Chapter 51: 51
Liam was soon brought up to speed on what was going on. After Thor was exiled, Loki wanted to be the hero, and since their father Odin went to sleep, he hatched a more vicious plan than Thor ever could.
He decided to kill Laufey, imprison Thor, and also kill the Frost Giants using the help of people from Earth. He was trying to kill two birds with one stone. If he succeeded in doing that, he would be regarded as a hero. He was already hailed as a great king since he had killed Laufey in the Golden Palace, and now he just needed to get rid of the Frost Giants.
Unlike the original story, where he just wanted to destroy Jotunheim, he wanted to kill the people living there instead. Liam didn't expect that changing the future of Earth would not only affect Earth but also the whole universe. This wasn't looking good for Liam at all.
As Liam absorbed the weight of the situation, he was about to voice his thoughts when a sudden hum of energy filled the air. Liam made his way to the lawn, where he saw a sleek figure descending from above.
The armored newcomer stood tall, clad in a suit that was neither entirely Stark-tech nor fully mystical—a fusion of the Storm javelin's elemental prowess and the sleek, cutting-edge design of Iron Man's Mark armor. The plating gleamed in the light, its form lined with pulsating arcane sigils, while a faint crackle of static energy lingered around him.
The newcomer straightened, his helmet folding back just enough to reveal Tony Stark's unmistakable smirk.
"Well, well, looks like I walked into the middle of a mythology lecture. Hope I didn't miss the part where we blame everything on the trickster god." His tone was casual, but his eyes flicked to Liam for the briefest second—just enough for Liam to catch the silent message. Tony couldn't acknowledge him as a friend. Not here. Not now.
"Who are you?" Thor asked.
"Iron Mage. Thought I'd drop in and see what all the godly fuss is about," Tony replied. While the Norse men were impressed by the new mechanical warrior that had just presented himself, the Earthlings were stunned.
"What—who—what am I even looking at?" Jane was the first to react. "That's Iron Mage, right?"
"Oh my God. Are we in a comic book now? First, we get a space Viking, and now we have the famous Iron Mage, with his new armor." Darcy pulled out her phone, aiming it at Tony. "This is going on my Twitter—wait, do I even have signal out here?"
"That technology… it shouldn't be possible," Dr. Selvig muttered, taking an instinctive step forward. His analytical mind was already breaking down the design. "That's definitely Stark's work… but this—this is something else entirely. It's almost… mystical. I thought they exaggerated when I read the reports of Iron Mage, but seeing is believing, I guess."
"Oh, good. I was hoping for a proper dramatic entrance. And here I thought the Viking was going to steal all the attention." He turned his head slightly toward Thor before looking back at Jane and the others.
"Okay, but seriously, what are you doing here?" Jane finally shook her head.
"Fury called him, why won't he call me?" Tony said as he pointed at Liam.
"You both know each other?" Darcy asked.
"We have met before." Tony didn't want to open the can of worms and just stopped there.
"We don't have time for pleasantries or banter, Iron Mage, Wraithborn. Loki declared his intent to attack Earth in three days. He aims to bring an army of Frost Giants with him—not just to reclaim the realm, but to unleash chaos upon this world. He desires my imprisonment and believes that through conquest, he can prove himself as an unyielding hero."
"And I am guessing giving you back to your brother isn't on the table?" Tony said.
"I would gladly give myself away if it would mean an end to any war, but we have a spy on Asgard who revealed to us that even if we give up Thor, he would still unleash war upon Midgard," Horlun said.
"Who is the spy?" Liam asked.
"Heimdall. He too is in prison for going against King Loki," Volstagg said.
"I feel like this brother of yours has more ulterior motives by attacking us with a borrowed hand," Tony said while sitting down at the table and sipping coffee, which Darcy had happily brewed for him in exchange for a selfie. Nobody paid attention to her at all, though.
"How big is his army?" Liam asked.
"It wouldn't be too many. When we attacked Jotunheim, there weren't many, and our rough estimate is around 600 to 700 normal-sized Giants, with maybe 100 ultra-big Frost Giants. If it were a normal time, Thor would be enough to take them down, but sadly, he hasn't received approval from Mjolnir yet," Fandral spoke up for the first time, as he seemed to have been busy chugging down beer since the start.
"There are ultra-big giants too?" Tony muttered. JARVIS had given him a briefing while he was on the way here, and the more he learned, the more he was surprised. Not surprised by the mythology, but by the fact that he would have to now accept that mythology was real.
He was still having a hard time accepting the fact that he was conversing with aliens, and now there was another alien species. This world was turning way too fast.
"Wraithborn... As an ancient human, can you call upon a legion of warriors and help us save Midgard?" Thor asked.
"Thor, you think too highly of me. I am probably the last of my bloodline, and I don't have authority. But the man with the patch outside has quite a bit of power over humans. You can convince him to help you fight the Frost Giants. But he can't be trusted 100%. There is a chance he will push you toward your brother if the situation goes south," Liam said. Tony's eyes squinted when Liam said he was the last of the bloodline.
As far as he knew, his family tree was exceptionally normal. So what was Liam talking about? He would have to ask him later.