THE ROAD NOT TAKEN
Chapter 22: Enter Loki!
Disclaimer: All recognisable characters belong to their respective owners.
-TRNT-
"So a god, huh?" The man in front of Harry stated. "What does that even entail?"
"To tell the truth, you would need to be one to understand." Harry shrugged. "There isn't any explanation I could give that would do the feeling justice."
"Try me." The man prompted and Harry leaned back in his chair to look at him.
Nicholas Fury, the Director of SHIELD himself had showed up at his door two days after the events in New Mexico. Harry was actually surprised it had taken this long for the man to show up as he had been expecting him as soon as he and Shevaun had taken over the Haldane assets.
"I would rather we get to the reason you are here." Harry said instead. Just because he had been expecting him doesn't mean he had been looking forward to this meeting. "I'm assuming this isn't about SHIELD's contracts with Mys-tech International, is it?"
"No it isn't." He tapped on a tab which the woman who had escorted him handed to him and played him a video footage. "I'm here about this."
The footage was of him confronting what the world was calling Hulk and Abomination. And then the subsequent repairing of all the damage the two behemoths had just caused.
"I understand that wizards prefer to keep to themselves, and go to great lengths to keep their existence secret." Fury started, clear contempt in his voice. "Does that not apply to you?"
"The statute of secrecy does not apply to citizens of magical England."
"Yes, heard about your deal with the British government." Fury nodded. "But I was under the impression that your freedom only applied within the English borders."
"Technically it does, and the ICW would not be happy for a wizard blatantly showing magic the way I did." He answered. "Something I'm hoping we shall solve in the future."
"So it is not because your new 'divine' status making you above laws that govern as mere mortals?" Fury raised an eyebrow.
"Why are you here, Nick Fury?" Harry asked instead, rather than deigning to answer that.
"I plan on creating a team." Fury started without missing a beat. "A team of extraordinary individuals to help protect the world from extraordinary threats."
"And you want me to be part of this team of yours?" Harry asked and Fury nodded.
"Since wizards had been restricted by this statue of secrecy, they have always been keeping to themselves and would never have joined my team." He said. "But not only are you not restricted by the statute, you're also willing to take action to protect the innocent. So yes, I believe you are a good candidate for my team."
"If you have spoken with Thor, then you know that my literal job is to protect the earth from any threats, mostly extra-terrestrial threats." Harry said. "And while I decided to step in back there, I'll be sticking to external threats against the earth."
"So you won't join the team?"
"No, I won't." He shook his head. "Feel free to create your team, I can help them in whatever way I can, or even step in if they are overwhelmed, but ultimately, I can't be involved in the day to day happenings of the world, lest I risk becoming too controlling and unknowingly take away people's free will."
"And how would you go about that?"
"I am a god, Fury. And that means I am immortal, if for thousands of years every time the people have a little problem, I intervene, what do you think will happen?" Harry asked and continued before the man could answer. "Honestly, it would help the world, maybe even accelerate its growth tremendously. But give it a century or five and they will reach a point where without me, nothing can happen, I'm not willing to have that."
"You don't give us much credit." Fury shook his head. "Now that you consider yourself a god, you seem to have forgotten all about being a human."
"I haven't forgotten, Fury. What I'm talking about, I have seen it." Harry replied. "If you know about the magical world then you must have seen Dumbledore's effect on Britain, and then there is Asgard and the nine realms and what they have become under Odin. Apart from Midgard or rather Earth, everything else is entirely dependent on him, entire realms just sit there waiting for his protection if anything were to happen."
He shook his head, well aware that Fury probably wouldn't understand the magnitude he was talking about.
"Let me put it this way, imagine a town where someone handles all your issues. Every single time, there is that person that just comes and solves all your problems." He asked the man. "How much effort would you put in to try and solve them yourself? And if for some reason this person isn't there, can you imagine what would happen once there isn't a single person that knows to handle your issues."
