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Chapter 57 - Chapter 57

"Dare to hug me again, and I'll hammer you into the ground!"

"Guess our relationship still isn't deep enough," Tony snorted, a crooked grin tugging at his lips. "Anyway, the one you want to kill—Ryuuto—he's a good friend of the Avengers. Give it time; he'll be one of us soon. A few days ago, I lost my mind and ended up living like some rainforest caveman in Australia. Natasha and Cap flew in to drag me back, but we got our butts kicked. And guess who swooped in to save the day? Yeah, Ryuuto."

Thor turned, eyes landing on Ryuuto.

If he hadn't just fought him, he'd never have believed that this calm, slightly smug young man had that kind of power.

Ryuuto brushed off Tony's hand and stepped forward. Thor met him halfway.

"If you don't fight, you never really know someone," Ryuuto said with a grin, extending his hand.

Thor grasped it firmly. "Just… don't tell anyone what happened earlier," he muttered, voice dropping low. "Especially Stark."

Ryuuto smirked. "Deal."

(Yeah, no one needed to know about that embarrassing system mission that forced him to use the 'beauty tactic' on Thor. Ugh.)

Thor cleared his throat. "Has your duplicate located Loki yet?"

"He slipped away," Ryuuto sighed. "This forest's too damn big, and the guy's a pro at illusions. Hard to pin him down."

"Damn it!" Thor growled.

Ryuuto crossed his arms. "We'll need S.H.I.E.L.D.'s help. They've got that global tracking system—if Loki shows up anywhere near a camera, we'll know instantly."

"That's how we found him last time." Thor turned to Tony. "You handle the tech. I'm heading to San Francisco."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "Off to find your little lover?"

Thor said nothing, just glared, then raised Mjölnir and shot into the sky with a roar of thunder.

Tony watched the lightning fade. "Every damn time. Love makes him weirder than usual."

Ryuuto shrugged. "Asgardians aren't built like us. Anyway, why'd you suddenly pop up here?"

"I figured you'd be at the Fantastic Four's base," Tony replied. "So I came running."

"Good timing. If you hadn't shown, Thor and I might've leveled half the forest." Ryuuto turned toward the others. "Reed, sorry—no time to chat. Gotta deal with Loki."

"This is serious," Reed nodded. "Last time in New York, we wanted to step in, but the fight ended before we arrived. Next time Loki stirs up trouble, count us in."

"Appreciate it."

"Where are you going now?" Susan asked.

Ryuuto smiled slightly. "You wanna come with me?"

Susan froze, caught off guard.

Johnny immediately shoved her forward. "Hey, guess we'll be the Fantastic Three from now on!"

Susan spun on him. "Johnny! What the hell are you saying? We're the Fantastic Four!"

"I just thought you really wanted to go with him," Johnny teased.

"Even if I do," Susan shot back, "I'll still be part of the team. Leaving for a while doesn't change that. The four of us together make the Fantastic Four—if it's just one person, we're nothing."

"So… you are going with him?" Johnny grinned.

"I didn't say that!"

"Hah, women—impossible to read."

Ryuuto rolled his eyes. His main goal now was clear—find Loki and retrieve the scepter with the Infinity Gem. But the world was too big for solo tracking, so he'd leave that part to S.H.I.E.L.D.

That meant… he was free to move for now.

"Guess it's time to head back to Axville Mutant School," he muttered. "Feels like home, anyway."

Still, he glanced at Susan. "You should stay here. Axville's a school for mutants, and people with regular superpowers aren't always welcomed there. Some of the students… don't take kindly to outsiders."

Susan hesitated but nodded. "Alright. I'll wait for news about Loki."

Ryuuto patted her shoulder lightly, then walked over to Tony.

"Tony, Loki's yours to track. The moment you find him, call me. I'll join the hunt. If Nick Fury gives you crap about me not being an Avenger, just tell him I joined already. It's basically a freelance gig anyway."

Tony grinned. "You got it."

"Then I'm heading out."

"I'll check in with Nick. Ever since I built him that flying carrier, he refuses to set foot on the ground."

"Good luck with that, man."

Tony chuckled. "Same to you, Red Mirage."

The two bumped fists before Tony soared into the sky.

Ryuuto turned back, gave Susan and Reed a nod, then muttered,

"Earth Style: Light and Heavy Rock Technique."

He rose from the ground, floating upward as wind rushed beneath him.

Reed watched him fade into the clouds. "Susan, if you really want to go with him, go. We'll manage."

Susan bit her lip. "He said when Loki appears again, that's when we'll meet. I'll trust his word."

She wanted to follow—but she didn't. She kept that feeling buried deep.

Ryuuto, meanwhile, dropped out of the sky hours later near New York. He grabbed a commercial flight to avoid attention.

By 3 PM, he was back at Axville Mutant Academy.

Charles called him into the office almost immediately.

"Ryuuto, what have you been up to lately?"

"Nothing much. Just… helped out the Avengers a bit."

Charles smiled faintly. "You've changed. Not outside—inside."

Ryuuto shrugged. "Maybe."

A few days later, in the rugged Corrence Mountains of northern New York, inside the Brotherhood's hidden base beneath a waterfall—

Magneto sat reading the latest mutant news. The war between his Brotherhood and Charles's X-Men was a cold one—never-ending, never peaceful.

"Someone's here to see you," Mystique announced, stepping in without knocking.

Magneto glanced up. "Who?"

"Loki."

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