Daisy, momentarily pulled out of her silent grief over the confiscation of her personal technology, finally spotted the two figures walking up to the house. She instantly perked up.
"Look! It's Leo and... Thor! They actually came back!" she exclaimed, a flash of excitement returning to her eyes. But then she glanced at the two heartbroken scientists beside her, their faces etched with the reality of their loss, and she deflated quickly. "Never mind. Their arrival won't make any difference now. The government got everything."
Leo came up the stairs first and overheard Dr. Eric Selvig speaking in a low, despairing tone.
"This is how they operate, Jane. They absorb or erase anything they can't immediately control. I knew a scientist once, a brilliant pioneer in the study of gamma radiation. After S.H.I.E.L.D. found him and classified his work, I never heard from him again. He just vanished."
"That would be Dr. Bruce Banner," Leo said calmly, walking over from behind and sitting down effortlessly on the empty space next to Dr. Eric. "I've seen him before. Well, I guess you could say I've... had a brief encounter with him."
He looked around the stripped-bare platform. "It seems you haven't been doing well since I left the diner."
Daisy immediately burst out, detailing the disaster. "Yes! A guy named Agent Coulson and his creepy men in black suits took absolutely everything! Our life's work! Including my iPad, which had the thirty best shows I just downloaded, plus all my notes..."
"Can we please, please stop talking about your iPad, Daisy?" Jane snapped, her voice tight with fury, still pacing the empty space. She was utterly incandescent about S.H.I.E.L.D.'s actions.
"They can't treat us like this! They can't just take a person's life and data and replace it with a worthless check! I'm going to track them down and take everything back. Every single sensor, every line of code, every calculation."
Leo leaned forward, resting his chin in his hand. "If it's Agent Coulson in charge, I think I actually can be of some help. I know people who know people, if you catch my drift. We just need to give them a reason to hand your equipment back."
Thor, who had been listening from his imposing position just behind the group, suddenly spoke up, his voice booming with the confidence of a warrior who saw a clear path to victory.
"Enough of this Midgardian bureaucracy and its petty theft! Can we now go find my Mjolnir? If I regain my hammer, I can help you retrieve these trinkets and documents of yours with divine force!"
Meanwhile, on the distant, golden realm of Asgard.
Because of Odin's sudden, deep slumber—a consequence of the chaotic confrontation on Jotunheim—Loki had effortlessly assumed the throne. He now held the legendary spear, Gungnir, and sat upon the seat he had always secretly, deeply desired.
The throne room doors swung open, admitting the four impulsive friends who had dared to accompany Thor to the Frost Giant realm: the mighty Warriors Three (Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun) and the fierce shield-maiden, Lady Sif.
They had journeyed to the palace hoping to speak directly to Odin, the Allfather, to implore him to reconsider and end Thor's wrongful exile.
But to their profound dismay, it was Loki, draped in green and gold, who sat upon the shimmering, ancient throne.
"Where is the Allfather?" Sif demanded, her voice ringing with suspicion.
Loki's expression was one of practiced, deep sorrow. "Father has entered the deepest of slumbers—the famed Odin's Sleep. Mother is currently worried that he may never awaken, and thus she refuses to leave his side, consumed by her grief."
Loki, now wearing the glorious, golden antlered helmet and clutching the Spear of Gungnir, rose slowly from the throne. His expression shifted seamlessly from feigned sorrow to measured, regal arrogance.
"You may deliver your urgent pleas to your King!"
Sif and the Warriors Three looked up at the figure of Loki. They hesitated for a crucial moment, their concern for Thor's immediate danger warring with their loyalty to the crown.
Volstagg, the stoutest and most sensible of the group, dropped to one knee. He placed his right fist firmly over his left chest plate in a solemn Asgardian salute. "Your Majesty, we humbly beg you to end the exile of your brother, Thor."
Loki chuckled softly, descending the throne steps with a slow, deliberate pace.
"Our great Kingdom faces imminent and severe war with Jotunheim. Our people require assurance that the Kingdom's policies remain consistent and decisive so they can feel safe in these trying times. We must all unite to defend Asgard, and an act of weakness now would be catastrophic."
Upon hearing this bureaucratic, cold, and utterly perfunctory remark, Sif's temper flared. She immediately stood up in protest, only to be quickly and forcibly pulled back down by Hogun, the most composed and pragmatic of the Warriors Three.
Hogun spoke quickly before the others could reignite Loki's temper. "Yes, Your Majesty. You are absolutely correct. Our deepest apologies."
"Very well," Loki said, reaching the bottom step and looking down upon the four kneeling friends. "Then await my future orders. And speak nothing of this to the citizens."
"Forgive my intrusion, Your Majesty," Volstagg insisted, his voice heavy with sincerity, "but I implore you to be magnanimous and reconsider. Thor's exile was severe—"
"Enough of this foolish talk!" Loki snarled softly, the veneer of the benevolent king finally cracking.
The three Warriors stood up, anger blazing in their eyes, and silently departed. Sif lingered for a moment, staring intently at Loki with cold, unconcealed disgust, before turning and following her friends in a huff.
They knew, just as Loki knew, that he had orchestrated the entire incident. Loki had subtly instigated Thor to attack Jotunheim on the very day of his coronation, ensuring Thor's banishment. Now, Loki had the power to reverse it, but his refusal only solidified their suspicions that he was merely a power-hungry usurper.
