Chapter 90 (Patreon)

Loki-Two had no time to react, to realise that his attacker knew every one of his weaknesses, every backdoor that he had made.

Harry sifted through Loki's thoughts and, once he found the memories relating to the sceptre, followed the trail, and he was suddenly in a world of blue—a place not of this world, or of any other of the Nine Realms, for that matter.

A humanoid stood before him, seven feet tall and inhumanly muscled, his shoulders broad and his skin blue. Even in the memory, his piercing blue eyes seemed to tear into Harry's as he passed over the sceptre to Loki, as he sent him to Earth with two goals, to see steal the Tesseract, and to see Earth subjugated—or destroyed.

Harry staggered backwards, stunned from the memory by the being's sheer mental presence. "Who the hell was that?"

Loki-Two's eyes were clenched shut. "Thanos, the Titan."

'Thanos,' Loki murmured. 'I have heard the name—I have heard the legend. I did not think that he actually existed, though. He is an immortal being, thousands of years old. His origins are debatable, and I've heard a dozen different theories. He may be from Earth, though, seeing as his name derives from the Ancient Greek for death.'

'He sure as hell doesn't look like he's from Earth.'

'Indeed. I've never paid much thought to him, seeing as I didn't actually think that he existed. He is believed in by lunatics and no one else, on Asgard. They make up mad conspiracies about him being involved in some of the assaults on Asgard over the millennia, and so on. He supposedly pursues omnipotence, which he believes he will gain if he finds all six of the so-called Infinity Stones.'

'Do they exist?'

'Yes, I do not know what they are specifically, or if they truly grant omnipotence, but…'

Harry glanced at the sceptre, and at the gem at its head. 'You don't think…'

'There are supposed to be six stones: Mind, Soul, Space, Reality, Time and Power. The sceptre controls minds.'

Harry grabbed Loki-Two by the chin and forced him to look up. "Is this an Infinity Stone?"

For a few moments, Loki-Two looked puzzled. "An… Why did I not think of that?" Anger flashed across his face. "I should've thought of that—I would've thought of that. There's some kind of mental block on me—some compulsion to obey Thanos. Or there was before you bulldozed your way through my head."

"Is that a thank you?"

"Yes, a thank you for stabbing me, kidnapping me, and forcefully reading my mind."

"You're welcome. It's all part of being a superhero, you see. I've got to help people, by whatever means necessary." He paused and frowned. "Or is it not using whatever means necessary? I can't remember. I think I'll just go that Batman route and go and beat up some mentally ill people."

"Do I count as mentally ill?"

Harry punched him in the face. "How's that for an answer?"

Loki-Two groaned. "I think you're the only mentally ill one here."

"Oh, I am." Harry stabbed himself in the throat with his wand and slumped to the floor.

Loki-Two stared at his body for a few moments. "I can tell what is an illusion and what is not an illusion, you know."

Harry sat up. "That's a shame. It's always exciting to see people panic when you kill yourself or their family or destroy their country in front of them."

"Indeed. Perhaps now you might indulge my curiosity?"

"Fine," Harry sighed. He stood and began to unbuckle his belt.

"That's not what I meant."

"You're going to have to be a lot less ambiguous, then."

"Can you, perchance, tell me why you look like me?"

"Yes," Harry said. "We look alike because we have the same hair colour, the same eye colour, the same body type, the same height, and a very similar facial bone structure."

Loki-Two sighed. "And perhaps you might be inclined to tell me why we share all of these features? Are you an illegitimate son of mine, perhaps?"

"No, I am your father!"

"What?"

"Haven't seen Star Wars, then? Uncultured swine. Anyway, it's because when you fell off of the Bifrost, a piece of your mind was ripped off and managed to push its way into my mind. So I'm basically a deranged version of you mixed with a deranged version of my real self, but mainly you, seeing as you raised me."

"A deranged version of me…"

"Yes, I'm still unsure as to why I'm deranged. It's either because you're not good at manipulating minds and brain activity as you think you are, because I've hit my head a lot, because one brain isn't enough space for two minds, or because I fake it so that other people underestimate me, or because I fake it because it's funny as hell."

Loki-Two nodded. "Of course."

"So, do I let you go now?"

"I would prefer that."

"Don't you like my company?"

"I think I would like it more if I were not chained up."

"But how do you know that for sure?"

"If you released me, I'd have sampled both and would be certain as to which I liked more."

"But what if Thanos is still influencing you?"

Loki-Two sighed. "What can I do to persuade you to let me go?" After a moment, he added, "Please don't take off your trousers."

Harry smiled. "Just tell me where the Tesseract is."

Harry threw open the doors to the abandoned warehouse Loki-Two had borrowed. Banging the bottom of his sceptre on the ground and wearing Loki's clothes, he marched in.

"My loyal followers," he hissed.

'I do not sound like that.'

"As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted…my loyal followers, bring me the Tesseract."

A man in a lab coat rushed forward. "But you said—"

"I don't care what I said!" Harry exclaimed. "I have frequent mood swings! Now, bring me the bloody Tesseract!"

"Of course, sir."