Under the pressure from Kagura Hitomi and the Avengers, Loki put on an innocent and pitiful expression, completely abandoning resistance.
The specially designed restraint device created by Kagura swiftly enveloped his entire body.
Clack, clack, clack—
Made from a titanium alloy reinforced with vibranium, the device was nearly impossible to break free from, even for a god like Loki.
"Hitomi."
Tony Stark leaned in closer to Kagura. "I have a question for you."
"Hm? What is it?"
Kagura blinked curiously.
"This thing you used to lock up Loki… why does it look suspiciously like my Iron Man suit?"
"Pfft… Ahem…" Kagura covered her mouth, stifling a laugh. "Well, you could always use your Iron Man suits to trap enemies too."
"My suits are expensive!"
Tony Stark threw up his hands. "Using them as cages? That's just wasteful! Way too wasteful!"
"Is that so…" Kagura mumbled under her breath. "I hope you remember this when you start blowing up over forty suits like fireworks later."
Would this world's Tony Stark still build over forty suits in an obsessive frenzy due to anxiety?
Probably… not?
It would depend on how this whole situation played out.
After all, in this world, Tony Stark wasn't the one suffering from anxiety—Nick Fury was.
"So, what do we do next?"
Steve Rogers glanced at Loki, now wrapped up like a metallic mummy. "Should we take him back to the base?"
"That sounds like a good plan. We need a secure place to interrogate him."
Tony Stark nodded in agreement. "Hitomi, what do you think?"
Instead of answering, Kagura looked up at the night sky.
"Hitomi?" Tony Stark knocked gently on her head. "Hey, stop spacing out and sightseeing."
"Warp energy detected. Data collection complete. Estimated arrival in three seconds."
Cortana's voice rang in Kagura's earpiece, delivering the latest intelligence from the Argos project.
"Understood. Cross-reference this warp energy with our dark energy model. This is a rare data sample."
Kagura issued her command through the earpiece. "We've got things under control here. No major issues expected."
"Command acknowledged, Master."
"Hitomi?"
Tony Stark was still puzzled. "What's going on?"
"We have a guest arriving."
"Guest?"
Steve Rogers frowned. "I don't see any aircraft or anything…"
BOOM—!
Before he could finish, a rainbow-colored beam of light crashed into the plaza, accompanied by thunder and lightning.
The scorching energy left an intricate pattern on the ground, marking the precise location where the god traveling through the Bifrost had arrived.
As the radiance faded, Thor emerged—clad in silver armor, his crimson cape billowing behind him, Mjolnir in hand. He strode forward with an imposing presence.
"Where is Loki? I have come to defeat him and protect—"
Thor halted mid-sentence as his gaze fell upon Loki, thoroughly bound and restrained on the ground.
He turned to the others, his face filled with disbelief. "Wait… You did this?"
"Yo! Long time no see, Thunder Boy."
Tony Stark clapped Thor on the shoulder. "Most of the credit goes to Hitomi, but yeah, we helped. So, yes, you're looking at our handiwork."
"This is just embarrassing…"
Thor shook his head in exasperation as he looked down at Loki. "He is my brother. Isn't this a bit excessive? He deserves proper respect and a fair trial in Asgard—"
"Wait! This… this overly dramatic trickster is your brother?"
Steve Rogers asked incredulously. "No way. You two look nothing alike. You're a noble warrior, and he… well, he looks like a backstabbing opportunist."
"Watch your words, mortal."
Thor's brow furrowed, his voice stern. "No matter what Loki has done, he is still my brother."
"He's also killed about eighty people in the last two days," Tony Stark pointed out. "Your brother seems to have a serious craving for attention."
Thor hesitated, an awkward expression crossing his face. "He… was adopted."
"Well, in any case, it's good to see you, Prince Thor. And I appreciate that you didn't start swinging your hammer at us to talk."
Kagura interjected, "I think keeping Loki like this is for the best. His mouth alone is a crime against peace and patience."
"Uh… using my hammer to 'talk'?"
Thor looked bewildered, glancing at Mjolnir, then at Kagura. "How does a hammer talk?"
"Forget it."
Kagura waved her hand dismissively. "It's not something I can explain…"
In her memories, the first thing Thor did upon arriving on Earth was to storm the Quinjet carrying Loki, leading to a fight with Iron Man and Captain America.
But in this world, since Thor already knew her and Tony Stark beforehand, they had avoided an unnecessary battle—and prevented Loki from taking advantage of any chaos.
Moments later, the Quinjet landed before them.
Kagura took a deep breath, preparing for the next step.
A year of careful planning had allowed her to counter Loki at every turn, and the results were evident.
Ultimately, stopping Loki and the Chitauri invasion boiled down to three key objectives: capturing Loki, reclaiming the Tesseract, and securing the Mind Stone embedded in the scepter.
Now, with Loki and the scepter in their possession—and Hawkeye, Loki's strongest pawn, neutralized—the next step was retrieving the Tesseract and having Thor take Loki back to Asgard.
With Hawkeye no longer under Loki's control, they didn't need to worry about any escape plans he might have orchestrated.
So far, everything was going smoothly.
But Loki was cunning, and Kagura remained on high alert, anticipating his next move.
—
Aboard the Quinjet, silence filled the cabin as everyone exchanged glances.
Loki sat quietly in a corner, wrapped in silver-white restraints that rendered him completely immobile—even unable to speak.
Yet, despite his outward stillness, Loki's consciousness had already reached across the vast darkness of space, connecting with an ominous force.
"How utterly pathetic, Asgardian. You seem completely out of options."
The Other, the leader of the Chitauri, sneered at Loki. "You've lost all your trump cards, and now you're their prisoner. How disgraceful. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"Don't worry. Don't be hasty."
Loki chuckled. "I may have encountered a few unexpected setbacks, but you must understand—humans are so easily manipulated. Their unity will crack soon enough."
"Oh, please. You said the same thing last time."
The Other leaned in, his voice dripping with mockery. "You claimed that by channeling the Mind Stone's power through the Tesseract, you had successfully planted seeds of discord within Nick Fury. You swore humanity would crumble from within. And yet?"
The Other sneered. "That girl effortlessly dismantled your scheme. And now, once again, she has outplayed you."
Loki's eyes narrowed. "Kagura Hitomi… Yes. That meddlesome girl. She requires my full attention."