As clichéd as it was to Lotor, he got knocked out from something impacting the ship. Even with the safety precautions that were in the cockpit, the impact from the collision that he couldn't even see caused his body to quickly fall forward and hit his head off the control panel. Guessing from how hard he hit his head, it was enough to knock him out for a while. Lifting a hand to his forehead, he felt something that was partially wet on his skin and was starting to dry up.
Examining his fingers he saw that it was his blood. The light blue colour stained his fingers and yet he didn't worry. With the state that he found the blood in, it was just a small cut that was already starting to clot up. The more concerning thing was the hit that forced him to be knocked out for an unknowable amount of time and might possibly have given him a concussion.
Lotor didn't need to be out of fights because of something he could have prevented.
Which gave way to him questioning what had hit the ship. It had to be something larger or otherwise the ship wouldn't have lurched like it did. The second question is how something so big could have gotten past him or the radars that the ship had without raising any alarms. As he slowly came to his senses, Lotor started to look around in the cockpit.
Seeing one of the other gladiators that was assisting him in piloting sitting in a pool in their own blood a foot or so away from him should have made him more concerned. But the way his mind was processing everything in the moment it felt like there was a layer of clothing over his senses. It didn't matter that someone he knew was dead. All that mattered was that something came onto the ship and was still on the ship if he wasn't lying on a cot in the medbay being treated.
Quickly as he could, Lotor got up from his chair and moved towards the door. Grabbing the sword that Loki had given him, Lotor ripped a piece of cloth from the gladiator on the floor and made a makeshift sling to hang the sword on his back. It would be dangerous to carry his weapon around where someone could knock it out of his hand. While he had adapted to his Altean form while fighting, the unknown entity on the ship wasn't making him confident that he could use his new body like his Galra body.
He could see more of the people he had gotten to know over the last few weeks laying on the ground with multiple wounds on their body. The look in their eyes as he silently walked past their bodies confirmed that they were dead and Lotor couldn't do anything help them, even if he wanted to.
As the bodies started to pile up the closer he got to the center of the ship the more concerned he got. The clothing that was seemingly held over his senses started to go away the more horrified he got at the situation he found himself in. While Galra soldiers he had come into contact were more violent than he would like them to be, he had never seen something like this.
Except when he was young and had walked onto one of Zarkon's meetings. The soldiers that were usually standing around his father's throne were on the ground with multiple cuts and wounds on their bodies as blood poured out, staining the usually clean floor with a giant of an unknown alien standing over their corpses. It was a ghastly sight for a younger him and it was made worse that it was one of the few times Zarkon was concerned about him, even if it was to protect the future of the Galra Empire.
Even Zarkon didn't want to ally up with Thanos nor did he want his son to either from what he remembered. The Titan looked down at him curiously when he noticed Lotor had entered the room and almost seemed like he wanted to give him attention that he desperately wanted. Still Zarkon stepped in front of his son and growled at the Titan to leave.
It was one of the few instances that Lotor was glad Zarkon was his father and not someone else.
As he made his way through the last hallway, he could hear shouts and the sounds of a fight going on in the giant room. Peering around the corner the sight that he saw horrified him even more. Thanos stood in the middle of the room and took every single hit that Thor sent his way. Lotor could also see that most of the Asgardians were piled on each other, not moving or giving any signs that they were alive.
Behind one of these horrible piles of bodies was Bruce Banner kneeling and watching the fight going on. Lotor knew that the Midgardian was trying to gauge when he should enter the fight as the Hulk, but it was startling to see that someone he knew making it this far during the admiss of the Titan's madness. Even Zarkon had some difficulties when fighting with Thanos despite living as a fighter for most of his life.
Turning his attention back to the fight, he saw the smirk on the Titan's face before he unleashed the power of the one stone he had on his golden glove. Thor flew away from him at an incredible speed and hit one of the walls extremely hard. The sounded echoed as Thanos looked over the damage he and his children had caused.
Lotor was beyond mad that someone like Thanos being given such power and using it for a cause that would aid nobody in the slightest.
As he was about to turn the corner to show Thanos what he really thought of him, Hulk came rampaging from behind the pile of bodies and went for Thanos. Lotor watched as the Hulk managed to get the Titan to hit the ground. With that he started to sneak around the room, trying to see if he could find others that were well enough to escape from the situation. Lotor knew that fighting against Thanos now wasn't a good plan and wouldn't benefit anyone at all.
The ground shook as one of them fell and Lotor had found Heimdall. The Asgardian was on the ground leaning against a pile with a giant cut going through his torso. The bleeding was slow, but Lotor knew that without proper stitching that he would die.
As he silently kneeled next to Heimdall, he saw shock on those golden eyes. It made it more difficult for Lotor to lean over his body to hear him talk.
