"Is everyone alright?!"
"I am getting tired of being blown up these days!" Hercules yelled as he pushed the rubble off of his back and got up, letting Cho get up. The young genius had been under Hercules as the Lion of Olympus shielded him from the explosion.
"You can say that again." Thor said as he too got out from under the rubble. "I remember the times when explosions were rare, they needed proper sorcerers to prepare them. Now modern technology allows anyone to make explosions."
"Whatever you say, grandpa." Kala said as he too climbed out of the rubble, followed by Bruce and Skaar, and started looking around; searching for the culprit.
Yet the only thing he found was Doom, standing like nothing had happened with a green forcefield around him.
"How insulting." The ruler of Latveria spoke, his tone as frigid as ice. "Whoever planned this, they were very insulting. Thinking that an attack of this calibre could pose a threat to Doom."
"So I guess it wasn't you." Bruce said with a frown, not sure if he was happy about it or not.
"I would never sully Latverian soil with such an act. If I wanted to kill any of you, I would either do it with my own hands or at least somewhere less valuable than Latverian soil."
"Where is Loki?" Thor asked, his tone a mixture of worry and resignation; as if he was about to learn that Loki was behind the explosion and was their enemy.
"Umm, over there." Amadeus said with an uncertain tone as he pointed to a pile of rubble, where the goddess of mischief was lying down upon with closed eyes and a white lily grasped in her hands, which were clasped together on her chest.
"Loki, get up."
"Loki can't hear you, she is dead. The only thing to bring her back to life would be the words of true love from a brother." A voice suspiciously like Loki's echoed throughout the air, coincidentally at the same time the corner of her mouth twitched.
Thor stared dully at the 'corpse' of his sister.
"Loki."
"She passed as she lived." The disembodied voice continued sadly. "Beautiful, misunderstood, and surrounded by people who failed to appreciate her."
"Then she should at least get a proper burial." Thor deadpanned and nodded at Hiro Kala, who simply stomped his foot once and the rubble around her swallowed Loki's 'corpse'.
"Gah!" Which then exploded with a green energy blast as the goddess of mischief rose with a pout. "You are not fun anymore."
"Cease your incessant ramblings." Doom said as he knelt down and swiped the ground. "Our attacker has left us a signature."
We gathered around the ruler of Latveria to look at what he had uncovered. A burnt mark, at where one could assume to be the center of the explosion.
It... appeared to be a circle with horns around it, with some sort of serpent at the bottom.
"Sun disk and horns, the symbol of Isis; the Egyptian goddess." Doom declared.
"That makes no sense." Hercules said with a frown as he scratched his head. "Celestial Heliopolis tend to have little interest in mortal realm, with those who do only interfering through mortal champions. Like Khonsu with Moon Knight and Bast with Black Panther."
"Not to mention serpents are not something she's associated with." Thor put his two cents in as well. "Some other group trying to frame her?"
"Then they are doing a shoddy job, considering how quickly you two managed to make that theory." Kala said with a raised eyebrow.
"It doesn't matter, whoever has tried to attack us has violated the sovereignty of Latveria. They will pay for it dearly."
"Love the enthusiasm, Doom dear. Really, I do." Loki said as she inspected her nails. "But I really hope that your big plan is not to just go up to Celestial Heliopolis and demand answers. Cause I genuinely like your flair and it would be a shame to attend to your funeral so soon."
"You believe such a task is beyond Doom?" The ruler of Latveria asked, his tone dangerous.
"Oh, do not be offended. I am sure that you could play the big bad with any pantheon as long as you have some prep time. But when it comes to Heliopolis, you are forgetting a teensy-weensy but ever so crucial little tiny detail that is the fact that they have fucking Demogorge."
"Not anymore." Hercules said with a sigh as he looked down. "Demogorge is dead."
"...excuse me?"
"During the invasion of the Skrulls, me and a team of deities called the God-Squad went to their home-world to battle their gods. During the battle, Demogorge was lost." Hercules said, still having conflicted feelings about the loss of the Elder God.
"Yeah, I call bullshit on that." Loki said with a snort. "Heliopolis gods are far more astral than the rest of us, that's the whole reason they have to use mortal champions. No, Demogorge may have gotten himself 'killed' in front of you but his real form is probably just taking a nap to deal with the aftershock of 'dying'. Which is all the more reason you shouldn't mess with them." She then turned back to Doom with a glare. "The longer that monstrosity remains asleep, the happier we all are."
"You sound quite sure of your theory." Hercules said with a raised eyebrow, not sure if he like what he was hearing.
"If that isn't enough for you, here's another proof that the old glutton is still alive. No earthquakes have sunk any cities in the recent times."
"How is that proof?" Bruce asked but was answered by Thor.
"She is right. Demogorge might be a scourge on gods but he is also Atum, the firstborn of Gaea. She would have had some sort of reaction to his death."
"We have strayed far from the true question." Doom declared with a glare. "Whether Celestial Heliopolis had something to do with this attack or not, there is no way a whole pantheon could be behind this. What I must know is the identity of the culprit." He then raised his hands and green lightning started gathering around them, which then thrusted at the symbol on the ground.
The combination of circle, horns and serpent glowed brightly for a moment before dimming; followed by a glow creating a trail that went into the forests.
"This way."
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