To be honest, meeting Loki at the observatory at the end of the Rainbow Bridge is a pretty good location.
After all, compared to the vast Netherworld, the area here is not large, and a typical mage like Loki has no room for struggle when approached by two powerful warriors.
Of course, that's assuming we don't take the Reality Gem into account. As long as Loki still holds the Ether Particles, both sides are at best evenly matched.
However, seeing him now, he seems to have already given up resisting.
Loki is obviously still pondering where he went wrong, because being recognized here was not his expectation. He disguised himself as Odin and Heimdall, originally intending to discuss some matters in the capacity of the Divine King.
But now, he can only discuss it in his true identity.
The Evil God, clad in green leather armor, tossed aside the treasure sword, and the key used to open the Rainbow Bridge made a crisp sound.
Lie after lie, betrayal after betrayal, he could easily get anything inside the Immortal Palace, but now it all seems so powerless.
"I was indeed peeking. When you plan to trap a bird, shouldn't you hold the strings in your hand?"
"Although I can also set traps, every trap has the risk of stepping into it myself. Therefore, I prefer to use a gun directly."
Facing Loki's question, Su Ming drew the great sword and slung it over his shoulder. The few had already blocked Loki's path from the spatial level.
"Or use a bow and arrow, or use a slingshot, or use a boomerang, like the ones the Native Americans use. Wait... Is saying Indians discriminatory? The correct term should be Native North Americans. Cut that part."
Wade immediately chimed in, but halfway through, he addressed the invisible filming crew, gesturing with his hands like scissors.
Loki leaned gently against the wall; Deadpool's issues he knows very well. But it is because of this that being evenly matched with such a person is the most tragic thing.
When you have prepared for every aspect, planned various schemes, only to have them easily dismissed with madness between laughter...
Everything looks like a joke.
But that's not the key. The main issue is that beside the madman there is someone who seems crazy but is actually clearer and darker than anyone else.
Deathstroke, a person who always has a plan; even though Loki comes from the future, he still doesn't know what Deathstroke is scheming.
This mysterious man's origins are a puzzle, his power seems quite ordinary, just a traditional warrior, with a great sword and armor, occasionally using hot weapons, no different from the warriors of the Immortal Palace.
No energy projection skills, no cosmic level superpowers, divine power, magic, concepts, telekinesis, none of those high-tier abilities.
His skills seem to lie in swords and knives, at most counting the superpower as a symbiote host, and the ubiquitous self-healing ability in Marvel.
But when he appears on the battlefield, he's truly the death knell for the enemy. No matter who the enemy is or what kind of power they use, Deathstroke is never restrained.
Because only with full preparation will he appear openly in front of everyone; otherwise, he lurks in the darkness, like a crocodile waiting to hunt.
This kind of demeanor makes all observers shudder, the omnipresent shadow looming over everyone, anyone could be killed by Deathstroke in the next moment, just because of a deal with others, or unintentionally blocking his way.
As someone good at calculation and layout, Loki is most aware of the power of schemes.
Deathstroke has almost planned the method of death for everyone, every person in the Marvel Multiverse. Loki isn't aware of what content is in the plan book with his name written on it, but the unknown is the scary part.
After losing Loki's whereabouts earlier, the most convenient and quick way is to call Heimdall and reposition through his abilities.
Loki knew after dealing with Hel, Deathstroke was bound to come after him, so he set a trap in response.
But Su Ming considered Loki's mindset and simultaneously went with the strategy, letting it happen.
Perhaps Loki thought Deathstroke would see through him, so this conversation may very well be part of Loki's plan, but Su Ming considered the opposite of Loki's thinking, that is, the tragic fact that one wants to change but cannot.
So directly expose his lies and speak frankly.
"I thought by becoming two people, you wouldn't think in this direction." Loki touched his chin, expressing his bewilderment quite frankly.
Su Ming walked to his side, gently sat down, hooking Loki's shoulder casually to confirm it was his true body and to prevent him from escaping.
"Even guys like Great Group exist; the number of heads does not equal the number of personalities, you know this too."
"Your strength is not equal to Odin's, though I know you might see through, I didn't expect you'd really dare to probe."
Here, Su Ming shook his head: "Your Odin acting skills are average, the aura was too strong. I've seen many beings stronger than Odin; their aura is instead lesser than Odin's, this contradiction is obvious. Besides, even if it is really Odin, he also has weaknesses..."
"Are you telling me this to plan on killing me?" Loki tilted his head, a smile appeared on his face, showing neat white teeth.
Su Ming took out a cigarette, lit it: "I won't kill you, the story still has its use, so you need not ask everything as if you're preparing to die; sometimes being confused has its benefits."
"Like him?"
