A/N: AND WE'RE FINALLY IN WAKANDA. I had a blast writing this chapter, not gonna lie. It only took a few hours, that's how into it I was. Keeping it tucked away for days has been absolute torture. Whoever asked for BAMF Loki - this is your chapter.


They traded space's darkness for Earth's glaring midday sun, flat metal flooring for trampled grass and dirt, and the forge's peace for the roar of battle, aliens screaming, humans calling out for aid, the squelch of metal sinking into flesh, the smack of flesh hitting flesh, the thud of bodies hitting the ground.

As the rainbow began to fade, Thor kicked up the lightning production to shield them, flinging Stormbreaker into the alien army. Loki clutched Carita tightly, shoving down memories of Thanos's attack.

He's not here. This is just an alien army, you've fought plenty of those.

He's not here yet.

A large swathe cut for them to land safely, Stormbreaker flew back to Thor's waiting hand. Rocket leapt off the king's shoulders, hefting his machine gun. Loki eyed the humans now watching them, their expressions a range of awe and joy and confusion, half nervous that they would reject his help even now.

But the only one to speak was Bruce, his head popping out of a massive Iron Man armor: "You guys are so screwed now!"

"For Asgard," Thor murmured.

"For Asgard," Loki, Valkyrie, and Sif echoed.

Thor nodded sharply, breaking into a run, lightning crackling around him as his cape billowed behind him. "Bring me Thanos!" he roared, launching into the air, storm clouds darkening above him.

Sif took off after him, followed by Rocket and Groot. Loki exchanged a glance with Valkyrie, and together, they plunged into the fray, back-to-back and hacking away.

"So, what'd I miss?" Valkyrie asked. "Your neck looks like a mess."

"Thanos killed everyone. Including Heimdall," Loki answered, punctuating each word with a kill. "And forced me to trade both the Tesseract and my life for Thor's life."

"I knew you were a softie."

"I am literally murdering Outriders right now."

"So am I," Valkyrie said, beheading one in a splatter of blood. "You're not special, Lackey."

Shield.

Carita transformed into a round disc in an instant, the snakes twining together over the front of her black surface. Loki hurled her into the crowd, where she ricocheted from Outrider chest to Outrider chest, knocking down a dozen before returning to Loki's hand.

"Huh," Valkyrie murmured, eyeing Carita appreciatively. "Can I have one?"

"No. I'm special."

A resounding thud echoed behind him, making Loki whirl around. "Copying my moves, I see," Rogers commented, smashing his foot into a downed Outrider's face.

Loki shrugged. "And you're copying my brother's beard."

He tipped his head in tired acknowledgement. "I thought you died."

"Never seems to stick," Loki said, ordering Carita into dagger form and hurling her over the captain's shoulder. She sank right into its eye, killing the beast in an instant. She wriggled free, returning to Loki with a shudder of disgust, flicking some blood and brain matter right into Rogers's face.

The old human just blinked. "The shapeshifting knife is alive. Why am I surprised anymore."

Loki smirked and spun away, smashing Carita's hilt into an Outrider's face as she lengthened back into a sword. He slashed his way through Thanos's army, his moves rusty at first after four years of lazing on the throne. But as they came back to him, the pain in his neck sharpened and grew, joined by new bruises and scratches as Outrider after Outrider sprang at him in mindless furor.

I miss the Chitauri, he thought, leaning away from a claw to the face. Then a second Outrider came charging in, slamming into his legs as he was off-balance. He hit the ground with a yelp, his temple cracking against a rock. Stars burst across his vision, leaving him dazed and limp.

The two aliens immediately dove on him with shrieks of triumph. Carita transformed into a shield on her own, darting between him and the Outrider going for his face. The second pounced on his exposed legs. He screamed as its claws sank deep into his thigh, blood spurting from the deep slashes.

A black-clad person tackled it, slashing at the alien with their own claws, before turning to dispatch the Outrider Carita still battled. Loki clamped a hand over his leg, pumping healing magic into the wounds.

The person turned to him, his mask disappearing as he sheathed his claws. "Are you all right?" he asked in a thick accent.

Loki pushed himself upright gingerly, wincing as every little ache and pain made itself known. Carita stayed in shield form, pressing up against his back to support him. He could feel how the burst of magic had drained her, and her pulse of fear for him.

"I can fight," he answered, taking the man's proffered hand. Carita returned to her dagger form, settling in his hand, and he absently ran a soothing thumb over her hilt.

Concern glittered in the man's eyes, but he took Loki at his word. "I am King T'Challa of Wakanda," he introduced himself.

