Five Months Later, Accounting Time!

The Cube was right in front of Fanny's eyes, but he hesitated. He was worried that the Space Stone would trick him again.

Fanny shook off his hesitation and rushed to the Cube. Last time, he was tricked and teleported away while unprepared, but he was confident that he could resist the trickery or retreat in time.

Loki didn't waste any time. He lunged to attack after noticing Fanny's action. The Scepter required some time before it could shoot another energy blast, so Loki threw several dart-like objects instead.

Fanny trusted 'Demon Armor Incursio' to resist Loki's attack. The darts made clanking sounds as they hit the armor, but they couldn't go through the defense.

Fanny arrived right in front of the Tesseract, but Loki suddenly appeared in front of him just before he could pick the Cube up.

Fanny could brush the darts off, but the Scepter containing the Mind Stone was a different business. He couldn't guarantee that 'Demon Armor Incursio' could protect him from being controlled—or worse, maybe 'Demon Armor Incursio' itself would be controlled?!

Therefore, Fanny abandoned the idea of picking the Cube up and retreated. He then shot an 'Explosion Magic' at Loki...

..which passed harmlessly through Loki's body, hitting the distant wall. Fanny then realized that it was just an illusion.

Fanny silently admired Loki's illusion spell. It wasn't a surprise that Loki boasted of being the greatest mage in all nine worlds. His ignorance and arrogance aside, his skill was the real deal.

Loki took advantage of Fanny's retreat to roll over and snatch the Tesseract.

Despite his earlier embarrassment, Loki was now holding the Scepter in his right hand and the Tesseract in his left hand. His expression turned particularly arrogant as he held two of the fabled Infinity Stones in his hands.

"You are different from them!" Loki spoke casually while looking at Fanny. He had relaxed quite a bit after obtaining both artifacts.

Fanny hadn't spoken to anyone other than Red Skull during his long stay in Vormir, so he unknowingly held back and asked Loki, "How am I different?"

"You have the qualifications to become a god!" Loki's voice carried a tempting tone. "I am Loki, from the divine realm of Asgard. I am your god, here on a mission beyond your comprehension."

"Stop!" Loki's nonsense snapped Fanny's out. He wasn't that desperate for conversation. "I know of Asgard, and I know of you. I know what you want."

"Listen. You will not succeed. Earth is stronger than you think. Be a good boy and leave the Tesseract and the Scepter behind. Your brother will pick you up in a bit, so go home obediently before you get beaten and traumatized."

Loki was stunned by Fanny's words. Even Nick Fury was left speechless.

But Loki obviously won't give up his mission just with a few words from Fanny. Especially since he had understood how terrifying his 'employer' was.

"I thought you would be different." Loki sighed as if he was pitying Fanny.

"Let me give you one last warning. Even Thanos didn't want to come to Earth on his own. So be obedient and leave the artifacts behind!"

Fanny had really been lonely for too long. The Fanny from before wouldn't have talked so much; his opponents would've beaten him to the ground first.

Loki's expression changed when he heard the name that Fanny mentioned. Deep confusion filled his eyes. How could Fanny have known?

Speaking of which, why did Fanny come out of the Space Stone's portal with him?!

Nick Fury felt a tinge of sympathy when he saw Loki's expression. He guessed that what Fanny said must have been true, which shocked Loki. Loki's surprise reminded him of himself. Finally, someone could understand what he was feeling.

"Attention, alien god. I don't care where you came from, but you must follow our rules while on Earth!" Nick Fury shouted confidently, taking advantage of Fanny's momentum.

Despite his surprise at Fanny's knowledge, Loki couldn't just surrender so easily. He sneered at Nick Fury, "I am the bringer of your salvation!"

Boom!

Fanny replied with his 'Explosion Magic' before Nick Fury could say anything.

Again, despite Fanny's social deprivation, Loki's drivel was obviously not the kind of conversation that he wanted. He decided to end this battle quickly and switch gears to damage control.

Loki rolled again to avoid the magic.

Loki actually didn't have much confidence in subduing Fanny. He already had his objective in his hand, so he decided not to waste any more time. When the time comes for his army to descend, they could deal with Fanny in his stead.

Loki was actually more familiar with the Tesseract than the Scepter. He had learned about the Tesseract in Asgard's library. He had never touched the Cube, much less used it, but it was much better than the Scepter, which he knew almost nothing about.

"We shall meet again!"

Just as Fanny was about to unleash all his strength, Loki suddenly escaped through Tesseract's space portal!

Fanny was stunned as the portal disappeared in front of him. He didn't expect Loki to escape like this. And Tesseract's portal was different from Kamar-Taj's magic. He had no way to track him now.

But Fanny wasn't too concerned. Loki wouldn't be able to escape from Earth no matter what, and Fanny would find him sooner or later. And if Fanny couldn't stop him from summoning his alien army, Fanny could join the war against them instead.

New York had won the war even without Fanny in the original plot. With Fanny's combat strength and foreknowledge, would there be any way for them to lose?!

"Where did he go?" Nick Fury asked Fanny when he saw Loki disappear, looking around for any clues.

"How would I know!" Fanny carefully looked at the vigilant Nick Fury, with the familiar bald head and missing eyes. He sighed. "Long time no see, Director Fury."

Nick Fury was a little surprised by the greeting. He holstered his gun and looked at Fanny, who looked almost unchanged after six months. He offered his hand and replied, "Long time no see. Welcome back!"

Fanny was in no hurry to shake Nick Fury's hand. He simply stared at the director for a while before suddenly saying, "Before I came here, we seemed to agree on a million dollars per day. It has been more than five months, but I will be generous and round it down to five months. Should we settle the bill first?!"

Nick Fury silently withdrew his hand and glanced at Hawkeye, who pretended not to see anything. He replied, "Let's talk about this later. You have been gone for so long; where have you been?"