16TH FINALS: THOR VS. IRON PATRIOT

Ms. Marvel arrived back in the Garden with both the admiration of the Avengers fans and the disdain from the Thunderbolts' fans. While she did appreciate the fans who cheered her, the Warbird just wanted to get back to her teammates, the people that had become her second family. As she stepped off the pad and walked over to the Avengers corner, Ms. Marvel regained that wholesome feeling when she spotted her best friend, the Wasp, coming to congratulate her. The rest of the remaining Avengers, including Spidey, the hopeful recruit, soon followed.

Over in the Thunderbolts' corner, however, things were not so positive. For now, following Yelena's loss, the team soon found themselves in a bit of a losing streak, and the next in their ranks to try and break this streak was that of their leader, the Iron Patriot himself. However, the Patriot's teammates still seemed a bit worried, for his upcoming opponent was Thor, one of the Avengers' most powerful members, as well as the Norse God of Thunder. While fighting a god would frighten any normal man, that was not the case for the Patriot. For he appeared to be cool, calm, and collected as he pressed a few buttons on his gauntlet to increase the power of his repulsor blasts in preparation for his match. "Well then," said the nonchalant Patriot. "Looks like it's once again up to me bring this team out of the rut."

While the Scarlet Spider looked up to his armored father with admiration, Surge remains skeptical. "Against a Thunder God? I'd like to see you pull that off."

Despite Surge's doubt, the Patriot remained focused on the task at hand, as well as confident on how he can beat his opponent, god, or not. "Well then, Surge. Watch and learn." After completing the settings to his repulsors, the Patriot made his way to the teleportation pad, accompanied by the cheering of the Thunderbolts' fans, to which he secretly labeled his 'sheep.'

Back in the Avengers' corner, Thor is seen placing his left hand on Ms. Marvel's shoulder as he went to congratulate her. "You fought well, Lady Marvel," said the proud Thunder God, then turned to see the Patriot stepping on to the pad and glared at him as he held Mjolnir in his right hand. "But now, it is my turn to bring us victory, and I shall do so by besting the leader of these cads!"

Though Ms. Marvel found Thor's over to top demeanor sillier than ever, she still believed him when he said he could take the Patriot down, and thus gave him a nod. "Give him hell, Big Guy!"

The smiling Thor gave Ms. Marvel a nod in reply, and with his hammer still hand, he proceeded to walk over to the teleportation pad.

Spidey, like the rest of the Avengers, watched Thor walk off to have his match, all while secretly finding his bombastic demeanor a little off-putting. "Geez, and I thought Beck was melodramatic," the Web-Head thought as he watched Thor step on to the pad. Spidey soon noticed the Patriot, and his expression behind his mask turned to that of an angry one. "Still, if anybody has a good chance of beating the crap out of Osborn, even with whatever sick plan he has in mind to win, it's Thor...I hope."

Finally, with both combatants on the pad, the announcer once again took center stage to address the crowd. "All right, folks, we are now officially in the last two matches of the sixteenth finals! So, let's go ahead and get our next match up underway, in which we have the Thunderbolts armored leader, the Iron Patriot, going up against the Avengers fighting God Thunder, Thor!"

With the crowd now cheering louder than ever, the teleportation pads activate and soon transport Thor and the Patriot out of the building...

...and over to the specially built steel walkway in the Los Glaciares National Park in Argentina, one that was leading into the Pedrito Moreno Glacier. Upon their arrival, Thor and the Patriot are greeted by the Ref Bot, with the announcer's face ever-present on the monitor. "Welcome to Argentina, gentlemen," said the announcer, seeming a bit uneasy. "I trust you both know not to go 'overboard' in your match."

Though Thor was not quite familiar with the modern slang, he did understand what the announcer was implying and nodded while still giving the Patriot a death stare. "Aye, you need not worry about me, though I cannot say the same for this vile cur! Either way, it matters not, for I shall put thou treacherous actions to an end!"

