Thor hadn't actually died. After his younger brother Loki locked him in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s special prison and dropped it from high altitude, he escaped from the prison just as it hit the ground! That was the protagonist's immortality kicking in. If you were the protagonist, you just couldn't die!
Just look: back at S.H.I.E.L.D., Thor had tried to smash through the prison's special glass with his hammer and failed. But the moment the prison hit the ground, he burst right through it with ease. That was the protagonist effect, and you just had to accept it!
Of course, Thor had sensed the upheaval in New York, so he'd arrived a while ago. He'd planned to go help Captain America and the others first, but after seeing Annie in action, he'd gone straight to the rooftop to find his younger brother, the evil god Loki.
"Loki! Hurry and close the portal. It's not too late to stop this! I'll plead your case to our father!" Atop Stark Tower, Thor was fighting his younger brother, the evil god Loki.
He slammed his hammer into Loki's scepter, forcing him back, then tried to appeal to him with reason and their brotherly bond. He wanted Loki to come to his senses and, ideally, close the portal himself before he caused an even graver, irreversible mistake.
Things had already gone this far. No matter how it ended, once Thor brought Loki back to Asgard, severe punishment for his crimes would be unavoidable! Thor could only hope that Loki would come to his senses soon and lessen his guilt, instead of continuing to make one mistake after another.
However, Loki didn't appreciate his brother's good intentions! Instead, he used the force of Thor's hammer blow to leap backward onto a higher platform atop the tower. Looking down at Thor, he sneered. "Too late, my brother! It can't be closed anymore!"
Whether it really couldn't be closed, perhaps only Loki himself knew! Or maybe he simply didn't want to close it.
For Loki, who spent all his time dreaming of becoming king, the kingdom of Asgard was out of reach. Odin, that stubborn old man who played favorites, would never give him the slightest chance, so he'd settled for Earth instead.
Now, after all the trouble he'd gone to to open the Space Gate and let his Chitauri army descend, he was on the verge of victory. With the spoils of triumph nearly in his grasp, how could he possibly give it all up because of a few words from Thor?
His lust for power had long since blinded Loki. All he could see now was the supreme authority about to fall into his hands. With the Chitauri army at his back, he would soon rule Earth and become the sole king of all humanity! He would reign here forever. Countless humans would grovel at his feet, and Loki would become a true god!
"Stop this, Loki!" Seeing that Loki still wouldn't repent, Thor leaped into the air and launched himself at him! He failed to notice the sly smile at the corner of Loki's mouth as he stood at the edge of the platform, pleased that his plan was working.
"Down you go, dear brother!" Seeing Thor hurtling toward him with Mjolnir in hand, Loki didn't panic. He pretended to block the attack, then dodged aside at the moment of impact. Using his scepter to guide the hammer, he led Thor past the platform's edge and kicked him in the small of the back, sending him straight off Stark Tower.
"Ahhh!!"
Thor lost his balance and plunged from the top of Stark Tower. A fall from that height wouldn't be fatal to a powerful Asgardian like him, but he was sure to feel dizzy and miserable after the landing. He might even suffer a minor injury.
"Now nobody's left to get in my way."
Loki watched his brother Thor fall with satisfaction. All he had to do was wait a little longer for the portal to expand enough to let the Chitauri mothership through. Once tens or even hundreds of millions of Chitauri arrived on Earth, final victory would belong to him—the evil god Loki!
"Not so fast!"
"Who?!"
Hearing a little girl's clear voice from behind him, Loki turned around warily. There, floating a short distance away, was a little girl surrounded by a fiery red Lava Shield. It was little Annie, of course.
"You're a... mage?" Loki was shocked. The powerful magical aura surrounding the little girl told him she was a powerful mage! Since when did Earth have mages this powerful? Why had he never heard of her?
He'd been so focused on fighting his brother Thor that he hadn't noticed when the little girl had made her way up here. The energy coming from the Space Stone above them had been so overwhelming that he'd failed to detect her in time.
"Fire! Shatterfire!" Annie didn't give him a chance to think.
Annie knew that this Loki was a mage, too. Though he hadn't looked much like a competent mage in the combat footage she'd seen last time, striking first was always the right move! Her mother had told her that the best way to deal with a mage was to make sure they had no chance to cast a spell. A mage who couldn't cast spells was the easiest kind to deal with.
So Annie flung several Shatterfire spells at him. Before the fireballs could reach their target, she also spread her hands toward him. Magic surged in her palms, and a torrent of blazing flames followed the fireballs, sweeping toward Loki!
"Incinerate!"
These were Annie's signature moves. By compressing their powerful magical flames, she could burn everything in front of her to ashes. She figured that after two attacks, he'd probably be burnt to a crisp. Then she could go claim the Space Stone in peace.
"Huh? He's actually fine..."
"Damn! That was close." As the flames died down, Loki was on one knee, bracing himself with his scepter. Blue magical energy pulsed from it, and a translucent blue circular shield centered on the scepter protected him completely.
Annie's flames had melted and crystallized the surrounding concrete walls and floor, but they hadn't hurt Loki at all! It had been a close call for him. If his scepter hadn't activated the shield in time, he might have been burned to ashes.
"Now it's my turn!" Loki stood up and narrowed his eyes at Annie. Then he thrust his scepter forward, firing more than a dozen blue Arcane Orbs. They exploded around Annie, and a surge of powerful blue magical energy engulfed her.
"Are you an Arcane mage?" When the energy dissipated, Annie hadn't been hurt at all.
