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Asia [Right after Loki mastered the Asian Dude (#20)]
—Loki—
Hmm. This was quite interesting, he thought to himself as Hawkeye, loyal as he was, showed him the capabilities of the Green Guardian who styled himself the protector of a city.
Granted, the magic was interesting and the way it was used was very crudely done, like the person only knew one single piece of magic and used it all his life, to increase their proficiency in it, to reach that point. Sure, he had a feeling that the mortal would be very hard to beat but that was not his job to do.
The Chitauri will come and they will deal with that annoying green pest for him. No matter how strong he is and no matter how many Chitauri he crushes under his heel, the CHitauri would not stop, not until he was dead and that was when he would win.
When the people of this dirtball would realise that even their strongest combatant, arguably much stronger than the Average Asgardian, fell in battle against his army, that would be when he would make his proposition to this world, kneel or die.
Seeing their greatest protector's dead body skewered on his sceptre should be enough motivation for them to lay down their arms and surrender to their superior. He would make sure that this person survived until then.
But when he conveyed the same to the mortal known as Clint,
"It would not work. We have to break up their team. He, of all the people on that team, is the most dangerous. Even more so than your brother. He is the one we have to deal with first before we proceed with our plan,"
"How?" He hissed at the mortal with the feeble mind. The only reason his head was still attached to his head was because of his usefulness as well as the fact that he had ordered him to explicitly speak nothing but the truth in his presence.
"His portals. They are the worst thing one can encounter in a war. He can also seemingly make them while in the middle of combat. No, if we are to crush them thoroughly, we have to break their tank and no matter how strong Banner is, he will only be a loose cannon that can easily be diverted,"
"Hmm," He mused to himself as he reviewed the footage of that mortal opening a portal to space. Well, that would just not do then. For all their vaunted immortality, even Asgardians would find themselves dying from the lack of Oxygen if exposed to the cold expanse of space.
This mortal was more dangerous than he had expected. Simply opening up a portal to a volcano and letting it drop on him would hurt quite a bit, he had to admit to himself, painful as the admission was.
"How do you propose we deal with him?" He looked up at Clint as they were now in a that would depart as soon as they dropped him in the city. The plan was that not even he would know what Hawketye would do to free him from their clutches but he would trust the mortal for that. So far, he had been proven to be remarkably resourceful, well, as useful as they could be without having a lick of magic in them.
"Well, for that, we have Wei Huyan over here," The mortal gestured to the other smaller, older mortal who was meditating in one corner of the truck. He was "interpreting" the truth that was shown to him.
"He can bypass the barriers and strike the Green Guardian right where it would hurt. We would just have to ensure that the person underneath all those layers of barrier is vulnerable enough to leave minimal protection between his body and Wei. He can't maintain his powers well if he needs to move around a lot. We would have to make the Green Guardian use all of his focus on something else so that we can strike when the time is right,"
"Don't worry about that. I have someone in mind. Go to these coordinates. I will see your will done, my Lord," Wei rose up from his meditation, scribbled something, and gave it to Clint before bowing deeply to him.
Satisfied with the grovelling, he nodded to Clint, who immediately read the coordinates and went to the pilot of these strange flying vessels called as "Jets". They were fast, sure but very loud and impossible to manoeuvre.
After a while, they reached the temporary base that he had taken over. They then boarded another smaller much more manoeuvrable air vehicle and soon reached their destination which was a small dwelling where he could see many people frolicking about.
He had already cast an illusion on their vehicle so they were none the wiser as they flew over the dwelling and reached the section that was situated right at the base of a mountain. They landed but before any of them could get out, Wei had already phased through and was running into the small crude dwelling in front of him.
"Sam!" He shouted as he entered the dwelling and after some time, returned with a person who looked as if he would keel over if a particularly strong gust of wind hit him. Was this some kind of joke? How could he help against someone as strong as that green freak?
"My lord, please show Sam what you showed me,"
His jaw clicked shut but he took measured steps in front of him, the sceptre glowing ominously.
"Wei, what is going on?" The old man spoke in a feeble voice as he tried to back away from his menacing form, even as Wei held on to him tightly.
"Don't worry, this won't hurt at all," He smiled, enjoying the way the mortal struggled, and placed the sceptre's tip on his chest.
The struggle ceased instantly as the old man kneeled down at speeds that should have, for all purposes, killed him instantly.
"My Lord."
"Hmm, now what?" He snapped at Wei, already at the edge of his patience with how he had apparently wasted his valuable time, bringing them all the way here to this remote corner, so far away from their goal.
