Flash Thompson's eyes went wide.

Flash Thompson's mouth fell open.

Flash Thompson... Flash Thompson was about to faint.

One step back, instinctive. Flash stared at Yang Luoluo in utter disbelief, expression crumbling, nearly on the verge of collapse, as if she had just said something earth-shattering.

"How is that even possible?!" Flash finally couldn't hold it in and shouted, Yang Luoluo's words hitting like a bolt from a clear sky. "Parker — how could Parker possibly be Spider-Man's friend?!"

"Why wouldn't it be possible?"

Yang Luoluo tilted her head, genuinely puzzled, as though this were the most ordinary thing in the world. "Spider-Man brings Peter to the compound to hang out all the time. Right, Peter?"

Peter blinked. The question landed before Peter had even processed what was happening, and Peter nodded blankly.

"Huh? Oh — yeah, right..."

Flash looked even more wrecked. Eyes darting left and right, scanning face after face, searching desperately for any crack in the story, any sign that they were putting one over on Flash.

There wasn't one. Every single person wore a completely straight expression, not finding a single thing wrong with what Yang Luoluo had just said.

But how could this be possible?

A wave of dizziness washed over Flash.

The thing was, Peter Parker. That nerd. Spineless-wimp Parker. How could someone like that genuinely be Spider-Man's friend? Peter wasn't even willing to do something as small as defending Spider-Man against haters online.

How could Parker be worthy of that?

Noticing that Flash still looked half-convinced at best, Yang Luoluo pulled out her phone and checked it. Before bringing the students here, she had messaged Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff to come help back Peter up, she still didn't know whether they'd arrived.

[Witch: So sorry, Luoluo! An emergency mission came up, Tony sent Pietro and me to deal with it, so we can't make it to help you and Peter. But don't worry, I just ran into Clint and asked Clint to help out!]

Clint Barton?

That works.

Yang Luoluo put her phone away and glanced toward the doorway a few times. Still not a soul in sight.

Right then, battered past the breaking point, Flash finally snapped. Face flushed red, Flash jabbed a finger at Peter and let it all out.

"I don't believe it! You must have pulled some kind of trick, did you bribe the Avengers into lying for you?!"

Peter's face arranged itself into a deeply complicated expression that said, plainly, what are you even talking about. There were moments when Peter genuinely could not follow Flash Thompson's thought process, and this was absolutely one of them.

Bribe? With what money? Didn't Flash know Peter's pockets were emptier than empty?

"Parker, how does a spineless wimp like you deserve to be friends with Spider-Man —"

"Kid. Watch your mouth."

A cold voice from directly overhead. Every head snapped up at once. A razor-sharp arrow, radiating a chill that carried real menace, was aimed straight at Flash's forehead. The ventilation panel above had been removed at some point, and Clint Barton was up there, lying flat, bow drawn, eyes narrowed to slits.

Hands that had been stained with blood across countless missions. A gaze that was hard and pitiless. The pressure radiating off Clint was invisible but suffocating, Flash's face went pale, feet shuffling back one step at a time, nearly stumbling to the floor.

The instant Flash registered that the Avenger's hostility was directed at those exact words, Flash's hands flew up to cover the mouth, head shaking frantically, a silent, desperate promise to watch every syllable from here on out. The shaking was so fast it looked like Flash genuinely believed one second of delay would be fatal.

Only then did Clint slowly lower the bow.

"Clint? How did you... end up coming out from there?"

Yang Luoluo pointed at the ventilation duct, expression helpless. She had assumed Clint would walk through the front door like a normal person.

Clint tucked away the intensity like flipping a switch, the familiar easy grin sliding back into place. One light drop from the duct, and barely a sound on landing.

Another glance at Flash. Bow slung back across the shoulder. Then:

"Don't even ask. Hulk was in the elevator when I was heading down. I had absolutely no desire to share that space, so the vents were faster."

That settled, Clint walked over and slung an arm over Peter's shoulders with the ease of old friends, eyebrow raised.

"Peter, you never told any of us there was a guy like this giving you grief all this time."

Peter's expression went pained. The whole reason Peter had never mentioned it was to avoid exactly this kind of scene, and it hadn't worked anyway.

"Uh. Honestly, I can handle it myself."

