A Quinjet was touching down, and out stepped Captain America, Steve Rogers, with Nick Fury.
This is different from the original too. Wasn't Phil supposed to come with him?
I was starting to feel the butterfly effect from my influence on the Marvel world.
Nick Fury looked at me and spoke.
"Where's Tony?"
"He said yes. He'll come."
"Then who's the friend over there?"
"Thor Odinson, son of Odin from Asgard. Loki's brother. He's here to catch Loki."
"I see. We'll have a lot to talk about inside."
Just then, Cap walked over to me and introduced himself.
"So you're the one. They said the richest man in the world is named Jin?"
"Nice to meet you, Captain."
We exchanged a firm handshake. Just like in the original, Cap was a clean-cut, well-built white guy with a handsome face.
"I heard you have powers too. Something about charging energy and making it explode. Codename 'Magician Jin,' right?"
SHIELD must have assumed that from the Iron Monger incident and New Mexico.
"Captain, people with abilities aren't common, but there are more than you think. Governments make them too. You're one of them, aren't you?"
"That's true."
Banner approached then. He looked exactly like in the original β curly brown hair, same build.
"I'm meeting a lot of famous people today. Dr. Bruce Banner."
"Pleasure to meet you, Dr. Banner."
After shaking my hand, he shook Cap's.
"Pleased to meet you. You can track the Cube, right?"
"That's all you heard?"
"That's all I care about."
Thor and Natasha came over, so I introduced them.
"I'm sure you all know her β Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff. And this is..."
"I'll introduce myself. I am Thor Odinson, son and prince of Odin Borson, King of Asgard."
Banner looked confused at Thor's introduction.
"Odin and Thor are figures from Norse mythology. Is this a popular joke these days? Or some kind of hazing?"
"No, Dr. Banner. It's true. He's here to capture Loki, who fled with the Tesseract this time."
"I don't know if I should believe that."
At that moment, Phil Coulson came running over.
"Everyone should head inside now. It's going to get hard to breathe out here."
[Crew, deck safety secure]
Clank! Clank!
An announcement blared, and the ship rumbled with massive mechanical sounds. Crew on the deck started moving quickly.
Seeing it, Cap said,
"This was a submarine?"
Banner walked to the railing and looked down at the noise, disbelief on his face.
"You can't expect me to get on a hunk of metal that goes underwater?"
The others joined him at the railing.
Hidden beneath the helicarrier, massive propulsion fans slowly rose from the sea and began to spin. Given the size of the helicarrier, each fan was enormous. Seeing those huge blades turning right in front of us was overwhelming and imposing.
"This is like that 'Lakshmi' I saw on TV last time. A submarine would've been better."
As the helicarrier lifted slowly into the air, Natasha called out loudly.
"Hey, you guys! Time to go inside!"
We moved to the bridge. Countless crew members sat at stations, controlling the helicarrier and gathering intel. Agents bustled around, making the place feel chaotic. Thor, Banner, and Cap kept looking around, fascinated.
Once the helicarrier reached a suitable altitude, Nick Fury stood on the central command platform that looked like a captain's chair and said,
"Now we disappear."
βActivating reflective panels
After a few more orders, he stepped down from the platform and came over to us. Cap pulled a ten-dollar bill from his wallet and handed it to Fury. They'd made a bet before coming here. Fury had wagered ten bucks that Cap would be impressed. Cap had said nothing would surprise him anymore. Apparently the helicarrier changed his mind.
Fury walked over to Dr. Banner.
"Doctor, thanks for coming."
"Thanks for the polite request."
"Once we recover the Cube, you can leave anytime."
"What spectrometers do we have available? Calibrate the measurements to gamma rays."
Fury looked at Maria Hill.
"Maria, escort the doctor to the lab."
Maria Hill stood and led Banner away.
"Jin, gather information for me. You're good at this kind of thing. I want you to track Loki or the Cube's location."
"Got it."
"And Phil, show the Captain where the equipment is."
Phil Coulson, who'd been waiting, approached Cap. Phil started talking to him as they walked off. I wonder if Phil will get that autograph this time.
"Natasha, get familiar with Quinjet operations as soon as possible."
Natasha apparently didn't know how to fly a Quinjet yet after leaving SHIELD.
"Thor, I'd like you to tell us about Asgard. Especially about Loki."
"Understood."
I took the laptop SHIELD provided and sat next to Natasha. She was reading the Quinjet operation manual.
