AN: Yeah, I know, I'm back. I don't know what the hell happened, but I never posted chapter 6. So, here it is. I'd just like to say, before you read this... work of art (not rlly but y'know,) I really hate writing fight scenes. Well, I don't hate it, it's more like I'm bad at it. This is my first fight scene is quite a bit, so please let me know what you think! And if it sucks... I told you so.
Chapter 6 ~ We All Still Die
When he reached the lab, Vision was laying down on a table. The young girl—Shuri, her name was, had her face close to the Mind Stone embedded on Vision's forehead. Loki hovered over her shoulder, watching the stone blink when she tapped it.
"Fascinating," she murmured.
"Careful," Loki warned. "The stone could react badly and take control of you."
Shuri jumped up in surprise, clearly not having noticed Loki peering over her shoulder.
"Don't scare me like that, alien!" She gasped, holding a hand on her heart.
"Alien," Loki scoffed. "Hardly. Now, are we going to get on with this?"
Shuri nodded. "Right. I can get the stone out, but since Dr. Banner created Vision the hard way," she shot a glare in Bruce's direction, "it'll take me longer."
"Wonderful," Loki muttered.
"But you can do it?" Rogers prompted.
"Yes, of course I can do it!" Shuri replied, slipping over to holographic screenings of the stones energy.
"How long will it take?" T'Challa asked, crossing his arms.
"A few hours, at most," Shuri replied with a shrug.
Outside the window, Loki watched with growing horror as familiar shuttles hurtled towards the buildings of Wakanda. Several were stopped by a blue force field, exploding and sending debris showering over the top of the dome. Others landed outside of the barrier.
"I don't think we have a few hours," Wanda said, a frown forming on her face.
"Get started, Shuri," T'Challa ordered, turning away from the window. "Engage all defences," he added to Okoye, who was standing just behind him. Turning to Rodgers, he demanded, "and get this man a shield!"
It was decided Wanda would stay so she'd be ready to destroy the Mind stone. Loki marched after everybody else filing out of the room, cape billowing behind him. Bucky, Sam, Rhodey and Romanoff met them outside, all looking prepared for battle. Loki watched the shuttles sit idle outside of the barrier. Rogers broke away from the group to walk with Bucky as they followed T'Challa towards where the shuttled lay dormant. Loki fell in step beside Bruce.
"So, Hulk seems to be making himself known as a wimp," Loki commented. "How do you intend to fight this battle?"
Bruce stopped dead in his tracks.
"Shit!" He exclaimed loudly. Romanoff turned her head with a smirk.
"Language," she hummed. Bruce continued to follow, and Loki could hear Rogers bickering with Romanoff at the front of the group.
"Are we still going on with that?"
"Yes, we are."
"That was years ago! The joke is dead, Nat."
"The joke will never die."
"Oh, for Odin's sake," Loki growled, "could we focus on the task at hand?" They are like squirrels, Loki thought bitterly, distracted by the smallest of things.
"I've got an idea, Bruce," Rhodey spoke up, falling back to walk with them.
Wakandan warriors had met up with the rogue Avengers, and they now were all lined up facing the shuttles. Loki stood along the front lines, having summoned his horned-crown and a pair of daggers to his hands. Bruce wore one of Stark's suits. The Hulkbuster, it was called. Loki found it quite ironic.
Proxima Midnight and Cull Obsidian had appeared from the line of trees, slowly approaching the barrier.
"Well, shall we greet our guests?" Rogers offered.
"We shall," T'Challa agreed. He, Rogers, and Romanoff started off to meet the two Black Order members at the border.
Loki tightened his grip on his daggers, watching the exchange.
"Hey, tall, dark, and handsome!" Sam called, shuffling up beside him. Loki exhaled slowly and turned his head.
"Yes?"
"Cap told me to give you this. Never got the chance to, so you can have it now." He held out a small comm piece, and Loki reluctantly took it from his hand.
