Hey guys! Sorry about the long long delay. The world is kind of in chaos right now as you likely know haha. I wanted to post a really long chapter again, but I just didn't have time. However, it will be coming! :) A few things are going to happen that show a bit of Loki's past with Thanos. I'm excited! I hope you are too!
Several Frost Giants ran alongside Loki as he and Captain America walked up the hill to the kings and queens. Every mortal and Warrior besides Tony had come in now. Thor was the first person to greet his younger brother.
"Red Skull is dead." Loki announced, catching his breath. The scepter waved just a little bit as he came to the stop by them.
Before anyone could respond, Mazi let go of Hena and ran over to him. Svleiva instinctively extended one hand after her as she left, holding back a protest.
Loki put on hand on the back of the little girl's head as she hugged him tightly.
"I knew you weren't dead! I knew it!" she exclaimed.
Valder's eyebrows shot up, shocked that Mazi had even been aware that this had been a possibility.
"Lots of people thought you were, but I didn't believe them." the princess continued earnestly, staring up at the Jotun king.
Loki smiled in amusement as he crouched down by her "Well. I'm glad someone had faith in me."
Mazi grinned proudly and gave him another hug around the neck before running back over to Svleiva. The queen's face was still flushed from crying, but she just mouthed "thank you" over at the God of Mischief. He nodded at her affirmatively as he stood back up.
Frigga watched Thor leaned slightly to peer at his younger brother like he was searching for something in particular.
"Our soldiers have pulled back. There is little need for them." Heimdall reported to both his king and Loki "The Chitari are only fighting amongst themselves now."
Most of the group paused, the faintest hint of hope seeming to wake them up. Odin's eyes narrowed, unconvinced.
"This isn't done." Loki confirmed his father's thoughts with a wary shake of his head "He'll bring in others soon enough. And the Outriders are not on our side."
"At least Red Skull is out of the way." Thor said as he stopped scrutinizing the God of Mischief.
"No. He was the one I hated, but he is nowhere near the worst of Thanos' followers." Loki replied "He was the featured servant. The advertisement."
Thor immediately frowned, not liking the sound of that at all. He'd only seen Red Skull and Loki as Thanos' prized followers. Who else could they have?
As he thought, Hena stared at the scepter in Loki's hand, scared of what it could potentially be doing to its current wielder. She knew Loki was aware of its clout now, but that didn't matter. Then she shifted her attention as Heimdall made another announcement.
"They're coming now. Different creatures." he sounded grim.
Odin and Valder, after a brief glance, both responded by walking up the hill to watch. Many others followed, but Loki, Frigga, and Svleiva did not.
Indeed there were new animals pouring out of Thanos' portal. They ran on four legs like the Outriders, but were taller than the Chitari. They had very dark green skin that nearly looked scaly. The Frost Giants still towered over them, but based on the sudden fallback of their army, these newcomers were going to be much harder to subdue.
"Why didn't he just send these things initially? What is his strategy here?" Captain America asked.
"He didn't know he was going to be facing the nine realms today." Loki responded from his spot by his mother. He gestured at the portal opposite to them with the scepter "His opening is not stable either. He doesn't want to risk losing it by letting too many through at once."
"So then maybe we should widen the battlefield. Make him think he can send more in. Overload it." Captain America said thoughtfully.
Loki scowled slightly as he shook his head in irritation.
"No, why in all of Valhalla would he fall for that?"
"He might not, but there is still a chance. We wouldn't have anything to lose. We should pull our soldiers back. If we can get him to shut down his own portal, we can win this battle with a lot less death."
"What, you want to fight off ten at a time instead of one?" Loki asked scathingly "All we'll have done at that point is separate our own army."
"Are you looking at the end game here? If we can stop him with a tactical maneuver, I say do it. And quickly. We'll lose more and more ground."
Thor held back an eyeroll, ready to intervene.
"Look." Instead, Loki cut him off with a wave of his arm. His eyes were sharp as the blade he held in his hand "How many years did you spend with Thanos observing his every strategy?"
Captain America brought his head back. Loki didn't very often openly remind everyone that he had literally served the God of Death for a time.
"None. But I did spend time winning against Red Skull and since Red Skull served with Thanos, I don't see how there is going to be a difference."
