"It's not just about preference," Fury corrected, his voice sharp. "If your father thought Loki was the better King, you wouldn't be here. You'd be in a cell. Or dead."
"Odin is testing you," Fury emphasized. "That means you are Plan A. Loki is not Plan B. Loki is... something else."
"Why?" Thor asked, genuinely confused. "Loki is clever. He is a master of magic. He has a silver tongue. He would make a fine ruler."
"Because," Fury leaned forward, "Lucas's diary says otherwise."
"In the timeline where you die," Fury explained, "Loki uses your death as an excuse to invade Earth. He brings an army. He threatens to burn the planet."
"That is not the action of a benevolent King," Fury pointed out. "That is the action of a conqueror. A tyrant."
"If Loki takes the throne," Fury concluded grimly, "Earth isn't a protected protectorate anymore. It's a target."
Thor fell silent. The idea of Loki hurting Midgard—hurting Jane—was unthinkable. But the diary had been right about so much already.
"My brother... a tyrant?" Thor whispered. "No. He is mischievous, yes. But evil? I cannot believe it."
"Believe what you want," Fury shrugged. "But the facts are: Odin exiled you. He didn't exile Loki. Yet he locked the hammer for you. He wants you back."
"So," Fury stood up. "We need to figure out what Odin wants. What is the lesson?"
"Only one person knows for sure," Coulson chimed in. "Lucas."
"Then I will find him!" Thor roared, jumping to his feet. "I will grab this mortal and demand answers! Why does my father test me? What is the key?"
"Sit down," Fury ordered. "You can't go to him."
"Why not?" Thor challenged. "I am Thor Odinson! I go where I please!"
"Because," Fury said calmly, "of the Rules."
"The diary has a fail-safe," Fury explained. "If you try to reveal its existence to Lucas, or interfere with him based on its knowledge... you get punished."
"Punished?" Thor scoffed. "I have withstood the fire of dragons! The frost of Jotunheim! A mortal book cannot hurt m—"
Suddenly, Thor doubled over.
A searing pain ripped through his mind. It wasn't physical. It was existential. It felt like his soul was being put through a blender.
"AAAAARGH!" Thor screamed, clutching his head. He fell to his knees, gasping for air.
The pain vanished as quickly as it came.
Thor lay on the floor, sweating, trembling.
"By the Norns..." Thor wheezed. "What... was that?"
"That," Fury said dryly, "was the Spoiler Warning."
"Do not try to game the system, Thor," Fury warned. "The diary protects itself. And it protects Lucas."
Thor nodded weakly. He believed it now. That pain was worse than any wound he had ever suffered. It was a direct attack on his consciousness.
"So we cannot ask him," Thor groaned, pulling himself into a chair. "Then how do we know?"
"We use subtlety," Coulson suggested, a gleam in his eye. "We can't ask him directly. But we can... influence him."
"Lucas writes about what he sees," Coulson explained. "He comments on the news. He reacts to events."
"If we create an event," Coulson smiled, "he might write about it. And in his commentary, he might reveal the answer."
"Like baiting a fish," Hawkeye nodded. "We put something shiny in the water, and wait for him to bite."
"Exactly," Coulson agreed. "We need to stage a scenario that makes Lucas think about Thor's banishment. Something that triggers a rant about Odin's parenting skills."
"And in that rant," Fury finished, "he might drop the clue we need. The key to being 'Worthy'."
"Brilliant," Thor grunted, still recovering. "You Midgardians are devious. You would make good Lokis."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Fury smirked. "So, what's the play? How do we get Lucas's attention without alerting him?"
"We need something big," Tony's voice came over the comms (he had been listening in). "Something flashy. Something... superheroic."
"Leave it to me," Tony said. "I know how to make headlines."
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