"The Unlikely Alliance."

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Times Square, New York.

All around, massive screens were broadcasting footage of Superman fighting the Hulk.

And right in the middle of the square, another spectacular fight was happening live.

Captain America—shield in hand—was going toe-to-toe with a buff blond dude in ornate armor, wielding a massive silver hammer.

The two of them were locked in intense close-quarters combat, their shield and hammer clashing over and over again. Every time their free hands struck, it was with raw, relentless power—like they didn't even get tired. Every punch was solid, bone-crushing.

The shockwaves from their blows were insane. When hammer met shield, bursts of powerful energy rippled out in every direction.

Each shockwave packed enough punch to flip a car like it was nothing.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents who'd originally been standing nearby had all backed way off—at least dozens of meters away by now.

There was no way regular humans could get involved in a fight between these two superpowered monsters.

"Director, do you think Cap's gonna win?"

Coulson kept his eyes locked on the fight in the distance, his face full of concern for the man who was basically his hero.

"No matter how this ends, we need to prepare for the worst."

Nick Fury's voice was low and serious.

"Call in every S.H.I.E.L.D. unit in the area. Tell Rumlow to bring his whole strike team too."

As Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Fury had no choice but to think through the worst-case scenarios.

After giving those orders, Fury hesitated for a moment, clearly debating something in his mind.

BOOM!

Just then, another car got obliterated by the aftershock of the fight, and Fury finally made up his mind.

"And contact Barton. Tell him to bring the experimental gear. Now."

"But Director," Coulson said, clearly worried, "those prototypes haven't even been fully tested. If we reveal them now, we might—"

"We don't have time for that," Fury interrupted, eyes fixed on the battlefield, where Cap was clearly starting to struggle. "We have to end this mess—whatever it takes."

And as it turned out, Fury's instincts were spot-on.

Barely moments after his orders went out—

WHAM!

Captain America got launched by Thor.

He flew back a solid few dozen meters before slamming hard into a car.

The impact was so violent it left a huge dent in the car's reinforced, bulletproof frame. That alone showed how brutal the hit was.

Cap bounced off the car and hit the pavement with a heavy thud.

Turns out, while he'd managed to block Thor's hammer with his shield, his stamina was running low. He hadn't recovered fast enough and got nailed by a vicious kick from Thor right after.

"Ha! Warriors of Asgard are the strongest!"

Thor roared with laughter, raising his hammer triumphantly.

And he hadn't even used any divine power—just his bare strength. Even so, he'd managed to beat the super-soldier said to have pushed the limits of human potential.

"Cap!"

Some of the nearby agents gasped, watching their hero get wrecked.

"Director, we can't just stand here! We gotta take that guy down!"

One of the agents shouted, ready to charge at Thor.

"Wait—"

Nick Fury stopped them cold.

And just then, a new voice rang out:

"Hey! You haven't beaten me yet!"

In the next moment, Captain America, who had just been sent flying, slowly and painfully got back up from the ground.

Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, he tightened his grip on his shield and, step by slow step, walked steadily toward Thor.

Standing in front of the God of Thunder, Cap once again raised his shield and took a fighting stance."I can do this all day."

"Haha, I admire you more and more. You've earned my respect—I'll remember your name!"

Looking at Cap, whose will was as tough as nails, Thor's gaze finally lost all trace of mockery.

"I'm Steve Rogers, from Brooklyn."

"I'm Thor Odinson, son of Odin, All-Father of the Gods, from Asgard."

Facing a worthy opponent, Thor introduced himself properly and with pride.

"In Asgard, giving it your all is the highest form of respect for your opponent."

"So from this moment on, I'm going to unleash my full power—and defeat you completely!"

Thor's eyes turned serious. Out of respect, he'd decided to fight at full strength.

"Bring it on!"

Cap didn't back down one bit, his calm eyes burning with unshakable will.

An invisible pressure erupted between the two of them.

"The sky… it's getting dark!"

At that moment, a thick layer of storm clouds silently rolled across the sky. Thunder and lightning crackled within them, as if some terrifying force was building up.

And then—Thor's body slowly rose into the air, levitating without a single step.

CRACK!

A bolt of lightning exploded through the sky, and the storm clouds finally revealed their terrifying might.

A blinding silver-white lightning bolt shot down like a silver dragon tearing through the sky, striking Thor dead-on.

In an instant, arcs of silver lightning coiled and danced all around his body.

With Mjölnir raised high, Thor at that moment looked like a god of destruction, ready to wipe out everything.

"Come on. We humans are way tougher than you think."

Cap didn't take a single step back, even as he stared up at the full might of the Thunder God.

His chin held high in defiance, his eyes burning with unbreakable determination.

At that moment, Thor—who had gathered all his power and momentum—locked eyes with Cap like a sharpened arrow ready to be loosed.

And then, without warning, Thor exploded with terrifying energy and shot down toward Cap like a missile, moving at insane speed.

The lightning swirling around him trailed behind like a long silver ribbon.

But just as that devastating attack was about to crash into Cap, who was ready and waiting—

BOOM!

Two searing red beams—bright and blazing like fire—shot in from the distant horizon in the blink of an eye.

They were so fast that even Thor had no time to react—he was hit dead center.

The next second, the powerful impact from the beams sent Thor flying backward like a cannonball.

The force was so intense that it launched Thor straight through several buildings.

Only after crashing through a handful of buildings did he finally slow down.

BOOM!

But even then, the momentum didn't stop. Thor slammed hard into another building, completely bringing it down. The collapsing structure buried him beneath a pile of rubble.

"Was that… Superman?!"

At that moment, everyone—including Cap—stopped watching Thor and instead turned to look at the tall figure speeding toward them from the sky.

THUD!

In the blink of an eye, that figure landed right in front of them—faster than even their eyes could follow.

"Heh, no wonder superheroes love landing like this. Gotta admit, it does look pretty badass."

Having just pulled off the classic superhero landing, Peter couldn't help but admire the move. Who cares if your knees hurt—it looked cool as hell.

"So this is the guy who wanted to challenge me?"

Peter slowly stood upright, looking at the buried figure of Thor, and spoke in a low, serious tone.

"Director, you really had the foresight to evacuate everyone within several miles of here ahead of time. If you hadn't…"

Standing beside Nick Fury, Coulson stared at the multiple buildings Thor had just smashed through and couldn't help but admire him.

"But honestly… I'm starting to think we didn't clear out enough of the area…"

"You're… that human hero from up there—Superman?"

Seeing the striking figure land right in front of him, Cap couldn't help but hold his breath. He pointed at a large screen nearby showing the scene and asked, almost in disbelief.

Hearing the voice, Peter slowly turned around. His gaze lingered on Cap for a second, then moved across to the rest of the people in the distance.

"No. You guys are the real heroes."

"....."