Loki pointed at Wade, who was still talking to the sky. No matter how you looked at it, it seemed like an act of idiocy, especially when recalling how Deadpool shyly exposed his rear to him, Loki couldn't help but act.
"No, my brother is pretending to be dumb, your brother is truly dumb." Su Ming shook his head; stupidity and madness are two different concepts.
When Thor was mentioned, Loki sighed lightly, suddenly at a loss for words.
Seeing that his questions were answered, Su Ming also had a few questions for Loki. He pulled out a cigarette from the pack and handed it to Loki, who unhesitatingly took it and lit it with magic.
The two sat side by side like brothers, smoking together.
Wade extended his small hand, wanting one too, but was slapped away by Su Ming. "This cigarette is to send Loki 'on his way'; do you want it too?"
He ignored Wade's aggrieved expression and refocused on Loki: "Everything was originally in order, why did you think of coming back to rewrite the story?"
"Because I found the story ridiculous. I shouldn't be the God of Story, but the God of Jokes instead."
Loki's eyes lost focus, and he gazed blankly at the stars beyond the Rainbow Bridge, as if the countless bright spots on the black backdrop could give him some belief.
Su Ming sighed. He hadn't suffered any loss from Loki's story; in fact, he had gained a lot, especially the Cosmic Cube, that terrifying weapon was currently hidden in a safe place.
"I probably know a bit about what you're talking about, about the God of Gods after the Twilight of the Gods, right?" Su Ming calmly puffed out a smoke ring, casually picking up Heimdall's sword and giving it a few swings.
Too light, not handy.
The Evil God was still smiling, but the smile carried an indescribable connotation.
"After the Twilight of the Gods, I reshaped everyone through the power of story." He spoke with a calm voice of those distant future events: "As if the Twilight of the Gods never happened, except for Odin, I indirectly resurrected everyone."
"Then the God of Gods approached you because you indirectly prevented the Twilight of the Gods, so you told them a story that scared them away," Su Ming continued.
Loki took a deep breath, knowing that although Deathstroke had a lot of intelligence, this should have been something only the God of Gods and himself knew.
But it was the truth, everything was just like that.
"As you said, at first I was satisfied with this result, but gradually, I discovered something amiss..."
"It's because they appeared too coincidentally, right?" Deathstroke flicked the ash off his cigarette lightly.
Loki nodded, even though he realized it only afterward, unlike Deathstroke who noticed immediately, but he did manage to see through some things.
"If they wanted to stop me, why appear only after the Twilight of the Gods, after I've written the story? When I just started writing, they had ten thousand ways to stop me."
"Makes sense; their power should at least be on the All-Powerful Cosmic Level, not something that the Single-Cosmic Level you can scare away. Otherwise, in every world of the multiverse, there's a Loki, and they would have been dead already."
Su Ming's viewpoint was pretty much the same as Loki's.
The appearance of the God of Gods was merely to numb Loki, to make him think he really avoided the Twilight of the Gods, to make him think he really repelled the God of Gods.
However, in reality, perhaps the original gods had already been thrown into the furnace.
All the people reshaped by Loki in the story were no longer their original selves; they were merely manifestations of the images living in Loki's memory.
The story originates from the world; without this Marvel World, the story wouldn't stand.
In other words, the energy source for the story Loki used to reshape the gods was the furnace fire formed from the previous gods' lives...
When the new gods grow again, or when the world needs energy again, the God of Gods will appear again, having Loki repeat the story.
If Loki thinks the story made him win, then let him believe it.
The world gains energy and continues to exist, the God of Gods achieves their purpose; they don't care how others view the matter of winning or losing.
It was precisely because Loki realized these truths that he chose a moment in time, attempting to massively alter the story and create parallel worlds.
Tempo-paradox-level changes are too minor to escape such fate; only by becoming independent of the timeline like Conqueror Kang can one do so.
"I want to sever time, sever destiny, separate everything. Kang has already consciously done half under my setup; I'll complete the other half. You have to help me because this will be your world in the future." Loki's eyes were earnest, and his plan had long been underway.
"Nice idea, but you misunderstood one thing." Su Ming shook his head regretfully; he didn't believe Loki's last sentence.
Nothing would be that easy, though Su Ming had long regarded the 40K Universe as his own property; as long as it's under the name 'Marvel', it's an illusion.
"What?" Loki showed a serious expression for the first time; he had intended to persuade Deathstroke to join him against the God of Gods, but Deathstroke clearly already knew all of this.
"Conqueror Kang's method involves creating parallel worlds through different points in time. It seems like each world is independently split out, but do you know these worlds are fragile items? Even though they are independent of the timeline, their own time continues to pass, and their energy continues to deplete. Kang rolls like a snowball, using the conquest of new timelines to recharge old worlds to ensure his 'figurines' don't break. Do you really wish to follow his path?"