For the first time that night,
the city felt something new:
anticipation.
It spread through the air like static, like everything—every rooftop, every streetlight—was holding its breath.
Hunter One had measured Loki.
Now Loki would answer.
Hunter One adjusted his stance, feet planted, shoulders loose, eyes fixed on Loki with machine focus.
He wasn't afraid.
He couldn't be.
Fear required emotion.
Hunter One had none.
But beneath that blank expression, his internal systems ran simulations at impossible speed:
Predicted outcome of direct engagement: 42%.
Predicted outcome if the target escalates: Undefined.
Undefined.
A word he had never encountered before Loki.
He locked onto Loki's heartbeat.
Stable. Slow.
Too slow.
"Engagement protocol," Hunter One said.
But Loki interrupted gently:
"No."
Hunter One paused mid-step.
Axis blinked.
"…No?"
Loki placed one hand on the back of his neck and rolled his shoulders, movement smooth and lazy, as if preparing to stretch rather than fight.
"If we're doing this," Loki said softly, "we do it my way."
Hunter One rushed forward.
Fast.
But Loki didn't dodge.
He stepped.
Just one step.
A small one.
Like he was adjusting his footing.
Hunter One's strike swept past empty air.
Before the Hunter finished the motion, Loki was behind him.
Axis's eyes bulged.
"He TELEPORTED—"
"No," Loki replied, already walking in a slow circle around Hunter One.
"I just moved."
Hunter One turned sharply, systems scrambling to re-track him.
"Your speed… anomalous."
"No," Loki repeated, tone neutral. "You're just calibrated wrong."
Hunter One struck again, faster than before— a flurry of blows, each one a blur.
Loki didn't block.
He didn't counter.
He simply stepped out of the way, every movement effortless, every dodge precise, as if Hunter One's attacks were arriving on a schedule Loki had already memorized.
Axis counted in disbelief:
"One—two—three—Loki, he's thrown like thirty punches—"
"Forty-two," Loki corrected calmly.
Hunter One froze mid-swing.
"…How?"
Loki tapped his temple.
"I can see your rhythm."
Hunter One recalibrated instantly.
His muscles locked.
Then—
CRACK—
He vanished again.
This time he appeared above Loki, descending like a meteor, fist aimed straight for Loki's skull.
Axis screamed, "LOKI, MOVE—"
Loki didn't.
He raised one hand.
Just one.
Fingers half-curled.
The rooftop shuddered as Hunter One's punch collided with Loki's palm.
A shockwave burst outward— windows on the surrounding buildings exploded.
Axis shielded his face.
Dust and debris swirled around the two figures.
But when the air cleared—
Loki was still standing, hand unmoved, expression blank.
Hunter One's fist hadn't pushed him back even a millimeter.
Hunter One processed the impact.
"Force output: ineffective."
Loki nodded once.
"Now you get it."
And then he tapped Hunter One's arm with a single finger.
Just a tap.
Gentle.
Soft.
Almost polite.
But the effect…
Hunter One was sent skidding backward across the rooftop, boots carving twin trenches in the concrete.
Axis stared.
"…What the hell was THAT?!"
"Correction," Loki murmured. "That was me moving."
Hunter One rose from the carved concrete, head tilted slightly.
He didn't feel pain.
But his internal alert flashed bright red:
IMPACT SEVERITY: CRITICAL.
UNKNOWN FORCE TYPE DETECTED.
He pressed a hand to the ground.
Something metallic unfolded along his spine.
Axis pointed at the shifting machinery.
"Oh no—no no no—why did his BACK just open like a suitcase?!"
Hunter One's voice glitched slightly as his systems unlocked.
> "Limiters… disengaged."
Loki blinked.
"…They gave you limiters?"
Hunter One's body hummed— muscles tightening, form sharpening, power rising.
"Threat evaluation recalculated."
His voice lowered.
"You are not a baseline anomaly."
Loki waited.
"You are a systemic threat."
Loki sighed.
"People keep telling me that."
---
On a dozen Division Zero monitors, Hunter One's vitals spiked.
The Director leaned forward.
"Interesting."
A scientist near him stammered:
"Sir—we've never seen Hunter One forced to unlock limiters. Shall we intervene?"
"No."
The Director clasped his hands behind his back.
"Let them finish."
Hunter One blurred.
This time he moved faster than before— so fast the rooftop fractured under the vacuum of his motion.
But Loki watched him approach as casually as someone watching a bird fly.
"Too linear," Loki murmured.
Hunter One appeared behind him.
Loki turned his head slightly.
"Too predictable."
Hunter One struck—
—but Loki caught his wrist mid-swing.
Held it.
Gently.
Almost like a handshake.
Hunter One struggled— but Loki's grip didn't budge.
"Assessment complete," Loki said quietly.
And then— he pushed.
Not hard.
Not explosively.
Just a controlled, precise push.
Hunter One was launched off the rooftop, across a gap between buildings, crashing into the side of a tower where he remained embedded, cracks spiderwebbing out around him.
Axis ran to the edge and stared.
"…Did you just throw a government super-weapon into a building with ONE HAND?!"
Loki dusted off his shirt.
"Yes."
Axis exhaled dramatically.
"I can't keep doing this, man. I'm only human."
Hunter One dropped from the tower wall, landing perfectly on his feet.
He wasn't defeated.
He wasn't angry.
He simply recalculated.
"Mission report," he said into his collar.
A voice responded:
> "Status?"
Hunter One looked up at Loki.
"Target Loki," he said, voice empty but somehow heavier.
"Threat level: immeasurable."
The Director's voice answered calmly:
> "Return.
Your mission is complete."
Hunter One took one last look at Loki.
Then he left.
No threat.
No warning.
Just acknowledgment.
Axis walked up to Loki slowly.
Very slowly.
"Loki… what exactly are you?"
Loki placed his hands in his pockets again.
Wind blowing softly. Flower still behind his ear.
"I told you," he said.
"I'm not hiding."
Axis stared.
"…That doesn't answer anything."
Loki smirked slightly.
"Good."