Visitation

by kalimecat

Loki has returned to Asgard and is imprisoned for his crimes. While in prison he has the occasional visitor, will the love of others bring back the fallen prince or is he truly too far gone?

66. War Not Quite Won

A/N: HELLOOOO READERS! It's been a while since I've written, (But let's face it this isn't the longest it's taken me to update). I'm sorry for the delay in updating this story, but as you know, life sometimes gets extremely busy. Anyway please know that even when I haven't written in a while I am thinking about this story and you. I so much so appreciate your continued interest and investment in this story. I appreciate each and every one of your follows, favorites, and reviews. They have truly kept me writing this story for this long. I particularly enjoyed writing this chapter and I hope that you all will enjoy reading it. I will admit that this chapter is long and it is honestly probably too long. It wasn't my intent for it to be so long, but I give you fair warning so before you start reading grab a water a snack, and maybe take a nap. LOL. Well anyway, as always happy reads and writes and God bless! Without further ado:

Chapter 66

Lord Malekith and Prince Thor flew apart in opposite directions. Each shot backward into their troops. "Thor! Thank the Norns" exclaimed the blonde-haired swordsman as he rushed to his friend's side and helped him sit up from his back. A few more soldiers came rushing toward the crown prince of Asgard.

"Frandal!" Thor called out enthusiastically upon seeing his yellow-haired friend. His smile was bright and wide. He greeted Heimdal and Volstagg and Hogun too and the few other soldiers and citizens who had gathered around him. Thor's blue eyes quickly scanned his surroundings. He saw the number of Aseir whose bodies lay across the broken floor like chess pieces knocked off a desk. As he looked around, he noted how many of their people had been lost, some without even a body remaining. Prince Thor closed his eyes. "I'm so glad you are all alright," the golden son of Asgard exclaimed.

"We won't be alright for long your highness, look" pointed out Lord Heimdal. More and more portals were starting to form above the palace.

"We've got less than half an hour until Convergence is at its zenith," Loki's cool crisp voice came into Thor's ear. Prince Thor spun around to face the dark-haired enchanter. Loki nearly looked shamefaced before the crown prince of Asgard. His green eyes dropped down as he spoke. Sigyn was by his side and clutched his hand for support. Thor's bright blue eyes once more flickered with fiery darts upon seeing the thin twisted wizard. He instantly remembered how even still he'd performed a treacherous act of giving Malekith the tesseract. Thor's meaty hands balled up at his side and all around beheld as they filled with lightning and a clap of thunder burst. "Thor," Loki stated quietly, raising his hand in surrender.

"Thor!" the voice of Jane Foster came calling to the firstborn son of Odin. Jane came bounding toward him and practically leaped into his arms.

Thor's eyes immediately softened and filled with love as he cast his gaze from the traitorous enchanter to his beloved. His muscular arms wrapped around her without care and without thought. He pulled her toward him and held her tight. He crashed his lips against hers. "I'm so glad you are safe," he finally stated when he was finally able to part his mouth from hers. He tasted her sweat and blood and blood and it tasted divine. "I'm so glad you are unharmed," he said stroking her dirty beaten face.

"That is thanks to, Loki, he rescued me quite a few times," she stated as she tossed her head back in his direction. Thor raised his golden brow, but before he could question Loki's motives, he heard Master Heimdal speaking.

"He worked very hard to remove much of that Aether ash mound which had buried you as well, your highness," he confirmed. Thor looked back over at the crater that had been formed in the center of the palace floor in the shape of his own body. He remembered the crippling blow that Lord Malekith had hit him with. He remembered feeling the weight of the rocks and boulders crushing him as if everything was trying to break his spine. He was sure that he had blacked out for at least a minute but then slowly, he started to feel some of the mountainous pressure alleviated. It was only a tiny bit, but that had been enough to allow consciousness to overtake him once again and allow him to burst forth and at least beat back Malekith for a moment.

"Thank you," the prince turned toward the enchanter and nodded his head.

"Thor, I...I...You have to believe me... I gave Malekith the Tesseract only to protect..." Loki's silver tongue was halted by Thor's raised hand.

"Save it, Loki. The Tesseract is in Malekith's hands now. The only thing that matters is making sure he isn't able to use it," Thor stated. He nodded his head and then he turned around and began searching. "Where is Sif? Malekith will be back any minute and we need Lady Sif," he confirmed. Thor smiled proudly thinking of the warrior woman.

"Sif!" Lady Sigyn gasped. "She's hurt!" she finally blurted out.

"What?" Thor retorted. "Where?"

"She's just a little yonder, but she's hurt bad," Lady Sigyn explained.

"Take me to her," The crown prince demanded. "Does anyone have a healing crystal?" he shouted over the crowd of brave Asgardian citizens who continued to make their way to him.

"I'm afraid to report we have no more, my prince," stated Lady Leoma.

"I'll go to her," Loki stated. The crowd all seemed to turn and look at Loki with distrust. "You have less than a half-hour," Loki pointed toward the portals. "Don't waste time and argue, you need to be ready to fight," he told the leader of Asgard's troops.

"He's right," Heimdal's hand was on the thunder bearer's shoulder instantly. "You need to organize and command the troops from here, Malekith and his men will regroup and be back for one last stand soon," Heimdal warned. Before Thor could turn around and give Loki instructions. Loki had gone.

Loki made his way across the landmine field that used to be the throne room of the palace. It was once a place where order and civility and justice reigned and now it looked like it was where chaos was born. Loki reached Lady Sif quickly enough. He had never seen the warrior look so still. He'd seen Sif hurt many times in the years they'd fought by each other's sides. She usually was still kicking refusing to even lie down long enough to get her wounds stitched. She had the might of a Berserker. Now seeing her unconscious, bleeding heavily and losing color quickly, he felt panic for her. "Sif!" Loki rushed to her side and patted her cheeks. They were cold. He quickly examined her body. A knot was in the back of her head and there would be a concussion from that, her left shoulder was dislocated, but that was an easy enough fix. He saw that Sigyn had at least set it. The most wounded part of her was her abdomen. The sharpened crimson shard of the Aether had ripped right through her armor. The Einherjar's armor was made of silver, inlaid with iron and it was stronger than the Vibranium that the Midgardians prized, and yet the Aether had speared through it like paper. Loki didn't have time to hesitate or dissect all her wounds. Sif didn't have the time. Her breathing was becoming labored and she moaned fiercely. Loki took hold of the Aether shard with both hands and pulled. It was lodged deep within her flesh and embedded near the vital organs. Loki wasn't a skilled healer and what he knew was surface-level healing, mostly. Ways to make a person comfortable and get them on their feet until they could get real help. A natural snatch to try and dislodge the projectile would certainly cause more damage to the organs. Loki used his powers to gingerly levitate the red shard from Lady Sif's side. It hovered in the air and dripped blood before he flung it to the side. Immediately, blood sprayed from the wound all over the mage. Loki pressed his hand over the gaping hole in the armor and did his best to stop the hemorrhage. It would have been easy to mend the armor, but that would do nothing for the warrior woman. He had to remove her breastplate. He did so hesitantly. He thought of Lady Sif's disdain for men seeing her body without her permission. Such a move would have landed many a healer or a physician a punch in the nose. He could feel a throbbing in his groin as he recalled several blows, he'd received from her in the area over the years. He supposed he needed no lack of punishment now and he could bear the thought of one of his friends dying now, because of this madness that he brought upon them. He'd take whatever beating the brunette was willing to inflict on him after. He quickly pulled apart her breastplate so that he could get a better look at her wound. Blood was soaking through all over. Loki pressed his palm hard into her stomach and scarlet life coated his palm. The raven-haired enchanter allowed thick green energy to flow from his fingertips and watched as flesh met with flesh and the wound closed. While he kept his hand there, he could read the serious injuries that were still inside her body. She'd need an experienced healer or a healing crystal to fix that.

Loki's eyes were wide as he looked down at Sif and saw her eyes starting to flutter. "Sif!" He called to her tentatively, she stirred, but she didn't rally in rapid response. She didn't open her eyes fully. Instead, she started to thrash about and shudder. "Poison," Loki muttered to himself. He shook his head. He should have known. The dark material wouldn't let a victim go without a true fight. The Aether was a liquid for a reason, it spread and even if it was removed its effects still lingered in the body. Loki thought quickly. He thought of a method Dagmar had shown him long ago. It was a simple massage technique that even fledging healers who didn't have gifts with enchantment generally learned with ease. He remembered watching her in a few healing huts on Musepelheim. A young warrior chief had fallen ill and his people were desperate for a cure. They were threatening war with the Vanir if he did not recover after he'd fallen very ill upon a visit to their kingdom. Dagmar had gone to help. The people were suspicious of modern medicine. Loki had watched with interest and envy as Dagmar's slender hands massaged and rubbed the young chief's body. After about an hour of the thorough kneading of his flesh, the chief began to cough up blood and bile and purge himself of the toxins. "That was incredible," he proclaimed to her wide-eyed when she was done her ministrations and they retired back to a tent that the people of Musepelheim had given the ambassador.

"It was rather rudimentary, really," she expressed as she collapsed into a chair and took a sip of water.

"But it worked," Loki expressed eagerly. "Medicine could have easily done the trick, but they wouldn't have trusted that," he pointed out.

"There are always many pathways to healing," she told him. "You just have to find the best one," she confessed with a sigh. She leaned her head back and rested it on the ornate pillows. She was drained from her work.

"I can certainly see why that would be the preferred method for many," Loki added with a wink.

Dagmar gave him a quizzical look, "I don't know what you mean," her plump pomegranate lips turned up into a smile.

"Oh, of course, you do, once the chief was done purging," Loki's face made a grimace. "He certainly only had eyes for you."

"Just a look of gratitude for a healer," she stated and wagged her finger at him.

"Well, you've certainly got the magic touch," Loki added. He went to a chest in the hut and sifted through it until he found a warm blanket. It was hand woven and quite beautiful; he went to drape it over Lady Dagmar.

"You should know," she opened her tired silver eyes and looked at him. "I've performed it on you," she mentioned drowsily.

Loki's mouth gaped open like a codfish, "What? When?" he balked. "I don't remember," he went on. And he thoroughly, desperately longed to remember her touch. He wanted nothing more than to remember the feel of silken fingers on his chest, his back, his neck, and other regions as well.

"Of course, you don't," she chuckled lightly as she settled under the blanket, he had draped across her. "You were too, for that. "But I can teach you," Dagmar continued with eyes closed. "It's just knowing different points on the body," she explained.

"Yes, teach me!" Loki said like he was panting as he looked at her beautiful face in repose. He allowed himself to smooth back a long black tendril that had fallen out of place just to allow himself the honor of caressing her skin.

"Sure, but not tonight," she sighed. "Too tired," she nuzzled deeper into the quilt.

"Well, I'd rather have you teach me when you have your most energetic," he leaned over and whispered low and sensuously in her ear and Dagmar smiled and purred as she drifted to sleep.

Dagmar did teach him and teach him well, she did. The pressure points on the body that opened the pores and released toxins and opened passageways and airflow. He had thoroughly enjoyed each of the healing sessions, maybe too much. Some of the movements were quite sensuous. He dare not perform all the techniques on Lady Sif, but maybe he could do just enough. He'd have to work quickly. Loki rubbed his hands together and heated up his palms. He massaged Sif's temples with hot hands. Sif started to sweat. Beads of perspiration started to form on her forehead. Loki moved rubbing Sif's arms in a swift rapid motion. Her fevered sweating became more intense. The sweat turned red, and it looked like she was bleeding, but Lord was grateful to know that it was really just Aether's infection being purged from her body. He watched as the spot that he had just healed was soon coated in red once again. Sif's breathing already started to ease. Loki put pressure on Sif's stomach with his right hand and then moved his left up and down on Sif's throat. She started to cough. Sif coughed hard until she was hacking something up. She soon started to spew toxic-looking black bile. Soon Sif's shivering stopped, and she was stock still. "Sif!" Loki gasped as he beheld the frozen woman. "Sif," he called tenderly as took her by the wrist. Her pulse was weak. He pressed his ear to her chest. Desperate to hear a heartbeat and he did. Immediately, Sif sat up like a bolt straight. She was growling and panting, her hand flying for a double blade that wasn't there. Her chocolate eyes were just wild and flung about as her chocolate tresses. Lady Sif was practically foaming. She inadvertently pushed Loki off on top of her. He flew back as she jumped up.

"DIE MALEKITH!" Sif screamed out as she raised her fist and started eagerly trying to run back toward the tornado. She felt an arm grip her around the waist. It seemed to pull her out of thin air. She finally blinked her eyes and was no longer just seeing in violent crimson tones.

"Sif," The enchanter's crisp voice called to her.

The warrior woman finally turned and noticed who was standing behind her. "Loki!" she hissed. She didn't take a second thought before she stomped on his foot and caused him to release her. "Where is he?" she demanded, Sif was never without an alternative weapon of choice and she quickly brandished a dagger and pointed toward the expert knife fighter himself. Loki pulled out his own dagger and blocked Lady Sif's attack. He held her wrist down against his chest with his own blade and a false movement on her part could have easily landed her with a slit wrist. "What did you do? Where's Thor?" she continued to demand as she readied her fist to strike him. Loki caught her fist.

"Look," he gestured with his head toward where Thor was assembling the few remaining ranks of troops that they had.

The Einherjar general's heart swelled with pride and glee as she beheld her prince once more. A smile tore across her dirty and bloodied face. "He lives!" she exclaimed. "Thank the Norns, he lives," she sighed. It was only after seeing that Thor and the others were alright, at least for the time being, that Lady Sif was even able to take any note of her own state. The last thing that the shield maiden remembered was the excruciating pain in her head. It had felt like her skull had been practically split open. Her whole body felt like it was on fire from the deadly Aether shard that had rammed right through her. Now, it was gone. Sif unclenched her fist and examined her side. She saw that the chainmail of her armor had been sawed clean through as well as the thick Asgardian leather that she wore. The gashes were plain as day in the garments, but her skin was intact. She poked at the flesh, it was even sore or tender to the touch. It wasn't red, no scarring. It was smoother than it had been. It was smooth as a newborn's skin. Sif's brown eyes looked up in amazement at the master mage. Loki's expression was smug. His thin lips held a tale tell, smirk, but his emerald eyes held a nearly hopeful expression. Sif straightened herself. "Don't tell me, this was your doing," she said with a sigh rolling her eyes.

"See any other people around you," Loki retorted.

Sif's response was a mere snort, "What did you do to me?" she pressed as her hands continued to probe her own body.

"Do you really want me to go into the details or would you rather get back into the fight?" Loki asked his arms crossed his chest.

"I'd rather let my sword do the talking any day than converse with you!" she shouted back. Loki's expression soon folded into a scowl at Sif's continued rudeness. "Where's my blade?' she shouted out loud. "Where's my armor... my breastplate?" Sif demanded. She looked all around. From a distance, she watched as the items in question floated through low clouds of Aether ash and into Loki's hands. He held them out for her, still looking far too proud and smug for her taste. Sif marched closer to the trickster. That's all that Loki was, a trickster, and the warrior woman was determined not to fall prey to his schemes. Loki had pretended to be friend not foe before and look where that had led them...to this. She turned back to face the dark-haired trickster and she saw that her items were dangling from his fingers. She rushed back to snatch them from him. He yanked them away from her. "Give them to me!" she ordered. "We don't have time for any of your stupid games or tricks now," she hollered.

Loki's thin lips still wore a scowl. "Sif have you truly lost all manners and semblance of couth," he retorted. Sif's crass and irreverent nature had bothered him ever since childhood. But in a sense, there was a part of him that was glad to know that some things never changed.

The warrior woman quickly gathered her belongings before Loki could make them vanish into thin air or some other mystical ilk. "Not killing you on the spot is as much couth as you can expect from me, Loki," she snapped while snapping her breastplate back on. "And that is only for Thor's sake," she continued to mumble. Loki started to walk away. For the centuries that he'd known Sif, he'd known that arguing with the stubborn brunette was pointless. He planted her double-blade upright in one of the cracks. Lady Sif turned around ready to give Loki another comment about how he was the cause of all this... but she saw that her blade was planted only an arm's length away from her. She grabbed it and it was good to feel its weight in her hand and see that it wasn't broken. She looked at Loki who was making his way back to where Prince Thor and the other Asgardians were gathering. Her brown eyes softened for just a moment. She thought of Heimdal's words how he believed that the ultimate traitor was reformed, that he'd changed somehow. Sif mashed her lips together. She thought of her other friends, how they'd said, what she'd dared not to say. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," she reminded herself. She shook her head, her dark tresses falling around her face. She and Loki had always had a tense relationship. They were so different growing up, she was rough and tumble, Loki was smooth and polished, she liked to face her problems head-on, and Loki liked to work behind the scenes, she supposed in her own way she had vied for her position as Thor's right-hand man, but that spot seemed to belong to Loki. Later when her feelings for Thor blossomed into something more than mere friends, Loki had always been there to taunt and remind her that for Thor she would always just be just one of the boys. But at the same time despite the merry war that had always existed between them, there was a way in which she and Loki understood each other. They both went against the grain of what was expected of their sex and they excelled. They challenged each other and pushed each other in a way that the others in their group hadn't been able to. Sif gulped. She repeated, "The enemy of the enemy, is my friend." to herself. "Loki!" she called out. He stopped in his tracks and turned toward her. "Thanks," the Einherjar acknowledged as she tapped her side. Loki inclined his head. With her weapon in tow, she jogged toward him over the broken flooring. "For Asgard?" she offered as she stood side by side with the mage.

"For Asgard," the corners of Loki's mouth turned upward into a grin for the first time since he'd been in her presence. The pair of old friends raced back to Thor.

---

Malekith woke up to the clamor and chatter of a few remaining Dark-Elf soldiers who hovered over him like a bunch of buzzards. His eyes flung open pupils black as night and the whites of them red with the Aether. He immediately shot forth a blast that sent one of his steadfast men flying backward. Their body instantly smashed against the outer wall of the palace. The rest of the warriors scattered like roaches away from their crazed leader. Malekith sprang up, his shoulders heaving. He tried to observe his surroundings. Prince Thor's blast had pushed him back out of the palace and onto the broken Bifrost. "No!" he grumbled as he clenched his fists together. He could barely contain the rage of the Aether within him. He watched as the portals enlarged and gathered over the center of the palace, right over the top of the throne room where he had been pushed out of. They only needed 3 more portals for the alignment to be complete.

"Lord Malekith, Lord Malekith," One of his men shouted to him in their native tongue. He turned on this like a rabid dog. "Are you alright sir," he questioned, hesitantly.

"How could you allow this to happen?" Malekith demanded, he hoisted the warrior of Svartalfheim off of his feet and shook him. "I gave you fools everything!" he continued to yell. He shook the soldier furiously. "You should have destroyed them!" he railed all the more.

"W-w-w-we d-d-did everything we c-c-could, my liege," the soldier spoke, but his windpipe was soon being squeezed by Lord Malekith's hand.

"Not good enough!" the Dark-Elf general exploded with vicious anger. He tossed the soldier to the ground and immediately went for his sword to strike the warrior down.

"No, no, my lord, mercy," the Svartalfheim soldier cried. His cry fell short and unattended as Malekith struck him down with malice.

"This is what I should do to all of you, imbeciles!" the general screamed at them at the top of their lungs. The Aether shot from his palms as if he was set to destroy them all in that instant. "You incompetent fools shall not cost me victory over the Asgardians once again," he raged.

"Stop, Lord Malekith!" One of his warriors cried. It was the only female among their ranks. "You cannot win this alone, sir, you need an army, we are your army," she expressed. She bowed down and motioned for the others to follow suit. "We have waited with you all this time longing to see Svartalfheim restored, without any of us the Dark-Elf race will not survive," she tried to explain calmly to their leader.

"Silence woman!" she shouted at her. "I will repopulate the entirety of our species by myself if I must!" he proclaimed and thumped his test.

"Don't waste time, killing us general, let us fight with you," another soldier groveled. Malekith cared not for their pitiful please, but it was true that he had time to spare ramming his sword through them.

"How many of you, dumbbells have I left?" he questioned.

"All that you see, my liege," a heavy-voiced elf spoke up. Lord Malekith scanned his force of bowed soldiers. Under 50. Malekith continued to growl to himself but turned around and no longer faced his troops. Slowly, the Dark-Elf warriors started to stand. "We are ready to execute your orders, my lord," he expressed.

"Perhaps we are at an advantage out here," one other Svartalfheim soldier stated hopefully. "We can bring the fight to us," he tried to explain. "We are closer to our ship this way sire," the warrior went on. "We have more weapons and ammo available to us on the ship," He gestured his head to the large and dark T-shaped airship that still stood as a monument to their invasion on the rainbow bridge. Malekith thought as he heard the young soldier's words. That soldier had been one of his youngest recruits. He hadn't aged a day since the battle more than 5000 years ago. "We can lure them in," he continued to say eagerly. The rest of Malekith's men seemed to like the plan that the young soldier was devising. They clapped and nodded their agreement.

"SILENCE, YOU PEA-BRAINS!" Lord Malekith hollered at his men. "We must press back into the palace, the Aether must be unleashed directly in line with the alignment," he explained to them irritably as he pointed toward the portals that were forming beautifully over the broken, burning golden palace. "But perhaps..." he thought even more. "You, you, you, and you," Malekith pointed to the men with his black talons. "Get to the ship!" he ordered them. "I want you to go to the communications and establish communications using this code," Malekith explained and he gave the soldiers the frequency number to establish contact with Thanos in his remote sanctuary. "You five will guard the ship," he pointed to another seat. "Ensure that Prince Thor cannot get to the hammer," he stated to them. "You," he pointed to another one of his guards. "Do we have any more Kursed Crystals?" The soldier reluctantly nodded his head. "Well how many, you numbskull?" Malekith fumed and slapped the soldier across the face. Convergence was growing closer and Malekith's temper was growing shorter. They had but a small window now.

He slapped the pasty white mask off of the Dark Elf's face, but it only revealed the bloodless skin beneath. "Ten, my lord," the warrior replied not flinching from backslap.

"Bring them to me!" he barked out the command. "Go!" he ordered the Dark Elf who he had just slapped. The soldier wasted no time, he ran into the ship following the others who had taken up posts where Malekith commanded them to go. He ran swiftly. He knew exactly where the Kursed Crystals were kept. His family had been harvesters of Kursed Crystals. It had been a noble profession on Svartalfheim. Kursed Crystals could only be harvested from inside the volcanoes of Svartalfheim. The armies of Svartalfheim desperately needed Kursed Crystals and they paid through the nose for them. His family had been wealthy growing up. He had learned his skills of war in learning how to defend his family's most prized possession. It had been Lord Malekith himself who had come one day searching for Kursed Crystals and had knocked on his family's door. His father demanded the proper payment for the valuable stone. General Malekith believed that it should have been their pleasure to provide for the cause and refused to pay. He rose up to defend his family's treasure. "Then fight me for it," he had told the warlord, and fight they did. Malekith was so impressed that he offered him a position in the army of Svartalfheim. It was indeed a great honor. He continued to keep watch over the stones even after his enrollment in the army.

He quickly returned with a treasure chest that held the Kursed Crystals. He fell to his knees and presented them to Lord Malekith. Malekith picked one up and fingered it with adoration; he puckered his lips toward the stone and kissed it. These rocks had ever been the saving grace of their people. He knew it would be once again. He held two of the dark stones made of magma in his hand. "Step forth!" he beckoned his people. "Step forth, my warriors, and 10 of you take the honor of the Kursed," he beseeched them. Lord Malekith's face which was darkened by the Aether stretched into a twisted grin. He waited for but a moment. Waiting for one of the men to step forward. He noticed he had no takers. "What is the matter with you fools!" The Dark-Elf general spat at his troops. "Come forth!" he demanded of them.

"Please, general, for so many of us to take it," one of his soldiers shook their head. "It's irreversible..." the warrior almost spoke up timidly.

"Exactly!" Malekith growled. "None shall be able to stop you!" He raised his hands. "The Asgardians shall not overcome us. Not this time! Not with an army of Kursed Elves," Malekith hissed.

"Lord Malekith, it means sterility," one more soldier spoke up.

Malekith scrunched up his features as he narrowed his blackened eyes at the men. "Sterility," he allowed an irritated rumble to escape from him.

"Yes, sir, it's the survival of our people...our race..." he tried to explain. A few of the others echoed his sentiment. "We've survived all this time... and...and we wanted...well you wanted the Dark-Elf race to go on," he expressed.

