Hi guys! Just as a random reminder haha, I am not well versed in GOTG universe. I just thought it was quite plausible that Loki would have been there at the same time as Nebula and Gamora obviously.
Not much else I can say, but please review. :)
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Valder and Odin directed their men to new positions in the battlefield as the Frost Giants retreated from the fighting. The blue creatures had grudgingly followed Loki's order to pull back, though there were a few pairs that had stayed in various places across the courtyard. They had immediately assessed the ones among them who were worst off, but the Jotuns did not have a very organized process for treating them like the Asgardians did. The majority was impatiently waiting to get back out in the combat.
The Asgardian cavalry had been brought to Anaheim shortly after that. Now both him and Valder had a much more efficient method of sending orders out into the war.
Proxima Midnight was currently being taken farther back into the alcove where she could be secured. Loki and Nebula still disagreed on whether or not they she should be killed. The Black Order member maintained her cold and expressionless demeanor, even while in lethal danger and it infuriated Nebula.
"Heimdall is coming back in." Thor said after returning from his quick flight back to his friends "They have not found Ebony Maw. After her capture," he gestured at Proxima "They may have retreated and plan to come back out again with another strategy."
Odin looked over at Loki. The God of Mischief was being quickly checked over by the maids from Asgard. He needed a more thorough examination, but he adamantly refused it each time they tried. His limp was worse and the head injury he had sustained from the blast was still lightly seeping blood. Odin considered ordering him out of the war, but had yet to go through with it.
Loki had sounded certain that Thanos would not be coming after his adopted daughter they captured. But the fact that the rest of the Black Order had disappeared suggested otherwise.
"You said Corvus might come here to retrieve her." Valder spoke, clearly following the other king's thoughts "Is it possible he'll bring the others with him?"
"Corvus and Cull are true brothers." Nebula growled "They'll show up together."
Anaheim's king blinked in surprise. As much as they trusted Loki and now Nebula by extension, all relevant information was clearly not being provided.
"Cull should be otherwise occupied." Loki responded, pulling back away from the healers. They reluctantly settled for what little treatment they'd managed to provide. Frigga frowned at his actions.
More dirt sprinkled down to their whereabouts from the raging combat only meters away.
"Are those the only four we should be aware of?" Valder asked pointedly, attention shifting between Nebula and Loki.
"Gamora left a few years ago and Red Skull is dead. The two of us are here. That leaves the last four. And now three with Proxima captured." Loki replied "The lack of Ebony's appearance is what I really find concerning right now."
"If he has the abilities you say he does and he comes here, getting caught off guard would be handing Thanos the victory." Odin said "Loki, is there a way to fight him one on one?"
"I've been able to prevent him from immobilizing me in the past, but that does not leave a lot of room for combat." the Silvertongue replied grimly.
"Then your father and I can stop him from controlling us as well." Frigga confirmed "How many can he control at once?"
"Likely one, but his strategy would be to hurl other objects I imagine." Loki responded dryly.
Thor realized he'd tensed at the queen referring to Odin as Loki's father, waiting for awkwardness. But it had not come. Either his brother accepted it, or it simply wasn't worth arguing at the present time.
"We only need numbers to defeat him. And that, we have." Loki asserted.
He started up the hill again and Nebula grudgingly followed. They stopped at the top fortunately, as Odin was preparing to call them back. The pair watched the battle from the rim of their base area. As soon as they were spotted however, shots careened in their direction.
"Svleiva, move back." Valder held out an arm to edge her further into safety.
"Okay, I guess I'll go see what new buddies we have up there." Tony said with a grunt.
"No one would be foolish enough to come in here." Frigga reasoned "It might be just the actions of a petty few."
"Or they want to try and hold us here." Odin said as the suit took off into the air.
"Tony, what do you see?" the question signaled that Captain America had left the healers. Thor glanced at his arm, but the burn was already partially healed. Asgard had developed a very effective method for mending Jotun-inflicted wounds after the great war between the realms.
"The green lizard things are gathering outside the 'headquarters'." Tony reported. He continued, assuming his friend to be relaying what he was saying down below "But they aren't sending in anymore than are already there. The old man is right; they just want to keep the royalty where they are."
