...
Night — the New Mexico desert.
"Jane, you can't keep doing this."
Erik Selvig tilted his head back and stared at the sky for a long moment. Finding nothing, he turned toward his companion, who was standing half-outside the vehicle.
"No," Jane Foster said, pulling herself back through the sunroof. She flipped through her data while typing rapidly on her laptop. "The previous seventeen predictions were accurate down to the second."
"Jane," Erik said patiently, "you're an astrophysicist, not some storm-chasing maniac."
"I'm telling you, these atmospheric disturbances are directly related to my research," Jane shot back without looking up."Erik, if I wasn't one hundred percent sure, I wouldn't have flown you all the way out here."
She said it with conviction, but reality was still a slap in the face. Disappointment was written all over Jane's expression.
"Jane! You need to see this!"
From the driver's seat, Darcy Lewis—graduate student and designated driver—stared at something strange in the rearview mirror.
At some point, the once-calm night sky had developed ripples, like waves across water, glowing with an eerie, hypnotic light.
"What is that?!"Jane's frustration vanished instantly. She scrambled back out through the sunroof and stared hard at the distant sky.
Erik, equally stunned, followed her halfway out and muttered,"Isn't that… some kind of aurora?"
Jane froze for half a second—then slammed her hand on the roof.
"Drive. Now!"
Darcy didn't argue. She floored it and sent the car racing straight toward the anomaly.
Between the terrible terrain and the reckless speed, the ride instantly turned into a desert roller coaster.
As they drew closer, a massive column of smoke suddenly dropped straight down from the center of the phenomenon. With a deafening roar, it spiraled violently and slammed into the ground not far ahead.
Darcy panicked.
Instinctively, she yanked the steering wheel, trying to get them the hell out of what was clearly a terrible place to be.
"What are you doing?!" Jane snapped, still clutching her instruments and recording everything.
"I am not dying for six college credits!" Darcy yelled back.
While the two fought for control of the wheel, thunder cracked overhead. A blinding, seven-colored light burst out from inside the smoke column, followed by violent blue lightning that engulfed the entire area.
When the light finally faded—
A massive figure staggered out of the smoke.
"AHHH!!"
Jane and Darcy screamed in unison as the car surged forward uncontrollably.
Then—
Another vehicle burst out from the opposite side of the smoke.
It smashed straight into the staggering figure, sending him flying, and immediately after—
BANG!
It slammed head-on into Jane's car.
"Damn it! What the hell just happened?!"
Jane was losing it. Her research had finally produced results—and it ended in a car crash.
Before Darcy could even defend herself, all three of them felt their vision go dark.
And then—nothing.
...
Once both vehicles came to a stop, a blond Caucasian man dressed like an amateur astronomer hurried out of the other car.
"Oh my God… please, for the love of God, let no one be dead…"
Pale-faced and clearly shaken, the handsome blond man pulled out his phone and started dialing.
About half an hour later, an ambulance and a police car arrived at the scene.
The incident was ruled simple enough:A traffic accident caused by a rare astronomical phenomenon.
Four people were unconscious due to the collision.The at-fault driver was an out-of-town astronomy enthusiast.
The situation was hard to fully determine, but as the only conscious person, the blond man cooperated completely, taking responsibility for all costs and consequences.
Since the four victims were still unconscious, everything else would wait until they woke up.
The out-of-town astronomy enthusiast was also kept at the hospital for observation, in case of internal injuries.
Once things settled down, the ward returned to calm—at least, on the surface.
...
"Where am I…? What happened?"
Jane Foster woke from deep sleep, staring at the hospital room in confusion.
A few minutes later, after getting the rundown from medical staff, she found Erik Selvig and Darcy Lewis—who had also just woken up—in a nearby room.
Along with a man she didn't recognize at all.
At the same time, the blond man stepped out of his own hospital room.
"I'm truly sorry about what happened last night."
The moment he appeared—wearing a hospital gown—Jane and Darcy's attention snapped straight to him.
It wasn't hard to see why.
The guy was absurdly handsome.The apologetic smile.That intangible, magnetic presence that somehow made itself felt without trying.
Both women just… stared.
Despite being unconscious all night, medical results showed nothing wrong with any of them.
In fact, the extended deep sleep left Jane, Erik, and Darcy feeling better than they had in ages.
Combined with the blond man's sincere attitude—okay, and his looks—the entire incident was quickly smoothed over.
The only real problem was the unidentified guy.
The moment he woke up, he caused a full-on disturbance in the hospital.
It took a swarm of security guards and a generous amount of sedatives before he finally calmed down.
Given his unstable mental state, suspected cult involvement, and the fact that the blond man had already left contact information, the remaining situation no longer involved that responsible and upstanding American citizen.
When Jane, Erik, Darcy, and the mysterious fourth man finally left the hospital, the three of them already felt like longtime friends.
"I'm really sorry, Jane," the blond man said apologetically. "Your car was totaled. I'm just glad you're all okay."
"Oh, no, it wasn't your fault," Jane said quickly, a faint blush creeping up."It was the phenomenon."
"My name is Angel," the blond man said, handing over a gold-embossed business card."If you're free tonight, I'd love to buy everyone a drink to make up for it."
"No problem—deal!"Darcy snatched the card before Jane could react.
"Darcy!" Jane protested.
"Then I'll see you tonight."Angel smiled at the three of them.
"I can't promise I'll be free," Jane said, torn between her research and the sudden appearance of a walking daydream.
"No matter what, I'll wait for your call."
With that, Angel turned and walked away effortlessly.
Jane and Darcy watched his retreating figure far longer than necessary.
Erik finally cracked a few jokes to snap them back to reality.
...
Angel took a taxi back to his temporary residence.
Once inside the bedroom, he activated a device and stepped in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror.
A crooked smile crept across his face.
Before his eyes, the blond Caucasian man shifted and reshaped—visibly transforming into an Asian young man.
Ryan Cole.
"Shape-shifting really is a solid ability," Ryan muttered."Not flashy, but used right, it beats most weapons."
"Especially when paired with mind control. The synergy is insane."
"Too bad telekinesis has hit a bottleneck… but for now, it's good enough."
Returning to yet another disguise—his real face still buried under layers of identity—Ryan finally turned his attention to the silver, refrigerated sealed case resting quietly on the bed.
After inputting a 256-digit password, the seamless container hissed softly and slid open.
Inside were three oversized test tubes.
Each one filled with dark crimson blood.
"So this is the real 'blood of the gods,' huh?"
Ryan rolled one tube lazily between his fingers, smiling.
"Shame, though. The gods of this world are nothing like the ones in legend."
"At best, the Aesir of Asgard are just a higher-tier civilization—stronger than humans, but not fundamentally divine."
"Still… even the blood of false gods is a massive gain."
"The real question is whether my preparations—and the force-field generator—were enough to fool Heimdall, the guardian of Asgard."
With that thought, Ryan looked up at the ceiling.
His gaze seemed to pierce straight through it—toward something vast, distant, and unknowable in the cosmos.