Chapter 3

“I call this one Tiny Thor,” Kamala said, making the little action figure do a funny dance. She picked up another one. “And this is Fashion Thor. I stole the butterfly hair clips from Nakia when we were, like, five years old.”

“Very fierce,” Thor said seriously. He picked up another action figure of himself and examined it carefully. Kamala shook her head. Thor the Avenger was sitting on her bedroom floor, rummaging through a bin of old toys with her, asking her about her collection of... well, him. It was one of the weirdest things that had happened to her since she became a Super Hero. And that was really saying something.

“That's Peg Leg Thor,” Kamala said. “He lost his leg, so I had to replace it with a clothespin.”

“How careless of him,” Thor said, frowning down at the one-legged action figure disapprovingly. Kamala leaped to his defense. “Not careless—brave!” she said. “He lost it in battle! It was a valiant struggle. Against a Tyrannosaurus rex .”

She dug the plastic T. rex out of the bin of toys. “See?” Kamala said, showing Thor. “A formidable opponent.”

“With an honorable wound to match,” Thor said, satisfied. “Kamala, I apologize for approaching you in disguise. I was trying to ‘keep a low profile,’ as Hawkeye puts it.”

“Don't worry about it,” Kamala said. “It's not your fault—I'm just super on edge lately. I've got a lot on my plate. Sorry I overreacted.”

“You are forgiven,” Thor said.

She was feeling a little starstruck. She had even more action figures of Hawkeye than of Thor. But she didn't want to hurt Thor's feelings, so she didn't tell him that.

“I have come to your city to investigate a string of pet-store robberies that have been committed over the last several months,” Thor said.

“Yikes,” Kamala said. “That's pretty weird. What are they stealing? Tell me it isn't puppies.”

“Birds,” Thor said, “and many of them.”

“Huh,” Kamala said. “You know, the girl who was trying to rob that pet store this morning was wearing some kind of dumb bird mask. And she was making bird noises, too.”

“Yes,” Thor said. “The intelligence that we have received at Avengers Headquarters has been...”

“Disturbing?” Kamala suggested.

“Silly,” Thor finished.

Kamala nodded in agreement.

“Regardless,” Thor continued, “I have been sent to investigate. I was not planning to include you in the investigation, even though Jersey City is your ‘turf,’ as Hawkeye puts it. I did not want to endanger you, because you are so young.”

“I can handle myself!” Kamala protested.

“Yes,” Thor said, “I learned that today. In any case, I overheard several of these teenage bird-people discussing their plan to target you, Ms. Marvel. And I realized I must warn you.”

“So what's next?” Kamala asked, trying to act cool—like hearing Thor himself call her by her Super Hero name wasn't the best thing that had ever happened to her.

“Obviously you must stay safely indoors while I conduct my investigation,” Thor said.

Kamala frowned. “Normally I try to at least pretend to obey authority figures. You know, people like my imam. Or ancient alien Super Heroes like you.”

“Very wise,” Thor agreed.

“But come on,” Kamala continued. “This is Jersey. Hawkeye was right—this is my turf. If you don't let me team up with you, I'm going to do my own investigation anyway, and then we'll just get in each other's way. You don't want to be tripping over me every time you turn around, right?”

Thor frowned. “It would indeed be more efficient to work together,” he said reluctantly. From downstairs, Kamala heard her father's voice. “Kamala? Who are you talking to? Is there someone in your room?”

Kamala jumped. “You have to get out of here!” she told Thor. “Quick!”

“Kamala?” her father called again. “Who is in there with you?”

“Out the window!” Kamala hissed, waving her arms frantically at Thor. “I'll meet you later!”

In the hallway outside his daughter's room, Yusuf Khan paused to listen. The murmur of voices had stopped. There was a strange whoosh, and then silence again. But Yusuf was certain he'd heard another voice inside the room. He knocked on Kamala's door and opened it.

“What on earth is going on in here?” Yusuf said, looking around. But the only person in the room was his daughter. She was sitting on the floor, surrounded by plastic toys. In one hand Kamala was holding a small plastic man with a red cape. In the other, she was holding a houseplant in a clay pot.

“Oh, hi, Abu,” she said, smiling.

“I thought I heard voices,” Yusuf said, looking around in confusion.

“Nobody here but me and Thor,” Kamala said. She waved the small plastic toy, and its little red cape fluttered. “He's fighting crime with a new partner.”

Kamala turned back to her game. She waggled the toy as though it was talking to the plant. “It is I, Thor!” Kamala said in a booming, deep voice. “Come, thou potted vegetation. Thou and I must hie unto Asgard Anon. Forsooth and gadzooks!”

Yusuf shook his head and smiled. It was nice to be reminded every now and then that Kamala was still his goofy little girl.

He shut the door behind him and went back downstairs to finish reading the newspaper.