Thor, who had followed Nebula and Loki, just barely poked his head to where it could be seen and there was another blast sent their way. This time, the firing didn't stop, but came sporadically. Dirt crumbled down the slanted ground that led to the kings and queens.
"Actually, Cap, they can still get out easily from the back." Tony informed Captain America "They're just trying to distract them, I think."
"Then we'll let them think they're doing that." Valder overheard the message and immediately took action. He turned to his guard "Tell the runners to come around the fortress. Thanos can believe he's had a triumph."
"Nat, how's it coming down there? Hawkeye asked. He'd climbed onto a very large mound of ice to try and spot Cull, but so far he was coming up empty. Black Widow had checked all the Asgardian soldiers and was now pulling them out of the way to wait for Tony to return. A few had woken up and returned to the battle, but there were still about four left unconscious.
"The Frost Giants abandoned the field." Hawkeye told his fellow SHIELD agent down below. His eyebrows were pressed downward in confusion as he tried to view what was happening with the blue beasts near half a mile away.
"Maybe Loki pulled them back. They've been doing that for the other realms too." Black Widow suggested with a grunt as she lowered another soldier to the ground.
"Well, Stark hasn't come back, maybe we're missing out on something important." Hawkeye replied. He gave small, somber chuckle.
"These guys will be easy prey if we leave them here alone."
"Have you tried waking them up?"
Black Widow's tone immediately became sarcastic as she replied "I never thought of that. Maybe you are some kind of a genius."
"Just thought I'd check." Hawkeye said. He slowly took an arrow from his quiver and set it in his bow. Pulling it back, he aimed it at the giant purple Titan he could just barely see from this distance.
"What are the odds of me hitting Thanos right now and ending this whole thing?" he asked.
"Well, you can always try, but I'm sure that has already been attempted." Black Widow said "Go ahead, though, be the hero."
"Incoming guys." Tony spoke to them over the intercom. Hawkeye whirled around, trying to find that was heading in their direction, but it was only the Ironman suit landing just a few yards away.
"We've got a small issue up at our place." he informed them.
Thor quickly hurled his hammer out towards the accumulated aliens and then moved back below their protected area. Once he could hear the ring of it coming back, he stood up and grabbed Mjolnir before it could fly past.
"You are inevitably going to miss it coming back at some point and, with your luck, kill someone." Loki said over to him scathingly.
Him, Nebula, and Thor were all crouching a few feet from each other, periodically attacking creatures who were gathering around them. Although they were not directly being assaulted, the three of them were trying to begin clearing a way out.
"I am quite capable of handling my hammer. But, thank you for the concern, it is very helpful right now." Thor responded.
Loki literally growled in frustration as a massive blast hit the part of the demolished wall he and Nebula were directly behind. Pieces of it flew off, covering the two of them in dust.
"We can't wait in here like this." the cyborg said over to him "I'll go and find Ebony myself if you don't want to come."
Hena's gaze flicked over to her, though she was partly distracted by her parents. Both of them were talking to their lead soldiers, just as Odin was speaking to his. She was completely flabbergasted by their displayed calmness through all of this. Her father had much more internal anxiety than Odin, but neither showed any of the turmoil they felt.
It only took a few moments and the kings sent the men on their way.
"So, how soon after I went to Midgard did you leave?" Loki asked, grunting as more dirt showered down.
"A while." Nebula rasped in return, giving him no other detail "If Gamora and you would have let me in on your plan, I might have gone with her."
"Before or after you took off her head?" Loki replied dryly.
"After. She was a horrible sister. You know exactly what the competition feels like. She deserves whatever comes her way."
"I do." Loki agreed "Too well."
Nebula shifted her position as she peeked over the edge.
"So, you weren't sleeping with her?"
Loki quickly looked over at her with a very deep scowl. Frigga's eyebrows rose.
"Gamora?" he asked scathingly "No."
"One of her biggest accomplishments to the group was how she seduced a Prince of Asgard."
Loki rolled his eyes over to the battlefield in disgust. Despite the fact that everyone was well within earshot, Nebula continued.
"I guess she didn't. Strange of you. You may be a biological Frost Giant, but you are one hundred percent pure Asgardian."
"Thank you for the psychoanalysis."
"Thanos was able to pull the monster out though."
"Leave him alone." Hena's temper flared finally, making the Cyborg look back.
Loki sniffed in amusement as he grinned slightly at Thanos' daughter.
