Disclaimer: I don't own Thor or the Avengers.
Thor went to the glass door. Thor had in the past broken several of the windows because when innocents are in danger, there was not enough time to use the elevator that Stark wanted him to. The one that he was supposed to use to get to the roof then fly from there. In response to Thor breaking the windows, Tony decided to put in a glass door that opened up onto a small patio just large enough for Thor to take off from. There was one on every level on the levels that Thor frequented the most. Stark had complained about having to install them just because Thor couldn't stop himself from breaking windows when he took off. Banner had just shot back that Tony Stark had more money than he needed, and since Thor had broken them in order to save innocent people, he shouldn't complain.
Thor opened the door, raised Mjolnir to the sky and used it to help him fly towards the danger that Stark had just told them about. Although the only thing that Thor could think about was Loki. It was a magician who was trying to destroy New York. The news hadn't really given a good angle on the villain, so it was very possible that he was going to be facing Loki.
He had only found out Loki was still alive a week ago. Thor had found out that Loki had been pretending to be Odin and that Loki had put Odin into the Odin sleep. Thor was relieved that Loki hadn't killed their father even though he knew that Loki was furious with him. Thor was also relieved that Loki was alive. Or at least had been for about five seconds, now he was just worried about his brother had planned now.
Thor headed towards the only direction that showed any sign of strife. There was a cloud over a section of the city, an orange one that was indicative of fire. Thor focused and used his ability to call rain.
"You are so lucky my suit can stand up to this," he heard in his ear. At first, it had been a little strange having the voices in his ear but now he was used to it, although he still hardly ever used it himself unless he had to. Now that the rain was battling the fire that seemed to be raging in a few of the buildings he focused on the rest. In the distance, he saw a street torn up like something large had made its way through there. There were cars inside of buildings and he was sure that there had been fires, but they were put out by his rain. The sorcerer was probably heading away from them since he still couldn't see the sorcerer. Thor made his way through the air towards where he assumed by the wreckage left, the way the direction the sorcerer had gone. Toward the sorcerer that might be his brother.
Could he seriously harm him if it was Loki? Loki would not stop until he was dead, if his attempts to kill him in the past had shown Thor anything. Except, he hadn't tried to kill him the last time. Yes, because he was planning on stealing the throne another part of Thor reminded himself. Loki hadn't cared if again Thor thought him dead as long as Loki got what he wanted. Loki had always been selfish. Yet, even knowing that, he wasn't sure if he could kill him if it came down to it. No matter how much he had claimed that he would if Loki had betrayed him back in Asgard.
Thor saw in the middle of the destruction of the next street, a darkness that spanned about 50 yards in total. He could see a vague figure in the darkness. The air around the figure was darkened and he appeared to be in the middle of darkness. The darkness made it impossible to see more than a vague silhouette of the person. Even then, you could only see the silhouette when the bolts of energy which was destroying the city were shot out from the darkness.
Thor paused as he looked at it. He had never seen something like the darkness before. As Thor paused to look he saw Stark pass him headed towards the center of darkness. Thor knew the darkness was unnatural since it was the middle of the day. Even with the storm he had created it was too dark. That led him to believe it was probably being caused by the same being who was destroying the city. The person that was perhaps Loki.
Thor blinked and forced himself to continue. If it was Loki and it came down to it he would stop him by whatever means necessary. Thor couldn't let his brother destroy any more innocent people. Thor flew towards the figure at high-speed just moments behind Stark- just in time to watch Stark be thrown into a building in a flash of blue light. Thor didn't have time to move out of the way before a similar beam of light met him and threw him towards the same building.
In the few seconds he was being thrown, he heard screams in the air that he hadn't noticed before since he had been thinking about his brother. Had Loki just struck him again? Thor grimaced a little as his body hit the building. The metal and glass on the outside of the building were the toughest part to go through. The rest of the walls were much softer and he found himself quickly in the floor of what the Midgardians called a skyscraper. Thor got up quickly to his feet and went to the nearest window. The darkness of the air still made it impossible to tell if the sorcerer was his brother or not. Thor dove through the nearest window and back into the sky. Thor saw Stark do the same a moment later from a slightly different part of the building.
