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Strange and Wanda have trapped in the Soul Stone for a while. And while while the Soul Stone has enjoyed the influx of souls it holds (It hasn't had any in so long!),
it doesn't really...
like them. It knows that it's weird about magic users, especially powerful ones. It tends to pawn them off to the other stones, and well, these two are no exception. So away they must go. The Soul Stone throws them out, and well, he's sure one of the others would take them. The Mind and Time stone seem fond of these two, however the Space stone has always enjoyed keeping things right out of reach and it snatches them before the other two have a chance to protest.So they end up in the space stone.With a bored God of Mischief.Loki had sworn he was going half mad with the sheer boredom of the Stone. He was surrounded with great plains of nothing, while being the only thing there. He'd turned to creating small games for himself, just to ensure that he didn't go completely insane. The arrival of the other two is a warm, warm welcome. He takes the excellent opportunity to start pranking them
every five minutes, just to see their reactions. The girl tends to lash out
far too easily, so he avoids her. Getting hit with a wave of red after turning her hair to snakes was hardly enjoyable. She was no fun, and spent most of her time crying, sitting, or playing with wisps of her magic.
The sorcerer was far more entertaining. He originally tried to best him at every turn, but after Loki had filched one of the man's rings, his ability to conduct sorcery took a notable downturn. After a few well meaning jokes, the man just sighed and told him he was completely done. Loki felt himself smirk.But one day, Loki goes and sits beside this strange magic girl, and asks
who in the in realms
is she mourning. For future use against her. Of course. And her answer punches him in the gut.
Everyone
she says.Loki hears her stammer out her story, of a young girl, who chased misguided revenge until she lost her brother.It strikes an... uncomfortable note within him.
She tells him about her dead parents and about the way they died - how they were small causalities in a war so much greater. She tells him about the experiments, about being a tool, but she had her brother, but then she lost him.But then she found a metal man, who made everything alright for a bit. Before she had to kill him. But she wasn’t strong enough, she waited for too long, and now everything was her fault. That everyone had turned to dust was trapped in the awful void that was the Soul Stone? Her fault.Loki leans back, before telling her a story about a stolen prince (but can you really steal what was unwanted?) about growing up as a darker half, as an unknowing political tool, untrusted, different, about anger, and rage, until he had destroyed everything good he had. He tells her about his brother, golden light that he was, and how in the end, he had traded half the universe for him. He looked straight in her eyes as he said. She should have hated him, but instead there’s an awful wariness there, and she doesn’t have the energy to be angry anymore.Strange is... out of his element. He wishes he wasn’t here, because he just isn’t meant for this kind of work - Christine always was, and that is why she was the one to tell the families, why she made the toughest calls. And he looked into the future and he knows this is necessary, but it doesn’t make being cut off from everyone he knows and - well, if not loves, then at least cared about - any easier.
And Strange looks out to his two other companions, and he realizes something.
That the one universe - the only one in which they win - isn’t possible.
It was a small detail, one he almost missed, but he saw her face - somewhere within the cacophony that was that future, and she’s here, and
no damn it, this was supposed to be The Only Way They Won...And it strikes him. She needs to get out. A least her. Maybe not all of them, but she must.But
he muses,
it could hardly hurt for her to have some backup.So thus starts The Plan To Get Out Of The Stones.Loki thinks it impossible. He’s held the Stone, even when watered down by the power of the Tesseract, and he knows how it is everything, and nothing, and the exact same time. An embodiment of the void. He isn’t exactly keen on trying to escape it.
Wanda is too exhausted. She doesn’t believe in trying anymore - she’s had her hopes dashed a time too many. She wants to sit back and scream and grieve until there is none of the emptiness left.And Strange doesn’t exactly not understand - but now it not the time. So he devises the framework for their escape - the bare bones of how they’ll get out. He fully understands once he starts carving out runes that he has neither the knowledge nor the power to pull this kind of spell off - but that’s what the others are for. He just needs to get something that will Push Them Into Gear. Loki can’t help but watch the runes formed by the sharp orange magic, and while he originally means to destroy the sorcerer's efforts - he still hasn’t forgotten falling through space for far
far
too long - he is... intrigued. There is an elaborate puzzle here, and it would be a shame
to leave it unsolved it. Strange smirks.
Meanwhile, Loki, for some unknown reason, enjoys the girl's company. She marvels at his magic, at the illusions he forms on a whim, and demands that he teach her. He takes one feel of her magic - a wild cracking magic that sparks and snaps and bites - and he is reminded, almost vividly, of his brothers lightning. She looks up at him, and asks again. Her teaches her the tiniest cantrip, something a child could do, and while it takes her weeks, eventually she can make flames dance on her fist that don’t hurt to the touch.Strange understands that they need more power than he can provide, and he’s felt the controlled, ordered nature of Loki’s magic. Ironic that the supposed God of Chaos has magic so ordered, he can summon runes with accuracy to the tiniest millimeter. But the witch will be the one who will flood the spell with enough raw power to actually get out of the stones.
He brings it up with her one day. The first thing that happens is her back bracesDon’t call me a witch
she asksStrange doesn’t get the point of it. It is what she is, so why bother? But if she’s that shaken by it, well, it was hardly effort to cease. He tells her that she needs to work on focusing her magic, of sewing it through intricate runes that would surely shatter if pushed too hard. She looks at him, incredulously, before aiming a beam at him. His cloak lends him a hands, and ensures he doesn’t go flying into who-knows-where.
My magic isn’t delicate, isn’t controllable
She statesWell, Loki waspishly relies
you better get good at it soon.Please. Strange responds. You won’t be done that quickly.
