Whoosh—
A battered, cargo-container-sized flying bus descended in front of Leon and the others.
Out stepped a group of scavengers—
Dressed like intergalactic vagrants, armed with mismatched, cobbled-together weapons.
"Gladiators?"
Leon: "No."
"You work for the Grandmaster?"
Tony: "Green-master?"
"Neither? Then you're food."
The gray-skinned mohawk leader grinned and fired a high-voltage net launcher.
Leon and Tony sidestepped in perfect sync.
Thor, meanwhile, grabbed the quietly retreating Loki—who had instinctively moved behind him for cover—
And threw him forward.
"Brother?!"
Zzzzzzzzt—!!!
The electrified net wrapped Loki instantly, releasing high-voltage current and neurotoxin.
His eyes rolled back in seconds.
The twin blades Lion's Fangs finally sliced through the net, but by then Loki's perfectly styled hair was standing on end like an exploded dandelion.
"You three did that on purpose!"
"Your reaction speed was slow," Leon replied calmly.
Loki couldn't refute that.
Couldn't win a fight either.
So he turned on the scavengers instead.
"You will kneel. I am Loki, son of Odin—"
"Shut up and fire!"
The scavengers unleashed everything they had.
Energy nets.
Lasers.
Solid slugs.
Nothing standardized—just whatever they'd looted.
Loki smirked.
Lion's Fangs spun into a spiraling shield, blocking the first wave.
Green light flashed—
And Loki vanished.
The projectiles redirected straight toward Leon, Tony, and Thor.
Pointless.
Tony's magnetic field passively deflected all kinetic and energy attacks.
Leon's telekinesis froze bullets, nets, and lasers mid-air.
His Absolute Thought Acceleration let him track even light-speed trajectories.
The scavenger leader's confidence drained instantly.
Then—
Rip. Rip. Rip.
Invisible blades carved his companions cleanly in half.
In seconds, he stood alone.
"You—what are you?!"
"Just wandering ronin," Leon replied. "Remember that."
"Ronin…?"
He didn't finish the thought.
Loki sliced him into four equal segments without spilling a drop.
Leon nodded. "Stylish."
Tony: "Solid execution."
Thor laughed. "You're my brother, but you fight dirty."
Loki shrugged.
"To me, battle is a dirty game."
"And I'm a dirty player."
He lacked divine stats.
He lacked legendary weapons.
So he played mechanics.
Win by any means.
Whoosh—
Another ship descended.
Sleeker.
Shaped like a mechanical toad.
Four landing struts deployed.
Its "mouth" opened, extending a tongue-like ramp toward them.
"Helloooo~"
"Good afternoon."
"Drink?"
"Cheers!"
A brown-skinned woman in leather armor emerged, symmetrical white warpaint marking her face.
She chugged a bottle in one go.
Then promptly stumbled sideways—
And fell straight off the ramp into the junk pile.
"…." ×4
Loki tilted his head.
"Is she comedic relief?"
"Perhaps," Thor said, boldly stepping forward to inspect.
He immediately plunged one leg knee-deep into the corpse of some alien beast—
From which leaked an alarming amount of semi-translucent white viscous fluid.
"Holy—!"
Thor yanked his leg free, coated in material that would require censorship bars.
"Brother," Loki called helpfully, "you may need to amputate."
Then he carefully circled around Thor to check on the fallen woman.
He took two steps.
Buzz—
Something the size of a thumb flew out of the trash and latched onto his neck.
"What the hell?!"
It was a button-sized disc, rimmed with needle-like prongs burrowing into his skin.
He tried to rip it off—
And met the woman's gaze from the junk pile.
She smiled lazily.
Pressed a button.
Zzzzzzzzt—!!!
Black veins spread from the device across Loki's neck.
His body locked up instantly.
He collapsed stiffly onto the ground.
"Loki?!" Thor shouted.
Inside, Loki wailed:
Of course. Of course it's me again.
Why am I always the one who suffers?! TT
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