188 Mischief and Madness

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I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.

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9th March 2021, New York City

(Jasmine Sayre POV)

I shrugged, unconcerned by his arrogance, "Even the strongest beings can lose to weaklings if they underestimate them. However, Laufeyson, I can assure you that out of the two of us, I am not the weakling here."

Before he could process it, a piece of the ground rose up in a pillar and hit him in the head. He was disoriented by the impact for a bit before I leapt at him and kicked him in the chest sending him flying back through the walls of the labs.

I ready myself to chase after him, but I hear a groan behind me. My daughter opened her eyes blinking. She was obviously disoriented, and yet, she seemed to recognize me, "Mom?"

I gave her a warm smile, "Hello, Wanda."

My adopted daughter pretty much leapt into the air and gave me a hug, "I missed you so much."

"I did as well," I looked at the other two girls, "hello, Rose, Jean, it's been a while."

Jean looked shocked at my reveal, "Ms. Sayre?"

I nodded, and Rose ran to me and engulfed me into a hug, "You sure took your time, sis."

I snorted, "That I did."

Wanda removed herself and looked at me, "Where have you been?"

"It's a long story, but I was caught in a temporal anomaly. I'll explain after the Earth isn't being invaded by aliens. I need you to let me handle Loki. He's too dangerous for you to deal with."

The looked incredulous, "It's been years, mom, we've gotten a lot better."

"I know, and you could probably handle him normally, but that staff of his is very dangerous, and I'm talking dangerous for me, not for you. I can't afford to worry about you in this fight. I'm serious here, go fight the aliens or something, but don't fight Loki for now."

The god in question spoke up from far away, "What a heartwarming reunion. I hope for your sakes that there is an afterlife for you mortals, it would be a shame for you not to reunite in death as well."

Dear god, that guy is full of classical villain lines. Isn't he supposed to be witty or something. I snorted at him, "Perhaps, but I wonder can Frost Giants go to Valhalla as well? Do you have an afterlife. After all, you were nothing more than Odin's little pet, the frost giant that he defanged and domesticated."

He roared and sent a blast from his staff at me, opened a portal sending it back from his right, hitting him in the chest. I looked at the girls, "Leave him to me. Get out of here."

They nodded, grabbed onto Rose and apparated away. Finally, I missed the girls, but I couldn't risk them falling under Loki's control. An Infinity Stone, no matter how limited it might be in that scepter, is still very dangerous. The truth is, that with a proper wielder, one could enslave planets without the residents knowing. But the Mind Stone was more than that, the wielder could theoretically enhance or decrease people's intelligence, emotional maturity, their logical reasoning, and even grant mind powers. They could unblock people's true potential, that's not limited by mental blocks. It was a very dangerous artifact that Thanos put in a very inefficient form and was probably using it to overwhelm Loki's defenses and probably control him somehow. Without studying the scepter properly, I couldn't know for sure.

Loki slowly started to get up, and glared at me, "I'm done entertaining you, do make peace with your gods, you'll be meeting them soon. And after I'm done with you, I will hunt down those three girls and skin them alive while the others watch frozen, I will find everyone you ever loved and kill them one by one until no one even remembers you, making your existence as meaningless as you are to me."

Again, with the threats. Was this supposed to scare me or something? It would probably work on normal humans, I guess, but even soldiers wouldn't be fazed by a threat like this. I just shrugged at him unconcerned, "Did you say something?"

The man roared in anger once more and charged at me. He swung his staff at me, and I dodged it easily. I really should make a new staff soon, for close combat at the very least. I create a sword filled with dark energy and redirect the next attack, he tried to impale me once more and grab his hand telekinetically and kick him in the chest. I throw the sword at him, which turned into multiple spikes. Loki countered by sending another blast at them, destroying them, and I used the floor to create a barrier that stopped the blast.

An explosion resulted from my defense, and I use the debris to send it back at him. He jumped into the air and conjured a knife which he sent at me. I dodged and noticed that the Loki in front of me was an illusion, the real one being behind me. He was ready to impale me, but I moved to the side, grabbed his hand, conjured another necro sword and swung it at his chest. His enchanted armor was able to stop most of it, but I was still able to wound him, and I could feel his healing fighting the disintegrating curse on the sword.

Truth be told, the wound was superficial, and his healing factor was strong enough to stop the curse from spreading easily, but it would take some time for it to work. Loki gasped in pain, and I telekinetically pushed the staff away, disarming him and then threw him away.

I taunt him, "Are you truly a god of magic? Because all I've seen from you is some paltry tricks. A bit of illusions and conjurations and relying on that staff of yours. You're a disappointment, Loki Laufeyson, just like your father."

The man glared at me but didn't seem to attack me yet. I continued, "You don't even know what that staff is, do you? You just followed along with his plan, Thanos' plan."