Loki narrows his eyes at him
Try meStrange wisely shuts his mouth. Wanda cackles. Loki smirks.Strange wishes he had his sling ring. Irregardless, he has Pushed Them Into Gear. Now time to Get Out Of The Stones.The three of them start training. Wanda learns the fine points of control from them both - the way she has to know her magic, and accept it, because the core of magic is all about your head - and Strange helps Loki with the runes. One particular day, they’re both stuck over the corner of a seal - neither of them is making any headway. While they slowly progress to yelling at each other, Wanda begins overhearing them. Slowly she pieces together what its about. They are trying to figure out how to balance a day and night rune - opposites, and often deadly unstable working together, from what they're saying. They keep trying a Sunset rune, or a Sunrise one, but neither works. She thinks through it, before asking about Gemini. They stop, look at her, look at each other, and shut up. It is glorious. She doesn't stop smirking for the rest of the day.Soon, they're ready. they all hold hands, Wanda's scarlet brushing up against Loki's green and Strange's orange. She pushes, and she feels Loki guiding her magic, but something goes wrong almost immediately. The air around them goes unbalanced, something pops, and there's an explosion.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
They're all blown back away from each other, while the void looms in on them. And Wanda understands one thing - she can't lose them too. She might not like them that much
- Okay she kind of likes Loki, and Strange has his moments - but aside from that - they need her. And she refuses to let them down.Loki is falling. He's falling through the void again, while seeing Thor's face, Father's face up in the distance. But not really - its not really there. And the witches magic growls around him, and he feels it reaching - and he pulls at it, forces it near, and guides her to him. He senses the other Sorcerer nearby, and shows her red the way there, until they are all connected by reaching scarlet and sparking orange, and slithering green. All at once, they pop back together.
That didn't work Loki responds drylyHe receives twin glares from the other two. Wanda asks them what went wrong?Unbalanced
Strange replies.
There needs to be a conduit between you and him. Your magics react
volatilityThere is a pause for about half a moment.Well Loki
replies
We do have three membersStrange's stomach drops at the thought of having to hold and control the magics of the two being standing next to him. He's half certain it'll burn him up, even though he has no physical body here.
Loki takes one look at the sorcerer and smirks. He's discovered a newfound love of teaching. How... fun would it be to pass on some if his knowledge to the sorcerer?Strange takes one look at Loki's grin, and decides that he really doesn't like this plan. But, unfortunately, he has No Other Plan.
That's okay. He didn't need his sanity that much anyways.
Loki grabs his hand and Wanda's. Loki tells the girl
pour magic into him
and she listens. He does as well.The result is another rather unpleasant explosion.
Loki goes back to the rules about magic sharing, the rules he hasn't had to review in a millennium. He hasn't had to share his magic since he was a child, and it bothers him a tad that he isn't strong enough, that his magic isn't powerful enough, to do this on its own. And then he remembers something. Having to harness the magic of two people takes trust, takes knowing people, in a way that Strange just doesn't know them. Loki doesn't think he'll ever fully trust the sorcerer, but the thought of being stuck here permanently, or even worse, having to wait for his brother to rescue him , like some sort of wailing damsel, is almost too much to bear. Besides. He trusts the girl, at least a bit. She's not overly clever, but she has her moments.Loki has them
sit around conjured flames, while he looks uncomfortably at Strange. Strange is awkward back. They're like two children, refusing to talk. Well, for once, turns out Wanda has to be the adult.She tells them about her time with Vizh. About how he was the only one other than Clint and Pietro to treat her like a person after she got her gifts. How she was too selfish to kill him, even when he begged her. How she finally did it, but it was too goddamn late, and how after that everyone was nothing but ash and dust. She was relieved in her final moments, she tells them, because she had nothing left.She pinches Loki. He squirms around, but doesn't say a word. She uses her magic to hold the man in place, while she tickles him. He takes out a knife and stabs her. It doesn't do anything, it goes through her, but that's not the point. The point is that its his turn to share, and he isn't sharing.
Strange interrupts the two of them. He tells them about his hands, how they were wrecked in a car accident, how it was his Lack Of Focus, and that he'd destroyed everything he'd known with that one accident since shaking hands do not make a surgeon make.Neither Wanda nor Loki interrupt. They know a bit about destroying your own life - about self destruction, about random acts of fate that aren't fair.
Strange continues on how Kamar Taj saved him. How it gives him a New Calling, a new pathway, for him to explore, to genuinely help people, not just for his own ego, but to make the world better. How he built something form his ashes, but now everything was gone again.Loki tells them about his brother, about fighting alongside him against a being he
calls Death, and, how for one perfect moment, he had everything he had ever wanted - to be seen by his brother's side, instead of his shadow. He looks somewhere in the distance as he discussed this, not meeting any of their gazes. Wanda places her hand around his wrist, and they lean against one another. Strange takes their hands, and for half a second, she can feel them sync up perfectly, like the stars aligning for one taste of synchronization, of a complete harmony, like one hundred flavors as one. Then it fell apart.But there was potential there. She hated bearing her soul to them. It was like taking a scalpel, and pulling back what she wants no one to see. but apparently, its necessary. So she does what she needs to do.She tells them about her parents - how they never had much, how they loved her brother and her, how they'd starve so that she and Pietro never would have to go hungry. She told them about Pietro, how he was fiercely protective of her, how he would guard her from the other children at the orphanage, how he yelled at any men who cat called at her once they were on the streets, even though he got beat up far to many times over it. She told them about Clint, about how he showed her his home, and treated her like a daughter, and allowed her to grieve.
She tells them darker things too, like her hatred against Stark. How she still saw his name on bad nights, etched into the bomb, except now instead of lying next to Mama's and Papa's bodies, Pietro's was there too. She tells them that sometimes she still wakes, wanting to tear him apart. She tells them how that wars with her want to be a good person, a hero, like Captain America or Hawkeye, someone who can be relied upon and who helps others. The words after that fade to ash on her tongue.Loki bursts open. He tells them that his skin is a lie, that he had been lied to by the people he trusted the most, and how it had stung when his fake skin had peeled away, leaving naught but his true monstrous self. How it proved to him a million things, that Asgard had always seen him as less than, how he would always be a weapon, a tool, but one held cautiously, always in fear that he would turn. He was to do the tasks that a righteous king, that his brother couldn't. That from the first days of his existence, he'd been chosen to be hated for so many reasons: for his nature, his skin, his role, his caution. How he would always and inevitably pale next to his golden shining brother. How he so wished that his brother could be gone for just a bit so that he could do something that would make Asgard finally see him as one of there's, as something not foreign, not different. But by the end of the day, that was ruined too.You have an odd way Strange replied of excusing attempted genocide.When you put down a realm of savages Loki replied is it truly murder?Are they?
Strange says
Because I have met you, and worked with you - if all Frost Giants are like you, then perhaps, they are not half bad.Loki's face split into a half terrifying smile. The hand they were holding trembling delicately against them.
