Thor stood frozen. Mario's conditions were simple enough, his father was still alive, and he remained on good terms with the Dwarf King. Getting an Infinity Gauntlet forged wouldn't be difficult.
But Loki...
His gaze shifted to his brother, then to Mjolnir still in Mario's possession, then to thoughts of the shattered Bifrost. His jaw clenched as he made his decision.
"Alright. I agree to your terms. But you have to treat him—"
Mario waved his hand dismissively, cutting Thor off. "Let me be clear, he's going to get hurt. Probably a lot. But he won't die. Trust me, by the time I'm done, you'll love the results."
He'd already developed a complete training regimen in his mind. One that would break the God of Mischief down and rebuild him into something... better.
He cast a pitying glance at Loki. The trickster god visibly shivered, then shook off his growing dread and grabbed Thor's arm desperately.
"I'm your brother! You can't do this to me!"
"Loki..." Thor placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to look solemn. "Asgard needs this sacrifice. Everything is for Asgard's glory."
Loki stared at his brother's face, searching for any sign of reluctance or regret. What he found instead was barely suppressed excitement.
"Could you at least try not to smile while you're selling me out?"
Thor quickly wiped the grin off his face. "A year will pass before you know it."
Loki wanted to slap himself. Why had he been stupid enough to mention Thanos? Now Mario knew exactly when the Mad Titan would come to Earth looking for the Infinity Stones. He'd just painted a target on Mario's back, and doomed himself in the process.
He lowered his head.
Mario smiled at Loki, then pulled the Space Stone from his inventory and tossed it to Thor. "You can take the Tesseract back first and repair the Bifrost. Loki stays here."
Before anyone could react, he drew his wand and pointed it at an empty spot on the floor.
"Freeze."
Loki's body appeared encased in solid ice. He'd only wanted to see if he could escape...
Mario walked up with a cheerful grin. "Looks like you couldn't wait to get started. Kaecilius, open a portal to Asgard. Time to send Thor home."
He glanced at Thor. "What happens next isn't for your eyes."
Kaecilius, who'd been enjoying the show, waved his hands and opened a gateway. Through it, they could see the shattered Bifrost and Heimdall standing guard with his massive sword.
"Oh, right, your hammer."
Mario pulled Mjolnir from his inventory and tossed it to Thor. The god caught it eagerly, stroking the weapon.
Thor turned to look at the ice-trapped Loki one last time. "Once the Bifrost is repaired, I'll come visit."
With that utterly unconvincing promise, he stepped through the portal and vanished.
Mario watched him go, then turned his attention to Loki. He pulled out the staff and twirled it.
"Welcome to my rehabilitation program. But first, I want to test how well this staff works."
He tapped the supposedly unbreakable ice with the staff. With a loud crack, the entire ice prison shattered into nothingness, not a single shard remained.
Loki immediately bolted, straight toward the edge of the platform. Apparently, he'd rather jump than fall into Mario's hands.
Kaecilius wasn't having it. Magical ropes appeared and wrapped expertly around Loki's legs.
Thud!
Loki hit the floor face-first in what was probably the least dignified moment of his life.
Mario turned to Skye, who'd been watching the whole scene with barely contained amusement. "I've got a job for you."
Skye froze, pointing at herself. "Me? But... I don't have any experience training people..."
"Oh~"
The sound rippled through the room as everyone's thoughts aligned perfectly. Even Tony and Stark, who'd been deep in technical discussion, turned to look with matching grins.
Mario shoved the staff into Skye's hands. "Just hit him with this. Doesn't matter how hard, as long as it connects. And if he talks back, hit him again."
Skye took the staff nervously.
"Think of it as a rare opportunity. After all, he is a god, the God of Mischief."
Loki actually chuckled at that. "On that, I completely agree."
He turned toward Skye with what he probably thought was a charming smile. "I know this isn't your fault, Skye, lovely name, by the way. This is between him and me. I won't hold it against you. But you should know... you're only human. Being with someone like Mario... you're going to age while he stays young. He'll watch you grow old and die while he remains—"
CRACK!
