Incomplete
When his Antonia walked into the blood-soaked battlefield, wearing nothing but her favorite oversized AC/DC shirt and her jeans, her hair in a messy bun and the necklace he had gifted her, Loki felt his heart seize and a vice grip his gut, his lungs filled with air but it felt like he was underwater. She wasn’t someplace safe, someplace far away from here, his darling mortal was here. She was in danger, and he couldn’t protect her.
“Thanos.” was all she said.
Thanos’s lip curled into a smirk, “so this is the famous Iron Maiden? The pathetic mortal that managed to wipe out over half of the chitauri army? I expected… someone more... impressive.”
Loki noticed the blood dribbling out of her mouth just as she wiped it away with the back of her hand. When she spoke he could just barely hear the undercurrent of pain and tension in her voice “sorry to disappoint, but speaking of disappointing, that Squidward wizard you sent to new york wasn’t very impressive. He lasted…. 15? 20? minutes? Honestly I expected you to put in a little effort.” wait she had been in a fight? That explained the blood but he was mentally kicking himself for not being there, for not protecting her.
“That matters not anymore, I have all but the stone of my mistress, and she will receive them as her final courting gift from me. Then she will truly be mine.” Thanos chuckled, “but do continue little mortal, you will be an interesting way to wait for my mistress.”
Shoulders rolling up and back, Antonia became Iron Maiden as she spoke.
“Those stones in your hand, the Infinity Stones; Time, Space, Reality, Mind, Power, and the one you are missing, Soul. You’ve killed so many for them with no remorse. I’ve ended thousands of lives, but I happily carry that guilt, knowing what I’ve done. All the avengers that are before you have red dripping off their ledger and so much it can’t be wiped clean, but regardless they try.”
Loki watches in horrified awe as his precious mortal stands before Thanos, the monstrous being who managed to break even him, but she stands, remaining unbroken.
Loki knows what is to come if she fails.
He can do nothing, he is as helpless as the rest of the avengers.
All of them trapped by the stones or exhausted by the sheer number of invaders.
His mortal will perish as soon as Thanos grows tired of her.
“Antonia, please,” he whispers in a broken voice, knowing she will hear him regardless.
His mortal gives him a watery smile and shakes her head sadly. Before continuing in an unbroken voice, “Time, you waste it.”
“Mortals, we live such short lives, we value every second we have, we make them count. Even if we all die today people will remember each of our names, remember us. Just like they’ll remember everything we did here because we made what little time we had count.”
A dangerous quiet settled over the bodies of the fallen.
“Hell, even when some of us should have run out of time we didn’t. Rogers and Barnes are still up and kicking.” The super soldiers startled at the mention of their names, focusing through their haze of pain.
“I got blown up, and I built myself a new heart, I fought for more time. New heart’s killing me and now have little to no time? I make a new one and make more time. Loki, like you, has all the time in the universe. Loki fought for his time, he made his time count. He lives. He isn’t just alive. But you, if you were told that you would die tomorrow, you wouldn’t even know what you’d do because you’ve always been guaranteed all the time in the fucking world.”
The Avengers, Loki noticed, were watching on in a mix of shock and confusion.
Loki was too worried about his mortal to care though, otherwise, he would have ripped into them for not appreciating her enough, appreciating the time she was buying them.
His mortal choked and spat blood onto the ground before continuing in a hoarse voice as if nothing was wrong. “Reality, I should have died in Afghanistan, when my heart was ripped out, when I was poisoned by my heart, in the battle with the chitauri, when I was thrown out a window, and when I was alone in Siberia.”
Loki deeply regretted all the damage he had dealt to his precious mortal but hearing that it could have killed her before he had ever gotten to know her was a painful thought he hoped never to revisit.
“Reality is Barnes should have died when he fell from that train, during hydra’s experimentation, and when he was fighting the avengers.”
Barnes’s face was a blank mask.
“Reality, Steve should have died before receiving the serum with his condition, the serum should have killed him, the ice should have killed him.”
Rogers looked like he was filled with bone-deep exhaustion.
“Reality, I have no idea how Groot, Drax, or Mantis are alive."
"Rocket should have died during experimentation."
"Gamora should have died when you attacked her planet, Nebula should have died during her time as your daughter, Starlord should have died when he first left earth.”
The Guardians of the Galaxy turned away from where they were glaring at Thanos to listen.
“Reality, Sam should have died during his time in the military, Natasha should have died during her time in the red room.”
“Each of us said ‘fuck it’ to our reality and made a new one. We made our reality without any help. Can you say the same, Thanos? Oh right, you need the stone for that.”
