Return to Earth

It would be a lie to say that Fanny wasn't disappointed when he saw Blue-Eyes White Dragon immediately return to card form.

However, he did not lose hope. If a three-star Blue-Eyes White Dragon could not do it, then he could just wait for the fourth star, and then the fifth, and so on. He believed that Blue-Eyes White Dragon would eventually be able to withstand the energy of the Infinity Stones.

Fanny sighed at the faint fourth star on the card. He would have to think hard about how to continue feeding Blue-Eyes White Dragon after returning to Earth.

...

Fanny had imagined the scene of his return to Earth many times while he was bored, but reality still had a way of surprising him.

It was three days after Blue-Eyes White Dragon evolved its third stars. Fanny was sitting together with Red Skull, chatting and eating fried chicken as usual, when suddenly Soul Stone's voice spoke to his mind.

"You must leave!"

Just as sudden, a burst of blue energy began to envelop him.

Fanny immediately reacted by equipping 'Demon Armor Incursio'—otherwise, the energy would've made him a wraith just like Red Skull.

Fanny didn't even have any time to say goodbye to Red Skull. He disappeared right after 'Demon Armor Incursio,' and the blue light fully encased his body.

"Have you left?"

Red Skull stared blankly at the place where Fanny had just disappeared. His feelings were very complicated. There were happiness, reluctance, relief, and confusion.

In the end, these feelings gathered into the anticipation he had for Fanny. "Hail Hydra!"

...

Although he had already experienced teleportation before, Fanny hadn't really experienced enough to get used to it. But the first time it had happened, he didn't really have any time to react.

Now that he could experience it with a calmer mind, he felt the terrifying power of the Space Stone. He trembled in fear as the oppressive power around him roared, tearing across space itself. He began to understand the structure of this teleportation portal.

Fanny didn't spend much time in transit—the teleportation had only lasted ten seconds or so. But within that ten short seconds, his understanding of space and dimension had advanced by leaps and bounds. Fanny felt that he could draw a circle and open a teleportation portal anywhere now.

The massive amount of information had put Fanny in a little daze when he arrived on Earth, which made him fail to notice that he was not the only one that had gone through the Space Stone's portal.

"It's Knight of Divine Punishment! He's still alive!"

"He's back!"

"Did he activate the Cube?"

"And who was the one with the spear?"

Fanny was drowned by his thoughts, but SHIELD's staff were fully alert. They all looked at Fanny and Loki curiously. Perhaps it was because of Loki's concurrent appearance with Fanny, but at the moment, nobody considered him as an enemy just yet, including Nick Fury.

"You are finally back. Is this your friend?"

Loki was baffled by the situation. Why was this earthling acting so friendly?!

But he quickly grasped the situation. The friendly attitude was likely because of the person in silver armor beside him.

With an evil smile, he held the Scepter and fired an energy bolt at Fanny.

The incoming danger forced Fanny to wake up from his enlightenment daze. He looked at the approaching energy bolt and made a slight gesture with his wrist, instantly conjuring a small portal that swallowed the glowing blue projectile.

Before gaining the Space Stone's enlightenment, the bolt would've hit him at least five seconds before the portal could open.

Loki's action revealed his hostile intent. The surrounding guards immediately raised their guns, aiming at Loki. Nick Fury shouted while holding his own gun up, "Put down your weapon!"

"Do you really think he would just comply?" Fanny commented in annoyance when he heard Nick Fury's demand to surrender. He then shot a chantless 'Explosion Magic' at Loki. An Asgardian would shoot long before they would ask questions.

A trace of surprise flashed in Loki's eyes when he saw the pillar of fire that Fanny shot at him. He fired an energy blast from the Scepter to block the magic.

Boom!

Magic and energy bolts collided, resulting in an explosion.

As if on cue, the SHIELD agents around them opened fire at Loki.

The metal bullets from the guns couldn't scratch Loki's Jotunn skin, but they could still make him feel pain. Loki switched his attention away from Fanny to the annoying agents.

Hawkeye's accurate headshots especially fanned Loki's rage.

But Fanny didn't give Loki any space to move and rushed at the ice giant. The enclosed space of the SHIELD base constrained Fanny's 'Explosion Magic,' but fortunately, Fanny had spent quite a while training in close combat with Red Skull. He planned to test the fruit of his effort on Loki.

But Loki was an Asgardian warrior and mage proficient in dagger arts. The Scepter in his hand was closer to a spear than a dagger, but it was still a melee weapon that he could use. On top of that, Loki had trained along with his incredibly reckless brother for centuries. Fanny had no chance to bring Loki down.

Fearing that they would accidentally hit Fanny, the agents around them stopped their fire. Hawkeye was the only one who kept firing, using his archery skill to distract Loki and assist Fanny.

Nick Fury quickly analyzed the situation and found that the agents were no match for Loki. He instead switched to organizing the evacuation—the base was already in the middle of an evacuation before the two appeared due to the Tesseract's increased fluctuation.

Ensuring the safety of the personnel was important, but securing the base inventories was just as important. And the most valuable item in that inventory was the Tesseract.

Therefore, while the two were fighting, Nick Fury discreetly approached the Tesseract and prepared to take the Cube away. It would be great if Fanny won, but even if he lost, at least the damage would be contained in the base.

Nick Fury had no idea that despite their fierce battle, both Fanny and Loki still kept their eyes on the Tesseract.

Fanny was looking for Tesseract to take revenge. After all, this damned thing had left him stranded in space for nearly half a year.

On the other hand, Loki wanted it to secure his leadership of an army that would help him rule Earth and then Asgard.

Therefore, when Nick Fury picked up Tesseract, both of them stopped at the same time.

Loki was at a disadvantage in the struggle for Tesseract. After all, Fanny and Nick Fury were both under the same SHIELD camp. Their dispute would be limited to the internal affair.

Realizing this, Loki abandoned his fight with Fanny and rushed at Nick Fury to grab the Tesseract.

Fanny also rushed to stop Loki. He instinctively tried to use 'Ars Magna,' but the skill failed to activate. He then realized that he was no longer on Vormir.

The delay in Fanny's movement allowed Loki to charge at the Tesseract and fire an energy blast from the Scepter. The energy blast failed to hit Nick Fury directly, but the shockwave still sent the bald director flying. The Cube rolled on the ground.

Coincidentally, it rolled towards Fanny.