Malekith's lips pursed, "Yes, yes," he moaned. "The Dark-Elf race," he muttered afterward. He could see the white-masked faces bobbing up and down. Quick as a flash Malekith unsheathed his black machete from his side and he slashed right through the soldier who had been talking. "THE DARK-ELF RACE!" he bellowed once more. He stood over the fallen soldier who was bleeding through his armor. "The Asgardians will kill us all!" he shouted at them. "We have moments," he pointed his talons toward the sky. "And I'll defeat them with or without you," his voice was rumbling like distant thunder. "I'll kill every last one of you myself!" He threatened and he raised his machete high. He shot another Aether blast out it only missed one of the men by a hair. "Now, step up and take this honor!" he ordered. Malekith watched as a few of the warriors of Svartalfheim slowly trekked up toward him. Malekith reached down his hand and picked up the soldier he had slashed. The warrior was gasping fiercely as he tried to stem the blood flow. The Dark-Elf general held him to his feet and immediately shoved one of the Kursed Crystals into the soldier's bleeding side. Immediately the Kursed Crystal took root and lodged inside the flesh. The soldier started to scream out loudly, as the stone took its irreversible effects and transformed his skin. The skin rippled and bubbled and the armor was absorbed and melded down into the flesh the skin looked like it was some darkened combination of pebbles, metal, and leather. The soldier who was stocky of build, but short of stature grew about 5 feet. His face became like that of a monster, hellish horns sprouted from his head. Malekith slashed a few more of his soldiers and bestowed upon them the honor of the Kursed. He stopped at the 9th soldier and saved the last Kursed Crystal in his armor.

"Sif!" the thunderer roared with excitement when he saw the brunette shield maiden bounded toward him. He leaped over a few other soldiers and made his way toward her. He gave her a hearty embrace. "I'm sure glad we didn't lose you," the golden-locked son of Odin stated. His smile bright as his sunlit hair. He put his hands on her face and thumped her in the chest. She pushed him back as well swatted at him and she was all smiles.

She looked at him square in the eye. She reached out and embraced his strong forearm, "My sword is by your side forever," she swore. "You know I couldn't miss this bout," She winked at him and soon she found the rest of their merry band coming up beside her.

"Should have known, that nothing would best you, Sif," Thor continued.

"No plans to die today," the Einherjar general retorted quickly. "But I would have died," Sif reported with a sigh. "Had it not been for Loki," she gestured with her head toward the slim enchanter who stood afar off talking with Heimdal and Sigyn.

Thor cast a glance toward the man in the horned helmet. "At least he's proving to be good for something," Thor muttered in Heimdal's direction.

"I believe that Loki is proving himself worthy, your highness," the gatekeeper informed.

"Worthy," Thor snorted.

"He had taught you to harness your powers in a different way," the watcher reported.

"Because he is the cause of me being stripped of Mjolnir!" Thor rumbled as he clenched his fist. "And he has given our enemy just what he needs to defeat us!" Thor's blue eyes cast a condescending glance toward the dark-haired enchanter who still stood off to the side.

"To save me, my prince," Lady Sif tried to assure Thor once more as she put her hand on Thor's shoulder. Thor tried to smile at sweet Sigyn. She was a gentle soul and so prey to being gullible to Loki's schemes. As was he. But there was no more time for false moves, no more time to be tricked and conned.

"If you say so, Lady Sigyn," Thor half-heartedly responded. "But he has still brought us here," he stated..." We are still on the brink of your destruction!" Thor pointed out.

"But we are not destroyed yet," It was the quiet warrior who spoke.

"We need all the fighters we can possibly have now Thor," Frandal explained. "Many of the people are injured. Their spirits are willing, but they shouldn't fight..." the golden-locked swordsman informed the leader of Asgard.

"It's true," said the plumper warrior. "We don't have a healer or even a healing crystal betwixt us," he expressed with a deep sigh. "Even if the day is one, some of these people won't make it," the red-head Viking stated. Thor looked back at Loki who was going over to some of the broken soldiers and seemingly trying to ease their pain.

"Thor," Lady Sif spoke up, "You know I... I am the least likely person to want to trust Loki," she rolled her eyes, "But I keep thinking...of the old adage... 'The enemy of my enemy is my..." she stopped.

"Friend?" the light-haired prince finished the sentence for her. The edges of his mouth turned up in a way that would almost be reminiscent of Loki's.

"Ally," the shield-maiden qualified with a raised finger and smirk of her own. "Maybe friend...maybe," Sif added.

"You cannot do this alone," Heimdal informed the crown prince of Asgard.

Thor nodded. Somehow in his heart, he knew that he still needed the raven-haired enchanter's help, despite his better judgment. "Loki!" Thor's thunderous voice bellowed in the broken throne room. He shouted like he was shouting across the foreign fields when in fact Loki was only a few feet away from them.

"Thor, I can hear you," Loki stated as he appeared at the blonde-haired son of Odin's side. He rubbed his fingers against his ears.

"What did you do to those citizens?' Thor demanded as he pointed to several of the Aesir who were slumped on the ground.

"I lulled them to sleep," Loki explained in exasperation.

"Our warriors!?" Thor rumbled in anger.

"One," Loki began as he raised his finger. "Most of those people appeared to be civilians and two: The sleep will only last for a short time, but it will hopefully keep the wounded out of the way and prolong their lives." Loki crossed his arms over his chest.

"And since you've denied us of our warriors, we'll need you to take their place," Thor added. He winked. Loki raised an inky eyebrow at the Crown Prince's words. His emerald eyes widened. He felt the familiar twinge of over-eagerness that he had often felt long ago as a boy, desperate to prove himself capable of keeping up with his older brother and his friends. It took him back to when this had all started. Thor's coronation. He'd ruined Thor's big day and yet he still felt his heart leap when Thor requested his presence for the journey to Jotunheim. Loki tried to contain himself to keep from sprinting forward. Instead, he just stepped up calmly. "I guess we'll see how much one mage is really worth in comparison to so many soldiers," Thor added with a smile as Loki took his place by his side.

There, the leader of Asgard's armies stood with his companions at his side, just as always. Lady Sif, the warriors three, and Heimdal were to his left. Loki to his right. Those Aesir, soldier and civilian alike who were still strong enough to stand against the enemies of Asgard formed a few strong battalion lines behind the prince. "What are your orders, sire?" asked Captain Frell.

Prince Thor turned to the brave Einherjar captain, who had also served as captain of the palace guard for many centuries. "Captain, I want you and your men to do what they do best. Protect this palace," he instructed as he placed his hands on Captain Frell's shoulders. "I will lead a few men on toward Malekith and we will try to hold him off until Convergence passes us by, but if we cannot you don't let him gain a foothold into this throne room again,"

"Convergence is very precise," Loki began to explain to the decorated man of war. "Malekith will need to stand right under the alignment to unleash the Aether. He will only have a window of 20 minutes to do that. Your soldiers can hold him off that long, if need be, can't they?" the raven-haired enchanter challenged.

Captain Frell rolled his eyes. He didn't like talking to that slimy snake. He was the reason so many brave soldiers and even the innocent lied slain that day. He pulled out his sword. "I allowed this palace to be breached twice," he pointed out as he pointed his sword at Loki. "But that's only because the traitor was within our midst," he snarled. "I won't let an enemy live on this day," he promised cruelly and motioned the blade under Loki's throat.

"Promises, promises," the Loki clicked his silver tongue. "Just see to it that you do it," Loki added.

"Just see to it!" Captain Frell snapped. He couldn't even finish his words as he nearly rammed his sword through Loki.

"Captain stop!" stated Lord Drek. He placed his hand on the Captain of the Guards' shoulders. He held him back, "Save it," the bald-headed mage whispered in his friend's ear. "Malekith is more of a threat than that traitor," he whispered in his ear. "Loki will fall...in time," the mathematician assured him. "But for now, save your strength... concentrate on stopping the Dark-Elves," he explained. To this, the captain nodded and fell back in line. "Your Highness," he called out. "The numbers are now on our side," Lord Drek explained as he once again pulled out his abacus. "Though time is not," he expressed as the shadow of another one of the portals made its way into the cosmic alignment over the throne room.

"We have to go, Thor," Loki was in the prince's ear. "Every moment that we waste is a moment that Malekith and his horde have a chance to regroup it provides more time for him to learn how to use the power of the Aether or the Tesseract."

"He's right," stated Master Heimdal.

"Look, I see movement," called Bardok, he had a spying glass in hand and he saw could see that the Dark-Elves were starting to march back across the rainbow bridge. As soon as he said that all the soldiers and other Aesir were in the readied position to fight. "Where do you want us, my prince?'

"Bardok you and the students who are with you should go out around the blown-out wall and broken windows," Loki's slender finger pointed in that direction.

"I wasn't talking to you!" Bardok immediately snapped. "You are no longer my prince," Loki's old pupil stated as he looked at him up and down with disdain.

"I may longer be your prince, but do you still trust me as a strategist," Loki asked firmly.

"I trust you as nothing," the youngest master mage of the realm was quick to retort. "You are not worthy of trust! You are not worth anything," Bardok went on his betrayal at the sight of Loki standing next to Prince Thor like a real brother was palpable.

Loki massaged his temple, "If you'll listen, my plan is for you and the students to go with other civilians to go to the doors. Veil the bridge and the entranceways in smoke and fog. It will allow those with Lady Jane Foster's reactors to use them and get rid of the last few dregs of Malekith's army," Loki stated.

"I'll not listen to the likes of you Loki," Bardok tried to stand tall in the presence of his old mentor. Bardok was a tall and strong build, but he seemed to never rise above Loki's towering horns.

"I like the plan," Thor admitted. "It buys us time and time is what we need to buy. It also can spare more Asgardian lives," Thor acknowledged with a deep nod. "Many of our people are down and wounded," Thor pointed out. "The Dark-Elves don't uphold our same code... they do not spare the wounded on the battlefield. They'll pick them off like buzzards." Thor's bruised lips formed a frown.

"Of course. As you wish your highness," Bardok gave a sweeping bow though his cape was tattered and went to assemble the few young scholars that he still had left who were able to stand.

"Many of the reactors are damaged," Jane stated to Prince Thor as she noted the small band walking by. "I should go with them," she stated with wide eyes.

"Jane, I want you back here, with the Einherjar and palace guards. It will be safer," Thor insisted as he engulfed her in a hug.

"It's not about that," the astrophysicist explained. "None of us are safe and I have the master remote," she pulled it out. "I can help repair the damaged ones and give us more of a chance," the auburn-haired woman stated firmly. Jane didn't wait for any more response from Thor. She looked him in the eye and gave a quick kiss, but then she ran off behind Bardok and the others. She picked up one reactor that she had found tossed by the wayside

Thor started to shout after her. "Let her go," a silver tongue stated. Thor looked at the raven-haired man with bewilderment in his bright blue eyes. "She's right," Loki inclined his head at Jane. "She's the one who can help them if something goes wrong with the contraptions and besides..." Loki paused. "She's pretty clever... for a mortal."

"I'll go with her, Thor," Sigyn immediately offered, the blonde-haired woman stepped forward with her bow and arrows ready.

"No!" Loki called his voice nearly cracking as he stepped up in front of her.

"No?" Sigyn questioned. "Loki I can help, my arrows can take out many Dark-Elves and you know it," she expressed.

"It's not about that, Sigyn," Loki's jade eyes darted back and forth as he held her shoulders in a protective firm manner. "But I have something else that I need you to do," he practically whispered. "I need you to go and get Gungnir from my bedchamber." he stated to her.

"You don't have it?" she questioned in disbelief.

"I left it there to protect it," Loki quickly explained to her. "We will need both Gungnir and Mjolnir to put the Aether in stasis and trap it back in a vice. Mjolnir is decommissioned and hopefully, Thor will be able to retrieve it, but I couldn't risk us having neither weapon," Loki explained. "You must be quick," he stated to her. "Go through the catacombs," he instructed.

"But we need every person," Sigyn countered.

"Sigyn there isn't much time and the battle won't in favorably for us without the weapons on our side," he stated. "Please," Loki asked once more with large emerald eyes.

Sigyn mashed her lips together, those eyes, those eyes that she had never been able to look into those eyes and say no. Maybe he had enchanted her for all those years. Or maybe it was as she had always believed that everyone was helpless to oblige those they loved. Either way, Sigyn could feel her heart being swayed by his words. Even now as she looked into his eyes they seemed deeper, a true green, like from years ago, and even though their situation was dire, Sigyn swore that there was a levity to his gaze that she had not seen in years. "Alright," Sigyn nodded slowly, "I can be swift," she stated. They didn't have any more time for debate.

"Go with eagle wings," Loki said with a smile as he rubbed her shoulders, they were bruised and bloodied.

"I won't be long," she stated. She started to remove her quiver and arrow and pass them to Loki. "You take these or give them to Lady Jane," she offered.

"No, you take them," Loki pushed them right back into her hands. "They are yours. My gift to you, forever," Loki said, his words whispered muttered almost cautiously.

Sigyn's heart beat rapidly within her chest, questions tumbled in her mind at his words, but there was no time for questioning. "But you already said that we need every weapon...even in my haste I cannot deny Asgard these powerful arrows in battle," she expressed.

"I take it you'll be back quick enough... I'm sure the Asgardians can manage for a minute," Loki stated. He gave her a wink. With that Lady Sigyn took off running in the opposite direction of the approaching warriors of Svartalfheim. She felt like a coward running away but she knew it was what they needed.

Loki raced toward Thor and the Warriors Three and Lady Sif who were leading the charge against the enemy. "Remember," Loki spoke up, "There aren't as many of them as Malekith is conjuring," he explained. "We should be able to press through their defenses and Thor you can make your way to their mothership," he pointed toward the distance where the faint outline of the Dark-Elf warship could be made out.

"Why would Thor need to go toward the mothership?" Volstagg asked as he clenched tighter on his battle ax as horrid figures continued to make their way through the thick red mist of the Aether. "Mjolnir is on there," Thor informed his friend. "Come on, my friends be brave, be strong," he told the warriors in a boisterous voice. "FOR ASGARD!" The thunderer roared as he led the charge and pulled ahead in front of his friends with a burst of lightning. They all raced, they all ran at full speed with their weapons ready and waiting. They ran toward the large hole that had been blown in the gilded wall to the palace throne room and blocked it off, setting up a protective barrier around those still remaining in the throne room. Thor's mighty blast of electricity illuminated the Aether Ash. It looked like an x-ray and the images of the Dark-Elf soldiers marching through it no longer looked like silhouettes but for a moment they were able to see how the Dark-Elves looked as if they were all on steroids.

"Did you see that?" Frandal questioned. He turned to Master Heimdal.

"There is little I don't see, Frandal," Heimdal reminded him. His expression was stone-faced as he cast his golden-eyed glance at the yellow-haired swordsman. "Though I wish I wouldn't have seen that," Heimdal stated.

"They look worse than ever before," Hogun added as he readied his mace.

"I mean let's face it they were never the best-looking bunch," Frandal quickly stated with a chuckle.

"They all look like the one who took the palace with the first raid," said Sif.

Emerald eyes narrowed, "That monster that killed Dagmar," thin lips whispered to himself. "The monster that I let kill her," he reminded himself

"It's the Kursed," Thor rumbled. His palms started sweating. Prince Thor distinctly recalled the might of the monstrosity that he'd been forced to fight on the homeworld of the Dark-Elves. That thing had nearly killed him. If it hadn't been for Loki's clever trick, then...then he wouldn't even be here to fight now. He thought of how ruthless and savage the Kursed was. He had never felt anything quite like its clobbering fists were even worse than the Hulk's. It had felt like being pummeled by a mountain. It was nearly surmountable. Even the might of Mjolnir had bested the beast and now an army of them marched upon them.

"They can't all be real," Loki said his hands clenched around his daggers. "There's no way, that Malekith has that many Kursed Crystals..." Loki told the crown prince of Asgard.

"Well, you would know," a soldier remarked as he heard Loki's commentary. There was a hiss and jeer from the surrounding Aesir that made up the rest of the makeshift force. Loki did his best to keep his eyes forward and not respond. The words stung, but the palace guard was right. He had worked with Malekith. He had betrayed them all. And perhaps none could truly forget it.

"Some are real," Thor snapped at the raven-haired mage. "Even if one is real, that is too many. Can you cipher Loki? Can you see which ones are real and which ones are fake?" Thor asked as a huge, horned horde hurried toward them. Loki reached out his hand. He concentrated. He was a master mage, a trickster, he should easily have been able to detect truth from a lie, but he could sense nothing. It all felt real. The Aether's powers confused everything. Convergence was so close and darkness was prevailing. Loki's thin, porcelain hand trembled as he desperately sought out a reading. He tried to feel and sense, heartbeats and pulses and breath, but it was all mingled and blurred. Loki was sweating, straining, and groping in the darkness. He felt like a novice. Perspiration trickled from the temples beneath his horned helmet.

"No, not here, not now," he shook his head. "Not yet," he breathed.

"Yeah, well that's really helpful!" another Asgardian warrior snarled from behind.

"Give it time," Master Heimdal spoke, "it will come to you," the gatekeeper reminded the mage.

"What do we do, Prince Thor?" an Einherjar questioned.

Prince Thor didn't have the chance to answer his subject's query because as he was about to open his mouth, Lord Malekith stepped forth out of the cloud of the Aether. The Dark-Elf warlord was dwarfed by the towering presence of the Kurseds. They were quite imposing as they seemed to stand at about thrice the height of the Aesir warriors who were all tall by mortal standards. The army of what seemed like more than 100 stood snarling, growling, chanting, and stomping as if demanding entrance and passage off of the bridge and into the throne room. "This is your last chance to surrender Asgardian," Malekith warned the Aesir. "Surrender now and I shall let you live as slaves," Lord Malekith proclaimed. "Resist," he started once more, a smile on his darkened face. "And you all shall die!"

Prince Thor's lips turned into a smirk, "We have no plans to die today, Malekith," Thor thundered back to his enemy. "Asgard give him our answer," he insisted to the brave citizens who were standing with him. In the background the company that Thor still had assembled let out fearsome growls, hoots, hollers, and huzzahs.

"What are your orders, Prince Thor?" asked Master Heimdal.

"All we have to do is hold them at bay for a few more minutes. Keep them on the bridge and in the courtyard, show no mercy," Prince Thor instructed his close friends. Each of them had a platoon and few who would follow them. "FOR ASGARD!" Thor shouted as he ran ahead of all. His troops followed in hot pursuit right behind him.

Likewise, Malekith's horde also raced toward the Asgardian forces. Their feet seemed to shake the rainbow bridge, their battle cry was a chorus of snarls and growls that were quite animalistic. As the two armies raced toward each other. Lady Jane and Bardok called to the students and citizens who were with them, most of which were not trained warriors. "There's so many of them," Jane noticed as she looked out at the advancing Dark-Elves. They seemed like an endless sea of ravenous beasts. She shoved down the fear that mounted in her belly.

"They aren't all real," Bardok reminded her with his hand on her shoulder. "There are more of us than there are of them," he encouraged.

"But look at them?" one of the citizens muttered.

"Never mind them," Bardok snapped quickly at the Aesir who were with him. "We are Prince Thor's first line of defense," he reminded the rest of the scholars and civilians who were stationed with him and the mortal scientist. "Jane, you and the citizens should concentrate your efforts on using your reactors to get as many Dark-Elves out of the way as possible. Mages with me," he pointed to himself. "The Aether Ash is already incredibly dense. It's already making it hard to see. Still, Prince Thor and the Einherjar could use some coverage," he gave the young mages a nod. "We can veil them in smoke and give them cover, they'll be better able to sneak up and surprise the enemy," Bardok explained. The mages who were with him didn't hesitate. In contrast to the thick red ash clouds that covered everything, soon a dark purple smoke began to appear. It covered the Aesir army. The mixture of the smoke and Aether ash made the Aesir impossible for the Dark-Elves to spot. Some of the Dark-Elves feared that they were going blind. They began to fire their weapons wildly and recklessly into the dense fog. Light burst through the dark clouds. It looked like a thunderstorm.

"Take evasive action!" Lady Sif shouted over the roar of blasters firing in every direction.

"GO! GO! Don't hesitate!" Malekith ordered his troops. He had noticed a few of his soldiers had staggered and paused. He began hitting and kicking and jabbing at the men with his black machete.

"My lord, we cannot see, the Aesir could be anywhere," one of his soldiers who had not taken the Kursed Crystals tried to explain.

"They are right in front of you!" Malekith shot back mercilessly, "Now, TAKE THEM!" he shouted at all his men. "Or I will take each and every last one of you!" he railed. He swung his dark sword ruthlessly about. He nearly decapitated the soldier. The soldier ducked and fell on the ground. He stumbled to find his footing in the fog. While he was down Lord Malekith was able to reach down and grab the warrior's grenade. He tossed it and vortex forming bomb provided some light and sucked up a few bits of debris. He was about to turn back and shout at the soldier to get up, but just as he turned around, he noted a distinct ripple in the air, and then the Dark-Elf soldier vanished. Malekith watched as a few of his foot soldiers just disappeared. "NOOOO!" he growled.

"Where'd all this purple smoke come from?" asked Frandal as he dodged and rolled away from a vortex that was quickly formed.

"Bardok and the mages," Loki said as he panted from jumping out of the way as they raced through the mist. He smiled slightly with pride as he said it.

"Reminds me of the trick you performed for the battle of Nornheim," Volstagg recalled. He started to let out a jaunty laugh as he continued to run. He gave Loki a nudge.

"Well, it worked so well before," the raven-haired enchanter.

"And it is still working now," Heimdal pointed out. "Already the Dark-Elves force is diminishing before our eyes," He raised his fist into the air beckoning those who were with him to continue to advance.

Thor had taken to pushing another Asgardian soldier out of the way of the blast. He took a few steps back and for a moment he and Loki were standing side by side. He could scarcely make out Loki's face, but his golden-horned helmet stood out in the midst of the thick purple fog. "Bardok always said he learned from the best,"

"That's debatable," Lady Sif called out as she thrust her double-bladed saber through the heavy purple fog that the mages had laid out into the crowd of charging elves. She pinned one of Lord Malekith's soldiers. The soldier looked like he had taken the Kursed Crystals, but even Lady Sif's mighty lance would have bounced off of the behind of the brutes. Lady Sif ran ahead at full speed to retrieve her weapon from where it had been lodged in soldier from Svartalfheim's chest. She yanked it out as if it was nothing, though it was slick with black blood. "He's not a Kursed!" Sif shouted over the roar of battle. "This whole thing is a sham!" the brunette shield-maiden declared. Sif didn't lose a beat, no sooner had her lance been plucked did she run through the mist. Lady Sif separated her famous double-blade, allowing her not to have but one mighty javelin, but two fine steel blades. She went into the obscure darkness, hardly able to see, guided by courage alone. Her swords swinging proudly determined to cut down any foe.

"Huzzah!" the blonde fencer yelled triumphantly. "There is probably not a real one among them," Frandal laughed and threw his head back. "Let us take Malekith!" He encouraged his company, a band of the best swordsmen among the Einherjar. He had his sword pointed boldly toward the enemy although there was so much dense fog that he could not even see. Almost all of the Einherjar had taken their places at the forefront where the purple smog conjured by the mystics met with the dreadful black and red clouds that hung low charged with the fury of the Aether. They eagerly began to strike at the hideous horned figures before them. Each Asgardian was emboldened with the true spirit of the Berserkers. They felt they had nothing to fear. They jeered at Malekith taunting him that he had no real army as most of their blades and arrows went through the images and projections made by the Aether. His dozens and scores of monsters were mere shadows. Malekith's force continued to fire their blackhole-forming rifles into the crowd. They whirled and whizzed and screamed, but they sucked up more of the palace gate and metal and brick than they did the warriors who were still fighting for Asgard. By contrast, Lord Malekith watched in horror as more and more of his actual soldiers were removed from the battle. He cursed the Asgardians for the mortal that they had found. How dare a mortal's invention deprive him of his warriors. He'd kill her. He'd kill them all. Malekith could feel the Aether raging within him.

Volstagg went running boldly, belly first toward one horned fiend. He expected to barrel right through. His battle axe was ready to go right toward Lord Malekith and end the bloody fight, but as he went to ram his rotund middle through the illusions, he was met with a force that felt like he had been hit by a brick wall. Volstagg bounced backward. He flew as if he were as light as a bird. His body crashed against other warriors and pummeled them to the ground. "Get up! Get up!" Hogun called as he rushed by his friend. Hogun had his mace drawn and he was ready to use it. "These are not but tricks!" Hogun the grim called.

"Hogun, no!" Volstagg yelled behind his friend. He could feel the other soldiers trying to push him off of them. Hogun must not have heard him. If he did, he surely did not heed. Hogun twisted and twirled his mace before the beast that stood before him growling and snarling in his face. The ugly creature before him had the stench of a breath that seemed to be real, but still, the quiet warrior stood unafraid before the image of the Kursed. He threw his mace at the hellish figure. It caught the mace with its bare hands and crushed it. Hogun narrowed his dark eyes and stared at the monster defiantly. Hogun unsheathed a crooked, jagged dagger from the belt of his armor. He quickly aimed the splendid knife at the Kursed's eye. The Kursed barely raised its head so that the weapon missed his eye. He caught the blade within his jowls, the teeth that were in said mouth black like stones. He crushed and chewed the dagger up like candy. He spit out the remainder the chewed-up bits of the dagger at Hogun. The terrible piece of steel cut up Hogun in the face allowing the Kursed to pounce and pound of him.

Thor had been calling down lightning blast after lightning blast trying to deal a deadly blow to Malekith. Malekith countered each and every assault with a proper countermeasure of the Aether. Its power at the hour now when the Convergence was so closely matched to the elemental power of lightning which Thor possessed that neither could overcome the other.

