Marvel: The Infinite Crown

Chapter: 159 - The Storm, the Fear, and the Flame}

"Cough Cough"—Thor staggered backward, blinking in disbelief as the acrid taste of blood filled his mouth. His body trembled slightly, not from weakness, but from something else… something far more shameful.

Fear.

He glanced down at the wound etched across his chest—dark, jagged, and radiating with unfamiliar energy. Not lightning, not any elemental magic he recognized. This… this was something vile. Something primal. He'd fought giants, titans, and gods. But now, a fellow Asgardian—no, a corrupted Asgardian wielding demonic knives—had wounded the God of Thunder.

"This… how is this possible?" he rasped, eyes narrowing in fury and disbelief. "I am Thor Odinson! Son of Odin! God of Thunder!"

His roar echoed through the broken skyline like a wounded beast refusing to fall. Yet even as he spoke, doubt slithered into his heart.

Thor reached out instinctively, and Mjolnir, his faithful companion through centuries of battle, responded. It zipped through the air and smacked into his palm with a satisfying crack. He raised it high. Dark clouds churned and twisted above, answering the silent command. Thunder cracked and lightning coiled around his arm like a serpent preparing to strike.

From a nearby rooftop, Aiden narrowed his eyes. His expression was unreadable, but his body was already moving.

He wasn't worried about himself. The power of Thor's next attack would be monumental, but he could weather it. No, what concerned him was Natasha. The burst radius would be immense, and if she was caught in the backlash…

In a flash, he appeared beside her.

Natasha Romanoff—Black Widow, assassin, spy, and Avenger—had been battling the effects of the fear energy, her breathing erratic and her instincts rattled. But when Aiden appeared next to her, everything changed. She didn't question it. She moved on impulse, like muscle memory.

She leapt into his arms and clung to him like a lifeline—legs coiled around his waist, arms around his neck, her head buried in his shoulder. Like a koala clinging to its tree in a storm.

"I knew you'd come…" she whispered, voice trembling but soft with relief.

"I always do," Aiden murmured, holding her close for a brief second, letting his warmth seep into her trembling body. "You're safe. I've got you."

He gently floated to the roof's edge, Steve Rogers and Clint Barton trailing behind, still somewhat disoriented by the fear energy. Aiden enveloped them all in a radiant bubble of dark green energy—the dark green shimmer shielding them from the corrupting dread that still rolled across the battlefield like invisible smoke.

Thunder boomed above, loud and angry. Mjolnir crackled with energy.

"He's going to unleash it," Aiden said, eyes tracking Thor. "He's pulling power from the storm."

"You're going down there, aren't you?" Natasha asked, still clinging to him, even as the barrier began to hold strong.

"I have to," he said gently, brushing a strand of her hair back and resting his forehead briefly against hers. "But I'll be back. You know me, I don't leave things half-finished."

Her hand cupped his cheek. "Aiden…" she whispered, voice low, sincere, with the weight of something fragile and precious forming between them. "I… I don't know what this is between us. But I know I don't want to lose it."

His lips curved into a slow grin. "If this is a confession, it's a terrible time for it. But I'll take it."

She smiled softly, heart fluttering despite the chaos around them. "Then don't make me regret it. Come back."

"I will. It's nothing for me."

"I'll do more than wait," she said, eyes gleaming. "When you come back, I'm finishing what we started… in the shower."

He chuckled, kissed her forehead, and stepped to the edge.

Steve, leaning on his shield, said hoarsely, "You've got to stop that thing… before it's too late."

"I know. He took something that never belonged to him." Aiden's voice turned cold. "And I'm taking it back."

---

Below, the monster that was once Elliott had begun to transform.

He wasn't just channeling fear anymore—he was fear. With a scream that sounded like a thousand tortured bodies echoing in unison, his form surged, stretching into a hulking figure five or six meters tall. The twin knives crossed in front of him, one glowing with a sickening pale light, the other a void-like black. The two combined into a spiral—light and dark, fear and dread.

"Gray!" Elliott screamed, the name not a spell, but a declaration.

A wave of pure dread exploded from him, tearing up the ground and shattering glass a hundred meters in every direction. Cars crumpled. Pavement cracked. Trees wilted as if fearing his approach.

Thor staggered but didn't retreat.

His hammer raised to the sky, and for a heartbeat, it seemed as though he became lightning itself. Arcs of blue-white plasma raced along his body. His eyes glowed, burning with the storm.

"I AM THOR!" he bellowed. "YOU WILL NOT STAND AGAINST THE WRATH OF THE STORM!"

And he struck.

The hammer came down with a scream of thunder and an explosion of energy that rocked the very foundation of the city. Buildings nearby caved inward. The clouds split. Lightning tore the sky open like a curtain being drawn to reveal oblivion.

