New Mexico, United States - May 2011
Matthew Harkness was in his private jet, flying over the New Mexico desert, looking out the window at the reports he had received from his informants with a smile he couldn't contain.
"A hammer that no one can lift appeared out of nowhere in a crater," he read aloud, taking a sip of his coffee. "SHIELD has cordoned off the area. There are reports of a muscular blond guy who tried to retrieve the hammer but couldn't. And local witnesses say that before the hammer appeared, there was a strange storm with a light pattern that looked like a portal."
He leaned back in his leather seat, laughing.
"Thor. The fucking Thor is on Earth. This is epic."
The past three years had been productive. After establishing his kingdom, Matthew had been recruiting carefully chosen souls. Not many, perhaps a hundred in total, but all loyal, all with useful skills. Ancient warriors. Strategists. Scholars. He had built the core of what would one day be his army.
He had also expanded Erebus Consulting internationally. It had offices in ten countries, covert operations in twenty more, and an intelligence network that rivaled some intelligence agencies.
And I had been waiting. Waiting for this exact moment.
"Thor on Earth means Loki isn't far off," he murmured, plotting. "And Loki on Earth means the Chitauri and the first Avengers event are a year away. Maybe less."
The pilot announced that they were approaching the nearest private airport to Puente Antiguo, the town where the hammer had fallen.
"Perfect," Matthew stood up, stretching. "Time to meet my first Norse god."
Old Bridge, New Mexico - That night
Matthew had rented a van (because arriving in a limousine to the smallest town in the world was a bit obvious) and had checked into the only decent motel in the area.
Now he was sitting in the local bar, drinking a beer that tasted like cat pee but he could stomach it, observing.
The place was full of SHIELD people trying not to look like they were SHIELD. Matthew could spot them a mile away: suits way too formal for a shithole town, inconspicuous earpieces, the way they moved with military training.
"Amateurs," he thought, taking a sip of his awful beer.
And then he saw it.
Thor.
Well, Thor without powers. Mortal Thor. Thor depressed as hell.
The god of thunder sat alone at a corner table, staring at his beer with an expression Matthew immediately recognized: the look of someone who had lost everything.
"Poor fool," Matthew thought, feeling a pang of sympathy. After all, he too had died and been reborn. He knew what it was like to lose everything.
He got up, grabbed his beer, and walked over to Thor's table.
"Do you mind if I sit down?" she asked, already sitting down before Thor could answer.
Thor looked at him with eyes that had once been proud but now only looked tired.
"Do what you want, mortal."
Matthew smiled at that.
"Deadly. Technically, I suppose. Although it's complicated."
Thor frowned, studying it for the first time with real attention.
"You're strange. There's something about you... something that isn't entirely human."
"Perceptive," Matthew raised his beer in a toast. "But you're weird too. A guy who talks like he's stepped out of a Shakespeare play, muscular like he lifts weights made of mountains, and with a sadness that could fill oceans. Let me guess: family problems."
Thor tensed up.
"As...?"
"I have a knack for reading people," Matthew shrugged. "Besides, it's not that hard. A guy like you, clearly not from around here, shows up on the same day an impossible-to-lift hammer falls from the sky. You don't have to be a genius to connect the dots."
Thor stared at him for a long time, then sighed.
"My father banished me. He took away my powers. He sent me here to learn humility." He took a long swig of his beer. "And I can't even lift my own hammer."
"Mjolnir," Matthew said casually.
Thor almost spits out his beer.
"How do you know the name of my hammer?"
"I know a lot of things." Matthew leaned forward. "I know you're Thor, son of Odin, prince of Asgard. I know your brother Loki is probably behind all this mess. And I know you're here not because your dad's a jerk, but because you needed to learn something you couldn't learn being a spoiled prince."
Thor stopped abruptly, the chair falling backward.
"Who are you? Are you one of Heimdall's mortals? A sorcerer?"
Matthew remained seated, calm, taking another sip of his beer.
"Sit down, Thor. I'm not your enemy. And if I were, you'd be dead by now. Mortal or not, I still have enough tricks up my sleeve to make your day very bad."
Something in her tone, in her presence, made Thor pause. Slowly, he lifted his chair and sat down.
"So what are you?"
Matthew considered how much to reveal. Then he decided, fuck it, Thor was going to be an Avenger soon, and having a connection with him could be useful.
