Iron Man: "..."
Nick Fury: "..."
Both were stunned by Black Widow's wild imagination.
But when they analyzed it carefully, they had to admit that the dark version of the story perfectly fit the existing clues.
Not only that, but it even filled in some gaps and questions from the previous question.
That is, why did Loki ally with the Chitauri to invade Earth?
At first, everyone speculated that the aliens' purpose in invading Earth might be the Cosmic Cube, but later facts proved them wrong; the Cosmic Cube was just a means of their invasion, not the goal.
So what exactly was their purpose?
Besides the Cosmic Cube, something from the universe, what else on Earth was worth the aliens' coveting?
Even to the point of launching a war?
Black Widow perfectly explained this question to them.
"So both B and C are possible, then what about A and D?" Nick Fury continued to stare at the options on the big screen with a hint of frustration.
"Failed to contend for the throne, self-exiled?"
"Searching for his father Odin, who is lost among mortals?"
Everyone looked at each other for a moment, unable to analyze it at all, because these two options were truly without beginning or end, with no clues whatsoever.
"This question is indeed quite difficult."
Iron Man rubbed his temples, but then quickly changed the subject, "However, with a genius scientist, an intelligence chief, and a top agent, I believe we will arrive at the answer."
"So, Stark, do you have any thoughts?" Nick Fury's single eye stared intently at Iron Man.
"Actually, I have a question." Iron Man pondered for a moment, then suddenly turned his head, "Am I the only one who noticed the words 'actively' and 'first time' in the question stem?"
Nick Fury and Black Widow were both exceptionally intelligent people, and with Iron Man's prompt, they both realized something.
"If there's an active arrival, then there must be a passive arrival, which means Thor has been to Earth passively before," Nick Fury added.
"We also can't be sure if the Battle of New York was really Thor's first time," Black Widow continued to add.
"Exactly!" Iron Man nodded heavily, "We currently have no idea what time point the question stem is referring to! We cannot assume that the Battle of New York was the first time Thor actively came to Earth!"
Black Widow shrugged beside him: "Thanks for the reminder, Stark, the difficulty of this question has gone from devilish to hellish."
"That's fine by me, I like a challenge!" Iron Man also shrugged.
"Then, Stark, why don't you try to challenge this question?" Nick Fury made a gesture of invitation.
Iron Man then truly began to analyze it without hesitation.
"Although it seems that way for now, the answering system shouldn't give us four completely unanalyzable options, otherwise, this wouldn't be a quiz, but a lottery."
"Therefore, some of the relevant clues we currently have must be able to be used as a basis for analysis."
"Do you agree with this point?"
As he spoke, Iron Man looked at Nick Fury and Black Widow, and saw them both nod.
On this point, they indeed agreed with Iron Man.
"So, we might as well list all the relevant clues we currently have, and then analyze them based on that."
"What do we currently have? Let's review, it's nothing more than the following few points."
"First, Thor participated in the Battle of New York. Second, Loki stole the Cosmic Cube and helped the Chitauri invade Earth."
"Is there anything else..."
As for uncertain clues such as Thor appearing in other quiz options, possibly participating in the Endgame, Iron Man did not mention them.
"Dr. Selvig knows Thor," Black Widow said after a moment of thought, adding to the discussion.
"Right, the doctor, we can't forget the doctor!" Iron Man nodded heavily.
The few of them reviewed it again, and currently, the only definite clue they had about Thor was this, nothing else.
"From these clues, we can draw a few conclusions: Thor has been to Earth at least twice. One time he met Dr. Selvig, and another time was the Battle of New York."
"These two time points are the only two times we know Thor came to Earth, so the time point mentioned in the question stem must be one of these two time points."
"Otherwise, this question cannot be answered at all!"
Iron Man said to the two with a serious expression.
"Continue, whether it is or not, this is the only way we can analyze it for now," Nick Fury said from the side, "It's better than just guessing randomly."
"If we have to choose between these two time points..." Black Widow pondered while analyzing.
"In mythology, Loki is Thor's uncle, but Dr. Selvig knows that Loki is Thor's brother. It's clear that Thor himself must have told Dr. Selvig this."
"If Thor actively came to Earth, then he must have had a certain purpose, important business to attend to, so he shouldn't just casually make friends with an Earthling, or even reveal his own background."
"So that time should have been a passive arrival, for example... being exiled, so Thor was in a bad mood, greatly impacted, and needed someone to confide in, something like that..."
"Agreed!" Iron Man nodded, "Then let's take the time point of the Battle of New York as the time point mentioned in the question stem."
"Okay, let's tentatively set the time point as the Battle of New York." Nick Fury spread his hands, "Then option A can be ruled out, right?"
"If Thor failed to contend for the throne, that means Loki succeeded in contending for the throne. A newly appointed king should be too busy in Asgard to leave, so how could he come to Earth alone?"
"You have a premise here, that Odin only has two sons, Thor and Loki, but we don't know that," Iron Man raised his objection.
"However, even so, a new king's ascension is a major event in Asgard, and Loki shouldn't be running off to Earth at such a time... So, I also think it can be ruled out."
"D should also be ruled out."
Black Widow added, "Odin, as the All-Father, such a powerful God-King, why would he be lost among mortals? Let's not discuss that for now. If this happened, then Asgard would surely be in chaos."
"Asgard's primary task should be to find Odin, both for Thor and Loki, it should be the same."
"So the Battle of New York shouldn't happen at this time, which is inconsistent with the time in the question stem."