"What is it?"

Even as blunt as Thor could be, he sensed the atmosphere in the room had shifted.

Natasha was a veteran S.H.I.E.L.D. operative. Suppressing her growing excitement, she spoke calmly. "You just said you were surprised that Loki was defeated so easily by Jason. Why is that? What kind of person was Loki you knew?"

Thinking of their childhood, Thor gave a helpless smile.

"My brother is a man of great intellect and deep schemes—cunning and ruthless. For some reason, he has loathed me since we were young. There were countless times I nearly lost my life to his hand. Truly, if my father hadn’t intervened, I don’t know how many times I would have died."

"We trained together, played together, fought together. But gradually, I found I understood him less and less. After we came of age, we followed our father across the realms. He could always speak to Father as an equal, discussing the tactical situation of the battlefield and proposing his own stratagems. Though most of those tricks were... underhanded, Father praised him often. Compared to him, I was merely a brute who could swing a hammer."

Thor didn’t quite grasp their intent, so he detailed Loki’s past exploits. After a few typical examples, he asked curiously, "What is it with Loki? Why do you want to know about his past?"

The team exchanged looks. Natasha smiled and countered, "Have you considered this: if your brother is truly that brilliant, why did he fail so miserably against Jason? To the point where he needed his brother to come rescue him?"

Thor replied without hesitation, "Because Jason’s strength far exceeds his. This happened often in the past—his plans would fail, and eventually, I or father would have to step in to clean up the mess. I maintain that the key to victory is raw power!"

Spoken like a true God of Thunder. Thor certainly lived up to his reputation as a muscle-bound meathead.

Tony couldn’t help but interject. "That’s only one possibility."

"Based on what you just told us, Loki isn’t the type to gamble everything on a single throw. Controlling the Joker organization was likely just one piece of the puzzle. He must have considered what to do if that failed. It’s possible that your arrival was calculated."

Thor’s expression turned to one of confusion. He had seen Loki’s interlocking schemes before, and his one-track mind certainly couldn’t have devised them. But... was Loki really that smart? To calculate even that Father would send him to Earth?

Thor raised his doubt: "But the fact is, Loki did fail. Even the scepter he held was snatched by Jason."

Fury muttered, "Perhaps that is exactly part of his plan."

Thor was even more lost. "How is losing the scepter part of a plan?"

"I don’t understand it either," Fury admitted. "Perhaps it’s time someone had a talk with him."

His sharp, lone eye swept across everyone’s face, eventually stopping on Natasha. As S.H.I.E.L.D.’s super-spy, she was the obvious choice for this interrogation.

"I’ll give it a shot," Natasha agreed.

*

Leaving the lab, she walked alone toward the high-security cell holding Loki. Inside, Loki stood calmly, a faint smile on his face as he watched her approach.

Natasha spoke first. "You don’t seem surprised to see me."

Loki replied candidly, "If you didn’t come, how would my plan proceed?"

Natasha—and everyone listening through the comms—was stunned. "So, our guess was right."

Loki laughed confidently. "How could I simply hand over the scepter so easily? I may not be able to beat Jason in a fight, but hiding a scepter is easy enough. I could have ensured he never found it."

So that was it. The God of Mischief wouldn’t be as straightforward as a fool, rushing in to pull a tiger’s whiskers without a backup plan.

Natasha’s heart tightened. "Why did you leave the scepter for Jason? Did you tamper with it?"

Loki replied, "The scepter is a divine artifact; what could I do to it? I simply took advantage of the greed in Jason’s character."

Natasha was baffled. "Greed? What does that mean?"

"Think about it slowly," Loki said. "I may be a prisoner, but I’m not quite ready to confess everything just yet."

Seeing he wouldn’t say more, Natasha changed the subject, but Loki remained tight-lipped. Eventually, she had no choice but to return to the lab.

*

"What is so special about that scepter?"

"What does taking advantage of Jason’s greed mean?"

"Would Loki really be kind enough to tell us his plan?"

In the lab, the debate was already heating up. Fury turned to Thor. "Thor, you’re from Asgard. What do you know about that scepter?"

"This..." Thor hesitated. Should he tell them the secret of the Infinity Stones? If they knew, would they harbor their own dark ambitions? This man was far more calculating than his talk of clean energy suggested.

"Thor..." Everyone was watching him.

After a moment of silence, Thor finally told them about the Infinity Stones—viewing it as a way to pay back the debt for Loki’s crimes.

After hearing the explanation, everyone in the room felt the same sudden clarity that Jason had felt. Yet, Loki’s specific angle remained a mystery.

Fury whispered, "The Mind Stone and Jason’s greed... what’s the connection?"

Natasha suggested, "We should try to think like Jason. Maybe then we’ll find something."

Banner shook his head. "Jason is a madman. No one knows what he’s thinking. Maybe only someone like Loki knows."

Thor said, "Maybe I should go talk to him again."

"Wait..." A spark of realization hit Tony. He raised a hand to stop Thor, his face turning dead serious.

Natasha glanced at him and gave a soft laugh. "Right. I almost forgot. We have a madman of our own right here."

Banner, who liked Tony, defended him: "Genius, perhaps."

Thor asked curiously, "What did you think of?"

Tony’s eyes widened, a look of genuine horror on his face. "Nat just said we should think like Jason."

"I think... if I were Jason..."

"I might try to absorb the Mind Stone directly into my body."

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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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