For perhaps the first time in their lives, Earth's leaders were witnessing the Hulk being utterly overpowered.
And they were terrified.
Was humanity really that insignificant in the eyes of alien civilizations?
For decades, the people who governed nations had operated under the assumption that humanity controlled its own destiny. They trusted in military power, technological advancement, and above all else, nuclear weapons.
To many of them, a nuclear warhead was the ultimate solution.
If one nuke couldn't solve a problem, two probably could.
But reality was proving far harsher.
Against the unknown powers emerging throughout the universe, humanity's weapons suddenly looked inadequate.
The possibility that Earth might be incapable of defending itself against an extraterrestrial threat was enough to keep even the most powerful people awake at night.
"Looks like it's my turn."
Drex Valen rose from his seat.
"Huh?"
The assembled officials stared at him.
They knew Drex had once defeated two Hulks at the same time.
But the Destroyer had just overwhelmed an entire army of them.
Could even he handle that thing?
Before anyone could stop him, Drex vanished.
The next moment, he appeared on the battlefield.
Scattered across the desert behind him were battered Hulks lying in craters and trenches.
The scene looked like the aftermath of a natural disaster.
Inside Asgard, Loki nearly choked.
"Another one?!"
But then he calmed himself.
So what if another giant had appeared?
He had the Destroyer.
The invincible Destroyer.
No matter how many giants Midgard sent...
Then he saw Drex raise a fist.
The punch never physically touched the armor.
It didn't need to.
BOOM!
The air exploded.
A terrifying shockwave erupted from Drex's strike and smashed into the Destroyer.
The impact rippled outward in every direction.
From above, a vast ring of dust expanded across the desert.
The shockwave grew larger and larger until it became a roaring sandstorm stretching toward the horizon.
The force transmitted through the Destroyer and plunged deep underground.
Bedrock shattered.
The earth split apart.
A massive crack opened beneath the Destroyer's feet like the jaws of some ancient monster.
The fissure widened rapidly, separating Drex and the armor as the desert itself tore apart.
Everyone stared in stunned silence.
The world leaders.
The Hulks.
Thor.
Even Loki.
Their jaws hung open.
"Director Hiss is... that strong?"
The Destroyer quickly reactivated and recalibrated itself.
But before it could fully recover, Drex disappeared.
A blur.
A flash.
Then he was standing directly in front of it.
His fist struck first.
The Destroyer's helmet caved inward as the armor was launched backward at even greater speed.
BOOM!
Hundreds of meters of sand exploded into the air.
The impact resembled a meteor crashing into the earth.
A gigantic crater formed where the armor landed.
Drex wasn't finished.
He flashed forward again.
The Destroyer had barely regained its footing when Drex appeared behind it.
His clasped fists descended like a warhammer.
CRASH!
The blow smashed the Destroyer straight into the ground.
Even Loki could see it now.
The supposedly indestructible armor had developed a visible dent in its back plating.
Then Drex planted his feet.
Power surged around him.
"KA... ME... HA... ME... HAAAAA!"
His hands moved to his side.
Two brilliant spheres of white energy formed between his palms.
The aura surrounding him erupted outward.
Then he thrust both hands forward.
The energy spheres merged.
Power flooded the attack.
And then it fired.
BOOM!
A pillar of blinding white energy tore across the desert.
Dust exploded upward on both sides of Drex as the beam consumed everything in its path.
Loki watched through the Destroyer's senses.
His eyes widened.
The beam swallowed the armor completely.
Then came the detonation.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Thousands of meters away, a brilliant flash lit up the horizon.
Moments later, a mushroom cloud climbed into the sky.
The wind arrived afterward.
Drex's coat snapped violently as the shockwave rolled back across the battlefield.
The earth trembled continuously beneath everyone's feet.
BOOOOOOM!
Silver-white light exploded across the desert.
The energy blast pulverized everything within miles.
For a brief second, the world seemed frozen.
Then the shockwave surged outward with unstoppable force.
The desert was turned upside down.
The ground sank more than ten meters.
Massive cracks spread endlessly in every direction.
Even the clouds overhead vanished.
All that remained was a sky choked with sand.
When everything finally settled, a colossal impact crater dominated the landscape.
The Destroyer Armor had been defeated.
"No... that's impossible..."
Loki stared in disbelief.
Its defeat meant his plan had failed.
Back on Earth, every witness remained stunned by the display.
The armor that had overwhelmed an army of Hulks had been crushed by a single man.
Drex glanced around.
"What are you all standing there for? Start cleaning up the battlefield."
Only then did everyone snap out of their daze.
Recovery teams immediately moved in.
The damaged Destroyer Armor was secured and transported away by the Administration.
Thor stood silently, staring at the wreckage.
He had never imagined that the people of Midgard could defeat the Destroyer.
This wasn't the Midgard he remembered.
Humanity had become capable of defending itself.
Drex looked toward the sky.
Most people assumed he was striking a dramatic pose.
In reality, his super vision was focused far beyond Earth.
Straight toward Asgard.
After the Destroyer's defeat, Odin had forcibly awakened from the Odin-Sleep.
The Allfather stopped Loki's attempt to use the Bifrost to destroy Jotunheim and personally subdued him.
The Rainbow Bridge survived.
Loki was imprisoned instead of falling into the void.
And as a result...
Thor remained on Earth.
Drex smiled faintly and turned toward the exiled prince.
"Prince of Asgard."
Thor looked up.
"You may not be able to lift Mjolnir right now... but tell me."
Drex's expression resembled a devil offering temptation.
"Do you desire power?"
Thor's eyes lit up instantly.
"Power? What kind of power?"
Of course he wanted power.
If he could regain his strength, he could return to Asgard and protect his father.
That was all he wanted.
Several hours later, driven by pure enthusiasm and a deeply Asgardian respect for strength, Thor found himself walking directly into one of Drex's laboratories.
Drex was genuinely curious.
What kind of Hulk would Thor become?
A Thunder Hulk?
Nearby, Dr. Banner watched with the exhausted expression of a man who had seen far too much.
Another volunteer.
Another experiment.
Another day.
The Hulk Serum entered Thor's bloodstream.
Almost immediately, Thor began screaming.
His Asgardian divine bloodline violently rejected the serum.
The two powers clashed within his body.
His muscles swelled.
Lightning erupted uncontrollably.
For a brief moment, it looked as though Thor might explode from the strain.
Fortunately, Drex was present.
Using his own abilities, he forcibly stabilized the process and merged the two conflicting power sources.
Then Thor suddenly roared.
"My godly power!"
Lightning exploded from his body.
The restraints around him groaned under the strain.
Only the vibranium construction of the facility prevented him from breaking free.
His body expanded rapidly.
Muscles bulged.
Bones thickened.
Golden fur erupted across green skin.
Crackling arcs of lightning wrapped around his massive frame.
A new Hulk stood within the chamber.
A thunder-wreathed giant radiating divine power.
Thor stared at his hands in disbelief.
"So much power..."
The lightning dancing through his body felt stronger than ever before.
Stronger than when he had wielded Mjolnir.
For the first time in his life, he could feel every current of divine energy within himself.
Every spark.
Every surge.
His control over his own power had never been this complete.