"Nobody tells Thanos how to fight a battle. You think he would have adopted Midgardian techniques? He has his own that are far better than any RED SKULL would have delivered. Therefore, your opinion is invalid and profits us little to nothing." Loki replied "So keep quiet."
It wasn't demeaning, just brisk as he looked back at the kings and queens.
"The Jotuns can lead part of the creatures out of the courtyard to thin out his army. But we should keep the main part of the fighting in the center. He is going to suspect that I will try to outsmart him. Which means we shouldn't try to at all."
Captain America looked over at the other members of his mortal team. It was merely to validate his own indignance, but he realized that God of Mischief had a fair point.
"We will lose more soldiers in this upfront fighting." Svleiva said, her voice anxious. While she trusted Loki even more than Captain America, every battle method she had ever learned told her to outplay her opponent.
"In an ordinary battle, perhaps, but not like this. Trust me. He knows me and I know him. He will attack more viciously if we deviate." Loki assured her.
Odin then looked at Valder, who nodded.
"Our men can rejoin." he said "Should we pull others? Perhaps the Frost Giants should retreat for a moment."
"No." the growled refusal came from one of the Jotuns standing a few yards behind Loki. Valder glanced over at him, then to their leader, but the God of Mischief didn't say anything to counter the guard's protest. He just barely stopped himself from rolling his eyes in exasperation. With that mindset, the Frost Giants were likely going to have the highest death toll of any of the realms here.
"Asgard can stay. We train for this." Odin said.
"Then let's return as well." Volstagg replied, taking one step back. He was obviously quite eager to get back in the battlefield.
"Are any of you wounded?" Odin asked, briefly eyeing each of them in turn. Most of them shook their heads as they answered aloud.
Thor stopped himself from looking at Loki. The conflict that even that action would bring between them was unimaginable. He was hoping his parents or even Valder and Svleiva would say something about Loki's condition. Even excluding the hidden gash, he was still hurt.
And his hope was nearly answered as Odin hesitated over his adopted son. His eyes were narrowed slightly, but Loki turned away towards the battle almost instantly, breaking the king's thought.
"Where should we go? Where are we needed?" Volstagg asked, uncertain if he still needed to ask. Loki clearly wasn't.
"Stay in the center. In Thanos' sight. If he can see you, he'll be less likely to suspect something." Odin replied, though his full focus wasn't on the Warrior.
"I'll have my men go there as well. Asgard and Vanaheim can part to the rims." Valder added.
"One second." Hawkeye held out a hand that literally stopped everyone in their tracks. His eyes narrowed as he listened.
"Does that sound...familiar...to anyone? he asked forebodingly. He sighed.
"What?" Captain America asked.
The SHIELD agent didn't respond, but he just waited with raised eyebrows.
Sure enough, a moment later, there came an angry bellow from the battlefield.
"Oh no." Captain America muttered.
Loki exhaled loudly in frustration, reaching to grip the bridge of his nose. He scowled fiercely as he flung one finger at the mortals.
"If you...would have just gotten him when I told you to..." he stopped there and then just turned away. He walked up the hill until he could clearly see the large, green Hulk leaping across the courtyard in absolute rage. He tore apart any ground he landed on as he did his best to attack all creatures that weren't on Thanos' side.
"They have control of him." Valder stated the obvious grimly with a small shake of his head.
The Frost Giants were the only ones that even had a chance of holding back the rage-filled monster. Asgardians and Vanaheim soldiers were thrown to the side if they even considered approaching.
"How do we get him back?" Captain America asked, looking back over at Loki.
The God shot him a rather irritated glare. With a low growl, he readjusted the scepter in his hand and started walking down the ridge closer to battle.
"What are you going to do?" Hena asked, worriedly as she followed.
"I'm going to make him very...VERY mad." Loki responded, observing the scene with narrowed eyes.
"And...and then what?" Hena asked uncertainly.
At that, Loki broke into an amused smile as he glanced over at her.
"I'll lead him over here and I'll need you to use your powers to calm him down. Hopefully that'll work long enough for me to change his mind."
"Can't we just go to him?" Hena queried.
"No, it would best if we did not. We'll be in full view of Thanos. If we can make it look like he is coming over here of his own accord, we stand a better chance of succeeding."
"Even if you take away their mind control, he'll be hard to control just on principle." Hawkeye reminded the God.
"No, really?" Loki asked dryly. He winced briefly, tilting to the side a bit.
