I don't own The Avengers. Marvel Does. I only own my OCs.
Lania escorted Thor and Loki out of the plaza in Xandar.
"An invasion at the heart of the Nova Empire itself with only a single ship?" Loki mused, having been given the details of Ronan's reckless attack against Xandar, "one would call it ambitious, I call it foolish and his defeat well deserved."
"You won't find a person who disagrees on this whole planet, Lord Loki," Lania agreed.
A Nova shuttle descended to the street level and unfolded its boarding ramp for the group to step up into the passenger bay.
"We were given advanced warning by a bunch of pirates calling themselves the Ravagers, a bunch of thugs under the command of Yondu," continued Lania.
"We have heard of the tale of these Ravagers in Asgard," Thor said, "why would they render aid to the Nova Corps?"
The shuttle began to ascend, transporting them towards the Nova Corps Headquarters at the heart of the city.
"From what we understand, they were…well, bribed," Lania explained, holding onto a handle built into the cabin wall for balance, "some rogue group calling themselves the Guardians of the Galaxy convinced them to attack Ronan to retrieve something of immense value from him. Besides that the details are sketchy or classified."
"A lone attack dependent on some weapon of mass destruction," Loki exchanged a glance with his brother.
"And a group of marauders intervening to plunder a heavily armed Kree ship?" Thor finished, "pirates never go after powerful targets unless the bounty is anything short of grand."
Loki nodded.
"And I don't recall the tale of Ronan possessing any wealth," Loki added, "I have a feeling that the pieces of this puzzle are beginning to fall together."
The shuttle descended to a landing pad and then casually stepped out, dropping five feet to the surface below.
"Perhaps the Nova Prime might be able to tell us more," he said to himself.
Lania led Thor and Loki through the main door of the headquarters. As they approached the doors to the office of the Nova Prime they could hear raised voices beyond the threshold.
"I wonder who has her upset this time," Lania murmured.
Loki shrugged.
"Whatever it is, certainly it is important enough to wait. After all, the Nova Prime has a tremendous responsibility and I doubt that she would appreciate it if she was interrupted in the middle of an important exchange with a—"
The doors exploded open.
"ABSOLUTE PRICK!"
Both Asgardians blinked once and stared at the fuming form of the Nova Prime as she stormed out of her office.
"Of all the self righteous, hypocritical—" she fumed.
Lania cleared her throat and followed after the older woman.
"Trouble, Nova Prime?" she asked.
"Yes, trouble, and its name is Kree Ambassador Kartho!" the Nova Prime took a deep breath and smoothed out her coat without breaking pace, "that sanctimonious pig is trying to treat Ronan's death like Ronan was somehow the victim."
"A clear effort by the Kree Empire to appeal for sympathy from the other galactic powers, no doubt," Loki commented as he and Thor followed behind the pair, "rest assured, Asgard shall not be so easily deceived."
The Nova Prime stopped in mid step and spun, only now realizing that she and Lania were not alone.
"Asgardians?"
Thor bowed his head.
"My lady," he said in greeting.
"Why have you come here?" the Nova Prime asked.
"We have come in search of an artifact of immense power," Loki answered, "recently, we have been made aware that a number of these objects have revealed themselves in the last few years…one of them right here on Xandar."
"Asgard's mandate is to ensure that these items do not fall into the hands of those who would use them to inflict great destruction on the universe," Thor added firmly, "you would know of them as the Infinity Stones…and we suspect that one of them was used as a weapon in the recent invasion by Ronan the Accuser."
Lania and the Nova Prime exchanged glances in a moment of silence before returning their focus on the Asgardians.
"I believe we have heard of them," admitted the Nova Prime, "is there someone else seeking them?"
"Many," Loki nodded, "I once served one of them, much to my shame…you would know him as Thanos, the Mad Titan."
Thor analyzed the reactions of the Nova Prime and Lania. The latter tensed, and he could feel energy gathering in her fists.
"You admit to working for the most feared being in the universe?" the Nova Prime asked calmly.
Loki didn't say anything, but he nodded, trying to hide any painful expression.
"Not of his own will," Thor interjected, "Thanos had taken control of Loki's mind. Anything and everything he did is the fault of Thanos."
The Nova Prime considered this for a moment before nodding.
"He wouldn't be the first," she replied, "when you're as feared as Thanos, it pays to be able to force people to obey you when they won't give their loyalty freely. He has done this to others before for his own benefit."
The Nova Prime gestured for Lania to stand down.
"So you believe Thanos is related to the recent appearances of these Infinity Stones?"
"He armed me with one and sent me to retrieve a second on Earth while conquering the entire planet," Loki nodded, "a third appeared, coinciding with the return of the Dark Elves and Malekith. And now a fourth was used here, on Xandar."
"You are correct," the Nova Prime made no effort to lie, "Ronan the Accuser had acquired an artifact known only as The Orb, but thanks to an advanced warning by a third party we were able to prepare for the attack…and that same party prevented Ronan from unleashing the Infinity Stone's power and annihilating this entire planet."
She paused.
"Before I continue…what is your intent behind coming here? Do you seek to take the stone?"
"Only to ensure that it does not fall into Thanos's hands," Loki nodded.
After a moment of silence, the Nova Prime beckoned Thor and Loki to follow her. The Asgardians were led to a level far below the ground floor and into a sector that was heavily patrolled by Nova Corps members marching in squadron numbers per group. Their trek ended as they reached a series of heavily fortified security doors protected by mounted turrets and no small amount of Xandar's lesser known mechanized troops in gold and white exoskeletons which observed the group as the Nova Prime presented her credentials and submitted to numerous scans before the doors were finally opened to reveal one final vault door.
