"What's going on?" Loki was astonished. "This can't possibly be failing."
Stark, flying in mid-air, quipped, "Don't be discouraged. Even a winner like me messes up once or twice."
He was then attacked by the furious Loki, dodging haphazardly in the air.
Meanwhile, by the black hole, Saiki Kusuo was expressionlessly watching the Chitauri emerging one by one.
(Sorry, but I can't let you wreak havoc on Earth.)
The number of individuals needing to be transported was too great, so Saiki Kusuo had no choice but to remove the limiter on his head. At the same time, he also took off the transparent gloves he was wearing.
He wasn't sure about the origin point of these creatures, and he couldn't just transport everyone to Asgard, so he grabbed a weapon thrust at him by a Chitauri, using Psychometry in an attempt to see some images of the Chitauri's home world from the weapon.
Of course, if he couldn't see anything, he wouldn't hesitate to throw them into outer space and let them fend for themselves.
Fortunately, he saw an image from the weapon, a scene of the Chitauri's home world, and a very imposing-looking purple guy who looked like a giant raisin.
Saiki Kusuo sent everyone back and closed the black hole.
The purple guy, who looked like a 70-year-old farmer and was planting crops, saw his subordinates, who should have been attacking Earth, suddenly appear before him, and fell into deep thought.
As Thanos's most loyal subordinate, Ebony Maw, stood by his side the moment the large group of soldiers appeared.
"Master." He saluted Thanos, then glanced at the bewildered subordinates below. "It seems they were unknowingly transported back. Someone on Earth intervened to stop Loki. Could it be the Ancient One?"
This was probably the person they feared most on Earth; Ebony Maw's first thought was of her. However, Supergiant refuted him.
"If it were the Ancient One, they'd be coming back as corpses."
"That's true," Ebony Maw nodded, looking at Thanos. "So, what should we do next, Master?"
Before they had collected all the scattered Infinity Stones, they couldn't personally go to Earth. Sending Loki to cause trouble was just to assess the situation and gather more useful information.
Before Thanos could act, the black hole leading to Earth was reconnected by Loki.
However, before the subordinates could enter, the black hole was closed again.
Subordinates: "..."
Thanos: "..."
The Black Order: "..."
Loki: "..."
"What kind of joke is this? Did HYDRA drain this damned gem of its energy, rendering it useless?"
The furious Loki almost threw the scepter at Stark, who was provoking him. A strange thought popped into his head, but he immediately dismissed it.
"Impossible. The power of the Infinity Stones is inexhaustible. How could it be depleted just by creating two useless pawns? Someone must be interfering."
The clever Loki quickly guessed that someone was obstructing him.
S.H.I.E.L.D.? Impossible, these foolish creatures had no way to resist the power of the Infinity Stones. HYDRA? Even more impossible, their base had been overturned, and they were now struggling to survive. Who else? The Avengers? The Hulk? Right, that pink-haired brat who followed the Hulk and sent him to the dungeon!
Loki recalled Saiki Kusuo's ability to send him back, which was exactly the situation now.
Loki flew into the sky to find Saiki Kusuo, while Thanos, watching his subordinates going in and out of the black hole, had a face so dark that the Black Order instinctively took a few steps back.
"Maybe...we should just...give up?"
Proxima Midnight, after a moment of silence, spoke up, successfully making the atmosphere even more tense.
"What are you joking about? Our Master is the greatest being in the universe; he cannot possibly give up!" Ebony Maw sharply rebuked Proxima Midnight. Thanos shot him a cold glance, filled with the implication, 'You've said it all, if I say give up now, I'll lose face in front of my subordinates,' making Ebony Maw shudder and obediently shut up.
Thanos finally acted. With a wave of his hand, the black hole that Saiki Kusuo had closed was forcibly reopened.
He said to his still-confused subordinates, "It's your time to shine, my children."
Meanwhile, Saiki Kusuo, seeing the black hole reopened, frowned.
(This is getting out of hand. I should just throw these guys into outer space.)
Just as Saiki Kusuo was about to act, Loki suddenly appeared and stopped him.
"I knew it was you!" The furious Loki brandished the scepter and lunged at Saiki Kusuo.
(It seems Peter was right about your brother being unreliable.) Saiki Kusuo dodged Loki's attack and distanced himself.
The Mind Stone in the scepter made him feel uncomfortable, like a cockroach, causing him inexplicable dread and fear.
That's why he had immediately sent the scepter to S.H.I.E.L.D. after obtaining it, but unexpectedly, S.H.I.E.L.D. was even more unreliable than Loki's brother.
More and more Chitauri were emerging from the black hole and had begun to wreak havoc in New York. Saiki Kusuo was being held back by Loki, and because he had removed his limiter, he was afraid to use his powers too much, fearing he might accidentally cause the destruction of the world. He began to consider using time travel to alter this timeline if the damage to New York was too severe.
