When Batman and Captain America reached an agreement on handling Jack Monroe's situation and returned side by side to the temporary Avengers headquarters, the superheroes gathered inside were looking at Thor, the God of Thunder, with strange, peculiar expressions.
Thor, meanwhile, was leaning against a wall with his hammer cradled in his arms, utterly indifferent to the gazes sweeping back and forth across his body.
"What happened?" Captain America asked, walking in and catching the first person he saw.
"Once you two watch this news report, you'll be wearing the exact same face we are," replied Werewolf by Night, Jack Russell.
He was no longer in his werewolf form from battle; instead, he looked like a young man around the same age as Jack Monroe. Since they both shared the name Jack, the two had actually grown quite close.
Seeing Captain America and Batman, Jack Monroe's face once again wore that signature smile of his:
"Cap, Batman."
"A couple of days ago, a reporter had a sudden wild idea and publicly asked on television whether Thor, the God of Thunder, appearing in America automatically grants him American citizenship."
The moment those words left his mouth, Captain America's expression instantly turned bizarre as well, though Batman remained characteristically stonifaced.
However, that wasn't all. Werewolf Jack continued:
"When the Norwegians heard about it, they launched a public protest in their own country, claiming that Thor is part of their national cultural heritage and demanding that the United States return the God of Thunder..."
Captain America and Batman exchanged a glance. Cap spread his hands in a helpless gesture.
"I find it very strange why our mythology happens to share so many coincidences with the real Asgardian pantheon—like Thor, Loki, Odin..."
Iron Man walked up to Thor holding two glasses of liquor. He handed one over, took a sip from his own, and casually struck up a conversation.
However, those three names were the extent of his knowledge; he knew nothing else about Asgardian information.
"Because we came to Midgard thousands of years ago." Thor took the glass, slammed back a massive gulp, and then violently shattered the glass onto the floor.
Clang-crash!
The glass cup was smashed to smithereens.
The superheroes instantly shifted from their casual sitting or standing postures, their eyes sweeping warily through the manor before finally converging on the shards on the ground.
"Back then, Midgard wasn't like this, with iron boxes driving around everywhere." Thor was referring to cars.
Seeing everyone's gazes turned toward him, Thor couldn't care less. Iron Man looked down slightly at his leather shoes, which had been splattered with residual liquor, his face unperturbed:
"You don't like whisky?"
"What is whisky?"
"The liquor you were just drinking."
"I do not like it."
"I could have just swapped it for a different kind for you. Why break the glass?" Tony Stark shook his head, looking quite exasperated.
Thor was no fool. Seeing Tony Stark's expression and the strange looks from the others, he instantly realized that the customs here differed from Asgard's, so he quickly explained:
"You ask why I broke the glass upon the ground? In Asgard, this is the true way of a warrior! When the fine wine is rich and passion fills our hearts, we shatter the vessel to pay tribute to the drink and the one who bestowed it. It is by no means an act of disrespect!"
Iron Man let out a breath of relief, immediately putting an arm around Thor's shoulders. The two walked over together to the bar area on one side of the manor, pulling out various fine liquors from the cabinet to sample them one by one.
Evidently, for an alcoholic like Tony Stark, his way of making friends was simply drinking together.
When he first met Batman, Tony had also intended to invite him for a drink.
Batman didn't pay too much attention to Thor and Tony. After surveying the superheroes in the manor, he asked:
"Cap, where are Iron Fist, Daredevil, and Jessica Jones?"
Aside from those three, the other Avengers were all inside the manor. Because the outside world had been abuzz with intense debates regarding the superheroes and Hydra recently, they chose to lie low here to stay out of the storm.
Yet the three Batman mentioned were nowhere to be found.
Captain America paused for a couple of seconds, seemingly judging whether to tell Batman the truth. But on second thought, Batman was a member of the Avengers himself, so he spoke straight out:
"The three of them left the Avengers."
"Is that so?" Batman asked, his tone neutral.
Over the past week, almost all of Batman's energy had been spent on Thor and those dozen-or-so Frost Giant corpses, leaving him knowing very little about the Avengers' recent movements.
He hadn't placed everyone under constant surveillance—that simply wasn't realistic.
"Yes... Let me take you to Daredevil," Captain America said after weighing his words for a moment.
"How are you getting there?" Batman asked.
"A cab."
Batman remained silent for two seconds, then pressed a button on his gauntlet.
A few minutes later, the Batwing took off from Bat Island, roaring through the sky as it arrived at the Avengers Manor. The powerful slipstream kicked up by its engines snapped more than half the flowers and plants in the garden.
"...It's not that far; we didn't need a plane." Captain America frowned deeply.
"I do," Batman said.
This time, Venom Robin and Thor didn't tag along. Only Batman and Captain America boarded the Batwing.
Under Captain America's directions, the Batwing flew for less than ten seconds before Cap pointed toward a Catholic church down below and said:
"We're here. Lower the aircraft."
Batman glanced at Captain America, brought the Batwing to a hover over two hundred meters in the air, and handed Cap a parachute pack.
Then, without waiting to see what Captain America would do, the hatch opened, and Batman kicked off with both feet, diving straight out.
"This? Hey!" Captain America let out a wry laugh. "Back in my day, no one had such a cool way of landing."
Surrounding the Catholic church was a vast stretch of farmland and a graveyard. Captain America stuck his head out to take a look, dutifully strapped the parachute onto his back, and then leaped down as well.
By the time he touched down, unbuckled the parachute, and made his way to the Catholic church, Batman had already been waiting there for a long time.
The two gave each other a slight nod, pushed open the church's heavy doors, and walked inside.
The lighting inside was dim, and sitting on the empty pews was Daredevil, completely alone.
Even upon hearing the sound of Batman and Captain America pushing open the door, Daredevil kept his head bowed, motionless and devoid of any reaction.
Under the scan of the Gargoyle Batsuit, Batman knew that Daredevil's body was currently extremely weak and severely dehydrated—the result of going without food or water for a prolonged period.
Beside Daredevil, some water and food lay on the floor, but they hadn't been touched at all.
"How long has he been here?" Batman asked in a low, deep voice.
Captain America frowned as he glanced at the food on the ground. He had personally delivered it after learning that Daredevil had quit the Avengers and come to the Catholic church to confess.
"From the moment the Battle of Manhattan ended until now," Cap said.
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