Late at night, at a S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
Nick Fury rushed into the laboratory with an unpleasant expression. A perfectly normal experiment had suddenly gone wrong—something absolutely could not happen to the Tesseract. If anything happened to it, the consequences would be unimaginable.
"What's going on with the Tesseract?"
The moment Nick entered the spacious underground lab and saw the glowing Tesseract, his heart tightened and he immediately asked.
Dr. Erik Selvig stared at the instrument screens in front of him and shook his head.
"We don't know. About an hour ago, the Tesseract began showing abnormal energy fluctuations, and the reaction has been getting more and more intense."
Nick frowned, a faint sense of unease rising in his heart.
"What's causing this kind of reaction? What triggered it?"
Dr. Selvig gave a bitter smile.
"This wasn't caused by our research. It's a reaction originating from the Tesseract itself."
Nick Fury frowned deeply and asked, "Is there any way to stop it? Have you tried cutting the power?"
A trace of helplessness flashed through Dr. Selvig's eyes.
"Sir, the Tesseract itself is the largest energy source we know of. Cutting the power has no effect at all."
Nick coughed lightly twice to cover his awkwardness, then asked,
"Where is Agent Clint Barton?"
"Hawkeye has been in his nest the whole time," Selvig said, pointing upward.
A sharp glint flashed in Nick Fury's eyes as he looked up.
Clint Barton slid down from above along a rope, nodded to Nick Fury, and reported,
"I've been watching the whole time. Dr. Selvig really didn't conduct any tests on the Tesseract. He wasn't even in the lab at the time. The Tesseract activated on its own and produced an energy reaction.
"There were no suspicious individuals on-site. Even if something went wrong, it didn't start here."
Nick Fury frowned.
"Not here…"
Clint looked at the Tesseract and said meaningfully,
"The Tesseract contains infinite energy and the mysteries of space. That means it can connect to the cosmos. Maybe the Tesseract on the other side was activated."
Nick Fury looked at Clint in surprise.
"Agent Barton, since when did you have such professional knowledge in this field?"
Hawkeye's expression remained unchanged, his eyes narrowing slightly as he replied,
"I've heard the lab researchers talk about it often. Listen enough, and you naturally learn a thing or two."
"Doctor, the cosmic energy readings have spiked again," a researcher said after checking the data, immediately alerting Dr. Selvig.
Nick Fury's expression darkened. He raised his communicator and issued an order over the base-wide channel:
"All agents in the base, evacuate immediately."
"Coulson, have the special equipment been moved out of the base?" Nick Fury then contacted Coulson, who was in charge of transferring the weapons developed from the Tesseract.
"They're still being loaded," Coulson replied.
Nick nodded slightly.
"Start transferring the equipment to the designated base immediately. There's no need to wait until everything is loaded."
Suddenly, the Tesseract stirred. Vast, empty blue energy surged outward, rippling around it.
The entire base began to shake.
All the researchers and armed agents present turned to look at the radiant Tesseract, unease evident on their faces.
Moments later, the Tesseract shot out a beam of light, opening a portal ahead of it. Through the portal, it seemed as though one could see the boundless starry cosmos.
After persisting for a short while, the portal disappeared—and Loki, holding a scepter, appeared in the center of the room.
A strangely dressed man had appeared out of nowhere?
The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents stared at Loki, trying to guess the origin of this sudden visitor.
Loki waited for the humans of Midgard to react to his arrival with shock, confusion, or fear.
Instead, the two sides simply stared at each other, and the atmosphere froze for an instant, oddly stiff.
"Sir, please put down the weapon," Nick Fury called out loudly to Loki.
Loki glanced at the scepter in his hand and let out a cold, sinister laugh.
A mere human dared to tell him to disarm?!
It seemed necessary to let these ignorant Midgardians understand the majesty of the gods of Asgard!
With that thought, Loki raised his hand and fired an energy beam at the loudmouthed Nick Fury.
Clint instantly felt a sense of danger. Without time to think, he lunged forward and knocked Nick Fury to the ground, narrowly dodging Loki's attack.
The laboratory equipment behind them, however, was instantly melted, leaving behind a massive hole.
Seeing Loki attack Nick Fury, the surrounding S.H.I.E.L.D. agents immediately opened fire on him.
Unfortunately, the physical strength of an Asgardian warrior was not something ordinary Earth firearms could damage—especially not Loki, the second prince of Asgard.
"Lowly ants, daring to offend a great god like this—your sins are unforgivable!" Loki declared arrogantly.
Though the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents' firepower posed no threat to him, not even damaging his clothing, the act itself made Loki feel offended and mildly enraged.
And the well-trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agents showed no intention of stopping.
"Reckless fools!" Loki snapped angrily.
He slammed the scepter into the ground. The gem embedded within—the Mind Stone—flared with light.
A phantom identical to Loki appeared, except this illusion was six to seven meters tall. The vast laboratory was almost too small to contain it.
"Lowly mortals—kneel."
With the Mind Stone amplifying his illusion magic, the mental pressure transformed into terrifying psychic force, crashing down on the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
Under the powerful mental assault, cold sweat poured from the agents. Many couldn't even hold their weapons and collapsed weakly to the ground.
"Midgardian, you possess special qualities. I permit you to serve me," Loki said as he scanned the room, locking onto Hawkeye, who seemed largely unaffected. In an instant, Loki appeared in front of him.
Hawkeye immediately drew his pistol and fired at Loki.
Loki merely smiled contemptuously. He grabbed Hawkeye with one hand and pressed the scepter against Hawkeye's chest with the other. Using the Mind Stone's power—though only in a rudimentary way—he effortlessly took control of Hawkeye in an instant.
Loki then turned his attention to the researchers. To use the Tesseract to open a sustained space portal and bring the Chitauri army to Earth, he would need these professionals to do their work.
Taking advantage of his racial talent to hide in the shadows, Nick Fury quietly removed the Tesseract while Loki was busy controlling the researchers, intending to leave.
"You can't take the Tesseract. I need it," Loki said, turning toward Nick Fury.
He had nearly missed that one.
Nick Fury's expression sank.
"Who exactly are you?"
Loki lifted his chin proudly.
"Remember this well, mortal. Standing before you is the Prince of Asgard, the future ruler of Midgard—Loki!"
"Thor's brother?" Nick Fury raised an eyebrow.
"So you've heard of me, mortal."
Nick Fury nodded calmly.
"My people heard about you from your brother. He said you're someone who enjoys mischief.
"But I don't understand—Earth and Asgard aren't in conflict. Why are you doing this?"
"The actions of a god require no explanation to mortals," Loki replied indifferently.
"You only need to obediently accept them."
"I'm afraid that won't do," Nick said, shaking his head seriously.
(End of Chapter)