"You want me to be the savior?"
Loki thought Bant must have lost his mind.
Ever since he was a child, he had dreamed of playing that role, shining in battle like Thor, the one who turns the tide.
But honestly, that was nothing more than a dark fantasy.
Even Loki himself never thought it would become reality. Truth was, he knew he wasn't cut out to be a hero.
If real danger showed up, he would immediately turn tail and run. Not stabbing you in the back on the spot was about as loyal as he got.
He always felt his realm wasn't respected, but deep down he knew he really wasn't a strong warrior.
Loki understood his own weaknesses better than anyone.
He didn't think he had what it took to shoulder a great mission.
And yet, when Bant held the Casket of Ancient Winters and the Tesseract right in front of his eyes, Loki's heart actually stirred.
He felt the icy blue blood of the Frost Giant inside him start to boil.
This was the first time someone had entrusted him with such a weighty task.
In the past, no one had ever believed he could act like a hero and accomplish anything.
Even Thor didn't think he could pull anything off.
But Bant was different.
Loki looked into Bant's eyes and confirmed he wasn't joking, that he truly believed Loki could do it. For a moment, he had no idea what to say.
His eyes stung as if someone had shoved a whole onion into them.
In that instant, even he found himself thinking that maybe he really could do it, even if it meant giving his life.
For no other reason than that someone believed in him.
He looked at Bant, opened his mouth, and it took several seconds to force out a halting sentence.
"...You believe in me?"
Loki shook his head.
"I've already betrayed you once. Not to mention... I'm a coward. Maybe... maybe I'd just take these things and hand them over to Thanos, as long as he agreed to let me go."
"Would you?"
Loki shook his head. He wasn't sure, but that was exactly the sort of thing he might do.
But Bant said, "I believe in you, Loki."
At that, Loki let out a self-mocking laugh. "I don't even believe in myself."
"But I still believe in you. Just like I did back on Sakaar."
That single sentence pulled Loki back to the moment on Sakaar, when Bant had believed in him and unlocked the restraints on his body.
"Look at the people fighting out there. None of them have tremendous power, but not a single one is giving up."
"Are you going to be a coward, or are you ready to become a true king?"
Bant asked that question once again.
"Do you really think I'm worthy?" Loki asked despondently. "Maybe I'll never be able to lift that hammer. There's no point talking about worthiness."
Bant didn't answer directly. Instead, he threw the question back at him.
"Who do you think decides that worthiness?"
"A hammer?"
Bant looked at him and shook his head. "Maybe you can't lift Mjolnir, but you can decide what you want to do. You can decide what kind of person you want to become."
"Do you think I can lift that hammer?"
Without waiting for Loki to answer, Bant immediately shook his head. "I can't!"
"But I'm still the King of Sakaar."
"Because the people of Sakaar trust me. Because I saved and protected the people of Sakaar."
"Because I brought them hope and a chance to live."
"That's the true meaning of a king."
"Isn't that the reason you chose to stay with the Sky Union?"
Loki froze, then stammered, "I... I just... didn't know what else to do, so I stayed..."
Bant didn't argue.
He smiled faintly and said, "Loki, what kind of king or god needs the approval of a hammer?"
"It's just a hammer. Be a hero."
With that, seeing Loki still lost in confusion, Bant didn't say anything more.
He trusted that Loki would understand.
"Send me to Jotunheim."
His tone left no room for refusal.
Loki was startled by his shout. His mind went blank, and he instinctively did as Bant ordered.
He took the Tesseract, and in the next moment, a portal opened in his hand.
The Cube's energy formed an arc like swirling nebula mist, and instantly, the freezing cold of Jotunheim swept in.
Bant strode resolutely into the wind and snow.
Loki was left alone in the satellite.
He stood there dazed, Bant's words still echoing in his mind. He still didn't know if he could do it.
But sometimes you don't need to think that much.
You just need to act.
"Hacker?"
"Hacker!"
"Bant Parker!"
Tony's voice sounded like someone had lit a fire under his ass.
By now, nearly all the heroes had evacuated from space.
Tony was curled up inside the Veronica sphere, dangling like a carrot in front of a donkey, luring the giant Chitauri Leviathan closer to Earth's atmosphere.
But now, half of the giant Chitauri Leviathan's body had already passed the shield's intended activation point. It should have started right then, but there was no movement from the satellite.
