As Loki's icy grip tightened around his wrist, a searing cold spread into Alex's arm, freezing his joints and slowing his blood until even drawing breath felt like dragging weight through water. His body refused to obey, locked in place by a power he hadn't expected.
Surprised, he gritted his teeth."Damn… I didn't think Loki could do this."
But then he remembered—Loki wasn't just a cunning trickster or a magic-wielding lunatic. He was the prince of Jotunheim, born of the Frost Giants. If anything, the ability to freeze a man solid with a touch wasn't unexpected—it was overdue.
Still, this wasn't the time to analyze bloodlines and magical logic.
The Mind Scepter hovered mere inches from his chest, its eerie glow intensifying. Alex's heart pounded wildly in his chest as his mind raced. He remembered all too well what this weapon could do. In the original timeline, even Tony Stark barely survived its influence because of his arc reactor.
Anyone else?They fell like puppets with their strings cut—bent to Loki's will.
Alex could feel it. The pull. That terrifying psychic pressure, invisible and overwhelming, threatening to hollow him out and fill the void with Loki's commands.
Rumble!
A sudden boom rolled across the sky like a drumbeat from the heavens. Alex barely managed to glance upward, eyes widening.
Above, storm clouds began to churn and gather, as if summoned by the will of a god. One second, the sky was clear. The next, it was veiled in dark clouds veined with blinding streaks of lightning.
"What...?" Loki paused, his brows furrowed. The scepter's glow dimmed slightly as he looked skyward. He didn't need to guess—he knew who this was.
Thor.
As if summoned by name, a silver-armored figure shot through the clouds like a meteor. Cloaked in red, hammer crackling with thunder, Thor Odinson descended in a boom of light and wind, landing hard between Alex and Loki. The air trembled from the impact.
His voice thundered with righteous anger.
"Loki! You're playing with mortal lives again!?"
Loki stepped back cautiously, the playful cruelty on his face replaced by tension. He knew his brother too well. And Thor, for all his kindness, didn't hesitate when it came to stopping Loki's madness.
Thor swung Mjolnir with a roar, and Loki barely evaded the first strike, vanishing in a blur of illusion as the hammer tore into the ground where he had stood.
The gods clashed.
Alex, still shaking off the chill in his bones, exhaled deeply.That... had been far too close.
As Loki finally let go and vanished into the fight, Alex—still breathing heavily—immediately focused inward, channeling the Armament Haki, that coursed through his body to expel the lingering chill. The freezing aura left behind by the Frost Prince wasn't ordinary cold; it had latched onto his muscles and bones like parasitic frost, but without Loki actively suppressing him, it had no real anchor.
A few deep breaths later, Alex's limbs regained sensation, his muscles loosening as warmth returned to his veins.
He staggered up slowly, just in time to witness the clash unfolding not far away.
Even with the Mind Scepter in his hand, Loki was clearly no match for Thor. The sky echoed with thunder and ringing metal. Loki's illusions shimmered and cracked, fading under the brute force of the God of Thunder.
Quietly, Alex palmed a small crystal analyzer and scanned Thor. The numbers flickered, then stopped—1280 crystal points.
"Fourth-level awakener," Alex muttered. "No wonder."
That number wasn't even the full picture. Thor wasn't just strong because of his body—he could summon lightning from the very heavens. Add to that a monstrous physique, nearly on par with the Hulk's raw power, and his true strength clearly exceeded any crystal metric.
Within seconds, Thor had Loki pinned.
Then his gaze drifted toward Alex.
Seeing that Alex wasn't seriously injured, Thor didn't say a word. Without fanfare, he grabbed Loki by the collar and spun Mjolnir, his legendary hammer, with one hand. The air rippled. A streak of lightning flared as Thor took off like a missile toward the clouds.
BOOM!
Before he could vanish from view, a missile struck from nowhere, detonating in a fiery blast mid-air.
Thor and Loki were flung from the sky like ragdolls, the explosion painting the clouds orange.
Of course—it was Tony.
High above, Iron Man descended in style, his red-and-gold suit glowing from the recoil of the weapon just fired.
Thor crashed to the ground, landing hard but already rising. Mjolnir still in his grip, his eyes were ablaze with fury.
Loki, less fortunate, groaned nearby—he had taken the brunt of the explosion.
Alex blinked. "Hiss... this guy... is Thor's body made of steel or something? Even after taking a direct hit... he's still walking?"
He'd already suspected that Thor was built differently, but to witness it firsthand was still jaw-dropping.
Tony landed with a mechanical hiss, his faceplate sliding up to reveal his trademark smirk.
"Hey, Alex," he said casually, "Who are these people?"
Tony's voice was light, but Alex could sense the unease beneath the sarcasm. His high-powered bomb barely scratched them. And that? That was not normal.
Tony's eyes flicked to Thor's outfit—scale armor, a billowing red cape.
"What's with the medieval cosplay? Did I interrupt a Renaissance fair?"
Alex gave a tired sigh. "That's Loki. And the one wielding the hammer? That's Thor."
Tony blinked, then gave a slow nod.
"Ohh... that Loki. Well, this explains a lot."
No wonder Alex had been in a scuffle. If one of them was Loki, then chaos was inevitable.
Thor, who'd been listening, turned to Alex with mild surprise. He hadn't expected a mortal to know them by name.
But he didn't speak. Right now, he had one mission: take Loki back to Asgard.
With a grim expression, he looked toward Tony. "Earthlings," Thor said in a deep voice, "This is an Asgardian matter. It does not concern you."
Tony shrugged. "Right, right. Not my business. Except—your business included blasting my friend over there. And I don't let people do that."
He tilted his head and pointed at Thor's armor.
"Asgard, huh? Is that some kind of theatre troupe? Why don't you do a handstand and juggle lightning while you're at it?"
Thor's brow twitched.
Alex almost groaned. He knew Tony's mouth was a loaded weapon—but even by his standards, that was a low blow.
Comparing the mighty Asgard to a performance group? Yeah, that was asking for trouble.
Thor's grip tightened on Mjolnir. A crackle of static buzzed in the air.
"You insult Asgard... you insult me."
With a flash of light and a roar of wind, Thor charged.