"Looks like you're trying to convince yourself rather than me." Fury pointed out as he stood up. Apparently completely disregarding whatever Harry had been explaining. "If you change your mind, I'm sure you can find me. Come on, Romanoff."
And with that he left, the redhead following him. She gave him one last appraising look, her green eyes looking at him critically before she left.
Harry stood up and prepared to return to Hogwarts. He had been training in the Room of Requirements when the wards on the house had informed him of Fury's arrival at his home. He was about to teleport back when he felt a slight flare of magic behind him. He spun around to look at the area and so nothing for second before Heimdall appeared.
"Huh...that hasn't happened before." He mused.
"You have grown tremendously once again, my Prince." The Asgardian watcher said. "Sensing astral forms around you is one of numerous things you should be capable of now."
"Good to know." Harry replied. "I take it you're not here to tell me Loki and Thor destroyed Asgard?"
"Asgard is still mostly in one piece." He replied. "The same can't be said for the Rainbow bridge."
"The Bifrost bridge was destroyed?" Harry asked in disbelief. He was aware that Asgard used the Rainbow bridge to safely command the Bifrost, and with it gone, anyone that wished to traverse the nine realms would either have to fly which takes a lot of time or have to gather enough Dark energy to channel the Bifrost through their bodies.
"Prince Thor had to destroy it to stop Loki from destroying Jotunheim."
Harry scoffed. "Typical. And Loki?"
"Loki fell off the bridge and disappeared into the void."
"He is dead then?" Harry asked.
"Seems that way." Heimdall nodded. "And if by any chance he is still alive, wherever he is, is far beyond even my sight."
Harry hoped the idiot was still alive. There were alot of things he needed to atone for.
"You want something from me, don't you?" He asked Heimdall with a raised eyebrow.
"Asgard has been using the Rainbow bridge to keep the nine realms in order, and with its destruction, the realms will be plunged into chaos." He started. "In trying to atone for his part in the destruction of the bridge, Prince Thor will be roaming the nine realms to keep the order and bring back peace where it is threatened."
"I still don't see how that concerns me." Harry said. "Is Asgard directly in danger?"
"Not at the moment." Heimdall shook his head. "But it could be, should something happen to the Allfather while there isn't someone to take over his place in time. There must always be a prince at Asgard."
"And have you seen anything happening to Odin any time soon?"
"I can't say I have." Heimdall replied. "Despite often being called 'All-seeing, there are things that are beyond my sight. And someone powerful enough can hide themselves even my sight." He said. "Therefore while I may not see anything happening to the Allfather, it doesn't mean it won't. And that is not something I wish to base the fate of the nine realms on."
"Well, that's too bad, but my agreement with Odin was for me to only return for Ragnarok or if Asgard was in danger of being destroyed and the army was in no position to stop it." He shrugged. "If there was an attack strong enough to kill Odin, I'm sure I'd be there by the time he dies though I can see how, now that the bridge has been destroyed."
Harry knew teleporting through dimensions wasn't possible for him, not yet at least.
"At your level of power and with your connection to the life tree, I believe you may be able to call upon the Bifrost to bring you to Asgard without any negative effects." Heimdall said. "And it will only get easier as your power keeps growing."
Harry shrugged. "Even better. If I'm ever really needed, you just call and I'll be there."
"There will be no convincing you." It was more of a statement than a question. "In that case, I'll be informing the Allfather. I cannot guarantee he will be happy with your decision."
Harry shrugged once again. "He is the one who charged me with protecting Midgard. I can't exactly do that while stationed at Asgard, waiting for his unlikely death, now can I?"
-TRNT-
The next months were spent in relative peace for Harry. His planned visit to the ICW was cancelled by Hermione instead she decided to go there by herself. Despite Harry being the official leader of Magical Britain, Hermione was his face and therefore she felt that she should be the one to handle this matter. And with how powerful she was becoming by the day, she had no worry that the ICW would be foolish enough to try something against her.