Loki went charging through the fog. He threw his daggers and took out several of the Dark-Elves. Once their bodies had fallen, he quickly summoned them back to himself. As he gathered back his daggers, he saw Lady Jane peering from behind one of the ruined columns and Bardok by her side. Loki jogged over to them. "Lady Jane," he called to her. "Do you see those Kurseds over there," he pointed yonder to the Kursed who was pounding on Hogun.

"Hogun!" Jane called upon seeing the serious soldier being ruthlessly smacked around by the horned creature. Jane began to frantically turn up the dial on her remote, but she found that the frequencies and ripples that she created were not reaching to where Hogun was. Her hazel eyes glazed on as she beheld several Aesir rushing to help Hogun. They jumped on the Kursed's back and tried to pull him off of Hogun, but it was to no avail. The Kursed bucked them off and was unphased by the weapons that they hit him with. "He's out of range!" the scientist grunted. "I have to get closer," Jane turned to the raven-haired and spoke.

"The veil is getting this in that area," Loki's green eyes squinted. "I can give you some additional cover," he nodded.

"No, Lady Jane!" Bardok started to call. He reached out his hand to try and catch the daring young scientist, but she was indeed too quick. He heard her mumbling that Hogun was too far away and that she needed to get closer and she quickly went racing closer toward him. When they saw her a few more of the citizens who had the reactors went behind her. Loki reached his hand out and gave more dark clouds to shade Jane and a few other citizens who were trailing behind her.

"The smoke screen is working brilliantly, Bardok," Loki inclined his head toward his former apprentice. "You may need to provide more cover though..." he started to instruct as he looked out and noted that the veil of purple was starting to pass.

"i don't take orders from you!" Bardok shouted at Loki defiantly. "Don't tell me what to do!" he continued.

"The veil is starting to fade," Loki pointed out to him once more. "It's not an insult."

"They are doing the best they can. We are exhausted," Bardok expressed to him and wiped his brow. "Most of them are students," Bardok pointed an angry finger toward the master mage. "Not that makes a bit of difference to you," Bardok's lips curled. "You'll work a student to death! You worked me to death," Bardok muttered miserably.

"I got results," Loki countered. "Now we need to get results again. Let me show you and the others a technique that can conserve your energy," Loki entreated.

"No!" the youngest court magician shouted back. "I regret ever learning anything from you!" he spat. "I hate you!" Bardok spat tearfully.

"Loki swallowed, "Bardok," he started quietly, he reached his own dirty hand out toward his one-time apprentice. Bardok immediately recoiled. Loki's face remained firm, "Then why did you use the trick?" he inquired. "I told you the tale of when I used this trick long ago... you were a boy..." he pointed out.

"Yes, a boy, who looked up to you! Who idolized you!" Bardok railed in contempt. "I wanted to go to the same university where you went. Where you taught. Now, I teach there too," Bardok slapped his own chest. "These were students there and now it's destroyed!" the tall young man pointed his finger in the direction of a great edifice that was made of gold and silver, it had beautiful spires and flying buttresses, it had had monuments and statues of some of the most brilliant minds in all of Asgard. Now it was a smoldering junk heap, that had been left as Dark-Elf fodder. "Because of you," Bardok's voice went low and his eyes glared at Loki. He looked as if he would strike and Loki readied himself for a blow. "All of us could be destroyed because of you!" he fumed all the more. "So don't think that you can make it right," he turned away. "I don't need you now and Asgard doesn't need you," he stated.

The blow came through his words. Loki reached out his hand and spun Bardok around to face him. "I'm not looking to make it right," Loki told him sternly. "I know that can't be done." He looked Bardok in the eye. Slowly, Loki removed his helmet before his former student and he inclined his head to him. "I'm just looking to do the right thing," He qualified. "I'm sorry that I betrayed your trust, Pupil Bardok," the trickster stated. Bardok had known Loki for many centuries. He'd known him as his prince and his teacher and at times he'd hoped he'd known him as a friend. In all that time he'd never known him to apologize for anything. "I'm sorry that I betrayed all of Asgard's trust," he confessed, and Bardok thought he heard his voice quiver a little bit. Loki looked up for the first time in a few moments and he saw that the young scholars had fallen to their knees gasping and panting trying to keep up the barrage of mauve fog. With that, he spun around like a top as he did so Bardok not that a beautiful, glittering liquid drifted into the Dark-haired enchanter's hands. It was water from the Forever Sea. It was so beautiful and in the midst of all the chaos that was going on he'd forgotten about it. Loki used the water for the ocean below the Bifrost bridge to make a mist that was much thicker than the artificial one that he and the other young mages had manifested. Bardok gasped. "It's natural," Loki stated simply, the corners of his mouth curled slightly. "It'll last longer. Don't reinvent the wheel with your mysticism if you don't have to. Only use it to enhance what tis there," Loki instructed him, just like he used to when Bardok was truly his apprentice. Bardok felt himself being inclined to nod his head just as he would we he was under Loki's tutelage. It took all within him to hold his head still and look unimpressed. But of course, Loki was right, the fog that the trickster had created was so thick that Bardok took off running blind to the other side of the gate posts where the other enchanters were assembled. He got turned around and almost ran smack-dab into one of the white-mask-wearing warriors of Svartalfheim. The Dark-Elf soldier immediately attacked. He didn't hesitate, but rapidly fired off his weapon, vortex bombs exploded all around the youngest mage of Odin's court. Bardok ducked to the ground quickly hiding himself from the bursts of white light that threatened to suck him in. He was on the ground, but he managed to hit the enemy of Asgard with a magic blast. It stunned the elf and caused him to stagger backward, but it didn't disarm him. He readied his weapon again at Bardok who was still stumbling to get to his feet. "Bardok! Look out!" Loki cried. As he gazed up at the Dark-Elf who was about to blast him into oblivion he watched as a golden-horned object came hurling in the direction of the Dark-Elf. It knocked off his bloodless mask and knocked him down. Before he could react, A silver dagger flew into the Dark-Elf chest. The figure instantly became prone. Bardok went over to wear the lifeless body of the Dark-Elf and plucked the dagger from the center of the soldier's chest. Loki jogged over to him, "Pupil Bardok are you alright?" asked the articulate dagger wielder. This time Bardok did nod as he passed the knife back to the master enchanter. "Thank you," Loki said with a smile.

"Bardok! Bardok!" A few young mages came over to the master mage. "How'd you get the fog so dense?' they asked with excitement.

"It wasn't me," Bardok shook his head. "It was Loki," he pointed to the wizard who had put back on his royal, golden helmet. "He can show you all what to do," Bardok stated. "He's a good teacher," Bardok winked at his old mentor. "He taught me," young Bardok announced. There was a tone of pride to the young enchanter's voice, despite the wary looks of disbelief on the dirty marred faces of the others.

There was little room for skepticism though as the Aesir youths found themselves about to be cornered by 3 more Dark-Elf warriors. All who had the menacing visage of the Kursed. Loki twirled his dagger in his hand then he quickly disappeared. The mages stood back-to-back in a protective circle. Loki appeared behind one of the Kursed beasts. He jumped on top of its back, but he made contact with the creature the devilish appearance dissipated into that of a classic Dark-Elf soldier started to panic, but Loki his throat. The young Asgardians immediately took to attacking the other two Kurseds, they figured that they were both imposters. One was. He shot a blaster, blackhole instantaneously forming. One of the young people didn't stand a chance. He was sucked away the battle cry ringing on his lips. His friends avenged him. They blasted the Dark-Elf warrior in his ghostly mask with several powerful blows and he fell. The true Kursed's eyes glowed with an evil red. He growled with fury as he saw his comrade fall at the hand of the Aesir. He roared curses at them in his guttural tongue. Then he took to charging at them with fury. He bucked about like a bilgschnipe and with his horns he tried to spear them. The enchanters hit him with their best energy blast, energy in the bright neon colors that echoed the Bifrost, but his molten skin wasn't even tickled by their efforts. As he went running toward them Loki gathered more of the water from the Forever Sea. It came to his hands glittery and shining as a stone. The water quickly transformed into a thick, dark blue mist that the Kursed became lost in. It spun around and looked this way and that trying to find the Aesir it had been hunting. At that moment, Loki was able to take one of the blackhole bombs off of the Dark-Elf that he had slain. He tossed it into the fog and the Kursed creature was sucked away.

The young didn't delay. They saw the technique used by the trickster they immediately went to copy the technique. As they darted in different directions. Loki heard them muttering to themselves. "Why didn't we think of that?"

"Use what we already have,"

"The fog of the Forever Sea was used for centuries to keep Asgard hidden,"

Loki moved with haste toward the front line of the battle. That was where Hogun was. In the midst of, the chaos of the battle a small group was huddled around Hogun's body. The Kursed was gone, but many other bodies of Asgardian soldiers lay strewn about, unmoving and charred. The stench of their burned and seared bodies was repugnant in Loki's nostrils. He quickly stepped over them and saw Frandal, Sif, Volstagg and Jane Foster crouched down next to Hogun. Hogun's armor had been demolished by the Kursed's hands. It had berated and beaten him, ripping through the metal, and like a cat it clawed the flesh beneath and tore it to shreds like curtains. Hogun's face was drenched in crimson. "Is he..." Loki inquired as he stepped forward.

"He's not responsive," Jane informed. "I got here as soon as I could...I... I guess we were too late," she bowed her head.

"He has a pulse," Lady Sif spoke up. "Can you do for him what you did for me?" the brunette warrior woman looked up at the emerald-eyed enchanter.

Loki mashed his already, thin lips together into a nearly invisible line. "The Dark Energy of the Aether," Loki muttered as he looked around. Everything was still covered in the scarlet ash, 'it'll make it hard to heal... especially wounds this severe... I don't know that..." he began.

"He's your friend, isn't he?" Sif demanded as she clutched Hogun's hand.

"You have to try...you are his only hope," Frandal stated and looked up at him with pleading blue eyes. Loki crouched down between the two warriors and next to Hogun. He placed his hands on each of Hogun's wounds allowing the blood to seep onto himself. His palms glowed and he concentrated deeply. He muttered ancient words over and over again first in a whisper until he was shouting over Hogun's body. Loki started to shake furiously, and soon he was even crying himself, fresh blood ran from his own nostrils, but as he did so the group watched as Hogun's wounds started to fade. Soon Loki lay collapsed next to Hogun.

"Loki! Hogun!" Volstaggff shouted as neither one of them moved. "Do something quick!" the curly, red-haired Viking ordered as he looked back and forth at his friends, but neither knew what to do.

Instantly, Hogun sat up. He looked around wildly for a second. His friends hardly breathed as they beheld him. Hogun's hands trembled as they felt his face. The last thing he remembered was being clobbered relentlessly in the face. Over and over again his face had suffered merciless assaults. He felt like his skull was being beaten in. He felt like his teeth would be punched out of his mouth, but amazingly he found his flesh untorn. His hands quickly fumbled to feel his side, he'd felt the Kursed break his ribs. Everything seemed to be in order.

"Hogun," Lady Sif's voice called to him. She looked at him with a beaming smile. The always-reserved warrior managed to give a small grin back in her direction. He soon heard her exclamation followed by Frandal's jaunty, jubilant laughter. He then felt Volstagg's meat arm fold him into a warm embrace.

"The team hasn't been broken apart, yet!" the red-head Viking exclaimed.

"Well, we still have about 30 minutes before Ragnarök, so let's get too excited," the golden-haired swordsman stated as he wiped his brow.

The four friends chuckled. "But how?" Hogun the Grim questioned. "The last thing I remember was breath that smelled of sulfur and fists that smelled like smoke, but felt like boulders," Hogun recalled as he grabbed his head.

The warrior woman inclined her head up toward Lady Jane Foster who had been standing, slightly smiling down at the touching scene. She was happy to see that her invention had saved a life. "Lady Jane did some fast work with her gravitational rods," Sif explained.

The auburn-haired scientist put up her hands. "I may have gotten that monster off of your back, but I'm not who truly saved your life," Jane expressed. Her tone quickly took on a sorrowful tremor. Quickly, he noted that the astrophysicist's hazel eyes glanced downward. All eyes soon looked down next to Hogun. Loki's form was still. Sif put her ear to his chest. She detected the faintest of heartbeats. She was about to say something we she felt Loki's body start to shake ever so slightly. In an instant, he let out a nearly horrified gasp, and his emerald eyes flung open. He slowly started to sit up. He looked to his left and saw that the mace-carrying member of Thor's war party was sitting upright and talking.

"I can't believe it worked," Loki confessed as he shot a small grin in Hogun's direction.

"I can," Hogun's raspy voice stated. "It is good to have an enchanter in the group again," Hogun confessed. He reached out his hand and clapped Loki on the back. "Thank you," he practically mouthed.

Loki looked down for a moment; his dark tresses fell in his face. "Well, I've caused you all enough pain and suffering, I don't want to let any of my friends down anymore," he stated and he looked up at all of them with a shy smirk.

Perhaps more words could have been said by the group of old companions, but in the midst of their reunion, a giant white streak of lightning came from the sky. It was bright and blinding. Riding the back of the massive streak was Thor. The streak caused many of Malekith's illusions that he was making through the power of the Aether to disappear. For a moment Thor and all the other Aesir were able to see how measly Malekith's force truly was. The Warriors of Asgard cheered. Still, though the numbers were small they were formidable. Malekith still had about 5 Kurseds and they were worth 2 dozen soldiers each. The sham of Malekith's army was exposed and Malekith grew furious. It was like someone had shown his nakedness to all. He immediately tried to cover his exposure. He used the Aether once more, he summoned the power of the Aether that could alter realities to fill in the gaps of his thinly stacked army. Once again what appeared to be more than 200 warriors marched across the rainbow bridge in never ending ranks.

"Come on!" Lady Sif declared as she grabbed her weapon and pushed her way to her feet. "There's hardly any of them! We can take them!" she shouted. She didn't wait for the men to follow her. She immediately hurled herself toward the action. The Warrior's Three were hot on her tail.

"I'll get the rest of the citizens, if there are any real Dark-Elves coming our way, we'll shift them out of here!" she declared quite perkily. The mortal woman ran back off near Bardok and the enchanters and the other scholarly citizens,

Before Loki could utter of word of recommendation to the Midgardian woman, Prince Thor crash-landed before the dark-haired master mage in a blaze of glory. "Thor!" Loki exclaimed as he saw the Crown Prince of Asgard on his back, gasping as if he was in pain. He reached down his hand to help the blonde-haired son of Odin to his feet. Even with help, Thor was unsteady. He stood on the ground as if it was ice. He was barely able to stand and he leaned heavily on Loki for a moment. "Are you alright?" the trickster questioned.

Thor grabbed his side, "That last burst of lightning was exhausting," Thor expressed as he panted.

Loki allowed Thor to sling his arm around his shoulders. "It is harder to control your powers without Mjolnir, but not impossible," Loki reminded him. "You will get used to it," he gave the bulky blonde a patronizing pat on the cheek.

Thor crinkled up his features and swatted, Loki's hands away. "I don't want to get used to this, you can have it," he admitted with a tired sigh.

"Mjolnir will be able to be returned to you in a few minutes. You can hold out til then, god of thunder," Loki joked. While the pair continued in banter, soon they found themselves being encircled by a pack of Dark-Elf soldiers. The group rumbled and growled at them threateningly. Thor and Loki both rolled their eyes. "Hit them with a lightning blast," Loki pointed out.

"I need a moment..." Thor expressed.

"We don't have a moment," Loki pointed out.

"They can't all be real," Thor whispered.

"Probably not, but..."

"Let's do 'get help'!" Thor's eyes lit up, but not with the fervent flash of lightning that they had been, but with an innocent youthful kind of exuberance, that Loki hadn't seen when Thor looked at him in a long time. His blue eyes were wide and bright and his golden brows were raised perkily.

"What?" Loki questioned as he unsheathed a dagger, the dangerous figures were getting closer and closer.

"Get help!" the golden-haired prince practically yelped.

"Thor this is a battle," Loki started to explain, he allowed his green eyes to narrow and looked out the corners noting the movements of the Dark-Elves. He was trying to determine which ones were real and which ones were fake. There was always a tell, every illusion had a tell. "We aren't running from the guards at school," Loki raised his nose.

"You know it was a good trick," Thor's eyebrows kept wriggling at him.

Loki positioned himself ready for a strike as he placed his back near Thor's. "It wasn't a trick!" the onyx-haired trickster snapped. "It was a dumb escape that you came up with one time with, Helga," Loki practically huffed.

"It worked every time," Thor reminded Loki, by now the ground around them was rumbling with the weight of the Kursed. "Besides, you loved it," Thor had the audacity to wink his crystal blue eye.

"I did not! I hated it. It was humiliating," Loki pointed out. "Not to mention painful," he mumbled.

"Well, we've got to do something," Thor said.

"We are not doing 'Get help.'" Loki stated firmly. His firm stance verbally did not do much to make his stance firm across the broken ground outside the palace. All of a sudden, Loki found his feet being hoisted off the ground. He found himself flailing about much as he had done as a child.

His physical protestation was extremely short-lived. Thor's voice boomed over much of the chaos and violence. "My brother's wounded! He needs help!" Thor shouted as he flung Loki's body into the pack of vehement Kursed figures. Loki's lithe form sailed toward what seemed like 5 Kurseds, but as he came into contact with other armored forms, he found that they were Dark-Elf soldiers. The soldiers were so startled and perplexed by the image of the green-clad wizard whirling toward them like an overgrown javelin that they hadn't time to pull out their own weapons. Instead, they toppled like bowling pins. They squirmed and snarled and started to kick, Loki wasn't particularly heavy. It would have been better to throw Volstagg, but even Thor's strength was strained under his plump friend's girth. While on top of the soldiers, Loki didn't hesitate, he spun around quickly and with his daggers, he sliced through them. He pushed himself from on top of them, his tarnished armor slick with their inky life juices. He stood up and shot Thor an incredulous glare. He heard the thunderer let out a jaunty guffaw. Thor's plebian sense of humor was droll to say the least... it was so... so... Thor. He found himself almost wanting to laugh as well. "That was great!" Thor continued to roar. He came over and slapped Loki on the back. "Still funny," He beamed.

"Still humiliating."

"Still works?"

"A million other things could have worked!" Loki snapped. Loki cocked his head to the side still giving a disapproving stare. Then he allowed himself to crack a smile, "Still hurts," he added as he grabbed his back.

"Well, you can't say you didn't deserve that," Thor quickly countered.

A baritone voice, cut through their chatter, "Now, that was a sight these eyes hadn't seen in a long time," the gatekeeper noted. "I honestly never thought I'd see you again," their old mentor informed them. The full lips on his normally stoic face grin for a moment.

"And you won't see it again, it'll be like this Convergence," Loki quickly pointed.

Heimdal chuckled softly, "Perhaps, but in the meantime, we've got some incoming," he informed the two of them. They turned around and saw what appeared to be a team of ghastly masked Dark-Elves headed their way. They immediately began firing off their blasters. The trio dodged the vortexes. The Dark-Elves moved in closer. They moved close enough so that Heimdal was able to use the sword of Asgard to strike several. Thor's power seemed to have come back to him. Immediately, he seemed to be charging like a battery. He was powering up, ripples of fresh lightning moving up from his boots and to his legs and then on his arms. Thor went running into the fray of Svartalfhiem warriors. He spiraled like a top into the crowd of Dark-Elves. They fired their weapons; they raised their swords by they were repelled by the lightning every time. Lord Malekith was forced to watch as the bodies of his soldiers were flung left and right hurled into the palace, across the courtyard and off of the Bifrost Bridge itself, and into the Forever Sea, all the while they sizzled.

Heimdal squared his broad shoulders as he gazed with pride at Odin's eldest son. "You have given Thor more power to fight," Heimdal confessed as he cleaned his sword, slick with Dark-Elf blood.

Loki stretched out his hand and shot a green energy blast out at another onslaught of Dark-Elves. "Thor's always had the power... He just has to learn to control and focus it..." Loki started.

"Things that you have always mastered here, Loki" Heimdal stated as he pointed his finger to Loki's horned helmet. "A hero's power and strength come from their heart," Asgard's gatekeeper explained as he touched Loki's breastplate. Loki looked down and blinked at his old tutor. "Thor had to learn that, but even with that lesson one can only be so powerful with a divided heart."

Lord Malekith's black irises filled with red hate stared out at the thrashing that his army was taking with disgust. He watched as his soldiers continued to be massacred. They were falling by the wayside left and right. He watched as bands of Aesir joined together unafraid of the illusions that he had created, they charged headlong into his mirages of 15 and 20 Kurseds and found that it may have only been one of two Dark-Elf soldiers, who the people of Asgard fearlessly overcame. He soon found the bodies of his warriors scattered about the rainbow bridge. Malekith started to shake. The fury that he felt could hardly be contained. Flashback flooded his head as he recalled the Convergence from eons ago. His army had been winning for a moment, they had every advantage, and all of a sudden, the forces of Asgard started to prevail against him and he watched his home world fall. He'd not let it happen again as he clenched.

The regular soldiers had become nothing but Dark-Elf fodder for the Asgardian blades that thirsted for vengeance. And even when his soldiers seemed to have an Aesir cornered, they seemed to disappear. "What manner of sorcery is this?' the Dark-Elf general cursed to himself. He grew all the angrier when he found out that the one besting his soldiers who had done nothing but dream of war for centuries and endless centuries were being taken out, by the plebian device of a mortal woman. Malekith bared his teeth as he stood and observed figures darting to and fro right outside the throne room, on the rainbow bridge. Placing little metal rods here and there. They were running between the fighting like shadows, scampering like mice, and yet with a flick of their wrist he'd watched several of his best swordsmen vanish from the battlefield. How had a mere human created a weapon on par with those of Svartalfheim? When he had last known of humans his people had thought of them as mud puppies. They were hardly even worthy of being slaves for his race let alone to think of them capable of any technological advances. They were so dependent upon the light for life. "Curse you Mortal!" Malekith rumbled as he spied the woman that Prince Thor was taken with. She was the ring leader of them all she was instructing the others and seemed to have the master device. The general supposed that he could have easily killed her, but death was sometimes too easy of a consequence. She had been the carrier of the Aether before. Perhaps that was her purpose. The Aether had waited 5000 years for a host. When he was done laying Asgard to waste he would use her as a package for the Aether again. She'd beg and scream and cry for him to take the Reality Stone out of her. Her mortal form would succumb to the raw energy soon enough, but in the interim, he would be sure to give Bor's grandson a room with a view to watch his beloved die.

Malekith started to speak briskly into his wrist. There was a band for communication on it. He began to speak into it in his course language, his words came out like rough gravel. His men heard the words and even as they fired, their blasters and sliced with their machete and their Kursed bodies mowed through the Asgardians they turned their attention to heed their leader's call. He told one of his Kursed warriors to target the gravitational reactor rods and then the mortal scientist who invented them. The Kursed creature immediately stopped his struggle against a few Aesir. It had been bucking like a bilgeschnipe trying to get the Aesir who had dug their swords into his molten flesh and were indeed trying to hold on to the 10-foot-tall horned beast for dear life, off of its back. Finally, it seemed as if the creature had had enough of fiddling with the people of Asgard, 1 by one and rather effortlessly it flung the soldiers off of its back. It broke the swords that were still attached to its rocky skin, and the hilts of the swords fell off, but it seemed to simply absorb the steel allowing it to fuse with its armor. Other Aesir threw everything they had at it. Javelins and disks, planks, brick, nothing phased it's hide. They bounced off of its skin like rubber balls. It stalked across the battleground and slowly began plucking up the scattered reactor rods like they were nothing more than sheaves of wheat. Like an ape with a stick, it started to bang and beat the metal rods against its chest and the ground, finally, when the wires dangle from the device like vines it shoved the broken rods down its throat and ingested it. A few of the young mages who saw the actions immediately hit the Kursed with their best shots. Blasts of powerful energy burst in neon colors and attacked the monster that seemed to be made of a volcano, but their attacks simply ricocheted off of its spiny hind parts. Dauntless, in its pursuit of destroying all the reactor rods it continued in its rampage. The Kursed stopped for nothing. One rod was held firmly in a middle, male Aesir scholar's hand. He was a professor of alchemy at the university. The Kursed gave a swift backhand to the professor leaving his face incredibly scratched. The professor flew back a few feet through the air. His face was scratched and bleeding, but amazingly enough, he was still holding on to the rod. The remote that he had also held was knocked out of his hand. The alchemist stumbled about unable to even stand on his own two feet, he fell when he reached the remote. The shadow of the pointed horns loomed over his head. He clutched the contraptions closer to his chest. The Kursed creature roared an order at him. "Never!" the professor declared as he clutched his weapons tighter. He fiddled with the nob and readied the reactor rod. He was ready to transport that volcanic villain and himself to spirits knew where, but before he could flip around the switch, he felt the rod snatched from his hands. It was an effortless flip of the wrist gesture. The Kursed toss the rod to the side and then it reached down and took the alchemist by the neck. By the throat, it raised him off of the ground. It squeezed hard around the neck and with molten fingers it burned the alchemist. His body was left as nothing but charcoal with a few gold rings.

