Marvel: Starting as a Time Criminal, Stealing Powers

Loki had expected a face full of remorse, but the result was the exact opposite.

Russell wore an expression of confusion. He turned his head and looked at Thor.

"Did I hear that wrong?"

Thor crossed his arms and shook his head.

Originally, he thought this "civilian" would just apologize, and he wouldn't let Loki take it further.

But now, he felt this situation could be used to establish some authority.

Loki caught Thor's intent and immediately perked up. He turned back with a wide, "sincere" smile:

"Hehe~"

"I didn't catch that clearly just now. Mind repeating it?"

As he spoke, the green glow of magic flickered behind his back, forming in his palm.

As long as the other party dared to insult him again, he wouldn't hesitate to slap him into next week.

Russell tilted his head and suddenly said:

"Actually… I might've just saved your life."

What kind of insult is that? Loki froze, trying to make sense of it.

Saved my life?

What does that even mean?

Russell saw the confusion in Loki's eyes and smiled.

"Don't get it?"

"It's okay. You'll understand now."

"Go!"

Without warning, he slapped Loki—hard.

With a scream, Loki slammed into the porthole window.

Yep. That familiar sound and feel.

Thor was stunned.

Sure, Loki was kind of a joke sometimes… but even so!

He hadn't even been able to react before getting slapped?

That definitely wasn't a regular Asgardian.

"Who are you!?" Thor demanded, stepping protectively in front of the nearby passengers.

Heimdall and Valkyrie immediately drew their weapons, eyes locked on Russell.

Russell didn't answer. He simply grinned.

"Friendly tip: never accept an eye from a raccoon."

"See you next time."

As the words left his mouth, he stepped back into an orange portal that appeared behind him—disappearing just as Hulk leapt toward him and landed on empty air.

Silence filled the cabin.

The bizarre encounter left everyone wide-eyed and speechless.

After a long pause, Thor muttered:

"I hate raccoons. Why would I take their eye?"

"Ridiculous."

The crisis was over, and the Thor who was all brawn and no brain returned.

His one remaining eye gleamed with "wisdom."

Heimdall sighed.

He was fairly certain Thor didn't even know what a raccoon was.

Just then, a furious voice rang out.

Loki pulled himself off the reinforced glass, his face twisted with rage.

He hated that feeling—that complete loss of control over his own body.

But when he looked up again… the mysterious man had already vanished, as if he'd never been there at all.

Loki clutched the right side of his face and nearly cried.

Gone!?

Was I slapped for nothing!?

Void Realm

Russell stepped out of the portal.

The whole thing with the spaceship was just a test—for him to observe whether people who should have died would appear in the Void or continue along the original timeline.

Now, he began to reflect on the failure of the operation.

Asgard exploded. Both Surtur and Hela died. He participated in the event—but didn't receive any system entries.

Clearly, his previous theory that "just being involved" would earn system rewards was wrong.

He carefully recalled what happened right after his original arrival in this world.

He crushed Killian to death. Killian had killed Iron Man just moments before.

Since Russell had killed Killian, earning the entry made sense.

But Iron Man?

Russell didn't kill Tony Stark himself—yet still received an entry from his death.

He thought for a moment.

"So... is it about significant influence?"

"I played a key role in Iron Man's death. Without me, Tony wouldn't have died."

"But during Ragnarök, even if I hadn't existed, Hela and Surtur still would've died."

Russell nodded to himself. That had to be it.

Otherwise, if simply showing up to a major event guaranteed an entry, he could just coast through the timeline and collect powerful abilities without effort.

Imagine just tossing a spell during the Titan battle in Infinity War, or the final fight in Endgame. With all those deaths—Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, Thanos, Star-Lord, members of the Black Order...

He could've farmed them all!

Worse yet, he could probably repeat it.

"Yeah... that would've been too broken."

Russell sighed—not out of regret, but because his previous idea had been too naïve.

If just being present wasn't enough, then he had to find ways to make it count.

He definitely couldn't rely on showing up at the very end of events like Ragnarök.

Hela didn't really die in Asgard, and Surtur was useless without the Eternal Flame.

So if he wanted system entries, he had to step in earlier.

But that introduced another risk.

The closer he got to changing critical points in time, the more likely he was to trigger a time branch.

"Time branch...?"

Suddenly, Russell froze.

His mind lit up like a thunderbolt. He'd just realized something important.

When he first arrived—TVA hadn't shown up immediately.

They only came after Tony Stark died.

Meaning...

So long as he didn't interfere with certain people's fates, the TVA might not trigger a time branch at all!

And if that was the case...

Why couldn't Kang the Conqueror—the "He Who Remains"—find him?

That man had a machine that could predict everything. We saw it at the end of Loki.

So why didn't Kang come after him directly?

Why send Cassandra?

Why didn't TVA agents jump through a portal the moment Russell entered the Void?

Russell narrowed his eyes.

Maybe... as a time traveler, he was unique in the timeline.

Maybe the threshold for what triggered a time branch was simply different for him.

"No matter what, I'll just have to try it and see."

Without hesitation, Russell locked in new coordinates, opened another portal, and stepped inside.

Inside the Grandmaster's ship

Loki returned to his private cabin and looked in the mirror. He winced.

Earlier, he had used illusion magic to blend in with the crowd.

Now that the disguise had faded, his swollen right cheek was clearly visible.

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Loki growled:

"Damn it... if I see that bastard again, I'll—"

"Do what exactly?"

A casual voice interrupted him from inside the room.

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