Queens – Morning Light
The sunlight filtered through Kai's window like liquid gold. For the first time in days, the city was quiet.
No alien signals screaming through the Omnitrix today.
Just birds chirping, a half-burnt toast in the kitchen, and the comforting weight of a delivery bag slung over his shoulder.
He exhaled slowly as he kicked off the sidewalk and rolled onto the street, pedaling past brownstones and bus stops.
"Morning, Kai!" called Mr. Ellis, hosing down his driveway.
"Morning!" Kai grinned, waving back. "No rogue supervillains yet today!"
Mr. Ellis chuckled. "Don't jinx it!"
Mrs. Fernandez at the corner grocery handed him a thermos of cinnamon tea with his usual grocery delivery.
"You've been looking tired lately, niño," she said gently. "Bad dreams?"
Kai shrugged with a smile. "Long week."
She patted his shoulder. "The city may be loud, but you bring quiet where you go. That's something."
He nodded gratefully and pedaled away.
The city passed in familiar rhythm: barking dogs, children playing stickball, the honk of taxi horns. The chaos of New York—but beautiful in its own way.
For now, he wasn't a hero.
Just Kai.
The boy on the bike.
---
Elsewhere – The Desert of New Mexico
The sky broke open.
From far above the stratosphere, through burning clouds and layers of wind, a shape tore through Earth's atmosphere—a gleaming silver hammer spinning violently.
It struck the earth with a sound like the world tearing in half.
BOOOOOM.
In a remote desert, sand blasted in all directions, forming a perfect crater around it—at the very center, embedded in stone, sat the hammer.
Solid. Unmoving.
Lightning danced in the clouds overhead.
For a full day, a thunderstorm raged over the desert while skies elsewhere remained calm. No origin. No source. No pattern.
Just the hammer.
And then silence.
SHIELD HQ –
Nick Fury stood with his arms crossed, looking at the surveillance feed on the large central monitor.
"Anything?" he asked, voice low.
Agent Hill shook her head. "We detected the impact, but… nothing else. No radiation. No energy surge. No signal. It's just a hammer."
"Nothing is just a hammer," Fury said. "What kind of hammer lands from space and survives reentry without a scratch?"
Hill sighed. "We sent a retrieval team. They couldn't lift it."
Fury raised an eyebrow. "They couldn't lift it?"
"Not even with our heaviest machinery."
Fury rubbed his temple. "Any witnesses?"
Hill shook her head. "The area's remote. No signs of life. No tech nearby. Whatever it is… it doesn't want to be found. Or touched."
Fury stared at the frozen satellite image—the hammer resting in the center of a crater, calm as a sleeping god.
"Keep the site secure. No public leaks. No headlines."
"Ok Sir".
Back in Queens – Late Afternoon
Kai finished his last delivery by 4 PM and lingered at the park, watching kids chase pigeons and uncles play chess on stone tables. The wind carried the scent of roasted peanuts and pretzels.
He leaned back against a tree and sighed.
Just the hum of a city exhaling.
The Omnitrix on his wrist stayed dark—resting, waiting.
And Kai, for once, didn't feel the weight of the galaxy pressing on his shoulders.
---
That Night – The World Sleeps
News stations briefly mentioned the unusual desert thunderstorm.
"A rare atmospheric anomaly," one reporter guessed. "A freak electrical disturbance."
No one talked about the crater.
No one mentioned the object.
SHIELD made sure of it.
Meanwhile – Kai's Apartment
Kai lay sprawled across his couch, a blanket tangled around his feet, one arm over his eyes. An empty bowl of ramen rested dangerously close to falling from the coffee table.
His phone buzzed once: a message from Tony.
"No more HYDRA movements. But I'll let you know if our mystery Vendor shows up again. Also… weird storm in New Mexico. Will keep you posted."
Kai didn't reply.
He was already slipping into a deep, dreamless sleep.
For the first time in weeks, his body didn't ache. His mind wasn't racing. The silence wasn't threatening—it was warm. He could feel his heartbeat slow, muscles relax.
Even the Omnitrix hummed softly—like it, too, was enjoying the rest.
Outside, the moon hung high, silver and soft.
Far Away
Deep in the desert, under the now-clear sky, the hammer still sat.
Untouched. Impossibly heavy. Etched with markings in a language no human could read.
Mjölnir.
The wind whispered across its surface like a forgotten prayer.
And far above, among the stars, something stirred.
Something old.
And powerful.