Plotting for the Tesseract

One hour later, New York, Manhattan.

"Yes, I’ve mobilized all the group’s security personnel and hired the best security company in New York on short notice. Whether it’s Osborn Tower, my home, or yours, they’re all impregnable now… right?"

In the ceo’s office of Osborn Tower, Manken stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows, phone in hand, staring into the distance in shock.

More than a dozen blocks away from Osborn Tower, Stark Tower—another New York landmark—now had a beam of light shooting from its peak and piercing the sky.

A massive wormhole appeared above Stark Tower. As it slowly expanded, unknown creatures riding hovercraft emerged one after another.

"So aliens really do exist…"

Two figures trailing flames rapidly arrived over Manhattan.

"You’re late. My army is already here. If you return that scepter now, I might consider pardoning you after I rule this place. Oh… but not that Mustachioed Man."

Loki sat atop the glowing STARK sign on Stark Tower, swinging his legs as he spoke with a wicked smile.

He was still holding a grudge over Tony calling him Bambi and a rabbit.

"Looks like Miss Rabbit is angry. Do you need the comfort of a mature uncle?"

Stark flipped open his armor’s faceplate and looked at Loki teasingly.

"You comfort Princess Rabbit. I’ll shut down that portal."

Shimizu carried the Mind Stone scepter and gave Tony a brief instruction before flying upward.

It really had to be said—having the formula made solving the problem much faster.

What the hell was Princess Rabbit supposed to mean?

"You lowly mortals, you’ll regret this!"

Tony answered Loki with a repulsor blast.

At the top of Stark Tower, Dr. Selvig was kicked to the ground by Shimizu.

"Hey! You can’t treat a sixty-nine-year-old man like that!"

"Sorry, old professor."

Shimizu shrugged, pushed the Mind Stone into the energy barrier, and shoved the Tesseract downward.

The beam atop Stark Tower immediately shrank. Having lost the Tesseract’s energy support, the portal in the sky began contracting rapidly as well.

A gigantic Leviathan had only just emerged halfway when it was abruptly sliced in two.

Without the signal support from their mothership, the Chitauri dropped from the sky as though their power had been cut.

"You lost, Bunny Girl Princess."

Tony Stark grinned at Loki, who had fallen to the ground before him.

"You’re the one who lost!"

The Loki on the ground instantly turned into an illusion and vanished, while the real Loki quietly made his way down the stairs and fled Stark Tower.

At the same time, Thor, flying overhead, seemed to sense something and spotted Loki. He swung his hammer and flew down in front of him.

"Loki, come back with me. You’ve already failed."

Thor looked at his beloved brother.

Loki looked at Thor. Knowing there was no way to escape, he immediately put on an affectionate expression, tears glimmering in his eyes.

"I’m sorry, brother. I just… I just wanted to prove to Father that I’m not inferior."

"I know. I know you’ve always been outstanding."

Thor’s heart immediately softened. He stepped forward and opened his arms to embrace his brother.

Then Loki stabbed him in the kidney with a dagger, and the Loki before him turned into an illusion and disappeared.

In the next block over.

Having lost a dagger, Loki let out a breath of relief. The light around his body shifted, transforming him into Captain America.

But the moment he stepped around the corner, he ran into Black Widow.

"Captain? Have you seen Loki?"

"I just saw him fighting Thor over there."

Loki casually pointed in the direction he had come from.

"Then why are you going this way?"

"I…"

Bang!

Black Widow instantly drew her pistol and fired at Loki.

Loki reacted with incredible speed, instantly dodging her bullets. As the light around him faded, he turned and ran, not forgetting to split off several duplicates to disrupt Black Widow’s vision.

"I found Loki! He’s on Brick Street! But I’m not sure which one is the real one!"

"Copy!" ×N.

At the top of Stark Tower.

Shimizu did not go after Loki. Instead, he decisively knocked out Dr. Selvig beside him and picked up the Tesseract.

The Infinity Stones possessed immensely powerful energy. Without sufficiently strong physical constitution, making direct contact with them was unbearable. Generally speaking, it was best to use an artifact-level weapon as a vessel to share the pressure brought by the Stones.

That way, even if one could not fully unleash a Stone’s power, it was at least safe and usable.

The two Infinity Stones currently in Shimizu’s possession were like this.

The top of the scepter was made of an extremely durable metal with exceptionally high energy conductivity, directly connected to the Mind Stone.

That metal was surely precious, because the lower half of the scepter was made from another unknown alien metal.

Its durability and energy conductivity were both decent, but they were far inferior to the upper tip. When Shimizu used Chakra to clash against the Mind Stone’s energy flowing through it, a crack even appeared on its surface.

As for the Tesseract, the outer cube encased the Space Stone within it. Even Nick Fury could hold it directly in his hands, much less Shimizu.

He had to find a way to pocket the Mind Stone. Too many people were watching the Tesseract, so he likely could not get his hands on it.

But that did not stop Shimizu from squeezing out every last bit of profit.

While no one was paying attention, Shimizu gripped the scepter and poured a massive amount of Chakra into it.

The Mind Stone’s glow became increasingly dazzling, and streams of visible energy spread around the scepter.

Crack!

Like a chisel, the tip of the scepter was driven into the Tesseract by Shimizu, forcibly carving off a corner.

"Excellent!"

Delight appeared on Shimizu’s face as he controlled Lightning to open a storage compartment on his shoulder.

This was where ammunition was loaded. Some had been used up earlier on the Helicarrier, and the remaining space was enough to hold a fragment of the Tesseract.

However, after a small piece was carved away, the Tesseract’s energy fluctuations became somewhat abnormal. The Space Stone at its center flickered more and more intensely.

"Hmm…"

Just as Shimizu was considering how to handle it, Nick Fury, aboard the Helicarrier, lowered the rocket launcher from his shoulder and looked at the Quinjet flying toward New York without his orders.

"Wade, Stark, can you hear me? A fighter carrying a nuclear warhead is headed your way! The missile is expected to arrive in one minute!"

Shimizu froze, looking at the cube missing a corner, then at the empty sky.