As the priest's final "Amen" fell, Makima's funeral finally came to an end.
Under the gloomy twilight, the crowd of mourners dispersed one after another. On a remote lawn dozens of meters away from Makima's tombstone, the Avengers who had collectively experienced that bloody battle in New York naturally gathered together.
Of course, under the influence of the "mo die effect," the original lineup of this team had become unrecognizable.
For instance, Thor, who had never officially joined the S.H.I.E.L.D. roster from start to finish.
At this moment, he was so embarrassed that he wished he could use his toes to dig out an Asgard on the lawn...
Of course, even if he was Thor, that would still be quite difficult.
Facing the complex looks from Tony and Steve that said "Brother, even though you were mind-controlled, how do we settle the account for you hammering our person to death?", Thor, this Nordic deity nearly two meters tall and built like a brown bear, desperately tried to hide himself behind Dr. Banner's somewhat thin back.
Banner:???
Dr. Banner, being used as a shield against their gazes, didn't even have the strength to complain at this moment, because his mood wasn't much better than Thor's.
His gaze was fixed on the young girl standing next to Tony, who was boredly blowing bubble gum—Reze.
Although his memory of the period when he was mind-controlled by Loki was a blank, Banner hadn't lost his memory!
He clearly remembered what Fury had accidentally let slip back then—
This seemingly harmless and beautiful girl in front of him was the Bomb Devil who had blown him and Hulk into a daze on the New York streets six months ago, causing him to spend half a year in a special S.H.I.E.L.D. prison!
Fortunately, without the interference of the Mind Stone, Banner's reason was now online.
Even when Reze popped her bubble gum with a "snap," it didn't stir his urge to transform.
After all...
He was the one in the wrong now; the mess he made by smashing things everywhere after being mind-controlled hadn't been cleaned up yet, so he naturally didn't dare to cause trouble at this point.
For a moment, the atmosphere on the lawn became incredibly eerie, with a suffocating awkwardness permeating the air.
"Cough..."
Finally, it was Tony, who could never stand a cold silence, who took the lead in breaking the dead silence.
He stood with his hands in the pockets of his expensive suit trousers, raised an eyebrow, and swept his gaze over everyone: "So, everyone, what are the plans next? Is our Avengers band, which was formed less than a day ago, breaking up already?"
"Of course not, Mr. Stark."
Before anyone else could speak, Agent Coulson, who was nearby, wiped his red eyes and took up the conversation.
Although his voice still carried a hint of sorrow, his tone was very firm.
Coulson took a deep breath, looked at Thor and Banner hiding in the back, and said seriously: "Director Fury will not disband the Avengers. He asked me to tell you all that this incident was just an uncontrollable accident."
"Loki is the culprit, and you are also victims. S.H.I.E.L.D. should not, and will not, blame the crimes committed by Loki on the two of you."
Hearing Coulson's comforting words, the tense nerves of Thor and Banner finally relaxed, and both let out a long sigh of relief.
However, at the mention of the culprit's name, Tony's face immediately turned unpleasant.
"Speaking of that Bambi..."
Tony narrowed his eyes, looking Thor up and down, "So, where is Loki? You Asgardians didn't let him escape again, did you?"
"Bambi...? No! Absolutely not!"
Thor was stunned for a moment, then hearing Loki's name, he immediately became anxious and waved his hands repeatedly in explanation:
"I've learned my lesson once! It's just... you were holding a funeral, and I felt that bringing a war criminal here would be too disrespectful to the deceased, so I just asked Luxanna to help me keep an eye on Loki."
"Luxanna?"
Tony frowned, "Who is that again?"
Steve, Barton, and Natasha heard this and immediately exchanged knowing glances.
The three of them certainly remembered who Luxanna was—
That was a tough character who could knock Thor away with one hand, and she was also their savior.
Just as Tony was completely confused, accompanied by a series of fine "sizzling" sounds.
A portal woven from white-gold magic sparks suddenly bloomed in mid-air!
"Bang!"
A huge, crimson ice sculpture emitting a pungent smell of blood fell straight out of the portal, hitting the lawn with a dull thud and creating a half-meter-deep pit.
Everyone looked closely and saw that the guy inside the ice sculpture—who else could it be but Loki?
Then, under everyone's watchful eyes, a beautiful blonde girl wearing white-gold skirt armor and a blue cape leapt out of the light gate like a graceful butterfly, her toes lightly touching the ground as she landed steadily beside them.
Lux blinked her lively and clear big eyes, looked at the dumbfounded Avengers below, and a brilliant, dazzling smile curled at the corners of her mouth: "Oh, I think I heard someone calling me?"
"Luxanna!"
Seeing the girl leap out of the portal, Steve, Barton, and Natasha's eyes lit up, and they all took the initiative to step forward and greet her.
You should know that on the New York battlefield, if Lux hadn't entered the fray in time, these three flesh-and-blood Agents and veterans would have probably met their end under the mind-controlled Thor's Hammer.
Tony stood there, watching this heartwarming scene of old friends reuniting, and pointed at Lux and then at Steve with a look of utter confusion.
"Wait, Captain, you guys actually know each other?"
Just hearing the name earlier, Tony hadn't reacted yet, but now that he saw the Zhenren (Immortal), the memories in his mind instantly resurfaced.
Although he hadn't met this girl face-to-face on the ground, while he was flying in the sky clearing out the Chitauri grunts earlier, he had seen this delicate blonde beauty with his own eyes as she fired a terrifying beam of light that pierced the sky!
That one shot not only evaporated half of a dozens-of-stories-tall building, but its staggering size also made Tony feel inferior on the spot.
"Of course we do," Steve nodded seriously, his tone full of gratitude. "If Luxanna hadn't stepped in to save us in time, Natasha and the others would have been in big trouble. More importantly, it was thanks to her that the rampaging Thor was successfully defeated."
"Hmm?"
Thor, who had been shrinking behind Banner, heard this and his eyes almost popped out.
Why are they even saying this girl defeated me?!
For real or what?!
Thor looked suspiciously back and forth between the faces of Steve, Natasha, and Lux's harmless-looking face.
Were these Midgardians taking advantage of his memory loss to team up and play him?!
Although it was indeed very strange that this little girl could lift mjolnir, to say she could pin him, the dignified greatest warrior of Asgard, to the ground and beat him up?
What kind of Nine Realms joke is this!
I, Thor, am very smart!
You think you can fool me by making up this kind of talk?
However, hampered by the fact that he was currently covered in inescapable blame.
Even though Thor, who was in the wrong, had ten thousand objections in his heart, in the end, he just vigorously twitched his lips a couple of times and forced himself to swallow his words of rebuttal.
He muttered secretly to himself—Fine, just keep making things up!
When I clear my name one day, I'll definitely find an opportunity to properly debunk these rumors in front of the entire Nine Realms!
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