(Author's Note: New chapter, yay! This one took a while too, sorry! It's just since I'm nearing the end, the pressure is on, and I'm not great at writing action. Seriously, we're looking at maybe 2 or 3 more chapters after this one. So I hope this chapter is to your satisfaction! We get some answers here, and some angst. Mwahahah. Enjoy, and please tell me what you think! I love hearing from you! And a special thank you to my guest reviewer, Shadow - your reviews make me feel special and fuzzy! :))

Chapter 22

"We have to go," Loki said, as Emmeline's red glow grew brighter. "Whatever this is, it appears dangerous and should happen on the battlefield." Emmeline took a deep breath and tried with all her might to keep her energy in. Loki took her hand.

"Loki, doesn't that burn?" she asked.

"Yes, but I don't care," he replied, as they ran out of the library.

"What about your magic?" Emmeline asked.

"I know enough," Loki replied as the two of them sprinted out of the palace. Asgard was chaos outside. War was raging, and blood was spilling. Emmeline noticed that her energy increased the closer they got to Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet.

They didn't get very far before several Chitauri soldiers attacked them. Loki quickly took out his daggers and began fighting them off, and Emmeline released her power's energy, giving her an immense feeling of relief. The blast forced the Chitauri soldiers back, and Loki put his arm in front of his face; the light was blinding. Unfortunately, the blast of Emmeline's power grabbed the attention of Thanos. Emmeline looked to him and he gave her a malicious smile. Fear rushed through her, but she kept her position. Loki got up; he had been knocked to the ground from the blast of energy, and stood as close to Emmeline as he could.

"Run. Freeze and burn as many soldiers as you can, but don't let Thanos touch you. I will die before I let that happen," Loki whispered. Emmeline turned to him. She kissed him hard, slipping her tongue into his mouth and causing Loki to gasp a little. When she let go, Loki let out a breath.

"We might not get another chance to make out for a while," said Emmeline. "So hopefully that will get us through." Loki swallowed.

"I think it will," he said, smiling. Emmeline smiled back and began freezing soldiers. She had never felt so good using her powers before. The energy was so overwhelming that she felt more relief the more she used her powers. The red glow remained around her; even when she was using her ice powers, but Emmeline didn't have time to wonder about that. War was everywhere, and she was trying to hide her fear.

But what scared her more than the war itself, even more than Thanos, was the fact that Loki was afraid. Emmeline hadn't known Loki to ever be afraid of anything, and when he admitted to her that he was afraid of this…she knew then that it was serious. As Emmeline slayed soldier after soldier, she noticed out of the corner of her eye that Thanos was coming closer and closer to her; with an eerie smirk on his face and the gems on the Gauntlet glowing brighter. Emmeline could feel her heartbeat speed up.

"Don't be afraid my love," whispered Loki, as if he had read her mind. "I have placed a protection spell over you so he cannot get too close."

Emmeline smiled and soon forgot about Thanos as more soldiers charged at her. She took them down with ease. As she mowed through soldiers, Emmeline drew closer and closer to Fandral's fighting location. He was killing them easily as well, and smiled when he saw her.

"Having fun, Princess?" he asked, slicing a soldier in half with his sword.

"A blast," Emmeline replied sarcastically. Fandral's smile transformed from jovial to comforting.

"Take courage," he said. Emmeline took a quick look over her shoulder to see Loki, who was now fighting alongside Heimdall. She let out a small sigh of relief to know he was safe and continued freezing soldiers and shattering their icy forms.

Suddenly, a flash of red and gold flew by Emmeline and swooped her into the air.

"Hey girl," Tony said, making Emmeline smile.

"Tony, what are you doing?" she asked.

"One-eyed Santa needs help on center field," Tony replied, and Emmeline laughed when she realized he was talking about Odin. "The soldiers are clustered around there, and they're beginning to wound his spider-horse."

Tony dropped Emmeline by Odin and she waved at him as he flew away again. He had been right. If there weren't many soldiers surrounding her at the back of the battlefield, there were definitely boatloads here. Emmeline noticed large gashes in the sides of Odin's horse as well. She dashed in front of the animal and unleashed her ice powers to full force.

When she had taken care of all soldiers in the horse's vicinity, Emmeline heard Natasha's voice not too far away.

"Cap's hurt!"
Emmeline turned her head in the direction of Natasha's voice to see Captain America clutching his right shoulder; blood seeping through his fingers. He looked at her, and she gave him a look of empathy.

Loki, please go heal him, pleaded Emmeline in her mind. Suddenly her right wrist tingled. Emmeline looked down at her Twist of Fate, which was glowing gold. She heard Loki's voice from inside her mind.

Did you feel that? Emmeline smiled.

Yes.

One soul; Emmeline remembered. That meant they could share thoughts.

Emmeline didn't get to revel in the amazingness of that for very long before another soldier charged at her. She froze it and looked in Loki's direction; although he was far away.

This is awesome, she said to him telepathically.

