This is Absurd.
"They say the world will go on,
the Sun will keep shining,
the Earth will keep spinning,
but what is left of the world if you're not in it?"
"Heimdall! Bring me back!"
The shouting got louder and louder, yet still, no reply came. Loki sighed heavily and felt the weight of his body come back to him as the effects from the Bifrost wore off.
His eyes directed to weight in his palm, the glow of the Tesseract shining brightly. Loki vanished the cube away in his dimensional pocket. The small action burned his seidr. He gritted his teeth and took a deep breath, he had overused his seidr. It was already a whole mess after Surtur and using it to heal Thor didn't help either.
Thor.
Thor.
Loki looked down at his hands, both drenched in blood. Both his and Thor's. He squeezed his eyes shut, forcibly, working on his breathing.
In.
Out.
Opening his eyes, he took in his surroundings. Just by one glance, Loki could tell he was on Midgard. Of course. He seemed to be in some sort of open field, most likely a Midgardian park. Loki could hear Hul- no Bruce, groaning behind him as he got back on his feet. Loki's eyes fixed back onto the dark sky, and he couldn't help but try again.
"Heimdall! Please, I have to get you and Thor out of there! Bring me back to the Statesmen! Heimdall, please !"
The situation settled on his shoulders. His weight felt as it was too much for him. Heimdall could be dead. If Brunnhilde didn't get out, she could be dead. Korg and Miek could be dead. The Asgardians could be dead. Loki sensed the power radiating off the Infinity Stone, and Thanos would, no doubt, put it to use.
Thor could be dead.
"I have to get back, Heimdall! Please, bring me back!" His voice was shrill, ringing in his ears loudly.
"Loki, you have to calm do-" Loki spun so fast that his vision blurred, almost tripping over his own feet.
"No! You don't understand! The last remains of Asgard could be dead! Do not tell me to calm down, Bruce!"
Bruce took a step back, his eyes wide, letting Loki know that he did have to calm down. Loki swallowed tightly, sinking to the ground, much to the relief of his body, which was growing heavier and heavier each second.
Loki had just noticed that it was raining heavily, the muddy ground squelching as his knees hit it. He knew had to wish them off to Vallhalla, but it was so hard, he didn't want to. He didn't want to accept that they were gone, but hanging on false hope didn't do him any good before and, it wouldn't do any good now.
Screaming wouldn't do him any good either. Neither would crying, but dammit, he wanted to do both.
He had nothing.
No one.
No family.
Nothing.
Loki was no stranger being alone, Norns know how much he had felt in the past years. But, this was the worst. Even in the dark crevices of the Galaxies, Loki knew his brother was still alive, that Asgard was still prospering and, Heimdall was still protecting the Golden Realm. That his mother was safe and Odin was on the throne.
He didn't have any of those assurances anymore.
He would never see Brunnhilde smile.
He would never hear Korg and, Miek make stupid jokes.
He would never feel that warmth in his chest when Heimdall gave him that soft look that Odin never gave him.
He would never be able to hold his brother close to him.
Taking in deep breaths, Loki started the prayer. His fists were clenched tightly with his eyes closed. He could hear Bruce shuffling behind him, picking up on the fact that Loki was praying. The man was smarter and quieter than most, Loki found himself grateful for it. The last thing he needed was a loud, boasting fool to annoy him further.
Of course, the Universe found that exact time to be the perfect time for Tony Stark to make their way to them.
"What the hell?! Bruce?!" Bruce gave off a nervous laugh as Tony Stark landed in full armor on the ground. The rain poured down on them, soaking both Loki and Bruce from head to toe. Stark seemed to figure the same thing as Loki heard Stark's armor popping open.
"Hey, Tony," Bruce replied sheepishly. Loki heard the shuffling of clothes and heard Bruce mutter a small 'thank you', before Stark's armor shut with him in it again. Opening his eyes, Loki was met with Stark in his red and gold armor, staring right at him and Bruce, who was clutching a thin jacket around his frame with the hood pulled up over his head, blocking him from the cold rain.
"What is he doing here?" Tony asked with venom laced in every work. Loki felt the urge to roll his eyes but held it in, concentrating on the prayer he had already tried to complete five times.
"Loki's alright now, Tony. Can we please talk about this somewhere else? I'm really cold, and it's a long story." Tony's gaze softened before he gave a small nod. It seemed Bruce and Stark were close, judging, by the way, Stark didn't even hesitate to accept Bruce's request.
