Blake, imitating Hulk's moves from the movie, grabbed Loki and slammed him from side to side.
He smashed him left and right more than ten times.
Then, amid the roaring wind, a weak voice could be heard.
"I'll talk! I'll talk!"
"Blake! He's agreed to talk, do you hear me?" Thor shouted immediately.
He wasn't really worried that Loki would be beaten to death. Whether it's Asgardians or Frost Giants, their bodies are extraordinarily resilient. No matter how severe the injury, as long as it's not fatal, they can recover fairly quickly.
His main concern was that if this continued, Loki would suffer psychological trauma. Even Thor himself was starting to feel traumatized just watching.
"Bang!"
Blake delivered one final heavy slam to finish it off.
Looking at Loki's current state, two idioms came to mind: lifeless eyes and breathing faintly.
It wasn't physical pain but absolute mental torment.
He had come to Earth full of ambition, planning to conquer the world by stepping over countless people. He never expected that before his beloved Chitauri army even arrived, he'd already been beaten down like a bear!
"Enough! I'll talk, I'll say everything! Pop!"
Loki groaned, then opened his mouth and spat out a blood-tinged bubble.
This time, the troublemaker was utterly subdued. Conquering Earth, the throne of Asgard—all that now seemed trivial.
Earth was terrifying!
Blake was terrifying!
In Loki's imagination, he would have been elegantly imprisoned, then used the Mind Scepter to break through Banner's mental defenses directly.
The plan was to let these so-called superhumans, whether they're called superheroes or not, turn on each other in a chaotic mess. Then he would slip away and finally lead the Chitauri army in a glorious campaign.
But Blake had perfectly shown Loki what it means to be brutally punished by society.
"Speak! Tell me, where is the Tesseract?"
Blake sat down beside Loki's head and asked casually.
"That, I don't know!"
"What?"
"Bang!"
…
Back on the Helicarrier, around the oval meeting table on the bridge.
Blake, Tony, and the others sat in a circle with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Nick Fury and Hill.
Beside the table lay a half-dead Loki on the floor, pinned under Thor's hammer.
Just a moment ago, Loki had claimed he didn't know where the Tesseract was, leading Blake to beat him again.
But this time, it seemed he was telling the truth.
Under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s interrogation techniques combined with Blake's fists, Loki had even revealed every prank he'd played as a child.
Based on the psychological expertise of the agents present, he genuinely didn't know where the Tesseract was.
Here, the story diverged from the movie. During the time Loki tried to kill Thor on Earth by controlling the Destroyer, he had already witnessed the powers of the Ancient One and Blake.
Although Thanos assured him that the Ancient One would not interfere easily, Loki no longer held the Asgardian arrogance from the movie, where he regarded all humans as mere ants.
As a result, his plan changed accordingly.
After deciding to draw attention himself, he took precautions in case of unforeseen events.
Loki instructed Hawkeye to leave the original base with Dr. Selvig immediately after acquiring the iridium, so they could build the device to activate the Tesseract.
The idea was to open a portal and release the Chitauri army. With Earth's forces spread thin, Hawkeye could then break him out in the ensuing chaos.
Blake exhaled deeply.
After all this effort, they were back to square one. In the end, they still needed Dr. Banner's device to locate the gamma radiation signals.
"Moreover, Hawkeye isn't like Loki. Although he's under Loki's control, his mind remains intact, and he isn't as vain or eager to show off as Loki.
Agents are discreet and practical, so Hawkeye could very well summon the Chitauri army from some hidden corner, then launch an assault afterward.
If he does that, it could cause even bigger problems.
In the movie, they opened the portal and immediately started the battle. The fighting was intense, but that portal only stayed open for a little over two hours.
Thanks to the Avengers' efforts to delay and fight back, the Chitauri army didn't even get out of Manhattan before their mothership was destroyed by a nuclear missile.
However, if Hawkeye chooses to build up forces in a corner first, things could spiral out of control.
Especially since Loki mentioned that the Chitauri army uses the scepter's signals to establish command. This control includes Hawkeye, who's also influenced by the scepter.
"It's fine. Dr. Banner's program is still running. Spectrometers in labs worldwide are helping us scan for gamma rays. As soon as they activate the Tesseract, they won't escape our surveillance."
