An Interesting Soul is One in a Million

"..." Fanny was stunned, speechless. He shook his head. "I was sent to an alien planet. I don't know where that planet is exactly, but it was very, very far away.

"Also, you should find Loki as soon as possible. He has an alien army prepared for war and plans to use the Tesseract to bring them here. You should prepare as well!"

Fanny's words changed Nick Fury's and even Barton's expressions. Considering what Loki had said, there's no telling what would happen to Earth if Loki succeeded.

"Why were you sent to an alien planet? How did you come back? Why are you with Loki?"

Nick Fury had a lot of doubts in his heart.

"The Cube disliked me and plotted against me. Loki was the one who activated the Stone; I just piggybacked along."

Nick Fury frowned at Fanny's vague answer, but that wasn't really important right now. His priority was the Tesseract.

"Issue an arrest warrant for Loki across the world. Get Hill to prepare and activate maximum alert!" Nick Fury gave his orders to Barton before turning back to Fanny, who was walking away. "Where are you going?"

"Home!" Fanny replied curtly.

"We're in this dire situation, and you're going home?" Nick Fury asked, incredulous.

"He can't just open a continuous portal willy-nilly. There should be time to take action if you call me after finding him." Fanny sighed. "I've been off-world for half a year. What's wrong with going home?"

Nick Fury frowned and thought for a long time but ultimately relented. "I'll gather some people first, then. Keep in contact at all times; is your phone still working?"

"Yeah!" Fanny nodded.

Barton, who hadn't left yet, took a double-take. It had been half a year, but the phone battery still had power?!

Nick Fury wasn't as surprised. He deduced from the fact that the phone still had power that Fanny might have gone to a civilized alien planet.

Instead of going out through the front door of the base, Fanny found a secluded corner. He couldn't even wait until he was outside to open the portal home.

Fanny felt nostalgic when he saw his familiar room. Considering how clean it was, Skye must've taken good care of it.

As if lured by Fanny's arrival, hasty footsteps could suddenly be heard from outside the room. The door burst open, revealing the pleasantly surprised Skye.

"Fanny!" Skye jumped to hug him.

Feeling Skye's excitement, Fanny gently patted her back and comforted her, "I'm back. Didn't I send my master to tell you that I'm fine?"

"Speaking of which..." Skye let go of Fanny and lectured him angrily, "It's fine if you mess around on Earth, but you even went to another planet. At this rate, not even this universe would be able to keep you in."

"Let's just go to another universe, then!" Fanny replied with a smile. He gently touched Skye's furious face. "Did anything happen while I was away?"

"Nothing much," Skye shook her head and continued, "I didn't tell our parents that you were trapped on an alien planet. I just said that you were busy."

"Alright!" Fanny nodded in approval at Skye's discretion. Telling their parents about this matter would only add to their worries.

"What exactly were you doing? Were you really stranded on an alien planet?"

Despite Ancient One personally bringing Skye the news, Skye still had some doubts. Now that Fanny had returned, she could finally be sure.

"Hmm, where should I start? There was a stone that thought I was too handsome, so it wanted to show me to its friend. That was how I got sent to an alien planet," Fanny briefly described the timeline of events to Skye.

"A stone?!" Skye looked blankly at Fanny. "Even stones have superpowers now? What does it think of you? How did you even seduce a stone?!"

"Good looks are a dime a dozen, but an interesting soul is one in a million." Fanny shrugged. "Maybe my handsomeness had penetrated so far into my soul that even a stone can feel it."

"..."

Despite finally having the long-awaited reunion, Skye's heart was only filled with speechless disbelief. But she felt a little relieved that Fanny hadn't changed a bit.

"By the way, you should pack your things and stay with our parents for a few days!"

Skye was stunned by Fanny's sudden order. All her questions were pushed aside, replaced by a single word, "Why?"

"New York isn't safe these days. You'd be better off elsewhere."

Fanny firmly believed that the battle of New York would end in Earth's victory, but there was no need to put Skye in the middle of it.

"Not safe?" Doubts filled Skye's eyes.

"There might be an alien army invading!" Fanny finally told Skye the truth after hesitating for a moment. This kind of thing would be impossible to hide anyway. It would be better for Skye to be prepared.

Skye's brain stopped responding at the mention of interstellar warfare. Fortunately, she had been trained to face absurdity throughout the years, so it didn't take long for her to accept it.

"Is it because of you?" Worry replaced Skye's surprise. Her line of thought wasn't a stretch; Fanny had just returned from an alien planet, and now he told her that there would be an alien invasion soon. Anyone would be making the same connection.

"No, it has nothing to do with me." Fanny shook his head. He was trapped in Vormir, while Loki had brought Chitauri, Thanos' subordinate. There was nothing linking the two incidents.

"Then, are you going with me?" Skye looked at Fanny. It was a question she already knew the answer to.

"I want to stay and help."

Skye had expected that answer and immediately said, "I want to stay too!"

Fanny frowned, but Skye quickly added, "My ability has improved a lot. I can definitely help."

"No!" However, Fanny still firmly disagreed.

To be honest, Fanny did not doubt that Skye could help. With a proper strategy, she might even be able to safely dismantle the Chitauri mothership.

The question wasn't about whether she could—but whether she should.

Skye didn't have a proper defensive ability. Each bullet on the battlefield could injure or even kill her in an instant. He couldn't feel at ease leaving her defense to others, but if he had to protect her the entire time, Skye might as well not participate.

"Why?" Skye asked angrily.

Fanny obviously couldn't say that Skye's defense was too weak and would be a hindrance in battle, but he couldn't find any other excuse either. He finally looked straight into Skye's eyes with a serious expression and said, "I don't want you to be hurt!"