BOOM!
The wreckage of the Leviathan slammed into the Atlantic Ocean, but its master was still airborne. The Other fell from the sky like a meteorite, using the bodies of his dying Chitauri soldiers as stepping stones, leaping from one piece of debris to the next. He twisted through the air, effortlessly dodging the barrage of missiles still screaming up from the H.A.M.M.E.R. Helicarrier, all while fighting against the inexorable pull of Earth's gravity.
He was a being of pure, violent grace. If he continued like this, he would actually manage to land safely.
But it didn't matter. The ground was their home turf.
"Jarvis, calculate his trajectory," Tony ordered, his armor streaking toward the city.
"The target will make landfall in Manhattan, sir," Jarvis replied.
"Manhattan again?" Tony raised a holographic eyebrow. "Now I understand why Ben was so reluctant to move his company headquarters there." With a burst of speed, he shot toward Avengers Tower. "Which suits are still operational?"
"Only the Mark IV and Mark V are available for launch, sir."
"I love you, old friends," Tony muttered. The two ancient armors, lacking space-flight capabilities, had been spared the initial battle and his self-destruct order. Now, they were his last resort. "Everyone," he broadcasted on the team channel, "assemble in Manhattan. And somebody get me Dr. Connors' contact info. We're going to need a dinosaur."
"Where's Ben?" a voice asked over the channel.
Tony's lips curled into a grim line. "You'll have to ask Bambi about that."
At that very moment, the one Tony called Bambi was facing a formidable enemy.
In the silent satellite, the Tesseract began to pulse. Now fully awakened, it thrummed with life, releasing its energy at a steady, rhythmic frequency. It began as a faint whisper, like shallow breathing, but quickly grew stronger, faster, until it beat with the powerful, resonant rhythm of a cosmic heart.
It was responding to something.
Loki knew instantly. It was the Mind Stone, clutched in Supergiant's hand, calling to its sibling across the void. She was using it as a key to force open the door he had closed—a technique she had ripped directly from his mind.
VMMMMMM!
A blue space tunnel tore open in the middle of the satellite. Three figures stepped through. The first was the tall, brutishly strong Cull Obsidian. The second was the lithe, eerily graceful Supergiant, wrapped in a white robe. And the third was the withered but elegant Ebony Maw.
The portal snapped shut behind them. Thanos clearly believed three members of his Black Order were more than enough to handle the situation.
"Loki Laufeyson," Ebony Maw began, his voice a silken, condescending whisper. He was the apparent leader of the trio. He gently touched a finger to his lips, his eyes drifting to the glowing Tesseract resting in its machine cradle. "How dare you disobey the great Thanos?" A satisfied smile crept across his thin lips. "Bring it here. Offer it to us. Our promise to you still stands."
He was referring to the deal they had offered the controlled Loki: mastery of Earth. A chance to be a pretentious king on a miserable little planet, to satisfy his pitiful fantasies. Maw's fingers, long and thin like an octopus's tentacles, pressed together as if in prayer, waiting for Loki's answer. They offered such preferential treatment only because of his status as Odin's adopted son. If, however, he proved uncooperative, they would simply take it by force.
Loki licked his lips. A slow, wicked grin spread across his face. He nodded. "You are right," he said smoothly. "Why should I side with these lowly Midgardians against the might of Thanos?"
He walked to the machine, his movements confident, and lifted the Tesseract from its housing. As he did, the planetary shield that had just formed winked out of existence.
Ebony Maw's smile widened. "Though the great Thanos is not here," he declared, extending a hand as if to bestow a title, "we, as the Children of Thanos, are qualified to witness the birth of a planet's wise new ruler. You are fortunate, Loki. Thanos will remember your contribution. So long as you swear your undying loyalty to him, for all eternity."
"I swear," Loki said, holding the faintly glowing cube high for Maw to see.