"They should make this easier. The Talaria β my car β is super easy to drive."
"That's the difference between me building it and not building it."
"Fair, I'll give you that. And once this is over, let's take a trip together."
"You said you didn't have time because you were busy taking down criminal organizations."
Natasha had complained I was too busy before, and now that I'd started hero work, the situation had flipped. I already knew from the original where Loki would show up.
So I had Minerva hack every CCTV near the Stuttgart Opera House in Germany and tell me the moment Loki appeared, then I played games.
When game sounds came from my laptop, Natasha glared at me.
"Jin! Are you actually looking for him? I hear game sounds."
"Ahem! I'm working. Don't doubt me."
I was actually in my LoL promotion match. I slipped in an earbud. Since Loki operates at night, I had plenty of time. I took the Talaria home, grabbed ten pizzas from storage, and returned to the helicarrier pretending I'd gone out.
"Eat while we work."
We gathered in the conference room with pizza. Banner looked ecstatic.
"India only has heavily spiced food, so this is rough. Maybe because it's been so long, but this is amazing."
Nick Fury chimed in.
"I don't think that's it. I eat pizza all the time and this is still amazing. Where'd you buy this?"
"I made it."
"Seriously? I'd hire you as SHIELD's personal chef."
Thor was devouring it too. He was already on his second pie.
"We don't have food this good in Asgard. This is incredible. You can cook like this too?"
Phil Coulson heaped on the praise.
"You really are versatile. You build devices like Tony Stark, you can hack, you have powers, and you can cook. On top of being ridiculously rich."
"That's too much praise."
"No, it's not enough. You're handsome too. Weren't you ranked number one for Most Handsome and Most Marriageable Man this year?"
Maria Hill agreed.
"That's right. The female agents keep trying to talk to you. I stopped them since we're in the middle of something important."
Minerva had told me I was number one before. Honestly, I didn't care much. Hearing that, Cap said,
"You really have it all."
"Yeah, I'm a lucky guy."
Awakening Yoohee Life meant I could genuinely say I was lucky.
Hearing me, Natasha said,
"Saying it yourself makes you sound like a jerk."
Hahaha!
Everyone laughed hard at Natasha's comment. After we finished the pizza and chatted a bit, Nick Fury checked his watch and said,
"Everyone back to work."
Natasha and I returned to our seats. I turned on my computer to game, but Natasha said sarcastically,
"Must be nice having all the female agents like you."
"Jealous?"
"Yeah, honestly. Our relationship's been stagnant because we have no time. I'm scared it'll stay like this forever."
"Then let's really take that trip once this is over."
"Yeah, let's definitely go. And stop gaming."
She knew I'd been gaming. I sat there bored, and since reading the Quinjet manual was getting dull, I decided to go outside for air. I saw Thor and Cap talking and laughing. I guess honorable people click with each other.
As the sun set and late evening came, Minerva contacted me β she'd found Loki. I immediately sent the CCTV image to everyone and said,
"Loki found! Stuttgart Opera House in Germany!"
At my words, Nick Fury gave orders to the agents.
"Prep a Quinjet immediately. Captain, Natasha, Thor β get ready to move out."
"Mother Pucker, what about me?"
"You need to find the Cube! You've got better intel than us."
"I'm coming too. Wouldn't it be easier to ask Loki directly?"
"Ugh, do what you want."
I'd die of boredom staying here. It wasn't like I could sleep with everyone watching. So we boarded the Quinjet and headed for Stuttgart, Germany. Thor looked pleased at the news.
"We finally found him."
"Yeah, I was dying of boredom."
Natasha heard me and said, exasperated,
"Seriously. You were just sitting there gaming."
"At my level, I can find him while gaming."
"Sure, sure. Whatever you say."
Then Cap asked us, curious,
"Are you two dating?"
"It's not quite at that stage yet, but we're getting there."
"I see."
"Captain, do you have a girlfriend?"
I already knew, but I asked to build rapport.
"I had someone similar, but I was frozen in ice too long."
"Ah, sorry for bringing it up."
"No, it's fine."
We arrived at the Stuttgart Opera House and saw Loki in the plaza, making people kneel. When the Quinjet door opened, Thor spoke.
"I'll go talk to him."
"No, let's go together. There are civilians."
Cap, who'd been listening to Thor, decided to join. The two of them leapt from the Quinjet, blocking Loki's blasts from the Chitauri Scepter and saving people. The fight started, and the kneeling people stood and ran.
