Hope is Lost
"You have all made my life very difficult." Loki paced back and forth, then turned to them and gave them a cold smile. "But look at you now! Is this not simpler? Easier then fighting such a futile fight?"
"And who can stop me now? The Avengers?" Loki laughed. "Look at yourselves. Ever since I killed that awful Fury, you have been weak. You strayed from each other. And that's what made it easy." He turned around to face the camera. "I want everybody to see this. The Avengers Initiative, the people who saved you so many times: unarmed, weak, and helpless."
"Natasha Romanoff." She immediately stopped trying to work her way out of her chains.
"The Black Widow. It took me a while to bring you down. But in some way, it was the easiest. You came right to me when you found out I had him." He gave Clint a contemptuous kick, who groaned."You see? Sentiment. Always a weakness."
She glared at him and spat in his face. Loki disappeared and rematerialized up by his throne. "You must learn proper manners, my dear." He nodded to one of the chitauri warriors standing next to her, who hit her across the face. He smiled into her glaring eyes.
"Clint Barton." Clint was by far the worse off of all of them. A remarkable array of burns, cuts and bruises covered his face. He was leaning heavily on his chains, fighting to remain conscious, but still managed a defiant look as Loki walked over to him.
"You were the one who managed to stop the siege on Los Angeles. I must commend you on that. But to what end? You almost died in that battle. We captured you, and the second siege went along as planned." Loki scowled. "You and Natasha were formidable together. I will enjoy torturing the life out of both of you."
"Go.. to… hell." Clint somehow managed to speak despite the slashes across his face. Loki narrowed his eyes. He once more nodded to the chitauri, who hit him across the head so hard he fell forward, unconscious. He gave a cold smile to Natasha, who had attempted to kneel down to check his pulse. "He's fine. I wouldn't want him dead that quickly." She gave him a look of pure fury.
"Tony Stark." Tony looked up at Loki evenly, despite the large burn on the side of his head.
"I've noticed you've cut off all communications in this room." Tony dropped a communicuff on the floor. "Guess you finally figured that one out." Loki's eyes hardened imperceptibly. "Ah, yes. You and your little underground network. You were quite annoying. But I must thank you for gathering all of the rebels in one place. You made it much easier to kill them all. You were one of the few to survive the bombing, were you not? You and that Miss Potts. I have her here as well. Would you like to see her?"
The skin around Stark's knuckles turned white. "Fuck off," he growled.
Loki tilted his head. "That was rude. I'll be sure to pay Miss Potts a visit soon, because of that." Tony's teeth clenched but he managed not to say anything.
"Bruce Banner." Loki said his name slowly. Bruce didn't even try to stay calm. Trapped inside his cell, he turned, turned back, turned again, and finally reverted back into human form. Loki gave him a cruel smile.
"You are best here, Banner. Where you cannot hurt anybody. Do you know how many people you have killed? How many innocents?"
Bruce transformed into the hulk again and roared.
"I could use you, Banner."
Bruce turned back into human form. "Even as a mindless beast, I wouldn't join you for anything."
Loki pointed his staff at the glass cage. An electric currant rushed through it, a pain so quick Bruce didn't have time to change. He fell to the ground, breathing hard..
"We'll see about that."
"Steve Rogers." Steve was on his knees, his hands and feet tied with metal chains. He looked up at Loki.
"What are you planning to do? The humans will never let themselves be ruled. It was like this long ago, and it has never changed. No matter how cruel, how terrifying, how strong a ruler you are, it won't last. The humans are strong. Someday, somehow, they will come out on top. You can't win."
Out of all of the comments, this seemed to irk Loki the most. He hit Steve once, twice, three times, but the man's penetrating blue eyes still stared straight into his.
"Thor Odinson." Loki's voice echoed, louder then before. He flicked his hand at the chitauri, who grabbed the remaining Avengers and dragged them away. The sound of their struggling faded away along with the echos of Natasha's curses.
"Now it is just you and me, brother," Loki said, ignoring Thor's clenched fist and look of horror. "It is time we talk."
Loki turned and faced the window, pacing back and forth. "Do you remember what you once were? You were better. You were stronger. You wanted to rule and you fought for it. But what are you now? Weak. The sentiment you have to these humans has turned you from a Shining One of Asgard. You are as pitiful as humans now."
"You underestimate them." was all Thor responded with. His hand was slowly crawling out to the side, hoping to call his hammer.
"You think this pitiful Earth can hold a candle against me? It has been two years since I last came here, since I escaped from Asgard. Since I defeated Asgard. They fell beneath me, their city ravaged. I am more then them now. And you believe Earth will defeat me?"
"Yes." Thor's arm was now fully extended, ready to summon his hammer.
"Your monosyllabic answers will not distract me, brother. Call your weapon and the human race will burn." Turning back towards his brother, he hit Thor full in the face with the end of his staff, knocking him to the floor. "I would simply prefer to rule them."
Thor slowly rose to his feet. "Brother, do you not understand? Ruling is not the same as leading. A king will never last if all he does is rule. The humans will rebel. And you will fall. The most admirable thing that I have found about the humans is they never lose hope."
Loki looked at him coldly. "I wonder how much hope you will have left after watching all of your friends die. If these are truly earth's mightiest heroes, what have the humans left to hope for? They will watch their protectors scream and cry and beg for an end. They will see their heroes defeated and broken. Where, might I ask, is the hope that you speak of?"
"You will never understand. The humans, they are not guided by a lust for power or wealth. They are guided by the light at the horizon, the eternal hope that there will be somewhere better. That light that they see… That is what makes the human race special. They will never give up."
Loki turned to the window, where pillars of fire and explosions of debris could be seen as the chitauri attacked the civilisation.
"We shall see."