Iron Man: "..."
Nick Fury: "..."
Both were left utterly speechless by Black Widow's wild imagination.
But upon closer analysis, they had to admit—the dark version of the story she came up with actually fit the clues they had perfectly.
Not only that, it even filled in some gaps and resolved doubts from the previous question.
For example—why Loki allied with the Chitauri to invade Earth.
At first, everyone guessed the aliens were invading Earth for the Tesseract, but later it became clear that this was wrong. The Tesseract was merely a tool for the invasion, not the goal.
So then, what was their goal?
Aside from the Tesseract, what else did Earth have that was worth an alien invasion?
Worth launching a full-scale war?
Black Widow had provided the perfect explanation.
Nick Fury: "So now options B and C both seem plausible. What about A and D?" he asked, a bit frustrated, still staring at the options on the large screen.
"Failed to claim the throne and self-exiled?"
"Searching for his estranged father Odin on Earth?"
Everyone exchanged glances—completely stumped. These two options were vague and came out of nowhere with no real leads to analyze.
"This question is seriously tough."
Iron Man rubbed his temples, but then his tone shifted: "But come on—a genius scientist, an intelligence chief, and a top agent? I believe we can crack this."
Nick Fury: "So, Stark, any thoughts?"
Iron Man fell silent for a moment, then turned his head: "Am I the only one who noticed the words 'actively' and 'first time' in the question prompt?"
Both Nick Fury and Black Widow were extremely sharp. With that one hint from Iron Man, they immediately caught on.
Nick Fury: "If there was an active descent to Earth, then there must've been a passive one. That means Thor must've passively arrived on Earth before."
Black Widow: "And we can't be certain whether the Battle of New York was actually Thor's first time."
Iron Man: "Exactly!" He nodded emphatically. "We have no clue what the exact timeline mentioned in the question refers to! We can't just assume that the Battle of New York was Thor's first active visit to Earth!"
Black Widow shrugged: "Thanks for the reminder, Stark. This question just went from 'hellish' to 'nightmare mode.'"
Iron Man shrugged too: "Fine by me—I love a challenge!"
Nick Fury:"Well then, Stark, go ahead and take this challenge." He gestured toward him.
And so, Iron Man dove headfirst into the analysis.
Iron Man:"Even though things look messy right now, the system wouldn't give us four options that are completely unanalyzable—otherwise, this wouldn't be a quiz; it'd be a lottery."
"So the clues we do have must be enough for analysis."
"You guys agree with that?"
He looked toward Nick Fury and Black Widow, who both nodded in agreement.
They clearly agreed with Iron Man's reasoning.
Iron Man:"Alright then, let's list everything we know so far and try to analyze from there."
"Here's what we've got: One, Thor took part in the Battle of New York. Two, Loki stole the Tesseract and helped the Chitauri invade Earth. What else…"
He didn't mention the uncertain clues, like Thor's appearance in other question options or potential involvement in the Endgame battle.
Black Widow:"Dr. Selvig knew Thor."
Iron Man:"Right! The doc—we can't forget the doc!" He nodded vigorously.
They went over all the confirmed information again. That was all they had—nothing more.
Iron Man:"From these clues, we can draw a few conclusions: Thor came to Earth at least twice—once when he met Dr. Selvig, and once during the Battle of New York."
"These are the only two times we know for sure that Thor was on Earth. So the time referenced in the question must be one of these two."
"Otherwise, the question is literally impossible to answer!" He looked seriously at the others.
Nick Fury:"Let's keep going. Even if we're wrong, this is the only approach we've got. It's better than a blind guess."
Black Widow, deep in thought, added: "If I had to choose between those two events..."
"In mythology, Loki is Thor's uncle, but Dr. Selvig knew that Loki was Thor's brother. Clearly, Thor must've told him that."
"If Thor actively came to Earth, he probably had a mission and wouldn't casually befriend a random Earthling, much less reveal personal family matters."
"So that visit must have been passive—like exile. Thor might've been upset, emotionally vulnerable, and needed someone to confide in."
Iron Man:"Agreed!" He nodded. "Then let's assume the Battle of New York is the time referenced in the question."
Nick Fury:"Okay, we'll tentatively lock in the timeline as the Battle of New York." He shrugged. "So we can eliminate A, right?"
"If Thor failed to claim the throne, then that means Loki succeeded. A newly crowned king would be swamped with affairs in Asgard—why would he suddenly come to Earth alone?"
Iron Man:"You're assuming Odin only had Thor and Loki as sons—but we can't be sure about that."
"Still, even if that's the case, a new king ascending the throne is a huge deal. Loki wouldn't be gallivanting off to Earth during such a time… so yeah, I agree. We can eliminate it."
Black Widow:"D should be ruled out too."
"Odin is the All-Father, a supremely powerful god. If he really ended up stranded on Earth, it'd throw Asgard into chaos."
"Finding Odin would be the top priority—both for Thor and Loki. No way would the Battle of New York be happening at that time. The timeline doesn't match the question."
System Notification:Thanks again to "Not Only Loves Cold Coke" for another reward!
(End of Chapter)