"Loki, stop!"
"Good to see you too."
Loki answered Thor's words as a greeting and kept firing beams. Thor deflected them with his hammer, and Cap bounced them off his shield. Even in a 2-on-1, Loki fought well, using illusions to create confusion and long-range beams to attack.
Watching, Natasha asked me since I wasn't moving,
"You're not going?"
"Loki is cunning. He wouldn't reveal himself this easily. And this is a fight he can't win. There's something else going on."
Just then, the Quinjet got hacked, and Iron Man's signature music β AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" β blasted through the speakers, followed by Tony's voice.
[Romanoff, did you miss me?]
Natasha's face twisted like she'd bitten something foul, and Iron Man flew down from the sky, firing a repulsor beam at Loki.
Boom!
"Ugh!"
Loki couldn't dodge and took the beam straight to the chest, slamming back into the stairs. Iron Man landed in the plaza, training multiple weapons on Loki and said,
"Try something, Deer Man!"
Cap walked up to Tony and greeted him briefly.
"Tony."
"Cap."
Loki sat on the stairs and raised both hands in surrender. The Quinjet landed in the plaza and I got out, putting special cuffs on Loki.
"Long time no see, Loki."
"Berserker, you were here too."
We loaded Loki onto the Quinjet and took off back to the helicarrier. Natasha reported to Nick Fury that we'd caught Loki, and Fury said there was no time, bring him in fast. Thor sat in front of Loki and said,
"Loki, where's the Tesseract?"
"I don't know either."
Sigh... "I thought you were dead."
"Were you sad?"
"Everyone was! Especially Father."
"He's your father! Sigh... My current state must please you. I always lived in your shadow. The last thing I remember is you shoving me into the abyss. I was the rightful heir to the throne. You ruined everything."
"So you're invading Earth for revenge? You think that's possible with us here? And ruling isn't everything. You weren't fit to be a king."
"Then you are?"
"I'm lacking too. Loki, abandon all your ambitions and come home with me. I'll talk to Father for you."
"To take me back, you need the Tesseract, don't you? But I don't know where it is."
Loki doesn't know I can open portals.
"Loki, even without the Tesseract, there are ways to bring you back."
"Using Father's power again? I wonder how much power he used to send you."
"He didn't. We came another way."
"I didn't know such a method existed."
One thing bothered me.
Asgard trades with so many kingdoms and has advanced science β why don't they have a single spaceship?
I'll have to ask Thor about that later.
Hearing the conversation, Cap whispered to Tony,
"Something's off. He's strong β he wouldn't be caught this easily."
Tony couldn't agree, sounding competitive and a bit sarcastic as he replied to Cap,
"Maybe that's true for an old-timer like you, but not for me."
Hearing that, Cap spoke like he'd figured out what kind of person Tony was.
"Now I see why Fury was hesitant to call you."
Natasha, listening, added,
"Jin said the same thing as Cap before β 'there's something going on.' I think so too."
"Whoa~ Do I not have anyone on my side?"
I spoke up too.
"Tony, it's not about strength. Loki is cunning. In terms of raw power, you might be right, but the Loki I know doesn't rely on force alone."
Cap smirked slightly at that. Tony sounded sulky.
"Ah~ Fine, I get it. I lacked intel. Man, it sucks coming in late."
"Is Stark Tower finished?"
"Yeah, don't just leave next time like last time. There's lots of fun stuff, so look around, stay for a drink."
"Oh~ Sounds good! I got another bottle of Dalmore 62-year. I'll bring it."
"Where do you find one of only twelve bottles in the world so easily?"
"I have my ways."
"Nice having a rich friend."
My words seemed to improve Tony's mood. Tony really is easy to handle once you know how. Cap and Natasha looked exasperated listening to us.
As we flew, I used on the Chitauri Scepter. This was the most important issue.[Appraisal]
Ding~!
Event
[First EX-grade item acquired. Reward: 10,000 points earned.]
(EX) Mind Stone(Sealed)
A Stone formed when primordial crystals condensed after the Big Bang
Mind Manipulation (Weakened), Potential Activation, Self-Awareness (Locked)
Debuff: Mental Contamination
I'd roughly expected the World-Bound part. The setting is that Infinity Stones can't be used outside the Marvel universe. But the Sealed status bothered me.
So the Chitauri Scepter itself was made to seal the Stone. Then the Cube and the others are probably the same?