Chapter 2: Implosion
~œ~ Jane ~œ~
Jane woke up alone, in a dark room. She struggled to think how she had arrived here. As the memory flooded back, she took a deep breath, wondering where they had taken her.
A small amount of light was streaming in from a tiny window on one wall. She sat up slowly, looking around her. There was absolutely nothing in the room except her.
She slowly rose, and walked to the window. Looking out into the bright room, she could see nothing that would help to tell her where she was. There was no sign of the three men either. Sighing, she moved to a wall, and sat down to think.
She sat for several minutes, straining to hear any sounds. Finally she could discern footsteps heading towards her. The door opened, and Thanos walked in. She skittered along the wall until she was stuck in the corner, trying to get as far away from him as possible.
Thanos advanced on her, laughing at her attempts to move away from him.
She lifted her chin defiantly. "What do you want? Why am I a prisoner?"
"You are not a prisoner, the door was open." Thanos replied.
Chagrined, she realized she hadn't tried the door. Then it occurred to her that she had no clue where she was, so what would have been the use? "Where are we?"
"We are on Svartalfheim. You have been here before," Thanos stared hard at her, trying to see if she remembered her previous visit.
And she remembered…Thor and Loki had brought her here, to try to trick Malekith, and destroy the Aether. It hadn't worked, as Malekith had still obtained the Aether, and Loki had died, or rather not died. That still confused her.
"Why are we here?" she finally asked.
"The Aether. There are still remnants of it here, along with that still within you."
"What? I still have it? I thought Malekith took it all," she stared at her hands as if trying to 'see' the Aether, wondering if it were true.
"No, he did not, and I have been able to use you to my advantage," Thanos smiled cruelly.
"Use me?" Jane looked at him, confused.
"Ah, yes. I control the Aether. Did you not wonder at your irrational actions of late? Your hatred of Katirya?"
"No," Jane was honest. She hadn't realized she had been acting any differently. She simply thought she just hadn't liked the woman. As she spoke, the door opened, and a woman entered. Jane's eyes widened as she recognized Katirya.
"What are you doing here?" She gasped, then came to the conclusion, "you have been working with them all along, haven't you?"
"Of course, you idiot," Katirya snarled.
"But…but…" Jane stammered, "I thought you married Loki? Darcy was there; she saw it. How did you get here?"
Katirya stared at her a minute, then laughed, "It was a lovely wedding. Shame you missed it. Oh, and by the way, Loki doesn't know I am here," she smiled sweetly at Jane, "let's keep it a secret, just between us girls."
"I don't like Loki, but I don't hate him that much. It only proves I've been right all along. You've been after those stupid Stones all the time, but nobody believed me."
Thanos held up the gauntlet. "And soon, I shall have all the Infinity Stones, with your help of course."
"How am I going to help? I don't have any of them, Katirya does."
"I know, but you will bring Thor here, and then it will begin," Thanos looked at her, laughing.
"Thor? You are really confusing me. Who is it you want? Loki or Thor?" Jane asked, she recalled he had said he wanted Loki, back on Earth, when he had posed as Fury.
"Both actually, so I can destroy them, and control Asgard, and thus the universe. But first, we must collect the few particles of Aether still remaining here. I need them, or more precisely, you need them."
"Sorry, but I have no desire to find any more of that stuff. And you can have whatever I have."
Thanos grabbed her hand, dragging her roughly to her feet. "You shall join me nonetheless."
She felt herself being pulled along as they exited the building. She glanced back, seeing it was really a ruin, part of a city, long dead. Nothing lived here anymore; at least that was how it looked. She stumbled along as Thanos pulled her. Hadriath joined up with them as they left the deserted city.
They reached a spot on an open plain. The ground was black, and the wind was whipping her hair around. She shivered, recognizing the spot. It was here they had faced Malekith, when Loki had pretended to betray Thor.
