Interlude 14

(Other Thor)

 

1 hour after Jean left…
Royal Palace of Valaskjalf 

 

Meanwhile, back on Asgard…

Two strangers appeared out of thin air, one was a giant of a blonde man but with chubby features; the other individual  was a raccoon with futuristic fashioned clothes orange in color. They infiltrated the palace with ease and guile. The handsome pot bellied man was reminiscing about his time in these very halls as walked into the corridors, dodging guards and officials alike.

Once more unto the breach. Thor had thought that he would be done with the Infinity Stone and the mad purple titan but he was once enticed to come back to do his duty. If he did this quest, then he would be able to bring back everyone erased by Thanos’ snap. Thanks to the man of iron’s new machine, they could all finally go back in time and obtain the damned stone and bring back everyone.

That’s how he found himself on old Asgard; after skulking about for hours, Rocket and Thor could finally enter the palace after that terrible storm in the Quantum Realm allowed them to appear in this timeline. It had been strange to be back in his birthplace. The air was different though, the strength given to him by the Odin Force was also stronger than he remembered.

There were more female guards than he remembered as well, why did they all have white hair and wore armor with golden long tailed birds embossed on their breastplates? However, something smells fishy when Thor found a child strangely looking like Loki in childhood accompanying his mother toward her gardens.

The child stopped walking with Frigga and then turned toward him, he hid behind the pillar but quickly heard the pitter patter of light feet coming toward him. The child stopped next to him and then called out, “Mother, look it’s Thor. Though I think he ate Volstagg.”

That whiny voice! It was just like Loki in his younger years! Thor then felt a finger poking him from behind and heard a familiar female voice. “What are you doing?”

“Aah!!!” Thor and Frigga shouted together.

“Can you two stop?” Loki asked with a deadpan expression.

Thor couldn’t help but laugh. “OH, God! Loki, why are you so puny?”

Loki sighed, looked at his mother and asked her, “Permission to curse him, mother?”

“Denied.” Frigga declared.

Loki pouted, making Thor laugh even more. The fat god of thunder reached down for Loki but Frigga batted away his hand. “You're better off not wanting to prank your brother, Thor.”

“Why is he a child again?” Thor asked.

Frigga facepalmed. “Thor…”

“What are you doing here?” Loki asked with suspicion in his eyes.

“Yeah, um I was simply just going for a walk, and uh…”  It’s been so long since he had seen them alive, he doesn’t know how to confront them.

Frigga frowned at his attire. “What are you wearing?”

Thor chuckled nervously, Frigga and Loki looked at each other as he said, “I always wear this. This is one of my favorites.”

Loki smirked. “Looking like a bum does suit him, Mother.”

Frigaa dope slapped her littlest son. “Loki.”

“Sorry, not sorry.” He glared at Thor.

Thor watched them with fondness, there were a bit of tears in eyes; Frigga put a hand on her son’s shoulder, her grip tight on it. “You're not the Thor I know at all, are you?”

Thor could never lie to his mother, but he still tried. “Yes, I am.”

Loki poked holes in his story. “Liar, that was a big fat lie.”

“Shut up, midget Loki!” Thor glared at his kid brother.

Frigga stared at her boy, and her eyes glazed over; she seemed to see straight through him. This was the first time he saw such expression on her face. With a mournful moan, she said, “The future hasn't been kind to you, has it?”

Loki laughed, “Ha ha! You’re discovered.”

“I didn't say I'm from the future.” Thor averted his eyes from his mother’s kind eyes.

He had cried at her death, seeing her there was heart wrenching. Frigga glared at him and reprimanded him with a familiar tone. “I was raised by witches, boy. I see with more than with my eyes, and you know that.”

Thor cried openly and said, “I am totally, totally from the future.”

“Yes, you are. But not from this timeline; our Thor left with Jane and Jean to Midgard.” She patted his cheek and then hugged him.

When they separated he quickly asked, “Wait, what? Who is this Jean?”

Loki smiled and said idly, “Ah, they don’t have a Phoenix Avatar who killed the Dark Elves in his timeline.”

