I woke up in a bed of silk sheets. Rolling over, I saw Maze standing next to the bed wearing nothing but a grin as she sipped from a whiskey glass.
"You're really out of practice, aren't you?" Maze asked, giving me a once over.
Groaning, I said, "It was that bad?"
"Nah. Actually some of the best I've had next to Lucifer, and no one can compete with him, but you were either completely wasted or really out of practice. Which one?"
"Out of practice." I said as I dragged myself out of the bed and pulled my pants on. The last time I'd gotten laid was with one of Azazel's underlings who'd taken an interest in the new human mage. That was a long time ago.
I felt two arms snake around me from behind, and had to force myself to not strike out at the source on instinct.
"Leaving so soon? Surely you have time for round two?"
"Tempting as that sounds, I need to figure out a place to stay, and learn a little more about how things work here. If I'm going to be staying for any extended period of time, I need to get a lay of the land."
"You can have both of those things here." Maze said as she slipped around me, tracing her fingers up and down my chest.
Before I could say anything else, the door popped open and Lucifer poked his head in.
"Ah, good! You're done. Come on out and get some breakfast. I'm making eggs!" He left the door open behind him as he strolled away.
Maze laid her head down on my shoulder, still running her hands over me as she said, "You want me to stab him?"
I raised an eyebrow at her, saying, "You don't think that's a little excessive?"
"If he's trying to cock block me, then no."
"You two seem to have an interesting relationship." I said as I gently extricated myself from her arms, causing her to frown at me.
"We're best friends. What best friends aren't fucking one second and stabbing each other the next?" She wrapped her arms around me once more, and this time I felt her muscles tense, preventing me from escaping. "Lucifer's burnt eggs can wait."
She picked me up and fell backwards, dragging me back on top of her to the bed.
X
"You're going to run our poor human friend raggad, Maze." Lucifer said, shaking his head disapprovingly as Maze and I finally stumbled into the club proper. There was a table in front of him set with three plates of eggs and toast with a whiskey decanter and three glasses to complete the balanced breakfast before me.
"He can take it." Maze said dismissively as she picked up one plate and held it above her head to funnel the eggs into her mouth.
Lucifer tutted dramatically as he shook his head at her. "It's as if I never taught you any manners."
Maze flipped him off with her free hand.
"So, Xarion. What are you planning to do now that you are free of Azy and that school you taught at?" Lucifer asked politely as he cut up his toast with a fork and knife.
I hadn't meant to spill all the beans when talking to Lucifer, but something about him, I was blaming Devil BS, made it impossible to stop talking. He knew everything from my slaughter of the Phenex clan to my status as a planeswalker. If any of what I'd said had upset him, he certainly wasn't giving it away.
"Honestly? I have no idea. I got wrapped up in teaching more because it was something to do than out of any desire to be a professor. I guess I'll just wander around a bit until I find something interesting."
"You could stay with us." Maze suggested as she wiped stray egg scraps from her lips. "Having someone else who regenerates around would be good for the regular mortal's health."
Lucifer shot her a fond smile before turning to me. "She got clawy, didn't she?"
"Hey! He gave as good as he got." Maze said, affronted, and I grew terrified as I realized I'd reflexively punched Maze last night when she'd first started getting 'clawy'.
"Truly?" Lucifer drawled as he turned to look at me, causing me to almost planeswalk out of fear. "Well it's about time you found someone to play with aside from me. Now you can drag him to your bed every other night and leave me to play with the humans." Lucifer said, daintily biting the toast from his fork.
"You're not going to smite me?" I said, managing to sound somewhat dignified.
Lucifer barked out a laugh and said, "I haven't smited anyone since my angel days. Maze is a big girl. If she had disliked it she would have killed you. Phenex regeneration or no."
"Hear that, beautiful?" Maze said as she wrapped herself around me. "Lucy approves. That means I can ravish you whenever I want."
"As pleasant as I'm sure that would be, I think I'm going to take a look around the world today." I said diplomatically as I lifted Maze's arms off of me. I reached into my bottomless bag and pulled out a pouch of golden coins, tossing it on the table. "That's in case the last pile didn't cover all the booze I drank last night."
