The dust settled, and Jason stepped out of the haze completely unscathed.

"You..."

Thor stared at him, his face a mask of sheer astonishment. To be struck directly by the thunder he summoned and walk away without a scratch—someone like that was a rare find even in the vastness of the universe. It was no wonder the rulers of Earth were at their wits’ end.

"I believe it’s my turn to return the favor!"

Jason curled his fingers into a claw, a sphere of energy condensing in his palm. "Have a gift!"

He leveled his hand, and the energy sphere shot forward like a high-velocity bullet. While it couldn’t match the speed of a lightning bolt, it far exceeded the limits of human dynamic vision; a normal person would have stood no chance of dodging.

But Thor was a god. His reflexes were leagues beyond any mortal. The moment the sphere was launched, he calculated the trajectory and hurled Mjolnir with bone-breaking force.

BOOM!

The energy sphere and the hammer collided in mid-air, erupting into a violent shockwave that tore through the surroundings. Thor dropped into a defensive stance, guarding his head with his arms, relying on his hardy Asgardian physiology to tank the blast.

But when he looked up, Jason was gone.

Sensing a sudden killing intent, Thor ducked and spun in one fluid motion, throwing a heavy punch behind him.

THUD!

Fist met fist with a dull, heavy boom. Jason’s knuckles were coated in a fluid-like energy, while Thor’s fist was wreathed in crackling lightning. This exchange ended in a dead heat.

"Impressive!" Jason grunted in admiration, immediately shifting his weight to deliver a snap-kick to Thor’s abdomen. Thor dodged sideways, countering with a lightning-fast spinning hook kick.

The two blurred into motion, locked in a fierce, inseparable melee. Within minutes, they had traded hundreds of blows. To an outside observer, they would have appeared as nothing more than a chaotic tangle of flickering shadows. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Thor grew more surprised with every passing second. He hadn’t expected someone on a planet like Earth to be able to fight him to a standstill. Judging by his appearance, the man looked no older than twenty-five or twenty-six; even with some form of longevity, he couldn’t be over forty. To be this powerful at such a young age made Thor wonder if he’d been wasting his own centuries of training.

If Jason wasn’t a villain, Thor would have genuinely wanted to befriend him. But alas...

After a few minutes, Thor seized a gap to glance toward Loki. Seeing that his brother was still there, a faint smile touched his lips. He decisively raised Mjolnir to summon the thunder once more. Jason quickly deployed his energy shield, gritting his teeth as he bore the brunt of the lightning strike.

Taking advantage of the distraction, Thor spun his hammer and took to the sky, vanishing into the darkness of the night.

"He actually ran? Is he abandoning his brother?" Jason frowned, looking toward Loki, who stood not far away.

Wait...

Jason picked up a stone and threw it at the figure. The rock passed right through Loki’s body.

An illusion.

No wonder Thor left so cleanly—he knew Loki had already made his escape. Fine, let them run. Thor’s strength was nothing to scoff at, and Jason wasn’t a hundred percent sure he could win a prolonged battle. Besides, even if he could beat Thor, he didn’t dare do anything permanent with Odin, the All-Father, backing the two brothers up.

With the battle over, Jason began to clean up the mess Loki had left behind.

"Chloe, deploy the Armored Legion. Pick up the injured core member."

"Understood, sir!"

*

Thor soared through the sky, his keen eyes scanning the ground like a hawk. Looking down, he saw that the area for miles around had been reduced to rubble. With no buildings left for cover, Loki had nowhere to hide. Thor spotted him almost immediately.

Diving like a raptor, Thor snatched Loki up in one hand. This wasn’t the place for a talk, so Thor kept flying until they reached a remote, desolate mountain peak.

The brothers stood face to face. Seeing Loki again after a year, Thor’s emotions were a tangled mess. A year ago, he had personally shattered the Bifrost, and Loki had plummeted into the cosmic abyss. Thor had mourned him, thinking he was dead. Yet here he was, alive and well, plotting to rule Earth.

"Loki, you..."

Thor was about to begin a lecture when he heard a strange sound. Has Jason caught up already? Thor looked up to see a dark shadow trailing fire, hurtling toward them.

As it drew closer, he saw it was a human-sized suit of iron armor.

The pilot was, of course, Tony Stark. He had been home, contemplating whether or not to join the Avengers Initiative, when the earth had heaved beneath his feet. The massive explosion in New York had claimed hundreds of thousands of lives. After learning the details from S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony had rushed to the scene, only to stumble upon the two brothers.

Tony hovered in the air, sizing them up. The one in green robes and the horned helmet had to be Loki, the one who stole the Tesseract. The other, built like an ox with long blonde hair and a red cape, was surely the one who claimed to be the God of Thunder in New Mexico.

His weapon systems immediately locked onto Loki. Running into him while just out for a stroll... My luck is incredible.

Thor immediately stepped in front of Loki, gripping Mjolnir. "Wait! I know Loki has erred. I will take him back to face Odin’s justice."

Tony felt a surge of disgust. He charged his palm repulsors. "He stole Earth’s property and murdered hundreds of thousands of people, and you think he can just pat his own ass and walk away?"

Thor choked, unable to find a defense for Loki. On his way over, he had seen the devastation in New York. He had seen neighborhoods turned to dust, rows of bodies lined up on the roadside, and survivors howling in the ruins. And Loki was the cause of all of it. Honestly, if they weren’t brothers, Thor would have struck him down himself.

But Loki was his brother. Even if he were cursed by every soul on Earth, Thor had to keep him alive.

"The things Loki stole, I will have him return. As for those who died... I will find a way to compensate them."

Thor couldn’t bring himself to let Loki pay with his life; the only other way was to offer treasures from Asgard to the people of Earth.

Hundreds of thousands of people are dead, and all we get is compensation?

Fury burned in Tony’s chest. He wanted to kill both of them on the spot. But he knew he couldn’t. No matter how angry he was, he had to show restraint—for the same reasons Jason did.

After a moment of silence, Tony spat, "In that case, you both better come with me."

"To where?" Thor asked cautiously, clearly not trusting the man.

"Before you return the goods, don’t you think you should meet the owner?" Tony said. "Besides, are you even sure your brother is willing to give back what he took?"

"Of course he—" Thor turned to look behind him.

Loki stood there with a faint, playful smirk, showing not a single trace of remorse. Thor’s anger flared. He grabbed Loki by the shoulder. "Loki, where is the Tesseract?"

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You can read advance Chapters and view R-18 images of the characters on pat reon page.

pat reon.com/GreenBlue17

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