Thunderous Failure

The radio attempted to blare some happy country music within the vehicle. However, no matter how springy the chords, no matter how humorous the lyrics, the air was tense with anticipation on part of Thor, with jittery, barely restrained curiosity from Jane, and the usual solemnity of Yamamoto.

The desert rolled slowly under the van, and the afternoon's light seemed to dim in fear when a humongous amount of clouds coalesced over the region. Truly, it seemed that even the sky was holding its breath, eager to see the next step of the banished Asgardian.

"You promised me answers." Jane grilled the Asgardian after some minutes of dense silence.

"I promised them once I retrieved what is mine." Thor gently pointed out, "But in any case, what you seek is a bridge."

"A bridge? Like an Einstein-Rosen Bridge?" the scientist' s eyebrows skyrocketed on her forehead, disbelief colouring her voice.

"More like a rainbow bridge."

A barked question in Japanese made Thor's head tilt toward the one-armed elderly: "There are... doors, as you call them. Places in which Yggdrasil' branches touch each other, and the distance between stars is reduced to less than a single step, but they're rare, everchanging, difficult to foretell."

"What are you talking about?" Jane questioned, looking at the old man through the rearview mirror: "What doors?"

"The old-man is used to simple doors to cross from one Realm to another, but they're not something easily obtained." Thor explained without actually explaining.

"No, you can't just leave me hanging like this, what's that talk about... Yggdrasil... and... Realms?"

"I'm no scholar, Jane of Midgard." Thor frowned, but when the eyes of Yamamoto opened of a fraction, he nodded to himself: "Mortals believe that their sun, with its planets, is vast, but they fail to understand the true expanse of the universe. Your primitive minds are not equipped to face such undefinable measures..."

At the flat gaze he received from Jane, which managed to channel a bit of the authority of Yamamoto himself, the blond warrior sighed: "If you were to consider space like a sheet of paper, you'd find that there are uncountable creasings on it."

"Because gravity bends the time-space." Jane clarified, receiving a confused frown as an answer.

"If that is how mortals understand it, then it is true." Thor dismissively nodded, "There are... crinkles, on the sheet of paper." he frowned as if he was actually having difficulties with explaining the concept: "Yggdrasil is one such crinkle. But not by chance it is called the World-Tree. From its branches to its roots, it is a living part of the Universe, and the Nine Realms are within it. Niflheim, Muspelheim, Asgard, Midgard, Jotunheim, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Svartalfheim and Helheim, all are held in the branches and roots of the world tree: Yggdrasil."

"That's... Norse mythology? but, I've pictures of you falling from that freak-storm..." Jane's hands clenched on the wheel, her mind at war with herself. On one hand, she was being fed bullshit by the blonde hunk, on the other, it was clear that there was still a language barrier between them, the Allspeak he had claimed mattered little. He used the world Realm to say 'planet', or at least, since he hadn't named other realms around the Sun, she suspected that a Realm was an inhabited planet. But that would mean that he, and the old man, were aliens.

Just when the sunset actually began, hidden under the mountains of rain-loaded clouds, Jane took a turn, bringing the unlikely trio under a crest that oversaw the establishment that had been hastily built around their objective, the scientist's mind still trying to put together what she had been told and what she had been ablr to observe of the two 'aliens'.

"Just..." she started when she stopped the vehicle: "Just what are you?"

A prideful chuckle was the only thing she received as an answer: "You'll see soon enough. Have faith, mortal, we'll speak more once I claim back Mjolnir."

Once he spoke those words, he opened the door of the van and left, finding that Yamamoto was already outside, his head turned towards the admittedly respectable fortress that the enemy had built around Mjolnir.

Just beyond the hillside, lights were illuminating the valley beyond. The glow itself came from a massive military base. Set around a crater there were vehicles, trailers, barricades. Armed guards manned a gate in the razor wire fence that ran about fifty meters from the crater's edge, enclosing the complex. Clear, plastic access tubes with junction boxes led to a translucent cube structure erected in the middle of the half-hidden crater.

Over their heads, thunder rumbled, barely anticipating the deluge of rain that started to fall.

"I don't want you to fight them all." Thor warned off Yamamoto who stared back with, if such a thing was possible, an even flatter gaze than usual.

"It's shameful enough that you can't call your weapon to you." the elder replied, "I won't spit on the little pride you've left."

"What do you think you're doing?" Jane's voice cut the two off: "I can't possibly have understood it right, it seemed as if you intended to assault that base!"

"It is indeed what we're going to do." Thor answered: "Return to your home, Jane of Midgard, I'll come to you once I claim Mjolnir."

"That isn't a satellite crash." Jane realized, "They would have hauled the wreckage away, not built a city around it."

"Mjolnir wouldn't let just anyone wield it." Thor smiled softly at the thought, only to turn towards the scientist: "I will have your word on this, you're no warrior, go home, I'll find you."