"Xarion, I don't charge my friends." Lucifer said, looking a touch offended as he picked up the pouch and tossed it back. "Be sure to come back every few days you're on this plane - plane is the correct terminology, correct?" he asked, smiling in a pleased manner when I nodded. "Then come back every few days you're on this plane to play with Maze and you need not pay for anything. There are so few humans here who will be around long enough to grow attached to. Such are the drawbacks of their mortality."
"I'm mortal though?" I said, confused.
Maze and Lucifer exchanged a look.
"Did we not tell him?" Lucifer asked.
"I sure as fuck didn't." Maze said.
"Ah, then I shall rectify that." Lucifer turned back to me with a wide smile on his face. "Congratulations, Xarion! You're not mortal! The Phenex regeneration will outright halt your aging process. Unless someone is able to overcome your regeneration and kills you, you won't die!"
I tilted my head in confusion as I let that statement wash over me. Apparently I'd been immortal for around a year without realizing it. How interesting.
"Well, that is awesome, but also not going to alter my immediate plans." I stood up, draining my breakfast whiskey and putting the glass back down. "Is there anyone whose toes I should avoid stepping on while I'm looking around?" It would be stupid not to ask.
"Actually yes." Lucifer said as he gathered the dishes. "There is a woman who goes by the moniker 'The Ancient One'. She is one of the scant few powers of note in this world, and the others won't be an issue unless you really stir the pot. If you stop by Nepal, be polite. Having not seen you fight, I'm not sure you would be able to defeat her if she decided you were a threat. Her and I had a bit of a scuffle a few centuries ago, but we're quite good friends now. Tell her I said hello if you see her, would you?"
Ancient One? That name sounded familiar but I couldn't place it. "Will do. Thanks for the heads up, Lucifer."
"Of course, Xarion. Do enjoy your time in this wonderful world that is free of dear old Dad's influence."
Maze gave me a simple wave as Lucifer raised his glass, and I teleported away, deciding to meet this Ancient One. She sounded like an interesting place to start my exploration.
X
Nick Fury
"Is this fake?" I said, staring hard at the screen in front of me in the hopes that the image would change into something else.
"No, sir. We've gone over every video of the event and found no evidence of any tampering. This is legitimate." Agent Coulson said in his usual, stress-free tone. His SHIELD issue suit was only the slightest bit disheveled, speaking volumes about how this newest catastrophe was weighing on one of my best operatives.
"We need to bring him in. The fire alone is an issue, but if this man can really teleport he poses a risk to every operation we have in place, as well as the security of every nation in the world. How are we doing on tracking him down?"
"We were able to place him in Los Angeles yesterday evening, but he disappeared shortly after he surfaced. None of our agents were able to find any evidence he had even been there."
Sighing, I began to rub my forehead, closing my one good eye as I tried to think. How were we supposed to pin down a man who could disappear at the drop of the hat and travel half-way around the world whenever he wanted?
"What are our estimates on his age?" I said, a rough plan taking shape in my mind.
"Early twenties, sir."
"Good. Recall Romanoff from Africa and send her to where he was last seen. See if she can honeypot the man."
"Are you sure that is the best course of action, sir?"
Looking Coulson in the eyes, I said, "Given I lack any alternatives, yes. Get it done."
"Yes, sir." Coulson said respectfully before leaving my office to carry out my orders.
What was this world coming to?First a man creates a self-sustaining power source he used to make the world's deadliest armor in a cave, then a giant hulking green man tore half of Harlem to the ground in an impromptu grudge match, then a literal god destroyed an entire town as collateral damage, and now I had to worry about a flaming man who could teleport and seemingly appeared from nowhere.
I took a deep breath, and stood up, following Coulson out of my office.
This job sucked, but I was the only one qualified to do it. Everyone else they tried to put in my chair would just make everything worse.
X
"Can I help you?" the kindly old man asked. His silver-gray hair fell down his shoulders to rest against the dark gray robes he wore.
"Yes, actually. I'm here looking for an 'Ancient One'? Lucifer said it would be polite to introduce myself before I went galavanting around the world." I said with a smile, thoroughly enjoying the ridiculousness of my last sentence.
The man's welcoming demeanor instantly morphed to outright suspicion and I felt a pulse as he reached for his magic. "Wait here." he said sternly before slamming the door in my face.
"Well that was rather rude." I said to myself as I turned to watch the street around me. People were rushing between the various stalls set up in the square, ignorant to the oppressive magical presence not a hundred feet away.