Loki paled the second I said that name. At least it confirmed that Thanos was the real mastermind behind the invasion. At least things progressed like they were supposed to on that front, "How do you know that name?"

"I know many things, Laufeyson. But it's funny isn't it, both your birth father and adopted father are kings, well were in Laufey's case, and you're a disappointment to both. You betrayed both of them, for your pride. You could have ruled over Jotunheim, turning it into a prosperous realm, but you don't really care about ruling, about your so called glorious purpose, you're just a spoilt brat that's jealous of his brother."

That seemed to have set him over the edge, "do not speak of matters that are above you, mortal. You wished to see the power of a god of magic, I'll oblige you."

Suddenly, everything started to freeze, slowly spreading from Loki's form, who's complexion turned paler, and eyes turned red. Huh, that was a bit impressive that he's using his heritage as a frost giant without changing forms. He really is good at shapeshifting, isn't he?

He created an orb of ice magic in his hand, gathering power before sending it at me. I had analyzed the frost giants' magic a few centuries back, when I allowed the final battle in the war between the Asgardians and the Jotuns to occur in an empty plot of land in Finland. Their magic was centered on ice and darkness, a combination of both, to destroy and freeze your opponent. So, when Loki made his ice beam, I summoned some white flames, a spell made entirely of white magic and fire magic manipulation, creating the perfect counter to both aspects of the attack.

The collision of the two beams, created a shockwave the sent the godling flying back. Unlike me, who shielded myself telekinetically from the shockwave.

I slowly walked towards the godling's fallen form. He looked at me with anger in his eyes, "Enough! You are, all of you are beneath me! I am a god, and I will not be bullied by some mortal witch…"

I honestly couldn't help myself, it was just too easy, "I grabbed him telekinetically and just slammed him into the walls left and right over and over again. I did this for a good dozen times before throwing him down on the floor. I could hear him groaning in pain and just snorted at him, "Puny God."

I walked up to him and chuckled, "You know, the only reason I'm not killing you, is that things are already tense between me and Odin, and killing one of his sons, no matter how justified it is, will not help things. For some reason, the man still loves you, even after you tried to commit genocide, kill your brother and betrayed your entire realm to prove yourself worthy of his love. He still considers you his son, even if you don't consider him a father. The truth is, I know far more about him than you do, I know secrets that would shock you to the core, and I also know that he's a horrible father in general. But your mother, you truly hurt her with your betrayal, Loki, and she doesn't deserve any of this. She loved you as if you were her kin, perhaps even more so than Thor, she taught you her craft, her magic, and yet all you cared for was your father. Frigga deserves better, and yet you, as undeserving as you are of her, still do your best to break her heart again and again."

Loki looked at me shocked, "How do you know all of this?"

I snorted, "Your father has cautioned you against attacking Midgard, to not break certain rules. Why do you think that is?"

He paled in fear, "No, that can't be possible. She's supposed to be a myth, a story to scare children from misbehaving."

"I can assure you, Loki, that I'm very real. My deal with Odin was simple, he was to stop Midgard from getting any visitors from any other realms without my approval. Every single time you and your brother came to Earth, your father had asked for my permission. That was until a few years back. I was distracted in a fight with a much more dangerous enemy, but you broke that treaty and that has bigger consequences than you can handle. It's why I'm giving you a choice. You'll either be punished by your father's hand or by mine."

The man shook his head, "No, she's not real, you're not real."

"I assure you, child, that I am very real. Say my name, Laufeyson…"

He was still shaking his head and I yell at him in a gravelly voice, "SAY MY NAME!!!!"

He was paling in fear and whispered, "Morrigan!"

I nod at him, "That's right, Loki, and you've probably heard about me, about my stories…"

He nodded, and I continued, "let me tell you something Laufeyson, whatever you heard, the horrors I've committed, all those stories, they've been watered down. Now choose, Laufeyson, my justice or your father's."

He muttered back, "My father's…"

I nod, "So be it. And how do I close the portal?"

I needed to make sure, because an interaction between two Infinity Stones was a recipe for disaster. Instead of answering the God of Mischief looked at the staff.

"Huh, the staff. How fitting…" I looked at him and spoke up, "Loki Laufeyson, you are not to move from this place. You will be bound and unconscious until your return to Asgard."

Before he could do anything, I conjured some chains and bound him. I then telepathically knocked him out. He wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

I slowly walked towards the staff and picked it up. I could feel it wanting to influence me, to break into my mind. It was subtle and barely used the power of the Mind Stone. I was able to resist wielding it and spoke into the comms, "Loki is down, I know how to close the portal, we need to use his staff, which is in my possession."

Yeah, this should be ending soon.