(AN: Chapter for the day. There was one reader who asked if I still plan to open a patreon. And my answer is this: Yes. Once I'm finished with paperworks after my appointment, I will probably have a lot of time and will be able to have more stocked chapters and make progress with th story. I want to finish this before rewriting my other Naruto fic. We'll get there but it'll take time and I'll be sure to inform you guys. He also asked the charge. I'll probably have to think about it if the direction of my this fic is worth it. As I mentioned before, patience my friend. Enjoy )
Loki stepped onto the floor where the presence burned brightest.
The corridor was quiet.
Too quiet.
Elias watched the target marker on his mini-map drift closer—steady, unhurried. One more turn.
(AN:Loki is his objective, so he isn't designated as an enemy but a target.)
One door.
Beyond it, the living room. And just past that—
The kitchen.
Loki didn't bother with stealth. The door slid open.
He found Elias mid-sip, a glass of milk tilted calmly to his lips.
A slice of bread rested in his other hand.
No armor.
No weapon drawn.
No fear.
Elias noticed him instantly.
He raised one finger.
Gesturing Loki to wait.
Loki froze—not by force, but by sheer disbelief.
Elias finished the milk slowly, set the glass down, exhaled in quiet satisfaction, then wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
Only then did he turn fully toward him.
"So," Elias said evenly, stepping away from the counter. "You must be Loki."
The way he said it—casual, certain—made something ugly twist in Loki's chest.
The man knew his name.
And didn't care who he was!
He?! Loki?!
Elias stopped a few steps away, posture relaxed, eyes clear.
Like he was greeting a customer, not a god.
Loki's jaw tightened.
"You are remarkably calm," he said with gritting teeth.
"Why wouldn't I be?" Elias replied.
That did it!
Convinced now that controlling this one would be a waste of effort, Loki lifted the scepter, blue light flaring to life.
"Are you sure about that?" Elias said quietly.
Loki paused, he felt something.
"Once you fire that weapon," Elias continued, tone sharpening, "you should be prepared to receive what follows."
Something shifted.
Not visible.
Not dramatic.
But the air changed.
A pressure rolled outward from Elias—raw, unfocused, wrong.
Not divine.
Not technological.
Something else entirely.
Loki staggered half a step before he caught himself.
His grip tightened on the scepter as he lowered it slightly.
"What are you?" he asked, carefully now.
Loki trusted his instinct. It can always tell something significant. That was the secret to the success of his many mischiefs.
And his instinct was screaming at him right now that the man in front of him was not human!
Elias opened his mouth—
And a ringtone shattered the tension.
"…Sir," FRIDAY's voice chimed softly, "incoming call from Tony Stark. He is en route."
Elias blinked once, then glanced at Loki.
"May I take this?" he asked politely.
Loki hesitated.
Then nodded, guarded.
"Great," Elias said pleasantly.
"FRIDAY, answer it."
Tony's voice burst through the room, frantic and loud.
"Elias! Buddy—please tell me you're okay! The city's empty, something is about to happen on top of that tower, and you're still there—why are you still there?!"
"I'm fine, Tony," Elias replied calmly.
"I just woke up. Got hungry."
Tony choked.
"Hungry?"
"Yes. Milk and bread." Elias glanced at the counter.
"Would you like pancakes later?"
"No! That's not—why are you so calm?! Loki is headed straight for you!"
"Oh," Elias said mildly. "He's already here."
"What?!"
"He came in while I was drinking milk."
"What?!"
"Oh—and he can hear you. Go ahead and say hello." Elias tilted his head.
"Is he a friend of yours?"
Tony exploded.
"No! Loki, listen to me very carefully—do not touch Elias or—"
"Or else what?" Loki cut in smoothly, smirking as the scepter glowed brighter.
"Your guest is intriguing, Stark. Watching you fail to protect him might be entertaining but fighting him? Now that's absolutely entertaining for me."
Tony's voice sharpened.
"Elias, run!"
The call cut dead.
FRIDAY had done it.
Elias didn't look surprised.
The command had been subtle. Straight from his mind to an AI.
A connection no one else could explain, not even the supernatural nature of he world.
He looked back at Loki.
"You asked what I am," Elias said. "And I was interrupted."
He smiled—then shifted his gaze.
Not at the Loki standing before him.
But to his left.
Loki's eyes widened.
The illusion shattered into green fragments as Elias waved his hand lazily aside.
