Thor frowned, glancing between them. "Enough riddles. If he threatens the Realms, I'll crush him here and now!"

But Loki raised a hand slightly. "No… not yet." His tone had shifted, less playful, more wary. "You might want to think twice before swinging that hammer. This one," he said, eyes narrowing on Taufik, "isn't something you can simply strike down"

Loki's words were meant as a warning, a subtle reminder to his 'nephew' not to act rashly.

But to Thor, it sounded like something else entirely.

An insult.

As if Loki had just said: Step back. You're too weak to face him.

*Crackle!*

Lightning exploded around Thor's frame, dancing wildly across his armor like a living storm. The sky above darkened in response, rumbling with raw fury.

Loki's expression faltered. He had forgotten, any warning, no matter how well-intentioned, only sounded like provocation to the God of Thunder.

"…'Isn't something I can simply strike down?'" Thor repeated, his voice sharp, his gaze sharper still. "We won't know that... until I try"

Before anyone could react, Thor lunged.

The ground split beneath his feet as divine lightning surged forward, his figure blurring into a streak of storm and rage.

Loki cursed under his breath and vanished into mist, already regretting his words.

Thalia and Elaria froze, color drained from their faces as the sheer pressure of Thor's charge tore through the air like a collapsing sky.

But just before the thunder struck.

Taufik moved.

He appeared directly before them, calm as ever, one hand raised casually. A faint smile curved his lips as a veil of darkness unfurled from his palm, swallowing Thalia and Elaria whole.

The world bent, sound and light fading into silence.

Within that void, they were untouchable, safe, even if the heavens themselves fell apart.

Then-

*CRACK! BOOM!!*

The world split apart.

Thor's descent was not movement... it was impact.

Lightning ripped through the sky, carving jagged veins of white fire through the heavens as Mjolnir came down like judgment itself.

The forest evaporated into cinders. The ground cratered, molten glass blooming beneath his feet as the hammer struck.

Yet...

When the blinding light cleared, Taufik was still standing.

Untouched.

He hadn't even moved.

His right hand hung loosely at his side, and before him, the air shimmered, not with power, but with absence.

The hammer's divine force, the thunder, the storm, all of it had simply stopped, dissolving before it could reach him.

Reality itself refused to carry the impact.

Thor blinked. "What-"

Taufik's gaze lifted, meeting his with quiet curiosity.

"You swing it well," he said softly, "but you're forcing the world to obey your strength… I prefer when the world obeys on its own"

He raised a finger.

*Tap*

A soundless pulse spread outward, no flash, no flame, just an idea striking the air like a concept being rewritten.

Thor was thrown backward before his senses could even register it, a single, effortless repulse that sent him crashing through trees, rock, and sky alike.

Lightning flared wildly in protest as the God of Thunder righted himself mid-air, fury igniting in his eyes.

"Trickery!" he roared. "You dare mock me with illusions?!"

Taufik's expression didn't change. "If it were an illusion, you wouldn't still be falling"

He flicked his hand.

The crater around him rose, no, inverted, as the ground folded inward like the universe exhaling. For a heartbeat, gravity forgot its direction. The storm above hesitated, uncertain which way was down.

From the rift between realms, Loki exhaled a low breath.

"…He's not manipulating magic," he murmured. "He's… editing the world. What kind of power is this?"

Thor landed again, fury radiating with each step. His voice thundered, shaking the trees back into ash.

"I've fought titans, devourers, even Jörmungandr itself! You're no god I know!"

Taufik tilted his head.

"I'm not," he said. "And that's what makes this fair. I don't even know what I am right now"

Mjolnir spun, faster, brighter, the runes blazing like miniature suns. The sky went black from its radiance. Lightning gathered into a single spear as Thor lunged again, his roar tearing through creation itself.

But this time, as the hammer came down...

Taufik raised his hand.

And caught it.

The sound stopped.

The lightning died.

The storm went silent.

Even the echo of thunder ceased to exist.

Mjolnir trembled in his grasp, sparks biting at the edges of his fingers, but Taufik's hand didn't move an inch.

Then, quietly:

"…Ah." His eyes glowed faintly, serene. "So this is the divine weapon. Beautiful craftsmanship. Shame it's still bound by causality"

He twisted his wrist.

Mjolnir shattered.

Not broken, undone.

Fragments of divine light disassembled into their base runes, scattering upward like dust caught in sunlight.

Thor stumbled back, stunned, disbelief raw in his eyes.

"You-" But words failed him.

