AN: Soooo terribly sorry for the huge delay! Though it is not an excuse, my family has been busy moving into a new house. My life has been nothing but unpacking boxes for the last few weeks! Luckily, everything important has been unpacked.
I want to thank you guys so much for the reviews and the follows! I am so happy people are enjoying reading this! We are nearing the ending, so hopefully the long read would have been worth it.
The next update will be much sooner, promise! Thank you so much for sticking around and for the feedback! Love you guys! So enjoy!
Chapter 25: Battle Strategy
Though he had not been one for many centuries, Loki felt like a child once more. Sitting at the head of one of Stark's conference tables, all eyes were on him—as if he had gotten caught causing mischief once again. Though none of the beings at the table would believe him, this time he was truly innocent. But the hard eyes glaring at him were convinced of something else.
One by one the members of Midgard's mighty team had walked in—their faces filled with contempt. Loki suspected they believed he was behind all of this, and while he normally would have been flattered, his mind was far too occupied. Even Thor walked into the room with disappointment written on his features…but when his brother sat across the room from his mortal Jane, Loki had to wonder if there was something he was missing entirely.
"As you are all aware," Tony started, breaking the awkward tension in the small room, "Last night we had a security breach."
The man took a long sip of something in a mug before continuing.
"An alien decided to play dress-up like Banner's assistant after murdering her." He explained, "Don't worry about Kate, though. We have that under control."
Loki looked down at his hands and let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. If they had Kate's death under control, that meant Eir was alive. Though he didn't want to admit it to himself, seeing her unmoving and the shade of death…
"So why isn't SHIELD monitoring this?" Natasha asked, interrupting his thoughts, "I thought we already had a threat to worry about. We don't have time to waste."
"SHIELD is out of the picture…for now." Stark answered, "They don't need to know more than they do for obvious reasons. It's better if we just take care of this ourselves. Unless, of course, you want another nuke to barrel towards Manhattan."
The redheaded woman just rolled her eyes, obviously displeased with the man's answer.
"Why is he here?" Steve asked, narrowing his eyes towards Loki, "Last I knew, he wasn't on our side."
Narrowing his eyes back at the patriotic man, Loki clenched his jaw tighter. There was quite a bit he would like to say to the Captain, but now was not the time nor place. Though the table full of eyes was studying him, none seemed to realize that he didn't want to be there as much as them.
"Worry not, Solider—I'm not." Loki reassured with a smirk, "But it has been made very clear that it is in my best interest to share my knowledge."
The God of Mischief could almost feel the distrust in the room, and he didn't particularly blame them. One part of him was telling him to lie to them. He so badly wanted to sabotage their mission and save his own skin…but another part was winning. Some part of him knew that his fate was sealed without their help.
"The man you speak of is Malekith, leader of the Dark Elves." He explained, "Tis well known that he craves the Casket. Surely, Thanos offered him this in exchange for his...assistance."
There was a silence in the room before one of the mortals spoke up again.
"Excuse me, Thanos?" Hawkeye questioned, "What? Don't you guys speak English?"
Biting his tongue again, Loki glared at the man he had once made his puppet. He did not like repeating himself, and his patience was growing thin.
"When I made my play for Midgard," Loki started slowly, watching the detest grow over the faces in the room, "Twas Thanos who provided the Chitauri. He means to rule the universe. At first he thought the Tesseract more useful, but upon learning of the stones…"
Loki paused.
"He must have reevaluated his strategy." He decided, "The stones lead to a swift victory."
"But we have them all, right?" Erik asked confused, "Banner—"
Loki couldn't help but let out a bitter laugh.
"You mortals have no knowledge of the true nature of those stones." The Jotun spat, "If you truly possessed them all there would be no need to worry."
Loki looked away from the table full of prying eyes for a moment and collected his thoughts. If they possessed all the stones, Thanos wouldn't stand a chance. If they possessed every gem, they could shape the universe as they saw fit. Only when a set did they give the user a terrible—and great—power. It seemed that, despite all of their testing, the mortals has missed that bit.
"You are one short of the set." Loki explained further, "As powerful as they may be, they only grant omnipotence when together. Thanos has an army; what stones we have will do little in untrained hands."
Laughing a little to himself, the god knew they were in the most unskilled of hands. The stones were capable of extraordinary feats—moving galaxies and changing time—but would do little when minds so simple were their commanders. Odin was a fool to entrust such an incompetent group of Asgardians with their protection. A group of warriors with no interest in magic? The stones would destroy them long before they gained control.
"What one are we missing?" Tony asked curiously, "How can we fight against something we have no data on?"
Looking back towards the group, Loki could feel the guilt build up in his chest like a disease.
"I assure you, Stark. You have data on it."
The following silence was deafening, and Loki wanted to run out of the room. What was to follow were more nasty looks and more judgment. Though he was grateful for the clarity Eir's magic had given him, he did not like the new feelings such clarity brought with it. He did not like feeling guilty over past actions so easily. He didn't know why he suddenly cared what these mortals thought of him.
"The scepter." Erik whispered, breaking the silence, "It was in your scepter."
"The Mind Gem." The prince admitted quietly, "I trust you know what it does."
As suspected, the angry glances followed.
"Unfortunately." Clint groaned, "I still have a headache."
"If what Loki is saying is true…" Tony began, "Then we can—"
Before the man could finish, green eyes widened when Asgard's female warrior stood up from the table. In her brown eyes was a fiery defiance he had only seen on the battlefields.
