A Bewildering End

"What was going on?"

The sharp demand rang out. Clutching the Mind Scepter, Loki shouted himself hoarse, utterly stripped of the calm, aristocratic poise he had shown before. He looked more like a shrew than a nobleman.

An hour earlier, with Hydra and Hawkeye Barton working together, Loki had been successfully rescued from the Sky Carrier. They had also thrown S.H.I.E.L.D. into massive chaos. Hulk and Thor had come to blows, nearly blasting the already unstable vessel to pieces.

Later, one had leaped from the ship and vanished without a trace, while the other had been thrown into the circular cell that had held Loki, sent plummeting freely from nine thousand meters in the air. Nick Fury was surely having a headache over how to clean up the mess.

The world’s strongest team of Superheroes had voluntarily collapsed and fallen apart in no time at all.

That was precisely what Loki had wanted. By causing trouble and keeping S.H.I.E.L.D. too occupied to look after itself, he could free up his hands to activate the Tesseract and welcome the vast Chitauri army.

But when Loki regained his freedom and prepared to carry out the final step of his plan, Hawkeye Barton—whose mind he had controlled and turned into a loyal dog—told him that the Tesseract had vanished together with Dr. Selvig.

The news struck like a bolt from the blue, leaving Loki utterly dumbfounded.

"Useless trash! My grand plan…"

The Asgardian Prince was so furious that he could barely speak. He had carefully orchestrated the whole performance: seize the Tesseract, willingly walk into S.H.I.E.L.D.’s trap and become its prisoner, toy with and divide the Avengers. All that remained was to open a portal spanning the stars, and he would receive flowers and applause as he was crowned the sole ruler of this planet.

It had been a flawless play. He should have worn a crown, accepted the worship of countless living beings, and brought everything to a perfect close with regal grace.

Yet the crucial prop of his plan—the Tesseract—had disappeared. It was like an evenly matched game where he was about to push into the enemy’s base at the final moment, only for the power to suddenly go out and the screen to turn black.

The enormous psychological blow made the Asgardian Prince feel as though he had fallen from the clouds and crashed heavily into the mud. For a while, he could not even recover. Losing the Tesseract meant he could not bring in the Chitauri army. More importantly, he could not complete the task assigned by that Cosmic Overlord.

Thinking of the thunderous fury he was about to face, Loki suddenly shuddered. A chill rose from the depths of his heart. He had never imagined things would end like this.

"Who took the Tesseract?" Loki demanded harshly.

He had to recover that cube, or the consequences would be unimaginable. Once he angered that great being, not even Odin could save him.

Just as the Chitauri Elder had threatened before, in this vast universe, there would no longer be any place for Loki.

"The Sentry," a Hydra agent answered.

Confusion appeared on Loki’s face. He had not been on Earth for long and had never even heard that name. The only people he knew anything about were probably S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Avengers.

Hydra had provided vital intelligence, allowing the Asgardian Prince to learn every detail about each Avenger and devise plans specifically against them.

"He’s a dangerous individual." Hawkeye Barton relayed what he knew. "S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn’t know the Sentry’s origins or identity. His first appearance was during a battle where Spider-Man was in danger. He displayed immense power throughout the fight. Nick Fury classified his file as high-risk, on the same level as Hulk."

"And during the later Hulk incident in the New York battle, it was also the Sentry who directly stopped Hulk’s rampage… No one knows his purpose. Even with S.H.I.E.L.D. investigating at full force, they couldn’t uncover a single clue. It was as if this person didn’t exist at all."

"Damn bastard!"

Loki cursed under his breath. He hated this feeling of losing control. He did not even know who his opponent was. It was like throwing a heavy punch into empty air, with no clues or direction to follow.

The Asgardian Prince, who had always enjoyed playing the mastermind behind the scenes or the scheming conspirator, was experiencing this for the first time himself: being played in circles while unable to grasp even a trace of the other party.

As the Asgardian Prince fretted anxiously, the Mind Scepter in his hand suddenly shook. With an ugly expression, he sank into the spiritual realm.

Within the desolate space, the Chitauri Elder’s illusory figure appeared among jagged rocks. His snake-like, chilling gaze clung tightly to Loki, filled with malice and mockery.

"You’ve kept us waiting too long."

The sinister voice was full of displeasure. The Chitauri army had been ready for a long time, yet no signal had come from Loki.

"There was a small accident…"

"Lord Thanos is deeply disappointed. He granted you the supreme scepter and the invincible Iron Legion, yet you couldn’t even handle such a trivial matter."

Loki tried to explain, but the Chitauri Elder cut him off with a sharp rebuke. The illusory figure moved close before him, cold eyes sweeping over the Asgardian Prince.

Loki, wearing his horned helmet and magnificent robes, felt his heart skip a beat. He knew that the elder commanding the Chitauri Legion had always coveted the power of the scepter and wanted to seize command from him.

For that unfathomable Cosmic Overlord, there was only one objective: obtain the Tesseract.

But Loki and the Chitauri Elder saw things entirely differently. Neither was one of the great figures standing among the universe’s strongest. This planet’s abundant resources and the partitioned occupation of the Nine Realms were the spoils they had both worked so hard to fight over.

Loki wanted to conquer Earth and then advance into the Nine Realms, while the Chitauri Elder longed to plunder and expand his own power. Their conflict was irreconcilable.

"I need time…"

"Sorry! There is no extra time." The Chitauri Elder smiled smugly. "Lord Thanos is already on his way. At my urging, he has decided to act personally."

Stormy waves rose in Loki’s heart. If that Cosmic Overlord acted personally, what credit would be left for him?

"You stray dog, you’ll soon be beaten back to your true form." The illusory figure sneered coldly, his tone filled with disdain.

The Chitauri, who worshiped the strong, looked down from the bottom of their hearts on cunning people like Loki, who climbed upward through glib words and underhanded schemes. They submitted only to true overlords.

That iron-blooded German chancellor had once said that truth existed only within the range of cannons. The same held true in the vast universe.

The Chitauri submitted to Thanos and willingly became his lackeys because of the Cosmic Overlord’s overwhelming strength. No one had ever dared defy Thanos’s will.

"I am the future King of Asgard!" Loki roared fiercely.

He was still trying to preserve the last shred of his dignity, refusing to let the Chitauri Elder look down on him completely.

"Asgard?" The illusory figure smiled strangely and mocked him coldly. "There will be no more Asgard. Lord Thanos has decided to personally meet your father, His Majesty Odin, who calls himself the King of the Gods."

The illusion shattered, but the Chitauri Elder’s voice still echoed in Loki’s ears, like an icy current invading his entire body.

A trace of panic appeared in Loki’s eyes. He tightened his grip on the scepter and instinctively looked toward the distant heavens.

That was Asgard.

P.S.: Fuck! I hit send directly!

Sob… (T＿T)