The Patriot, however, remained unphased by Thor's threat. "Oh, I'm shaking in my armor," he said sarcastically. Afterward, he turned to the Ref Bot's screen to address the announcer, all while still keeping a cold expression behind his faceplate. "But I assure you and the people watching that I plan to keep things civil when I win this match."

Already sensing the tension, the announcer let out a timid gulp as he mentally commanded the Ref Bot to fly up into the air. "W-well then," said the announcer, trying to sound optimistic. "Without further adieu...BEGIN!"

Upon hearing those words, the Patriot instantly powered up his repulser gauntlets and stood in a readied stance. "All right, Blondie, Impress me!"

This snarky comment from the now battle-ready Patriot caused Thor to smirk, as he relished the fact that he now has the chance to humble his armored opponent. "As you wish," With that said, Thor held Mjolnir over his head, concentrated and caused clouds to form, and thunder was heard throughout the area. Suddenly, lightning struck Thor's hammer, and once the Thunder God felt he had his weapon was charged enough, he pointed the charged Mjolnir forward and fired a lightning blast. The target, of course, being the Patriot's chest plate as opposed to his belt-in buckle. All to give him a taste of whom he's now dealing with.

Strangely enough, the Patriot took the blast at full force and allowed the lightning to hit his chest. It was here that the Thunderbolt absorbed the blast into the star-shaped arc reactor until it disappeared, leaving Thor completely dumbfounded.

Inside the Patriot's helmet, the Thunderbolt looked at his eye lens and aw a meter that read four hundred, as well as hearing a male robotic voice. "POWER LEVEL RESERVES ARE NOW AT FOUR HUNDRED PERCENT CAPACITY."

With an evil green behind his faceplate, the fully charged Patriot turned his attention to the still confused Thor. "Not bad," said the armored leader of the Thunderbolts. "But let me show you what a REAL energy blast is supposed to be!" With that said, the Patriot locked his sights at the Thunder God and fired a massive blast out of the star on his chest plate, which made a direct hit on Thor and sent him flying backward.

Though Thor was naturally surprised by this maneuver, he still managed to perform a back-flip. This resulted in him landing on his feet, albeit sliding the floor and stopping just inches from the edge of the platform. Moments later, Thor charged towards the Patriot once again, angrier than ever, and more determined to make him pay for what he and his Thunderbolts have done to his friends.

Upon seeing the angry Thunder God coming his way at full force, the Patriot attempted to stop him by holding up both of his hands and fired two repulsor blasts out of desperation.

Thor, on the other hand, deflected the blasts by using his hammer to swat them away like they were flies. Finally, once he and the Patriot were facing each other, Thor threw a backhanded hammer strike, hitting at the armored Thunderbolt's helmeted head. This was enough to send him flying to the right side and over the glacier itself. With the Thunderbolt now airborne, Thor gave chase by twirling Mjolnir, an hurling it upward to the right while still holding on to the strap. This allowed Thor to soar up into the air and straight towards the Patriot himself.

The Patriot, however, quickly recovered by flipping backward and mentally activating the thrusts behind his shoulders to stop himself, as well as using his jet boots to hover in the air. Afterward, he sets his sights on the approaching Thor, then held up his left hand and fired a repulsor blast, hitting Thor in the face.

While it did no real damage to him, it still stunned Thor enough to make him fall from the sky, while in the process, making him release Mjolnir as he fell and crashed into the glacier below.

Upon seeing Thor land hard on the ice below, the Patriot flew down to the fallen thunder god with speed similar to that of a falling comet.

On the glacier, Thor is sitting up and shaking the cobwebs out of his head as he noticed a shadow cast over him. This prompted him to look up and see the Patriot coming down towards him, and what was worse, firing more repulsor blasts. Seeing that he was in danger, Thor instinctively rolls over to the right side, dodging the blasts just in time, and allowing the Thunder God to pop back up on his feet. Once Thor stood up, he watched as the Patriot stopped himself from crashing by throwing his feet downward and keeping himself hovering just inches away from the glacier. This allowed Thor to run in and jump straight towards the armored Thunderbolt himself.

