"I’ve got a question." Evenson rubbed the back of his neck, eyeing the armored giant trading blows with the Ghost Rider. "Didn’t anyone think to install an emergency shutdown? You know, a big red button that says Stop Walking Apocalypse?"
Sif snorted.
"As if. And even if such a thing existed, I wouldn’t know about it."
The Destroyer answered only to one being.
Only Odin, wielding Gungnir, possessed the authority to command it completely. If an emergency override existed, it would be reserved for the Allfather alone.
In theory, Thor had probably already defeated Loki by now. Odin had likely awakened from the Odinsleep as well.
In practice...
Asgard had just endured a royal civil war. Restoring order across the Nine Realms wasn’t exactly a one-afternoon project.
By the time Odin finished putting out every political fire and finally remembered he’d left the Destroyer on Earth...
...there might not be much Destroyer left to retrieve.
Evenson sighed.
"Guess you really can’t count on divine customer support."
His eyes drifted back toward the battlefield before settling on Sif again.
"One more thing."
"What?"
"What happens..." He hesitated. "If I accidentally break it?"
Sif blinked.
"Break it?"
She looked him over, then laughed.
"I don’t think that’s something you need to worry about."
She’d seen Evenson fight. He was powerful, especially for a mortal.
But this was the Destroyer.
Even crippled by its incomplete activation, it remained one of Asgard’s most terrifying weapons.
"I’m serious," Evenson said. "It’s operating at a fraction of its full power. Johnny can already keep it occupied by himself. If I join in..."
He shrugged.
"...there’s a real chance things get out of hand."
Sif frowned.
"I feel like you’re trying to ask something else."
"I am."
A crooked smile spread across Evenson’s face.
"If I really do destroy it... how’s Odin going to feel about that?"
"You think he’ll blame you afterward?"
"The Destroyer isn’t exactly mass-produced."
Evenson folded his arms.
"I’d rather not save the world today and get executed six months from now."
Sif laughed again, this time more warmly.
"You’ve misunderstood the Allfather."
"If you defeat the Destroyer honorably in combat, no one will condemn you."
"Among Asgardians, victory earned through a fair duel deserves respect."
"...Right."
That probably made perfect sense to a civilization where personal combat settled half the important arguments.
Unfortunately...
He was a Warlock.
A fair duel?
Outside of Gul’dan himself, what Warlock had ever looked at the words fair fight and thought, Now that’s my specialty.
Still, rules were rules.
Evenson reached into his pack and pulled out his skull-topped staff.
Sif immediately stared at the five dangling skulls.
He cleared his throat.
"They’re carved from cow bones."
She looked even more confused.
"...That somehow makes it stranger."
Using the bones of powerful enemies as trophies?
Perfectly respectable.
Using livestock?
That felt oddly... performative.
"Call it decorative."
Evenson popped the skulls off the staff, wrapped the shaft with a length of dark cloth, then carefully reattached the ornaments until the weapon resembled a crude ritual banner more than a spellcasting focus.
Sif watched the entire process.
"...What exactly are you doing?"
"If I’m going to challenge someone..."
He admired the finished product.
"...I should at least look like I’m following tradition."
Without another word, he hurled the improvised battle standard into the middle of the battlefield, where it embedded itself in the ruined pavement between the Destroyer and Ghost Rider.
Then he drew a deep breath.
"MAK’GORA!"
His voice rolled across the city like thunder.
The Destroyer ignored him.
Ghost Rider ignored him.
The fight continued exactly as before.
Evenson shrugged.
Close enough.
The banner was planted.
Procedural fairness achieved.
"Looks like I’ll have to help you out, Johnny."
He stepped calmly toward the battlefield.
"After all..."
"This is an honorable duel."
His dramatic entrance lasted less than two seconds.
Ghost Rider immediately whipped a flaming chain straight at his head.
Fortunately, Evenson had anticipated exactly that.
A demonic teleportation circle flashed beneath his feet, and he vanished before the chain arrived.
He reappeared a safe distance away.
Ghost Rider pointed at him with burning hatred.
"Burn in Hell... sinner!"
Evenson rolled his eyes.
Seriously?
I’d just saved your girlfriend.
With Blackheart dead, the curse binding Roxanne had disappeared as well. She was alive largely because of him.
And this was the thanks he got.
Maybe stealing your girlfriend really is the correct timeline.
He decided not to interfere directly again.
Instead, he waited.
Patiently.
Eventually, the opportunity arrived.
The Destroyer’s faceplate slid open.
The familiar glow of the disintegration beam gathered inside.
Johnny had fought it long enough to recognize the warning.
The instant the helmet opened, he prepared to dodge.
That was exactly the moment Evenson had been waiting for.
Shadowfury.
Darkness erupted beneath Ghost Rider’s feet.
The burst of shadow froze him in place for a heartbeat.
Long enough.
Twin streams of emerald fel energy exploded from Evenson’s hands, striking Ghost Rider from behind before the Destroyer’s beam could fire.
Nothing short of pure Holy Light could truly resist fel corruption.
More importantly...
Evenson had already corrupted Ghost Rider once before.
He knew exactly where to push.
The fel spread through the Spirit of Vengeance almost instantly.
At nearly the same moment, the Destroyer’s beam engulfed Ghost Rider.
While the blazing energy consumed him, Evenson reached into the tangled mass of Hellfire and fel energy and began pulling.
The corrupted Hellfire flowed back toward him.
He absorbed every last ember.
Before the Destroyer’s beam finished firing, the extraction was complete.
Without the Hellfire sustaining him, Ghost Rider collapsed back into Johnny Blaze.
The beam continued.
Johnny screamed.
An ordinary human body couldn’t die so easily beneath the Destroyer’s assault...
But surviving and suffering were two very different things.
His screams echoed through the shattered street.
Evenson’s expression darkened.
His voice came out low.
Controlled.
Almost strained.
"Chaos Bolt."
The words sounded less like a spell...
...and more like something being forced through clenched teeth.
The Destroyer’s beam ceased.
Its faceplate remained open for the briefest instant before sealing itself again.
That instant was enough.
A lance of impossibly condensed green energy tore through the air.
Inside it burned every ounce of Hellfire Evenson had stripped from Johnny, compressed together with overwhelming fel power until the projectile looked almost solid.
The Chaos Bolt struck the open visor before it could close.
It disappeared into the Destroyer’s head.
Then the impossible happened.
The blast punched straight through.
The armor’s divine enchantments shattered under the impact, unable to withstand the concentrated fusion of fel and Hellfire.
The Destroyer’s head exploded from the inside.
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