Several days earlier.
"I want... the Bifrost!"
Hermione spoke slowly, a flicker of fanaticism in her eyes.
"Impossible!"
Loki refused immediately, without a moment's hesitation.
The Bifrost was the foundation of Asgard. Its deterrent power was second only to Odin himself, and in certain circumstances, even Odin might not inspire as much fear as the Bifrost.
He had brought the Frost Giants in to give himself a reason to wipe them out, not to actually betray his country.
Besides, even if he agreed, Odin never would.
Hermione knew he would never agree.
Even if he were willing to hand it over, she couldn't carry away something that enormous.
"Relax. I can't take the Bifrost with me. I only want to use it..." Hermione paused. "To destroy Jotunheim!"
Loki's smile slowly faded as he stared at her in disbelief.
He suddenly felt a twinge of regret.
He had thought he was crazy enough already. He hadn't expected this witch from Midgard to be a hundred times crazier than he was!
Hermione seemed to see right through his thoughts and smiled faintly.
"It's all right. Take your time thinking it over."
She pulled a crystal ball from inside her clothes and placed it in front of Loki.
"But before you decide, you'd better look at this."
Loki looked at the crystal ball in confusion. It was completely blank inside.
"What is this?"
He asked.
"Some... interesting scenes."
Hermione drew a mass of glowing white threads from her mind and placed them inside the crystal ball.
Ripples immediately spread through the crystal ball, and blurry images began to appear.
Loki watched curiously, but as the images grew clearer, his expression grew uglier.
He saw...
He saw something that filled him with utter horror.
It was...
Back in the present.
"A pleasure working with