#31
Even though Loki had none more than a split second to take action, time seemed to miraculously slow down around him in that peculiar life-flashing-before-one's-eyes-in-one's-final-moments sort of way. And all be damned, if this particular sensation was not familiar. He had experienced it three times, after all, and he would not be Loki if his mind did not wondrously decide for itself what was going to happen. Which was the reason why he found himself shapeshifting into a horsefly as he had in the paltry myths the humans had made up about him before he even knew it, every atom in his body beginning to vibrate when it started to shrink to the size of a silver dollar just before the titan's stroke fell.
"What the," Thanos mumbled as his sword sliced through empty air and Loki swirled past his burned cheek in his insect guise. Nebula's mouth gaped open.
Bruce, who had not made a move until now, used the moment of surprise to fire a charge of Iron Man's arc reactor energy at the titan but Thanos only grunted.
"Where the fuck did he go?" Rocket exclaimed nervously. Next to him, the faces of Shuri and the Widow had frozen in terror. Captain America was heaving himself back to his feet, letting out an exhausted breath. Barton, who looked no less terrified than his mortal companions did, huffed out a mirthless laugh. "Probably teleported himself—"
Loki transformed back into his Asgardian self behind Thanos before the archer could finish his sentence and released a blast of Reality Stone magic into the titan's back that sent him stumbling forwards. Rogers had picked up his shield by then and was throwing himself at Thanos, slamming the shield into his neck. Thanos stumbled and then swirled around, spitting a breathless "Vermin!" into Loki's direction. The titan charged towards him but Rogers intercepted the attack like the accursed hero he believed he was.
Captain America's intervention gave Loki the briefest of moments to assess the situation. The first thing that registered with him was that his brother's movements were slower than usual and he inferred that this was the case because Thor was unable to unleash the full power of his weapon lest he electrocuted all of his friends along with the enemy. Then Loki's eyes slid towards Valkyrie, who, albeit having released a blast of Mind Stone energy at Thanos earlier, was now inexplicably using the scepter as if it was nothing more than a norndamned bludgeon that could be whacked over her opponents' heads instead of releasing the magic locked within it. "May I kindly remind you that you are holding the power of an Infinity Stone inside your hands?" Loki enquired over the communication system as the army began to close in around them and Nebula, Bruce, Romanoff, Rocket, Shuri and Barton took them on rather clumsily. "Either use it or hand it back to me!"
"I am kind of busy here," Valkyrie replied breathlessly.
"Is it just me or were they a lot easier to kill in New York?" Stark asked on a groan of exhaustion.
"It is you," Thor provided flatly. "The journey across the Rainbow Bridge put a strain on you."
His brother's response elicited a shriek from Pepper, whose movements, Loki saw, were worryingly ataxic. Thor was right, of course. Loki had not devoted any serious attention to the condition of their mortal companions after arriving on Hélgidomur but it was obvious to him now that the exposure to the sheer power of the Bifrost for the length of their journey had deprived the Avengers of most, if not all, of their physical and mental strength. Rocket was clutching his machine gun but had not fired a single shot for minutes. Rather, he seemed to focus all his energy on dodging the enemies' blows in order to stay alive. Bruce Banner was stumbling across the battlefield like a drunken emu in his Hulk-shaped armor. Tony Stark moved much slower and clumsier in his Iron Man suit than Loki remembered. Barton and the Widow, who had both received intense physical training, were struggling to keep up the fight and even the inexhaustible Steve Super Soldier Rogers was panting like a sweating dog as he fought off the titan's blows. Not to mention Shuri, who looked so tiny and forlorn in the midst of the battlefield that Loki could not help but fear for her survival, or Nebula, who might not have been physically tired but was certainly too mentally depleted to fight.
