A/N: So, everyone. Here I am! The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated. I've been trying to finish up the rest of the series before I posted another chapter, but it was taking me too long so I just figured I'd go ahead and post this one and hope I'll be able to finish the rest before we all die of old age.

Hollow Skies - Chapter 21

"Brother, you're alive," Loki whispered as he felt tears of joy filling his eyes. Here at least was something, finally, good.

Thor narrowed his eyes at him. "What is wrong with you? First you try to kill me, and now you are glad I am alive? You have gone mad."

Loki blinked twice, somewhat hurt. "I... Perhaps I have, but-"

"Silence your tongue, serpent," Thor seethed as he held his hammer aloft, as if ready to strike. "I'll not listen to your lies any longer."

"But, Thor," a fleeting, fragile smile formed as he tried to step closer, "I...I've changed." He scrambled for words, was sure that he could salvage this, change what had happened here before. "I-I-I'm sorry for what I've done. I am truly sorry, but-"

A sharp, stinging jolt to his head sent Loki flying against the wall of the Observatory as Thor yelled: "Lies!"

Gungnir flew from his grasp as he saw Mjolnir fly back to Thor. Loki's head hit the wall but his helmet cushioned most of the blow, fortunately.

"I'm done with you, trickster," Thor advanced on him, hammer humming with power.

"No, Thor, wait." He tried to back away, but the thunderer reached him easily and threw him across the room. Sliding across the floor, Loki quickly righted himself but didn't stand. "Thor, you have to listen."

Mjolnir flew at his head as he felt his horned helmet fly off, the sound of its metal clattering across the polished floor. Startled, and suddenly afraid of Thor's livid fierceness, Loki scrambled to get to Gungnir to defend himself. But Thor beat him to it. He kicked the spear away, across the Bifrost bridge and out of reach.

"Brother, please," Loki tried, but Thor didn't seem to be listening as he glared down at him.

"I'll rip you in half," said Thor suddenly, viciously, and the way he said it filled Loki with such a terror that he jumped up and ran for the bridge - not to get Gungnir, he couldn't even begin to imagine defending himself against Thor right now, but to simply get away. Thor was so incensed that he'd lost all reason, and Loki wasn't about to find out what he'd do to him.

Unfortunately for Loki, Mjolnir struck him across the back before he reached the doorway. Falling and rolling, he scrambled to turn over and try again for the door, but it was so pointless, Thor could fly. And suddenly, for a brief moment, Loki considered that he could simply jump off the bridge and into the water, but...

No. No. I can't go there again. I can't. I don't want to go there. Thor is here. Home is here. He could never take the darkness again.

The thunder god struck him across the face with a fist as Loki tried to back away, but suddenly found himself pinned to the bridge beneath Thor's bulk, the elder god's hands around his throat.

"These are your last moments, little trickster," growled Thor, face shadowed by his hair.

Loki coughed and tried to pry the too-strong hands off, but of course it was useless. Thor continued to strangle him for some time, but a moment later he struck him across the head with Mjolnir. Head swimming and eyes heavy, Loki could do nothing but lay there and hope it would be a quick death.

It was not to be.

Thor discarded his hammer and hit Loki with his fists, again and again and again, until he could feel blood pouring down his face, his bones crunching beneath unveiled savagery as his head twisted to the side time and again. Thor next grabbed him by the back of his hair, forcing him to look up, but Loki felt unconsciousness draping over him and he could barely see.

"You have no one left," murmured Thor in his ear. "You're all alone. This is the end." Tears fell from Loki's eyes and he couldn't bear to even try looking at the other. He wanted to say he was sorry again, he wanted to make everything better, or...

He wanted to forgive Thor. He didn't want him to someday look back with sorrow and regret and guilt, because Loki truly did deserve this. He'd brought this on himself with his cowardice and his lies, his envy and spitefulness. Thor was doing the right thing. This was justice. So Loki wanted to forgive Thor; wanted to tell him it was alright, that he understood.

So he did.

"It's alright, brother," Loki whispered hoarsely as he looked to Thor, although one of his eyes abruptly blotted out, likely due to his injuries. He felt afraid, but also calm. It would all be over soon, and Thor would live; that was all that mattered.

Thor narrowed his eyes in confusion. Then, somehow, all traces of anger and disgust disappeared from the thunderer's face and he smiled. It was a mocking and hollow smile, though.

"Damn," he said, shaking his head in apparent amusement. "Worth a try."

Everything went white.

X - X

The gold of the Observatory was suddenly replaced by gray stone and swinging chains. Loki's eyes took time to adjust, but he realized he was surrounded by Sif and the Warriors Three once again.

"What-?" he mumbled, but was startled to find he was shackled to a wooden table. He couldn't look down at himself for the metal around his neck, but he sensed his torso was naked, his back sticky with whatever was left on the wood. "W-what are you doing?" his words trembled and he wondered where Thor had gone. "Brother?" He tried to look around.

"Your brother is gone; haven't we told you?" Fandral said, amused.

"What are you going to do to me?" Loki asked with mounting fear.

"Just this," Sif held up a long, jagged knife and presented it with a sly smirk. "Don't you want to play?" It didn't sound like Sif, suddenly.

"N-no..." Get away from me, he wanted to say, but his mouth was so dry and he couldn't move his tongue, he couldn't move anything.

"Fandral," Sif looked to the Warrior and said in a nonchalant tone, "did you want to try the pear?"

"Of course, my lady," he responded, "but I think I'll stick something else up there before we get to that, hm?"

Sif smiled, wicked and so unlike her. Volstagg laughed and so did Fandral, but there was no cheer there, only a dark glee. "Of course," said Sif, "Of course..." She looked to Loki, eyes alight. "We'll have such fun."

Loki screamed.

Tony hid behind another pillar as a second patrol passed by. Although he didn't know how he knew, he knew he was in Asgard. There was something about the atmosphere, the armor, the way the light shone off the golden architecture. Oh yeah, Far, Far Away Land here.

At the next bend in the corridor, he heard numerous boots making their way toward him. Asgard's soldiers, he guessed. The number of patrols, however, were lessening as he moved further down. He didn't exactly know why, but the way down seemed the right direction to go. He didn't know what was down there, but that was his destination.

He quickly hid behind a pillar as the patrol passed, none the wiser to the human intruder. He held his breath as the sounds of their footsteps died down, and he made his way toward the narrow steps at the end of the long corridor. The spiral stairs went down for far longer than he had anticipated, and he desperately hoped no one would find him - from either direction.

The air was getting colder, and the torchlight dimmer. The golden hue of the previous halls slunk away into the shadows, replaced by ominous grey stone and crumbling architecture. Am I still in Asgard? wondered Tony. He was suddenly unsure if going down was still the best course of action, until he heard a scream. The billionaire froze in his half-step, the spine-tingling sound echoing up from below. What- who was that? He knew the answer immediately, and it turned his stomach to realize why: he'd heard it so many times before.

"No, no, no, no- please no-" Loki screamed again when another sharp metal point was jabbed into his forearm. He choked on a sob when Sif presented another of the metal spikes to him, as if to make certain he saw before she used it on him. "Sif, please, I told you Thor is aliv-aah!" Another metal piece was shoved into his body, although he hurt so much everywhere it was hard to know just where he had been stabbed. He gasped for air and cried again, wishing everything to be over. Why wouldn't they just kill him? Didn't he deserve death? Why were they torturing him so?

Because you deserve a worse fate, said a voice. Loki shook his head desperately, not wanting to believe. You know it's true, it continued.

I've suffered enough, Loki countered. He was startled by his thoughts but they felt so true suddenly, and he somehow knew that's what Thor would say, what the others - the mortals, would say.

"Be silent," Sif ordered through clenched teeth. "You deserve to suffer for the rest of eternity, little trickster."

Loki blinked at her through his sweat. Had I said that out loud? He didn't remember opening his mouth.

Fandral walked over, smiling from ear to ear. "My turn."

Sif glared at Loki for a moment, then shrugged and smirked. "He's all yours."

"Thank you, my lady," the swordsman bowed low in a mocking gesture, then walked to Loki. "So, my king, what shall we play, hm?" The Dashing Warrior held up a strange looking device, shaped oddly like a pear. "Do you know what this is?" he asked as he twirled it around. "No? I'll show you soon enough, but first, it's probably best to stretch you a bit. That device is just so painful - it would be a shame if you lost consciousness too soon." He laughed and the others joined him.

Loki didn't understand. His mind was too jumbled with pain to realize what the Warrior was implying, and he only managed a groan as he dared not look at the others. Why were they doing this? He couldn't conjure a sufficient answer. They'd never liked him very much, he knew, but was there so much animosity that they'd do this? Despite being lost in his thoughts, a distinctive sound, the sound of something zipping made the trickster's muscles tense up, made him open his eyes wide and turn to the blonde warrior.

The wide, sinister smile of Fandral loomed over him and Loki suddenly understood what was about to happen. But...but of course it was. What else was there to do to him but violate him further? Loki shook his head but said nothing. He clenched his jaw and refused to look away from the man.

"Aren't you afraid, trickster?" asked Fandral, but his voice was different, even his cadence had changed.

Although he had to force himself to relax his jaw, Loki answered, "Y-yes. Of course I am."

"Then why do you stare at me so defiantly?"

Was he? He hadn't realized. The pain and fear was overwhelming, so how could his face do anything but reflect that?

"Answer me..."

Loki shook his head, didn't know why he was suddenly being so stubborn.

The figure before him moved closer. "Answer. Me."

Still, Loki refused.

Suddenly one of the knives still stuck in his body was pulled out and he screamed- sharp and short, but he continued to stare at the other, he couldn't stop. Another was pulled out and he cried, but he still couldn't look away.

Fandral growled and threw the knives to the ground, then moved toward Loki's feet. Although he was no longer able to see him with the metal around his neck holding him down, Loki still said nothing as he stared at the ceiling.

"Just take him already, Fandral," said Volstagg. "I'm bored and I want my turn."

"Silence!" hissed Fandral, and, amazingly, the other Warrior quieted. What was that about? And when did Fandral start ordering his friends around? "He's so pathetic," he continued to seethe. "A pathetic sack of meat that should be stripped of everything- everything!" Loki wondered what he'd ever done to Fandral to elicit such anger.

The others remained silent as Fandral continued to grumble under his breath. Then suddenly he was rushing toward Loki as he leaned over him, his arms flanking his head. The prince flinched but had nowhere to go. He continued staring at the Warrior.

"Admit it, Loki," Fandral hissed. "You're nothing. No one."

His lips trembled, but Loki responded with, "No." He paused a moment, then said again: "No." What am I doing? thought Loki. He'd surely lost his mind.

Fandral screeched angrily, grabbed something metal, then jabbed it harshly into Loki's chest. Too startled, Loki didn't know what had happened at first, but when he realized that his lung had been pierced, he tried to inhale but was unable. Panic gripping him, he coughed and sputtered blood as he tried desperately to draw in air.

"You're nothing!" screamed Fandral, but it wasn't until a few moments later that Loki realized the other Warriors had screamed along with him, and just as angrily. Again, they screeched in unison: "You deserved it - all of it!"

He didn't understand what was happening, but it didn't matter. He was choking on his own blood and he wasn't certain how long his magic could keep him alive. Apparently he'd been wrong: they did mean to kill him. It didn't seem to have been their original intention, though.

Loki looked about desperately and tried to set himself free again, but the restraints were too strong and he was too injured and exhausted otherwise. He wanted to beg them to set him free, to take him to a healer, that surely Thor would not wish him dead... Or did he? Wait, was Thor dead or not? He remembered Thor on the Bifrost, angry and trying to kill him - but weren't the Warriors angry because Thor was dead? It was all so confusing. He didn't know what was up or down, was no longer certain where he was or even who these people were. They were his captors, his tormentors, but he'd known them most of his life; why would they hurt him so? And-and he had a brother... Why would these Warriors kill him for not killing his brother? No, wait. He didn't think that was right. Was that right?

Coughing desperately now, Loki felt the darkness closing in on him.

No...no. I don't...don't like the dark. Go away.

Everything hurt so much and his lungs weren't doing what they were supposed to.

But then, he heard a voice. Different and distant.

"You know I'm kind of getting tired of saying what the fuck all the time."

If he was honest with himself, he really hadn't been expecting to walk into a room that was the living embodiment of torture porn. Well. However much a room could be "living". With this crazy place - who knew?

Three men and one woman stood around Loki - and holy shit what happened to him - who was strapped to an obvious torture-table. Tony wanted to be surprised at that, but really, what else should he expect after all he'd seen?

"Hiya, fellas. And lady." He smiled at them as he casually walked forward. "Say, I'm looking for the bathroom. Kinda got lost, you know how it is. One second you're in Disney Land that Midas went a little crazy with, and the next you're in..." he looked around and pursed his lips as he put his hands in his pockets. "Well. Ya'know."

The woman walked angrily toward him with wide strides. Whoa, hello.

"Get out," she hissed into his face.

Tony leaned back a little as he refused to look afraid. She was clearly a warrior, and clearly very pissed - and very tall - but he didn't care. This was all...so weird. And maybe not real? He was one place one second and another place the next. He wasn't sure, honestly.

"Boy you're hot. I mean, that's just an expression, I'm not calling you a 'boy' that would just be awkward, but seriously," he used his hands to form a frame with his fingers in front of her face, "Yeah, hot."

She growled at him. "Mortal, leave this place or I paint the walls with your blood."

Tony lifted his eyebrows. "Wow. That's unnecessarily hostile. Look: was it the 'hot' bit? You should really be flattered-"

Grabbing him by the throat, she lifted him off his feet. "Did you not hear me, mortal?!"

"Sif..." said a feeble, barely audible voice from nearby. Was that...Loki? "Sif, please."

Looking behind her, Sif smiled and calmly said: "Asking for favors, little trickster?" Although it was difficult to see through the haze of being strangled, Tony couldn't help but think there was something kind of different about the woman suddenly. "Do you care for this mortal now? How perverse."

Loki coughed, and from this angle Tony could see that the poor guy was likely in the same predicament as him - he seemed to be choking on his own blood. It was amazing he could speak at all. Of course, who knew what it took to truly kill one of them? Loki was almost ridiculously resilient. Tony desperately hoped it would hold true.

Again, Loki coughed, before saying, "He-he is not the one you," he inhaled shakily, painfully, "you want. L-Let him..." his voice trailed off as his eyes closed.

Still smiling, and without even looking at Tony, Sif abruptly let go of Tony as she walked briskly toward her prisoner. "Trying to give orders now, are you?"

Tony coughed and inhaled desperately. How many times would this happen? What, would his doppelganger pop up next and continue with this creep show?

"N-no, I-"

"Because you have nothing to bargain with, trickster." She leaned down slowly, closer to him. "Here you will spend eternity, at my mercy, to play with as I see fit until you're mad or dead or... Or perhaps I'll not let you die. Yes, I'll keep you forever and we'll have our fun, won't we?"

Loki seemed to be losing whatever internal battle he was clearly having as he whimpered a soft, "No..."

"Yes," she continued. "There's no escape. You're mine and nothing will change that. Not your brother, not him, not anyone. You're alone, all alone."

"No, no, no, no," Loki continued to whisper in desperation.

Lifting himself from the floor, Tony coughed first, then said, "This is fucked up." He half-coughed a breathy laugh and smiled at them. "Are you seriously listening to this?" he pointed as he regarded the others, who glared at him. "Hey, Loki." The trickster stirred as his eyes fluttered. "Hey- you hearin' me? This place isn't fucking real, so don't listen to this shit she's feeding you-"

"Be silent!" a blonde man with short hair hissed at Tony.

"Uh... yeah no, I don't think so." Although he knew they could attack him at any moment, Tony continued as he ignored them. "Are you hearing me, Loki? This place is all fake - some kinda fucking illusion or whatever you types wanna call it. It's not real, any of it."

The blonde man screamed in anger and barreled toward Tony - to which Tony had no choice but to attempt to shield himself with his arms - because what the fuck could he do against an Asgardian when he didn't have his armor? But when the man was all but a breath away, he stopped. Daring to peak from behind his arm-shield, Tony found the man barely an inch from his face, his anger having not abated even though he'd stopped.

"Uhh... hi?" stammered Tony. "H-how you doing?"

What the fuck is this? ...Aw, hell. I said it again.

A/N: I was originally planning on just this chapter and another, but it's turning out to be a bit longer. Maybe 3-4 chapters, I'm not sure. And worry not, I am determined to finish this story! It's just taking a while, and I thank everyone for their patience! You guys are the best. ^w^