Chapter 1
The illusion he created this time was much more realistic than any he created before. He did this because he knew it would have to fool both his brother and the man who wanted to kill him. The payoff was worth it, but the price was steep. He could barely move from his hiding spot and, instead, stayed curled in a corner near the bodies of his former subjects. He could only pray none of the “children” would find him. One of the “children” he almost became.
He felt the shift in the ship when the Power Stone took effect. He listened to Thor’s sobs as the ship around them cracked and gave way. It was only a matter of time before it exploded. And it was then Loki prayed his brother would somehow find a way to survive. Thor was, after all, the only true hope they had.
He thought the explosion would have killed him. But it didn’t. He awoke later as he floated through the vacuum of space. His body bumped into the glass of a ship. He turned his head to look in on an empty but familiar cockpit. Had there been the needed oxygen, Loki might have let out a relieved laugh.
The Grandmaster’s party ship had somehow survived the explosion.
With a little effort, Loki managed to climb into the ship. He crawled to the controls and sat in the chair for a moment as he marveled over the very idea he somehow survived. It wasn’t terribly surprising, considering his sister might be forcing him to live in order to avoid having to deal with him again. Or he might just be that super lucky.
Or unlucky. Time would tell which was truth. For now, there were much more important matters.
Loki couldn’t be sure how long he spent flying around the debris of what was once their home and their people. But he continued through and looked in a desperate hope that someone else survived Thanos.
Most importantly, he looked for Thor.
He knew his brother was alive from the moment of the explosion. He knew there was no way Thor would be taken out by it. He knew in his gut Thor was much too stubborn to die like this.
So it was a mix of relief and anxiety when Loki came up empty-handed. He sat back in the chair and sucked in a deep breath meant to calm him. But, his mind raced.
They sent out an SOS when Thanos first began his attack. While it was possible no one was within range to receive it, it was also possible someone did and found Thor. If that was the case, he would be on that ship. If Thor was awake, he would be thinking of every way to take down Thanos for what was done to their people.
To do that, Thor would need a weapon. And he would only trust one place to fix him a weapon for killing a being as powerful as Thanos.
Sure of his choice, Loki turned to the controls and forced the ship as fast as it would go.
-
He would be lying if he said he didn’t want to die.
At this point, his body felt as if it were moving on its own. He was a shell; his soul had fled with the death of his family and friends. Now? He only lived for one task; Revenge.
And in that case, it didn’t really matter if he died trying to achieve it. At least they would all be together again. But right now, the only real task on his mind was to watch the life leave Thanos’ eyes just like the titan watched it leave Loki’s. To do that, he needed the damn star to heat the metal.
So, what was a bit of lost skin to that?
The burn was worse than anything he’d ever felt. For a moment, he was able to forget everything that happened and just struggle with the pain. It was a sickening way to calm himself but at least he didn’t have to think about what happened to his brother.
“Thor!”
He opened his good eye and saw a ghost down on the platform. Great, now he was hallucinating.
It didn’t matter. Ghost Loki looked at him incredulously. It was as if he were angry to see Thor putting his life in such danger. But that couldn’t be right. Because that couldn't be Loki's thought; since when did he care?
He heard the call that the metal was melted and allowed his body to drop. He heard the cry again and was vaguely aware of the strange rabbit captain flying his ship in attempt to catch him. He was nearly knocked out completely by a metal beam in his way.
When he hit the floor, he heard rushed footsteps. Light; too small to be Eitri and too quick to be Tree.
Ghosts weren’t supposed to have footsteps.
“Brother, you idiot. You can’t die here!” The ghost called out. “He needs that axe!”
“Where’s the handle?!” There was smashing. And a soft, struggling grunt of pain from Tree.
For a moment, Thor’s sight went black. And his powers moved him to where he was needed.
-
Everything happened too fast. One moment Thor was on the ground and the next they were all on Earth in the middle of a battle. Had he been human, this would have taken a moment to adjust. But Asgard had a way of preparing everyone for a battle at any time. He hit the ground before Thor and immediately drove his blade into the flesh of something's neck.