"Prince Loki of Asgard," Loki said, scanning the field for more surprise attacks. Thor was attacking the ships in massive storms of lightning, Rocket and Groot had joined forces with Rogers and a man with a metal arm, and Valkyrie and Sif were fighting alongside a small group of women in red armor. "Any particular reason you're dressed as a cat?"

T'Challa chuckled. "An ancestral tradition."

"Ah."

"You know, you're not what I expected," T'Challa commented.

Loki twirled Carita in his fingers. Spear. "What did you expect, a homicidal maniac working for Thanos?"

"Something like that."

Loki jabbed Carita behind him, impaling a trio of Outriders like a snarling kebab. "Check back tomorrow."

T'Challa tilted his head, as if wondering whether to take Loki at his word again. Loki just gestured behind the king. "Incoming."

T'Challa whipped around, donning his mask and unsheathing his claws. Sword, Loki ordered, preparing to join the king, when the sound of massive whirring blades drew his attention to the left. His jaw dropped, Carita nearly slipping from his fingers.

Right. I forgot about those.

Loki conjured a thigh holster and sheathed Carita before taking off. Emerald light erupted around his hands, carrying him into the sky. A winged man and another in a silver Iron Man suit were teaming up to take out one set of the circular weapons tearing across the battlefield, shredding humans and Outriders alike.

Loki shifted his gaze to another set, noticing a blonde woman and another of the women in red fighting in its path. He crashed down between it and them, clapping his hands together, arms straight out. A wall of green burst forth from the clap, rolling forward to split the machine in half. He flipped his hands over, back-to-back, and, gritting his teeth, started shoving the two halves aside.

Carita bounced urgently in her sheath. I know, Carita, I know I don't have the power to spare for this, but they need to be destroyed.

"Loki," the blonde murmured warily, and he was surprised to recognize Romanoff's voice, "those aren't moving apart very quickly."

"I noticed," he snapped.

He shifted strategies, lowering his hands to the ground, palms up, and pushed upwards. Their inner ends started to tilt upwards, but the outer blades still dug into the ground, churning their way rapidly towards the trio. He kept pushing, up and out, but they were heavy, they weren't moving fast enough-

Scarlet power shot out from behind him, twining with his emerald to lift the blades just in time for them to sail harmlessly overhead. Loki spun around, and still with the aid of the young woman, he sent them crashing down on groups of Outriders.

The woman in red armor pointed at the newcomer with her spear. "Why were you up there all this time?"

She smiled, looking at Loki. "I'm stronger than the God of Mischief. Clint would've loved to have seen that."

"Today," Loki emphasized. "You're stronger than me today. Try again when I'm at full strength."

"Really? Because I saw you copying my flight technique."

Loki crossed his arms. "I am nearly a thousand years older than any of you could hope to be – if anybody is copying moves, it's you."

She brushed a stray strand of hair from her face. "Whatever you say."

"This is a plot twist," Romanoff observed, a little bit of pride sparkling in her eyes as she glanced at the younger woman. "You're with us now, Loki?"

Loki tilted his head, the corner of his mouth lifting in a weary attempt at a smile. "I have red in my ledger, and I'd like to wipe it out."

Romanoff nodded, her own lips flickering at the callback, and dipped her head to the other two women. "That's Wanda, that's Okoye." She pointed across the field. "And those are Sam, Rhodey, and Bucky."

Loki pointed at his own allies. "Valkyrie, Rocket, Groot, Sif."

"Great. Let's get back to-"

She stopped abruptly, her and Wanda lifting fingers to their ears. "We have a Vision situation!" Loki heard someone call over their communications devices before they went down with a startled grunt.

Wanda whirled around, scarlet flaring around her hands. "I'm on my-"

Something glinted in the corner of Loki's eye, something sharp hurtling straight towards them- towards Wanda. "Duck!" he yelled, lunging for the witch. They collapsed to the ground right as Proxima's spear flew through where she had been standing a heartbeat before.

Loki whipped his head up, glaring at the familiar woman. She sneered at him, blood red eyes dark with disdain. "Lackey."

"Proxy," he snapped, rising to his feet.

"You're annoyingly resilient," she said, summoning her spear back to her hand.

"And you're just entirely annoying," he shot back, drawing Carita. Sword.

Proxima just kept sneering. "You couldn't defeat me seven years ago, and you couldn't defeat me yesterday. Why should I be scared of you now?"

Romanoff stepped up beside him, drawing her own weapons. "Because he's not alone."

Okoye took her place on his other side, aiming her own spear. "Leave my country, alien."

