"Walk with me," Fury said, not wasting time as his trench coat billowed in the wind.
Liam fell in step beside Fury as they moved toward a nearby SHIELD tent set up as a command center. Inside, a large holo-display projected satellite footage, surveillance feeds, and various reports. Agents bustled around, gathering intel and coordinating operations. Fury provided him images of the hammer and also images of Thor and Warrior Three.
"I assume you know what the hammer is," Fury said.
"I know what it represents," Liam said.
"Then you're up to speed," Fury said. "We have located Thor, but from what we have gathered, he's not at full strength. He was stripped of his powers and banished here. SHIELD secured the hammer he came with, which is embedded in a crater about twenty miles from here. No one's been able to lift the damn thing."
"Is Thor detained or something?" Liam asked.
"No. After he barged in that place, he was let go. But we are keeping an eye on him from afar. It was also from the surveillance that we came to know the origins of the hammer, his exile, and his loss of divinity—or whatever they call it."
"I'm not seeing a problem. He is an exiled prince, so what?" Liam asked, unsure why he had been called.
"After Thor was allowed a normal life, three more unusual men showed up. We are calling them the Warriors Three. They came and seemed to have delivered him some bad news," Fury said.
"Hmm... Seems manageable. What's the real problem?" Liam asked.
"Loki. Thor's brother. He came down not long after the Warriors Three got here. His arrival wasn't exactly diplomatic," Fury said.
"Wait... What? What did he say?" Liam asked.
"He came down to take Thor away but was stopped by the Warriors Three. In the end, he was unable to take Thor, which led to him declaring that Asgard would attack our planet for harboring a fugitive. As of now, we are essentially en route to war with another planet," Fury said.
"Why didn't you just give up Thor? I'm sure Earth doesn't want to meddle in the affairs of another place—especially when that place is synonymous with gods," Liam said.
"SHIELD couldn't mobilize fast enough to give Loki a response," Fury said. Liam rolled his eyes at that.
"Don't play coy with me. What are you trying to achieve?" Liam asked.
"Loki is known to be the God of Tricksters, so I feel there is something off here. Besides, I have talked with the Warriors Three and Thor myself after Loki's threat, and they said even if Loki was the king, he wouldn't be allowed to mobilize Asgard's army easily. So his threats were empty," Fury said.
"Tony in on this?" Liam asked.
"He's been briefed. He's on his way," Fury replied.
"I want to talk with Thor," Liam said. He wanted to understand what the hell was going on. Loki declaring war on Earth wasn't on his bingo card.
Thor was having lunch with the Warriors Three and the new friends he had made after landing here—Jane, Darcy, and Dr. Selvig. Two black cars stopped at their rental home, and Liam was briefed about the three humans who had been in contact with them.
As soon as Liam and Fury stepped forward to meet Thor and knocked on the door, they were met with an angry Jane.
"I told you, Thor doesn't want to speak to any of you. If you want to talk to him—" Jane was almost on a tirade but stopped when she saw Liam in his medieval armor and mask. She was speechless, as she had never seen someone so perfectly cosplay a medieval warrior. "Who... What is this?"
"Warrior of Ancient Humans... Welcome to our humble abode. If this were Asgard, I would have welcomed you with fine wine from the cellars of the Golden Palace. But alas, I don't have that privilege anymore," Thor said, stepping forward. From the corner, one could see they had been busy with lunch, and the Warriors Three were causing quite the ruckus.
Food and wine were what they lived for all their lives, so they couldn't curb their enthusiasm here either. But Liam was taken aback too when Thor addressed him as "Ancient Humans." Then he realized that Thor actually had respect in his eyes when he looked at him.
Mind you, Liam hadn't shown his face to Thor yet and was still masked.
"You know me?" Liam asked.
"No," Thor shook his head. "But I can feel the power of a warrior emanating from you," Thor replied.
Liam promptly walked in while Fury was stopped by Jane. She had met him before, and he was also the reason why she lost all her equipment, which hadn't been returned yet.
"Fury, give her back the equipment," Liam said, while Fury's shoulders slumped. He wanted to protest, but there was nobody who would listen to him now. He could only nod and stay in his car.
He needed to give back the equipment SHIELD took. It wasn't useful to them anymore.
"Join us, warrior... Let's feast!" Volstagg said.
"Uh... Hello. For safety purposes, I am not able to lift my mask. People call me Wraithborn, so you can call me that. I thank you for the invite, but I am here for business. I want to understand what Loki means by starting a war against Earth," Liam said. This made the happy atmosphere die down instantly.
"See, now you've killed the vibe," Darcy Lewis said, as snarky as expected.
"My brother..." Thor lamented. "He has a deep hatred toward me. He hatched a conspiracy, killed Laufey in the Golden Palace, and pinned the blame on me. And now he has teamed up with the Frost Giants, having provided them with false proof that I killed Laufey. Asgard can't attack Midgard since my father is still alive, but if the Frost Giants attack, Midgard will have a hard time defending itself."