Chapter 1
“What’s going on?” Valkyrie snapped as she rushed to catch up with Thor and Loki, who were racing down the hallways of the Asgardian refugee ship. She rubbed her eyes, still half asleep. “What—“
“Bad,” Loki wheezed, clutching a stitch in his side. “Very bad—“
“Alert the ship. Wake up the Asgardians,” Thor commanded. “We have a slight problem.”
“Slight?” Loki hissed, his eyes flashing. “Slight problem? Brother, you may have never met Thanos, but he is no slight problem.”
“Yes, but you’ve met him, haven’t you? When you tried to destroy Midgard—“ Valkyrie reminded him in a raised voice.
“Oh, shut up,” Loki growled. “May I remind you that at that time you were being of little help to Asgard, drinking and slobbering and playing as the Grandmaster’s slut—“
“I never— if anyone was his slut, it was you, Loki—“ Valkyrie snarled, eyes flashing.
“Now is not the time, you two!” Thor barked over their bickering. “Our entire population is threatened, and all you can do is fight.”
The two snapped their mouths shut, and after one final glare, strode after Thor and helped raise the alarm.
“Perhaps their intentions are friendly,” Korg said hopefully when everyone had gathered on the bridge.
“Right,” Loki scoffed. “Look, let me just dash your dreams really quick; Thanos is here to destroy us— more accurately, me,” he added with a wince. “I… have failed him in the past. I’ve done my best to hide from him. It hasn’t been easy. Now, it looks like my time is up.”
“Great, so it’s your fault that we’re all on the brink of death,” Valkyrie groaned. “Why didn’t I guess?”
“That’s not what I said.” Loki bristled. “It’s only mostly my fault.”
“Most things are,” Valkyrie retorted.
“My guess is that this Thanos could barely resist a ship packed full with the last of a population,” Thor interceded. “If Thanos is as bad as you say he is—“
“He is—“
“—then I’m sure he’d love to get his hands on our people.”
“Probably,” Loki admitted. “Genocide is his afternoon activity. I’m joking,” he added at Korg’s horrified look.
Their conversation was ended when a jolt shook the ship, making lights blink out and sirens wail. Red beams flashed in the darkness, and for a moment, Valkyrie could make out Loki’s face, illuminated by scarlet light. An expression haunted him that Valkyrie had not yet seen on his face: terror. He stared up out of the window with wide, frightened eyes, pupils dilated with fear and brow creased with distress. Another blast, this one stronger, rocked the ship. Asgardians cried out in fear, clutching at one another and crying out.
Valkyrie whipped around to face Thor. “What—“
“I don’t know.” Thor gasped. “This ship has barely any weapons compared to Thanos, and I have a feeling that we’ve only just started to feel his power—“
Boom. The thick glass of the windows started to crack. Loki rushed to them. “There’s nothing we can do. We’re doomed. The only one of us who could escape is— well, Thor, you could probably escape— look, you need to get out of here—“
“No way.” Thor grunted. “I’m not leaving, not now. I can’t—“
“Look, you don’t have a choice!” Loki yelled. “It’s either stay here and die, or get captured and tortured or whatever Thanos will do to us— or you can run and find help.” Loki paused and glanced at the refugees huddling by the bridge. “I’ll look after them.”
“Full offense, Loki, but you’re a horrible king,” Valkyrie snorted. “I’ll look after them.”
“No, I’ll look after them because I’m their king and I’m not going anywhere!” Thor boomed, but who was to look after the refugees, Valkyrie didn’t find out, because at that moment, another blast hit the ship, and the world exploded around them.
=•=
Everything hurt. Valkryie’s skin felt too tight, like if she moved the wrong, everything would snap. Her mouth was dry and her chest ached, like somebody has tried to rip it apart. Her head pounded and her eyes felt crusted shut. Something sticky ran down her face.
“Hey— Val, you awake?”
With a mix between a groan and a whimper, Valkyrie forced her eyes open. She was sitting… somewhere, slumped against a wall in an awkward position, as though somebody had just tossed her there. Darkness mostly surrounded her, but here and there she could pick out shapes that seemed to be more or less in her same predicament. She tried to sit up and her back screamed in protest, vengeful after hours of being curled against the wall. She turned her head slightly to try and see who had alerted her.
“Valkyrie?”
“L-Loki? S’that you?”
“Yes. Look, I think we’re on Thanos’ ship— after the explosion, they must’ve pulled in the survivors—“
“Thanos—“ Explosion. Survivors. Right. Valkyrie groaned. “Gods, Loki, why couldn’t you just have— I dunno, surrendered yourself to Thanks and let all of us remain safe on our ship, happily devoid of yours and Thanos’ presences?”
“Even if Thanos was in a negotiating mood— which he obviously wasn’t— that would not have worked. Once Thanos knows what he wants, he takes it, and anyone in the way gets crushed. Besides, like Thor said, perhaps Thanos wanted to commit mass genocide or something—“
“But he didn’t,” Valkyrie interrupted with a frown. “I mean, we’re still alive. Why didn’t he let us freeze in space?”
“Information, I’d suppose,” Loki guessed.
“About what?” Valkyrie inquired. At Loki’s silence, she narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “What did you do that made Thanos so angry?”
“Where is Thor?” Loki asked. Valkyrie scowled at the obvious change of subject, but she let it slide. For now.
“I’ve been wondering that as well. If we survived, so did he,” Valkyrie thought out loud. “But he’s not here. Is he being kept in a separate… room? Cell? Whatever this is?”
“Or did he manage to escape?” Loki mused.
“Let’s hope,” Valkyrie muttered. “Because otherwise, we’re screwed.” She scrutinized Loki for a moment then said, “Can’t you do a magic trick and get us out of here? Vaporize or teleport or snap your fingers?”
Loki’s eye roll was so dramatic Valkyrie was surprised his pupils didn’t just disappear. “It doesn’t work like that, and it’s not just a matter or snapping your fingers and—“
“Is the answer yes or no?” Valkyrie snapped.
Loki gave her a baleful look, then after a moment’s silence— “No.”
Valkyrie huffed and leaned against the wall again. “Pathetic. What’s that point of magic you can’t do anything useful with it?”
“My magic is extremely useful,” Loki growled, “but against forces such as Thanos—“
“What’s so great about this Thanos anyways?” Valkyrie snarled. “You keep waffling on about how powerful and terrifying he is. I mean, how bad can he be?”
“You’re about to find out,” a deep voice said, making both of them jump. A tall figure with glowing yellow eyes swept through the previously locked door. In the dark, it was difficult to see much, but Valkyrie thought it might be a female. Several guards appeared to flank her, grabbing Valkyrie at the figure’s command and dragging her towards the gaping door.
“Get your filthy, disgusting, boorish—“ Valkyrie yelled, writhing in their grasp in vain. The figure chuckled slightly, yellow eyes glaring brighter.
“You may want to compose yourself, Valkyrie. Thanos won’t be amused by your spirit.” She swept out of the chamber and flicked her finger for the guards to follow her.
“Valkyrie,” Loki hissed, “whatever you do, don’t upset Thanos. He’s more powerful than you think, be careful—“
Then the doors swished closed behind Valkyrie, and she allowed herself to be dragged into the darkness.