The weapons brought by these Chitauri were very advanced, and their flying vehicles made it impossible for S.H.I.E.L.D. to eliminate them all at once.
"I won't give you another chance to obstruct my plans!"
Loki, seeing his army occupying all of New York, smiled triumphantly. He jumped onto one of his subordinates' flying vehicles and headed towards the tallest building in New York.
(This is troublesome. I should have completely dealt with these guys earlier.)
Saiki Kusuo looked expressionlessly at Loki leaving.
He contacted Peter. (Peter, how's the situation on your end?)
"Kusuo? Oh, God, where have you been? I'm telling you, it's terrible! A bunch of aliens suddenly appeared from the sky, and Aunt May and I were almost attacked."
(I'm trying to deal with these guys. I'll leave my family to you.)
"Okay, I'll go find your parents now."
After receiving Peter's confirmation, Saiki Kusuo decided to temporarily use Mind Control. With his limiter removed, controlling the minds of everyone, including the Chitauri, was child's play.
(So, let's make everyone think that the Chitauri are friendly and that they can coexist peacefully with humans...)
"Ahhhh! Let go of me, you bad guy! Mom, where are you? Help me!"
Saiki Kusuo's Mind Control was interrupted by a scream. He used his Clairvoyance to follow the sound and saw a young girl being captured by a Chitauri. The creature's weapon was pointed at the girl's chest, about to cruelly pierce it.
Saiki Kusuo's eyes instantly turned cold.
(Everyone will perceive the Chitauri as having no fighting ability, as weak invaders who need to be driven out.)
After these words were spoken, the expressions on people's faces all changed. Regardless of gender, age, or physical condition, everyone grabbed whatever weapons they could find and charged at the Chitauri.
"Damn invaders, Earth belongs to us! Get out!"
"If you don't get out, we'll beat you to death! No! We'll burn you alive!"
"Look what you've done! You destroyed my restaurant! If you don't pay me, I'll make you wash dishes here until you die!"
The Chitauri, being driven out, initially wanted to fight back ferociously, but were instantly knocked to the ground. Their minds were messed up, and they lay on the ground trembling, whimpering pitifully.
Chitauri: "We didn't want to come. The Master made us come to conquer Earth."
Humans: "Huh? With you bunch of weaklings? Don't make us laugh!"
Saiki Kusuo: "..."
(It seems I overdid it.)
Loki, sitting on the flying vehicle, was suddenly forced to land. His subordinate, who had been carrying him and causing destruction, was now squatting on the ground, covering his face and crying.
"Waaaaah, Earth is so scary, I want to go home."
Loki: "..."
Perhaps anger overcame fear, and he started cursing at the subordinates Thanos had sent him. "What the hell does that bastard want, conquering Earth? What kind of people did he send? Are they planning to surrender to these stupid humans?"
The enraged Loki tried to open the black hole to send these useless wastes back to Thanos.
But unexpectedly, he was caught by Thor.
Thor didn't even need Mjolnir to give Loki a good beating.
Loki lay on the ground, spitting out a mouthful of blood. When he looked up, a tear even squeezed out of his eye. The simple-minded Thor immediately felt a pang of sympathy, but then he was stabbed by the cunning Loki, who took advantage of Thor pulling out the knife to escape on a flying vehicle.
"Are you alright?" Steve, who had been evacuating people but found that the crowd was ferociously fighting back against the invaders and didn't need his help, came over to offer assistance.
He had witnessed the confrontation between the two brothers and couldn't help but sigh. "Although I know it's rude to say this, Loki is clearly beyond redemption. When facing him, it's better to treat him as an enemy, not a brother."
Thor looked a little hurt, but Steve's words made his expression resolute.
But when he saw Loki's flying vehicle explode in mid-air, he couldn't help but shout.
"Loki!"
Under Steve's gaze, he explained somewhat sheepishly, "My father ordered me to bring him back for trial. If he dies now, it'll make me look incompetent."
The ones who blew up Loki's flying vehicle were Wanda and Pietro. The caught-off-guard Loki fell heavily to the ground, the scepter dropping beside him, picked up by Pietro.
"What should we do with this guy?" Pietro pointed at the unconscious Loki and asked.
Wanda thought for a moment. "He controlled you earlier, making us fight. We can't let him off so easily. But the scepter is important. We'll leave this guy to S.H.I.E.L.D. to deal with."
With that, Wanda had Pietro tie Loki up and hang him in a very conspicuous place, also hanging a sign around his neck that read, "I am the criminal Loki." After doing all this, Pietro left with Wanda.
Saiki Kusuo, who had witnessed everything, didn't stop them from leaving. Seeing the increasingly chaotic world, he put the limiter back on his head.
(Alright, time to go back in time and change this terrible outcome.)