Avengers Tower, top-floor conference room.
Around the enormous circular conference table, a group of superheroes displayed a variety of expressions.
Tony Stark was standing in front of a holographic projection, which displayed detailed anatomical data and energy analysis of the giant sea serpent he had blasted to death.
"Damn it! This thing's blood can melt titanium alloy like butter!"
Tony pointed to the flashing red alert area on the screen, his tone a mixture of excitement and seriousness, "And that so-called spatial wormhole was definitely a portal that was deliberately opened! I just finished dealing with that snake and the portal was slammed shut!"
War Machine Rhodey and Falcon Sam stood to the side, their expressions serious.
The newly joined characters Felicia Hardy ( Black Cat ) and Spider-Woman Jessica), were somewhat reserved as newcomers, struggling to process the surreal information before them.
"So, Tony, you mean someone deliberately threw this monster onto Earth for some ulterior motive?" Sam asked, frowning.
"Otherwise what? Is it just to test our reaction speed?" Tony scoffed.
"Regardless of their purpose, the fact that they opened such a wide door and threw over something that doesn't belong to any known species on Earth means this is no small matter."
Just then, the conference room door slid open with a "whoosh".
Stephen Strange stormed in, looking grumpy and sporting dark circles under his eyes; the collar of his mage robe was still askew.
" Stark!" he roared, "I'm still a full seventy-five million dollars short of Thor's one hundred million! You'd better have something really terrible happen to you, or I'll have an extra charge for emotional distress on my bill!"
"Hey, isn't this our hardworking medical doctor who's been toiling away day and night to make money?" Tony joked without turning around. "Sit down, man, the sky is really about to fall."
He ignored Strange's complaints and used JARVIS to zoom in on the last frame of the giant portal before it closed, freezing the moment the energy ripples dissipated.
"I recognize this kind of portal."
A clear and resolute voice rang out.
All eyes immediately focused on a silent blonde girl in the corner.
Valeria had secretly slipped into the Prime Universe at some point, and now she was staring intently at the residual energy data of the portal.
Tony raised an eyebrow. When did this little genius get here?
Captain America Steve Rogers, spoke gently but firmly, " Valeria, what do you know?"
Valeria shifted her gaze from the screen, glanced at everyone present, and finally fixed it on Tony, her eyes carrying a purely academic assessment.
"This is my godfather Victor von Doom's preferred method of teleportation," she stated calmly.
Doom?
The name caused the faces of the veteran members present to change.
"How strong is the opponent? What are their specialties?" Steve pressed.
Valeria glanced at Tony's nanotech armor, then at the disgruntled Strange beside her, and said in a flat, factual tone:
"My godfather was skilled in both technology and magic. His magical prowess was on par with any Sorcerer Supreme. His technological level... was in no way inferior to my father Reed, or you, Stark."
Tony's relaxed expression vanished, and Strange's brow furrowed into a knot.
An enemy that could elicit such a high opinion from this arrogant and talented young girl must be among the very best.
The atmosphere in the meeting room suddenly became heavy.
Black Widow Natasha looked around and astutely noticed that a key figure was missing. "Where's Wanda?" she asked.
"Oh, she went to find Thor, in the Knowhere," Quicksilver Pietro replied casually, scratching his head.
Upon hearing this answer, the tense lines on the faces of Tony, Steve, Dr. Banner, and other core members relaxed slightly, as if half of the pressure had been relieved instantly.
"What's going on?" The new Spider-Woman Jessica, tugged at Peter Parker's sleeve, puzzled, and asked in a low voice.
"Oh, oh," Peter immediately lowered his voice, explaining with an air of admiration and excitement, " Thor! That Thor! He's super, super strong! As long as he comes, none of this will be a problem!"
Jessica only half understood, but looking at Peter's sparkling eyes, she roughly understood that the name " Thor " represented the ultimate insurance.
However, this brief moment of reassurance was shattered by the piercing alarm.
"Alarm! Alarm!"
JARVIS's voice instantly filled the room, and the original analysis chart was replaced by a bright red cosmic star map. "Large-scale anomalous intrusion detected! Target: Earth!"
On the holographic projection, three arrows pointed towards the blue Earth from different dimensions.
"On a physical level, we have detected a swarm of hundreds of millions of nanobots, as well as an unspecified number of small outpost fleets! They are breaking through the outer defense perimeter!"
"The magical dimension has detected a massive negative energy entity, defined as a ' Demonic Phantoms,' which is infiltrating reality from the Spirit World!"
On the screen, like two torrents of black locusts, they are rushing menacingly toward Earth from deep space and the distorted Spirit World.
"Damn it!" Tony cursed under his breath, the armor on his wrists already covering his entire body.
"Everyone, prepare for battle!" Steve picked up his shield, his voice steady and powerful.
Just as everyone was about to rush towards the hangar, a dazzling seven-colored beam of light suddenly descended from the sky in front of the blue planet representing Earth, striking precisely in front of the two invading torrents!
boom--!
The Bifrost's light illuminated the entire conference room.
As the light faded, a figure hovered in the cold void of space.
He was burly, with a noticeable belly, and wore classic Asgard armor. His entire body was surrounded by raging blue lightning, and he carried a giant warhammer that was taller than him.
He stood alone, with only a hammer, against hundreds of millions of enemies.
The conference room was silent.
"This... this is Thor?" Spider-Woman Jessica stared at the scene projected on the screen, her eyes filled with shock. "So powerful..."
"Wait," War Machine Rhodey looked closely for a moment, then suddenly spoke up, "This is our Thor, not the Thor we were just talking about."
"What do you mean?" Jessica was confused again.
Rhodey didn't explain much, but simply zoomed in on the holographic projection, giving Thor a close-up, and then tapped the projection's abdomen with his finger.
He has a big belly.