Over Mexico, a large S.H.I.E.L.D.. transport plane lurched violently through the clouds like a withered leaf. The warning lights on the ceiling of the cabin illuminated everyone's faces in a blood-red light. Walker gripped the seatbelt buckle tightly, his other hand clutching his USP pistol, his fingers so white you could see the bone.
" Iceman, are you sure this thing can withstand it?" he yelled at Bobby beside him, his voice breaking in the roar of the engine.
Bobby stood at the hatch, his hands braced against the bulkhead, large patches of frost spreading from his palms, creeping outwards along the alloy plates, freezing a shell of ice on the inside of the hatch. He gritted his teeth, his face as white as the frost in his hands, his voice trembling, yet he stubbornly tried to appear calm. "We have to persevere, even if we can't. We can't just give up halfway."
Loki sat in the cage in the center of the cabin, his wrists bound by gleaming handcuffs, but the nonchalant smile on his face remained unchanged. He tilted his head to look at the rolling dark clouds outside the cabin door, then at the two mortals who looked as if they were facing a formidable enemy, his tone utterly languid.
"Logically speaking, in a situation like this, only a god could guarantee your safety." He tugged at the chains on his handcuffs, listening to the crisp metallic clanging. "How about you kneel down and beg me? I'll guarantee your survival, how about that?"
Bobby whirled around, his eyes fixed on Loki, a few ice crystals sliding down his arm. "Shut up."
Loki's smile faltered for a moment. He stared at Bobby for two seconds, a murderous glint in his eyes rising, then slowly receding, finally transforming into a wicked curiosity.
"You're a funny guy, alright then, I'll watch your performance."
The next second, an extremely piercing metallic tearing sound came from outside the cabin.
The hatch was violently flung open from the outside, as if it were made of paper. The massive gust of air instantly sucked Walker out of the hatch, his seatbelt stretched to a tight line, making his eyes roll back in his head. Bobby gritted his teeth and pushed forward with both hands. An even thicker wall of ice slammed into the hatchway with a bang, replacing the missing door and forcefully blocking the airflow and suction.
But in the next second, a large hand suddenly reached in through the breach and grabbed the outer wall of the cabin. Then, with his other hand, he raised a hammer that shimmered with golden light and slammed it heavily against the ice wall.
"Crack... crack..." The sound of ice cracking echoed as the newly formed ice wall shattered instantly, leaving not even a fist-sized fragment behind.
Bobby stared wide-eyed at the hammer, then at the blond face peering through the breach, his mind blank.
Walker had just been blinded by the blast of air and couldn't even open his eyes. Still dazed, he didn't even see who it was. He instinctively opened fire with his USP. "Bang bang bang," three shots, each aimed at the face.
"Ouch, it hurts, it hurts, it hurts! Who shot me?!"
A flattened Negasonic Teenage Warhead ricocheted off the blond-haired man's forehead, rolling and spinning on the cabin floor. Thor rubbed the red dot on his forehead, angrily bending over as he crawled into the cabin, muttering, "What's wrong with mortals these days? They just shoot people in the face without warning..."
Before he could finish speaking, an ice spear was already half an inch from his throat. Bobby held the spear up with one hand, his eyes filled with determination, his teeth clenched, his voice trembling. "Don't move! Move again and I'll plunge it in!"
"Clang"
A beam of golden light shot in from the breach in the hatch, precisely striking the shaft of the ice spear. The ice spear spun out and embedded itself in the cabin ceiling. Sif's spear, gleaming coldly, used the momentum from deflecting the ice spear to thrust straight towards Bobby's chest.
Bobby quickly took two steps back, Sif frowned, and the spear tip continued to probe forward without stopping. Walker, having adapted to the current environment, recognized the person and hurriedly unbuckled his seatbelt.
"Stop hitting! Stop hitting! This is a misunderstanding! A huge misunderstanding!" Walker scrambled to his feet, forgetting all about the gun, and yelled at the top of his lungs.
The spear finally stopped half an inch from Bobby's chest. She glanced at Thor, who nodded, and withdrew the Thor. She took a step back with a cold face. Her deep green eyes swept over Bobby, then over Walker, and finally landed on Loki in the cage, her brows furrowing.
A few minutes later, the plane resumed stable flight, except that a new wall of ice now replaced the cabin door.
