The summons came without warning.
Like everything in Sanctuary — sudden, absolute, with the unspoken message: refuse and you die. The cell door opened, and two figures in dark armor appeared in the doorway. Not Chitauri — something more… organized.
"The Master demands," one of them said.
I rose from the slab where I'd spent the last hours meditating. The Scepter settled into my hand by habit — in that time it had become an extension of my nervous system. The Mind Stone pulsed in greeting, like an old acquaintance.
Finally, I thought. Briefing.
I already knew the route to the throne hall by heart. Corridors that defied geometry. Stairs that led up and down at once. Chitauri scattering aside at the sight of the Scepter.
Funny. They weren't afraid of me — they were afraid of it. The Stone. What it could do to them.
The throne hall greeted me with its familiar emptiness.
Thanos sat on his stone elevation — unmoving, monumental, like a statue someone forgot to remove after the museum closed. Beside him, a little lower, stood the Other — a hunched shadow that reeked of rot and ancient malice.
And at the foot of the throne…
The Black Order. All four.
Proxima Midnight bared her teeth like a wolf on the edge of a hunt. Corvus Glaive was motionless, but his glaive quivered — anticipation. Cull Obsidian simply was — three meters of muscle and blunt threat. And Ebony Maw, watching me with that expression I had learned to hate.
Interest.
Maw was interested. And an interested telepath was a problem.
"Loki," Thanos's voice filled the space. Not loud — simply everywhere. "Come closer."
I climbed the steps. Not all the way — I stopped halfway, as I had before. Close enough to speak. Far enough to maneuver.
Habits, the inner voice smirked. You're developing habits. That's dangerous.
"Master," I inclined my head just enough to read as respect, not groveling. A thin line. Loki had walked it for a thousand years.
Thanos was silent.
It was… uncomfortable. When a creature the size of a truck stares at you without blinking in absolute silence, it gets under your skin. Even under a god's skin.
Especially under a god's skin — a god who knows how this story ends in canon.
"You are ready," Thanos said at last. Not a question.
"I was ready from the first day," I answered. "The only question was when you would be ready to trust me."
The Other hissed.
"Insolence—"
Thanos raised a hand. The hissing cut off.
"Insolence is a sign of spirit," the Titan said. "I do not seek slaves. Slaves are useless for what I intend."
Of course you don't, I thought. You seek tools. And tools must have enough will to function autonomously. But not enough to rebel.
Surprise, purple. I have will in excess.
"The Tesseract," Thanos continued. "You know what it is."
"The Space Stone," I replied. "Contained within an Asgardian construct. Capable of opening portals to any point in the universe. It is currently on Midgard, in the hands of a mortal organization called S.H.I.E.L.D."
Thanos tilted his head slightly.
"You are well-informed."
"I am Asgard's prince. Was its prince. Odin's vault kept no secrets from me."
A lie. Partly.
I knew about the Tesseract not from any vault — I knew from films. From comics. From endless wiki pages I'd devoured in my old life while procrastinating at work.
But Thanos didn't know that. And he never should.
"Your task is simple," the Titan rose.
Every time he did, I had to relearn the size of him. Three meters was a lot. Especially when those three meters were muscle that could bend adamantium and a mind that planned genocide on a cosmic scale.
"You will go to Midgard through a portal the Tesseract opens. You will take it. You will bring it to me."
"And the army?" I asked.
Thanos looked at me. In his eyes was something… not approval. More like satisfaction. Like a chess player watching a pawn make the correct move.
"The Chitauri will await your signal. When the portal opens — they will pour onto Midgard. Your task is to secure a foothold. Distract the defenders. Create chaos."
Chaos, I repeated silently. At least that's within my skill set.
"Defenders," I let contempt color my voice. "Mortals? You overestimate them."
"Perhaps," Thanos didn't argue. "Or perhaps you underestimate them. Midgard contains… anomalies. Beings who surpass their kind. S.H.I.E.L.D. gathers them."
The Avengers, I understood. He knows about the Avengers Initiative.
Of course he does. Spies across the galaxy. It would have been stranger if he hadn't watched the planet that held an Infinity Stone.
"I will manage."
"I know."
Thanos descended the steps and stopped before me — close enough that I felt the heat of his body.
"The Scepter will remain with you," he said. "It will help… persuade the unwilling."
I looked down at the weapon in my hand. At the Mind Stone's blue glow.
He is giving me an Infinity Stone, I thought. Voluntarily. To another planet.
It was… strange.
In canon, it made sense: Thanos sent a broken puppet with a control tool. The Scepter was meant to keep Loki on a leash while he retrieved the Tesseract.
But I wasn't broken.
And did Thanos know that?
Or did he think he knew — and was wrong?
Or…
"You doubt," Thanos's voice cut through my thoughts.
"I analyze," I corrected. "Not the same thing."
"Is it not?"
He leaned closer. I forced myself not to step back.
