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Donald walked in, rubbing his forehead like he had a headache he wasn't willing to deal with. "I think my foolish brother is up to something."
No one looked particularly surprised.
"Which one?" Sofia asked without looking up from her tablet.
Donald gave her a flat look. "The one who thinks he's clever."
"That doesn't narrow it down," Diego said, kicking his feet up onto the table.
"The one who talks in riddles when a simple answer would do."
"Oh," Anthony muttered. "That one."
Maria sighed. "What's Loki doing now?"
Donald gestured vaguely. "I don't know yet, but I feel it. It's that particular sort of irritation that creeps up when he's planning something annoying."
Nero leaned back in his chair. "Are we talking annoying as in 'mild inconvenience,' or annoying as in 'interdimensional incident'?"
Donald exhaled through his nose. "Could be either. But given his usual habits, I'd wager something in between."
Nigel stirred his tea. "So somewhere between stealing your clothes and declaring himself ruler of a small country?"
"That's happened?" Sofia blinked.
"More than once," Donald muttered.
Diego snorted. "Loki's got ambition. Gotta respect that."
Donald ignored him. "I need to find him before it escalates."
Nero glanced at Sofia. "Can you trace him?"
Sofia tapped a few keys. "If he's using magic, it won't be easy, but if he's being sloppy…" A second later, her screen beeped. "Huh."
"That was fast," Anthony said.
"Yeah," she said, tilting her head. "Because he's not hiding."
Nero frowned. "That's not like him."
"No, it's not," Donald said, already bracing himself. "Where is he?"
Sofia turned the screen so they could all see. "You're gonna love this. He's in Times Square."
Anthony groaned. "Oh, for fuck's sake."
Maria rubbed her temple. "Do I even want to know what he's doing?"
Sofia zoomed in. "According to live footage? Street performance."
There was a long silence before Diego let out an impressed whistle. "Now that's bold."
Donald's eye twitched. "That absolute—" He turned on his heel. "I need to go."
"Wait, wait," Diego said, laughing. "Are we just gonna ignore the fact that Loki might be running a side hustle as a magician in New York?"
Nero stood, stretching. "We should at least see what he's up to."
"Or, and hear me out," Sofia said, "we let him embarrass himself for a bit before we intervene."
Donald crossed his arms. "He does not get embarrassed."
"That's fair," Sofia admitted. "But it'd still be funny."
Nero grabbed his coat. "Let's go before it turns into something we'll have to explain to someone."
Anthony stood. "Like Fury?"
Nero gave him a look. "I was going to say the mayor, but sure."
They headed out, Donald walking faster than necessary, already regretting that he was related to Loki.
Times Square was crowded as usual, but it didn't take long to spot the disturbance. A large group had gathered near the red steps, cheering and laughing at whatever was happening in the center.
"I swear," Donald muttered, pushing through the crowd.
And there he was. Loki, dressed in an absolutely ridiculous stage magician's outfit—complete with a sequined cape—was standing on a makeshift platform, holding out a deck of cards to a random passerby.
"Pick a card, any card," he said, voice smooth, as if he hadn't just dragged the God of Thunder into whatever nonsense this was.
The woman in front of him hesitated before taking a card.
"Now," Loki continued, "don't show me, don't tell me, merely think of it."
She nodded.
Loki smirked. "Excellent. Now, place it back into the deck."
She did.
Loki shuffled the cards with exaggerated flair, then snapped his fingers. "Is this your card?" He held up a blank piece of paper.
She frowned. "No."
Loki feigned shock. "No? Oh dear." He flicked his wrist. The blank paper caught fire for a brief second before turning into a dove.
The crowd gasped.
The woman blinked.
Loki grinned. "Oh, silly me. I seem to have—" He snapped his fingers again. The dove disappeared, and suddenly, the card was tucked behind her ear. "There it is."
The crowd erupted into cheers.
Donald rubbed his temples. "He's enjoying this way too much."
