Chapter 96: Have You Thought It Through? Loki
"Get up! Get up!"
Thor put all his strength into stomping his feet violently on the ground.
But no matter how hard he stomped, the hammer remained lying there, motionless and lifeless.
Realizing his father had taken back all his divine power, Thor finally collapsed.
Brawny men maintaining order carried Thor away and roughly threw him to the side of the road.
The queue of people behind continued to try and lift the hammer.
Stephen Fang sat down next to Thor. "How's it going? Describe your current mood?"
Thor didn't want to say a word right now. He tremblingly stood up and walked in the opposite direction, towards the end of the line.
Black Widow watched Thor's dejected figure and couldn't help but ask, "Is he really a god? Why do I feel he's so different from the gods I imagined? He just seems like an ordinary drunkard who likes to drink beer, has bad drinking habits, and throws things at the TV when watching football."
"Spot on summary." Stephen Fang patted Black Widow's shoulder. "I'm heading back."
Black Widow said nothing.
Several "suspicious" individuals in the crowd exchanged glances; S.H.I.E.L.D.'s clear-out operation had begun.
However, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s clean-up targets weren't just the strongmen.
It also included Stephen Fang.
New Mexico was very cold at midnight.
There was none of New York's prosperity and towering buildings, nor the bustling crowds and countless shops.
Sitting by the hotel window, Thor casually tossed a beer can onto the street, prompting many passersby to launch into "family greetings" lasting anywhere from ten to twenty minutes.
Stephen Fang wasn't surprised to see Thor in such a state.
After all, this was just the iconic character who'd eaten himself into a big belly in Avengers 3.
If one were to categorize stress tolerance into levels.
"'Ren Arakawa' is Tier Ten."
Then Thor could only be Tier One.
"Want some edamame?"
Thor turned his head, took the plate of edamame Stephen Fang offered, threw a handful into his mouth, chewed, found he couldn't chew it, and spat it back onto the plate.
"'That's disgusting.' Stephen Fang put the plate aside and couldn't help but curse, 'Can't you pull yourself together? If Odin saw you like this, he'd be even less likely to return your divine power.'"
Thor, emboldened by the alcohol, cursed back, "I don't want any divine power! I'm doing great right now!"
"Alright then, I just need to get my hands on Asgardian magic, I can cooperate with anyone."
He patted Thor's shoulder, turned, and walked out the door.
Within half an hour, the entire building was surrounded by agents in suits, armed with guns.
Thor was still throwing cans out the window, completely oblivious that the street, which had just had a few people, was now deserted.
With a "bang!", the door behind Thor was kicked open!
A line of agents rushed into the room, several handguns pointed at the back of Thor's head!
"Sir, don't move, or I can't guarantee what your fate will be."
Thor turned his head in confusion; the first thing that met his eyes was a black bald head.
Then, the black eye patch on the bald head.
"'Let me introduce myself, my name is Nick Fury. Where is your companion in the room? I mean, the Asian man.'"
Thor frowned. "'How should I know where he went? Don't bother me! I want to drink!'"
Nick Fury delivered a hand chop to Thor's neck, and Thor immediately fell unconscious.
The bald agent waved his hand, "'Take him away!'"
After watching Thor being taken away by S.H.I.E.L.D., Stephen Fang dialed Black Widow's phone.
"'It seems you want to have a showdown with me.'"
Black Widow's voice on the other end sounded a bit surprised. "'What do you mean? Did our people bother you?'"
"'It has nothing to do with you, right?' Stephen Fang nodded. 'Alright then, I won't mention you. Goodbye.'"
"'Hello?'"
Black Widow wanted to explain further, but the call was hung up, and she couldn't get through again.
The hammer lay on the ground.
This place was originally quite lively.
But after S.H.I.E.L.D.'s intervention, it had been enclosed by layers of iron sheeting, making it impossible to see what was inside.
There was a signal jammer at the center, and patrol vehicles surrounded the area.
The busybodies who wanted to spread information about the situation here were all collectively sent to the station, where they enjoyed free hot tea and a severe beating.
Speaking of detestability, S.H.I.E.L.D. might even rank before Hydra.
After all, there were more Hydra members within S.H.I.E.L.D. than in Hydra headquarters itself.
In the confinement room, Thor sat on a cold bench.
He had just undergone an hour and a half of interrogation.
As the Son of Odin, ruler of the Nine Realms, Thor strongly disliked everything he had suffered this evening.
In a daze, he saw a familiar person.
Someone who shouldn't have been there.
"'Loki?'"
Thor urgently called out, and the passing Loki stopped, squeezing a smile at Thor. "'You're here, huh?'"
"Loki! Quick, save me! I've been arrested!"
"'Oh, no, no, I can't save you.' Loki's expression instantly turned sorrowful. 'You angered Father. The old man already took to his coffin last night. Before he fell unconscious, he said he never wanted to see you again in this lifetime.'"
The big fool Thor was instantly struck as if by lightning, taking two bitter steps back, a thousand words coalescing into one sentence: "'He, is he alright?'"
"'Very, very bad. I estimate he only has a few days left before he breathes his last.'"
"'I mean, Midgard time.'"
Seeing Thor slump onto the chair like a frost-bitten eggplant, Loki secretly chuckled behind his hand, then turned back and said, "'I should go, Thor.'"
Thor didn't look up, his eyes filled with despair.
Loki left contentedly, heading straight for the deep crater where Thor's Hammer lay, enveloped by layers upon layers of enclosure.
As Loki, the God of Mischief, waved his hand at the guards near the deep crater, the guards collectively seemed to have gone blind, completely oblivious to Loki's arrival.
However, just as he was about to place his hand on the hammer's handle, a discordant voice came from above him.
"Can you teach me Asgardian magic?"
Loki looked up, his eyes meeting a pair of crimson red eyes.
He had never seen such eyes, nor such an ability.
Using eyes to hypnotize everyone around him?
Loki smiled. "'Asgardian magic requires extremely high talent and divine power to use. What kind of system do you have?'"
"'Whether I can learn it is my business; whether you teach it is yours.'"
Loki replied without hesitation, "'Then no.'"
"'You must teach me.'"
"'Oh? Why?' Loki's curiosity was piqued."
"'Because I am your biggest obstacle to ruling Asgard!'"
In the setting, Loki's power level was only two points higher than Black Widow's.
After experiencing Black Widow's fighting prowess, Stephen Fang was quite confident against Loki.
"'A mere mortal dares to challenge me!'"
"'Then let's see!'"
Stephen Fang's Three-tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly, activating his hypnotic eyes.
In that instant, Loki saw a bolt of startling lightning strike down from the sky!
Immediately after, Thor, wielding Thor's Hammer, flew towards him.
"'This! This is impossible!'"
Actually, there was nothing impossible about it.
After all, Loki wasn't a god in the traditional sense.
In Marvel's setting, "aliens" was a more fitting description for the people of Asgard.
Realizing he had entered an illusionary world, Loki furiously slapped his own chest, but still took a solid hammer blow from Thor, the God of Thunder.
He violently spat out a mouthful of blood!
When he opened his eyes again, everything that had just happened was indeed an illusion.
Although Stephen Fang was somewhat shocked that Loki had broken the illusion almost instantly, he still put on a full display of swagger.
Looking down at Loki, he said, word for word,
"'So, have you thought it through?'"
"'I mean...'"
"The matter of standing against me."
(end of chapter)