In the training ground of New Chicago's City Hall on Starfarer, Loki sat weakly on the ground.
"The greatest mage of the Nine Realms? This is it?" Thalorien stood in front of the collapsed Loki, looking down on him with disdain.
Loki clenched his fists but didn't dare speak out.
Looking around, he saw the towering forms of Skybreaker, Megatron, and other Transformers, the elf archer Vereesa, and several human girls in school uniforms (A/N: Yuriko Clones). There was also a warrior called Jedi who used a lightsaber, and those tall Vrykul officers.
He couldn't defeat any of these powerful opponents head-on. At most, he could delay them with a bit of magic.
Even the armored soldiers were hard for him to beat.
But the truth was, thanks to mages from Azeroth and recent exchanges with Kamar-Taj, the Ouroboros Organization had made training against magic-based enemies a key part of their combat training.
So Loki's magic wasn't very effective here.
And the worst part—he always insisted on fighting like a warrior, yet his daggers were completely unsuitable for direct combat.
It was just ridiculous.
"That's enough, Thalorien. Step back," a voice interrupted from the side.
A floating throne, much like Thanos's, hovered down from the viewing platform. Sitting on it was Josh Kahn.
This kind of anti-gravity chair wasn't anything high-tech. In the Star Wars universe, it was common—used by tens of thousands of senators. The only difference was how fancy they looked.
But they were comfortable, and great for making an impression. Even Frieza in anime used a similar chair.
So Josh had recently ordered his engineers to make one just for him.
"Yes, Leader!" Thalorien saluted respectfully and stepped aside.
"How does it feel?" Josh looked down at Loki and asked.
"Heh… go ahead and mock me. You're right. I'm just a failure," Loki looked up at him and replied bitterly.
Once, he had followed Asgard's army through countless battles across the Nine Realms, winning every time, rarely facing anyone truly strong.
And with his identity as a prince of Asgard, he was always treated with honor no matter where he went in the universe.
It gave him the false idea that while he might not be as strong as Thor, he was still a powerful figure in the galaxy.
But now, after facing Josh's followers, he finally saw how weak he really was.
"A failure? Heh, if you really believe that, it won't be long before you become one for real," Josh sneered.
"…What do you mean by that?" Loki frowned.
"Remember what I told you? As a Frost Giant, you were meant to be extraordinary," Josh said calmly.
"…Extraordinary? Because Odin adopted me? But the truth is—I can barely beat even your soldiers!" Loki shouted angrily, though what really made him angry was his own weakness.
"Is that so? Then tell me—how do you think my soldiers compare to Asgard's?" Josh asked calmly.
"They're more elite than Asgard's regular soldiers," Loki paused for two seconds, then admitted something he didn't want to accept.
"Thank you for the compliment. But what I want you to understand is—these soldiers aren't ordinary either. I only have about 200,000 of them under my command. Most of them fought in the most brutal wars in Earth's history. Then they went through the harshest training I could offer. After that, they were enhanced and modified at the genetic level, and trained again through even tougher programs. That's how they became what you saw today. And honestly, with their level of skill, they would be elite officers in any galactic civilization. If this was the Earth you used to know, they would be more than enough to be legendary heroes. Now tell me—do they still seem ordinary to you?" Josh said slowly.
This wasn't an exaggeration. The Ouroboros combat troops—also known as stormtroopers—were carefully picked from decorated World War II veterans. They were trained with methods from the Red Alert and Star Wars universes, enhanced with super-soldier serum and special nutrients, and given the best gear available.
Not long ago, Peggy Carter—one of Earth's earliest super soldiers—had arrived on Starfarer and challenged them, much like Loki was doing now.
And the result? A hard-fought win in a one-on-one fight—and that was mostly thanks to her vibranium gear and strong will.
Josh still saw vibranium as very precious. Aside from the unique Jedi Order, even his elite stormtroopers didn't get full vibranium armor. They were equipped with the strongest alloys used on capital ships in the Star Wars universe, with just a small amount of vibranium mixed in.
While powerful, it still didn't quite match up to Peggy's pure vibranium gear.
Which meant—if you equalized their equipment, even someone as battle-proven as Captain Carter might not be able to beat a single stormtrooper.
Back then, just like Loki now, Carter had been very discouraged.
It was only after Josh promised her better upgrades that her confidence began to return.
But this challenge made her even more determined to support Josh as the leader of human civilization.
With a force like this, taking over Earth would be easy. Compared to Josh, the people currently in charge were nothing.
And most importantly, Josh had never acted like a war-mad tyrant like Red Skull.
Otherwise, Earth would have been under his control long ago.
To be honest, Peggy—who had always been ambitious and started off as a spy—never chased justice and freedom the way Steve Rogers did.
It was clear: if Captain America ever returned, the two former lovers would likely end up in serious conflict.
"So what? I studied magic with my mother—Frigga—for hundreds of years!" Loki replied stiffly. Although Josh's explanation had eased his frustration, he still wouldn't admit defeat.
"I admit, Queen Frigga was very skilled in magic. But there's something you can't ignore—she grew up in a royal palace, not on a battlefield. She's not a warrior… is she?" Josh said bluntly, pointing out something Loki couldn't deny.
