Thanos is coming for the Space Stone, Thor is trying to prevent that from happening
and meets his end..
⚠
Character Death, violence, mourning
“Get everybody to the escape pods, I’ll hold them off!” When Valkyrie opened her mouth to protest, Thor added a sternly ordered, “Now!” She hesitated but agreed with a serious nod of her head, then ran to join Korg in leading their displaced people to safety.
What reason did Thanos have to attack their spaceship? They’d just escaped the destruction of their home, Asgard, and had set a course to Earth to hopefully find a new place to settle. The war-torn Asgardians, who were also reeling from the frightful reign of Hela, didn’t deserve this treatment. Then again, Thanos was known as the Mad Titan… did he need a reason?
The halls of the ship were dark, illuminated by red emergency lights, casting images into fiery hues. The outside had been battered by the heavy laser strikes to incapacitate them, but now their pilots warned that their attackers were preparing to board. This was much more preferable to Thor, a battle he could fight face to face and stand a chance of winning.
In one hand he held an Asgardian shield, capable of taking on blaster hits, and Odin’s spear, Gungnir, salvaged from the Throne Room after his fight with Hela and her supernatural army. Stoically, but resolutely, he marched toward the area where he would now face Thanos and his forces.
Thanos.
Just thinking about that horrifying monster of a man sent a chill down Loki’s spine. The hair stood up on the back of his neck as he remembered his time with that creature. That beast. Because in truth he wasn’t a man. He was a terror. A terror of the likes Loki never would be. Never could be. The things he saw in the time after falling from the Bifrost. The horrors he witnessed before returning to Midgard with his army of Chitauri. Those were images he’d never get out of his head.
Never.
All thanks to the Titan.
The ship shook, rattling the occupants as they rushed for the escape pods. Loki helped where he could, but there was only one person on his mind. Only one person he truly cared about despite the fact that he never said it. Not in any way that he would ever believe him at least. Thor. Brother. Rightful King of Asgard now that their father was gone. And the one person Loki could count on to be reckless and stupid in the face of danger.
“You should get to one of the escape vessels, brother. You should be with your people. They need you,” Loki said, catching up to Thor in the corridor. He didn’t have his weapons at the ready, but they were there, shrouded in magic.
Loki followed him, side by side. The sound of Thanos and his brethren not far in front of them.
Thor’s pace could only be stopped by Loki with the voice of reason that would sometimes speak to him when life was less complicated, and his youthful arrogance hadn’t been tempered by hardships. He turned to look at Loki with his remaining eye… the right side of his face had a ghastly hole where his other eye used to be, a gift from Hela. Appreciating the recent events that once again brought them both together in this way, his serious expression surprisingly broke into a warm smile and chuckled amidst the imminent peril surrounding them.
“:You are right, brother,” he said, placing a firm hand upon Loki’s shoulder. “Except for one thing. The Asgardians are our people. But yes. They do need me.” Becoming sober again, he faced the direction of their foe with stoic determination. “I will buy them the time they need to escape and then rejoin them once they are safe.” He paused, mouth open to say something, then continued, “I will not tell you to join the others, since I know you will only disobey me.” Another smile. “But perhaps you will do me the honor of fighting along with me?”
They’d finally come full circle. All of that pain and tragedy required to bring them together. To make them recognize their importance to each other. To allow them to stand side by side like equals. Like princes. Like brothers. It was enough to finally warm Loki’s cold heart. A heart that had been frozen in agony and hatred after discovering the lies their father had told them. The secrets he’d kept. All for the sake of the realm, with no regard for how it would affect his family. Or his sons. And yet, while it was Odin who drove them apart, it was also Odin who brought them back together.
And for that Loki would forever be grateful.
He only wished he didn’t feel that foreboding shiver deep in his gut. A warning that something terrible was going to come of this day. Of this confrontation.
That’s why you’ll be a great king, Loki wanted to say. But he didn’t. Instead he smirked. “Good luck getting rid of me, Thor. I’m not going to let you show me up this time.”
But Loki’s mirth quickly dissipated when Thanos entered the room. He’d forgotten how big he was. How imposing.
Loki’s stomach churned and he bit back the urge to be sick. He had to be strong for Thor. For Asgard. For himself.
