Tony looked at Loki. "What's wrong? Don't like thunder?"
Loki clearly had conflicted feelings about what was happening and had lost much of his joy. "I'm not too fond of what follows it," he said cryptically, tightening his grip on Gungnir.
"So he did come," I muttered, watching the bolt of lightning stretch across the heavens.
"You knew this would happen?" Loki asked, his tone unfriendly.
"I suspected as much. This would either prove him worthy or forever unworthy of the All-Father's respect. Yet it seems that while he might be a poor king, he at least has the heart of a warrior." I didn't mind Loki's tone; I knew he was struggling.
"I, too, have the heart of a warrior," Loki snorted. "But I also have the mind of a king. I brought an army to make war, not just my friends."
His words had only just finished when the lightning bolt finally reached us and slammed into the deck of Ehangwen. As the lightning faded, there stood Thor, God of Thunder.
"Brother! I have come to help!" Thor grinned, completely unaware of the storm of emotions he had caused inside Loki.
Thor strode forward with all the subtlety of a crashing meteor, lightning still crackling across his armor and rolling off Mjolnir in snapping arcs. He looked radiant, powerful, alive in a way he hadn't been since his banishment.
And utterly oblivious to the complex emotional implosion happening inside Loki.
"Thor…" Loki muttered, jaw tight. His expression flickered — relief, resentment, longing, pride, and irritation all colliding at once.
Thor grabbed him in a crushing embrace before he could escape.
"BROTHER! You stand with her!" Thor boomed, practically shaking Loki by the shoulders. "You have no idea how relieved I am to see Asgard helping in this battle. This isn't something Midgard can handle on their own."
"Unhand me," Loki hissed, voice muffled against Thor's chestplate. "You're embarrassing me in front of the mortals."
Tony muttered, "Honestly? This is the least embarrassing thing I've seen today."
Thor turned, beaming. "The Iron Knight. I saw you back in Camelot. I wished to test myself against your suit. Maybe I shall have the chance soon!"
Tony blinked, then looked down at the fighting below, which now included Asgardians carving up entire Leviathans. "I think I'm good."
Before the banter could continue — and before even I could get another word in — JARVIS's voice came from Tony's suit, sounding as urgent as an AI could sound.
"Sir. I apologize for interrupting, but I am detecting a missile launch."
Tony froze.
Everyone froze.
Even the battle below seemed to dim for a moment.
"A what?" Tony whispered.
"Sir… trajectory suggests an ICBM. Nuclear payload."
Thor frowned. "A missile? Why would Midgard fire upon its own land?"
Tony closed his eyes slowly. "Because they're panicking."
Loki's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Or because they are fools."
I felt a cold anger stir deep in my chest as JARVIS continued.
"Projected impact: Manhattan. Estimated time to detonation: three minutes."
Tony swore under his breath. "Of course. Of course they'd do this. If the aliens don't kill us, the government will. Great leadership, really."
Thor looked genuinely horrified. "They would slaughter their own people?!"
Tony's voice cracked. "For the greater good — or rather, their own heads — they would do it. They'd even offer fake tears afterwards, but they would do it."
Loki's tone turned icy. "Mortals." Gungnir hummed with growing power. "They would strike where I stand? Where the warriors of Asgard fight on their behalf!?"
But for once, Loki's outrage wasn't directed at Tony.
It was directed squarely at the unseen hands far across the continent who had decided that annihilating a city — and hopefully Arthuria — was an acceptable sacrifice.
Thor turned to me, eyes wide. "Arthuria! Can you stop it?"
"Easily. But this isn't my job… is it, Tony?" I asked as I looked at him.
He took a deep breath. "Fury!" he shouted into his communicator. "What is this about a nuclear strike?"
"What did you say?" Steve Rogers' voice came, followed by the other Avengers and mutant allies, all shouting over one another as they fought a desperate battle against an alien host. Even if the Asgardians were taking most of the pressure off them, that didn't mean they stopped fighting and trying to save lives.
"I tried to stop it," came Fury's voice, shaking with fury. "Even shot down a jet myself, but another slipped past me just now. I have been relieved of my command."
For a heartbeat, the world went silent.
Not the battle — that still raged below with fire and screams and lightning.
Not the Chitauri — who poured endlessly from the portal like a swarm of locusts.
But us.
Our small circle atop Ehangwen felt suddenly cut off from the world as the words sank in.
Relieved of his command.
For refusing to nuke his own people.
Tony's voice shook. "Fury… they took your command? For what? Not wanting to vaporize Manhattan?"
Fury exhaled hard. I could practically hear him grinding his teeth through the comm.
"For not being willing to kill millions. For refusing to kill you. That's what."
Steve's voice cut in, horrified.
"They can't— They wouldn't—"
"They would," Natasha said bitterly. "They absolutely would."