The Patriot, however, noticed this and thus held up his hands to grab Thor by his shoulders once he came close enough. He then tossed him over to the left side, causing the Avenger to land on the icy surface spine first. Moments later, he cocked his right fist back, then zoomed towards Thor and threw a straight punch, aiming for the Thunder God's belt buckle.

Fortunately for Thor, though, he saw this coming and rolled to the right side, causing the Patriot to ram his steel-plated fist into the ice instead.

Even in missing his target, the Patriot remained on alert, especially when he saw thought the corner of his right eye that Thor was back up and running towards him. This, in turn, caused the Patriot to pull his right fist out of the ice and in the process, go for a right rising back-fist, to which Thor spotted and leaned back to avoid. However, this failed counter-attack did not stop the Thunderbolt, for once he was standing up straight, he went for a left hook.

Fortunately for Thor, though, he spotted his attack coming and thus used his left hand to catch the Patriot's wrist and stop the punch.

Despite this, the Patriot still kept pressing on as he then went for a right cross, only for Thor to catch that fist as well.

With the armored Thunderbolt's hands now in his grasps, Thor utilized a small measure of his godly strength by squeezing the Thunderbolt's gauntlets.

Even with the alarms going off in his helmet, the Patriot knew he was in trouble and out of desperation, used his right hand to fire a repulsor blast, hitting Thor's face and stunning him enough to release him. Afterward, the Patriot used his left hand to grab Thor by his collar, then pulled him in and gave him a right hook to the jaw. Now having Thor up against the ropes, the Patriot continued his assault by going for a left hook.

Luckily, Thor is quick enough to recover and thus held up his left arm and successfully blocked the punch. He then counters by delivering a massive headbutt to the Patriot's faceplate, which was strong enough to send the Thunderbolt flying backward.

This did not put the Patriot down for the count, however, for he managed to save himself by rolling backward and ending back up on his feet. Now recovered, and not wanting to give Thor an opportunity to attack, the Patriot powered up his jet boots, flew over to his lightning shooting opponent and threw a right hook.

Thor easily spotted this and quickly held up his right arm to block the blow, then noticed the Patriot going for a left uppercut, and thus leaned back to avoid the punch. Moments later, Thor went on the offensive by using his left fist to deliver a hook into the Patriot's left side, leaving a dent in his armor and forcing him to bend down slightly to that side. Now in control, Thor grabbed the Patriot's shoulders, and used his great strength to lift him up over his head and slam the Thunderbolt back first into the ice, with an impact so strong, it cracked the ice itself. After standing up straight and the fallen Patriot's head right in between his feet, Thor decided to put this match to an end by turning and holding his right hand out at Mjolnir, which by now was miles away. With concentration, Mjolnir heard Thor's mental summons, and thus flew off of the ice, zoomed towards the Thunder God and ended up in his open palm. Now with his weapon once more, Thor held his hammer upward, then threw it down with the intent of destroying the Patriot's built-in belt buckle.

However, the Patriot saw this and saved himself from defeat by powering up his jet boots and repulsors and thus rocketed himself between Thor's legs, causing the Thunder God to end up smashing his hammer into the ice. This, in turn, caused Thor to pull his hammer back and turn around to see the Patriot now hovering in the air. The hovering Patriot then began charging his star-shaped arc reactor once more, seeing that it still had enough power from Thor's previous lightning blast. Once it was fully charged, the Patriot fired another blast from out of his chest plate, aiming for the stunned Avenger.

Thor, however, refused to be the armored Thunderbolt's target, and thus held up his hammer and fired a lightning blast of his own, which collided with the Patriot's blast. The two then engaged in an intense energy tug-of-war, until finally, Thor's blast was proving to be stronger and thus began pushing upward, overpowering the other blast and heading towards the Patriot himself.

Now seeing that his blast was outmatched, the Patriot ceased firing his blast and created an energy shield around his person. It wasn't long for Thor's blast to hit the shield, but upon impact, shattered it completely and sent the Patriot flying backward and eventually landing and crashing into the ice, creating a cloud of vapor.

Even though he shot the Patriot down, Thor knew the fight was far from over. And thus, he twirled his hammer once more and threw it upward, keeping a tight grip on the strap and flew the direction where the Patriot crashed.

