82: The Shame of S.H.I.E.L.D.

The depths of the endless dark universe. 

A vast golden palace is located on the dazzling star field called Asgard like a needle of the sea god. 

Outside the palace, there is a long bridge spanning the entire sea, connecting somewhere. At the beginning of the bridge, a warrior wearing golden armor and golden pupils stands there like a sculpture, giving people the pressure of a mountain.

"Heimdall, Thor has successfully descended on Midgard," said a white-haired one-eyed old man as he walked over with a smile on his face. 

Heimdall turned around. Seeing the person coming, he immediately knelt down on one knee: "Respected All-father King Odin." 

Asgard's the All-Father, Odin!

Odin waved his hand and sat down on the steps in front of Heimdall like an old man wanting to chat. Seeing Odin sit down, Heimdall continued to stand on the high platform and stood in front of Odin with a long sword.

"My king, Thor had a little accident during the landing, but it's not a big problem," said Heimdall. 

Odin nodded, then patted the empty seat beside him, motioning for Heldham to sit down. Heimdall sat over immediately, and although he was very serious, it was not difficult to see that there was also a look of doubt on his face.

Looking at Heimdall, Odin asked, "If you have any questions, ask them."

"My king, everything is obviously done by Loki, and everything Thor does is also done by Loki. Why is it Thor who is finally punished?" asked Heimdall.

Odin took a deep breath and said, "Heimdall, do you think Thor is ready to be king of Asgard? Does he have the necessary abilities?"

Heimdall thought for a while and finally shook his head: "Not enough. In terms of strength, he didn't even reach Level God Father. In terms of scheming, he is not as good as Loki."

Odin rolled his eyes at Heimdall. That's my own son anyway, why are you so straightforward? 

Heimdall also felt Odin's rolling eyes, and immediately lowered his head: "You asked me to say it. You're right, I didn't want to understand it. Why did I give birth to such a silly white sweet who understands nothing but fighting."

Odin is also speechless. He had always thought Thor was the best candidate to succeed him, but to be king of Asgard and maintain the peace of the Nine Realms requires more than fighting. Mindset is more important. Just like this time, his younger brother Loki tricked Thor into singling out the entire Giants of Jotunheim clan with just a few words. Thor almost died in the base camp of others. If Odin hadn't arrived in time, maybe Thor would have really perished. This is mainly due to Heimdall beside him, whose eyes can see any trouble in the Nine Realms. He is also the guardian of the bridge in front of him, named Bifrost, which is able to teleport Asgard's warriors to any part of the Nine Realms.

Heimdall looked at Odin. Even though he had been with Odin for hundreds or thousands of years now, he couldn't figure out what Odin was thinking. After thinking for a while, Heimdall continued to ask, "My king, does Loki really get to leave Thor alone? Don't you worry?"

"Don't worry about it, this time it's the feud between the two brothers. Loki's mischief will come back to haunt him sooner or later when he has to accept his true identity," said Odin. "This time is a good time for the brothers to fight it out." 

Like an old man chatting about family affairs with a neighbor, Odin talks about Thor and Loki casually. 

"But, my king, there is still their sister on..." said Heimdall, hinting at some apprehension.

"So this time I let Thor go, also to see how long the seal will last," said Odin. "If she does break the seal... then it's really time for Ragnarök..." 

Hearing the word Ragnarök, Heimdall's golden pupils also shrank suddenly, and he hurriedly asked: "How is the Midgard seal holding up now?"

Odin glanced at Heimdall and said half-jokingly, "There are already signs of loosening. But don't worry, as long as there are no more energy fluctuations on Earth, the seal can hold for a while longer."

Heimdall breathed a sigh of relief. After all, as gods who can live for thousands of years, a while in Odin's words should be quite a long time. During this time, Thor should be able to grow up and become the new king of Asgard, to lead them against that woman...

"Heimdall, guard Bifrost. Loki should be about to attack me, I have to go back first," said Odin. 

"As you command, my king," replied Heimdall. Watching Odin's retreating back, Heimdall had an odd feeling that the old man seemed to look forward to Loki's assassination attempt. Perhaps he won't live much longer and wants to awaken some strange inheritance? 

Suddenly, a thunderbolt fell from the sky and landed at near Thor's Hammer. Heimdall immediately stopped his strange thoughts and stood seriously again on the high platform, gazing down at Midgard...

At Gwen's house, Gwen got out of the car holding Pikachu: "Pikachu, you'll be staying at my house tonight, I've prepared a small bed for you."

"Pika...chu..." said Pikachu, drooping both small ears down. Clearly not wanting to go home with Gwen.

Seeing Pikachu's dejected look, Andrew also found it amusing: "It's okay Pikachu, Gwen likes you a lot too." 

"Yes, I have lots of yummy snacks in my room I'll bring you later," Gwen added enthusiastically. 

Hearing the mention of snacks, Pikachu's ears perked up. "Pika...chu..." he said.

"He's asking if you're for real," translated Andrew.

Gwen smiled. "Definitely true, and with Andrew not around, I won't limit how much you eat." 

Gwen continued sweet-talking Pikachu, who went from not wanting to go with Gwen to eagerly anticipating it.

"Andrew, Pikachu can't wait anymore. I'll take him home now."

Andrew nodded. "Then I'll head back first. Drive safely, see you tomorrow."