As the monstrosity turned its head its beady, blackened eyes fixed on Lady Jane. She had been crouching behind a fallen massive column, but upon seeing so many of her inventions being ruined had inadvertently come out of hiding. The Kursed ran right toward her. It was growling. Its horrid roar pierced her eyes. She looked petrified as the beast came closer and closer, but when it was right in front of her with its murderous claws reaching toward Jane cranked up the reactor that the Kursed had left behind to its highest setting with her master remote. She watched as a massive ripple occur and the Kursed was tripped up in it and vanished from sight. Jane was left panting

Young Bardok galloped toward Lady Jane Foster. He quickly took her by the shoulders. "Lady Jane, what happened," He demanded of her. "All the reactors are gone," he pointed out.

ed up at the young mage tearfully.

Gaze. "I know, I know," the auburn-haired scientist muttered miserably. "And they were working so well," she ed as she looked up at him tearfully. Then she immediately

"Exactly, that is why Malekith wanted to destroy them," Bardok reminded her as he nudged up her chin. "No shame, Lady Jane, no shame," Loki's former apprentice told her.

"I still have this one," Jane responded and showed him the steel reactor rod that she possessed.

"Good, good," Bardok stated to her as he tried to cover her invention with his tattered cloak. "You must fall back," he pointed out to her. " You and several others," he inclined his head toward the other people who had reactor rods. Who were not enchanters. 'It's getting too dangerous out here," he pointed toward the furious fighting.

"It is a battle. It is not supposed to be safe," Jane snapped as she rebuffed him. She snatched her shoulder from his gentle hold.

"Exactly" Bardok stated all too quickly. "It is a battle that we intend to win. That we must win! And we must do that with as few casualties as possible. This weapon serves us better Served in the safety of the throne room. It will be protected with the other soldiers you can wait til the opportune moment to use it," he informed her. Jane didn't exactly like Bardok's words. She wasn't the kind of woman who liked to sit on the sidelines when she knew there was something that she could do to help. She also didn't like leaving the people that she had come to consider friends out there fighting for her, but she knew to some level Bardok spoke wisdom. Her reactors were formidable and this last one had to be preserved. She turned and was prepared to head back to the palace. "I will round up a few others and send them back with you," he stated.

Malekith beheld how another one of his Kursed had been bested. He had no idea where his weapon had vanished to, perhaps the beast was not dead, but it certainly was out of commission, out of reach, and of no more use to him. It might as well have been dead. Malekith let out a roar. Aether ash rose from his bloodless lips like smoke from a dragon. His army of Kursed's were truly the only ones holding the Asgardians at bay. He couldn't afford to lose any more. He needed time to think. But there was none. He would not allow any more of his Kurseds to be so easily bested. At least the gravitation reactors had been eliminated. One less threat to his conquest. A small Aether cloud had formed protectively around Malekith, like a cocoon or lair that he had retreated in to think. But his solitude was quickly brought to an abrupt close as one of his men's bodies came hurling toward him. The body crashed against the Aether vortex and fell flat right outside. The shivering soldier had a javelin sticking clean through its leg.

Lord Malekith looked down at the wounded man with a sneer. A shaky hand reached up toward the General. Black blood spewed forth from his mouth as he spoke. The words came out quickly in the tongue of the Dark-Elves. His words could roughly be interpreted as "Master, Malekith, help me!" he clawed at the air, desperate for the help of the general. Without mercy, Malekith yanked the large spear from the kneecap. He practically pulled the warrior's knee off of his leg. The soldier screamed loudly and thrashed about. "Thank you! Thank you, Lord Malekith," he called as he watched Malekith toss the offending spear aside. He could not stand but forced himself to get to his feet. The Dark-Elves did not believe in a soldier showing any weakness. There were few healers among their people. Svartalfheim yielded few herbs that possessed the power of healing and they had little trade to receive the herbs. They adapted to the lack of their culture, they were children of destruction, and healing was for the weak. Soldiers who were injured and who seemed like they were unable to recover from their wounds naturally were left to die in their shame. He could not show himself useless to the general. He did his best to stand on one leg, but he crashed against Lord Malekith for support. Lord Malekith allowed the soldier to lean on him for a moment. "We...We... we must fall back, Lord Malekith we are clearly outnumbered," he went on. "WE should go to the safety of the ships, we can fight them from there," he pointed to the sanctuary of the t-shaped ships.

Malekith looked at the soldier of Svartalfheim with malice in his eye. He struck the soldier with talons like a cat. The soldier fell back down into the dirt. "You dare presume to tell me what to do with my army!" he hollered. "You get back out there and keep fighting till both your arms and legs are ripped off. Malekith threatened. In horror, the soldier crawled his way back toward the fighting.

All the while Malekith fumed and raged as he watched so many of his men fall to the wayside. They could not lose again. The Aether boiled and bubbled in his veins. It gave him a vengeful high. He had been trying to contain its power until the very last second, but it was clear without the toxic ooze that they had not the skill or the manpower to overcome the forces of Asgard. "Be still, be still," Malekith told his heart that raced within his chest, no longer did it seem to pump his blood it was beating for the Aether. In trying to quell the infinity stone's fury, Malekith could feel a headache, that made him feel as though his head would split wide open. Quickly, he pressed the intercom system that he was connected to. "Vi-Ja, ruuth ruuth tone bok, Thanos?" he asked rapidly into the intercom system that connected him with his soldier's that he had dispersed onto the ship.

"No, Lord Malekith, we are having a hard time getting through. It seems as though the Aether's dense clouds are jamming all signals,"

"Don't give me an excuse!" Malekith shouted back into the intercom communicator. "Just get me Thanos!" he raged. The soldier of Svartalfheim had not even the time to answer his liege with an affirmative answer. Malekith had quickly disconnected the communication. he left the soldier scrambling, twisting knobs and dials, and trying to find a frequency that led to the realm of Thanos.

Lord Malekith could only hope that his idiot warrior would have the forethought to patch him through to Thanos and not try to carry on a conversation with the great Titan himself. He was sure that Thanos would not suffer to listen to the fool. With that Malekith started running toward the thick of the fight where many of the soldiers of Svartalfheim were being slaughtered. Besides those who had been endowed with the power of the Kursed few were left standing. He went to stand beside a few non-Kursed soldiers who were firing off as many blaster rounds as they could at the Aesir, but the Aesir were crafty, they'd learned how to dip and dodge the vortexes that formed in mid-air. The vortexes only stayed open for a few seconds. Malekith let out a roar that sounded like a lion. Out of his mouth, the Aether spewed like lava from a volcano. It eeked forth from his pores and the destructive, crimson ooze spread out like terrible tentacles. It smacked the Aesir down. It knocked them about. It tossed them to and fro. It sent some people skyrocketing toward the spires of the palace. It sent others cruising into the side of the building and crushed them mercilessly into the palace walls. Others, it pushed out beyond the borders of the courtyards. It hurled them into the smoldering Imperial City. Their bodies would be lost in the inferno. Even more, were flung into the Forever Sea.

"CAPTAIN FRELL!" Lady Sif called as she watched one of the Einherjar Captains fly from the drawbridge of the palace into the mystical waters of a rainbow of colors below them. Captain Ffrell couldn't hear her crying after him, still, she rushed to the edge where the golden marble walkway of the palace became linked with the rainbow bridge. "Man over! Man over," she shouted as she pointed into the waves that rushed around Captain Frell and many other brave men and women of Asgard who had taken the blows to the Aether.

"There's nothing we can do, Sif," Frandal expressed to her. He was using his sword to deflect the Aether. He was such a skilled swordsman that his efforts had proven profitable for the moment but, he knew that it was only a matter of time before there was a blast strong enough to render his weapon useless.

"Most of them are still alive, we can't lose any more people!" the warrior woman protested.

"Have a suggestion for who we can use for search and rescue then?' countered the fencer. He danced around the Aether amazingly leaping over red blows. "They'll have to hold out as best they can," he assured his fellow Einherjar.

Sif looked down at the plight of her fellow warriors. Many were thrashing about desperately in the water. The current of the Forever Sea right beneath the palace was strong and there wasn't anything for the people to grab a hold of. The Forever Sea was meant to sweep into the cosmos. Long ago, before the Bifrost their Viking explorers would set sail in great longboats to sail the stars. Now, the Forever Sea was used to usher those that had passed to take their place among the stars. She hoped that that would not be the fate of these. "They are strong swimmers, Lady Sif," it was the quiet yet stern voice of Hogun that called the warrior woman from fearing the worst. All the while the Aether raged around them.

Malekith continued to breathe more and more of the Aether. He was like a raging, fuming dragon. he threw his hands out this way and that like he was conducting some type of wicked symphony and his instruments were simply shards and sharp spikes of the Aether that he sent for through the ground that he caused to come up and impale the Aesir. Thor's eyes grew wide as he saw several of his citizens skewered like kabobs Most of Malekith's minions fell back around him. They were hasty to let their leader do the work. A few of the Kurseds were bold enough to grab an Aesir who was still fighting and hoist them in the air and then chuck them onto one of the twisted Aether spiked like they were playing some type of sadistic game. Thor's ire kindled. He leaped in the air. If he had the power of the hammer, he was sure he would have been able to do so much more, but in the moment there was no time to contemplate. Thor leaped into the air. He soared high as a cloud. He was a flash of blinding blue electricity in the midst of the backdrop of a hellish red sky. Off of him splintered several large lightning streaks that looked like they were creating a forcefield fence to protect the Asgardians. The Aesir took shelter behind the lightning storm as it blocked the Aether from overtaking them.

Malekith kept shooting out more and more rapid shots of scarlet darts and shards at Prince Thor. His lightning instantly repelled each blast as if it was nothing. But the moment Prince Thor protected himself with his lightning then he left the people of Asgard wide open for attack. From his lofty height he beheld as a deep, dark red wave of the Aether washed over the Aesir soldiers still on the ground like a tidal wave. The destructive power of the Aether left many incapacitated. Thor watched as the warriors of Asgard were brough to their knees coughing and choking on the Aether.

"Fall back! Fall back," Loki shouted to some of the soldiers who were by his side. He gripped one soldier who was doubled over as she tried to clear her lungs of the blistering ash. He held her up until another Aesir hobbled closer toward her and took her.

"We cannot simply retreat!" Lady Sif countered between coughs as she came running up to Loki's side. "We can't let the Dark-Elves breech the throne room again. Look!" she pointed toward the heavens. More and more of the portals had opened and were coming into alignment. "if Malekith is able to get back into the throne room there will be nothing stopping him from releasing the Aether to all the realms!" she expressed as she coughed all the more.

"And if everyone is dead, they'll be no one to stop him either!" the raven-haired enchanter snapped back quickly.

Lady Sif looked at Loki with an incredulous glare, not that he could see it through the dense waves of the Aether that were bombarding their force that had grown considerably smaller in just a matter of minutes. But slowly her glare started to soften. She had always hated admitting that that little green-eyed wizard was right, especially, when his penchant for any move other than attack was necessary, but he was right. People were falling by the wayside and they at least needed some shelter from the brutal Aether attacks. Her brown eyes couldn't help, but soften from a glare when she watched him gather and push back a few of the palace guards out of the way of a blast from one of the Dark-Elves vortex-forming weapons. He threw one of his daggers into the black hole allowing it to close and not take the guard.

"He's right! We need to retreat or we'll lose too many, " Heimdal said. The strapping gatekeeper's muscles bulged as he came leaping out of a thicket of red ooze, he was carrying about 4 Aesir. Two were on his shoulders and two others he was holding under his arms. The warriors were badly wounded and burned by the Aether. The power of the infinity stone had chewed right through their armor and left their chests, and faces several damaged.

As Lady Sif watched Asgard's gatekeeper making a hasty retreat. She looked around and saw a few others who had fallen as well. She quickly darted through the Aether and raced to assist them. She found Hogun and Frandal trying to pull a man who had been impaled by one of the deadly black shards, she went to help them. She used her double blade to chop down the shard and allowed her two friends to carry the wounded warrior back into the safe hollow of the palace. The brunette shield-maiden then raced to gather up another warrior how had been hit by an Aether blast. The young palace guard seemed stunned and unable to move after the energy attack. He was limp in Lady Sif's arm as the Einherjar captain hoisted him onto her shoulders. She saw a few more other young Aesir come forward. They had their weapons and seemed ready to continue in the fight. "Fall back!" she ordered them while running by. She had the chance to grab one around the wrist and she started to pull him along.

"General?" The young man questioned. Sif didn't recognize his voice and from the shape of his armor, she knew that he was not of the ranks of the Einherjar or even a palace guard. He was just a young Aesir doing everything he could in the moment to save his home. She admired that. He started to jog behind her. He covered his mouth to keep from choking on the crimson sludge. "No retreat..." he quoted the Einherjar creed.

"No defeat," Lady Sif corrected him as she led him and a few others away from the blood blasts.

Prince Thor gazed from above as he saw his people flee the power that Lord Malekith wielded. He hated to see the good people of Asgard forced to run like cowering mice. And even as they fled the leader of the Dark-Elves continued to be pitiless. He didn't relent in his attacks. Thor's eyes flickered with a new flash as boisterous thunder crackled overhead in between the red and black Aether clouds. He stretched forth his hand and emitted a large blast of lightning. The huge streak came down and dispersed the dark waves of the Aether that were washing recklessly over the drawbridge. Lord Malekith was tossed back for a second as ripples of electricity shot forth off of the main blast. This gave a few more of the Aesir the opportunity to continue to take refuge inside the throne room. Many Dark-Elf warriors were also struck by the lightning. With pride, Thor watched a few of them sizzle. The warriors of Svartalfheim were ready to make a hasty retreat into the stronghold of their T-shaped ships, but Malekith would let them. The general shouted at his men to keep them on the battlefield. He particularly railed out the Kurseds insisting that they run after the Aesir and pick off the weakest of the Asgardians still struggling to get to shelter. The Kurseds took off like shots. They ran at full speed across the rainbow bridge, which was becoming ever duller with the power of the Aether draining it of its fluorescence and converting it to darkness. The feet of the Kurseds stomped across the bridge. The spikes on their bare feet stomped deeply into the crystal quartz which made up the Bifrost. They were so strong and so horrid that they started to break up the bridge. Cracks and bits and ends of the bridge started to fall away and into the Forever Sea and a few other Aesir soldiers tumbled as well.

Prince Thor could feel himself becoming overcharged with the power of thunder and lightning. He had never felt this way before. With the hammer at his side, he had felt nothing but surges of power whenever he summoned storms, now that he had to rely on his own strength solely, he felt fatigued from rendering strong blow after strong blow. Thor was ready to come down from his soaring, but before he could allow his feet to once again reconnect with the ground, he observed how the Kurseds were about to catch up to the Aesir. Some of the bravest were shooting arrows the monsters made of boulders, but their best efforts did little to stop their attackers. Thor summoned as much lightning as he could to his fingertips. Bright, blinding, blue bursts and blasts shot forth from each of his fingers forming a protective barrier separating the Aesir from Kurseds who flew back a few feet. One of Kursed immediately got up and started running toward the lightning fence that Thor had created. The monster thought that the power of the Kursed would leave him completely impervious to lightning, but when he hit the electrical fence, he received an incredible jolt. It sent him howling and roaring as he flew back into the T-shaped spaceship from which he came. He flew into one of the whirling turbines. The turbine blew up when the Kursed's body hit it. Upon seeing the fate of their fellow Kursed, the rest of the lot stood at bay growling ferociously just outside of the lightning fence.

"Is everybody in?" questioned Volstagg. The plump Viking was waving his thick arms and beckoning the last of the stragglers inside the safety of the palace once more.

Lord Drek was standing by the entrance point as well. He held his abacus and moved the notches and beads as every last single warrior made his or her way into the throne room. "I don't see anyone else coming," the mathematician expressed.

"Not as if we can see anything with the Aether Ash being so thick," Volstagg muttered through strain as he did his best to move a few of the large broken beams to cover the entrance.

"No, look," Hogun said as he came to assist his friend and pushed up a broken wooden beam to prop against the door. While by the door the two spied Thor hovering above the clouds of Dark Aether ash. His lightning illuminated the darkness that the Aether was so desperate to spread.

"Go! Prince Thor!" The people started to cheer wildly and loudly as many gathered by the window and beheld their prince. They clapped their hands wildly as they beheld their champion.

"Excellent! Volstagg stated. "It looks like Thor will be easily able to hold Malekith off," the plump Viking stated.

"Maybe not so easy," Loki stated as he squinted to stare up into Thor's lightning.

"Don't underestimate him!" Lady Sif shot back. She couldn't help but give the reformed dictator a slight glare. She moved to the window with her hands in a prayerful pose muttering, "Come on, Thor. Come on, Thor."

Lord Drek moved closer toward Heimdal; he showed the gatekeeper his calculations for the number of Aesir that he had counted that had entered the safety of the palace stronghold once more. He reported the grim findings of how many they had lost. Heimdal lowered his gaze. He murmured the last rights of the fallen. His heart soon filled with sadness as he was forced to with the fact that he'd personally allowed too many innocent citizens to be slaughtered. He prayed that his own ancestors, the gatekeepers of Valhalla, welcomed these brave souls with songs of rejoicing. Loki quickly moved closer to Lord Drek with a slight of hand he happened to vanish the abacus out of the mathematician's hands. "Hey!" Lord Drek called as he looked up angrily from his empty palms to the dark-haired enchanter. He watched as Loki's slim, alabaster fingers maneuvered the pegs of the abacus. He raised one finger toward the elder mage. Drek immediately began to bristle. Drek was not a man of slight build. He grew up working in the quarries and although his hands had become smooth from years away from the hard labor, he knew they could still give any man a good thrashing if need be. Especially, some turncoat, wouldn't be the son of Odin. Drek began pounding his massive fist into his palm. Heimdal placed a steadying hand on Lord Drek's heaving shoulders.

"Thor won't be able to hold that lightning shield for much longer," the raven-haired trickster stated. His green eyes were almost wide as he stated it.

Lord Drek moved rapidly to reclaim his property. He took it to his bosom like precious gold. "What are you talking about? How do you know?"

"Thor's doing great!" the plump redhead stated jauntily. "Even the Kurseds can't get through his lightning," He raised his arm in victory. "He only has to hold them at bay for a few more minutes and the Convergence will be done,"

Loki looked up. The golden dome ceiling had been blown clear off of the throne room, but still, Loki could see that the portals were opening up. More and more realms were coming into their proper position for the alignment. "What do you see?" questioned Hogun in a soft voice.

"He won't be able to sustain the energy much longer. Thor has never done this, to fight at such a sustained rate without the power of the hammer..." Loki continued.

"He's doing fine! He's doing great. I've never seen the ole boy so powerful!" the blonde-haired swordsman interjected. "Atta boy, Thor!" he called out the window loudly. He was waving like he was cheering for his favorite jouster in the arena. "He doesn't even need the hammer," Frandal pointed out with continued enthusiasm.

Loki shook his head, they all wanted Thor to win... they all needed Thor to win to a better extent. To think of Thor faltering meant they were all doomed and that was a thought no one could afford. Seeing Thor up there in a blaze of white-hot glory and fury controlling his element so masterfully, made Loki's heart swell with pride. Knowing that he had helped Thor learn how to harness his power on his own was icing on the cake. Loki felt a small smile cross his thin lips. He supposed he had always owed the big lug that. They'd always taught each other things. Thor taught him how to catch a ball, he taught Thor how to make a snowball. Thor had helped him master one of his early weapons, staves. Now he'd help Thor master more of his own. It was poetry. But Loki knew that the rest of Thor's friends were thinking as warriors, not wizards. They didn't understand how draining and taxing harnessing energy could be. Thor was using so much power and he was so new to using it. Loki knew he couldn't sustain forever. "For using his power is like a device running on battery, he's getting drained," Loki tried to explain. "When he uses the hammer..."

"It's like he's a device that is plugged into a charger," Jane explained as she joined the group. Turned his head and nodded it approvingly at the mortal scientist. "How much time do you think he has before he'll have to recharge?" Jane asked.

"Not much," Loki said as he shook his head. Once more he snatched the abacus from Lord Drek. He started doing some configuring. "Oh no!" Loki gasped as his emerald eyes looked up toward where Thor was flying high. The eyes of the rest of those around him followed in the same direction and they all beheld as Thor started to falter. They watched as the lightning that was exuding from his fingertips. The large streaks started to flicker. They grew weaker and more streamlined. They could see that he was starting to descend.

"Hold on, Thor!" lady Jane Foster shouted out of the broken window at the top of her lungs. She was practically crawling out the window toward her valiant prince. Volstagg had to hold her back.

Asgardians weren't the only ones who noticed that the thunderer was starting to weaken. Lord Malekith had as well. Malekith didn't hesitate. He reached forth his hand and immediately a thick, red dagger of the Aether shot forth. It was as large as the Crown Prince of Asgard himself. It sailed through the sky with deadly aim. Thor was so busy focusing on keeping the Dark-Elves at bay from attacking any more of his people, that he was thinking nothing of himself. He didn't even notice the massive projectile heading toward him until it was too late. Thor's bright blue eyes grew wide as he quickly tried to whistle upwind to blow the Aether shard away, but the wind wasn't enough, and the Aether shard struck Thor and knocked him right out of the clouds. The prince plummeted quickly down toward the rainbow bridge.

Malekith immediately reacted with celebration, with Thor's lightning no longer protecting the palace and the cowering wretches within, he spewed forth more and more Aether ash. It forth in a violent, turbulent burst from his open palms. It seemed to pour from every pore and orifice of his body. It had no true direction or aim, it spread like wildfire, breaking down everything in its path. It took things that were supposed to glistening gold and reduced them to ruins and rubble.

Thor had fallen from the sky like a meteorite. He landed with a loud crash on the rainbow bridge. The bridge splinted and shatter in portions as the remnants of Thor's powerful lightning. Part of the Bifrost started to break off. The people screamed as they saw the beloved Bifrost look as if it would crumble. A great wail and cry came from the palace. The hands of the citizens reached out as if they wanted to catch the fallen prince as if they wanted to hold up the Bifrost with their own. "We have to do something we have to do something," frantic murmurs could be heard amongst the populace.

"Oh, spirits the Bridge!"

"Merciful Yggdrasil!" they shouted.

"it's too late,"

"There's nothing that can be done," some told one another as they held each other for consolation.

"We have to save Thor! We have to get to Thor!" Jane said as she clawed and scratched pass the Warriors Three desperate to reach her love.

"Lady Jane, please, we told Thor that we would protect you," expressed Volstagg, the round Viking was an immovable object for the petite scientist. He was using no weight, no force to really hold her back. It was a mere hand on the shoulder, but still, she could not budge him.

"Me!?" she pointed at herself, "What about him!" She pointed out the window at where Thor's body lie unmoving on a flickering bridge Jane was breathless with tears streaming down her face, she was turning red.

"We swore an oath, to our prince, our friend," the grim warrior expressed. For once the astrophysicist could see how Hogun had earned that not-so-flattering moniker. His face was completely austere. She shook her head in disbelief and her auburn tendrils became stuck to her tear-dampened face. The Aesir were all about oaths and honor, thees and thous, foolishness to her!

"Gotta do something, we gotta do something!" she declared panting. She looked around wide-eyed as she watched the terrible red wave seemed ready to overtake him. Finally, she looked down at what was in her hand. She still had her remote. Quick as a flash she moved away from Thor's well-meaning band of warriors and ran to the window. "Hold on, Thor!" she shouted. She viciously turned up the knobs and dials and settings. She didn't know where Thor would be moved to, but at least he wouldn't be overtaken by the Aether wave. Jane could feel hope rising in her heart. She bit her lip in anticipation of seeing Thor disappear, but he didn't. He continued to lie about where he was. Sprawled out and unmoving. "No! No! No!" Jane growled furiously. She kept trying to turn up the little switches and dials on the remote, but all seemed to be to no avail. The licorice and crimson flood of the Aether ever inched closer to where Thor's body lied. In her desperation, Jane snapped off the little switch. She screamed. Then she started to beat her remote controller along the side of the window. "Work! Work! Work!" she ordered her invention.

"Jane!'" Lady Sif's voice called to her. Jane didn't hear her, she just kept hitting the remote against the wall. Sif walked up and caught the device in her own hands before Jane could smash it again. Jane roughly tried to take it from the warrior's mighty grasp, but she couldn't. Finally, she looked up at Lady Sif with a puzzled gaze in her hazel eyes. She knew that the shield-maiden without a doubt probably held just as much affinity for Thor as she, so why? "Enough," the strong brunette stated. "We need that."

"It's no use! What good is it if it can't help now?' Jane ranted.

"It's not the fault of your remote, it's the Aether and also there are no conductor rods left of the bridge," she pointed out.

"You don't know that! You don't know that!" the scientist protested. Sif didn't argue, she merely pointed her hand toward a few of the soldiers and citizens who were carrying reactors rods. Jane's lip quivered at what she beheld. She nodded slowly, but finally allowed her head to slump forward onto Lady Sif for support. The stately brunette warrior woman toward the short, auburn-coiffed astrophysicist. Jane's head fell directly on her chest. Sif wore a breastplate and it wasn't as if leaning into the Einherjar general was the most comfortable position, but Jane was too overwhelmed. Amazingly enough, she found, Lady Sif's muscular arms folding around her.

