Loki sat there as Thor asked him about his knowledge about the Infinity Stones. With his eye patch and white beard, Loki answered him with basic information which Thor already knew.
"The stones are eternal my son. They were formed at the beginning of existence and will continue to exist long after all other life has been extinguished," he said.
"Yes, but father I already know that. What happens if someone collects them all, and where are they all now?"
"We have the Tesseract. Your friend Vision has the Mind Stone. The Reality Gem was sent off to The Collector, and I believe the Time Gem is on Midgard as well. The Power Gem is currently housed on a world beyond the Nine Realms, called Xandar. It is in safe keeping. I do not know exactly where the Soul Stone currently resides. Its location is still a mystery, though I have a few theories."
"Is there anyone else that knows this much about the locations of all these stones?"
"There is one. A man named Thanos, who is intent on collecting them. I've been watching him from afar. He is a misguided man, powerful, and he means to unmake existence because he believes it is the right thing to do. He doesn't know where all of them are either."
"That puts my mind at ease, but I worry that he may find the Soul Stone before we do. Collecting them all would be a hard task, but not impossible for a man that already possesses one."
"Quite true. Which is why you should set out now to defeat Thanos before he gets his hands on even one of the stones."
"Tell me where I might find him," Thor said.
"On the far side of the galaxy, beyond the Nine Realms, in a part of space known locally as the Shadow Lands. Heimdall will send you there. I bid you good luck my son," Loki said. Thor placed his fist over his heart and bowed to his father and king before turning and taking off for the Bifrost. Loki smiled. His dimwitted brother was off to destroy his biggest threat and competition. The two stones on Midgard were guarded by a machine and a mortal. They would be easy to obtain. Loki stood up and walked to the weapons vault. Now was the moment to make his move.
He grabbed the gauntlet, and pulled it onto his right hand. He summoned the Tesseract from its pedestal and the cube transformed into a little pebble of a stone before filling up a slot on the golden glove. Loki reached into his pocket then and pulled out a red shard. Back on Svartleheim, during the Convergence, the Reality Stone had shattered briefly into hundreds of tiny pieces. Jane and Thor were too distracted to notice that he'd snatched a piece for himself. He held it now. With this tiny piece, he summoned the rest from the little red box in the Collector's home. The massive red cloud erupted from thin air filling the room, before being sucked into a slot on the glove as well. The Tesseract could transport him long distances and the Reality Gem would let him walk through walls. Loki snapped his fingers and transported himself to Xandar.
Alarms sounded the moment he arrived. He was in a white room, and the Power Gem was hovering in a little silver sphere inside a tiny vault. Loki reached through the wall and snatched it up.
"Too easy," he said with a smirk. A door opened and soldiers flooded the room. "Ta ta," he said, and disappeared.
His next target was a magician playing at being a sorcerer. Though he held the man in contempt, he also knew he'd need to be quick. He tried to teleport directly into the vault where the stone was kept, but hit a barrier.
"Bugger," he muttered. It was no matter. It only slowed him down, a little. A slight readjustment of his spell, and boom, he was inside. But the stone was not there.
"Looking for this?" Dr. Strange asked.
"No, why would you think that?" he asked, being sarcastic. Bright golden circles appeared from Dr. Strange's hands. They were magic shields. How cute. Loki waved his hand and a beam of purple light blasted Dr. Strange from existence. The Time Gem fell to the ground with a loud clank.
"Amateur," he said. He summoned the stone to him and another slot filled. "On to the next one," he said. Loki was about to snap his fingers, but then decided to leave a parting gift. He conjured a Ring Pop and put it on the pedestal for the next person to find, laughing as he moved on to his next target.
Taking the Mind Stone from Vision was even easier. With another snap of his fingers, Loki froze time. He strolled up to the mechanical man and studied his face. He noticed then, a pretty redhead standing in front of the stove, cooking something. He could sense her power, given to her by the stone that resided in Vision's forehead.
"Aren't you an interesting creature? I'll come back for you later, darling," he said. "I think it's long past time I reclaim what belongs to me," he said. He reached up and ripped the stone out of Vision's skull. Vision did not move. He was still frozen in time. Loki shoved the Mind Gem into the gauntlet, leaving only one slot left empty.
He didn't know where the Soul Gem was. But now that he had most of them, it was only a matter of time before the last one was his. Now, his true reign of power could begin.