The door was jerked open, and I smiled warmly as the same man stared at me down.
"Follow me." he said tersely.
I clasped my hands behind my back and followed after him.
He led me through a simple, yet elegant steading with simple white rugs atop wood floors. Pulling a sliding door open, he stormed into a small sitting room with two other figures in it. I got the sense he didn't like the fact that I so casually dropped Lucifer's name.
I prodded the figures around me with my magic. The man who'd led me here as well as the hunched old man sipping tea seemed to be roughly equal to an average wizard from Albus's world as far as magical might was concerned. The woman, though, was beyond impressive.
She was bald and possessed a lithe figure, though I could sense the strength present within her thin limbs. She wore a yellow robe that brushed against the ground as she walked towards me brandishing a platter laden with tea and scones.
"Thank you." I said with a nod as I took a small cup. "The Ancient One I presume?"
She smiled warmly at me, setting the platter down on an ankle-high table. "You presume correctly. Did Lucifer tell you what to expect?"
"He didn't need to. You have one of the strongest magical auras I've ever felt from a human. Considering he said you had 'scuffled', that meant you survived him while he was mildly interested in fighting. The others I've felt since entering this fine establishment wouldn't have lasted half-a-second against him even if he was sand-bagging."
A jovial laugh escaped her lips as she knelt before the table, motioning for me to join her. "I suppose he would refer to my first encounter with the powers beyond as a 'scuffle'. How is Lucifer?"
Kneeling down across the table from her, I said, "Rather well if my measure of him was accurate. He sends his regards."
"I'll be sure to visit him when my schedule allows. It has been too long since we've conversed. But enough of our mutual friend, I take it you have your own reasons for coming here?"
I nodded, setting my teacup down and saying, "First off, my name is Xarion. I'm new in town and was planning to take a bit of a tour around the world. Lucifer said it would be a good idea to inform you of such to avoid any unwanted unpleasantries between us."
The Ancient One studied me intently, probing me with her eyes and her magic. "You are interesting. I had initially assumed you were a demon like our friend Lucifer, but you are human. Although, I do sense some demonic power within you."
"I got into a life or death struggle with some devils in my old world which, coincidentally, is also Lucifer's old world. That struggle resulted in my absorbing that devil's hereditary power, so I suppose it would be accurate to say I am at least part devil, though I like to think I'm still human."
"I sense a story there." The Ancient one said, her eyes curious.
"There is one. Perhaps sometime I'll tell it to you." She was polite, but I wasn't going to tell my life story to a complete stranger…. Lucifer didn't count. He had Devil DS that forced me to do it.
"Well, thank you for meeting with me. We felt the arrival of a powerful being and were gathering arms to track it down, that you are here saves us from having to find you."
I leapt to my feet, summoning two spell circles before me and expanding my senses out to sense for any hidden enemies. There was no one.
Confused, I turned back to the Ancient One who looked mortified.
"That was a terrible way to phrase that statement, you have my apologies. I was not implying that you had saved us the trouble of tracking you down to kill you, I was saying that we will cease our efforts to search for you because you are not obviously not hostile. Please forgive me."
Slowly letting my spell circles fade, I knelt back down at the table. "It's alright. I'm a little jumpy at the best of times, so that's as much my fault as it was yours. Was there anything else you needed?"
"Nothing, though if it would interest you, I would welcome you to view our facilities. Consider it another apology for my poor phrasing."
I didn't have anything pressing to do, and a tour of another world's magical headquarters sounded interesting. "I would greatly appreciate that."
Smiling widely, the Ancient One stood and motioned down the hall. "Shall we?"
I stood, and together we walked down the hall, quickly reaching two doors she opened, taking us into a stone courtyard dotted with cherry blossom trees. There were dozens of men and women in white, green, and blue robes moving through the courtyard. Some were arrayed to practice casting. Some were paired off to spar with one-another. And there were those who were simply passing through the courtyard.
"Impressive." I said as I looked everything over. It wasn't Hogwarts by any means, but it was still a great achievement.
"Thank you. Many have worked their entire lives to achieve what you see before you."
"I don't doubt it."
By now the two of us had begun to garner some attention. Students and instructors both were throwing questioning glances my way as they tried to figure out who I was and why I was here.
"Is this everyone you have?" I said to move the conversation along. "I can't help but feel like this is not enough to protect your world. Especially given that the majority of your mages are still learning."
