Tony was amazed by Prime's capabilities, but in the end, it was a prototype armor, and one of its main shortcomings was that it lacked an adequate way to power it.
Tony's secondary ARK reactor was less than half since the attack, and his main reactor was at twenty percent. Still, it should be worth it because the attack was so powerful that it would be a miracle if Loki emerged unscathed.
As for the army of golems, they stopped dead as if they had lost their consciousness, although that didn't stop Hulk from continuing to rampage through all of them.
Meanwhile, Natasha stopped shooting and leaned on her rifle, which, propped on the ground, was almost the same height as her. "They're like an anthill?" Natasha observed the strange behavior of the golems and concluded.
Ants entirely rely on having a queen. The moment they lose her, the anthill is doomed to disappear.
"Well, that saves us trouble," Clint remarked, storing his bow. "At this rate, I would have had to use sticks as arrows."
...
Inside a crater, Loki lay back, looking at the clear sky and the high sun. His clothes were burnt in several places, and he had some wounds, but nothing serious.
A vague memory crossed Loki's mind. He was in his early years, he and Thor used to hunt; it was one of the few activities they both enjoyed regardless of who won.
A kind of hare with reindeer horns darted through the forest at great speed. Behind it, equally fast, was a small figure chasing it like a ghost, never losing a second. It was a hunter and prey repeating the circle of life once more.
"You're mine," thought the young hunter as he closed the distance between them. In his hand was a long object with a metallic tip shining in the sunlight.
Sensing danger, the hare accelerated, but it couldn't escape. With a daring smile, the small figure stepped on the ground and threw the object, which now was clearly a spear. The wind whistled around the spear as it crossed the distance toward the reindeer hare.
"Not this time, brother."
"Huh?!"
A faint whisper entered the young hunter's ears, startling him. At that moment, the prey was stolen, and the hare soared into the sky due to a trap on the ground. The spear lodged itself in a tree. The prey ended up hanging from a rope, struggling but futilely, and simply surrendered.
"Darn it, Loki, it was mine!" the hunter was revealed to be a boy with blond hair and blue eyes, wearing light clothes and leather armor.
"A step too late, brother, hehe," a boy with black hair appeared behind him, dressed in armor similar to the boy who called him brother but in black.
They were Loki and Thor, Odin's sons, in their early years. Although being Asgardians, they might have been a hundred years old at that moment, even though they looked like children.
...
After arguing for a while, they both sat by the edge of a lake, where behind them, the hare was roasting over a fire they had made.
"Don't feel bad; it's not very serious to lose to me from time to time," Loki teased, seeing his grumbling brother.
"Tsk, fine, you win this time. Just tell me what you want?" Thor reluctantly accepted the punishment of the loser, although inside, he felt nervous.
Loki thought for a moment; there weren't many times he beat Thor, and he thought to take advantage of this time to get back at him for all those times Thor made him do his laundry or clean his room.
Thor became even more nervous as Loki immersed himself in his thoughts; he knew Loki must hold a grudge against him.
"Thor," Loki calmly called his brother.
"Yeah?!" Thor tensed up and spoke louder than usual.
"I'd like to choose where we'll go hunting next time..."
"Wait, no!!... huh?..." Thor looked incredulously at his younger brother. "Is that all?"
"If you like, I can ask you to clean the castle's bathrooms for the whole week," Loki laughed. "Haha, I'm sure the servants would appreciate it."
Thor turned pale and quickly knelt. "I'm sorry, Lord Loki, please not that!"
"HAHAHA," Loki laughed at Thor's nonsense. Both were proud, but Thor was even more so and couldn't bear to be reduced to cleaning bathrooms.
Thor smiled dryly as he sat back down, then glanced sideways at Loki. "Loki, why ask for that?"
Loki didn't immediately reply, only looked at the sky; the forest leaves moved with the wind, and the birds sang softly.
"We always go where you choose, and well, we end up in adventures and troubles alike, I don't complain..."Loki raised his hand to the sky. "But I want to choose where to go this time."
...
Loki lay back with his hand toward the sky. "The path we follow is different, but the goal is the same, brother."
Loki's eyes gleamed in an incandescent green. "The throne will be mine! It's my destiny!!"
...
"Sir, I recommend using multiple reactors to power the armor; it's unrealistic to reduce the energy consumption of an armor like this," Jarvis advised while analyzing Prime's real-time data.
Tony remembered that his father always complained about being born too late to spend his life discovering and too early to live in an age where he could apply all the discoveries.
Currently, Tony is hindered by time technology, but that won't stop him. "If there's no power source, I'll just create it," Tony said wearily.
"There's no future for you to do anything mortal," like the whisper of death, Loki appeared behind Tony.
Tony felt something penetrate the shields and the armor from behind; immediately, he used his thrusters to move away at high speed.
The armor began to repair itself immediately, but this amazed Tony. Prime's shields should be able to withstand an atomic bomb, but Loki penetrated them with ease..
Loki toyed with his dagger as he watched Tony in the air. "I didn't manage to kill you, mortal... that deserves me to acknowledge you as something more than just a mere nuisance."
Throughout his life, Loki had accumulated several characteristic weapons. His scepter, a fire sword, a golden whip, and his faithful dagger were made of the same metal as Mjolnir. Even though the MCU didn't delve into this topic, it's odd that in a thousand years, it doesn't seem like Loki has more than one trick up his sleeve.
"It's impossible for you to be unharmed after that attack!" Tony aimed his repulsors and fired at Loki.
"Hahaha, do you think someone like you can hurt me?!" Loki drew his fire sword and received the energy shots without flinching.
