"Can you tell me what I'm supposed to be seeing now?" Tony asked, his curiosity evident even through his suit's voice modulation.
Hearing Tony's inquiry, Marcus smiled knowingly. In his enhanced perception, a bright energy source had appeared and was moving in their direction.
"You'll find out soon enough," Marcus replied cryptically.
Before Tony could ask another question, Jarvis's voice came through the suit's internal speakers with an urgent warning.
"Sir, I'm detecting an unusual energy field approaching. I recommend maintaining defensive protocols."
"An energy field?" Tony looked around at their surroundings, seeing only the broken truck, a group of nervous police officers, and the abandoned building. "I don't see anything that would generate a special energy field."
But soon he spotted what Jarvis had classified as an energy source. It was... a woman.
"Jarvis, who is this person?"
"Sir, the target individual is Dr. Jane Foster, an astrophysicist. Professor Erik Selvig, who activated the portal device on Stark Tower during last year's invasion, is her mentor. Additionally, Thor first appeared on Earth in connection with her. According to available data, Dr. Foster and Thor are in a romantic relationship."
Listening to Jarvis's report, Tony raised an eyebrow slightly. He hadn't expected that his first encounter with this woman who was generating unusual energy readings would involve such complicated relationships.
"Interesting," Tony said, turning to Marcus. "Is this why you brought me here?"
"Of course not," Marcus replied with amusement. "Who she is has nothing to do with me. The energy she's emitting is what I'm interested in."
As they spoke, London's sky, which had been covered with dark clouds, erupted with lightning and thunder before beginning to pour down heavy rain.
The police officers quickly took shelter in their vehicles to avoid getting soaked, while Jane was arguing with Daisy about why they should report the situation to the authorities. Jane didn't want this stable gravitational anomaly area to be controlled by SHIELD.
"Daisy, you shouldn't have called the police," Jane said emphatically. "We should be conducting research here. Now look what's happened—this is going to become SHIELD's new Area 51."
"Please!" Daisy replied exasperatedly. "You were missing for five hours! We searched every part of this building and couldn't find you anywhere. If we hadn't called the police, what were we supposed to do—just wait around and hope you turned up?"
As they continued their argument, the rain was pouring down heavily, but remarkably, both women remained completely dry without a single drop of water touching them.
"Jane, you..." Daisy began, then stopped as both women looked around in shock.
They could clearly see that they were standing in the center of a hemispherical barrier that was deflecting all the rain. The focal point of this protective field was Jane herself.
Tony and Marcus, who were observing from nearby, were also staying dry. Tony's protection came from his Iron Man suit, while Marcus had created an energy barrier to keep the rain away.
"See?" Marcus said to Tony. "That power isn't something she originally possessed."
Marcus's comment helped Tony understand the full scope of what they were witnessing. While he had initially only seen the energy field through his suit's display systems, this rainstorm was completely revealing the appearance of the energy field surrounding Jane.
Suddenly, Marcus turned his head and looked to the side.
"Point Break is over there," he said casually. "Do you want to say hello?"
Following Marcus's gaze, Tony also turned to look. Thor was standing outside the police perimeter with Mjolnir in hand, his eyes fixed intently on Jane.
"Point Break?" Tony said with obvious amusement. "Ha, that name suits my taste perfectly."
As he spoke, the propulsion systems on Tony's suit activated instantly, and he flew toward Thor.
"Hello there, Point Break," Tony called out as he approached. "The last time we met was a year ago, right? Are you here looking for your girlfriend?"
Hearing Tony's teasing tone, Thor's eye twitched slightly in annoyance.
"How did you get here?" Thor asked. "This isn't New York."
"This is Earth," Tony replied, landing gracefully in front of Thor. "What business is it of yours where I am?" He pointed toward Marcus and continued, "Besides, that guy brought me here."
Following the direction of Tony's gesture, Thor also noticed Marcus standing calmly in the rain.
Thor could see clearly that Marcus wasn't getting wet at all. In fact, the rain around Marcus was forming a protective shield, deflecting the water away from him.
This reminded Thor of the battle against the Chitauri a year ago. Whether it was himself or the other heroes, they had all been fighting the Chitauri army on Earth's surface.
Only Marcus had gone directly into the portal and destroyed the entire alien force.
"Why is this guy here too?" Thor muttered, his voice carrying a mixture of respect and wariness.
Among all the people Thor had encountered, except for his father, the All-Father Odin, only Marcus's power had truly shocked him.
Even now, he was still amazed by the power Marcus had displayed during that battle.
Just one person had been able to destroy an entire Chitauri fleet.
Although the Chitauri fleet wasn't the most powerful force in the universe, it wasn't something that just anyone could fight against.
And Marcus hadn't just engaged them—he had transformed the entire Chitauri army into crystals.
"Of course it's because of him," Tony said matter-of-factly. "Otherwise I wouldn't have traveled halfway around the world for no reason, and I wouldn't have run into you in London."
After saying this, Tony suddenly remembered what Marcus had said earlier about finding what he wanted, and he realized that the alien prince in front of him might be the best trading partner available.
"By the way, what's the going rate for minerals in Asgard?" Tony asked hopefully.
This question left Thor momentarily stunned. How could he, a prince of Asgard, know the market price of minerals in his realm?
Besides, even if he knew, Tony wouldn't be able to afford to purchase minerals, since Asgard didn't accept Earth currency.
"Well..." Thor said thoughtfully, "I'll give you some when I have time. Your money is useless in Asgard anyway."
As the future king of Asgard, he naturally had access to his own reserves, and giving Tony some minerals wouldn't be a problem at all.
After saying this, Thor turned his attention back to Jane, who was walking toward him.
"Long time no see," Thor said with a mixture of relief and apprehension.
Smack!
The moment she reached Thor, Jane swung her hand and slapped him hard across the face.
"Sorry," Jane said, her voice filled with emotion. "I... I just wanted to make sure you were real."
"Oh, let me guess what happened," Tony said with sarcastic amusement. "Our alien prince abandoned her after their affair?"
Tony's laughter was mocking, though he already knew when Thor and Jane had last met. Jarvis's information had provided a complete picture of their relationship.
"Oh my God, Iron Man!" Daisy exclaimed, running over despite the heavy rain that was still falling. "Can you give me an autograph?"
This request caught Tony off guard for a moment, then he laughed appreciatively.
"You're the first woman I've ever met who's this entertaining," he said.
As he spoke, a beam of light emerged from his fingertip, etching the words "Iron Man" onto the detector in Daisy's hand.
"Oh no!" Daisy sighed, looking at the signature on her equipment. "Jane will never let me sell this."
Whoosh... Whoosh!
The heavy rain around them suddenly stopped, so that Daisy, who had been standing in the downpour, no longer had to endure getting soaked.
After the rain ceased, Marcus removed his protective barrier, walked toward the group, and addressed Jane directly.
"Can we talk?" he asked.
"What about?" Jane replied, looking confused. "Is there something I can help you with?"
Jane was genuinely puzzled. She and Marcus didn't have much in common. What could they possibly need to discuss?
"Of course," Marcus said seriously. "We can talk about the abnormal changes that have occurred in you."
At these words, Jane's expression shifted from confusion to concern. How could this stranger know about the strange things that had been happening to her?
"What do you mean?" Jane asked cautiously.
"I mean," Marcus said, his tone becoming more serious, "that you've come into contact with something that's far more dangerous than you realize. And unless we address it properly, it's going to put not just you, but everyone around you, in tremendous danger."