Think, Loki's inner voice urged but he too was feeling the aftermath of traveling on the magical rays of the Rainbow Bridge. Make use of your sly mind. This is how you win. This was true, of course, but it just so happened that his mind was still half-paralyzed with fear while, at the same time, peculiarly throbbing with excitement. Apart from that, his stomach was clenching in hunger, threatening to devour itself. Focus. Just focus. Loki glanced at Thor, whose far-too controlled lightning blasts zigzagged through the air, electrocuted the Chitauri and then crashed into the ground, splitting open the rocky surface Loki had brought into existence with the Reality Stone.
Not the perfect matter for lightning to reach its full potential, eh? Loki thought of the incident that had unfolded on their way from Norway to New York and announced, "I have an idea," in full awareness of the response that his words were going to prompt.
Valkyrie's skeptical "Oh no" did not disappoint.
To his surprise, however, Stark panted a breathless, "Bringing us out here on your fucking Bifrost was the shittiest idea ever, so this one can only be better."
"I wouldn't bet on it," Barton wheezed while Rogers expressed his disapproval with a harrumph.
"Move back here," Loki commanded with a glance at his involuntary comrades, who were scattered across the field. He felt the titan's eyes sliding towards him as he continued, "Move into position behind me."
A chorus of why's reached his ears in at least five different voices. Thanos's face was pinched with anger as he hurled Rogers away and began striding towards Loki, apparently sensing that the captain no longer posed the greatest threat in that moment.
"Because," Loki responded quietly as he reached for the magic of the Reality Stone even though he could feel the exhaustion seeping into his own bones, "I am going to transform the ground into water in five—"
Pepper took off into the air with a shriek.
"Wait!" Shuri shouted in a wobbly voice.
"Four," Loki continued with his eyes on Thanos.
"Loki, no!" Widow screamed as she, Barton, Nebula and Bruce tried to draw away from the Chitauri.
Thor had apparently figured out Loki's intentions, for he yelled, "Do it, brother!"
Loki gave a nod. "Three."
Iron Man flew into his general direction, picking up Shuri and Rocket while simultaneously releasing missiles from his armor that fired at the Chitauri.
"Two," said Loki.
Thanos was only a few feet in front of him now. "You miserable—"
"One!" Loki yelled. Reality complied instantly, and the rocky surface beneath his feet liquefied, swallowing up him and everyone else around him with an ear-shattering swoosh. Panicked shrieks and frantic gulps came from both the Chitauri and the Avengers. Thanos roared furiously, his arms and legs kicking in the water.
The Reality Stone's magic hitched in protest as Loki attempted to create an island for his brother's friends.
"This is your plan?" yelled Rogers, swallowing water as he spoke. "This is reckless and—"
"It is not the extent of it, obviously," Loki gasped with hectic glances at the humans, who tried to keep their bodies afloat while simultaneously defending themselves against the claws of the Chitauri reaching for them in and across the water.
"Hurry, brother!" was Thor's less than helpful directive.
I am trying, numbskull. Gathering what few resources of mental strength he possessed, Loki shapeshifted into his Jotun form, feeling the silver markings identifying him as the son of a father who had left him to perish on a frozen rock in Jotunheim thrusting through his skin with a pricking sensation. He took a deep breath and froze the water's surface behind him into ice, every fiber inside of him quivering with fatigue. "Quick," he gurgled, water splashing into his mouth. "Climb onto it."
Pepper and Iron Man flew towards the refuge at once, with Shuri and Rocket in tow, who both collapsed onto the ice. Pepper too sank to her knees, coughing. Thanos was clinging to his gigantic and undoubtedly tremendously heavy sword as he struggled to keep himself afloat but he realized soon enough that he would have to let go of it. Valkyrie, Rogers and Thor pulled themselves up onto the ice while the Chitauri swam towards them, trying to grab the feet of Barton, Bruce and the Widow, who were struggling to heave themselves onto the platform after the others. Thor, Stark and Rogers bent down to drag them up while Valkyrie used the handle of the scepter to knock them away.