Jane stared back into his eyes, as if she wanted to challenge him, only to relent after a second: "Fine! You have my word! But you better come back, you hear me, mister? You haven't answered all my questions yet!"

Next to Mjolnir, a sensor spiked on a handheld device in the hands of a technician. The man with glasses holding it looked over at the hammer just in time to see it begin to give off a subtle glow. A bolt of lightning crackled across the sky above.

Not far from the alien object, in Security Room 74, a younger SHIELD agent in a headset, monitored security: "Feed from the keyhole. Can barely penetrate the cloud cover."The Techie hiked a thumb at another monitor, which was fuzzy with static. It showed a SAR shot of the area, laid over a terrain map: "The machines are barely working as it is, with all the interference that thing's giving off." he lamented as he looked over a computer.

"Hey, we've got a commercial aircraft coming in right over us, Southwest Airlines Flight 5434."

Agent Sitwell, operative in charge of Room 74, wanted to kill himself from the boredom: "Reroute it, like all the others."

"Sure thing." the techie got to work on a keyboard, stopping momentarily before turning towards his nearest superior: "Hey, can I get the passengers some free drinks for the trouble?" Sitwell glared at him.

"I'm only saying, it'd be a nice gesture." The Techie typed into the computer, when he noticed something on another screen, and he immediately fell into the true and tried sequences of protocol: "Hold a sec... we got something outside the fence, west side."

Sitwell activated the radio he held on the shoulder: "DeLancey, Jackson. Westside, check it out."

Immediately, a pair of SHIELD agents took off in a jeep to investigate. Sitwell looked out the window, something strange catching his attention. An ethereal glow seemed to temporarly cover the area in which the strange 'hammer' was, almost as if it was underwater.

Outside the base, a Jeep pulled up as the Agents DeLancey and Jackson checked the area. The first immediately set to scan the fence with a flashlight, seeing nothing unusual.

"Looks like we're good here. Must have been another coyote." he spoke into his radio. Just then, however, the cone of light born from his torch landed on a section of the fence been bent up from the ground, leaving a gap.

Before either of them could call it in, a massive crack of lightning illuminated the night sky, revealing the silhouette of a large man standing just outside the driver's side of the jeep.

"Jackson?" DeLancey turned his attention back to the Jeep, instinctively pulling out his standard gun when his companion failed to reply.

Thor elbowed the driver across the jaw, causing him to drop uncounscious.

DeLancey started to quickly move around the Jeep to check on his companion, weapon at the ready, only for Thor to take a stingle, almost taunting step out of the darkness, grabbing the barrel the barrel of the gun and yanking it out of the operative's hands only to thrust it forth with a whipping motion, smashing the Agent's jaw.

Back into the base, Sitwell talked into his radio, starting to look worried: "DeLancey, Jackson. Report."

"Smith on the perimeter, sir." the voice of another agent spoke throught the radio: "I've got both DeLancey and Jackson unconscious. We've got a perimeter breach!"

After yet another rumble of thunder, the security monitors went blank with static and interference, while Mjolnir started to crackle with energy.

Sitwell gritted his teeth, commenting something unfavourable about freak storms: "Get Coulson." he ordered the techie as he slammed his hand on an alarm, causing sirens to immediately start blazing across the base.

Thor used one of the knives he lifted from the uncounsicous guard to rip open a plastic wall that stood in his way. Having observed the layout of the plastic tunnels around the crater, he had a general idea of where he had to go.

And so he walked, proudly, his long stride covering ground faster than one would have thought, until he heard the thumping of boots on the iron-made paths within the plastic tubes.

Without even needing to think abut it, he lwered himself a tad, placing himsef just behind a corner, and waited.

The group of men was keeping a slow if regular rythm, a music that spoke to Thor's ears that the purpose of these soldiers wasn't to find him, but to simply reocate to where they had been ordered to. After all, the stride of someone on the hunt is a very different thing than the one of a soldier running to fulfill his superior's orders.

So he wasn't surprised when the soldiers ran just past him.

He waited another couple of seconds, and just as the group passed another angle, he resumed his march otwards Mjolnir.

When a soldier walked out from behind a corner, the Odinson once more didn't hesitate, his stride shortened while becoming faster, and the distance he would have covered in five steps was instead devoured by three powerful half jumps. Thor's elbow crashed on the man's helmet, sending him to the ground even as the blonde ex-god witheld a grimace because of the sudden and unexpected jolt of pain.

His knee nevertheless crashed against the man's jaw, sending him in the realm of uncounsciousness.

"Halt!"

Thor rolled under an hastly shot of one taser, his hand yanking the calf of the second soldier he hadn't noticed out from beneath him.

While the man tried to keep his balance, Thor rose once more to his feet, shoulderchecking the mortal's gut, only to nail him with a haymaker once his opponent was bowled over.

In another situation, he would have entertained a face to face battle of fists with any mortal so brave as to challenge him, however, the heavy weight of the old man's grey eyes felt almost like a threathening hand tightening its hold on the ex-god's ears, as if in warning to not waste time.