"It's so we can—"
"I know what it is," Loki snapped, placing the piece of technology in his ear. Sam eyed him cautiously, before returning to where he stood prior.
Loki turned his attention back to the exchange, but the three Avengers were already returning.
"Did they surrender?" Bucky asked in a sarcastic tone.
"Not exactly," Rogers sighed, giving his old friend a pat on the back.
Loki frowned and tightened his grip on his dagger.
Proxima raised her sword, before promptly slashing it into the ground. The shuttles groaned, and Loki could hear faint snarling.
"Oh, joy," he muttered on his breath, lifting his chin.
A few moments of silence passed, when several alien creatures came charging out of the trees. They were followed by several hundred more, all snarling like rabid dogs. The aliens clashed with the barrier, all struggling to get in. Some limbs got through, but the barrier promptly closed around them and severed them from their bodies.
"They're killing themselves," Okoye murmured.
A few aliens heaved themselves through the barrier. Sam was already in the sky and picked them off.
"Uh, guys," someone sounded over the comms. "We have a problem."
Loki followed everybody's gaze to where some of the creatures were circling to the other side. Closer to the Mind Stone.
"If they get through, there'll be nothing between them and Vision."
T'Challa did something with his comm unit, before murmuring into it. He then proceeded to chant in a language Loki was unfamiliar with, his words echoing around the Wakandan warriors. Finally, T'Challa crossed his arms in an X, a black cat-like helmet forming over his head.
"Wakanda forever!" The king shouted, and then everybody was charging. A small gap in the barrier opened, letting the snarling creatures through.
Loki easily passed several others, keeping pace with the Captain and T'Challa. He flipped a dagger around in his hand and leapt into the battle.
Loki was blinded by rage and the heat of battle. His body moved on its own, familiar by now with fighting after centuries of doing it. He kicked a few creatures back, stabbed another few. Loki had always been told his fighting style looked more like a dance, with his intercut footwork and the way he spun around the block attacks. With graceful movements, he easily fended off his attackers. He was collecting a steady pile of corpses, pushing through the mass of hundreds. Over the comms, he could hear shouted orders and warnings, but didn't pay too much attention to them.
All he could focus on was watching each and every one of these disgusting beats die.
As he fought on, killing several creatures at a time now with powerful blasts of seidr, Loki couldn't help his mind from wandering to Thor. How his adopted brother would've loved slaying these beasts.
Loki felt the familiar feeling of rage bubble beneath his skin and sent a power surge of green magic in all directions with a roar. Several bodies dropped dead.
"Guys, I think we need to fight harder," Sam sounded over the comms. "The Norse God is putting us all to shame!"
"Did I not tell you to trust my rage?" Loki asked breathlessly, ducking out of the way of a flying spear.
"Good god, would you like to do this all yourself?" Rhodey's laugh sounded in his ear as he shot above him.
"I'd rather not," Loki grunted, kicking away another creature after it latched onto his arm with sharp fangs. Loki ducked under a leaping beast as it lunged for a Wakandan warrior fighting behind him. The warrior was practically drowning in blood, being overwhelmed by the creatures. Loki, while fending off a foe of his own with his daggers, sent seidr to the young warrior. A few of the creatures he opposed dropped dead, and he shot him a grateful smile.
"To you're right," Loki warned a second too late as an alien creature leaped onto him and ripped into his throat. Loki winced at the bloody scene before him. Amongst the raging sound of battle, Loki watched Proxima going about, easily killing Wakandan warriors as she passed. Loki's lip curled into a sneer as he fought towards her.
He cleared a path towards his enemy until he came face-to-face with her.
"Trickster," Proxima greeted, stabbing a fallen warrior in the gut.
"Proxima," Loki snarled in return, turning his blade out.
"Have you come for round two?" Proxima mocked. "Here to show you're not as much of a failure as everybody thinks, little Trickster? Your people didn't stand a chance. How could you?" Loki let out a cry of rage and lunged at her. His two daggers clashed with her staff, and he leaned in to snarl in her face. Proxima smirked and kicked behind his knee. Loki lost his balance and stumbled back. Proxima used that time to land a few good blows on him, tearing his cape and clothing and leaving a nasty gash in his side. Loki spat out a bit of blood before driving a dagger into her gut.
