Not So Friendly Anymore

Chapter 38: An Old Enemy Returns

Peter's grip on his staff faltered. His eyes,  those faintly glowing gold irises.  widened for just a second before pain crashed through him like a tidal wave. His hand shot to his chest, and the staff clattered to the ground, vanishing in a shimmer of light as he staggered backward.

"Peter!" Susan's voice was sharp with panic.

Sable was already there, catching him by the shoulders before he could hit the marble floor. "What's happening?!"

Peter's breathing turned ragged,  harsh, shallow gasps as if the air itself had turned to fire in his lungs. His veins pulsed faintly gold beneath his skin, flickering erratically like broken circuits.

Susan knelt, pressing her hands to his face. "Peter, what's happening?"

He trembled, sweat dripping down his temple as his eyes burned molten gold again. When he finally spoke, his voice wasn't just his own. Anansi spoke with him.

"It's... him," he rasped out. "I can feel him moving through the void."

Odin's brow furrowed. "Who?"

Peter's breathing steadied slightly, though his hands still shook. His tone grew heavier, colder, every word weighted with divine dread.

"The one who hates the gods," he said softly. "The one who kills them."

Thor's expression hardened. "Speak plainly, brother."

Peter slowly lifted his gaze, and for a moment, the shadows seemed to darken around him.

"Gorr," he said. "The God Butcher."

The name alone sucked the warmth from the room. Even the fire in the great hall dimmed.

Odin stiffened at the sound, eyes narrowing. "That name has not been spoken in an age."

Peter pushed himself up with Sable's help, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Yeah, well," he muttered, forcing a shaky smirk. "Might wanna start saying it again."

Susan's face was pale, her voice trembling. "Peter... who is he?"

Peter's expression turned grim, almost hollow. "A mortal once. A man who lost everything and decided every god in the universe deserved to die for it. He found a weapon that gave him the power to make it happen."

He swallowed, eyes distant as if he could already see the trail of blood across galaxies.

"He's killed pantheons. Gods of light, of war, of death. I stopped him once, we stopped him once, but I guess that wasn't enough."

Thor's grip on Mjolnir tightened. "Then he has come to finish what he started."

Peter's eyes flickered gold again, the faint hum of his divine essence resonating in the air. "No," he said, his tone low, dangerous. "He's come because he felt me wake up. The god he wanted dead the most. The god he couldn't kill."

Odin's gaze was heavy with old understanding. "He will come for you first."

Peter nodded slowly. "Yeah," he murmured, summoning his staff back into his hand with a flash of gold and black energy. The runes on his arm burned faintly as he spun it once, anchoring it into the floor. "Then let him find me waiting."

Susan stepped closer, gripping his arm. "Peter, you don't have to face him alone."

He looked at her and Sable, his face softening for just a moment before the mask of resolve returned.

"I know," he said quietly. "But I might have to be the one who ends him."

Lightning cracked somewhere beyond the palace walls, distant, but getting closer