What a waste of such a formidable weapon, thought Loki but there was no time to dwell on this observation. Thanos was swimming towards him and Nebula, whose frantic kicking and splashing movements as she tried to hold on to her own sword seemed to attract her father as if he were a shark tasting a trickle of blood in the water.
Thor moved into position, fingers curled around the handle of the Stormbreaker, hurrying them along once more. Nebula swirled around towards the platform but Thanos grabbed her by the leg, pulling her towards him. "You will not defeat me, daughter," he gasped. "Do you hear me? You will not—"
"Let her go!" Loki screamed.
Seemingly surprised by the sheer force of his voice, Thanos let go of the cyborg and scrunched up his nose. "You think you are a worthy opponent now?" he spat while Rogers used the moment of distraction to pull Nebula towards him and onto the ice. "I can still smell the fear on you, Asgardian."
Loki growled and hurled a wave of water against the titan that froze him into a cocoon, leaving only his horribly charred head sticking out. Thanos hissed and struggled against it, cracking the ice. Loki took a frantic breath, swallowed a mouthful of water and began to cough. His vision blurred, leaving him disoriented. All he could hear for a few seconds was the titan's angry growl when, suddenly, he felt two metallic hands hooking into his armpits.
"Gotcha," said Stark's mechanical voice, which was followed by another groan of exhaustion as he dragged Loki out of the water with the help of the blasters under his iron feet. "How heavy are you, for fuck's sake?"
Loki slumped onto the ice on all fours, his reply drowned out by another violent cough. When the coughing fit finally subsided, he slightly turned his head and watched his brother summon the full might of the Stormbreaker as Thor stood on the ice with his legs shoulder-width apart, his crackling axe raised over his head, the sky darkening above them. With a furious battle cry, Thor lowered the axe and unleashed a lightning blast into the water that sizzled across the surface in flashes of bright blue and electrocuted the titan's entire force.
The Avengers—Barton, Stark, Romanoff, Nebula, Valkyrie and Rogers crouching, the others lying on the ice on either their backs or their stomachs—watched as the Chitauri shrieked and struggled and then, one by one, sank below the surface of the water.
"Did he just …" Rocket stammered, his snout gaping open.
"Take out the entire army with one blow?" Valkyrie finished for the raccoon, a bright smile lighting up her face. "Yes."
"The Mighty Thor," Loki whispered and for the first time in centuries, he said it with affection instead of resentment.
"With Loki's quick wit and Thor's brute strength combined, they made an impeccable team," Pepper murmured to no one in particular.
Rocket shot her an incredulous glance. "What?"
"That's what the Old Norse myths say about them," Pepper whispered.
Loki felt a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth as he suddenly recalled the old times when he and Thor had descended to Midgard together with their father during the late Viking Age, aiding those who had prayed for their help in order to turn the battle in their favor. He allowed himself to close his eyes for the fraction of a moment but the tingles shooting along his spine alerted him to an imminent threat. Loki's eyes snapped back open just as Stark asked, "The entire army?", and Rogers added, "Where is Thanos?"
"I …" Thor began but his voice trailed off. "He was in the water."
"But did you see him drown?" asked the Widow.
"Did anyone?" Valkyrie added.
Loki felt a jolt of panic tearing through his nerves and muscles and heaved himself to his feet on unsteady legs, surveying the ice. The titan was heaving himself onto the platform about seventy feet from them, his breathing slow and heavy. Thor, Nebula and Valkyrie charged into his direction at once. Loki cursed under his breath as he staggered after them, the damnably righteous Captain America on his heels.
"Now that you are truly alone and defeated, let's try again, shall we?" Thor asked with a condescending grin as he faced the titan, the Stormbreaker ready to wreak havoc once more. "Where is the Infinity Gauntlet?"
Behind Loki, Stark, Barton and Romanoff came stumbling into their direction. Thanos snorted and jerked his head at the water surrounding them. "You will have to ask your scoundrel of a brother."