Thor looked shocked at this revelation. “Who killed the Dark Elves? No, more importantly, Mother, I really need to talk to you.”

Frigga nodded and smiled at her son from another dimension. “We can talk.”

 

# # #

(Frigga)

 

Storage room
30 minutes later…

 

Frigga listened to her son tell his tale. It was a tale of death and woe, where the hero lost; first his parents, his brother, his newly found sister who has become insane, his people. The hero lost himself even after defeating the monster. Still a bit of their people remained, and they started to live on Midgard after the destruction of Asgard. This was a timeline without Jean Elaindottir having saved Asgard from its sacking and Ragnarok.

Hela got free, but she wasn’t romanced by a more powerful being than her and she proceeded to destroy the building blocks of the Kingdom. 

The three of them sat on benches that were available amongst the neatly stored furniture inside the room. Thor then finished his explanation about his regrets. “His head was over there... His body over there... What was the point? I was too late. I was just standing there. Some idiot with an axe.”

Frigga consoled her son with a hug. “You're no idiot. You're here aren't you? Seeking counsel from the wisest person in Asgard.” 

Thor looked down at his hands. “I guess, yeah.” 

Frigga let go of him, then stood up; it was time to be a bit cruel to her son. She turned to him and said, “Idiot? No. A failure? Absolutely.”

Loki stood up and pointed his fingers at chubby Thor. “Hahaha!”

Thor glared at his little brother. “Shut up Loki! And Mother… That's a little bit harsh.” He looked a bit sadly at Frigga.

The boys have always been at odds. It has become quite tedious, their Thor wasn't even as considerate of Loki's feelings as he should be. Frigga walked up to him, sat at his side and passed an arm around his shoulder. “You do know what that makes you? Just like everyone else.”

Thor chuckled mirthlessly. “I'm not supposed to be like everyone else, am I?”

Frigga's son has lost confidence, he is also traumatized. *That won't do.*

She made him look at him by taking his face between her hands. “Everyone fails at who they are supposed to be, Thor. The measure of a person, of a hero, is how well they succeed at being who they are.”

“I really missed you, Mum.” Thor teared up, he showed a face that would only show her.

Men were so fragile, their ego even more so; but she liked that he would immediately let himself be vulnerable around her. It was Loki’s turn she guessed when she heard the childish voice at their side. “Mother?”

“Yes, Loki?” Frigga looked down at her adopted son.

Loki showed a resolved expression as he said, “When Apprentice Sorceress Elainedottir comes back, I wish to apologize to her.”

In a flash, a vision appeared and it showed an adult Loki having fun with Jean and her gathered team, fighting Thanos’ force. Frigga smiled and did like she always does, playing the ignorant card. “What for, my son?”

"I would have died without her intervention, I would have betrayed your memory." Loki’s voice quivered slightly and Frigga was happy how different her son was from what she’d seen in her visions.

Thor interrupted the moment and asked, "Who is that woman you two speak of?"

He had a confused expression upon his face, his clothings still irritated her; but she was patient enough to tell him later. Frigga informed him. "Technically your new sister-in-law, Thor. She's Hela's lover."

Thor stood up, his voice boomed, "Hela!? But she is a monster!!"

He had a really low opinion of his sister it seemed. Loki snorted and commented, "Certainly. A monster owned by another monster."

The two girls were literally made for each other, Jean was a stabilizing agent while Hela was a chaotic woman. Her train of thought was disturbed when a strange animal entered the storage room and closed the door. He was barely one meter high, and wore orange and black clothes. The bipedal animal sighed and then he looked at everyone present with Thor. “Hey, you must be mom and his little brother… huh, I thought that he would be taller, Thor.”

Thor stood up and laughed at his brother’s ire. “Rocket, this is my mom and my brother Loki.”

“Mum, Loki, this is Rocket Raccoon.” He introduced them to his strange mascot.

Rocket swiftly walked up to them and said in a pressing manner, "We don't have the time, the guards are after me, your ex wasn't here. I didn’t find the stone!"

