#59

VCM "Our best friend is exiled, Loki is about to usurp the throne, Asgard is on the verge of war, and you can still eat four wild boars, six pheasants, half a cow, and two barrels of beer? Do you even care?" Fandral snapped, his frustration boiling over as he glared at Volstagg, who was feasting without a care in the world.

Volstagg barely looked up as he tore off another chunk of meat. "Don't mistake my appetite for indifference," he retorted, chewing loudly.

Fandral's patience snapped. He lunged forward, knocking the plate out of Volstagg's hands.

The food clattered to the ground, and Volstagg shot to his feet, eyes blazing with anger.

"Enough!" Sif stepped between them, her voice sharp with authority.

"Fighting among ourselves won't solve anything. We all know Thor doesn't belong on Earth. It's time we do something about it."

Fandral shook his head. "You're talking about going after Thor? That's madness! Loki's the interim king. If we leave Asgard without his permission, he'll brand us as traitors."

"Keep your voice down," Hogun warned, glancing around warily.

"For all we know, Heimdall is listening."

As if on cue, the heavy doors swung open, and a guard stepped inside. "Heimdall wishes to see you."

The four warriors exchanged wary glances. "Damn it," Volstagg muttered under his breath.

Minutes later, they stood before Heimdall, their expressions tense.

"You intend to disobey the interim king's orders," Heimdall stated, his piercing gaze sweeping over them.

"You would risk being charged with treason to bring Thor back?"

Sif lifted her chin. "Yes."

Heimdall's response was not what they expected. "Good."

The four exchanged confused looks as Heimdall stepped forward.

"As guardian of the Bifrost, my loyalty is to the throne… but the Bifrost sometimes experiences 'technical difficulties.'" His lips curved slightly.

"A miscalculation in teleportation is always a possibility."

Before they could process his words, a brilliant beam of rainbow light shot through the sky above Asgard.

Far away, Loki stood at the palace balcony, watching the unmistakable glow of the Bifrost.

His jaw clenched.

He wasn't an idiot—he saw right through Heimdall's 'loyalty.'

He let out a slow breath, forcing a smirk onto his face. "So, that's your play, Heimdall?" he mused.

His brother's friends were strong, no doubt, but even they wouldn't be enough to turn the tide alone.

And then there was that… human on Earth. The one that unsettled him.

Loki turned on his heel and descended into the depths of the palace.

The air grew heavier as he approached a sealed chamber.

Raising Odin's scepter, he pressed it against the barrier, watching as the ancient runes flickered and dissolved.

A towering figure stepped forward from the glowing void, its massive frame exuding an overwhelming presence.

"Come forth, Destroyer."

The monstrous being emerged, the runes on its metallic body flaring to life.

Loki smirked, feeling the raw power radiating from the creature. "Make sure my brother never returns. Destroy everything."

"Coulson, how's our alien prince holding up?" Fury's voice crackled through the communication panel.

After confirming Thor's Asgardian identity, Fury had practically dumped all his S.H.I.E.L.D. responsibilities on Hill, dedicating himself entirely to the situation.

"He seems to be settling in well," Coulson replied, glancing at the surveillance feed.

Thor had spent the last two days in a small desert town, far from where Mjolnir had landed.

More importantly, he was spending time with the woman who had hit him with her car—Jane Foster.

Coulson had seen enough interactions between them to recognize the growing connection.

He smirked slightly. "In fact, he's adjusted so well that he came to me personally to ask for Jane's confiscated research equipment back. Seems like he's got priorities."

Fury sighed. "Great. An exiled prince and a scientist's love story. Just what I needed."

Coulson chuckled. "At least he's staying out of trouble… for now."

"Does that scientist know his true identity?" Fury asked, his voice sharp with curiosity.

"No, and Thor doesn't want us to say anything either," Coulson replied.

While SHIELD had agents watching Thor, their surveillance was mostly from a distance, letting him move freely.

As Coulson spoke, a thought struck him—an exiled prince hiding his identity while bonding with an unsuspecting scientist?

This was straight out of a fairy tale. Did Asgardians have a thing for dramatic storytelling too?