And she had met them, and had actually managed to convince them to stop clinging onto the Statute of Secrecy. Harry had no idea how she managed it but she did, and together they came up with ways of integrating magic into the rest of the world. They worked with different magical governments to come up with laws of regulating and protecting wizards and witches among other things.
Trusting her completely, Harry left it in her hands. She was powerful enough to keep the entire magical world in line, channelling some of Harry's powers sometimes due to how close their bond was. She could teleport the same way that Harry did, and no longer needed a wand to perform most forms of magic. She had even developed an aura of her own that was identical to Harry's. If Harry didn't know any better he would have thought she was somehow ascending to godhood, but he knew it didn't work like that.
Shevaun on the other hand kept up her training with the Ancient One. By the end of the year she had risen through the ranks at Kamar-Taj until she was considered a master. There were very few sorcerers who held that title at the school, the first being the Ancient One, another being Baron Mordo and then Wong. All three masters manned the three Sanctums that together protected the world. It was only a matter of time before Shevaun took the time as well and would be given the New York Sanctum while the Ancient One went back to Kamar-Taj.
Harry was very proud of his girls and the progress they were making. Hermione practically ruled Britain and soon her rule will be spreading to the rest of the world through the ICW. Shevaun was about to be promoted to a Master and would be required to take on students and an apprentice of her own. And at the rate the two were growing magically thanks to their rather intimate connection with Harry, they would soon find themselves to be the most powerful beings on the plan short of Harry himself.
Powerful enough for Harry not to worry about them if they were ever under attack and he was not there to help them. With their massive reserves, they could even enhance their bodies where they could fight Harry physically without fear of him turning them into paste with a single punch. And so whenever the three had the time, he taught them how to fight. Shevaun with her already existing training was way ahead of Hermione but that did not deter her. He trained with, teaching them as much as their enhanced bodies could take and as the new year came around, Harry knew they could take care of themselves.
Not that they were his only students. While he wasn't studying magic by himself, Harry was training students at Hogwarts. He managed to create a group of fifty wizards and witches into a resemblance of a standing army, or at least the beginnings of one. It would take for than a few months to make one, but he was progressing well.
Taking a leaf from Asgard, he knew that an army was necessary in protecting the world. Just because Asgard had heavy hitters like Thor and Odin didn't mean that it had no need of an army. Neither of these two could physically be in two places at once, not without some time shenanigans which was where the army came in. It could be deployed to take care of things if they found themselves unable to take part themselves.
Harry was so arrogant to think that he could singlehandedly fight off all of earth's enemies. The Sorcerers had a resemblance of army but there were limitations to what they could take part in, which was why Harry decided to create one of his own. He remembered that while he had been busy fighting Mephisto, Earth had been practically defenceless and if it hadn't been for the Sorcerers, it would have been over run by demons by the time he returned. It was one of the reasons why he had taken over the Destroyer, so he would be able to be in two places at the same time.
So far, they were only fifty, and only after he was convinced that they were fully trained to their full potential would he take on new recruits. However unlike Asgard's army which was mostly physical albeit with magical weapons, Harry army just like him used both magic and physical attributes, he trained them to make sure to take advantage of both which would give them an edge no matter who they faced. Harry was very happy with how they were progressing, and given more time, anyone planning on invading Earth would be solely disappointed with what they find waiting for them.
-TRNT-
April 5th 2012
Sanctum Sanatorium
New York
Harry ducked under a roundhouse kick before grabbing the offending leg and hurling its owner at Hermione who disappeared with wisps of smoke and appeared directly above Harry. He conjured a shield which deflected the concentrated blast of magic towards Shevaun who had just got back to her feet. A flaming portal appeared in front of her and Harry had to teleport away to avoid the blast which had been returned back at him with a portal just to his left.