"I would like to have a much-needed talk as well, how about we head inside?" Tony let out a short curse, firing up his repulsors, aiming them at the man who stood on the other side of a golden-rimmed portal. "Loki Odinson, Anthony Stark and Bruce Banner, I am Doctor Stange, Sorcerer Supreme, Master of the Mystic Arts."
Tony blinked.
Bruce blinked.
Loki didn't bother to stop himself from rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, sure, I'll go through a wizard's portal, why not?" Much to his heavy sarcasm, Tony did walk towards the golden portal.
"Tony!" Bruce warned, Tony waved him off.
"Come on, Brucie bear, you only live once." Banner watched as Tony hesitantly put one armored arm through the portal before walking inside. "See!" Bruce dubiously followed, taking small steps, and ultimately walked through the portal.
"Mr.Odinson, I believe we're waiting on you." Loki wanted to bash the second-rate sorcerer's face into a wall, he was trying to wish his people off to Vallhalla, not just his people, but also his brother.
Loki didn't move from his spot, letting the rain pour down him, he was completely drenched. It felt so natural and distinctive at the same time. It was like how Thor used to call on Thunderstorms to channel his abilities, but this was not Thor. His throat felt tight again.
"He's saying his prayers, we could give him a moment." Bless that man, was all Loki could think of. He would have already injured one of the two others here if it weren't for Bruce.
"So what? Do we wait until Reindeer Games finishes? Hope he knows we're not here to wait for him and, we have more meaningful things than to deal with a psychopath." Stark spoke loudly at the end, making sure that Loki could hear. Loki could hear him even if the man had whispered, but he wasn't going to say that out loud. Instead, Loki ignored him and continued his prayer. When he finished, he got up, ignoring the pressure it put on his ankle.
"Heimdall." He kept his voice calm but couldn't stop the small break at the end of it as he tried again, staring up at the dark grey sky. Heavy droplets of the rain fell onto his face, landing on the various cuts littered across him. He looked out, hoping a large beam of rainbow lights would fall into his sight or maybe the Gatekeeper would answer.
He didn't.
"I'm sorry?" Again, he ignored the others. He waited for a full minute. Eventually, he let out a ragged breath, shaking his head, and walked towards the portal, ignoring Strange and Starks's confused stare. It seemed they were in the same place where Loki landed after falling for thirty minutes. They were in the Sanctum. Loki had visited the Ancient One here multiple times in the past.
He stepped through the portal and walked a few feet away from the other men. Loki faced them, his back to a bookshelf, far away so he could see them, in case they decided to attack him. He stood crossing his arms, with his feet spread a little apart, ready to take on defense, or offense, if needed.
Stark seemed to pick up on it and gave a small laugh.
"Jesus, you are even more paranoid than Romanoff." Loki's face didn't falter. Bruce found that funny and gave a small chuckle, Strange gave them both a disappointed look before looking back at Loki, his face serious.
"Why are you here?" Keeping his face perfectly blank, Loki answered. Before Bruce, who was also ready to speak, could.
"Believe me, it wasn't by choice." Bruce sighed and shook his head, seemingly that wasn't the answer he was going to give.
"Mr. Strange, do you have a place where we could be seated? It is a very long story and, we kind of just came out of a badly lost battle." Strange gave a sincere smile and nodded. Suddenly, four armchairs appeared around a square table, which had four full glasses of water, a jug of water, and a basket full of fruit.
"Please, call me Stephen. Help yourself, you must be famished." Bruce smiled, taking off Tony's jacket, giving it back to the man. Stark tapped his chest twice, and the armor seeped back inside the triangle-shaped arc reactor.
Well, that was new.
Bruce sat down on the table, followed by Tony then Strange. Bruce hungrily drank the water and grabbed an apple biting into it.
"Damn, I haven't eaten in so long..." He observed after swallowing the bite. Loki stayed where he was. He was tempted to grab a fruit and eat it, he hadn't eaten anything for a long time and, the last proper meal he had was the day Thor saw through his guise of Odin. After that, he had mashed potatoes which were well past their day of use.
A small table slid towards him and, Loki raised his eyebrow at Strange.
"No weapons at the table." Loki pursed his lips. He was not going to put his weapons away. That was a stupid idea, but now that he thought about it, he should. Thanos would be at their doorstep soon, and Loki had to warn them about the Titan so they could protect both the Time Stone and the Mind Stone. Those had to be guarded, no matter what the cost. Not to mention Loki still had the Space Stone.
