Let us wind back time by a few minutes. After Thor had flown through the tunnel with Peter for a considerable duration, they found themselves unable to escape. Neither a Sling Ring portal nor Thor's summoning of the Bifrost could break them out.
Peter immediately took specialized action. He tore directly through the reality barrier and slipped out with Thor, returning to Universe 616. From there, Thor summoned the Bifrost to bring them both to Asgard. As for the reality rift, Peter figured it could be patched once everything was restored—or better yet, if the Norns didn't want any filth floating into their home, they could fix it themselves.
Had time not been so pressing, Peter and Thor would have certainly given those three a sound thrashing before dragging them to Asgard for a public trial.
Instead, they arrived to see Asgard in utter ruins.
"What kind of enemy could destroy all of Asgard like this in a matter of minutes?!"
Thor asked, his voice a mix of fury and disbelief. Peter couldn't answer; he had rarely read Thor's solo comics. Aside from a few recurring villains, he had no idea what kind of monsters or deities Thor usually had to fight.
A battle of landscape-shattering proportions was erupting not far away. Peter took one look and knew it had to be Odin clashing with an enemy.
Thor carried him down into the midst of the rubble. This wasn't the battlefield yet, but countless Asgardian warriors lay injured or dead from trying to hold back the foe. Survivors were digging through the debris. Upon landing, Thor rushed to the side of a goddess, carefully helping her up. "Sif? Are you alright? Who invaded Asgard?"
"I... I don't know what that monster was, Thor."
Lady Sif stood up with Thor's support, then spoke as if realizing something: "Balder... Balder engaged the monster as well..."
Thor's expression shifted instantly. He looked in the direction Sif pointed and took flight. His friends, the Warriors Three, and other Asgardian soldiers stood around a deity clad in a blue surcoat and a pure white cloak. His sword lay broken on the ground, and no one dared approach. Thor landed immediately, cradling his brother, and gritted his teeth.
He was dead. His brother, Balder the Brave, God of Light, had been killed by a monster they didn't even recognize.
Peter squeezed through the crowd. Sensing the approach of the Midgardian, Thor held his brother's body and spoke in agony: "Balder was blessed by everyone in Asgard. He was supposed to be immune to harm from any object except mistletoe. It was meant to be so... it was meant to be so. He must have used that power to try and block that terrible monster."
Balder had not been killed by mistletoe.
This meant the monster that killed him was powerful enough to shatter the blessings of the Asgardian gods, even those of Odin himself.
"You must go back, Spider-Man. This is no longer a battle you can involve yourself in. Even I cannot guarantee I will emerge unscathed."
Thor stood up, grasping Mjolnir. No matter who the monster was or how terrifying, he had to go, but he couldn't allow others who couldn't protect themselves to get involved.
Peter looked at Balder's corpse, weighed his words, and decided to say it plainly: "In mythology, the death of Balder is the omen of Fimbulwinter. You've mentioned that before, Thor. And now Asgard faces a powerful enemy that perhaps only Odin can defeat. If, at this time, the Casket of Ancient Winters..."
The others listened in confusion as this mortal interrupted, but Thor suddenly realized something. He turned back to Peter. "Exactly! This is what the Norns wanted! They wanted Ragnarok! That's why they lured us away, allowing that monster to kill Balder now—because Balder's divinity could have stopped Fimbulwinter and suppressed the Casket!"
"Remember what we discussed about the Casket of Ancient Winters?"
Thor nodded, then looked around, asking urgently, "Where is Heimdall?! Has anyone seen Heimdall!"
"I am here, Thor."
A bloodied Heimdall walked over. He looked at Peter and then at Thor. "Even you are no match for that monster, Thor. Odin calls him Mangog. Furthermore, Loki has betrayed us. He stabbed our mother. Tyr has gone to save her."
Thor stunned for a moment, then took a deep breath. "Heimdall, I need you to use the Bifrost immediately to bring a group of people to Asgard. They are..."
"I have seen them all."
Thor nodded and patted his comrade's shoulder. Soon, Malekith and his lot would trigger Fimbulwinter, but before that, he had to deal with the monster.
Peter raised his hand again. "I have a plan, buddy, but I might need a lot of help."
And so, we return to the present.
Odin didn't know what Thor's plan was, and Mangog had no intention of wasting words with another of Odin's whelps. He charged forward. Thor hurled Mjolnir at Mangog, only for the beast to swat it away with a single palm.
Thor confidently reached out his hand, but the hammer didn't return. It had been swatted too far away to return immediately.
Thor's expression froze. Odin sighed; clad in the Destroyer armor, he prepared to strike again. But Thor was faster. Deprived of his hammer, he rushed in to engage Mangog in hand-to-hand combat. He ducked and lunged into Mangog's chest, wrapping his arms around him to tackle him backward.
Mangog quickly halted his retreat, grabbed Thor by the back, and hurled him away. Skidding to a stop, Thor finally summoned his hammer back. He thrust Mjolnir high into the air and roared at Mangog.
"I don't care what kind of monster you are! Get out of my house!"
"Get out? Odin's whelp, what do you have that can make me leave?!"
As for Odin, his expression had turned to one of grim acceptance.
Thor slammed his hammer heavily into the ground. Myriad bolts of lightning crashed down upon Mangog. The monster stumbled back two steps from the strike—one fueled by fury and hatred—but stopped himself instantly.
Just then, he felt something wrap around his neck.
"Hey, pal. I don't know who you are, but you've managed to piss off a lot of people in Asgard."
Seeing Spider-Man decloak, Mangog fell into a momentary state of confusion. A mortal? How could a mortal be here?
Then, his neck was yanked tight. The ends of a strand of webbing—reinforced and woven with magic—were being pulled by Sif, the Warriors Three, and a large group of Asgardians, dragging Mangog backward.
Backward? What was behind him?
Mangog glanced back, but in that split second, Thor charged. With his full power unleashed, he slammed his hammer into Mangog's head, physically battering him into the reality rift Peter had surreptitiously torn open.
Mangog stumbled and nearly fell in, but to Peter's shock, the creature actually grabbed the edges of the spatial rift, attempting to pull itself back out.
What on earth was this thing?
"Just as my son said, Mangog—get out of my house!"
Odin's eyes glowed with light as he unleashed a magnificent surge of divine power from his palms, striking Mangog. The monster's face contorted as he struggled with all his might, refusing to let go. Seizing the opening, Thor slammed Mjolnir down onto Mangog's hand.
That full-strength strike shattered one of Mangog's arms. Peter used his abilities to tear the other arm away with the spatial rift, and under Odin's bombardment, the terrifying monster was finally swallowed by the void. Peter immediately began casting, using massive amounts of magical webbing like needle and thread to sew the spatial rift shut.
Outside Earth-616, within the endless multiverse.
Belasco sensed another breach in the universe. He didn't even need to ask; it had to be that cursed Spider-Man opening a passage again. He leaned in, hoping to see if he could return to 616 to find an opportunity for revenge against that wretched bug.
Then, he saw a handless monster whose art style was strictly incompatible with his own, floating outside the universe. The creature then locked its eyes on him.
"What the hell did Spider-Man just throw out?!"
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