A hammer?
Fell from the sky?
New Mexico?
Rowan's mind was racing. Thanks to his superbrain, many of his once-fuzzy memories became instantly clear. He finally remembered—this was the Thor 1 storyline he had been waiting for!
First came Iron Man 1, which had already played out. Obadiah had been punched to death by Rowan—end of story.
Now it was time for the Thor plot. Since the hammer had already fallen from the sky, that meant Thor himself must've landed too.
At this stage, Thor was essentially just a regular person. Sure, he was likely stronger than the average man, but he wasn't invincible—after all, even Hawkeye Barton could've taken him down at this point.
Rowan was curious to meet Thor and size him up.
He wanted to know: how far had he come compared to this version of Thor?
Clearly, this was Thor's "beginner phase." His growth throughout the MCU was obvious, especially by the third movie, where Asgard was destroyed and Thor finally realized he wasn't the God of Hammers—but the God of Thunder.
His true power stemmed from his bloodline, not from Mjolnir. The hammer merely served to unlock the energy within him.
If this was the same hammer from Thor: Ragnarok onward, Odin's seal wouldn't have worked on it anymore. By then, Mjolnir's power level had entered an entirely different league.
And after that, during the Avengers: Endgame era, Thor had gotten even stronger—especially with Stormbreaker in hand.
Of course, Rowan wasn't just watching for fun.
He saw an opportunity to build a relationship with Asgard.
After all, with his inherited Kryptonian body—even in its early stages—his magical potential already surpassed that of most people.
And he hadn't even studied magic yet. It was pure brute force right now.
But in the Marvel world, the places to learn real magic were few and far between.
There was Kamar-Taj, of course, but Rowan was still a bit wary of the Ancient One. She could see through timelines, and her power level was at the "Godfather" tier. Rowan knew he wasn't ready to face her.
More importantly, he didn't know how she'd react to him being a time traveler. Best to keep his distance for now.
Then there were the Dimensional Lords, who had been exiled to alternate dimensions. They often picked random humans as their vessels to spread magic.
Take Scarlet Witch Wanda, for example—there's a version of her origin where she was chosen by a Dimensional Lord and granted incredible magical power. They hoped to control her, but Wanda had her own will. She wouldn't be manipulated.
That's exactly the kind of being Rowan didn't want to tangle with. Too much exposure to those entities, and who knows what kind of changes might happen?
So that left one more realistic option—Asgard. A powerful civilization with deep magical roots.
But the question was, how could he build a relationship with them? How could he earn the chance to learn their magic?
Rowan was intrigued. He walked into the living room and turned his attention to the TV, where a scientific research team was inspecting a very familiar hammer. They had brought all kinds of instruments to measure the energy fluctuations.
Rowan looked at the screen with a blank expression.
What was S.H.I.E.L.D. thinking? How had this massive event become a public spectacle? Everyone was aware of it now!
Then again, he had only watched the movies in his past life. They condensed a lot of information into a short runtime. What he'd seen back then was just the movie version.
But now? This was a fully functioning, dynamic reality—with curveballs like Gwen Stacy's storyline and Tony Stark's diverging experiences.
Clearly, the movies from his past life could only serve as a rough reference. A lot of things were going to play out differently here.
The news segment was brief, and Rowan quickly turned to his computer. He searched online to see what people were saying.
Unsurprisingly, most of the public was just... confused.
Who would seriously believe a hammer had fallen from the sky? It sounded like the plot of a sci-fi novel.
Many assumed it was man-made.
Was there life beyond Earth?
So far, the answer remained a mystery. And even if there were aliens, people couldn't accept that they looked so human—and used human tools like hammers.
To most, this was just another strange urban legend.
"This is getting interesting..." Rowan grinned and opened his diary.
[Diary Entry]
Today I actually saw Mjolnir on the news. It's surreal—like watching mythology bleed into reality. This really isn't a movie... it's a living, breathing world.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is too sloppy though. The incident's already gone public. If the Serpent Shield Bureau catches wind of this, they'll probably make a move early.
But for now, no one should be able to lift Mjolnir. They say it's forged from the core of a neutron star. Tsk tsk... if it weren't for the enchantment, it wouldn't budge.
That said, Thor's not the only one who can lift it. There are a few others... and at least one guy who "can't" lift it, but has secretly practiced all the moves behind its back. (dog-head emoji)
Meanwhile, at S.H.I.E.L.D.'s temporary base in New Mexico, Nick Fury stared intently at Rowan's diary. Sure enough, the new words had appeared just as expected.
"Yes! I knew this tactic would work!" Phil Coulson pumped a fist—an uncharacteristic outburst from the usually mild-mannered agent.
What excited him was simple: their bait had worked. They could use this method again to coax more insights from Rowan through indirect suggestion.
Even Fury cracked a rare smile.
Perfect timing.
"Check out what he wrote!" Hawkeye Barton leaned in eagerly.
Only a few agents were in the room now—just the inner circle.
Back in New York, inside Tony Stark's mansion, the place was undergoing a full renovation.
Tony was gutting the whole thing, rebuilding it to his specifications.
Scientific equipment was being installed left and right. He didn't care how much it cost—he had enough money to throw entire research labs together overnight.
"Sir, the diary has updated," J.A.R.V.I.S. announced. "Would you like to take a look?"
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