Loki. The Battle of New York.
When those two keywords were placed side-by-side in the same diary entry, Nick Fury's one good eye flared with a sharp, terrifying realization.
Although Lucas only mentioned it in passing as a joke, connecting the dots wasn't difficult.
The Battle of New York was directly connected to Loki.
Nick Fury wasn't the only one who realized it. The elite S.H.I.E.L.D. agents surrounding him immediately caught the implication as well.
"How does Loki tie into an alien invasion in New York?" Hawkeye asked, his brow furrowed.
Sure, Lucas's diary was currently mocking Loki for some humiliating "iconic scene" that happened during the battle. Whatever it was, it was clearly incredibly embarrassing for the God of Mischief.
But S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't care about Loki's dark history or comedic moments. They weren't reading the diary for laughs. They were reading it to survive.
"Well, he obviously didn't come to New York for a vacation," Natasha stated dryly.
"But I thought Loki was dead," Hawkeye frowned, looking at Coulson. "Didn't Thor say he fell off the Bifrost into the cosmic abyss?"
"He obviously survived," Coulson replied smoothly. "And the diary has heavily implied he was alive this entire time. Remember? Lucas wrote that Loki would eventually witness the deaths of both his mother and his father and weep bitterly. If he was already dead, how could he witness their future deaths?"
Coulson tapped his fingers on the table. "Don't forget the video of the Dark Elf invasion we watched. Loki was locked inside an Asgardian prison cell when Queen Frigga was murdered. That proves he is alive right now. Lucas knows it for a fact, which is why he writes about him so casually. There is a massive gap in our intelligence regarding what Loki has been doing, and that gap is exactly what we need to fill."
"Exactly," Fury nodded. "The question now is, what did Loki go through to survive the fall, and how does it lead to a war in New York?"
"Could this be the timeline where he leads the Asgardian army to conquer Earth?" Hawkeye theorized. "We saw a video of that scenario in the diary a few weeks ago."
"Impossible," Agent Hill immediately shot down the theory. "According to Lucas, that timeline was an entirely different universe. It was a 'discarded timeline,' caused by you, Barton, accidentally shooting Thor with an arrow. It triggered a completely different chain of events. It is not our destined future. In fact, it was an incredibly rare statistical anomaly."
Hill's reminder brought back the crushing existential dread that had paralyzed S.H.I.E.L.D. when Lucas first introduced the concept of the Multiverse and branching timelines.
It had been absolute torture. A good night's sleep had become a luxury none of them could afford.
Every single second of the day, they lived in fear that their timeline would suddenly branch off and become a "discarded" timeline. Lucas had never explicitly explained what happened to discarded timelines, but the implication was obvious.
If a timeline was discarded, it meant the Writers had no further use for it. It would be deleted. Pruned. Erased from existence entirely.
Just thinking about it sent a deep chill down their spines.
"If we ignore multiversal anomalies and stick to the Sacred Timeline," Natasha summarized, "then the sequence of events goes like this: Loki survives his fall. He somehow instigates or participates in the Battle of New York. During the battle, he suffers a humiliating defeat that Lucas finds hilarious. The missing variable is his exact role. Was he just a participant, or was he the mastermind behind the alien invasion?"
"We already have the answer to that," Nick Fury said, shaking his head. "I just remembered something from the Dark Elf video. Think back to the scene in the Asgardian dungeon. Specifically, the conversation between Loki and Queen Frigga's illusion."
"I remember it clearly," Coulson nodded. The video of the Queen's death was still fresh in their minds. It was like watching the fall of Rome.
"Remember what Frigga's illusion asked him?" Fury prompted, leaning forward. "She asked if he had any idea how much slaughter he had caused on Earth. And Loki—acting like a petulant child—replied that his kill count couldn't possibly match Odin's."
The realization hit the room like a physical blow. The missing piece of the puzzle slotted perfectly into place.
"Are you saying... the slaughter on Earth she was referring to... is the Battle of New York?" Agent Hill asked, her voice tight.
It wasn't a question. It was a terrifying confirmation.
The sheer weight of the evidence was undeniable.
"Exactly," Fury nodded grimly. "I had always wondered why the Second Prince of Asgard was locked in a subterranean dungeon. His status was incredibly high. In the entirety of Asgard, the only people above him were the All-Father, the Queen, and the Crown Prince."
Fury crossed his arms. "For a royal family to imprison one of their own, he had to have committed a sin so egregious that they couldn't cover it up. Even in modern human society, powerful elites constantly protect their own from the law. In a feudal, monarchial society like Asgard, covering up for your family isn't seen as a crime; it's practically a requirement for maintaining dynastic prestige."
"To throw a prince in a dungeon, he must have caused an absolute catastrophe," Fury concluded. "A catastrophe like leading an alien armada to wipe out New York."