"I'm someone like you, in a way. A god from another pantheon, reincarnated in this world. Emperor of the Underworld, Lord of Shadows, and currently a successful businessman because immortality is boring without money."
Thor looked at him as if he had grown a second head.
"Another god? From the Underworld?"
"Yep. Although to be fair, I'm not from the Underworld of this universe. It's complicated. But the point is: I understand what it's like to be powerful, lose that power, and have to rebuild yourself."
"Have you lost your power?"
"I died," Matthew said simply. "In my previous life. I literally died watching my football team lose. Then I woke up here, as a baby, with all my memories but without my power. I had to build everything from scratch."
Thor processed that, his expression softening.
"So... you understand?"
"I totally understand, brother." Matthew raised his beer. "I understand what it's like to feel lost. To feel useless. To wonder if you'll ever be who you once were."
Thor raised his own beer, clinking it against Matthew's.
"And did you succeed? Did you regain your power?"
"I recovered and overcame it," Matthew smiled. "But it took me almost 40 years. You're going to be lucky. Your power is here, waiting for you. You just need to prove you deserve it."
"How do I do that? I tried to lift Mjolnir. It didn't budge."
"Because you still haven't learned your lesson." Matthew leaned back. "Why did your father banish you, Thor? Really?"
Thor clenched his jaw.
"Because I disobeyed. I attacked the Jotun against their orders."
"And why did you attack the Jotun?"
"Because... because they invaded Asgard. Because they are our enemies. Because..."
"Because you're an arrogant jerk who wanted a fight," Matthew interrupted. "No offense, but it's the truth. You didn't attack to defend Asgard. You attacked because your ego was hurt. Because you wanted to prove you were strong."
Thor remained silent, staring at his beer.
"You're right," he finally admitted. "I was a fool. I risked my friends because of pride."
"Exactly. And that's why you can't lift the hammer. Mjolnir doesn't respond to strength. It responds to courage. To sacrifice. To the humility of knowing when to fight and when not to."
"So what do I do?"
Matthew smiled.
"That, brother, you'll figure out on your own. But let me give you some advice: when the time comes, when you have to choose between your pride and protecting others... choose the others."
Thor nodded slowly, processing the words.
"Thank you... I don't even know your name."
"Matthew," he extended his hand. "Matthew Harkness."
Thor shook her hand, and Matthew felt the lingering divine power in the fallen god. It was still there, just sealed away. Waiting.
"Thank you, Matthew Harkness. Your words are wise."
"I try to be helpful." Matthew stood up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go do something that's probably a bad idea, but it's going to be fun."
"What are you going to do?"
Matthew smiled enigmatically.
"I'm going to meet your friends at SHIELD. And maybe, if I'm lucky, I'll even touch a magic hammer."
The Hammer Site - Midnight
Infiltrating the SHIELD site was ridiculously easy. Matthew simply walked through the shadows, materializing within the perimeter as if the fences and guards didn't exist.
"SHIELD's security is a disgrace," he muttered as he walked toward the temporary structure they had built around the crater.
Mjolnir was there, in the center, illuminated by bright lights, with cameras pointing at it from all angles.
Matthew approached, looking at the hammer with fascination.
"So this is Mjolnir. Forged by the dwarves, blessed by Odin, capable of channeling the power of thunder."
She extended her hand, without touching him yet, feeling the energy.
She was powerful. Ancient. And definitely not from the Underworld. She was the power of storms, of the sky, of life. The opposite of what he represented.
"Interesting," he murmured. "It's not malignant. It's not benign. It simply... is."
He touched the handle.
He immediately felt the test. The hammer was evaluating him. Looking into his soul. Judging whether he was worthy.
Matthew didn't try to lift it. He knew he couldn't. The hammer was linked to Thor, and more importantly, it was linked to the values of Asgard: honor, courage, sacrifice.
He had honor in his own way. He had courage. But sacrifice... well, that was more complicated. He was willing to sacrifice himself, but only for his own goals. Not for the goals of others.
"I am not worthy by your standards," he told the hammer. "And that's okay. I don't need your approval."
He withdrew his hand, smiling.
"But it was nice meeting you."
"Stop! Hands where I can see them!"
Matthew turned slowly, finding himself face to face with five SHIELD agents pointing guns at him.
"Hey, guys, seriously?" Matthew threw up his hands. "Point guns at me? At me?"