"My Lord, Sam here has a marvellous power. He can absorb energy, any kind of energy, electricity, sunlight, even kinetic energy, and after absorbing sufficient amounts of it, he can use that energy to transfer that power to someone of our kind. With my power being enhanced by him, I am certain I would be able to pass through any and all barriers."
"Very well, go on then,"
"Errr…My Lord, he doesn't have any energy left in him, as you can see. Our leader comes daily to get her boosts from him, leaving him with nothing but the bare minimum required for him to survive another day. Not many people know of him so this area remains deserted. I was hoping to give him the energy from your weapon,"
He looked at the glowing sceptre and back at the hopeful looks of the people in front of him and growled out, "Fine,"
He immediately placed the tip of his sceptre on the outstretched hands of the feeble old man and to his astonishment, as soon as the sceptre made contact, it started glowing blue and yellow, as the old person in front of him slowly aged backward, eventually turning into a person in his prime, with his veins glowing blue, visible from the outside.
"This power, amazing!" He exclaimed as he examined his body.
"Get on with it!" He snapped once again. He was curious as to where this would lead but he was on a timeline and the Other would be more than glad to remind him of it once again, a particularly unpleasant scenario that was.
"R-Right. Are you ready? This is not like the war. This will probably hurt a lot,"
Wei nodded and immediately jerked back as his body was immediately engulfed in a blue and yellow glow as Sam put both his hands on his chest. Strangely, blue gas was released from the bodies of both Sam and Wei as their entire forms were engulfed into a glowing whitish cocoon, which rhythmically beat with a blue glow as if it were a heart.
He looked at the cocoon, debating whether to just be done with it or not when a thunderous crack sounded in front of him, forcing him to take a step back in surprise.
Soon, the cracks on the cocoon expanded, to eventually break the cocoon, revealing a dead body that slid out of the cocoon, with only bones on it. The bones too soon withered away into dust.
After that, another person stepped out of the cocoon. He looked like Wei but the entire feeling surrounding him was much more dangerous. He also had veins of blue all around his body that he looked at and then grinned, "Thanks, Sam."
"I am ready, My Lord. Nothing will be able to stop me now," He said and took a step forward. His eyes widened, a gust of wind passing him by, as Wei disappeared from in front of him.
He looked back to see everyone who had arrived with him, slowly turning back to see Wei already entering the helicopter.
His shocked look slowly turned into a grin. Oh, this was turning out to be interesting. The sceptre throbbed into his hand as if the Other was conveying his agreement.
"Let's move," He ordered Clint before they left the area, on their way to the Iridium they needed to build the portal.
________xx________
New York Sanctum [Hours after Jack fell into the ocean]
–Jack Sullivan–
He opened his eyes, waking up with a gasp as he took in long deep breaths, his heart shuddering from how close he had come to death. He immediately patted himself down to see that the knife was nowhere to be seen. He saw that there was a scar on his stomach which meant someone had taken it out and healed him. Looking at his surroundings, it meant.
"I am glad you are awake, Master Sullivan," he looked to the door to see the Ancient One walking into the room, her hands in her robe.
"Ancient One, thank you for saving me. I really owe you one," he said to her, his hand going to rub the spot where he was stabbed. That was one hell of a surprise to him.
He had really underestimated this world. How could he have been so foolish? To think that everyone would happen the same way it happened in the movies? The engine's problem was only solved barely, by the skin of their teeth, even when Tony and Rogers both risked their life to do so.
He had foolishly expected for the same to happen this time as well and had waited around for Loki's henchmen to arrive and stop the ship from tilting over.
Never in a million years, he had expected to bear the weight of the freaking Helicarrier using his barriers to make sure that thousands of people did not lose their lives. The worst thing was the injury.
The person who stabbed him, bypassed his barriers as if they were paper and not an energy construct capable of stopping missiles in their tracks with ease. His eyes were also blue which meant that he was under Loki's control. He would have to be more cautious, that person could somehow phase through energy as well, evidenced by him coming out unscathed from Tony's repulsor blasts with ease.
For some reason, he had fled, probably to leave with Loki but he was not sure what he could do the next time they met on the battlefield. Speaking of which, is the battlefield even New York this time? Who's to say that Loki hadn't chosen another densely populated city halfway across the world, not that it would be a problem for him specifically?
He had grown arrogant, plain and simple, believing himself invincible for all but a select few individuals who were capable of willing actions straight into reality, making his barriers moot in those situations anyway. Stopping Mjolnir only emboldened him. He would have to step up his game once the invasion was dealt with.
