"My name is Loki Odinson of Asgard.
I come bearing a glorious purpose."
As he spoke, Dr. Erik Selvig slowly got back to his feet.
"Loki?
Thor's brother?" he asked in disbelief.
Loki's brows rose slightly.
He hadn't expected backward Midgard to have anyone who recognized him.
"We have no quarrel with you or with Asgard," Nick Fury said, trying the diplomatic approach.
"We haven't provoked you."
"A swarm of ants speaks of provocation?"
Loki sneered, the scepter in his hand glowing faintly.
"There is no 'quarrel.' There is only insignificance."
"So you intend to wipe out humanity?"
Fury's expression hardened.
He could already tell Loki did not come in peace.
But Loki merely shook his head.
"No, no… I am here to liberate you.
To grant freedom—to free you from freedom."
"Oh? Liberate humanity? From whom?
We aren't enslaved."
Fury's hand drifted closer to the gun at his waist.
"Freedom is the greatest lie of all,"
Loki said softly.
"If you could see that…"
He suddenly reached out and touched Selvig's chest with the scepter.
Blue energy surged into him—
Selvig's eyes shimmered with an eerie glow.
"You speak of liberation, but your actions say otherwise," Fury retorted, fingers brushing his holster.
From the side, Hawkeye said in an eerily calm voice:
"He's stalling. Fury has already called for backup."
As a Level 10 S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, Barton recognized the tactic immediately.
"And," he continued, "this whole place is rigged to blow. Fury planted explosives.
If they go off, this facility collapses. We'll be buried a few hundred meters under."
Selvig glanced nervously at the swirling blue energy gathering above the Tesseract.
"He's right.
The cube's stray energy is condensing again—it'll explode in minutes.
We must leave."
Loki nodded.
Then—
BANG!
Barton pulled a gun and shot Fury.
Fury fell, dropping the case containing the Tesseract.
Barton swiftly retrieved it and, with the mind-controlled agents covering them, retreated with Loki and Selvig.
---
Parking Structure
Packed with S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicles—Barton picked the best-performing one.
Just then, Agent Maria Hill stepped out.
Unaware of the situation, she only saw Barton, Selvig…
and a stranger holding a glowing scepter.
"Barton… who is that?"
Loki casually slid into the back seat.
Barton ignored her and headed for the driver's side.
Hill's comm crackled to life—Fury's voice, weak but alive.
He had been wearing a bulletproof vest.
"Hill! Hill, do you copy?"
"I hear you."
"Barton is compromised—he's taken the Tesseract!
You can't let him leave!"
Barton spun around and fired several shots at her.
Hill dove aside and returned fire.
Both shot with impeccable technique—
yet neither landed a killing hit.
It was like two professionals drawing outlines around each other.
Barton slipped into the driver's seat, floored the accelerator, and the car shot forward.
Hill emptied her magazine at the fleeing vehicle—
but the rounds bounced uselessly off the armored frame.
---
Inside the Lab
The Tesseract's rogue energy collapsed inward like a forming singularity, sucking debris, metal, and equipment toward it.
Fury barely escaped.
"All units, listen up!
Agent Barton is compromised and has stolen the Tesseract—stop them at all costs!"
He staggered toward the exit.
Hill was already in pursuit, her vehicle leading a convoy of S.H.I.E.L.D. cars tearing down the tunnel.
Loki climbed onto the rear of Barton's car.
He raised the scepter—
SHOOM!
Blue blasts erupted, carving craters into the tunnel floor.
S.H.I.E.L.D. vehicles opened fire.
Even a mounted heavy machine gun roared, sending streams of rounds toward him.
A blue barrier shimmered into existence, blocking every shot.
BOOM!
A blast struck a vehicle behind them.
It flipped, crashed into another, and both exploded in a fireball—
the tunnel filled with flames, sealing off several pursuers.
Meanwhile, the laboratory began collapsing.
The collapsing vortex dragged the entire building downward.
Coulson gathered the remaining staff and evacuated—
abandoning all research data.
---
Barton pushed the car to top speed.
At a fork in the tunnel, Hill's vehicle suddenly appeared and skidded sideways, blocking him.
Both drew weapons and exchanged another rapid volley—
the windshields on both cars riddled with holes.
Hill hit the gas, ramming Barton head-on.
The two vehicles locked together, engines screaming—
but Barton's engine had more power.
He forced Hill's car backward toward the exit.
---
Outside
The parking structure had already collapsed.
Fury sprinted to the helipad.
A helicopter was waiting; he climbed aboard just as the ground gave way beneath them.
"Coulson, status?"
"All personnel evacuated, sir," Coulson radioed back, speeding with his team toward the tunnel exit.
"Hill, report!"
"Still pursuing Barton—we're almost out of the tunnel!"
At that moment—
The cube's energy suddenly compressed—
then exploded outward in a titanic blast.
The facility didn't simply explode—
it imploded, then detonated.
The earth cracked, the building sank, and within seconds it was reduced to nothing.
No ruins, no rubble—
just a vast crater.
But in the final instant before the collapse—
Barton's car, Hill's car, and Coulson's convoy all burst out of the tunnel.
Everyone survived.
Including Loki.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
For 20 advanced chapters, visit my Patreon:
Patreon - Twilight_scribe1
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you enjoyed Marvel Manifestor, please give it a Power Stone and leave a review! Your support means everything.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~