The floor opened to swallow him as soon as he appeared but his magic countered it without even a thought from him. Seeing the two women directly in his line of sight, Harry grinned and their eyes widened as a green mandala appeared in front of him. Before they could teleport away, Harry's palm shot forward and pumped magic into the mandala. It pulsed, sending a wave of green energy out and the world slowed down to a crawl.
Wisps of smoke started appearing around Hermione while the beginnings of a flaming portal appeared under Shevaun's feet. It would be too late though as they were caught in his time bubble. The green bubble covered the entire duelling room and anything within the bubble would be slowed down in time, except the castor himself. Harry teleported twice appearing first before Hermione and tapping his fingers at her forehead before doing the same with Shevaun.
The bubble disappeared and both girls appeared in opposite ends of the room unconscious as their teleportation finished and took them to their initial destinations. Harry had been experimenting with time magic for some time now, while at the same time trying to avoid any consequences that may come from playing with time. Like Hermione liked to remind him, time didn't like to be messed with, and so he took extra care to ensure that nothing he did affected the general flow of time.
It was how he had come up with this spell. He had ran it along with the Ancient One who had confirmed that it was safe. What it did was that the spell briefly created a bubble out of time, effectively taking that area out of the normal flow of time, before shoving whatever happened in there into the normal flow and adopting it into the natural timeline.
The caster could do anything from the bubble like slowing down time, forwarding it or even rewinding it. So far, Harry had only tried slowing down time and it annoyed his two lovers to no end. The only time he used it during their spars however was if the two were in his direct line of sight, he couldn't use it without knowing what the other was up to as he risked consequences if the spell was interrupted in the process of casting it. Only when he could see them, and knew he was free to cast without being interrupted does he use it.
The two girls knew this, and tried to ensure they are never directly in front of him at the same time. But one way or another, he always manages to best them that way, and as soon as the bubble is cast, there is nothing they can do other than wait for it to dispel itself.
Reviving them, Harry smirked at their scowl. "You lost, again."
"Bugger off." Shevaun grumbled as she stood up. "I hate it when you use your freaky time magic."
The spar had been going on for ten minutes before Harry got the chance to use his time spell.
"At least we lasted longer this time." Hermione said, checking her watch.
"You're getting better at watching each other." Harry nodded. "It is only a matter of time before you manage to it and prevent me from using the spell."
"You'd have found a way around that by then anyway." Shevaun rolled her eyes while Harry laughed.
"Maybe, maybe not." He looked at their sweaty and tired bodies. "You up for a joint bath?"
"My apprentice is coming today." Shevaun sighed. "I need to get ready and a joint bath won't give me time."
"Knowing your libido, we probably won't be doing any showering for an hour or two." Hermione agreed. "And I have to meet the Prime minister in thirty minutes so I'll be going to Hogwarts."
And with that, she disappeared. Shevaun opened a portal to her bathroom and stumbled through. "See you tonight!"
Left alone, Harry could only sigh before teleporting to the Haldane mansion. He showered swiftly, and was just about to get something to eat when Heimdall suddenly appeared in his living room.
"My prince, Asgard is under attack by the Black Order!" The urgency in the usually soft spoken man's voice caught Harry off guard. "You need to get here, Now!"
He knew the Black Order was the name to The Mad Titan's army, one of the most dangerous and feared armies in the universe. Second only to Asgard's own, which was a surprise that they would dare to attack Asgard. The fact that Heimdall thought Harry was actually needed, could only mean there was a chance that Odin could die.
Harry immediately summoned his wand and sent off a Patronus to Hermione and Shevaun, warning them that he was going to Asgard and to be on their guard before calling for his armour and Bloodaxe and looking at Heimdall.
"Call upon the Bifrost, I'll direct you to where you're needed most." The watcher told him.
Harry closed his eyes, and opened them once again to two views. With a bit of Occulmency, he effectively detached himself from the part of him that was now existing within the Destroyer. He then turned to Heimdall and nodded to show that he was ready.