After another couple of this fast paced encounters during which Thor found himself reluctantly admitting that there was some worth to the mortals soldiers that attempted to face him, the God of Tunder found his treasure.

Surrounded by a meaningless gaggle of machinery that looked as frail as paper, Mjolnir rested on an earthy pedestal, likely the part of the ground that the mortals had been unable to dig at, even if they clearly tried to place some of their machines under Mjolnir in order to move the powerful weapon.

Foolish mortals. Thor laughed, feeling success and victory thrum in his veins as he took a single, almost taunting step forward, and landed his hand on Mjolnir's handle.

He smiled as he felt the rush of thunder singing across his veins, and he...

Mjolnir remained quiet.

Thor frowned, his easy laughter dimming and a frown appearing o ìn his features.

He pulled again, his muscles taut with a twinge of despair that felt so alien to the god of thunder, but the handle of the weapon remained unmovable as before.

Both hands on the handle, he pulled: "Mjolnir!" he called, incapable of hearing himself.

He would have had better luck in stopping the tide with his bare hands.

He pulled, eager to ear the song of battle and thunder in his heart once again, needing, with all of himself, to reclaim what was his, no, to recall his very self.

Who was the Thunderer without his Hammer? Why did Mjolnir refuse him so? Wasn't Odin's punishment enough?

Desperatedly, harder than before, Thor pulled, his feet sliding on the ground as they failed to provide enough grip.

Hopeless.

Thor gritted his teeth, the memories of victory and easy battle empty in his heart now that Mjolnir refused to follow his command.

Wasn't he Thor, son of Odin? God of Thunder? What doubt could there it be about his strength?

"Foolish child." the unwelcomely familiar, raspy voice of the old man made Thor turn his head to the side, where, dry as if he hadn't walked across the flood that turned the ground into sludge, Yamamoto waited, his eyes abitually closed, with a mantle of disappointment almist visible to the naked eye.

Thor gritted his teeth, almost snarling in anger at the unwelcome visitor. A single, tauntingly raised bushy eyebrow made the ex-god of thunder return his attention to the uncoperative Mjolnir.

"You expect to be able to wield your weapon when you can't even listen to it?"

Thor's hands clenched helplessly on the weapon's handle as all of his muscles worked together to pull.

"You think this is a matter of power?" the question was blatantly sarcastic, but it only enforced Thor's rage and alien feeling of despair.

"Aaaaaargh!" he thundered as he tried to lift Mjolnir, to no avail.

"Disgraceful."

Thor turned towards the old man with a bellow of rage, his righteous fury and despair-born berserker state throwing the ex-god of thunder against Yamamoto.

Impassibly, the old man, evaded the impetuous charge, a displeased frown appearing on his features: "Is this the warrior that should be able to wield that weapon? A crying child?"

The single arm of Yamamoto slapped forcefully Thor the second time he attempted to charge him, which combined with the lightning quick kick to the ex-god's knee, sent hims sprawling to the ground.

"I had thought you similar with an old student of mine, but now I see that you are the least of his meanest part."

Thor hurled a random piece of machinary to the old man, his words, relied coldly and with an impassive face, cutting deeper than any blade. Oh, he had messed up in his youth, enough to disappoint his parents many times over, and yet, for some reason, in this occasion it was worse.

Everything came crashing down then. In the past few days, Thor had gone from almost sitting on the throne of Asgard to failing an attack on the Jotun, only to be banished when he tried to make his reasons heard. He had to be freed by a random old man, who so closely resembled the unyelding King of the Gods, his martial demeanour, his heavy gaze hammering every detail of the world into submission, and his words, often given so sparingly, that now were being wielded as spears to crucify the ex-god of Thunder.

Mjolnir's betrayal was almost akin to a single drop in the ocean of disasters that had fallen on the Odinson, if only he could lift his mighty hammer, then all of those problem could be faced, for no foe hadever been able to oppose the Thunderer.

"Once you've become a man, we'll talk again of your failed promise." and with those words, the one armed old man disappeared from sight.

AN

We were due some action, weren't we? Classic Thor here, I'm afraid, there hasn't been enough room for Yamamoto to influence Thor just yet, however, we're undoubtedly coming closer.

Obviously Yamamoto can lift fucking Mjolnir: whatever expectations Odin can have for Thor, old-man Yama surpasses them.

But Yamamoto is also a stubborn bastard: he wants his fucking sword, not a random thing to wave around, and given the forma mentis he has as a Shinigami, to wield another warrior's weapon is anathema. He's a Shinigami, even if he wished to move Mjolnir so that Thor could try again to lift it in a second moment, his teacher self would see that as an action that acts against the best interests of the Thundergod.

So, no, the old man drops the ex god of thunder to pay for his foolishness. Until Thor proves to be more than a child throwing a tantrum, Yama cares not for him.

Besides that, I've tried to keep up this wobbly POV between all involved, how did it work?