Skye swung the staff and caught Loki square across the jaw.
"Shut. Up. What happens between Mario and me is my business. Even if he doesn't want me anymore someday, it's still my business. Not yours."
She was furious. The truth was, she had been worrying about exactly that. She couldn't help him with his vampire hunting or his dimensional adventures. That's why, when her father had suggested she undergo the Inhuman awakening ritual, she'd immediately come to ask Mario's opinion. She wanted to become stronger.
Hearing Loki voice those exact insecurities, weaponizing her fears against her, made her livid.
Mario couldn't help smiling at her angry expression. He reached out and ruffled her hair. "Don't overthink it. That's exactly why I told you not to listen to him. He is the God of Mischief, after all."
Skye nodded, then channeled her frustration into another swing.
Stark watched the scene. Seeing Loki get beaten was oddly satisfying. Neither he nor any of the other Avengers had ever liked the trickster god, but with Thor around, none of them had ever gotten the chance to do anything about it.
"So," he finally asked, still wary but curious. "What's your goal in coming here this time?"
His feelings toward Mario were complicated. After extensive analysis, S.H.I.E.L.D. had reached a surprising conclusion, Mario really was helping them. A strange, almost unbelievable conclusion.
In the end, aside from losing the Tesseract and one Quinjet, they'd suffered no other losses. In fact, they'd gained massive amounts of alien technology and repelled an invasion without losing a single soldier.
Mario smiled. "This time it's simple, I need S.H.I.E.L.D. to help me find this world's Inhuman sanctuary: Afterlife. In my universe, I've already torn Hydra to pieces. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s strength has dropped significantly, they're basically useless for intelligence gathering right now."
Stark blinked in confusion. "Hydra? What does Hydra have to do with S.H.I.E.L.D.?"
Mario grinned. "That's a question you can discuss with Director Fury... or should I say, Director of Snake-H.I.E.L.D.?"
Fury's expression went from bad to catastrophic. He had no intention of explaining that particular embarrassment to Stark, but Stark's curiosity was clearly piqued. He knew plenty about Hydra, after all, that was the enemy his father had spent half his life fighting.
Just then, Tony suddenly spoke up, inadvertently saving Fury from his awkward position.
"Oh wow! Stark, I've really got to hand it to you, the Anti-Mario armor project is impressive!"
Everyone turned toward his exclamation. When they saw the projected schematics, admiration for Stark filled the room.
Even Loki, currently being pummeled, couldn't help but be impressed, though that might have been because his Asgardian physiology could take the beating. If Mario weren't standing there ready to intervene, Skye would've happily hit him even harder.
Mario leaned in curiously. When he saw the armor design, he fixed Tony with a sharp look. "If I'm not mistaken, you already have an armor that looks exactly like this one, don't you?"
Tony nodded confidently. "Of course! This design might look similar to my first Anti-Mario armor, but the weapon systems here are way too conservative. Considering the kind of firepower you have, a little overkill isn't a bad thing."
Because of Ivan's influence, his designs still leaned toward being sleek and efficient, but his weapon loadouts had clearly taken on Ivan's "more is more" philosophy.
Heavy, overwhelming firepower was now the minimum standard.
"And it's not just the Anti-Mario armor," he continued enthusiastically. "I've got Anti-Thor armor, Anti-Hulk armor, Anti-Ivan armor..."
The whole series of specialized armors left everyone impressed. Mario noticed something interesting, there was no Anti-Captain America armor among them.
Finally, Tony glanced at Stark with a smirk. "Looks like I'll have to add another one to the list, 'Anti-Armor Armor.' Bit of a tongue-twister."
Tony's confidence made Mario start to doubt himself for a moment. Then he asked carefully, "Have you ever won while wearing one of those specialized armors?"
Silence fell over the room.
Tony's face darkened as he realized something he'd been subconsciously avoiding. He hadn't won. In fact, every time he'd worn a suit specifically designed to counter someone, he'd lost. Sometimes spectacularly.
