Chapter 12
Thor blinked slowly but the picture before him didn't make any more sense. His brother stood not ten feet away with their father's treasured weapon in his hands.
"Where did you get that?" he asked as Loki came over to him.
"Get what?" Loki replied, kneeling down beside him.
Thor pointed at the spear.
"Father gave it to me."
"Is... is he..."
Loki's brows knitted with confusion for a moment before relaxing again as he rolled his eyes. "He's fine, you fool. He insisted I bring it. He seemed to think you were doomed without it. And without me."
Thor wanted to laugh but between his exhaustion and pain, all he could manage was a sigh. If Loki was back to teasing, that surely meant things were well back home.
Loki ran a finger along a gash on Thor's forehead and his hand came away bloody. "This won't do. Where is your helm?"
"Where is yours?"
Loki answered with another eye roll. His brother pressed his fingers on either side of the gash and closed his eyes. A gentle warmth spread through the wound and he felt his flesh knit back together, his own healing sped along by his brother's skill. The pain subsided and along with it went the dizziness, helping his thoughts to clear. It was then he remembered why Loki so seldom performed such workings.
"What are you doing?" he snapped, pushing his brother's hand away. "Don't waste your strength like that!"
"A simple word of gratitude would have sufficed," Loki retorted, an angry clench in his jaw.
Thor raised himself to sitting. "I will survive a mere flesh wound. Can you say the same if you exhaust yourself before you even enter the battle?"
"Healing magicks may be taxing but repairing a simple cut so that you may see without blood pouring into your eyes will hardly leave me crippled, brother dear. But by all means, if you wish me to put it back..." Loki rose, yanked Gungnir from the ground and held it as if he meant to strike Thor in the face with it.
"Peace, brother," Thor said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I only worry that you are still healing."
Loki lowered the spear. "And I worry what would have become of you had I not arrived when I did. Did you think at all before taking on that monster alone?"
Thor resisted a powerful temptation to point out Loki had done almost the same thing on the day before. What he could not resist was smiling. His brother looked and sounded exactly like their mother when she lectured them.
"What, what is that look?" Loki demanded, which Thor dismissed with a wave of his hand.
"It is no matter. I am just glad you came when you did." He let Loki pull him to his feet, not missing the way his brother's eyes searched his own, still scanning for signs of injury.
"I couldn't very well let you go back on your promise to me, could I?" Loki said, so casually it could only be a front to mask his concern.
Thor played along with an equally casual, "Of course not."
He rolled his shoulders and stretched his neck, noting that not only was his dizziness was gone, but so was most of the pain and tiredness from the Kursed's beating. His brother must not have been fully truthful when he said all he did was close the gash on his head. Thor didn't know whether to shake his head or take Loki by the shoulders and shake him until he saw sense. He knew that healing magic was more than just 'taxing', like his brother said. For one who hadn't extensively trained in the healing arts, anything more than a simple spell could leave the healer severely drained, and Loki's training was basic at best. That he would risk depleting his energy right before joining a battle made Thor wonder if his brother really was as clever as everyone thought. Though Loki claimed to understand his life was not worth less than anyone else's, Thor still wasn't sure he believed it, especially not when Loki's actions spoke otherwise. He still had vivid memories of how lost and desolate his brother was after learning his true heritage. He could recall every detail of their father explaining what Loki had tried to make the Destroyer do. It never failed to send awful chills down his spine. Loki had never done anything quite so desperate again, not until they almost lost their mother. But there had been other occasions, other moments like this where Thor wondered if his brother still had that inclination and it was only manifesting in less obvious ways.
Oblivious to his concern, Loki spun Gungnir in his hands and pointed it toward where the battle still raged. "Shall we?"
Instead of answering, Thor held his hand out and called Mjolnir to him, revelling at the feel of the hammer's power in his grip and choosing, for the moment, not to comment on Loki's self-destructive tendencies. The two of them ran back to the center of the courtyard and surveyed the scene.
"There isn't much time," Loki said, casting his eyes upward.
Thor looked toward the heavens and saw what he meant. Through holes in the sky, he glimpsed Vanaheim, Jötunheim and Svartalfheim. He lowered his eyes to the battle. His friends held their own against the elves but with Malekith wielding the Aether, it was anything but a fair fight.
"We need to get to Malekith," Thor said, raising his voice over the noise. "If we eliminate his guards, he cannot stand against all of us."
He was about to charge into the fray but Loki caught his arm. "Patience, brother."
Planting his spear in the ground once again, Loki waved his hands before him, creating a blue glow that resolved itself into the Casket of Ancient Winters. An icy blast blew toward Malekith, forming a wall between him and the rest. With a few more targeted blasts, Loki immobilized most of the remaining elves, leaving them easy targets for the Asgardians to pick off. That done, Loki returned the Casket's fury to Malekith. They all watched the wall of ice grow and thicken around their enemy, completely encasing him.
