Chapter 283: Thor — "My Foolish Odinson!"
"So wait — why was Loki here at all, then?" Tony asked. "Shouldn't he be riding in with the alien fleet?"
"Oh, he's here to open the portal for them. How else would the Chitauri get through?" Ethan answered, like it was nothing.
"Then why didn't you just stop him?" Tony pressed, frowning.
"I did stop him. Kind of." Ethan lied through his teeth without blinking. "He's just got a buddy who can teleport — not the easiest guy to pin down." Truth was, he simply hadn't wanted to catch him.
In the days ahead, Earth was only going to see more of this — aliens, Eternals, Thanos and his lot, all of it coming eventually. Whether it was Hell's Kitchen or any other faction, everyone needed live combat experience, and this whole cosmic invasion crowd made for the perfect training opportunity.
Ethan understood full well — Earth couldn't keep relying on his power alone to protect it forever. If he was ever gone, or off somewhere else entirely, how was this world supposed to handle threats like this on its own?
So he'd made a deliberate choice: let the mutants and Hell's Kitchen's people meet these challenges head-on, prove their worth and their capability for themselves. It was only when humanity faced a common enemy that they'd ever truly come together, standing united against something genuinely external.
And when the aliens came pouring in like rabid dogs, the people who'd once looked down on Hell's Kitchen and mutants would finally understand — compared to those cold, merciless invaders, Hell's Kitchen and the mutants were actually about the friendliest allies they had.
"The Big Apple really can't catch a break, huh," Tony mused. "Didn't expect a full-scale alien war this soon."
"Nothing to really worry about. That's what you super-people are for. I'll step in myself if it comes to that. Though — if you're scared, feel free to just hunker down in Hell's Kitchen," Ethan teased.
"You're not wrong. This place would fall apart without me, its resident sugar daddy. If it weren't for me, half those professors' pet projects in Hell's Kitchen would've ground to a halt already. They can't afford to let anything happen to me." Tony threw up his hands with an exaggerated show of reluctance, shaking his head — though the smugness in his eyes gave him away completely.
Money really does let you do whatever you want.
"Don't worry about it too much. Ordinary people in this world adapt to the supernatural fast. Look at them — they're doing just fine," Ethan added.
Honestly, if you asked Ethan which city's residents he admired most for sheer resilience, he'd say without hesitation: the citizens of the MCU's Big Apple. Second place, in his opinion, went to the residents of the Dragon Ball universe.
Though, to be fair, that world had actual Dragon Balls going for it — sure, the residents there had died more than a few times over, but they always got wished back eventually.
The Big Apple's residents didn't have that luxury. Then again, it was understandable — live somewhere that got hit by giant mushroom clouds on a semi-regular basis and you'd adapt too, eventually.
Hell's Kitchen's residents, for their part, could speak to this firsthand — they'd gotten so used to the neighborhood's high-adrenaline lifestyle that a lot of them were actually struggling to readjust to normal life these days. Word was, some Hell's Kitchen locals had recently organized their own impromptu live-action CS tournament.
Anyway, that was beside the point — Ethan needed to get back to his date. He could already tell Wanda was starting to lose patience.
"Alright, that's enough — don't stick around too long, I don't want Ms. Potts getting the wrong idea," Ethan said.
Right now, all Ethan wanted was to finish his date and quietly wait for the System's update to finish.
Night. S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters.
"Kaito, you never mentioned your friend here worked for S.H.I.E.L.D.," Loki said, currently bound inside a transparent, spherical containment cell.
He shot a glare at the man lounging on the couch nearby, camera still slung around his neck.
This was the one who'd caught him.
He should never have trusted Kaito in the first place — going on about finding "backup," only to turn around and sell him out.
Loki had returned to S.H.I.E.L.D. once again — though this time, unlike his last visit, there'd been no room-wiping massacre. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s people had clearly learned their lesson from last time, and thanks to this friend of Kaito's, they'd managed to lock him up instead.
Kaito shrugged, entirely unbothered. "Eh, say whatever you want. Not like you're going anywhere. Just sit tight for now. Right, Tsukasa?"
He glanced over at Tsukasa Kadoya.
"So this is what you've been up to this whole time — wandering around with a so-called god named Loki," Tsukasa said, taking a sip of coffee from the table, eyeing Loki with open interest.
"Mortal. You'll regret this. How dare you treat a god this way!" Loki snarled venomously.
"Gods — I've killed a few. Kings, too," Tsukasa said, entirely unmoved by the threat. Honestly, if it weren't for wanting an excuse to keep hanging around here, he wouldn't have bothered capturing this guy at all.
"Relax. I've got no real interest in you," Tsukasa added. "Quite the opposite, actually — I'll even help you deal with Ethan." He flashed a wicked grin, then walked out of the room.
Just then, thunder cracked violently overhead, lightning tearing across the sky as if it meant to devour the entire world. This wasn't ordinary lightning — it carried a raw, overwhelming surge of energy, the kind that sent a chill straight through anyone nearby.
Loki's body shuddered involuntarily. He could feel the sheer power wrapped up in those bolts.
Kaito exchanged a look with Tsukasa, both their eyes flickering with surprise and something close to reverence. They both knew exactly who was responsible for a display like that.
"Looks like your brother's decided to let bygones be bygones and come save you," Tsukasa said, a wicked smile spreading across his face.
Rather than fear at the power bearing down on them, he looked almost giddy with anticipation.
An instant later, a figure clad in armor, a red cape billowing behind him, hammer in hand, descended from the sky in a blaze of lightning.
Silhouetted against the storm, he cut an imposing, towering figure — the very picture of a true god come down to earth.
He crashed straight through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s ceiling, landing right in front of everyone.
At the sight, a complicated storm of emotions flickered across Loki's eyes.
Has Thor come to save him — or to judge him? Loki hated the idea of Thor seeing him like this, reduced to this.
Thor looked down at Loki, his face a mask of bitter, long-suffering grief.
"My foolish Odinson!"
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