The next day, trouble arrived right on cue.
Fifteen miles northwest of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s temporary base, an extraordinarily powerful energy signature appeared for a brief moment.
"Consultant Oaks?"
Coulson called Oaks.
"Is everything all right with our target?"
"His Highness the God of Thunder is enjoying a breakfast made with love by his girlfriend. If you mean that powerful energy field just now, I don't think either of them knows a thing about it."
Oaks's voice over the phone let Coulson breathe a little easier.
"You sensed that energy too, Consultant? We're about to head over and take a look."
"Take Dr. Banner with you."
Oaks paused. His voice grew grave.
"Remember the Bifrost Thor mentioned yesterday? Last night, he told his astrophysicist girlfriend a few things about it...
"The Bifrost is a means of traveling through space, something like what we understand as a wormhole. But it's also a powerful weapon—one capable of destroying a planet."
"What?!"
Coulson's grip tightened around the phone.
"Destroying a planet? You mean..."
"A brief activation of the Bifrost allows travel across space. Keep it open long enough, and it can destroy a planet.
"So I think you should prepare to evacuate Old Bridge Town. We don't know who's coming or what their attitude toward Thor—or humanity—will be."
After a pause, Oaks continued in a serious tone.
"I was going to contact you anyway, because Thor revealed something else.
"He appeared on Earth in his current state because he made a grave mistake. His father, Odin the All-Father, stripped him of his powers and exiled him.
"But yesterday, he apparently heard from somewhere that King Odin had died because of him. So he decided to accept his exile.
"If that energy surge really was the Bifrost, though, then something else has changed."
"...I understand. I'll