He couldn't just react to stuff anymore. He had built enough strength to influence any situation he found himself in. He would just have to force his way through.
"Don't thank me, Master Sullivan. Look at your neck," Ancient One said as she sat on her chair and sipped on tea.
"Hmm?" He reached for his neck, only to find the coin. He jerked it forward, as the coin came into his hand. He was surprised to find it complete black and already breaking down. Soon, all that was left in his hands was black ash, which too broke down into magic of some sort.
He looked at her in confusion, "What was that?"
"That, Master Sullivan, is the token of Khonshu, a one-use item that was bestowed upon a previous Sorcerer Supreme, only to be used in times of severe emergencies," She explained as she cast a spell, showing him the ease with which it healed all his injuries with ease, to the point that his second green skin appeared on him involuntarily.
Speaking of his powers, he willed for a dozen barriers to appear in the room and after finding that his powers had not waned in any way and his stamina was restored as well, he looked at the Ancient One, "How long was I out?"
"Just for a couple of hours. Nothing to worry about, Master Sullivan. I want you to remember the lesson you have learned today. You have been passive for some reason and that is not befitting for someone of your station, of your powers." She said as she exited the room. He stood up from the bed and snapped his fingers, changing his clothes, and ran after her.
He recognised the New York Sanctum hallways as he followed after her.
"You see, Master Sullivan, people are like pebbles and the reality we live in is like a huge pond. People without powers, they are just so small that their movements don't make large enough waves, not until they meet another large pebble. Then, they can even change the trajectory of that larger pebble, dictating the waves of the pond. People with powers are pebbles but you, Master Sullivan, are a boulder. People of your caliber are few and far between and your actions sometimes dictate the state of all the pebbles, rocks in the pond, and even the other organisms living and preying in the pond. You can't wait for some other pebble to start making waves in the pond to move."
He didn't really understand what she was talking about as they finally reached the stairs, after going through a labyrinth of rooms. He suspected she went through the long route so that she could give him that long lecture.
"You, Master Sullivan, are meant for great things and while this setback was somewhat necessary for you, don't let it hesitate you from making huge waves in the pool," She turned to him at the last moment as they ascended the stairs and after looking at his combat attire, opened the door.
They found themselves standing on top of the Sanctum Roof, overlooking the Manhattan skyline, Stark Tower included.
"Are they-"
"Yes, Loki and his people are invading that Tower as we speak. Stark's AI would have tried stopping them if he could sense them in the first place. Loki's magic, when boosted by the Sceptre, can fool most people. I don't think I need to tell you this but be careful of the Sceptre. It holds an-"
"An Infinity Stone. Yes, I am aware. I will be needing guidance on what to do with it once we win. I will be back then," He nodded at the Ancient One who exited the roof, leaving him all alone to ponder on his past actions.
He looked at the Tower, to see a glint of blue as his enhanced eyesight allowed him to see from far away.
He covered himself with his signature Gundam Barrier and then had an idea that would allow him to protect himself from that phasing bastard. He would have to be very cautious and do stuff mostly from a long distance.
"Well, this was going to be a very long fight," He said as he covered himself in his standard armour and then floated on top of the Sanctum, eventually reaching the clouds, and looking down at Stark Tower.
He smiled and tensed as a blue beam was fired from the Top of Stark Tower, eventually tearing a hole in the skyline.
"Show time…" He muttered to himself as he was immediately covered in a giant Gundam, only this time he continued to move himself around inside the suit. He could only think of this way to somehow dodge that phasing bastard.
He would need more data to think of a strategy to stop that guy.
He smiled to see Stark exiting the Tower, breaking through the glass, and then coming back up to blast away Loki when his suit finally reached him.
He willed for his Gundam to move and found himself just putting his both hands on the two sides of the beam that kept the portal open.
The energy density meant his barriers were immediately shredded if they came into contact with the Tesseract's energy. He was now plugging the hole, so to speak, to give time for the rest of the team to arrive.
"Stark, evacuate the people. I will stop them for now," He said to Stark as he arrived at his shoulder level and opened that section of his barrier, where Stark was floating, looking at his retreating form in shock which turned into a grin as his faceplate closed and he rocketed back to the streets.
"Now, let's see what you do," He kept an eye on his surroundings, his senses turned to the max as he was wary of being ambushed again.
Word Count - 3079
A/N - Things finally getting heated up.
If you guys would like to support my writing or just want to read ahead of the public release, you can head on to my P*treon.
I already have upto 15 extra chapters published there.