Wanda's First Battle, Hydra Loki

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"Oops, blocked! What's that thing in the sky?"

Gwen turned his head to the side, noticing clearly what was blocking his view. He asked hesitantly, "Is this your battleship?"

"No! Asgard doesn't have such warships! We have Bifrost, there's no need for inefficient means of transportation like battleships," Sif responded with a touch of pride.

Although Asgard does have simulation courses for driving many types of space battleships, they didn't originally build them.

Because, in their eyes, there's no need!

As long as there's a need, the Rainbow Bridge, Bifrost, is enough to handle both transportation and attacks.

They consider space battleships of alien civilizations to be a sign of backwardness. Why make such things?

"Whoa, that must be awesome! Is Bifrost like the myth says?" Gwen said with yearning, his eyes full of envy.

"Definitely! If I get a chance, I'll show you around Asgard and Bifrost," Sif assured him, slapping his chest proudly.

Aaron didn't comment on what Sif said because it was the belief of nearly all Asgardians.

They're gods—the strongest race in existence.

Other technologies, like those of the Kree Empire, Chitauri, etc., no matter how impressive, are still behind.

It's as if they have closed themselves off from the outside world, content only with what they know.

Even if other civilizations demonstrate superior technology, the Asgardians can always find a reason to downplay it. They view those non-Asgardian civilizations—"barbarians"—as inferior, no matter how advanced their products may seem.

"Be careful, they don't seem friendly!" Sif's face turned serious as she grabbed her shield and long sword from behind.

At this moment, more than a dozen smaller warships, identical in shape to the first, flew out from the mysterious warship in the sky.

After rearranging their positions, they aimed their ships directly at them.

Their hostile intentions were clear.

"They're intruders!" Aaron's voice echoed.

The harp began to activate Psychokinesis.

Although she hadn't transformed into Dark Phoenix form, her natural Telepathic abilities made her one of the most powerful mutants in terms of combat effectiveness.

"No need to fire. They won't get through," Aaron said, halting the group before they could act.

Just as the two largest battleships in the sky approached, they collided with an invisible shield. The ships exploded into balls of fire upon impact.

The rear battleships slowed, but over half of them failed to react in time and collided with the ships in front.

The remaining ships finally broke off and, after circling for a moment, fired their energy beams in unison at the shield.

The beams hit the transparent barrier, causing it to ripple slightly on impact.

Then, the real form of the shield emerged—a hemispherical golden energy shield, hundreds of meters in radius, completely enveloping its target.

Even with all their firepower, they wouldn't be able to break through.

This shield was Aaron's creation, akin to the Golden Hall's protective mechanism. It wasn't as durable as the Golden Hall's but was still effective enough against a few dark elf warships.

The enemy warships saw this development and immediately deployed dozens more ships, intent on breaking through.

They were determined to take the target down for its Aetherparticles.

As the mothership began descending, Malekith, the dark elf leader, and Agam, the cursed warrior, emerged surrounded by guards.

Another group of soldiers followed suit.

More warships separated from the mothership, reorganizing their formation and firing at the center.

The mothership began attacking the shield, launching a barrage of energy cannons, one after another.

"Aether particles are inside! We must find a way in!" Malekith said, anxiety evident in his voice as he stared at the unyielding shield.

The longer the attack continued, the more likely it was that Asgard would react, and if that happened, only destruction awaited them.

At the same time, to prevent the Bifrost from reaching them, Malekith ordered most of his forces to scatter. Only a few pilots remained to control the mothership.

But continuing like this wasn't an option.

Before they could come up with a solution, Aaron took matters into his own hands—without lifting a finger.

Instead, mysterious runes appeared around him, glowing blue.

Moments later, lightning began to strike from the sky in rapid succession.

In mere minutes, a full-blown lightning storm engulfed the area.

Many of the scattered warships were struck by lightning, exploding in mid-air before falling to the ground.

Malekith watched helplessly as his forces and ships were annihilated.

These were all the remaining assets of the dark elves!

