You Can't Find It, So You Blame Me?

Annie carefully stowed her loot before emerging from her room upstairs. When she reached the ground floor, she saw not only Uncle Coulson and Aunt Melinda in the hall, but also all the members of the Avengers team gathered there. What did they want?

This struck Annie as odd. If it was about fighting, hadn't they already finished yesterday? Those strange Chitauri bad guys were all lying still, defeated. Hadn't Uncle Black Charcoal Head, the director, said they could take a break? Why were these people still hanging around here instead of going out to play?

But Annie didn't care about them! She still had a little time before her evening bath and bedtime, so she planned to head out to the beach to play for a while. She wasn't about to stay in the living room with these grown-ups!

However, just as Annie was hopping toward the door to leave, that hammer-wielding Uncle Thor stepped in front of her, blocking her way.

"Huh? Strange blacksmith uncle, what do you want blocking the door?" Annie eyed the hammer-toting Thor warily. He was blocking her path out, which made her unhappy. The living room was huge—he must have done it on purpose, right?

Hearing Annie's words, Thor's temple veins twitched. He had told her countless times that he was not a blacksmith, not a blacksmith! Why did this little girl always bring that up?

He was a crown prince! A prince! The first in line to inherit Asgard! Not some lowly blacksmith with no status! Sure, the hammer did look a bit like a blacksmith's tool, and its appearance was admittedly a little rough, but it was forged by his father—this was Mjolnir, the hammer of thunder, imbued with supreme power!

"Little Annie! I've told you many times, I am not a blacksmith! I am Thor, son of Odin! This is Mjolnir, and it can summon lightning!" Thor suppressed his irritation, feeling it necessary to repeat himself and correct the distorted impression this little girl had of him.

"Oh? Is there a difference? A lightning-summoning blacksmith's hammer is still a blacksmith's hammer, so that makes you a lightning-summoning blacksmith, right?" Annie tilted her head, thinking it over seriously for a moment.

A lightning-summoning blacksmith?! Hmph! Don't stoop to a little girl's level—she's just a child... Right! Thor took a deep breath, deciding to let it go for now. The important matter came first.

"Little Annie! If I recall correctly, you picked up the Space Stone yesterday, didn't you? That belongs to the kingdom of Asgard! If you've had your fun with it, how about giving it back? This thing shouldn't stay on Earth—it will only bring disaster to you!" Thor crouched down, looking Annie in the eye, trying to persuade this stubborn little girl.

The Space Stone was one of the Infinity Stones, and so was Loki's scepter! But what puzzled Thor was that he had searched desperately for that scepter yesterday and today without finding it. Could it have been crushed by the Chitauri mothership debris? That shouldn't be possible! It was an Infinity Stone—indestructible!

"That stone is mine, mine!!!" Annie's eyes went wide, and she covered her little pocket with both hands, afraid this uncle might try to snatch it.

No way! Annie felt that the Space Stone was her hard-earned trophy from the fight, won by her own skill. He wanted it back? Absolutely not! Not through the door, not through the window! No giving it back, no way! No matter what he said! If he dared to grab it, she'd let her bear bite him.

"No! It's not yours! That stone belongs to our realm—it has always been Asgard's property." Thor refuted without hesitation.

The Space Stone was indeed Asgard's. Though Thor didn't know how it had ended up on Earth, it was undeniably Asgard's—that was indisputable!

The ancient records of the kingdom clearly documented it—this was verifiable! Not just talk! Since the records said it belonged to Asgard, then it belonged to Asgard, even if it wasn't! If Earthlings disagreed, Thor could have the ancient texts brought for them to see—if they could read them!

Now that it had been found, by the principle of returning things to their rightful owner, it must be taken back to Asgard and properly secured. His father had also sent word: the Space Stone must be brought back without fail! That was the command of Odin, the All-Father, and Thor had to obey unconditionally!

"Pfft! It belonged to that bad guy Loki! I beat him, so now it's mine!" Annie puffed up angrily at Thor. If he dared say the stone was his family's again, she'd set her bear on him.

"But this Space Stone was indeed stolen from Asgard. It should rightfully return to its owner, and besides, it's dangerous!" Thor reiterated the stone's ownership.

What Thor didn't know was that Odin had hidden the Space Stone on Earth after defeating the Frost Giants. The All-Father had thought that weak humans would never be able to use the Space Stone, and hiding it in this remote corner of Earth was just right.

But Odin never expected that in less than two thousand years, these weak, short-lived, infighting-prone humans would have advanced this far! It made him wary! So, to avoid causing bigger trouble, he decided to reclaim the stone and store it elsewhere, hence the order for Thor to bring it back.

"I won't give it! What are you going to do about it?" This Space Stone was extremely important to Annie—she would never hand it over. Anyone who coveted it was her enemy!

"You really won't give it?" Thor stood up, staring intently at Annie, tightening his grip on the hammer.

"No!" Annie stepped back warily, clutching Tibbers the bear, ready to throw him out at a moment's notice. Against a close-combat brute like this, Tibbers was the best choice.

