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*****
"What?"
Tony was flying in a different direction than Fini and didn't yet know Loki's exact location, so he faltered, sounding confused.
"Never mind!"
Fini thought to himself that it might just be a coincidence; Loki wouldn't necessarily choose Stark Tower as the site to open the space portal like in the original timeline—even if the building was incredibly conspicuous.
Unfortunately, as the three drew closer, Tony caught sight of Fini and Thor in the distance. He suddenly realized what Fini's earlier remark meant. His expression shifted instantly as he asked:
"Is Loki at Stark Tower?"
"Only if that fighter jet belongs to you!"
Fini hovered in mid-air, looking at a fighter jet parked on the building's rooftop. Nearby, a group of people was hurriedly installing some kind of device, among them the previously abducted Dr. Erik Selvig.
Without hesitation, Fini extended his palm and fired an "Explosion Magic" blast directly at the equipment. Regardless of what they were doing, he was certain it wasn't by Tony's request.
However, a bright white beam of light shot out from inside the building, intercepting Fini's "Explosion Magic."
Clad in his Asgardian armor and horned helmet, Loki stepped out slowly, clutching the Scepter. He stood defiantly in front of the workers.
"Loki!"
Seeing Loki, Thor became exceptionally agitated and charged straight down. Fini didn't even have time to stop him. Seeing this, Fini frowned and followed suit, descending to the roof.
Tony, however, didn't join the confrontation immediately. He entered his building from a different level; his Mark suit was severely damaged, and he needed to swap into a fresh set before showing Loki whose territory this really was.
"You seem to have recovered quite well!"
Compared to the emotional and disheveled Thor, Loki appeared calm and elegant, looking very much like a man who held all the cards.
"And you—where is that dragon!?"
Loki scanned the area, and only after confirming the Blue-Eyes White Dragon wasn't there did he address Fini: "You still have a chance. Submit to the will of a god."
"Once I rule the Earth, you can have anything you desire!"
"Anything?"
Fini suddenly asked with curiosity, "Then what if I ask you to turn into a woman and marry Thor!?"
"???"
Thor looked at his teammate in utter bewilderment. His mind involuntarily conjured an image of Loki as a woman; he shuddered and quickly thought of Jane Foster to snap himself back to reality.
Loki's expression flickered. Seeing Thor's reaction made his face turn even more sour. His grip on the Scepter tightened as he hissed coldly, "Mortal, you are committing sacrilege!"
"Rejecting a god's grace will be the greatest mistake of your life. Now, feel the power of your friend—Hulk!"
As the words fell, a roar erupted from the interior of the building. Glass shattered as a green blur burst through a window and landed heavily beside Loki.
The Hulk's eyes were tinted with a faint blue glow, his face a mask of pure rage.
"Is this why you think you've already won!?"
Fini looked at the Hulk. He saw no spark of recognition or joy in those eyes; it was as if the Hulk didn't know him at all.
Fini didn't have many friends, but the Hulk was definitely one of them. Though he had anticipated this scenario, facing it in person caused a deep surge of anger to swell within him.
"To be honest, it is truly surprising that a tiny place like Midgard harbors so many 'extraordinary' individuals," Loki remarked, glancing at the Hulk. When he first received the intel, he thought the humans were exaggerating, but seeing the Hulk in the flesh confirmed the reports were true.
"I promise you, you're going to regret coming to Earth!"
Fini spoke tonelessly, his fists clenching tight. He had no intention of wasting more words.
"Loki, hand over the Tesseract now and come back with me!" Thor shouted, hoping to avoid a fight as he saw Fini preparing to move.
"You are as naive as ever, brother!"
Loki sneered at Thor with a complex gaze. Then, without further ado, he commanded the Hulk: "Kill them!"
"ROAR!"
With a thunderous bellow, the Hulk charged toward Fini and Thor, his heavy footsteps cracking the pavement. Simultaneously, several laser weapons fired from the shadows in a coordinated volley.
Fini took to the air to dodge the opening attack. Looking down, he saw a squad of Chitauri soldiers pouring out from the building.
"Has Loki already opened the portal!?"
Fini's heart skipped a beat, but he quickly realized that was impossible. If the portal were open, there would be a massive disturbance. Loki must have realized Earth wasn't as weak as he thought and requested reinforcements. Opening a small, temporary doorway was likely within Loki's current capabilities.
This squad of Chitauri appeared to be elite—the rare type that didn't require the core of a mothership for control.
Still, as long as Loki didn't call Thanos himself, Fini wasn't worried. Rocket Raccoon had once called the Chitauri the "worst army in the universe," a reputation earned not just by their behavior, but by their actual combat prowess. Even "elites" were only marginally better than common soldiers with slightly better gear; they were an army that relied solely on numbers.
Loki likely didn't expect these soldiers to finish Fini, but he had high hopes for the Hulk. His original plan was to trap Fini at the previous base, but the Blue-Eyes White Dragon had ruined that. Now, he only needed to stall Fini long enough to activate the portal.