That caused Thor to grimace as well.
"Perhaps we should send another. Someone else can distract him while Hena gets closer." Frigga said "You have been out too long."
Loki shook his head "No, I'm the only one who can use this." He raised the scepter slightly "And I'll need it."
"You should return here afterwards." Frigga said to him, stepping around Odin "The Tesseract can soon be changed to Valhalla."
Loki gave her a quick, tense nod, but he knew that the Tesseract was only an excuse for her to bring him back here. She trusted her wayward son, but right now, she sensed something was amiss.
"Be careful." Hena cautioned him as he readied himself to leave.
"Trust me, I've experienced him. I am in no hurry to do it again." Loki replied affirmatively.
As he left, Svleiva left Mazi with the guards and walked over to her older daughter.
"Svleiva..." Valder reached out to take her arm.
The queen removed it immediately, though she didn't look angry.
"I'm alright here. That beast may be hard to calm. I will help Hena if needed."
"Perhaps Banner will already follow Loki. If he has the scepter." Thor ventured.
"He will follow those who took control of him." Odin responded to answer his question "Hopefully, Loki will only remove that. Not induce another dominion over him."
Thor nodded slightly. He didn't worry that his brother might do something unseemly with the scepter, but he would rather it wasn't used for mind controlling purposes ever again.
"We might have to pull him out anyway. If he's calmed back to human form, he isn't going to be any use." Hawkeye said honestly.
"I'll do my best not to do that." Hena assured him. The SHIELD agent nodded.
Frigga walked up towards the princess to watch her son. Her eyes were wary as they searched the field for him.
"Are we winning?" Mazi asked hesitantly.
Valder leaned to pick her up, one hand around her waist.
"From what I can tell, yes. Loki brought us help."
Mazi kicked her legs a bit in excitement.
"He brought the Frost Giants?"
"Yes. And the other realms as well."
"The Frost Giants came to save me and Adden." Mazi informed him. She leaned to look at the Jotuns. Only one of them was looking in her direction, but they didn't say anything.
"Where is he?" Frigga asked, glancing back at the Tesseract.
"I'm not sure. He disappeared." Hena responded.
Frigga shifted her jaw, but to her credit, she didn't roll her eyes.
"That is his greatest talent." she muttered.
Odin waved a hand at the Warriors as Valder readied his own soldiers to leave.
"Go. Hopefully we can finish this soon." he said.
"Should I help him?" Thor asked, vaguely holding his hammer towards where Loki had gone.
"You'll likely just make him angry. As kind as your intentions are, he can do this. He'll know what is best in this scenario." Frigga replied to her son, lovingly touching his upper arm.
Thor tried to smile for her, but he couldn't bring himself to shake his underlying concern. Loki already looked fairly healed, but he was not convinced that his brother wasn't hiding something.
"I've found him." Hena said quickly, chin raised to keep him in her sights "He's approaching Banner."
"He's not approaching; he's running right at him." Hawkeye said with raised eyebrows.
The God of Mischief was indeed sprinting straight for the Hulk. He had to call off a few Frost Giants who were running to attack the green monster. They were too far away to hear, but he must have spoken to get Banner's attention.
"Oh Valhalla." Svleiva said under her breath as she watched. If dozens of Frost Giants weren't gathered near their king, guaranteed either Anaheimien or Asgardian soldiers would have been ordered over.
The Hulk let out another bellow and ran directly for Loki. However, instead of an illusion shimmering into nothing, the real God of Mischief simply skirted out of the way and very narrowly avoided the attack.
"What is he doing?" Thor exclaimed, just as all three women protested.
"Loki! Don't do that! Use your magic!" Hena demanded angrily.
The second son of Odin turned around, having heard the loud shout. He held out his arms innocently. Frigga warningly shook her head in response.
Banner clenched his teeth, literally trembling in fury as he turned back to his target.
"Loki, dammit, move!" the curse came from Svleiva, making Valder look over in shock.
Hena unintentionally lifted her hands up as if she could stop the scenario with that motion.
Loki smiled at their reaction, vanishing just inches before the green monster should have grabbed him.
Svleiva put one hand over her eyes in irritation and turned away from the field.
"He's insane. Absolutely insane." she said to Valder quietly.
"It would take quite a bit of effort to catch him when he is completely focused on avoiding that." her husband replied passively.
