a blinding glare illuminated the darkness of the storm once again.

Ghidorah's three heads stopped suddenly, rolling their eyes and straightening up like snakes in front of a potential threat.

The clouds opened. Thor descended from the sky, leaving a trail of lightning behind him.

He drew an arch over the road, until he reached the immense figure of the dragon.

The Asgardian pushed himself down, conveying the force of gravity on his feet and asking for obedience. And the force of gravity, after a very short resistance, recognized his superiority.

He glided in mid-air over the skyscrapers, levitating like a ghost. The red cloak slammed behind him as smoke and lightning streamed out of his mouth and nose, surrounding his skull like a bright halo.

He raised both hands, yelled and dropped Stormbreaker like an axe.

The large circular blade began to fly in mid air, moving on Ghidorah's left neck. At first, the weapon sank on the thyroid muscle, severing its anterior ligaments, and then rotated all the way around, unhinging its head from the rest of the body.

The skull of the being fell heavily to the ground.

An indefinable grimace was drawn on the lifeless face of the head, which remained so even when it rolled away, escaping from its trunk.

Short spasms still animated the carcass, while the peak was tinged with red.

The other two heads screamed at the same time. Pain! Someone had seriously injured them! Such a thing had not happened for countless millennia!

There were no words that could describe their anger, the kind of anger that could only be seen in a being who until a few minutes before considered itself untouchable.
The dragon erupted bundles of electric beams, filling the neighbourhood with shocks and shaking the foundations of the buildings.

Its only thought was to hunt down that wretched man who had dared to harm its brother, until it took him, torn him to pieces and reduced him to mere excrement.

The middle head turned Thor's direction, who in the meantime had landed on top of a skyscraper, Stormbreaker again in one hand and Mjolnir in the other.

All over the world, the people who were witnessing the clash live began to cheer, now aware of the fact that that creature was far from invincible, that it could be injured, and therefore killed. At the Shield base, even Fury allowed himself a little smile.

But this enthusiasm was very short-lived.

Thor heard a strange sound, as if something soft was trying to make its way inside a conduit. Ghidorah's severed neck began to flash, while a strange mass of pink and deformed flesh began to make its way from the exact point where it had been beheaded.

Thor tightened his grip on his weapons, putting himself in a defensive position.

At the same time, the middle head of the hydra bent close to the severed neck, and bit into the substance, which now seemed like placenta.

The viscous layer opened ... and a muzzle came out of it. And then a pair of eyes ... and finally a couple of horns.

A few seconds later, under the astonished gaze of each spectator, the dragon's left head returned to its original shape, as if it had never been scratched.

The newly formed head made a couple of coughs, spewing a sticky liquid. Then it turned a furious look in Thor's direction, followed by its brothers.

At that precise moment, the mind of every single person who had witnessed that creepy scene was crossed by a single and simple thought.

"Oh, come on!"


XXXX


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BOOM! I hope you liked it.

Poor Kevin, it's always the one who get its head riped off. In the next chapter, Thor vs Ghidorah!