"It's good to see you again, Thor."
Onboard the Plumber transport jet, Agent Phil Coulson, his lean frame clad in the stark black of his new uniform, extended a hand toward the broad-shouldered man beside him. The Asgardian, dressed in the Plumber field uniform, returned the gesture with a firm grip. His face, though still resolute, had softened around the edges, a testament to his recent, more sedentary lifestyle.
This was Thor, no longer a god, but a man striving to be a hero again.
Not long ago, the live broadcast of Tony Stark's ordeal on Sakaar had served as a brutal wake-up call. Jolted from his stupor, Thor had resolved to reclaim his purpose. He'd quit the humbling security post at Primus Technologies and thrown himself into the demanding regimen of the Plumbers.
The transition hadn't been easy. Months of depression, spent drowning his sorrows in cheap beer and finding solace in Jane Foster's company, had taken their toll. A noticeable paunch had formed, a soft layer of mortality clinging to his divine frame. He'd been terrified of failing the initial assessment, of being deemed unworthy not by an enchantment, but by simple human standards.
Fortunately, Norman Osborn, in his new capacity as Director of Earth's Plumber branch, saw the immense potential behind the weary exterior. He'd greenlit Thor's admission, and from that day forward, the Asgardian had trained with a fervor he hadn't felt in ages. The excess weight had melted away, though his features remained rounder, a lingering shadow of his earthly exile.
Coulson's own journey was the stuff of agency legend. A veteran who had survived the fall of S.H.I.E.L.D. and the rise of H.A.M.M.E.R. only to be folded into the Plumbers, he was a living testament to adaptability. His rank within the Earth branch was high; alongside Maria Hill, he was now one of Norman's most trusted lieutenants. With Hill managing internal logistics, Coulson was the ever-present face of the Plumbers in the field, a role he embraced with his signature calm.
"I remember you," Thor's voice rumbled, a hint of the old familiarity in his tone. He gave Coulson a once-over. "Your hair was… less sparse. You used to work with the bald one."
Do you even know how to make small talk, Your Highness? Coulson thought, resisting the urge to smooth down his thinning hair. The constant, world-ending crises of the past two years had indeed prompted a strategic retreat on his scalp. He found himself idly wondering if Magistratus Parker's rumored hair-growth formula would ever see the light of day. It was a fleeting, private hope. As for the "bald boss" Thor mentioned, Coulson pushed the thought of his former director aside. Though he had worked with Nick Fury for years, his loyalty was to the mission, not the man.
From S.H.I.E.L.D. to the Plumbers, he knew his core purpose remained unchanged, even if the stakes had grown astronomically. Nick Fury was a ghost of the past, but he had witnessed firsthand what Ben Parker's organization had accomplished for the planet.
I don't serve a person, Coulson affirmed internally, a quiet mantra that had guided him through every regime change. I serve to protect the world.
Still, a flicker of melancholy passed through him. "That was all a long time ago."
Thor nodded, a shared sentiment passing between the two men who had been swept up in events far beyond their control.
Coulson, ever the professional, quickly compartmentalized the emotion. He walked to the center of the cabin, activating a holographic display that projected the mission briefing for Thor and the rest of the small team.
"Alright, here's the rundown," he began, his voice crisp and authoritative. "A short time ago, Magistratus Parker's global monitoring network detected an anomalous data surge originating on Earth. The Plumbers' primary AI, Eunice., traced the energy fluctuations to a precise location. We're heading to London."
The other agents in the cabin gathered around. They were Coulson's hand-picked team, former S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives who had proven their mettle time and again, including the stoic pilot Melinda May and the brilliant Jemma Simmons. Thor, for all his royal lineage, was the newcomer here, an outsider breaking into a seasoned unit.
May, her focus never wavering from the controls as she guided the jet toward London, glanced back. "Have we identified the cause of the fluctuations, Phil?"
Coulson shook his head. "Unconfirmed. Our advance team has cordoned off the area. They're reporting severe spatial distortion. Our objective is to enter the affected zone, pinpoint the source of the disturbance, and contain it."
He produced a specialized containment unit, a translucent blue cube that pulsed with a soft, internal light.
"Looks a bit like the Tesseract," Simmons observed, her scientific curiosity piqued.
