Ada, the Thunder God? (Ch.4)

Jon was a god of thunder now, too, and delighted in his ill-gotten, immense power. He had also, however, just made a temporary retreat to another part of Manhattan upon witnessing Thor's return and, of course, Ada supercharging herself with Stormbreaker; but he also wanted to take the opportunity to test his new strength.

In fact, so invincible was he that Jon felt he could now take Mjölnir and smash it down through one of the many high-rises nearby and obliterate it while he himself would remain unharmed during the process. Indeed, he wanted to see and feel the rubble cascade around him as he cleeved the building in two with the hammer. However, he stopped himself, wondering that if he was this mighty then how powerful must Ada be right now?

"Well, how are you feeling?" Thor proceeded to ask her, with both thunder gods standing in a mostly empty but ever bright Times Square.

"I'm not sure anyone has ever felt like this," she replied, staring at her hands. She was so full of energy in that moment sparks of electricity started to rise, crack and fizzle from her fingers without her even prompting it. She was more godly than even Thor had been at his height.

Thor himself was a little anxious yet also grateful.

"Why did you give me Stormbreaker back?" he asked. "I'm happy you did, but I would have thought you'd keep it."

"I got my power-up," she joked. "But, truth be told, I realized for a moment back there what it felt like to be vulnerable again, and I didn't appreciate it. You forget that when you're swept up in such power. You lose your base empathy for others. I also wasn't trying to trick you before. I really am going to help you take down Jon. And anyway, he has my hammer."

"Your hammer?" Thor snapped, squinting at Ada in disgust. "When this is all over we're going to have to have a serious discussion about who owns what. But for now, we need to find and strip your friend of my power quickly before he does some serious harm."

"Your power?" Ada snapped, staring at him for a moment as he ran off in the direction Jon had disappeared to. It wasn't long, though, before she was in hot pursuit as well. Both thunder gods jumped easily up onto the front of different buildings, with their hands and feet smashing into the facades before then hopping themselves from rooftop to rooftop, leaving the asgardian platoon behind to protect and help the locals now cleaning up the square.

"Where could he possible be, the coward?" asked Thor, stopping himself for a moment and staring out at the sky. Ada stood beside and over him, with her size dwarfing Odinson, and her golden armour shining due the light being generated by the nearby and numerous windows. Indeed, the odd denizen of New York would look out and find themselves in awe of them both.

"It's me they're actually staring at," said Thor, a little insecure. "I'm a big celebrity here."

"Not as big as me now, apparently," she said, having a quick wave back at them. "Clearly they were all watching the footage from Times Square, and I made an impact."

"Well, if they saw that footage, they'd have seen us fighting first before then joining forces, so no, they wouldn't automatically think you were some hero."

"Or they might think we're actually a couple and we were just having some lover's tiff before Jon, the real villain of the piece, turned up," explained Ada slyly.

"No, no, they wouldn't think that," said Thor, waving his hand about in a dismissive fashion. "Now, let us continue searching for this Jon of yours."

"Whatever you say, partner!" cried Ada as loud as she could, hoping that any in earshot might hear it, before then leaping down onto the next building. Thor let out a deep sign and, this time, followed her instead. For a few hours they bounced around the city like this, looking in vain for the empowered hood until daylight started to creep over the horizon.

"It's been too quiet. He's been too quiet," revealed Thor. "I just don't like it."

"Agreed," Ada replied, less cheerful than before. "If I know Jon, he'll come up with a plan to somehow take us on."

As soon as she said this, sirens started to blare in the distance at different parts of Manhattan. They didn't know whether it was a trap or not but decided to split up, with each checking out the respective source of both incidents. Ada crashed down upon the pavement near the financial district, leaving a small crater behind her. It wasn't long before she realized it was the remains of her gang -Eric and Co- making trouble. Or was this all for her?

"Back to where it began for us, robbing banks?" she quipped. "I knew we should have tied you guys up in Times Square, and without the hammer I can't take the power back from you either, so we're going to deal with this ano-"

Before Ada could finish, she was hit with a road sign straight in the head and shoulders. It didn't knock her to the ground, though, nor did it remotely injure her. It just merely pissed her off.