Why Thanos was letting her rant, Loki had no idea. Either way, she continued, thankfully she could speak and stay safe a little longer. Loki decided to just listen and enjoy his time with his mortal.
“Space,” she held her arms out like she was waiting for an embrace.
“Life all over the universe builds spaceships to travel across space. Humans will eventually figure it out. Rocket could build one on his own, same with T’Challa, same with me. You need that Stone there to travel across space, that or someone you forced to build you a spaceship. You can’t even figure it out for yourself.”
she said with a laugh, Loki didn’t like that laugh. This was the laugh Antonia used when she was self-deprecating or when she was half-mad with fear, lack of sleep, and stress.
“Mind, even Earth has geniuses, people with several PHDs, doctors, and scientists, people without degrees excel using their minds for other things. Using our minds to manipulate others, to get what we want, creating complex lies to fool even immortals, figuring out how to never miss a target, calculating how to get past every security measure. You are smart when it comes to some things, but reading relationships? Not so much. You got GHOSTED by DEATH. She hates you so much that the only way you can get her to notice you again is by killing half the universe.”
His mortal had a point, but how did she know so much about Death and Thanos? Loki pushes his thoughts aside as his mortal continues.
“Lastly power, you have none of your own. You take power from the stones.”
Loki winced as Thanos glared at his mortal, but his Antonia continued, completely unfazed.
“I’m 26, I was tortured and I built a fucking suit of armor to get away."
"Rogers was born sick and weak but his heart was his power and allowed him to gain more, yes he’s an asshole, yes he needed help to get his power but at least he didn’t steal it."
"The Guardians, a family of misfits, when together, they fight you and try to save the fucking universe."
Banner, a man who lost everything when he became Hulk; his rage and mind are his power."
"Thor’s strength is his power. Loki’s magic, determination, creativity, and mind are his power. Thanos, what power do you have that wasn’t fucking stolen?”
His mortal grinned wide even in the face of her certain death.
Loki looks on helplessly as Thanos lifts his gauntleted hand, “Are you done, mortal?”
The Power Stone begins to shift in its hold, glowing brighter, humming with barely contained energy.
Antonia stood there unfazed, a blast of power filled the air with a purple light as it barrelled towards her.
Loki strained against his chains, as he called “ANTONIA!” but his voice was drowned out by the roaring of that purple blast.
Time stood still.
A vortex of dust floated into the still crackling air.
The dusty particles reflected the sun-rays taking on the appearance of pink glitter, or perhaps pixie dust, rather than the rusty blood that caked the ground.
Where Antonia had once stood was a charred indentation in the ground, black lines stretching out like tears of darkness.
He felt tears stream down his face as he silently screamed, his Antonia, his feisty mortal, his light who accepted him even when in his monstrous blue form, his love who was too stubborn and good to die had just been incinerated in front of him, and he was powerless to stop it.
He had sworn to keep her safe but he had failed, just like he had failed at everything else.
A loud thump shook him out of his thoughts, he would see his mortal soon.
In a pose so similar to Iron Maiden’s classic landing style that if it hadn’t been for the large black and gold wings Loki would have thought his mortal was still alive.
The figure pulled itself up from the ground. Draped in black robes stood a being with a skull head, veins of black ran throughout the face giving it a look of great age, beauty, and femininity while appearing eerie and lifeless.
Shadows and a soft golden glow mix and swirl at the angel’s feet.
Loki recognized what this being was as soon as the thought crossed his mind.
This was an angel of death.
But that was impossible! The last angel had died well over a century ago and no new angels had been born.
The monster, Thanos appeared to have reached the same conclusion, “an angel of death? Haven’t the angels been dead with no new angels for quite some time?” the guarded respect in Thanos’ tone was disturbing to hear but Loki understood the reasoning, if this was in fact an angel of death then Thanos could not risk offending them.
The skull smiled, which shouldn’t be possible but it was quite a clear expression, taking on a menacing and blood-thirsty air.
“So what if I am?” thousands of voices spoke at once.
Thanos smiled, “then I would like to request to speak to Lady Death, Our Mistress. I have a gift for her,” he gestured toward Loki and the Avengers as well as his gauntlet.
The skull managed to look skeptical “Unfortunately due to the large influx of deaths over the last year you will have to wait.”
Loki felt a sense of deja vu, it felt as if this angel didn’t want Thanos to be with Death, he was pretty sure he imagined the growl that came from Thanos but his eyes swirled with barely contained rage.
Thanos managed to keep his voice calm and asked “and who are you again?”
With a sigh the angel sat and waved towards Thanos “Sit, I’ll tell you. We have a little bit of time so I will give you a story and some advice in return for you to temporarily pause with your….. Courting.”
With a nod, Thanos sat and Loki turned his attention to the angel.