That level of attack hadn't harmed Annie. She was still protected by a Lava Shield formed from concentrated fiery energy! But to her, the energy Loki was using looked a lot like the Arcane energy she knew, though there seemed to be a slight difference. That was why she'd asked.
"Hmph!" Loki didn't answer. He flicked his hand and unleashed another Arcane Barrage, sending even more Arcane Orbs to engulf the spot where Annie stood.
He was trying to break Annie's shield and take out the mage girl who'd suddenly appeared as quickly as possible. Otherwise, his brother Thor might recover and climb back up before long. Loki couldn't take on Thor and a powerful fire mage at the same time.
"I'm over here! Take this!" By the time the Arcane Barrage ended, Loki's spell had blasted a small section off the rooftop of Stark Tower. But Annie wasn't there. She wasn't foolish enough to stand still and let him hit her!
Annie had flashed to another spot long ago. She flung another fireball at Loki, but this one was much bigger—at least five times the size of an ordinary Shatterfire spell! And she didn't stop after one. Annie kept hurling more and more enormous fireballs at him, until flames swallowed the entire side of Stark Tower's rooftop where Loki stood...
Annie had never been afraid of powerful enemies. As far as she was concerned, if one fireball didn't solve the problem, use two. If two weren't enough, use five. And if five still didn't do it, then the fireballs weren't big enough—you needed bigger ones! Fireballs the size of washbasins, hurled right in your face. How scary was that?
"Huh? He's still fine? How's that possible?" Annie stared at him in disbelief! Half the rooftop had melted into lava under her magic, yet Loki still stood there, grinning smugly, protected by that same blue magical shield.
"Ha! I get it! There's something strange about your scepter!"
At first, Annie had been shocked that none of her attacks had worked. Nothing like this had ever happened before! She knew even the strongest shield had a limit, and that included her own Lava Shield. From her perspective, Loki shouldn't have been able to withstand those attacks. He should have either run or been done for!
But now she'd discovered that he could just stand there and take several of her attacks without a scratch. That was strange! At first, Annie had been startled. If he really was that powerful, she might have to figure out how to escape.
After sensing things more carefully, she realized something was off... The shield itself wasn't that powerful. The scepter that created it was. It could continuously supply energy to the shield, and as long as the energy kept coming, the shield wouldn't break. But the shield seemed to have one limitation: he couldn't move while using it!
Now that she'd figured out the trick, Annie had plenty of ways to deal with him. That's right! He was just an Arcane mage hiding behind a turtle shell. If she thought about it, she'd come up with something! First, she'd have to work out how to play with him a little longer. She hadn't run into such a fun opponent in ages! Lately, Annie had come up with several strange new fire spells. This was the perfect chance to test them out.
"Annie! Nuclear bomb!!!" A familiar voice came from above the rooftop.
Annie had just been about to switch to another spell to deal with the difficult Loki when she heard Coulson, who'd sneaked over to the Space Device and was trying to close the portal, shouting anxiously at her. As he yelled, he pointed at a small bright spot speeding toward Stark Tower in the sky. Iron Man Tony was following behind it, but from his speed, he seemed to be struggling. Annie wasn't sure if he'd catch up in time.
"Fried egg? Egg in a pouch?!" Annie didn't understand why Uncle Coulson was thinking about food at a time like this! She was seriously fighting an enemy! If he wanted a fried egg, couldn't he wait until they got back and ask Aunt Melinda to make one?
"Not a fried egg! A nuclear bomb! Ah, no! A nuke! A big bomb! Over there!!!" Coulson was so flustered he could only keep pointing in the same direction, urging Annie to look.
It was a tactical nuclear bomb launched under orders from the World Security Council. Since the Chitauri invasion had begun, the military had been slow to react, while the Avengers had continued fighting and seemed to be holding their own. Yet some people had suddenly stepped forward and ordered a nuclear bomb dropped right in the heart of New York City, without regard for civilian casualties! There was a lot to ponder there. Perhaps they wanted to wipe out the aliens in one fell swoop—and the Avengers along with them?
"Ah? Oh! A bomb that tastes like a fried egg..." Annie couldn't quite make out what Coulson was saying, but she'd understood the general idea.
Annie frowned at the missile as it drew closer and closer. She didn't know what a nuclear bomb was, but she knew about bombs. Why did they come in different flavors, though? Humans on Earth were so hard to understand!
Looking at the way Uncle Coulson was shouting in a panic, maybe this flavor of bomb was dangerous? Fine! If so, she'd just send it away. That should do the trick, right?
Magic: Banishment!
Annie pointed at the missile. Banishment took effect, sending it straight into a Demiplane she knew. There, time didn't exist, and space was frozen. The instant the missile entered, it was held perfectly still!
Banishment spells could generally drive away demons and other creatures from different planes, and they were especially effective against summoned creatures! They could send them back to their original planes, or banish certain inanimate objects into random planes, designated demiplanes, or other spaces between worlds.
All done! After dealing with the bomb, Annie immediately flashed to another spot without a second thought. A barrage of Arcane Orbs engulfed the place where she'd been standing. That evil god Loki had actually tried to sneak up on her! Not a chance! Now that she'd dealt with the fried egg, she could turn around and deal with him in peace. Hmph!
The sudden disappearance of the nuclear bomb caught Iron Man Tony, who'd been carrying it, completely off guard. Unable to slow down in time, he crashed straight into Stark Tower. Fortunately, it was his building, so he didn't need to worry about anyone demanding compensation. But he'd probably still have to pay for the repairs himself.
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