As the last Frost Giant stood, he unleashed Arc Slice, a crescent-shaped blade of flame that sliced through it, reducing it to smoldering husks.
"Guess that means I owe you tacos, huh?" Tony hovered beside him, taking in the battlefield littered with steaming ice corpses. Liam didn't answer and rather looked at the distant SHIELD agents that seemed to be closing in, which was led by Fury himself. Barton had also appeared in front of them.
"We had been too wasteful. We didn't have any tactics and went charging in. Thankfully it was a half open battlefield with no civilians, or else tomorrow newspaper would have looked entirely different." Barton said while he still held the bow, like some prized treasure.
"I think for the first team up, we did a good job." Liam said.
"Yeah, yeah. You did great. The rest of us? Jury's still out on that." Barton said.
"I'd say you all did better than expected." It was Fury who barged in and replied. Behind him, a squad of SHIELD agents secured the area, checking for any remaining threats. He surveyed the carnage—frost-covered corpses, burnt-out craters, and the unmistakable signature of both magic and advanced weaponry.
"I've seen a lot of battles in my time," Fury continued. "But this? This was one hell of a statement."
"Stark, I expected the theatrics from you. But you," he turned to Liam, "I don't know what kind of Saturday morning cartoon you crawled out of, but whatever that was—fire and stone magic? Damn effective."
"He's full of surprises. And apparently, a taco thief." Liam rolled his eyes.
"Barton, good positioning as always. Thor—wherever he is—didn't do half bad for a guy running on fumes. Natasha…" He paused. "Not your kind of fight, but you held your own."
Natasha gave a tired nod, though frustration was still evident in her eyes.
"And I thank you three for standing with us in this trying times."
"That is our duty. Midgard belong to the Nine Realms and it's our duty to protect it." Fandral said. Fury didn't know what he should reply to their planet being the territory of another God. But it could be tackled later.
"Look, this wasn't clean, but you got the job done. And in the end, that's what matters. The World Council's gonna have a field day with this, but they can shove their complaints where the sun doesn't shine. Today, the Avengers—" he let the word hang for a second, testing how it felt "—proved they're not just some fancy pet project."
"You mean, your personal project." Liam said. Fury just shrugged his shoulders. Everyone didn't immediately leave as unlike Liam, everyone needed to go through some healing process. Liam just went back to the home of Jane and decided to wait if Thor would return or not.
Hours passed, and the battlefield had long since gone quiet. The surviving SHIELD agents had wrapped up their operations, leaving only a few personnel behind to monitor the situation. Just as some began to wonder if Thor would return at all, a sudden gust of wind swept through the area, accompanied by a deep, rolling boom of thunder.
With a thunderous impact, the Bifrost deposited Thor onto the ground. His expression was a mixture of exhaustion and satisfaction.
"It is done," Thor announced. "Loki will no longer trouble Midgard. In my anger, I struck him with Mjolnir before he could escape the Bifrost. He was flung into the void, lost beyond the realms." His voice carried both relief and a hint of sorrow, but he quickly steadied himself. "Where he has gone, even Heimdall does not know."
"Then it is over?" Hogun asked.
"For now," Thor said. "But we must return to Asgard. There is much to be done, and my father will need to be informed." His gaze shifted to Liam and Tony. "I owe you both my thanks. Without your aid, Midgard would have suffered greatly. You fought with honor."
"You kind of left us with all the cleanup." Tony said. They had all gathered in as Fury had come to talk with them. Liam didn't expect that Loki was still knocked out of their realms in the most unrealistic way possible. This thing happened when Loki and Thor tried to escape but Hela had done the same thing to them.
"Asgard promises you any help that Midgard might require but looking at the things around, you don't need much of our help." Thor said as he looked at Liam. Thor also thanked the SHIELD agents and then the Bifrost opened, after which he disappeared along with his friends leaving Liam and others looking down at the pattern.
"I need to learn more about this transport bus." Tony said.
"Good luck with that."
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Liam was back in LA, at Tony's place.
"So, let me get this straight—you're interning at Stark Industries now?" Tony asked.
"Yeah. Something wrong with that?" Liam answered as he was chewing on the spicy tacos Tony had ordered.
"Nah, just feels like your high school days are on the endangered species list. Normally, I'd give you the 'stay in school, kid' speech, but your grades are doing all the talking." Tony said.
"Yeah, well, it is what it is." Liam replied. "Enemies don't exactly check ID before they try to kill us."
"Hard to argue with that." Tony said.
"Tony, did you finish what I asked you?" Liam asked.
"Halfway there. You really love the dramatic touch, don't you?" Tony said.
"You'll get it when the time comes." Liam replied.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, Pepper and I are moving to New York for a bit. Stark Tower's almost done, and we're finally kicking off that clean energy initiative we talked about."
"That's your department, not mine. I'm just surprised you went with the javelin tech instead of your usual setup during the fight." Liam said.
"The new toy needed a proper test drive. And what better way than a live-action stress test?" Tony smirked.
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