And something strange happened to Loki that second. The smoky aura consolidated, and his eyes began to glow. Sophia fell, unconscious into Loki's arms, and he lowered her carefully to the ground. He stood easily, straight, blood still gurgling from his chest wound, still pouring from his mouth. His eyes glowed many colors, but he stood still as the army kept descending on the world below, the soldiers on the roof frozen in their tracks.
Loki looked upon the warriors, "you are playthings," his voice was strangely distorted too, but less so than Sophia's and he sounded far more sinister than usual, "I tire of these tin soldiers," with no more than a thought and a twitch, the soldiers were engulfed in the same colors, and even the dead ones rose, "go home, no more blood shall be spilled here today," all the Jotuns disappeared, apart from him of course. Sif and the Warriors Three looked at him although he was truly a god.
"I need more time," he muttered to himself, "may the fallen be reborn," he said a little louder, waving his hand, "those whose blood I have spilled begin their lives anew as I lose mine."
"Loki!" Bella pulled herself up and approached him carefully, "you can't control life and death either. Please, stop this before you get torn apart."
He blinked and the colors faded out of his eyes back to the beautiful watery green, "I need more time."
"You don't have to do this!"
"I believe I do," he told her frankly, "I need more time," he looked at Thor and the rest of his Asgardian friends, "my brother, my friends . . . it is time for you to go home."
"Do not do this!" Thor shouted as the light enveloped him, "Do not destroy yourself!" and then they were all gone.
By the blood loss, Loki only had minutes at the most. He needed more time. He needed more time to find a way, but there was only one he knew of.
"What now?" Tony asked.
Loki smiled humorlessly, "It is time for me to die, dear Anthony."
Bella took a giant leap forward, "No, Loki, don't do this. Let go of the power! Just let it go!"
"No," he said simply, "the Void is imbalanced. I must restore it in order to save every universe. I can see them all crash down. The tears in the universe have begun to fray. Monsters from far away have already encroached on our realms. In a matter of minutes, all will be destroyed."
"And how are you going to do that?" Pepper asked him.
"I must bring the scales of the universe into alignment again, I must return the power from whence it came," he told them, "But I cannot do it from here. I need more time."
"You're going to throw yourself into the Void," Tony concluded, "but the tidal forces will tear you apart, probably before you even get close to that rift."
"No!" Bella yelled, "You can't do this. Sophia . . . you're the closest thing to a real father she has," she erupted in tears, "and-. And."
"You do not need to say any more," Loki told her, "actions speak louder than words," he took a deep breath, perhaps his last, "but I must do this, or everything I have accomplished, that we have accomplished, will have been for naught. My love for you would have been for naught," he took her hand and kissed it, "I am sorry," he whispered as he let her go. He disappeared in a haze of color to do what had to be done.
"No, I am sorry," she cried as he disappeared in front of her. She knelt down and held her baby girl in her arms, close to her chest.
Tony and Pepper knelt by her as she stared up at the sky. An explosion of red dominated the New York skyline, which slowly dissipated as Bella pulled a couple of long, thin objects out of her pocket. She handed one to Tony.
"For Loki," she said with tears in her eyes.
He took the cigar from her with a tiny nod. She lit her own with her chrome-plated lighter, "I don't smoke."
She lit his, "neither do I."