"I'm told it was sent over from Plumber Command," Coulson said calmly. "Designed based on the same principles."
No one registered surprise. The fact that the Plumbers possessed the Tesseract was common knowledge at their level. Still, the sight of the glowing cube sparked a silent, shared speculation among the team. If we need something this powerful for containment, are we dealing with another Infinity Stone?
It was a question no one was foolish enough to voice aloud. It was a secret far above their pay grade. Their mission was to contain the threat, not to question its cosmic origins. There was no benefit in knowing more.
"I'll handle the containment when the time comes," Thor volunteered, his voice steady. "I have… experience with these matters."
Coulson didn't hesitate, handing the cube over to him. Even without his divine power, Thor's millennia of knowledge were invaluable. He understood the fundamental dangers of such cosmic energies better than any mortal. It was this unique expertise that had granted him a place on this high-stakes mission. Otherwise, his current Plumber rank would have him sitting in a classroom on the orbital station, studying advanced calculus and interspecies diplomacy.
Thor shuddered at the thought of those courses. Honestly, do I, Thor, son of Odin, truly need to learn plumbing?
The Plumber aircraft was a marvel of engineering, incorporating technology reverse-engineered from Sakaarian messenger ships. It crossed the Atlantic in what felt like minutes, arriving at its destination with astonishing speed.
The British authorities, seeing the official Plumber insignia, offered no resistance. They lacked the means, the authority, and frankly, the desire to interfere. Coulson experienced a new level of operational freedom that made his S.H.I.E.L.D. days feel quaint. There were no forged FBI credentials, no jurisdictional song and dance. He simply arrived and took command.
Thor slung a heavy instrument package over his shoulder and strode toward the blocked-off location, an abandoned factory district. The local officer in charge relayed the situation to Coulson.
"The first to notice were a group of kids, sir. They were playing inside one of the derelict factories, and one of them nearly got lost for good. The space inside is a total mess—gravity flips, spatial loops…"
Coulson nodded, absorbing the report even though he already knew the details. Eunice.'s intelligence briefs were second to none, but it was poor form to interrupt a man doing his job.
The officer waved to the guards, and the heavy factory gates creaked open.
Instantly, the team saw the full extent of the problem. A truck, weighing dozens of tons, floated serenely in the middle of the factory floor, rotating slowly in the air like a piece of driftwood in a lazy river. The sight was so bizarre that they knew their instruments were likely useless.
"So much for the scanner," Thor grunted, setting the large iron case he was carrying on the ground. He took a confident step toward the floating vehicle.
He moved with his typical lack of caution, but Coulson, ever the pragmatist, quickly grabbed his arm. "Hold on. We don't know what other dangers are in there."
"Aside from getting hopelessly lost, there shouldn't be any," the local officer interjected. "The children who first found this place are fine now. It just seems to be a disruption of space itself."
To demonstrate, he unclipped a flashlight from his belt and tossed it toward the truck. The beam cut a clean arc through the dusty air before abruptly vanishing, swallowed by nothingness.
"That's…" Simmons began, but her sentence was cut short as the flashlight reappeared from a completely opposite direction, flying up toward the ceiling before blinking out of existence again, this time for good.
"It seems a more hands-on approach is needed," Coulson concluded, a plan already forming in his mind. The Plumber uniforms were packed with technology. He set up a makeshift command desk on a portable terminal and glanced at May.
Having worked together for years, May understood his unspoken command. She manipulated the controls on her wrist gauntlet, and a half-dozen small, insect-like drones deployed from her uniform, zipping into the chaotic space. Each was equipped with high-resolution cameras and quantum-entangled positioning beacons.
The team huddled around the monitor, their eyes fixed on the screen. Only Thor remained at the edge of the chaotic zone, his brow furrowed in concentration as if he could feel the disturbance on some primal level.
"The signal is intermittent, unstable," Simmons reported, frowning at the flickering display.
"I think we're dealing with more than one distortion. It's likely the connected point on the other side is… very far away," Coulson said thoughtfully. The drones' signal range was immense; even spatial warping shouldn't cause a total loss of positioning. Yet the red dots on the monitor were blinking in and out of existence. "I'm afraid some of these pockets might not even be on Earth anymore." In fact, he suspected, they might extend beyond the solar system.