Loki heard the Avengers hawk behind him, breaking out into semi-panicked murmurs insinuating a potential betrayal on his part, but he paid no heed to their inimical reaction. "You have the nerve to call me a scoundrel?" he asked, his heart leaping into his throat as he forced himself to lock eyes with Thanos. "You, who are delusional enough to think yourself a God when all you truly are is a disgrace to all the wielders of the Infinity Stones that came before you?"
Thanos smiled thinly. "And what kind of God are you, Loki of Asgard?" He snorted a laugh. "I can sense your—"
"Where is the Gauntlet?" Rogers cut in, his face an unforgiving wall of stone.
"Somewhere beneath the surface of all that water, Captain," Thanos responded calmly. That he was still standing his ground against them and did not appear to be troubled in the least even though Thor had obliterated his entire military force only moments ago went miles to attest to his delusional belief in his own invulnerability.
"Then we shall find it," Thor decided, wielding his axe for emphasis before he fired such a powerful lightning blast at the titan that Thanos gritted his teeth and groaned in agony, his enormous frame convulsing with the electricity crackling on his armor.
Loki raised his hands on impulse and, drawing on resources of mental strength that he had not known he still possessed, froze the titan's quavering body into another cocoon of ice. Again, Thanos strained his muscles, struggling against his prison and causing the ice to crack. Fueled by an insanely powerful urge to finally see the titan vanquished, Loki blindly hurled more and more ice against his torturer until the frozen blanket around Thanos had thickened enough to leave him immobile. Thanos made a sound halfway between a groan and a cackle. "My death will not change anything," he panted. "The new universe will remain. You cannot undo what I created."
Next to Loki, Nebula straightened, fingers tightly curled around the hilt of her sword. "Yes, we can."
"And we will." Thor swung his axe and raised it above his head, readying himself to deliver the killing blow he had failed to deliver on the battlefield all those weeks ago.
Loki raised his hand. "Brother, stop," he said with a nod towards Nebula. Thor opened his mouth in protest but the cyborg was already lunging forward with a bone-chilling screech, pulling her weapon over her head. "This is for Gamora!" she howled as she drove the blade deep into her father's throat, right through his Adam's apple.
Loki stood mesmerized, the reality around him dissolving into a blur as he watched Thanos choke on his blood, his charred, purple face warping with pain and terror for a few terribly long and agonizing moments before the spark of life in his eyes finally went out. Tears of relief sprang to Loki's eyes and he felt the weight of an entire mountain chain lifting off his chest. The sensation made him so dizzy that he sank to his knees. He heard Nebula dry-heave next to him but did not find it in himself to look up.
A hand squeezed his shoulder with reassurance. "It's over, brother," he heard Thor say. Loki choked on a sob and drew in a sharp breath to veil his emotional reaction. Was it, really?
Thor plopped down beside him and casually looped an arm around his shoulders. Loki blinked, willing his surroundings into focus. Even though his vision absorbed the sight in front of him—the head of Thanos poking out of the ice, his lifeless gaze, the blade sticking out of his throat, the blood streaming out of the wound and his slightly parted lips, trickling down the ice and dripping onto the ground—Loki's brain could not quite grasp the implications yet.
Yes, it is over, Loki. After six years of carving out a miserable existence filled with dread and anguish, your nightmare is finally over.
Nebula, Loki saw, had sunk to her knees as well and was whimpering softly, Tony Stark and Rocket beside her. He jerked away from his brother's touch and buried his head in his hands, forcing his beating heart into slowing its erratic pumping with deep breaths.
Minutes crawled by as he sat in silence amidst the Avengers while they were all trying to recover their strength.
"So, how do we find the Gauntlet, then?" Rogers asked after a while. His eyes landed on Loki, but there was no flicker of either hostility or distrust in them. "Can you transform the planet back to what it was?"