Have you forgotten that I invaded your realm? killed its people?
possessed
your friend? At this, he points his hand at Wanda, eyes gleaming feverishly. His smile is something twisted, rage emanating from it, as his helm drops from the top of his head and he catches it with one hand. He knocks Strange off his feet, before pushing the tip of his helm to the sorcerer's throat. a thin line of blood bleeds down his neck.
Dare you imagine a realm full of Lokis? A realm full of mes? I assure you, your own paltry realm would not have survived after I and my ilk ravaged
it.
For a second they see the conqueror, the man who so very nearly brought New York to its knees, who had tried to slay his brother, who was the enemy. Strange looks up at him. Then kill me now and be done with it.Wanda wants to scream Loki no, and she nearly does, but she sees him freeze. He floats there, uncertain, twitching one way then the next.
They're frozen. Like a disturbing tableau. Strange takes his hand cautiously, before placing it on the weapon. Slowly he guides it down. He Has No Clue What He Is Doing, but it is better than nothing. Loki is still frozen, but its clear he's not here anymore. He's trapped in his head somewhere, in the demons that they have to face again and again and again, and Strange is not a little tired of it. But he holds on to the helm, while Wanda slowly places here arms around the man. Words come out of her mouth that he doesn't speak, and they don't sound quite like Russian, but not quite like German either, rather some odd in between. Loki has started to twitch, before all the tension in his limbs leave in a rush. He sags against the ground, before jerking out of Wanda's arms.
My apologies
he says abruptly
That was uncalled for.
He keeps looking around, pacing, and Strange is not half certain he won't run. Considering this is the Space stone, he could likely place quite a bit of distance between them, making him Quite Difficult To Find. He finally settles next to the runes, murmuring about how they need to be recast, but it will be much easier, since they've done them once before. Wanda turns around and begins to use her magic, wild vicious thing that it is, and he returns to his own mediating. He'll have to be able to direct his magic in two directions simultaneously in order to be able to direct both Wanda's and Loki's magic. It'll be a hell of a task, but he can't say he's not up for the challenge.
Later on they'll sit next to each other and Loki will ask Wanda why not knock me out? And she'll respond with shrugged shoulders. She wasn't going to tell him the honest reason, that she hadn't though Loki would stab him, that she'd expected him to drop the weapon eventually. It wasn't a logical presumption, obviously, as Loki has shown no particular aversion to either stabbing people nor murder. And yet, in the heat of the moment she had, for some insane reason trusted him.The next time they sit together, Strange talks about the brain. He talks about the parts of it. How different parts control every impulse a human being can have, and how they work together, and how sometimes things might break down, how ever piece has to work in togetherness. Wanda talks about cooking, about how every squeeze and pinch matters, about how every piece in the mixture has to compliment the others. Loki talks about stage play, about the chaos and drama, and how if every piece isn't here the show will be a complete and utter disaster, and that is the worst nightmare of any playwright and stop laughing Wanda.Wanda doesn't of course. It is far too funny riling him up.
Strange is rolling his eyes, and she sees Loki formulate a spell, before her sight shifts. She sits there, squaking like a harpy, while black feathers ruffle about her. It is awful. When she gets a hang of most of her limbs, she uses her magic to launch herself at his face, the stupid bastard, and he takes a step back. He quickly undoes the spell, swearing all the while. Wanda of course preens. Strange hexes them both.
They're stuck within a meter of each other, and this is hardly conductive to working Strange!
but the man rolls his eyes at them, before grabbing their hands. Loki points a dagger at him, but this time, they keep it up for a full minute.
Another few weeks pass, with confessions and runes and power. Wanda can feel her gift now, and build whatever she wants to. She loves the small looks of pride Loki shoots her whenever she applies her magic, be it in making a grand recreation of her childhood home, to turning Strange's clothes bright pink. By this point, the poor man doesn't even look fazed, simply sighing before continuing with his work.Finally, one day, they can cast for an hour - and Strange deems it enough. They take their positions again, standing in the corners of one of the triangular runes. The spell goes well, but before they can complete it, it pops out of existence. Wanda's stomach drops. They try again, and again, and again, and the spell builds and builds, before she feels something whoosh out of her, and she can't hold it any longer and she collapses.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
She feels crushed. She thought they had it. She had believed they had it!
What was it
this time?
The words crawl out of her throat, coated with the thick, thick accent she had been trying to repress for so very, very long.
Strange looks up.
Not enough power
he says, blandly
it isn't coming out quickly enoughAh. Ah.Wanda nodded her head. Once. Twice. She turned around, settled and allowed her mind to roam. To run away, to collapse, to become nothing and something, and everything and dustShe knew she was powerful. She was. And yet, she's never used her powers for something truly good. Either she aimed at the wrong person, or she failed. Failed, and failed, and failed, and here was yet another failure.She couldn't get out. Couldn't help the others. She couldn't do the one task she was supposed to.She heard someone sit down besides her. She doesn't look over. Loki is tense, limbs bound with tension, and wrapped like iron cords, bent over and over each other, until something snaps. She wonders when he will. She knows how of course - they've seen it. And she remembers thinking enemy, and wonders what that makes her, since this conqueror is able to grasp what she needs and wants and thinks.
He shuffles around a bit before pausing and then slowly says
I and my brother, well we didn't always get along.
Wanda raised an eyebrow. He huffs before shoving her over.
Hush. Irregardless, we didn't. So once, he had said something - I can't remember
now, but I was quite slighted about it - And well. I had to take retribution. So I shapeshifted -
You can what?
Shapeshift child. I can't do it here - I have no physical body and that I'm afraid is necessary
- but I could. Anyways, I shifted into a snake - perhaps
half a meter long - and waited. My brother, you see, was rather fond of snakes
At this Wanda grins
I don't understand your sense of humor.
Of course you don't.
Hmph. Irregardless, he picked me up - wrapped me around his arm. At that point, I shifted back - knife in hand - and stabbed him. The look on his face is one I suspect I'll never forget. He proceeded
to scream like a child, before dropping me and running off to Eir to sow his side back together.
Um, aren't stab wounds usually fatal?
Loki looks at her, confusion etched across his face
If you stab them in the heart, perhaps, but a small cut like that would hardly be cause for alarm.