I know. But I'm sorry love; I cannot heal your Captain. Not when the battle is still raging.

That's okay.

Emmeline looked around her to make sure it was safe to run, and she ran to the place Captain America was fighting; or attempting to.

"Let me see," she said when she reached him. He lifted his hand off of his shoulder to reveal a gruesome stab wound. Emmeline winced. "I can't heal it, but I can numb it with ice." Steve nodded and she created a thin film of ice over the wound, but enough to numb it. "You can't fight," she said. Emmeline then created a ring of fire around Steve and herself and leapt out of it. She looked at him and pointed at the flaming ring on the ground.

"They can't cross it or they'll burn up, and it won't spread," she said. Steve nodded.

"Thanks," he said. Emmeline smiled.

"No problem."

As Emmeline moved rapidly around the battlefield, she kept noticing Thanos staring at her with an evil grin. Now he did nothing but stalk the war grounds, watching his soldiers die and wound Asgardians. Emmeline tried to ignore him, but as she fought soldiers she could feel her mind getting cloudy. Thanos was using the Tesseract to mess with her head again. Emmeline set herself on fire to keep soldiers away while she couldn't pay attention.

She saw a vision of blood on her hands. So much blood, pouring out between her fingers. But she couldn't find out where the blood was coming from. She told herself over and over that it was not real, but the more blood she saw, the more she began to believe it. She screamed as her sanity slipped away, desperately looking around to find where the blood was coming from and who it belonged to. She saw Loki suddenly, standing in front of her, with that same hole in his chest that Emmeline had seen in her vision before. She looked down at her hands and saw Loki's heart; bleeding. She started to scream—

"Emmeline, look out!" A flash of red and gold flew past Emmeline and brought her out of her vision. When she snapped back into reality, she realized Tony was flying her up in the air.

"What…" she started to say.

"You were standing there like a hypnotized zombie," Tony said. "Mr. Rainbow Glove was coming at you." Emmeline let out a sharp breath.

"He was using the Tesseract to…"

"Toy with your brain," Tony finished. Emmeline nodded. "Don't get too close or that will happen. Here, Point Break could use some help." Tony set her down next to a Mjolnir-swinging Thor. He smiled at her and Tony flew away again. Emmeline wasted no time fighting off soldiers.

"There's so many of them," she said.

"Yes," Thor said. "But we will have killed them all soon. Then only Thanos will we have to deal with. You seem to be having no trouble." He smiled at her.

"For some reason my power has been surging whenever I'm around Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet. I don't know why, but at least I can use it to my advantage," Emmeline replied. Thor hit several soldiers with Mjolnir and when all were cleared from the area, he turned to Emmeline.

"Emmeline, I am glad that my brother fell in love with you," he said. Emmeline blushed.

"Aw, thanks Thor," she said.

"You have brought him back, and I am proud to call you my sister." Emmeline smiled and gave Thor a hug.

"I am proud to call you my brother as well," she said. Thor smiled at her and they made their way to where Natasha and the Hulk were fighting.


Loki had been wrestling and stabbing Chitauri soldiers for so long it had grown tedious. The only thing that kept him on edge was the fear that something terrible would happen to Emmeline. He constantly looked over his shoulder to make sure she was alright and telepathically asked her. She eventually responded with:

Loki honey, I'm fine. I promise. If something happens I will tell you.

But he was still paranoid. He knew Emmeline was strong; and after what happened with her kidnapping and torture…he couldn't let anything happen to her. She was too precious to him. Her recent red glow was still raging as well, and the reason for that worried him.

He found himself checking for Thor as well; although he would never have admitted it, he worried for his brother. But Loki noticed all too well that Thanos had been watching Emmeline as she fought. He wondered if he wanted to kill her or if he was…interested in her. If the latter was the case, Loki would find a way to kill him slowly and painfully.

Loki was fighting alongside Heimdall, where a cluster of soldiers were attacking all at once. Loki placed an enchantment on Heimdall's golden sword so that it would kill on contact; a spell he had studied when he and Emmeline were in the library.

"How nice it is to have you fighting on our side Loki," Heimdall said. Loki smirked.

"I'm sure it's quite the blessing," he replied.

"More people care for you than you know." Loki looked away from Heimdall and said nothing.

When the two of them had fought off all the soldiers in their area, Loki looked around for more and noticed that the battlefield had died down quite a bit. The soldiers were being slain quickly, and so far no major casualties had been suffered, save the stab wound in the Captain's shoulder. Loki was hurting in several places; his side had been slashed, but he tried to ignore it. It would only cause Emmeline to worry.

Loki and Heimdall made their way over to Emmeline and Thor, Loki checking Emmeline for any injuries.

"I'm fine Loki," she said with a smile. Loki smiled back and noticed Thanos staring at Emmeline again from a distance behind her. His smile faded.

"What's wrong?" asked Emmeline. Loki brought his attention back to his wife and tried to smile at her again.

