The tunnel shook as the Reaper stepped fully into view, red circuitry burning across his arms like living magma.
Axis swore under his breath.
"That's a Reaper-General… Loki, we should really—"
But Loki didn't react.
Not fear, not tension, not even interest.
He just tilted his head slightly, eyes half-lidded, Silent Edge hanging in his hand like it weighed nothing.
His posture said it all:
I'm bored. Impress me.
The Reaper noticed.
His expression tightened—only barely, but enough.
"Your indifference is noted, Subject Loki."
Loki blinked slowly.
"That's because you haven't done anything worth paying attention to."
Axis slapped a hand over his face.
"Oh my god, can you not provoke the man whose job is killing people stronger than tanks—"
The Reaper raised one glowing hand.
"Then I shall correct your perception."
The air bent—
heat distorting reality—
and the Reaper vanished.
To most people, that would have been terrifying.
To Loki?
He stepped one inch to the left.
The Reaper reappeared behind him, fist coated in red fractal energy. It missed Loki by a hair—only because Loki's casual sidestep made it miss.
Axis choked.
"He moved before he vanished—Loki, how the hell—"
Loki yawned.
"You're loud."
The Reaper's eyes narrowed.
"Predictive motion. Calculated from the air displacement. Exceptional."
Loki shrugged.
"Not exceptional. Obvious."
The Reaper's teeth clenched—just slightly.
"Arrogance is a weakness."
"No," Loki corrected, brushing dust from his sleeve. "Confidence becomes arrogance only when the speaker is wrong."
He raised Silent Edge, letting its tip drag lightly along the ground with a metallic whisper.
"I'm not wrong."
The Reaper blurred again—
three afterimages—
three simultaneous attack vectors.
Axis stepped back.
"Loki! That's a triple split—he's attacking on three timelines at once—YOU NEED TO MOVE—"
Loki didn't move.
At all.
He simply lifted Silent Edge and flicked it through the air—
once.
The entire tunnel rang with a single clear metallic note.
The three Reaper images froze.
Glitched.
Collapsed into dust.
The real Reaper stumbled backward six steps, dragging deep control breaths into his lungs.
"What—"
He checked his arms—red circuitry flickering.
"—what did you just do?"
Loki finally looked at him directly.
Expression calm.
Voice soft.
Aura heavy enough to press the air down.
"You telegraph your attacks."
The Reaper stared, disbelief cracking through his composure.
"Telegraph…? I split into three simultaneous attack states—"
"And each had the same breath pattern," Loki said simply. "Predictable."
The Reaper shook with restrained frustration.
"You are—statistically—impossible."
Loki finally showed a hint of emotion.
A small, bored smile.
"Good."
---
Red sigils burst across the tunnel walls as the Reaper slammed his palms down.
The ground cracked.
Energy surged.
Axis cursed loudly.
"That's Red State Amplification! Loki, seriously, we should—"
"No," Loki interrupted calmly. "Let him."
The Reaper rose, body glowing bright red, steam pouring off him.
His voice layered with a metallic undertone.
"Loki.
You will kneel."
Loki wiped a fleck of dust from his cheek.
"No. I won't."
The Reaper lunged—
a red comet—
shattering the concrete under his boots.
Loki flicked Silent Edge upward.
A single motion.
Effortless.
Almost lazy.
The red comet became a collapsing torrent of scattered light as the Reaper was cut out of his own charge, flipping across the station and slamming into a pillar so hard the entire metro shook.
Axis whistled low.
"…Man, you're terrifying."
Loki didn't answer.
He just watched the Reaper climb out of the crater.
---
The Reaper panted—
Not from weakness.
From realization.
"You're not an anomaly… You're…"
His eyes widened.
"…an apex variant."
Axis froze.
"Wait—what? Loki—do you know what that means—?"
Loki answered flatly.
"I don't care."
The Reaper lowered his head slightly—
not submission.
Respect.
"Then I understand."
He raised one hand in a gesture not of hostility—
but acknowledgment.
"Division Zero will escalate its threat response."
He looked directly into Loki's eyes.
"And they will send a Director next."
Axis went pale.
"Loki… directors don't fight. They erase."
Loki exhaled as if that were mildly annoying.
"Then they should hurry."
The Reaper blinked, taken aback by the sheer lack of fear.
He gave a final nod.
"This ends our encounter. For now."
Then—
in a swirl of red fractal dust—
he vanished.
Axis waited three full seconds.
Then—
"…Loki?"
"Mm."
"Please explain how you stayed that calm while fighting a walking apocalypse."
Loki stretched his wrists as if he'd merely lifted something heavy.
"He wasn't worth getting nervous over."
Axis laughed—part disbelief, part admiration.
"You're unreal."
Loki sheathed Silent Edge, aura settling but still heavy enough that the air felt dense.
"No," he said calmly, stepping past Axis toward the exit.
"I'm just getting started."