Frigga coughed, knowing that it was her time to shine. "Is this about the Reality or Space stone?"

Thor turned to her and said with panic, "Yes mother, we need it to save the future and get back our people."

Frigga imagined herself asking for Jean’s reality stone and she would obviously get laughed at. "That will be… difficult, the being who has the two stones is… too strong for us to make her give it back."

Loki bluntly explained the reality of the situation to Thor, with delight in his tone. “Lady Jean would turn you into a pretzel, or disintegrate you, don't even try. Wait! Please do it, it will be entertaining.”

“Loki! Don’t send your alternate brother to his death.” Frigga said seriously.

Thor snorted in ridicule. "She can't be that strong…"

Frigga, sat down her son in worry, then let Loki explain, "Thor, Jean Elainedottir, the Phoenix Avatar, she defeated Hela -which you couldn’t- that even your father, Odin, couldn't scratch, she killed by herself an army of Dark Elves, and she's messing with Thanos, killing his people one by one for shits and giggles, and she turned me into a child for my impudence. She's literally the Avatar of a cosmic entity… yes she's beyond Asgard. She's beyond you."

Bang! Bang! Bang! The solid door of the storage room rattled, but held on, causing Rocket to press Thor and shout, “Come on, we got to move!”

Thor stood up and said sadly, “I wish we had more time.” 

Frigga smiled and held onto her son’s cheek; his cheeks were a bit spongy, Thor really needed to go on a diet. “No, this was a gift. And you're going to be the man you're meant to be.”

Still, his smile was dazzling as he said, “I love you, Mom.”

She bopped him on the nose. “I love you. And eat a salad.”

Thor laughed at that… he wouldn’t laugh if he was staying, she would put him immediately on a diet plan. Rocket placed himself at Thor’s side and said, “Come on. We gotta go.”

“Goodbye.” Thor said as he looked at her and Loki.

The raccoon then brandished some kind of device and he became covered in a white metal suit. Thor wasn’t prepared yet like there was something he was forgetting. “Three... two…”

The Asgardian prince then shouted, “No, wait!”

Thor holds out his hand in the direction of the open window of the storage room that they’d opened to let the air in. Rocket then looked at Thor searchingly. “Wh- what am I looking at?”

With her hand joined, Frigga used a magic ring that she subtly brandished and let it cast a teleportation spell on a certain hammer in Odin’s Vault. She laughed and said, “Oh, sometimes it takes a second.”

Thor summoned Mjolnir which came flying through the window and smiled with tears in his eyes. “I'm still worthy.”

Rocket and Loki said at the same time, “Oh, boy.”

The door kept banging, then cracked, and the two alternates were more pressed for time. Thor’s metal armor manifested and he said, “Goodbye, Mom.”

“Goodbye” Frigga said, knowing for sure that he will not leave. She had a mischievous expression on her face at this thought.

The device held by Rocket Raccoon was activated but… it sparked and the vial of fluid inside serving as fuel was immediately burned by cosmic fire. Just like she’s been told by Jean, she locked down this timeline. People could come, but they won’t be able to leave; it was a measure against her enemies, those ridiculous mortals operating the pretentious Time Variance Authority.

"I think that you're stuck here." Loki unhelpfully added as he watched the discomfited expressions on Rocket and Thor’s face.

It was at this point that the guards and the Sisters of Battle all surged in the room. Frigga was happy, she will be able to put this Thor on a sorely needed diet and rectify his manners and attire.

 

# # #

(Odin Borson)

 

Throne room
1 hour later…

 

Even when she’s not here, Jean Elainedottir is troublesome. Now there was an alternate version of his son, the witness to a dire fate which could have befallen them. This Thor had lost everything, but he was stronger, more able to use magic. However…

*No son of mine will have a pot belly!* Odin stood up and moved toward the dungeon where Rocket and Thor have been imprisoned. He needed to bring this Thor to the training ground to fix his weak attitude.

 

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A/N: I bet you didn't expect that lmao.

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