Is Frigga powerful? Yes, very.
In Thor: The Dark World, she easily overwhelmed Malekith, the Dark Elf king, in just a few moves.
Even Thor might not have been able to do that at the time.
But what happened next showed that while Frigga was powerful, she lacked real battle experience.
She focused only on Malekith during the fight and didn't notice kurse sneaking up behind her.
Without knowing the enemy's strength, she tried to fight him head-on—and was instantly overpowered and killed.
It couldn't be helped.
Frigga, though the queen and a skilled magician, was exactly what Josh said—Before marrying Odin, she was a princess from Vanaheim.
After marrying him, she became the high queen of Asgard.
Someone with such noble status, no matter how strong, would never get much actual battle experience.
And she wasn't even Odin's first wife—Hela wasn't her daughter.
Her only child in the movie universe was Thor.
Frigga married Odin after he had already defeated Hela and most other threats.
Asgard was at its peak when she became queen.
The only war she might have seen was against the Frost Giants, and that was right after Thor was born.
So she missed her last chance to fight in a real war.
Now think about the kind of "fake powerhouse" that would train Loki…
And recall how Frigga charged at Malekith with a sword in Thor: The Dark World—It's no surprise Loki learned the same habit: charging in with a dagger.
You're magicians! Why fight like warriors? You're not Gandalf!
Look at Kamar-Taj—Okay, maybe Marvel's mages all fight the same way.
But look at the mages of Azeroth—they move gracefully and cleverly.
A mage who can't kite the enemy isn't a real mage!
Yes, Loki's mother was a refined noblewoman who lived in the palace, not a hardened warrior like Odin.
After Josh pointed it out, Loki suddenly realized why he could never catch up to Thor.
"Damn it, Odin must have done it on purpose!" Loki thought.
Still, he didn't blame Frigga—he deeply respected her as the mother who raised him with care.
So he put the blame on Odin instead.
And honestly, Odin probably deserved it.
As a king, he would have known all of this.
"You see? Even with all that, you were still able to fight those battle-hardened soldiers I personally trained. Doesn't that prove how special you are?" Josh said.
"Maybe you're right… but that's still not enough, is it?" Loki asked.
"Of course not. You've wasted too much time in the past. To grow stronger now, you'll have to go through a lot of pain and hard work. So tell me, Loki—are you ready for that?" Josh asked.
"Of course, my lord. I am ready. Please grant me power! I want to prove that I am stronger than Thor. For that, I am willing to give you my loyalty!" Loki said, dropping to one knee and raising his voice.
'Your loyalty? It's probably worth less than the mud on the ground.' That's what Josh thought to himself as he looked at Loki kneeling and pledging his loyalty.
But in the end, he was just another chess piece on the board.
So on the outside, Josh nodded with a pleased smile, as if he truly accepted Loki as a trusted follower.
"Very well. Since you've chosen to surrender yourself, I'm not a stingy person. Here, consider this a small welcome gift."
With a wave of his hand, a strange object covered in Cosmic Power appeared before Loki.
The moment it did, the temperature across the entire training ground dropped sharply.
Yet Loki felt a strange warmth—not in his skin, but in his blood.
Something deep inside him responded to the item.
He looked down and saw… just a small block of ice?
Confused, he looked at Josh.
"This is called Everfrost," Josh explained.
"It's a magical treasure from a world similar to Jotunheim, filled with powerful ice magic. It's not quite on the level of the Casket of Ancient Winters, but for a Frost Giant, it's still an incredibly valuable gift. You may be a Frost Giant by blood, but you've barely used that power in over a thousand years. It's weak—almost useless. This ice can help fix that. It will awaken what lies dormant inside you."
This Everfrost came from Azeroth.
In the game, it was used to boost reputation with the Sons of Hodir, helping frost giants grow stronger.
But in reality, those towering beings were not so easy to approach.
They were fierce and dangerous, and even stealing from them was nearly impossible.
In fact, Abbendis privateer fleet once provoked them and lost a powerful exploration team because of it. Thankfully, this special ice was a natural resource. You didn't need to fight the frost giants to get it. Still, it was buried deep beneath Northrend's glaciers and incredibly hard to find.
Abbendis men had only stumbled across it by chance through trade with the tuskarr. While it wasn't the rarest treasure in the universe, it was still an excellent gift.
Loki stared at the icy block, feeling a strong connection in his body… but he hesitated.
Yes, he now knew he wasn't truly Asgardian.
Still, part of him hated the Frost Giant blood in his veins.
Josh saw his hesitation and smirked.
"What's wrong? Still can't accept your icy heritage? If your ambition is that small, maybe I was wrong about you. You want to be strong, and yet you can't even embrace your own power?" That taunt hit Loki hard.
"No, of course not. I just felt this treasure was too valuable, that's all. Thank you for your gift, my lord!" With that, Loki made up his mind.
He grabbed the Everfrost without hesitation.
So what if he was a Frost Giant?
I will prove I'm the most extraordinary one of all!
And as he held the Everfrost, his body immediately began to change.
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