Tony looked at Marcus, at the haunted expression on the former messenger god's face, at the weight of eighteen years of grief pressing down on him like a physical force.
"Yes," Tony said simply. "Show us everything."
Marcus nodded slowly, raised his hand again. The golden light returned, brighter this time, more intense. It filled the room like a second sun, warm but not burning, illuminating without casting shadows. The memory resumed where it had paused, the frozen moment of Thor and Zeus about to collide.
The Hall of Gods materialized around them in perfect detail. Tony could see every crack in the stone floor, every skull embedded in Zeus's throne, every flicker of lightning dancing across divine armor. It wasn't just visual—the memory carried sound, emotion, the oppressive weight of divine power gathering like a storm about to break.
"Release Meltiy," Hela demanded, her voice carrying the chill of the grave itself. Death given form and words. Shadows spread across the floor where she stood, aging the stone centuries in seconds. "She came as emissary, under diplomatic protection. Holding her violates every accord between our peoples."
"Does it?" Zeus tilted his head, the motion almost curious, almost amused. Lightning played across his beard, making it seem alive. "I don't recall the Greek pantheon signing any accord that prevents us from questioning suspected accomplices to cosmic crimes."
"Accomplice?" Thor's grip on Mjölnir tightened, knuckles whitening even through divine flesh that could withstand the pressure of collapsing stars. "She's the daughter of Knowledge. She committed no crime. Her mother's actions are not hers."
The golden scene showed Zeus leaning forward on his throne, lightning playing across his shoulders like restless serpents ready to strike. "Her mother contaminated entire dimensions with divine essence. Created weapons disguised as children. Undermined the natural order that keeps mortals in their place and gods in theirs." He paused, letting the words sink into the assembly. "And you, Thor, son of Odin, defender of Asgard... you defend this? You support the goddess of Knowledge's actions?"
Tony watched the political maneuvering with detached interest. It reminded him of code optimization—finding the most efficient path to a desired outcome, exploiting logical vulnerabilities, redirecting flow control. Zeus wasn't arguing the truth. He was constructing a narrative, building a framework that would justify whatever actions he'd already decided to take.
Efficient. Ruthless. Effective.
"I support not holding innocent people hostage," Thor replied, his voice steady despite the crackling energy building around him. Storm clouds that didn't exist began gathering in the upper reaches of the hall. "Whether I agree with the goddess of Knowledge is irrelevant. Meltiy has done nothing wrong."
"Then she has nothing to fear from remaining here while we investigate." Zeus spread his hands as if being perfectly reasonable, as if offering tea instead of imprisonment. "Unless you know something we don't? Unless there's a reason you're so desperate to remove her from Greek custody?"
The scene shifted slightly, showing Loki stepping forward between his siblings. The trickster god moved like water, fluid and unpredictable, weaving through space in ways that suggested he wasn't entirely bound by conventional physics. His grin was predatory, amused by the game being played.
"Oh, Zeus. Always so clever. Always with the layered meanings and political games." He glanced around the hall, taking in the assembled gods, the destroyed entrance still smoking from their arrival, the tension thick enough to cut with a blade. "But let me simplify things for you."
He stopped ten paces from Zeus's throne, close enough to be threatening, far enough to maintain plausible deniability of aggressive intent.
"Release her," Loki said, his voice dropping the playful tone entirely, "or we take her by force."
"That," Zeus said softly, each word carrying the weight of absolute certainty, "would be war."
"Then call it war." Hela's form rippled, shadows spreading across the floor like spilled ink, like blood seeping from an invisible wound. Where the darkness touched, stone aged centuries in moments, cracks spreading like spider webs through divine construction that had stood for eons. "We've fought before. We'll fight again. The outcome doesn't concern me. Death always wins eventually."
Tony felt Yuki shift beside him in the present, her breath catching. She was leaning forward, completely absorbed in the memory despite its violence, despite its implications. Grimmey remained perfectly still, but his jaw was tight, muscles clenched. He knew what was coming.
The golden scene showed Zeus rising from his throne, his form expanding slightly with each word. "Bold words from the daughter of Loki. But boldness without power is just noise." His gaze swept across the Norse warriors, dismissive. "You bring fifty warriors into my hall. I have thirty-nine supreme gods at my command. Thousands of lesser deities. You're outmatched, outmaneuvered, and out of time."
