Chapter 23:Glorious Purpose
Loki bowed low, his blue eyes glowing. "What is your command, Master?"
Thanos bade him to stand and offered him his scepter. "You will take this scepter. It contains within it one of six of the mighty Infinity Stones. There is another one on Earth, inside the Tesseract. Find it."
"If I find it for you, will you give me rule of Earth, as Asgard was stolen from me?" Loki asked.
"Only if you succeed," Thanos said menacingly.
Loki bowed again. "You are most gracious."
The Other waved his hand and a luminous portal appeared before Loki. He took a deep breath and stepped through. In seconds, Loki was whisked across space. Loki found himself on a platform in a gush of blue light. He was sweating and dazed as he crouched there. All around him he saw armed guards along with a dark skinned man with an eyepatch. Loki smiled as he gazed at his foes.
"Sir, please put down the spear!" commanded the one eyed man.
With such godly power, Loki did not need to heed this little man. He shot a blast at the man, missing him by centimeters. The guards fired their guns at will, and Loki flew in the air, impaling a guard on the scepter. A bullet bounced off his cheek, and he fired angry blasts at the guards before sending daggers into the hearts of two more. He blasted a woman, killing her instantly. A blond man tried to draw his pistol on him, but Loki caught his wrist. "You have heart." Tapping the scepter to the man's heart, his eyes turned black before they began to glow blue. Under Loki's spell, the man holstered his weapon. Seeing no other threat, Loki looked to find the one eyed man trying to flee with the Tesseract.
"Please don't," Loki told him. "I still need that."
The one eyed man held up his hands as if in surrender. "This doesn't have to get any messier."
"Of course it does. I've come to far for anything else," Loki replied. "I am Loki, of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."
"Loki, brother of Thor!" cried a man in fear.
"We have no quarrel with your people," the one eyed man said calmly.
"An ant has no quarrel with a boot," Loki countered.
"Are you planning to step on us?" questioned the eye patch clad man.
Loki smiled. "I come with glad tidings of a world made free."
"Free from what?" asked the man.
"Freedom," Loki replied. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart you will know peace."
Loki turned and placed another man named Selvig under his spell.
"Yeah, you say peace, but I think you mean the other thing," commented the man.
The blond man approached Loki. "Sir, Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us."
"Like the Pharaohs of old," replied Fury with a smug smile.
"He's right. The portal is collapsing in on itself," replied Selvig. "We got two minutes before this goes critical."
Loki turned to the blond man. "Well then."
His slave fired a shot at Fury, knocking him off his feet. Selvig grabbed the Tesseract as the boarded a jeep. Before long they were met with bullets. Loki and his prisoners sped away as Fury tried to fire on them from a helicopter. Loki fired a blast at him, sending his helicopter crashing down as Loki sped away. Once safely out of sight, Loki addressed his slaves.
"Selvig, and Barton, is it? Take the Tesseract to a secret place . I will rendezvous with you later," Loki instructed them.
Loki exited the car and his slaves vanished into the night. Loki then noticed a figure approach him.
"You think you can take me, Midgardian?" Loki taunted. "I am Loki, of Asgard and…"
Loki was hit from behind and he knew no more.