Chapter Nine: Preparations on All Sides

“Thor, do you know where to find Loki?” Artanis looked at Thor with a hint of helplessness—how could this guy want to fly off the moment they landed?

“I don’t know, but since Heimdall sent us here, Loki must be nearby.” Thor spoke with certainty. Heimdall could see and hear anywhere across the Nine Realms, so Loki had to be close.

“But I don’t sense any trace of Loki’s mind.” Artanis extended his senses for a hundred miles around, but there was no sign of Loki.

“Then he must be hiding. I know his tricks. I’ll go ahead.” Thor paid no mind to Artanis’s sensing, swinging his hammer as he soared into the sky. He was impatient to see Loki again. What he didn’t know was that Heimdall, having only just learned this spell, was not yet able to pinpoint locations accurately.

Unable to stop Thor, Artanis watched him disappear into the distance and gave up on searching for Loki together. Instead, he decided to contact the Protoss Empire and report on recent events.

At that moment, a golden portal opened before Artanis. The Ancient One nodded to him from within the gateway.

Artanis stepped through and bowed. “Thank you for your help, Ancient One. Will Kamar-Taj intervene in this matter?”

“Artanis, Kamar-Taj will not intervene, nor will the Protoss Empire,” the Ancient One replied, shaking her head. “They have the strength to resolve this on their own. But you, on the other hand, may involve yourself.”

Artanis had already expected the Empire would not interfere, but the Ancient One’s words made his eyes light up. “Of course, I am Thor’s friend. Thank you for the reminder.”

The Ancient One smiled and walked into another portal. Artanis considered for a moment, then began to contact the Empire.

As expected, the Protoss Empire had no intention of intervening but agreed that Artanis could participate in a personal capacity. However, this meant he would receive no support from home, including the use of scanners.

Resigned, Artanis ended the communication with the Empire and closed his eyes to contact Thor: ‘Hey, Thor? Can you hear me?’ Before coming to Midgard, he’d given Thor a communication crystal, which now came in handy.

Thor was startled by the voice in his mind, but quickly realized what it was. “Artanis? I can hear you. Where did you go? Did you find Loki?”

Thor had flown a few circles nearby and found no trace of Loki. He had to admit Artanis was probably right, but by the time he returned, Artanis had vanished and he could only search for Loki on his own.

It wasn’t his fault he’d forgotten the communication crystal. Though Artanis had told him it could be used to keep in touch, Thor’s mind was entirely occupied with Loki and such minor details slipped away.

‘You don’t need to shout—just think it in your head,’ Artanis replied. The crystal allowed both telepathy and direct conversation, but telepathy was much more efficient, and Thor’s booming voice was quite overwhelming.

‘I’m at Kamar-Taj now. I haven’t found Loki,’ Artanis answered briefly. ‘Where are you? Let’s split up and search.’

Thor had a strange intuition about Loki, while Artanis could search for him through psychic senses. If it weren’t for the sheer number of lifeforms on Midgard, Artanis would have scanned everyone’s thoughts directly.

‘I’m flying toward the sunrise. My gut tells me Loki is in that direction.’ Adjusting to the crystal, Thor followed his intuition and found the communicator quite useful.

Artanis trusted his instincts as well. ‘All right, I’ll search that way too. If anything comes up, contact me with the crystal. Just think of reaching me and it’ll activate, and the same to turn it off.’ Artanis explained the crystal’s use once more, confident that after this, Thor wouldn’t forget.

‘Got it. See you later.’ Thor ended the communication and headed toward Europe, while Artanis prepared to leave Kamar-Taj.

Meanwhile, Loki was at the base of an underground organization. With the help of Agent Barton and the Mind Scepter, they had easily taken control of the place.

The Mind Scepter glowed blue as Loki felt his consciousness drawn into another space. The magic Thanos had cast upon the gem allowed Loki to communicate with the Chitauri.

“The Chitauri are growing impatient,” croaked a raspy voice as the Chitauri’s representative appeared in the mental realm.

“Tell them to be ready. I will lead them to a glorious campaign,” Loki’s form materialized, cautious with every word.

“A campaign? Against those frail humans?” The Chitauri clearly despised humanity’s strength, and Loki’s words only angered him further.

“A glorious blitz, so long as your armies are as powerful as you claim.” Loki knew the key to making someone overlook details was to enrage them.

“You dare question our might?!” The Chitauri was clearly no match for the God of Mischief. “You question the one who saved you from exile, gave you the scepter, bestowed knowledge, and assigned you this new mission!”

“I was once King of Asgard,” Loki retorted. “I was only betrayed.”

“Shortsighted fool!” The Chitauri gloated, convinced that Loki was indeed brainless. “A tiny human world means nothing to us. Our gaze is fixed upon the universe soon to be unlocked by the Tesseract…”

“Pity the Tesseract is still in my hands.” Loki interrupted, infuriating the Chitauri, who floated right up to him.

“I am not threatening you,” Loki ignored the hand thrust before him, staring coldly. “But unless your army obeys my commands, all your futures are empty words.”

“You will get what you want, Asgardian,” the Chitauri withdrew his hand, circling behind Loki, “but if you fail—no matter where you flee—he will show you a fate worse than death.”

The vision faded and Loki’s awareness returned to his body, his eyes narrowing: [I’ll make you understand what a fate worse than death truly is.]

For the next stage of his plan, Loki discussed with Barton a strategy to lure their enemies away. Though he had no intention of truly invading Earth, letting the Chitauri enter would better deceive Thanos, though the choice of location required careful consideration.

...

Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. had already launched their airborne command carrier, employing every means to search for Loki’s whereabouts.