Erm. Um. Stab wounds are usually fatal to us.
Are you certain?
Hes's skeptical.
Yes. Yes I am certain.
Loki purses his lips
huh.
You honestly didn't know that.
I had no clue that you Midgardians were so delicate. Perhaps in the future I shall use a pair of gloves while handling your kind instead.
Wanda stops for a second. She knows she shouldn't interfere with something this personal, but well, she really wants to know.
Are you trying to get out for him?
Loki breathing stutters What he states do you mean childYour brother. She replies. If mine were still alive, I'd be fighting tooth and nail to see him again.
I'd wager that your relationship with your brother is a tad
less tumultuous than mine.
Maybe. He is completely still, frozen, like a stature carved from ice. But I suppose you would know.
I do. Do not to interfere in matters you know
naught
about.
They sit there, in oblivion, looking out onto the void.
Thank you.
What for?
Cheering me up I suppose. What do you think I should do? I'm not strong enough.
We need a way to amplify that strength - of pouring more magic into you.
And how would I do that?
Loki pauses. There's hesitation in his next words, in the pauses and stutters in between lines I am not sure. Ask the Doctor. Perhaps he will find something that I've missed.
I don't want to speak to him quite soon. Maybe later. Not yet.
They sit there for hours and hours on end.Strange analyses the situation. They need more power - but they have no
clue on how to obtain it. The witch could potentially try to grow her supply - but he had none of the tools that would make that plausible. He sits next to the other two. If this, of all things, is their dead end, Strange doesn't think he could
take that outcome. So he must Find A Way To Get More Magic.
In the end, its Loki that thinks of something. Of course, Strange thinks its insane and impossible, but well, lacking anything else, he'd take it. It was a plan, after all, even if not a great one.Loki stood up, before looking at him and Wanda
We
he started are standing in an Infinity Stone, yes?Strange looks up flatly at him
Have you not noticed?
Wanda adds
That is a bit of the problem.Loki rolls his eyes at them, before continuing on
Well, if we could find a way to channel the power of one of the stones - ideally power, if it doesn't burn us up - well, we'd be able to escape!Strange sighs. He turns to Wanda, who' looking up at Loki
And how do you say we do that?Loki shrugged his shoulders.
Figure it out.Strange sighs. He adds a item onto his mental checklist: Find A Way To Channel The Infinity Stones.Wanda has the first idea. She knew that the Mind Stone has a consciousness - perhaps she could try talking to it? But when she tries to reach out, spreading out her magic in a perfect sphere, she find nothing, nothing and nothing and nothing and nothing for miles. The Space Stone is massive and she is painfully aware of her own status as something small - easily
squished underneath the weight of the sheer amount of empty that permeates everything. She traveled, and she traveled, and she felt herself thin and thin within the massiveness, and then a flash of fear coiled in her belly as she realized she was stuck. She had shredded herself, and her consciousness, her soul, was so very, painfully, slim. She couldn't gather herself, couldn't collect herself, cou-She woke up. There was a small cut on her arm, and Loki was holding his horns. She was laying down, panting, and marveled in her collected-ness, her being's wholeness, and she breathed. She was alive. She was something. She was real. She hadn't flown apart.
Loki gave her time to rest. Whenever she opened her eyes, the world was
spinning, and there was no up nor down, so she looked and Strange and Loki, before grabbing onto his proffered hand, and standing up.
I cannot get out of here. There is too much. Too far.
Loki's eyes trailed down to the girl, before helping her to her feet. She was still shaking, but he thought she'd be alright soon. He had no clue what to do, where to go, what idea to pursue. They were just... stuck.
Strange spoke up slowly
Maybe
he said
We could try storing magic in something - some sort of container - and when we use the spell, pull it out?Loki took one look at him
And what Strange, would you suggest using as a metaphysical
battery? We are slightly, just slightly pressed for materials. And the only thing with substance, any substance, is our own souls.
Technically our souls don't have substance. We can feel them because we ourselves are souls. But irregardless, there has been one object that actually has substance.
Loki glared. Strange raises an eyebrow. Wanda starts, before whipping her eyes to Loki
Your headpiece!
Loki stopped, before staring at the thing. It had been gifted to him by his mother many years ago. She'd never mentioned
what was in it, rather simply stating that it would always be with him. The thing was useful, as he'd used it more than once as a rather effective
dagger against a slew of rather inefficient assassins, but to thing, that it could store enough power to overpower an infinity stone...Wanda looked up at Strange
so
she said
how do we make this a battery?Even if we did
Loki said
do we have enough power to force ourselves
free of an infinity stone?I destroyed one once.
The other two stared at her. The mind stone. I destroyed it when Thanos was too close. I believe
I told you Loki?
Well then
Loki started sarcastically
our good friend Thanos must have pulled another one out of his back pocket.Wanda shoved him
He turned back time
A single tear dripped down her face
just a couple seconds, and he tore it out of Vision's head. Vizh died again.
Loki stopped. Ah.There was a silence that dragged in the air, before strange opened his mouth
Well, there are runes. We can engrave them onto the - headpiece you called it? - and then have Wanda direct her magic into it.Loki looked down at the horns. He remember his mother giving them to him, remembered her telling him that this would always be by his side, that he would always, always be armed.
Alright. Which runes?
Strange started. He... honestly hadn't expected them to take it so easily this time. Well. Storing Magic overwrote Find A Way To Channel Infinity Stones, and he began reciting ideas that he had, with Loki scathingly critiquing them every time he made a mistake. Wanda followed the discussion with an almost child-like fascination. She'd probably learned enough form their past few days? weeks? months? years?Oh God, how much time had passed? Had a century gone by while they toiled away in the Stone? was it too late? had he failed already? The Ancient One had trusted him, given him a duty, and the Stone had given him another one, and here he stood, having potentially failed it, when the universe had needed him the most. He was responsible, responsible for protecting the reality of the universe, and he'd allowed it to be completely and utterly shattered.
Strange
and what about Christine and Wong?