Loki watched the door close behind them, then sighed, the grand act over. He slowly walked back and sat upon the throne, the cold metal surprisingly comforting.
Was this truly his plan from the beginning?
He had indeed been the one to let the three Frost Giants into Asgard during the coronation. However, his initial intention was only to show Odin that Thor was arrogant, reckless, and dangerously unfit to be king.
He had subtly encouraged Thor, knowing his brother's impulsive nature. The intent was simply to have Thor confront Odin, forcing him to leave a worse, more indelible impression upon the Allfather.
He never intended for Thor to prepare a direct, suicidal assault on Jotunheim with only six warriors.
Before they left, Loki had—out of a complex mix of loyalty and self-preservation—tattled on Thor, creating a backup plan that ultimately saved his friends' lives and provided the final, fatal proof of Thor's recklessness to Odin.
But during the chaotic retreat, it had been Loki who stayed behind, genuinely calling out to his brother. When Thor was banished, it was Loki who ran to the Bifrost portal with tears in his eyes.
His original intent was never to cause such serious, final consequences.
But when Loki saw Odin casually throw down Mjolnir, sealing Thor's fate and his power, he instantly understood everything. He was a pawn. The entire agreement was meant to be an equal contest for the throne, but Thor was pre-selected, pre-chosen, and effortlessly forgiven for every fault.
This sudden realization, coupled with the revelation that he was not Odin's biological son—but rather the abandoned prince of the reviled Frost Giants, the son of the giant Laufey—changed everything. His determination to become King, to finally prove his worth, became a feverish, burning need.
As he had roared at the now-slumbering Odin, his internal conflict had been devastating: I am not your son! You are not my father!
Yet, even now, sitting on the throne as the new ruler, Loki was tormented. He was taught from his childhood that the Frost Giants were savage, hideous bastards, and now he was the son of their King. Sensitive and suspicious by nature, he suspected that Odin had adopted him solely for political leverage—a tool, not a son.
But the years of adoration and deep love for the father who raised him tormented him.
Loki was fiercely proud of his own identity—the genius, the strategist—but eternally ashamed of his Frost Giant lineage.
Therefore, his current, complex plan had taken shape: He had secretly invited Laufey, the Frost Giant King, into Asgard through a secret passage to assassinate the sleeping Odin. This, Loki reasoned, was the ultimate test. He would then seize the opportunity to slay Laufey himself with the Eternal Spear.
Finally, using the powerful, immense energy of the Bifrost—the Rainbow Bridge—he would obliterate the entire realm of Jotunheim, extinguishing his loathed heritage forever.
Loki only wanted one thing: his father's final, undeniable approval, even if it was only a fleeting moment of relief upon his awakening.
Dr. Eric Selvig, finally shaking off his internal scientific defeat, looked at the child beside him with sudden, sharp attention. "Wait a minute, Leo. You know Banner? You know people from S.H.I.E.L.D.? You know Coulson?"
Leo nodded easily. "We know each other, yes. And I should be able to exchange a few words with the agent in charge. I think it shouldn't be overly difficult to arrange the return of your things."
"Great! Let's get going, then!" Jane said impatiently, jumping up. "Right now, what I want most is to find those confiscated documents. I need my data and the original readings from the impact site."
Daisy clapped her hands together, genuinely thrilled. "Yay, that's incredible! I can get my critical research data back too! I'm so lucky we met you, Leo!" She quickly corrected herself, seeing Jane's sharp gaze.
Thor, still focused solely on his goal, was slightly confused by the sudden attention on the government agent. "Who is this 'Cole' you speak of? Why are you chasing after his son? I just require my Mjolnir!"
Ignoring Thor's confusion, the five people quickly piled into Jane's battered jeep.
Thor, the largest and most demanding of the group, naturally claimed the passenger seat, settling in like a conquering hero. Jane drove the battered vehicle, speeding out of the town limits toward the fifty-mile drive west.
Leo, Daisy, and Eric settled into the cramped back row.
The atmosphere in the jeep was much more relaxed than it had been moments before, perhaps due to Leo's confident, stabilizing presence.
Dr. Eric, intrigued and professionally curious, immediately leaned over to Leo, wanting to talk more about the mysterious Dr. Banner and his work on gamma radiation.
Meanwhile, Jane and Thor started their own intimate, philosophical chat up front.
"...They stole the fruits of my life's research, and now I literally have nothing left to lose," Jane said, her hands gripping the steering wheel tightly.
"Yes, but you are very clever, Lady Jane. Much cleverer than almost everyone I have encountered in this entire, vast realm," Thor replied sincerely.
"Realm? Who are you, really, Thor? You talk like you're royalty from some lost country."
"You will find out soon enough. You have my word." Thor smiled, seemingly eager to see Jane's expression of awe when she finally learned he was a banished god.
"You promised me the answer to the phenomenon."
Thor turned to Jane, his eyes serious. "What you are looking for is a bridge that connects the nine realms."
"Like the Einstein-Rosen Bridge? The theoretical wormhole?" Jane questioned, her skepticism warring with the physical evidence she'd collected.
"It is more like... a Rainbow Bridge," Thor corrected, his voice full of wonder.
Jane paused, glancing at Leo in the rearview mirror—who only gave her a slight nod—and then back at Thor. She shook her head slightly, forcing a breathy laugh. "My God, I sincerely hope you are not completely and utterly crazy, Thor."