He glared at Strange, then Stark, and then Banner, who gave him an encouraging nod.
With a sigh, Loki unsheathed his Ax and flicked his hand, the blades on each end, flying open.
"That is a nice Ax, I'll give you that." Loki ignored Stark and put the ax on the table. Looking back at Stange, who raised his eyebrow.
"All of them." Loki clenched his fists, after a minute, he pulled the daggers out from their sheaths on his legs. The four daggers were put on the table and, Loki looked at the sorcerer again. "I know you have more." With an annoyed huff, Loki reached down to his black combat boots, pulling out two curved daggers from one boot, and another set of them from the other boot.
"How many of those do you have?" Stark's eyebrows were raised, his mouth slightly parted. "You have a whole ass warehouse of those just your body." Bruce was staring at him confused, Loki didn't have all these weapons before. Loki had pulled a few out from his dimensional pocket and stored them just in case he was in another situation where he couldn't use his seidr.
And would you look at that? He was in a situation where he couldn't use his seidr because his stupid ass overused it.
Putting the daggers on the table, he pulled out the weapons sheathed to his belt. A long dagger with jagged, and spiked edges, a set of six throwing knives, two combat knives, and two hunting knives.
The weapons clattered on the table as he walked to the free armchair.
He moved the seat away from the table, sitting down with his arms crossed over his chest. Strange was looking at him with an amused expression, Stark with a judging one and Banner with an unbelieving and concerned one.
"You keep all of that on you?" Loki shrugged as an answer to Stark's question and turned to Strange.
It's better to get this over with. Quickly.
"Asgard was destroyed by the coming of Ragnarok, the end of the Realm Eternal by the being Surtur. We brought as many Asgardians as we could in need to escape before they would die. We stayed on a ship called the Statesmen, for a few weeks, recently it was attacked by Thanos, who claims to want the Infinity Stones. Two of which you have. Heimdall, Asgards Gatekeeper, sent Banner and I here via the Bifrost. You have to secure the Time and Mind Stone as quickly as you can to keep it from Thanos's grasp."
By the confused look on Stange and Stark's faces, Loki assumed they only picked up on half of what he said. Bruce sighed and asked. "Where are the rest of the Avengers? Steve? Natasha? Clint?"
Tony pursed his lips, giving an unsure glance to Loki, and then turned to face Bruce.
"We broke up. The Avengers disbanded." Loki had heard of the Avengers squabble under the All-Fathers guise, but never really looked into it. He didn't want to anyway, Midgardians were petty, too caught up in their small world to see the possibilities above and around them. Loki found it fascinating how their world evolved so quickly as a child. Now, it didn't matter, or he just didn't care. Probably both.
"What?! Disbanded, like-like the Beatles?" Bruce's face was contorted, in both frustration and confusion. He believed the Avengers on great terms when they fought together in Sokovia. What would be the reason that the Avengers would just...break apart?
"Steve had his ideas and, I had my own. Their now fugitives of this nation, it's a long story."
"Something we don't have time for. Gather your team because we have no time for you and Rogers to bicker like fools. The threat you will be facing is bigger than anything you have fought before. It's bigger than that stupid robot army, and it's bigger than me. If you want to be able to stand a chance..." Stark seemed thrown off about the robot army but, Loki had been sitting on the throne as he saw what was happening. Loki looked at Stark in the eye leaning forward slightly to get his point across. "Get Rogers and your team and prepare."
"You don't get to order me around, alright? You know nothing. I am not going to sit here and watch you order me around. In case you forgot, you are the problem here. This could be all some sort of sick trick that you're playing at." Tony stood up as he spoke, placing his hands on the table, leaning across it. "You're a lying scumbag, and I'm not going to call up the Avengers if this is just a stupid joke."
Loki stood up, rising to his full height, a good few inches taller than the others. Banner and Strange got up a second after, ready to interfere if needed.
"You have no idea who you're going up against." Tony was about to make a smart retort, but Bruce put a hand on his shoulder.
"Tony..the people we fought, they're no joke. Thanos defeated the Hulk. I don't know about you, but to me, that seems like something to be taken seriously. Get Rogers and the team back together. There is no other way, we have slim chances with the whole team together. I don't want to test our luck with just us four." Tony stared at Bruce for a minute, having a silent battle with each other.
Bruce won.