Peter held firm against Clint's openly unconvinced look.

Right then, the students noticed yet another Avenger had appeared, and the wave surged forward, first-person simulations could be run any day, but an Avenger was not someone you bumped into just anywhere.

"Oh my god! It's Hawkeye!"

"Hawkeye! I'm such a huge fan, can I get an autograph?!"

"Can I touch your bow? Please?"

"..."

Clint, who had been fully prepared to give Flash a proper talking-to on Peter's behalf, was immediately swallowed by the crowd. Notebooks and pens materialized from everywhere at once. Faced with a wall of enthusiastic students, Clint dropped the plan entirely and scrambled to keep up with the signatures.

Flash exhaled. A very close call.

Ron curled a lip. "Got off way too easy."

"Though I'd guess Flash won't be bothering Peter anymore after this," Hermione Granger said. Getting caught by an Avenger in the middle of bullying Peter, surely that was enough to make anyone rein it in.

Standing at the edge of the crowd, Loki arched an eyebrow and threw a sidelong look at Yang Luoluo. "Jealous? As I recall, nowhere near this many people asked you for autographs earlier."

"Oh, please." Yang Luoluo rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not going to be jealous over something like that. Besides, I haven't been with the Avengers long, the fact that anyone asks for my autograph at all is already doing well."

Loki shrugged.

"Looks like we've come at the wrong time?"

An unexpected male voice from behind them. Something about that amused tone made a thought flash through Yang Luoluo's mind, and she spun around in surprise.

Sure enough. Tony Stark and Steve Rogers were standing right there. Seeing her look over, Tony gave her a wink.

Peter noticed the two of them as well, and couldn't hold back a startled exclamation. "Mr. Stark, Captain? What are you doing here?"

The room went quiet in an instant, every eye in the place shifting to the pair who had just walked in.

Flash was no exception, still not quite ready to give up, still turning over the idea of asking, right here in front of everyone, whether Parker was really a Stark Industries intern. Maybe there was still a chance to expose the lie?

The next second, Tony dismantled that hope without mercy.

"Why am I here? Naturally because I heard my intern was around." Tony strode over to Peter's side and gave Peter's shoulder an easy pat. "Wouldn't you say so, Peter?"

Steve followed along, grinning. "Peter, dropping by without giving us a heads-up, treating us like strangers now, are you?"

Peter waved both hands quickly. "No, no, it's just, I saw in the group chat that you were out on a mission and wouldn't be here, so I didn't say anything."

Watching Peter trade lines back and forth with two Avengers like it was the most natural thing in the world, anyone with eyes could see how close they were. Whatever last shred of hope Flash had been holding onto quietly died. The rest of the students just stood there, stunned.

Peter Parker. The quietest nerd in the entire class. Actually was a Stark Industries intern. Actually was that close with the Avengers.

"I won't name who's feeling fantastic right now," Ron said, thoroughly satisfied, all the frustration of watching Peter get pushed around over these past days gone in one clean sweep. "Let's see who dares say Peter is lying now."

Ron glanced deliberately at Flash. Flash caught it, and just stood there, blankly, without a word, like something had gone out inside entirely.

Harry had sidled up beside Yang Luoluo and Loki at some point, practically vibrating with excitement. "Was this part of your plan too? This is way too satisfying!"

Draco Malfoy was nodding along beside them, clearly very pleased with the whole spectacle.

Bringing out Iron Man and Captain America personally to back Peter up. That was simply too cool.

But hearing this, Yang Luoluo's expression went complicated.

"No, I swear I didn't contact Tony or the Captain. I have no idea how they even knew to come."

Harry and Draco both blinked, then turned together to look at Tony.

Tony was practically glowing with pride. It had been worth every bit of effort, deliberately sending Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff off on that errand, then bringing Steve along to make an entrance. Now Tony wanted to see who would dare lay a finger on Peter again.

➤ Next: The Soup Runs Cold, the Tang Crumbles

Chapter 156 - The Soup Runs Cold, the Tang Crumbles

Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, the two who had just been mentioned, were caught in the middle of a crowd of excited students. Steve signed autographs with a slightly helpless look on face, stiffening every so often when students pulled Steve into photos.

Tony had an arm draped over Peter Parker's shoulders, cycling through a smooth, polished smile for the crowd while speaking quietly beside Peter's ear.

