[Stuttgart, Germany. The Museum Gala.]
The crowd screamed, scattering like ants.
Loki, dressed in full Asgardian regalia with his horned helmet, walked calmly out of the museum. He raised his glowing blue Scepter.
"Kneel!" Loki's voice was amplified by magic, shaking the very air. "I said... KNEEL!"
The terrified civilians dropped to their knees. Silence fell over the square. Loki smiled, spreading his arms.
"Is not this simpler?" Loki pontificated, walking among them. "Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity... that you crave subjugation."
An old man stood up slowly. "Not to men like you."
Loki chuckled. "There are no men like me."
"There are always men like you."
"Look to your elder, people," Loki raised the Scepter, the tip glowing with lethal energy. "Let him be an example."
He fired. A beam of blue energy shot toward the old man.
CLANG.
A shield painted like the American flag interposed itself. The beam deflected back, hitting Loki and knocking him down.
Captain America stood up, lowering his shield. "You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everyone else, we ended up disagreeing."
Loki stood up, laughing. "The soldier. A man out of time."
"I'm not the one who's out of time," Cap replied.
A Quinjet roared overhead. Natasha Romanoff's voice boomed over the PA. "Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."
Loki didn't stand down. He blasted the Quinjet. He attacked Cap.
The fight was brutal. Cap was strong, but Loki was a God. He tossed Steve Rogers aside like a ragdoll. He stood over the Captain, pressing the Scepter against his helmet.
"Kneel," Loki hissed.
Suddenly, the speakers of the Quinjet—and every public speaker in the square—blasted AC/DC's Shoot to Thrill.
BOOM-BOOM.
Iron Man streaked across the sky, thrusters burning blue.
"Make your move, Reindeer Games!" Tony yelled.
He fired a repulsor blast, hitting Loki square in the chest. Loki tumbled backward.
Tony landed heavily. The suit—the Mark 6—unfolded its weapon pods. Lasers, missiles, repulsors... all aimed at the God of Mischief.
"Good shot," Cap panted, standing up.
"Mr. Stark," Loki smiled, getting to his feet slowly. "I have heard of you."
"And I've heard of you," Tony quipped. "Shakespeare in the Park? Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?"
Loki narrowed his eyes. He tightened his grip on the Scepter. He wasn't surrendering yet. He prepared to fire a blast that would melt through Tony's armor.
"Sir, behind you!" Cap warned.
But before Loki could fire, a shadow fell from the sky.
There were no thrusters. No parachute. Just a figure in black, dropping from the hovering Quinjet forty feet above.
The figure landed silently between Loki and Iron Man. He didn't bend his knees. He simply... arrived.
Sebastian Michaelis straightened his tailcoat. He turned to Loki.
"It is impolite to point, sir," Sebastian said calmly.
Loki froze.
He looked at the butler. He looked at the perfectly pressed suit, the white gloves, and the eyes... those reddish-brown eyes that held an abyss far older than Asgard.
Loki, who had laughed at S.H.I.E.L.D., laughed at Cap, and mocked Tony, suddenly took a step back.
"You..." Loki whispered. The Scepter in his hand hummed, the Mind Stone reacting violently to Sebastian's presence. "You reek of the Underworld."
"And you reek of desperation," Sebastian smiled. It was his business smile. "My Master is speaking. Kindly lower your stick, or I shall be forced to use it as a coat rack."
"Master?" Cap looked confused, looking between Iron Man and the butler. "Tony, who is the civilian?"
"That's the help," Tony said, keeping his repulsors aimed. "Seb, don't touch him. He's got the glow-stick of destiny."
Loki's eyes darted between them. A plan formed. He needed to get on the Helicarrier. He needed to be captured.
But this creature... this thing... was a variable he hadn't foreseen.
"I surrender," Loki said abruptly.
The armor faded away. The Scepter powered down. Loki raised his hands.
"That was too easy," Cap noted, walking over to handcuff him.
"I agree," Sebastian murmured. He walked past Loki, leaning in close. "You are planning something, little god. Do try to make it entertaining. I haven't had a challenge since the 1940s."
Loki looked at Sebastian with a mix of curiosity and caution. "We shall see, demon. We shall see."
[The Quinjet. En Route to the Helicarrier.]
The atmosphere was tense. Loki sat strapped in the back, silent.
Tony took off his helmet. "I don't like it. He gave up too fast."
"He's a Asgardian warlord," Cap said, staring at Tony. "And you brought a butler to a combat zone."
"He's not just a butler," Tony said, pouring himself a drink from the Quinjet's mini-bar. "He's Sebastian."
"He jumped forty feet and didn't break a leg," Cap argued. "And that thing... that god... seemed afraid of him."
Cap turned to look at Sebastian, who was piloting the jet (Natasha had relinquished the controls because Sebastian claimed her landing trajectory was 'bumpy').
"Who are you, really?" Cap asked.
Sebastian turned in the pilot's chair. Lightning flashed outside, illuminating his pale face.
"I am simply one hell of a butler, Captain Rogers."
KRA-KOOM.
Thunder shook the jet.
Loki looked up, fearful.
"What's the matter?" Cap asked. "Scared of a little lightning?"
"I'm not overly fond of what follows," Loki muttered.
THUD.
Something landed on the roof of the jet.
Tony grabbed his helmet. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me. Another one?"
Sebastian sighed, putting the jet on autopilot. "I shall open the door. It seems we have a visitor who forgot to knock."
He pressed the ramp release button.
Thor, the God of Thunder, stood there, cape billowing in the wind, Mjolnir in hand.
He looked at Sebastian. He looked at Loki.
"I need a drink," Tony groaned.
[End of Chapter 17]
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