Chapter 113: The Magic Rock
Tony pressed the top of the small white capsule and tossed it into the dirt.
A sharp crack echoed across the crater, followed by a thick puff of white smoke. When it cleared, a compact matte-black scanning rig sat fully assembled in the dirt, three mechanical arms folded around a central display.
Several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents on the ridge flinched, tightening their grips on their rifles.
"Capsule tech, Phil," Tony said cheerfully, stepping out of his armor as the suit cracked open at the back. He walked down the dusty slope in a Black Sabbath T-shirt and dark jeans. "Tell Fury to update his Christmas list. It's going to retail for more than his annual budget."
Coulson entered something on his tablet without changing expression. "Noted."
Tony walked up to the array and tapped a holographic interface. A grid of blue lasers washed over the gray warhammer resting on the pedestal of fused dirt.
For ten seconds, the machinery hummed quietly. Then, the primary monitor flickered, spat out a string of red error codes, and violently shut down.
Tony frowned and tapped the dead screen.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., why is Merlinbreaker throwing a tantrum?"
J.A.R.V.I.S.'s voice came from the empty Iron Man suit on the ridge. "The hammer's weight appears ordinary, Sir, but every scan stops at the surface."
Tony pulled a small wrench from the side of the rig. "Meaning?"
"Merlinbreaker can detect an enchantment. It cannot see through it."
Tony stared at the hammer. "So the magic rock is refusing to cooperate."
"It's called Uru," Ethan said, walking down the slope to join him. "Asgardians forge it with the heat of a dying star. Magic sticks to it better than almost any metal I know."
Tony crossed his arms, looking from Ethan to the hammer. "Sentient metallurgy. Great. Exactly what I needed tonight."
"It's not sentient," Ethan corrected. "It's enchanted. Odin placed a worthiness spell on the handle. If the hammer rejects you, it simply refuses to move. No bigger engine, no stronger cable, no clever workaround."
Tony raised an eyebrow. "So it's a magic hammer with parental issues."
"Basically," Ethan agreed.
Up on the ridge, Gwen stood beside Natasha, watching the exchange.
Her spider-sense was working normally again. The amulet only stopped her presence from leaking outward, though the strange pressure surrounding the hammer still made the hairs on her arms rise.
She watched Ethan explain the hammer to one of the smartest men on the planet. Tony Stark hated being told anything, yet he was actually listening. Even the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents waited for Ethan's judgment before moving closer.
Gwen had always known Ethan was powerful. Seeing Stark and S.H.I.E.L.D. quietly make room for his authority was different. It reminded her that there were still entire pieces of his life she had barely seen.
She hated how much of Ethan's world still sat beyond her reach. This time, she stayed close and paid attention.
Down in the crater, Ethan turned to look at Coulson.
"Tell your people to shut down the excavation equipment," Ethan said. "No drills, cutting tools, or attempts to take a sample."
"Director Fury wants to know what it's made of," Coulson replied.
"Scan it all you want," Ethan said. "Just don't try to cut into it. Best case, every tool you use breaks. Worst case, its owner considers that vandalism."
Coulson studied Ethan's face for two seconds, then touched his earpiece.
"Command, cancel the excavation rigs. Observation only until further notice."
He lowered his hand and offered Ethan a mild nod.
Natasha watched from the ridge, her arms folded over her tactical vest. Coulson eventually looked her way.
"You missed your check-in, Romanoff."
"I was busy."
Coulson glanced toward Gwen, then back at Natasha. "Fury noticed."
"I assumed he would."
"And the Rushman cover?"
"Gone."
Coulson held her gaze for a moment. "Director Fury will want to discuss that."
"He knows where to find me."
Coulson let the matter drop and turned back toward the crater.
A low rumble of thunder rolled across the desert.
Gwen looked up. The sky had been clear ten minutes ago. Now, thick, bruised storm clouds were rapidly rolling in, blotting out the stars and throwing a heavy, unnatural darkness over Puente Antiguo.
The air suddenly turned cold. Rain began hammering the crater, turning the dry dirt into mud within seconds."J.A.R.V.I.S., tell me that's a natural weather front," Tony said, wiping a drop of rain off his forehead.
"Negative, Sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. replied. "No storm was forecast. These clouds formed directly above the facility in less than thirty seconds."
Ethan narrowed his eyes at the sky.
Before he could speak, Coulson's radio crackled loudly.
"Command, this is Checkpoint Four. We have a perimeter breach."
Coulson raised a hand to his earpiece. "How many? Any vehicles?"
Static hissed over the line, followed by the sound of heavy impacts and men shouting.
"Negative! It's one guy! He's tearing right through the barricade—" The radio cut out with a loud crash of breaking plastic and metal.
Coulson looked at the S.H.I.E.L.D. tactical monitor mounted on a nearby folding table. Ethan and Tony walked up the muddy incline to look at the screen.
The low-light security feed from the outer perimeter showed a chaotic mess in the rain. A broad-shouldered blond man in a mud-stained flannel shirt was marching straight toward the crater. Three armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents rushed him. They barely slowed him. He caught the first by the tactical vest and threw him into the mud, ducked the second man's baton, and dropped him with a clean right cross.
Tony watched the blond man dismantle trained agents with his bare hands.
"Well," Tony said. "Who's the Viking?"
Ethan stared at the monitor as the blond man forced his way through the rain, his eyes locked on the distant floodlights surrounding the crater.
Ethan let out a slow breath.
"That would be the owner," he said.
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