Thanos released her arm, and she collapsed to the ground. She turned over to her knees, attempting to rise, only to find herself pushed back down to the ground. Looking up, she saw Althanas and Hadriath standing over her; Katirya was no longer with them. She searched the area, but found no sign of the woman.
Where had Katirya gone, she wondered. Her thoughts were interrupted as the two men each grabbed an arm, hauling her to her feet.
Thanos took the gauntlet, and raising it up, starting chanting some words. She couldn't understand what he was saying, but it sounded foul… evil.
She closed her eyes, hoping that when she opened them again, she would find herself back in her own apartment with Darcy and Erik. And she would be waiting for Thor to visit her. She felt tears begin to fall down her cheeks, tasting the saltiness as they rolled over her lips.
The two men pulled Jane towards Thanos, as he continued to chant. Tiny red rocks seemed to float out of the black earth, moving towards the gauntlet. Swirling above it, they gathered into a small rotating cloud. Thanos grinned maniacally.
She opened her eyes, seeing the Aether cloud. Screaming, she struggled to escape. The Aether floated towards her as Thanos held out his hand, the gauntlet upon it. She felt the Aether enter her body. It was only a small portion, not like the first time she had encountered it, but she still could feel the power of it. It flowed through her bloodstream, heating it up. She felt it course through her body, altering her state of mind as Thanos controlled it.
"Now, you will bring Thor to me." Thanos commanded.
"Yes, my lord," she replied, her eyes now black. She collapsed into unconsciousness.
~ß~ Katirya ~ß~
"What would they want with Jane?" Katirya asked.
Loki shrugged, "I do not know. I would think they would take Darcy before they took Jane. She was the one who figured out where the Reality Stone was."
"Jane is in trouble, I just know it!" Thor's voice rose above the noise in the Great Hall. Many people turned to focus on the King and his party, startled at Thor's loud reaction to the visitor.
"Well," the emissary's voice broke into their discussion, "the Cartherion High Council still demands the return of Katirya. If you will just release her to me, I will escort her back to face the charges."
Loki pulled Katirya closer to him, "Not without me."
"Your presence is not required," the emissary spoke in clipped tones.
"Just… go away!" Katirya yelled at him. "No! Wait," glancing at Loki, she sighed, "maybe I should return, and deal with them. What do you think?"
Loki lifted one eyebrow. "Deal with them? What is there to deal with? They want to charge you with treason it appears. What happens to traitors?"
"We kill them," the emissary answered.
"Splendid. They want to kill me. Well, they will have to deal with the Thirteen first, before they get to me," Katirya replied.
"And me," Loki added. "So, do you want to go there?"
"Not really; I think we should find that last Stone first."
"They have said they will attack Asgard," Loki reminded her.
Katirya laughed, then stared at the emissary.
The emissary clasped both hands to his head, closing his eyes tightly, "NO! You cannot read my mind!"
"Too late," Katirya grinned as he opened his eyes. "There is a small army, maybe one hundred at most."
"THAT is the force you brought to attack Asgard?" Loki laughed. "Fandral!" His shout rang out.
Hearing his name, Fandral left the two ladies he had been speaking with, and crossed the hall to join them. "Yes, my King?"
"This, person…" Loki pointed to the emissary, "has brought a gigantic army of one hundred to attack our fine city. Do you think you could be troubled to squash them?"
"With pleasure!" Fandral smiled, bowing low. "And, I promise, ladies, I will return by evening," he winked at the two ladies he had been conversing with. They waved back at him.
"Oh, and take him with you," Loki added, as an afterthought, pointing to the emissary.
Fandral grabbed the emissary, who squirmed at first, then settled down to leave with the warrior when he saw Volstagg and Hogun join them.
"There is one more thing I learned from him," Katirya spoke, looking at Thor. "Thanos went with Althanas and Hadriath down to Earth. I think Thor is right, Jane is in trouble."
"I must go at once, to rescue her," Thor said.
"Brother, wait. I think we need to find out more. Thanos is not your typical adversary," Loki warned.
