"Hah—this cage was specially prepared for that monster."
Loki chuckled as he raised the remote control in his hand and shook it slightly.
"Humans always believe that gods are immortal. But honestly, I'm curious myself—care to test it?"
At that moment, Coulson arrived in front of Loki, holding a weapon developed from the Tesseract.
"Please hand over the remote," Coulson said calmly. "You should know the power of this thing."
He activated the weapon. Waves of blue energy surged forward, steadily building.
Loki's expression changed. Slowly, he raised both hands.
Coulson advanced step by step. "I think you know exactly how powerful this is. As for me… I'm not entirely sure yet. Want to find out?"
The instant Coulson finished speaking, another Loki suddenly appeared behind him. A dagger flashed, stabbing viciously toward Coulson's back.
"No!!"
Thor roared in rage, lightning crackling wildly in his eyes.
Whoosh—
A white web shot out, sticking firmly to Loki's dagger. A tremendous force followed, yanking it away before Loki could react, sending the weapon spinning off.
Two figures appeared beside Coulson, shielding him.
"Hey, Lucas really called it," Peter said, clad in his new suit, the large lenses on his mask narrowing and widening as he stared at Loki. "This guy—Atreus, right?—is seriously devious. Can't win head-on, so he always goes for cheap sneak attacks. Shameless!"
"Lucas was absolutely right," Gwen added, circling Coulson once to confirm he was unharmed before relaxing. "Coulson, you owe him a huge favor. If he hadn't told us to come save you, you'd be dead already."
Coulson's forehead was drenched in cold sweat. What had just happened was terrifyingly close—if Peter and Gwen had arrived even a second later, he would have been killed.
"That's not an easy favor to repay…" Coulson muttered, wiping his brow.
"Leave now. We'll handle things here," Gwen said firmly.
Loki's schemes were endless, and Coulson, being an ordinary human, would only be in danger if he stayed.
Coulson nodded and quickly withdrew. He knew remaining would only make him a liability.
Loki turned to Thor and suddenly smiled.
"Goodbye, my brother."
He pressed the button on the remote.
A violent sense of weightlessness struck instantly. The cage holding Thor was released and thrown off the Helicarrier.
At an altitude of tens of thousands of meters, even an Asgardian god could be reduced to pieces.
Trapped inside the free-falling cage, Thor barely had time to adjust his posture. He spun wildly, disoriented by the plunge.
He struggled to stabilize himself, but every attempt failed—the cage kept tumbling just out of control.
"Damn it—hold still!!"
With a furious shout, Thor swung Mjolnir and smashed it against the glass. To his surprise, it worked—the cage jolted and briefly halted. Seizing the chance, Thor adjusted his posture, preparing to break free.
Just as the cage was about to slam into the ground, Thor burst out at the very last moment, plummeting straight down.
Boom! Boom!
One crash was the cage, shattered into fragments.
The other was Thor, headfirst into the earth.
"Pah—pah!"
Thor stood up, covered in dirt and debris. Mjolnir was nowhere to be seen. Before him stretched an endless ocean—he had no idea where he was.
"Damn it…"
Back on the Helicarrier, Peter watched Thor fall and shouted in alarm, charging straight toward Loki. Gwen fired webbing, trying to restrain him.
But both Peter's punch and Gwen's web passed straight through Loki's body.
From the very beginning, Loki's true body had never been here. Whether it was the Loki who confronted Thor earlier or the one facing Peter and Gwen now—both were merely illusions.
Loki faded from view, leisurely slipping through the chaos aboard the Helicarrier. He made his way into the laboratory, where his Mind Scepter lay.
"Oh—so this is where you were hiding."
He stepped forward and reached for the scepter.
Suddenly, crimson energy blocked his path, and a dark figure lunged at him.
Loki dodged with agility. A dagger appeared in his hand as he counterattacked without mercy.
Felicia, silver-haired, evaded the strike with ease. She kicked Loki's wrist sharply—the dagger flew from his grasp.
But Loki smiled, his scheme succeeding.
The disarmed dagger abruptly changed direction midair, shooting toward Wanda.
Wanda calmly raised her hand.
The dagger froze instantly—then disintegrated into dust.
This was something she had learned at Kamar-Taj. The Ancient One had thoroughly explained the nature of Chaos Magic and its applications. Wanda's talent was extraordinary—she had already grasped most of it.
Loki froze.
At that moment, two long, powerful legs wrapped around his neck.
The world spun violently—then bang, his body slammed into the floor.
Felicia had taken him down with a clean scissor kick.
Loki tried to rise, but crimson energy flared again, transforming into countless sharp blades that locked down every possible movement.
Feeling the Chaos energy radiating from those blades, Loki's expression finally changed. For the first time, he sensed the unmistakable presence of death.
"Hey—relax. I mean no harm," Loki said, raising his hands with feigned ease.
"Enough tricks, Loki," Felicia said coldly as she stepped forward, kicking away a dagger near him. Her black high heel pinned his wrist to the floor. "Surrender."
"Wow," Loki said with a grin despite being restrained. "Being stepped on by a beautiful woman—what an honor."
Felicia, clad in her tight black suit, stared down at him with icy contempt.
She and Wanda were Lucas's contingency plan—specifically to prevent Loki from stealing back the Mind Scepter.
And Loki had walked straight into it.
Seeing that Felicia wouldn't respond, Loki turned his gaze to Wanda.
"I've seen this kind of energy before," he said slowly. "Your power is remarkably pure—unlike others, whose is full of impurities."
Whether he had truly seen it before didn't matter. What mattered was that he was stalling, searching for an opening.
Wanda remained unmoved.
At Kamar-Taj, she had learned the true origin of her power. She knew that she embodied one of the purest forms of dark magic—directly descended from its very source.
"You know," Loki continued softly, "this power has its flaws. The more you use it, the more darkness seeps into your heart. Bit by bit, it will consume you—until eventually…"
He smiled mysteriously.
"…everyone you care about will die because of you. Killed by that darkness you can no longer control."
He tilted his head, pretending to think.
"That man—Lucas, was it? The one you care about most. The day the darkness overwhelms you… he'll be the first to die by your hand."
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