Bruce sounded sick. "We need to get everyone out. We need to— we need to—"
"You won't have time," Fury said. "It's too close, and it's too fast."
Tony closed his eyes, hands trembling at his sides.
Loki's grip tightened around Gungnir, rage boiling off him like heat.
"To call themselves leaders," he spat. "To hide behind their walls while they order cowards' weapons to strike their own soil—"
Thor growled, sounding more like a storm than a man.
"This is dishonor. Madness. No realm would tolerate such treachery!"
I felt that cold anger settle deeper in my chest.
A quiet, focused fury — the kind that did not shout or thrash.
The kind that destroyed kingdoms.
"Tony," I said softly.
He opened his eyes.
"This was intentional," I continued. "They do not care about victory. Only control. And in their eyes… I am an unwanted variable."
Tony swallowed hard. "Yeah. They'd love it if you got caught in the blast. Solve one problem with another."
I nodded. "They miscalculated."
Thor stepped forward. "Arthuria, allow me — I can intercept it—"
"No," I said, my voice calm, almost gentle. "This is beyond you and I. They did not just attack me, or their own people. They attacked the Lord Regent of Asgard. Unless humanity itself solves this problem, it would be an attack on Asgard. Tony, you must handle this yourself."
The man sucked in a breath. He understood the situation. This wasn't just the government nuking their own people, but them nuking the current ruler of Asgard. And he had seen their power — could see it right now.
Earth couldn't fight them; it would be hopeless. He didn't for a second believe this nuke could kill us, which meant, if it hit, or if we ourselves had to defend ourselves, then it would be war.
This was something Earth itself had to deal with. Humans had to stop it, or it would be for nothing.
With a sigh, his helm closed once more, and he blasted off without a word.
"Should we get ready to deal with this ourselves?" Loki said as we watched him fly off.
"I have faith he can deal with it. And we need to deal with Maw. He wouldn't miss his chance to take the Tesseract and flee should we get distracted." Despite everything, I had never taken part of my attention off the Tesseract.
Thor frowned deeply. "There must be another way—"
"There is not," I said firmly. "This is their sin to undo."
Thor's jaw clenched, lightning flickering across his arms. His rage was real, and raw, and righteous. But he did not argue.
Perhaps exile had taught him restraint after all.
Below, I could hear fragments of the Avengers' communication — panicked, disbelieving, betrayed.
Indeed, why wouldn't they feel betrayed? Here they were, risking their lives. And those who should help them were turning against them, ready to abandon them like nothing. And for what? Maybe kill one wave of the Chitauri?
It wouldn't close the portal and would just cause more harm than good. Because right now only the Asgardians and my knights stood against the end of the world, and now they risked all of that.
Truly, the foolishness of mortals knew no bounds.
"Anyway, Thor, I'm sure you will want to help. Go on, join your friends and leave the rest to us," I told the blond fool who had come in with style, but had really failed to deliver on his entrance.
Even Loki had dispatched a few Leviathans to show off his might — or rather, the might of his spear.
Thor did not move at first.
He stood there, broad and golden and thunder-wreathed, staring at me with an expression I had not seen on him before — something between confusion, hurt, and dawning responsibility.
"Leave the rest to you?" he echoed.
"Yes," I said simply. "Your people are fighting below. They could use your strength."
Thor looked toward the streets where Asgardians clashed with Chitauri, bodies and lightning falling like meteors. His expression tightened with guilt — the guilt of a prince who had abandoned his duties once, and feared doing so again.
That was all the push he needed.
He nodded once, firm and heavy.
"Very well. I shall aid them," he said. "But call upon me if you have need. By storm or by oath, I will come."
"Go," I said.
Thor launched himself off the deck in a burst of blue-white lightning that cracked the air behind him. The nearby Chitauri shrieked as he descended upon them like a wrathful comet.
Loki exhaled through his nose, watching his brother disappear into the chaos.
"Show-off," he muttered.
"Indeed. But he is strong and loud; that will distract Ebony Maw and give us more room. Nonetheless, I think we should move and find him, put an end to this invasion," I said as I narrowed my eyes.
"Indeed. No need to allow the brute to get in our way," Loki said, eager to get the most glory here — to be the one to end this war, while Thor did the work of a grunt. A way to further cement himself as the more capable of the two brothers.
He had long since grown beyond the desire to kill Thor; he no longer feared him, having had enough time to make himself into a proper candidate for the throne and having had his mother by his side.
This added maturity was why I dared to involve him in important matters, because I knew he wasn't as foolish as he had once been. No, the weight of a crown does wonders for maturing people.
And his mother made sure he didn't get drunk on the power, but felt the weight and responsibility, which led to this: someone who could indeed lead rather than be a trickster in the dark.
I allowed myself a faint smirk.
(End of chapter)
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