The real Loki stood barely two meters away, scepter half-raised, shock written across his face.
How?
Elias met his eyes.
"I am Elias Mercer," he said with unmistakable pride.
"Owner of Mercer's Hearth."
For a heartbeat, Loki stared.
Then his face twisted—surprise giving way to fury.
"That—does—it!" Loki roared, lunging forward. Despite his instinct warning him, he gave in to his emotions.
If another version of him could see him, there would be one word to describe himself: Pathetic!
Elias looked at him like he'd made a poor decision.
With a small gesture of his hand—
Loki stopped.
Frozen mid-stride.
Muscles locked.
Breath trapped.
Fear crept in where arrogance once lived.
"I apologize if this hurts," Elias said gently. "I haven't trained much in this aspect. I don't play as a good guy kind of hero thing… or a bad guy with the villain term and all that label."
He smiled faintly.
"I have always lived with my heart on my sleeve for all to see. Despite living in a cruel, unfair, unjust and a jungle like world."
Elias slowly walked towards Loki who was now freaking out. Thinking what exactly did he provoked.
"You see there was this one person who asked me a question before he died in my arms."
Elias poked Loki's forehead with his index finger and asked.
"No matter how many colors you paint the world with, in the end, there only exist two. Everyone will die, eventually, inevitably. In the end which color will you be when your time comes?"
His eyes glinted.
"Obliviate."
.
.
.
Dr. Selvig's hands trembled—not from fear, but from urgency—as he adjusted the final calibrations.
"Finish the alignment," he ordered, voice distant, eyes glassy.
"We are out of time."
The device at the center of the rooftop hummed, metal rings rotating faster and faster, blue energy bleeding between the seams.
One of the controlled soldiers hesitated.
"Sir… Loki isn't here."
Selvig didn't even look up.
"Loki's instructions were explicit," he said calmly.
"Proceed without him. He will arrive when it is time."
The soldier swallowed and stepped back.
Selvig placed his hand on the control.
"I am opening the door."
"HEY!"
Iron Man rocketed up from below, repulsors blazing.
"Nobody opens anything today!"
Too late.
Selvig pressed the button.
The device screamed.
Energy spiraled upward in a violent column, tearing into the sky itself.
Space folded, twisted—and then split.
A perfect circular wound opened above Stark Tower.
A wormhole.
Iron Man didn't hesitate.
He fired a full-powered repulsor blast straight into the device—
—and slammed into an invisible barrier.
The energy shield detonated outward in a concussive wave.
Selvig and the soldiers were flung back like dolls, bodies hitting concrete and going limp, unconscious, but alive.
Tony stabilized midair, instincts screaming to check on them but hen, the first Chitauri poured through the hole.
Infantry skimmers.
Endless.
"Of course," Tony muttered.
"Of course it worked."
He intercepted, blasting three out of the sky before they cleared the portal—but for every one he hit, five more followed.
"Guys," he barked into the comms, firing nonstop, "I could really use the cavalry right now!"
Thunder answered him.
A bolt of lightning ripped through the air, annihilating a cluster of Chitauri that slipped past Tony's line.
Thor landed hard on the rooftop, Mjölnir crackling.
"You are not alone, Stark."
Steve's voice cut in immediately.
"We're here, Tony. Visual confirmed."
From the quinjet below—
Bruce exhaled sharply.
"Yeah. That's… that's definitely alien, and Thor said it was an army? Meaning there will be more of them coming out of that."
Clint's voice followed, dry as ever.
"I take one 'nap' and the world goes to hell."
Natasha cut in, addressing Tony.
"Have you found Elias?"
Tony's stomach dropped.
"…Shit."
He barely dodged a plasma blast.
"I—no. I completely forgot about him because of this!"
No time to explain.
A sudden explosion shattered one of Stark Tower's glass panels.
A figure burst through the smoke.
Dark robes.
Hooded cloak.
He landed smoothly near Tony's landing platform.
Thor felt it instantly.
His head snapped toward the tower.
"Who is that?" he demanded.
"Who?" Steve echoed from below.
Natasha, Clint, and Bruce hit the ground running as the quinjet touched down.
Bruce didn't even slow—his body already changing as Hulk tore free.
"There's a guy in dark robes. Came out of Stark's building. That's—"
Thor's eyes widened.
His breath caught.
"Loki!"