Before the dagger made contact, however, Proxima hit him square in the face and send him reeling backwards into the dirt. Loki spluttered, blood collecting on his lips. Proxima leaned over him, a grin settled on her features.
"I could kill you right now, but I promised I'd save the deed for father," Proxima growled, kicking him one last time in the side. And then she disappeared. Loki sat up with a pained grunt, every part of his body aching. His bleeding side felt numbed from pain, but he staggered to his feet anyways.
Before he could process much else, Loki watched large mechanical blades burst through the ground. He wrinkled his nose in irritation, stumbling into the centre of the battle-field.
"Fall back!" T'Challa yelled frantically over the comms. Wanda had appeared to stop one of the large blades before it hit Romanoff, but there were still several more. Okoye screeched something Loki couldn't make out and dove out of the way. Loki channelled whatever was left of his seidr, letting his daggers fall at his feet. He held out his hands, green spreading out from his palms and wrapping around the large weapon before it could crush any more people. The machine stopped in his tracks, Loki breathing heavily.
"Wanda, little help?" Loki panted, his vibrant green magic flickering slightly.
"On my way. Hold on a little longer," Wanda replied, and Loki watched her hurry away from where she was to take care of the giant death-wheel he was holding off. Loki was losing a grip on his magic much quicker than he would've liked. Finally, after what seemed like centuries, Wanda's scarlet magic wrapped around his own and the machine was flung away with a grunt on Wanda's part. Before anything else could happen, the young Avenger was gone.
Loki let out a breath, his hands falling limply to his sides. Smeared across his face was a mixture of blood, sweat and dirt. Loki quickly regained his two fallen daggers and turned just in time to stop one of the creatures from knocking him over. He drove it and it's companion back, quickly killing the two, before they were replaced by four. The number of enemies he faced kept growing. Loki frantically looked around to see everybody having the same issue.
"There's too many of them!" Bruce yelled over the comms. Loki was forced to the ground, panting. He held up his two blades defensively, summoning an illusion further away. The creatures turned to look at the illusion, so Loki fabricated more. They circled all around him, cackling. The creatures look extremely confused, and Loki used the opportunity to drive his blades into their skulls. Panting, he hauled himself to his feet and brushed a stray strand of dark hair from his face.
"We're gravely outnumbered," Loki panted.
"No shit, Sherlock!" Rhodey snapped back at him, and Loki rolled his eyes. Loki quickly dodged an attack, doing his best to fend off as many creatures as he could. Bodies of fallen warriors and creatures alike littered the battlefield, and Proxima's army didn't stop coming.
We're going to lose, Loki thought frantically. And then, there was a familiar crack of thunder.
Loki whipped his head around, his breath catching in his throat at the familiar colors of the Bifrost. An electrically charged axe whipped out from the light, taking out several enemies. Loki had to duck to avoid having his head lobbed of, but he still couldn't help the laugh of relief that escaped his lips.
The Bifrost retracted, revealing Thor as he caught his newly-obtained axe. A raccoon-type creature leapt off his shoulder and stood tall next to him, cocking a blaster, while a tree roared beside the pair.
"Ha, you guys are so screwed now!" Bruce laughed over the comms unit.
"Bring me Thanos!" Thor roared, running forwards. Another crack of thunder, and Thor had slammed his axe into the ground and taken out hundreds more of the creatures.
Loki didn't realise his feet were moving until he found himself face-to-face with his brother. Thor was grinning madly, and Loki took another several steps forwards. Loki narrowed his eyes, and then punched his brother across the jaw.
"Ow!" Thor yelped, his hand finding his jawline. "What was that for?"
"For making me believe you were dead," Loki grumbled, sending a blast of seidr behind him as another beast charged at him.