Thor had squared off against many formidable foes, some of which being much larger and more frightening, but Thanos had a reputation in the universe for being particularly strong. Ordinarily, Thor would take this as a challenge which he’d confidently take, but what was most concerning was the single, heavy gauntlet Thanos wore. Odin had a replica of it in his treasure hall… an Infinity Gauntlet … and this one was adorned by the Power Stone, which Thor understood were not artificial.
Hiding his fear with bravado, Thor pointed Gungnir at Thanos and in an intimidating voice, said, “This is your last chance, Titan! Cease this madness and leave our ship, or face the consequences of your actions with the taste of Asgardian steel.”
Thanos’ laugh was deep and mirthless. “I’m here for the Space Stone. Give it to me, and maybe I’ll spare your lives .”
Honestly, Thor didn’t know what Thanos was talking about. “We do not have what you seek, but even if we did, I would never surrender it to a monster like you!”
“Then you have chosen death.” Thanos lifted his enormous blade, but Thor, undaunted, moved forward to engage in battle.
But Thanos was not alone. And he left a wake of bodies behind him that Loki was only just now seeing. Beyond the echo of the ship breaking under the blasts from the enemy vessel were the whimpers and screams of the few remaining Asgardians who hadn’t yet made it to the escape pods.
Loki’s fist clenched at his side. He was itching to pull out his daggers. But they were outnumbered for the moment. And Loki knew they wouldn’t stand a chance in hand-to-hand combat against Thanos. Not while he wielded the Power Stone.
Ebony Maw crept towards them. “Hear me and rejoice! You have the privilege of standing in the presence of the Great Titan. The universal scales tip toward balance because of your sacrifice. Unveil the Tesseract and become children of Thanos.”
But Thor was already edging thoughtlessly towards the Mad Titan, falling for his taunts. Loki didn’t have time to think. “Wait!”
In a flash he was suddenly between Thanos and his brother. He gave Thor an apologetic look, brows cinching towards the center of his forehead. “I’m sorry, brother.”
He turned to face Thanos and held out his hand. The Tesseract appeared in his palm. Hidden like so many of Loki’s tricks. Except this time it was no trick. It was the real thing. Not destroyed on Asgard as he’d led Thor to believe. Selfish, selfish Loki.
“Take it,” Loki said. “Take it and leave.”
Ebony Maw stepped forward and snatched it from Loki’s hand. Then he knelt before Thanos and held it out to him like a supplicant presenting a holy offering. “My humble personage bows before your grandeur. No other being has ever had the might, nay the nobility, to wield not one, but two Infinity Stones. The universe lies within your grasp.”
Loki rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Well, that’s not true.”
The expression upon Thor’s face shifted from confusion (What is Loki doing?), to bewildered surprise (Is that the Space Stone?!?!), to shock and betrayal (Loki is just handing it to him?!?!).
Loki would be spoken to later, Thor thought. After he’d defeated Thanos. Right now it was imperative that Thanos not get his purple sausage shaped fingers on the Power Stone.
“NO!” he roared, charging forward, pushing Loki aside and swinging Gungnir in a wide arc, striking Ebony Maw across the back. Maw cried out in pain as the spear’s magic blade sliced through his ordinarily tough skin, drawing blood and causing him to crumble to the floor at his master’s feet, alive but incapacitated. However, the damage had already been done…Thanos had the Stone and before Thor could strike again he dropped it into his gauntlet, causing a surge of cosmic energy to radiate out, strong enough to cause Thor to stumble backward a few paces.
No time for fear. Thor mustered his courage to rush forward and attack again, but each blow was parried by Thanos’ blade, producing an ear shattering clash of metal and sparks to fly. The rest of Thanos’ minions who had come with him stood in awe as they watched this battle. Gritting his teeth, Thor used every last ounce of strength in this fight, but Thanos? He was grinning, a frighteningly toothsome grin that told Thor that he was intentionally toying with him, wearing him down.
It dawned on Thor that this might not be a fight he could win.
Loki had his reasons, of course. He always had his reasons. He knew that Thanos was a formidable power. He knew that their chances for survival were minimal. Not in the state they were in. Not with their people scrambling to flee to safety and the majority of their heavy hitters either missing or injured. And after everything they’d just been through on Sakaar and Asgard, Loki only wanted one thing for him and his brother.
Survival.