Win the battle first. He could deal with their reunion after everyone was dead.
It took no time to know which side he was on. He didn't know half of the humans on the field but he knew which army belonged to Thanos. Anything Thanos had to die. For once, he would be doing something for a greater purpose. As an added bonus, for a moment, he delighted in the shocked look when he cut off one of the beast’s heads to make eye contact with Steve Rogers.
He gave him a nod and a smirk with a quick, “Captain.” Then, he ran off to clear the field as best he could.
Thor continued on with vigor and the intensity of a man who didn’t care if he lived or died. There wasn’t much time to allow himself to be concerned with that. Not when the battlefield was so littered with enemies.
Loki felt his legs suddenly freeze and the hair on the back of his neck stand straight up. Everything in him told him to run or else this time, he might actually die.
Thanos would undoubtedly kill him again if given the chance.
But… He couldn’t just do nothing. For once in his long life of creating chaos and mischief, he needed to retain order. The titan was mad. And that was dangerous. Especially if he gained all the power he sought.
So, as the instinct to hide behind an illusion and run the other direction threatened to take over, Loki ran. His heart thundered in his chest. This was insane.
But so was everything else today.
-
Thor still wasn’t seeing straight.
He could swear he was seeing Loki on the battlefield. He could swear his brother was fighting by his side in only the way he knew how. Maybe it was the new eye playing tricks on him. Maybe wherever Loki ended up, be it Valhalla or Hel, he watched and played his tricks so he wouldn’t be forgotten.
And Thor would make sure of that. He would make sure Thanos knew why he was dying. And there was no set of magic stones that would save him from it.
Thor saw his opportunity shortly after the crazed false god gained the final stone. It was then he threw Stormbreaker and the axe slammed in and sliced through the power from the stones. It was there that it embedded itself into Thanos. Thor landed as his heart lit up in vindictive glee. “I told you, you’d die for that.” He pushed it in and forced the titan to look him in the eyes.
Thanos cried out. “Y-you….”
Loki stepped in behind his brother and froze. Oh, that fool.
“You…should’ve aimed for the head.” Thanos brought up his hand and simply snapped his fingers.
There was a quick bright light before the world fell deathly silent. The gauntlet sizzled from the amount of power used. It looked as if it would break at any moment.
“What did you do?” Thor looked at Thanos wildly. “What did you do?!”
He didn’t answer. He just smirked and disappeared using the space stone.
Loki felt a pang of regret knowing he was the reason Thanos came for it. But, right now, he had another question.
Thor turned to him. For the first time since the ship, he seemed aware of his presence. “Loki...Are you really here?”
“Why didn’t you aim for the head?” He could have ended this all if he hadn’t been so…
“Steve?”
They turned to the man with the metal arm and watched as he faded to nothing. It was slow and silent. They watched his face morph into one of panicked confusion. The captain moved over to the ash he’d left behind.
Thor and Loki looked to one another in horror.
“Brother-“ Loki wanted to feed him some calm words but couldn’t think of them in time.
Thor shook his head. “Don’t… Don’t leave me again.” He rushed over as if he would be able to grab Loki and stop him from fading away.
He tripped over his own feet and nearly took the other down in the process. Thor clung to Loki, glad to feel the other was still so solid. Maybe they would be alright. They would be able to fight side by side again.
But all the color had drained from Loki’s face as he noticed why Thor had stumbled. His leg had already begun to fade. Thor opened his mouth to say something but it never made its way to his lips.
“No. Brother… Thor, please…” Loki gripped Thor tighter only to end up covered in ash as the other’s body faded to nothing.
He stared into the middle distance as people continued to fade around them. The trickster’s legs gave way as the weight of it all became too much. He shouldn’t have come. He should have faced Thanos himself on that ship. This was worse than any crushed throat or snapped neck. At least in death, he wouldn’t be witness to this.
The world continued to make no sound as the remaining Avengers moved over to where he’d collapsed to his knees. Next to the axe Thor had left behind. He couldn’t do this. He didn’t even know where he would start.
What was Loki without Thor?