"Kid, next time something like this happens, you come straight to us. Got it?"

Peter went rigid and turned to look at Tony in disbelief.

"You — you already knew?"

"That you've been getting pushed around this whole time? Mm-hmm."

"The ringleading, the isolation, the verbal abuse — legally there's not much that can be done about it. But don't worry, Peter. We're not going to let you eat that for nothing."

Listening to Tony's steady, unshakeable tone, Peter actually felt less reassured, not more.

Tony Stark. Iron Man. A brilliant, endlessly self-confident entrepreneur. Stop any random New Yorker on the street and ask for one word to describe Iron Man, they'd say: does whatever he wants.

As long as Tony felt like it, there was nothing Tony wouldn't do.

To protect the Earth, Tony had overridden every objection and forged ahead alone to create Ultron. For Pepper Potts, Tony had detonated every last suit of armor at staggering cost, just to put on a fireworks show like no one had ever seen.

A person like that, Peter genuinely could not picture Tony handling Flash Thompson through proper, lawful channels. The Thompson family wasn't actually going to end up without an heir over this, right?

Peter thought about it with creeping dread and immediately opened his mouth to talk Tony out of whatever was coming.

Tony, however, seemed to see it coming. Without a word, a hand clamped firmly over Peter's mouth.

"Nope. The rest of it is not your problem, kid. Take these next couple of days and just enjoy yourself."

"Relax — I'm not going to do anything monstrous." Seeing Peter still visibly tense, Tony added a few words of reassurance.

Hearing the promise a second time, Peter finally felt a fraction better.

As it turned out, Tony really did not do anything monstrous. Tony simply made sure a handful of the Thompson family's upcoming business deals fell through, not enough to bring total ruin, but more than enough to give the whole family a headache for a good while.

Peter knew none of this, of course. The two days at the Endgame Memorial Museum passed well enough. It was only after returning to school that everything fell apart, once classmates spread the word that Peter genuinely was a Stark Industries intern and had clearly been on close terms with the Avengers all along.

Flash Thompson never came to bother Peter again. Word got around that the Thompson family's company had run into some trouble, and Flash's parents had given Flash an absolutely thorough dressing-down, to the point that Flash now took a detour the moment Flash spotted Peter in the hallway.

But every so often Peter would still find a small folded note quietly passed over, asking Peter to please get a few Spider-Man autographs. Payment included.

Peter wrestled with it for an entire class period, then finally, just before the bell, tore out a few sheets of paper and scratched Spider-Man's signature across them in quick, looping strokes, completing the transaction with Flash after class. Goods delivered, payment received.

Peter felt deeply guilty about the whole thing. Flash, however, was absolutely delighted, and for several days running treated Peter with a pleasantness that was honestly a little unsettling.

Beyond Flash, the endless parade of classmates trying to pry Avengers-related information out of Peter through roundabout questions was somehow even more exhausting.

And it wasn't only Peter. Harry and the other wizards, who had been visibly friendly with the Avengers back at the Endgame Memorial Museum, were equally besieged, so much so that the moment class ended they would bolt to the nearest corner and cast a Muggle-Repelling Charm on themselves, only wandering back when the next lesson started.

None of this reached Yang Luoluo. After a long stretch of reviewing, she was busy now getting ready to head back to China for her final exams.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?"

Loki sat on the edge of the bed, a slight furrow between his brows, a barely concealed note of dissatisfaction simmering just below the surface. The words were phrased as a question, but somehow what came through was something closer to grievance.

Yang Luoluo was crouched on the floor packing her luggage. "I'm just going back to sit an exam. At most I'll spend a little time with my dormmates, and I'll be back before Christmas. There's no need for you to follow me."

"Besides..."

She had been packing for a while. Yang Luoluo straightened up, stretched out her back, and flopped straight down onto the bed.

"I've noticed Thor has been looking for you quite a few times. Don't you think about going back to Asgard?"

Nearly every day she had seen two ravens perched on the windowsill, Thor had been using the two ravens Odin had left behind to send messages to Loki. Loki's response was always the same: read through the letter with patience, then raise a hand and toss both ravens back out the window, leaving Thor with a single, terse word: "Get lost."

