The two adhered to the concept that as long as I am not embarrassed, others will be embarrassed, and created a magical sound all night.
This area was filled with women's rooms. Hill, who lived nearby, tossed and turned, covering her ears and enduring the torture all night.
After the exercise, Lock rarely had a sweet sleep.
Suddenly—"Boom…Boom…"—two loud noises erupted, and the Helicarrier shook violently.
The alarm sounded, and everyone rushed out at once.
"Everyone, be careful, Loki invades!"
Lock opened his eyes and thought to himself, Loki really is a ghost that won't go away.
When they came out, chaos already filled the deck, with Fury and Hill giving constant orders in the control hall.
Fury said into the intercom:
"Tony, two turbine fans have been blown up. You go repair them, otherwise the mothership will crash."
"No problem with me. Is that guy Lock still asleep in Gentle Township?"
"Ahem, hey, Tony. I'm here."
"Then I'll leave Loki to you."
Hill quickly pulled up the surveillance feed and saw Loki slowly appearing near the side of a Quinjet, smiling evilly at the camera before disappearing again.
Hill said:
"The Quinjet that came back a few days ago must have been manipulated by Loki. Now he's sabotaging from inside the Helicarrier. Mr. Lock, I'm sorry to bother you—don't let him reach the reactor."
"Leave it to me."
Lock nodded, closed his eyes slightly, and began to sense every movement on the ship.
Suddenly, a gust of wind swept past, and he vanished before Hill's eyes.
At this time, Loki had entered invisibility. His target was indeed the nuclear reactor, exactly as Hill had guessed.
If successful, it would be equivalent to detonating a nuclear bomb inside the mothership, with devastating consequences.
In the original plot, Loki preferred to toy with people—he enjoyed watching everyone dance in his palm without knowing it.
But now, after failing to fake surrender and suffering a heavy loss at the hands of Lock and Black Widow, Loki's heart was full of resentment. He no longer wanted to tease; he wanted pure destruction to teach SHIELD a lesson.
The reactor loomed before him. A cold smile appeared on Loki's lips.
Just as he was about to act—
"Loki, long time no see."
"It's you?!" Loki was shocked.
The one who appeared was Lock. If he were here, then Loki's brother must also be near.
Loki hadn't expected the Rainbow Bridge repairs to be complete so soon. Originally, he thought it would take one to three years—more than enough time to smash Earth to pieces.
When Odin finally returned with his precious mortal in hand, seeing Earth in ruins would have been the sweetest revenge.
"My father is really generous—he even used dark energy to send you back to Earth. Fine, I surrender."
Loki slowly raised his hands. But just as the scepter touched his chest, a sharp "Zhi—" rang out and a blast of yellow light erupted.
Not at Lock—but at the nuclear reactor.
A proud smile spread across Loki's face. Tens of millions of degrees at the heart of a nuclear blast… even you, Lock, will be reduced to elementary particles.
Too bad he picked the wrong opponent.
The moment Loki said "surrender," Lock was already on guard. He instantly transformed, intercepting the yellow light.
But the moment it hit, Lock's body felt the crushing weight of it—as if he stood before a star itself, its boundless power pressing down.
Caught off guard, his feet carved long grooves into the alloy floor until his back slammed against the reactor.
"This isn't your power!"
Lock had endured the Eternal Fire nine times, reforged his body, and in two years had become many times stronger than before. Even if Loki had grown, there was no way he could wield such force.
Lock glanced at the scepter—its Mind Stone slot was empty.
"So it's the Mind Stone's power."
Even though the Mind Stone wasn't famous for raw destruction, it was still an Infinity Stone. Even borrowing just a fragment of its power was already this terrifying.
If Thor had been the one to intercept instead, Loki might have succeeded.
But the empty socket showed the truth—this wasn't the Stone itself, only a tether. Cautious as always, the god of trickery had borrowed power without bringing the real thing.
Loki laughed wildly:
"Again—let's see if you can stop this, too!"
Another yellow beam shot forth.
But this time, a dozen Lokis appeared, scattering down the passages.
Lock swatted the beam aside. It was only divine power this time, not true Mind Stone energy—he had already sensed the difference.
He ignored the clones, raised his hand, and grabbed at the empty air.
A figure shimmered into view—Loki himself.