Concentrating, Harry gathered within himself the dark energy needed to channel the Bifrost. Once he had enough, he called upon it and he disappeared from Earth with a flash of rainbow coloured light.
-TRNT-
Moments after Harry left Earth, a round spaceship suddenly appeared out of hyper-space just above Scotland. Hundreds of pods as large as two busses put together were dropped down from the ship before it turned around and disappeared once again, as suddenly as it had appeared.
The pods not being magical in nature passed through the ward protecting England without any trouble and landed in different areas around Scotland many of which landed just outside the wards that protected Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. The pod closest to the wards landed in front of a pair of students who had sneaked away from the village for a quick snog.
The boy and girl looked at the pod in confusion before there was a hiss of air as the pod opened and a creature, like none that they had seen before emerged through the door. It was tall, with a hideous disfigured face and a weird armour around it. In its hand, it held a staff with a glowing tip. Behind the creature inside the pod were dozens of others that looked identical to it.
The boy, the Captain of the Slyntherin quiditch team drew his wand and cast a silencing charm around them. He slowly stepped back, pulling his scared girlfriend with him until they were far away from the Pod before he felt safe enough to summon a Patronus that he sent on its way to Hogwarts. As if sensing his use of magic, the creature suddenly and looked right them before it screeched and turned around, ignoring them.
As the two students watched in fear, the creature suddenly turned and started running away, right towards Hogwarts. And behind it, all the others followed.
-TRNT-
Far away from Scotland, Loki drove away from a destroyed SHIELD base with the cube containing the Space stone in his possession along with his new minions.
-TRNT-
Meanwhile, in the Haldane Mansion, almost as soon as Harry's main essence had left Earth to head to Asgard, the essence now inside the Destroyer started hearing prayers from his followers. It was kind of hard to make out what they were saying as Harry had yet to fully get the hand of this. But with a bit of concentration, he managed to make out something which would have had his heart speeding up had he been with one.
As it so happened, he could feel the destructive consciousness of the Destroyer awakening at the thought of violence. Hogwarts was under attack, and whatever was attacking was strong enough to make the people fear for their lives despite Hermione's and the army's presence. Harry was sure that whatever was attacking had waited for him to leave for Asgard, he could even go so far as to assume that they had orchestrated it.
Suppressing the bloodlust from the armour, Harry groaned internally as he remembered that he had no fast way of going to Hogwarts. Flying, no matter how fast it could go would not be enough to get him there in time. Which left him with one option, but before that he needed to do something else.
He concentrated on his connection with Hermione, she felt him and accepted him immediately, letting him to see through her eyes and he saw them. Harry knew what they were, Chitauri, one of the most expendable army in the universe. They were not particularly smart, and any competent group of people could handle them in no time. What made them dangerous was their numbers, they seemed to be endless, and from what Harry knew, they best way to beat them was by destroying the mothership that controlled them.
"Have you seen a spaceship of any kind around there?" Harry asked.
"There was one, but it flew off as soon as it dropped the pods."
Harry had a choice to make, he could rush to try and help the people or he could look for the mothership. One issue of the second plan was that the mothership never appeared on the battlefield, and by the time he locates it, it may already be too late. And so he was left with the former. The Destroyer's consciousness agreed wholeheartedly, always up for violence.
"Hold on, Hermione." He told her in her mind. "I'll be there soon."
Harry couldn't do magic while in the armour and therefore couldn't call upon the Bifrost and so he had to find an alternative way to go to Scotland before his people were slaughtered.
Phasing the armour to an atomic level, Harry passed right through the ceiling of the ritual chamber and then through the roof without any trouble. The armour returned to normal once he was now in the open and then with a sonic boom, it rocketed towards New York, faster than any plane on Earth.
The journey which would have normally taken almost five hours was covered in ten minutes and he soon found the island of Manhattan coming in hot as he made a beeline for the Sanctum. He didn't bother slowing down but instead phased as he reached the warded mansion. He passed through the wards and the roof before solidifying just as he reached the floor, landing with a clang of metal.
