Whoosh!
Loki's vision blurred, and he felt a massive sensation of being pushed back—no, pushed by the collar—as he instantly shot up into the air.
There were no thrusters, no magic arrays, not even wings.
This man had simply flown up out of thin air and he was astonishingly fast.
"You can fly?!" Loki yelled in shock, the wind rushing into his mouth.
"You can actually fly! This isn't scientific! And it's not magical either!"
In the Marvel world, aside from those who rely on swinging a hammer like Thor, or using thrusters like Iron Man, few can fly freely using only their physical bodies. Even among mutants, flight abilities are uncommon.
"Such a fuss."
Frieza, clutching Loki, cut an elegant arc through the sky, his golden hair whipping wildly in the wind, a composed sneer fixed on his face.
"It's just Flight, this is basic stuff, understand?"
For Frieza's race, surviving and flying in the vacuum of space is instinctual. Flying within Earth's atmosphere is easier than breathing.
The two of them, like a streak of golden lightning, wove through the towering skyscrapers.
Ahead, several Chitauri flying speeders roared toward them, seemingly having identified him as a new target, screeching as they raised their energy guns to shoot.
"Truly a bunch of flies who don't know their place."
Frieza didn't even lift an eyelid. He simply raised his free left hand casually and flicked his index finger.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several tiny purple beams instantly shot out from his fingertip.
Fast! Accurate! Deadly!
That was the Death Beam.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Without any suspense, the alien speeders didn't even have a chance to react, exploding in mid-air and turning into several clusters of dazzling fireworks.
The Chitauri riders didn't even leave behind a speck of dust.
[Ding! Killed a Chitauri minion, causing localized fear. Fear Points +50!]
[Ding! Fear Points +50!]
[Ding! Fear Points +50!]
Listening to the pleasant notification sounds in his mind, Frieza curled his lips.
Only 50 points? That's utterly insignificant.
Still, many small amounts add up, and it was easy enough to do on the way.
He carried the already terrified Loki, moving with lightning speed and power. Any Chitauri who dared to approach him became instant casualties of his fingertip.
This casual, effortless slaughter and display of absolute dominance, quickly drew attention.
Not far away, a red and gold figure was performing high-difficulty aerial evasive maneuvers, pursued by a long string of energy blasts.
It was Iron Man, Tony Stark.
"Jarvis, I think I just saw a golden unidentified flying object pass by? Am I seeing things?" Tony asked while dodging attacks.
Jarvis's calm voice replied, "Sir, your visual system is functioning normally. There is indeed a high-energy signature object approaching Stark Tower."
"And… according to the scan, that object is a person. He also seems to be carrying… Loki?"
"What?"
Tony abruptly hit the brakes, used his repulsor ray to blast away a pursuer, and then quickly changed direction, locking onto the rapidly moving figure.
Blond hair, a suit, yet flying through the sky, and carrying Loki, who was wearing a bizarre white and purple bodysuit?
The whole scene looked strange and bizarre.
Especially Loki—why did he look like he had completely lost the will to live?
"Who is that guy? Superman? Or the new guy from the circus?" Tony's eyes widened.
"And he's tearing apart those Chitauri ships barehanded? They look like paper mache in front of him."
"Sir, no information regarding this target was matched in the database. But the energy signature coming from him is terrifying. It even exceeds Thor."
"Shit!" Tony cursed under his breath.
Which deity had descended to Earth this time?
No matter who he was, since he was carrying Loki and flying toward Stark Tower, he definitely had something to do with this whole mess.
"Cap! Natasha! The… archer guy! Everyone listen up!" Tony immediately shouted over the comms.
"Some strange guy is taking Loki to the top floor of the tower! He looks very strong! Get over there immediately! I'll go ahead and scout!"
With that, the thrusters on Tony's feet went to full power, turning him into a streak of light as he chased after the figure.
Meanwhile.
Frieza, still holding Loki, had elegantly landed on the top platform of Stark Tower.
This was the center of the entire battlefield, and the location of the Space Stone.
Erik Selvig lay unconscious nearby, and the device was emitting a harsh buzzing sound, holding up the blue Tesseract and releasing endless energy.
Frieza casually tossed Loki onto the ground like garbage, then walked with elegant steps toward the device.
Observing the Infinity Stone up close, the pure spatial energy fluctuations made the cells in Frieza's body cheer with excitement.
That was the most fundamental power in the universe.
"What a beautiful color…"
Frieza reached out, virtually stroking the blue cube through the energy shield, a greedy and intoxicated smile appearing on his face.
"If I embed it in my scouter, it would definitely be quite impressive, wouldn't it?"
"Ohohoho…"
The characteristic laughter sounded again, seeming particularly jarring on this rooftop filled with smoke and warfare.
"This is truly excellent—a pleasant surprise."
Just as Frieza was preparing to figure out how to pry the thing loose—
"Get away from that thing!"
A roar filled with righteous indignation sounded from behind him.
Immediately following that, there was a sharp sound of something cutting through the air.
Vwoom!
A round shield painted with a red, white, and blue star, spinning like a high-speed frisbee, flew straight toward the back of Frieza's head with a whistling sound.
Captain America, Steve Rogers.
Although he was a bit slow on his feet, his shield-throwing skill certainly hadn't deteriorated.
However—
Frieza didn't even turn his head. He merely shifted his body slightly, even maintaining his pose of admiring the Stone.
The shield, reputed to be made of Vibranium and capable of absorbing all kinetic energy, flew right past his nose tip, without even clipping a single strand of his golden hair.
It was as if he had eyes in the back of his head, or had foreseen the future.
The shield hit the energy barrier of the device in front of him, bouncing back with a loud "clang."
Only then did Frieza slowly turn around.
He looked at the group of Avengers who had just clambered onto the rooftop, panting—Captain America holding his shield, the curvaceous Black Widow in her bodysuit, and Hawkeye with his bow.
And Iron Man, hovering in the sky, aiming his repulsor rays directly at him.
This was the original Avengers team?
Frieza's gaze swept over the crowd, finally settling on Captain America.
The corners of his lips curved up slightly, revealing the smile that gave Loki nightmares.
"Oh my, are these the protectors of Earth?"
"Your frisbee throwing technique is decent, but unfortunately, your aim is a bit poor."
"Ohohoho…"