"No, this is not the majority of our sorcerers - that is the title we use to describe ourselves. This is, as you noticed, merely where we train those unfamiliar with the mystical arts." The Ancient One said as she led me back inside and down a separate hall.
"Ah. I typically refer to magic users as mages, but I can sense something different about your magic. I don't think you fall into the same category that I do."
"You would be correct. I sense that your own power comes from within yourself. Ours comes from without. We harness other energies to channel our spells. After you." she said as she opened a solid oak door, standing to the side and motioning me through.
With a thankful nod, I walked through the opening and couldn't help but be impressed by the sight before me.
The Ancient One had led me into a library lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. There was a desk in the center of the room but no one was occupying it, leaving the Ancient One and I as the room's only inhabitants.
"Why bring me here?" I asked, confused by her reasoning. "Before I arrived I was a potential threat you were preparing to combat, but now you've brought me to the heart of your knowledge and power?"
Chuckling merrily to herself, the Ancient One said, "I sincerely doubt you will grow to be more of a threat by reading the volumes in this library. As it stands, only I and a handful of my brightest masters could stand against you. No, I've brought you here to propose a trade."
Leading me past the shelves piled high with books, she approached the back wall and pressed her palm against one of the many sigils painted into the wood. The sigil lit up a brilliant bronze and soon the entire wall began to glow. I felt a ward fall as the wall split down the middle and opened inwards. The Ancient One walked through the created opening, becoming me to follow after her.
"While I am, perhaps, acting rashly, I believe you to be an ally. I will need allies in the days ahead." she said as she led me through a stone chamber. The ground, ceiling, support columns that were spaced every dozen feet and walls were all a dark gray granite that seemed to absorb any light that touched them. We walked on until the corridor opened into a circular chamber with intricate symbols carved into the floor.
"So you decided to bring me to your own personal gulag?" I said as I looked around skeptically, ready to teleport away at a moment's notice if the sorceress attempted to snare me in any traps.
The Ancient One stopped in the center of the circle of symbols. "No. As I said, I wish to offer you a trade." She stomped her foot on the ground and rectangular segments of stone rose from the ground around her. She motioned to the three rectangles, which I now realized were ridiculously over the top display cases, and said, "Is there anything you desire? I offer you any one of these artifacts in exchange for a year of your time to instruct my students in your magic."
"Did you offer Lucifer this deal?" I said with a raised eyebrow, wondering how the Devil would have responded to the offer.
The Ancient One shook her head. "Lucifer and Mazikeen's magic is an inherent part of who they are. They cannot teach their power without creating a contract with a human, and I have far more than two students. While you have drawn some of that same power into yourself, your magic began with a normal human. That knowledge will be vital in preparing my students for the future."
"You keep saying that you need to prepare for the future. Do you have a seer here who has foretold judgment day?" If that was the case, I needed to find a new plane to set up shop in. I'd already been through two end of the world scenarios, I really wasn't interested in checking a third box to get my frequent flier bonus.
"Not in the sense I am sure you are referring to. Things will change soon, and my students must be prepared for that change. Now choose your prize." She motioned once more to the artifacts next to her, and I gave them an idle once over.
There was a bronze quarterstaff with runes inscribed up and down its length. A glowing shield with a sun emblem seared into its center. And a spider-shaped pendant hanging from a silver chain whose legs moved unnaturally.
I could sense a large amount of power from everything present, but I just plain didn't trust any of it. If I really wanted artifacts to enhance my combat effectiveness, I could just make them by sneaking back into Hogwarts to use the Room of Requirement. I wasn't interested in incurring any perceived magical debts with someone known as 'The Ancient One'. I got the sense that one did not receive such a title unless they had enough experience under their belt to be considered 'ancient'.
"Thank you for the offer, but I must regretfully decline. The simple fact of the matter is that I don't trust seemingly amazing gifts that appear out of nowhere. Though given that I've started to like this world, catch." I pulled a small book from my bottomless bag and tossed it to the Ancient One. As she started to flip through it, I said, "That's a small library of spells using the magic I was taught. It doesn't have anything ridiculous in it, but if you study it enough you should be able to crack it." I wasn't giving her the Rosetta Stone to my magic, but I didn't see the harm in strengthening a potential anti-doomsday cult. Lucifer vouched for her, and if she did turn out to be super evil, I had a myriad of tricks to use against her. And planeswalking was always an option.