"What you are seeing now is the most heavily defended zone on Xandar," she said.
Lania stepped forward and unlocked the door, which slid open to reveal a compact room…with a metallic sphere resting on a pedestal behind layers of laser tripwires, motion detectors and several concealed traps. Thor leaned closer to Loki's ear.
"Do you think that is the Power Stone you read about?" he whispered.
Loki nodded.
"Yes, it must be. If belt traces of its power in each of its siblings we've encountered," he affirmed, "this is the Infinity Stone of Power, something so powerful that it would destroy anyone too weak to restrain its immense energy."
Thor nodded in agreement before turning his head at the Nova Prime.
"I'm sorry, but you can't honestly expect me to just surrender a weapon of cosmic destruction without some guarantee that you could defend it better than the Nova Corps," the Nova Prime crossed her arms.
"My lady, keeping the Power Stone on Xandar makes the threat to your people all the greater," Thor insisted, "Asgard is prepared to shoulder the burden and the risk involved with the Infinity Stones. Should Thanos or his minions come for them we shall meet them in battle so that other realms need not be destroyed in our place."
Loki nodded, "our people have always prepared for war when we have not been faced with it. Xandar was almost destroyed once in a single attack, you don't want to see what Thanos is willing to bring against you now that his schemes have failed."
The Nova Prime gave Thor and Loki a blank stare while she placed a finger on her chin.
"My lady…Xandar is a world of peace," Thor pressed, "so long as this stone remains on it, it shall never know peace."
The Nova Prime took a slow breath.
"Very well," she nodded, "I hereby grant you permission to remove the Infinity Stone from Xandarian space on the condition that you bury this damn thing in the deepest hole you can find or lock it in the thickest vault you can make. Whatever you both do, just don't make me regret this."
"You have my word," nodded Thor.
Once the Nova Prime approached a control panel and disarmed the traps, Thor approached the pedestal and carefully picked up the Orb. Loki silently sighed in relief, knowing that they reached an Infinity Stone before Thanos would even show up.
A few days later, Loki was sitting in the library early in the morning while reading the book he obtained in Nyr. While carefully flipping the pages, he read the text containing directions to the Soul Stone. He figured that he would have to travel through the Bifrost to get to the location. Well, that was the easy part, but the hard part appeared to be traveling through some sort of labyrinth to reach the artifact itself. He may not be certain on what the labyrinth is, but he found a map within the book containing the directions. Closing his eyes, Loki closed the book and stashed it into his pocket. He might need to use it in order to guide Thor to the Soul Stone…that is, if he agreed to come along with him. Just as the trickster stood from his chair, he heard approaching footsteps.
"Brother!" called Thor, "are you hungry? We're about to have breakfast soon."
Loki turned his head at Thor.
"You know," Loki remarked, "I was just finding some clues about the Soul Stone."
Thor tilted his head.
"Oh?" Thor paused, "do tell."
"How about I tell you about it at the banquet hall?" suggested Loki.
Loki and Thor stepped out of the library and wandered through the corridor until they opened the large doors that led to the banquet hall. There, Volstagg, Hogun, Fandral and Sif already served themselves some food and started eating. The Asgardian princes found their seats next to Fandral and took their time to serve themselves.
"Ah," Fandral blurted, "good morning, Loki. Is your research going well?"
"As well as it could, given the circumstances," Loki nodded, "I've only managed to narrow down the location of the Soul Stone's resting place to a place within a labyrinth of some kind."
"No doubt one wrought with traps and guardians to ensure the continued rest of this Infinity Stone!" Volstagg boomed.
Hogun looked up from his meal inquisitively.
"Do you know which world this maze is constructed on?"
"It's on Kataran," answered Loki, "if any of you have been there recently, I'm willing to hear about it."
"And the Mind Stone?" mentioned Sif.
While he started eating, Loki tried to come up with an answer, but he couldn't even think of a response. After a moment of silence, he turned his attention to Thor.
"Brother," Loki asked, "when was the last time you saw your robot friend's creation?"
"Last time I spoke with the Vision," answered Thor, "it was after we stopped Thanos from destroying Midgard."
"So over a month ago?" clarified Loki.
Thor nodded. Loki didn't ask anymore questions and continued eating his meal. Once he finished, he stood from the table and turned towards the door of the banquet hall.
"So, are you leaving to find the Soul Stone on your own?" asked Volstagg.
Loki paused in his tracks and stared at Volstagg.
"Sounds like a fun idea," replied Loki, "but no."
Thor was about to stand to his feet, but Fandral grabbed his arm, stopping him in his tracks.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come along?!" Thor called to Loki.
"Don't worry, brother," Loki responded, "I will be right back."
Loki left the banquet hall and wandered through the hall until he exited the palace, where he boarded an aerial boat. The aerial boat took off and flew over to the Bifrost, where Heimdall was standing and getting ready for the day. Still, Loki's arrival caught the guardian's attention.
"Good morning, Laufeyson," he said.
"Do you remember the location where the strange robot holds his fortress?" Loki asked.
"I do," Heimdall nodded.
"Would you mind sending me there for a bit?" requested Loki, "I was going to ask him a few questions."
"Very well," Heimdall confirmed.
Heimdall lowered his sword into the pedestal, which activated the Bifrost. While Loki began walking into the portal, questions began to fill his head. What would he have to do before he could meet this Vision?
I'm still open to suggestions on how to continue the fanfic.
Please leave a review, so Ultron and Loki would be happy.