I Have a Big Pet

"Dr. Banner has devised a program to detect the fluctuation of gamma rays according to Dr. Selvig's research data. This program suddenly detected a strong match to the Tesseract's pattern five minutes ago!" Nick Fury looked around the room and said without hesitation, "I think we can make our move!"

Fanny felt a little disappointed. If only he had another hour, he would've been able to extract the seventh skill. But he didn't really care all that much—he was confident he could win against Loki even without the seventh skill.

His missteps in the previous battle were because he had just returned from Vormir and hadn't adjusted to the new limit imposed on Earth. On top of that, he didn't want to use his full strength out of fear that he would destroy the SHIELD research base, allowing Loki to escape.

This time, he was prepared, and he wasn't alone. Even without his participation, Thor alone would probably be enough to at least give Loki trouble.

With Fanny's equal Captain America and the trump card Hulk tagging along, Loki's chance to come on top was abysmal.

Fanny was still practicing his skills even while onboard the Quinjet, under Black Widow's incredulous stare. He ignored her as he summoned a large pile of 'Sumire Karaage Rolls' before destroying them with instant-cast 'Explosion Magic.'

His mission was to steal the Cube with Black Widow.

Black Widow actually wanted to perform the mission on her own, but Nick Fury told Fanny to tag along out of fear that Loki might set up guards or traps around the Tesseract.

After all, he was the strongest among all of them. With the invisibility function of 'Demon Armor Incursio,' he was the perfect fit for an infiltration mission along with Black Widow.

Fanny also wanted to obtain the Space Stone, so he didn't refuse.

"What are you doing?" Black Widow finally asked after watching Fanny's senseless repetition for a while.

"Try it!" Instead of answering, he casually summoned a fried chicken on Black Widow's leg before continuing his practice.

Black Widow flinched when she saw the piece of fried chicken suddenly appearing on top of her leg.

She hesitated for a moment and glanced at Fanny, who seemed intent on ignoring her. In the end, she was just like Captain America. She did not resist the temptation of the fragrance and bit open the door of the new world.

Black Widow looked at Fanny's actions with newfound bitterness after finishing her fried chicken.

However, because she did not know the purpose of Fanny's action, she did not know how to stop him. Fortunately, the Quinjet was pretty fast. It didn't take long for the two of them to reach the landing zone—the jumping zone, rather, since they had to jump off the plane.

Natasha had already jumped off the Quinjet with a parachute when Fanny called out to her, "Wait, why are you jumping when I could just open a portal down from here?!"

Fanny didn't need a parachute: he had the Sky Dance skill, after all. He casually walked off the Quinjet's bay and jumped down slowly, flying towards Black Widow when he found her.

"Why didn't you let me open a portal down here?" Fanny asked doubtfully as he flew beside Black Widow.

"Director Fury once asked Dr. Selvig to analyze your portal. They didn't find out how to interrupt your portal, but apparently, they could detect it through the energy fluctuation in the area. I felt that it would be better if we don't use that ability during the mission, just in case," Natasha hesitantly explained, losing some of her balance from the distraction.

Fanny threw side-eyed glances at Black Widow. He already expected that Nick Fury would plan a contingency against him in secret, but it was still uncomfortable to hear the specifics.

Black Widow knew that she was in the wrong, so she didn't say anything. She carefully adjusted the direction of her descent and prepared to land with her parachute.

Fanny had never heard of the country that Loki had taken control over. It was called a country, but it was actually just the size of a city. The country had isolated itself after Loki took control of it, stopping anyone from entering or leaving its border. Fortunately, the peak of the chaos had passed.

Fanny activated the stealth function of 'Demon Armor Incursio' as he landed, following Black Widow closely. He might be stronger than Black Widow in terms of combat strength, but he was still lacking in terms of information gathering and infiltration.

Fanny watched with admiration as Black Widow took less than ten minutes between landing in the country to determining the approximate location of the Tesseract.

"We can let Thor make his move now!" Natasha reported to Nick Fury not far from the target military base. They weren't sure if Loki was within the base, so they held off from infiltrating the building.