All except for Thor. Something else held his attention.
The Casket had triggered Loki's transformation. He'd only shown Thor glimpses of it before but this was so much more. From the curved lineal markings on his forehead and his ruby red eyes, to his long blue fingers with black nails, Loki was fully in Jötun form.
"Hurry, Thor," Loki grunted. "I can't hold him off for long."
The order jolted Thor from his thoughts. In his brother's hands, the Casket pulsed with light with each wave of energy it expelled. The artifact's supply of power was not infinite and Loki was taxing it to the limit keeping Malekith contained.
Tearing his eyes away from Loki's transformed face, Thor did as he was told. He took off at great speed, barely pausing to strike down two elves who managed to free themselves from the ice. As he closed in on another, he could hear a great crash come from behind the Casket's barrier. There was another, and another. A quick look at the wall of ice revealed cracks forming faster than his brother could seal them up. Time was running out.
Raising Mjolnir above his head, Thor called on the power of the storm. Overhead, clouds formed and grew dark as they swirled and rumbled. The smell of ozone filled the air and Thor smiled. He summoned the lightning, channelling the strike into his hammer and sending it onward. Without fail, it found its targets, branching off in all directions and eliminating the last wave of Malekith's forces.
It was not a moment too soon.
A great explosion, far louder than the thunder Thor created, sent him and his friends tumbling to their knees. A shower of snow and ice crystals rained down on them. Nothing remained of Loki's barrier but shattered pieces. Worried, Thor turned to look for his brother. Loki was down on one knee as well, with one hand clinging to Gungnir where it was planted in the ground, the only thing that looked to be keeping him upright. His other hand was pressed to his chest that was heaving with harsh breaths as though he'd run all the way to Midgard from Asgard. At his side lay the Casket, its brilliant glow dull and muted, almost invisible.
"Brother," Thor called out.
"I'm fine," Loki gasped, his face pale and drawn.
It wasn't the most convincing lie his brother ever told, but Thor didn't have the chance to question him because there came the sound of laughter from behind him.
"I have waited five thousand years for this, Asgardian," Malekith said, his eerie voice echoing through the courtyard. "I will not be denied."
Out of nowhere, a fierce wind whipped through the grounds, so strong it even picked up debris from the battle and hurled it through the air, forcing Thor and his comrades to retreat to a safer distance. Malekith stood at the center of the cyclone, smiling as the Aether's energy grew out around him, obscuring him from sight. The red cyclone spun ever higher with each passing moment as it reached for the portals to the other realms.
"We must stop him," Sif shouted over the noise of the unnatural storm.
"The Convergence is amplifying the Aether's power," Loki yelled back. "It will repel every weapon we have."
Thor shifted Mjolnir in his grasp. "There must be something."
His brother's eyes were haunted as they lifted up to the sky. "No. We're too late."
The tendrils of Aether had reached the portals, spreading into each realm. Jane and Erik came running over but he fell behind as he slowed and looked up.
"It's too late," he said, echoing Loki. "The Convergence is at its peak."
"What about those?" Thor asked, pointing to the closest of Selvig's devices sticking out of the ground.
Erik shook his head. "The signal they emit isn't strong enough to penetrate the Aether's energy. It's too much interference."
"Then we'll just have to get closer." Thor yanked two of the devices out of the ground and started toward Malekith.
Jane grabbed his arm. "Thor, even if you could get close enough, it won't work. We still need to trigger the rods with this." She held up the control device. "There's no way the signal will get through all of that, not unless we shut down the Aether."
"I'll find a way." He started toward Malekith again but Loki stopped him.
"Thor, don't-"
"If you have any clever ideas, brother, now would be the time" Thor cut him off.
A brief flicker of surprise flashed in Loki's eyes at the abrupt response but Thor felt little guilt over it. While he wasn't eager to sacrifice himself to stop Malekith, he knew that might be the only way and he was willing to do it. If Loki had thought of another way, Thor would welcome it but if all he meant to do was persuade him to hold off, then Thor didn't want to hear it. It would only make it harder to do what was necessary.
Loki's surprise faded quickly, though he did give Thor a look that suggested his brother might find a way to make him pay for such incivility later. He looked beyond Thor to the swirling mass of Aether, its poisonous red tentacles reaching ever deeper into the neighbouring realms, then down at the rod on Thor's hand. After a moment, one corner of his mouth turned up.
"Actually, I believe I do."