"If that's what he wants, we'll respect it," Fury said after a moment. "A bunch of clueless scientists treating him like a regular guy might be better than a carefully managed diplomatic reception."

He then turned his attention to Ethan, the mutant strategist standing nearby. "That weapon that might be coming to Earth—think it's related to our exiled alien prince?"

Ethan crossed his arms. "Wouldn't be surprising. From what we've seen, Asgardians share a lot of similarities with us. And, well, a wandering prince getting assassinated in exile isn't exactly rare in history."

Fury exhaled heavily. "If we step in to help Thor, we're interfering in Asgardian politics. We don't understand their world. Is this the right move, or are we making things worse?"

Ethan raised an eyebrow. "Flip the situation around. Say we stand by and do nothing while Thor gets taken out. You think that ends well for us?"

Fury didn't answer right away, but the tension in his clenched fists was enough.

No matter what they did, the risks were enormous. Humanity was in a vulnerable position against a race as advanced as the Asgardians.

A sharp alarm blared through the room.

"What's going on?" Coulson was already moving before the words left his mouth, rushing toward the monitoring station.

"Sir! High-energy reading detected northwest of our location!" an analyst called out from the console.

"Get eyes on it. Now!" Coulson barked before spinning on his heel and running back to the room where Fury was still on the communicator.

"Sir, I need direct intel from the armored brigade you deployed. Looks like Ethan's intel about Thor's hammer was right—something big just showed up."

Fury's voice was grim. "It was only a matter of time."

A crackle from the radio interrupted them. "This is Agent 0233. I've arrived at the scene. Standing by for orders."

Ethan immediately took control of the channel. "Sasazuk—I mean, Agent 0233, maintain a safe distance. Whatever you're looking at could be extremely dangerous. Do not attempt communication."

"Sir, they don't look that dangerous. One of them even waved at me," Agent 0233 reported, confusion in his tone.

Ethan's brow furrowed. "...They?" Something felt off. "Agent, describe what you're seeing—clear, detailed, no missing pieces."

A pause.

Then, a defeated sigh crackled through the communicator.

"Oh great. Consultant Ethan is here. Every time he's involved, things get weird."

"Dude, you're not in mute," An agent beside him said,

Another pause.

Silence.

Ethan blinked.

...

Thor, once a mighty warrior, now looked more like a domestic man as he set down plates of breakfast in front of Jane Foster and her team.

"Come on, have a taste," he said with a proud smile.

Jane took a small bite, then gave him an approving nod. "Well done."

Their eyes met, lingering for just a second too long, a silent exchange that even a blind man could recognize as full of unspoken feelings.

Erik Selvig, the older scientist sitting across from her, tapped his fork against his plate, effectively breaking the moment.

"As nice as breakfast is, I care more about his theory."

Jane blinked, refocusing. "Right."

"The Nine Realms, the interconnected structure of the universe that Thor described to us last night—it's a perfect theoretical model.

But it completely contradicts our existing scientific framework. Without concrete proof, no one in the scientific community will take it seriously."

Before she could respond, a sudden knock on the window interrupted them.

Everyone turned, and to their shock, four figures in gleaming Asgardian armor stood outside, waving excitedly at Thor.

"Buddy, we found you!" Volstagg bellowed, his bushy beard bouncing with every word.

Jane and Donald both froze, their cups slipping from their hands and shattering against the table.

Sif, more composed than her boisterous companion, turned to acknowledge Ethan. "Man of Midgard, we appreciate your help in bringing us here. Without you, finding Thor would have been far more difficult."

Ethan simply shrugged. "No problem."

As Sif and the others entered to speak with Thor, Ethan turned away and tapped his communicator.

Fury's voice immediately crackled through, heavy with irritation.

"This is not what you told me," Fury growled. "I was ready to push the launch button for a nuclear strike, and now you're telling me these four aren't hostile?"

Ethan winced.

He had been so focused on the impending arrival of the Destroyer that he had completely forgotten that Thor's friends would show up first.

Of course, he couldn't admit that now.

