American Comics: Heaven's Reward

Westchester, New York

A grand manor in a distinctly European style.

It belongs to a mysterious and wealthy individual.

Hanging above the manor's gates are several large letters:

Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters

With a sense of self-accomplishment, Thor arrives at the school, guided by Heimdall.

His arrival immediately puts the X-Men on high alert.

With Ororo's assistance, Charles welcomes Thor inside.

The leading professor sighs inwardly upon seeing the unexpected visitor.

"Erik, I can't help you…"

Though Thor has yet to explain why he has come, Charles already knows.

Magneto had once taken advantage of Thor's weakened state—when he lost Mjolnir and his divine power—to subdue him.

But then, the God of Magic arrived.

And the Age of Magic began.

By all rights, Magneto should have died that day. He had, after all, nearly killed Odin's son and the Warriors Three.

He survived only because of Thor's plea for mercy.

Instead of execution, Magneto was handed over to Xavier's school and confined in a specially constructed plastic prison.

From that day forward, Magneto was consumed by fear.

He lived in constant terror that the Asgardians would return to finish what they had started.

As time passed, things only got worse.

He even developed psychological issues.

It all came to a head when Mystique found a way to disable the plastic prison's defenses.

Magneto had been preparing to escape.

But then came the news.

And Mystique's intelligence reports.

Aaron—the God of Magic—was in New York.

And his power far exceeded anything they had seen before.

Especially in the battles that followed.

Magneto had once believed himself to be godlike in the eyes of mortals.

But in comparison to Aaron?

That was true divine power.

Magneto was terrified.

He feared that if he escaped, the God of Magic would find him.

And then, just like that—

He'd be dead.

Aaron possessed many abilities, including teleportation.

They were in the same city.

It would be nothing for Aaron to track him down.

Maybe he was already watching.

So, Magneto abandoned his escape.

Instead, he convinced himself that staying in the plastic prison was the safest option.

Why flee when he could ensure his survival by remaining right where he was?

He even instructed Mystique to keep tabs on the gods, waiting for confirmation that Aaron had left Earth.

Only then would he dare to resurface.

Charles had tried to reason with him countless times, but to no avail.

Magneto had lost himself.

One of the strongest Mutants alive, reduced to a prisoner of his own fear.

He refused to even consider breaking free.

Seeing his old friend like this broke Charles' heart, but there was nothing he could do.

All he could do was wait for the Asgardians to arrive.

And now, that time had come.

The victim had finally returned for his tormentor.

Thor didn't know what the outcome would be.

But he wanted to see Magneto before it was too late.

At that moment, Ororo leaned in and whispered:

"Professor, the God of Thunder is also connected to the Magic Web."

"Huh? Even he?"

Charles was stunned.

His perception of Aaron shifted once more.

The God of Magic was terrifying.

Even Odin's heir sought his power.

"And his energy is immense," Ororo continued. "Far greater than Tony Stark's."

Since the Magic Web drew its power from Aaron, all those connected to it shared his energy signature.

This allowed those linked to the Web to faintly sense each other's power levels.

Even though they could only perceive a portion of the energy, it was enough.

From what Ororo could tell, Tony Stark—the director of the Bureau of Magic—was nothing compared to Thor.

Which meant Thor's strength surpassed that of all the X-Men combined.

This was a battle they could never hope to win.

Charles understood this all too well.

He spared a moment of silence for his old friend.

Nearby, Logan and Scott eyed Thor with unhidden hostility.

They knew they couldn't take him in a fight.

That didn't mean they had to like him.

Especially since another Asgardian had stolen Jean from them.

Not only had he taken her away, but he had reshaped her into his own image.

Because of that, Thor—who had done nothing to them personally—was now on their blacklist.

Standing side by side, Logan and Scott exchanged occasional glances of mutual disdain.

Even though they had a common enemy, it didn't change the fact that they were still rivals in love.

Both believed that, if not for the other's interference, Jean would have been his long ago.

There would have been no chance for an Asgardian to intervene.

And in their stubbornness, they clung to hope.

Jean would come back.

They told themselves that what had happened was just a trick.

A deception orchestrated by Dark Phoenix and Aaron.

Maybe Jean had only gone along with it because Aaron had forced her.

Once she fully recovered, she would return to them.

For love, they were willing to forgive.

Life was like that, wasn't it?

If you wanted to live with dignity, you had to accept a little humiliation along the way.

Facing their barely concealed hostility, Thor immediately noticed.

He spared them only a glance.

Then turned away indifferently.

Two weak Midgardian Mutants weren't worth his time.

As a god, he had better things to worry about.

"Charles, I want to see Magneto," Thor said. "This time, I will teach him a lesson and show him what true divine power is."

He had waited long enough.

If he couldn't reclaim his pride from Aaron, then at the very least, he could from Magneto.

Charles nodded, instructing Ororo to escort Thor to the plastic prison.

As they moved through the school, dispersing onlookers, it took them half an hour to reach the special facility.

This prison had been built by the combined efforts of the X-Men and S.H.I.E.L.D.

Charles still held considerable influence here.

Of course, news of Thor's arrival immediately reached Nick Fury.