"Are we?" Loki's grin widened. "You're making a lot of assumptions, Zeus. Assuming we came unprepared. Assuming this is our full force. Assuming Odin isn't watching this very moment, waiting to see if you're stupid enough to start a war over one girl."
The temperature in the hall dropped noticeably. Several Greek gods shifted on their thrones, hands moving toward weapons they'd manifested from higher dimensions.
Zeus's eyes narrowed. Then they shifted, locked onto something around Meltiy's neck with sudden, terrible focus.
"Curious," Zeus said, his voice deadly quiet. The kind of quiet that preceded lightning strikes and universe-ending violence. "Did you think I wouldn't notice, All-Father? Your little creation, transmitting everything said in my hall directly to Asgard?"
The memory's focus shifted, zooming in on the silver crow pendant hanging around Meltiy's throat. One obsidian eye caught the light, held it for a moment too long. Not reflecting. Transmitting.
A spy device.
Tony's enhanced perception analyzed it even in memory. The construction was elegant—divine essence bound into physical form, using quantum entanglement to transmit information across dimensional barriers instantaneously. No signal to intercept. No delay to detect. Perfect surveillance disguised as jewelry.
"I..." Meltiy's hand moved to the pendant, touching it with trembling fingers. Her face showed genuine confusion, genuine shock. "I didn't know. Odin gave me this as protection. He said it would keep me safe if anything went wrong..."
"Spy," Zeus finished, his voice hard as diamond. "It would spy. Report. Betray every confidence shared in supposedly neutral ground." He stood fully now, his form expanding to fill the hall with presence, making even supreme gods feel small. "How long, I wonder? How many meetings? How many private councils has Odin observed through his little bird?"
The accusation hung in the air like poison gas.
Thor's expression shifted. Certainty wavered. He glanced at Meltiy, at the pendant, and something like realization crossed his face. Not pleasant realization. The kind that came with understanding you'd been used as a pawn in someone else's game.
"Father wouldn't..." Thor began, but the words lacked conviction.
"Your father," Zeus interrupted, "is as politically ruthless as I am. More so, perhaps. The All-Father didn't earn his title through kindness and trust." Zeus descended from his throne, each step measured, controlled, a predator approaching prey. "He plays the same games I do. Manipulates. Schemes. Positions pieces on the board decades in advance."
He stopped before Thor, looking up at the taller god without a trace of intimidation. Power wasn't about physical size. Power was about will, about authority, about the certainty that you could break whatever stood in your way.
"The difference between your father and me," Zeus continued, lightning dancing between his fingers, "is that I'm honest about what I am. I don't pretend to be noble while planting spies in allied halls. I don't gift innocent girls with cursed jewelry and send them into potential danger as unwitting tools."
Meltiy's hand fell from the pendant, her face pale. "Cursed?"
"Not cursed," Loki said quickly. Too quickly. Defensive. "Just... monitored. For your safety. Father wanted to ensure you weren't in danger."
"By making me a spy without my knowledge?" Meltiy's voice cracked. Real emotion breaking through diplomatic composure. "By turning me into a tool?"
"Welcome to divine politics," Zeus said, and for just a moment, his tone carried something almost like sympathy. Almost like understanding. "Where everyone is someone's tool. Including you. Including me. Including every god in this hall." He turned back to Thor. "So tell me, son of Odin. Did you come here because you care about Meltiy? Or because your father ordered you to retrieve his spy before I could extract useful information from her?"
Thor's jaw clenched. His eyes blazed with inner lightning, storm meeting storm. "Both can be true."
"Can they?" Zeus smiled without warmth. "How convenient for you."
"Enough posturing." Hela's voice cut through the exchange like a blade through flesh. Shadows coalesced around her hands into tangible darkness, weapons forged from the concept of ending. "We didn't come here to debate morality or trade accusations. We came for Meltiy. You'll release her, or we'll take her. Choose."
Zeus gathered lightning in both hands, the power building until the air itself screamed with potential energy. "I choose option three. You leave empty-handed. Meltiy remains as my guest until the goddess of Knowledge submits to judgment. And if you attempt to take her by force..." His eyes blazed white, pupils vanishing into pure light. "I'll remind you why gods fear to challenge me in my own hall.