Marvel's Strongest Mage

The battlefield held its breath.

Sif's sword, still vibrating with divine energy, pinned the Destroyer to the scorched sand. For one fleeting moment, it seemed the nightmare had ended. The molten glow in the furnace of its face dimmed. The unnatural hum of divine machinery grew silent.

Thor, battered but standing, tightened his grip on Mjolnir. Stark lowered his gauntlets, panting. Coulson, after some hesitation, jogged toward the site from the rim of the impact zone, eyes wide with awe.

"Is it... shut down?" Jane whispered, standing beside Selvig and Sagway, who were already prepping for evacuation. Stark looked back and gave her a quick nod.

"For now. Let's not poke it."

But Coulson had other ideas. He accelerated the SUV toward the wreckage, unable to hide the curiosity glittering in his eyes. He'd seen alien tech before, but this? This was something else.

Then it happened.

The furnace reignited.

It was subtle at first—a flicker of orange, then a roar of flame.

Whhhrrrk... the sound of shifting metal rang through the desert like a thunderclap.

The armor moved.

In a grotesque display of fluid motion, the chest plate twisted 180 degrees, the limbs flexed as though made of molten mercury. The sword embedded in its core snapped free and flung to the side.

The furnace aperture locked onto Sif, who stood frozen above it.

There was a whine—an intake of energy—and then the world lit up.

FZZZZSHHHHH!

A beam of destruction, searing white and edged in infernal red, tore through the air. Sif barely moved in time. The blast scorched past her cheek, vaporizing a strand of hair. The shockwave hurled her backward like a doll, her armor scraping across the gravel and flame.

"Pull back! All of you! Get clear!" she shouted, the command raw and sharp in her throat.

The desert exploded with renewed violence.

Beams of light, arcs of electricity, and streaks of Stark's palm blasts tangled in a dance of survival and fire. Explosions cratered the dunes. The fight became a spectacle for every satellite watching, every intelligence agency glued to the feed.

But somewhere beneath the sand and stone, Daniel watched in silence.

Still cloaked in his illusion, his mana reserves were recovering slowly. He made no move.

Not yet.

His eyes, half-lidded, traced the path of the battle. He could see it clearly now: Odin's hand in this. The Destroyer wasn't just a weapon. It was a lesson. A trial. One meant for Thor. Not him.

Intervening too early would only paint a target on his back.

And yet...

Too many were watching him now. Too many forces, both human and divine, had turned their gaze toward the man who could etch the Rainbow Bridge onto Earth. They wanted him. Needed him. And feared him.

So he would have to act.

But smartly.

A single decisive strike. One display of power. Enough to remind them he was not to be trifled with. Not so much that Odin would consider him a threat.

He just needed the right moment.

The moment came with a scream of fury and flame.

Thor had just regained his footing when the Destroyer unleashed another beam.

This time, the beam hit home.

BOOOOOOM!

Mjolnir deflected most of it, but the sheer force of the blast knocked Thor a hundred meters through the air. He tumbled across the sand, his hammer clattering away, half-buried in the dirt.

Stark dove in to assist. His gauntlets lit with blue light, repulsor energy humming to capacity.

"Come on, big guy," he muttered. "Let's see what your circuits think of 300% unibeam."

He fired.

A continuous, blinding stream of energy slammed into the Destroyer's torso.

It didn't budge.

Ping...ping...ping... Bits of armor glowed cherry red under the barrage, but they didn't melt. They didn't crack.

Then the furnace flared.

Before Stark could blink, a crimson beam punched through the air and slammed into his chest.

THWUMP! He spiraled backward like a ragdoll, skimming the earth. The energy was so intense that it launched him up again, tumbling head over heels.

In the White House, the President had seen enough.

"Do we have eyes on space-based weapons? What's the nuclear readiness status for New Mexico?"

No one answered immediately.

The Desert stood at the brink.

And still, the Destroyer marched.

Its heavy, metallic footfalls ate the distance toward Thor. Flames surged behind its mask as the furnace grew brighter with every step.

Thor raised a trembling arm. Mjolnir responded, but too slowly.

FWOOOOOOOOSH!

Another beam.

Sand vaporized. The air burned.

Mjolnir was knocked aside mid-flight, crashing into a nearby hill.

The Destroyer loomed above Thor now.

Ready to end him.

Back on Asgard, Loki clenched the Spear of Eternity. His knuckles were white.

He stared at the image projected on the throne room floor, breath shallow.

He could do it. He could finally do it.

Kill Thor.

But why did his hands tremble?

A flicker.

A glint of white.

Loki snapped his gaze back.

Too late.

A streak of lightning, thin and impossibly fast, danced across the sky like a spirit. It wove and twisted, darted down, and shot straight into the furnace aperture.

BOOOOM!

The explosion inside the Destroyer sounded like a star collapsing.

Loki screamed.

"DAMN IT!"

He slammed the Spear into the throne floor.

The Destroyer staggered. Smoke hissed from its seams. Its inner systems spasmed.

Daniel stood, hand still outstretched, a faint trail of static humming at his fingertips.

He had waited long enough.

The attack had been precise, delicate. He had timed it with Loki's moment of doubt. And it had worked. The internal core had been damaged.

But not destroyed.

Thor, bruised and bleeding, lifted his head.

He saw Daniel —saw him standing over the dune, cloak rippling.

"You're late," Thor croaked.

Daniel smirked. "You're welcome."

The furnace flared again.

Daniel spun, arms widening.

Thunder cracked.

A lattice of lightning snapped into place—a crude shield. The destruction beam slammed into it, fizzled, and dispersed into the sky.

But that... that was his limit.

He collapsed to one knee, breathing hard.

Behind him, Thor called on Mjolnir and clashed with the Destroyer again.

However, in the blink of an eye, it struck him with its beam that Thor failed to block it.

BOOM

A huge beam vaporized everything in it's pathway, including Thor.

"NO!!", Jane shrieked in horror, "DONALD!!!!!"