"I'm guessing that you know who Thanos is." Heimdall breathed out, his voice sounding whispery.
"I've met him a few times before being banished by my father. He wasn't someone my father wanted to get close to for many reasons. Namely that he would bring down the Galra Empire if he got all of the Infinity Stones." Lotor replied back as quietly as he could. "It would be best that we have some sort of a plan before the Hulk is beaten."
"The only thing that I can do is summon up enough magic to send somebody to Midgard to warn the Avengers that Thanos will come for them soon. They will need to protect the Infinity Stones that they have in their care." Heimdall replied. He pushed himself up into a better position, readying himself to send whoever was needed away from this ship.
Lotor nodded at this and then leaned away from the Asgardian, giving him room to do what he needed. He looked over at the fight in time to see that the Hulk was finally defeated. As the ground shook from the impact, Thanos straighten up and focused his attention towards his children who was watching the fight at a distance. Feeling the shaking trembles from the Titan as he made his way back to his children, Lotor suddenly became aware of Thor getting up from where he hit the wall.
The blond stood up with a defiant look to his face and focused all of his attention towards Thanos. Then he took a giant leap towards the purple Titan, shifting his body to strike with the biggest lightning bolt he had in him. Before he could land the electrical hit Thanos lifted up his hand with the golden glove and forced the Asgardian to stop in mid air. As Thor struggled against the invisible force that came from the glove, other metal objects in the room flew in his direction and floated menacingly close by.
"It seems we have a persistent pest." Thanos said, voice full of smug glee.
He took a few steps towards Thor, still holding his left hand up. The glove shined a dim gold in the low light, making it more menacing then it should be. In one slot was the one stone he had already gotten, gleaming brightly despite the low light of the ship. Still Lotor stayed close to Heimdall, prepared to defend the Asgardian if Thanos eyes found their way to the both of them.
As he moved his sword from his back to the front of his body he could hear Thor answering the Titan. "I may be persistent, but that's only cause I'm trying to protect everyone here. Maybe that should give you the answer."
"What more do you have to protect," Thanos said with a grand gesture to the piles of bodies. "when they can't see or hear you like this?"
With a growl Thor let loose a lightning bolt towards the Titan, filled with mind numbing anger. It barely grazed Thanos body as he smirked and made the floating metal that hung lazily around the Asgardian's body move. The multiple pieces quickly surrounded and were tightly wound around Thor's body to make sure he wouldn't be able to move freely.
When the last piece covered Thor's mouth, Thanos turned his back on him.
As he went towards his group of children, Lotor saw that Loki silently walked from behind a pile and held a smirk on his face. While looking a little beat up, he still carried that air of royalty that he somehow possed during tough battles. While he knew that Loki was capable to taking a someone by himself in a fight, Lotor knew that nobody could take on Thanos by themselves unless they wanted a painful death.
Noticing another presence in the room Thanos during his body to face Loki. The smirk grew even bigger when he saw that he was noticed. Lotor's heart pounded and felt like time had slowed down. He knew whatever the Asgardian had planned wouldn't go down well.
He stood up to see that behind Loki's back was his signature dagger, waiting to be used. Along with the speed up beat of his heart, Lotor now knew he would have to smack some sense into the Asgardian. Possibly with the sword that Loki had given to him.
Making eye contact with Heimdall, he made the other understand why he had to leave. They would need Loki in the upcoming battle on Midgard as he knew more about the planet than Lotor did from what he had heard from Thor these past couple of weeks.
With that Lotor took a leap towards the two of them, hearing Loki proudly claim "I pledge my loyalty wholeheartedly to you."
Just as Thanos was about to saying something in reply to Loki's half hearted proclamation, Lotor landed a few inches from the Asgardian and forcibly made him fall to the ground. With that he moved to stand in front of Loki. He sent a glare down at the Asgardian, unimpressed with the faulty plan that he tried to execute.
Loki stayed on the ground, not moving to get up. Still he sent a glare up at Lotor, daring him to do anything else to damage his pride. Lotor shifted his gaze from Loki to Thanos, holding the sword in front of him as well to offer some protection. He knew that his surprise attack would give Heimdall more time.
It would also give Lotor more time to figure out a way to get him and the two Asgardian royalty out with him.
"I see you've managed to find your way here Lotor. Tell me is this an alliance to get rid of your father or are you trying to take over these pathetic people?" Thanos said, the smug and gleeful tone returning to his voice. He leaned his body over slightly, looking to happy to see the half blood here. "It also appears you've managed to use your Altean power. Good for you."
"That is none of your concern. What I do concerning the Galra Empire won't be the subject of our conversation." Lotor replied with a bitter sounding voice. "Now tell me why you've killed most of these people when they were only traveling?"
