He'd seen this kind of plot too many times before. Even Zod couldn't help but want to ask on Thor's behalf: Dad, I don't blame you for screwing over your son anymore, but can you just tell me straight up which gods you managed to piss off back in your youth? At least give me a heads-up...
That was precisely why he wouldn't mind Thor staying on Earth, spending his days with Jane.
After all, the poor guy had plenty of suffering ahead of him.
When Hill showed up, the most awkward person in the room was Jane.
Because according to mythology, Hill was supposed to be Thor's rightful queen.
"No, no, no—Hill and I are just comrades-in-arms. Why do you Midgardians love making up random myths about us?"
Seeing his girlfriend misunderstand, Thor hastily corrected her.
Hill, however, looked visibly crestfallen. Even Jane could tell something was off.
"Thor, the All-Father has fallen into the Odinsleep. The Nine Realms are in chaos. We urgently need a king to lead us through this."
Hill steeled herself and spoke to Thor.
"But I don't know how to get back."
Thor played dumb. Besides, hadn't he already quelled the chaos of the Nine Realms? Things should be pretty stable by now.
"Thor."
Hill's expression was resolute.
"The Queen of Asgard also hopes you'll return soon."
Thor, like Loki, could never say no to Frigga. Hearing that it was his own mother urging him to come back quickly, he had no choice but to apologize to Jane.
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"So when are you coming back?"
Jane clung to Thor's arm, reluctant to let go.
"I'll put down the rebellion as fast as I can, then I'll be back!"
Thor, for his part, didn't think this trip would be a one-way journey. The Nine Realms' rebellion might have lost the Bifrost, but there were still secret pathways connecting the realms. Through those secret routes, even if slower, he could still resolve the uprising quickly.
Jane couldn't stop him, so she simply told the big lug to go and come back soon.
On the other side of things: Tony Stark.
Here's how it went. Only a few months had passed since the monster invasion. On the surface, Los Angeles—seemingly recovering from its shattered state—was gradually returning to calm. But in reality, the city's reconstruction period was hardly short on terrorist attacks. And it happened to coincide with the presidential election.
The victims of the bombing attacks were officially classified as ordinary citizens, but the real inside story revealed that those targeted were all prominent, well-connected figures in high society—supporters of certain candidates, no less.
Of course, this originally had little to do with Tony Stark.
But who could blame him? After Tony rolled out his clean energy initiative, the government placed a huge number of orders with Stark Industries. Maybe it wasn't strictly necessary, but Tony, seeing the money involved, did end up offering a bit of support to the campaign. And since the big shots who'd previously backed the candidate had been attacked, it seemed inevitable that Stark Industries would face a similar situation.
Still, how to put it... If the attack were aimed directly at Tony, he wouldn't panic in the slightest.
The symbiote armor was no joke. And after the Chitauri and monster army invasions, Tony had clearly realized he needed stronger armor and more advanced weapons to face the disasters that would inevitably come. Only then could he protect Pepper and everything he held dear.
Out of that anxiety, the suits he built could honestly be described as a genuine Iron Legion under AI control.
The problem was: what if the terrorist attack wasn't aimed at him directly, but instead bypassed him and targeted Pepper? Wouldn't that put her in extreme danger?
The first inkling that the attacks might gradually shift toward his side came from his friend Rhodey. According to Rhodey, a terrorist calling himself the Mandarin was openly provoking the U.S. President with a string of terror operations.
Colonel Rhodes had been entrusted with the heavy responsibility of tracking down the Mandarin. Rhodes was military, but these attacks were impossible to guard against—and no explosive residue could ever be found at the blast sites. Rhodey had originally wanted to ask S.T.R.I.K.E. for help, but considering they wouldn't directly involve themselves in such matters, he ultimately decided to ask Tony.
Tony had agreed to help, but the more involved he got, the more he worried about Pepper's safety. And the problem was, Pepper didn't exactly like Tony suiting up and getting involved in dangerous stuff like this. Even if the Iron Man armor was ready, he might not necessarily wear it.
So he went to find Zod.
"I know you probably won't do much, but regarding the terrorist attacks, there's not a lot of info I can give you. Because no matter how they investigate the attacks so far, they've never been able to find any explosive residue at the blast sites."
Tony finished his coffee and wiped the corner of his mouth with his thumb.
"Something that's theoretically impossible—but from our perspective, things look a little different."
Zod wasn't surprised. Although Killian was still on ice with him, A.I.M. had never belonged to Killian in the first place. It belonged to the big boss, Murdock.
Yeah—the guy with the huge head and no neck.
In the original story, Murdock and Stark were mortal enemies.
The real A.I.M. in the Marvel universe wasn't some "mechanics research institute." Its full name was Advanced Idea Mechanics, born during World War II as a branch of Hydra.
A.I.M. was dedicated to developing the world's most advanced weaponry, and had supplied Hydra with a massive amount of black tech. Later, the two sides parted ways over political differences. A.I.M. struck out on its own, and after years of development had become a large-scale terrorist organization dedicated to world conquest.
Like Hydra, the organization officially didn't exist—officially, that is. But Hydra, the Hand, and the rest all knew A.I.M. existed. Counting them all up, it seemed like once again only the former S.H.I.E.L.D. remained in the dark.
A man like Aldrich Killian—hot-tempered, arrogant, paranoid—was never cut out to be a big player. To climb to where he was, besides luck, he definitely needed backing from someone powerful.
Killian's Extremis project was likely one of A.I.M.'s investments. He was their representative in cooperation with the Ten Rings.
So it wasn't strange that Advanced Idea Mechanics could produce the Extremis virus and Extremis soldiers.
What was strange was the terrorism. Killian did it because he had a grudge against Stark. But what reason did Murdock—that big-headed guy—have?
"So you want me to protect Pepper?"
Zod looked at Stark meaningfully.
"To be precise, I want to hire your company's special forces to protect her."
Stark looked every bit the man with money to burn.
He was smart, though. He knew Zod wouldn't sell Compound No. 1, so naturally he wouldn't accept doing enhancements for others.
But that was fine. He could just hire Umbrella Corporation's special forces to protect Pepper.
"My special forces don't come cheap."
Zod said calmly.
"No problem. But I have one condition."
"They have to all be women, right?"
"Correct."
/-\
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