"Loki... Mother..."
Thor's exhaustion vanished instantly.
The forr prince of Asgard shot to his feet, panic and urgency flooding his face. For a mont, it looked like he intended to charge straight out the door and sohow force his way back to Asgard through sheer determination alone.
Unfortunately, reality didn't work that way.
But Drex's words had completely changed Thor's mindset.
Living quietly on Earth was no longer an option.
His simple, straightforward mind had already accepted the conclusion.
This was a conspiracy.
A trap.
If Loki truly knew nothing, then Thor's priorities were obvious.
Recover his power.
Prepare for an attack from the Frost Giants.
Return to Asgard.
"As things stand," Drex said calmly, "the only organization on Earth capable of protecting you is the Divine Sword Bureau."
"I'll join."
Thor answered instantly.
Jane Foster opened her mouth, then closed it again with visible frustration.
Coulson and Fury exchanged subtle looks.
Both of them felt this entire situation was escalating far too quickly.
They barely understood the political structure of Asgard or Jotunheim, and now they were already committing themselves to one side of an interstellar conflict.
Just like that?
They were siding with Asgard?
"Good," Drex continued. "Then from this point forward, we'll ensure your safety. In the anti, focus on learning how to beco a qualified ruler."
He turned toward Coulson.
"Gather records on every successful king, emperor, and political leader in human history. Give them to him."
Coulson suddenly felt the remaining hairs on his scalp preparing for evacuation.
Still, for the sake of humanity, he imdiately went to work.
After leaving the room, Fury finally spoke.
"You picked Asgard awfully fast," he muttered. "Personally, I think the Frost Giants might have had more potential."
Drex shook his head.
"The Frost Giants invaded Earth once before. Asgard fought them to stop the planet from being transford into a permanent frozen wasteland. Had they succeeded, Earth would've entered an ice age lasting thousands of years."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"For humanity, Frost Giants are no different from Monsters."
Fury absorbed that quietly.
"The United Nations wants a full report on Asgard," he said after a mont. "Everything you know."
"Most of it already exists in mythology," Drex replied. "The problem is separating historical fragnts from later revisions. I found a few surviving records and alternate versions, but most don't fully align."
He conveniently neglected to ntion that people had begun suspecting he'd actually visited Asgard personally.
Which honestly amused him.
Interesting theory.
Not one person had guessed he'd spent the last two years building an interstellar empire.
"So your idea is to turn Thor into a king?" Fury asked. "That'll restore his powers?"
"No."
Drex smiled faintly.
"Odin's definition of a worthy king and humanity's definition of a successful ruler are completely different things. In fact, they practically contradict each other."
"Then why bother?"
"Because Thor will work harder than he ever has in his life if it ans protecting Loki."
Drex's expression sharpened slightly.
"And if he truly grows into a capable ruler, he'll eventually understand Earth's strategic importance. Otherwise, he'll just end up staying here to chase won."
Fury stared at him silently.
What he didn't know was that Odin wasn't actually dead.
If Fury had known that detail, he probably would've exploded on the spot.
Because this wasn't guidance anymore.
This was political manipulation wrapped in educational packaging.
Thor, anwhile, truly threw himself into studying.
At least... he tried to.
Every few hours, the mighty God of Thunder would collapse face-first onto a mountain of history books and start snoring loud enough to shake coffee cups.
Then soone would drag him awake again.
"Is he really the crown prince of Asgard?" one exhausted instructor groaned. "He feels less like royalty and more like a golden retriever that accidentally evolved into a human being. I've never taught anyone this dense before."
Thor swayed in his chair, eyes half-closed.
Then Drex walked over and spoke quietly.
"Every day you waste is another day your mother and Loki remain in danger."
Thor froze.
"When you finally return to Asgard," Drex continued, "do you want to see Frost Giants standing over their corpses? Because that's what happens if you continue wasting ti."
Thor imdiately snapped awake.
ntion Loki, and the man transford instantly.
The Queen and Odin probably helped too, though exactly how much was hard to asure.
Eventually, Thor even asked Jane Foster to tutor him personally.
Jane wasn't a history major, but she was still a genius. morizing political theory and historical case studies overnight wasn't remotely difficult for her.
More importantly, she explained things in ways Thor could actually understand.
She genuinely wanted him to beco a good king.
Drex, anwhile, took things a step further.
The Bureau assembled an absurdly luxurious tutoring team.
Every mber was a beautiful doctoral candidate specializing in political history.
After all, interest was the best teacher.
"Are we technically corrupting the future King of Asgard?" Coulson asked with a headache.
The nearby agents remained expressionless.
They handled logistics and security.
Existential questions were above their pay grade.
Then the satellites detected another massive energy surge.
The readings matched Thor's arrival on Earth almost perfectly.
"Thor," Coulson said imdiately, "you've got visitors."
"Huh?"
Thor looked up blankly from his books, still ntally trapped sowhere between flirting and political philosophy.
"I don't know anyone else on Midgard."
A massive circular teleportation pattern ignited outside town.
Light exploded outward.
Smoke and energy rolled through the desert.
Then four armored figures erged from the fading glow.
Without hesitation, they marched directly toward Thor's location.
The agents stationed near the town entrance stared at them while holding milk tea and burgers.
One blinked slowly.
"These aliens seriously don't understand stealth at all."
"Are we supposed to stop them," another asked, "or just report this upward and pretend we saw nothing?"
"If you're brave enough to walk up to them," his partner replied, "I'll gladly raise your daughter for you."
A third agent lifted his communicator.
"Control, we've identified what appears to be Xena, Jackie Chan, and Robin Hood walking into town."
Static answered first.
Then:
"What kind of cursed report is that?"
Thor's companions were exactly the kind of squad that solved every problem through brute force and aggressive confidence.
Four frontline warriors.
One shared brain cell.
And most of the ti, Thor was using it.
Loki barely counted as part of the group.
He used magic, strategy, manipulation, and actual thinking, which naturally made him suspicious in the eyes of people whose preferred tactical doctrine was charging directly through walls.
Ironically, the lone woman in the team was technically one of the smarter mbers.
In Norse mythology, she would eventually beco Thor's wife.
Unfortunately, spending too much ti around Thor seed to lower everyone's collective IQ by proximity alone.
Then again, when your strategy usually succeeds through overwhelming force...
Why bother thinking too hard?
User Comments
0 comments from readers