"Do you think it's Loki?" Stark's voice asked in his head. Thor wasn't sure how to answer so he decided on going with the truth.
"I know not Stark," Thor said, but it did seem likely. Humans had magic, but not as much as the elves, giants, or Asgardians.
"But there's a good chance right?" Stark asked him even as he started towards the figure again, Thor at his heels.
"Aye," Thor said even as he hoped that he was wrong. Thor ducked as something was thrown at them. After a moment to process, he saw that it wasn't just something that had been thrown at them but Steve. Thor turned to catch Steve before he hit the ground, but the Tony was ahead of him.
"I got him, you go get the guy," Stark said as he dove after Steve. Thor changed his direction again so that he was facing the figure again. The figure was still in the dark. Thor let the rain recede as he saw arrows and bullet stream toward the darkness, the rain would only hinder them. Besides, most of the fires appeared to have gone out in the brief but powerful rainfall. The sky became quickly sunny again making the darkness seem even more ominous. He saw more projectiles probably bullets and arrows being fired by Natasha and Clint, but they couldn't know if they were aiming right since the area was so dark. Thor touched down on the ground just as The Hulk bounded towards him.
"Are you ready?" Thor asked the Hulk, even as he wasn't sure he was ready himself. The Hulk nodded and bounded into the darkness. Thor took a deep breath and followed him. Thor paused for a moment, when as soon he entered the darkness, he was suddenly unable to see so much as an inch in front of his face. All sound stopped. All the destruction, screams, and all noise just stopped. The Hulk was completely gone as well, even though there had only been seconds between their enterings into the darkness. Thor walked forward slowly and cautiously. Magic wasn't his area of expertise. In fact, all his life he had relied on Loki for magic and had hardly given him credit when credit was due. Thor had wondered at times if that had contributed to Loki's madness. Thor shoved those thoughts away. It was time for battle, not time to think of the past. Thor tried whipping his hammer around to get the air to clear, but the inky darkness stayed.
"Hulk," he called in the darkness, hoping that The Hulk would respond, but his words sounded like they were swallowed up in the darkness. He saw a faint glimmer of light in the darkness and he changed his course towards the light, since it was probably the sorcerer. The sorcerer was smart and seemed to understand them. Thor feared even more that it was his brother that was behind these attacks.
"Loki!" Thor yelled, but the darkness swallowed up his words again "Loki!" Thor yelled again picking up his pace again, as he saw another flash of blue. This time maybe closer, although it was a little hard to tell. "Loki! Stop this madness!" Thor yelled, even though, the words had never gotten his brother to stop it before. Thor wasn't even sure why he still said it; except that despite his words and thoughts, there was still a part of him that thought that maybe Thor could save Loki from himself. "Loki do not do this!" Thor yelled again "Take me instead." Thor pleaded again since it had worked before once. Thor had gotten Loki to cease attacking Midgard to kill only him.
"I don't think so. Especially when I plan to take both." Thor froze as a face came into view and was shocked that it was in fact not Loki at all like he had assumed. It was a slightly older looking man, although age and looks worked differently here than in Asgard. Thor was over 1000 years old but he in Midgardian years he was assumed to be under a half a century. The older looking man was wearing a dark cloak that Loki would never wear, and his eyes were full of darkness, black inky darkness. His face was full of scars that spoke stories, just not stories he Thor was sure he wanted to hear.
"Thor, you're supposed to be god right? Let's see," the man said and smiled a truly terrifying smile, that didn't have the hint of mischievousness his brother had. The man shot blue energy at him and Thor tucked and rolled away from it. He had to stop comparing the two and get his head into the battle if he was going to survive.
