Warnings for this chapter! Violence, Blood, gore, murder, mind control, etc.
PLEASE mind the warnings I didn't put them there for nothing, this chapter is gonna be dark (like the previous one, maybe even darker)
REVIEWS/COMMENTS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED!
"Who the fuck are you?" Tony Stark bites while he points all of his weapons in the general direction of the very big guy in armor who really really needs a bath, he smells like dead animals.
Around him the Avengers stand, also pointing their weapons at the stranger who had appeared out of nowhere and Tony swears to god if this is another supervillain he's gonna grab that spear he holds and shove it up his freakin'-
His lovely thoughts are interrupted when it's Thor who answers the previously asked question.
"Tyr?"
The guy (Tyr apparently, who the fuck is Tyr?) turns around to look at Thor.
"Thundergod." He acknowledges, he blatantly ignores the rest of them.
Thor takes a step towards Tyr, Mjolnir in his hand.
"Why are you here?"
"On the orders of my mistress." Tyr grumbles, looking not too pleased.
"On the orders of your who now?" Tony asks, he lands as soft as he can and looks at Tyr skeptically and then he removes his mask so Tyr can see him looking skeptically.
"Hela." Thor breathes. Tyr nods, ignoring Tony once again.
"Look I don't care whose orders you're following, you're wasting my time." Tony barks. He can see from the corner of his eye that Bruce is turning back into his normal, less green self.
Thor doesn't lose eye contact with the lap dog of this Hela.
"You do not know what you're talking about Stark, if Hela has joined the fight you better pray it is our side she prefers."
"Thor? How about a little more explanation. Who's this guy exactly and who's Hela?" Steve says, lowering his shield and motioning the two assassins to do the same.
"I am Tyr." Finally this stupid came-out-of-nowhere-guy is talking to them!
"I am Tyr of the Battles, the First General of Hela of the Norns, Mistress of the Darkness, who rules over the dead in the Realm of Helheim."
On another occasion Tony would've made a witty remark like that sure is a mouthful, but not now. Pepper is in danger, he knows it, she's in the control of a lunatic who wants to kill everyone.
"She rules over the Dead? She's the one that lunatic wants to court?" Tony exclaims alarmed.
Tyr whirls around, spear and sword at the ready.
"How dare you compare Hela, Queen of Death to that abomination!" he yells.
"Hey! How am I supposed to know huh? All I know is that Thanos wants to court someone who rules over de dead, kinda like your mistress!" Tony snaps, putting his mask back on and pointing his blaster to Tyr again.
"Why are you here Tyr?" Thor asks impatiently he does not have time for this.
"I am here to offer you a portal to Asgard."
XxXxXxXxXx
"I grow tired of this game Trickster." Thanos almost purrs, it doesn't suit him.
"That makes two of us." Loki manages to spit out before another knife is plunged into his body, the acid that covered it burns his skin away, it eats at him until it finds bone.
"And I honestly did not think it would come to this but you left me no choice."
He continues as if never interrupted, another scream is torn from the boy, hanging limply in his chains.
The Other comes forward but Loki doesn't notice, his hair is hanging in front of his eyes, like a curtain and sweat glistens on his brow. The second-in-command hands Thanos the scepter, the Mind Gem that glows blue and illuminates the cave makes the shadows seem all the more deeper.
Loki almost smiles even through the pain of the hot iron they've pressed into his skin.
"I know the Mind Gem is not powerful enough to break your little spell but I have a spell of my own." Thanos grabs one of the Chitauri torturing Loki and breaks its neck, without even hesitating he rips its spine out and breaks it in two. The Other cuts Loki's chains away and he falls limply to the floor, too weak to move.
He looks down and sees his blood not in a puddle but in a pattern, forming a circle with symbols he knows all too well. Everyone knows those symbols, especially Loki. He's seen those symbols in books about dark magic, Ancient Magic from the Time before Time, about Forbidden Magic.
"I am assuming you're familiar with these symbols, they, after all, are the key to unleashing the geð nema."
