"Loki! Loki no!"
Thor's shouts and sobs from the Bifrost echoed around Loki as he plunged into the abyss. He knew there was no going back now.
He shut his eyes, hoping to spare his sight from the kaleidoscope of color that flashed above him. His mind raced. There had to be a way out.
Loki focused his other senses and tried to figure out what was happening around him, to no avail.
Suddenly, he hit what felt like solid ground. Hard.
His leg buckled out from underneath him, and he let out a sharp gasp. He managed to catch himself on his elbows, and raise his head slowly to see where he was. Pain radiated up his left leg as he surveyed the scene, and he struggled to keep his breathing steady, and silent.
He lay on some type of rough, cold stone. Mist hung low in the surrounding area, and there was a heavy stench that seemed to cling to it. Loki gagged and looked up at the dark, starless sky. He'd never seen anything like it.
The rejection by his father stung him, and he whimpered silently. He tried to be strong and defiant on the Bifrost, but now he sat in the darkness grieving the ties with his family. He thought of Frigga. Thor and Odin would likely return to the castle without him, and her heart would break as they relayed Loki's tale. He'd failed her.
He sat up and drew his legs to his chest, wincing at the pain in his injured leg. Where was he? He'd never seen a realm like this before. Loki started to rise, but slid back down, groaning. He wasn't sure his leg could take it at this point.
"Who goes there?" a voice hissed from the shadows, and Loki froze.
He conjured his knife, and steadied himself.
"That knife will do you no good here," the voice rasped. "I won't ask another time. Who goes there?"
Loki attempted to make himself a little less pathetic, and glared sharply in the direction the voice was coming from.
"I am Loki," he paused here. "of Jotunheim."
The voice cackled from the shadows.
"Jotunheim?" the voice wheezed. "You make me out to be a fool, Loki of Asgard?"
"You are a fool." Loki snapped. "I was born a son of Laufey, but Odin stole me away."
"You can continue to lie to yourself, if you wish," the voice snarled. "but your heart resides on Asgard. You still consider it home."
Loki turned away from the voice, trying to conceal his pain.
"Ah yes," the voice murmured. "the sting of betrayal is fresh. You would make an excellent conqueror for my Master."
"I have no master," Loki stated. "and I will have nothing to do with yours."
"In stumbling into this realm, you have no choice," the voice echoed all around him now. "you join us or you die."
Loki struggled to his feet as a pair of hands grabbed him roughly by the shoulders. He swung his knife behind him, and he heard it tear roughly through what felt like cloth. He managed to conjure several illusions of himself as he slid silently to the ground. All the illusions crawled helplessly in the fog and Loki cloaked himself in mist, hoping to hide himself from his attacker.
His attacker stood in the gloom, turning from side to side. It stood on two legs, and was clothed in a hefty, but now torn, dark cloak.
"Where are you…" it whispered.
Its voice was cold and menacing, and Loki held his breath hoping it would not sense , the eerie being swung out at the illusions of Loki, making them vanish one by one. The being paused, hovering right above him, and leaned down.
"You think you can trick me," It breathed, touching Loki's face. "but no one can hide from me forever."
Loki shrieked as it grabbed him by the collar with one large, deformed hand. It clenched his jaw, and Loki hung limp in its grasp. There was no escape, especially since he was in no shape to run.
"Thanos will want to assess you, Asgardian." The withered creature growled. "you have potential..."
It yanked him forward, and dragged him along the ground. Loki winced and shut his eyes. There was no escape at this point, and it was becoming more and more apparent that more pain was in his future. He was thrust forcefully to the ground, and he raised his head to survey the scene.
Above him sat a large figure with deep violet skin. An elongated, square chin jutted out beneath the being's gold helmet, and his body was clad in golden armour. He sat upon some sort of throne, and he glowered down at Loki.
Loki spotted two women on either side of him. A blue skinned, bald women stood on the left, and a green skinned woman with flowing dark hair sharpened a knife menacingly to his right. Both were clad in leather armor, and appeared to have cybernetic enhancements.
"Look, my daughters." The being murmured. "The Other has brought fresh meat."
The Other gestured to Loki with his gruesome hand.
"Thanos," he greeted. "I have captured a son of Odin."
"A son of Odin?" Thanos echoed. "How strange. Not many Asgardians have strayed close enough to the Sanctuary for them to end up at my feet...and I have certainly never had the pleasure of having Asgardian royalty to mold into a conqueror."
"If he can survive the process." The blue skinned woman growled.
"Where are your manners, Gamora?" Thanos chuckled at her. "Let us propose to the Asgardian what his options are before we discuss the risks involved."
Loki shuddered, and looked as fiercely as he could at Thanos.
"What makes you think I'd conquer anything for you? Perhaps it is I that will make you-"
He snarled defiantly, but was cut off as the Other struck him firmly in the back of the head.
"You will not speak to me in such a way, boy." Thanos boomed. "You do not have many options in this place. You will die where you stand, or start the process of becoming truly powerful."
.
Loki looked up again, and looked pleadingly at the women on either side of Thanos. The blue skinned woman merely stared back coldly, but the green skinned woman looked hastily down at her knife. Was that sympathy, or perhaps worry he saw in her face? It was fleeting, but Loki recognized the expression of someone who felt trapped. He dropped his gaze once more.
"I do not wish to die." He murmured.
Perhaps the woman would have mercy and help him if he looked more vulnerable.