The weather outside the city suddenly changed not long after Natasha made her report. Dark clouds gathered in the distance, accompanied by flashes of lightning and thunderous rumbles. Suddenly, a roar:

"Loki! Come out now!"

Fanny sighed and held his invisible forehead. Would Loki really fall for such an obvious bait?!

To Fanny's surprise, Nick Fury's voice came from his headset less than ten minutes later. "Loki has appeared. You should go find the Cube right now!"

"He really fell for it?!" Fanny was surprised. He felt like he was missing something, but before he could think about it, Black Widow had already commenced the operation. She incapacitated the guards with swift and fierce attacks before rushing into the building.

Fanny frowned and followed. He felt that things were going too smoothly. Loki might be arrogant, but he wasn't an idiot. Would he really fall for Thor's obvious bait?!

When Fanny and Black Widow entered the military base and reached the room where the Tesseract's response was detected, he finally realized what was wrong.

Fanny's teleportation ability was top-notch among the mages of Kamar-Taj, thanks to his experience being teleported by the Space Stone. He was confident that he understood the fabric of space better than anyone.

That's why he could immediately sense the chaotic and uncontrollable power unleashed from the Space Stone within the room.

The power of space was not easy to control. Kamar-Taj's portal seemed easy to open, but it was largely due to the mechanism of the Sling Ring. Even then, intense focus was needed to stabilize the space connected by the portal.

Used incorrectly, the spell could cause catastrophic turbulence in the fabric of space itself.

That was why nobody in Kamar-Taj really used the portal spell offensively. It would be fine if it succeeded, but failure would result in mutual destruction that risks stranding them in an alien dimension.

Although, space itself was generally quite stable. Very special circumstances would be needed to destabilize the fabric of space; for example, the convergence of nine realms that only occurred every five thousand years in the original plot.

And that special circumstance was occurring in that very room. Fanny felt that the space around him was unusually thin and chaotic—as if it was trying to attack him.

He quickly decided that his portal could not be used within this space. It would be fine if the chaotic space redirected his portal to a random location on Earth, but it would be troublesome if the chaos sent his portal to another dimension or outer space.

Before Fanny could warn Natasha and call for a retreat, all the doors and windows around them suddenly closed. Loki appeared right in front of them.

"The Silver Knight... right? Or do you like Knight of Divine Punishment better?"

Natasha took out her pistol and fired at Loki immediately after he appeared, but the bullet passed harmlessly through him.

Fanny immediately noticed that the figure in front of him was only a phantom, so he didn't attack and simply observed.

"I must honestly be grateful to you for stopping that muscle-head. You had bought me time to prepare this place." Loki grinned smugly at Fanny before continuing, "I never thought that there would be such a powerful person like you on Earth. It's a pity that I made the wrong choice."

"Do you really think that you can trap me like this?" Fanny frowned, observing the metal wall around him. It was completely sealed, and he could not use the portal spell, but it would be laughable to think that this would be enough to confine him.

"I know of your ability. Armor, portal, flight, and a fire weapon with great power!" Loki spoke smugly with a know-it-all attitude. "But I would not advise you to use that weapon! I have ordered this room to be surrounded by explosives, as well as filling the insides with a gas called hydrogen!"

Surprised, Fanny immediately pulled Black Widow to his side and created an oxygen bubble around them. This way, he could reduce the damage caused by an explosive shockwave.

"Don't worry. I will not detonate them as long as you stay here obediently. This room has received special reinforcement to prevent your escape."

Loki felt that it would be a waste to kill Fanny. Once he had succeeded in ruling the Earth, he could use the Scepter to control Fanny, either to attack Asgard or Thanos.

Fanny realized that his mission had been an utter failure. Loki must have anticipated him the moment that Thor arrived.

The communication with Nick Fury had been blocked, so Fanny had no idea what was happening outside, but he should take care of himself before thinking about others.

Fanny was a little speechless when he saw Loki being arrogantly complacent. Even if his portal and 'Explosion Magic' were sealed, there were still other ways to escape the base.

For example, using physical attacks!

"I actually have a big pet. Do you want to see it?!" Fanny glanced around the room, silently measuring the size. He took a step forward and a deep breath before reaching his hand in front of him.