Geð nema, the Mind Taker.
He tries to move, to scramble away from the circle but then he is forced down and the bones of the now dead Chitauri pierce through his shoulders like knives, he can hear the breaking of more bone, the ripping and tearing sound of flesh.
Two more spines are added, they break through his stomach and legs like it's nothing and slowly he loses consciousness with pain ripping through his entire body, like white hot flames and when the chanting begins he feels like he's being boiled alive before he finally blacks out.
XxXxXxXxXx
"You could come with me you know." Barney says. Clint looks down, avoids his brother's gaze.
"To the army?" he asks.
Barney nods even though Clint can't see him.
Clint shakes his head. Why would he leave the Circus? The Carson Carnival of Travelling Wonders had saved them right?
Barney grits his teeth and Clint almost flinches but he doesn't, they're both adults now, they have to go their own way right? And if Barney's way is enlisting in the army and Clint's isn't, well that's just how it's supposed to be right?
"The offer still stands." Barney says, "If you change your mind, I'll wait for you."
Clint did change his mind, later but he had been too late, the bus had already left by the time he got to the bus depot. Clint didn't see his brother after that for a long time.
XxXxXxXxXx
The Vanir warrior underneath him struggles but to no avail, never, ever in his life has he felt this powerful, the magic, the energy it cackles around him and he throws his head back and laughs, this is the best sensation he's ever had in his life. Never will he feel helpless and alone again, never will he be abandoned by the ones he loves again because he doesn't need them anymore.
He doesn't need Thor, his stupid not-brother, why would he need HIM when he has all of this power so graciously given to him by Thanos?
Why, he will never need his false family again! He'll destroy everyone that gets in his way, he'll kill the Family of Odin and he'll show the world who they really should fear. Thanos and himself, why hadn't he just given in to the mad Titan's wishes before?
Together they can make the very foundations of this pathetic world quake, they will bring about a battle so full of death that Ragnarok won't be necessary anymore because everyone will be dead already!
Far away, in the fields and the capital of Vanaheim itself the battle wages, everywhere there are screams of dying Vanir. Around him lay dead, mutilated bodies, blood is splattered everywhere, it drips from the walls. He's taken out a whole squadron.
When the pathetic soldier underneath him screams at him he smiles.
The Vanir tries to use his magic but he can't, he's stuck and he spits in his enemy's face.
"My people will avenge me, Loki Liesmith."
His grin spreads even more. He lifts his hand in the air and plunges it deep inside the Vanir's chest, blood spurts from the now gaping hole he's made with his bare hand and the sheer power of his magic.
"Loki?" he whispers as the lights in his victim's eyes slowly extinguish and his own green ones glow brighter with bloodlust and the power of geð nema only strengthens, "Loki isn't home right now."
XxXxXxXxXx
"Who are you?"
"I am agent Phil Coulson but we're not here to talk about me."
Clint narrows his eyes.
"We're here to talk about you, Clint Barton. Or do you prefer Hawkeye these days?"
If this man thinks he's intimidated by that he'll be gravely disappointed.
"If you know who I am then why aren't you killing me huh?" Clint taunts, leaning back in the interrogation chair.
"The way I see it, there's no need to. How old are you? Twenty? That's a bit young to be an assassin."
"Whoever said you had to be old to be one?" Clint shrugs.
"You want to know what I think, mister Barton?" the agent leans closer.
"I think you don't want to murder people for the rest of your life. You know we've done some digging. The Carson Carnival of Travelling Wonders?"
He pauses for a moment.
"And you unfortunate association with the notorious Black Widow and before that, trick Shot?"
How do they know so much about him? It's none of their business, he's about to tell them that but the agents shakes his head curtly and leans back again.
"Now, everybody else thinks I'm crazy but I believe you deserve a second chance." Clint almost scoffs at that. He tried that, it only ended badly for him.
"So I'll give you a choice. You can either take that chance and do something good for this world, do the right thing."
The agent stands up.
"Or I can arrest you right now and lock you up for the rest of your life."