"Loki is correct; I suggest we see if Heimdall can help. He can tell us if they are anywhere near Jane," Katirya replied.
Thor nodded, recognizing that this avenue was probably the best.
~∫ Thor ∫~
Heimdall looked at the group that had assembled at the BiFrost portal. Katirya's brothers had joined the group, along with the Lady Sif.
Thor spoke first, "Heimdall, can you see her?"
Heimdall nodded, not needing to know who 'her' was. He gazed out into the stars, then frowned. "No… she was on Earth…"
"How about any of these, Thanos, Althanas or Hadriath?" Katirya asked before Thor could make any demands to dash off to save her.
Heimdall concentrated, for several minutes. Thor began to pace as the wait lengthened. "They are on Svartalfheim, with someone else. Someone I do not recognize."
"Svartalfheim?" Thor and Loki spoke simultaneously.
The two brothers looked at each other, Thor spoke first. "The Aether. Katirya, you might be correct in your theory. But who is this other person they are with?"
"I cannot see into their mind. It is strange." Heimdall replied.
"Loki," Greiwaldt spoke up, "the Mind Stone, if you will. I think Katirya might be able to use it."
Loki handed the scepter to Katirya.
Katirya looked at Heimdall, "May I?" She asked.
He nodded, "Yes, any can see, if they open their mind."
Katirya stepped up to stand next to him, gazing out into the space in front of them. She grew rigid, then lifted her head up, and gasped. Heimdall caught her before she collapsed.
"What? What is it?" Loki took two long steps; reaching Heimdall, he held his arms out. Accepting Katirya into his arms, he saw her eyes flutter open.
"I'm fine, you can set me down," she protested.
"What happened?" Loki gently set her back on her feet, still keeping one arm around her waist.
"The Aether. It is in the mind of the other person. There are pieces of Jane Foster there, but…" she swallowed as she looked at Thor, "she is not the same."
"Is she dead? What do you mean?" Thor demanded. "Heimdall? Can you see this person Kiri speaks of?"
"The person is alive, and there are remnants of Jane Foster within their mind, but it is filled with hatred and evil," the sentry replied.
"I must go to save her," Thor said, striding towards the portal.
Heimdall spoke, "No, I cannot send you there."
"Heimdall! Why not? I demand it!" Thor roared, his concern for Jane Foster clear.
Katirya shook her head. "It is too late, Thanos has done his damage. Even if we can find her, I do not know if it is possible to reverse the damage that has been done. She has been consumed by the evil of Thanos. Greiwaldt?" she appealed to her mentor.
Greiwaldt shrugged. "I do not know. Perhaps with the six Stones, we might be able to save her, but I am not well versed in the lore of the Stones. The one who knows them best is Thanos."
Thor began to pace around the chamber, swinging Mjölnir randomly, barely missing destroying objects.
"Thor," Loki spoke sternly, "you need to calm down, think this through rationally. We need a plan before we try to find Jane and see if we can save her."
"Calmly?" Thor bellowed. "I can't think calmly. Thanos has taken Jane Foster and destroyed her!"
"We don't know that for certain. We might be able to save her still," Katirya looked around at everyone. "We must find the Time Stone, it is the last Stone. With it, perhaps, I can reverse time and…"
"You can save her!" Thor completed the sentence.
Katirya shook her head, "I do not know. I do not know if I even possess the power to do so. I have been able to use the Stones we have found so far, but to use all of them? At once? And I would need the Aether. First we must find the Time Stone, then we can confront Thanos. But I do know that Jane Foster, or the person with Thanos who was Jane, possesses some of the Aether. It might be enough, unless we can convince my real father to give it to me."
"Katirya, you are just beginning to realize your powers. Your marriage to Loki has helped to build your confidence. You are stronger than you realize," Greiwaldt spoke quietly. "But there is one obstacle, isn't there?"
Katirya nodded, "Yes, it… " she looked quickly to Loki, "it was something I wanted to share with you before telling everyone, but I am pregnant."
