The figure closed his hand, and the entire energy blast winked out — snuffed like a candle flame.
The crackling light vanished instantly, leaving only stunned silence.
All eyes turned toward the one who had stopped it.
Luke.
He stood calmly, one hand still raised, expression flat as if he had just swatted away an annoying bug instead of a god's attack.
"You should respect the elderly," Luke said, his voice steady and carrying across the plaza.
The old man blinked in confusion, realizing he was still alive. Luke didn't glance back at him; his focus was locked on Loki as he stepped forward, placing himself fully between the god and the civilian.
Loki tilted his head slightly, lowering his scepter but keeping it ready. His eyes narrowed as he studied Luke — curious, irritated, and assessing.
"And who," Loki asked with cool disdain, "are you supposed to be?"
Luke brushed a bit of dust off his jacket, completely unfazed by the god in front of him.
"The guy who stops you from throwing tantrums."
A few people in the crowd gasped softly.
Loki's jaw tightened. His posture stiffened ever so slightly — the insult had landed.
He hadn't expected resistance here, let alone mockery.
"You presume much, mortal," Loki hissed, eyes narrowing.
Luke tilted his head. "And you presume everyone here cares about your royal drama. Newsflash — they don't."
He pointed casually toward the old man behind him. "And this grandpa here deserves a thumbs up for standing up to you."
Luke meant it.
If he didn't have powers, he wouldn't be this courageous either. Ordinary people who stood up in moments like this — people like that old man — were rare.
Truly courageous individuals were always the minority.
Loki was pissed.
His original intention had been simple: a surrender, infiltrate S.H.I.E.L.D., and destroy it from within so no one could interfere with the upcoming Chitauri invasion. It was meant to be clean, theatrical, and efficient.
But this?
This man standing in front of him — mocking him openly, dismissing him like an unruly child — it hit every nerve Loki had.
Every word Luke spoke chipped at Loki's pride, his ego, and the image he had carefully crafted. And Loki, above all things, hated being mocked.
The urge to kill him rose sharply — not for strategy, not for necessity, but pure, focused rage.
"How dare you be this arrogant in front of a god?" Loki snapped, his voice sharp with anger. "In my eyes, you are just a mortal with a fraction of my lifespan. An ant I can crush anytime."
He clearly intended to finish Luke before continuing with his surrender plan.
Luke didn't bother replying. He simply yawned.
Loki talked too much. Honestly, Luke was one step away from handing him over to the TVA so they could smack the attitude out of him and make him into the more tolerable Loki variant.
'Wait… why didn't the TVA show up?'
By all logic, his presence here should've broken their so-called "sacred timeline." Or whatever that bullshit was supposed to mean.
He thought about it for half a second, then shrugged internally. If they did come, he'd just beat them up and toss them back through their own portal.
The TVA weren't gods — just normal humans with overpowered gadgets. They wouldn't even get within ten feet of him.
When he snapped out of his thoughts, Loki was already firing another energy blast at him.
Luke sighed. The deja vu was unreal.
He casually swatted the blast aside with one hand, like brushing away a mosquito. Did this guy seriously just repeat the exact same attack he'd already seen fail? Truly brainless. For someone who claimed to be a "god," Loki had the strategic creativity of a brick.
Before Loki could fire again, Luke lifted his other hand and used telekinesis to yank the scepter straight out of Loki's grasp. The weapon flew through the air and landed neatly in Luke's palm.
"Thanks for the scepter," Luke said, spinning it once just to annoy him. "Now you can surrender so I can throw your ass into a cell where you can sit and think about all the mess you caused."
"How dare you—"
He was gearing up for his usual ego-fueled monologue. Luke could practically hear the script: god of this, rightful ruler of that… Boring.
"Zip it," Luke interrupted.
And Loki's mouth sealed shut instantly. Only muffled, furious mhmmnnff! noises spilled out as his eyes bulged.
Before he could recover, glowing blue ropes materialized, wrapping around him like animated vines. They spun him upside down and hoisted him into the air, leaving him dangling helplessly in front of the entire plaza.
The crowd froze for three full seconds.
Then reality hit.
Dozens of phones shot up at once as people instinctively began recording.
Most of them had no idea who the horned guy was or what exactly just happened — but they could tell it was something extraordinary, and in the modern world, that meant: record first, figure it out later.
A few were reporters who came to attend the gala, trained to react fast. They immediately surrounded Luke, snapping photos like he'd just walked a red carpet instead of stopped an alien attack.
Luke noticed the cameras and — completely unfazed — lifted a hand and flashed a peace sign, even shifting his posture slightly so they'd get a cleaner angle. If people wanted pictures, why not give them something good?
*****
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