"I told you she wasn't soft."
"So you said." Nebula growled.
Hena's arms folded instinctively.
"These creatures we fight are not familiar with magic." that was Alfheim's leader now. He took Odin and Valder's attention away from the conversation "That should be used to our advantage in every way possible. Perhaps we should gather our lead sorcerers and combine them with soldiers from other realms. Spread them out rather than have them conquer small areas with magic at once."
Odin nodded at his ally.
"I agree. Send your warriors out to my men and they may organize squadrons."
"Shall I go?" Hena asked, addressing her father more than Odin.
"Not yet." Valder replied, distracted by something else "Loki, is that Cull?"
The God of Mischief sent a brief glance his way before trying to follow his gaze. The largest member of the Black Order was just leaving the enclosed area of the palace grounds. Seconds later, the Hulk appeared behind and the two of them engaged into a another fight. Ordinarily, their green creature would quickly demolish whatever creature walked into his line of sight. But this time, he had a true fight on his hands.
"That's him." Nebula sounded vaguely triumphant. She narrowed her eyes to watch him. Then she eyed Loki expectantly.
"You could kill him from here. Your scepter should be enough to do it." she said, not expecting any objection. Thor gave her a quick glare.
"I imagine it would be too, but our own people are over there." Loki responded scathingly as if she was a young child.
"And?" Nebula asked.
"And I am not quite the God of Death yet. Sorry." Loki replied.
"You're soft." she said fiercely.
"For not killing our own soldiers?" he asked "Yes, quite soft. If you haven't noticed, all of our people out there are slightly more sentient than the Chitari. They don't get replaced every month. If you want to lose the battle, that would be the quickest way to do it."
Hena gave a firm nod that was unseen by both of them, proud of his words. But, her good mood immediately fell as he kept talking.
"Come on, we need to get over there." he backed up from the wall and Nebula followed.
"Thanos might be nearby Cull. He'll come out to fight himself at this point in the battle." she said, sounding eager at the prospect.
"Loki, wait." Odin ordered right after she finished and the man walked past.
"Nebula and I are already familiar with Cull." the Frost Giant had a defense prepared for leaving "And the more Black Order members we get, the better."
Thor watched, wincing as another pile of dirt crumbled down the wall. He wasn't sure if Odin would let him pass or not and he could already imagine a confrontational argument breaking out.
"Loki, we won't be able to make our way over to him in time." that was Hena. Her eyes narrowed at the field "He's already leaving. Running from Banner." she pressed her lips together and lifted her eyebrows in surprise "All of them. They're all pulling back."
Thor tilted his head to verify it for himself. Then he also confirmed "She's right. Our men are on the offensive now." He looked back for some sort of an explanation. And the kings looked at Loki. The God of Thunder knew seniority didn't matter at this point.
"He knows we wouldn't let him leave if he surrendered." his brother said, though he was also confused. With a frustrated sound, he backed up until he could see farther into the courtyard.
The creatures in front of them weren't leaving, but instead they were being killed by the Asgardian Warriors approaching. Heimdall was with them as well.
"Obviously you were having trouble?" Volstagg asked, looking around him as if he couldn't believe that there had been so many enemies surrounding their fortress.
As Thor explained, Nebula joined Loki. All of the realms there were converging onto the retreating beasts. But, even more strange was that there was still a small group of Outriders that replaced the deceased ones at the edge, once again trying to trap the group where they were.
"I don't understand how you still bring yourself to go right at my father." Nebula said softly but still with the underlying grimness her voice always carried.
"Well...what worse can he do than what he's already done?" Loki answered softly.
"If he captures you again, he still won't kill you. He'll torture you just like he did, but for the rest of your life."
"Then I'm counting on you to kill me before that happens." Loki replied.
Thor tried to catch the the sarcasm in the statement. But his brother's face showed complete seriousness.
"If you do the same for me." Nebula agreed. She moved her attention back to her previous allies leaving the fight and lowered her voice a bit "Are you scared?"
"Do you want the truth?" Loki asked pointedly.
The cyborg paused and then shook her head slowly.
"Then I'm not scared at all." he continued and blinked in annoyance as he tried to come up with some sort of reason behind Thanos pulling his army back "Dammit."
Tony flew over them suddenly, toting another soldier to be helped.
