New Mexico and the hammer

By the time John reached the door, Ferdinand had already been waiting for quite a while.

"Boss, wow-"

The moment he saw Natasha beside John, Ferdinand could no longer contain his expression.

No wonder John was the boss. Not a single woman around him was unattractive.

Natasha's air of a beautiful corporate elite was a huge hit among street thugs.

Ferdinand straightened his sleeves, hoping none of the cheese-fried chicken he had just eaten had left crumbs on him.

Giving John a knowing look, Ferdinand thoughtfully opened the rear door for him.

I really am the boss's best employee.

Natasha glanced at John, a smile curling her lips as she walked toward the back seat.

Just as she was about to get in, John pressed a hand to her shoulder, opened the front passenger door, and pushed her inside. He smiled. "I don't like having anyone sitting beside me."

Even Natasha, a top-tier agent, struggled to maintain her smile.

You have a gorgeous woman right here, and you don't even appreciate her?

She rolled her eyes at John, climbed into the passenger seat, and slammed the door.

Ferdinand silently gave him a thumbs-up. "You're something else, boss."

John settled into the back seat and addressed Ferdinand, who was still outside admiring him. "If you don't want this job, I can have my assistant drive instead."

"Right away. I'm coming, boss."

Terrified of losing his job, Ferdinand climbed behind the wheel and offered Natasha his hand, flashing what he thought was a handsome smile.

"Ferdinand Pierce. The boss's driver."

"Natalie Romanoff."

Natasha shook his hand lightly. A single smile was enough to leave Ferdinand utterly smitten.

John tapped Ferdinand's bald head with one finger.

"Drive."

"Yes, boss."

Ferdinand pulled his head back and asked sheepishly, "Where are we going?"

"Let's go to..."

John, who had intended to head to Taran Industries, paused.

When John still failed to answer, Ferdinand grew puzzled.

Natasha looked through the rearview mirror. John had turned his head to stare out the window.

Strangely, there was nothing there.

Ferdinand asked again, "Boss?"

John gazed out the window.

A yellow-robed figure stood quietly outside.

"What brings you here, Ancient One?" John frowned and looked at the two motionless people in the front seats.

This was the Ancient One's doing.

The Ancient One, who had come alone, revealed her unnaturally pale arms.

Removing her hood, she said calmly, "It's time to honor our agreement, Wizard King."

"Someone has intruded into this world. He will bring disaster and war."

John looked surprised. "You're not dealing with it yourself?"

The Ancient One merely smiled faintly. "We have an agreement, don't we?"

"Fine." John sighed, leaned back in his seat, and tilted his head to give her a sidelong look. "You could at least tell me the whole story."

"They come from Asgard," The Ancient One said. "One was banished to this world, and another followed him here."

"This is also a trial." The Ancient One waved her hand, and spinning sparks formed a portal behind her. "I'll send you there, Wizard King."

"I don't think that'll be necessary." John declined her offer and rubbed his chin. "Perhaps a trip would make my vacation a little more interesting."

"You need to learn to enjoy yourself, Ancient One."

John had no intention of wasting a chance to travel by plane.

No sooner had he finished speaking than the Ancient One vanished.

"Boss?" Ferdinand's voice rang out. "Where are we going? Taran Industries, or back to your house?"

"No, neither. We're going to the airport."

The corners of John's mouth lifted as he looked at Natasha. "Time to make yourself useful, Miss Assistant."

"I need a ticket to Charming Wonderland before noon."

"You're going alone?" Natasha looked astonished.

They had only just negotiated an order with General Ross, and now he was leaving already?

Natasha couldn't quite follow John's thinking.

"Ferdinand, as a veteran employee, you need to teach the new hire how to do her job." John closed his eyes and paid Natasha no further attention.

Ferdinand immediately replied with eager servility, "As an employee, all you need to do is complete your assignment. Don't ask too many questions."

He leaned toward Natasha with a cheeky grin. "If there's anything you don't know, you can ask me."

His lecherous gaze took the opportunity to steal a discreet glance at the pale skin beneath Natasha's blouse.

He floored the accelerator, swung the car around, and headed for the New York airport.

Though puzzled, Natasha took out her phone and began booking tickets.

"Two tickets to New Mexico."

She had barely spoken when John interrupted her.

"One. First class."

John opened his eyes, and a fleeting trace of black mist vanished. He chuckled. "Let me enjoy my vacation, Natalie."

Natasha had no choice but to change her request to one ticket.

Outside the New York airport, the assistant and driver watched their boss walk inside.

Ferdinand rubbed his hands together and took two steps toward Natasha, inviting her bashfully, "I know a really good fried chicken place."

"I'm going to the restroom." Natasha ignored him completely and turned to follow John inside.

After watching John head off to board his flight, she took out her phone, her expression shifting several times.

In the end, she chose to make the call.

"He's headed to New Mexico."

Nick Fury was on the other end. Hearing that John had simply dropped everything and left, he couldn't figure out his intentions either.

But New Mexico...

That was where Coulson was carrying out his field assignment.

