Thor's words were like a stone thrown into a lively party pond, splashing up an awkward silence.
Everyone in the room stopped moving.
Betsy's hand, which was wiping the knife, froze in mid-air. Dazzler's guitar music stopped abruptly. Li Qianhuan forgot to chew the potato chips in her mouth. Rogue and Magik also stopped laughing and turned their heads to look at them.
Kitty Pryde was the first to react. Her half-wall-penetrating body shrunk back in a flash, and she scratched her head somewhat sheepishly. "Um... Thor, we didn't mean to. Emma Frost said you'd be busy today and told us to find somewhere to play on our own."
"Yeah, yeah," Li Qianhuan quickly chimed in, her mouth still full of potato chips, her words muffled, " Emma Frost said this is your home, it's absolutely safe, so we came over. Your snacks are so delicious!"
Thor pressed his throbbing temples.
Emma Frost... it's Emma Frost again.
He finally understood; that woman had calculated his return and deliberately orchestrated this whole thing.
She knew she needed a quiet place to sort out her thoughts, so she deliberately prevented him from having that.
This isn't showing concern for him; it's clearly taking revenge!
"Alright, I got it." Thor waved his hand and walked wearily into the house.
What else could he say? Throw them out?
They all came out of the apocalypse with me; I can't not even give them a place to stay.
He plopped down on the sofa, and Rogue and Magik immediately moved aside to make room for him.
"What are you looking at, laughing so happily?" Thor asked casually, trying to break the awkward atmosphere.
Rogue Anna handed me a tablet computer, her smile still lingering on her face, "I'm watching the news from the Prime Universe, Thor. Look, the Avengers in that world seem to be in trouble."
Thor took the tablet; a live recording was playing on the screen.
Meanwhile, Earth-199999.
New York, Avengers Tower, the Christmas party is in full swing.
Melodious music, a dazzling array of delicious food, and a group of the most powerful superheroes on Earth.
The air was filled with the aroma of roast turkey and champagne, and everyone wore a relaxed smile.
Tony Stark, holding a wine glass, skillfully weaved through the crowd, his eyes subtly glancing towards the kitchen.
As the Michelin-starred chef he had hired turned to get the condiments, he slipped inside with lightning speed, grabbed two steaming hot cheeseburgers from the insulated box, hid them behind his back, and then slipped out again.
He spotted Peter Parker sitting alone on the corner sofa at a glance.
The child was dressed casually and seemed a bit reserved, unlike the others who were more outgoing.
"Hey kid." Tony walked over, patted Peter on the shoulder, and casually shoved a hamburger into his hand. "Thinking about your four girlfriends again?"
Peter Parker was startled and nearly dropped his hamburger.
He steadied himself, his cheeks flushed, and retorted, " Mr. Stark! No! And... to be precise, there's only one!"
"Oh?" Tony raised an eyebrow, sat down next to Peter, took a big bite of his hamburger, and mumbled, "Let me guess, it's that silver-haired vigilante, Felicia Hardy, right? The one who got the Super Soldier Serum."
He gave me a "I knew it all along" look, and added, "I remember there was this Jessica Drew, who also developed similar abilities to you because her dad wanted to cure her ALS?"
Peter Parker nodded, somewhat surprised that Tony knew so much about him.
Tony took another bite of his burger, still grumbling, "I knew you'd choose the silver-haired one. That woman's way more sophisticated than you, kid. You can't handle her."
After saying that, he turned and shouted to Scott Lang, who was happily feasting on a pile of food not far away, " Scott! You won the bet!"
Scott Lang, his mouth full of roast chicken, looked up in bewilderment at the words: "Huh? What?"
"The bet!" Tony reminded him impatiently, "Weren't you betting on who this kid would choose in the end? He chose the silver-haired one, you won!"
Scott then remembered that this was something that happened almost half a year ago.
His eyes lit up, and he immediately put down the chicken leg in his hand, his gaze fixed intently on Rhodey, Sam, and T'Challa on the other side.