She turned and noticed that her outline was left on the makeshift weapon then. On the other end of the pole was one of the gang members, fretting and wondering if there was any way to stop her. Growling, the thunder god herself grabbed the bent object and pulled the assailant closer. Another attacked from the other side, but she gnabbed their tiny neck, too.

Holding them up by their throats, she spoke in a deeper tone, one terrifying yet befitting of a god.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE TO TRY FELL SOMEONE OF MY STATURE?! I AM NO LONGER THE ADA THAT YOU KNEW. I HAVE EVOLVED BEYOND THAT. AND EVEN THOUGH I SHARED THIS POWER WITH YOU, YOU ARE STILL MERE MORTALS COMPARED TO ME AND I COULD BREAK YOU IN HALF WITH MY BARE HANDS!"

As she spoke, she kept turning her head back and forth between the two goons, and the Earth began to tremble beneath them, and the windows of nearby buildings exploded with the sheer force of her voice. As the sound bellowed towards them, too, the gang members fell unconscious. She then let them fall from her grip and onto the ground again. As she turned, however, she saw Eric before her swinging his hand around. He also had a sling ring on his fingers.

"You like loud noises, strong winds?" he asked mockingly. "Then you'll really enjoy the hell gales of Oltashar!"

As he spoke, a portal opened behind Ada, threatening to drag her inside. On the other end she couldn't see anything bar a red haze, and hear nothing but the aforementioned gales, and their sound was quite overwhelming. In fact, she didn't know whether to cover her ears or grab hold of something to prevent her slide. After a moment or two, however, her godly rage took hold again, and she let it save her once more. In the end, she neither grabbed hold of the road nor covered her ears. Instead, she merely stood up, unaffected, as if there was no suction coming from the portal at all.

Eric was shocked and took a step back. Ada, on the other hand, moved forward as easy as you like, striding towards him. Her eyes glowed white lightning and her face was like stone. Scared now, Eric stopped the spell and tried to flee, but she felt his collar and lifted him right off his feet.

"No more tricks," she said, clutching his hand before crushing his fingers and the sling ring between them. He let out a painful cry and fell on his backside before finally being allowed to make a retreat. As he did so, the portal closed, and Ada was apparently left victorious. Realizing this, she smirked to herself. But her smile was brief because she remembered that as satisfying as this all was, it was also likely a trap to draw one of them in, leaving the other to fight alone.

"Thor," she whispered to herself, jumping skyward and trying to reach the spot of the other sirens. If Jon wasn't at her location, he was likely already tackling the original god of thunder.

Actually, they had moved on from a simple tackle and straight into a destructive brawl around Midtown; but when she'd eventually arrived, she discovered a Thor with hands tied by steel railings and Jon holding him down with a boot. He had Mjölnir in one hand and Stormbreaker in the other.

"I can see fear in those beautiful eyes of yours, Ada," he said with a beaming smile on his face. "Truth is, I was left wondering what it must feel like to be you. Well, now I don't have to wonder!"

With that, he, too, drew extra power from the heavens and through stormbreaker made himself as big and mighty as Ada herself had only hours before. As he grew, he roared, and when done, he also bore golden asgardian armour. He smiled and stepped down from Thor then and worked his way over to Ada. For a second, they both stared in each other's eyes, while the citizens of New York could only stare on helplessly at them both.

"I deserve this," said Jon. "It was always my idea to begin with. To go to that warehouse, to take this kind of power. You were just along for the ride. Reluctant and weak-"

Before he could continue, however, Ada smacked him across the face with the back of her hand. However, besides stopping his monologue, Jon was left physically unmoved. Indeed, he smiled at how invincible he had become, and so slapped her back in a similar fashion out of spite. While shocked, Ada also remained upright. They traded blows then, with neither able to gain the upper hand.

"Face it, Ada!" he cried. "You can't overcome my power."

"No," she said, suddenly having an epiphany. "I can't but-"

Without finishing her sentence, she jumped at him and grabbed hold of Mjölnir. Jon looked down and tightened his grip.

"Oh, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" he said. "But you're not taking my power away."

However, lightning engulfed them both and Jon suddeny felt different. In fact, he actually noticed himself weakening and growing smaller, realizing that Ada was actively stripping him of his power. He tried pulling the hammer away from her, and as he did so, his power began to return and he grew big again, yet when she pulled in the opposite direction once more he felt his muscles deflate like before. They battled like this for a time; back and forth, teeth gritted, road and paths shattering under the weight of their duel. But, in the end, Ada was just too much for Jon.