According to his calculations, once the portal was truly opened, no one would be able to close it until its stabilizing medium was exhausted.
Seeing Fini fly out of reach, the Hulk turned his attention to Thor. Since Thor was meeting the Hulk for the first time and had received no prior intel, he made a catastrophic error in judgment.
Despite the Hulk's intimidating mass of muscle, Asgardian warriors generally didn't judge a foe's strength by their size. If Thor had been cautious and used Mjolnir, the outcome might have been different. But to deal with the surrounding Chitauri snipers, he threw his hammer.
He tried to go toe-to-toe with the Hulk—an exceptionally enraged Hulk—with his bare hands.
The result: by the time Fini finished analyzing the Chitauri's arrival and looked back down, he saw Thor being punched clear off the building by the Hulk, hurtling toward the streets below.
Fortunately, Thor had Mjolnir; Fini wasn't worried about him falling to his death.
With Thor out of the way, the Hulk roared again and fixed his sights on Fini. Just as Fini prepared to open a portal to warp the Hulk away, a newly equipped Tony appeared.
To Fini's surprise, Tony wasn't wearing the Mark 7 or 8. He was wearing the "Hulkbuster."
Looking at the bulky, power-drenched frame of the Hulkbuster armor, Fini shook his head. The design philosophy screamed "Stark." It was clear Tony still held a grudge about being punched across a room years ago and wanted to get his revenge through raw strength.
However, Fini felt that unless the Hulkbuster was made entirely of Vibranium and the tech level was boosted several tiers higher, it would struggle to handle even a base-level Hulk. And once the Hulk got truly angry, he'd likely tear Vibranium apart too.
The moment Tony appeared in the Hulkbuster, before he could even get a word out, the Hulk's gaze locked onto him. Sensing the malicious intent behind the armor's design, the Hulk turned away from Fini and charged Tony instead.
Luckily, due to the previous incident with Ivan Vanko, Stark Tower had been renovated, and the roof had been reinforced. Otherwise, this fight would have collapsed the building already.
Despite the chaotic battle, Erik Selvig and the others continued their work without distraction. Loki stood guard over them, watching the fight with intense focus.
Fini didn't want to waste more time; he prepared a portal to send the Hulk away.
But just as he began to cast, Loki made his move. He tapped the Scepter against the Tesseract. A wave of pale blue energy flooded the area before fading away.
Fini's expression darkened. The stable spatial energy in the vicinity had suddenly become chaotic—like a normally gentle girlfriend suddenly hitting a period of extreme volatility.
Fini didn't dare open a portal now; he had no desire to accidentally dump the Hulk into deep space or an unknown dimension.
At that moment, Thor flew back up with Mjolnir in hand. Seeing him, Fini immediately shouted: "Go help Tony deal with the Hulk! I'll stop Loki!"
Normally, Fini wouldn't mind letting Thor handle Loki while he dealt with the Hulk. But with Loki on the verge of opening the portal, he knew Loki understood Thor too well. A few words from the Trickster God could probably confuse Thor long enough to finish the countdown.
Without waiting for Thor's answer, Fini dove toward Loki while chanting "Explosion Magic."
"Darker than black, darker than darkness, combine with my intense crimson!"
"The time of awakening has arrived!"
"Fall into the realm of error and become an invisible distortion!"
"Explosion!"
A crimson magic circle filled the sky. Below, New York citizens who had noticed the anomaly began shouting "Knight of Divine Punishment!" in awe.
Seeing the sheer power of this "Explosion Magic," Loki's face paled slightly. Had he encountered such an attack before coming to Earth, he would have had no choice but to dodge. But now, with two Infinity Stones in his possession, he had a way to respond.
Loki gripped the Scepter tightly. Facing the fierce onslaught of the Explosion, the Mind Stone within the Scepter flared with light, projecting a bright white energy shield around him.
BOOM!
Crimson flames collided with the white energy shield. The resulting shockwave sent Tony, Thor, the Hulk, and the Chitauri soldiers flying backward, tumbling off the edge of the building.
The already ruined rooftop was pulverized; almost nothing remained intact.
Fini's face soured. Loki had actually tanked the "Explosion Magic." Although the shield had thinned to the point of near-disappearance, it had held.
Fini breathed heavily, noting Loki's pale complexion. He knew tanking that hit hadn't been easy for the god either.
Since that "Explosion" had been at full output, firing another immediately wouldn't be easy. Fini descended from the air. He couldn't worry about Tony and the others right now—he refused to believe he couldn't take Loki down.
Without another word, Fini focused entirely on his seventh skill: Breathing Styles. The silver-white surface of "Incursio" was suddenly enveloped in a faint, shimmering red glow.
With the triple stack of "Incursio," "Breathing Styles," and "Ars Magna," his physical form reached a level of power he had never felt before.
He gathered his strength and stepped forward. His silhouette vanished as if he had teleported.
In the next heartbeat, he appeared directly in front of a shocked Loki.
"I'm going to be a melee mage for once today!"
With that, he swung a fist straight at Loki's fair, clean face.
(End of Chapter)