And so, the two—one wanting to take, the other refusing to give—began staring each other down, the atmosphere tense, as if a single word could spark a fight! The other Avengers in the living room didn't know what to do.

"Hey, can you two cool it? Strictly speaking, the Tesseract should belong to S.H.I.E.L.D.!" Coulson had barely finished speaking when both of them turned to glare at him. Seeing Thor's dark expression and Annie's tight little face, Coulson immediately backed down.

"Fine, it's your stuff!" Coulson shrugged. Neither of these two seemed like someone S.H.I.E.L.D. could afford to offend. Since he couldn't win, he'd let them fight it out.

But letting them keep staring each other down wasn't a solution either. If they actually started fighting, that would be bad. The Avengers had just defeated the Chitauri, and if they immediately turned on each other, the news wouldn't look good! So Coulson thought it over and decided he needed to play peacemaker—he absolutely couldn't let them come to blows.

"Since you can't agree for now, how about hearing my opinion?" Coulson had just thought of a good idea that might mediate the conflict.

"What do you want to say?" Thor turned back to look at Coulson, and Annie frowned at him too.

"Here's the thing, Thor, can I ask why you insist on taking back the Tesseract—I mean, the Space Stone? Why must you reclaim it?" To solve the problem, you had to find the key—seek common ground while reserving differences. That was the best approach.

"It belongs to Asgard, and this stone is dangerous. If left unchecked, it could easily bring disaster to Earth again! Think about the Chitauri this time. What if there's a next time, or the time after that? Are you sure Earth can withstand threats from other advanced civilizations in the universe?" Thor hit the nail on the head. This was also why Odin wanted to take the Space Stone back and store it safely—they couldn't leave it on Earth.

"Alright, that's fair! Your Asgardian thinking is correct—this issue is indeed worth taking seriously." After saying this, Coulson turned to Annie. "So, Annie, why do you want the Space Stone?"

"Because I know it's the thing that brought me to Earth! I need it to open a portal and go home. If he tries to take it, I'll punch him!" Annie stated her reason firmly. Tibbers was already ready, eager to fight this so-called Thor.

On the matter of going home, Annie was confident she wasn't wrong. Since this stone had brought her from the Voodoo Lands to here, it could surely send her back! Of course, she needed to find the right method, and she already had some ideas. She knew there was a Bald Mage on Earth who was deeply skilled in space magic—she'd find her when she had time!

"You can really go home with the Space Stone? If so, you do have priority to use it." Coulson paced back and forth a couple of times, then made up his mind.

"How about this: I have a proposal. Let Annie use the Space Stone first. Once she opens a portal and goes home, Thor can take it back to Asgard for safekeeping. What do you think?" Coulson thought his idea was brilliant! It satisfied Annie's wish to go home without making Thor's task too difficult, since he was acting on his father Odin's orders.

"Hmm! Good idea, we think it works!" The bystanders in the hall—Banner, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and others—nodded in agreement.

"Don't look at me. I don't care about the Space Stone!" Iron Man Tony waved his hand, unwilling to comment. Whether the little girl or Thor took it was none of his business. His mind was full of rebuilding Stark Tower.

"This is indeed a good solution. What do you think, little Annie?" Thor thought it over and found the proposal reasonable and workable. It could also avoid a physical conflict, and besides, he felt a bit reluctant to snatch something from a little girl.

"Let's do it that way then!" Annie bit her finger and gave a vague answer—neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Just, let's do it that way!

Now Annie thought that if a fight broke out, she wasn't afraid of this weird blacksmith, but he had numbers! Rumor had it that Asgard was powerful, with a Bifrost that could teleport armies at any time. If it came to a real fight, she might end up losing... So, she'd have to use her wits! Hmph, trying to take her stuff? This hammer-wielding bad guy—Annie would never let him succeed. Just wait!

"Oh, one more thing, little Annie. Loki's scepter—the staff! Have you seen it?" Thor suddenly remembered another matter.

Since the Space Stone issue was settled, only Loki's scepter remained. The scepter itself wasn't important, but the Infinity Stone on it was! That was another troublesome item. If found, it too had to be taken back to Asgard for strict custody.

"Didn't my bear Tibbers knock that thing flying? You can't find it now, and you're blaming me?" Annie shrieked like a fox whose tail had been stepped on. He wanted to go after the staff too? What a bad guy!

Hearing this, Thor scratched his head awkwardly and walked away. He had witnessed Tibbers knocking Loki's scepter away with his own eyes! Coulson had seen it too. So, it really wasn't little Annie's fault.

The blame lay with Thor for not looking for it right away. Back then, he had only been focused on pleading for Loki's life. Who would have thought a Chitauri mothership fragment would crash down later? This huge pile of rubble made finding a staff difficult. Who knew where it was buried? He'd just have to search slowly... Hopefully, the S.H.I.E.L.D. workers clearing the debris would report it to him if they found it?

(Tibbers: I know nothing. Don't ask me! I just want some peace and quiet!)

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