"You should know better than anyone it takes more than a mad man to kill me," Thor huffed, kicking another enemy away. "Why are we talking about me? I thought you had died!"
"You sent me away like the idiotic oaf you are! Of course I'm alive!" Loki snapped.
"I sent you away to keep you from dying! Again!" Thor argued, flinging his axe away to take out several enemies. "Watch yourself," Thor warned a moment before his axe came flying towards Loki's head. Loki ducked with a yelp.
"For someone who wants me alive, you're doing a great job almost killing me!" Loki grumbled, straightening up and dodging savage teeth from chewing his gut out.
"This is a battle-zone, brother," Thor said between swings of his axe. "You must always be aware of your surroundings." As he spoke, a stray creature latched on to Thor's cape. Loki snorted with laughter as Thor shook it off and killed it.
"What was that about 'being aware of your surroundings,' brother?"
"Not another word," Thor growled irritably.
Loki couldn't help but smile at his brother.
"It's good you have you back," he sighed, sending a dagger flying directly at a creatures head.
"Your side is bleeding," Thor commented from where he fought beside Loki.
"That it is."
"You should be more careful."
"Careful? In a battle? Who are you?" Loki shot back, turning to send his brother a playful glare.
"I am your older brother, and I have my concerns," Thor huffed.
"Adopted," Loki uttered under his breath, casually picking off several more creatures.
"Still brothers," Thor hummed. Loki smiled. He missed the banter between him and Thor more than he thought he ever could. He fought back-to-back with his brother, dancing around lashing claws and sharp, snapping teeth.
"Guys, we've got a Vision situation," Rhodey sounded over the comms. "To the East, in the wooded area near the start of the brook."
"Somebody get the Vision!" Rogers called between breaths.
"I'm on my way," Wanda replied, before a pained grunt could be heard. Loki winced.
"I've got a Mind Stone to protect," he declared to his brother, dipping his head. Thor nodded, and Loki was about to break off from the battle and head to where Rhodey had said Vision was when Thor caught his wrist.
"Be careful," Thor murmured, his eyes darkening.
"When am I not?" Loki replied with a smirk, before hurrying off.
When he finally fought his way to where the Vision was, Rogers was already there fending off Corvus Glaive. Loki darted behind Glaive and drove both daggers into his shoulders. Glaive snarled in pain and reached around to fling Loki off. As Loki hit the ground, he could hear the thump of another body against the forest floor. Loki sat up to see Corvus Glaive dead on the ground, Vision standing over the dead body.
"I told you to run," Rogers muttered.
"We don't trade lives, Captain," Vision replied breathlessly. Loki staggered to his feet, nodded at the two, before heading towards the flash of red armour through the trees.
Loki stumbled into another clearing where Bruce was fighting it out with Cull Obsidian.
"Little help?" Bruce grunted as he threw a punch at Obsidian.
"Sure." Loki darted into action. While Bruce and Obsidian were wrestling, each struggling for dominance, Loki slid down on his knees and raked his blades behind Obsidian's knees as he passed. Obsidian lost balance and fell, giving Bruce enough time to slap on one of the Hulkbuster hands.
"See ya!" Bruce shouted, smacking the hunk of metal on Obsidian's arm. The large alien went flying into the sky and exploded.
"Excellent work, Doctor," Loki panted, standing.
"Not too bad yourself," Bruce replied, and Loki could almost hear the smile in his voice.
And then Loki felt it.
Felt him.
"He's here," Loki breathed and whipped around. Behind the Captain, a blue cloud had appeared. Loki recognised it as the same as the Tesseract and winced. Soon enough, Thanos stepped out and surveyed the surroundings.
"That's him, Steve," Bruce whispered through the comms. Out of instinct, Loki got low and made his way to a nearby tree. Crouching behind the trunk, he peered out at the Mad Titan standing a few paces away. Panting, Loki turned his attention to the golden gauntlet on his right hand. He quietly counted each stone under his breath, then hissed out a curse.
Thanos has five stones.