Maw reached for it. But just as his fingertips were about to brush against the artifact, a wave of terrible, primordial cold erupted from it. The Tesseract in Loki's hand twisted and reformed, its shape shifting into the ornate, frosty form of the Casket of Ancient Winters. In the same instant, Loki's own skin turned the deep, grooved blue of an ice sculpture. His eyes glowed a malevolent red.
Holding the Casket aloft, Loki's voice was as cold and sharp as glacial ice.
"I serve only the King of Sakaar!"
Supergiant and Cull Obsidian were startled by the sudden betrayal. Cull was the first to react, roaring as he charged, swinging his massive axe. But he was too late. The real Tesseract, held in Loki's other hand, flared. A portal opened behind him, and he fell backward into it, vanishing from sight. Enraged, Cull Obsidian smashed the satellite's equipment to pieces.
"Do not worry," Supergiant said, her voice calm as she placed a hand on the brute's arm. "As long as the Cube is in his hand, he cannot escape me."
She raised her own hand, and the Mind Stone glittered on her palm. The resonance between the two stones would allow her to pinpoint Loki's location anywhere in the system. But as she focused, her brow furrowed in surprise. She felt the vibration of the Space Stone, but she also felt… another. A third Infinity Stone, hidden somewhere on this planet. Interesting. But she would not be distracted. Her mission was to retrieve the Space Stone. All else was irrelevant.
Loki fled, his heart hammering against his ribs. He knew that even with the Casket of Ancient Winters, he was no match for the three of them. He was a descendant of Frost Giants, yes, but his power, his very divinity, flowed from Asgard's World Tree. His magic leaned more toward fire and illusion than ice. He couldn't unleash the Casket's true power.
He considered, for a fleeting moment, simply running. Disappearing into the cosmos. But the thought was immediately dismissed. Ben was perhaps the only person left in the universe who believed he could be more than he was. If he fled now, would he ever be worthy of that trust?
The Tesseract in his hand began to heat up. A small portal, no bigger than his fist, tore open beside him. A slender, blue hand shot out, grabbing his wrist with impossible strength. The next moment, Supergiant's upper body emerged. With a powerful wrench, she yanked Loki back through the portal, snatching the Tesseract from his grasp.
He found himself once more facing the three members of the Black Order. Ebony Maw looked furious. His grey skin was mottled with black spots of frostbite. "You are courting death, Loki Laufeyson!" he shrieked.
Maw raised his hands, and with his powerful telekinesis, ripped chunks of the surrounding asteroid field loose, sending them hurtling toward Loki. Loki summoned a flurry of daggers, but they shattered harmlessly against the incoming barrage. He had no choice but to rely on the Casket. A torrent of white energy erupted from the ancient artifact, coalescing into a great, coiling dragon of ice and snow that shielded him from the attack.
"My apologies," Loki sneered, his bravado returning. "I'm simply not accustomed to being a dog for someone with a purple, wrinkled chin."
The insult enraged Maw and Supergiant. Both were powerful telepaths. Supergiant extended a hand, and the Mind Stone on her palm flared. She crushed the ice dragon with a single, invisible fist of mental force. Loki summoned more frost-constructs, and Cull Obsidian, roaring, charged into them, only to become bogged down by the swarm of icy beasts.
Seeing her brute struggling, Supergiant tossed the Tesseract to Ebony Maw. Now, two of them wielded Infinity Stones. Her eyes glowed with yellow light as she focused her amplified psychic power, evaporating dozens of Loki's ice beasts in an instant. Maw, though unable to fully control the Cube, could still unleash its raw power. Dense beams of blue energy shot out, and any frost-constructs they touched were instantly teleported to some unknown corner of space.
With two Infinity Stones turned against him, Loki was once again at a disadvantage, his power being rapidly depleted.
At that same moment, H.A.M.M.E.R. and the Avengers noticed the planetary shield had vanished. But it no longer mattered. Their primary objective had been achieved. Now, only one enemy remained.
In Manhattan, the heroes who could still fight converged on the landing zone, surrounding the smoldering crater where The Other had made his impact.