But Thor failed to see Loki’s intentions. Or Loki merely looked as he always did—like the betrayer. The insulter. The trickster switching sides. When his decision to give up the Tesseract couldn’t have been further from that. He did it to save his brother. And what did Thor do? Well, he acted like Thor.
Loki was shoved to the side when Thor rushed forward in a violent rage. He stumbled and turned quickly, just in time to see Thor cut through Ebony Maw and then head for his master.
“THOR! NO!”
But it was too late. Thanos didn’t wait around for Thor to gain the upperhand—not that Loki thought he would. The Mad Titan had a purpose. Retrieve the stone and move on. They were merely ants in his way. But Thor didn’t see that. Thor was driven by blind heroics. And Loki didn’t know how to stop him. And even if he did . . .
. . . there wasn’t any time.
But the space stone wasn’t the only one at Thanos’s disposal. He also had the power stone. And when Thor came into contact with him, he used that to bore a piercing pain into his mind. And then, when Thor was at his weakest, he struck the final blow sending Thor’s body cascading into a bulkhead.
Thanos turned to Loki who still stood, immobile and horrified. “No resurrections this time.”
Then he and the remaining members of his crew used the space stone to disappear.
Loki flung himself towards Thor’s limp body. He turned him over onto his back and held his head in his hands. “Brother. How could you be so foolish?”
Loki caught a glimpse of the blood spilling out of the side of Thor’s leather armor and fought to hide the tears in his eyes. “I will get you out of here. I promise.”
Pain was not a stranger to Thor. As an Asgardian, son of Odin and god of thunder, he could take a lot of damage, and more often than not would stand victorious. Rarely did he experience loss. But this was different, much different from anything he’d ever experienced. Laying in heap on the ground, as head throbbed with the aftereffects of Thanos’ attack, he tried to move but found his limbs would not respond. It was nearly impossible to take a breath. This was no ordinary injury that he’d be able to recover from, and instinctively Thor knew death was imminent.
Still, he was able to smile when he saw and heard Loki. “One of us had to be foolhardy.” There was a spasm in his chest that told him his heart was failing, he didn’t have much longer, so in desperation he told Loki, “Take my hand,” because he could not move his arm to take it on his own. Though he could not grasp hold tightly, he made direct eye contact with Loki.
“Father told me, Asgard is not a place, it’s the people. Swear to me that you’ll lead Asgard to glory once again. I know you have it in you, have no doubt.” A tear ran down his cheek. “We’ll meet in Valhalla, brother. I’ll save you the seat next to mine.”
With a smile still on his face, the light in Thor’s eye went dim and he stopped breathing. Almost immediately after, his body began to dissolve into golden light that twinkled and shined, floating away like dust particles into nothing.
“But not you,” Loki argued. “That’s not how it works. You’re not the one who’s supposed to die. I am. I’m the one who always dies.”
Granted, all of Loki’s deaths had been illusions. Fabrications. Falsehoods. Tricks meant to leave his own family grieving his absence and dwelling in shame for having treated him so poorly. His deaths had always been emotional traps. They’d never been real. And yet Loki had always been certain that when death did come, it would be for him first. Because Loki didn’t deserve to survive. He hadn’t earned the right to be Asgard’s only son.
That role had always been meant for Thor.
Always.
Except, it seemed, today.
He wrapped his fingers around his brother’s hand and clutched it tightly. His own glamour began to falter with each of Thor’s struggling words. He didn’t even notice the teary glaze in his eyes. But he did feel the thickness in his throat. As though the effort to speak might choke him.
He didn’t want to swear. Because he didn’t want to be left alone. And yet he couldn’t help but grant Thor his wish. Because it was the last one he’d ever utter.
“Yes, of course. I’ll do you proud. I promise. But, Thor, there’s so much I want to say. So much I need to apologize for.” But Loki wouldn’t get the chance to say any of it. Not that he needed to. Thor had forgiven him in his final words by saying he would save a seat for him in Valhalla.
Loki’s lips parted to respond, but his brother was gone. And like their father before them, he drifted into that ethereal space between life and death until he was gone. Reunited with their family and his warriors. Leaving Loki alone.
Loki sat there for what felt like the longest minute of his life. A single tear slid down his cheek. He wiped it away on his sleeve before it reached his chin. Then he stood up. That was all he had the strength to offer. It was time to rejoin his people. Once they were safe, he would grieve.