Chapter One: Under this Oak Tree
Thor stepped out of the swirling gate that he had formed, and his foot touched the broken snow covered earth and cracked concrete of a blasted apart street that had long been mostly destroyed by a conflict.
Just touching the ground of a world under a sun was a cathartic and at the same time awe invoking experience.
He momentarily faltered as he looked upon the sun, remembering the tragic end of Sunna, the Goddess that was tasked with bringing the Suns on all the many worlds Asgard protected across their skies. The beautiful Goddess he had many a romp with. Her shining flaxen hair, her beautiful golden eyes, and her fair skin that he had touched many a time.
However, he could not feel her presence upon this world's skies. Nor could he any other God or Goddess for that matter. Even as he stretched his divine sight across all the universe, there were no gods to be seen or heard.
Then he looked out at the land around him. All around him were tortured souls full of pain and hatred in this snowy covered land. They were those of animals that had been warped and twisted, begging for the release of death, but unable to rise to the fields of Vanaheim, or Noatun.
It was a cruel fate, one he found most disturbing.
All around him were the pain and suffering of these hateful beings, their souls warped, twisted, and constantly suffering. Diminishing. Turning empty. Only then did he realize several hours had passed with him standing in that single spot. It felt no more than a second, nay, even less. But to a God who spent millions of years before taking a single breath, this was of no note.
He looked around himself, and all around him lay the corpses of dead animal-machine amalgamated creatures, having been annihilated by lightning that reacted to any attacks he would suffer on it's own. The lightning crackled and hissed around him, marring the road and the buildings around him with black ash from where it bit into the land around him.
He looked down at one of the animals that he walked over to. It was hissing, and clacking it's half limp clawed hand, and it's body was fit with thick shelled mechanical enhancements. It was quite large, and inside the hole that was blown through it was that of a large black crab that had guns and cannons placed on to it's body.
Thor looked next to it, and he could see black tracks on the road from where it's inky blood had spilled as it tried to scuttle away, only to be struck and die.
So this meant whatever, or whoever did this was playing God and taking away the life and future of animals, turning them into vile monstrosities, twisting their bodies, hearts, and souls.
"How awful" Thor said, kneeling down next to the crab, tearing the metal off it, revealing the huge body within. Well, what was left of it.
"Whoever did this vile deed will pay!" Thor said, and he closed his blue eyes guiding the crab's pained and twisted soul towards where he thought Noatun was, only to find it didn't exist.
He gave a small wince.
"I see there is no future for you wild one. Be at peace now in oblivion" He said, and he dispersed the animal's soul in the stars beyond the planet where it became nothing. It was the best fate he could give these poor creatures that had been twisted into machines of death.
Several days later of simply wandering the world and guiding the animal's souls to their peaceful end they would not get by their torturer, he had guided tens of thousands more of the souls of these animals out into the cosmos, to where he gave them a peaceful end. Not one by Mjolnir, nor one by Lightning. No, one of the release of their tortured souls, to which their bodies just fell to the ground devoid of any and all action.
Finally, on his fifth day of walking the Earth, he met his first wandering group.
Two fair maidens trudged through the snowy ground of a long hill, at the top which he sat against a tree, just looking up at the sky, which he still was thoroughly enjoying. A large pile of rapture husks lay all across the land around and left a long trail behind him, having long had their souls returned to the universe, and soon after dispersed.
The women consisted of just a team of two, one a tall blonde woman of impressive height, and had a mature figure, easily that of a supermodel. She wore a long white fur lined jacket, with a large hat that looked akin to one Slavic royalty might wear back in his old world. She had long white snow pants, and furry white boots. Her reddish eyes were locked on to him as she approached up the hill, quickly back and forth between him and his hammer.
In her hands was a short squarish rifle Thor could not recognize completely. She had a noble, if not slightly zealous soul, and it was clear she was not a being of evil.
Walking quickly behind her was a smaller woman, who had a large pink skintight bodysuit which had some plated armor on it. Her long white hair was tied in pigtails, and her pink eyes were that of a wide young ladies. In her hands was a long white rifle, one that likely fired powerful shots in slow order. She had a large pink headset on her ears, and a long microphone snaked in front of her mouth.
The woman in the white outfit pointed to him, and said something to her partner, and pointed to him.
Of course he heard it. He could hear a pin drop on the other side of the Andromeda galaxy from here if he wanted, but he had long since tuned such sounds out.
"Alice, is this real? They haven't even been damaged. It's as if they had been shut off" She asked the shorter lady in the pink outfit who just nodded back with a smile.
