Issue #17

(For those that are asking why Jack is betting Jotunheim even though he is the ruler, same reason why Morgan bet Avalon even though she became the ruler. They want 2 more realms so they must put up a fair wager in return. The Alliance is not just going to say 'well we will bet two our realms but have no chance of getting anything in return'.)

Thor cried out as he felt his leg shatter. But Jack didn't stop. He repaired Thor's leg before striking another part of the god's body. This process of destruction and reconstruction repeated for 5 days.

During these 5 days, Thor was brought to the brink of despair and insanity. The pain made him want to give up then and there.

'No! I can't just surrender and allow him to... Wait? Why are we fighting over Jotunheim? Why did Father send me to fight here? This is not our battle. The Giants must learn to fight for themselves.

They have been trying to invade and kill us for years but we must help the... No! This is you, isn't it, Jack?! I am no coward that would back down from a battle!'

"You can only blame me partially. I didn't force you to say exactly that. I just brought your truest thoughts to the surface. The ones you keep buried beneath your pride," Jack said out loud as he took another swing with Mjölnir.

This last hit was aimed at Thor's head. The entire head exploded into a red, white, and pink mist. Thor instantly lost his consciousness once more.

This time when he woke up, he was in a place that was all too familiar to him. Where his greatest loss had occurred before he got a lucky shot in. Thor was in a cave with dozens of other corpses. Both he and the corpses were hanging from the ceiling by two hooks in their arms.

Out of the shadows, an alien with a white body and black hood walked out. One of his hands was covered in a black blade that scraped across the ground as he slowly approached Thor.

The god of thunder looked at the being that approached him in fear.

"Well, little god. You have been able to withstand the previous 17 days without breaking. Can you make it through the 18th?" Gorr asked with a twisted smile on his face

Jack was invisible while floating on the side as he watched the nightmare begin.

'Hopefully, this breaks him. I really don't want to put in any more effort in trying to get him to surrender.'

Jack was a telepath on a level that could rival the strongest of Omega-level mutants but he, like all mortal telepaths, had a single weakness. Transcendent beings.

Transcendent beings had complicated minds that most mortals could not even perceive yet alone understand. Only Omega-level telepaths had a chance to enter their minds. But even someone of Jack's level could only do so much.

At his current level, Jack could only enter and control Thor's subconscious for up to 13 seconds. He had already used 1 during the time he tried to break him with the hammer so that meant he had about 60 days left inside of Thor's mind to break him down and force him to surrender before he had to actually fight the god of thunder.

'Let's see. We have Gorr, disappointing his father, Ragnarok, the Warrior's Madness, and becoming unworthy. He truly doesn't have many fears. This should be enough for another 60 days, though.'

Jack had Gorr continue torturing Thor for 7 more days while instilling thoughts that what Gorr was doing was right. How he had only become like he was because the gods had failed him. These feelings washed over Thor and he couldn't help but think that they were true.

'How many times have I ignored calls for help because I wanted to drink? Or because I was in a brawl? Am I truly so useless?'

Before Thor could come to a conclusion, his thoughts were interrupted by a noise coming from outside. Thor saw Gorr running away to hide in the shadows. Soon, he saw that the Warriors 3 had arrived. And they saw him as well.

Thor wanted to warn them but his mouth was covered.

"By the gods, Thor. We didn't know you got down like this..." before Fandral could finish his sentence, a black blade stabbed through his skull from the side. The other two tried to pull out their weapons but before they could, they were also cut down.

Thor cried out in anguish as he saw some of his closest friends killed before his eyes. He saw red. With strength coming from his depths, rage filled Thor's heart and mind.

'I'll kill you!'

Thor flexed his arms, causing the chains that held his body in place to break in half. Thor didn't summon his ax or call for thunder. Instead, he charged right at Gorr and punched the being in his face, sending him flying through the cave.

But Thor was not done. He flew after Gorr and began to beat the God Butcher mercilessly. Even After Gorr was long dead, Thor did not stop. His rage could not be stopped.

Summoning his hammer, Thor took his rage out on his fellow gods. Flying from nation to nation, Thor would wipe out entire pantheons in a state of bloodlust. There was only one thought going through his mind the entire time.

'You all are to blame for my torture. You all must die for that!'

The rumors of the God Butcher had grown even larger than when Gorr was committing the crimes. So Thor was now pinned with both his and Gorr's crimes on his head. For weeks, Thor was unstoppable. That was until the Skyfathers intervened in the matter.

As Thor was wiping out a small group of several Sky Fathers showed up, Zeus and Odin being the strongest among them.

"Enough, Thor!"

Thor was still under the influence of the Warrior's Madness so he couldn't hear his father. Instead, he summoned thunder and charged at the older gods.

Since he was unable to understand the reason, the others did not bother trying to talk to him anymore. They simply put him down. Thor tried his best to resist but against this group of gods, he was simply not their match.

Lying on the ground before them, Thor looked up at his father with regret in his eyes. He had broken out of the madness but he still remembered everything he had done. All the innocent lives he had taken. All those who begged for mercy. The last moments of those he called brothers and sisters.

"You have killed other gods. You have disgraced yourself, Asgardians, gods, and me most of all!" Odin yelled at Thor

"For this, I shall strip you of your divinity!" Odin fired a beam of magical energy that cursed Thor by sealing his divinity.

"I shall banish you from Asgard!" another beam placed a curse on Thor which would not allow him to leave Midgard

"I declare you, The Unworthy!" one last blast caused Thor to feel weaker than all of the others

The Sky Fathers left with a flash. The only things they left behind were Thor and a hammer in their place.

Thor looked at the hammer and felt a craving. A need from deep within his soul.

The former god walked forward as he tried to lift the hammer. But even as he used all of his strength, he could not wield it. Thor even threw his back out while trying to lift the hammer.

Collapsed on the ground, Thor laid next to the hammer with desire in his eyes. From the handle to the edge, it looked like the most beautiful weapon to him. It was then that Thor noticed what was written on the side.

[Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.]

And that was when it connected to Thor. What Odin's last words meant. He had not just sealed Thor's powers and banished him. He had truly stripped him of his birthright. Of his own name. And he was willing to give that away to anyone other than Thor as long as they proved themselves.

This was the straw that broke the camel's back. Jack could feel that Thor had truly collapsed and left the god's mind.

When he was outside, Jack looked around as he saw both sides looking at the two men puzzled. Especially when Thor collapsed. Because for the past 13 seconds, they were just standing still.

But that silence only lasted a few moments before Gaea's voice could be heard.

"The third round shall go to Jack Frost and Jotunheim shall be under his rule for the next 100 years! This I decree!"