"You are clever, Asgardian. Cleverer than you pretend. Cleverer than you wish to appear." A pause. "I value that."
He knows, I thought coldly. He knows I'm playing.
"But do not deceive yourself," Thanos continued. "The Scepter is not a gift. It is… an investment. I invest resources in you. And I expect a return."
"The Tesseract."
"The Tesseract is the beginning." He straightened. "Bring it to me, and you will have Midgard. A throne. An army. Everything you wanted."
Everything Loki wanted, the inner voice corrected. Not you.
"And if I don't bring it?"
Thanos smiled.
It was… wrong. A smile on the face of something that had erased dozens of civilizations. Warm, almost paternal.
"Then I will come myself. And I will be… disappointed."
He returned to the throne.
"The Other will explain the details. Do you have questions?"
I had hundreds. Thousands. Where exactly was S.H.I.E.L.D.'s base? How many Chitauri would I command? What was the real goal — the Tesseract, or a show of force? Why trust me with an Infinity Stone? What does he know about my true intentions?
But asking would show weakness. Or suspicion. Or both.
"No," I said. "Everything is clear."
"Good." Thanos waved a hand. "Go. Prepare yourself. Tomorrow you depart."
Tomorrow.
The word fell like a stone into water. Ripples spread, touching everything — plans, fears, hopes.
Tomorrow I would be on Earth.
Tomorrow it would begin.
The briefing from the Other was… humiliating.
Not because he insulted me — though he did. Humiliating was the way he delivered the information. Slowly. Condescendingly. Like a kindergarten teacher explaining why you shouldn't eat sand.
"The portal will open where the Tesseract is most active," he rasped. "The mortals are experimenting. Trying to use a power they do not understand."
"What a surprise," I muttered.
"Your first task is to neutralize the guard. The Scepter will help."
"Neutralize as in kill, or enslave?"
The Other tilted his head with that insect-like motion I despised.
"As you wish. The dead do not resist. The enslaved are useful."
Good advice, I admitted. The only good advice you've ever given me.
"Next — the Tesseract. You must stabilize the portal. Hold it open long enough for the army to pass."
"How long?"
"Hours. Perhaps a day. It depends on the power of the energy source."
I nodded. In the film, the portal was powered by Stark's reactor. But here… here I could change the details.
"Defenders," the Other continued. "The Master mentioned them."
"Mortals with unusual abilities. I know."
"You do not know." His voice hardened. "Among them is a being that is not mortal."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Thor?"
"Thor is on Asgard. The Rainbow Bridge is destroyed. He will not reach Midgard in time."
You're wrong, I thought. Odin will find a way. He always does when his golden boy needs help.
But I didn't say it aloud.
"Then who?"
"A being from another dimension. An ancient force in mortal flesh."
Hulk, I understood. He means Hulk.
Or Thor, whose divinity might count as "from another dimension" by Earth standards. Or someone else — in this reality, canon could shift.
"I'll handle it," I repeated.
The Other watched me a long moment, assessing.
"You are confident. That is… dangerous."
"It is necessary. The uncertain do not win."
"The uncertain are careful."
"The careful are slow. The slow are dead."
He made that grating sound that served as laughter.
"Warrior philosophy. Unexpected for a mage."
"I am both."
And neither, the inner voice added. You are a transmigrator. An anomaly.
And that is your greatest advantage.
The night before departure, I stayed in my cell.
I didn't sleep — I couldn't. Too many thoughts. Too many variables. Too many ways to die in the next twenty-four hours.
I sat on the stone slab, the Scepter across my knees, and thought.
A plan.
I needed a plan. Not the one I showed Thanos — "bring the Tesseract, receive a throne." A real plan. Mine.
Objective one: survive.
Obvious. Banal. But fundamental. Nothing else mattered if I died in the process.
Objective two: don't fall under Thanos's control.
The Scepter was a trap. I knew it. The Mind Stone could amplify mental abilities — but it could also influence. In canon, Loki became more unstable the more he used the Scepter. Aggression, paranoia, megalomania — all of it could be side effects.
Or the primary effect Thanos intended.
Solution: use the Stone carefully. Don't let it dictate my emotions. The firewall must work both ways.
Objective three: establish contact with Earth's forces.
Not the Avengers — they'd oppose me. At least at first. But Earth had other forces. Ancient ones. Kamar-Taj. Sorcerers who understood realities inaccessible to S.H.I.E.L.D. and its superheroes.
If I can reach the Ancient One…
She knew the future. The Time Stone gave her that knowledge. She saw branches, calculated probabilities.
And she knew of Thanos.
In canon she died defending Earth from Dormammu. But that was later — years later. Right now she was alive. Right now she was power.
If I can convince her we're on the same side…
Difficult. Very difficult. I'll arrive as an invader with an army and an Infinity Stone. Not ideal for negotiations.
But not impossible.
Objective four: remove the Scepter from the equation.