Now was not the time for them to dominate the universe. Each death was another loss.

Meanwhile, Heimdall, ever-watchful of Midgard, noticed the unusual lightning storm. His focus typically remained on Thor and the Eternals, but sometimes his vision would sweep across New York for signs of trouble.

He didn't initially concern himself with Aaron, but when he glanced over, something caught his eye.

The dark elves—weren't they supposed to be extinct?

Heimdall, as the guardian of Asgard, was well-versed in the history of the nine realms, and immediately recognized the dark elves.

His heart skipped a beat. They're back?!

He quickly confirmed the identification by intercepting the dark elves' communications.

"No, the king must be informed!" Heimdall rushed to alert Odin, who was equally stunned by the revelation.

Then Odin remembered something critical.

"Today… the celestial bodies align!"

"Yes, the five major realms are fully prepared," Heimdall confirmed.

"Could they be attempting that old evil plan again?" Odin muttered, recalling ancient texts.

Every five thousand years, the nine realms would align, causing their borders to blur.

If someone harnessed the power of the Ether at the meeting point of the realms, its energy would exponentially increase and could potentially plunge the universe back into darkness.

"If the dark elves possess the Aether particles…"

"I don't know. There's a magical barrier from the God of Magic that's obscuring the Ether's location."

"Send Thor. We need answers!" Odin commanded.

Thor, who had been searching for Loki, was then called upon for this urgent task.

As Heimdall initiated the connection to Thor, he found the god of thunder in a rather odd situation.

Thor was in a small village, merrily drinking and feasting with locals, his laughter echoing through the air.

"Come on, another bowl! Drink to your heart's content!" one villager shouted.

Thor was thoroughly enjoying himself, completely oblivious to the fact that the whole scene was an illusion.

As he drank, the villagers cheered him on, but suddenly, a voice broke through his euphoria.

"What?! Am I hallucinating?" Thor gasped.

Realizing the truth, Thor suddenly felt embarrassed as the entire scene vanished, revealing that everything had been an illusion—one likely created by Loki.

No sooner had the illusion disappeared than Heimdall's urgent voice reached him.

"Thor, return immediately! There's a crisis!"

"Right away," Thor replied, now serious. He activated the Bifrost teleportation.

Once Thor departed, three figures appeared in a dilapidated room. One was tall, and the other two were shorter: a boy and a girl.

At the center was Loki.

"And there she is," Loki said, glancing at Wanda. "Your abilities are impressive. You can now create illusions strong enough to fool even gods. Continue to refine them, and you'll become a formidable force."

Wanda, alongside her brother Quicksilver, stood beside Loki.

Loki had used the Mind Gem to manipulate HYDRA members, eventually taking control of one of their factions. He had eradicated the previous leader, Baron Strucker, and used his influence to manipulate Wanda and Pietro Maximoff.

While Loki had originally intended to control Wanda using the Mind Gem, he realized her resistance to it and shifted tactics. He began manipulating her through his intelligence and persuasive skills.

Now Wanda, who had incredible power over the mind, had surpassed Loki's own magical abilities, much like Aaron had once done.

"Boss, when can we get revenge on Tony Stark?" Wanda asked eagerly.

Both she and Pietro still remembered the missiles bearing Stark's symbol, which they believed were responsible for their parents' deaths.

But Loki wasn't ready to let them loose on the Avengers yet. He needed them to grow stronger first.

"Not yet. You're not strong enough to face them, but your power is still growing," Loki said. "You need to focus on improving your skills. Especially you, Wanda."

"Your potential is immense. You have access to magic beyond what I can teach you. I know someone who could teach you. He's the God of Magic."

Loki had his sights set on Aaron, whose magical abilities far surpassed anything Loki had encountered. If Aaron could train Wanda, she would become an even greater weapon.

Loki was confident that his reign as King of the Gods was inevitable.

He would meet with Aaron soon and negotiate an alliance while securing a powerful magician to add to his ranks.

With his schemes in motion, Loki smiled, already planning his next move.

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