"You will not teach us yourself?" The Ancient One asked, sounding a little disappointed.
I shook my head and siad, "I've done the whole teaching thing. While I did have some fun with it, I'm going to try something else to change things up. Maybe in a few years or so. Hell, I found out I'm immortal yesterday, so we'll see how I feel about it in a hundred years."
The Ancient One smiled in acceptance. "If you change your mind, the position will always be available to you." She lightly tapped her foot on the ground once more, and the warded display cases sunk back into the ground. "Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me. You have my word that I will not bring it to bear against you unless you give me no other choice."
I smirked at her. "Your having 'no other choice' is rather open to interpretation, but I don't plan on making your life difficult. I'm just here to see the sights and relax for a while. Speaking of…. If there was nothing else, I'm probably going to teleport to Mount Everest now."
"Have a pleasant journey, Xarion. Do be careful of the freezing temperatures."
"I'll figure something out." I said with a smirk as I was enveloped in fire. Top of the world here I come!
X
Today was….awesome.
I haven't just relaxed in so long that I had honestly forgotten the last time I did. There were no battles to the death. Not a single cursed letter to dismantle. And there was no research into otherworldly secrets. I just abused my teleportation to go around the world and see some beautiful sights. Mountains, waterfalls, rivers, forests - anywhere I felt like, I just went. It was great.
Of course, now I was having to deal with the oppressive music in Lux, but since Lucifer was letting me stay here pro bono I was more than content to put up with some minor annoyances in the musical department.
"Hey there." a sultry voice said from beside me.
Turning to face the voice, I found a red haired woman in a dress that covered only enough that she could legally be considered clothed dropping into the chair next to me. Considering I was sitting at a table that was as away from the action as possible, not to mention the fact that I had been openly broody and unfun the entire night, I was more than a little surprised that someone was making a move.
"Hi. Do you want the table for your friends or something? Because if so, I'm not moving. You should keep looking."
Maybe I was being a bit of an ass, but I really didn't want to figure out what happened when Maze caught me. She didn't seem like the possessive type, but she also didn't seem like the kind of person to cut open someone's chest and drink their blood during sex. I had a really strange night last night that I definitely wouldn't have survived if I couldn't regenerate.
The woman quirked an eyebrow at me and said, "Well I was going to ask if you'd buy me a drink, but clearly you need one more than I do, so I'll pay."
Sighing, I said, "Look, I apologize for being standoffish, but I'm not interested in whatever you're selling. If you're looking for a chance to let off some steam, just stick around a while longer. Last time I was here there was a spontaneous orgy that broke out on the dance floor. Get in on that if you're pent up."
The woman didn't look deterred. If anything, she only appeared more determined. She waved over the bartender, one of the former strippers Lucifer hired because he felt like having eye candy, and motioned for them to start pouring drinks. "I'm Milana." she said, holding out her hand with a smile on her face. "Are you going to tell me your name or do I have to guess?"
"Xarion." I said, accepting the drink from the rather muscular man. Yes, he was a former male stripper. Lucifer screwed anything on legs. I wasn't interested in him, or any other man for the matter, myself, but I was secure enough to admit the guy was attractive.
Turning back to face Milana, I said, "So now that you know my name, are you going to believe me that I'm not interested or…?"
"I think I can change your mind." she said with a sultry smirk as she took a sip from her glass.
I pulled back my sleeve, flashing my bare wrist as I said, "Well would you look at the time. I really need to be doing-"
"Me." a new voice said, causing me to hold back a groan.
"Maze!" I said, turning to the extremely powerful, lustful devil with a wide smile. "How good to see you. Did we have plans tonight?"
"We have plans every night." she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She turned her attention to Milana and gave the red-head a once over. "Who's your friend?"
"Milana, meet Maze. Maze, meet Milana. It's not her real name, but I don't really care enough to figure out her real one."
Milana tensed at my casual admittance, but quickly forced herself to relax.
As a general rule, if someone took a strange interest in me, I browsed their surface thoughts to see what they wanted. 'Milana' lied about her name, but she was more curious about me than anything else so I retracted from her mind. If I dove into every person's memories to ferret out their life story I wouldn't be able to walk down the street. It was way too much effort to scan hundreds of people every minute. Unless I sensed open hostility or something equally concerning, I left people alone.