Could the two be connected?

Fury's bald head worked rapidly as he gave Natasha her orders. "You're his assistant now. Take advantage of that access. While he's away, you can find out more."

"You don't need me to follow him?" Natasha asked in surprise.

Several files bearing photographs of a blonde woman lay on his desk. Fury picked one up and said evenly, "Coulson will handle it."

Natasha was reluctant, but ultimately did not disobey the director's orders.

Outside, Ferdinand leaned against the car door, bored out of his mind as he waited for Natasha to return.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a group of Black kids carrying skateboards and immediately perked up.

"Hey, kids! Let a grown-up show you how to skateboard in style."

He walked toward the children.

He failed to notice someone watching him from a car nearby.

New Mexico.

A lively gathering was underway.

Not long ago, a hammer had fallen from the sky and struck the soil of New Mexico, leaving a deep crater.

The first person to discover it had tried to take it away. Strangely, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't lift the hammer.

He then told the others in town about it.

Curious, and suspicious that he was merely seeking attention, people spread the news farther and farther.

The men of Old Bridge Town began heading over to join the fun.

Some brought grills and started barbecuing, while others brought beer.

But everyone made sure to take a turn trying to lift the hammer.

Every one of them failed.

A white-haired old man joined in too. He drove over in his pickup and had someone attach a chain to the hammer.

As the engine started, everyone waited to see whether the hammer could finally be lifted.

The pickup roared at full power, its tires scraping the ground and sending dirt flying.

The next second-

Clang!

The rear of the pickup was torn off.

The white-haired old man poked his head out and asked, "Did it work?"

Laughter erupted.

As everyone laughed, an old woman in a sunhat walked over and angrily grabbed the old man's ear, making him get out.

"You broke our truck, Stan!"

After that attempt, everyone present was convinced that no one could possibly lift the thing.

A black car approached from the distance, and a man in a suit and sunglasses stepped out.

He gazed at the crater and took out his phone.

"Sir, we've found it."

Coulson had come here on assignment.

He was preparing to take custody of the hammer.

No one knew whether an object of unknown origin posed some terrible danger.

S.H.I.E.L.D. needed to nip such threats in the bud.

He contacted S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel to come seal off the area.

Bzzzt.

"Electromagnetic interference?" Coulson glanced at his phone, thinking he should request a replacement.

He walked off to one side.

Unbeknownst to him, a little golden head peeked out from behind a rock less than two meters away, staring curiously at Coulson's phone before turning toward the hammer.

"Bilikali."

Speaking an incomprehensible language, the Golden Little Man crawled into a hole behind the rock and disappeared.

At the New Mexico airport.

John stepped off the plane and rubbed his brow, exasperated. "Even first class has bratty kids. How irritating."

Sure enough, rich families had brats too.

Their racket had nearly made John's head explode.

He headed outside, where taxis were in plentiful supply.

Travelers arriving in New Mexico waited for taxis to pull up.

John casually walked to the curb and raised his hand. A taxi that had been about to stop in front of someone else suddenly accelerated and pulled up before him instead.

Even the driver was bewildered. For some inexplicable reason, he had stepped on the gas and driven over.

But since he was already there, he had no choice but to take John.

Before he could say anything, John sat down in the back seat and took out his wallet.

The crisp green bills made the driver swallow hard.

"Where to?"

"Old Bridge Town."

John pulled out ten green bills and tucked them into the driver's collar.

Then he turned to gaze out the window with interest.

The bills tickled the driver's neck, but he didn't utter a word of complaint. Beaming, he said, "Of course. Please buckle up."

The taxi took off, leaving a tire mark burned into the ground.

Sometimes, shooting stars and windfalls weren't the only things that fell from the sky.

A grown man could fall too.

Jane Foster was convinced that today was definitely her unlucky day.

First, she had hit a man who fell from the sky while driving during her research. After finally getting him to a hospital, they discovered in the subsequent photographs that he had appeared along with the phenomenon they were studying.

They rushed back to get him out again. Although the process had been somewhat tortuous, the outcome was good.

Except that he had been hit twice.

And he seemed to suffer from delusions, rambling about Thor and the Bifrost.

Dr. Erik Selvig, who was with them, was fairly certain the man was delusional, because those were all stories he had heard as a child.

When the man wanted to head to the meteor crater, Jane had no choice but to part ways with him.

But when she returned to her laboratory, terrible news awaited her.

A group calling themselves the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division intended to confiscate her research.

The man leading them was named Coulson.

Though Jane did everything she could to stop them, Selvig urged her to give up, because those people were not to be trifled with.

But Jane did not care about that. She argued with them.

As the two sides argued over the equipment, a yellow taxi pulled up in front of the S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicle that was about to leave and showed no sign of backing away.

Someone stepped out.

Coulson looked over. The man was casually taking out some cash and placing it inside the taxi.

"I don't remember you handing in your resignation. Is this a side job?"

The man walked toward him at an easy pace, a faint, ambiguous smile on his face.

"Greg."

At the sound of that name, Coulson's pupils constricted.