"What about video feed?" he asked.
"Nothing." May shook her head, her screen a blanket of digital snow.
"Then we have no choice but to go in ourselves," Coulson said, his tone resolute. This was why they were here. No matter the risk, they had to investigate. He looked up and saw Thor standing at the boundary, his expression deeply troubled. Coulson walked over. "Find something?"
He didn't have high hopes. His long experience with Thor had painted a picture of a well-meaning but reckless warrior. Yet, to his surprise, Thor nodded slowly.
"It feels… familiar. Like the lingering touch of dark sorcery."
Coulson's demeanor sharpened, his expression turning serious. "How difficult are we talking? If this is advanced spellcraft, I may need to call in specialist support." He worried they were out of their depth. The term 'black magic' did not inspire confidence.
"I'm not sure," Thor admitted, trying to place the feeling. Without his divine senses, he couldn't recognize the specific energy signature of the Rainbow Bridge, now amplified and corrupted by an unknown power. "But I don't believe we'll need backup. Magistratus Parker provided me with this." He shook his head and unclipped the Plumber badge from his chest, revealing the faint, glowing runes inscribed on its back—a charm of protection from Ben himself.
Coulson nodded, not knowing the full significance of the artifact. Few in the Earth branch had been gifted such a thing, but he was aware Thor was a special case.
"Alright. We go in and see for ourselves," he said decisively. "May, Simmons, you stay here and monitor our tethers. Thor and I will go in." He unzipped his jacket, revealing the full Plumber uniform beneath. A metallic tether spooled out from his belt, and he handed the end to May. Thor did the same.
"If anything goes wrong, pull us back immediately."
"Don't worry," the two women responded in unison.
Coulson and Thor did a final equipment check. "Energy pistols, biological toxin discs, analysis suite, sonic emitters… we have all the tools. Makes you feel like a real plumber heading into the sewers," Coulson quipped.
"I feel under-equipped. I don't have a hammer," Thor said wistfully, shaking his head.
"A fair point. A plumber without a hammer is just wrong. You should put in a request with the requisitions department."
"Never mind," Thor sighed. "I still miss Mjolnir." He spoke of the hammer as if it were a lost love.
With their banter concluded, the two men stepped over the threshold and into the chaotic space.
The factory, which had a clear and visible back wall just moments before, suddenly seemed to expand into infinity. The paths ahead, behind, and to the sides became indistinguishable. If not for the tethers anchoring them to reality, they would have been lost in an instant.
Thor glanced back, his confidence wavering for a moment.
"Follow the energy index to its highest reading," Coulson instructed, taking a cautious step forward.
In the next second, he vanished and reappeared thirty meters to Thor's right. "Stay close!" Coulson's voice called out, sounding both near and far at once. "Get separated in here, and you'll never find your way back."
Thor knew he was right. In this distorted reality, the distance one perceived was a lie. Turning right to follow Coulson could send him anywhere. The two men moved forward, their journey a dizzying series of twists and turns. At times they appeared hundreds of meters apart, only to be a single step from each other. At others, they seemed within arm's reach, yet were separated by an impassable gulf.
After what felt like an eternity, Coulson took one more step, and the world changed.
The dim, dusty factory dissolved away, replaced by a landscape of gloomy, terrifying ruins under a perpetually twilight sky. In the oppressive darkness, streams of crimson energy flowed like blood from gaping wounds in the shattered earth. Simultaneously, the advanced instruments in their hands died, overloaded by the raw, untamed power radiating from the scene.
"I think we found it," Coulson stated, his voice low. "Those red particles… that's our target."
They were about to move forward when a dark shadow launched itself from the ruins, moving with impossible speed. The figure was slender, wrapped in a tattered black robe, and clutched a colossal, double-edged sword that was larger than her own body.
Boom! The giant blade slammed into the ground where they had been standing, splitting the earth and sending fissures racing across the broken terrain.
"Who are you?" Thor bellowed, he and Coulson having dodged just in time. The sudden, violent appearance of the attacker sent a jolt of adrenaline through them both.
The shadow offered no answer. Instead, after the failed strike, she clutched her head with one hand and let out a tortured scream that echoed across the desolate ruins.
"Shut up! I didn't mean to show mercy—shut up!"
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