Inside the cabin, Thor sat on the folding chair opposite Loki, resting his hammer on his lap. Looking at his brother, whose face was completely indifferent, he opened his mouth, but the words he had prepared stuck in his throat. He wanted to ask, "Where did you go after you fell off the Bifrost?" and "How did you end up in Midgard again?" But Loki didn't even lift an eyelid, clearly not wanting to acknowledge Thor.
Thor awkwardly touched his nose, turned his head, and met Walker's still trembling hand. He grinned, laughed, stood up, hung the hammer on his waist, and stretched out his large, calloused hand.
Walker took a deep breath, put the gun back in its holster, wiped the sweat from his palms on his trousers, and then offered his hand. Their hands clasped tightly together.
"Hey big guy, we meet again. What are you doing here?"
"However, before that, you need to answer one question for me. You'd better give me a reasonable explanation for what happened to my brother. How dare you imprison a god?" Thor released his grip, his smile fading slightly, and the arrogance of an Asgard crown prince rose in his eyes. "After all, a god cannot be insulted."
Walker swallowed hard and recounted the events in Stuttgart, Germany, in detail: how Loki killed someone in the concert hall, how he wore a green suit and a horned crown, and how he used his scepter to turn people into skeletons.
Thor's arrogance crumbled little by little, and by the end, his neck was flushed red. He turned his head and, in a voice only the two of them could hear, growled at Loki, "You've done this in Midgard! You've completely disgraced Father!"
Loki chuckled coldly and didn't reply.
Bobby leaned against the cabin wall, clutching his chest, which felt stuffy from the turbulence, and couldn't help but interject, "Is this what the proud God can do?"
Thor froze for a moment, coughed twice, and looked away guiltily. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not... familiar with him."
Sif, who had been mostly silent in the corner, was now expressionlessly wiping the shaft of a spear with a thin cloth. She wiped very slowly, stroke by stroke, the cloth sliding down the metal surface, making an extremely slight friction sound.
Bobby's gaze drifted over without him even realizing it. He had been sent flying by a spear earlier, scared half to death, and only now did he belatedly see Sif's face clearly. Her profile was clean and sharp, her eyebrows raised, her jawline taut, her lips pursed, and even the way she wiped the spear carried a chilling aura that kept strangers at bay.
Bobby's heart skipped a beat. He lowered his eyes, pinched a small ice bead between his fingers with Frost, rolled it around, and muttered stubbornly, "Pretty cool."
Sif's ears twitched, and she glanced at him sideways. Her gaze was indifferent, but Bobby immediately crushed the ice bead and pretended to look out the window.
" Thor." Walker suddenly remembered something, slapped his thigh, "So this is a huge misunderstanding. You're one of Vought's men too, right? The boss has been talking about you guys every day since you left."
Upon hearing the name " Lin Xiao," Thor's eyes lit up, and he whirled around. "Don't talk nonsense. I was tricked into joining this Walker by him, but you could call it that. How's Lin Xiao doing now? Has that flying van been modified? Does his company really provide meals? I heard he started a superhero rental business in the Midgard..."
The questions kept popping up like a machine gun.
Sif, who was in the corner, stopped. She lowered her head, her fingers gripping the strip of cloth tightly for a moment, then continued wiping the spear, but her movements were faster than before.
Thor turned his head and caught the scene. A smug, almost punchable smile slowly spread across his face as he deliberately dragged out his words, " Sif, you're blushing."
"Shut up." Sif didn't even look up, her voice so cold it could drop ice.
"No wonder you insisted on coming to Midgard with me," Thor said, getting more and more excited, slung his hammer over his shoulder, "You said you were going to keep an eye on Loki, but I think you just wanted to see that old man from Midgard, didn't you?"
"Pah, I wish I could stab him to death with a spear, don't talk nonsense." Sif suddenly raised her head, slamming the spear heavily onto the floor, the metallic clang echoing through the cabin.
Her tone was harsh, and her face was cold, but Walker, standing close by, clearly saw that after she finished speaking, her fingers unconsciously rubbed together on the spear shaft, and her ears turned bright red.
Bobby leaned against the bulkhead, staring at Sif's profile, then at Thor's knowing look, before slowly raising his hand to cover his chest.
When Lin Xiao handed out the money that day, he thought the millions Lin Xiao gave him were a "recognition," and that Lin Xiao was the best person in the world. Now, he only felt that those Franklin banknotes were printed with Lin Xiao's punchable face.
"Damn boss..." Bobby muttered under his breath, turning his face to the window, "You're inhuman... Waaah, it's so hard to finally have feelings for someone..."