Chapter 4
He didn't break for weeks. When Thanos showed his face again, Loki thought Thanos had finally decided that he was more trouble he was worth. He was finally going to die. He hadn't been as relieved as he would have thought. Maybe torture had awakened some old instinct to push through, to survive, and someone would find him eventually. But no one was coming for him, and he knew that. He was going to die eventually, and maybe it was better that it was happening now.
The Maw looked disappointed at Thanos's appearance, and had tried to insist that Loki would break soon. Thanos had not been impressed.
"This one is strong. Your methods have failed. Now, it is time to try something more drastic."
Panic sprang up, ice flowing through Loki's veins. Death he could handle, but it didn't sound like that was what was happening. His mind flashed to his first conversation with Nebula. Creative. He shuddered involuntarily. He was sure things could get much, much worse than they had been. If Thanos was getting involved-
No. He would not let fear break him before Thanos got the chance. He would face this.
Thanos pulled out a scepter. It looked tiny in his hand, like it had not been meant for him, but he held it all the same. Power flared from the gem in its crown. It lept at his already weakened sheilds.
Loki screamed.
The attack came with more power than the Maw ever had. Nothing had ever attacked his mind with this much force, not even the most powerful sorcerer he'd ever faced. His sheilds were useless against its power, just burning away.
It found its way through his mind, into its darkest corners, taking advantage of his buried anger, fanning the flames into hate. It planted plans, ambitions, until he was certain those ideas were his.
Thor. Not his brother. Never his brother. An enemy. Hate burned strong. Asgard. They cast him out, left him for dead, thought he waa worthless. He would show them. He would show them all.
A throne. His. Any realm, anywhere, but it would be his. A war, standing surrounded by the dead. A world at his feet. Asgard on its knees. Thor. Always Thor. He would bow, or he would die.
Earth. The realm Thor protected. That would do. A start, a throne he could call his. He'd conquer the realms, leaving Asgard for last, leave them wondering when their time would come. Odin and Thor, dead at his feet.
All those thoughts passed through his mind in an instant, but they felt like they'd been there forever. He had a plan. Now all he needed was an army.
When he looked up, Thanos smiled. "We have need of you. The Tesseract is on Earth."
Earth. Hate burned through him, and he looked up at Thanos. A powerful man. A man who commanded many armies, across the universe. He smiled, a wicked, broken thing.
"I might be willing to make a deal."