Lightning exploded as Thor launched himself forward, hammer raised, fury burning in his wake.
The others froze for half a second.
Then it clicked.
There had only been one man left in that tower.
Elias Mercer
But—
Natasha frowned even as she fought.
"That's not what he looked in the broadcast."
Steve nodded, shield flashing.
"He was clearly wearing Armor, not robes."
"Yeah," Tony muttered, dodging again.
"Something's off."
Above the chaos, unseen by mortal eyes, the system moved toward the Generals.
[Announcement to all Generals!
A great trial has been given to the dear friend of Arthas Menethil the Novice Villain, Elias Mercer — Dark Jedi.
Trial: Defend the Earth
Objectives:
• Eradicate the Chitauri Army
• Close the wormhole above New York
• Defeat Loki Laufeyson
Failure: Demotion and memory erasure ]
None of them read it.
They couldn't, to be precise.
Tony was trying to tear throua Leviathan's exterior armor, and was failing. Jarvis even reminded him of being drained of energy before going through it.
Steve and Natasha were in constant motion, sweat-soaked, fighting an endless tide.
Clint replenish his arrows when he has time and kept improvising.
Only Bruce saw the notification, actually Hulk did too.
But,
Hulk was too busy smashing.
.
.
.
Stark Tower - Landing Platform Area
Elias and Loki stood facing one another.
The roar of engines and distant explosions faded, replaced by something heavier—tension thick enough to press against the air itself.
Then—
"LOKI!"
Thor came down like judgment.
Mjölnir smashed toward Loki with a thunderous crack, lightning spiraling around its head.
Loki barely had time to react—his scepter elongated, reshaping into a spear just in time to intercept the blow.
The impact shook the platform.
"Brother, stop this madness!"
Thor shouted, hammer locked against the spear.
Loki laughed softly.
"It's far too late for that."
"No!"
Thor gestured wildly to the skyline, to the empty streets, to the alien ships pouring in unopposed.
"Look around you! There is nothing here for you to rule. No one's here. It isn't too late—stop this and come home with me."
For a heartbeat, Loki's eyes flickered.
Then hardened.
He drove a hidden knife forward, stabbing into Thor's side.
Thor gasped, staggering just long enough for Loki to twist the weapon and release a blast of energy that sent the Thunder God flying—
Straight toward Elias.
Loki's gaze snapped to him.
The moment their eyes met, the God of Mischief dropped all pretense.
Another blast erupted from the scepter, pure and focused.
"NO!" Thor roared.
Elias didn't flinch.
Crimson energy surged from the blade in his hand, the red lightsaber humming as he moved.
He angled his stance, calm and precise—an old technique, refined overnight with Kristen's help.
The blast struck the blade—
—and deflected.
Elias flowed forward, using the redirected energy to cancel the next shot entirely.
The barrage ended as suddenly as it began.
He was already inside Loki's reach.
Red light flashed.
The lightsaber struck from impossible angles—low, high, feints and reversals layered together.
Loki barely managed to keep up, forced to channel the mind stone's power defensively just to prevent the blade from cutting through his spear.
Thor watched in stunned disbelief.
His brother—who had fought gods and monsters across different world with him for centuries—was being driven back.
Step by step.
Strike by strike.
Loki snarled and split into a dozen illusions—
All of them shattered instantly.
Elias didn't even slow.
Realizing escape was impossible, Loki snarled and reached out with his mind, barking orders through his connection to the Chitauri
.
That distraction cost him.
Elias landed a brutal punch, followed by an elbow to the ribs and a spinning kick that sent Loki flying off the edge of the platform.
"NO!" Thor shouted again.
But Loki didn't fall.
An infantry skimmer swooped in beneath him, catching him midair as he vanished into the swarm.
Thor clenched his fists, fury and frustration warring on his face.
Below them, Hulk roared as Chitauri forces closed in.
Steve's shield flashed.
Clint's arrows streaked.
Natasha moved like a shadow.
Tony hovered overhead, firing nonstop.
"We must join them!" Thor declared, already turning to leap.
Elias nodded once.
"Okay."
They jumped.
For the first time since the invasion began, the Avengers caught a brief breath.
And in that moment—
The system updated which they finally noticed.
[Trial Update!
Trial: Defend the Earth
Objectives:
• Eradicate the Chitauri Army
• Close the wormhole above New York
• Defeat Loki Laufeyson — Completed ]
End of chapter