"I assure you, brother, the sun will shine on us again."

Loki stood before Thanos, the Tesseract clutched firmly in his hand.

"Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian."

"Well, for one thing, I'm not Asgardian. And for another, we have a Hulk."

Loki was confident his plan would succeed. It had to, didn't it? The Hulk was the mightiest among them; surely he could knock out Thanos with ease.

Yet, as the prince watched the Hulk fall, his smile slowly disappeared.

"Allfathers… let the dark magic fly through me one last time."

Loki knew Heimdall would get himself killed, but it was the only way left if he wanted to escape. Survival was necessary. He wouldn't fulfill Thanos' words.

But what of Thor? No, Thor would survive. He always did. Loki would return for him—but to do so, he would first need to be on his feet. As Hulk was lifted into the Bifrost, Loki hesitated. Only his deep, abiding concern for his brother held him back. He tried to convince himself that Thor would survive. Thor would always survive.

In alternate realities, Loki might have stayed by Thor's side. But in this universe—Earth 593—Loki's seems to have changed his mind.

He sprinted toward the Tesseract, now abandoned on the floor, unguarded. With a swift motion, he grabbed the Infinity Stone and ran toward the Bifrost. For one fleeting moment, his eyes met Thor's for the last time before he got lost into the rainbow bridge.

Thanos had no time to react. But when he saw Loki escaping with the Tesseract, fury consumed him. The Infinity Stone was lost, the traitor had escaped, and yet, Thor remained alive.

"That was a grave mistake," Thanos growled, then, in a single, brutal motion, he plunged his dagger into Heimdall's heart.

Thor's anguished cry rang out. Heimdall, one of his closest friends, was gone. The grief surged through him, raw and uncontainable. Pain. Rage. Revenge. His mind boiled with the need for vengeance. "You will die for that!"

But before Thor could act, the wizard used his magic to gag him. No. He couldn't be silenced now. He had to escape. He had to kill Thanos—and his pathetic minions. Theyhadto be stopped.

"There are two more stones on Earth, now three with the Space Stone. Find them, my children, and bring them to me on Titan."

Thanos raised the gauntlet, activating the Power Stone. Thor, already bracing for the inevitable, tried to break free—but it was impossible. Thanos' ship activated its tractor beam, drawing Thanos and his children into the ship.

They were leaving, bound for Earth.

As the Statesman began to tremble, cracking and disintegrating, Thor redoubled his efforts to escape. Eventually, the spell broke. Possibly because the wizard was now long gone, and the Odinson was now free.

He collapsed beside Heimdall's lifeless form, mourning the loss of his friend. With Heimdall's death, escape was no longer an option.

But Loki was still alive. Loki was on Midgard, with Banner—that was what mattered now. At least the Tesseract would be safe, protected by the Avengers. But would it be enough? Could his friends stand against Thanos? The Mad Titan was a force beyond reckoning. Thor could only hope that his friends would survive.

The ship exploded in a violent burst of energy. Thor closed his eyes, bracing for the end…

Boom.

Hello! If you made it to this point, thank you so much for reading! This is my first story here. I've had this idea in my head for so long, so I'm happy I can write it down and share it here. This chapter was short, but I promise the upcoming ones will be more interesting. Chapter 2 coming soon!