Strange wha-
where they dead? no, no, they'd be dusted if anything, but what if they fell in the aftermath? what if Christine was on a plane with a pilot that dusted? what if Wong had to defeat
Dormammu? WAKE UP YOU'RE FALLI-
he couldn't do it without the Time Stone
STRANGE
GET UP GET UP GET UPHe snaps back awake. Strange and Wanda are holding him up, and there is no floor between his feet, and he's weightless. Loki has him strung up in his arms, and he imagines it looks rather entertaining if he could breathe properly - Wanda is shaking him, before she spreads a layer of red underneath his feet. He settles on it, before breathing
Why couldn't I stand?I don't know
Loki repliedWe're still fine
Wanda said
Why is it just me then?
Loki shrugged his shoulders.
I honestly don't knowFor a second, Strange couldn't breath through the spike of shame mixed terror that flooded his veins. Loki paused for half a second before turning to him
I suspect, that with
Wanda's magic, you should be alright. Maybe periodically
test if you can step off the carpet?Strange nods. Wanda looks up, before looking down, and then meeting his eyes
We need you Strange. So don't tire yourself out, yeah?Loki nods. Uncomfortably. Let us
finish the runework. You were on current, and were suggesting flow of all ridiculous things.
Flow is perfectly fine.
Flow can refer to anything in the natural world. Anything. We could get a river, or flour, or a rush of air.
So let's shove a specifier on it. Rather than trying to remember one specific rune that neither one of us can recall, lets use the simpler method
Usually I'd suggest that but we have no room, since I have no clue how long this sequence will be, and my helm is only so large. And combination runes can be achingly long, especially for runes of different natures like these two.
Wanda speaks up
I could draw it out of your minds? If you'd let me in?Loki looks to be speaking up for a moment, before shaking his head. Strange looks at him, he raises an eyebrow, before Strange sighs, and places Wanda's hand on his forehead.They are taken to an ER room, with the heart monitor still beeping a steady rhythm. It's oddly soothing, all things considered, and he revels in the colors, the white tiles, and the purple mask, and the yellow gloves. Slowly, they drift through his mind. She keeps her eyes averted, asking him to look around and direct her. He recognizes most of the landmarks, as an odd amalgamation of places he holds dear. They pass by a small room that houses his childhood bedroom, before walking through the top of a mountain, snow flying up after their boots. Strange honestly has no idea where he's going - but the further he walks, the later the memories seem to refer too, so he finds the library while they walk away from his center. He's awfully curious what his first memory is - this would be interesting to watch - but he suspects they don't have the time. Wanda settles them down, he he pulls books out of the shelves. Some of the runes are shifting - not properly memorized, he'll assume. Other times, they are crystal clear. There is no clear organizational structure, so he rummages around until he finally comes across something that jogs his memory. Its shifting, of course, but staring at it long enough makes it mostly solidify, and maybe Loki might be able to remember it properly. He and Wanda are suddenly standing back in the deep blue/black void, with Loki smirking at them.Wanda shrieks when she sees the spider that is slowly stepping across her eye, and she closes her eyes shut. She swears she can feel their little legs tapping on her skin.
Get them off.Say please?
Loki is a smarmy bastard and they were a fool to ever trust him.
Odinson, I swear if you don't I
will murder you.
Fine, fine
he waves his hand and suddenly everything is fine again
you lot need to learn how to take a joke.Strange sighs. Loki smirks. Wanda screams into her hands.
He hears what Strange has to say before etching the next rune. Soon, once they finish defacing the golden helm, Wanda starts pours her magic in. It sucks it up, and she half fears that it'll take more than she can possibly give. Loki tells her to
be cautious, and don't overextend yourself, or else it might take all your magic.
Is that even possible?
It depends
Loki replied
On the method. This one has to store quite a bit more, so it carries higher risks.
It takes a while longer to finish the runes, and time after that to totally fill up the helmet. By the end of their procedure, the golden thing looks like someone shoved it full of red static, with it flashing and flaring at every which turn. Wanda needed to hold it at all times, or else it'd try and burn the others. They set it in the center, and link hands, before Strange starts chanting. Loki and Wanda join him after a few words, in a language that Wanda didn't know, but that she understood. Soon, Wanda falls into a trance with them. Except this time, it holds, as what they've created builds and builds, and builds, until Wanda can only feel the magic around her, rather than the clothes on her frame or the hands in her hand. And they go unstuck for a half a moment - before popping out somewhere completely different. And she sees a flash of purple, before Loki pulls her away, and Wanda gasps.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
The first thing Wanda sees is an axe.It hurtles by right next to her, but she doesn't see its target.She looks up and sees a women covered in white blasting a beam behind her. Clint is notched up in a tree, shooting at the various creatures that Thanos has spawned - they look like the Outriders she'd seen in the Soul Stone - and every now and then he'll sneak a shot at Thanos. Above her, Iron Man and War Machine are shooting away at the purple giant, but the man just blocks every shot aimed at him with some sort of field, before returning fire. Natasha has a raccoon on her shoulder - that will be a story - and she's with the Captain shooting at the monsters as the form. Thanos is smiling through all this, as he flicks away the small man that has leaped on him and almost, always almost, landed a hit on him. The Hulk is laying
in a mountainside with large chunks of rocks covering his torso. A blue woman is rolling under Thanos's gauntlet and right before he slams his fist down, she throws a knife straight up, missing him by inches.
Wanda feels her heartbeat race. Loki's besides her, and he leaps into battle, making copies upon copies of himself that race towards Thanos. She sees green magic float away, and form small runes on the group that creates a chain of ice when Thanos lays foot on it, before Thanos breaks it with a purple burst of power. Strange creates a small portal around his head, before Thanos teleports a few meters away.
What's Reindeer Games doing here? Thought you said he was dead?
Wanda threw a beam of her red at Thanos. The blue of the space stone came up again, before dissolving the beam into nothing. Strange gave his cape a small request
Make sure he doesn't close his fist
before it darts off to fulfill its master's will. Thanos tries to warp it with a stone - she sees it fall apart, before reforming - but Loki reaches there first, slipping his dagger in between. The cloak slipped in, and Thanos's fist was opened, and he tried to tear it off, but Wanda wouldn't let him. She grabbed his hand, and pulled it back - he would not close his fist. He would not. Wanda would not allow that.
Suddenly there was an swordsman looming over her, and she saw the
blade descending - before Clint shoots an arrow and a kick from
Natasha sent him flying back. He exploded a few feet away from her, going up in flames.