"We'll get to him," Sif declared resolutely. She continued to give strong pats to the mortal woman's back as if she was burping a child. Sif looked out the window once more. She knew that her friend, Thor strong, hopefully even with such a great injury, he would be able to withstand. As Lady Sif stared defiantly out of the window, she saw a slim, figure with a tattered, emerald cake appear before Thor. He came up, running quickly, fast a blur, no more than a jade flash. He stood in front of the fallen son of Odin. He spread his arms out wide. His hand was illuminated in a bright green light that then became a forcefield. It spread across the length of the bridge and blocked off the Aether.

Once more the crowd of Asgardians roared and cheered when they saw that the waves of the Aether didn't immediately beat down the enchanter's shield. "By Yggdrasil, he's doing it," Frandal confessed with a gaping mouth.

"Thor! Thor!" Loki called to the blonde who was lying on the bridge. He attempted to look over his shoulder. Thor wasn't moving. The Aether shard was lodged deep within his armor. Loki winced as he noticed a bit of it protruding out of the other side of Thor's body. It had struck him in the shoulder, but it was a blow that was dangerously close to his heart. Thor's body had left a terrible crater in the Bifrost bridge. "Come on Thor, come on," Loki said through gritted teeth. "Thor get up!" he called loudly. He wanted to rush the thunder-bearer side, but he couldn't without letting down the shield. The Aether would not be so easily deterred by being merely met by the energy field. The dark gem continued its assault. The Aether had a lifeblood of its own. An animalistic instinct and drive to prey and feed and decimate. It kept pushing with a barrage of red force against Loki's green shield. The master mage had great power, but not more than an Infinity Stone. And the Aether was starting to climb. Liquid always chose the smoothest path. Going through Loki's shield was proving difficult, but the Aether could rise above it. "THOR!" Loki hollered as loudly as he could.

Thor's blue eyes batted open. He winced and groaned. "Loki?" he muttered blinking dully as he caught a glimpse of Loki's golden horned helmet. It was strange, just hours before that image of Loki wearing that helmet, so stately and proud and domineering, sent shivers up his spine. It was the symbol of an enemy of Asgard, a dragon sent to destroy them, now it represented a protector of Asgard and for the moment himself, he sighed in relief.

"No, it's Julenissen," Loki remarked under the strain of maintaining the forcefield. Thor squinted. He knew that the voice sure didn't sound like the jolly old elf, but still, vision and hearing were not the senses that he was most well attuned with at the moment. At the moment, the only sense that he could truly focus on was pain. Searing, hot pain. The shard had not only cut through his flesh, but the wicked power of the Aether was sending painful pulses throughout his body. He felt like his veins and nerves. He was gasping huffing and puffing, his muscles were on fire. Thor's massive arms had been trying futilely to reach toward his shoulder and pull the shard out, but for every twist, he took to pull out the large spear of the Aether, he only caused himself to be in more pain. Eventually, he gave up. He caused his mind to once again concentrate on the words that had been uttered to him, but he could scarcely think. Still, he tried to focus. He needed to make sure.

Since this battle had begun, Thor had been praying for a miracle. They hadn't much time, but Thor couldn't believe that the Fates had truly meant for their ending to be so cruel. He was willing to take whatever sort of intervention could come from Valhalla or from the Norns. If the fathers of the past had truly sent Julenissen he would be overjoyed. It would have been the perfect come-upins to Loki and all his friends who had mocked him in his adolescence for not knowing that Julenissen was only a myth. Still, as he stared at the figure that wasn't far off, he was once again not the slender, toned build. A stark contrast from Julenissen's prominent form, he was sure that the fabled figure good give his friend, Volstagg a run for his money in a good ole pie-eating contest. Until Volstagg had gotten the wiser about the whole Julenissen legend his friend had wanted to be Julenissen. Thor examined the person before him all the more and besides lacking the physique of the holiday patron he also lacked Julenissen's signature cloak. Julenissen always wore a cloak and jolly vestment that looked like winter themselves. He wore a pristine white cape and tunics and trousers blue as icicles. Though it contrasted greatly with the dark red that seemed to be gathering around him he could make out that the tattered cloak billowing in the wind it was a distinct and lively emerald color as royal and regal as any he had ever seen. Then he looked at the horns on the helmet. The prince immediately recognized the helmet. Those illustrious and elongated sloping horns were curved ever so perfectly (for a cow), but the horns of Julenissen's helmet, were curled rams' horns that sat to the sides. No, without a doubt Thor knew that it was Loki. Although he couldn't put it passed the trickster to shape-shift. Still, Prince Thor couldn't help but feel a surge of happiness at the fact that it was Loki there. For so long now, he had been feeling as though his time with Loki had been no more than a fantasy. That all the memories he had were just fairytales that he'd told himself. Now, now he was starting to think...that maybe...the person he'd known so many years ago really was still there.

"Thor, come on get it, you big lug, I can't hold this forever!" Loki yelled. His arms were stretched as wide as could be he was doing everything to maintain the integrity of the forcefield, but the Aether, as any true liquid substance, continued to morph and grow. It was still doing all it could to push through the magic-infused barrier that Loki had erected, out but it was also rising, higher and higher. It kept inching closer toward the top of Loki's barrier and Loki kept having to raise his own neon green shield. However, he knew he could only raise it so high, and it was only a matter of time before the Aether overthrew his efforts. "Thor!" Loki shouted desperately over the roar and scream of the Aether. The destructive crystal seemed to be growling like a feral animal, caged and restless for an escape. Thor heard Loki's call and he earnestly tried to get up. He managed to roll over onto his stomach at first. Doing so drove the Aether shard further into his shoulder, pushing it closer toward the crown prince's heart. Thor let out a bloodcurdling cry of anguish. Try as he might the pain was too excruciating even for the mighty Asgardian. Thor tried to crawl his way toward the palace, but he found himself shaking and trembling, lying helplessly on the rainbow bridge face down with a red and black, twisted pole sticking out of him.

Loki turned his head back slightly, the corner of his shrew green eye he beheld Thor struggling to cross the bridge. Loki started to reach out one, pale shaky hand to give the prince a push into the palace, but no sooner had he turned his back to the forcefield that he had created did the Aether start to overtake it. The dark-haired enchanter was forced to turn his attention back toward blocking the Aether. He turned his gaze from Prince Thor who was still wallowing and gasping on the ground. Loki's brow dripped with sweat as he kept his concentration on blocking the deadly ooze from breaching the shield. He gritted and strained and caused his green shield to rise higher. It looked like an electric green fence that was spreading far and wide as if It was trying to engulf and fortify the whole palace. Loki's back started to bend under the pressure to sustain so much energy. Sweaty licorice locks fell from beneath the golden horned helmet that he wore. His knees began to buckle. "Can't hold it much longer," Loki groaned to no one in particular. Malekith continued to shoot his fiery darts at the shield. The power of the Aether was relentless in its efforts to consume, destroy and spread.

"Come on, Come on! Let's move!" Loki heard familiar voices calling from behind him. His thin lips nearly speak into a smile as recognized the tones of Sif, Volstagg, Hogun, and Frandal.

"We got yah, Thor we got ya, ole boy," Frandal stated as he, Volstagg, and Hogun attempted to lift him off the ground. Their movements seemed to cause the first-born son of Odin pain.

Sif began barking at her friends fearing that they were hurting Thor. "Don't you dare harm him, you big lummoxes or I'll do it myself!" the warrior woman threatened.

"Sif we've got to move him quickly! He can't just stay here," Frandal argued.

Thor finally blinked upon hearing the voice of his closest female friend. Hogun and Volstagg did their best to gingerly move him into an upright position. He couldn't help, but cough and groan as he shifted. The terrible shard of the Aether twisting and twirling deeper into his flesh and getting closer to his heart and lungs. He gestured with a shaky hand acknowledging their presence and their help. "It's ok, it's ok," he coughed. "Let's move," Thor stated and he did his best to flash his irresistibly handsome smile, although it was tainted red from the fresh blood coating on his teeth. With that, the Warriors Three quickly rushed Thor back to the safety of the palace stronghold.

"Loki come on!" Lady Sif shouted as she saw that the master mage was practically on his knees still attempting to hold up the force field.

"Go! Tend Thor," Loki ordered with his eyes closed as he strained to keep the shield up. "I'll...I'll...I'll give...us...more time," he panted.

The brunette shield-maiden saw the way the Aether hammered and pounded against Loki's ever-rising force field. Loki's feat was impressive. It was dazzling. She had seen Loki do a lot of incredible feats of magic, this one had to be one of the most powerful. Even Sif couldn't help the gawk that overtook her for a moment. Still, she quickly closed her mouth and focused once again on the assault that the Aether was putting on Loki's force field. The emerald shield shimmered and gave as it took hit after hit of the Aether. Each new hit made their shield look as if it would crack, fall apart, and dissipate before her eyes. "You can't hold it forever!" she shouted out.

"Hold it...for as...long...as I can," Loki explained through gritted teeth as his green plasmatic shied continued to inch upward and upward, higher and higher fending off the energy of the Aether. "Give...us...more time," he continued. He knew Sif of old, she didn't let go of her arguments easily. "We...need...more time," he ground out with his eyes squeezed shut. "Moments matter...to stop Ragnarök," he expressed with a heaving huff.

Lady Sif turned round. She nodded to Loki, not that he could notice. All his energy and concentration was on holding the forcefield. He was right, she knew. Although, Loki being right was something that the warrior woman had detested since her childhood. He was right far too often for her taste, but he often was right. And regrettably, he was right about this. They only had a few minutes more before the planets aligned and then passed and then Ragnarok was prevented. Maybe Loki could prevent that. Maybe. It was his fault that all this has happened anyway. If he had to be sacrificed...well. Sif tried to tell herself that his life mattered not an iota as she ran back toward the palace following behind Ftrandal and Hogun and Volstagg who were carrying Prince Thor.

Loki would have marveled at himself if he could have truly seen the glory of the giant, glowing green shield he had created. It was more massive than any that he had created before. From the safety of the palace, the citizens of Asgard beheld the splendor of the shield that Loki was managing to create. Their eyes were wide, their mouths hung open. Most gasped, but a few managed to mumble simple words of astonishment. For many of the citizens, it had been many moons since they had seen Loki's enchantment in action. He was always told to be the best enchanter in the realm, but besides using his magic for pure mischief most never had a chance to see him in action. What they saw him do had often made them suspicious and mistrustful of the mage. For many of them, it was the first time that beholding Loki's work and it wasn't being used to trick or betray or lead them to some disaster. It was being used for their protection and it was glorious.

The onyx-locked enchanter was trembling on his knees arms stretched wide as possible to reinforce the forcefield. The forcefield shook and so did Loki. He mashed his already thin lips together, tears started to stream down his cheeks from his closed eyelids. His thin nostrils flared dreadfully just before a thin trail of blood began to trickle down. Loki could feel every blow that the Aether was placing upon his shield. He could feel every movement that caused his shield to be weakened. Loki finally, reached out his hands to touch the shield and fortify it as if he was physically trying to brace it and hold it up. Loki could feel that his shield was about to give way to the undeniable might of the Aether. His head ached and he felt as if it would explode. His arms were taut and shaking like leaves. His chest felt like it was about to cave in. He was exhausted beyond belief and just when he felt as if all his strength would give out, he felt as if his forcefield was gaining strength. So much strength. The emerald-eyed enchanter willed his jewel-like eyes open. With the tears that pooled in them, they glistened like the true precious stones themselves. He opened them and looked up and saw the merciless deluge of crimson. It hit his shield like a tsunami against a dam. Such power would have certainly broken the shield his strength was failing, but somehow his shield was remaining intact. Loki looked to his left and looked to his right. On his right-hand side, he saw his former apprentice, Pupil Bardok, Bardok, Master Bardok standing at his right side with his hands stretched out wide holding up to Force-flied. Along with a team of other mages.

Loki looked at them all. Most of them were young, maybe they were the age of the upper students in the academy, some were of the age to be students at the universities, there were a few adults among them, older scholars who had maybe taken teaching jobs, apothecaries, seers, and performers, they weren't necessarily set out to use their gifts for battle or at least they weren't prepared to and probably never to this extent. Some probably hadn't even had proper battles in the arena yet. Still, there he saw them all doing their best to perform the incredible feat while bloodied and battered, and completely exhausted. Loki couldn't have been prouder of the mages of Asgard or of his former apprentice. "Bardok," the master mage of the high court's name finally came to him. He blinked deftly as he beheld him. He watched as Bardok waved his hand and he was able to repair some of the places where Loki's shield seemed to be cracking. He saw Bardok move quickly. He darted back and forth among the other mages and instructed them on what to do.

"Master Bardok, the forcefield is too big, too wide... there aren't enough of us," a young woman explained.

"Go and patch the shield," Young Bardok explained. "Look around for the weak points. Loki has done most of the work for us, we just have to keep it up," Bardok expressed as he looked down at his old tutor who was struggling to rise to his feet. The young woman ran off, shouting the order to the others. He reached down his hand to help Loki to his feet. "Are you alright?" Bardok asked as he regarded the slender man with the golden-horned helmet.

Loki nodded and muttered thank you. He clutched his side which still ached from the energy he had exerted. "Master Bardok," Loki mumbled, his lips only slightly tilted upward as he looked at the shy and nervous young man who he had once taught. Bardok had always had talent. He had always been gifted and able to think outside the box, but he wasn't the most confident student, hesitation had been his biggest weakness. He second-guessed his answers on tests, didn't go through with his experiments, and ultimately didn't attack during tournaments. It had taken a lot for Loki to wean his protégé of such tendencies. Perhaps he had been harsh, but it was only because he had recognized the same tendencies in himself once upon a time. Now, Loki's green eyes gleamed with pride to watch as Bardok had become a capable leader in his own right; calling the shots and bringing others into action.

Bardok slightly shrugged his big, broad shoulders. "You know that you have to teach in order to become a master," he expressed.

"Well, it looks like you're a good teacher," the raven-haired enchanter commended him.

"Because I had a good teacher," Bardok stated. Once more Loki saw his shamefaced student peeking through as Bardok dipped his head. There was a crimson tint to his cheeks that perhaps the young master mage would have liked to have played off as just the reflected red glow of the Aether. "You were the b-best," Bardok stated quickly. He looked Loki in the eye because that it what Loki had always told him to do when they were speaking. "Are the best," Bardok quickly stated. It felt so good to say that to his old tutor again. Young Bardok couldn't help the broad smile that cracked across his square-jawed face. He'd always looked up to Loki so much. It had honestly broken his heart when he heard about all the crimes that Loki had committed. He'd felt so betrayed. It had seemed like every man in his life who he had ever looked up to was a shame. His father was no real warrior, he was a professional wrestler and his career had become washed up from nasty drinking habits. He had been no real role model. Loki was a prince of the realm, he was supposed to be someone who represented the best of Asgard, learning that that had been a lie...well for most people, it probably wasn't a disappointment, most had always just seen him as a liar and a trickster, but Bardok had seen him as something more. He'd started to hate and loathe Loki more and more for every vile act of treason that he'd continued to commit. Each one had a wound to his head. His father had always shown him his true color, but Loki had hidden what he was and had convinced Bardok to believe just a sideshow hustler at best. But in these moments...Bardok had seen the person who he had admired so resurfacing.

"I can't even say that about myself, Bardok..." Loki replied.

"I know," Bardok said as he reached out his strong hands and touched Loki's shoulders. "That is why I have said it for you," he confessed.

Before Loki could say another word. He saw Lord Drek come traipsing across the way. "Loki!" he called. He soon appeared at the enchanter's side. "You must return to the palace to help remove the shard from Prince Thor," he practically ordered. "The wound is deep, we have no healing crystals and Heimdal thinks it's best," Lord Drek stated.

"But the shield," Loki said as he squinted. He looked at the forcefield he had created and already without his hand on the plow it was starting to shrink.

"We can hold it," Bardok confirmed.

"Not forever," Loki replied.

"Not for long," Lord Drek countered. "If my calculations are correct and they always are," he began. "You have 7 minutes," He expressed while moving the pegs on his abacus. "Prince Thor only has about 3 minutes until the Aether invades his whole bloodstream."

"Then we'll hold it for 7 minutes. As long as we can." Bardok stated.

Loki nodded quickly. "I'll come back," he told his former apprentice.

Bardok shook his head. "Don't. You'll be needed to do something else I'm sure," he expressed and he smiled. Loki immediately started to race back toward the palace. "Prince Loki!" Bardok called. His words froze the mage in his tracks. Loki's eyes widened; He turned back around to face his former pupil. "I'm proud to have been trained by you! And-and-and-and it's been...an-an honor to fight by your side for Asgard," Bardok stated and he gave Loki a bow. When he was younger Bardok had dreamed of the chance to use his powers on a great quest just like the mages of old, just like his mentor. Loki would sometimes come back and tell him of his grand adventures and exploits with his brother. It had filled his head with dreams that one day he too could be the type of wizard who fought fire-breathing dragons, outwitted ogres, and rescued fair maidens. It seemed an even more farfetched dream to have those adventures with Loki, the man who he'd secretly admired as his older brother for centuries. Competing at Loki's side in a wizard's duel or tournament had been the closest that he thought he would ever get. Those moments had been some that he'd cherished. But practicing combat magic wasn't the same as actually using it in real battle and now...no matter what he'd done that, with Loki in the most important battle that anyone could ever fight in.

Loki inclined his head. He kept his posture rather rigid. "The honor has been mine, Pupil..." The words became stuck on his silver tongue for just a moment. "Master Bardok," Loki replied with a salute. The emerald-eyed enchanter watched with pride as saw Bardok turn back to the task of trying to hold back the Aether by reinforcing the forcefield.

"Come on, come on," Lord Drek urged. Lord Drek was a man who was up in years, but he made a bold sprint back toward the palace. Loki followed suit and practically had to jump through the rubble and ash heap that was now the throne room. It didn't take long for him to spot Thor. The blond was dead center with those closest to him hovering around him. One of which was Lady Jane Foster. She was holding Thor's hand.

"We have to get it out of him!" Jane called frantically. Lady Leoma, one of Asgard's Master Mages was standing above her, along with Lord Heimdal, but although they exchanged glances neither made a move.

"Jane, Jane, Jane," Thor croaked to her as he mashed his lips together from pain.

"Shhh," she told him sternly as she kept her hand tightly squeezing his. Thor shook and convulsed. He thrashed on the floor and a few sparks started to fly off of his body.

"Jane get back," shouted Volstagg, he didn't wait for the mortal scientist to respond. His thick hands immediately gripped her and practically flung her across his shoulder to get her out of the path of Thor's erratic bursts of lightning.

"What's wrong with him?" the astrophysicist stressed. Once her feet were settled on the ground, she rushed toward Heimdal and tried to look him in his intense but stoic golden eyes. "It's the Aether!" she answered for herself. "It's infecting him!" she shouted. "I know! I know! I had it in me!" she confirmed. "Of those present, she was the only one who had felt the raw and unfiltered power of the Reality Stone burning within side her. "But why is it affecting him like this?" she demanded. "Even when it was within me, it didn't weaken me so rapidly and Thor is much stronger than I am.

"Because Convergence is almost at its peak," Loki answered her as he came into the midst of the small crowd being led by Lord Drek. "The Aether has nearly reached full potency. Look," Loki's thin, bony finger pointed up toward the open dome ceiling that showed 7 of the portals for the Nine Realms were perfectly positioned over the throne room. "We don't have much time," Loki stated intently. "We've got to remove the shard from him."

"It is close to his heart," stated Lady Leoma.

"Exactly, the longer it lingers the more the chance of the infection going to his lungs and heart.

"It'll be in his lungs and heart soon," Lord Drek continued to move the knobs and dials on his abacus.

"Every time we touch it it causes him more pain," pointed out Hogun.

Loki raised an inky eyebrow. "Oh come on now, Thor, you're a big boy, you can endure a little pain, can you not," he teased. With his eyes squeezed shut tightly Thor nodded. "Lord Drek, you still have a quarryman's hands do you not," asked Loki.

Lord Drek, looked down at his hands. They were big thick hands, but they had grown soft and nimble from working his math problems and configuring mystical equations. "I have not been to the quarries in 1000 years," he replied.

"But Prince Thor needs big strong hands. Hands that know how to do a job with one swift motion. That can yank the shard out quickly." Loki pressed as he looked Lord Drek in his brown eyes.

Lord Drek still didn't trust Loki. How could he? Loki was the grand architect of the evil that had befallen them. But he, better than anyone standing among them, knew that time was of the essence. They had so precious little of it left. Being spiteful, and distrusting of the reformed dictator was wasting the precious little moments that they had. Lord Drek tossed his abacus aside. He spit on his hands before quickly taking a firm hold of the large shard stuck out of Thor's shoulder. He yanked and tugged.

Prince Thor immediately screamed out. "Leave it be! Leave it be!" the hero of Asgard whimpered.

"Keep pulling," Loki ordered. Thor continued to shout and thrash as sparks came off of his body. Loki stretched forth both of his hands on top of each other and made a small forcefield bubble to engulf Thor in. The bubble kept the electricity that was radiating off of the thunderer from striking any of those around him. "Pull harder," Loki ordered once more.

"It's stuck, it's stuck!" the mathematician cried in desperation. "Your shield is blocking the Aether from being pulled out!" Lord Drek turned around to Loki and immediately accused.

"No, it's not," Loki shot back quickly. "The Aether is designed to destroy and it doesn't let go easily," Loki explained.

"Here, let us try together, Lord Drek," stated Master Heimdal. The golden-clad gatekeeper immediately stepped forward. He reached out with his massive hands and wrapped them tightly around the shard. The dangerous red spike started to cut into both men's hands the more they pressed upon it, but neither one slackened their grip. Thor all the while shuddered fiercely cried out and begged them to stop.

"Leave it be! Leave it be!" the bulky blond blubbered from behind the shield.

"Loki, stop! It's too much!" Lady Jane Foster yelled as she attempted to get closer, but Hogun held her back by her wrist. Jane looked to Lady Sif. Surely, she just wasn't going to allow for this torture of her best friend. She watched as the dark-haired shield-maiden, Sif's brown eyes scrutinized what was happening, but she didn't say a word or make a move. Lady Leoma was renowned for her prowess in telekinetic. She was one of few mages powerful enough to sustain herself in flight and she lent her ability to the operation. She put pressure on Thor's body, causing him to pull away from the Aether shard, even though the fragment of the dark crystal was growing offshoot spikes that were like thorns and briars that were trying to be stuck in his flesh. At last, Thor let out a mighty roar and the shard gave. It came out of his body and was flung against the wall. It shattered into a thousand of tiny red fractals. Loki removed the forcefield that he had placed around Thor. Thor's breathing came out labored. The Warriors Three, Lady Jane and Sif rushed to his side. Jane was there to help him sit up. She practically fell on him and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck. "You're Ok? You're ok?' she blubbered.

Prince Thor nodded, 'I'm alright, Jane, fit as a fiddle, really?" he pointed out as he beamed up at her. He flexed his bulging bicep as well as his gorgeous smile and attempted to stand. "Tis nothing, but a scratch for the mighty Thor," he boasted jovially. He pointed to the large hole that had punctured his armor, blood started to pour from the wound. "But I thank you all," the crown prince acknowledged.

"Your Highness, the wound," Lady Leoma reached out her slender, but wrinkled fingers toward the hole in the son of Odin's chest.

"Just a scratch. Just a scratch," Thor muttered, but he felt a sharp pain struck him near the heart. Thor immediately clutched his chest and nearly doubled over.

"Thor!" Frandal gasped as he caught his friend before Thor completely collapsed. He turned him and got him lying on his back again. They all observed as the wound in Thor's chest continued to eek out thick blood, but the blood was not scarlet; rather it was black. Even more horrifying was the fact that the veins in Thor's arm muscles no longer had a blue-green hue, but they were starting to turn a nasty licorice color as well. Once more electrical sparks flew from the prince, but they were not coming out the brilliant white and electric blue color, now they were a violent violet shade. The Violent voltage flew off wildly in all directions every which way and it was flying against the ceiling and knocking against the few remaining pillars and causing them to crumble, the people ran and dodged.

"It's the Aether, it's already infected him!" Lady Leoma surmised allowed.

"It must be purged from him," Heimdal concluded.

"How? We don't even have a healing crystal or a healer?' questioned the red-bearded Viking.

"Loki," Lady Sif quickly turned her head toward the master mage. "Loki you have to do for Thor what you did for me?' she demanded of him. She took him by the shoulders.

Loki looked wide-eyed at Thor who was writhing and wriggling like an inchworm on the ground. The way the bright red bolts looked like they were shooting off of Thor it seemed as though he would combust. "It's not the same," Loki mumbled unable to break his stare.

"It's our only hope," she pointed out.

