"Don't you think you're being a little too cautious? We're dealing with an alien, aren't we?" Tohka's words were heard by Coulson as well, but he couldn't quite understand why Tohka was being so careful. Or was it because of Loki?
"You also know I've been to Asgard before. The people there and my powers have certain similarities. It's inevitable that Loki might come to attack her, so I just told her to be a bit more careful." Tohka wasn't about to say that what she really needed to be careful of was Hydra, so she could only change the explanation.
But even so, she hadn't lied, because their abilities—or rather, the powers of Asgard—were indeed related to them.
"Is that so? No wonder last time in S.H.I.E.L.D. Thor exerted pressure directly in the name of Asgard." Hearing Tohka say that, Coulson didn't suspect anything.
After all, even though Tohka hadn't provided any useful information about Asgard, from Odin's previous invitation and Thor's attitude, everyone already knew. So, both Nick Fury and Coulson had figured out a few things through indirect questioning, and Coulson didn't doubt it.
"Then where are we going next? To S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier, or to your research base?" Saying this, Tohka looked toward the thing Coulson held in his hand. She knew that this display device must have been prepared for someone specific. But that person was definitely not her.
"Let's go. We're heading to Stark Tower for a bit, and we'll call Tony along the way." Hearing Tohka's question, Coulson tightened his grip on the item in his hand and answered her.
"That guy, huh? He's probably with Pepper right now. With that personality of his, every time he finishes an invention, he has to show it off." As she spoke, Tohka looked into the distance—originally pitch-dark Stark Tower suddenly lit up brilliantly.
She knew—no, the whole United States knew—that Tony's new energy source was going to be completed today. And with that show-off's personality, he was definitely drinking a glass of wine with Pepper. So Tohka couldn't be bothered to go there; she didn't want to help Coulson persuade that guy.
"All right, I'm heading out—I won't be joining you." Without another word, Tohka donned her Iron Man armor and flew off in the direction of S.H.I.E.L.D.
After the incident that night, Nick Fury had left her a backdoor in their network, so under normal circumstances she could locate the helicarrier herself.
"Ugh, why is she so clever at times like this…" Watching her vanish in an instant, Coulson knew he had no choice but to find Stark on his own.
Honestly, he'd originally planned to talk Tohka into helping notify him, but Tohka hadn't played along at all and just flew off. So, he'd ended up with nothing for his trouble. But even on his own, he still had plenty of confidence.
"Ah, you're all here. How come one person is missing—where's Hawkeye?" Sure enough, Nick Fury had indeed opened the backdoor for her this time, so Tohka quickly found the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. Once inside, she saw quite a few familiar faces: Captain America, Dr. Banner, and Black Widow were all gathered together.
Of course, there were also those four idiots from before and Spider-Man. It looked like S.H.I.E.L.D.'s lineup this time was far more extravagant than in the movie.
But as for whether bringing in these people would actually make things easier when facing the Chitauri army later, Tohka didn't have any faith in that whatsoever. After all, even with their abilities here, against an army on that scale, a few more of them wouldn't make much difference.
"He betrayed us. He's our enemy now." At that moment, Nick Fury somehow emerged from somewhere behind Tohka, startling her. This guy was really like a ghost.
"Oh, betrayal?" Hearing Nick Fury's words, Tohka frowned and then continued, "I suppose he was controlled, right? As a trickster god, Loki's direct combat strength might not be that impressive, but he's got a real knack for messing with people's minds. No matter how strong Hawkeye is, he's still within the range of an ordinary human, so being controlled is completely normal."
Even without reading the original story, Tohka knew what Loki specialized in. So, she didn't believe Hawkeye had actually betrayed them—but Nick Fury and the others might not know that.
"Controlled—you mean magic?" Hearing Tohka, he felt a headache coming on. How could such supernatural stuff exist in this scientific world? But right now, he could only ask Tohka about it—no one else here had any understanding of this stuff. "Then how do you think we can rescue Agent Barton? He's a senior S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, after all."
"Well..." Hearing Nick Fury's question, Tohka thought about Loki's basic abilities. Even though that guy had the Mind Stone in his hand, she figured he didn't really know how to use it.
Otherwise, there wouldn't be any need for all this hassle—just that one stone would be enough to plunge Earth into paralysis. But since she couldn't leave Nick Fury's question unanswered, she thought back to the story and said, "Just knock him out. When he wakes up, he'll be back to normal."
"That's it?" Hearing her, Nick Fury asked uncertainly. That sounded way too simple—was this so-called magic really that easy to undo? Then he thought about Miku Izayoi and Professor Charles, and added, "Does that mean if someone else is controlling them, knocking them out would work too?"
"Well... in theory, yes. After all, controlling someone still requires their brain to be functioning normally. In that case, if you knock them out, there shouldn't be a problem." At this point, Tohka spoke a bit less confidently, but in theory, it was indeed correct.
Unless that guy deliberately left part of his mental energy in the person's mind—but generally speaking, people wouldn't do that, because splitting off part of your mental energy meant a drop in your own power. Plus, you'd be subject to the target's resistance—look at Charles recently, dealing with the fragment of Apocalypse's consciousness left behind.
"I see." Well, Nick Fury had been led into a ditch by Tohka and left, deep in thought. After all, putting aside the fact that everyone wasn't here yet, he also needed to find Loki's whereabouts. That guy was simply too dangerous—even he couldn't afford to be careless. After all, this wasn't some brainless muscle-head—he was a figure known in myth for his schemes.
"Hello, Miss Tohka, and thank you." Once Nick Fury left, the room became lively. Bruce was the one who proactively walked up to Tohka to greet her. After all, Tohka had once saved him and his ex-girlfriend.