"Fine. Fine, okay, I'll call up Rogers. Just give me a minute." Tony gave a glare in the dark-haired God's direction before walking away, pulling out a small device from his pocket, most likely to call the Captain.
Bruce let out a breath before turning to Loki.
"You could be nicer it's not that difficult." Loki rolled his shoulders, trying to get the strain out of them. It didn't help. He still felt as if he was walking towards Death's door.
"There is no need to soften things up. Personally, I find that exhausting." He did. Loki was known as Silvertoungue, but he lost that title the day he let go. Much like he lost everything else. He's just a hollow shell of what he was before.
Deciding not to push on that topic, Bruce spoke again. "You should eat something. Maybe I could check on your injuries, you don't look the best." Loki did not. He had blood still pouring from his cuts, and his ankle was practically crumbling at this point.
"It's fine, Banner. I'm alright, what about you?" Bruce shook off the question with a wave of his hand.
"I didn't even take a hit. Hulk took most of the damage but, all I have is a few bruises." Loki nodded. He didn't exactly care, but it was better to know what he was dealing with. Loki ran a hand through his short hair in frustration. His mind was racing, and it wouldn't stop.
Loki stuck his finger under the green cloth tied around his wrist and began rubbing it. One name kept running through his mind and, he couldn't stop it.
Thor.
Thor.
Thor.
Thor.
"Good, do you think the Hulk will step in if we need him?" Loki needed to know their chances. The people that were willing to do this, maybe with the Hulk, it would be easier. Rogers was enhanced, so surely that could help. The widow and archer were also helpful. Strange had learned from the Ancient One and, he did not doubt her teachings. That could up their chances. Stark was a help as well, he had made upgrades to his armor from what he could gather, and it would no doubt help them fight the Black Order. If they could- Stop.
He needed to stop.
Loki's brain was running on for miles and, he had to stop. The rest of the Avengers weren't even here, and he had no idea who would be willing to fight. He snapped back into reality and saw Banner speaking.
Right, Banner.
Loki had asked him a question.
"-esn't want to come out again. I've been trying but, he won't come out after Thanos. He wants to hide and not take over. I've never felt that before. I wouldn't count him in and, I'm not much of a help in a fight without the Other guy." Loki inwardly sighed and nodded. Okay. No Hulk.
He would work with that.
Hopefully.
"What about you Strange? The Ancient One taught you, did she not? Are you willing to go against Thanos? If you aren't, I need to know." Strange pursed his lips lightly, and his eyes narrowed.
"How do you know the Ancient One?" Of course, out of everything Loki said, he picked up on that.
"I met a Yao a while ago whilst I was traveling the Nine Realms. She had taught me much from the few months I was here. I suspect she taught you as well, judging as to how she gave you the Eye of Agamotto to guard." Strange's eyes widened when he said Yao had taught him. Probably not expecting that.
Regaining himself, Strange nodded. " Yes, she did. I was, however, unaware that she taught you." Loki and Strange stared at each other for a good few seconds before the man spoke again. "If I am needed in this fight, I will take part in it."
Loki muttered an agreement before turning to Stark, who was making his way back to them. The man looked as if he was ready to punch someone in the face and, Loki supposed it had something to do with Rogers.
"Their suiting up. Should be here soon, give or take ten minutes." Stark walked to the small table and sat down, picking up a pear and biting into it, but paused before he could chew it. "These are washed, right?" Stranged rolled his eyes but gave a nod.
Loki followed his lead and all but collapsed in the chair. He had to replenish his seidr. Ten minutes. He had ten minutes.
"Are you sure you don't want me to check you?" Loki waved Bruce's concern off and focused more on keeping himself steady. His seidr would take a while to heal, a few days for it to be fully replenished.
A few days he didn't have.
"Where's Thor?" Bruce's eyes widened, his nervous glance landing on Loki. Bruce ran his thumb across his neck at Tony when he assumed Loki wasn't looking.
Loki swallowed tightly, looking up at the man who had asked. "Most likely dead. Unless he escapes from a burning ship that was soon to explode in outer space without a spacesuit." Stark snaps his mouth shut and looks down at the table, seemingly having nothing else to say.
They spent the rest of their time until the rest of the Avengers came in silence.
Loki jumps onto his feet as the door bursts open, a dagger flying out of his sleeve and into his hand as he throws it.
A loud 'crack', is heard as the dagger embeds itself into the door, missing Rogers by an inch.
