DR. ERIK SELVIG found himself in a dimly lit corridor at a S.H.I.E.L.D. research compound. Not long ago he was just a scientist, and now he suddenly found himself in the middle of cross-dimensional superheroic struggles.
“Dr. Selvig,” came a voice at the end of the hall.
Selvig turned to see Colonel Fury.
“So, you’re the man behind all of this?” Selvig asked. “It’s quite a labyrinth. I was thinking you were taking me down here to kill me.” He laughed uncomfortably.
Fury did not return his laughter, paused, and then walked toward the doctor.
“I’ve been hearing about the New Mexico situation. Your work has impressed a lot of people who are much smarter than I am,” Fury said.
“I have a lot to work with. A gateway to another dimension—it’s unprecedented.”
Fury looked Selvig in the eye.
“Isn’t it?” Selvig asked.
Fury continued down the hall, with Selvig in tow.
“Legend tells us one thing, history another,” Fury said. “But every now and then we find something that belongs to both.”
He opened a secure box. Inside was illuminated red circuitry, a security keypad and, in the center, an unusual glittering blue cube, smoother and shinier than anything Selvig had ever seen before. It crackled with electricity, and forks of charged current danced around it.
“What is it?” Selvig asked.
“Power, doctor,” Fury replied. “If we can figure out how to tap it, maybe unlimited power.”
Selvig stared at the cube in awe. But unseen by Fury or Selvig, the spirit of something else looked on—something far more powerful than either of them. Something from another world—a prince of lies, a power-hungry god: Loki.
“Well, I guess that’s worth a look…” Loki hissed, grinning, unheard by the mortals surrounding him.
“Well, I guess that’s worth a look,” Selvig repeated, not realizing the words were not his own—that he was simply captivated by Loki’s spell.
Loki was pleased. Thor and Odin thought him dead. He’d tricked them when he fell from the Bifrost. They would not be interfering with his plan. He’d find a way to send himself, body and soul, back to Midgard, and once he was there, he would rule these simple mortals, in a way he wasn’t able to rule Asgard.
A Realm would be his at last—just as he deserved.