"Loki, I will try to assist you, in any way I can, Lord Drek will too," insisted Lady Leoma as she came up by the trickster's side. Loki turned and looked at Lady Leoma, her pale face was smudged and cut up and her waist-long silvery locks were tangled and matted. Her beauty was nearly concealed, but many had always admired her for her beauty in her advanced age. Some said that she used enchantment to keep herself so fair, but Loki doubted that was true, perhaps it was just a kind heart. She had been one of his mentors when he had started teaching his kinder classes so many centuries ago. He had been none too happy about He was sullen and disgruntled that his father had asked him to teach at one of the small primary schools in the city. He remembered being greeted by Lady Leoma when he arrived there many moons ago. Lady Leoma, who had been one of the professors who taught him alchemy now served as the head schoolmarm at the school for orphans. The elderly mage had taught him alchemy and she'd taught him how to have the patience to really impart knowledge. Now he was being given the privilege to teach her even after all the evil he'd done. He was humbled and astonished that she would not count it robbery to learn from him now.

"What?" Lord Drek immediately bristled.

"Lord Drek!" Lady Leoma snapped at her friend and colleague.

"What?" he bristled once more as he shrugged his large shoulders. "I'm not a healer," he pointed out. "Loki certainly is not!" he practically growled as he looked in Loki's direction. "The chances of this succeeding are..." he paused momentarily to try and do the configuring on his abacus.

"Don't tell me the odds," Lady Leoma immediately snapped once more. "Time is running out for Thor and for Asgard! Are you refusing to help your prince and kingdom in time of need?" she demanded of him.

"Because that's treason," Master Heimdal stated and pulled out his sword. Lord Drek's eyes darted from side to side and he immediately found Lady Sif's sword was unsheathed as well. He reached his thick hand to trace around his neck because all of a sudden, he felt the pangs of a sore throat coming on. It must have been the Aether ash.

"Very well, I shall assist. Anything for king and country of course," he quickly added. He bowed himself to the ground near Prince Thor. He made sure not to look at Loki as he spoke.

"Of course," muttered Lady Leoma as she scooted next to him.

"Tis true, my lady, tis true," Lord Drek insisted as he leaned over and whispered in her ear. His thick salt and pepper mustache rubbed against her cheek and ear as he spoke and if it wasn't for the fact that the moment was so grave and serious, she was sure that it would have caused her to laugh. "It's trust that I don't trust Loki," he explained to her. His dark brown eyes glanced at Loki's boots as he walked toward Prince Thor. "He could be the orchestrator of all this," he reported nervously.

"Stop it, now Drek, stop it," she shook her head, her long silver locks falling in her face.

"Tis true, he is the orchestrator of it all," he insisted. "All of this is because of him," Lord Drek had to temper his voice to keep from shouting.

"And if any of us are to survive it will be because of him too," Lady Leoma reminded him and patted his thick hands gently like he was a child. Drek started to shake his head. He was practically trembling with fury. He started to open his mouth to rant and rave once more, but Lady Leoma's gentle, wrinkled hand was still patting at his somehow calming the beast that raged inside him, and was desperate to lunge out at Loki. "You are a great mathematician," she reminded him, "a true wizard," she said encouragingly, she closed her eyes for just a moment, then opened them and looked back at Prince Thor. "Now do the math," she told him like he was no more than one of her students. "This cannot be done without Loki. 2 and 2 will always make four," she stated matter-of-factly.

Lord Drek's gaze at Loki's muddied boots was a glare, "I never trusted him! I never liked him, even before all this," Lord Drek rambled off quickly before Loki took his place by Thor's head. That was true. Lord Drek had always had a profound mistrust of the master mage. Perhaps it was because Loki was one of the few and she did mean few who could solve Lord Drek's most difficult equations. Or perhaps it was because Loki had once turned one of Lord Drek's daughters a young woman who was quite a squawker as she was a talker into a parrot. Those were good enough reasons, she supposed, but Lady Leoma had this sinking suspicion that the true reason that Lord Drek had always been so infuriated by the raven-haired enchanter was that he couldn't peg him. Loki's actions couldn't be completely narrowed down to mathematics and that frustrated Lord Drek to not end.

"I know you didn't," the elderly wisewoman stated, "But that is the difference between you and I," Lady Leoma expressed as she leaned over and whispered in Lord Drek's ear. "I always did."

"Are you ready," Loki's crisp voice interrupted the conversation between the two mages. He didn't wait for a reply from either. "I need you to follow my lead. We don't have much time and it's important that we purge the toxins from him most efficiently," Loki stated.

"We have never don't anything like this before," Lord Drek once more started to protest.

"Just think of it as a new math problem, Lord Drek," the emerald-eyed trickster stated curtly cutting off Lord Drek. He held up his hand with regal command and silenced him. "Use what you know to solve what you don't." With that, Loki began his ministrations. The two other master mages watched as Loki's fingers danced and bounced across Thor's flesh. They saw where he put the most pressure like acupuncture and they did their best to copy his meticulous movements to a tea. Soon Thor's body began to shiver and sweat. They were huge beads of red and black sweat coming from his brow and his shoulders. "Don't let up!" Loki instructed them sternly. "Lady Leoma removed his armor and massaged Thor's chest," he told her. The elderly enchantress didn't hesitate, with a flick of her wrist Thor's armor flew from his body and she pressed deep into his torso as if she was giving him CPR. Her pressure started to cause Thor to cough violently. Aether ash spewed from his mouth as if it was erupting from a volcano.

The dispersed fragments of the Aether floated about in the midst of the group of onlookers. The red and black crystals hovered about in an angry buzz. The piece of the infinity stone seemed to zip and whirl and whizz about at dazzlingly frantic and wild speeds. They seemed to be directionless until they all watched as the fragments came back together and formed a small red blob. That blob once again tried to spread and searched for another host. It went aimed toward Master Heimdal. "Heimdal watch out!" Loki screamed. The great gatekeeper backed up upon hearing Loki's call, he raised his sword as the hazardous ooze made its way toward him. He raised his sword and with one mighty chop he attempted to cut the crazed infinity stone in half, but his attempt proved futile. No sooner had his steel come in contact with the putrid crimson slime than did he watch as his sword disintegrated.

"That's pure Asgardian steel!" gasped Volstagg.

"The Bifrost Sword," Frandal echoed in horror as he saw the magnificent weapon harden and blacken and then turn to Aether ash before his eyes.

"Its powers are growing stronger!" Lady Leoma called out as she pointed a trembling finger toward the piece of the Reality Stone. The bit of Aether was ready to strike again, ever desperate for a host, ever desperate to seek and destroy. This time it went right for Lord Drek. The mathematician's eyes went wide as he watched the red blob dart toward him like an arrow with his name on it. He didn't have time to think. He didn't have time to configure or calculate the perfect enchantment. In a quick, reflexive moment of panic, he picked up his abacus and put it in front of his face for protection. The Aether blob made light work of Lord Drek's abacus, it charcoaled the instrument until it was unrecognizable.

Thor slowly started to sit up. He looked around confused for a second, but there was no time to dwell in confusion. "Thor now," Loki called as he looked down at him.

"Now?" Thor echoed his expression perplexed.

"Hit it with lightning," Loki shouted in exasperation.

"What?" Thor blinked for a moment dolefully, but finally, he snapped out of it and quickened. He could feel Jane pushing his shoulders up and hoisting him to his feet. Thor soon righted himself. He heard Loki in the background shouting for him to hit the small red blob with lightning. Thor hated that he had a bit of hesitancy. But his strikes had all been so wild and powerful, strong and unbridled. He wasn't sure that he could focus on such a small target, but if he let lose too much, he was sure that he could bring the whole palace down and it seemed to be barely standing as it was. He tried to remember the things that Loki had taught him in their brief meditation session. Loki talked about control and breathing and focus. Thor took a deep breath and reached out his hand and pointed it toward the small angry blob. The lightning came out in a long, strong, and steadily focused streak. It hit the blob dead center. The blob was illuminated with Thor's electricity and for a moment it froze. A red, shiny sphere that hung in the air as if held up by an invisible string.

"Thor the containment vice," Loki called to the blonde-haired son of Odin as he cupped his pale hands around his thin lips.

The prince of Asgard turned his head and nodded in the direction of Asgard's former dictator. "Sif!" he shouted to the female Einherjar standing nearby. She knew exactly what to do. She reached into the hidden compartments within her armor and pulled out the beautiful vial that Loki had been constructing within the confines of his laboratory. She looked at it for but a moment. It was a fine little vial, made of black Everwood, gold, and pixie dust. It looked like a good casing, but would it work? Loki had even admitted that he'd had to rush the construction process. She gulped. There was only one way to find out. She tossed the vial at Prince Thor. Thor reached up his thunder-filled fist and caught the vial. He opened It out and watch as the frozen blob of Aether rapidly seemed magnetized and drawn to the vial. It was absorbed and trapped.

All the Aesir who beheld the feat cheered wildly for their prince. Thor held the container with the Aether. The Aether blob desperately shook inside the box that held it fast. It rattled and jumped and longed to be free, but it could not escape the vice that Loki had created. "It works!" Lady Sif couldn't help but chime excitedly. A broad smile was displayed plainly on her face and she instinctively punched Frandal in the shoulder in her excitement.

"Ow," the golden-locked swordsman's mouth as he rubbed the newly tender spot on his shoulder. His armor had been mostly shattered in the battle and Lady Sif always did have a mean right hook even when she wasn't trying. "What is that thing?" the Casanova questioned.

"It's a containment vial for the Aether," Lady Sif stated. 'Loki made it...I didn't think it was going to work," she confessed as she shook her head.

"Sif your faith in me is borderline making me blush," Loki stated rolling his eyes. Loki dusted off his shoulders.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Loki's plans normally work," Volstagg stated. He winked his blue eye in the enchanter's direction.

He felt Hogun's hand come up and touch him on the shoulder. The silent warrior gave an affirmative nod. Immediately he felt an arm stretch to sling around his shoulder. He looked to his left and found Frandal's ever-grinning face there. "Well, it's good to have our resident wizard back on the team" he gave a nudge to Loki's narrow chin. Loki looked up with surprise in his jade pupils. He stared straight out in front of him and he saw Hogun giving an approving nod as well. The corners of the enchanter's thin lips turned up slightly. He hoped that the blood on his cheeks would hide if he was starting to blush. There had been many times when he'd felt like he was on the outskirts of the team. He had been Thor's tagalong little brother when they were children and as they grew up, he'd been the odd man out, the only member of the team who wasn't an Einherjar proper, but still he had missed the camaraderie of fighting alongside true friends, not just treacherous allies.

"It sure is," Hogun stated gruffly with his arms crossed over his chest. He gave a wink. Of the members of Thor's merry band, Hogun had been the most apt to acknowledge Loki's abilities.

"Hmph," Lady Sif huffed as she crossed in front of the former dictator. "Sometimes it makes things easier," she added nonchalantly with a shrug, but then she turned to the raven-haired enchanter and gave a quick but genuine smile.

"It works," Thor stated as he stepped closer to Loki. He displayed the containment box to him. "So perhaps this is all we need," he offered. His expression was hopeful. "Maybe this is enough, maybe we can go and get the Aether now," he offered as he pointed toward the bay window where he could make out a few more mages desperately trying to hold the shield and keep the tidal wave of Aether ash at bay. "What you taught me Loki, it worked," Thor confessed he nodded his head emphatically, "Just like you said," he went on.

Loki squared his shoulders where his golden shoulder plates sat, "Well I suppose I know a little something of powers," his signature smug smirk was worn proudly on his face. He rubbed his knuckles and fingernails against the fine armor.

Thor's thick licks curled into a smile, his fingers twitched reflexively, he was tempted to reach out his hand a smack Loki's horned helmet right off of his head. Instead, he mumbled, "Shut up!" playfully. "And thank you," he stated as his blue eye looked in Loki's green one. He reached out his hand and took Loki by the neck. He held him fast there and patted the side of his neck. Loki's pulse trembled, his lip started to quiver and his jade eyes were filled with tears. It had been so long since he'd felt the affectionate familiar gesture...his breath hitched. "Thank you," Thor repeated sincerely.

And in times past, Loki probably would have done a playful gesture back at Thor. He generally didn't like such mushy physical displays which Thor was prone to giving. Thor was more affectionate than he. He was so warm and fuzzy sometimes that Loki would tease him and tell him to give him a kiss for all that. The words seemed to be stuck dangling on to the tip of his silver tongue, but he wouldn't let them fall from his mouth; not yet. Just because they were allied didn't mean they were friends. That was a truth that Loki had learned during his time with Thanos. It certainly didn't mean they were brothers. Maybe they'd never be that again. "You're welcome," Loki just barely managed to mouth back to keep from having his voice shake. He quickly found his smooth and articulate voice once more, "But Thor you will still need Mjolnir and Gungnir," Loki tried to explain.

"I can hit it with my own lightning," Thor insisted, "We don't have time," Thor started to run back out toward the bridge. Loki halted him.

"It won't be enough power. Look at how powerful the Aether has grown...it's nearly at peak...without the two weapons, we won't be able to stop it," Loki went on.

"Well, what am I to do? I can reach Mjolnir and where is Gungnir?" Thor demanded.

"I sent Sigyn to retrieve," Loki explained.

"Sigyn!" Jane gasped. "You sent her alone?" the scientist started to fuss.

"Sigyn knows the catacombs well enough," Loki confirmed. "She'll be fine," the dark-haired enchanter stated. He reminded himself of these facts. Although now he was becoming worried as to what was keeping her. He surely thought that she would be back by now.

"Well, where is she?" Thor looked around wildly. There was a large crowd of Asgardians gathered and huddled in the throne room, but he didn't see the blonde-haired daughter of Admiral Arn anywhere.

"She'll be here," Loki snapped at Thor. "She'll be here," he mumbled again to himself as his own eyes started to scan the area.

"But we don't have much time," Thor continued to insist.

"No, not much time at all," muttered Lord Drek. The wizened mathematician had squatted down and had begun scrawling and doing scratch work in the midst of the dirt and rubble that were the pitiful remains of his beloved abacus.

"I have to go back out there," Thor stated. Bye

"No," Loki held onto Thor's shoulder.

"I have to!" the crown prince of Asgard shouted back in the former dictator's face.

"Prince Thor, please listen to Loki," Lord Drek tried to explain. "With every passing minute the Aether grows stronger...exponentially!" he exclaimed and rose to his feet. "Look!" He pointed toward the equation that he had written out in the black ash. "With every minute we get closer to Convergence, the power of the Aether grows 20 times," the great professor explained. "By the time Convergence is at its peak...you'd need 12 billion Volts of energy..."

"It doesn't seem so hard to render," Thor responded. "You've seen the lightning blasts that I've been able to generate..." he started to express.

"Thor, a normal bolt of lightning is roughly 3 million volts," Jane tried to explain.

"Exactly, I can send off several streaks at once," the thunderer explained to his girlfriend. He beheld Jane's eyes grow wide as she shook her head. He looked at her in bewilderment.

"You could, but Prince Thor that would be very dangerous. You are the son of Odin, but even for you...the risk is great," Heimdal finally chimed in.

"You see how exhausted you've already become generating your lightning on your own," Loki expressed. "To wield that kind of energy... could kill you," Loki expressed as he took a deep breath.

"No," Jane Foster gasped and she gripped up Thor's bulging bicep.

Thor looked down affectionately at Jane, he wanted to stroke her and kiss her and tell her that everything will be alright, but he'd never want to lie to her. Thor straightened himself. "I'll give my life for Asgard, Master Heimdal, you know that. If that's what it takes," he stated.

"It doesn't have to take that Thor," Loki spoke up. "With the hammer and Gungnir we'll have enough energy," Loki explained. "We just have to keep the Aether at bay until we have both weapons," he stated.

"Ummm speaking of energies," Frandal pointed toward the window. Outside of the temporary safety of the throne room they all watched with wide-eyed horror as the Aether grew great and large. It was soon a mighty blood-red swell. It was a wall within its own right that was pressing up against the green shield that the mages were desperately trying to maintain. Bardok shouted out orders here and there. He ran around back and forth informing the other enchanters on the areas where the forcefield was weak and needed reinforcements. He went to assist, but he was running all over frantically like a chicken and the Aether kept growing larger and larger.

"Merciful Yggdrasil," Lady Leoma muttered. The whole of the forcefield seemed as if it was about to be engulfed completely by the power of the Aether. It seemed like an ocean of red had risen up against the energy wall that Loki had worked so hard to create and maintain.

"I've got to get back out there," the pale-skinned enchanter stated. Loki's body reared for a moment ready to run. Thor's thick meaty hand held him in place by the shoulder. Loki turned around and looked over his shoulder, he stared at the golden-locked son of Odin with disbelief.

"We've got to help," Lady Leoma confirmed, she too started to gear her body to be ready to move, but Hiemdal placed his strong body in front of her.

"We're out of time," Lord Drek muttered miserably.

"No," She swung her head back around to face him. Her long gray tendrils, which were sullied with dirt and blood whipped about. By the time she swung her head back the other way her dark eyes were forced to behold the terrible explosion. The power of the Aether finally became too much for the Force field and too much for the mages. The might of the Reality Stone burst through the glowing green energy shield. It completely obliterated the shield. The sound of the destruction was like the sound of 1000 ships blowing up. Power from the explosion caused the remaining windows of the palace to break. Glass splattered all over. Many of the Aesir screamed as they felt splinters of glass fly against their faces. Rubble and debris flew from every which way and direction toward the palace. The citizens of Asgard were coated fresh with the dust bath. They coughed and ran and tried to seek more shelter away from the bay windows The powerful blast sent bodies flying and hurling to the floor, against the walls, and into pillars The who structure seemed to be shaken from its very core. Thor and his companions crashed to the floor completely rattled by the quake that the explosion had caused. The Bifrost bridge cracked. The part that connected the Bifrost to the palace splintered off and fell into the forever sea with a deafening roar. A blinding light burst forth and fragments of crystal quartz shot forth in every direction. They came down and rained back down all over the vacant city like colorful hailstones. With that screams and cries could be heard as the mages who had been trying to defend the force field. All the Aesir who was in the palace bore witness to the bodies of the mages sailing across the sky. Their forms were like shadows against the red haze. Their bodies plummeted into the Forever Sea along with the broken bridge. An extra energy pulse rippled from the explosion and caused the rooves to blow off of the tops of many of the buildings in the city and then it caused many of the homes and structures to be reduced to nothing but piles of pebbles. The fragments of houses and edifices went flying all over the place. Pillars shot forth into the walls of the palace, "Get away from the windows!" Heimdal called to the people of Asgard as his golden eyes' beheld planks of wood, golden beams, silver bricks, solar surfers and other vehicles come hurling toward the windows. "In coming!" his deep baritone voice rang out. He watched as the people gathered one another up in their arms, protecting one another as they tried to find any shelter that they could. Most hid behind the still remaining columns within the throne room, but there were few left. Others scurried and scattered and jumped into the deep craters trenches that had been formed by the attacks. Others, desperately found themselves taking large sheets of metal that had been blown into the throne room from around the dais and trying to shield themselves with that as they curled themselves into tight little balls like armadillos. "TAKE COVER!" The gatekeeper warned the people of Asgard once more. Just before a large piece of the Bifrost Bridge came sailing through the broken glass roof.

There was much commotion going on about him. He heard a cacophony of shouts and yowls and hollers, he heard feet furiously pounding as they ran like the winds trying to find a refuge that was truly nowhere to be found, but still, he couldn't make himself turn around and look at all the chaos. Loki's green eyes stared out at the petrifying sight with wide-eyed fright. He was flat on his face from the way the very foundations of the palace had been shaken from the explosion. Still, he pressed himself to sit up. His trembling hand desperately reached and groped toward his broken forcefield. His long fingers longed to have some sort of power manifest from the tips of them. He wished that he knew of some enchantment that he could perform to restore the shield, to save the mages, but alas his hand trembled as there seemed to be nothing that he could do. Loki balled his hands into tight fists and pounded the ground for just a moment. "No," he muttered miserably. "Bardok," he whispered the name of his former apprentice. He couldn't believe it. Bardok was young, Bardok was betrothed, Bardok was a teacher and leader in the court now, Bardok was his student...someone he should have protected. A tear trickled from Loki's emerald eye as one more of his hands reached out to catch the Master Mage of the court even though he knew he couldn't. The feeling of failure washed over Loki once more. So often in his young life, Loki had felt overlooked. People flocked to be around Thor. Their peers and elders and the young people of the realm all loved Thor, he so often felt like a shadow. As Thor's reputation grew as a warrior, he obtained a nearly cultish following among the people. During the victory parades that they would often have after the eldest son of Odin's many exploits, women would fawn over him, they'd toss down favors at him from their balcony windows, the elder women would shower their prince with petals, the young who were modest would toss handkerchiefs pressed with lip stains and perfume, but the boldest would give lingerie. Children would run along the side of the carriage and call to Thor to sign their toy swords and shields and hammers, but he'd had no such fanfare for the longest time amongst the populace, he couldn't say that it hadn't stung, for of course it had, but then there was Bardok one little boy who had admired him. He had so often tried to be aloof and indifferent toward Bardok, never let it show how much it had actually meant to him to be admired, even in the end... in those final moments to know that on some level Bardok hadn't hated him and hadn't just seen him as some savage creature, but had seen him as he once was. He'd always been so articulate, he'd always known all the right words to say all the time, but in those moments, he found himself sputtering and stuttering just like Bardok once had to convey everything he felt. Bardok had been his apprentice, his friend, his mentee...a younger brother in a sense and he'd let him die.

A knot formed in Loki's throat. He felt like he couldn't breathe. Just like Dagmar, Loki cursed under his breath as he thought about how his actions and his evil had led to the demise of the people who had cared about him the most ...the people he'd cared about the most and how he'd been able to do nothing to prevent it. In fact, he'd been the cause of it. They were both dead because of him, they'd both died trying to prevent what his evil had started. It wasn't fair. It wasn't right. They were both so good, so powerful with enchantments. He wouldn't have thought... he didn't think... it didn't have to end like that...not for them. Maybe for him. He deserved the have such a terrible demise. He wished for it now, pled for it. "Good Norns, please, Spirits please," he cried as he barely managed to allow his eyes to look up into the maroon fog that was growing thick in the chamber of the throne room. He quickly bowed his head. He dare not ask the all-fathers of the past for their help or favor. What right did a usurper of the throne, a traitor, a dictator...a Jotun have to entreat them? Still, Loki couldn't bear the thought of any more Asgardian lives being lost in this battle. Immediately, Loki's mind raced to Sigyn. He gasped as he thought of the beautiful, handmaiden to the queen. He'd sent her on that errand partially to keep her safe, it would get her away from the fighting for, but a moment. She was no coward, oh the contrary, she was one of the bravest people he'd ever met and that was truly saying something, but he unlike her, was not so brave. He wasn't brave enough to live with knowing that he'd been responsible for the death of someone else he cared about. Aether ash started to penetrate through the palace walls. The red and black dust began to fill the space. It caused coughing and obscured the vision, but still, Loki looked around for Lady Sigyn, he hoped that the daughter of Admiral Arn was in the midst of the company of the Aesir gathered, but he didn't see her. Though everyone was moving in a slurry and in a hurry, people rushing about hither and thither in a frantic whirlwind of despondency, he knew Sigyn would be impossible to miss. The Aesir had no lack of beautiful women, but Sigyn had always stood out. Surely, he would be able to catch a glimpse of her distinguished platinum blonde hair even with all the dark dust that fluttered about. His heart beat wildly against his rib cage. He needed to see her, here and know that she was safe. But he didn't. Loki didn't think he would be able to live if he lost another person.

Lord Malekith had allowed the power of the Aether to flow through him in a raw and relentless form. The power of the Reality stone started to take a devastating toll on the leader of the Dark-Elves. He was screaming in pain as it seemed as though he was trying to drain every ounce of the Aether from every fiber of his being. He could scarcely hear a few of his soldiers yelling at him to stop. But he'd not stop. He'd not pay heed to them. This victory was 5000 years in the making and he'd not allow some flimsy force-field to be Asgard's saving grace. Malekith sank to his knees as he still allowed every ripple and wave of the Reality Stone to explode from him with fury. "Must! Must!" Malekith panted as he conducted each and every powerful Aether blast that swirled and banged furiously against the shimmering green forcefield. "Their world must be extinguished!" he howled as he was able to render one last poignant Aether attack that was shaped like a battering ram. Finally, when he'd felt like he had given him his all and as if the power from the Aether was going to be the death of him, the shield was broken. The red blaze and dark shard broke through the magical barrier that Asgard's enchanters had created. The Dark-Elf soldiers cried loudly with excitement as they saw the light and power of their sacred crystal render Asgard's flimsy defense useless. As they cried and danced and cheered wildly amongst themselves, they soon noticed that Lord Malekith was face down. Quickly, the Dark-Elf warriors started to rush toward their most revered general to assist him in his fallen state, but no sooner did they start to move toward the general than did they feel the effects of the explosion. They felt the power from the blast, the wind that blew a few soldiers right off the bridge the bridge rumbled and shook as part of it was about to go crashing down into the Forever Sea a few more of the Dark-Elves fell right off into the waters below.

