"What a terrifying bunch..."
Natasha Romanoff looked down through the Quinjet's glass at the chaotic battle below, her brow furrowed tightly.
These superheroes are really uncontrollable!
Natasha turned her head and glanced at Uehara Naraku by the cabin door. With their capabilities as ordinary humans, they couldn't intervene at all and could only wait for Steve Rogers to stop the chaos.
Uehara Naraku noticed Natasha's gaze, slowly nodded, and clenched his fist: "Yeah, they really are a terrifying bunch..."
Fortunately, the melee didn't last long.
As Thor was knocked down by a punch from Hulk, the brawl was declared over, and the two princes of Asgard were brought back onto the Quinjet.
Thor sat next to his brother, bruised and unhappy, looking around, but aside from his brother, no one paid him much attention.
"I heard something..."
Loki clasped his hands together, glanced at his brother, and then lowered his head to whisper: "Odin has another daughter. Her name is Death Goddess Hela... Hela is the true heir of Asgard, and you are only temporarily..."
"Loki!"
Thor smacked Loki's shoulder, ignoring the pain showing on Loki's face, and said, "Are you brain-damaged by cosmic turbulence? Father and mother only have us two children!"
"Who knows..."
Loki leaned back in the seat, looking up at the iron panels of the Quinjet: "I used to always think I was their child..."
Back then, Loki never doubted he was Odin and Frigg's child, believing Odin favored his firstborn Thor and even intended to pass the title of Divine King to him...
He thought it was parental favoritism...
Turns out he was a foundling.
And Odin had kept this a secret for so many years; who knew if Odin had hidden other matters from them? Loki believed that Death Goddess Hela likely existed...
Tony Stark curiously looked at the two brothers, raising his head slightly: "Hammer guy, isn't Loki your real brother?"
"Yes!"
Thor glanced at Tony Stark and others, speaking firmly: "Loki is a prince of Asgard! Earthlings have no right to judge him, only Odin..."
"No, he's adopted."
Loki unperturbedly interrupted Thor.
"Loki!"
Thor looked fiercely at Loki, gripping his shoulder: "You are my real brother! Even if adopted, we're brothers!"
Thor was earnestly trying to demonstrate what brotherly love means, yet Loki was almost openly disdainful, shifting his seat a bit.
Loki couldn't stand this guy's enthusiasm.
Loki preferred to keep his emotions to himself.
And his brother Thor barely hid his feelings, putting his thoughts straight on his face. You could tell right away if Thor was lying.
However, Thor really wasn't lying.
Thor always regarded Loki as a real brother, but now, in such a lousy attempt to show their brotherly love, Loki didn't need much thought; this guy was obviously after the Tesseract's whereabouts, right?
Sure enough.
Thor's eyes slowly reddened, but the next sentence immediately betrayed his purpose: "Loki, where's the Tesseract? Give it to me, and we can return to Asgard together. Father and mother will be so happy to see you..."
"...I don't know."
Loki gave a careless smile.
This hint of a provocative smile immediately infuriated Thor!
Such a disobedient brother...
Thor couldn't help but want to use more direct methods, following the best solution from their childhood, which was, of course, to beat Loki up!
Mjolnir, the Hammer of Thor, instantly flew into Thor's hand!
Steve Rogers grabbed Thor's wrist, glanced at Loki beside them, and urged in a deep voice: "Don't cause trouble on the plane... we're almost there."
Helicarrier.
When the Avengers Squad brought Loki back, S.H.I.E.L.D. was persistently searching for the Tesseract, still to no avail.
Nick Fury directly ordered Loki to be locked in a specially prepared cell, intending to try threatening this Asgardian prince to see if they could force the Tesseract's location out of him...
But...
Nick Fury ended up being threatened by Loki instead.
"When the Tesseract awakens on Earth, the entire universe has already turned its gaze here. Have you prepared for an interstellar war?"
"I am the king of Asgard and hold the power to rule Midgard. Why not surrender to me? If you surrender to me, I'll let Earth survive in peace..."
It couldn't be more absurd.
Though Loki was captured and became a prisoner of S.H.I.E.L.D., Loki's demeanor was extremely arrogant, like a king returning to his kingdom.
The entire S.H.I.E.L.D. was at a loss.
Even when Natasha Romanoff submissively went to Loki's cell to inquire about Clint Barton's whereabouts, she was harshly mocked by Loki. This guy wasn't just a sharp tongue...
Time ticked away.
S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers Squad were all filled with concern.
The Tesseract's whereabouts were unknown, the Chitauri could arrive on Earth at any moment, and Akatsuki's army stationed in outer space could turn Earth into a battleground at any time...
Loki in the cell was instead full of pride.
But inside, Loki was also a bit worried. With the Mind Staff lost, how could he cause chaos on the carrier?
With the carrier's setup and the entire Avengers Squad here, if Clint Barton came to rescue him, it'd be like serving himself up to the Avengers, wouldn't it?
Everyone, whether hero or villain, was worried.
Perhaps...
On the entire helicarrier, only one person wasn't worried. This man was even leisurely sipping juice, quietly awaiting the start of the Battle of New York.
"Have our people get ready..."
Uehara Naraku slowly sipped a juice through a straw, watching a group of agents in front of him: "Once Clint Barton arrives on the carrier, send someone to let Loki go... Tell Loki it's a command from Princess Hela."
"Princess Hela?"
"Yes, Princess Hela."
Uehara Naraku crushed the juice cup in his hand, tossing it into a trash can: "Princess Hela, the Death Goddess who created our Hydra, just happens to let Nick Fury know that nothing good comes from the gods of Asgard..."
Well...
Asgard isn't good...
In the future, only Akatsuki is a trustworthy friend.