Watching Thor's towering figure on the surveillance monitors, Fury was intrigued.

A duel between Magneto and Thor…

This is going to be big.

According to S.H.I.E.L.D. analysts, Magneto had a way to counter Thor.

Using lightning rods and magnetism, he might even be able to take full control of the Thunder God.

If things went well, recruiting Magneto wouldn't be out of the question.

Despite his powers, he was still human, after all.

And this could be a valuable opportunity to learn about Asgard's combat methods.

While Fury was contemplating, an agent approached.

"Sir, we have news regarding the God of Magic."

"What is it?" Fury asked.

"Two women have settled down in that restricted street—an astronomer named Jane Foster and her assistant, Darcy Lewis."

"They were with Thor during the Mjolnir incident."

Due to Aaron's presence, the street had essentially become a no-go zone.

No one wanted to risk interacting with terrorists regularly.

Even though it had been the safest place during the Battle of New York, the area was notorious for being dangerously unpredictable.

S.H.I.E.L.D. never dared to conduct direct surveillance, but they had stationed personnel on nearby streets.

They had initially planned to block Jane and Darcy from entering.

But after checking their files and finding evidence of past interactions with Asgardians, they chose to let them through.

Fury frowned.

He remembered them.

He had once worked with Dr. Erik Selvig on the Space Gem.

That partnership had been productive.

"Keep monitoring them," he ordered. "Make contact if possible, but don't provoke the God of Magic."

"Understood, sir."

Back at the prison, Charles hesitated before finally speaking.

"Thor, I know I shouldn't ask this, but please… if you must seek revenge against Erik, show mercy."

Thor smirked. "I'm not here to kill him. I just want to challenge him. He's a worthy opponent."

Little did he know, Magneto was no longer the man he remembered…

"Is it just a challenge?" Charles asked, looking puzzled.

"If you're planning to challenge him, perhaps you don't need to..." Charles trailed off.

"Why?" Thor asked, confused.

"You'll see when you get there..." Charles replied, unsure how to explain it.

Could it be that Eric had been so terrified by the God of Magic that he no longer had the courage to fight against Asgard?

This time, Eric had truly suffered a crushing defeat.

With lingering doubts, Thor finally encountered his old foe.

But Magneto no longer held the proud, defiant posture he once did. He sat there, clad in a prison uniform, his eyes hollow.

Upon hearing movement outside, he glanced over, locking eyes with Thor.

His pupils contracted.

"You finally came..." Magneto muttered, though he made no move to rise. He merely sat there, as though accepting his fate.

Thor frowned upon seeing this.

This was not what he had imagined.

In his memory, Magneto had once been an excellent adversary—so strong that Thor had once considered him the greatest threat in Midgard.

How proud he had been.

And now... he had become like this.

"For some reason, under the shadow of the God of Magic, Eric has completely lost his will to fight."

"Maybe he's developed a phobia of Asgardians?" Charles suggested.

"You've won," Magneto finally said.

Thor remained silent, a wave of frustration welling up inside him. He couldn't express his anger.

He had finally returned to claim victory, to right the wrongs of the past. And now, his opponent declared his defeat without even a fight.

It felt like punching a cloud—utterly frustrating!

Phobia of Asgardians? This strange affliction seemed to be growing more magical by the moment.

Thor could see that Magneto had truly given up.

He had truly won.

But with Thor's sense of honor, he couldn't bring himself to battle someone who had no will to fight. Even if his opponent was powerful, from this moment on, Magneto was no longer a warrior—he was a coward.

With that thought, Thor turned and walked away.

After he left, Charles gave Eric a deep, contemplative look, then followed Thor's lead and exited as well.

Eric watched them leave, taking a long, steadying breath.

Within his mind, he communicated with Charles.

He was indeed afraid of the God of Magic and Asgard. But that didn't mean he had completely lost his will to fight Thor.

Still, to be safe, he maintained this façade as Charles had suggested.

Using his mental power, he had tricked Thor into thinking he had given up.

But that wasn't entirely true.

He didn't want to fight, certainly.

He had made up his mind: he would never provoke Asgard again. That monster was far too terrifying!

Meanwhile, Nick Fury, who had been anticipating a clash between Magneto and Thor, was now annoyed.

Where was the fight he had expected?

Why had they just walked away?

Magneto was too cowardly!

What kind of "Asgardian phobia" was that?

How dare they joke about it like that!

Nick Fury didn't buy Charles' explanation.

If it were Aaron's phobia, maybe he could understand it, but not Magneto's.

Everyone was scared of Asgard, but they were even more terrified of the God of Magic.

Because he was just so unpredictable.

Thor, powerful as he was, was still somewhat manageable.

But how could the other Asgardians—those common gods—be so terrifying?

No, Charles was just lying.

It was so easy for a god like Thor to believe.

But Fury said nothing.

After all, the X-Men were on their side, and Orolo was part of the Magic Bureau.

You don't air your dirty laundry in front of your own people, right?

Nick Fury turned to his men. "I'm going to meet Charles. He has to explain this."

The scene transitions to another part of New York.

In a quiet, deserted street, a door creaked open with three sharp knocks...

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