What expression Thor wore upon hearing the ravens carry that word back, Yang Luoluo had no idea. But the following morning those same two ravens were unfailingly back on the windowsill, right on schedule.

She couldn't help but admire Thor's persistence.

Loki gave a cold snort at the mention, every word laced with contempt.

"Please. He just wants me back there to deal with the government affairs for him. Ha — I always knew that walnut-sized brain of his couldn't cope."

"Why doesn't he ask those two other Lokis to help? I've seen him throw 'brother' and 'sister' around plenty eagerly enough."

Loki went on ranting with full righteous indignation, and a faint thread of sourness bled through beneath it all. Yang Luoluo watched him with a quiet smile and said nothing.

Never mind how hard Loki was tearing into Thor right now, Yang Luoluo was prepared to stake her reputation on it: before long, Loki would be heading straight back to Asgard to handle those government affairs, every word of protest notwithstanding, actions betraying him completely.

That was just how a tsundere worked.

Yang Luoluo figured Thor had long since mapped out Loki's nature through years of living together, which was exactly why Thor kept sending letters without pause, certain that one day Loki's heart would soften and Loki would come back to help.

Not for nothing that Thor had become king. Thor was considerably sharper than he used to be.

Loki himself was utterly fed up with the whole business of helping Thor manage state affairs. His brow stayed tightly knit, one finger tapping idly against the edge of the bed in a restless, absent rhythm.

In the past, when Loki had coveted the throne, Odin and Thor had thrown up obstacle after obstacle, as though handing Loki the crown would bring Asgard to instant ruin. And now that Loki had long since let go of any ambition to rule, Thor refused to leave Loki alone, pressing and pressing for help instead.

So not only had Loki never gotten the throne. Loki had ended up buried under a mountain of work.

The thought alone made Loki's teeth ache with fury. Loki could have made up his mind on the spot to march back and put a few knives in Thor just to settle the score.

Yang Luoluo had no idea why Loki's expression had suddenly gone dark, but an instinctive wave of sympathy for Thor rose up in her all the same.

She pushed down the uneasy feeling and spoke up.

"Well, who told you to be so clever and capable? Thor knows exactly what he's working with, that's why Thor wants you there."

That wasn't untrue, either. Years ago, Loki had driven Odin into exile and taken the throne in his place; if Loki had truly had no talent for governing, then when Thor came back to Asgard, what awaited Thor might well not have been a thriving, prosperous kingdom at all.

That alone was proof enough that Loki had a real gift for statecraft. Even Frigga had once quietly confided to Yang Luoluo that if Thor's strength and Loki's intelligence could ever be combined, Asgard returning to its former peak would only be a matter of time.

Under Yang Luoluo's string of praise, the corner of Loki's mouth visibly threatened to curve upward. He wrestled it down, kept his expression composed, and spoke.

"Hmph. Sounds to me like you took something from Thor in exchange for all this. Go on, what did Thor give you?"

Yang Luoluo nearly cried out in protest. She hadn't taken anything from Thor, every single word she'd just said was what she genuinely thought.

Watching her sit up, face lit with the indignation of someone wrongly accused, clearly about to open her mouth and argue the whole thing out until it was perfectly, irrefutably clear, the corner of Loki's mouth curved upward by an almost imperceptible degree. A smile crept into his eyes.

Catching Yang Luoluo off guard, his gaze dropped, and in one smooth motion he pulled her into his arms with a firm hold around her waist. He lowered his head and pressed a gentle nuzzle against the side of her neck. His voice, rare and quiet, softened.

"...Come back soon."

The brush of skin against skin sent a shiver through Yang Luoluo, her lashes trembling. Warm breath spilled against her neck like the light sweep of a soft feather, and a tingling warmth spread in an instant to every corner of her body.

"Okay." Her voice came out soft.

In truth, even without Loki saying so, she would have come back early.

Christmas wasn't far off now. For China, Christmas was simply an ordinary foreign holiday, but for Westerners, its importance was in no way less than the Spring Festival was for the Chinese.

So at everyone's request, no matter what, Yang Luoluo would be back at the base before Christmas to celebrate the holiday with them all.

Hearing her answer, the smile on Loki's face widened a little further.

Then a soft, unhurried kiss, full of reluctance, fell.

➤ Next: Returning to the Country