Boom!
Bang!
"Oh, looks like the fight is pretty intense."
Jessica kept one hand shading her eyes, looking up at the mothership, where fireworks occasionally burst out.
Matilda stabbed her sword into the ground and took out her Meow Meow Ball. "Should we help or get out of here?"
"Let's watch for a bit."
Jessica was enjoying the show and didn't mind the chaos.
S.H.I.E.L.D. agents weren't ordinary civilians, so she had no interest in intervening.
Besides, she hadn't played the 'lady knight' role in a while, and she wasn't even wearing her combat suit today.
"I can feel Mjölnir."
Matilda suddenly looked at a separation pod ejecting from the mothership. The Meow Meow Ball in her hand trembled slightly, as if recognizing a kindred spirit.
Whoosh—! En———!!
"Watch out, Matilda! It's coming right at us!"
Silver light flashed under Jessica's feet. She slid backward, pulling Matilda with her and retreating several dozen meters.
Bang!!
The moment the separation pod crashed into the ground, Thor burst out of the ultra-reinforced glass, hammer in hand.
Momentum sent him bouncing and rolling across the island until he landed at Jessica and Matilda's feet...
"...."
Jessica nudged his muscular arm with the tip of her shoe. "Sir... are you okay?"
"It's Thor."
Matilda jumped out of Jessica's arms and squatted beside Thor. "Weird old man, what's wrong with you?"
"Pfft—!"
Thor spat out a mouthful of dried grass and concrete, grumbling angrily, "Loki... I swear I'm gonna beat you up..."
"What?"
Matilda wanted to ask more.
Thor's head tilted to the side, before closing closed his eyes. "Ugh~"
Apparently, even Asgardians couldn't handle a 9,000-meter fall—he had been knocked out.
"He's the Thor who gave you the sword?"
Jessica lifted Thor by his collar. "Guess we should help him out then."
"Wait, the weird uncle still has something important."
Seeing that her sister was about to leave, Matilda thought of something, raised her small hand, and focused intently—
Buzz buzz buzz!
Thor's hammer, which had been flung away, vibrated violently.
Then it shot into the air.
And landed in her hand—snap!
Matilda happily looked at Mjölnir. "You still remember me~"
…..
Whoosh whoosh——
While fierce fighting raged on aboard the helicarrier, Jessica flew off, carrying her little sister in her arms.
Thor had the strap of Mjölnir looped around his neck, swinging along as he flew with them.
Luckily, he was an Asgardian, with a body density three times that of a human—so there was no need to worry about him being strangled or anything.
…..
Time passed in a flash.
After checking S.H.I.E.L.D.'s emergency updates, Barbara still set aside her tender moments with Ye Li and quietly rushed back to help... After all, it was a place she had worked for many years, and she had grown attached to it.
Ye Li, of course, didn't mind.
He had already granted Barbara a psychic shield and infused her with the Dog Talisman's power of immortality.
With double protection, even someone with a mortal body like Barbara could go out and clean up some Chitauri.
…..
Meanwhile, at Sunnyvale Manor.
Ye Li was currently holding Felicia in his arms, gently stroking her cat ears.
On the TV screen in front of them was the latest live news from New York City———
[...A blue beam of light has risen from the top of Stark Tower, opening a massive portal in the sky... Iron Man and other superheroes are engaged in ongoing combat with what appears to be an alien army of monsters...]
"Li, why did you gather us here?"
Gwen asked curiously.
"These aliens are invading New York, shouldn't we help?"
Li lowered his head, lost in thought, and muttered, "Tony and the others are enough. Whether we join or not doesn't matter."
Skye was pulling up surveillance feeds: "But their battle doesn't look great... Those aliens seem pretty fierce. Are you sure it's, okay?"
"Yeah, exactly."
Jessica chimed in too: "With something this big going on, isn't it weird for our club not to show up?"
"Gwen."
Ye Li suddenly looked up and asked Gwen,
"What's today's date?"
"Huh?"
"Today is... June... oh, the first?"
"Huh? Today's Children's Day."
"These aliens sure know how to pick their timing."
"The ones who know how to pick their timing aren't just the Chitauri..."
Li Ye took out the Ox Talisman and handed it to Jessica.
"You're right, Jessica. The club should make an appearance. Go have some fun."
"Got it! Leave it to me~"
Jessica had been waiting for this. She grabbed the talisman and happily flew out of the manor.
Soon after.
Li Ye placed Felicia into Gwen's arms and instructed her.
"Gwen, Felicia, stay in the manor and don't wander around. I'm going out for a walk."
Gwen instinctively held Felicia's soft body before realizing and reacting.
"Li, you're going out at a time like this...? It's too dangerous..."
"It's not dangerous."
"Li, you're going out now...? It's too dangerous..."
"It's not."
Ye Li lifted his hand to straighten his clothes. The golden gem on his wristband gleamed beautifully.
"The main Chitauri force is held up near Stark Tower. The rest of New York just has scattered squads—it's nothing to worry about."