"You did have more weapons on you!" Stark concluded in exclamation. Strange's jaw tightened as he turned to the Captain and the Avengers behind him. The man had grown a beard, his usual bright red and blue outfit was a much darker color. He also seemed to be missing his shield.
"If you would be as kind as to not barge into my place next time, that would be much appreciated," Strange said, not even a little disturbed by Loki throwing the dagger. Rogers had the decency to look apologetic as he stepped inside.
Behind him was the Black Widow, a man in grey and silver armor much like Stark's, a dark-skinned man with red and white armor and red goggles on his head, a man with a metal arm and the archer. Loki knew about half of those people.
The archer had his bow already loaded with an arrow, his eyes trained on Loki. Loki didn't mind Clint giving him glaring at him or being cautious. He knew what it was like to have his mind taken over, and he too would be cautious, and not to mention furious.
"We need more details as to what we're dealing with, is there a place where we can discuss this?" Strange nodded, and within a second, there were enough chairs for all of them and a new table. This time a little longer to fit everyone. "Right, Wizards..." Rogers muttered quietly.
Strange didn't pick up on it and sat at one end of the table. The rest of the Avengers took their seats at random. Loki noticed as Rogers moved for a seat beside Stark but ended up going around the table and sitting in front of the engineer. Curious.
Loki's hand went back to the cloth around his wrist, looking down at it, Loki internally sighed. His gaze slowly diverted to the blood crusting upon his hand.
Thor's blood...
Once everyone was seated, they waited for the god to follow. Loki crossed his arms, shaking himself out of his thoughts, and stood behind his chair, which was on the other end, opposite of Strange. Every single person in the room looks uncomfortable with the gesture. Not to mention that his height only added more to that.
"Who and what are we up against?" Rogers said, taking his lead in the conversation.
"Thanos," Loki answered. He got confused looks from all across the table and decided to elaborate. If he had said the Titans name on any other planet, or realm, in any of the Galaxies, the people would have hidden away, cowering in fear. Another thing Midgard was oblivious to.
"Another name is the Mad Titan. He has a goal of collecting all the Infinity Stones to change every world for the better." He took a deep breath, his green eyes fixed on the polished wood of the table. "He planned to take the Infinity Stones and use them to wipe out half of the population of every Universe, every Galaxy. If he gets the Infinity Stones, he can do it like this," He snapped his fingers to illustrate his point. Looking up from the table, he could see everyone's expression filling one into concern. "a single snap of his fingers."
"Wait- hold on. So, what you're saying is that this random ass dude wants to kill half of the population of everything and everyone?! " The man with the black and silver armor spoke, his voice pitched to an unbelieving tone. The man had his faceplate off, revealing another dark-skinned man. Loki doesn't remember seeing him.
"It sound's unbelievable, but I can assure you, it is the truth. The Infinity Stones are the most powerful relics known to man, and with all six of them in Thanos's hands, the reality could change in a matter of seconds." That seemed to throw the group off. Of course, it did. They had no idea what the Infinity Stones could do, and hearing about the Stones' power only made them more anxious.
"Only a few people can wield even more than one Infinity Stone, and Thanos has the Gauntlet to wield all six." Tony raised his finger, interrupting Loki before he continued.
"What are the six Infinity Stones?"
"Mind," Loki hated the Mind Stone. " Space, Time, Reality, Soul, and Power." The Mind Stone was in the Scepter I had used in the invasion," No one seemed pleased with the reminder of the New York attack. Neither was Loki. "The Space Stone is the Tesseract, Reality was in the Aether, nobody knows where the Soul Stone is, and the Time Stone is with Strange in the Eye of Agamotto. The Power Stone is of no worry for us because Thanos already has it, and if I am to guess, he's going after the Reality Stone himself and will most likely send someone from his Order after us."
The Avengers seemed to take a minute to put the pieces together and, Loki gave that to them. It was a lot to take in.
"What about the rest, Mind and Space?" Natasha questioned, her eyes piercing through Loki's.
"Vision has the Mind Stone." The man with the red goggles supplied.
"What about Space?" Before Loki could answer, a quiet hum filled the air. Loki looked at the Avengers, who didn't seem to notice it as he did. He looked back out the window of the Sanctum and could see the ring-shaped ship come into view.
Shit.
Shit.
Fuck!
"What's wrong?" Bruce asked, getting up and walking towards Loki.
Looking back at the Avengers and Bruce, Loki grit his teeth.
"They're here."