One of them, a large man with messy red hair and a body shaped like a wine barrel, swung the flat side of an axe with frightening strength. Several agents who rushed toward him were knocked sprawling across the ground as if they weighed nothing.
The red-haired warrior raised the axe again and roared loudly, his voice echoing across the entire facility. "Hand over Thor, or I'll start chopping off heads!"
Ethan Blake recognized the four figures immediately the moment he saw them. Vorstagg, Hogun, and Fandral—the legendary Warriors Three of Asgard—along with Lady Sif.
How did those four end up here on Earth?
Gunfire echoed through the air, but the agents' pistols were completely useless against them. The bullets barely slowed the armored Asgardians, bouncing harmlessly off armor or simply failing to penetrate their tough bodies.
Ethan noticed several S.H.I.E.L.D. agents setting up an anti-materiel sniper rifle nearby. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly.
A fully powered Thor might be able to tank a shot from that kind of weapon, but the four people standing in front of him clearly couldn't. If the agents actually fired it, someone was going to die.
"Put those big toys away," Ethan said calmly as he turned toward Nick Fury beside him. "Trust me, if you accidentally kill them, you definitely don't want to deal with an angry Thor afterward. Tell your agents to stand down and let me handle this."
Nick Fury stared at him for a moment before silently giving the order. The agents who had been preparing heavy weapons slowly backed away, lowering their guns.
Ethan stepped forward alone while the agents retreated behind him.
Vorstagg squinted suspiciously at him and spoke in a deep voice. "Are you their leader?"
"No," Ethan replied with a relaxed smile. "But they usually listen to me."
Behind him, Nick Fury's face turned noticeably darker.
"Since they listen to you, then this will be easy," said Fandral, who was holding a slender sword and wearing an amused expression. "Hand over Thor."
Ethan spread his hands in a helpless gesture.
"Thor was indeed here earlier. Unfortunately, you're a little late. Someone picked him up about two hours ago. If you hurry now, you might still be able to catch up."
Hogun, the shorter and more serious of the group, narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"I don't believe you. How do we know you're not lying to us?"
"If you don't believe me, you're welcome to come inside and check for yourselves," Ethan replied casually.
"What if you moved him somewhere else?" Hogun pressed again.
Ethan sighed and spread his hands again. "Then what exactly do you want me to do?"
Why are these guys even more stubborn than Thor? he thought silently. They looked almost more foolish than Thor himself.
Of course, technically he hadn't lied at all. Thor had indeed left earlier.
Lady Sif, who had remained silent up until now, suddenly stepped forward.
"You will come with us," she said firmly. "Once we find Thor, we will release you."
In her eyes, even though Ethan denied being their leader, he was clearly the one giving orders here. If they took him hostage, the rest of the people around them would not dare play any tricks.
Behind Ethan, Phil Coulson, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton all stared at Sif with speechless expressions.
Of all the people you could kidnap, you chose the one person who could wipe all of you out without breaking a sweat.
Well… good luck with that.
"No problem," Ethan replied immediately.
The arrival of the Warriors Three and Lady Sif meant only one thing: the Destroyer was probably on its way to Earth. Ethan had no intention of missing the opportunity to fight alongside Thor and gain some goodwill.
Hearing his answer, Vorstagg immediately urged him forward.
"Then lead the way! We must hurry!"
"Run?" Ethan blinked in surprise.
He pointed toward the nearby parking area and said, "Let's take a car. It'll be much faster."
"Car? A wagon?" Hogun nodded thoughtfully. "That works too."
Ethan was completely speechless.
Seriously?
Asgard was supposed to be one of the most advanced civilizations in the universe, yet these people acted like villagers who had never seen modern technology before.
Then again, after Odin sealed away Hela, Asgard had stopped waging large-scale wars across the cosmos. Among the Nine Realms, Earth was practically the only place still aggressively developing technology.
Asgard's technological path was also… strange.
They had laser weapons and incredible energy systems, yet their transportation often relied on horses. Even their wars were fought primarily with cold weapons.
Part of it came down to cultural differences, but another major reason was their own physical strength. The Asgardians were naturally powerful, capable of crushing most technological civilizations with their bodies alone.
If brute strength wasn't enough, they simply wielded legendary weapons forged by the dwarves. With those tools, they could dominate most technologically advanced societies without needing to innovate much themselves.
From their perspective, civilizations obsessed with technological progress were usually the ones losing wars.
"I'll drive," Phil Coulson volunteered after receiving a subtle signal from Nick Fury.
The Warriors Three and Sif had no objections. In their eyes, capturing one more person was hardly a problem.
What they didn't realize was that once the vehicle left the S.H.I.E.L.D. camp and traveled a few hundred meters down the road, no fewer than ten black SUVs quietly began following behind them.
Inside the vehicle, Vorstagg squeezed his massive body into the back seat and frowned uncomfortably.
"So this is a car?" he muttered. "It moves quickly, but it's terribly cramped."
"I think it's quite comfortable," Hogun replied calmly from the seat beside him.
Ethan sat in the passenger seat and glanced back at them.
"So how exactly did you end up here?"
Fandral leaned back casually and answered. "We heard someone broke into your base last night. They described him as Thor, so we followed the trail and came here."
Ethan was speechless again.
Not only were these people naïve—they were unbelievably reckless. They had simply rushed into a heavily armed Earth facility and started fighting without even confirming the situation.
Does Asgard seriously solve every problem by throwing punches first?
Then again, considering Thor's personality, that might actually be the official communication method there.
"Ethan, where exactly are we going to find Thor?" Coulson asked while focusing on the road.
"Old Bridge Town," Ethan replied.
…
Old Bridge Town was a small place, and it didn't take long to find him.
Thor was standing outside a parked RV not far away, chatting and laughing while grilling barbecue. Beside him stood Jane Foster, who watched him with warm eyes as they occasionally exchanged shy glances.
Seeing the two of them together, Ethan instantly felt like he had been force-fed an entire truckload of romantic sweetness.
"Found you!"
Even from a distance, Vorstagg shouted loudly.
Thor looked up and saw them approaching. His face lit up with surprise and joy.
"My friends! What are you doing here?"
Although he was clearly happy to see them again, Thor still asked the question with confusion.
Nearby, Erik Selvig and Jane Foster stared at the approaching group with completely baffled expressions as they looked at the strange armor and weapons.
At that moment, Thor also noticed Ethan standing among them.
"Prophet of Midgard," Thor said respectfully. "Why are you here as well?"
Hearing Thor address him with such respect, Ethan almost burst out laughing. It seemed Thor had completely accepted the identity Ethan had invented for himself.
"After you left," Ethan explained calmly, "your friends arrived at our base and fought with us. I told them you had already gone, but they didn't believe me. They insisted I come with them to find you."
"I apologize," Lady Sif said sincerely.
"It's fine," Ethan replied generously. "At least we found Thor."
....
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