"Yes and one wrong move and he could be dead." Svleiva retorted, although she wasn't angry with the king to any degree.
To their relief, Loki began more systematically maneuvering over to them. He had to double back a few times to ensure that the Hulk's rage was still thoroughly pointed at him.
Hena edged closer to the hill, uncertain of her exact task. She knew how to calm an ordinary person down, but she did not have any idea how intense this beast's emotions would be.
"That thing doesn't seem very nice." Mazi said in annoyance.
"He's not." Hawkeye told her, shaking his head slightly "At least, not right now."
More and more of the Chitari were now fighting the new animals Thanos had sent in. They could see now why the God of Death had avoided sending them in the first place. They weren't worthless soldiers he could waste; they were sentient and independent. They would have been worth much more in a large battle for the fate of the universe, which Thanos had not known would be happening this day. He had not put all of his assets in one realm and therefore had to switch from one to another if he wanted each army.
Meanwhile, the distance between the Hulk and them was closing quickly. But Frigga could sense that Loki was losing strength. She knew from personal experience how hard it was to maintain pure magic for long periods of time. Unfortunately, she had never done some of the incantations he frequently did and couldn't fully comprehend the energy it took to cast himself from one place to another. She flinched each time he was nearly grabbed. At this point, it would take more power to maintain the illusion of himself moving away. He would have to continue what he was doing. But, his pause in between each movement was becoming longer. He only did it the moment it became absolutely necessary.
Svleiva's eyes narrowed in concentration. Once he was within reach, she extended her own powers out to him.
Instantly, Loki began moving more quickly. He almost seem to overshoot his targeted destinations for a moment, but regained his control after that.
Frigga paused a moment before looking back at Svleiva. She nodded gratefully and Anaheim's queen did the same in acknowledgement.
The Hulk was still about fifty feet away when Hena, like her mother, began using her magic. Almost instantly, the green monster came to a stop. He shook his head, almost as if to clear the overwhelming calm that was being forced upon him. He continued to growl, clenching his fists to continue expending all the energy he still had in him. He turned slightly, grunting in frustration.
Loki stayed where he was, being cautious of any dramatic movements now.
Thor instinctively wanted to offer a word of warning, but he stopped himself from pointing out the obvious. He wanted to get away from his reputation of not thinking before speaking. Loki was well aware of the danger.
Hena stared at the younger brother, waiting for some sign that she was doing this correctly. Or if she needed to pull back. But, he didn't look back at her before approaching the Hulk.
Mazi wiggled out of Valder's grasp to watch. He took her arm cautiously, although the little girl didn't try to go farther. She stayed where she was and simply stared as Loki used the scepter to release Banner. It took less than a few seconds, just as it had when he took control of Hawkeye and the other mortals.
"Don't stop yet." Frigga said to Hena warily.
The princess shook her head without turning.
"I won't."
The Hulk remained where he was, heaving loud breaths as if he knew he should be angry but couldn't manage it.
"Remember me?" that was Loki speaking. He sounded quite plain for being just a few feet from lethal danger "I've never been your friend. But those you sent you here are the enemies."
Thor hoped he wasn't the only one to notice how absolutely exhausted Loki sounded. But, that didn't matter to Hulk apparently. The green beast almost instantly turned around, fists clenching.
Hena took that as her cue and pulled back her powers. He yelled into the battlefield and launched himself forward.
Loki backed up, finally showing just how worn out he was. He dropped his shoulders slightly, drawing in a few deep breaths. But it didn't last for more than a few seconds.
"We could have used you on Earth a few times." Hawkeye said to Hena with a small shake of his head.
"Well, I wish I could have been there." she replied simply. She wasn't sure if he was referring to the Hulk specifically or general events that had happened on Midgard. Certainly she would have been helpful when Loki came with the Chitari. And she often wished that she had been. Everything could have been so different in that regard.
"Loki!" Frigga called, chin raised as she beckoned him.
"He should stop." Thor told her, nodding ever so slightly as he spoke. His mother gave him a concerned look, unsure of what to take from that. He still couldn't bring himself to tell her about Loki. Perhaps his brother was already healed. He could be causing his father to pull Loki away from the battle without cause.
Fortunately, the God of Mischief turned towards them. Thor briefly hoped he was coming in for good. But from the determined look on his younger brother's face, he doubted that was the case.
Please review! More to come!