Shevaun and her new apprentice were standing in the entrance hall carrying the girl's bags, clearly having just arrived.
"I need a portal to Hogwarts." Harry projected directly in Shevaun's mind. "Now!"
Shevaun didn't hesitate, immediately conjuring a portal under his feet and he sunk through only to appear, moments later above Hogwarts. The situation he found wasn't as fire as he had feared, the wizards and witches had managed to keep the chitauri from surrounding the castle, somehow forcing them to come at it from one direction, the Quidditch pitch. The defenders were on a raised platform, picking off the invaders as they tried to climb towards the castle.
There were those at the front fighting the ones on the ground, while there were others up in the castle sniping the ones flying. The combined forces were managing to keep the hundreds of chitauri from reaching the castle but even from his position, Harry could see that they were advancing despite their best efforts. If he didn't do something soon, they would be overrun, but that is exactly what he had come for.
The armour shifted eagerly, not even needing Harry's direction as the arms transformed into long and deadly looking swords. And then he joined the fray. First he took care of the flying chitauri. Flying lower, Harry engaged them, the Destroyer's sword arms slicing through them without any trouble. He blitzed through them at such a speed that he was barely visible. He spun around, slicing dozens with one spin, before turning around and simply running over their little flying crafts that exploded on contact. In less than a minute, he had killed hundreds, and soon all the flying chitauri.
And so he turning to those on the ground. The defenders had been pushed back, almost at the castle walls now while the chitauri kept advancing, completely disregarding their own that were killed. And so Harry flew down, and landed in the middle of the army with a crunch of bones and flesh as about half a dozen were crushed under his weight as the armour revelled in the violence.
Harry didn't bother suppressing it this time and left it to do what it was made for. It was almost laughable how the Destroyer made short work of the chitauri. It killed by dozens, one clean sweep of its massive sword-arms killing a dozen before it crushed even more by its massive feet. None came close to it, their attacks from the energy rifles splashing on its body with no effect.
There was a bit of a lull as all the ones around it had been killed and that was when it unleashed it's most destructive attack. The visor which had been closed this entire time opened, and it took a few seconds to charge its attack, but when it did, the beam that erupted from its face made even the defenders gape. The concentrated energy erupted from the Destroyer, curving through the chitauri like they didn't exist, not even leaving behind ash. It moved its head from one end of the grounds to the other and killed hundreds.
Not a single chitauri was left on that part of the grounds, only the ones behind it that were attacking the defendants.
When the Destroyer turned around and prepared to unleash its beam again, Harry stepped in this time and suppressed it. After seeing the destruction it had wrought, he had no doubt his people would be caught in the blast. As a matter of fact, he couldn't guarantee that the castle would be spared either.
And so he fell on the remaining chitauri with his bladed arms. The defenders also started pushing back, now that victory was within their grasp. Between the Destroyer and the defenders, the remaining chitauri were caught in a pincer attack and within a minute, they had been crushed and soon the grounds erupted in cheers as the battle ended. Hogwarts had been defended, and not a single life was lost.
Harry briefly wondered what his other self was going through. The fact that he hadn't tried to reconnect with him yet meant that whatever he was dealing with was very serious. He just hoped it wouldn't end up with him becoming king of Asgard, he had enough responsibilities as it is.
-TRNT-
AN: Like I said, I shall be using both the comics and the MCU. My Chitauri are from the MCU and the Black Order as you will see next chapter are from the comics. Next chapter will be action packed, and hopefully will be coming earlier than this one did.
Also I've been wondering something, could Thanos beat the Destroyer? And I don't mean the weak scraps of metal we saw in the MCU, rather the comics Destroyer, a weapon made specifically to fight the Celestials, not that it was very successful but still...
So my question is if Comics Thanos could beat the comics Destroyer. Especially if its being occupied by someone as powerful as Harry.