Oh hey witch and wizard. Nice to see you here. Thought you were dead too?
Tony we're all going to die if you don't focus.
Fine, fine, Romanov keep your pants on.
Loki looks back at the witch, and he sees that she's been aided by some of her comrades. He turns his focus to the Titan, and his flailing about. He attempts to slips a dagger into his throat, but the man just shoves his shoulder back, and Loki goes flying. Thor lets out a screech of rage, and charges at the titan. Strange builds him a portal, before Thor is above the titan, and aiming his axe downwards. He brings the gauntlet up, the axe clanging loudly against the metal, before dropping down onto the earthen soil. Loki create a small rune, something that'll create a small icicle when trodden upon, before leaping backwards.
Looking up, Loki sees the mortals - the widow, the Hawk, the raccoon, and the captain - we slowly being beat down by the surrounding forces, with Wanda still in shock right behind them. He sighed for just a moment, before shifting into a Lindworm, and breaths fire onto the wretched things. They burned rather easily, and fell even more quickly. He shifted back, and saw the Captain give him a nod. Loki rolled his eyes, before turning his eyes back to the titan.
Loki spots Nebula, crouched on the ground right below Thanos, and a plan forms, quickly and quietly. Strange is still mobilizing Thanos's fist, with the girl holding back his hand. He knew Wanda could take passengers with her when she entered Thanos's mind - and that would give strange enough time to either get the gauntlet off, or fell Thanos with some other method. If she could flit into Thanos's, that might provide enough of a break for long enough that Loki could enact his plan.
Unfortunately, Loki understands that they'll need more manpower. He sighs, before flitting to the green monster. The Hulk growls at him, before he rolls his eyes.
Yes, yes, I know. But I need you to face off against that creature. Do you understand me?
The Hulk shook for a moment, before he grinned, shaky and unsure, but terrifying, and let out a loud roar. Loki
wanted to bury his head in his hands,
but consigned himself to tearing one of the rock faces off. The Hulk began shifting after that, his arms moving the stone pillars aside as he tore off the rock. He let out a roar, before stampeding off after
some of the various creatures that were crowding around the avengers. They made their way through the remaining monsters a lot quicker.He walks to Strange, and tells him to fell Thanos - at any cost. That someone must be underneath him. That he'll ask Wanda to help him out, and presumably, they might be able to flit into the mind of the titan. Strange pursed his lips, before saying that
they've tried parts of that, and it didn't work before, but he's welcome to try. Loki tells him to teleport him and Wanda when he signals himLoki slips to Wanda's side, and tells her that
I need to get into his mind.Wanda grimaces and Thanos turns to rip the cloak off
I don't have the power to. I'm occupied. Try - try the Mind Stone. I'll clear the cloak for you. This will be riskyLoki nods once, before signalling Strange, and yelling just me.Strange nods, before a portal opens around him. He drops right next to Thanos, and moves quickly before flipping himself on top of his arm, and grabbing downwards. Wanda's red moved the cloak, and then he grabs the Stone, and forces himself in. The Stone reminds him eerily of the Staff Thanos had gifted him years prior, and he uses the same kind of force to try and push in.
Except Thanos had pushed his fist back in the absence of the cloak, and he feels the mind stone fighting him - with two masters, it wouldn't know which way to go.
The Mind Stone
slowly eased into his mind, and could feel the effects of madness begin to take root - he'd have to do this quickly. But he was fighting a losing battle, and with every second that passed he could feel himself getting angrier and more fearful.Loki felt thoughts swirling around his head - why help them, why help the puny mortals who'd die in a few years if not less, why aid his uncaring older brother and the uptight sorcerer and the irritating witc- a force of red pulled him into Thanos's mindscape, and he woke up in a vast jagged landscape, full of black walls and white pillars. The whole place was clean - surgically so, with no clear indication of where to go.
Ah. So this is my mind.
Loki swallows past his dry throat, and he feels Wanda stiffen right next to him. Thanos looks at them and asks
how did you not stay dead?
Wanda steps forward
The souls you trapped - they did not die. We were all trapped in the Soul Stone, until I and Strange were pushed out. Loki was already in the Space Stone when we arrived.
It took me when you'd tried to kill me.
Thanos smiled faintly
so you found a way to best the stones? Clever.
The ground underneath them crumbles, before they shoot up into the sky, Wanda holding onto Loki's arm, red underneath their feet. Loki narrowed his eyes at Thanos, before launching a dagger at him, and moving. Bits of the ceiling were falling, and Loki had to grab Wanda as they danced across her floor of red. What in the nine realms were they going to do?Thanos was growing larger and larger, until his hands were as tall as Loki was. He reached out to grab Wanda, before she turned into a specter of red energy. The energy grabbed Loki out of thin air, and he turned into a
raven and flit around Thanos's fingers. He turned himself into a Pegasus, before charging downwards at Thanos, piercing him on his horn. The Titan roared, before flinging his hand back at him. Loki shifted into a small falcon, and dived right out of reach using his momentum to swoop upwards again.
Wanda hovered besides him and he shifted back into his Aesir form. Standing on a red carpet, she asks
how can we defeat him?
We don't have to. We can't. Just distract him, so the others stand a chance.
She nods once, before throwing herself back into combat. A red spike grows up, and Thanos flinches back. A force field descends next, before Thanos parries it with a blast of blue energy. His gauntlet shimmers into existence on his hand, before the ground underneath them turns to lava, and it climbs up to meet them. Loki remembers Surtur and shifts
while Wanda makes a sphere around her that keeps the lava at bay. Loki throws a ball of fire at him, and Thanos drops a chink of rock that intercept it. Wanda meanwhile sneaks behind him, hiding under the surface of the lava. She crushes him under the force of her magic, before he shifts back smaller and lunges at her. She screams before dropping back into the molten rock. The rock around them begins to cool, and Loki turns into a Pegasus, before he uses his horn to pick Wanda up. She rides on his back, and turns his horn into a longer, sharper affair. They descend into Thanos.Strange looked at the placement of people, and he began mapping out how They Might Win. Wanda and Loki were out of commission, he had the raccoon, the blue woman who's parts were still glitching back together, the Avenger, along with the glowing woman who threw power. Thanos kept moving, but every now and then he'd freeze, or jerk, or misfire.