"How did you get in here?" demanded the team leader, a man with a grumpy face.
"Walking. How else?"
"The perimeter is sealed. No one can..."
Matthew disappeared, dissolving into shadows, and reappeared behind the agents.
"No one can enter," he finished the sentence from his new position. "Except those who don't walk through normal doors."
The officers turned, pointing their guns at him again, clearly frightened.
"What the hell are you?" one of them asked.
"Someone way above your pay grade," Matthew replied. "Now, put your weapons down before I get angry."
"We're not going to...!"
Matthew let his eyes glow violet. He let a fraction of his presence, the presence of Hades, manifest.
The five officers fell to their knees, their weapons dropping to the ground, trembling.
"When I said to put down your weapons," Matthew spoke in a voice that resonated with divine authority, "it wasn't a suggestion."
He walked between them toward the exit, then stopped and looked back.
"Tell your boss that Matthew Harkness was here. And that if he wants to talk, he can request a meeting like civilized people."
And with that, he dissolved into the shadows, leaving the agents traumatized and confused.
The next day - Motel
Matthew was eating pancakes for breakfast (horrible, but he was hungry) when he felt the disturbance.
Power. A lot of power. Flowing from the site of the hammer.
"Thor regained his powers," he murmured, smiling. "Good timing."
He knew what was happening. The Destroyer had arrived. Loki had sent it to kill Thor. And Thor had done exactly what Matthew told him: he sacrificed himself for others.
And in that sacrifice, he proved himself worthy.
"That's a god who learned his lesson," Matthew took another bite of his pancakes. "Good for him."
He could have gone to help. He could have intervened in the fight against the Destroyer. But... no. That was Thor's moment. His redemption. Matthew wasn't going to steal it from him.
Besides, Thor was going to win. Matthew knew it.
He finished his breakfast, paid, and headed to his truck. Time to go back to New York.
But just as he was about to go up, he felt something. Someone watching him.
He turned around and saw a woman standing a few feet away. Black hair, a tight-fitting suit, a presence that screamed "trained agent."
Natasha Romanoff. Black Widow.
"Matthew Harkness," she said in a neutral voice. "SHIELD would like to have a conversation with you."
Matthew leaned against his truck, crossing his arms.
"A conversation? Or an interrogation?"
"It depends on how cooperative you are."
"Look, Natasha..." he said her name deliberately, seeing her micro-reaction of surprise, "I know who you are. I know who you work for. And I'll save you some time: I'm not a threat to SHIELD. I'm not a threat to Earth. But I'm also not someone they can control or recruit."
"How do you know my name?"
"I know a lot of things. I know about the Red Room. I know about Budapest. I know you're one of SHIELD's best agents. And I also know that Nick Fury is listening to this conversation through your comm."
Natasha didn't deny anything, but Matthew saw her hand subtly move toward her gun.
"Relax, Black Widow. I didn't come here to fight. I came to observe. To meet Thor. And mission accomplished."
"Why are you interested in Thor?"
"Because I'm interested in the gods," Matthew smiled. "Being one myself, I'm curious about other pantheons."
"Are you a god?"
"Something like that. But don't worry. I'm not the type to enslave humanity or destroy the planet. I'm more the type to drink expensive whiskey in my penthouse and occasionally do interesting things."
Natasha studied him, clearly trying to assess whether he was a threat.
"SHIELD will want to talk to you eventually."
"And eventually, maybe I'll accept." Matthew climbed into his truck. "But not today. Today I just want to go home, take a decent shower, and see how this whole Asgard drama plays out."
"We can't just let you go."
Matthew looked at her through the van window, his eyes glowing faintly violet.
"Natasha Romanoff, born Natalia Alianovna Romanova, former Red Room agent, currently working to redeem a red-stained past. You don't want to fight me. Because even you, with all your training, can't fight someone who can kill you just by thinking about it."
It wasn't a threat. It was a fact. And they both knew it.
Natasha took a step back, her hand moving away from her weapon.
"See you later, Black Widow," Matthew started the engine. "Tell Fury that if he wants to talk, he should send me a formal invitation. I have offices in Manhattan. They're easy to find."
And with that, he left, leaving Natasha standing in the motel parking lot, reporting to Fury that they had just met someone who could be the most powerful asset on the planet.
Or its greatest threat.
Time would tell.
END OF CHAPTER