~~~|~~~
At the center of the storm, Malekith stood with arms outstretched, reaching up to the blackened sky. The Aether's darkness had reached another realm and its power only grew. Soon, that darkness would blanket the entire universe and five thousand years of waiting would come to an end. The sacrifice of his home and of his people would not be for nothing.
There was a flickering of something at the edge of his awareness but he was so enraptured by the glorious darkness, he recognized what he'd sensed too late. From the corner of his eye, he saw a bright flash. A sound like the crackling of electricity reached his ears the same time that a searing pain lanced through his right arm, so intense even the Aether could not quell it. Instinctively, he clutched at his arm with his left hand only find himself grasping the air. His arm had been blasted away. Blood poured from what was left of his shoulder where it was whipped into the air by the strong winds.
"That was for my mother," someone called out over the swirling wind kicked up by the Aether.
The dark-haired Odinson materialized from his right, a golden spear in his hands. Malekith felt his lip curl into a sneer as his rage began to boil. So that's what it was, that flicker of seiðr he noticed before losing his arm. The whelp who had thought to steal the Aether from him was back to try again, it seemed. And he'd brought along his father's weapon.
"And so is this."
The boy fired a second shot from his spear but that time, Malekith was ready. With the Aether's help, he deflected the blast harmlessly away with his remaining arm. "You are every bit the fool your whore mother was," he spat.
Instead of the anger he expected to see, the Odinson smiled. "She lives, Malekith. Unlike your precious Kursed."
That cannot be, he thought. She couldn't have survived. "You lie."
"Dark elf enchantments are no match for Aesir healers," the impudent boy bragged, his smile widening. "As for your famously unstoppable beast, him I killed myself."
A bellow of rage exploded from Malekith's mouth before he could restrain it. Even after so long a time he could not escape Bor's meddling. It was as if the Aesir king was reaching out from the halls of Valhalla to torment him through his descendants. The thought filled him with such fury it nearly blinded him. But he could not lose control now, not when he was so close to victory.
Getting himself under control, he matched the boy's insolent grin with one of his own. "You've only delayed the inevitable. Darkness returns. Your universe is ending. Did you truly think you could stop that with so feeble a weapon?"
Odin's whelp glanced down at his spear and to Malekith's confusion, he shrugged. "No," he said, looking back up. "I only wanted to make sure you were watching me and not him."
The point of a stake erupted through the center of Malekith's chest. The pain from his lost arm was a mere irritation compared with this new agony. He tried to turn around to see the other attacker but the boy kept firing at him with that damned spear. It took every bit of strength he had to maintain control of the Aether and fend off the spear blasts while contending with the immense distraction of the stake impaled in his own chest. Then the Odinson suddenly stopped firing. Half a moment later, a force slammed into him from the other direction, so strong it was as if it came from one of the Kursed. It threw him through the air until he collided with his own ship.
Dazed from the impact, Malekith's focus shattered and the Aether's energy dissipated. A high-pitched warbling came from the spike in his body. Everything around him began to bend and warp. He shouted in impotent rage as his body was pulled away from Midgard and through the spaces between worlds. In the cruellest of ironies, it landed him on the the dead remains of what had once been his home.
~~~|~~~
Jane's breath caught in her throat the sound of an explosion came from inside the Aether. Her jaw dropped open as she saw Thor and Loki flung from clear of the cyclone. Even before their bodies hit the ground, the swirling Aether disappeared.
They did it. They actually did it. She quickly looked down at her scanner and saw the gravometric rod Thor had taken with him pop up on the display again. The second it did, she triggered it. At the far end of the college grounds, Malekith disappeared in an anti-climactic blur.
There were celebratory shouts from behind her but Jane didn't join them. She was more worried about Thor. Both he and his brother had been thrown clear but while Loki was already stirring, Thor was not.
~~~|~~~
Loki's head spun wildly and he groaned. He should have known something like that would happen. With two powerful artifacts colliding that way, of course the result would be violent. He had a feeling his ears would ring for days.
With difficulty, he rolled over on to his stomach and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees. He looked up and saw both the Aether and Malekith were gone. He let his head hang down and heaved a relieved sigh. It was over. The nightmare that haunted him for a year was finally at an end.
Hearing Jane cry his brother's name made Loki raise his head once more. Across the great courtyard, his brother lay face down and motionless on the ground in the shadow of Malekith's dead ship.
No... no, he can't be...
Just before he was overcome by panic, Loki saw the slight rise and fall of Thor's back. No, his brother wasn't dead. Jane ran to him, perhaps not noticing the same signs of life. Right as she reached him, the ground started to rumble.
Shaken and damaged by the collision between Mjolnir and Malekith's Aether-infused body, the base of their enemy's ship collapsed under its own weight. As more and more pieces crumbled away from it, the ship began to tilt.