Clearing his throat, he put on his most serious tone. "Why? Would you rather they be enemies than allies? I'd say this outcome is a whole lot better."

Fury was silent for a moment. "...I suppose you have a point."

"Your nerves are too tight, Director. That's not good for decision-making."

Ethan understood the weight of what was happening.

Ordinary people might fantasize about first contact with aliens, but for those in positions of power, the first thought was always survival.

When a civilization meets another—especially one as advanced as Asgard—the implications stretch far beyond mere curiosity.

The pressure on world leaders in such a moment was immense.

Fury let out a tired sigh. "You're not wrong. The World Security Council hasn't stopped meeting in the past two days.

Plans are being drawn up, some stretching decades into the future. We even have worst-case scenarios mapped out—somewhere in there is a contingency plan that looks like Noah's Ark."

"Sounds like a fun couple of days," Ethan said dryly. "By the way, where's Coulson? He said he was going to check things out. I'm standing here with Asgardians in my lap, but I haven't seen hide nor hair of him."

"I let him stay there. Asgard's so-called Bifrost teleportation technology is far beyond anything we have, so I asked him to analyze the residual energy traces. If he finds anything useful, it could be a breakthrough for us," Fury explained.

"Coulson is still there?" Ethan's voice rose slightly, his instincts flaring up.

"I suddenly have a really bad feeling about this."

At the site where Sif and the Warriors Three had just arrived, Coulson was busy documenting the residual energy signatures left by the Bifrost.

His team had deployed drones to capture every possible change in the environment.

Once they had gathered enough data, Coulson turned to his agents.

"Alright, let's set up a perimeter. The wind out here is brutal—if we don't act fast, these traces could be gone in a few hours."

Just as they began constructing a makeshift shelter, the sky darkened.

Thick, swirling clouds twisted into a vortex, energy crackling at its center.

"What the hell?" Agent 0233 muttered, watching the storm churn above them.

"Could it be another Asgardian arrival?"

Coulson narrowed his eyes. "Unlikely. Asgard's Bifrost has a very distinct energy signature. This... this is different."

Before anyone could react, a massive, three-meter-tall metallic figure plummeted from the sky, slamming into the ground with a thunderous impact.

"Hostile threat!" Agent 0233 shouted, yanking out his firearm.

"Stand down!" Coulson barked, holding up a hand.

"Take a good look. Doesn't this thing's design seem... familiar? If I had to guess, I'd say it looks a lot like one of Stark's prototypes."

Agent 0233 hesitated.

Now that he really looked at it, the machine did resemble Stark's work—only on a much larger scale.

"So... what do we do?" the younger agent asked.

Coulson smirked and picked up a megaphone, striding confidently toward the towering figure. "We talk."

Agent 0233 watched him go with star in his eyes. "Wow. That's the legendary Agent Coulson for you—cool under pressure."

Coulson raised the megaphone. "Hello! You're operating unauthorized heavy weaponry. Identify yourself immediately."

For a moment, the metal giant actually paused.

Then, with a hiss of hydraulics, the helmet-like structure on its head began to open.

Coulson turned back with a smug grin and gave Agent 0233 a thumbs-up.

"See? Told you I knew Iron Man well."

"Uh... sir?" Agent 0233's voice wavered. "I don't think that's a pilot's helmet..."

Coulson frowned and turned back just in time to see a glowing energy weapon revealed beneath the opening faceplate.

"Oh, hell nah."

A blinding blast erupted from the Destroyer's face, sweeping across the area and reducing several cars—and their freshly built shelter—to flaming wreckage.

Agent 0233 dove for cover. "You sure this thing is one of Stark's?!"

Coulson, now crouched behind a smoking vehicle, pulled him into cover.

"Yeah... I'm starting to think this is that alien weapon our security consultant warned us about."

"So do we have a plan for dealing with this?!" Agent 0233 yelped as another blast sent debris flying over their heads.

Coulson grimaced as he fumbled for his communicator. "I do, actually. It's called 'calling for backup.'"

He pressed a button and spoke urgently. "Coulson to Director Fury—I've got a situation here. Big, angry, and metal. I could use some immediate firepower!"