As for the Patriot himself, he struggled to sit up as his armor was now badly damaged, with dents everywhere and electricity sparking from his legs, arms, and even the back of his shoulders. He also appeared to have his right hand covering his belt buckle to protect it from breaking on impact, and once he pulled his hand back, he is relieved to see that it was still intact.

But the Thunderbolt's relief soon vanished, for a split second later, Thor arrived on the scene by landing with a loud bang, causing the glacier to crack once more and proceeded to walk towards the fallen Patriot. "My comrades say that you are a mad genius, villain," said Thor, sounding almost disappointed as he raised his hammer over his head. "Yet, you seem not to understand the difference between a man in a metal suit...and a god!"

However, even with his armor damaged and in no condition to carry on the fight, the Patriot still smiled in defiance behind his faceplate. "Well, I do know the difference between you and me, Asgardian," the Patriot retorted calmly, earning him a confused look from Thor. "You seem to rely on raw power and strength, whereas I prefer...mind over muscle."

At that moment, Thor soon heard a small beeping noise coming from his collar, and as he briefly looked down, he saw that it was a small, blinking gold object in which the Patriot secretly placed on the Thunder God when the Thunderbolt grabbed him earlier. The object itself was activated via a voice command by the Patriot when he said the voice code 'mind over muscle', and at that moment, it soon transformed into a white-collar, one in which resembled that of the collar that Baron Zemo once used on the Enchantress to have her bring the armies to Asgard to Earth. It wrapped around Thor's neck, and moments later, the Thunder God could feel his body stiffen, and his mind goes completely blank, as well as turn his eyes into a soulless white. Moments later, once it felt the body heat from Thor's neck, it quickly turned invisible so none the views could see it via the Ref Bot up above.

Now having Thor right where he wants him, the Patriot took advantage fighting himself back up and putting on a performance for the Ref Bot and the people watching all around the world, and decided to help sell it by mentally commanding his faceplate to pull up and show the strained human face of Norman Osborn, bloody nose and all. "You may have damaged the suit, Thor," he said, trying to sound as hurt as possible. "But you have not broken the man wearing it! And so help me, as long as I still draw breath, I will stand up to you and show the people of Earth what a REAL hero is! Something in which you and your fellow Avengers failed to do!"

Those words in Norman's speech were actually another sequence of words for Thor's collar, all of which made the now mindless Avenger say this. "Your brave words...have moved me, Iron Patriot. You have shown yourself...to be a man of great honor. So much so...I give...this victory...to you." With that said, Thor raised his hammer, and in a move that shocked everyone watching, including his fellow Avengers watching from the Garden, he swung it down and destroyed his own belt buckle, causing yellow energy to engulf the Thunder God and freeze him in place.

Back in the Garden, the Avengers, as well as their fans, couldn't believe what they just saw Thor do, and it was the Wasp herself who verbalized her and her teammates' feelings loud enough for all in the Garden to hear. "THOR!"

Also shocked by these developments was that of Spidey, but as he looked at the screen, he soon narrowed his eyes at the battered Norman and narrowed his eyes at him, knowing full well that he somehow was behind Thor admitting of defeat. "Gobby, what did you do?!"

Back in Argentina, the battered but victorious Norman managed to stay on his feet long enough for the Ref Bot to hover over to him, with the announcer's confused face on the screen. "Uh, well, folks," said the announcer. "Here is your winner...THE IRON PATRIOT!"

Norman turned and gave a small smile to the Ref Bot, and in turn, to the cheering Thunderbolt fans, he can see on the screen. Moments later, he turned his attention to the frozen Thor one last time. "I'd say you owe me a new suit of armor, but I assume that money means nothing you 'all might Gods!" he thought as he looked down at the defeated and motionless Avenger now at his feet. "Well, at least you're out of the way. Now that just leaves me with the rest of your teammates to whom I can easily handle. Namely Stark...and a certain Wall-Crawler to whom I have unfinished business with."

WINNER: IRON PATRIOT