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As Charles and his group left the battlefield and made their way to Mike's restaurant...
Nick Fury also quietly withdrew his three Helicarriers from the scene.
If he didn't leave now, people would come after him demanding those ships back—or worse, they'd use more extreme measures to seize them.
Now that they were in his possession, there was no way he was going to return them. Nor was he going to let anyone... shoot them down.
After the whole Hydra incident, he realized that an organization needed to remain pure. But once governments or other outside powers got involved, maintaining that purity became almost impossible.
All he ever wanted was to do his part to protect the world, not get tangled in unnecessary complications.
He was quite satisfied with his current team.
While Nick Fury retreated, Erik and the mutants of the Brotherhood also left.
Their part in this was over. There was no reason to stick around.
With the superheroes gone, the military—who had arrived late—was left with the police to clean up the mess.
They couldn't exactly just turn around and leave, right?
Honestly, the military's response had already been pretty fast. But compared to opening a space portal above their heads and summoning an entire army in an instant, their reaction still seemed too slow.
Against the agile and responsive superheroes, the military looked downright sluggish.
Still, the military did have something to show for it this time—Red Hulk.
Although General Ross had quietly disappeared after the battle ended, his transformation into the Red Hulk and the contribution he made during the fight hadn't gone unnoticed.
The military would never miss this opportunity to highlight Red Hulk, using him to improve their image and distract from their lackluster performance in the battle.
...
When Charles and the others finally arrived at Mike's restaurant, full of excitement...
They stared, stunned, at the ruins before them.
Mike's restaurant was gone...
More precisely, it had been blown up by the Chitauri.
While the Kryptonians were beating the superheroes into the ground, the already fragile defensive line had been breached by the invading Chitauri. They poured into the city, and during the chaos, Mike's restaurant was destroyed.
Everyone looked at each other, and then all eyes turned to Charles.
It's your dad's restaurant—you handle it.
Charles's face twitched. He forced a strained smile and said, "Let's just find another place. He's not back yet anyway."
Everyone nodded and sighed.
They had come with high hopes, but now... where could they even go?
They were all superheroes. Anywhere they went would attract a huge crowd—and that was the last thing they wanted.
But...
A place with good food where they wouldn't be mobbed? Nothing came to mind.
At that moment, Bruce softly suggested, "Uh... how about his house?"
Everyone's eyes lit up, and they turned to Charles again.
Charles laughed and said, "No problem."
With smiles on their faces, they followed Charles to Mike's home.
Meanwhile, Thor and Loki stood silently in front of the ruined restaurant, both wearing unreadable expressions.
Thor let out a deep sigh.
This restaurant had meant a lot to him. It helped him reconnect with a simpler version of himself. It was a place full of memories—important ones. And now...
Sigh.
Sigh.
Unable to stop himself, Thor sighed again and looked over at Loki, who had sighed at the same time.
Loki's face twitched slightly. "Why are you looking at me?"
"I didn't expect you to be so attached to this place," Thor said, surprised.
Loki scoffed coldly. "Attached? Don't be ridiculous. I hated this place!"
But as he thought back to when he had shrunk down and dined here with the kids—watching Thor working busily and occasionally helping out himself—his eyes flickered with a trace of warmth.
His time here might have been one of the happiest periods in his life in years.
Loki scoffed again. "It's better that this dump is destroyed."
He couldn't help muttering again.
A passerby overheard and stopped.
Turning to Loki in a suit, he exclaimed, "You think so too?"
Loki frowned slightly.
"Not only was the food unorderable, the service sucked! This dump should've been shut down ages ago!" the man grumbled.
Thor rolled his eyes and looked away.
A clueless fool. The current Thor wouldn't waste energy getting upset over him.
If it had been the old Thor...
He shrugged.
This guy should be thankful he ran into the new Thor.
"Yeah! Totally!" Loki replied with a forced smile—but Thor could immediately tell it was fake.
"You're the owner of that fast-food joint next door, aren't you?" Loki asked with a grin.
He remembered this guy.
He'd always be lurking outside, watching Mike's restaurant with a resentful glare, as if Mike had stolen all his business.
But he never seemed to ask himself why people kept going to Mike's place—even though you couldn't order food and the service was terrible.
The man nodded proudly. "That's right!"
"See? That's luck and good karma!" he said, pointing at his own restaurant. "Right next door, and mine didn't get a scratch. That's God's blessing!"
Thinking of how Mike's restaurant thrived despite everything, the man couldn't help but feel jealous.
Loki nodded repeatedly and patted the man on the shoulder. "Then you better work even harder!"
With that, he turned and left with Thor. But as they passed the man's restaurant, Loki subtly raised his hand toward the interior.
A wave of invisible energy burst from him, churning the tables and furnishings into a chaotic mess.
Seeing this, Thor's mouth twitched.
So petty... but well done!
Listening to the man scream as he rushed inside, Thor shot Loki a smile.
Loki scoffed. "He should've prayed for Odin's blessing."
Thor replied, "I get it."
You get it, my ass.
Loki's face darkened. "When are we going back?"
They had regained their powers. That meant they were now eligible to return to Asgard.
Thor scratched his cheek. "We should at least wait for Mike to return and say goodbye."
He tilted his head toward Loki. "Don't you want to say goodbye to Gwen and the others? You guys had fun together, didn't you?"
Loki clenched his teeth and glared at Thor. "Say that again, and I'll kill you."
Thor just chuckled, and the two walked toward Mike's house together.
Meanwhile, Mike and Clark had also returned to Earth—but instead of going home, they went straight to the place where Clark had fought Faora.
(End of Chapter)