The words hadn't even finished hanging in the air.
Whoosh!
Loki felt a sudden flash before his eyes, followed by an immense feeling of being pushed from behind—no, pushed by his collar—and he instantly soared into the sky!
There were no thrusters, no magic circles, not even wings!
This man had just flown up out of thin air! And he was moving at an astonishing speed!
"You can fly?!" Loki shouted in astonishment, the wind rushing into his mouth. "You can fly! That's not science! That's not magic either!"
In the Marvel world, few could fly purely by their own power, outside of those who swung a hammer like Thor or used thrusters like Iron Man. Even among the mutants, natural flight abilities were rare.
"Such a fuss over nothing."
Frieza, holding Loki, traced an elegant arc in the sky. His blonde hair whipped wildly in the wind, and a composed, cold smirk was plastered on his face.
"Buku-jutsu (Hovering technique), that's just the basics, understand? Just the basics."
For the Frieza race, surviving and flying in the vacuum of space was instinctive. Flying within Earth's atmosphere was easier than breathing.
The two darted between the towering skyscrapers like a golden flash of lightning.
Ahead, several Chitauri speeder bikes roared toward them. They seemed to have singled him out as a new target, screeching as they raised their energy guns to fire.
"Truly a swarm of ignorant flies."
Frieza didn't even bother to lift an eyelid. He merely raised his free left hand and casually flicked his index finger.
Shu! Shu! Shu!
Several tiny, purple beams of light instantly shot out from his fingertip.
Fast! Accurate! Deadly!
It was the Death Beam!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Without any suspense, the alien bikes exploded mid-air, not even getting a chance to react, turning into a few dazzling bursts of fireworks.
Not a speck of the Chitauri riders was left behind.
[Ding! Chitauri grunt eliminated, causing small-scale fear. Fear Points +50!]
[Ding! Fear Points +50!]
[Ding! Fear Points +50!]
Hearing the pleasing notifications in his head, Frieza curled his lip.
"Only 50 points? That's barely pocket change."
But every little bit adds up, and it was no trouble at all.
Clutching the now terrified Loki, he flew on, leaving a trail of sparks and lightning. Any Chitauri who dared to approach him became a victim of his fingertip.
This casual, stroll-like slaughter, this display of absolute dominance, quickly attracted attention.
Not far away, a red and gold figure was performing complex evasion maneuvers in the air, with a long string of energy blasts chasing him.
It was Iron Man, Tony Stark.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., did I just see a golden, unidentified flying object pass by? Am I seeing things?" Tony asked inside his helmet while dodging attacks.
"Sir, your visual systems are normal. A high-energy signature object is indeed approaching Stark Tower," J.A.R.V.I.S.'s calm voice replied. "And... according to the scan, that object is a person. And he appears to be carrying... Loki?"
"What?"
Tony slammed on the brakes, blasting a pursuing enemy with a repulsor ray, then quickly turned his view to track the fast-moving figure.
Blonde hair, a suit, yet flying in the sky, and carrying Loki, who was dressed in ridiculous white and purple tights?
The whole picture was bizarre.
Especially Loki—why did he look so utterly defeated?
"Who is that guy? Superman? Or a new performer for the circus?" Tony's eyes widened. "And he's tearing apart those giant mechs with his bare hands? The Chitauri look like they're made of paper next to him!"
"Sir, no information on the target was found in the database. But the energy signature... is terrifying. It even surpasses Thor."
"Sht!" Tony cursed under his breath. Which deity had descended this time?
No matter who he was, if he had Loki and was flying toward Stark Tower, he must be involved!
"Cap! Natasha! That... archer guy! Attention, everyone!" Tony immediately yelled over the comms. "A weirdo is taking Loki to the top of the tower! He looks strong! Very strong! Hurry over for backup! I'm going ahead to scout things out!"
With that, the thrusters on Tony's feet went into full power, and he shot out like a streak of light, giving chase.
Meanwhile.
Frieza had already landed elegantly on the top platform of Stark Tower with Loki in tow.
This was the center of the entire battlefield and the location of the Space Stone.
The scientist, Dr. Erik Selvig, lay unconscious nearby, and the device was humming loudly, holding the blue Tesseract, which radiated endless energy.
Frieza casually tossed Loki aside like a piece of trash, then took elegant steps toward the device.
Observing the Infinity Stone up close, the pure spatial energy surge made the cells in Frieza's body cheer with delight.
It was the most fundamental power in the universe.
"Such a beautiful color..."
Frieza reached out, virtually stroking the blue cube through its energy shield, a greedy, intoxicated smile spreading across his face.
"It would look fantastic mounted on my Scouter, wouldn't it?"
"Oh ho ho ho..."
The signature laugh echoed again, sounding extremely out of place on the smoke-filled, war-torn rooftop.
"Truly wonderful. Everything came right to me."
Just as Frieza was about to figure out how to pry the thing loose.
"Step away from that!"
A roar full of righteous anger came from behind.
This was immediately followed by the sharp sound of something slicing through the air.
Whoosh—!
A circular shield, painted with the iconic red, white, and blue star, flew like a high-speed frisbee, whistling through the air straight for the back of Frieza's head!
Captain America, Steve Rogers, may have been slower on his feet, but his shield-throwing skill was sharp as ever.
However.
Frieza didn't even turn his head.
He merely tilted his body slightly, maintaining his posture of admiring the gem.
The shield, supposedly made of Vibranium and able to absorb all kinetic energy, zipped past the tip of his nose, failing to snip even a single strand of his blonde hair.
It was as if he had eyes in the back of his head, or perhaps saw into the future.
The shield struck the energy barrier of the device in front of him with a "clang" and bounced back.
Only then did Frieza slowly turn around.
He looked at the gathering Avengers who were just clambering onto the rooftop, panting slightly—Captain America with his shield, the sultry Black Widow in her tight suit, and Hawkeye with his bow.
And Iron Man, hovering in the sky, his repulsors aimed squarely at him.
This was the original Avengers team?
Frieza's gaze swept over them all, finally resting on Captain America.
He curled the corners of his mouth, showing the smile that had become Loki's nightmare.
"Oh my, are these the heroes protecting Earth?"
"Nice technique with the frisbee, but unfortunately, your aim is a bit off."
"Oh ho ho ho..."