Marvel: As Thor

Back in Asgard, Thor had been contemplating his future growth. He knew there were three key opportunities to improve his strength.

The first came during the final battle, when he was in what he called the "fat house" state.

In this form, his improvement was mostly in terms of physical strength. Though he was constantly at a disadvantage, Thor could hold his own against Thanos for brief periods. The reason for this increase in power, Thor speculated, was his new role as king of Asgard. Just like Hela, his strength would continue to grow as time passed. Under normal circumstances, this process would take over twenty years, but Thor had long expected the war to conclude in Wakanda. Therefore, he knew he would have to unlock his power earlier through specific system tasks.

The second opportunity for growth was the creation of Stormbreaker. With the new weapon, Thor could suppress the power of the Infinity Stones, giving him the means to defeat Thanos. In the original timeline, he relied on the mighty Stormbreaker to sever Thanos' head.

Thor could forge his own tomahawk whenever he desired, but the process required exposure to the intense heat of a neutron star, reaching temperatures of hundreds of billions of degrees—a challenge he wasn't ready to face yet.

Finally, there was the Awakening of his Thunder Force.

Despite being known as the God of Thunder, most of Thor's power was tied to Mjolnir. Without it, like when he faced Yon-Rogg and his team, Thor had become vulnerable. After losing Mjolnir, he was reduced to an average soldier, nearly powerless to resist. Although the hammer could return to him at will, Thor worried about the possibility of an unexpected situation where Mjolnir might fail.

After spending the last two days observing Carol's situation, Thor realized how similar their conditions were. The power was hidden deep within their bodies, difficult to control, and reliant on external objects—Thor's hammer or Carol's control chip.

With this in mind, Thor decided to expose his strength on purpose and get captured, hoping that the pressure from the Supreme Intelligence would trigger the Awakening of his own abilities, just as it had for Carol.

He succeeded.

Thor could feel the power surging within him, the sensation of being capable of destroying anything in his path with a simple thought.

Minerva's eyes widened in shock as she realized what had just happened. She screamed, "Quick, shoot and kill him!"

Without warning, a burst of purple lightning erupted from Thor's hand, spreading across the ground. In an instant, all the soldiers nearby were reduced to ashes.

Minerva quickly dove to the side, narrowly avoiding a bolt of lightning. She raised her sniper rifle once more, disbelief written across her face. But before she could even pull the trigger, she heard a "click." The sniper rifle twisted into a charred stick, and Minerva felt a shockwave of electricity paralyze her body. She couldn't move anymore.

Thor took Minerva and headed toward the Skrull ship. Along the way, Kree soldiers attempted to stop him, but they were reduced to cinders the moment they came into contact with Thor's surrounding lightning.

Meanwhile, Carol handed the Tesseract to Nick Fury and turned around to confront the remaining Kree soldiers. It was then that she saw Thor heading toward her.

"You did it on purpose, didn't you?" Carol looked at Thor, now crackling with thunder, and laughed. She had figured out what had really happened.

"No, I almost capsized in the gutter," Thor quickly denied, but added with a grin, "How do you feel? Like a thunder god?"

Carol rolled her eyes. "It feels great, Mr. Pikachu." She glanced around at the Kree soldiers encircling them. "The Tesseract and the hostage—(Mineva)—you can only choose one."

Yong-Rogg's expression darkened. "I don't like your humor. It is her honor to sacrifice for the Kree Empire. Kill them!"

The Kree soldiers surged forward, but they were no match for Thor and Carol combined. Ultimately, as Yon-Rogg discovered that the Tesseract had been dropped, he abandoned his comrades and took off in a fighter jet, chasing after the Skrulls.

Carol pursued him on her own, and Thor took Minerva to another spaceship. He still couldn't fly yet.

Inside the ship, Thor teased Minerva. "Do you know that I just saved your life?"

Minerva remained stone-faced. She hated not just Thor, but also Carol. If it hadn't been for Carol, she wouldn't have ended up in this remote place, captured by Thor.

Thor, however, ignored her disdain. After all, in his eyes, Minerva was only valuable because of her more "oriental" appearance. He narrowed his eyes, focusing.

In the vacuum of space, there was no sound, but the bright flashes of light drew Minerva's attention. She looked out of the window, just in time to see a thick bolt of purple lightning, over ten meters wide, slam into a nearby laboratory. The building shattered instantly, falling apart in pieces.