"It's nothing," he said. "I'm glad you are alright."

"Have you noticed Thanos staring at me too? Do you think he wants to kill me, because I really don't feel like dying today."

"You will be fine, if I have anything to say about it. That revolting creature won't lay a finger on you." Loki felt his adrenaline rush as he saw Thanos coming closer to Emmeline. Slowly. With an evil smile on his face, he marched closer and closer, and Loki felt his insides burn with fear and the urge to attack. Emmeline flashed him a worried expression and turned around. Thanos was coming faster now.

"Why is he coming over here?" asked Emmeline.

"I don't know," Loki replied, giving everything he had to keep his voice steady.


Emmeline felt goosebumps rise on her skin in fear of seeing Thanos advance toward her so quickly. Was he coming to kill her? If so, why her, why now? Why had he been staring at her the entire time? All these questions raced through Emmeline's head as she tried to stand her ground. She grabbed Loki's hand and squeezed it; knowing he was there comforted her. Thor stood by her side as well, noticing Thanos stalking toward the princess.

"Don't worry Emmeline," he said. "We will not let him hurt you." Thanos was close now; Emmeline could see him clearly. She did not want to appear weak, certainly not in front of the enemy, so she stood up straight and held her head high in fake confidence.

"Midgardian," Thanos growled as he approached her. Emmeline felt as if her stomach was in her throat. "You fight without weapons." Emmeline said nothing.

Thanos was huge. He was big and muscular, with lavender skin and golden armor. His eyes were like knives; stabbing her insides when he stared at her. Emmeline wished she had the power to turn invisible. Loki stood closer to her; his hand squeezing hers.

"So it has been here, all along…" Thanos said, narrowing his eyes. "What a clever plan of hiding." Emmeline was confused. What was he talking about? He smiled devilishly and reached out a hand to her. Loki tensed up. "The power, the most important piece…has been inside you all along."

Thanos' words pierced Emmeline like a sword as she realized what he was saying. It explained why Thanos had been watching her. It explained why she had been glowing red. It explained why she felt her energy surge whenever the Infinity Gauntlet was nearby. It explained why she even had her powers in the first place.

She had the power gem.


Loki had never been so afraid. The power gem had been in Emmeline her entire life; and Thanos had figured it out. It was the most important gem in the Infinity Gauntlet; the one that tied it all together. Even though Thanos hadn't completed the Guantlet, the red gem would still greatly increase its effectiveness and overall power. Loki knew there was no way Thanos would not try everything in his power to take it. And if he did, they would not be able to stop him from destroying everything. Loki looked at Emmeline; shock written all over her face, trying to wrap her head around what Thanos had said. Thanos merely laughed and extended his hand toward Emmeline. Loki tensed and placed a protection spell as strong as he could over her. She took a few steps back from Thanos and held her chin up.

"The gem is mine," she said. Thanos chuckled.

"Do not underestimate me, human," he growled. "I will have no trouble taking it from you, and then you will die."

The Infinity Gauntlet lit up, the blue, purple, and yellow lights surrounding it as Thanos pointed it to Emmeline. Loki watched as Emmeline winced, trying to hold onto her power as best she could. Loki grew angry; he would not let this pathetic creature kill his wife and take her power from her. He suddenly leapt from his spot and tackled Thanos with a dagger, but Thanos merely threw Loki aside. The impact of his large arm hit Loki in the stomach and made him feel sick when he hit the ground several feet away. He groaned and sat up to see Emmeline in the air, a red glow emanating from her into the Infinity Gauntlet. Loki noticed her color change. Her skin lost its natural pink and turned a whitish pale; her hair became dull and the red began turning into dark black. Loki watched with horror and he sprinted to get back to her, but by the time he reached his beloved wife, it was too late.

She lie there on the ground, a mass of jet black hair around her pale face. She didn't look like Emmeline anymore. Loki knelt to her side and brushed her now charcoal hair out of her face. Her eyes were half open, and instead of her usual chestnut brown, they were a dull grey. Loki ran his fingers along the side of her cheek.

"Emmeline…" he said. She blinked and opened her eyes, and Loki helped her sit up.

"What happened…?" Emmeline said, taking her black hair in her hands. She looked up at Loki with horror. "Was it really that easy for him to…?" She didn't finish. Thanos laughed heartily.

"You pathetic people! Now none of you will be able to stop me from destroying your world." Thanos stepped away from them and looked over the horizon, the red gem now glowing on the Infinity Gauntlet. He threw his arms up and faced the sky, screaming for all the world to hear:

"LET THE END BEGIN!"


(I would also like to add that I am making plans for a sequel, since well, endings are sad. And even though I'm excited to finish (because honestly I've never finished a story before), I'm also going to miss this story. So I think a sequel is the answer to that. I will reveal the title and when I will possibly get it up at the end of this story (which is NOT right now by the way), but I just thought I'd announce that now so I don't have you guys on your toes and sad for the end as well.) ;)