Diego grinned. "You're just mad because he's good at it."
"He is not good at it," Donald snapped.
Maria crossed her arms. "You sure? That was a decent trick."
Loki caught sight of them, and his smirk widened. "Ah! Dear brother! Come to support my flourishing career?"
Donald pushed through the last of the crowd and stepped onto the platform. "I'm going to strangle you."
Loki pouted. "How rude."
Nero, standing off to the side, watched with mild amusement. "Why are you here, Loki?"
Loki sighed dramatically. "Must you be so suspicious? Can a man not pursue his artistic passions without being accused of ulterior motives?"
Maria gestured to the absolutely ridiculous outfit he was wearing. "You expect us to believe this is artistic passion?"
"Why, yes," Loki said smoothly. "I have discovered the joy of entertaining the masses. Is that so wrong?"
Donald grabbed his wrist. "We're leaving."
Loki tsked. "How dreadfully dull. But fine, fine. I suppose my talents are wasted on mortals anyway."
Sofia, still recording on her phone, smirked. "You do know this is going viral, right?"
Loki turned to her. "What?"
"Livestreamed," she said, flipping her phone around to show the chat exploding with comments.
Loki squinted at the screen. "Hmm."
Nero tilted his head. "You're not mad?"
Loki smiled. "Oh, quite the opposite. If anything, this only proves my brilliance."
Donald groaned. "I hate you."
Loki patted his shoulder. "And yet, you keep me around."
Anthony sighed. "Can we go now before he decides to make a career out of this?"
Donald didn't wait for an answer. He dragged Loki off the stage, ignoring the confused murmurs from the audience.
Diego clapped his hands. "Well, that was fun."
Maria shook her head. "I can't believe I just watched a god do street magic."
Sofia chuckled. "This is why we don't get bored."
As they walked away, Loki dusted off his ridiculous outfit. "I suppose I should retire from show business while I'm ahead."
Donald didn't even dignify that with a response.
Back at the base, Loki lounged on the couch like he hadn't just been forcibly removed from Times Square.
Donald paced. "Explain yourself."
Loki stretched. "I already did."
Nero raised an eyebrow. "You're telling me you had no other reason to be there?"
Loki grinned. "I may have been waiting for someone."
Donald narrowed his eyes. "Who?"
Loki's smirk widened. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
Diego threw a pillow at him. "Just answer the question."
Loki caught the pillow effortlessly. "Fine, fine. If you must know, I was testing a theory."
Sofia leaned forward. "What kind of theory?"
Loki sat up, stretching like he was just waking from a pleasant nap. "A rather interesting one, actually. Basically, I am going to steal the Tesseract from Earth and cause a bit of mayhem."
Seven pairs of eyes locked onto him. He grinned. "Ah, you already knew?"
The room was silent for a second too long. No one looked particularly surprised, but there was an unmistakable shift in posture. No quick glances between them, no whispered confirmations. Just that quiet, collective stillness that gave them away.
Loki's grin widened. "I already deduced one of you can either see the future or has some sort of precognition ability. You know things you shouldn't in normal situations." His gaze swept over them with amusement. "I have a guess who that is, but I'll keep it to myself for the time being. So, there's no purpose in hiding. I actually find it quite challenging." He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on his knees. "You already know my plan, and now I have to go around it. How exciting."
Nero exhaled through his nose, shaking his head. "And here I was hoping you'd say something normal for once."
Diego tilted his head. "Define normal."
"Anything that doesn't involve cosmic theft," Maria muttered.
Sofia's tapped the side of her cup. "You know, if you weren't so dramatic, you might actually be harder to deal with."
Loki smirked. "And where would the fun be in that?"
Donald sat down, rubbing his forehead. "Why the Tesseract?"
Loki gave him a look like it was obvious. "Power, of course. The ability to traverse space, untapped energy—it's wasted just sitting in some SHIELD vault. Surely you of all people understand the importance of claiming what is valuable before less capable hands fumble it."
