The boundless starry sky, which should have been as tranquil as Selvig had observed years ago, was destined to be shattered tonight...
...
Joint Dark Energy Mission – Western Division.
Project Pegasus.
Space Administration Radiation Center.
S.H.I.E.L.D. Accelerator Control Hub.
In short, this was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s so-called "secret bases."
Though labeled as such, the base was anything but secret.
It housed an operation involving thousands of researchers, sprawling across 892 acres of land.
How could something of that scale remain hidden?
Yet, it was called a "secret base" for one simple reason:
To the United States, to the world, to all of humanity—
What transpired within these walls would forever remain a secret to them.
With that thought, Nick Fury took a deep breath.
He had finally done it.
He had laid hands on the Cosmic Cube—a relic as dangerous as it was magnificent.
Years ago, the Cube had fallen into his possession after much struggle.
The cost of obtaining it had been… painful.
(No, he refused to admit that the price had been his eye—or that the culprit had been a certain ungrateful orange cat.)
Nick Fury, self-proclaimed animal lover, would never concede that his own pet had clawed his eye out.
Preposterous.
The cat had merely… accidentally scratched him. And in its guilt, it had presented him the Cube.
(Or, more accurately, vomited it onto his desk.)
Regardless, Fury had kept the Cube locked away, wary of its power.
He had expected to bury it forever.
Yet, mere decades later, he had retrieved it from its vault—just as Red Skull, the former leader of HYDRA, had once done—and begun research.
Now, standing in his dimly lit office, Fury's brow furrowed.
Beside him, Agent Hill shook her head.
"Nick, are we really doing this? I've got a bad feeling."
"We have no other choice, Hill. Earth needs its own ace in the hole—something like the nukes of old, but for those high-and-mighty aliens."
Fury's voice was steel.
His mind flashed back to months prior—when the so-called "God of Thunder" had crash-landed on Earth.
Before that, Earth had its share of freaks—like the Hulk—but they were at least homegrown threats.
Then came the Asgardians.
According to ancient records, Earth—Midgard—was their territory.
By universal law, Earth was one of the Nine Realms, subject to Asgard's rule.
Even Fury's old friend, Captain Marvel, couldn't interfere.
As a cosmic entity, she had to respect such treaties.
And Asgard had protected Earth from countless threats.
But Fury?
He refused to accept Earth as a vassal planet.
Asgard could be an ally—but never a ruler.
And if Earth was to negotiate from a position of strength, it needed leverage.
Hence, the Cube.
With that thought, Fury tapped his fingers and strode out of the office.
---
The Falling Star
At the research hub, Fury crossed paths with Dr. Selvig.
The renowned astrophysicist looked unusually tense.
"Director! Perfect timing—you need to see this."
Without waiting, Selvig led Fury to the observatory and adjusted the telescope.
"Tonight's sky is… different. There's an anomaly—a meteor with no prior trajectory. And its path?"
Selvig's voice dropped.
"It's headed straight for Manhattan."
"Motherfu—!"
Fury's curse echoed.
Another alien incident. Just like Thor.
Selvig pulled up the telescope feed.
"I hate to say it, but this 'meteor'… it looks humanoid. Encased in ice, perhaps."
"Impact time?"
"Thirty-three minutes. Ground zero: New York Stock Exchange."
Fury scoffed.
"What, is some alien prince here to crash our stock market now?"
He stormed out, barking orders into his comm.
"Special ops—Code: Falling Star. Coulson leads, Romanoff assists. Target: Unidentified aerial object. Intercept upon landing. Contingency protocols active."
---
Wall Street, Manhattan
Phil Coulson sighed, setting down his coffee.
Across from him, his cellist date blinked in confusion.
"Sorry. Duty calls."
Before she could protest, he was gone.
Within minutes, twenty black SUVs converged near the NYSE.
Police were already evacuating civilians.
Coulson stepped out, spotting Natasha Romanoff nearby.
"You're fast," he remarked.
Natasha shrugged.
"I was buying Stark stocks. They've been skyrocketing since he went public."
Coulson chuckled.
"Same. Though my salary doesn't—"
He froze.
High above, a fiery streak split the night sky.
"Lock trajectory! Evacuate faster! And where the hell is Stark?!"
Natasha cracked her knuckles.
"Hope it's another Thor-level idiot."
"Wishful thinking."
A new voice cut in—Tony Stark, landing beside them in full armor.
"Wow. Just wow. One minute I'm charming an Oscar winner, the next—boom, a meteor's gunning for my tower. When did my life become a bad sci-fi plot?"
Coulson ignored the quip.
"We need to slow it down before impact!"
Tony waved him off.
"Relax, spook. It's already decelerating."
He pointed upward.
"Which means it's guided. So—Asgardian prince? Olympian bastard? Place your bets."
---
The Man in the Ice
Inside the chrono-locked prison, Heisenberg braced for re-entry.
The system's voice echoed in his mind:
[Emergency Deployment Complete.]
[Welcome to Marvel Universe, Earth-19999.]
[Newbie Package Activated.]
[Contents: Universal Language Pack, Cultural Database, Mission Briefing.]
[Primary Objective: Ensure stable continuity of Earth-19999.]
[Reward: 5 minutes of Absolute Invincibility per year of stability.]
[Bonus: Influence = Currency. Alter lives, earn Origin Particles.]
[PS: You are an Order-Keeper. Maintain balance. Do as you please.]
[Landing in 10… 9… 8…]
"What the hell am I even supposed to do?!"
Before he could ponder further—
THOOM.
The ice shattered on impact.
And there he stood—naked, bathed in the glow of Stark's repulsors, under the stunned gaze of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s finest.
Natasha's lips quirked.
"Well. This just got interesting."