A/N: And so we have the last chapter in this day and this mission arc. *smile* Have fun!

Thank you to geme1, Katherine Sanderson, karina001, RMXStudio, InsanityOwl, neah20, zebrastripes150802, Yami-The Lord of Darkness, and guest for reviewing!

Title: Fear of Infinity

Author: liketolaugh

Rating: T

Pairings: None

Genre: Drama/Adventure

Warnings: None

Summary: When Loki mentions two more Infinity Stones, aside from the Tesseract, that fell to Earth thousands of years before, the Avengers are thrown into a centuries-old war between Dark Matter and Innocence - also known as the stones of Mind and Soul.

Disclaimer: I only wish I owned D. Gray-man, and the Avengers are but a dream that is not my own.


Loki's strongest shield was slow to cast, so he had to make do with a lesser one, a barrier made of air which blocked off magic and physical assault alike.

Sheryl's eyes had widened in shock, and Wisely reeled back, startled. Tiedoll, though, wasted no time in scooping Chaoji up (and Chaoji choked down an agonized moan, unable to scream) and taking off at Loki's impatient gesture, making a beeline for his Innocence, which lay on the ground a few yards away.

"Sheryl!" Wisely gasped out, lurching forward. His head slammed into the shield and he grunted, and Loki cast another to keep the Noah at bay.

"Brother, to the gate!" Thor called, taking Chaoji from Tiedoll without effort. The general nodded in gratitude and scooped his Innocence up; it sat comfortably in his hand.

"I will stall them!" Loki snapped back, eyes intent and focused. "Go!"

"Loki-" Thor started to turn, eyes wide and alarmed.

"Do not argue, brother!" Loki said harshly. Thor hesitated, and then, regretful and earnest, promised,

"I will return for you, Loki. Stand true."

Loki nodded, baring his teeth in a small snarl. "General!" he called.

Tiedoll paused, interpreted and processed the implicit request in a split second, and then whipped around. He waved his staff like Loki would once wave his scepter, in a grand gesture made for show. "Art!" he said sharply. "Witness the beauty of this world!"

From the ground rose a monster - a distinctly Tiedoll-shaped beast which towered above all of them, and then swiped at the two Noah, making them split up.

"What did you do?" Wisely demanded of Sheryl, who snapped back,

"Loki has magic! He found a way to break free, you idiot! We can't let them get away, or the Earl won't let us live to hear the end of it!"

With that, he swung his fist forward, and Loki cursed and staggered back as the first shield shattered under the force, making his chest ache.

Tiedoll carefully manipulated his beast to swing at Sheryl, who was forced to duck away from the second shield in order to evade the most likely devastating blow.

"My apprentices are like children to me," Tiedoll told the two Noah, deadly cold. "And I have lost many of them in my time, but I forget not a single one. Art!"

More statues, smaller than the beast but still larger than life, formed and rose into the air, and Loki recognized only a few - Kanda, Chaoji, Marie, and then others, most likely long dead. Chaoji swung his fist at Sheryl, Kanda drew his sword, Marie wielded his strings, another bounced a ball in front of him; each of them had a weapon and a penalty to extract.

Loki himself was facing Wisely, who had met his eyes, brow furrowed, intense - and the second shield gave way under an unseen force. A second later, the force moved on to the Asgardian Jotun, who found himself flat on his back, out of breath, with Wisely towering over him.

The battle between Tiedoll and Sheryl raged in the background, Tiedoll using his Art to keep Sheryl away from his body, being passed from statue to statue as Sheryl reached and pursued and occasionally caught the General, only to be thwarted as a statue shattered his concentration.

All of Loki's attention, however, was on the grey-skinned Noah above him, and the strange intensity of his gaze. Loki glared and started to get up, but Wisely spoke.

"I hate to do this, Jotun, because your mind is strange and it makes my head hurt. Unfortunately, we all have to make sacrifices in war."

The next thing Loki knew, it was a battle between his magic and Wisely's, a fight of finesse pitted against sheer strength. It irked Loki to know which was which.

Ba-bump.

Loki gasped in a struggling breath, sweat beading on his forehead. His blood rushed in his ears, and he pushed against Wisely, using every trick he knew, every ounce of strength to keep the other from achieving his goal.

Loki would not let his brain be melted by a human who thought himself better.

Ba-bump.

Oh, but it hurt. There was a strangeness to Wisely's magic, a consumptive hunger that ate at Loki's strength, weakening him even as they wrestled. Loki hissed, blood starting to leak from his ears, pain starting in his forehead and spreading.

Ba-bump.

Loki did not have the strength for this, for this fight. He struggled to get up, to rise, but a renewal in the magic made him fall again, and blood bubbled from his lips as he coughed.

Wisely would not get the best of him. He would not. He would not!

Ba-bump.

There was a crack in Wisely's offense. Just one, a single thread of decay, but Loki lunged at it, blasted it with all the strength he had left in him, and Wisely screamed and stumbled back, and then…

Loki was dazed. Blood leaked from his nose and his ears and his eyes, and it bubbled from his mouth, he coughed.

There was a blond blur above him, roaring in anger, and a white one passing by to aide a man among statues, who was slow and tiring.

A door opened, and a little girl emerged, and there were candles, many candles, which blazed and swirled menacingly while Loki stared blankly, a blinding pain in his head, short of breath for the elephant on his chest.

Eventually, three went into the door, which closed and disappeared, and the blond man crouched over him, worried and wary.

"Loki?" he asked. "Loki, are you well?"

Loki blinked, and then he closed his eyes, and the world faded away.

"Loki!"


15 Days to Invasion


An action chapter. *nod* Hastily done, I grant you, but I didn't initially plan for it to be anything more than a getaway. *sheepish smile* And it wasn't even that. *laugh* Oh, well. Thanks for reading, and please review!