Loki blew out a long, quaky breath. "I could try," he replied even though he entertained no hope that he could muster either the physical strength or the mental focus to perform a task of such monumental proportions after the ordeal he had just put his body through. Unsurprisingly, his assumptions proved to be true.
The Avengers let out sighs of disappointment, frustration and—hold on, what is that?—sympathy when the water remained, well, water.
"It was a good plan though," Bruce quietly acknowledged after a dreadfully long pause.
"A reckless and impulsive plan," said the Widow, "but, yeah, it worked to our advantage."
Loki smiled at what their words implied. "Do I hear a silent 'thank you' somewhere between those lines, Agent Romanoff?"
Barton heaved a sigh of mild annoyance.
"Wait," Valkyrie exclaimed just as the Widow was about to answer. Valkyrie lowered her gaze to the scepter in her hands and the flicker in her eyes told Loki that she finally recognized its unspeakable value. "The stones are linked to one another, right? You said that they communicate with each other, that the other stones tried to warn the Mind Stone of Thanos's plan?"
"Yes," Loki replied and extended his hand towards her, silently chiding himself for not having thought of the possibility she had just insinuated himself. "It is worth a try."
"What is?" asked Rocket.
"Wait, are you gonna try to use the Mind Stone to, what, call the Gauntlet?" Stark enquired incredulously. "Even though it tried to take over your mind?"
"Absolutely," Loki said with a grin as Valkyrie reluctantly handed him the scepter. It was an adventurous plan—borderline insane, some might say—but the desire to leave this place and the titan's horridly frozen corpse was far stronger than the respect he had developed for the Mind Stone after the events that had unfolded in the Avengers compound earlier that day.
"You really are crazy," Bruce noted.
"Thank the Norns for that," Loki responded cheerily. "Otherwise, ninety percent of my plans would probably not come to fruition."
Rogers shook his head in what might have been despair or exasperation but Thor smiled sheepishly at him and shrugged his shoulders as if to say that his brother had a point.
Sensing the gaze of the Avengers on his skin, Loki drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes, reaching for the Mind Stone's powers. Go find your friends, he whispered inwardly. He steeled his mental defenses against the stone's assault but Mind merely hissed at him in response. Fortunately, it was a tenuous hiss. Your powers are fading, Loki continued, hazarding a wild guess. You wasted the last of your strength on the attempt to coalesce with my mind and now you are fading. You are all fading. I assume you lied to me when you said that I have to be the one to release you but, as it turns out, I truly am your only hope now, if you like it or not.
Do not flatter yourself. She is coming, said Mind. She will rescue us.
Who? Loki asked even though he had a fairly good idea whom the stone was talking about.
You will see, was Mind's listless reply.
Will I, now? Loki asked. Well, whomever you think might be coming had better hurry then, don't you think? For as far as I can see, you do not have an awful lot of time left and I dare say you will agree that rescuing you will be a lot easier if you all reside in the same place.
Mind bristled once more but the air above Loki began to pulsate palpably with the invisible energies of magic, faint though they were.
See? That wasn't so hard, was it? Loki asked, a tingle of accomplishment rushing through his veins. Now, I command you to be a good stone and call the rest.
Author's Note:
This chapter is, in parts, the result of a very fruitful and extremely delightful discussion I had with AkiraRedtiger when we got to spent our vacation together these past two weeks. At the risk of sounding incredibly sentimental, let me just say that I am incredibly thankful for both your continuous advice and encouragement, and your friendship. I am so glad to have met you on this site! And for everyone who finds themselves in need of reading another story that touches upon the sentience of the Infinity Stones and whatever it is they might desire, check out Akira's story 'Whatever its name' because I guarantee you, you will not be disappointed.
Also, a heartfelt thanks must go to everyone who recently added this story to their favorites and follows. It truly means a lot. If you have the time, please leave me a short comment.
Thank you and see you soon xoxo