Chapter Eight: The War Begins

Several hours earlier, Sanctuary II.

Loki used arcane means to connect with the Cosmic Cube, simultaneously harnessing the power of the Mind Stone to reverse-open a space-time passage, transforming himself into pure energy and transporting to the location of the Cube.

...

“Please put down your spear, sir,” Fury said, while the security personnel nearby swiftly surrounded the suddenly appearing Loki.

Loki had barely risen to his feet when he felt the Mind Scepter’s influence upon him. Seething with anger, he unleashed a beam of energy from the scepter at Fury.

Yet, aided by the Keadalin Crystal, he could easily discern who among those present bore darkness in their minds, so he wasn’t worried about striking the wrong person. The man who had just spoken was a Skrull; such an attack wouldn’t kill him.

The security team then opened fire on Loki, but their bullets were futile, unable to harm him. Unfortunately for them, they were all Hydra agents.

Loki began his counterattack. While the security personnel couldn’t hurt him, his energy beams and flying daggers could deal deadly blows to them.

Once he had eliminated all the Hydra agents present, Loki effortlessly subdued Hawkeye, who was climbing up from the floor.

“You are a man of will,” Loki said, restraining Barton with one hand while tapping his chest with the Mind Scepter in the other.

A blue light spread from the scepter, covering Barton’s eyes. Loki released his hold—as Barton was skilled and not aligned with the others, it was better to control him than to kill him.

Director Fury, seeing Barton being taken over, hurriedly pocketed the Cosmic Cube, trying to slip away. Loki quickly brought another surviving agent under his control.

“Please stop. I still need it,” Loki said, turning to face the Skrull disguised as Nick Fury.

Fury turned stiffly. “There’s no need for things to go this far.” “On the contrary, there is every need,” Loki interrupted. “I’ve come from worlds away for this.”

“I am Loki of Asgard, bearer of a great mission,” Loki declared, making it clear that the Cosmic Cube was Asgard’s treasure by right, and he had come to reclaim it.

“Loki? You’re Thor’s brother?” Dr. Selvig stood up, astonished. Loki turned, surprised to encounter someone who knew Thor here.

Fury interjected, breaking their gaze: “There is no enmity between our peoples.”

Loki laughed derisively at the pretense, but as the god of mischief, he had no intention of polite conversation. “There’s no enmity between ants and boots, either.”

Here, Loki misunderstood Fury’s intentions. Since S.H.I.E.L.D. had obtained the Cosmic Cube, they had researched it without interference from Asgard. Furthermore, Fury hadn’t instructed the Skrull on how to deal with the Cube’s former owners, so feigning ignorance was the best he could do. “Are you here to crush us, then?”

“I have no interest in crushing ants,” Loki replied, turning and controlling Dr. Selvig with the Mind Scepter. “My arrival is to bring new hope to this world.”

“You speak of hope, yet your actions are the opposite,” Fury said, shaking his head at Loki’s deeds.

“Director Fury is stalling for time,” Barton noted, glancing at the ceiling where gathered energy was already affecting the structure. “This place will explode soon; we’ll be buried alive.”

“Just like the pharaohs of ancient Egypt,” Fury joked, unfazed at being exposed.

“He’s right. The portal’s energy is collapsing—two minutes to the critical point,” Dr. Selvig confirmed after checking his data.

“Very well,” Loki said, glancing at Barton. Barton raised his gun and shot Fury. Loki knew Fury was only feigning injury—there was no need to control a Skrull, as he wouldn’t die anyway.

Loki’s group departed with the Cosmic Cube, and, as expected, Fury rose as soon as they left, removing shell casings from his bulletproof vest and contacting Hill to pursue Loki. (Watching the film, one might wonder why Barton didn’t aim for the head. In this story, this is the reason—did the film’s Barton also not want to kill Fury?)

After a tense vehicle pursuit, Loki’s group escaped the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, with Fury boarding a helicopter at the last moment to intercept them.

Unfortunately, Loki’s energy blasts reduced the helicopter to twisted wreckage. Fury and the pilot escaped, while Loki and his group slipped away. Under the veil of Loki’s illusions, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s satellites lost track of them.

...

“Director? Director Fury, can you hear me?” Coulson gazed worriedly at the ruined base. The collapse had swallowed the entire facility, and he feared for Fury’s safety.

“The Cosmic Cube has fallen into enemy hands. I have a wounded man here. Hill, what’s your situation?” Fury asked, helpless, as he watched Loki’s retreat.

“Many have been buried. There’s no telling how many survivors,” Hill replied, crawling from her car, the passage blocked by massive stones.

“Order everyone not involved in rescue to search for the Cube,” Fury commanded.

“Understood,” Hill replied.

“Coulson, return to base—this is a level seven event. From now on, war has come to us,” Fury said, staring at the direction in which Loki vanished. Whatever Loki planned, war was now inevitable.

“What should we do?” After a long silence, Coulson asked for specific orders.

“Assemble the Avengers,” Fury finally said. Though the Avengers Initiative had been suspended, in the face of Loki—immune to bullets, capable of magic, swift and deadly—deploying ordinary troops would be a grave mistake.

Coulson quickly contacted Natasha Romanoff, informing her that Barton had been compromised. Natasha, in the midst of an intelligence mission, swiftly dealt with her target and set off for Brazil to enlist Dr. Bruce Banner—the world’s foremost expert on gamma radiation.

Coulson himself went to Stark Tower to persuade Tony Stark, while Fury, after convincing the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, headed for Steve Rogers’ home.

...

The Rainbow Bridge delivered Atanis and Thor to New Mexico. As Thor landed and prepared to swing his hammer and fly off, Atanis grabbed him by the arm.