---

The explosion of the Aether blasts against the force field caused Lord Malekith to fly backward. His body hit the outside of his T-shaped mothership. He hit the outside and bounced off and fell on the ground unconscious on his back for but a moment. The mighty tsunami of Aether ash started to settle and disperse for a moment. As the unconscious leader of the Dark_Elves took deep breaths the Aether seemed to be called back to him. The red ooze twisted and swirled and twirled it's way back to him. It went diving back into his body, into his nostrils, mouth, and ears, and back into his fingertips and ever-exposed pore on his body. Malekith's body convulsed as the Aether took lodging inside him once more. The dust started to settle and cautiously the few Dark-Elf soldier started to crawl toward their leader. The Aether ash was still too thick and the bridge was still far too unstable for them to simply walk across. When they reached Lord Malekith, they quickly grabbed him and started to drag him back toward the T-shaped mothership.

They didn't have a chance to get their leader into their vessel before Lord Malekith started to kick and scream and holler as consciousness came back to him. The Aether flew off of Malekith in small spurts. It struck one of the soldiers in the face and he immediately caused the soldier to harden as if he was made of stone and caused him to fall over and crack onto the ground. The other soldiers immediately jumped back, lest they be struck and transformed as well. "Lord Malekith! Lord Malekith!" one shouted. "Wake up, General! Wake up!" With that Malekith's eyes popped open. They were flaming with hot red tints of the Aether. He growled and fumed as he sprang to his feet. His hand clenched around the soldier's throat and hoisted the elf off of his feet. The soldier's legs kicked about desperately. His lips were concealed by his ghostly mask, but his voice screeched out, "Lord Malekith, Lord Malekith," he cried. "We've made contact with Thanos' sanctuary," he expressed.

Malekith immediately responded with a feral utterance. "Why didn't you tell me, you flaming idiot?' He then stomped off back toward the mothership. His men followed behind him. "Stay here," he ordered the men, "The Asgardians have not given up the fight," he warned. The soldiers snapped to and obeyed the orders of their sovereign. Their soulless eyes hidden behind their masks revealed nothing, still, they exchanged glances. Their ranks had grown thin. There were less than 30 of them. And only 2 remaining Kurseds. Many of the remaining warriors were already badly injured.

Malekith ascended the walkway to the captain bridge within his vessel. He was greeted by his only female warrior. "Lord Malekith, we did make contact, the connection is pretty tenuous," she explained. "The Aether ash causes interference," she went on.

Ruthlessly, Malekith raised a backhand to her. He slapped her blank white mask right off her face. Revealing her equally bloodless face. "Never blame the Aether child!" he warned her. His tone a mockery of paternity. He grabbed her by the cheeks so that her lips puckered out. "It is our source of power and victory," he expressed to her. "Understand?" he questioned once. She nodded within his clasp. He tossed her face to the side and nearly knocked her to the ground. He then just stepped right over her and walked toward his captain's chair where his monitor had a projection of not just the Other, but Thanos himself. Malekith dropped to his knees as he beheld the visage of the Mad Titan.

"My lord," he said reverently as dared to put his hand on the monitor that held the hologram of Thanos. "I trust everything is going according to plan, general," The mad titan began.

"Yes, yes, my liege...mostly," he uttered excitedly in the language of his forefathers.
"Mostly?" Thanos' jaw clenched.

"The power of the Aether is great, my lord," Malekith continued to boast about the glory of the Infinity Stone that Thanos had allowed him to wield. "Loki and Asgard's mages tried to build an energy field to protect their palace, but with the might and fury of the Aether, I was able to vanquish it," Malekith's bloodless lips formed a smile.

"Loki," Thanos rumbled the name of his treacherous ally. Loki was slippery, but malleable as he had been. Thanos had thought that the young wizard was wise enough to join the winning side, but Loki had failed him and even after he'd given him another chance, he still had betrayed him. Thanos hated failure. He didn't allow his children to fail. Nebula, the one who was most prone to failure, had been modified to overcome her weaknesses, the others had been beaten. He'd beat Loki to try to rid him of his greatest weakness, sentiment, but it had been hard to break it; like a bad habit. But more than probable failure, he hated deception and betrayal. Failures could be amended, but Loki by nature was dishonest and you never knew when a dishonest person would do something incredibly stupid. "Do not fail me, Malekith," Thanos uttered.

"No, Thanos! Never!" Malekith began again.

"Do not say never, for you have failed me once!" Thanos snapped and Malekith closed his mouth. "I want Loki's betrayal dealt with," Thanos expressed as he looked bored at his big purple hands. "Kill him if there is no other option, but the option I prefer is you bring him to me," The titan stated.

"As you wish, my lord... it's just..." Lord Malekith started.

"Speak up," Thanos spoke, but his voice was breaking out through the static.

"My force is nearly decimated...I have only two Kurseds left," Malekith stated quickly.

"You have the Aether and the Tesseract!" Thanos shouted. "I'll hear none of your excuses," Thanos slammed his violet palm into his fist.

"They outnumber us greatly," Malekith practically pleaded. "Can you send us no reinforcements?"

The Other stepped forward, he leaned into the view of the monitor and the Dark-Elf general watched as he whispered in Thanos' ear. "Excellent plan," Thanos inclined his head toward his most faithful henchman. "I and my children are still trapped and bound here on the outskirts of the branches of Yggdrasil until you free me," he breathed in deeply. He relished in the thought of being able to make it back to that part of the cosmos once more. It was so rich and so vast. Life was abundant there and yet he desired nothing more than to plunder it all. "But I can send the Chituari," His plum lips stretched into a smile.

"I can send them to a sector right outside of Svartalfheim. It will be close enough that you can use the Tesseract to open another portal and they can come right through and invade Asgard," the Other explained.t

"Yes! Yes! Brilliant!" Malekith exclaimed as he rubbed his ashen hands together.

"I will not be sending the whole army of the Chituari," Thanos confirmed stoically as he crossed his massive arms over his broad chest. "You have an easy window and I will not waste my resources," Thanos confirmed. "This is about you proving yourself to me," the Mad Titan expressed as he leaned back in his great black chair. "If I have to do everything myself, I have no need for you, do I?" Thanos questioned as he raised the thick folds of grape-colored flesh that substituted for eyebrows.

"Yes, my lord," Malekith began to grovel toward the image of the last survivor of Titan. "We shall have victory," Malekith rambled excitedly and slipped into his native tongue. "The Aether shall prosper and darkness shall prevail!" He raised his hands in triumph.

"Oh, you better," Thanos warned. "If you fail me," he began his tone dead serious as he leaned closer to the monitor. His face was so full and focused that it looked as if Malekith would have been able to touch the image of his face. "Oh, your fate shall be 10 times worse than Loki's," he reminded him. The connection quickly faded. Malekith didn't have a chance to get another word in. He didn't know if the Thanos had dismissed him or if it was truly as his soldier has said and that the Aether had caused interference in the connection. Either way, it was ill-timed.

"Get the signal back!" Malekith immediately hollered at one of his soldiers. The soldiers scrambled to obey the leader of the Dark-Elves. His fingers worked overtime dialing and typing.

"I'm sorry, Lord Malekith, but the signal is lost," he shrugged absentmindedly.

The Dark-Elf general turned around coiled like a snake and glared at his soldier. He immediately launched an Aether strike toward his own warrior. The relatively small red blast sent the soldier of Svartalfheim sailing backward and slamming into the computer and navigation system. He nearly caused the system to be destroyed. Another few of the soldiers came and grabbed him by his heaving shoulders. Lord Malekith tossed them off his shoulders with a great heave and shove and with a burst of red energy as he fumed. Malekith was starting to rage and his vehemence was becoming so much that he would have destroyed the ship. Panic, anger, and frustration threatened to overwhelm the leader of the Dark-Elves. He didn't have a chance to ask about how to work the Tesseract. The truth was he truly had no idea how to control the power of the Cosmic Cube. He had been counting on that treacherous worm Loki to truly unlock the power of the Tesseract. Malekith swore loudly because of his foiled plan. He would have to figure it out, but he had so little time and so little manpower.

"Lord Malekith! Please stop!" shouted the female soldier as she ducked and covered as bits of shrapnel from the ship flew about the quarters. Malekith's eyes were red with the power of the Aether; he glared at his soldier. He was not one who ever allowed his subordinates to give him back talk. "There are only a few of us left, my general," she pointed out is she motioned to the few soldiers that were scattered about on the floor holding their sides and moaning. He hated to admit it but she was right and she was their sole female. He'd still needed an army if he was going to defeat Asgard. At least until he could bring the Chituari force through.

Malekith just grunted. He offered no apology for what he had done to his troops. He offered them no words of encouragement. He simply demanded more. "Get out there! Get out there!" he barked at a few of the warriors who did their best to rise to their feet as quickly as Lord Malekith spoke. "You keep trying to get the communication with Sanctuary back up," he spoke sharply to one soldier. "I want you 4 to guard the hammer," he insisted to one Kursed and the female warrior, and two others. They snapped to and saluted and immediately went toward the chamber where the mighty hammer was being held.

---

"What just happened?" asked Jane Foster. She found Thor holding her steady by the elbow and forearm as he helped her off of the floor. A faint dark fog started to seep and slip into the broken walls and windows and into the throne room. She fanned in front of her face and started to cough.

"The Aether," Thor said with a rumble in his throat. "It blew up the force field," he explained.

"And the bridge," Heimdal pointed out. His dark gold eyes cast a sorrowful glance as he looked out over the remains of the Bifrost Bridge. He mashed his lips together. He was far too stalwart to show much emotion, but the destruction of the bridge was a devasting blow figuratively and literally. A sense of failure washed over the gatekeeper. He scoffed at the moniker gatekeeper. He didn't deserve it. He was no longer able to watch over Asgard with vigilance as he once had. He had failed them. He watched as the broken bits of the once brilliantly illuminated fell, dull and colorless, into a raging Forever Sea that was coated with the Aether ash that made it look like some smoldering cauldron.

"The mages! The mages!" cried Lady Leoma as she rushed toward the windows. She waved her hand vigorously back and forth trying to clear the air but more and more dark smoke and red haze continued to pour into the edifice. "We must do something! We must do something!" she shouted in horror. "Come! Come!" she called back to the others. "We must rescue them!" she practically shrieked. She pointed toward that deep dark water that swirled and raged about below the palace. The waters were normally so beautiful and so pristine, but now they were black and wicked. She couldn't make out any figures or forms in the water and there was so much screaming and wailing that was coming from the inside of the palace as the remaining soldiers and citizens of Asgard beheld atrocity after atrocity that she couldn't make out if there were any screams coming from the depths below the palace. "Heimdal! Heimdal," she beckoned the gatekeeper. "Come see if you can find them." Heimdal started to stroll over to where Lady Leoma was desperately looking out over the newly formed wreckage. "Can you see them? Can you see them?" she questioned her dark eyes pooled with tears. She clutched onto his tattered and bloodied cloak. She was practically begging. Some of those mages had been her colleagues within the walls of the academy, some of them had been former students so full of promise, they hadn't even had the chance to really see where their giftings could take them.

Heimdal hung his head, his failure stabbed at him once more. His continued failure was costing the people of Asgard everything. Even the future mages of the realm, many of who were Asgard's best and brightest young minds. Their skills were not normally as prized as those of the warrior yet Heimdal as a man of both skills knew how truly valuable, they were. They were the ones who kept their society so advanced, they furthered their technology, educated their people, engineered their cities and monuments, advanced their medicine, advised and counseled, and protected. That was what the people of Asgard rarely saw, but today they had had the chance to bear witness. They all bore witness. With that, Heimdal managed to raise his head high with that fact resting firmly in his brain. "Lord Heimdal, can you see them?" Lady Leoma asked once more.

"I am sorry, my lady, the power of the Aether has made my eyesight dim," he confessed. "My eyes can no longer see to the heavens to the great forms of the constellations," he cast his golden eyes upward, toward a ceiling filled with holes. He could see the Nine Realms converging above them, but so could everyone else. Heimdal sighed his strong massive shoulders slumped. "Nor can I see into that briny deep," he explained.

"What can you see?' Lady Leoma questioned desperately. The fabled enchantress' powers only were overshadowed by her tender heart. She had many children and grandchildren and it seemed as though she took every student who had ever been under her tutelage as a de-facto grandchild and every person with whom she had become close as a surrogate son or daughter. Her heart ached like a mother's heart at the thought of so many tragic losses.

"No more than you, my lady," Heimdal replied. His head hung low and he removed his golden helmet. "I am sorry," the strong guardian stated. "I have failed and I admit that I am practically useless to you all now," he swallowed thickly.

"Never, Master Heimdal, never," Lady Leoma assured him. The silvery-haired noblewoman reached up her wrinkled hands and touched his grizzled cheek. She felt moisture there.

"That is not true my friend," Prince Thor's voice interrupted the pair. "You will never be useless," he stated and he clapped his hands on Heimdal's strong shoulders. "The Aether has obscured your vision, and it's not your fault."

"I cannot help, but feel responsible," Heimdal confessed with a sigh. "This enemy slipped my watch and tis not first time,"

"But that is because of me," Loki spoke up. "All this evil that has befallen all of you is because of me" the formerly self-proclaimed king of Asgard stated. "I could apologize a million times a day every day for 1000 years and it wouldn't change a thing... it wouldn't make up for what has happened, but," the silver-tongue started his monologue.

"Hmph, darn straight," Lady remarked under her breath. Volstagg heard her and elbowed her in the ribs.

"As much as we would love to hear you grovel, Loki...I'm afraid we are running out of time," the mathematician explained rather urgently. His abacus had been disintegrated, but the timepiece that he had continued to work just fine. "We don't have time at all," he shook his head vigorously. "Behold," he shouted as he pointed upward, "7 of the realms are now in alignment," his breath started to hitch.

"Nornheim is on its way into the alignment," pointed out Master Heimdal. "Last will be Nilfheim, then Malekith will be able to unleash the Aether freely."

"But why doesn't he?" questioned the astrophysicist. "Why not just start now?"

"It is the power of the Aether, it has drained him," Loki explained. "Think about what it did to you, Jane Foster," Loki reminded her. Jane thought for a second. "Think about the devastating toll that it took on your body. You are mortal. Your constitution is no match for the might of an Infinity Stone," Loki explained. Jane was amazed to find that his tone wasn't mocking her for her feeble mortal form, he was simply stating the scientific facts. "But indeed, few beings are capable of wielding the stones. The Aether in particular has the power of destruction within it. Malekith has studied for centuries and he knows the inner workings of the crystal better than most. But the Aether still takes a mighty toll on his body," Loki continued to expound. "Although this loss is great," the green-eyed enchanter admitted. He shut his eyes as one more flash of Bardok's face flashed before him. "It does by us a much-needed window," he managed to say, but he didn't hide the warble in his voice. "Malekith needs to rest and regroup. He exposed so much of the Aether he will need to allow it to replenish within him," he turned to Thor. "Thor that will allow you a chance to get to the hammer. Naturally, Malekith will be temporarily weakened!" Loki's eyes lit up. Thor looked at the trickster with a curiously raised golden brow, he knew that familiar gleam in the trickster's green eyes. "if we can hold them off you should be able to get aboard Lord Malekith's ship, retrieve your hammer in the nick of time," Loki said snapping his fingers.

Thor looked around. The Aesir people were strong, but they were weakening by the minute. They had endured so much. There were only a few minutes left and with each passing second another tragedy struck them. They were losing more and more citizens. Thor shook his head. No, he couldn't keep risking their lives. "I don't want to risk any more Asgardian lives," Thor conferred.

"My prince, everyone knows the risk," expressed Frandal. "They are willing to fight...they have to be...it's only for a little while more," the golden-haired swordsman went on.

"Truly," Lord Drek spoke up, "We have less than a half-hour before Convergence is at its peak." he reminded the blonde-haired son of Odin.

"I fear that we trust sending the people out there to lambs to the slaughter," Thor's bloodied lip twisted downward.

"Aesir are never sheep, my lord, they are wolves," Master Heimdal reminded the leader of the legions of Asgard. "And you are the Eagle of Asgard, that shall lead them once again," Heimdal inclined his head toward Thor's helmet. It was tarnished and banged and beat up, coated with dust and mud and probably blood, it no longer sparkled with its silver glow, but still, the wings were there and still visible for all to see and be reminded of the name that their prince had rightly earned for his valor so many centuries ago.

Before long in the midst of the tragedy of watching the rainbow bridge crack, crash, and crumble into the Forever Sea and watching their mages, their friends, and family members be blown away and watching the destruction of their city, the people managed to start clapping and applauding. They were hooting and hollering rallying in another battle cry and shouting the praises of their prince. "We're with you to the end Prince Thor!"

"FOR ASGARD!"

"ALL HAIL THE EAGLE OF ASGARD!

"All HAIL THE LION OF ASGARD!" They echoed and sang in chorus. The blood on his cheek covered his blushing, but Prince Thor was overwhelmed by the pride and courage, and tenacity of his people. They believed in him and he could not fail them would not fail them. They only had one shot and one chance.

"The people are ready, my liege," Volstagg said giving one more sweeping bow in the direction of the heir to the throne.

"If this goes wrong..." Thor started to mutter his strong thunderous voice as low as he could manage to make it so that only those in his immediate circle could hear, "We could lose the whole city," he confided in them. The people of Asgard were looking to him, counting on him and he didn't want all their faith and courage to lead them to disaster. He didn't want to face the judgment of the all-fathers of the past for his failure.

"If it truly all goes wrong, Thor, we will lose the whole of the Nine Realms," Lady Sif stated to him. He knew that she was right.

Loki leaped to the top of one of many fallen pillars scatter all around the throne room. He put himself in the center where the people could see him. "PEOPLE OF ASGARD!" the silver-tongued enchanter raised his voice over the clamoring and clapping of the boisterous crowd. "This is it! This is the last stand for Asgard and subsequently all the Nine Realms," he pointed above his head with a long bony porcelain finger. The eyes of the Aesir followed and they saw How right over their heads large holes had formed in the darkened sky right over the center of the throne room. "Only one portal remains to come into the alignment," he explained to them. "When that portal joins the others then all the worlds will have Converged," the enchanter continued to expound. "Once that happens, Malekith will have a very brief, 12-minute window to unleash the Aether and allow its chaos to spread like wildfire. But the truth is that will not be enough time for Lord Malekith to achieve his whole goal," Loki thought for a moment. Dare he tell the people of Asgard of Thanos? Of how the mad-titan lurked behind one of the doors of the portals waiting desperately for the Tesseract to grant him entrance back into the Nine Realms of the Cosmos. Loki's eyes quickly shifted back and forth as he weighed the pros and cons of what such a revelation could mean for the people of Asgard who were assembled. They had already been through so much; they didn't need another blow to make them lose heart or hope. They needed to be strong in the final moments. Besides, if all went well...well of course there was always the chance that all wouldn't go well, and at this point... that was a big chance. Loki gulped as he tried to convince himself that he was turning over a new leaf. That he wasn't going to be a pessimist...at least not at this very moment for pessimism surely would get them nowhere. So, he'd be hopeful. The people of Asgard didn't even know who Thanos was and if all went well, well they'd never have to. "Malekith will need to use the power of the Tesseract, to hold the portals open," the Master Mage continued to explain to the people. If he would have taken a pause a moment longer, he was sure that the people would have grown suspicious. "These are our two windows. These are our two last gloriously golden opportunities provided to us, by the Norns and the great kings of the past," he articulated so eloquently that it was nearly poetic. "Stop Malekith before he unleashes the Aether, but if we can't we must, by all means necessary keep him from using the Tesseract," Loki declared as he slammed his hand into his palm. The raven-haired enchanter was surprised to find the people of Asgard nodding along in agreement with his words. He was surprised to see the resolve in their eyes. He couldn't be sure, but he even thought that he heard some faint clapping. The edges of Loki's mouth moved upward in a manner that was undetectable. The enthusiasm among the crowd of Aesir mounted. Loki nodded, once more believing in himself that he had made the right decision in not telling the people of Asgard about Thanos. It would only incite panic rather than bolster their resolve as his speech obviously had. He was turning over a new leaf and he hadn't lied or tricked...anyone... he hadn't...he simply hadn't told everything.

"But the Aether is so powerful... and so great...what do we have left?" A few nervous rumbles came from the crowd.

Loki's eyes narrowed. Just that quickly the courage and might were slipping from their grasp. "Good people of Asgard we still have much!" the reformed dictator spoke up. "We have the blood of our ancestors!" he reminded them. "The blood of warriors so powerful that they brought peace and stability to the universe," he reminded them. "Warriors so great, that they were worshipped. We have the surprisingly useful invention of an astute scientist, albeit a mortal one," Loki inclined his head in the direction of the auburn-haired astrophysicist. Jane gave a slight humph, but the look that she shot back at the trickster wasn't indignant, rather almost mirthful. The crowd of Aesir laughed but they whistled and cheered for Lady Jane Foster. "We have legendary warriors, Lady Sif, Volstagg the Vast, Hogun the Grim and Frandal the Dashing," Loki waved his hand toward his old friends. They stepped forward proudly on top of the makeshift pedestal that Loki had made out of a fallen pillar. Hogun stood there like a pillar himself, stoic, but strong. Volstagg was able to put on a battle-ready grin and Frandal clasped his hands together into one fist and shook them vigorously over his head causing a few maidens to swoon. Lady Sif stepped up on the pillar and stood right next to Loki and she placed her hand on his shoulder and nodded to him. Probably in all his years even when he was not an enemy of Asgard the people had not seen such an act of solidarity between the scheming, grinning, green-eyed trickster and the fearsome female. "We have our elders, Master Heimdal, Lady Leoma, and Lord Drek, their wisdom has served us before and it shall serve us once more. And we have the son of Odin," Loki finally stated. He was nearly breathless as he turned back to face Prince Thor, but he did not see him when he turned around because Prince Thor was standing by his side.

The crown prince of the realm grabbed the once self-proclaimed king of Asgard's hand and lifted it up in the air. He looked down at Loki fondly. His eyes were watery, his mouth twitching. He wanted to say that they had 2 sons of Odin, but something in him held him back. It kept his tongue down. He couldn't make that statement, not now, not before these people, people who had lost their homes and livelihoods and loved ones because of Loki. No. It was too bold of a word choice. He'd never been careful with words, but he was learning. Loki had betrayed them... betrayed him, he didn't even know if his parents were alive or dead and they could have very well been dead and if they were dead, it was because of Loki. Still, he kept hold of Loki's pale hand and raised it proudly in the air above his head. "And we have Asgard's most powerful enchanter," the thunderer proclaimed. With that, the Asgardians went ballistic.

"Well done, well done," Heimdal said as he came up behind Loki and placed his thick brown hands-on top of Loki's high golden shoulder plates. He only gave the faintest of grins, but his bright golden eyes shimmered with pride. Instantly, the gatekeeper began calling to the people. He split them up into factions telling them where to go and who to work with. Jane maintained a small group that still had their reactors. They were considered the final form of defense. They posted themselves strategically in the throne room. Lady Sif and the Warriors 3 were each given groups of the remaining warriors amongst them. Likewise, Lady Leoma and Lord Drek went with the brave civilians who were still willing to fight. The warriors would be placed in front and the citizen soldiers would make up the rear.

"We shouldn't have to worry much about Malekith's army," Loki explained to Thor. "He didn't have many troops left to begin with. He can't have more than 30 men now."
"But what about his illusions with the Aether?" the golden-haired prince questioned.

"It wouldn't be strategically wise for Malekith to use the Aether to create a grand illusion," Loki informed him. "He won't have enough energy. He needs to conserve the power now to unleash it on the cosmos."

"I still need to get the hammer," Thor responded once more.

"Yes," Loki nodded. "But that shouldn't be a problem, we must allow the people to handle most of the battler, I can conceal you in order to get you onto Malekith's ship, I'll have to stick close to you," Loki explained. "The Aether's power is still too thick and dense and it dampens my own abilities," Loki confessed he quickly looked down. "I won't be able to cloak you from a distance."

THor's golden brows quirked. "Surprising, I sense it is an agent of chaos, I am surprised it doesn't heighten your abilities," Prince Thor gave Loki a wink. Loki's eyes widened for but a moment. Their old nursemaid, stodgy, old Helga always called him an agent of chaos for all the impish trouble he'd caused her. Thor didn't waste time letting the joke play out, though, he quickly returned his attention to the trouble at hand. This brief respite that they had been given wouldn't last for long. He could practically feel Malekith making ready his next attack. "I still need Gungnir," Thor stated quickly. He looked around. "You'll have it," Loki snapped back. "I sent Lady Sigyn to retrieve it," he reminded the prince.

"And she hasn't returned yet," Thor pointed out

"Perhaps she heard all the fighting and she took cover," Loki stated. He could only hope that that was what she did. That was surely what he'd wanted her to do.

"No," Lady Jane came up behind Thor, "I know that Sigyn wouldn't run away, she's far too brave for that," she insisted. "Something must have happened to her. Perhaps, I should go look for her," the young scientist stated.

"You!" the brunette shield-maiden broke away from her troop and came up scoffing. "You do not know the palace. I shall go," Sif proclaimed.

"No," Prince Thor remarked sternly. Both women turned to face the leader of Asgard with bewildered expressions. "No," the thunderer said in a gentler tone. "I need both of you here," Thor stated flatly. "Sif you are the most capable warrior we have, your small squadron will need you and Jane, your team will need you in case there is any trouble with the reactors," Thor spoke sense.

