Tibbers' Sayings: Never Bet Against Little Annie!

For several days straight, S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't find any trace of the one calling himself the evil god Loki. His group seemed to have vanished into thin air; no matter how S.H.I.E.L.D.'s all-seeing surveillance system or spy satellites scoured the globe, they couldn't uncover a single clue.

Thus, compared to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s current frantic state, the Avengers' members were taking it easy.

One of the members, Iron Man Tony Stark, was still enjoying his Pepper's various scoldings while seizing every chance to carouse and fool around. Maybe only when he got bored would he remember there was something called the Avengers.

As for the Hulk, he was temporarily missing. This master of jailbreaks, who had achieved countless escape feats and was hailed as the king of breakouts, had long since run off to who knows where to bounce around! Jumping high had its advantages—no place could hold him. The main reason, though, was that Annie was in school and not home. Having had enough of being beaten and abused by little bear Tibbers, of course he had to run!

Next up was S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Natasha Romanoff! This woman, known as the Black Widow, was practically a widow now! Because her good partner and best buddy, Hawkeye, had been lured away by some alien punk! She was now staring at the intelligence department all day, her anger maxed out, desperately hoping to find Hawkeye soon. When she did, she would definitely ask him one thing: what did she, Natasha, lack compared to some wild man from outer space?

Meanwhile, Thor was busy fooling around and rolling in the sheets with his Earth girlfriend Jane Foster. After all, humans had such short lifespans. You had to know, Asgard's calendar was usually measured in centuries. If Thor didn't hurry up, by the time he next had a chance to return to Earth, her grave might already have grass three meters tall!

Then there was Captain America. Well, this man, renowned for his bravery and heroism decades ago, after being presumed dead for years and then revived, was still contributing his remaining energy, loyally serving S.H.I.E.L.D. Within S.H.I.E.L.D., he could be considered the most senior veteran of two eras, having witnessed both the Strategic Scientific Reserve and S.H.I.E.L.D. But unfortunately, this guy's political stats were either misallocated or negative! Look at him—a two-era veteran reduced to a frontline grunt charging into battle. That took some doing!

Finally, there was Annie! Well, Annie was currently hanging out with Coulson and Melinda. They had taken the yacht from the dock out to the open sea and were now leisurely fishing.

After all, having resolved a series of issues, Coulson was in a great mood now that he had some free time again. He decided to take Annie, who seemed a bit bored after school, out to sea for some fun. He didn't want her cooped up at home all day, just playing computer games or picking up bad things from the internet.

Because a while back, after Annie saw someone livestreaming themselves smashing a car online, she actually wanted to try it! If Coulson hadn't caught her in time, his antique-looking but super-tech flying car might have ended up in pieces! That was his precious baby, Lola! So now, Coulson's top priority was to minimize little Annie's screen time and strictly keep her away from bad influences online!

"Uncle Coulson! I think fishing like this is really, really dumb." Annie rested her chin on her hands, sitting cross-legged on the edge of the yacht with a dejected look.

In front of her, just like Coulson and Melinda, was a fishing rod. The bait had been in the water for a while, but so far, not a single fish seemed ready to bite.

"Oh? Why? What's dumb about it? I think it's great!" Coulson didn't see anything dumb about it. This way, he could enjoy the fun of fishing, relax, breathe in the fresh sea air, and have no annoying worldly matters bothering him. It was wonderful! Besides, they had only cast their lines less than half an hour ago. He, Coulson, wasn't in a hurry.

"Because I've realized that if we keep this up, even if we fish until we all starve to death, no fish are going to bite!" Annie had completely given up hope on Coulson's original plan of fishing and having a barbecue party at sea.

"That's impossible! Don't worry, Annie, just wait a bit longer and a fish will bite. Think about it—last time you and Aunt Melinda took the jet out to play, I came out here alone and caught several big sea fish in no time! The smallest one weighed ten pounds!" Coulson started bragging about his past achievements again. He had brought home quite a few big fish that time.

"But this time is different!" Annie was still listless, holding no hope at all of catching a fish.

"What's different? Last time it was the same spot, and it was just me with one rod! Now there are three of us with three rods! Don't worry, trust me, a big fish will bite soon!" Coulson was still brimming with confidence.

"Since that's the case, let's make a bet." Annie's eyes darted around as a sudden idea struck her. "I bet we won't catch any fish. You game? If you lose, you have to do my homework once. Whoever chickens out is a dog!"

"You're on! But if you lose, the three-day leave we agreed on is off!" Coulson insisted he wouldn't lose. Since that was the case, he'd take the bet. After all, he still owed her that promise of three days off—maybe this time he could get out of it?

"But let's set a one-hour limit. If we catch any fish, I win!" Coulson quickly added. Last time, he had caught several fish within an hour! Besides, it was evening now, prime time for fish to come up and feed. There was no way he could lose—he was very confident! He was definitely going to win this time, and he couldn't wait to see little Annie admit defeat!

"Deal!!!"

With the agreement made, Annie held out her hand. Together with Coulson, a big hand and a small one gently slapped together, sealing the deal.

"Alright! I win! Aunt Melinda, go start the boat—let's go home for dinner! Uncle Coulson, remember to do my homework when we get back." After the high-five, Annie jumped up joyfully and urged Melinda to get the boat moving.

"Wait, wait! Little Annie! Are you trying to cheat? We just started the timer!" Coulson was baffled. Hadn't they agreed on an hour? Why was Annie already declaring victory? Even if she resorted to force, he, Coulson, wouldn't back down.

"I'm not cheating! Fine, I'll reluctantly explain it to you." Seeing Coulson still unwilling to give up, Annie turned back and patiently explained.

"It's because of my little bear Tibbers. You see, Tibbers is really powerful. As long as he's on our boat, no fish will dare come near! Because these little animals can sense the terrifying aura from Tibbers! Haha, give up now, right? As long as Tibbers is here, you'll never catch a single fish—they've all been scared far away!"

Sigh! Foolish Earthlings! Why don't they ever learn? Little bear Tibbers, lying abandoned on the deck, sighed inwardly. Without absolute certainty, given Annie's thick-skinned and ruthless methods, how could she ever give you even a sliver of a chance? Next time, be a bit smarter!

"So that's how it is?!" No wonder no fish had bitten in half an hour. He had actually been wondering about that, thinking it was just bad luck. So that was the reason! Coulson was stunned for a moment, then turned a pleading look toward Melinda.

But Melinda ignored him, shaking her head with a smile as she walked into the cabin. Little Annie was right—since they couldn't catch any fish, they might as well go home. There was no food on the boat anyway. Since they had been out for nearly an hour, everyone had probably had their fun. It was time to head back and prepare dinner! Not eating on time wouldn't be good for little Annie's health.

"Uncle Coulson, remember to do my homework tonight! Oh, and about those three days off! I'll remind you when it's time to ask for leave!"

Before following Melinda into the cockpit, Annie poked her head out to remind Coulson. Then, she kicked Tibbers, who was on the deck, hard into the cockpit... Let that be a lesson! Thick-skinned and ruthless! Taking an outsider's side! He had heard everything, after all!