"Do you not hear yourselves?" Sif questioned, "He has everything to gain by betraying us! How are we to trust him?"
Before he could counter, Loki watched as Thor sent Sif a stern look.
"I trust my brother." The blonde decided, "He has done some unfortuna—"
"He tried to kill us all." Sif interrupted, "Do none of you find it odd that he knows so much about these stones? He wants them for himself…Thor, you must see it!"
Narrowing his eyes at the woman, Loki let out a hiss. Sif had never trusted him, and it would be her blind distrust that doomed them all. He had made some mistakes in the past, but to seek out the gems would be truly foolish. Odin was a fool for seeking them; surely he would not make the same mistake.
"Lady Sif, I assure you—I speak not in lies." He offered smoothly, "When you were pretending to be a warrior, I was expanding my mind. Tis no wonder I have such knowledge of them."
Instead of a rebuttal, Loki was met only with a scathing glare. Though he tried to conceal it, a satisfied smirk found its way to his face.
"I hate to admit it, but I believe Rock of Ages." Tony muttered, giving a sympathetic glance towards Sif, "It's the best information we've got."
This time, the stares towards Loki were replaced with uncertain looks towards each other. Loki could see the stress written across his brother's features, his face seeming to age as they spoke. Putting a hand to his forehead, Thor turned his blue eyes towards the gold ones at the table.
"How long do we have, Heimdall?"
"A few days." the Gatekeeper admitted, "A week, at most."
As the deafening silence returned, Loki knew he didn't need to tell the group assembled that there was not enough time. A lifetime of preparation could not prepare such a small group to take on Thanos. A lifetime could not train such a group to wield the stones. They were as good as dead-all of Midgard was.
"Well, that's optimistic." Steve muttered, "Our chances fell pretty quickly."
This time, Loki noticed Thor was fighting hard to send the man a forced smile.
"But my friend, we could win." Thor countered, lying to himself, "When my brother attacked, we fought valiantly against a massive force. There is nothing we cannot—"
"We won on dumb luck." Clint spat, "We all know it."
Blinking to himself, Loki was shocked at the man's admission.
"Maybe we did." Tony agreed, "But I have learned never to underestimate the power of good luck."
"Luck isn't going to save us." Natasha argued, "I have known too many agents who relied on luck to get by. They're dead."
Tony had gotten up from his seat at the table and rolled his eyes at the group.
"So that's it, then?" he asked shocked, "Just going to give up right now?"
The group before showed no sign of denial.
"Loki didn't scare us, and neither should Thanos." He continued, "We have more manpower now. We have skills at our disposal we didn't last time."
And when Tony's eyes locked with Loki's, the prince couldn't help but scowl. If they truly thought he would be of further help, they were sorely mistaken. SHIELD—The Avengers—left a bitter taste in his mouth. No matter how badly his conscious wanted to seek out some form of redemption—no matter how badly he wanted the guilt to go away—he would not risk his life further.
"And how can we be so sure Loki won't betray us?" Sif hissed, "Are we to take words from the God of Lies as truth?"
Before anyone else could speak for him, Loki let out a bitter hiss and locked eyes with the woman who never trusted him.
"Because Thanos wants me dead. He will stop at nothing until I have paid for my failure here." Loki admitted, "He was to come to Asgard to end me before…"
Before Eir saved him. Before he was thrown into this war. Before he was forced to confront everything he so desperately wanted to avoid…
"Before all this." He whispered, "I assure you, Lady Sif…I will be dead before I can turn on you lot."
And that, unfortunately, was the truth.
Thanos smiled as he walked over the bloating bodies that littered the golden floors of Asgard's palace. The greens and blues of rotting flesh replaced the emeralds and sapphires that once glittered against their victims' bodies. It was a beautiful contrast—such putrescence wrapped elegantly in glittering clothes. They were jewels of Death, and Thanos hoped they pleased his Lady.
Lifting a beautiful chalice to his dark lips, the Titan reveled in the burn that danced down his throat. In the coming days, the stones would be glowing in the gauntlet. Casting his eyes towards the lonely metal cast on his hand, Thanos could feel his heart quicken as he thought of how it would look complete—the blue stone no longer alone. He would destroy the universe and rebuilt it in his image. Death, he was sure, would be most pleased.
"I have been growing impatient, Malekith." Thanos whispered, sensing the elf behind him, "I pray you brought me good news."
Turning around, yellow eyes met the dark ones of the Dark Elf. Malekith's bi-colored lips curved into a smile when he gave the Titan a deep bow—his long blond hair dipping in dried blood that speckled the floor.
"They exist together on Midgard." He explained with a satisfied smile, "The moronic Asgardians have collected them under one hand. Our work is done."
Laughing a satisfied smile, Thanos could feel his eyes glowing with excitement.
"In addition, my Lord, I had made contact with Loki." The elf continued, "The traitor has all but joined the mortals."
"Spineless." Thanos spat, a bitter taste in his mouth, "Never in my travels have I encountered a more pathetic soul. Twill be fun to watch him burn."
Thanos pursed his lips together for a moment in thought before continuing on.
"Is your army ready?" he asked eagerly, "I grow impatient. My body longs for the powers the gems will bestow upon me. The casket longs for you to be its rightful owner."
And in a smirk that mirrored the one on Thanos's face, Malekith looked up to the Titan with bright eyes—bloodlust shining in the evening light.
"We're ready."
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