Chapter 2649: Chapter 1862: Madman's Journey (Thirty-Eight)_1
Having finished his serious business, Loki finally had the time to tease his other self. He walked over to his counterpart, who was pinned to the ground by the long spear. Squatting down slowly, he looked at him with a grin, "How does it feel?"
"Who the hell are you?!" Loki on the ground gritted his teeth and asked, "You damn fake, where did you take Thor? What the hell are you up to?!!"
Loki shook his head and said, "I'm not a fake, and neither is Thor. We are essentially you from a parallel universe."
Then, he stood up, turning to look at Thor. With a casual wave of his hand, Thor made the long spear pinning Loki levitate, allowing the shaky Loki to get back on his feet.
"I think we should talk." Loki cast Thor another glance before returning his gaze to his identical self and said it.
Loki was overwhelmed with emotion. In the recent period, he was flooded with emotional shockwaves. It started with the revelation that he wasn't Odin's biological son, to the fact that Odin was the invader of Jotunheim, and then he encountered Thor and himself from a parallel universe.
He turned to look at Thor, who was now drinking by the bar. His face was all too familiar, but the aura gave a distant unfamiliarity – a bizarre contradiction that snowballed many more questions in Loki's mind.
He observed his other self walking over to Thor, leaning in to whisper something in his ear, seemingly confirming something with him. After some pondering, Thor shot a glance in his direction and nodded.
This moment was a significant shock to Loki. Besides the fact that Thor seemed to have learned to think, he just couldn't understand why he would be so submissive to Thor in another universe.
His other self came over and gestured towards a corridor adjacent to them. Loki followed him into a room located at the left end of the hallway on the right side of the hall.
The room had the appearance of a laboratory, except for two single-seat sofas and a small coffee table placed by the window. This was the first time Loki encountered a window in this strange place. Looking out of it, he saw the vast cosmos. The spaceship was seemingly parked on the edge of the Milky Way.
Sitting on the couch, Loki felt uneasy. He wanted to appear nonchalant, but he couldn't help but ask, "Are you really us from another universe? I mean, are your experiences identical to ours?"
"That depends on how far back you want to go." Loki heard his parallel self respond, "Up until before Thor went to Earth, our experiences should be the same."
"So you..."
"I'm a frost giant."
Loki's eyes widened in surprise. He didn't understand how his counterpart could tranquilly utter these words. Unable to contain his resentment, he leaned forward and ground out, "The Frost Giants are the enemy of the Aesir, Odin invaded Jotunheim, murdered my biological father, and stole the divine artifact of the Frost Giants."
"Yes, but you should know this wasn't the first time he did so."
Loki was left speechless. It's difficult to feel the pain until the knife is on yourself. When he followed Thor to the battlefield, he never thought there was anything wrong.
Loki slumped back in his chair. However, the next sentence of his counterpart had him on edge once again.
"Unlike you, the Thor from our universe has already become the Divine King of Asgard."
Loki's hand on the coffee table clenched in a second. He dared not look at his counterpart, so he turned his head and asked, "What about you? What about his brother?"
"I am the Prince of Asgard."
Loki let out a contemptuous sneer, and said, "Asgard never had a prince, Asgard does not need a prince, is this the way you console yourself?"
The anticipated vehement rebuttal never came. All Loki saw was his counterpart nodding and saying, "Yes, if the Thor from your universe also awakened so early and became so powerful, you would understand that this is the only possible path. He won't let you oppose him, and thus you would only be left with one choice - to submit."
"I would never do that." Loki turned his face towards the back of the chair, his jaw trembling incessantly. He added, "We are both princes of Asgard, and I have never been revered. I want to claim back what I deserve!"
"Then why didn't you do that just now?"
Loki's nails were digging into his flesh. He struggled to control his trembling arm. The heroic speech that bubbled inside him melted away like ice on a spring lake the moment he recalled the unfamiliar Thor.
Loki wanted to tremble but he knew he couldn't. He made every effort to stay calm. Yet, the next sentence struck at his heart, sharp as a dagger.
"Because you didn't dare." He heard his other self say, "You've never been a brave person. You're used to taking advantage where you have strength, bully the weak. Even in rage, you could only question Odin. You wouldn't dare to treat him as you've treated Thor."
Loki took a deep breath and acknowledged, "Just now, the aura Thor exuded reminded me of Odin, similar to the Father of All Gods."
"So you didn't even dare to use your divine power to resist him."
"Is this what you want?" Loki stared at his other self, struggling to understand, "Why did you not... why wouldn't you..."
In the end, Loki didn't even know what he was asking. He wanted to ask why he didn't kill Thor when he wasn't so powerful and authoritative, but he couldn't utter the latter part of the question.