After his humiliating defeat against Lock and Black Widow, Loki had learned his lesson, hiding behind a dozen clones and invisibility.
But Lock saw through it instantly, snaring him from the void.
Loki was nearly in tears. Why couldn't he ever win against these mortals?!
From the Destroyer's failure to Odin saving the Earthling over him, to failed surrenders, escapes, and sabotage—every plan had crumbled.
Lock looked at him, murderous intent flickering.
From start to finish, Loki had done nothing but spread misery across Earth. Maybe it was better to kill him here, timeline be damned.
Just as he was about to strike, Loki sensed the killing intent and shouted:
"I am Thor's brother!"
Lock sighed inwardly.
Thor still regarded Loki as his brother. Asgard still called him prince. The Eternal Fire reforged his body. Whatever the motives, the ties were real.
Killing him outright would be hard to justify—especially with Thor nearby.
Fine. Better to capture him first and let Thor decide.
Lock sealed Loki's movements with divine power, carrying him like a chicken back to the deck.
Meanwhile, the other skirmishes were nearly over.
SHIELD's soldiers had cleared the smaller invaders. Loki's sabotage had destroyed one extra engine compared to the original events, but Thor, Iron Man, and Captain America were already repairing and defending.
As for Hawkeye, he was locked in close combat with Black Widow—and losing. Without his bow, Barton was no match for the Widow.
Lock tossed Loki aside, grabbed Hawkeye, and said to Natasha:
"Take a break. Leave Barton to me."
He pressed two fingers against Hawkeye's forehead. Divine power flowed slowly inside.
The Mind Stone's control here was weak compared to what he'd faced at the reactor, but still tricky—woven tightly into Barton's brain. Lock carefully unraveled it.
After a moment, Hawkeye's darkened eyes cleared, and he gasped back to himself.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
Black Widow supported him. "Barton, do you remember what happened?"
Hawkeye nodded. "I remember… I hurt a lot of people."
Lock said:
"You don't need to feel guilty. You were controlled by the Mind Stone. The blame lies there—" he pointed at Loki—"not on you."
By then, everyone had gathered—Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, Fury, Hill—all surrounding Loki.
Fury felt cold sweat. If Lock hadn't been here, the Helicarrier would have gone up in a nuclear fireball.
Thor scolded:
"Loki, you are far too willful!"
"What right do you have to lecture me?" Loki sneered. "My father saved that mortal over me. You, Odin, Frigga—you are not my family."
Thor fell silent, guilt heavy on him. H, too, would have preferred Odin save Loki over himself.
Hill snapped:
"Loki, you are responsible for thousands of deaths on Earth. We'll try you according to the law—maximum penalty, death."
"Hey!" Thor barked. "He is my brother, show some respect."
"The death toll he's caused, directly or indirectly, is over three thousand."
"Uh… well, he's adopted. We're not that close."
Even so, Thor could never truly let Loki die.
At that moment, Tony frowned.
"Wait… aren't we missing someone?"
Everyone looked around. Dr. Banner was gone.
No—Hulk.
"ROAR!!!"
A thunderous roar shook the ship, followed by the sound of equipment smashing below.
Fury pinched his temple. Another headache. He was about to ask Lock to restrain the Hulk when—
"Boom!!!"
The Hulk crashed straight through the deck, leaping up.
Unfortunately, Loki was standing right where he landed.
The giant foot planted on Loki's face, grinding him into the steel deck.
"Damn it! You savage beast, get your foot off me!"
The Hulk glared down and rumbled:
"…Reptile."
"Enough! I've had enough of you mortals! I am a god, blood of Frost Giants, adopted son of Odin! You lowly earthlings are not worth—"
"Boom, boom, boom, boom…"
The Hulk stomped him into the ground repeatedly.
"Little reptile… too noisy…"
The stomps did little physical harm to Loki's divine body, but the humiliation was unbearable.
To make it worse, as Hulk transformed, his "green thing" swung free above Loki's face.
For Loki, pinned and powerless beneath it, his spirit collapsed completely.
His pale face twisted. The shame of a thousand years was nothing compared to this.
"You… you… kill me if you dare!"
"Hoo… reptile… then I kill you…"
The Hulk grabbed Loki's legs, lifted him—
And with a roar, tore him in half.
Thor screamed in horror:
"LOKI—!"
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A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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