But Elliott met the strike with both knives—twisting and spinning, his monstrous form roaring with defiance.

Fear clashed with thunder.

Horror clashed with righteousness.

And between them, the air trembled.

From the rooftop, Natasha watched in awe, eyes wide.

"He's stronger than anything we've seen," Clint muttered.

Steve nodded grimly. "But so is Aiden."

BOOM! CRACK!

An apocalyptic thunderclap erupted across the battlefield as Thor's lightning clashed with the power of the fear Knives. The air split apart, screaming in pain, as divine energy collided with the corrupted fear. The impact unleashed a shockwave that vaporized windows across city blocks, sent vehicles spiraling into the air, and shattered steel frameworks like glass.

Aiden's eyes widened just as the rippling collision exploded. The roof beneath him groaned violently before the building began collapsing like a tower of cards. Aiden didn't hesitate—he grabbed Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, and Natasha Romanoff all at once, flinging them away from the rooftop just as the structure caved in.

"Damn it!" Aiden hissed mid-air, caught in the swirling chaos of shockwave and lightning. The Reality Ring around his finger shimmered, stabilizing the gravity around them with glowing threads of energy. He managed to hover, suspended in midair amidst a tornado of crumbling debris, twisted rebar, and ash.

All around him was devastation—smoke, flame, and silence.

Below, the ground had been cratered, split open from the sheer force of the supernatural duel. Aiden gently landed, setting down Steve, Clint, and Natasha onto a flat slab of concrete that had somehow survived.

"Stay here," he said, brushing dust off Natasha's cheek with a tenderness that felt out of place amidst the ruin. She grasped his wrist, her eyes burning—not with fear, but fierce devotion.

Then Aiden turned, his eyes narrowing as he approached the swirling wall of dust and power.

He raised his hand and with a pulse of dark green energy, the smoke was dispersed like a curtain parting.

There—amid the ruin—stood Thor Odinson, God of Thunder, his divine armor shattered and sparking. He was on one knee, struggling to rise, Hammer half-buried in the rubble beside him.

His cape was torn, one eye swollen, his lip bleeding. But even in this beaten state, his gaze remained defiant.

And opposite him… rose a monster.

Elliott, now in his hybrid form, was easily over five meters tall. His arms were wrapped in shadowy veins of energy, and the twin fear Knives were in his and without even crack. His once-human face had twisted, mutated, stretched—becoming something between a man and a demon.

"You're stronger than I expected," Thor rasped, coughing blood. "But you wield a power you don't understand. The blade isn't your servant—it's your master."

The Asgardian prince groaned, coughing up blood. For a brief moment, even he—Thor, son of Odin—felt the heavy weight of doubt and fear.

But just as Elliott turned toward him for the ready deliver blow after blow, a voice rang out.

"Enough."

It was calm. Clear. Undeniably certain.

Elliott turned… and Aiden landed.

Smoke hissed from the soles of his boots. His eyes shimmered with dark green energy. The energy surrounding him pulsed with something….

Thor, on his knees, looked up and whispered, "…You came."

Aiden never looked at him. His gaze was locked onto Elliott.

Suddenly, Elliott turned sharply, his black eyes narrowing on Aiden.

"You broke the rules," Aiden said coldly, his steps steady. "You touched what didn't belong to you."

Without another word, Elliott charged, the ground cracking beneath his monstrous feet.

"To suddenly attack me? You must be mad."

Aiden calmly raised his hand, and in a flash, the energy of the Reality Ring surged. A thick rope of brilliant dark greem light burst forth and entangled Elliott's legs mid-charge, yanking the monster forward and slamming him into the ground, sending up a wave of broken asphalt and shattered bone.

Elliott roared and slashed both fear Knives outward—but the moment he raised his arms, another rope of solidified hard light snapped out, binding his limbs behind his back like a condemned soul in chains.

Elliott spat, his face twisted with hatred.

Aiden said. "I'm not here to hold you. I'm here to take back what you stole."

With no hesitation, Aiden approached the bound titan, crouched down, and reached for the black fear Knife. Elliott growled and tightened his grip—but Aiden's foot pressed down hard on Elliott's wrist.

"Let go."

The Extremis virus in Aiden's body activated. His skin shimmered with molten heat, and flames engulfed Elliott's forearm. The demonic man howled in agony as his flesh began to burn. The smell of charred skin filled the air.

"AAARGHHH!"

Finally, the Fear Knife clattered to the ground.

Aiden picked it up.

The moment his hand wrapped around the hilt, Thor gasped from across the crater. "Don't—! Don't touch it! The blade… it corrupts! It takes! It devours your soul!"

But the moment passed.

Aiden stood there, the black knife glowing ominously in his hand—but he didn't change.

There was no demonic fusion. No aura of darkness. No corrupted scream.

Thor blinked. "You… you're not affected?"