Blake clapped his hands, breaking the silence.
"For now, all we can do is wait and decide what to do with this guy."
Blake pointed to Loki lying on the ground.
"We should build a special prison at the bottom of the ocean and lock him up deep in the Pacific!" Coulson said angrily. For some reason, just looking at Loki annoyed him and made his chest ache faintly.
"I warn you, he is from Asgard. He must come back to Asgard with me to face judgment. He's a prince of Asgard—my brother!" Thor immediately objected.
"He's been on Earth for only a few days and has already directly or indirectly caused over eighty deaths!" Nick Fury said calmly.
"Uh... actually, Loki was adopted by my father," Thor muttered, a bit embarrassed.
On the ground, Loki couldn't help but roll his eyes.
They only briefly discussed how to handle Loki. Their minds were elsewhere, as no one knew where Hawkeye had taken the Tesseract.
Even if they had equipment to shield radiation, activating the Tesseract should be detectable, right?
To open a portal big enough to bring an army through, they wouldn't be able to do it in a small room, would they? If it's outdoors, it would definitely be detected.
Though having no news could be considered good news, the current situation was really unnerving. The calmness made it impossible to predict what might happen, which was the most terrifying part.
After waiting all afternoon without any results, Loki was eventually locked up in that massive circular cage from the movie.
As evening gradually turned to night, even Blake started feeling uneasy, as did Loki, who wondered what could be happening with Hawkeye.
Then, at dawn, just as the first light broke and the sun hadn't yet risen, alarms blared across the Helicarrier.
Everyone immediately rushed to the bridge.
Dr. Banner arrived first and focused on a computer screen.
On the screen was a flashing red exclamation mark, with a world map below it. As Dr. Banner tapped on the keyboard, the map zoomed in.
"It's finally appeared. Where is it?"
Captain America was the first to ask.
"Hold on. It's narrowing down... just about to be confirmed… It's in Africa, in a place called... Wa… Wakanda!"
---
Regarding that portal only being open for a little over two hours, this was a deleted scene from *Avengers: Endgame*. Rocket, after watching footage of the Battle of New York, laughed at the Avengers, mocking them for taking over two hours to fight off such a "weak" species. In response, Tony shaved Rocket's head with a razor.
*******************************************
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If you like my work and you want to support me then you can become my patron on patre*n.
My patr*on account is S_Pandey_0170
The story rewinds to a few hours earlier.
As expected, Hawkeye reached the same conclusion as Blake. After carefully considering the balance of power, he decisively decided to take Dr. Selvig and the device that activates the Tesseract and head straight for Africa. Loki was right: the best approach was to summon the Chitauri army and then rescue him when their defenses were spread thin.
Thus, Hawkeye headed to Africa with Dr. Selvig.
Eastern Africa's Wakanda became the ideal location. It's impoverished and underdeveloped, lacking major urban centers, which made it convenient for rapid troop mobilization.
Additionally, there were a few small neighboring countries that could easily be conquered to serve as temporary bases, and it wasn't far from the coastline.
The story now returns to three hours ago.
At 2:10 a.m. New York time, or 9:10 a.m. Wakanda time (a time difference based on that between New York and Ethiopia in East Africa; though Wakanda is fictional, it's located in East Africa within the Marvel Universe), Hawkeye drove a pickup truck across the Wakandan savanna.
Dr. Selvig sat beside him, and the Tesseract was stored in a box made from a special material.
During the journey, Dr. Selvig asked Hawkeye why he chose Africa.
Hawkeye replied, "A powerful weapon can destroy a planet instantly, but conquering it requires a long campaign. Africa is poor and underdeveloped but rich in resources. Is there a better choice than taking over here first?"
Dr. Selvig nodded repeatedly in agreement.
In fact, as they entered Wakanda, they were inevitably noticed.
Though Wakanda appeared underdeveloped, it was also an open nation. There weren't many famous tourist spots, but occasionally, tourists or backpackers would come to the savanna to watch the sunrise and sunset.
Moreover, the special box hid the Tesseract from detection.
Thus, they arrived at the depths of the Wakandan savanna unimpeded.
They were now less than two kilometers away from the real Wakanda.
