Chapter Text
Somewhere in space, the Asgardian refugee ship Statesman floated peacefully. The Asgardian survivors had spent the last several months making slow progress across the galaxy toward the planet they had determined would be their new home: Midgard, better known as Earth. In charge of the refugees, of course, was the Prince of Asgard himself, Thor Odinson. At that moment, though, he was taking a break from royal duties to spend time with his adopted brother, Loki, something they had both been making an effort to do more often. With both of their parents gone, it was more important than ever for the brothers to put aside their differences.
“Do you really think it’s a good idea to go back to Earth?” Loki asked. He didn’t turn his head, just continued to watch the stars go by outside the window he and Thor stood in front of.
“Yes, of course!” Thor replied with his usual, somewhat irritating, good humor, “The people of Earth love me. I’m very popular.”
“Let me rephrase that; do you really think it’s a good idea to bring me back to Earth?"
This had been his concern since Thor had suggested the destination; he knew the people of Earth weren’t likely to be friendly towards someone who had once tried to take over their world.
Thor glanced towards him. “Probably not, to be honest.”
Loki half-smiled, and tried not to dwell on the fact that his brother hadn’t hesitated with his answer for even a second.
“But I wouldn’t worry, brother.” Thor continued, always optimistic, “I feel like everything’s going to work out fine.”
Before Loki could reply that he seriously doubted that, the window grew dark. Both brothers’ heads lifted upwards as they searched for the thing that had caused the stars to disappear. It took a moment to register what they were seeing. It was a ship; an enormous one that made the Statesman seem tiny by comparison. And Loki had seen it before.
Thor had rarely seen Loki surprised. His brother prided himself on the fact that few people could sneak up on him, after all. The appearance of the giant spaceship, however, had clearly rattled him. Loki took a step back from the window, breathing quickly.
“Loki?” Thor asked.
“I know that ship.” Loki replied, eyes wide. “It belongs to Thanos.”
“Thanos? You mean…”
“The one who sent me to Earth to steal the Tesseract, then ordered an alien invasion of New York, yes.”
“Well, that’s...not good.”
Loki rolled his eyes. “Of course it’s not good, Thor!”
He was cut off by the sound of an alarm, and the flash of red lights throughout the ship. They both knew the reason for the alert. The Statesman was being boarded.
“We need to get everyone off of this ship.” Thor ran through the possibilities in his head. “We’re too far away from any planets to use the escape pods. Heimdall can only send a few people at a time on the Bifrost, assuming it even works this far from Asgard…”
Loki cleared his throat. “I, uh, might have something. But you have to promise not to blast me with lightning when I tell you.”
“Loki, what did you do?” Thor asked, a hint of anger in his voice.
“Promise.” his brother repeated.
“Fine,” Thor sighed, “I promise.”
Loki reached into the pocket of his green leather coat - one of his many, similar ones that Thor could never tell apart - and pulled out a small cube. Despite its size, the blue light it put out was strong enough to fill the room.
Thor glared at his brother. “The Tesseract? That thing should have been destroyed on Asgard!”
“When I was retrieving the crown of Surtur,” Loki admitted, “I may have stolen it from Father’s vault.”
“Loki…” Thor growled, electricity sparking at his fingertips.
“No lightning,” Loki reminded him, “you promised.”
“That was before I knew you stole an Infinity Stone! Again!”
“And it might just save us all,” Loki pointed out smugly, “you’re welcome.”
Thor considered that for a moment. The Tesseract, as a containment device for the Space Stone, could be used to open portals across space. In theory, it could work as an evacuation plan. The only questionable part of the equation was the God of Mischief who would be wielding the stone. Thor’s expression turned from anger to concern as he faced his brother.
“Can you control it?” he asked.
“I think so.” Loki replied.
“We’re talking about an Infinity Stone here,” Thor said, “one of the most powerful objects in the universe. I’m going to need more than ‘I think so’.”
“I’ve been...practicing,” Loki confessed, “learning how to use the Tesseract, ever since we left Asgard. Watch.” He closed his eyes in concentration, and when he opened them again, they glowed the same blue as the cube. A second later, a fist-sized swirling portal appeared in front of them. “Leave it to me, brother,” Loki reassured Thor, as the tiny portal disappeared. Thor nodded.
“Take us to the bridge.” he instructed.
Loki grabbed his hand, and there was a flash of blue light as a portal appeared and immediately folded around them, then both brothers stood on the Statesman’s bridge.
“Attention everyone,” Thor spoke into the ship’s PA system, “this is Thor speaking. We are abandoning ship. Repeat, we are abandoning ship. Assemble in the main hall and wait for further instructions. Thank you.”