Donald pinched the bridge of his nose. "Right. And your plan for once you have it?"
Loki flicked a hand dismissively. "We'll get to that when we get to that."
Anthony sighed, arms crossed. "You mean you don't have one."
"Or I simply enjoy keeping my cards close," Loki said.
Nigel stirred his tea. "Which means you don't have one."
Loki scoffed. "Fine, believe what you want."
Maria leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand. "So what exactly do you think is going to happen here? You just tell us your plan, and we let you go about your business?"
"Not exactly," Loki admitted. "I was mostly curious how you'd react. I assumed I'd have to dodge an interrogation first."
"That implies we care enough to interrogate you," Sofia muttered, scrolling through something on her screen.
Loki chuckled. "Ah, that one stings. And here I thought we were all friends."
"Friends don't let friends start intergalactic wars," Nero said.
Loki tsked. "Hyperbole. A little mischief here and there, nothing drastic."
Diego whistled. "Misplacing the Tesseract is a little mischief?"
"It's only misplaced if I lose it," Loki pointed out. "I assure you, I won't."
Donald sighed, looking at Nero. "You going to say something, or are we just letting him dig himself deeper?"
Nero tilted his head, studying Loki for a moment before answering. "I'm just waiting for him to get to the part where he actually needs something from us."
Loki grinned, tapping his fingers together. "Ah, you wound me, Nero. Can't a man share his ambitions without ulterior motives?"
Sofia didn't even look up. "No."
"Absolutely not," Maria added.
Loki chuckled. "Fine, fine. I was going to ask for a little assistance, but I see now that might be a lost cause."
"Assistance," Donald repeated. "You want us to help you steal the Tesseract?"
Loki's grin widened. "Help? No. But I wouldn't say no to a well-timed distraction."
Anthony let out a slow breath. "I can't tell if you're bold or just incredibly stupid."
Loki seemed to consider that for a moment. "Both, perhaps. It's a fine line."
Nero chuckled, "This is already a clone. He's not here, knowing if he appeared, we might apprehend him. He's also revealing his plan to lower our guard, but also to lead us into his plan by double tricking us. He assumes we'll see through his first plan, think it's a smokescreen, and then act how he wants."
Loki grinned, leaning back like he had all the time in the world. "What if it's triple tricked?"
Donald walked in, looking unimpressed. "Then it's still just a trick."
Maria tilted her head. "So we ignore everything he just said?"
"No," Nero said. "We listen. But we don't move how he expects."
Loki clapped his hands. "Oh, how exciting. A battle of wits. It's been a while since I had one of those that wasn't with myself."
Sofia took a sip of her drink. "And you lost, didn't you?"
Loki laughed. "That's subjective."
Diego kicked his feet up. "So, what's the angle here? You doing this just to mess with us, or is there actually something worth paying attention to?"
Loki tapped his chin. "Both? Or neither? Who's to say?"
Anthony crossed his arms. "That's the problem with you. Even when you're telling the truth, it sounds like a lie."
Loki gave him an exaggeratedly offended look. "That's a horrible thing to say."
Donald ignored all of it. "The Tesseract isn't just lying around. Even you wouldn't be reckless enough to make a move without knowing exactly where it is."
"Ah, dear brother," Loki said, placing a hand over his heart. "You do know me so well."
Sofia's screen pinged. She glanced at it, frowned, then turned it toward Nero. "Okay, so funny thing. SHIELD is already moving it."
Nero looked at the screen, then at Loki. "And there it is."
Maria snapped her fingers. "You used HYDRA's mess to spook SHIELD, so they're moving the Tesseract somewhere 'safer.' The original location was too difficult to break into, so now you're going to grab it while it's in transit."
Loki's smirk didn't waver.
She then pointed at Donald. "And Donald's episode of feeling uneasy was your doing. You wanted us to find you. That's why you were in such an obvious place—to delay us."