"Did we win?" he asked, grunting as he carefully tried to lower the man down. The maids hurried to assist him. Once he was relieved of his burden, he approached the others.
"The agents are on their way back."
"Tell them to go around then." Captain America said before remembering he was also electronically connected to them.
"Oh. Okie dokie. I can do that, Captain. Whilst I do that, would you be good enough to provide me with an interpretation of the recent developments?"
"This isn't right." Valder muttered to his wife nearby him, ignoring the mortal's conversation. She shook her head anxiously.
Loki was in the same quandary as them. The Asgardian and Anaheimien soldiers were being more cautious now. They'd stopped the other realms from continuing forward as they too sensed something was wrong with being allowed to get so close to Thanos.
"There must be a reason he wants his people in that direction." the God of Mischief was half-talking to himself.
The Tesseract beside them suddenly pulsed, letting out a strange mechanical noise. Loki looked back at it warily.
"That would be...calamitous." he said placidly.
If Thanos gained control of the Space Stone and was able to teleport wherever he wanted...
"It's well secured. He cannot take it." Odin affirmed. The Allfather had spent a fair amount of his time ensuring that this was the case.
"He shouldn't be able to control it from his position either." Loki said.
"If you took that to him now, it might be enough for forgiveness." Nebula mentioned.
"Oh, I highly doubt that would be the case." Loki responded sourly.
"He does want it more than any of the other stones."
Though several were irritated, Frigga in particular gave the woman a cold look. She could not understand the women's utter hatred for Thanos and yet her constant push to please him as well. And, it bled to her son as well.
"That is not quite my personality." to her relief, Loki spoke with certainty and annoyance himself "For lack of a better term, I don't fawn or grovel to people. I never have. And it is not in my future either. If someone is going to regard me, I want it to be because I have the abilities to make it worthwhile. Prove yourself, don't sell yourself, Nebula."
The cyborg bristled at him, as if she couldn't believe he dared tell her that.
"Don't act like you're ignorant. Everyone competes to please him. To be completely blunt, that's why Thanos liked Gamora and me more than you. I never called him the Almighty and I never begged to get him to like me. But you did. He simply fed you little pieces of validation here and there. Gamora stood up to him. He couldn't dominate her, so he catered to her instead. And that's the same reason he threw me into his little discipline chamber when I arrived."
"Because nobody controls Loki Laufeyson." Nebula whispered bitterly.
The God of Mischief lifted his eyebrows and and almost smirked.
"Well, that isn't what I was going to say, but I don't mind that this is my reputation among the Black Order."
"Everyone hates you for it." Nebula replied.
"Isn't that a shame."
Thor jerked this head in the other direction as Loki turned towards the Tesseract fully. He hadn't realize he'd been staring until he was almost caught. It was true. His brother didn't try to make people respect him. He did it through his actions. Which was why he had attempted to destroy Jotunheim and attacked Midgard. Thor was-or used to be-the opposite. His actions had spoken for themselves, but he had also done his best to make individuals admire him. Sometimes by putting others down in the process.
Blue swirls of energy rotated around the Tesseract as it continued to stay activated. Odin's eye was narrowed to a slit. He looked to the spare horsemen waiting to take an order to his army.
"Ebony." Nebula realized.
Loki's gaze snapped over to meet hers "Where?"
"He must be the one messing with it." she went on "He's nearby. They want us distracted when he attacks."
Loki tilted his head at her. Thor readjusted his grip on his hammer and began walking towards
their exit to search.
"Thanos is still preventing the majority of my oversight, but he is indeed calling all of his footmen back." Heimdall told his king a few feet away.
"We'll go for Ebony." Nebula said, referring to her and Loki "If he takes the Tesseract, your cause is lost."
Odin just gave a gesture of consent as he responded to Heimdall with a few more intent questions. Loki took a few steps backwards, but his face was uncertain. Thor and Hena were following, but hesitated as he hesitated.
"Loki, Ebony!" Nebula demanded of him.
"Something's wrong." he said.
"Really? We're fighting Thanos, you idiot!"
"We haven't been able to find Ebony this whole time. Thanos knows we would suspect him if he came over here. Why would he have his entire army retreat instead of having them ready to attack us when we became vulnerable?"
"An advantage for us." Nebula growled.
