A passionate, powerful hymn, amplified by The Other's built-in loudspeaker, echoed throughout New York. The Chitauri fleet, so vast it blotted out the sky, sent the entire city into a panic!
"What... what is that?!"
"Aliens?!"
"Are the aliens attacking Earth?!"
"Where's the military?! Didn't the U.S. military say they'd captured an alien?!"
"Didn't they shoot down UFOs?!"
"Where are they?!"
The noise of the crowd was deafening, the fear palpable. The Chitauri warships, lined up in formation on both sides, instilled an unprecedented terror in the people of New York.
Nick Fury, who considered himself to have seen his share of action with Carol Danvers in his youth, shot up from his chair. His brows were furrowed, and his face was grim.
"It looks like our Mr. Lothar really isn't here to play nice," Tony Stark said, looking up at the still spaceships in the sky, all trace of his usual flippancy gone.
"Agent Romanoff, I want to know if this was part of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s plan."
"Sorry, but it looks like it wasn't."
The beautiful Natasha was still in her form-fitting combat suit, her eyes scanning the scene, finally landing on the figure flanked by the two lines of spaceships.
Dressed in black, with a severe face and dark hair fluttering in the wind, he stood with his hands crossed on his chest, his cold gaze sending a shiver down the spine of anyone who met his eyes. Even Banner was no exception.
Loki, his smile gone, knelt on one knee, offering the Mind Stone scepter with the utmost respect.
Lothar landed on the rooftop, and under the watchful eyes of everyone, walked over to Loki.
"Well done."
"It's what I should do, Your Highness Lothar."
"The Space Stone is in the basement of this building. My men are guarding it; you can go get it now." Loki revealed the location of the Space Stone, which was the purpose of his being sent to Earth by Lothar.
Lothar didn't speak. He simply stood at the edge of the rooftop, looking down at the bustling city below. This Midgard was completely different from the one in his memory, but remarkably similar to the world where he had recently met Mera.
Lothar said nothing, and Loki dared not move.
The rooftop, which should have been a tense standoff, fell into a strange silence with Lothar's arrival.
The Other, who had landed behind Lothar, removed his dark hood, revealing a face that immediately put the Avengers on high alert. He walked over to Loki and took back the Mind Stone scepter that rightfully belonged to him.
"Jarvis."
"Unable to establish an analytical model, Sir." Tony Stark's personal AI, Jarvis, tried to scan the imposing figure, but the data returned was a jumbled mess of gibberish.
"Woz."
Finally, Lothar, who had been looking down at the world below, spoke. With just a soft call, Tony Stark, who was thinking about how to deal with Lothar, suddenly saw everything go black as all the smart systems in his Iron Man suit were shut down.
"???!!!!!"
Thud!
Caught off guard, the floating Tony Stark plummeted!
"Stark!"
Steve Rogers, with his quick reflexes, reached out and grabbed the plummeting armored man after he bounced off the edge of the rooftop. His muscles bulged as he strained, pulling Tony Stark back up.
"Huff..."
"Huff..."
Still shaken, Tony Stark manually retracted his faceplate, gasping for the fresh air of New York, his forehead beaded with cold sweat.
"What's wrong, Stark?" Steve Rogers, whose instinct was to save his teammate, was also breathing heavily. Pulling the falling Tony Stark up at the last second had taken its toll on his body.
"I don't know." Tony Stark's expression changed erratically as he tried to wake Jarvis, but the AI was unresponsive. "Maybe... maybe Jarvis was forcefully shut down...?" The wealthy tech giant was clearly in disbelief.
"Which one of you is Odin's son?"
Lothar, completely unconcerned with Tony Stark, turned around. Though his tone was a question, his eyes landed on Thor. Lothar was certain he would never forget the aura of Asgardian divine power.
"Are you the demon Lothar my father spoke of?"
Thor now had a king's demeanor, standing directly in front of the group of Earthlings, swinging his hammer with powerful force.
"You don't look like him at all."
After a long, close look, Lothar's statement confused Thor.
"What?"
"He looks more like him." Lothar's gaze shifted to the still-kneeling Loki.
"Actually, we both are," Thor said, not understanding what Lothar was talking about, but that didn't stop him from acting.
Thor swung Mjolnir with the force to summon thunder and lightning, unleashing a strike infused with all of his godly power! He was a seasoned warrior, and he could feel Lothar's terrifying power more than anyone else there.
"I—!"
Thor, who was about to say something, had his mouth open for a different reason a second later. He was holding Mjolnir, yet Lothar had stopped it with a single outstretched hand?!
Where was my thunder?
Where was my lightning?
My huge hammer was just stopped with a single hand?!
"Your sister used this worthless hammer to fight me many times," Lothar said, his back still turned, his other hand outstretched. He had effortlessly blocked Mjolnir, not a single step taken. On his face was a smile of utter scorn and mockery.
"What?"
"But she never won once."
A swift kick, and Thor, who had no time to dodge, felt a nerve-shredding pain in his abdomen.
Thud!
Mjolnir, now without its master, clattered to the ground. The muscular, blond Thor had only taken one kick, yet he lay on the ground wailing in pain. It was an uncontrollable cry of agony.
Loki, still kneeling, couldn't help but glance at Thor, a grimace on his face as he saw the blood at his brother's lips.
"Odin, are you still not coming out?"
Lothar's gaze put immense pressure on the Avengers.
"If that's the case..." Lothar turned his back to The Other and raised his right hand, waving his index finger.
"Yes, Your Highness Lothar."
As the commander of the Chitauri soldiers, The Other immediately gave the order to attack.
BOOM BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!!!!
Almost instantly, a sky-high inferno blinded the eyes of all the Avengers members. The Chitauri soldiers, piloting the Black Quadrant warships, were an overwhelming force against the primitive defensive civilization of Earth.
Crumbling buildings, shattered streets;
Wails of the dying, a sky full of smoke...
Lothar stood ramrod on top of the Times Square building. The desolate wind brushed against his face, and the bloodthirsty smile on his lips became clearer against the backdrop of the fiery explosions behind him.
"Odin, get out here."
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