"This is real my Queen. I'm getting no energy signatures from them" She said in response, waving a small metal tool around that looked to be similar to a metal detector.
Thor watched them come with a detached but somewhat also excited mind.
The two women approached cautiously, seeing the crackling lightning sparking off his hammer.
The blonde lady stopped a few meters away and spoke to him.
"Sir, are you alright?" She asked with a soft but rich voice, seeing no outward injuries on the incredibly tall and built man that seemed to be carved out of myths and legends of Vikings, Ulfsarks, and Berserkers. The shorter lady next to her seemed quite excited upon seeing him and his hammer, as if she were having some harmless fantasies about him being a warrior out of a fantasy novel, or some oral tale.
"More than alright lass, It's been so many eons since I last was awake to see the splendor of our sun, and so I am here resting and taking in it's light" He said, resting his head against the huge oak behind him.
He closed his eyes as if completely unafraid of anything this wild world could throw at him.
"Eons? Lass?" The woman took a second to repeat to herself. Not expecting such a response.
"Is this your doing" The white haired younger lady asked him, her voice light and higher pitched than her partner in travels.
"You refer to these animals?" Thor asked, turning his head slightly over towards the rapture husks.
"Aye, that indeed be my own doing. I have guided their tortured souls to the depths of the universe, where they will finally get true rest" He said simply before turning his head back to the women.
She seemed to take well to this, more well than the average person at least.
"Are you a priest?" She asked, cutting off the lady who was about to speak next to her.
Thor chuckled a deep hearty chuckle.
"Nay young lass, I am no priest. I am a God in the flesh and I have just awoken from my slumber deep within the Earth, and am enjoying my first time under the sun in hmm..." Thor trailed off in thought.
"What?" Both of them asked, though with different tones.
"Five hundred million years or so" He finished after a moment. A breeze began to blow in the stunned silence.
"I think he's insane" The blonde woman whispered to the younger lady next to her.
"But look around us. There's not a shelter for many miles, and all these Raptures. I was wondering why they were unharmed. This makes some sense my Queen" The younger lady spoke in reply.
"If he truly was a God, he would have taken care of the Raptures by now" She scolded her partner's overactive imagination.
"I am of sane mind my friends" Thor said with another laugh, leaning forward and rising up while taking his hammer.
"For so I am Thor!" He rose into the air and pointed his hammer up to the skies, gripped in his large hand as the sky began to swirl with storm clouds and lightning began flashing all around and thunder rumbled and boomed.
Moments later the lightning began condensing directly into his hammer in long streaks from the sky, before they dissipated and Thor floated down to the ground in front of then, placing his hammer on his golden belt. His blue armored torso was wider than each the ladies were wide from shoulder to shoulder. His red cape was billowing behind him, and his winged helm shined in the reemerged sun.
The two took a step back just by his sheer overwhelming presence he did not have when he was simply sitting against the ancient oak.
"Woah!" The white haired lady exclaimed giddily, placing her rifle on her back and clapping her hands in excitement.
The blonde lady had a disturbed and slightly angry look on her face.
"If you really are Thor, Then why haven't you helped us during all the wars we have fought, when the Raptures invaded, when millions died! Where where you? Where where the Gods when Humanity was pushed to the brink? When we were forced underground! When we gave our bodies and minds to this war? Where where you?" The blonde lady walked up to Thor, raising her fist towards him, and swinging a punch to his face.
Tears stained her face, and her reddish eyes were full of pain and loss.
He gently caught the fist with his free hand.
"I understand your pain. The pain of losing your kind, but your enemy is not me" He gently spoke, lowering her hand down and letting go.
"Bullshit! What could a God possibly know?" Her tears fell down her face punching his chest with her free hand many times.
Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud. Thud.
She struck his armored chest over and over. Letting out her pain and anger at the gods she had been abandoned by.
Then, when she had let out her anger somewhat, she stopped, leaning forward into his chest.
"Where where you when we needed you?" She sobbed, her pain quite evident.
"I know the pain of loss well young lady. For I am the last god in all of creation" He said with sorrow on his voice.
"But I Thor promise from here on out, under this Oak tree, that I will not abandon you nor any Human, that no matter what happens. I vow to protect this world to the end. No matter what it may take" He said, pulling her close into a hug.
"Really?" She asked, looking up at him, with her hat half falling off her head.
"Aye, Lady Ludmilla. Really" Thor answered, giving her his best reassuring smile.
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AN: I know it's never been explicitly stated that Raptures are animals turned into weapons, but its how it is in this story. I like that spin on it.