Taufik sighed softly, brushing his palm as if wiping away the remnants of an equation.

"What a shame," he said gently. "You shouldn't have tried"

Thor didn't back down.

Even without Mjolnir, even with his weapon unmade before his very eyes, the God of Thunder still roared in challenge. His fists crackled with naked lightning, his eyes burning with that primal fury that no defeat could extinguish.

"God or not," he snarled, stepping forward as divine blood seethed in his veins, "I'll break you with my own hands!"

And he lunged.

No divine tool, no blessing from Odin, only his will, his rage, and the storm that lived within his flesh. Every step he took shattered the ground, the air splitting under the pressure of his sheer presence.

Taufik didn't move until the last moment.

Then he smiled, small, faint, almost like someone accepting an invitation he couldn't refuse.

He raised his hand.

Impact.

The collision didn't sound like thunder, it sounded like the sky folding.

When their fists met, the air collapsed inward. Space warped around the contact, forming a silent implosion before bursting outward in a wave that erased everything in its path.

Thor's punch carried the weight of storms, of every tempest that ever raged across the Nine Realms. Taufik's counter carried nothing, no energy, no resistance, only intent.

And yet, it was the storm that yielded first.

Thor staggered back, lightning scattering from his arm like splintered glass. His knuckles smoked, the divine energy within him faltering under the sheer conceptual rejection that Taufik embodied.

Taufik exhaled softly, lowering his hand. "You don't hold back, do you?"

"Never," Thor growled, his breath heavy but unbroken. "That's what makes me Thor"

"…Yes," Taufik murmured. "And that's what makes you predictable"

Before Thor could blink, Taufik vanished. Not teleported... But erased from his current position. The next instant, he was behind Thor, his voice almost apologetic.

"Your strength relies on being answered by the world. But what if the world stops answering?"

He pressed two fingers to Thor's back.

Silence.

The lightning within Thor flickered... and died.

The sky above cleared, the storm unraveling like smoke.

For the first time in his immortal life, Thor felt what it was like to move without the storm's roar behind him, hollow, human, fragile.

He dropped to one knee, breath harsh, sweat steaming from his skin.

Taufik watched him quietly, his tone neither cruel nor triumphant. "You fight like a god should. But the world you draw power from doesn't recognize me"

He turned slightly, glancing at Loki's direction, his voice calm. "That's why I said it was fair"

Loki, for once, said nothing. His smirk had vanished, replaced with a look of pure calculation, and beneath that, something close to fear.

"…So you," Taufik continued, eyes still fixed on the space where Loki hid between rifts, "will you come out now... or wait until I kill him?"

A flicker of movement, the distortion in the air trembled. Loki gulped.

This feeling, terror, was foreign to him.

He had mocked gods, deceived kings, and laughed at death itself. Yet now, it was he who stood frozen, being looked down upon like an insect.

He glanced at his nephew, Thor, now on one knee, gasping, the light of divinity drained from his body. It was as if the very godhood in him had been stripped away, leaving only flesh and breath.

"Hy-"

"I-We surrender," Loki blurted out, stepping out of the rift with hands raised.

"Good," Taufik nodded, as though that was the most natural outcome. "Now come here and take this guy back with you to Asgard"

"…Excuse me?" Loki stammered, unsure if he had heard correctly. "You're... letting us go? Just like that?"

Taufik's eyes slid toward him, expression unreadable. "Hmm? You want to die first or something?"

"N-No! No! No!" Loki quickly shook his head, his tone bordering on panic.

"Heh~ You don't have to worry," Taufik said casually, pointing at the downed Thor. "I've already marked this guy. I'll stay here in Midgard for a while… and later, I'll come visit Asgard myself"

'Marked him?' Loki thought, his stomach twisting. He could feel it, something etched deep within Thor's essence, like a black brand pulsing beneath his skin. Taufik wasn't bluffing.

Now hesitation crept in. 'Should I even take him back?'

"What are you waiting for?" Taufik's voice cut through the silence, smooth, but carrying a weight that made the air itself shiver. "Take him. And go back to Asgard"

It wasn't a request. It was an order.

And before this being, saying "no" felt like an invitation to die.

Left with no choice, Loki swallowed hard, stepped forward, and pulled Thor's arm over his shoulder. The god of thunder was heavy, unconscious but breathing.

Loki looked up toward the heavens, voice steady but low.

"Heimdall…" he called.

The air above them rippled faintly, golden light bleeding through the clouds, an echo of the Bifrost preparing to open.

....

...

..

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