"How are you doing this?" he asked. "We're supposed to be equals!"

"You don't understand," replied Ada. "You don't deserve this. It was always my power, and my idea to lift the hammer and take it. You were just along for the ride. Maybe not reluctant, but certainly weak."

Finally, she pulled Mjölnir completely free of his hold. Then, she grabbed Stormbreaker and tore it away, too. Jon, mortal again, fell at her feet and looked up in disbelief as she started to spin the hammer and finally began to levitate off the ground.

"Do you want to see real power?" she asked, looking down upon him. "Then watch this."

She put both weapons together and drew down yet more lightning. Jon crawled back in terror as he saw Ada grow once more. Not much, but enough that she appeared greater in size. Her muscles were even larger than before, and now there was a helmet covering the upper part of her face. She smiled then, knowing that she had reached her final form as a god and stepped back down to the ground.

"A-Are you going to kill me?" asked Jon, still lying there, trembling.

"Why would I waste my time stomping an insect?" she informed him. She then turned to Thor, who had since ripped himself clear of his binds.

"I guess you don't need my help?" he joked.

"No, but you can have your axe back now, as I have Mjölnir."

"Now, what did I say before?" grumbled Thor.

"And what did I say before? If you want it back, take it from me!"

"Oh no," said an irritated Thor, "We're not going through all that again, but I know someone who can sort this out for us. Come with me....please."

When the rest of the asgardian troops had been rounded up, they joined Thor and Ada, with the former using Stormbreaker to transport them all back to Asgard, thus leaving New York behind. Ada was excited throughout the experience. Again, only a short time before she was a normal woman, but now she had become a serious, super-powered player in this universe. But when they'd finally arrived, Odin was actually there to greet her.

"Is this the cause of all of your troubles, my son?" he asked despite already knowing the answer.

"It is, father. As I said, the chaotic magic has allowed her to weild my power and I can't take it back. She also empowered others, and it nearly led to disaster."

"And yet, Heimdell tells me that she actually saved the day, too. She took responsibility for her actions, did she not?"

"Yes, but it is still my power that she covets and she is not, in fact, worthy of it."

How right you are," said Odin, staring down at Ada. "I think therefore that I will undo the disruption to my spell and make it that any who were empowered via the hammer or those unworthy of that power will go back to normal."

Ada was secretly horrified, but before she could react or try defend herself, Odin's spell was cast, and she let the hammer fall from her grasp. On Earth, Eric and the rest of the gang went back to normal and the chaotic magic was washed away, and it all became Thor's power again. As it happened, Ada closed her eyes, unwilling to accept that she, too, would go back to the way she was, but when she opened them again, noticed that she actually remained unchanged.

"Wait, what's going on?" gasped Thor. "Why is she the only one that is unaffected?"

A delighted Ava studied her hands and bulging arms then, noticing that they were as robust as before. She was still a god.

"Amazing," said Odin. "She wasn't empowered by another, and it appears that via her trials she has become worthy of your power."

"This can't really be happening," said a disguted Thor.

"Can't really be happening, my son?" asked Odin. "There are many realities out there, Thor. Some in which Asgard is gone, and I am already dead. And your mother is dead. And your brother. And you lost an eye. And built Stormbreaker for a completely different reason than you did in this universe. This just also happens to be one in which you now have a new partner."

"Partner?!" cried Ada, easily picking up Mjölnir again and standing beside Thor. "See, I told you."

"This is nonsense. There can only be one god of thunder!" declared Thor.

"That's true. It will get confusing," replied Odin. He thought for a moment then before continuing. "So how about we call you the god of thunder, and this Ada you've befriended the god of lightning? Hmm, I like the sound of that."

Thor rolled his eyes, but Ada was thrilled. She walked behind him then and put her huge arms around him in a faux-hug and lifted him straight off the ground.

"We're going to have lots of adventures together," she claimed excitedly.

And indeed they did, becoming a formidable duo, with Ada proving her worthiness and Thor growing to respect his new partner. In the end, they became somewhat inseparable. Indeed, much like thunder and lightning.

THE END.