Normally in any physical battle Thor usually took it for granted that he would survive since his skin was impervious to nearly all Midgardian weapons. However, magic was something he wasn't familiar fighting against. Anytime he had battled against it in the past, Loki had always protected him. Thor rolled again and forced himself to shove the memories away. He could not be thinking about Loki at a time like this. Thor rolled onto his feet and threw Mjolnir at the man. Only for the man to flick his hand and send it back at Thor. Thor was able to stop it before it hit him but just barely. However, there was one more thing he could do. Thor raised Mjolnir into the air calling forth thunder and lightning, but neither pierced the darkness around him. Thor looked at the man warily.
"Who are you?" Thor asked making sure to keep the confidence in his voice even though he wasn't as confident as he usually was. He could only see the man when the sorcerer used magic. The rest of the time, he blended into the darkness, yet the sorcerer seemed to have no problem seeing him.
"We are your destruction." We? Did that mean there were two of them? Or was the man mad? Thor stepped around in a circle trying to think of a plan. Plans were not his forte since usually everything could be solved with brute strength as Loki like to call it, often snidely. Thor decided not to banish his thoughts of Loki again, and instead he tried to think like his brother would. Loki would not be at a loss for what to do. Thor saw another beam of light and barely ducked in time, but could feel the charge of energy go over him. He wished he could see the Hulk, they could plan their attack together. Although, he had to admit that with him and Hulk there was probably not be much a strategy since they both had the same philosophy: use physical force until the enemy is gone. Perhaps Tony or Steve was in the darkness with him.
"Tony! Steve!" he yelled but like all other sounds they seemed swallowed by the darkness.
"You are the first we are going to kill," the man in front of him said, "Then we will kill the others." Thor angrily threw Mjolnir again, without thinking and barely managed to stop his hammer from barreling into his own face.
"Why?" Thor asked because he liked to know why people liked to destroy other things and people. Thor had always hoped it would give him insight into his brother. If only he could think like his brother; surely Loki would have had a plan, or at least Loki could fight against him. Thor tried to put himself in Loki's mind, but couldn't seem to do it.
Thor growled in frustration, but stopped the growl midway as he noticed there was now a circle of blue light just behind him. The light was all around him and the sorcerer. Thor realized that he had been steadily moving backward, away from the sorcerer. So apparently the sorcerer had just cut him off from going any further away. Leaving about 20 feet between him and the sorcerer. Thor wasn't sure what to do, so he just kept to the edge of the circle. It took a few moments to realize that the edge of the circle was coming closer and closer.
If Thor were a coward he would see if he could jump over the circle and ran away, but he was not a coward. He would face the man in front of him and do his best, even if it meant his death. Thor held his hammer firmly and attempted to fly into the man again, only to be reflected again. A groan came from his mouth as he felt like he hit an immovable surface. He found it was the little ring of blue, and apparently it was impassable. As Thor made his way to his feet, he felt like all his nerves were on fire. Whether it was from the circle or the reflection it was unclear. It didn't matter Thor told himself. If today was his day to die, then he would do his best to take out this menace with him. Thor ran at the sorcerer this time on the ground and tried to hit him with his hammer. But as he tried Thor swung his hammer through nothing, even as he saw the sorcerer's body there. Did that mean that it was an illusion? Or was he really there somehow but not able to be harmed? Thor tried again, but got the same result as the hammer went through the sorcerer.
Then suddenly the man's hand was inside him and around his heart. Thor fell to the ground in agony. Never before had he felt so much pain. Raw, and seemingly unending pain. He was going to die, the thought went through his head. He was going to die there on Midgard. That had never been the plan. That had never been what was supposed to happen. He was supposed to be a hero. Supposed to save people until his father changed his mind and made him be king of Asgard, which he knew eventually would happen. He was going to die.