Loki spoke arrogantly, but deep down, it was a lie; Loki wasn't ignorant of his own weakness. However, he used magic to cover his flaws, including his physical shortcomings. Of course, make no mistake, Loki is many times stronger than a human; his power hovers around fifty tons. Nevertheless, Prime's attack should have defeated him if he didn't have armor underneath his clothes.
Loki glanced at Natasha, who aimed the anti-material rifle at him, then at Clint, who did the same with his bow, and finally turned to Hulk, who fell not far away with a huge crash.
"RAAAGGHHH!"
"That's enough..." murmured Loki. "Mortal or not, you've bored me. Midgard has always been considered the weakest realm, but I must admit that you have the capacity to stand in my way." Loki's face darkened. "Therefore, I'll kill you!"
"Loki!" a familiar voice interrupted Loki's movements.
"Brother?..."
...
Thor arrived at the scene only to see his brother in battle. Thor's breath quickened upon seeing Loki; even as he psyched himself up to face him, even as he believed he could endure it, there was much of himself that refused to accept Loki as a traitor.
"Brother..." Loki murmured as he watched Thor approach him. "... You look healthy; I thought you'd be lying in a ditch, suffering from being banished."
"... I... was wrong," Thor couldn't retort; everything was his fault from start to finish, even if Loki manipulated him. In the end, he decided to go to war against the Frost Giants, his decision to act as he did. Thor is responsible for his actions.
"What?!" Loki couldn't believe his brother's words; it was simply surreal to see Thor apologize.
"The mighty Thor, son of Odin, the god of thunder, the rightful heir of Asgard... Giant Slayer... is apologizing?" Loki gritted his teeth as he infused his voice with magic, creating a wave of energy. "What a stupid joke!"
Thor used his hands to withstand Loki's power, then looked at his brother once more.
"I must admit it, Father was right. I'm not worthy to be the King; I never understood what it meant to be a king..." Thor repented with a simple look.
Loki remained silent for a moment, but in the end, his eyes remained cold. "... It's too late, brother."
"You were always smarter than me," Thor's voice was tinged with pain. "Tell me, brother, why?! Why did you betray our father?! Asgard?!"
"HAHAHAHA! BETRAY ASGARD?!" Loki felt his blood boil as he looked at Thor with hatred. The god of thunder had never seen that look in Loki. "I DIDN'T BETRAY ASGARD OR MY FATHER, BUT ODIN IS NOT MY FATHER!!"
"LOKI!" this time, it was Thor who grew furious. "EVEN IF I'M EXILED, I WOULD NEVER DENY MY FATHER!!"
"... It must be a blessing to be so stupid..."
"...!!!"
Loki appeared in front of Thor and lifted him by the neck. The anger in his eyes was clear, but Thor was unable to understand his brother; what had happened that made him so angry??
"Look well, Thor, son of Odin..." Loki's skin turned blue, while Thor turned pale.
"Lo-ki..."
"We are not brothers, and he is not my father!"
Thor's mind went blank; was it true what happened before his eyes? Loki's appearance was like that of their sworn enemies, the Frost Giants.
"It's not possible... stop playing!" shouted Thor, believing it was another illusion of Loki's.
"I'm not playing!" Loki tightened his grip. "It's not a joke! It's not a lie! It's not a trick or an illusion! I AM A FROST GIANT!!"
"...!!!"
"I am a Frost Giant... brother," Loki closed his eyes as he tried to contain himself. "Odin lied all these years..."
Thor had received too much information that he couldn't comprehend; he had lost his power, his place, his father's trust, and now his brother. It was simply too much to take in.
...
– "It's a shame, but that's life. As long as you're alive, you must keep moving forward no matter how painful and harsh it becomes"–
Thor smiled, remembering that indeed there were many things hard to accept, but he was still alive, and that gave him a chance.
"Loki, you've always been and always will be my brother..." Thor's gaze recovered as he stared at Loki, knowing full well that Loki could kill him with just a little more pressure on his hand. That didn't intimidate the god of thunder.
Loki didn't know how to react; he knew about Thor's immense ego, his arrogance, and the pride he held. But this Thor shouldn't be able to recover after being exiled.
"What you can do?!"
Thor smiled as he stood up. "Just me? Maybe nothing, but I'm not alone."
An arrow exploded on Loki's back, but he didn't flinch. Almost simultaneously, a shot aimed at Loki's head, although it didn't serve its purpose; without even looking, Loki leaned back, dodging the bullet.
"I never believed you capable of this, Loki." With a deep voice, a red-haired dwarf appeared behind Thor, wielding a massive axe that hit Loki's hand with a metallic sound. Volstagg widened his eyes at this because, in his memories, Loki wasn't someone who wore armor under his clothes.
"I expected nothing less from Odin's only son, you have many friends" Loki looked at Thor with disgust as he threw him away.
Thor rolled on the ground as his skin was scraped, and his mortal body was battered by the rocks.
Loki looked at the dwarf "Don't lie; you never fully trusted me... and neither did you."
With a war cry, the silver sword fell from the sky; this time, Loki retreated. The blow hit the ground in front of Loki. Sif, Volstagg, and Fandral stood around Thor to defend him.
Loki laughed at this. "You look pathetic. Once, you defended everyone, but now you can only hide behind a Valkyrie, you're—"
"Enough with the pretentious monologues." Tony appeared in the sky as his armor's eyes lit up. "Jarvis, again."
Aiming his hands, Tony prepared to fire his railguns, but upon seeing Loki's smile, he felt a foreboding.
===
A/N: Today we have a double chapter :D