Hell, he'd often done better in a regular Mark suit.
Mario saw Tony's expression sink but didn't twist the knife. Instead, he turned to Fury. "Last time, I left in a hurry and forgot the spoils of war. You should still have some Chitauri tech, I'd like you and Tony to study it together."
The Chitauri might be among the weakest armies in the galaxy, but they could still wage interstellar war. Their tech, no matter how crude, was still far beyond Earth's current capabilities.
Fury nodded. Compared to dealing with Mario directly, he preferred working with someone more manageable.
"Alright, Skye, that's enough for now."
Mario glanced at Loki and realized the staff's properties had already altered the trickster god's form. His eyes carried a vacant sort of "wisdom" that suggested his IQ had dropped by about fifty points.
Hearing Mario's command, Skye instinctively smacked Loki one more time before stopping. When she saw his condition, she gasped in shock.
"I didn't mean to—"
"It's fine. That's just what the staff does." Mario took the weapon from her and stored it in his inventory. "Don't worry about it."
He pulled her into a quick hug. "Go rest for a bit. I need to discuss next steps with Director Fury."
---
Two hours later, Mario and the others wrapped up their strategy session.
A Quinjet landed on Stark Tower's platform, and a familiar figure emerged, this universe's Nick Fury, complete with his signature leather coat and eyepatch.
Mario, who'd been sitting on the couch, stood up as Nick approached. A smile formed on his face.
"You've certainly left quite an impression on us," Fury said, his expression deadly serious and his tone devoid of warmth.
When facing someone like Mario, extreme caution was the only sensible approach.
Mario raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Want me to help make that impression even deeper?"
Seeing that Mario was about to give Nick a memory he wouldn't soon forget, Fury quickly stood up.
"Let me handle this."
Mario nodded and stepped aside. After all, when it came to dealing with spies, nobody was better than the ultimate spy himself.
The two identical men locked eyes. Although Nick already knew about Mario's origins, facing another version of himself in person was still deeply unsettling.
"Your contingency plan is useless," Fury said first.
Nick's single eye widened slightly.
"He's too dangerous," Nick said grimly.
Fury shook his head. "I know. But you don't stand a chance against him. You have no idea how powerful he really is. Your only winning move is to leave him alone completely."
Mario, listening to them discuss how to handle him as if he weren't standing right there, felt his eye twitch. "Hey, can you not strategize about dealing with me directly in front of me? I'm not that generous."
If the mini-map didn't show both of them as friendly white dots, he would've already pulled out his gun and shot both men just to shut them up.
Fury nodded seriously. "Right. Let's discuss this privately."
He turned to Tony. "I need a private room. There's something I need to discuss with myself."
Stark pointed toward a nearby door. "My reading room. Don't touch anything."
Without another word, Nick followed Fury inside.
Thirty minutes later, the two emerged. Everyone waiting outside froze, the two men were absolutely identical. Two years hadn't made the slightest difference in Nick's appearance, and since they wore matching outfits, they were even harder to distinguish than the two Tonys.
"It's settled," one of them said. "Director Fury will cooperate with you in locating the Inhuman sanctuary called Afterlife."
Mario glanced between them, trying to figure out which was which, then gave up and just nodded. "Works for me."
"I owe you one," he added to the person who'd just spoken. "If you ever need help, just say the word."
Nick had lost his intimidating presence. He only nodded silently. His counterpart, however, couldn't hide the flash of satisfaction in his eye. He knew exactly how valuable a favor from Mario could be.
I'll need to figure out how to claim that favor for myself, he thought. But convincing Nick to hand it over won't be easy...
Nick left, taking Fury with him. Whatever they were planning, Mario wasn't worried. Fury was sharp enough to handle himself.
"Tony, stay here for now," he said. "I'll come get you when it's time to leave."
Everyone else had already been assigned their tasks. Now all that remained was waiting.
"Oh, and keep an eye out for this universe's Skye."
---
---
50 Advance Chapters!