Marvel Disassembler

You can read ahead up to 70 chapters on my patreon, and I've also activated a (date to date) subscription model on my patreon https://www.patreon.com/GGS6395

As it turns out, Arthur's experiment was a complete success. He managed to reach Hel and engaged Hela in combat once again.

This time, the goddess had no interest in conversation, which led Arthur to a frustrating conclusion:

'If he wanted Hela to actually listen, he'd have to overpower her first.'

And if that wasn't possible, then the next best option was containment, restricting her movements. Otherwise, any chance at a meaningful exchange was doomed from the start.

With no other choice, Arthur reluctantly activated the Tesseract to return to his original location.

The coordinates were spot-on. When he reappeared, he landed exactly where he'd left.

But unlike when he departed, which was clean and composed, his return was far less graceful: his clothes were torn in several places, and a dark bruise had bloomed under one eye.

Everyone in the room stared, stunned.

Spider-Man muttered, "What is down there in Hel?"

He knew Arthur was strong, ridiculously strong. When Arthur said he was heading to Hel, Peter hadn't been too concerned. After all, if literal gods existed, hellish realms shouldn't be a problem.

But since they met, he'd never seen Arthur this banged up.

"Tigers," Arthur said darkly.

As he traced the symbol of the Eye of Horus in the air, golden light enveloped him, gradually mending his injuries. He glanced around at the onlookers.

Not that everyone here could be classified as human.

There was a towering, heavily muscled man marked with deep red tattoos… A raccoon barely up to that guy's knee, bristling with attitude… A tree, yes, an actual tree. And of course, Star-Lord and Gamora stood nearby.

"This is the powerful ally you mentioned?" Rocket was the first to scoff. He jabbed a thumb in Arthur's direction as he continued to speak. "He looks like he just got stomped. Hard. Not exactly inspiring confidence."

"Come on, Rocket. He's really strong!" Star-Lord defended him, though even he didn't sound totally convinced.

The big guy, Drax narrowed his eyes at Arthur. After a long, thoughtful pause, he suddenly broke into booming laughter.

Everyone turned to him, puzzled.

Still chuckling, Drax pointed at Arthur and said, "Only a woman could leave a man looking that wrecked!"

Silence.

'...Was that supposed to be a joke?'

Arthur blinked. "How did you know?" he asked, genuinely surprised.

He recognized Drax immediately. In the comics, Drax the Destroyer was a world-ending powerhouse. But the movie version? Not quite the same, his strength was diluted, his intensity replaced with bizarre, deadpan humor.

"Wait, seriously?" Star-Lord stared. "Your girlfriend did this?"

Arthur shot him a look. "She's not my girlfriend. And she lives in Hel, thank you very much."

"My girlfriend's actually… kind."

"You have a girlfriend?!" Spider-Man exclaimed, his voice cracking with disbelief.

He and Star-Lord shouted in perfect unison, "You have a girlfriend?!"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Can we please get back to the mission?" he said, clearly exasperated. "Seeing as you're all here, I'm guessing that means you're joining the team?"

The Eye of Horus continued its soft glow, and the bruise on his face faded visibly. His wounds were healing, but the tears in his clothes remained.

With a press to his chest, he triggered a quick-change spell, his outfit shimmered and morphed into a fresh set.

Everyone except Quill and Spider-Man looked visibly impressed by the sudden wardrobe upgrade.

Star-Lord stepped forward first, nodding. "Count me in. I'm definitely on board."

Rocket crossed his arms and asked skeptically, "But before we go any further, what exactly do you mean by an 'unimaginable people'?"

"Our team," Arthur replied calmly. "Honestly, Ronan isn't strong enough to be considered a real challenge for us. But since this is a rare opportunity, I figured it'd be a great warm-up session, get everyone together, and push them hard."

"Don't underestimate Ronan!" Star-Lord's expression turned serious. "That guy's packing power most people can't even wrap their heads around."

"I never underestimate my enemies," Arthur said. "But I don't underestimate myself either."

He gave a nod. "Welcome to the team. Now… got a bigger space we can use? I need to make contact with the others."

"Yeah, we've got something."

In a reality where nothing ever goes according to plan…

Arthur had some experience organizing group training sessions.

But last time? Not exactly a success story.

After slicing off one of the Mandarin's arms, the fight ended rather anticlimactically. And when Arthur followed up by facing off against a large squad of Earth's superheroes, they overwhelmed him in seconds, turning him into little more than a live-action punching bag.

This time, though, things felt different. Arthur had a feeling this would be the real deal.

Led by Star-Lord, the group made their way to the ship stored inside the warehouse.

"Hey, did you know the weird symbol you left behind actually had a signal-transmitting function?" Star-Lord said as they climbed aboard. "I rigged it into a signal amplifier..."

"I remember you telling me about that," Arthur interrupted, cutting to the chase. "Where is it?"

The so-called "signal amplifier" looked every bit like a Star-Lord original, crudely assembled, full of mismatched components, and frankly… ugly.

Still, Arthur activated the comms system embedded in his StarkTech wristband, and to his surprise, it worked. He could get in touch with Natasha. From space.

Once the line connected, he couldn't help but shoot Star-Lord a thumbs-up. The guy was eccentric, but he had his moments.

"It's me," Came Natasha's signature no-nonsense greeting.

Arthur didn't waste time. "Is anyone on the team tied up with something important right now?"

"Not particularly—" She began, only for two gunshots to ring out in the background.

Arthur frowned. "Where are you?"

"Mission location. Classified," Natasha said coolly. Another burst of gunfire echoed before she added, "Give me five minutes to wrap this up. What do you need?"

Arthur didn't hesitate. "If no one else is on assignment or they can be pulled out, gather everyone. I'm planning to use Bifrost to teleport the entire team to my current coordinates."

"…And would you mind telling me where that is?" She asked.

"Outer space."

There was a beat of silence. "So... another cosmic incident?"

"Not quite. Let's just say some of the locals out here are in a tight spot and they've officially signed up to join the team," Arthur explained. "So this'll be our next big training op. We're taking things galactic."

"Sounds like fun."

A few seconds passed. Then Arthur heard more scuffling over the line, followed by several pained groans. Finally, Natasha exhaled into the mic. "All done. I'll start reaching out. Give me ten minutes max, and I'll let you know when we're ready to jump."

She paused— then her voice sharpened just a bit. "Also, we're definitely having a conversation about you leaving Earth without telling me."

(End of Chapter)