Terrified that Bant had dropped the ball again, Tony screamed with everything he had.
That voice jolted Loki awake.
He slapped his own head, gritted his teeth, reinserted the Tesseract into the machine, and opened the comm channel:
"There's no Bant Parker here. Only Loki."
"Bambi?"
Tony froze.
Then, thinking Loki had betrayed and attacked Bant, he immediately demanded,
"What did you do to Bant?"
Loki ignored Tony. He simply drew a deep breath, forced his mind to think of nothing, and just act.
He exhaled heavily and said, "Hold that thing off for five more seconds, Midgardian."
Then Loki resolutely pressed the activation button for the planetary defense shield.
In the next moment, the Tesseract's energy was fully unleashed.
BOOM!!!
A dazzling, blinding beam shot out from the satellite beneath his feet.
Infinite energy spread, surging torrents pounding the satellite's body. From the core machine, veins of energy raced outward.
Waves of blue light expanded layer by layer. Loki felt like he was standing on a shore, enduring wave after wave crashing against his body.
He saw the overflowing energy pour into the conduits.
He had to admit, Bant Parker really was a genius.
Asgard had studied the Tesseract for ages before fully mastering its use, but Bant had only needed a few days to invent technology that could harness its energy.
He even knew exactly how much destructive force the Tesseract would unleash when the shield activated. The modified satellite was positioned right at the critical threshold.
That was the limit of what they could do in such a short time.
Right now, near Earth's atmosphere.
Tony still hadn't understood what Loki meant when he saw the satellite where Bant had been suddenly erupt with fierce blue light, like a morning star in the night sky, shining with an ancient radiance.
Immediately, that light shot out like a meteor in three different directions.
The planetary shield was activating!
He breathed a sigh of relief, but he also knew they still had to delay the Leviathan's advance as much as possible.
It would take a little more time for the energy to reach the four satellites and connect into a plane.
"Slow it down as much as you can!"
Tony shouted.
But by now, not many heroes were still able to move.
Near Earth's atmosphere, everyone was caught by Earth's gravity. Even with their suits allowing flight, performing precise work at that altitude was incredibly difficult.
Not to mention that countless Chitauri were still swarming them, protecting the Leviathan.
Peter and Venom plummeted toward the ground with no protection.
The intense acceleration made it hard to control their bodies, and the heat from friction was agony for Venom.
Luckily, they had grabbed a glider. Amid Peter's frustrated shouts, Venom smashed a Chitauri's head and kept fighting.
But all they could do was deal with the Chitauri soldiers.
"Who can hold it back?!"
Black Panther shouted.
Meanwhile, inside the Chitauri Leviathan, Natasha's face was deathly pale. The weightlessness of the rapid descent made her feel trapped in a runaway elevator.
Tony felt like they were out of options.
But then Norman joined the channel.
"Leave it to us."
On the ground... actually, not quite on the ground.
On the Helicarrier, Norman had already prepared a massive barrage of firepower, ready to meet this battle on the second defense line.
Countless missiles launched at his command.
In an instant, Tony and the others in the high sky saw what looked like a meteor shower streaming upward from the opposite horizon.
"Pull back!"
Tony shouted.
Immediately, everyone accelerated and dove straight for the surface.
BOOM!!!
In an instant, the entire sky seemed to become a bombardment zone.
If not for the fact that Natasha was still inside the giant Chitauri Leviathan, Norman might have even used nuclear missiles.
But even so, the ferocious bombardment did slow the Chitauri invasion.
At that moment, the planetary shield finally began expanding outward.
Like a gathering bubble, the enormous energy feedback slowly closed.
Slowly, but actually quite fast.
It flashed past like a ripple. In the next instant, the giant Chitauri Leviathan was sliced clean in half at the abdomen.
In that moment, the monster was utterly dead.
Half of its body plummeted toward the surface, while the other half remained on the shield, slowly turning to ash under the intense heat.
Seeing that, everyone was exhilarated and let out a collective breath of relief.
But some knew that the battle was only just beginning.
Like Peter and the others, who saw the War Lord standing atop the falling Leviathan, and Loki, who now stood in the space station, Casket of Ancient Winters in hand, turning to face the Black Order's descent.
Now, the real fight was about to start.
/-\
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