"Bruce, tell me I'm not the only one seeing a celestial fusion event happening in front of us," Tony said, eyes wide.
But Bruce was gone. In his place stood the Hulk—roaring at Michael.
Michael opened his eyes. They now glowed silver, with pinpricks of starlight swirling within. The twin blades in his hands morphed into a single weapon: a radiant staff shaped like a comet, its tip ringed with a rotating blade. The runes circling him began to spin faster.
"Phase Two: Starborn Aspect," he said, his voice calm and otherworldly.
Clint muttered under his breath, "Phases? Are we fighting a final boss now?"
"This isn't just a power-up," Natasha said, unease creeping into her tone. "It feels like a transformation. Like he's prepared for something beyond this fight."
Michael lowered the comet-blade staff, aiming it at all of them.
"Let's escalate."
And then—he moved.
Not flying. Not teleporting. He simply appeared behind Steve, space warping with a faint ripple.
Steve barely had time to raise his shield before the staff struck—not physically, but dimensionally. The hit sent him hurtling through three atmospheric layers, his suit barely holding together.
Tony, Natasha, and Clint responded instantly, unleashing a barrage from three different angles.
Michael twirled the staff, absorbing the attacks into glowing motes that hovered around him like cosmic dust.
Then came Hulk, charging with a guttural roar, fists glowing green from kinetic buildup. He launched himself through the sky.
Michael gave a small, intrigued smile. "At last."
Hulk's punch landed—and Michael caught it.
The sky erupted.
Clouds were vaporized. Air was displaced for miles. The shockwave sent the Avengers flying from the sheer force.
But Michael held firm.
"Impressive strength," he said, silver eyes brightening. "Let's see if it scales."
He yanked Hulk forward and unleashed a point-blank burst of astral energy. Hulk crashed to the earth like a meteor, carving out a crater the size of a city block.
"BRUCE!" Natasha screamed.
But a low rumble answered her.
Hulk rose from the wreckage—bloodied, growling, angrier than ever.
Above, Michael hovered—serene, radiant, unreadable.
The Avengers regrouped—battered, shaken, but not broken.
Tony floated between them and Michael, repulsors glowing. "He's stronger. Smarter. And still holding back."
Steve stumbled in beside him, breathing hard. "Then so are we."
They nodded.
Then thunder screamed through the heavens.
A searing bolt of lightning ripped the sky in half—and from its heart, Thor descended, his storm-wrought armor crackling, eyes blazing with fury. Mjolnir spun in one hand, arcs of lightning dancing along his body.
Michael looked up. Calm. But his eyes narrowed.
"Ah," he said. "Round two."
Thor didn't speak.
He charged.
Mjolnir collided with the comet-staff in a blast so powerful it shredded clouds in a ring for miles. Michael spun midair, evading the next swing, summoning a crescent blade of starlight to parry the thunder god's strikes.
Lightning met cosmic fire as the two clashed in the sky—Thor roaring with divine wrath, Michael answering each blow with supernatural precision.
Mjolnir soared upward—then rocketed back as Thor called it down, slamming Michael mid-spin and driving him back. Thor lifted his hand, summoning a torrent of storm-clouds that rained lightning like divine artillery.
Michael raised his palm.
A shimmering shield of cosmic light expanded, absorbing the barrage and refracting it outward—dozens of arcs lancing in all directions, forcing the Avengers below to scatter.
Natasha flipped midair, narrowly dodging a bolt that incinerated a billboard behind her.
"He's redirecting Thor's lightning now?" she shouted. "Yeah, we're outmatched."
"We were outmatched the second he floated in," Clint muttered, firing a magnetic pulse arrow.
It struck center mass—
And disintegrated atom by atom without leaving a scratch.
Hulk roared, launching upward again. "Round two, sparkly man!"
Thor struck from above as Hulk rose from below.
Mjolnir crashed down just as Hulk's punch hit from beneath.
This time, Michael flinched.
His aura flickered. A faint crack rippled through the light—like fractured glass.
Tony caught it.
"That's it! A break! He's not invincible!"
"Then we hit him with everything," Steve said, raising his shield, face set. "All at once!"
Michael drifted back, breathing heavier. But then he smiled—not with arrogance, but with honest thrill.
"Yes… show me everything. You're almost worthy."
Thor raised Mjolnir high and thundered:
"AVENGERS—ASSEMBLE!"
The six heroes launched upward together—Thor, Hulk, Iron Man, Cap, Natasha, and Hawkeye—a storm of precision forged in New York, rekindled in the skies.
Thor struck first, lightning guiding every swing. Hulk followed, each punch creating shockwaves. Cap deflected blasts, using his shield to vault Natasha higher. Clint provided cover fire with perfect timing.
Tony circled like a burning star, unleashing concentrated beams from every node in his suit.
Michael parried and spun, staff moving like an extension of thought—but for the first time, he was being pushed back.
He was struggling.
Thor's eyes blazed. He raised Mjolnir and shouted:
"FOR MIDGARD!"
He slammed it into the sky.
A stormquake erupted. Gravity warped. For a moment, the world trembled.
The Avengers surged forward, seizing the moment:
Steve led with a shield strike.
Tony unleashed a full-force beam barrage.
Hulk struck with earth-shattering force.
Natasha fired twin electro-bursts into the weakened aura.
Clint landed an EMP and a sonic arrow, both hitting home.
Everything converged.
Light and fury collided in a blinding detonation.
The sky screamed.
The Earth shivered.
Silence.
Smoke hung in the air, thick with ozone and burning energy. The Avengers hovered, tense and watching the blast zone.
Then—
The smoke parted.
Michael still floated there.
Cloak in tatters. Skin scorched. His aura cracked and flickering.
But standing.
And smiling.
Not smug.
But genuinely thrilled.
"Finally," he breathed.
"You're beginning to entertain me."
Smoke curled around the fractured sky, trailing like ghostly ribbons. The wind had died. For a moment, the world itself held its breath.
Michael hovered amidst it all—burned, cracked, radiant. His silver eyes shimmered like galaxies in collapse, barely-contained energy pulsing from the fissures in his aura.
Tony's HUD flickered from energy feedback. "That blast should've vaporized him."
*******
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