"What makes you say that?" Milana asked, her eyes far more intent than her relaxed posture would lead one to believe.
"Call it a hunch." I said non committedly as I drained the rest of my drink. "As wonderful as your company has been, I have plans. Have a good evening, Milana." I stood up and walked past Maze, only to turn around in confusion when she didn't follow me, her gaze fixed on Milana. What was she thinking?
Maze walked up to Milana with a smile on her face and ran the back of her fingers over the other woman's cheek. "You're very beautiful." she said as her breathing began to pick up.
Maybe I didn't have plans after all. If she wanted to 'play' with our new friend, I certainly wasn't going to complain about the extra sleep. Maybe most men would think my priorities were screwed up, but Maze was scary.
"Thank you." Milana said, sounding suspicious. She reached up and gently gripped Maze's wrist to guide it away from her face. "May I ask what it is you want?"
Maze grinned at her. "I saw you sizing up my friend there, but he's going to be with me tonight."
Apparently I did have plans. I wasn't going to complain, but I would miss the extra sleep.
Maze took Milana's drink and downed the rest of it in one go. She slammed the glass back on the table and said, "So you wanna join in, beautiful?"
My brain stopped functioning at full capacity as I wrapped my head around that. Did she just….? Well, she was a millenia old devil who I already knew was kinky from first hand experience, but that didn't mean that I would-
"Definitely." Milana said quickly, her suspicious gaze changing to a look of excitement.
I raised a finger and said, "Do I have a say in this?"
Maze just ignored me as she helped Milana to her feet and led her towards the room we'd shared last night, absentmindedly grabbing my collar to drag me behind her as she walked.
One of these days I was going to get into a no-holds-barred fight with Maze if she kept dragging me around like this, but for now I was going to enjoy my night. It promised to be an experience.
X
Nick Fury
"Say again, Romanoff." I ordered, the cold hand of dread closing around my gut.
"Sir, the target demonstrated enhanced strength, stamina and was easily able to see through my act, but I don't believe him to be the greatest danger. The woman 'Maze' and club owner 'Lucifer' are greater threats. Both showed signs of extreme enhancements and appear to have possessed them for some time."
"Do you think they're hostile?"
"No, sir. While they have the potential to be problems, I believe they will keep to themselves if they are left alone."
I was skeptical about that, especially given the events of the past forty-eight hours. "Are they human?"
"Sir?"
"Are. They. Human?" I repeated, lacing my words with the seriousness of the question.
"I….I cannot say, sir. I had believed they were, but the fact that you are asking is causing me to re-evaluate my experience with them. Their enhancements closely resemble the recorded abilities in the Asgardians' files."
That was what I was afraid of.
My mind moving at a thousand miles a minute, I said, "You're being reassigned. I need you to track down Dr. Banner. We're going to need him." Now more than ever we needed the Avengers initiative, and Banner was the best card I had.
"Sir?" I could hear the surprise in her voice. She knew I wouldn't be calling for Banner unless the situation was dire.
"You'll be briefed once you arrive at our airfield outside LA. Get moving, Romanoff."
"Yes, sir. Widow out." The line clicked dead, and I leaned back in my chair, glaring at the screen before me.
Loki, Thor's psychotic brother, showed up out of nowhere five hours ago and now Romanoff was reporting Asgardian-like qualities from our new visitor and the people he was staying with? That was far too coincidental for my liking.
By pulling up the club's records on my computer, I was able to determine that 'Lucifer Morningstar' - someone thought they were cute - had owned Lux for the last twenty years. When added to Romanoff's recent discovery, that told me that there could be any number of Asgardian sleeper agents primed to go off on my planet. I would be damned if I let them catch me flat footed a second time.
Picking up the phone once more, I waited until I heard the connection open, then, without waiting for a greeting, said, "Hill, I need you in LA with a strike force ten minutes ago. I'll meet you at the hangar." I hung up before she could get a word in. I trusted her to understand and follow my orders.
Standing up, I left my office and heard the electronic locks activate behind me.
As if the fact that Loki was running around brainwashing my people wasn't bad enough, I also had to worry about the potential of an alien army hiding among humans.
Once these three were dealt with, I'd dedicate every resource I had to hunt Loki down and turn the arrogant little shit into a paper weight.