Chapter 36: You couldn't find it yourselves, so now you're blaming me?

After carefully putting away her spoils, Annie finally emerged from her room upstairs. Once downstairs, she discovered that in addition to Uncle Coulson and Aunt Melinda, every single member of the Avengers was actually here in the hall. What were they planning?

This struck Annie as strange. If they were going to fight, hadn't they already finished yesterday? Those weird Chitauri villains were no longer moving; they had all been defeated. Hadn't Uncle Director Nick Fury said they could take a vacation? Why were these people still gathered here instead of going out to play?

But Annie didn't care about them! Right now, it was still a little early for her evening bath and bedtime, so she planned to go out to the beach and play for a while first. She had no intention of staying in the living room with a bunch of grown men!

However, just as Annie was skipping toward the front door, Uncle Thor—the one who liked carrying that hammer—stepped forward and blocked her path.

"Huh? Strange Blacksmith Uncle, what are you doing blocking the door?" Annie looked warily at Thor the Blacksmith. He was blocking her way out, which made her very unhappy. The living room was so large; he must be doing this on purpose, right?

Hearing Annie's words, a vein throbbed on Thor's forehead. He had said countless times that he was not a blacksmith! Not a blacksmith! Why did this little girl insist on bringing this up every single time?

He was a Prince! The heir to Asgard! Not some blacksmith with no status whatsoever! Although the hammer did look a bit like a blacksmith's tool and the craftsmanship seemed a little lacking, it had been forged for him by his father. This was the mighty Mjolnir!

"Little Annie! I have told you many times, I am not a blacksmith! I am Thor, Son of Odin! This is Mjolnir, and it shoots lightning!" Thor suppressed his annoyance. He felt it was absolutely necessary to repeat himself once more to correct the distorted impression the little girl had of him.

"Oh? Is there a difference? A blacksmith's hammer that shoots lightning is still a blacksmith's hammer. So, does that make you a lightning-shooting blacksmith?" Annie tilted her head, thinking seriously for a brief moment.

A... a lightning-shooting blacksmith?! *Sigh!* I cannot stoop to the level of a little girl; she is just a child, after all! Thor took a deep breath, deciding not to argue with the brat for now. It was more important to get down to business.

"Little Annie! If I remember correctly, you were the one who picked up the Space Stone yesterday, weren't you? That belongs to the Kingdom of Asgard! If you've finished playing with it, how about you give it back to me? That thing shouldn't be on Earth; it will only bring you trouble!" Thor knelt down to look Annie in the eyes, attempting to persuade the difficult little girl.

The Space Stone was one of the Infinity Stones, as was Loki's scepter! However, something had been bothering Thor: he had searched desperately for that scepter yesterday and today, but couldn't find it. This puzzled him greatly. Could it have been crushed by the debris from the Chitauri mothership? That shouldn't be possible! It was an Infinity Stone; it couldn't be destroyed!

"That stone is mine! MINE!!!" Annie's eyes instantly widened, and she clutched her little pocket with both hands, terrified that this uncle might try to snatch it.

No way! Annie felt that the Space Stone was a trophy she had worked hard to win through her own fighting skills. He actually wanted to take it back? Absolutely impossible! Even if there were no doors, there were no windows! She wouldn't give it up, not for anything! If he dared to try and take it by force, she would release Tibers the little bear to bite him immediately.

"No! It is not yours! That stone belongs to Asgard; it has always been a treasure of the Asgardian Kingdom," Thor countered without hesitation.

The Space Stone indeed belonged to Asgard. Although Thor didn't know exactly how it had ended up on Earth, it truly was an Asgardian artifact—that was indisputable!

The ancient records of the kingdom stated it clearly; it was documented! It wasn't just hearsay! Since the records said it belonged to Asgard, then it belonged to Asgard! If the humans on Earth were dissatisfied, Thor could have someone bring the ancient documents for them to inspect—if they could even understand them!

Now that it had been found, based on the principle of returning property to its rightful owner, it had to be taken back to Asgard and kept safe. His father had sent him a message stating that the Space Stone must be returned without fail! It was the command of Odin, the King of the Gods, and Thor had to execute it unconditionally!

"Pah! That belongs to that bad guy Loki. I beat him, so now it belongs to me!" Annie glared at Thor angrily. If he dared to say the stone belonged to his family again, she would let the little bear bite him.

"But this Space Stone was indeed stolen from Asgard, and it should be returned to its rightful owner. Furthermore, it is very dangerous!" Thor reiterated the issue of ownership once more.

What Thor did not know was that Odin had actually hidden the Space Stone on Earth after defeating the Frost Giants. At the time, the King of the Gods felt that the weak humans could never utilize the Space Stone, so hiding it in a remote territory like Earth was appropriate.

But what Odin never expected was that in less than two thousand years, these weak, short-lived humans, who were so fond of infighting, would develop to this extent? This forced him to be vigilant! Therefore, to avoid causing even greater trouble, he naturally intended to reclaim the stone and store it elsewhere, which led to his command for Thor to bring it back.

"I simply won't give it to you! What are you going to do about it?" The Space Stone was extremely important to Annie; she would never hand it over. Anyone who dared to eye it was her enemy!

"You really won't?" Thor stood up, staring intently at Annie, his hand tightening around his hammer.

