New York.
After showing off his skateboarding skills, Ferdinand still never got to see Natasha.
He could only drive back alone.
Although this car was not a supercar with a thunderous roar, it was still a luxury vehicle he could never afford in his lifetime.
I can't let anything happen to this car this time.
Ferdinand silently made up his mind.
Since John was not home, he had no choice but to drive to his own house.
When his family saw the car, they let out piercing shrieks.
Everyone in the neighborhood came over to admire the luxury car.
His former lackeys immediately showered him with flattery.
His younger brother, Roman, kept taking photos with it on his phone, looking at his big brother with admiration.
"Can I give it a try?" Roman rubbed his hands together and pleaded with Ferdinand.
His vanity thoroughly satisfied, Ferdinand swept his hand out and told his little brother to get lost.
"Go play somewhere else!"
Roman's hopes were dashed. Ferdinand had just sworn to protect this car with his life.
His mother was immensely proud. In just one week, her son was already driving a luxury car like this.
She had always known the Pierce children were geniuses waiting to bloom.
The family spent a happy evening together.
When Ferdinand got up the next morning, he hummed with his toothbrush between his teeth and gathered his car-washing supplies, ready to make a good impression. Perhaps his boss would give him a raise.
The moment he stepped outside, he saw the car sitting there, spotless.
The ground was wet.
Roman wore an ingratiating smile, flashing his bright white teeth, with a towel and car wax still in his hands.
Ferdinand knew what he was up to at a glance.
"No. Absolutely not."
"Please, big brother. I swear I can win the race. All I need is a good car."
Roman had signed up for the Brooklyn Street Racing Championship. With his skills, a luxury car was all he needed to take first place.
The winner would receive a full fifty thousand dollars, a fortune for the Pierce family.
But Ferdinand worried that his boss would find out and fire him.
"Over my dead body, Roman," he said firmly.
His attitude left Roman helpless. Roman was heading back inside in frustration when he suddenly noticed that his brother's bedroom door was open.
Roman cautiously glanced at Ferdinand, who was busy fawning over their mother. An idea struck him, and he walked upstairs as though nothing were wrong.
In Ferdinand's room, he spotted the car keys on the desk.
He grinned, showing all his bright white teeth. Fifty thousand dollars was beckoning to him.
New Mexico.
Old Bridge Town.
"That man is following us."
Sif, the Asgardian warrior, caught sight of the man trailing behind them drinking milk out of the corner of her eye.
Hogun, who had East Asian features, said, "Thor is here. Let's find him first."
Sif nodded, though she remained wary of the man behind them.
The burly, red-bearded warrior Volstagg patted his stomach. "Would it spoil the mood if I said I was a little hungry?"
Fandral, whose every movement carried an aristocratic air, could not stand this glutton. "You just ate three cows and six pigs!" he complained.
"I simply have a healthy appetite!"
"Enough! I can sense Thor nearby!"
Sif shouted before the two could start arguing.
Old Bridge Town was not large. Finding him would be no trouble as long as they were willing to spend some time.
John casually tossed his empty milk glass aside.
The glass should have hit the ground, but it vanished into thin air the instant it landed.
Finishing the last of his bread, John dusted off his hands.
The people ahead rounded a corner.
John followed.
The instant he turned the corner, a cold gleam flashed before his eyes.
It was a narrow-bladed rapier, thrust at him in warning.
Just before it reached John's throat, a wand slid into his left hand and struck the blade like a viper.
The force of the collision knocked the rapier away. John caught the incoming fist with his right hand, reversed his grip on his wand, and stabbed downward.
Fandral could not believe it. A mortal in Midgard could evade his attack?
John cast a casual glance ahead.
The other three had already left. Only Fandral remained to stop John from following them.
"You certainly are cautious." John waved his wand, and Fandral's cloak tightened around him, binding him into a bundle.
"Who are you?" Fandral asked, startled and uncertain.
A mortal was using magic.
John looked Fandral over, then tapped him on the head with his wand.
Fandral tried to speak again, but his eyes rolled back and he fell asleep.
"I rather like your cloak."
Glancing at Fandral's green cloak, John closed his eyes and opened them again.
Through his vertical pupils, the gradually dispersing chaos particles pointed him in one direction.
"Mobilicorpus."
With a gentle wave of his wand, the unconscious Fandral followed behind John.
John headed in the direction indicated by the chaos particles.
After a night of drinking with Dr. Selvig at the bar, Thor had come to terms with things.
Since he had lost his divine power, he might as well become a mortal.
His father had died because of him, and his mother would not let him return.
He had no right to go back. He would stay in Midgard, with Jane.
His outlook had changed. The arrogant, reckless warrior Thor had once been had undergone a complete transformation.
He made breakfast for Jane and the other two. Cooking was an essential skill for a warrior.
Selvig was dropping an effervescent tablet into some water, still looking bewildered.