"No. Thanos knows you're here now. He knows that the two of us would go to find Ebony if we suspected he was here." Loki's mind was clearly going in a thousand directions at once "He doesn't want us here."
"Why?" Nebula asked the question as if she didn't believe a word he was saying "You've listed off everything else my father knows, don't you know the answer to that question?"
"Loki, what do you believe he is doing?" Frigga asked. She knew her son well enough to trust his intuition for deception and Nebula was not going to get in the way of that.
"He wants me to go and search for Ebony." then he lowered his voice in a question to himself "Why does he want me distracted? Me." he looked over at his blue beast solider "Jotun. The Frost Giants." then he turned to the others quickly "Muspelheim!"
"What?" Nebula asked, but Odin drew his head back.
"The Fire Giants." Loki said, whirling to peer out into the field "That's why his people are retreating. He's going to send in Fire Giants. We need to withdraw the men now." Then, he left, calling to the Jotuns as he hurried over to them.
Proxima glowered from her spot held by Asgardian restraints. The Frost Giants were released and immediately began spilling down the hill, completely willing to charge into the unknown danger.
"Muspelheim. We don't even interact with that realm. How would he know to bring them?" Thor asked, skeptical of his brother's assessment. He knew very little of the fiery place.
Svleiva, however, waited anxiously for Valder to signal their troops. Thanos's portal began to change and suddenly a flash of red was visible in the distance.
"Sound the retreat." Odin ordered at his men, not responding to his son's query. They nodded and moved to blow the horn and call every warrior back. Then, the king stepped up and used Gungnir to quickly dispatch every creature standing guard at the entrance of their base.
The red they had initially seen dispersed into several smaller shapes careening into the courtyard. They quickly began gaining on the soldiers. They ran on two feet, just like the Frost Giants, but instead they were charcoal black with red streaks all over their bodies.
The Jotuns separated to go around the incoming allies and converged back together once past them. Ice met embers and, for a moment, they were completely matched.
Some Asgardian men stopped, wondering if they should help. But they were not equipped for fighting fire whatsoever and, unfortunately, they would probably cost more Frost Giants their lives if they stayed.
Ice began to build up along the ground where they stood, so the soldiers quickly continued on their way with the group.
Jotuns growled loudly at the Fire Giants, the words completely incoherent. Very little time passed before a noticeable loss of ground by the Frost Giants made Odin speak.
"They're all going to be killed attacking them like this." he said with a small shake of his head. He looked at his younger son intently "Ice cannot beat fire in combat. They cannot stop them."
Loki's eyes darted side to side as he watched.
"I have a plan." he said quickly before darting out after his army.
"Loki!" Odin demanded sharply, pivoting towards him.
"Where are you going?" Hena snapped.
"Stay!" Loki yelled back at her immediately. She looked to her parents for help, but Svleiva fiercely gestured disapproval of her daughter following.
"What is he doing?" Frigga asked in angry exasperation. She stepped up the hill to view and the others followed suit.
"Heimdall." Odin commanded.
"He's traveled into an area I cannot see, my king." the watchman replied.
"He will not fair against fire better than the rest of them." Frigga said firmly. And yet, she was elated to see how willingly her son had run out to the Jotuns aid. He'd disappeared into the mass nearly as soon as he'd left.
The blue beasts were gradually being forced back, despite taking hundreds of the fiery creatures with them. Hena looked on in horror.
"The Caskett." Odin said suddenly. He lifted his chin in realization "He has the Caskett."
His wife pulled her head back in surprise. Thor's reaction was similar. But his his anxiety still rose as he observed what could have been one of the worst slaughters he'd ever seen. The temptation to fly straight into the middle of the enemies grew until he lifted his hammer to start spinning it.
Then a cold front washed back on them. A vortex begin spiraling in the field and shot forward in a powerful storm of ice. The Fire Giants in the front were immediately encased and the tempest continued to sweep through them. Hena had to cover her ears at the thunderous roar that came from the Jotuns as they celebrated the revival of their power. It sounded too unbelievably joyous to be coming from them.
They leapt forward, smashing and killing the creatures caught in the blast. The tide turned in an instant and now the Frost Giants were on the offensive.
Thank you for reading and thank everyone who takes the few minutes from their day to inspire me. It is so appreciated.