The Titan chuckled at his question like he was an inexperienced child in battle. "Your father should have told you what my plans were about the Infinity stones a long time ago. Or was he trying to protect you despite being a cruel father himself?"
"Your jabs at how my father treated me won't get you anywhere. Tell me why you've harmed these people when they were just quietly traveling?" Lotor growled out. He shifted his stance, trying to calm his nerves. He knew that Thanos was trying to distract him as well to either capture or maim him.
Whatever would serve him in his journey to get the Infinity Stones.
"The ship has something of interest for me. The fact that they fought back when my children and I entered the ship created this mess." Thanos said, gesturing the horrible piles of bodies. "You should have known that from Zarkon's mistake."
Lotor bite back a snarky comment, knowing he wasn't going to fight the Titan himself. That would be suicide in any form, no matter how much his anger swelled up inside him. "I know well enough that whatever you did caused panic and chaos. Doesn't excuse killing all these innocent people."
"You were always softer than your father when I was allowed to see you. It's a wonder that he hasn't broken your spirit with how he treated you as a child and as a half blood." Thanos said, leaning closer to him. He held his right hand towards Lotor's form like he was going to carass the skin on his face.
With a low growl, Lotor held his sword in front of his face, warning the Titan from trying that action. He didn't need another person trying to manipulate his feelings nor trying to use him for a bigger goal. He would go his own way, even if it meant trying to kill the last Titan himself.
"Do not touch will regret that with every fiber of your being if you know me so well." He spat out.
The shocked look in Thanos eyes was enough to keep him from wavering. Lotor saw behind the Titan that Heimdall was using whatever magic he left in him to transport whoever was needed on Midgard. He kept his guard up, knowing that Thanos needed to be kept distracted.
The magic quickly swirled around the form of the Hulk and then carried the body away through the ship. Before Lotor could react, the magic swirled around him and swept him away as well.
The next thing he remembers is looking up at a hole that was caused by his and Hulk's landing. Splinters from the broken pieces of wood fell around the two of them. It took a lot of energy to move his hand to shield his eyes from those splinters. Faces appeared around the hole, peering down at them, looking confused at what crashed into what was probably their home. On the right of him, Lotor could feel the Hulk returning back to Bruce.
Then he heard the groan to the left of him.
Shifting his head to see who was next to him took a lot more than he was expecting, But Lotor wasn't gonna stop because he thought the magic Heimdall that had used only had enough energy to take one trip. Who else would it take along for this small mission?
His answer came in the form of Loki moving into a sitting position. His hair was messed up slightly and the dust from landing in what appeared to be a wooden staircase covered every inch of his body. Yet it still wasn't enough to detract from his looks as a prince. Lotor could only roll his eyes as he saw the disgust Loki had when seeing that the dust covered his clothing.
"Guess you can get out of every situation you get yourself into. Does it usually end up with you and others around you crashing into someone's house?" He said sarcastically.
As he turned his head, he saw that Loki rolled his eyes as well. "I usually don't have someone interrupting my speech to try and take down the enemy. "Loki quipped back. "It would be wonderful to know how you know that monster while we're talking here."
"I don't know him personally. Just saw him a few times when I was younger and my father tried to make an alliance with him. It didn't work out when he found out Thanos goal for the universe and that wasn't gonna work out if he wanted to conquer the universe for the Galra empire." Lotor said back. He made a move to get up and found that his body protested against the action.
Still he pushed past it. As he stood up to his full height, a rope was dropped down through the hole. Gripping it in his hand, he noticed that the materials felt different from what the Galra created. Still Lotor knew from the how it was binded that it would hold everyone's weight as they climbed up.
As he made his way up, he saw one of the faces from earlier holding the other end of the rope. Or appeared to be as Lotor hoisted himself out of the hole. The Midgardian stood by the rope, not holding and giving him and his companions that followed behind him a pensive glare. The rope was being held by mist that was similar to the Loki's magic.
Looking around the room, Lotor was correct in his assumption that the three of them had landed in someone's home. One that was decorated by things that were foreign to him.
Actually the whole house was foreign to him. While the Galra visited many planets and saw many cultures, he knew that none have ever seen something like this. Many homes of the aliens were often built from caves, stones or even mud if all other options were not available. Even if furniture was built from wood, never had he seen one built from mostly wood.
The rope didn't budge as Loki made his way out of the hole as well. The glare from the Midgardian grew harsher as Loki stood tall.
"I see you've returned. I thought I told your brother that neither he nor you are not allowed to back here." Came the annoyed voice of the older looking Midgardian.