As the smartest of the drinkers and the drunkest of the smart people, he had been carried home by Thor last night.
His pride as a man had taken an immediate blow.
What right would he have now to lecture that boy as a father figure to Jane?
He looked at Jane. With that lovestruck expression on her face, he would have known she was in love even if he had thought with his toes.
Heaven knew it had only been three days since they had met.
The speed of it all left him baffled.
Drinking his hangover remedy, Selvig discussed the theory of the Nine Realms with Jane.
The branches of the World Tree led to different civilizations.
Thor had told Jane all of this. As a prince of Asgard, Thor was reckless, not stupid.
Besides, Asgard's Bifrost fully supported Jane's ideas.
Selvig understood that even if it was true, this theory alone would never convince those old sticks-in-the-mud in the scientific community.
Worse, they no longer had their equipment. They had nothing to back up their claims.
Just as the two scientists found themselves at a loss, something happened.
Someone knocked on the glass door of the house they were in.
Everyone turned toward the sound. Three people stood outside, beaming.
Volstagg laughed. "We found you!"
Overjoyed, Thor immediately went to greet them. "My friends!"
These were his closest friends in Asgard.
They were also the comrades who had faced life and death with him.
Thor laughed heartily and embraced his friends.
"This is wonderful. Truly wonderful."
He completely failed to notice the stunned expressions on his friends from Earth.
Selvig even lost his grip on his cup, letting it fall to the floor.
He had only told Jane that story from Norse mythology yesterday, and today living Asgardian warriors had appeared before him.
"We are Lady Sif and the Warriors Three," Volstagg introduced them.
Daisy looked uncertainly at the two men. "Sorry, but the Warriors Three are two people?"
Thor also noticed that one of his friends was missing. "Where's Fandral?" he asked.
"We noticed someone following us on our way here," Sif said. "Fandral stayed behind to subdue him."
"Ha! He's beating up our stalker right now." Volstagg laughed.
Although he sometimes quarreled with Fandral, they trusted each other with their lives.
Hearing that, Thor asked no further questions.
After all, in the culture he had grown up in, beating up a stalker was perfectly acceptable.
To see his friends even after becoming a mortal moved him deeply. "Nothing could make me happier than seeing you."
"But you shouldn't have come." Seeing his friends come to reunite with him filled him with guilt.
Sif stepped forward. "Thor, we've come to take you home."
"You know I can't go back." Thor shook his head and looked at his friends. "My father died because of me. I must remain in exile."
At his words, the three facing him were dumbfounded.
Sif looked at Thor and exposed Loki's lie. "Thor, your father is still alive."
Now it was Thor's turn to be stunned.
Wait, why isn't that what my little brother told me?
"But Loki..."
"Loki became king of Asgard while you were gone," Hogun, the steadiest of them, said gravely. "He refused to let us see your mother."
"We feared there was a conspiracy, so we came all the way to Midgard to find you and bring you back."
Thor could not believe it. He had been deceived?
Loki had lied to him about their father's death?
"Loki, that joke went too far."
Thor remembered the man from yesterday. He had even warned him.
"Don't you think Fandral has been gone a little too long?" Volstagg asked in puzzlement. "He should have been back by now if he only had one man to deal with."
His reminder brought everyone to their senses.
As a powerful Asgardian warrior, he should have utterly overwhelmed an ordinary person.
"Are you looking for him?"
A voice came from outside.
They looked over and saw Fandral, seemingly fast asleep.
Looking closer, they realized his feet were floating above the ground.
Fandral followed behind John like that. Clearly, he had been defeated.
The two finally stopped in front of the house.
John casually surveyed the place and teased, "I thought you'd use the money S.H.I.E.L.D. gave you to find a nicer house."
"Who are you?"
Seeing Fandral's condition, the Asgardian warriors angrily drew their weapons.
"Wait!" Thor was no longer that reckless warrior. He immediately stopped his friends from attacking and stepped forward to address John. "It's you?"
"We meet again, Thor, Son of Odin."
John pulled Fandral over and pushed him forward.
With his feet suspended in midair, Fandral flew toward Thor, who caught him. John took out his pocket watch and glanced at it. "Aren't you going to invite me in?"
John looked past Thor and greeted the three bewildered researchers inside. "Hi, Ms. Foster, and Ms. Louise. Don't be surprised. I saw your information in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files."
The intern, Daisy, looked confused when she heard her name.
John smiled at Thor and beckoned with the hand holding his pocket watch. "You're running out of time."
After a moment's thought, Thor smiled and invited him inside. "Please come in, John."
"John?" Hearing that form of address, John could not help chuckling. "All right, then, Thor."
Stepping into the house, John noticed Fandral was still unconscious. He slapped his forehead and said ruefully, "Right. I forgot to undo that."
He tapped Fandral's forehead with his wand again, instantly waking the unconscious man.
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