XxXxXxXxXx
He is no longer a body, he's an essence lost and drifting, confined in the glass cage that is the Mind Gem. Loki tries to focus on his magic, on the magic inside his prison but he forgets he is no longer Loki. He is no longer someone.
Sometimes he is overwhelmed by sudden burst of emotions and feelings, he can feel his hands, warm and dripping blood, he can feel the spasms of a dying man underneath him, he can hear the screams of people the death cries of others. Sometimes the emotions he feels are so real that the line between his body and himself is beginning to blur.
The anger and the satisfaction from a fresh kill, they are so real at times.
But then he's is yanked back to reality and he is ashamed of his thoughts, how can he even think about killing so many people and enjoying it?
His predicament is torture itself, he cannot feel anything except the occasional glimpses that make him hate himself. The glimpses are becoming longer though and the longer they are the more he is convinced it's right. He tries to fight it he tries to reason with himself, this is Blood Magic, it's the Curse that's making him do this. He knows he can only fool himself for so long.
It won't be long before his true free will has faded away and what rests will be merged with the monster that is now set free on the Nine Realms. It won't be long before he will want to be that monster. The Mind Taker, the geð nem, will slowly break away all of his defenses and reform his essence, his being into what its caster wants.
A puppet in the hands of a psychotic puppeteer.
XxXxXxXxXx
"Then what are you waiting for?" Tony yells.
"Get us to Asgard!"
"Be silent you ignorant mortal!" Tyr bellows.
Thor advances on Tyr and grabs his shoulder, in a way that suggests they have known each other.
"Hela's portals are unpredictable." Thor says, looking Tyr in the eye.
"What do you mean 'unpredictable'?" Bruce asks, wringing his hands together nervously.
"For the dead, time moves differently, they don't care about days or years or millennia." Thor says.
Tyr nods and takes a step back to distance himself from Thor.
"If you go through the portal there is almost no way of knowing when you'll get to Asgard."
Tony's mouth falls open.
"You mean we could very well arrive a few millennia too late?" he snaps.
Tyr growls.
"You arrogant insect! Do not underestimate the power of Hela!" he shouts.
"Tony." Steve whispers to him.
"Let's let the gods who actually know what they're talking about do the talking, yeah?"
Tony quickly nods when he sees Tyr almost advance on him again. If this is what it takes to get Pepper back, to listen to this half-dead maniac then fine he'll listen.
"At most, it will be a few days. Probably a few hours." Tyr grumbles.
Everyone knows what this means, they have two options: either they wait for the signal and risk never receiving it or go through the portal and arrive too late to stop anything, even if they arrive just a few hours too late everything could still be lost.
And somehow even though Steve's the leader everyone looks at Thor. Thor has to make this decision.
"We go through the portal." Thor says.
The words aren't even cold when the portal opens and sucks them all in.
XxXxXxXxX
"I never thought a bow and arrow could be such an asset to an organization like S.H.I.E.L.D." Coulson jokes when he sees Clint train.
"I never thought I'd be working for an organization like S.H.I.E.L.D." Clint grunts while he shoots his last arrow from the ceiling.
Coulson smiles when Clint turns to face him.
"It's a good thing then, that not all of our thoughts turn out to be right."
Clint almost smiles as well but he stops himself. Can't let Coulson think he's sentimental can he?
XxXxXxXxXx
Everyone had been picturing the worst case scenario. No one's worst case scenario was as bad as it actually is. The once golden realm, the once Realm Eternal, has been reduced to almost nothing, the walls that protected Asgard are broken to the ground, like they had never even stood there in the first place.
There are Chitauri everywhere, they swarm the city and only know does everyone realize where they're coming from. They are coming from the inside of Asgard.
Thor roars and swings his hammer before he shoots away to the palace leaving the Avengers behind.
"I guess since some of us can't fly we'll have to go by foot." Captain America tries to joke. No one laughs but they do follow him when he storms to what's left of the gates, to the palace.