Thor closed his eyes as a bright light enveloped the area. He was sure he was dead and that the light was the bright lights of Valhalla. That was where he was sure to go since he had died in the heat of the battle. Thor opened his eyes expecting to see his mother standing in front of him. Instead, he saw Loki who wasn't looking at him but at the sorcerer.
The darkness had faded slightly and he could see the edges of the buildings surrounding them. The sorcerer wasn't facing him any longer, but was facing his brother, who seemed to be lighting the air with green energy. That should have really been his first hint that it hadn't been Loki reeking havoc, the color of the sorcerer's magic. Loki's magic usually had a green tint to it, not blue. Thor though hadn't been thinking very clearly in the heat of battle.
Loki stared intently at the sorcerer who had just tried to kill Thor. As the darkness slowly lifted, the darkness was replaced by a green light. Thor got to his feet intent on helping his brother, when he realized that he could see the silhouettes of the buildings around him now. Loki was fighting the sorcerer, albeit in a way he didn't understand, along with for reasons he didn't understand. Loki had tried to kill him many times after all.
Thor decided to get closer only for Loki to shot him a look that plainly said 'stay back and don't interfere'. It was strange that he could still interpret Loki's looks so easily. Thor wasn't sure what to think. What if this was a trick? What if they had been in this together the entire time? Still, nothing Thor had thrown at the sorcerer had done anything. There was nothing he could really do to help anyways, so Thor reluctantly agreed to stay out of the way. Loki's mouth opened and he looked like he was yelling but the darkness was apparently still thick enough to steal the sound. The green light slowly grew brighter and Thor grinned as he saw Stark in the distance. Stark was only ten feet away, but he could hazily see him. Stark seemed to be looking at the sorcerer and Loki. Stark also looked like he was about to interrupt and probably attack Loki. Since Thor was sure the only thing that could affect the sorcerer was his brother, and for whatever reason Loki was helping them at the moment, Thor put himself between Loki and Stark.
"Thor! What the hell!" it sounded like a whisper even though he was sure that Stark had yelled it. That was good. That meant that the sound barrier was weakening.
"Loki is fighting the sorcerer who is causing all this!" Thor shouted as loud as he could and he hoped that Tony had gotten the message.
"Your brother is probably working with him! You can't believe anything he says!" Tony's voice came again though it was a little bit louder that time.
"He is the only one here who can stop this, and for some reason he is helping!" Thor yelled. Stark eyes darted between Thor and his brother a few times before he said.
"Sorry Thor but I don't trust him," he moved past him and Thor turned around just in time to see that the green light burst into a brilliant green light. There was another bright flash which caused Thor to close his eyes. When he opened them again, the darkness was completely gone. Thor turned to his brother to praise him, but Loki's only had eyes for the sorcerer. He was right in front of him talking to him in a low voice that Thor couldn't hear. Then Loki used his magic to press the guy against the torn up streets of New York. Thor made his way quickly to his brother, not knowing what to say or even if he could believe what had just happened. Loki had just saved his life.
"Loki you saved me," Thor said unable to believe it. Maybe there was hope for his brother after all? Loki didn't look at him but at the man on the ground. He knelt over and pressed his hands to the man's chest and closed his eyes. Thor's eyes widened as he watched the dark energy escape from the Midgardians mouth and make its way into Loki's mouth. The process only lasted a few seconds, but in that time, Thor was frozen to a spot in the street in horror. Loki turned to face him his eyes full of blackness.
"The only one allowed to kill you is me," Loki said then teleported away. Thor stared at the spot where his brother had just stood. Again. He had allowed himself to be tricked again. Loki hadn't come there for him, he had come for the power and had just saved him to get it for himself. Maybe Loki had finally been honest. Maybe he had just saved him because Loki wanted to be the one that killed him. No matter his reasoning Loki had dark energy inside him and nothing good could come of that.
A/N: I intended this to be one-shot but there are some questions I may not have answered so I'll try to do another chapter to answer questions if people want me to.