"Hey, you can't think like that, man," Tony said. "When you were dying from gamma radiation, it was the Hulk who came out and saved you, wasn't it? Try to look on the bright side. The Hulk has saved you more than once. Otherwise, you'd still be locked up by that bastard Ross."
Seeing Bruce's expression, Tony continued trying to reassure him.
Bruce didn't argue. Tony wasn't wrong—the Hulk had saved him several times. But the Hulk had also destroyed countless things just as often. Saving himself at the cost of massive collateral damage and innocent lives was never what Bruce wanted.
---
Elsewhere, Steve made his way to a concealed compartment of the Helicarrier. After confirming no one was around, he manually pried open the hatch and tore the door off entirely.
This was one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s weapons storage areas. It was empty at the moment. Steve stepped inside, leapt up to the second level—more hidden and less likely to be discovered—and began searching.
---
On the other side of the Helicarrier, Thor, worried about Jane's safety, found Coulson.
"Oh, you mean Jane Foster?" Coulson said. "After Dr. Erik Selvig was compromised, we quietly arranged a position for her at a remote observatory. It's far from New York, and the pay is generous. She had no reason to refuse. She's already started work there."
Coulson pulled up Jane's information on his screen and showed it to Thor, assuring him that she was perfectly safe.
"Thank you, Coulson," Thor said.
As he looked at Jane's photo, memories flooded back, as vivid as if they had happened just yesterday.
Thor walked over to a glass window, deep in thought.
"You know, Coulson, when I first came to Earth, this place was still wild and primitive. Humanity knelt before me. From that moment on, Midgard became one of the Nine Realms under Asgard's protection. Back then, Loki and I brought war to this world. I never imagined that war would return again."
Sorrow filled Thor's expression. He now understood that war was neither the only path nor a necessary one—and that a love of battle was no virtue.
"In my youth, I was brave and warlike. I even reveled in combat. Only now do I understand how painful war truly is."
"The war hasn't begun yet, Thor," Coulson replied. "And you still have the power to stop it."
At that moment, Nick Fury stepped forward.
"As long as you can persuade Loki to tell us where the Tesseract is."
Thor shook his head. "I don't know if I can. Loki's thoughts are impossible to read. From childhood to now, I've never known what he truly wants or longs for. That's why he resents me so deeply. I never tried to understand his heart—I only ever forced my own will upon him."
"Still, you should try," Fury said. "You're his brother. Your words will carry more weight than ours."
Seeing Fury's insistence, Thor said no more. In truth, he wanted answers as well—he wanted to ask Loki why.
---
Meanwhile, Carl sat in his cabin, racking his brain over the Tesseract's whereabouts. In his past life, the films had never specified its exact location—only that it was in a truck. But where that truck was had never been revealed.
So for now, there was nothing Carl could do. He could only wait for Tony and Bruce to track it down through technical means.
At the moment, his cabin was crowded. Besides Gwen and the other girls, Peter and Felicia were there as well. What surprised everyone was that Felicia was wearing a black, form-fitting suit—not unlike Natasha's, yet distinctly different.
Her suit featured silver, fur-like tassels at the collar, cuffs, and calves. A closer look revealed that these "fur strands" were actually fine metallic filaments. Her hair had also been dyed silver.
"Felicia, what are you—"
Carl recognized the look immediately. It was unmistakably the future Black Cat.
He had always known Felicia would become Black Cat one day, but he never imagined she already was.
"What?" Felicia grinned. "So only you guys are allowed to be superheroes? I don't get a turn?"
She had clearly taken everyone by surprise—Peter included.
Carl looked at Peter, questioning him with his eyes.
Peter waved his hands. "I didn't know either. After we got back last time, I noticed Felicia kept heading out early and coming home late. I had no idea what she was doing. Later I found out she was training. Now she's agile like a real cat—and even in pure hand-to-hand combat, I can't beat her."
That was as much as Peter knew. He had asked how she suddenly became so skilled, but Felicia only told him that she was "carrying on a family tradition."
"Well then," Carl said, "I guess all those skills came from your father."
He knew the full story, of course. In his previous life, while playing Marvel's Spider-Man, he had thoroughly researched Black Cat.
Felicia's father had once been a master thief—never caught, highly skilled. Later, he trained Felicia himself, paving the way for the birth of Black Cat.
Black Cat possessed exceptional balance, agility, and strength. Her custom earrings enhanced her physical abilities, ensuring she always landed on her feet. Her eyes had superior night vision, allowing her to see clearly in the dark. Her combat skills rivaled Natasha's—and in terms of balance, even surpassed her.
"Carl… it sounds like you know a lot about me," Felicia said, looking at him in surprise.
Carl said nothing.
After all, a grown man knowing this much about his buddy's girlfriend's background looked suspicious at best. If he explained himself, he wouldn't even need Peter—Gwen and the other girls alone would tear him apart.
"So what's next?" Skye asked. "Do we just keep waiting? Tony's already investigating, and I can now take over the Helicarrier's operating system completely."
She glanced at her laptop—the progress bar had reached 100%. She could now access every system on the Helicarrier, alter data at will, and even take full control of the vessel itself.
Carl thought for a moment. It still wasn't time. Barton hadn't appeared yet, and the Helicarrier hadn't been sabotaged.
"Hold position for now," Carl said. "Barton will definitely attack this place. When that happens, the Helicarrier will fall into chaos. Your job is to keep it operational and make sure it doesn't drop out of the sky."
He wanted to avoid any catastrophic deviations caused by his presence. With so many people aboard, if the Helicarrier went down because of some butterfly effect, they'd be dead long before the Battle of New York even began.
---
Elsewhere, Natasha arrived at Loki's containment cell. Loki immediately turned to look at her.
"Very few people can approach me this quietly," he said with a smile. "You're the first."
"And yet you still noticed," Natasha replied calmly, standing outside the glass.
"I thought you'd come a bit later," Loki said, stepping closer and meeting her gaze through the glass.
"After Nick Fury finished his little interrogation."
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