While they assembled the equipment, the royal guards watching in secret mistook them for people setting up a telescope to stargaze.
Then, an hour later, the Tesseract was removed from its box.
Alarms blared in the guard room of the royal palace.
The boundless energy contained within the Tesseract appeared on Wakanda's detectors like a massive energy source comparable to the sun.
The automated security system immediately classified it as a crisis of the highest level.
Devices buried beneath the savanna began operating automatically.
Blue energy surged between vibranium devices underground.
Quickly, an energy shield covering a two-kilometer radius rose into the sky, isolating this area from both the outside world and from the savanna and the royal city.
After a flash of blue light, the energy shield fully formed and began to fade. It became almost transparent unless attacked.
From dozens of meters underground to thousands of meters in the sky, the entire area was enveloped by Wakanda's energy shield.
"What is this? What's happening? Is this some kind of high-density energy shield? Are you sure we're in Africa? Is this an alien relic?" Dr. Selvig looked around at the suddenly risen shield in disbelief.
Hawkeye also looked stunned, but he remained much calmer than Dr. Selvig.
He only paused for a moment before saying, "Whatever this is, we'd better hurry up!"
In the Wakandan palace, the elder King T'Chaka was speaking with his son, the new Black Panther.
"T'Challa, I am so proud that you've become Wakanda's greatest warrior and inherited the title of Black Panther!
"But if you want to be a good king, just bearing the title of Black Panther is far from enough…"
The old king was getting on in years and was preparing to gradually hand over power. Under his guidance, he planned to train his son for a few more years before fully stepping back.
Every morning, the old king would invite the Black Panther to join him for breakfast, using the time to discuss various matters concerning Wakanda.
Today was no exception. After talking about some official business, the old king decided to switch to a more personal conversation between father and son.
Unfortunately, they were interrupted by the captain of the royal guard who walked in hastily.
"Your Majesty, Prince!"
The guard captain, Okoye, gave a slight bow in greeting.
"Okoye, it's rare to see you so unsettled. What's happening outside?"
The old king asked with a smile.
"Two outsiders have entered the Wakandan savanna. We initially thought they were just regular tourists, but they set up some equipment and brought out an extraordinary energy source that our detection devices cannot measure!"
After speaking, Okoye pressed a few beads on her vibranium bracelet, revealing footage from a hidden camera.
It showed Hawkeye and Dr. Selvig installing the Tesseract.
"The system has automatically classified it as a high-level security event and activated the energy shield over the savanna to isolate that area."
"I'm not sure what they're planning, but I believe we should stop them immediately or eliminate them on the spot," Okoye said, expressionless.
Having been king for so many years and faced countless crises, T'Chaka didn't feel particularly tense about Okoye's report. Instead, he saw this incident as an opportunity to test his son.
"T'Challa, what do you think we should do in the face of such an unknown threat?"
"The energy shield has already been exposed, so there's no need to hide it. However, we don't know what their intentions are. Perhaps I could lead a team to capture them, question them, and then decide our next steps."
Black Panther looked to his father with a tone of inquiry.
The old king nodded approvingly.
"Very good, my child. As a king, you should never take someone's life lightly. But remember, a king can't handle everything personally. The safety of all Wakandans rests on your shoulders, so you must learn to delegate tasks to the right people. No matter what situation you face, remember this!"
Seeing Black Panther nod in agreement, the old king turned to Okoye.
"Bring them and their equipment back here so we can question them…"
Before he could finish, they saw on the screen that the Tesseract had started emitting blue energy, followed by a blue beam shooting skyward.
A massive wormhole opened up hundreds of meters above.
Quickly adapting, Okoye switched to another camera, pointing it straight at the wormhole in the sky.
On the other side of the wormhole was the cosmic void — and an army of soldiers on single-pilot spacecraft, eager to invade!
"An alien invasion?"
The old king lost his previous calm. "Okoye, assemble all the warriors from every unit. Deploy them all to find out what's happening."
"T'Challa, get to the scene immediately and wait outside the shield for Okoye to join you. Actually, I'll come with you!"
The old king hurriedly stood up.
*******************************************
You can get access to early chapters on patr*on.
If you like my work and you want to support me then you can become my patron on patre*n.
My patr*on account is S_Pandey_0170
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