"I won't!" Annie also took two wary steps back, clutching Tibers the little bear, ready to throw him at any moment. Against a brute who favored melee combat, Tibers was the expert.

And so, one wanting to take it and the other refusing to give it, the two began a staring contest. The atmosphere was incredibly tense, looking as if a fight might break out at any moment! This left the other members of the Avengers in the living room unsure of what to do.

"I say, can you two settle down for a moment? Strictly speaking, the Tesseract should actually be considered S.H.I.E.L.D. property!" Just as Coulson finished speaking, both parties turned simultaneously to glare at him. Seeing Thor's dark expression and Annie's tense little face, Coulson immediately backed down.

"Fine, it's your property!" Coulson shrugged. It seemed that S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't afford to offend either of these two. Since they were untouchable, he would just let them fight it out!

However, letting them continue like this wasn't a solution. If they actually started fighting, it would be bad. The Avengers had just defeated the Chitauri, and if news broke that they were immediately engaging in internal strife, it wouldn't look good! So, Coulson thought it was necessary to step in as a mediator to prevent a real fight.

"Since you two can't reach an agreement for the time being, how about you listen to my suggestion?" Coulson had just thought of a good idea to mediate the conflict.

"What do you want to say?" Thor turned back to look at Coulson, and Annie also frowned at him.

"It's like this, Thor. May I ask why you must take back the Tesseract—er, the Space Stone? Why is it so necessary?" To solve a problem, one must first find the core issue and seek common ground while respecting differences; that was the best way.

"It belongs to Asgard, and the stone is dangerous. If left unattended, it could easily bring disaster to Earth again! Think about the Chitauri this time—what if there is a next time, or a time after that? Are you sure Earth can withstand threats from other advanced civilizations in the universe?" Thor hit the nail on the head. This was exactly why Odin wanted to reclaim the stone and keep it safe; it could no longer be left on Earth.

"Well, that is true. The Asgardians' perspective is correct; this is indeed a serious issue." After saying this, Coulson turned to Annie. "So, Annie, why do you want this Space Stone?"

"Because I already know it's the culprit that brought me to Earth! I need to use it to open a portal to go home. If he tries to take it, I'll beat him up!" Annie stated her reason firmly. Tibers was already prepared, eager to have a go at this guy called Thor.

Regarding going home, Annie was confident she wasn't mistaken. Since this stone could bring her here from the Voodoo lands, it could certainly send her back! Of course, that depended on finding the right method, and she already had a lead. She knew there was a bald mage on Earth with profound knowledge of space magic; she just had to find her when she had the chance!

"You can really go home using the Space Stone? If that's the case, you do indeed have priority in using it." Coulson paced back and forth and immediately made up his mind.

"How about this, I have a proposal: let Annie use the Space Stone for now. Once she opens the portal to go home, Thor can take it back to Asgard for safekeeping. What do you think?" Coulson thought his proposal was brilliant! It satisfied Annie's wish to go home without making Thor's position too difficult, as he was merely following his father's orders.

"Hmm! That's a very good idea. We think it's feasible!" The bystanders in the hall—Banner, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and others—nodded in agreement.

"Don't look at me, I don't care about something like the Space Stone!" Tony Stark waved his hand, refusing to comment. Whether the little girl took it or Thor took it had nothing to do with him; his mind was currently occupied with the reconstruction of Stark Tower.

"It is indeed a good way. Little Annie, what do you think?" Thor thought about it and agreed the proposal was practical. It would effectively avoid a physical conflict, and besides, he really couldn't bring himself to snatch something from a little girl.

"Then let's leave it at that!" Annie bit her finger and gave an ambiguous answer—neither agreeing nor disagreeing. "Let's leave it at that!"

Annie also felt that if a fight broke out, although she wasn't afraid of this strange blacksmith, he had more people on his side! It was said that the Asgardian Kingdom was very powerful and possessed the Bifrost, which could transport armies at any time. If a real fight happened, she might be the one to lose. In that case, she would have to use her wits! Hmph, trying to steal her things? This bad man with the hammer would never succeed. Just you wait!

"By the way! One more thing, Little Annie. Loki's scepter—that staff! Have you seen it?" Thor suddenly remembered something else.

Since the matter of the Space Stone was settled, only Loki's scepter remained. Actually, the scepter itself wasn't the important part; it was the Infinity Stone embedded in it! That was also a troublesome object. If found, it had to be brought back to Asgard for strict supervision.

"Wasn't that thing knocked away by my little bear, Tibers? Are you blaming me because you can't find it now?" Annie screamed like a little fox whose tail had been stepped on. He actually wanted to target that staff too? He really was a bad man!

Hearing Annie say this, Thor scratched his head awkwardly and walked away, because he had personally witnessed Tibers knock Loki's scepter away! Coulson had also been a witness. It really couldn't be blamed on little Annie.

He could only blame himself for not looking for it immediately. At the time, he was only focused on pleading for Loki's life. Who could have predicted that a piece of the Chitauri mothership would come crashing down? In such a vast field of ruins, it was indeed hard to find a single staff. Who knew where it was buried now? He could only search slowly and hope that the S.H.I.E.L.D. cleanup crews would notify him once they found it.

(Tibers: I don't know anything! Don't ask me! I just want some peace and quiet!)