Chapter Ten: Loki Appears

Upon arriving at the aerial mothership, Dr. Banner was the first to suggest using gamma rays emitted by the Cosmic Cube to estimate its approximate location. His idea received Fury’s approval, and as he departed, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s surveillance staff discovered Loki’s whereabouts.

Although the reason for Loki’s blatant appearance there remained unknown, Fury swiftly issued combat orders, instructing Natasha and Captain America to proceed ahead, while simultaneously contacting Iron Man.

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Aelstar – Koshaka – Council Hall

After receiving news from Artanis, the members of the Council of Light and Shadow held a small-scale discussion. The Chitauri invasion, insignificant in the vastness of the cosmos, was recognized by the seers of the Empire of the Protoss as a test by the forces of darkness.

“Though we cannot intervene directly, we must remain ever vigilant,” Elder Edmond said, monitoring the Chitauri army through the surveillance devices. Upon receiving Artanis’s report, the Empire swiftly set its sights on this race.

Ever since discovering the peculiar biological structure of the Chitauri, the Empire was tempted to eliminate them outright. Ultimately, the prophets persuaded restraint, reasoning that destroying one Chitauri would lead to another; so long as the Dark God remained, such servant races would proliferate endlessly. Allowing the Chitauri to exist, however, enabled the Empire to gather intelligence by monitoring their actions.

Yet, the cunning Dark God took advantage of the Empire’s focus on the Chitauri to annihilate the Eternals of Titan.

Since the establishment of the Interstellar Tribunal, few civilizations had been destroyed so utterly. The upper echelons of the Empire were furious, for this was clearly a test by the Dark God. But they understood that anger alone would not bring victory. Upon confirming that only one Eternal remained, the Empire became remarkably tolerant of this survivor’s extreme actions, for even his most outrageous deeds amounted to nothing more than slaughtering half the population of a planet—insufficient grounds for prosecution by the Tribunal. This survivor was none other than Thanos.

Unbeknownst to the Empire, Thanos’s actions were influenced by the Dark God, who sought to obliterate half the life in the universe for a twisted notion of balance. Thanos himself was unaware of this manipulation.

Moreover, the Empire failed to realize that another Eternal still lived: Deimos, Thanos’s twin brother. Deimos had witnessed Titan’s destruction firsthand and was bent on revenge against Thanos. He inherited the last technological legacy of the Eternals and teleported to a desolate world at the moment of Titan’s demise, thus preserving his life.

Returning to the Chitauri, once it was discovered they had been subdued by Thanos, the Empire dispatched a wise sage to quietly probe Thanos’s mind. Suspecting him to be a minion of the Dark God, the sage confirmed that no trace of dark energy lingered within Thanos, puzzling the Empire, which could only surmise that Thanos valued the Chitauri for their strength.

Yet, prophetic visions now revealed that the Chitauri were indeed the Dark God’s claws, and this invasion of Midgard marked a crossroads of fate—everything, for better or worse, would manifest in this battle.

Thus, while the Empire would not participate directly, its fleets were already assembled. Should Thanos be confirmed as the Dark God’s apostle, the Golden Armada would show him that his so-called army was utterly insignificant.

“Artanis’s report says a prince of Asgard has infiltrated Thanos’s ranks as an undercover agent. We certainly owe them a great favor this time,” Senator Meredith said, troubled. Asgard, a permanent member of the Interstellar Tribunal and ruler of the Nine Realms, was never short on resources, and repaying such a debt would not be easy.

“I suspect it’s related to Ragnarok. Odin is about to ascend, and his two sons have yet to become demigods. According to records from parallel universes, the sealed Hela is likely to return,” Elder Smollett remarked optimistically. After all, the Empire’s overall strength surpassed Asgard’s; if the latter truly sought something, it could only be military support.

After much discussion, the elders finally decided to leave the follow-up to Artanis, who was rumored to have a good relationship with the next king of Asgard.

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Midgard – Germany, Stuttgart, 28 Kunin Street – Banquet Hall

Loki descended the stairs with an air of elegance. The attendees of this banquet all belonged to so-called high society, so at first no one paid much attention to the graceful newcomer, assuming he was one of their own.

It was not until Loki entered the hall that a vigilant guard noticed his sudden appearance and tried to subdue him, only to be knocked unconscious with a single blow.

Immediately, Loki subdued Dr. Heinrich Seifer, the host of the banquet and his target for this mission. In his laboratory was iridium meteorite, vital for stabilizing the portal opened by the Cosmic Cube.

Loki took out a retinal scanner and pressed it to Dr. Heinrich’s eye. He had already assessed that the doctor was no decent man, so he acted decisively and perfectly in line with his current persona. (For plot reasons, the author couldn’t find information on the doctor—let’s just call this a parallel world.)

The surrounding elites watched Loki’s actions in terror. Upon seeing Dr. Heinrich’s miserable fate, the crowd let out screams and fled in panic, disregarding all decorum. Even women in high heels matched the others’ pace in their frantic escape.

With Heinrich’s retinal data, Agent Barton safely opened the laboratory door and retrieved the iridium meteorite.

As the crowd dispersed, Loki resumed his true appearance. Antlered helm on his head, clad in golden armor, and wielding the scepter of the mind, Loki strode outside step by step.

German police, responding to the emergency, attempted to approach, but Loki smashed the surrounding empty vehicles into the square with his scepter, sealing off the area in front of the hall.

As the crowd tried to flee into the pedestrian street, Loki’s duplicates appeared, encircling them.

Watching the panicked masses, Loki’s gaze grew impatient: “You foolish mortals, kneel before me!”

The mind scepter radiated a blue glow, effortlessly subduing the will of all present. The terrified crowd ceased their screaming and knelt to Loki on one knee.

Seeing the kneeling masses, Loki finally smiled: “That’s it. Isn’t it better to obey? I am your savior. Submit to me, and I shall grant you redemption.”