Loki watched Jane roll his brother onto his back and try to wake him, to no avail. When that didn't work, she tried to drag him to safety but her mortal strength was no match for Thor's bulk. Loki struggled to up and help her but even as he did, he wouldn't make it on foot.
Summoning every last bit of strength he had, Loki teleported to Jane's side. He threw an arm around her and knelt down, making her do the same so they occupied a smaller area of space.
"Whatever you do," he said into her ear, "stay still."
Frighteningly aware of just how weak he felt, Loki watched the ship fall toward them. He didn't have enough strength left to teleport all three of them. All he could to was shield them with seiðr but that too required energy and focus to work, and he had precious little of either to spend. If he put up the shield too soon, it might collapse before they were out of danger. He had to wait until the last possible moment...
Now!
Loki raised the shield but the glowing barrier lasted only a moment before it collapsed. His heart stopped, frozen in his chest by the horror that he'd overestimated his own reserve of strength and they were going to die because of it.
Just as it was about to crush them, a strong gust of air swept over the courtyard. In the blink of an eye, the falling ship vanished. Loki gasped as his heart started up again, pounding so hard he thought it might actually burst from his chest. He looked around and spied Erik running over to them.
"Is everybody okay?"
Jane raised her head. "How..."
Selvig held up the same instrument Jane had been using to manipulate the portals. She had dropped it in her haste to reach Thor. Erik's broad grin moved Loki to do the same in spite of the terror that hadn't quite receded from his body. Fandral, Sif, and Volstagg were right on Erik's heels. While the other two saw to Thor, Volstagg held an arm out to Loki.
"Are you all right, lad?"
"I am," Loki replied, though Volstagg did have to pull him to his feet.
He friend said nothing as he threw one arm across Loki's shoulders, a gesture that conveyed affection and had the added benefit of disguising the fact that he needed help to stay standing. A few feet away, his brother was also awake and sitting up. Jane fussed over him for a moment before she shot to her feet, eyes flitting about the courtyard.
"Oh my god. Darcy. Where's Darcy? Has anyone seen her?"
Erik looked at the screen on Jane's device. "Uh, I've got them. Just one moment..."
He turned the dials and pressed a button. Two figures materialized a short distance away. Locked in a passionate embrace, it was a moment before either one noticed something had changed. Darcy saw it first, hastily dropping her hands to her sides, which was unfortunate for Ian. Leaning back the way he was, without her holding onto him there was nothing to stop him falling to the ground.
"So, uh, did we win?" Darcy asked, smoothing her clothing with her hands while the young man scrambled to his feet.
Thor and Fandral burst out laughing.
"When did this happen?" Jane asked, shocked.
"Um, about five minutes ago."
"What?"
"These dark elves were coming at me and I kind of froze and Ian just picked up a car and dropped it on them."
"You picked up a car?" Thor asked with a dubious look at Ian's somewhat skinny frame.
Ian shrugged. With a bashful duck of his head, he said, "It was a Mini."
"The gravitational anomalies," Jane said, her relieved tone a sign that the world again made sense to her. "The Convergence-"
"Oh, who cares," Darcy interrupted. "He saved my life and it was totally awesome."
She threw her arms around Ian's neck and pressed a kiss to his lips, which he obligingly returned. Loki looked away to give them a semblance of privacy, though he might have been the only one to do so. His gaze wandered to the devastation left by Malekith's attack. None of the buildings were destroyed but cracked walls, broken windows, and even holes punctuated the facades. The courtyard itself was littered with debris and the corpses of the fallen. The restoration work would take a long time by mortal standards, though compared with what would have happened if Malekith succeeded, it was a trifle.
"Who will sort all this out, I wonder," Fandral said, gesturing at the surrounding carnage, his thoughts obviously along similar lines to Loki.
The mortals exchanged a look and Darcy was the first to speak. "I vote SHIELD.
"They must have people for this sort of thing, right?" Jane asked accompanying the question with a half-shrug.
Erik scoffed. "Probably a whole department for cleaning up these messes."
"But this is our mess," Ian said. "Isn't it?"
"Dude, we just saved the world," Darcy replied.
"Actually, the universe," Loki corrected her.
"Exactly. We saved the universe, so we get a pass on the cleanup."
Fandral grinned at her. "I knew I liked you."
Thor let loose another hearty laugh, then got to his feet with a grunt. Once there, he turned to Loki with a questioning gaze. Loki nodded in response, indicating he was well. He was thoroughly exhausted, his chest hurt, and the last teleport left him so dizzy he could hardly see straight. All that was minor, though. He was alive and mostly well. They all were.
That was, by any definition, a victory.