"He's just unconscious!"
Seeing Thor's heartbroken expression, Finney couldn't help but say, "I held back!"
Thor glared at Finney.
Actually, he didn't have a good impression of Finney from the beginning. After all, being threatened and forced to admit defeat was shameless, something unimaginable for a young god who had only lived for a few hundred years.
Although he gained some goodwill later with 'Violet Chicken Wrap,' it only slightly made up for his previous dislike. So their relationship was at most that of teammates, slightly better than ordinary.
Compared to his beloved younger brother, he was worlds apart.
"He's from Asgard, how could you treat him like this!"
Thor roared at Finney in anger.
"Why not!"
Finney frowned, replying calmly, "This is Earth, not Asgard. Even if I killed him, it would be in self-defense."
Thor, speechless, could only sadly whisper, "He just made a mistake!"
Finney ignored Thor, turning to Tony and asking, "Where's Hulk?!"
"We didn't want to fight in the city, so we took him to the outskirts with him, hoping he could calm down over there. What's the situation here?"
Tony answered, also asking Finney.
"Nothing much. Loki opened a portal, I went to check on the enemy, and then closed it again,"
Finney briefly explained.
Because of his involvement, the Avengers were far less harmonious than in the original storyline. Captain America and Tony still disliked each other, Banner and Hulk lacked Natasha's favor, Hawkeye wasn't under control, and his presence was weak.
Thor, because of Finney's actions, felt that Earth was filled with malice.
They didn't understand each other, didn't help each other, and didn't work things out together. They also lacked the shared sense of grievance that came with Coulson's death.
They didn't even have the chance to fight alongside the alien army.
They were merely a group of powerful individuals forcibly put together, hardly a qualified team or organization.
Hearing Finney's concise explanation, Tony, unaware of the difficulty involved, genuinely believed it was that simple. He glanced at Loki, held in Thor's arms, and scoffed,
"That Bambi isn't all that great!"
"That's because I'm here!"
Finney retorted irritably.
If it weren't for him, the Avengers might be in a very different state. At the very least, destroying the Chitauri mothership would have been difficult even for Tony and Thor.
While Finney dealt with Loki, Nick Fury wasn't idle either. With Captain America's help, they quickly regained control of the Sky Helicarrier and learned about the situation.
"Is he alright?"
Nick Fury frowned and asked after learning of Loki's terrible condition. Without Thor, even if Finney killed Loki, it wouldn't be a big deal. But with Thor, it became a matter of Earth and Asgard.
"He won't die!"
Finney thought for a moment and replied. As for whether he would suffer psychological trauma or anything like that, he couldn't guarantee.
"We're coming right now!"
Nick Fury decided to come and check on Loki himself, and also discuss how to handle the situation with Thor, as well as the Tesseract and the Mind Stone.
Hanging up the communication, Finney looked at Loki, who had woken up and was being cared for by Thor, and after thinking for a moment, went over.
Seeing him approach, Loki, his face bruised and swollen, almost unrecognizable, trembled and involuntarily moved closer to Thor.
"Eat something; it will help you recover!"
Seeing Thor's wary and protective expression, Finney curled his lip and summoned several 'Violet Chicken Wraps' to hand over. Since things had already come to this point, Loki was definitely going to be taken back to Asgard, and there was no need to let the relationship continue to deteriorate.
Knowing the effects of the 'Violet Chicken Wraps,' Thor's wariness relaxed considerably. He quickly took them, hesitated for a moment, thanked him, and prepared to feed them to Loki.
"I won't eat it!"
Loki refused, his words muffled. Finney had knocked out several of his teeth; how could he possibly eat anything Finney offered after such humiliation?
"This is delicious, and it can heal wounds. Try it if you don't believe me!"
Although Thor had come to Earth intending to teach Loki a lesson when he saw him, he hadn't expected it to go this far. Even Odin hadn't beaten them both like this!
Loki stubbornly turned his head away. How could a god like him eat such a thing?
"If you don't eat it, I'll beat you again!"
Seeing Loki's expression, Finney said calmly from the side.
Loki shuddered, remembering the shadow of death, and slowly took the 'Violet Chicken Wrap' from Thor's hand. Enduring the pain, he forced open his mouth and bit down.
Although Loki ate the wrap, Thor didn't feel happy; instead, he felt a slight pang of heartache, his resolve to take Loki away as soon as possible strengthened.
However, before Loki could even finish the wrap, Nick Fury arrived in a hurry.
"That's Loki!?"
Nick Fury was startled upon seeing Loki's appearance, almost not recognizing him. Although he knew Loki had been badly beaten by Finney, he hadn't expected it to be this bad.
"Loki must be taken back to Asgard to be punished!"
Seeing Nick Fury, Thor wasn't truly foolish; knowing his purpose, he immediately made his demands, while also offering his own conditions: "As the Prince of Asgard, I assure you that Asgard will always be Earth's ally!"
"Agreed!"
Nick Fury didn't take advantage of the situation but nodded in agreement.
First, even if he disagreed, aside from Finney, no one on Earth should be able to stop Thor from taking Loki away. Of course, this was assuming Nick Fury was unaware of the Ancient One's existence.
Furthermore, even if he forcibly kept Loki, there wouldn't be much use for him. Keeping him imprisoned would be a waste, and dissecting him for research might not yield ideal results, given Loki's status as the former second prince.
Therefore, Nick Fury felt it was better to do a favor, let Loki go, win Asgard's favor, and buy Earth time to develop.
He had considered taking the opportunity to obtain some Asgardian technology, but he decided against it for now. It would be better to maintain good relations with Thor, the sole heir, and seek help later when needed.
"Call the medical team up!"
Nick Fury said to Natasha, having specifically sent a medical team after hearing that Finney had severely injured Loki.
"No need, we're going back to Asgard!"
Thor wasn't as happy to be back on Earth as last time, and besides, he trusted Asgard's technology more than Earth's medical standards.
"I need to take the Tesseract back; it's Asgardian!"
Thor continued, turning to Finney not far away: "You can keep the scepter as your spoils!"
"Don't be silly, I want it all!"
Finney, holding the Mind Scepter in his right hand and the Tesseract in his left, shook his head.
If it weren't for what happened before, he might not have thought much about the Tesseract, but now that his revenge was in vain and the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's food supply was still unresolved, how could he possibly hand it over?
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(End of Chapter)