"Still afraid of thunder after all these years?"
Steve Rogers looked at Loki, whose hands were bound, and spoke with a hint of teasing in his voice.
Tony, however, was thinking about something else.
When the thunder started outside, he suddenly remembered what Karl had told him earlier on the phone — Thor would probably appear soon.
Could this be a sign of Thor arriving?
"No."
Loki shook his head calmly.
"I'm not afraid of thunder."
"I'm afraid of the one who controls it."
Loki knew perfectly well that Heimdall must have already noticed everything he had done. Odin would certainly know as well.
With the Bifrost destroyed, the only way Thor could reach Earth now was by using dark energy to force open a passage.
BOOM—!
The Quinjet shook violently.
"Something just landed on the aircraft!"
Natasha, who was piloting the Quinjet, immediately warned the others.
"Be careful!"
Tony already knew who it probably was, but he still stood up.
Steve Rogers raised his shield and looked toward the rear hatch.
BANG—!
The rear door was suddenly torn open.
A tall blond figure holding a hammer jumped inside the Quinjet.
It was Thor.
Without saying a word, Thor grabbed Loki by the collar and prepared to leave immediately.
All he wanted now was to take his brother back to Asgard for judgment.
When Loki had fallen into the void before, everyone believed he was dead.
Even their mother had mourned him for a long time.
Thor had never expected Loki to still be alive — and now he was causing chaos on Earth again.
"Thor!!"
Tony shouted the moment he saw Thor preparing to take Loki away.
If Loki left now, what would happen to the Tesseract?
More importantly, Tony still wanted to talk to Thor.
After all, Thor was the Prince of Asgard.
He must know far more about the universe than anyone on Earth.
Thor paused.
"Hm?"
He turned around and looked at Tony carefully.
"Tony?"
"What are you doing here?"
Then he glanced inside the Quinjet.
"Where is Oracle?"
"Is he not here?"
Thor naturally meant Karl.
"Karl is at home with his wife. He hasn't come yet."
Tony replied calmly.
"Come inside first."
"We're on the same side."
"Loki hid the Tesseract somewhere. We need to find it first."
Tony's tone remained polite.
This wasn't the Tony from the original timeline who knew nothing about Asgard.
Thor was both Karl's friend and Tony's drinking companion, not to mention the son of Odin.
Those identities alone were enough for Tony to show respect.
Thor hesitated for a moment.
Then he nodded.
"Very well."
He pushed Loki down into a seat.
"Loki."
"This time you will not escape."
"You will return to Asgard with me."
Thor sat down.
After all, he had shared drinks with Tony before.
Tony was a friend.
And before returning to Asgard, he still needed to locate the Tesseract.
"Wait."
Steve Rogers suddenly spoke.
He looked directly at Thor.
"Who exactly are you?"
"Loki must face judgment under Earth's laws."
"He cannot simply be taken back to Asgard."
Tony sighed.
"He's Thor, the Norse God of Thunder."
Tony was about to continue explaining.
But suddenly he felt something was wrong.
Thor would never allow Loki to remain on Earth.
Sure enough.
Thor slowly raised Mjolnir and pointed it toward Steve Rogers.
Tony immediately stepped between them.
After a moment's hesitation, Tony decided to support Thor.
If Loki remained on Earth to face human judgment, the consequences could become far worse.
If Odin learned that Earth had imprisoned his son, things could spiral out of control.
Karl might be powerful.
But Tony still remembered clearly that Karl once struggled against Odin's armor.
Facing Odin himself would be even worse.
So Tony could only try to calm the situation.
"Hey! Steve!"
"Put down the shield!"
Tony said quickly.
"What are you saying, Midgard man?!"
Thor frowned.
"Tony, what are you doing?"
Steve looked at him sharply.
"Are you betraying Earth?!"
Tony rubbed his forehead.
"What am I doing?"
"I'm saving Earth."
"Do you even know who he is?"
"If this goes wrong, you're starting an interstellar war."
"And the other side would be Asgard."
"The gods of Norse mythology."
"Hehehe…"
Natasha suddenly laughed lightly.
"Enough."
"I think we should all sit down and talk."
"What do you think?"
Thor lowered his hammer slightly.
Steve also relaxed his stance.
Both of them sat back down.
After Tony finished explaining the situation, Steve remained silent.
Although he was still unhappy about it, he understood the danger.
Earth could not afford to provoke Asgard.
Thor ignored Steve entirely.
His priorities were simple.
Find the Tesseract.
See Jane Foster.
Then bring Loki back to Asgard for trial.
As for Steve Rogers?
To Thor, he was simply another mortal.
Among the people on Earth, the ones Thor truly respected were very few.
Besides the Sorcerer Supreme, there were only a handful.
Karl.
Tony.
Juggernaut.
Jane.
Eric.
And Daisy.
The Sorcerer Supreme earned Thor's respect because her power was comparable to Odin's.
Karl was another existence whose strength Thor openly acknowledged.
Tony and Juggernaut were friends who had helped him when he was stranded on Earth.
Jane was different.
She was his beloved.
Eric and Daisy were also people he respected.
"Alright."
Natasha finally spoke again.
"Let's return to the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier first."
"There's an expert there."
"He should be able to locate the Tesseract soon."
After saying that, Natasha piloted the Quinjet toward the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier.
At the moment, the carrier was still floating on the ocean surface.
But it would soon take flight.
After Tony and the others arrived on the Helicarrier, they finally met Bruce Banner.
Tony looked surprised.
He hadn't expected S.H.I.E.L.D. to recruit the Hulk as well.
After greeting Banner briefly, Tony walked deeper into the carrier.
He removed his armor.
Then he took out a bracelet and put it on his wrist.
It was a vibranium suit bracelet — the same kind Karl used.
The moment Tony activated the bracelet, Karl received a connection request.
After seeing that it was Tony, Karl accepted the connection.
Tony had connected the bracelet to Karl intentionally.
If S.H.I.E.L.D. tried anything suspicious, the bracelet would automatically deploy the armor and immediately send a distress signal to Karl.
Tony no longer trusted S.H.I.E.L.D.
Ever since he discovered that Nick Fury had tried to manipulate him using Howard Stark's legacy, even attempting to pressure him into joining the Avengers project, Tony's opinion of S.H.I.E.L.D. had dropped to rock bottom.
He had only come here to stop Loki.
Otherwise, he would never willingly step inside this spy headquarters.
Soon after, Loki was locked inside a transparent containment cell.
Everyone watched as Nick Fury walked up and began talking with Loki.
Fury calmly explained that the cage was not originally designed for Loki.
When Fury said that, several people instinctively turned to look at Bruce Banner.
Banner simply shrugged.
He had already expected this possibility before coming.
He was mentally prepared.
After all, if he lost control and became the Hulk…
There was almost nothing that could kill him anyway.
...
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