XxXxXxXxXx
The building is going to collapse soon but still Clint hasn't found him. Trick Shot. He runs to the closest room and he's just in time, the ceiling of the hallway collapses behind him, trapping him here. The flames keep licking at his heels and their heat almost makes his skin blister, sweat gleams on his naked arms and he licks his dry lips.
He looks around, the smoke making it almost impossible to see or breathe properly, it's instinct that saves his life. An arrow comes out of nowhere and Clint manages to dodge it but only just. It buries itself in the wall and catches fire very fast.
The assassin turned agents quickly crouches and keeps going. He'll kill Trick Shot and be done with this, he'll severe the last ties he has to his past.
Suddenly the smoke clears for a moment and Clint takes the opportunity presented to him. He shoots, his arrow hits the mask instead of the face and the person falls.
His mask slides of his face and it's not Trick Shot that lies there unconscious, surrounded by flames. It's Barney.
And then the ceiling collapses on both of them.
XxXxXxXxXx
Thor knows his priority is going to the palace, but everywhere he sees fighting but also burning. People Asgardian families are murdered, they are screaming, children are crying as they see their parents fall.
The Thunder God cannot ignore them he cannot ignore his people, he dives towards the ground and lands in the middle of a squadron of Chitauri, his feet squash two in his landing.
The Chitauri attack him again with their guns but Thor deflects them with Mjolnir before he cracks their skulls open with the same instrument. He hears the Einerjahr screaming:
"FOR ASGARD!" as they drive their spears into Chitauri warriors. Vaguely he can hear his Midgardian friends fight as well, he looks up and sees Tony Stark attacking a Leviathan at least three times bigger than the one they had encountered at earth.
Bruce Banner has turned into the Other Guy and smashes a dozen Chitauri in one go. Thor turns around, his friends will take care of this when he sees it, a green light, much alike a lighting strike but longer.
It's so close to the palace it scares him. The Thunder God swings his arm once more and throws himself to the palace, something is not right.
Underneath him he can see that the Einerjahr are having problems, they are slowly but steadily pushed back and Thor almost goes back down to help them when a new portal opens. At first he thinks that it's just more enemies, more Chitauri ready to attack Asgard but then he sees that these new people are attacking the Chitauri.
When the familiar wave of Seidr can be seen from the battle and Thor finally recognizes their leader. Frey who leads the Ljósálfar, he is surrounded by Light Elves with bow and arrow and few Vanir.
He lands quickly at their battleground and holds his head high as he greets the Ruler of Alfheim.
"Lord Frey, Asgard thanks you for your aid during this battle!" He says but Frey just rips a Chitauri head off and throws it at Thor's feet, anger etched in his face, together with hatred.
"Vanaheim has fallen." His voice is full of hatred but also sounds lost.
"Alfheim will not stand and watch the World end."
But Thor can see he has only taken a small force of Ljósálfar with him. This decision was not made by Alfheim but by its ruler, nonetheless he is grateful. Thor bows his head.
"Asgard will not forget this Lord Frey."
And then he turns around and flies away until that same green light captures his attention once more.
He dives towards it and when he lands he can see someone fighting the Einerjahr. Green light blinds them all and then Thor can see that the last Einerjahr falls, blood splattering everywhere even on Thor who stands a few feet away. He can feel the warm blood on his face and the body of the soldier falls.
And his murderer stand tall and proud and laughs and Thor recognizes that psychotic laugh before he recognizes the person standing there. The small boy.
"Loki."
The boy turns around and opens his arms as if to invite him for a hug.
"Yes, brother?"
Again if there's something not clear please tell me! Also tell me what you think? I'm basing most of my characters on the comics with slight alterations for the story of course. In the comics Frey is Vanir but he rules over the Ljósálfar (Light Elves and ice Elves in Alfheim). I thought he wouldn't just watch his own people die and do nothing about it. Also the part where Loki/Not-Loki kills the Vanir is in the battle for Vanaheim, that the Vanir obviously lost. The only thing you really need to understand is that there's war everywhere in the Nine Realms all thanks to our dear friend Thanos.