"Bye!" said Gwen. She watched as Andrew drove off before looking down happily at Pikachu. "Okay Pikachu, when we get inside, you'll have to pretend to be a stuffed animal, got it?" 

Pikachu nodded seriously while munching on potato chips.

"I'm home!" said Gwen brightly as she entered the house. However, her face then froze. "Dad, why are you back so early today?" 

Yes, it was not only her mother who came out to greet Gwen but also her father George. 

Seeing Gwen's surprised look, George explained, "I finished up all my cases early so came back first."

Gwen forced a smile. "W-welcome home..." She was afraid to see George right now because she still held Pikachu. Fooling her mom would be easy but not George.

George immediately noticed Pikachu in Gwen's arms. He came over puzzled, "Is that a new stuffed animal?"

"Yep, just got it," Gwen said quickly. 

Gwen's mother also approached and remarked satisfied, "It's quite cute. Let me touch it when you're done." She reached for Pikachu.

Knowing Pikachu might shock her mom, Gwen dodged her mother's hand and said, "Mom, your hands look dirty." 

Gwen's mother paused, surprised. Her hands were clearly very clean. "No, I just washed them."

"The toy feels very lifelike," remarked George, squeezing Pikachu's cheek while Gwen had turned her side to him. 

Poor Pikachu could only keep pretending to be a stuffed animal as George felt him up and praised how good it felt.

Gwen finally pulled Pikachu free of George's prying hands and took a step back. Seeing George still looked unsatisfied, she quickly said, "Mom, Dad, I have some stuff to take care of so I'll head upstairs first."

Without waiting for a response, she hurried with Pikachu to her room and locked the door.

Pikachu jumped down and scowled, clearly miffed at being manhandled. 

Gwen apologized profusely, "I'm so sorry Pikachu, I should have asked Red Queen if my dad was home already."

"Let me make it up to you!" She ran to fetch a bag of potato chips. "Here you go!"

Pikachu's annoyance immediately vanished at the sight of the chips. Gwen picked him up and deposited him on the little bed she had prepared. 

"How is it, do you like your bed?"

Pikachu nodded happily while snacking away...though it was hard to tell if he was nodding at the chips or the bed.

Meanwhile, in the car, Andrew said, "Red Queen, look up news on that meteorite from earlier."

"Right away, master," replied Red Queen's voice. "I've checked. The landing site is New Mexico, but it's not actually a meteorite. It's a hammer."

"Oh?" Andrew had guessed right it seemed. "The Son of Odin, Thor, has been banished to Earth. Has S.H.I.E.L.D. made any moves yet?"

"Yes master. Nick Fury dispatched agent Phil Coulson, who's en route and expected to arrive around noon tomorrow." 

Andrew thought for a moment before instructing, "Red Queen, take my car out for a ride. I'll go take a look at Mjolnir in the meantime."

"Understood master."

Andrew stopped the car randomly at the roadside, then stepped out again covered in his Emperor Armor. With Red Queen pointing the way, he instantly soared into the sky, flying straight towards New Mexico and the landed Mjolnir hammer.

Naturally, S.H.I.E.L.D. and Tony took notice of the Emperor's reappearance. 

"Sir, the Emperor has shown himself," J.A.R.V.I.S. notified Tony as he was remodelling his workshop.

Tony immediately ceased his work to check the big screen projection from J.A.R.V.I.S. "Where's he headed?"

"It appears to be New Mexico, where the meteorite hammer landed, sir."

Tony nodded but then frowned in confusion. "Wait, did you say meteorite hammer?"

"Yes sir. The thunder earlier came after the meteorite hammer entered Earth's atmosphere. It is now located in a New Mexico desert."

J.A.R.V.I.S. pulled up some blurry satellite images, which showed a discernible hammer shape. Tony and Yinsen hadn't cared about it earlier, so J.A.R.V.I.S. hadn't elaborated then.

Tony turned to look questioningly at Yinsen. "What do you make of this?"

Yinsen just shrugged helplessly. "After the stuff I went through with you, my worldview has expanded. A hammer falling from the sky isn't even that crazy anymore."

Yinsen's flippant attitude made Tony feel a tinge of envy. "You have a point. Maybe his master will come down to Earth after him too." Tony pounded his hammer again, breaking open another section of the wall. "Well, I better hurry with this new element, in case the Emperor is up to no good."

Inside S.H.I.E.L.D., Nick Fury also watched the Emperor flying toward New Mexico. "Could his goal also be the hammer?" Fury's expression darkened. S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't secured that hammer yet. How could someone beat them to it? Alien objects belonged to S.H.I.E.L.D., in Fury's view. Having this snatched from under their nose was unacceptable.

"Where is Agent Coulson right now?" he barked.

"On route, sir, about halfway there," reported Hill from behind him. "Earliest estimated arrival is noon tomorrow." 

Fury frowned. "Why so slow?"

"He's driving sir."

"..."

"No, we need more people on this hammer," Fury decided. "Get Barton on it too."

"Barton only just got back..." Hill began hesitantly.

Fury cut her off. "Doesn't matter, we need him now." 

Only then did Hill realize her slip-up. "Understood director. But if our people haven't arrived yet, won't the golden mecha take the hammer first?"

Fury's expression darkened further. "Then deploy all search resources to find him and retrieve that hammer." 

This was a matter of S.H.I.E.L.D's reputation! As long as it fell to Earth, only S.H.I.E.L.D. could control it in Fury's eyes. Having it snatched away was unacceptable.

To be continued...