"Arrogant fool. Just because you're still standing in that bizarre armor doesn't mean you can defeat me, the All-Father of the Gods!"
Odin scoffed coldly, his single eye gleaming with an icy menace, overflowing with killing intent.
He wielded Gungnir, the Spear of Heaven, a weapon of overwhelming might. He refused to believe that any Earth-forged armor could possibly withstand a full-force strike from it.
BOOM!
Two surging powers clashed with explosive violence. Their eyes locked in a deadly stare, each filled with murderous resolve.
"It has begun."
From within Kamar-Taj, the Ancient One stood with hands clasped behind her back, gaze stretching through space and time, as if observing the scene with rapt interest.
An unimaginable shockwave suddenly erupted, its reach instantly transcending the vacuum of space and washing over the entire solar system.
Two entities, godlike in scale and stature, were now clashing with full force. Their unleashed might was enough to shatter entire planets, and this was only the beginning of the battle.
CRACK!
Odin thrust Gungnir forward with devastating force. The surrounding space warped violently, on the verge of collapsing entirely. The destructive strike, bolstered by the All-Father's divine might, was capable of annihilating anything in its path.
No living being could possibly block that spear, not even the ancient Celestials of eons past had dared take it head-on. Let alone some human who had somehow come into possession of an unknown, alien suit of armor.
Such was the confidence of a God-King.
Odin's eye glinted coldly, already envisioning Martin and his armor utterly obliterated by Gungnir's blow, erased so thoroughly that not a single cell would remain.
And yet—
A deafening impact split the air.
Martin caught Gungnir with both hands. Raw, terrifying power surged from his armor. Though technological in nature, it now operated on a scale that rivaled Odin's divine forces.
The Spear of Heaven had been caught.
Time seemed to halt. Odin's expression shifted from contempt to stunned disbelief.
"What... what is that armor?"
"Only the strongest there is. Your Majesty." Martin's voice rang out from within his helm, calm and biting. "Seems your so-called Spear of Heaven isn't quite as unstoppable as you believed."
With one hand, Martin shoved Gungnir aside. The armor's power systems surged with catastrophic force, and as he threw a punch, the very fabric of space buckled, spiderweb cracks flickering through the void.
Odin's face darkened. With a guttural roar, he surged forward, but Martin's strike smashed through the divine aura surrounding him, sending the All-Father flying across the battlefield.
In just one exchange, Odin had lost the upper hand.
Across the galaxy, cosmic powerhouses quietly observing this battle were shaken. They marked Martin's name in their minds. Anyone who could go toe-to-toe with Odin, let alone push him back, was not to be underestimated.
"Odin," Martin said coolly, "it seems your plan to kill me... isn't going so well."
The Apex Armor he wore had granted him an astronomical boost in every conceivable category. Its internal war systems continuously adapted in real-time, analyzing Odin's every move and optimizing Martin's counters with uncanny precision.
If there were any suit in the entire multiverse that could match the Apex Armor, perhaps it was only the Hellbat Armor, forged through the combined might of the entire Justice League. Its intricate enhancements and near-apocalyptic combat potential make it a worthy contender.
And even then, it would be barely a match.
The Apex Armor had no weaknesses, none of the drawbacks of the Hellbat. It didn't drain the user's life force (metabolism). Not that Martin needed to worry about that anyway, his body housed the AllSpark, granting him inexhaustible vitality and mental power.
In this moment, upon a battlefield of vacuum and stars, Martin stood not merely as a man, but as a god greater than the All-Father himself.
A god born of Earth.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Blow after blow echoed across the void. Though Martin lacked the raw offensive edge to seriously wound Odin, his defense was absolute. The Apex Armor's resilience left Odin's every assault nullified, his divine power turned impotent.
Another ferocious impact rang out as Gungnir struck Martin square in the chest. Odin's face twisted with growing frustration.
Once again, nothing.
This armor, this utterly absurd armor, defied all logic. Even when Odin pushed his divine force to its upper limit, trying to vibrate Martin's internal organs to mush, the armor's internal dampening system, an almost mystical energy-diffusion lattice, absorbed and redirected the force without flaw.
It shouldn't exist. It violated the very laws of the cosmos.
The longer the fight dragged on, the more savage it became. Every strike could shatter moons. Distant observers trembled at the spectacle. Yet only the combatants understood the deeper truth, no matter how long they fought, there would be no decisive victory.
"What powers that armor?" Odin asked at last, hours, maybe days, into the battle. Exhaustion crept into his voice. Calling upon his god-force for so long had taxed even his ancient, once-immortal body.
"I am its power source." Martin's voice echoed from behind the armor's helm, utterly calm. "As long as I live, the armor will never falter. Even if the universe dies, this armor will endure."
He sounded neither boastful nor weary, only certain.
"Odin," Martin said, voice growing cold, "now it's my turn. Try not to die."
He raised his hand, and summoned forth a second weapon:
The Matrix of Leadership.
Its light blazed in his gauntlet like a new star, a beacon of ancient Cybertronian wisdom and power.
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