Donald exhaled sharply. "You manipulative bastard."
Loki spread his hands. "Would you believe me if I said no?"
"No."
"Then yes," Loki said, grinning. "I needed time, and what better way to buy it than ensuring my dear brother dragged you all to watch my performance? A touch dramatic, perhaps, but effective."
Donald exhaled through his nose, arms crossed. "So what were you doing while we were busy watching you do street magic?"
Loki tapped his fingers against his knee. "Oh, you know. Just moving a few pieces around the board."
"Which means?" Maria asked.
Loki tilted his head. "Well, let's just say SHIELD's little relocation efforts aren't as secure as they think."
Sofia refreshed her screen, frowned, and then turned it to show Nero. "He's not lying. The convoy moving the Tesseract just changed course. They're rerouting it."
Nero looked at Loki. "How'd you manage that?"
Loki smirked. "A whisper in the right ear, a little fabricated intelligence, and suddenly SHIELD believes the original route is compromised."
Anthony leaned against the table. "So now it's moving where you want it to move."
"Precisely."
Diego whistled. "Alright, that's actually impressive."
Maria rolled her eyes. "Don't encourage him."
Donald pinched the bridge of his nose. "So SHIELD's doing the hard part for you, and you just have to pluck it out of their hands once it's in motion."
Loki nodded. "Now you're catching on."
Sofia scrolled through her tablet. "If they're rerouting, we can track the new path. But Loki wouldn't be this confident unless he had an extraction point already set."
Loki sighed, shaking his head. "Sofia, must you ruin my fun?"
Nero leaned forward. "Where?"
Loki smiled. "Ah, but where would the fun be in telling you?"
Anthony crossed his arms. "We're not playing games."
"Oh, but we are," Loki said smoothly. "I move, you move. SHIELD moves, HYDRA moves. And somewhere in the middle of it all, the Tesseract changes hands. That's how this works."
Nero studied him for a moment, then turned to Sofia. "How long before SHIELD realizes they've been played?"
"Depends," she said, fingers tapping rapidly. "If their response team is sharp, maybe an hour before someone questions the intel."
Maria shook her head. "That's assuming no one on the inside catches on first."
"HYDRA still has moles," Anthony pointed out. "If they get wind of this before SHIELD does—"
"They won't," Loki interrupted. "I made sure of that."
Donald folded his arms. "You expect us to believe you covered every angle?"
Loki grinned. "Oh, no. I expect you to chase me. And I expect to enjoy it."
Diego looked between them. "So, what's the move? Let SHIELD handle their own mess, or step in?"
Nero leaned back. "We already know where this is heading. Loki's plan is based on misdirection—he wants us to focus on SHIELD while he makes his real move elsewhere."
Loki clapped his hands together. "Oh, very good. But I still have the upper hand."
Sofia raised an eyebrow. "How do you figure?"
Loki's grin widened. "Because you still don't know which part of my plan is real and which part is meant to make you react."
Donald exhaled sharply. "I hate him."
"Understandable," Nigel said, sipping his tea.
Maria drummed her fingers against the table. "So, do we stop SHIELD from moving the Tesseract, or do we stop Loki from whatever else he's planning?"
Nero looked at Sofia. "Where's the convoy now?"
She checked. "Just passed their last security checkpoint. Once they hit open roads, they're vulnerable."
Anthony exhaled. "Which means Loki's actual plan is already in motion."
Loki gave a slow nod. "See? You are capable of keeping up."
Maria shook her head. "I swear, if you weren't so damn insufferable—"
"I'd be boring," Loki finished. "And we wouldn't want that, would we?"
Diego grinned. "Speak for yourself."
Nero stood. "Alright. We split up. Sofia and Anthony, stay on SHIELD's network. If anything changes, we need to know immediately. Diego, Maria, you're with me. Donald, you're handling Loki."
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