Chapter 4
The Maw was pushing Loki into the chamber again. How many times he had done this, Loki didn’t know. He had lost count. They were startled when Gamora threw open the door.
“Maw!” she cried. The Maw whirled around,
“Yes, sister?” he spat. Gamora glared daggers at him,
“Bring him to the planet. Father wants him.”
“What for?”
Gamora was already leaving, but she called behind her,
“The Tesseract.”
The Maw looked at Loki, who was sitting on the ground, trying to make sense of what had just happened.
“Well, your majesty,” the Maw handcuffed Loki, “It seems your time has come.”
Loki was too tired to ask what he meant. They made the trip to the surface in complete silence, Loki completely broken. Loki knew where he was going, and he was relieved. He would be killed. The torture would end, and he would have won. He had not helped Thanos, he had not cracked, and he would no longer be a danger to his family.
All of the children of Thanos were gathered. They were gathered around Thanos’ throne, each trying to speak.
“I will go and get the Tesseract. I will not fail you, father!” the horned girl knelt low.
“You wouldn’t stand a chance!” Nebula hissed, “Let me and Gamora retrieve the Tesseract, father.”
“You have your assignment!” The hooded man growled, “You and your sister are to assist Ronan in gaining the power stone.”
“Maw.” Thanos called.
“Yes, sire?”
“Bring Loki forward.”
The Maw dragged Loki forward and thrust him at the foot of the stairs. Loki managed to stay upright, but he wouldn’t raise his gaze. None of the children spoke. Slowly, Thanos descended. Loki could hear his footsteps. He was standing right in front of him. Thanos knelt. Loki was expecting execution. He was expecting painful death. He was expecting asphyxiation.
Thanos tenderly put a hand under Loki’s chin and lifted his face upward. Loki saw pain in the Titan’s face.
“Your brokenness inside matches your brokenness outside.”
Loki didn’t say anything. He didn’t care enough to say anything. Thanos nodded slowly,
“That ends today, Little One.”
Loki found the courage to smirk.
“You’re right, it does.”
To his surprise, Thanos shook his head.
“Not the way you’re thinking. But it will save you nonetheless.” He stood.
“Loki came to me lost and broken. He resisted salvation because of his pride. But that ends today. Today, Loki, you will be found.”
Loki shook his head.
“No. No, I will never help you in your insane quest.”
Thanos turned to the hooded figure,
“The scepter.”
The hooded figure bowed low and handed to Thanos the scepter that the Maw had brought the day Loki’s torture began. Loki eyed it apprehensively.
“I give you a gift, Loki of Asgard, and a quest. I will bring you out of the ashes and exalt you.”
He aimed the spear at Loki’s chest and gently pressed the tip of the spear to Loki’s chest. Loki assumed it was to aim. But he held it there. And Loki felt it.
All of the torture he had endured had been painful but this… this was terrifying. He felt him lose control. He couldn’t speak, couldn’t stand, couldn’t scream. Even the horrible, throbbing pain that came with this was nothing compared with the reality of losing control of consciousness.
The strain, in his already weakened state, was too much. He passed out at the feet of Thanos…