"Sorry to break the rules of a second rated sorcerer. But situations change and so will the rules when it's needed." Loki replied coolly. "Especially when they come from lesser talents than I."
"Don't dis the wizard, Loki. Especially if he's being kind enough to let us stay in his house." Spoke up another Midgardian as they made their way back into the huge room. They were eating something as they sauntered towards the group. They were shorter than all of the people there, even Bruce.
"I fear he likes to feel superior to others in his field of expertise. Just don't listen to him if he starts to do that." Lotor said, inserting himself into the conversation. "Also I think my translator in my suit has started to malfunction. What is this "dis", if you can explain to me Midgardian."
For a moment there was silence from the short Midgardian. Then Lotor saw that there was a gleam of mischief in his eyes as he stepped towards Lotor. "Reindeer Games, where and how did you manage to pick up someone that's less clueless than your brother on human stuff?"
"He doesn't come from Asgard. In fact I believe his kind has never come across humans before." Loki said, still looking at the sorcerer (Or was it wizard?) with fury in his eyes.
"No the Galra haven't come this far in the universe. Except for a few scouting ships near the edge of the system to see if it had any value to the Empire." Lotor said to Loki, taking a step backwards from the human. He sound see the suspicious look in the human's eyes. He would not let these humans get the upper hand of him if he can't help it. "What is your name human?"
"Tony Stark since you appear to be the only one who isn't familiar with me." Tony replied as Bruce got out from the hole. Bruce was covered in dust and had to hold onto his pants that grew with the Hulk's size and bulk. Lotor didn't want to see either of them naked whether it was by mistake or purpose. "Bruce, it's been a while. Where have you've been?"
"I was kinda in this space arena for the last two years as the Hulk." Bruce said, looking at his surroundings with curiosity. The sorcerer (wizard?) held out a hand, while still keeping the staring contest up with Loki and summoned some clothing for Bruce to wear.
Tony raised his eyebrows at this statement.
"Okay why do you get to do the cooler stuff than us? All that happened was the Avengers fighting and disbanding." The human said with a pout. He also took another step towards Lotor, looking like he was trying to see something that nobody else in the room was seeing
"I assure you that the Grandmaster's Arena was not cool in temperature nor any other meaning that that word has in your culture. It was unpleasant to say the least." Lotor touched the strands of his hair. It was still growing, getting close to passing his shoulder blades. But he wanted it back to the original length that he had had it at. It was one of the few things that he had total control over in his life that Zarkon nor Hagger could take away.
"Still sounds a lot better than disbanding a group, Thranduil." Tony quickly said back.
"I am Prince Lotor of the Galra, not whoever Thranduil is. Do not cross me now when there are more important things to be concerned about now." Lotor was being to tire of this human, the way that they stared at him and seemed to have a quick word towards what everyone was saying. He wasn't in the mood to play any games.
"Lotor's right. We actually have to warn you about this alien coming to Earth." Bruce spoke up, finishing up putting on his shirt. "It's important that we tell everyone else, even if there's not a team anymore."
Tony sighed at this. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out something that was small and rectangular. Flipping one side of it, the device reminded him of something the Galra used when on a planet that didn't have any kind of base on it. Tony stared at the screen for a few moments before letting out another sigh and pressed a button on it.
For a few moments everyone in the room waited in silence. Then the ground began to tremble a bit. The trembles began to grow as the seconds went on. They all looked at Tony, all seeming to have the same thought occur to them.
"That wasn't me! I was just trying to call Steve!" Tony declared as the trembles grew even more.
With that everyone went towards the door. The humans were running away from something in the distance. Lotor used his towering height to get past these humans, fearing the worst has already happened. That Thanos was already here to collect the stones that Earth had and use them.
In the back of his mind, he knew that the Titan would send his children to find the stones on this planet. He wouldn't risk revealing what he looked like until later. Still the fear that he was here already pushed away that thought. As he went around the corner, Lotor saw what was finally making ground the tremble.
One of Thanos ships had arrived and was making its way towards the street Lotor had entered onto.
If you didn't read the summary already, this will have spoilers for Infinity War. Which means you either risk the spoilers or wait until you see the movie in some way. But if you've seen the movie already, then you already know what I've changed. (I couldn't let that death happen in this fic. He deserves more than that!)
But anyway, hopefully you've enjoyed the chapter. It was a lot of fun to see Lotor interacting with Tony for this chapter. I can't wait to write him meeting the other Avengers and T'challa in the upcoming chapters. (Also have a surprise concerning Lotor in later chapters as well!) Also it was interesting to have Lotor standing up against Thanos for the Galra Empire and himself. He's not about to let anyone have control over him just yet!
Next update will come up in a few weeks. Hopefully with having one region to take this year, I'll have a lot less to stress over. :D