"Then let me go," Loki replied quickly. "it's my fault that she's missing in action," the dark-haired enchanter expressed. It wasn't supposed to be a wild goose chase, Loki was sure that he'd moved Gungnir to his chambers and surely Sigyn knew the way there. Still, it was taking too long, way too long and he was starting to fear the worst. Perhaps she was hurt? Loki's heart pounded furiously within his chest at the thought of another person that he cared about being hurt because of him. He didn't know if he would ever be able to live with himself for thinking of the lives that he'd taken of his own people or the lives that he'd caused to be taken. Loki reminded himself that if they didn't all act swiftly, with precision, and with force he wouldn't have to worry about living with himself.

"No," Thor turned back declared, and grabbed Loki by the shoulder.

Loki glared at him. "As if you could stop me," Loki quickly remarked and pushed Thor's hand off of him.

"Loki!" Thor called him. "You were the one who stated that you would need to conceal me," Thor reminded him. "Or was that a lie?"

Loki's gemstone eyes narrowed and then rolled as he looked at the strapping blonde-haired man. "it's no lie, I will conceal you. It'll only take me a moment to teleport..."

"If you go, I can't trust you," Thor responded stiffly. He hated to say it. He hated to feel that way. Loki had been acting as an ally and maybe he was but the alliance was tenuous. He'd not be tricked again like some innocent babe in the woods. He wouldn't walk into Loki's schemes blindly. Letting Loki out of his sight had already cost them the Tesseract and an item they hadn't been able to afford to lose. Maybe Loki had done it as he said with the pure intentions to save Lady Sigyn, but he couldn't be sure and he couldn't risk it.

"I have shown you my allegiance," Loki argued.

"Then why do you desire to slip off so badly?" Thor raised his thick gold brows.

Loki shook his head. "I desire to rescue Sigyn and bring you Gungnir," Loki insisted.

"We do not know that Lady Sigyn needs rescuing," the deep baritone voice of the Asgard's great gatekeeper interrupted the arguing. "We must believe that Lady Sigyn will come through," he stated. "Lady Sigyn is capable. She rescued me," he boasted.

"And me," Prince Thor chimed in.

"And me," Loki admitted. He blew a breath out the side of his mouth and allowed his crooked smile to be displayed as he thought of Sigyn's boldness and tenacity in rescuing him. "Fine," Loki said relenting, "We follow through with the plan as is, for now, we'll give Sigyn more of an opportunity to reach us..."

"Excuse me, Prince Thor, we have movement," Called Frandal from his position. His voice sounded a bit frantic. He had a small band of other warriors who were handy with steel and he was ready to move them out as a first line of defense. Of course, all of the men had sustained severe injuries. Some were coming to fight who barely could hold up their own blades, but still, they started to follow behind the master swordsman.

Through the thick, red dust and black smog that swirled about the Asgardians could make out the grotesque forms of Malekith's meager force. "We can take them, there aren't many," one of Frandal's soldiers insisted. He was eager. He gritted his teeth and twisted his foot into the dirt, hardly able to suppress his desire to go and cut the enemy down.

"Easy there, my boy," Frandal insisted to the warrior who was around his same age. "They don't have to be many, they still have more firepower than us, we must proceed with caution,' the normally rambunctious Einherjar general explained. '"I don't want to lose another soldier if I don't have to," he reassured the warriors as he placed a steadying on the man's shoulder. Frandal gave quick instructions in a shout and started to march his group out. Lady Sif saw her friend moving into an advanced position and made haste to do the same.

"The broken bridge will slow them down," Lord Drek stated. "But it will buy us only a few minutes," he expressed as he turned toward the prince of the realm.

The few remaining Dark-Elves moved from their mothership. They were strapped with as much ammunition as possible for the battle. With the Asgardians easily outnumbering them 20:1 they would have to rely heavily on their firepower. They'd have to overwhelm them with swift assaults. As they marched toward the edge of the rainbow bridge, they immediately began to try to pepper the palace with rapid firing off of their blaster. Bright bursts and displays pierced through the darkness like flashes of lightning and they screamed and whirled and howled as they shot through the year. The Asgardians had prepared themselves for the vortex-forming blasters that the Dark-Elves possessed. This time the soldiers had taken to using ropes and tethers to keep themselves from being sucked into the crushing miniature black holes.

---

While still inside the security of the stronghold of his vessel, Malekith pulled out the Tesseract. He stared at the beautiful blue cube. The way it glowed was enough to enchant him yet he knew little of how to work the other Infinity Stone. His wife, an Aether priestess had taught him the inner workings of the Reality Stone, but even she had not shown him the secrets of how to create illusions. He tried to think that maybe she didn't know, he tried to say to himself. But he thought better of it and he thought that she had purposefully kept him from the knowledge. In the end, he knew that she had completely supported his war effort. If she had tried to stop him from his ruthless quest, then she had failed. She was dead and he was alive and thriving and about to take over. He scraped his long nails across the edges of the Space stone. It flashed and flickered. It was so beautiful and mysterious, perhaps he would soon come to discover its secrets too. Within him, he felt the Aether start to surge and bubble. Malekith's bloodless lips curled into a smile. He stroked his skin purring at himself. "Jealous, my beauty?" he teased as he talked to the Reality Stone. "Fear not, you shall always be my mistress," reminded the Aether. Still, the closer he remained with the Tesseract, the more he felt the energy of the Aether being awakened and quickened within his skin. As the Aether continued to come in contact with the other Infinity Stone the Tesseract seemed to glow deeper and deeper from the inside. "Yes, alas," Malekith cried, "the Convergence shall help bring this all to pass," he assured himself. He allowed the Aether to be drawn to his palm. Red energy swirled there. With the Aether concentrated there he watched as the Cosmic Cube began to react. Little electric sparks flew off of it.

Malekith continued to gleefully play with the Tesseract. "Lord Malekith! Lord Malekith!" a voice called from the communication system. "We are at an impasse," the Dark-Elf soldier explained. "The bridge has been completely blown. We cannot get to the other side," he said panting.

"Imbeciles!" the general shouted in rage. "Must I do everything myself for you, pea brains," he continued to insult his mean. Have the Kurseds put you on their backs and jump across," he expressed and then immediately shut off his communication device. He went back to concentrating on the Tesseract. He hit with the energy of the Aether.

The warrior of Svartalfheim conveyed the message of their leader to the rest of those who were with him. The soldiers who had taken on the Kursed grunted and groaned a response. It was risky as there was a great chasm between the two sides of the bridge. Still, the monsters among them began to call to other soldiers they piled about 5 other soldiers on their backs each. They were amazed to find they weighed nothing on their backs. The Kurseds stepped back, they were grunting and fuming with passion as they charged full speed ahead and leaped off the edge of the bridge. They went sailing over the raging Forever Sea and through the dense and thick red haze. The soldiers on their backs continued to throw grenades that formed vortexes and bombs that could cause craters while they were in the air. The Aesir took evasive action, they quickly maneuvered to stand behind pillars and went back into the palace that was nearly crumbling to shield themselves. When they emerged, the bloodless faces of the soldiers' masks could be seen stalking about. They immediately started to shoot their weapons. But they didn't meet any Aesir. From on high Hogun had his battalion pelt the Dark-Elves with rocks and golden bricks from the palace. This caught the enemy by surprise. This gave Frandal and Lady Sif's small troops the chance to render a counterattack. They came with swords drawn high and they immediately stabbed and sliced through the enemy. The Kurseds' wasted no time in leaping back and forth carrying forth more and more of the Dark-Elf troops. The Dark-Elves continued to use their artillery to their advantage They rained down their vortex blows of the Aesir causing thee to retreat. A few brave Aesir soldiers came out swinging axes. They easily were able to outfight the warriors. But Kurseds stood their ground in defense of the few soldiers left from Svartalfheim. When axes, swords, and arrows were thrust at them the blows just bounced right off their hides.

Heimdal saw how the Kurseds were overpowering the Asgardians The great golden-eyed gatekeeper went gallivanting onto the edge of the bridge to stand as a guardian. He pulled out the sheathed sword of Asgard. He stood tall and resolutely waiting for the next wave of Dark-Elves to come forth. He watched with an eagle's eye as the Kursed hopped back and forth like some type of lethal rabbit. Some of the Dark-Elf soldiers who rode upon their backs started to get the fervent fever of battle and they leaped off of the Kursed's back before the creature could touch down on the other side of the bridge. Before they could even land Master Heimdal took the sword of Asgard and cut them out of the air. Their severed bodied fell dead onto the edge of the bridge. Seeing the death of so many of their fellow Dark-Elves sent the Kurseds into a raging state. They became like bulls, they bucked about and stampeded through the lines of Aesir soldiers, who were firing arrows and striking them with swords. The Kurseds were unphased by such attempts to thwart them. Instead, hulking behemoths would pick up a warrior of Asgard and fling them aside as if they were nothing. They ruthlessly tossed them into the walls and sent their broken bodies hurling back through the palace. Heimdal went to attack one from the rear. He used the Sword of Asgard, which had been forged by the dwarves for the first king of Asgard. Its metal was so strong that it could be used to open the Bifrost and Master Heimdal was sure that it was strong enough to pierce the hide of those monsters. Heimdal took the mighty sword and struck the Kursed in the shoulder. The Kursed screamed out like a mastodon in a tar pit. It turned around and roared. Heimdal's hands were still holding onto the hilt of the sword. It was stuck in the thick molten flesh of the Kursed. Heimdal watched in horror as the Kursed's body began to absorb the sword of Asgard. Soon he watched as the creature's skin began to take on the aspects of the sword. His already rock-hard body took on a shiny veneer. Heimdal would not let off the handle of the blade. The Kursed allowed a spike to grow from its foot. It then kicked backward, i's spike pierced through Heimdal's armor and into his kneecap. Heimdal cried out as the sharp spike from the Kursed's foot dug deep into his kneecap. His hand finally slipped from the hilt of the sword. The Sword of Asgard lost into the Kursed. Heimdal was on the ground gasping and holding his knee, he beheld as the monster's skin became metallic and shiny. It looked impervious. Heimdal's eyes watered. The Kursed then turned back around to face Heimdal. It rumbled and chuckle and basked in its newfound coating. It strutted proudly in its sterling skin. Then once more set its sights upon Heimdal and began stumping him with iron feet.

Heimdal tried to roll away and stand up quickly on his other leg, but Kursed's powerful kick brought the gatekeeper back to the floor. The spikes from his feet continued to puncture Heimdal's tarnished golden armor. To be crushed by the enemy in such a manner was not how Lord Heimdal how imagined entering the gate of Valhalla. Surely, his failures would render him unworthy to even sit at the banquet table of the great kings of the past. Through the haze around him, he could make out that while the Kursed was distracted with trying to stomp him to death it gave the rest of the Aesir warriors the chance to overpower the other Dark-Elves. Heimdal's thick lips curled upward. He sighed in relief. "For Asgard," he breathed, and his eyes clothes.

"Master Heimdal!" Thor called as he saw his dear friend and esteemed mentor being pummeled underfoot by a metallic Kursed. Prince Thor had been fighting the two other Kursed. He hit them with lightning bolts, but he had to use control less he struck like the warriors of Asgard unwittingly.

Loki was by his side. The two were nearly fighting back-to-back. A few Dark-Elf soldiers seemed to have had the raven-haired enchanter surrounded. They spoke to each and shouted at Loki in their guttural language. They hurled insults at him calling him a traitor and calling him dead meat. They tried to order him to come with them, insisting he surrender to the and to Malekith. They didn't even use their blasters as their desire was to capture him. Loki smirked as this was their tremendous folly. He smirked. The expert knifeman lured them in. His hands were quick as lightning and light as the wind. He hit them with rapid jabs and stabs, He pulled them in and twirled them around as if they were doing a dance slit their throat. They fell listless as dolls at his feet. He turned his attention to see where the gold-locked son of Odin had directed his attention. He too, saw where Heimdal was being smashed. "I'll go!" the raven-haired enchanter called over his shoulder to the crown prince of Asgard. Thor merely gave a confirmation as he continued to punch at the other Kurseds shooting bold after bolt a bolt of bright lightning out of his fists in the direction of the monsters.

Loki quickly made his way through the commotion and chaos of the battle. Nimbly, he slank and dodged and weaved through the blows and clashes of steel. He made his way quickly toward the gatekeeper who was starting to have blood pool around him. "Hold on, Heimdal" Loki muttered quickly as he pushed toward Heimdal. Cruelly, the Kursed kicked Heimdal in the face. Blood poured from his cheek after the Kursed's long talons scraped against his cheek. The Kursed let out his grizzly laugh that sounded more like a growl. He roared a few words in the language of the Dark-Elves. He bragged about the reward he expected to receive from Lord Malekith for killing one of Asgard's elite. Heimdal managed to crack open his swollen eyes just in time to see the Kursed raising his metallic foot to stomp him once more. Heimdal's strong hands took hold of the foot as it was about to come down. His strength was starting to fail. Just as he felt as though he could no longer hold the foot, he heard a sharp whistle. Heimdal couldn't raise his neck or turn his head, but for a brief moment the Kursed's bulbous, horned cranium turned in the direction of the enchanter with the golden horned helmet. "Hey gruesome," Loki called.

"YOU'RE NEXT!" the Kursed shouted in the language of the Dark-Elves. Loki could scarcely detect a smile on the monstrous mouth full of tusks. When the beast looked back down it was left gaping as the body of its victim was nowhere to be found. It looked back up at the trickster who didn't stand too far off smugly smirking and wiggling his fingers in its direction. The Kursed hollered horridly and tore after Loki. Its beady blackened eyes narrowed as it scanned the feuding crowd for signs of Loki's signature golden horns. In the midst of the dark clouds of Aether ash, and blood, spit and sweat that flew about in the heat of battle, the Kursed managed to spy the faint shine of his golden crests. As soon as the Kursed would see the flicker or gleam of the helmet it would run furiously in that direction. It would practically trample any Aesir in its path, but no sooner had it gotten close enough to grab that traitorous would-be king than did he disappear. He darted back and forth desperately trying to grab him.

Meanwhile, Loki retrieved Heimdal from being smashed into a pile of rubble. He brought him to the safety and shelter of the throne room. Lady Leoma had been giving instructions to a few others when she spied Heimdal's strong form slung over Loki's lanky frame. She moved quickly toward them. Jane Foster also noted the pair. Loki laid Heimdal behind the broken throne gingerly. "You'll be alright, Master Heimdal," Loki stated as he carefully removed the battered armor of the gatekeeper.

Heimdal's eyes were purple with bruising, his nose was bleeding and his lip was bloodied as well. Still, he wore a jovial facial expression. His baritone voice came out cracked, but he managed, "I saw you coming."

"Of course, you did," Loki nodded and rolled his eyes to keep from letting moisture fall. He had never seen the resolute guardian look so battered. He had never seen the imperial city look like an inferno, though either. It was all his fault.

"Many thanks, my prince," Heimdal offered as he reached out his hand to clasp Loki's.

"I should be thanking you," Loki stated as he squeezed his old mentor's hand. "For everything," he whispered. "We'll have you fixed up in no time," Loki insisted as he rubbed his hands together.

"No," Heimdal cautioned as he squeezed Loki's hand to halt him from performing his healing. "Save your energy," he insisted. "There isn't time," he explained sternly. The enchanter wanted to argue, but it would be unwise to not heed Heimdal's ever-sage advice. He moved Heimdal a little closer to the actual throne. In its nearly shattered state upon the dais, it looked like nothing to be so envied or coveted. It didn't look like something that one would betray their loved ones over. Yet, it meant everything. It stood for honor and justice, civility and peace and he'd almost let that be destroyed. Loki did his best to prop up Lord Heimdal, to aid his coughing. "Perhaps the all-fathers of the past will allow the energy to flow through me once more," he admitted. He leaned his head back against the marble and gold of the throne.

"They will," Loki assured him. "Noone is more worthy than you. You have always protected the throne, now allow the throne to protect you," Loki stated as he placed his hand on his shoulder.

"What happened?' Lady Jane and Leoma called in unison coming from different directions.

"Lord Heimdal is severely injured," Loki informed them.

Jane gasped and covered her mouth. "Damn it," Jane mumbled angrily as she beheld Heimdal stated. "I wish all these doctorates were actually good for something." her heart pounded. She remembered when her old boyfriend, Donald Blake, and she would often have heated debates about their fields of study. He was always trying to convince her to go into medicine. He thought that medicine was a superior study. In part, his condescension had been part of the reasons why they broke up, but now she was almost starting to believe he was right.

"What you have done has been very useful, my dear. Do not doubt that," Lady Leoma stated. She wished she could believe the wise woman's words. "I will stay with Heimdal," she confirmed and crouched down next to him. "Prince Thor needs you. Go!" she ordered.

Loki didn't hesitate. He followed his old teacher's directions and he quickly turned the corner around the throne room with the auburn-haired astrophysicist on his heels. As they turned, they watched as a team of Aesir soldiers vigorously tried to tackle the Kursed. Several leaped on his back. Others struck and attacked him with their weapons. The Kursed was a juggernaut, seemingly unphased by any attempt to impede him. The Kursed had him in its sight. It growled and chucked everyone and everything off of him. The Asgardians went flying in every direction. They hit the walls and tumbled into each other like dominos. It created a path for which the Kursed could come barreling toward Loki. Loki stood his ground and readied his daggers. Jane immediately stepped in front of him and planted a quickly repaired reactor in the cracks of the marble floor. She cranked up the knobs on her remoted and caused a huge ripple. With claws outstretched and a mighty roar, the Kursed creature disappeared into thin air. Loki turned to Jane with wide eyes for a moment. "I'd say your doctorates are useful for something, mortal," he confirmed and gave her a wink.

"Lord Malekith! Lord Malekith!" a weak but frantic voice called into the communication system that ran throughout the Dark-Elf ship. "Mayday! Mayday! Lord Malekith! Please, we need help we are about to be overrun," the voice was cut short and garbled strangled sounds radiated across the speakers throughout the ship. Malekith didn't even flinch at what he heard. His black eyes remained ever-focused on the Tesseract. With the help of the Aether, the Tesseract was starting to obey his commands. He concentrated on the space stone as he concentrated on the Aether. The cube slowly started to shoot off a more concentrated blast of energy. They came out in large and long blue and white streaks.

"Yes! Yes!" Malekith called excited as he beheld the reactions.

Just then, one of the soldiers that Lord Malekith had ordered to stay on his ship and guard the hammer came bursting forth through the door of the his sanctum. "My general!" the soldier cried in earnest. As the door whooshed open he immediately took a knee. Malekith simply snarled at him and pumped an Aether blast that sent the warrior careening into the metallic wall. He fell on the floor of the ship and squirmed indignantly as he gasped and clutched his side.

"How dare you leave your post!" Malekith shouted. His eyes gleamed with the dark substance.

"Forgive me, forgive me, my lord," he stated as he got himself to his knees and folded low before the leader of the Dark-Elves. Though that name would soon lose its meaning. He kept his face facing through the ground to not incur any more of the general's wrath. "Did you hear the message? The Aesir have nearly destroyed all our force," his breath hitched. "We need help sire; we need your help. We need the Aether," he pleaded.

Lord Malekith stomped over toward the soldier. He held the Tesseract in his hands adoringly. The expression on his face soften as he placed his boot under one of his remaining warrior's chins and nudged it upward so that the no-account soldier could make eye contact with him. "Don't worry, soldier, we shall have all the help we need soon enough. "Come!" he ordered and he didn't even look over his shoulder as he marched onward. Malekith went to the elevator of his ship and he and the soldier descended from the T. When they reached the base of the T-shape, Malekith walked to his gangplank, and the escalator-like structure unraveled before him with his steps. He stood and beheld the Asgardians, those miserable wretches decimating what was left of his force. Only one of his Kurseds and roughly a dozen soldiers remained. The fighting blazed on around him. He saw his warriors from Svartalfheim doing the best they could to fire off their blasters and launch grenades, but the Aesir fought bravely and tenaciously with their swords and bows. Malekith could feel his anger bubbling and rising as he watched the massacre. The Aether bubbled and brewed and longed to escape him. With that, he threw the Tesseract upward.

"Lord Malekith what are you doing?" asked the baffled soldier who was behind him. Malekith answered him, not a word. He kicked his food back and out of it shot a ball of bright, red energy. Once more the soldier flew back, this time his armor was smoking and the exposed skin start to blister. He was screaming from the ground. Malekith didn't seem to notice. He raised his hand toward the blue cube that rotated in the air. He looked as if he was going to catch it, but instead, he shot the Aether forth from his hands. Catching the cube in a power blast of the Aether. Massive bursts started to come from off of the Tesseract.

"It looks like we have got them on the run," Frandal called out to Volstagg as he observed how many Dark-Elves had been slain.

"Aye, aye, good work my friend," the plump warrior slapped his companion on the back.

"It'll be easy for us to hold them off now," Lady Sif stated proudly as she wiped her. She had just finished ramming her double-bladed spear through one of their enemies. "Thor! Go!" Lady Sif called as she waved to him. The prince had taken one of the Dark-Elf blasters and broke it over one of their bloodless masked heads. He had then slapped the others who were encircling him with the same broken blaster. They fell like dominoes.

The golden-haired son of Odin looked around triumphantly. He raised a thunderous fist in the air. Lightning crackled around it. The warriors of Asgard cheered. "LOKI!" Thor called loudly to the enchanter. Now was their perfect opportunity to go and retrieve Mjolnir. Thor started to take heart it seemed that they actually had a chance of pulling this thing off. Thor took off running toward the edge of the cracked Bifrost. He figured Loki would catch up with him there.

The Asgardians had subdued most of the Dark-Elves. Some of the Aesir had started to cry out, "Huzzah! Huzzah!" excitedly as they saw that the victory had almost been won. Their exclamations were soon cut short as they started to notice what was happening on the opposite side of the Rainbow Bridge. Lord Malekith stood on the opposite side of the chasm. His hands raised as waves of the Aether started to swirl out of him. In the center of a red vortex, there was a bright blue light that shined forth, pure and unwavering.

The enchanter and the scientist had made their way back outside of the throne room and now stood in the midst of the warriors. The Warriors 3 and Lady Sif made their way toward the pair. The army of Asgard stopped their battling and stood gaping at the sight giving the warriors of Svartalfheim who were less than a full dozen a chance to regroup. "What's happening?" Hogun questioned as he beheld the terrifying sight. Frandal and Volstagg shook their heads in disbelief.

"He's opening another portal," Loki explained as he saw the Tesseract shoot off its powerful blast right into the sky.

"What? Why?' Sif immediately questioned. The warrior woman quickly grabbed her weapon.

"It makes no strategic sense," Jane expressed. "The worlds are already pretty much in alignment...to open another one would just prolong the Convergence," she pointed out the portals and how they had all properly gathered overhead.

"Maybe that's what he wants," Volstagg chimed in.

"No, I don't think so," Loki remarked. He squinted his green eyes as he started up into the newly formed portal. He watched as it grew quite large. It didn't take long before he noticed a familiar metallic vehicle zip forth from the black center of the portal. It whizzed about angrily like the first bee to emerge from a hive. Soon a few more followed suits.

"What are those? More Dark-Elves?" the red-haired Viking questioned.

Loki's already pale face blanched, he swallowed deeply as he stared wide-eyed at the sight. "Worse, much worse," he uttered in a soft voice. Just then one of the giant leviathans came roaring and screeching through the wormhole. The stunned silence of Asgardians was soon replaced with wails of horror.

"AHHHHH!" the swordsman screamed as he beheld the armored beast that sailed through the sky like a fish in the sea. Its fin-like appendages crashed into the top spires and towers of the building and knocked them down. The creature decapitated one of the few statues that were left standing in the city limits. He practically jumped behind Lady Sif upon seeing its grotesque mouth filled with grizzly jagged, iron jaws. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?" Frandal demanded.

"Chituari," Loki rumbled.

The astrophysicist trembled as she pointed upward at the monster. Just as she was wrapping her mind around seeing one in the flesh. "Those... those...those are the monsters that attack New York!" she yelped. Just then she watched as from the underbelly of the beast more aliens were launched. They leaped onto the tops of the buildings and down into the courtyard of the palace. They were soon crawling like monkeys all over the outside of the already damaged and burning palace. They shrieked and wailed and shot off their weapons, blasting holes into the castle from which they entered. The few remaining Dark-Elves cheered.

A/N: Woohooo! Readers you made it! You made it to the end of the chapter! Give yourself a round of applause and maybe a cookie! I thank you so much for sticking with the story and reading to the end. Hopefully, it held your interest. I am sorry that that chapter was so long and still left on a bit of a cliffhanger. I can truly say that my intention was to finish the battle within this chapter, but I actually just had to stop writing and cut it off as I felt the chapter was just getting too long, but hopefully, you will say it was just getting too good hehehe. Well if you have been reading this story then you really deserve to let me know what you think. Don't be shy to say it now that we are so close to the end.

PS: Whatever you maybe have been going through today that brought you to this story for a bit of escapism, (which we all need) just know that Jesus Christ is the answer to your problems JESUS LOVES YOU!