"Excellent." Thanos said. "Gamora, Nebula….prepare him to become a conqueror of Thanos."
The Other stepped away from Loki, and the two women moved forward. They grabbed him by his arms, and lifted him up. Loki heaved a sigh as they helped him maneuver away from Thanos and the Other. Perhaps everything would be alright.
They paused for a moment, and the blue skinned woman, Nebula, forged ahead. The green skinned woman, Gamora, steadied Loki on his feet.
"I must thank you." Loki sighed. "it has been very difficult for me recently, and I am grateful for your help."
Gamora seemed to wince at his words.
"Please don't thank me," she muttered. "I wish I could help you. Your family must miss you….I'm so sorry. There's nothing I can do for you."
Loki frowned. Her words did not sound promising.
Nebula approached from the fog, a slight smirk on her face.
"The Chitauri are ready." She stated.
"And the scepter?" Gamora growled.
"Dad says he'll take care of that." Nebula retorted.
"Perfect…" Gamora commented, and she turned her attention back to Loki. "Are you ready, your highness?"
Before he could answer, Nebula and Gamora guided him deeper into the fog. Sweat began to bead on his forehead as he noticed shadows rippling beyond the mist. Gamora and Nebula shoved him suddenly onto a stone platform, and began to secure chains to his ankles and hands. After he was secure, they leaped onto a wall that seemed to appear from out of nowhere
Loki's heart beat frantically in his chest. He'd never felt fear like this in his life.
"What is this?" He demanded.
The shadows came closer now, and he could hear an eerie chattering all around him. He glanced from left to right as they came to the edge of the platform.
"The Chitauri will only follow who they deem strong enough to lead." Nebula growled.
Loki looked frantically from side to side. Fear to rose like a sickly tide inside his chest, and he realized that by asking Thanos to be spared he would likely die. He could see the trick in it, how it could provide Thanos some sort of horrible enjoyment, but it disgusted him nonetheless. Thanos was a tyrant, and Loki now found himself crushed under his will.
"Please. Please no…" he pleaded, and he turned to Gamora. "Why would you let this happen?"
Gamora only folded her arms, and watched on as the Chitauri flung themselves upon Loki. Loki shrieked as he was bombarded by the Chitauri. They tore at his leather armor, electrocuted him with strange weapons, and beat him.
Loki tried to focus on anything else. Memories of Thor, Frigga, and Odin flooded his mind.
His mother grinning as he conjured his first illusion…
Loki attempted to conjure his knife, but it was ripped from his hand. It fell to the floor with a clatter, and Loki waved his hand to conjure an illusion of a wolf behind him. Some Chitauri took aim at the illusion.
Thor dragging him into combat at Jotunheim, his eyes fierce as he let out an almost jovial battle cry….
He struggled, and attempted to beat back his attackers, using his chains as best he could to beat the Chitauri back. Loki managed to land a few good hits, but was knocked onto his knees.
Odin explaining that he could see everything, thanks to the power he drew from Asgard, and the skills of his friend Heimdall….
Loki choked. Could they see him now?
It was torture, and Loki wanted nothing more than to evaporate out of existence. After what seemed like an eternity, they vanished.
He was left found on the platform gasping for air. He sat numbly on the platform, his head down.
"Well, well." He could hear Gamora chiding from the wall. "He survived."
The two women released Loki, and dragged him back to Thanos. Loki didn't bother to raise his head. He kept his eyes down, and in between ragged breaths he could hear Thanos rise from his throne.
"Loki of Asgard," Thanos began. "welcome to my army."
Loki heaved, and looked up in time to see Thanos stretch forth a blue tipped staff. Thanos touched his chest with the scepter, and everything faded into a dark haze…..
The haze did not thin until what seemed like ages later, standing atop a skyscraper in New York. His brother was shaking him, hard, demanding that he look at the scene that had unfolded around him. Conflicted, Loki stabbed at Thor and slipped away. He blundered through the memories of the past few days. He was on Midgard, he was sure of that. But what was he doing? Who was he?
He tried to blink the rest of the haze away, but it kept creeping back into his mind. Thanos, the Tesseract, Midgard….
And then there was the monster. He bellowed in front of him, veins popping in his green face.
"Enough!" Loki snarled back, his irritation at the beast almost match his frustration with the haze in his mind. "I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bulli-"
The Hulk grabbed Loki and slammed him into the ground repeatedly. After he seemed satisfied, he left Loki lying in a pile of rubble, groaning pathetically.
He lay there, eyes wide, as everything rushed back to him. The haze was clear now, and Loki recognized now the control that Thanos had exercised over him. He had become a pawn in Thanos' game, and a monster in the eyes of Midgardians. He lay still, trying to sort through what had happened, the things he'd done under Thanos' spell….
There was no way around it, Thanos had turned him into something he wasn't: a villain, a monster, and a tyrant. So now, what could he do? Thanos would likely come for him now. Loki's mind spun. There were no real options. If he slipped away, Thanos would likely destroy Asgard in the hunt for him. But, if he surrendered and allowed Thor to take him prisoner….perhaps he could warn Thor and Odin of the dangers lurking in Thanos' distant part of the universe.
He sighed and turned to face the Avengers, now gathered around him. Hawkeye sat poised, ready to launch an arrow into him if he misbehaved. Loki attempted a good natured chuckle.
"I think I'll have that drink now."