He needed to Keep Someone Agile Under Thanos, Force Him To Fall Over, and Destabilize Him. Fun.
He moved over to the raccoon and pointed at the man's right foot. They needed something under that, something to unbalance him. The raccoon nodded, before twitching his finger at a really small man. He darted over, and they started rigging something else. He saw the Hulk rampaging, and settled by his side, whispering to him.
I need you to attack Thanos.
Hulk doesn't want to smash the titan. Hulk will lose.
Erm- that's fine. Hulk wi-will have help in smashing Thanos. You see Thor and everyone else there? They'll help you.
Hulk Smash with friends!
He lumbered off to where the titan was standing, and he saw them begin pounding away. For every few hits Thanos deflected, either Thor or Hulk or the blue lady would manage to get a shot in. And the archer was tag teaming with a floating lady, Stark, and Stark the Second to slit a shot in when they could get one in without hitting the other two. The last two Avengers were batting away any stray outriders that dared come too near. Strange sees the blue lady, sees the way she weaves around Thanos, and the way he arrogantly deflected her thrusts, and a full idea comes to bear. He whispers her
Stand right in front of him when I signal you. Be underneath him.
He disregards you.
He has to dodge the end of a blade, but she did get the message. Strange moves away, and fights back, with strings of magic chaining him, as he moved him closer and closer to the rune, and turns his back to the others. Finally, finally, a blade of ice moves up through the titan's foot as he steps on it.
And then Strange signals Rocket and the tiny man and the blue lady, and things spring into action. The tiny man places the bomb underneath his foot, and Thanos shudders.In the end, with the Hulk bearing down on Thanos, with Thor's axe buried in his back, with four explosions, alongside the spike in one of Thanos's feet, and the
explosion under the other, Thanos falls. And the blue woman is waiting for him - she
sends her blades in an arc, before a spray of purple blood covers her, and she's buried under a body. Thanos's lat expression is one of panic and then surprise as hit head comes of, and rolls away from his body.Strange relaxes, and breathes.
Limbs violently jerking back into place, the woman crawls out from underneath the fallen titan, and she's on her hands and knees panting. She
collapsed right there, her frame twitching and metal limbs glitching. Loki and Wanda wake up, and rub their heads.
Never ever get on my back. Ever. Again.Between breathes, Loki, Romanov and Stark rush for the gauntlet. Strange sees it happen, and knows this will end very, very poorly. He sees Wanda's red rise, and it covers the gauntlet, and brings it up into the air. She hovers it there, and Strange claps his hands twice,Alright then
he starts
Who's undoing the Dusting?
Loki shrugs before laying back down. Stark narrows his eyes and him and Romanov is still. The raccoon pipes up (They have a talking raccoon. He is talking to a woodland creature. That is a thing that can happen.)
The Power Stone is a rough one. Me and my friends held it a few years back, and we nearly died. The only reason we didn't was that Peter was apparently
some sort of half-god thing? I dunno. I nominate One-Eye for the task, cause apparently, he's a god too. The rest of us will probably die horribly burning deaths. And I mean. that'd be funny, but I'd not in the mood to clean up your dead bodies.There was silence for a moment, before the Captain clears his throat
and replies
I agree with Rocket here. Anyone think of a better option?Loki looks up and tries to raise his hand, and before he can Strange grabbed a rope of his magic and pulled it back down. Loki's eyes closed for a second before saying
fine, fine, let Thor do it. Not sure his fist would fit, but oh well.
The aforementioned Thor gave him a small shove, before Wanda dropped the Gauntlet onto the floor. Thor picked it up, almost reverently, before plopping it on his fist.
The think swung there, back and forth.
I - can't actually reach all the stones. This was custom fitted.
Loki raises a single eyebrow.
You have the reality stone. Use it.
Thor flushes
Right.Strange sees the thing shrink slowly, until it wraps around Thor's fist. He closes his eyes, before snapping his fingers once.
Nothing happens.
They have returned! Also I may have resurrected Asgard. It is back. Brother! Asgard is back!
Wait
the blue one calls
Can you bring my sister back?
Your sister?
The raccoon speaks up again
Yeah, the green one that you saw on the ship. Red and Black hair, could ya please? Peter'd moan
if she wasn't there, and I cannot deal with that.
And Vision!
Wanda speaks up.
Vision would be nice to have back as well.
Thor chuckles, before snapping his fingers twice in unison. They both stand there, before kneeling down. Wanda rushes to the red man's side - Vision presumably, while both Nebula and Rocket crowd around the woman who must be Gamora.
Loki smiles once, before turning to his brother.
Brother, to be completely honest with you, it'd probably be best to scatter the stones. It would be dangerous if they ever were gathered again.Thor blinked once, twice. He turned back slowly. Loki felt his stomach roll for a second. There was gleam in his eyes, something that he'd seen before, something darker and twisted. The mind stone. Thor had never before used it, and he had no mental defenses at all. Loki felt his skin sweat, and his palms began to tremble the tiniest bit.
Brother, their souls were kept in the Stones, and they were easy to bring out. I had to take special care of certain people - why should they come back to life only to die neigh near immediately? I asked the Stones to leave them in safe places. Do you think I could bring back the dead? Mother and Father? Perhaps
even Hela, if her gifts were crippled.
By now the others in their party had gotten a hint that something was terribly, horribly wrong.
Brother do you that would be wise? Father did once say that trifling with life and death would be dangerous at the best of times, and with half the universe suddenly coming back, it would be hard to argue that now would not be the best of times. Best to scatter the stones now, and rethink what our plans are. Would you not agree?
Thor laughs
The Stone tells me that you are trying to manipulate me brother - I'm aware it is your nature, so I can hardly fault you for it, but I'd like to think I've grown wiser
with time.
Brother the Mind Stone is getting into your head.
Thor cocks his head to the side No
he says, almost absentmindedly
I am its master.
There is a painful silence for a second before he continued
Do you know he muses
that I can feel all the power in the universe? I could destroy Midgard and bring it back in half of half of half a second - before any of the people on it would notice it'd been gone. I could pull the galaxy apart and weave it back together with a thought, and I could - I could take the last
few years from your memory, so things would be as they were before.
