There’s no version of this where you come out on top.
Maybe.
One thing was certain: he had plenty of conviction. He may not want Thor to perish but it was not the Thunder God’s destiny to die by his hand. Loki guessed no one had explained that to the hot headed mortals who thought they understood the universe because they had figured out how to look at it through a microscope and make reasonable theories about gravity. They thought magic was this fangled thing the world found strange but the truth was, magic was more natural than the tangled mess they called science could ever be. There was a lot their minute minds would never be able to comprehend.
Thor was to die, just like all beings died, but his death would come by the poison of his own nephew he had never once bothered to visit, nor defend, when Allfather branded him a monster. His long time banished nephew would also perish in a long battle, as it happens, by Thor’s mighty hammer. Thor had to live, not just for the Norn’s stupid prophecy, but for him. Without the thick headed blond Asgardian Prince there was no other place he could vent his rage. Loki could hardly attack Odin after all. Nor did he know what it would do to the cycle of one of the key players died before their time. The only death Loki knew would screw things up permanently was Baldur’s death. Odin surely thought his Frost Giant adopted son knew nothing of that. Oh no. Surely Loki would have attacked Baldur long ago if he knew. No. Somehow, for some odd reason, not even Loki wanted to line of Odin to end. Part of him still loved Thor. The thought of the world without him was just too much to bear. For now.
It was not lack of conviction that ensured the survival of the Avengers and his brother. Loki would have been bored had he been able to walk in and just take the planet. He had wanted some fun along the way but perhaps that is precisely what he should have done. It had to be convincing. When your sanity is held ransom, squeezed by a tight grip dripping black blood, one did not lack determined fervour to get the job done. With the Other’s threat, mayhap Loki should have been less arrogant. He had grievously miscalculated the strength of the Hulk who was the Avengers greatest asset. Without the green monster smashing him repeatedly into the floor they never would have won. Not a single Avenger would have been able to keep him delayed long enough for them to figure out how to stop the entire process. Even with him making it more difficult and more fun for himself.
Loki’s downfall had been his love of chaos. He hadn’t been able to resist forming a team to repel him . Of course the best twist was ensuring their animosity towards each other. Lines were drawn and sides were picked. Beautiful. His plan had been beautiful.
Killing them would never have been fun. Their crushing defeat at his, Loki Laufeyson, the outcast, the tiny Forst Giant, would be all too sweet. Earth’s mightiest hero’s were scattered, souls lost to their own unique brand of insanity. In the end they had proven just how mighty they could be. A small part couldn’t help but be proud of them. Like a father whose progeny’s grow up more powerful and skilled than expected, Loki had a small pocket of satisfaction in his breast. The rest of him was just damn resentful.
Their deaths would have served him no purpose. He wasn’t done with them yet. If The Avengers and SHIELD thought they had him beat they were deadly wrong. They thought they knew him. They thought they understood. Loki stared insolently at them all. Their meals had been cooked a long time ago.
Their deaths would have brought him nothing. Chaos only worked on the living. People only suffered if they were alive.
Chaos bleeds.
Death decays.