“On one hand, you don’t want to stand out too much. You’ll end up sparring with him or wake up in a test tube. Though on the other hand, we do have dental.”

Researcher Jones during the THNX Company Manager Performance Review

It is difficult to predict a cataclysm. Even more difficult to prepare for one without being seen as mad. So, when Loki was tasked by the gods to seal a dangerous substance with his controversial patented dimensionmancy, he believed his genius was finally being recognized.

Being turned against and imprisoned in your own research might infuriate some, but Loki holds it as a point of pride that it only took him 4214 years to escape. In his time away, denizens of Valhalla have not been kind in their writings and whispers about the God of Schemes. Though Loki himself much prefers the term “Strategy.”

The bards sing of the night he cheated 12 demiurges out of their elemental schematics during the annual pantheon pot-luck poker night. Loki denies any foul play, chalking things up to patience and keen eyes. The scholars tell of how he infused heroes and beats with condemned titan blood. The “R.A.G. Research,” he promises, will yield worthwhile results in the years to come. And the secretaries murmur the tale of how he rearranged the realm bridges with portals to evade Heimdall’s wrath after he stole the Gjallarhorn for an emergency alert test. Loki could only nod and admit that one was pretty fun.

“My brother and I may not always see eyes-to-eye, but in time I believe he will understand. Everyone will.”

Loki to a worried Thor, Hugin, and Munin

But for all of his supposed mischief and misdeeds, Loki willingly returns to Terminus when not collecting data in the Grand Tournament or tinkering on a personal project in the forgotten Brawlcade. There, away from scrutinizing glares, he can continue to refine his knowledge and skills in preparation for what’s to come. Despite what others think, he knows that all ends will justify the means.