If he got his hands on the Mind stone, it was all over. Loki couldn't let that happen. He watched as Rogers charged at the purple Titan, accompanied by Bruce. Bruce was smacked away easily and placed in the side of a mountain. Rogers held his ground and managed to barely fend off Thanos' attack for a few moments before being swatted aside. Loki turned to where Wanda was sitting with Vision.
"Wanda, destroy the stone, now!" He whispered harshly into the comm, teeth clenched. When he got no response, he turned his attention towards Thanos. The Mad Titan was scanning the clearing, making a disappointed tutting noise.
"Where are you, little trickster?" Thanos growled, and Loki swallowed hard.
Now or never.
Loki snatched a nearby discarded sword from a fallen warrior. There was no way he'd stand a chance with two small daggers. The sword was made out of a material Loki had never seen and was covered in blood. Loki gripped the handle tight and took a deep breath.
"For Asgard," Loki murmured, before slipping away from his hiding place and lunging towards Thanos. Thanos had his back turned, but Loki's attack was stopped with a simple clench of his gauntlet. Loki was immediately frozen in place, blade outstretched to Thanos' neck.
"I thought you would've learned from your mistakes by now," Thanos sighed, turning to face the frozen god. Loki bared his teeth and struggled to move. With a faint smile, Thanos grabbed Loki by the neck and lifted him off the ground.
Loki felt the tight pressure against his wind-pipe, cutting off his oxygen. He gasped for breath, his hands scrabbling helplessly against the large purple hand around his throat. His eyes began to water against his will, and black dots danced around his vision. He kicked his legs, trying to do something to get himself out of the current situation. Norns, he couldn't breathe-
He was going to die.
After years and years of awaiting deaths dark grasp, Loki wasn't so sure he was ready to go anymore. He had more to live for these days. Loki clenched his teeth together and with whatever strength he had left, sent his seidr to a nearby rock. The rock shifted, then lifted steadily off the ground. It flew into the bushes, causing Thanos to turn his head.
While he was distracted, Loki repeated the action with his sword, discarded on the ground nearby, calling it to his hand.
As Thanos turned his head back, Loki choked out, "made you look." Before Thanos could react anymore, Loki drove the sword into whatever lump of flesh he could find that didn't belong to himself. Thanos dropped Loki, who began coughing madly and gasping for breath.
"That was a mistake, trickster," Thanos growled.
"Maybe," Loki rasped. "But at least you wont win." Thanos laughed.
"And how would you know that?"
Loki smirked, holding his likely bruised throat. Behind him, he could feel the energy of the Mind Stone as it shattered. He slowly turned his head to where Wanda stood, one hand raised to where Vision used to be.
"That's why," Loki replied, his voice hoarse.
Much to Loki's surprise, Thanos only chuckled. Slowly, Thanos made his way to where Wanda had crumpled to the ground in a sobbing mess. Loki watched in horror as a green ring formed around his gauntlet.
"No!" Wanda screamed, moments before Thanos turned his gauntlet. Loki felt the energy again, moving in reverse until it reformed Vision. Horrified, Loki could only watch Thanos pluck the Mind Stone from Vision as though nothing happened.
"No," Loki breathed. "Oh, Norns, no."
Thanos placed the final stone in his gauntlet, completed the set of six. The gauntlet glowed momentarily, all stones being united at last.
Loki was about to stumble to his feet and attempt one final thing to prevent the inevitable when he heard a crack of thunder. Thor's thunder.
His brother had leaped into the air, axe in hand and lightning dancing around him. With a roar, Thor threw the axe at Thanos.
The axe hit the Mad Titan square in the chest. Loki laughed breathlessly. They could win.
Thor pushed the axe deeper into Thanos, eyes narrowed coldly. They murmured to each other, before Thanos limply raised his hand. Loki felt the breath catch in his throat-
Snap.
ONE FAVOURITE= Loki gets a gold star.
ONE REVIEW= Thor gets a smack over the head for miSSING-