I am Thor

As Thanos' ship vanished into the wormhole, Odin turned to the gathered group, his gaze sweeping over each of them. When his eyes landed on Wanda and Carol, he nodded approvingly.

Wanda's cheeks flushed red immediately, while Carol scowled, muttering to herself, What's with this old man's weird look?

Ignoring their reactions, Odin looked at Thor with a stern expression. "Thor, I'm disappointed in your performance. You—"

"Oh, come on, Thanos is gone. Drop the act," Thor interrupted, a smirk playing on his lips.

"I… don't know what you're talking about…"

Crack!

Before Wanda and Carol could react, a bolt of lightning struck "Odin," revealing a scorched and frazzled Loki, his hair frizzed and singed.

"Why do you always give yourself away?" Thor sighed.

Wanda and Carol were wide-eyed. Wait… what?!

Thor shook his head. "If it was really our father, he wouldn't have taken so long to intervene. And besides, Father had a chance to kill Thanos ages ago but chose to let him go."

Loki looked utterly defeated. "Fine, fine. And knowing Thanos, he probably realized it was a trick, too."

"Then why did he leave?" Wanda asked, still processing the revelation.

"Because he didn't want a prolonged fight," Thor explained. "He knew he couldn't guarantee a victory, but he also needed to show his remaining followers that he didn't just run away. With Cull Obsidian dead here and Supergiant killed by me, abandoning the fight without any explanation would shatter his forces' morale."

Carol nodded, catching on. "So by 'surrendering' to Odin, he made his retreat look less like a defeat and more like a strategic withdrawal. It keeps his allies loyal."

"Exactly. Loki was acting, and Thanos was acting too."

As they returned to Asgard, Wanda went to rest, leaving Thor and Carol to catch up.

After a moment of quiet, Thor asked, "Did it really take you this long to find the Skrulls a home?"

It had been almost twenty years since Captain Marvel left Earth. Surely, after all that time, they could have found a habitable planet by now.

Carol shook her head. "It's not that simple. Most habitable planets are already inhabited by other civilizations. I didn't bring the Skrulls to invade anyone, so we eventually found a planet with harsher conditions and modified it."

Thor frowned. "But with Skrull technology, adapting a planet shouldn't take that long, right?"

Carol hesitated. "Well, we did find a place a few years back, but I didn't come back because I discovered something more important. I realized that there are countless planets in the universe where civilizations exist but aren't protected by anyone with superpowers."

"So, you're a space cop now?" Thor asked, smirking. "But if you've been patrolling all these worlds, how come your fighting skills seem to have declined?"

Carol looked a bit embarrassed. "Most of the threats I've faced on those planets aren't very strong. Forget Thanos—they don't even measure up to his henchmen. Most of the time, I can knock them down in a single punch."

Thor nodded, understanding. Earth and Asgard seemed uniquely plagued by supervillains—Thanos, Dormammu, Hela. Meanwhile, the rest of the universe didn't seem to have as many powerful foes.

"You've got people like Star-Lord prancing around with a high-tech blaster," Thor laughed, "and Drax, who practically ruled the Nova Corps prison. The threats most planets face are hardly more than the level of Iron Monger on Earth."

Carol grimaced. "It's true. When I first set out, I thought I'd get stronger just by taking down the threats I encountered, even if they weren't as powerful. After all, I'm responsible for multiple galaxies. I figured quantity would make up for quality. But after years of stomping small-time criminals… I actually felt my strength slipping a bit. Not by much, but enough to notice."

Thor chuckled. "It makes sense. It's like a master chess player spending years playing against beginners. Eventually, your skills just start to dull."

Unlike Carol, Thor's strength had advanced rapidly, in large part due to his relentless battles with increasingly dangerous foes—Cursed Warriors, Hela, Thanos. His years in the gladiator pits on Sakaar had exposed him to fighters from across the galaxy, honing him through brutal, high-stakes encounters.