Up until this moment, he just wanted to teach Thor a lesson. He believed he was owed by Odin and Thor, but his so-called revenge seemed more like showing off his power.
"If I were to say that I never had a chance to kill him, that would be a blatant lie. Even during his transformation, a butterfly in its cocoon is always fragile."
Loki saw his other self also gazing out the window, seemingly lost in some recollection. After a long pause, he heard him explain, "I even let him give up once. In fact, he wasn't ever after anything besides his affections. His passionate personality can drive people into envy-driven madness."
"So, is the glory bestowed upon you like an award from Odin, and being Thor's loyal servant enough to make you willing to relinquish your dignity and freedom?"
"What is it that's making you jealous, then?"
Loki could no longer control himself. His throat quivered violently. He had words of rebuttal at the tip of his tongue, but he whitened his knuckles by squeezing his thumb with his other fingers.
What was he jealous of? Their closeness? Thor's approval? The tacit understanding when their eyes meet? Or simply the balance and stability that he knew could always be maintained, just by thinking about it?
"Have you ever considered, that Thor might one day become like this?"
Loki heard a thundering question, but despite all his wisdom, he couldn't come up with a solid rebuttal.
Thor would inevitably become the Divine King of Asgard one day. If he ascends to the throne, it would prove he is qualified, and a qualified Divine King must be strong, indifferent, and dignified, just like the Father of All Gods.
"Where should I go then?" Loki muttered to himself.
"Are you willing to leave?"
Loki found that he had encountered more unanswerable questions in these few short days than he had in his whole life.
"So, while Thor still plays the part of your naïve older brother, find a place where you can seek refuge, even after he becomes the Divine King. The paths you can choose are limited if you can't easily leave."
Loki was silent for a long time. Then he took a deep breath and looked at the version of himself across from him. "Why are you telling me all this?" he asked.
"I think we can make a deal. S.H.I.E.L.D. has run into some trouble. You help them solve it, and we'll let you return to Earth to reunite with Thor."
Loki turned his face away again. He tasted the word "reunion" on his tongue. The word seemed melodramatic, yet comforting.
And as if remembering something, he asked, "What's this about 'cursed'? Who cursed Thor?"
"A Supreme Magician from another cosmos went mad. He is our target. Of course, if you're willing to help us, we would be glad to help you avenge your brother," was the reply.
A gloomy light flickered in Loki's eyes. After a while, he tucked away all his emotions, raised his chin, and gave a slight nod.
The "clicking" sound of a keyboard filled the air as a cold light shone on Natasha's face. Stark, who had awakened a few hours ago, said he had already sent the results of the examination and analysis to the S.H.I.E.L.D database. Natasha was looking at some images on a S.H.I.E.L.D. computer.
The photo showed a cluster of molecules under a high magnification lens. Stark had highlighted an anomaly with a different color. Natasha squinted at it and clearly saw a trace that looked like a scratch.
Upon further magnification, Natasha was stunned to find that it was actually a series of footprints.
The individual appeared to be running desperately, and due to the curved shape of the bottle's opening, making it hard to exert force, he must have stomped heavily, leaving very clear traces.
Natasha's eyes widened as she stared at the empty air in front of her and muttered, "Pym particles…"
"Bang!"
Natasha suddenly flew backward and hit the wall corner after several rolls on the ground. She stood up, covering her stomach, and immediately realized who had attacked her.
Just as she was about to shift her center of gravity to fight back, a massive force struck her on the side of her face, knocking her into the door next to her.
Natasha gritted her teeth and pushed the door open. But the next second, the solid metal security door was shattered into pieces.
Natasha wasted no time. She reached toward the empty air next to her and shouted, "Mjölnir!"
A streak of light shot across the sky from the horizon. The glass shattered with a "clatter", and the metallic hammer fell into Natasha's hand. "Crackle, crackle, crackle", several lightning strikes lit up the floating black dots in the air.
"Get out here, Pym! I know it's you! Do you hear me, Pym! Have you gone mad?!!" Natasha roared.
Natasha was furious at the thought of another internal war within The Avengers. The anger of Black Widow Thor did not stop her from driving the power of Thor, until everything around her was charred black.
Nick, hurried over at the sound, did not care about his lost property. He looked at Natasha with some worry and asked, "You've been attacked? Who did it?"
Natasha only sighed, raised the hammer, and turned it towards Nick who was walking over. Nick reeled back in fright, instinctively raising his hands to indicate to Natasha to stay calm.
"Why would Dr. Pym do such a thing?" Natasha coldly asked Nick. "What happened to him? Answer me!"
Nick was stunned for a moment and then seemed to remember something. "You're saying that Ant-Man is causing all this mess? But she..."
Nick put down his hands, stood still for a while, and then said, "No, not Ant-Man, not Hope... It's her father, Hank Pym."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone