Loki sits in the shadows watching his own personal drama play out before him.
"Undying? You should choose your words more carefully." Thanos says as he tightens his hold around what seems like Loki's neck. He makes eye contact with Thor before he tightens his grip even more.
"You… will never be… a god." Loki whispers from his hiding place. The words come from the mouth of the fake Loki dangling from Thanos's fingers.
Despite his calm and cool looking demeanor, Loki can tell the words bother Thanos as he snaps his target's neck, seemingly killing him.
'I'd almost feel bad, if he wasn't already dead.' Loki thinks as Thanos drops the cleverly disguised but already long deceased Asgardian body.
"No resurrections this time." Thanos says admiring his work. Loki can't help but smile at actually fooling the Mad Titan.
"No… Loki…" Thor mumbles from his confines as tears well up in his eyes.
'Foolish brother.' Loki thinks. 'How many times are you going to fall for the same trick?'
Thanos suddenly teleports away with the Black Order, releasing large amounts of dangerous purple energy as they leave.
Thor is released from his binds. He crawls over to Loki's body, not noticing that it hasn't returned to it's Jotun form. Loki senses the ship losing its structure and realizes he does not have much time, so he magically teleports as far away as he possibly can.
Thor lays his head down on Loki's chest, shedding tears for all that he has lost. The ship explodes.
***Moments later***
Space still feels cold, despite the hot blast of energy that slaps Loki in the face. He does not resist the blowback as it pushes him further into the abyss. After free floating for a long moment, he uses his powers to warm himself and float back toward the wreckage.
"Ah! There you are." Loki says as he spots Thor's motionless body slowly rotating amongst the wreckage. When he gets close enough, he checks Thor's pulse then pulls away. "I had a feeling that wouldn't kill you, brother." he tells Thor.
Loki looks around at the mess hoping for some stability. He spots a large piece of engine and wills it closer. The heat coming off it makes it a little easier to tolerate the coldness of space. He pulls Thor toward him and sits on the edge of the warm engine.
"I suppose now, all we have to do is wait for scavengers, or a rescue party." He grips Thor tightly so he won't float away. "With a wreck like this, it should be swarming soon."
Loki looks at his brother, studying his unconscious heartbroken face. "Let's do, get help..." Loki whispers to himself with a smirk as he turns away to scan more of the wreckage. Before long a ship comes clumsily flying in, too close to the wreckage, and has to avoid pieces of scrap metal and debris.
"That was fast!" Loki says. He does his best to stand and hold onto Thor's weightless body. Turning toward the Benatar, Loki prepares to jump to the ship before spotting something shiny, red, black, and yellow.
"Hello, there!" Loki says as he locks eyes on the Grand Master's personal leisure vessel, the Commodore. Loki turns toward Thor and contemplates taking him with.
"Oh, don't look at me like that brother. You already know it wouldn't work out." Loki says to his unconscious brother.
"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way, but you're going to have to go it alone from here on out." Loki tells Thor, pretending to have a conversation.
"Welt then, if that's how you feel, goodbye brother!" Loki says as he does a spin and uses the inertia to chuck Thor toward the scrapper ship.
The sound of Thor slapping into the window followed by the passengers screaming brings a great smile to Loki's face as he turns away, looking toward the Commodore. "Now then, where were we?" He says moments before teleporting onto the ship.
***Roughly 21 hours later***
The Commodore shakes as Loki lands shakily on marshy terrain. He sits in the driver seat contemplating everything that has happened recently. His recent brush with death was closer than he had ever come before.
Looking out the window Loki spots a handful of small creatures moving about in the swamp-like environment that now surrounds him.
'I was born to rule.' Loki thinks. The thought that once drove him, now seems to cause his heart to ache. He stands up and decides to walk his emotions off. He opens the lower door to the ship and watches the ramp settle into the mud. The air, despite being muggy, is rather fresh.
Taking a few steps out he studies the swamp. There is light coming from the distance as he assumes the sun is rising. "I suppose this is as good a kingdom as any." Loki says to himself, contemplating living alone here from now on. 'Now that Thanos has the stones, there's probably nowhere safe to go.' He thinks.
Loki feels tired, both mentally and physically. The words of Odin, his mother, and many of his people seem to haunt his thoughts lately. Loki wonders if he ever had anywhere to go, considering everything he has done, all in the name of his, "Glorious Purpose?" He scoffs angrily and emotionally.
Looking up, Loki thinks, 'This isn't so bad. I could be happy here.'
"AHHH!" Loki shouts suddenly as his insides seem to curdle. Thinking something is wrong with the air, he turns to crawl away, but now even his arms and legs have begun to hurt. "Ahh!" He shouts loudly once more, which he assumes is interrupting all the nearby inhabitants, because nature seems to be in a panic as well.
It feels like his skin is crawling, and soon it becomes so painful Loki stops resisting all together and curls up into a fetal position.
After a long moment the pain subsides, and Loki has to brush aside locks of curled hair to be able to see. 'Locks of curled hair?' Loki thinks grabbing one of the curls and stretching it out. "What in the?" Loki begins to say before noticing something else different.
"What's wrong with my voice?" She asks aloud. She grabs her throat with concern but can't feel anything different. "What's going on?" She asks more as a test now.
Loki waves her hand causing a dagger to appear in her now nimble fingers. After taking a few steps into the light of the ship she uses the dagger to study her reflection. "What?!" she says, freaking out.
Loki rushes into the ship, looking for a mirror. "Of course he would have a vanity!" Loki says, referring to the Grand Master, as she spots a large vanity makeup dresser near the back of the ship.
She cannot believe the reflection she is seeing. While equally as beautiful as she had ever been, Loki did not recognize this face. Who was it? She reaches up to feel her body, and is surprised to find the breasts are indeed real and she could feel her hands on them as well.
"What kind of magic is this?" She asks with concern. Loki steps back and begins to concentrate on a transfiguration spell her mother had taught her years ago. It is quite painful, but it does not take long for Loki to take on the male form of her previous identity.
Loki looks in the mirror, a little sweaty and recognizes his own face. "There, that's better." he says moments before crumpling onto the floor in a fresh session of new pain. After a long moment she stands back up to see the woman in the mirror again.
"What the Hell?!" She asks aloud, before using her powers to transfigure again. It does not take long for the entire process to repeat itself and end with her hardly standing, sweaty, and completely exhausted, but still female.
"What the Hell is going on!?" Loki shouts at the mirror. She turns away and rushes to the ship's exit. "Who's out there?!" She shouts. "Who's doing this to me!?" The only answer is the random croaks, chirps, and hoots of nature.
There is a splash of water which causes Loki to turn her head. She spots an odd bipedal creature with amphibious limbs crawling up a wet branch. Loki reaches out her hand and uses her magic to force transfiguration onto the poor unsuspecting animal. It squeals in pain as it falls into the shallow water.
When Loki's spell is done, it stands up exhausted, looks at Loki and begins to run away. It does not make it more than a few meters before writhing in pain again. Loki watches with an attentive eye and notices subtle changes in the creature's color and size. Eventually it gets up again and scampers away.
Loki looks around the swamp angrily. "I have to get off this planet." She runs back into the ship.
***Roughly 36 hours later***
The surface of the moon was fairly smooth, yet the Commodore landed roughly. Despite the fact the ship wasn't designed to land that way, Loki landed at an angle forcing it to slide across the dirt and squeal loudly as it brushed rocks and loose trash.
There are a few random buildings scattered around. Most look like the trailer homes commonly found on Earth. At this point, Loki does not care for the details, she is just desperate for some answers.
Several of the inhabitants not far away come out of their homes to find the source of all the noise. The entrance to the ship opens and Loki, still female, comes rushing out toward the first person she sees.
"You!" Loki says, pointing at the scraggly haired confused old woman now standing outside her door. "I need you to tell me where I can find Half-World, or an Asgardian sorcerer, or anyone who can undo magic!"
The woman watches Loki in confusion, unsure if she even knows what she is being asked.
Before Loki can get an answer a strange energy sounding noise fills the air. She turns away to see an odd glowing glass panel standing a few meters away. She gives it a confused look as several people in helmets and uniforms come stepping through it like a door.
"Who're you?" Loki asks the new arrivals, who seem to ignore her.
The strange people in uniforms possess glowing scanners on their arms which they use to survey the area. One of them points theirs at the ship Loki arrived in. He turns to the others and gestures toward it, just as another glass panel appears nearby.
A muscular woman in the same uniform enters and wastes no time surveying the area.
"It seems we have a consistency violation." The woman says, reading her pad. "The variant seems to be an external branch from a previously unavoidable red line event. External breach variant has been identified." She points her pad at Loki.
"You wouldn't happen to know what's going on with me would you?" Loki asks the strange woman.
"On behalf of the Time Variance Authority, I hereby arrest you, for crimes against the Sacred TimeLine." The woman says. "Hands up! You're coming with us." Several of the strange visitors raise baton-like weapons which emit a charging energy type sound.
"I'm sorry. What's going on?" Loki asks, confused. "Is this about all that stuff I did on Earth?"
"Last chance to surrender, Variant!" The woman says.
"Alright, I don't have time for this!" Loki answers. "You've clearly mistaken me for someone else, and I have more urgent issues to attend to." She attempts to turn and walk away when the woman in charge rushes ahead and hits her face with a baton.
Loki feels the attack, but is more confused about what is happening. Despite being off balance and in mid step, she does not seem to be moving quickly in any direction. Even her eyes feel like they are encased in glue.
"You are now moving at 1/16th speed." The attacker says, as she lifts a strange device and reaches for Loki's neck. "But feeling all that pain in rea..." The woman pulls away, failing to attach the device.
Loki is not sure exactly what is happening since she can't turn quick enough to see, but the woman was clearly interrupted. She can hear at least two of her assailants grunting in pain.
The effects of the baton seem to wear off suddenly as Loki flies to the ground. She stands up quickly and looks toward the strange visitors. Three of them are writhing on the dirt while the fourth watches in utter confusion. Loki takes a few back steps wondering whether she should stick around.
The three, in pain, continue to twist around and clutch at their bodies before slowly quieting. They all seem to calm simultaneously and continue to lay on the ground breathing heavily.
"What did you do?" Their leader screams in a very deep male voice as he tries to push himself up.
Loki, caught completely off guard, jumps back nearly a full meter. She watches all three slowly get to their feet and she is certain the two in the back were men when they had arrived. All but the captain seem confused and dumbfounded by the changes.
The captain stops feeling his throat and is now studying his body. He only takes a moment to look before glaring at Loki. "What did you do!" He shouts, angry enough to spit.
"Fascinating!" Loki says, also surprised. "Oh well, toodaloo!" she adds before turning and running away.
"Stop her!" The captain yells.
Loki does not look back until after she boards her ship and shuts the door. It seems only the captain truly followed her. Loki then rushes to the controls and starts the ship, as the others seem to get their bearings and start to rush to their leader.
"One of the luxuries of having a leisure vehicle," Loki says bragging to herself. "High speed take offs." She hits another switch and the ship lifts off the ground. Loki is able to turn the ship and zoom off instantly before the captain's help could even arrive.
Loki smiles and looks back, despite not having any windows to see her pursuers. "I hope I'm not contagious." She says with legitimate concern.
***Back on the Ground***
"Sir, should we prune the place?" One of the soldiers asks Hunter B-15.
Hunter B-15 watches the light speck of Loki's ship flying away in the distance. "No. He's too far, and he's only a secondary branch variant."
"What do you want to do, sir?" The soldier asks.
"We have to determine what caused the initial red-line branch and prune it." B-15 answers. "Otherwise more variants like him are going to start popping up everywhere."
"With all due respect, sir." One of the other, now female, soldiers interrupts. "This timeline is already way beyond saving. Why are we even bothering with this branch?"
B-15 looks at his soldiers then studies his hands. "Because if we can't find the source and prune this branch, things can get out... or worse, something could get in."
"How do you find the source when the entire universe itself is a variant?" the soldier asks.
"I don't know." B-15 tells her. "But that's not part of our job. Let's go!"
All four soldiers check their inventory before opening a time door and leaving. "I hope they don't prune us for this." One of the females says before stepping through.