Proxima snorted. "He attacked your planet, working for my father, just as I am. Why would you risk your lives for him?"

For the first time in a century, Loki let the change ripple over him in a wave of emerald, maintaining his height even as other parts of him narrowed or enlarged accordingly. His voice rose in pitch, taking on a faint husky quality. "Easy," Lady Loki answered. "Girl power."

Despite everything, Romanoff chuckled. "She's right, Proxy. We humans do love our girl power."

With an enraged growl, Proxima lunged. Loki parried the blow while Okoye and Romanoff split off, coming at her former torturer from different angles. Proxima twisted Carita out of Loki's hands, but had to turn immediately to defend her back, parrying Okoye's attack as she dodged Romanoff's.

"Wanda, go get Vision," Loki ordered, snatching up Carita. The scarlet witch nodded, launching into the air. Proxima snarled, watching her, but Loki morphed Carita into a spear and jabbed at the villainess, forcing her to go on the defensive.

The trio continued their assault, stabbing and hacking at Thanos's daughter. But speed and agility were her greatest assets, and she dodged with ease, even as she struggled to land a solid blow. The blunt end of her spear caught Romanoff's knee; a prong left a gash on Loki's arm; a kick knocked Okoye down for a few precious moments.

Enough of this.

Loki flung herself out of the fray, rolling into a crouch. Carita shrank to the size of a throwing knife, and with a burst of telekinesis to guide her, Loki hurled her at Proxima. She sliced through her Achilles tendon, and Proxima fell to one knee with a shriek. Romanoff kicked her to the ground, and without hesitation, Okoye stabbed her spear straight into Proxima's heart.

Loki stood, calling Carita back to his hand, where she landed as a dagger. Romanoff and Okoye took a step back from the corpse, and the three women exchanged a glance. "You going for a new look?" Romanoff asked, gesturing up and down Loki's body.

"I'm over a thousand years old, Romanoff," he said, letting the glamour fall away. "All of my looks were perfected long ago."

"So you're a fashionista."

Loki chuckled. "Shapeshifter. And keeping one form for five thousand years is boring. Now, it's time to stop Thanos from getting to Vision."

She arched an eyebrow. "You know who Vision is?"

"Thor had time to tell me a few things, seeing as Earth was going to be Asgard's new home."

"What happened to Asgard?" Okoye asked.

"Thor and I had a secret older sister who made New York me look no more dangerous than a pickpocket," Loki explained. "And then Thanos came along. The four of us here – we're the only warriors left."

"Damn," Romanoff murmured. "I'm sorry."

Loki accepted the condolences with a nod, glancing at Okoye, realizing she had the same accent as T'Challa and putting that together with the uniforms he had seen. "We should get back to the fighting before Wakanda ends up the same way."

She nodded. "Agre-"

A chill settled over the battlefield, an icy breeze bringing a wave of darkened clouds that Loki knew didn't come from Thor. Carita shivered in his hand as Loki looked around, edging closer to the two women. The Outriders ignored it, giving most of the Wakandans something to keep fighting, but the heroes were going still, searching for the source of the sinister aura.

"Oh no," Romanoff whispered. "Don't tell me that he's…"

Loki looked towards the copse Wanda had flown towards, as certain of his arrival as he was of the memories haunting his mind. He swallowed, squeezing Carita tightly in his trembling hand.

"He's here."


A/N: So. I have good news and bad news.

Good news: I figured out the sequel. I will be writing my own version of Avengers 4. For the sole purpose of ensuring Thor and Loki get their happy endings. (But it will be treated more like an Avengers movie, not solely a Thor and Loki one, so as my idea stands now, Thor and Loki will be the focus, but not the only POV characters. That could change, idk, I have yet to sit down and take my scattered scene ideas and turn them into an actual cohesive plan.)

Bad news: In order to pull it off, I have to sacrifice the happy ending I was planning for this fic. I only made this decision yesterday, and I fought it, I really did, but... it's the best way to deal with both canon and my own unfinished plotlines. So... enjoy this one while it lasts (and it's looking like there'll be 2 more chapters, making 9 total).

Additional bad news: I have something else to write before I start the sequel, something with an actual deadline, and at this point, I don't know how long it'll take. And, like I said, I still have to write up the outline for the sequel. So... idk how long you guys'll be left with the cliffhanger. Could be days, could be weeks, could be more. I'll be as quick as I can, cause I hate evil cliffhangers too (although as a writer I love them, and this is my first time ending an entire fic on a cliffhanger, so this'll be a new evil for me), but I also don't wanna rush, you know? Quality over speed.