Loki feels his breathe freeze, his fists closing, nausea rising in his throat.
I could turn back time before anything went wrong. I could make a perfect world - a paradise - for Asgard and Midgard and all the Nine Realms. I could make anything. Anything.
Loki felt the air around him sprinkle and crackle
Time travel is extremely dangerous, and can have massive consequences.
Strange murmured. Loki couldn't see his head.
Yes, yes I know.
However I'm not exactly sure what you want me to do with this information.
Try to convince Thor otherwise. I'll rally the others.
Loki breathed. In, out, in, out.
Brother please, please, just think on what you are saying. Please. Was it not father who told you to think before moving? Was it not mother who told us that time was constant, ever flowing, not to be tampered with? Time travel always, always has consequences, we've read this is tale after tale after tale. Please, please put the gauntlet down. Think about the words you've said, and put the gauntlet down.
Thor paused there, still and silent. In that moment, two webs wrapped themselves around the gauntlet and pulled. Wanda was dropped on top of the gauntlet, falling from a chaotic orange portal, and grabbed the reality stone, before the glove grew back to its original size and slipped off. She pulled the time stone off, before handing it to Strange, and placed the Mind Stone on the red man's forehead. He jerked upwards, eyes seeking her out, and she freezes before throwing herself into an embrace.
Loki
looked
up to see a child in a ridiculous spider themed costume pulling on the gauntlet. It settles a few feet away from them, from anyone really. Stark stood up, before rushing the child. Behind him, there was a small group of a few more people that Rocket run towards. They met him, and one of the Midgaridans stepped away from the group and hugged Gamora.
Thor fell forward, and Loki slipped closer before pulling the rest of the gauntlet off. He pocketed the space stone, before
laying his brother down properly and checking his pulse. It beat steadily against his pulse, and he heard the quiet thud of his heart. His brother's eyes opened groggily, before his arms rose and pulled Loki down. Loki let out a sigh, before tapping his brother on the back twice.
You were dead... I thought you were dead. Thank the Norns for the stones
Um. I missed you too brother.
Thor grinned, ruffling his hair (Stop it Thor)
and looked at the gauntlet.
We must split up the stones. I would recommend Midgard keeping the Mind Stone at the very least - though perhaps
the Time Stone as well, so long as they are kept in separate
hands. Asgard will take the Space Stone and the Reality
Stone until we can find a more suitable home for them. The other last two - Power and Soul - do you know where they were before? It is under my knowledge that the Xandarians held the power stone before this whole debacle. The only people
I
can think of that are strong enough to protect it are the Kree and well...
Yeah no. The woman in the red and blue getup with a star on her chest (there were two of them now? great) replied.
Maybe once they're less... murderous.Giving the power stone to the Kree sounds like a terrible idea that will end with all our deaths.
The Midgardian next to Gamora stated.
Any better ideas? Also, the thing tends to burn up whoever carries it. So yeah.
Idiot. We already knew that. How do you think we brought you back?
Wait wait
Clint spoke up
Before we continue, what's I-Almost-Took-Over-The-World doing here?
He's fine
Wanda spoke up
He... won't be doing the same thing again.
Yes
Loki said
I swear I will not. Irregardless, there are a few more important matters at hand. Mainly, are there any
other nominees? There are already four of the Stones on Yggdrasil, so lets not put any on Vanaheim or Alfheim or Norns forbid Jotenheim.Clint sighed before crossing his arms. Wanda knew that he'd be suspicious - she reached out with a tiny bit of red and whispered to him
He had the mind stone. It... twists people into doing things they wouldn't before. He's not... exactly innocent, but I doubt any incidents will pop up again.
Clint raised an eyebrow
Guilty of what?
The Mind Stone
usually makes you act like the worst possible version of yourself. So not exactly innocent, but not really guilty either. Somewhere... in between. You saw what it did to Thor.
She paused for half a second before continuing
Also, I doubt Thor would just let him be taken away
to whatever you're planning.
Clint gritted his teeth a tad, before relaxing against a nearby tree. He flashed an OK sign to the rest of the Team Cap, before grinning at Wanda.
All things considered, nice to see you againWanda smiled at him before turning back to the discussion at hand.
The formally glowing woman said
The Skrulls have been established on a far away system. While they're not the strongest people, nobody
would suspect it there, and I am their guardian. It would be reasonably protected.
And we'll take the Soul Stone Gamora stated
We'll drop it back at its previous location - it
is unknown. My sister and I are the only people who know of its location.
Very well
Thor claps his hands, before grabbing the Reality Stone and tucking it into his pocket. The red and blue woman grabbed the pulsing purple stone carefully with a gloved hand, before slipping it into a pouch and walking away. She stopped before returning with some sort of primitive device and standing in front of Thor
Give this to Valkyrie, yeah? If you click the red
button, I'll know its an emergency. Otherwise, click the blue one, that'll tell me that there's something non-urgent that you need to discuss.
She walked past Wanda, over to the Captain, before tinkering with some metal thing, and returning it to him.
Hopefully you guys won't need to contact me again. If I send up a yellow light, That'll be my sign that I need to talk.
Where would we meet?
Thor asks.The woman places a weird headpiece on before replying
Earth. There's a place that the other Captain knows about, and he'll show you.
Strange clears his throat before saying
We should meet every few years - like five or so - just to ensure that nothing has gone horribly wrong.
Yeah, sure. I'll keep in touch with you all. I'm going now. Bye!
The woman bursts into light again, before flying off into the atmosphere.
There was silence for a moment.
Well I'd suppose I'll be heading back with you lot.
We are not bringing Reindeer games with us.
Why not? I'm sure it will be an entertaining time! Brother I must show you the ship we came on.
Wanda looks over at Loki, who's face is all contorted. She gives him a half smile, before he snarls at her. She laughs, and then grabs Clint and Vizh and walks over to the spaceship parked in the distance. Behind her, Loki and Strange are following, Loki grumbling at his brother. Stark is with War Machine and Spiderma while Steve and Natasha are standing shoulder to shoulder with Clint. Tony speaks up
You wouldn't happen to have any Shawarma now wouldya?
And Banner's laughing, and the big grey
man
spoke up
What is this Shawarma that you speak of?Wanda was happy, and content, and she'd finally finished her mission.