Not destroy — that would be wasteful. The Mind Stone was too valuable. But remove it from Thanos.
In canon, the Scepter ended up with Hydra after the Battle of New York. Then with Ultron. Then with Vision.
I could break that chain.
If the Stone ends up with the Ancient One… or with me… or simply not with Thanos…
That weakens him. Not critically — he still has resources, armies, plans. But every Stone he doesn't get is a step toward his defeat.
Objective five: don't become a villain.
That was… the hardest.
I knew how the story looked from the outside. Loki — the villain. The invader. The murderer. In The Avengers he coldly threw a man out a window. He slaughtered people at a S.H.I.E.L.D. base. He unleashed an alien army on New York.
I was expected to do the same.
Or something like it. Close enough that Thanos wouldn't suspect. Different enough that I could still sleep at night.
Minimize casualties, I decided. Control instead of killing. Direct the Chitauri toward military targets, not civilians.
It wouldn't make me a hero. But maybe it would keep me from becoming a complete monster.
The Mind Stone pulsed on my knees. Blue light played across the cell walls in strange patterns.
Do you hear me? I asked it silently.
No answer. But the glow brightened for a heartbeat.
We have a deal, I continued. You give me power. I give you… minds. Contacts. Experience.
Silence.
But there are rules. You do not control me. You do not influence my decisions. You do not push me toward… anything.
A pause.
And then — a sensation. Not words. Not images. Just… agreement? Acceptance?
Or maybe I imagined it.
With Infinity Stones, you never know for sure.
I lay down on the slab and closed my eyes.
Tomorrow, I thought. Tomorrow everything changes.
Thanos thinks I'm his pawn. That I'll move forward, take a square, and sit there until he decides to sacrifice me.
But he forgot one important thing.
A pawn is the only piece that can become anything.
If it reaches the far edge of the board.
Sleep came unexpectedly — heavy, dreamless.
Or maybe there were dreams, and the Mind Stone hid them from me. Shielded my mind from whatever lurked in my subconscious.
Or recorded them for later analysis.
Paranoia, the inner voice noted. You're developing paranoia.
It's not paranoia if they really are watching you.
Morning (a conditional morning — Sanctuary had no dawns) began with a visit.
Not the Other. Not Chitauri.
Ebony Maw.
He stood in the cell doorway, hands folded before him, and watched me with that expression I had learned to hate.
"Good morning, Asgardian."
I sat up on the slab without letting the Scepter leave my hand.
"Did something happen?"
"No." He stepped inside. The door closed behind him. "I came… to say goodbye."
Goodbye, I repeated silently. He came to rummage through my head one last time.
"How touching."
"Isn't it?" Maw smiled his repulsive smile. "We spoke so little. I will miss our… conversations."
"I'm sure you'll find yourself another toy."
"Perhaps." He tilted his head. "But you were… special. Your mind… interesting. Structured. Full of secrets you hide so carefully."
The pressure came — soft, careful. A probing needle.
I brought the firewall up.
"We've discussed this," I said evenly. "My secrets are mine."
"Of course." Maw retreated. The pressure vanished. "But allow me to give you advice. For free."
"I'm listening."
"Do not try to deceive the Master."
Silence.
"I have seen many," Maw continued. "Smart, cunning, ambitious. All of them believed they could outplay Thanos. All of them… were wrong."
"I'm not trying to deceive him," I said. "I'm carrying out his order."
"Of course," Maw repeated. "Of course."
He turned toward the door.
"Good luck, Asgardian. You'll need it."
The door opened. Closed.
I was alone.
He knows, I thought. Or suspects. Or he's simply trying to unbalance me.
Doesn't matter.
In a few hours I'll be on Earth. And he'll be here.
Then we'll see who deceives whom.
The portal hall lay in Sanctuary's very heart.
A vast space filled with mechanisms beyond description. Technology and magic braided into a single nightmare knot. Chitauri technicians swarmed around a central platform where something… blue pulsed.
A link to the Tesseract, I realized. They've already established contact.
Thanos waited for me beside the platform.
"Time," he said.
I stepped up onto the dais. The Scepter in my hand. The Mind Stone pulsing in unison with the platform's blue glow.
"Do you remember your task?"
"The Tesseract. A foothold. Chaos."
"Good."
Thanos came closer and placed a hand on my shoulder.
It was heavy. Very heavy. I felt every gram — a reminder of who was in charge.
"Do not disappoint me, Loki."
"I don't intend to."
I intend something else, the inner voice added.
Thanos stepped back.
"Activate the portal."
The mechanisms hummed. The blue light intensified, twisting into a spiral. The air shuddered, space began to warp.
I stepped onto the platform.
This is it, I thought. The point of no return.
The portal opened — a flare of light, stretching into infinity.
I didn't look back.
Earth, was my last thought. I'm coming home.
Or at least, to the closest thing to home in this insane universe.
Light swallowed me.