"Hello, this is S.H.I.E.L.D. command center."
"Nick! It's Erik—Dr. Erik Selvig. I need you to relay a message to Director Fury immediately!"
"One moment, Doctor. Connecting you now."
Nick Fury was halfway through grilling a group of rookie agents when the call came through. His single eye narrowed. Erik rarely contacted him unless something was seriously wrong.
"Erik," Fury said, voice low and steady. "You don't usually call unless the world's ending again. What's going on?"
"It's Jane," Erik's voice trembled faintly through the comms. "Something's wrong with her. Physically, she's stable for now, but whatever's inside her… it's beyond anything I've seen. I can't treat it. I need S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help—now."
Fury went quiet for a beat, then exhaled through his nose. "Understood. I'll mobilize a team. Keep her under observation and don't touch anything."
The line went dead. Fury was already barking orders.
At New York's most advanced medical facility, Jane Foster sat upright in her bed, every instinct screaming danger. Her pulse raced; her skin prickled like lightning crawling just under the surface.
"…That energy signature… a Mutant?" she whispered. "No, this one's different."
She pressed her fingers to her temples, trying to suppress the pounding behind her eyes.
Out in the street, a man in plain clothes walked toward the hospital entrance. His broad shoulders, the faint glint of storm-forged scars, and the quiet pressure in the air gave him away long before he spoke.
Thor.
Behind him followed two figures wrapped in black coats, their presence eerie and deliberate.
A nurse at the reception desk looked up and smiled. "Good afternoon, sir. How can I help you?"
"We're here to see a patient. Name's Jane," Thor said, voice calm but cold.
The nurse nodded, offering a clipboard. "Please sign in—"
Her voice cut off. One of Thor's companions—the one called Mindforge—stepped forward, eyes gleaming silver. A pulse of psychic energy rolled through the air. The nurse froze, her pupils dilating.
"Jane Foster. Special care unit. Third floor," she said in a monotone.
"Thank you," Thor replied, already walking toward the elevator. The trio disappeared from view. Moments later, the nurse blinked and frowned faintly, unable to recall who she'd just spoken to.
Thor and his team strode through the sterile halls, ignoring the faint sting of disinfectant. Ahead of them stood a sealed ward guarded by S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, armed and alert.
"Halt! Identify yourselves—" one of them began.
Mindforge didn't even blink. A shimmer flared across his irises. The guards' expressions went blank as they turned and opened the door from inside.
Then everything exploded.
A steel hospital bed flew out like a missile, slamming the door into shrapnel.
Thor raised an arm. Lightning flared. The bed disintegrated midair, molten edges sparking off the walls.
"Still as feisty as ever, Jane," he muttered. "But you've grown weak."
He stepped forward, electricity dancing along his skin.
Inside, Jane stood amidst the wreckage, her hospital gown replaced by a sheath of cosmic energy pulsing from within her veins.
"Thor," she spat. "Whatever's inside me—it doesn't belong to you."
"Doesn't it?" Thor smirked. "Hand over the Aether. Or I'll take it myself."
Mindforge gestured. The enthralled S.H.I.E.L.D. agents raised their guns, expressionless.
The sound of gunfire filled the hall.
Jane raised her arms. A crimson energy field pulsed outward, bullets disintegrating in the air. She pushed back, launching Thor across the room in a blast of pure force.
But he only laughed, brushing soot from his coat.
"Still think you can control that power?"
His second companion—a hulking figure known as Famine—stepped forward, grinning wide as he pulled a small, rune-marked drum from under his coat.
"Let's make some noise."
The drumbeat that followed wasn't sound—it was agony. The vibration hit the agents like a virus. One by one, they collapsed, writhing, clutching at their stomachs as if their insides were burning alive.
"The taste of decay," Famine cackled. "Can't say I'll ever get tired of that."
Controlled by Mindforge, the remaining agents turned their guns on each other. The hallway turned red.
Jane screamed, fury and grief exploding out of her. A torrent of ether-light tore through the walls, shattering glass, blasting Thor back through two reinforced doors.
He only grinned wider. "You're losing control, Jane. I can feel the Aether rejecting you. Soon, it'll tear you apart."
"Then I'll take you with me!"
Lightning and reality itself clashed in a storm of power, shaking the entire building.
Outside, alarms wailed as S.H.I.E.L.D. backup rushed in. Fury's voice cracked through the comms, cold and furious:
"All units, Code Red! Thor's gone rogue—contain him at all costs!"
The hospital burned against the New York skyline, thunder splitting the clouds in two.
Somewhere far above, a red streak arced across the sky like a comet—headed straight for the scene.
Red Mirage had arrived.