He rubbed his hands together, grinning like a two-hundred-pound child. "A bet's a bet, give it to me! I can get my daughter Cassie a new Christmas outfit!"
Rhodey and Sam exchanged a glance, both showing helpless expressions, and each took out five hundred dollars from their pockets and handed it over.
Scott's gaze finally settled on King T'Challa of Wakanda.
Black Panther didn't even look at him, but simply held his wine glass and calmly said in a steady tone, "The money has been transferred to your account."
Scott Lang happily accepted the cash, checked the bank transfer notification on his phone, and was overjoyed.
He grabbed another chicken leg, and while gnawing on it, he exclaimed contentedly, "Ah... Christmas is so peaceful!"
The moment the words were spoken, the entire party hall fell silent.
Everyone stopped moving.
Wanda, who was chatting with Jane Foster, Hawkeye Clinton and Black Widow Natasha, who were playing pitching, and even Quicksilver, who was arm wrestling with Captain America, all stopped.
A dozen pairs of eyes turned to Scott Lang.
That look in his eyes seemed to want to slowly torture him with his gaze.
Peter Parker clutched his face in agony, letting out a groan. "Oh no, I'm doomed!"
Scott, unaware of what had happened, held up his chicken leg, looking completely innocent. "What's wrong? Did I say something wrong?"
No one answered him.
The next second, a calm electronic voice resounded throughout the hall, shattering the deathly silence.
"Sir, there's an emergency!"
JARVIS's voice remained as steady as ever.
"An unknown high-energy reaction has been detected on the seabed in the mid -Atlantic Ocean. Based on energy model analysis, it has been confirmed as a space wormhole."
"Warning! A giant sea serpent, approximately 270 meters long and estimated to weigh 72,000 tons based on fluid dynamics and biological structure calculations, has been detected emerging from the wormhole."
"Currently, the organism is rushing towards the surface at high speed, and a cargo ship fully loaded with crude oil is passing by three nautical miles directly above it."
The atmosphere instantly shifted from a holiday party to a pre-battle meeting.
Captain America Steve Rogers, was the first to stand up, and he reflexively blurted out, "The Avengers..."
"Alright, Old Popsicle." Tony Stark interrupted him abruptly, finishing the rest of his burger in a few bites, dusting off the crumbs from his hands, and standing up.
He waved at Steve, a signature arrogant and confident smile on his face, "No need to bother anyone with these small fry."
Tony's gaze swept across the entire room, finally settling on the air, and he gave the order:
JARVIS.
"Yes, sir."
"Activate Mark 138 Anti-Celestial Battle Armor, ' Godkiller '." Tony's tone was calm, as if he were simply saying, "Give me a coffee." "Target: the area in the Atlantic Ocean where the incident occurred."
As soon as he finished speaking, he raised his right hand, his index and middle fingers together, and casually made a line in the air in front of him.
Golden sparks appeared out of thin air, quickly outlining a rotating circular portal.
On the other side of the portal lay a turbulent, dark ocean and a night sky filled with lightning and thunder.
Tony didn't even wait for the armor to arrive; dressed in a casual suit, he strode towards the portal.
"Damn it," he muttered under his breath as he walked, seemingly complaining about his Christmas holiday being interrupted.
There are always some clueless individuals who like to cause trouble on holidays.
He stepped one foot into the portal, and the breath of a raging wind and torrential rain rushed towards him.
Just as he was about to disappear into the portal, he turned around and gave the middle finger to the stunned Scott Lang.
" Scott, if you ever say another word like that, I'll shrink you down and flush you down the toilet!"
After saying that, he walked into the raging storm without looking back.
The golden portal slammed shut behind him, the sparks vanished, as if it had never existed.
In the party hall, only a group of Avengers staring at each other in bewilderment, and Ant -Ant-Man, still holding half a chicken leg and completely petrified, remained.