Another quick blue flash, and they were in the main hall, at the head of the gathering crowd. Thor glanced at Loki, and his brother nodded. Loki closed his eyes again, and a portal opened, this one much larger. Thor could actually make out the swirls of energy, and the lightning-like pulses of light. The portal expanded until it covered nearly the entire back wall.
“This portal will take you to safety,” Thor announced, “so if you could all walk through in an orderly fashion, we’ll begin. Thank you.”
For possibly the first time in history, a group of people actually listened when being told to exit in an orderly fashion, walking through the portal in groups. It lasted all of thirty seconds.
“Asgardians!” A voice boomed from the back of the room. “Hear me, and rejoice! You are about to have the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan.”
Thor searched the room, and found the source of the voice; a tall alien being with leathery grey skin and a flat face. Though he didn’t know the name at the time, this was Ebony Maw, a member of Thanos’ elite personal guard, the Black Order. Behind him were several Chitauri troops, who drew their weapons and began firing them into the crowd. Order turned to chaos as Asgardians started to run for the portal, some shoving others aside to reach it first.
“Warriors,” Thor called, “to me!”
Asgard had few warriors left after Hela’s attack, but those who remained rallied to their prince’s cry. Anyone who had a weapon drew it, and began fighting back against the Chitauri. Thor spotted Heimdall in the crowd, cutting down alien soldiers one by one with the Bifrost Sword. He could see Valkyrie as well, as she kicked a soldier in the chest, knocking him to the ground and stealing his staff-like blaster weapon, which she used to shoot another. Thor knew he needed to protect his brother and the portal, so he remained next to Loki, sending down lightning strikes at any enemies who came too close. He was so focused on the fight that he barely noticed when Bruce Banner came to stand next to him.
“Just like New York, huh pal?” Bruce joked as they stood back to back.
“Not quite,” Thor replied, “I remember you being a bit...angrier.”
Bruce smiled. “You know I’m always angry.”
With that, he transformed into his angrier, greener alter ego, the Hulk. He roared, and charged across the room towards Ebony Maw, trampling Chitauri along the way. Normally, almost nothing could stop a rampaging Hulk (including Thor - and he had tried more than once), but the alien simply raised his hand and created a force field between them. The Hulk grunted and pushed against it, but it wouldn’t move. Moving his hand almost gently, as if he were conducting an orchestra, Maw used the force field to move the Hulk aside, then slam him against a wall. He collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain.
“Bruce!” Thor shouted. He started to move towards his friend, when something stopped him in his tracks; an enormous figure in golden armor was entering the room, wielding a double-bladed sword almost as tall as he was. On one hand, he wore an ornate gauntlet, with a purple stone glowing at the base of a finger, and empty places for five more. Thanos . Thor understood now why Loki had always spoken of him with fear in his voice. The Chitauri were only foot soldiers. Thanos was their general, and he walked with casual confidence, as if he’d already won the battle.
“Everyone,” Thor ordered, “through the portal, now!”
The remaining Asgardians began rushing through the gateway a few at a time. Some Chitauri tried to follow, but none survived long enough to cross over. Even Ebony Maw tried to make a run for the portal, only to be faced with the power of the God of Thunder. After all, not many people can stand up to the full force of a lightning strike.
Thanos continued to stroll casually through the battle, surveying the damage with an unimpressed expression. He looked up, meeting Thor’s gaze for the first time.
“Ah, Thor,” he said in a tone of false friendliness, “I’ve heard so much about you. Let’s see if the famous God of Thunder is really as powerful as they say.”
Thor felt his entire body fill with energy, the electricity building up inside him. His good eye glowed blue with it. It grew stronger until he had no choice but to release it. He directed the charge to the best of his ability, sending it directly at Thanos. The Titan raised his gauntlet, and a shield of purple energy formed around him, meeting the blue electricity and dissipating it. All of that power, one of the most powerful lightning bolts Thor had ever created, and he hadn’t damaged Thanos at all. And yet, the Asgardian was still smiling. He even let out a small chuckle.
“What?” Thanos asked. “What reason could you possibly have to be happy?”
“Because,” Thor replied simply, “we have a Hulk.”
Thanos turned to see the Hulk towering over him from behind, fist clenched as he prepared to smash his opponent. He was caught off guard, but only for a second. He raised the gauntlet again, purple light pulsing from the Power Stone and in his eyes. A relatively small burst of energy, nowhere near the full destructive power of the Stone, was enough to knock the Hulk off balance. As he hit the floor, Thanos raised his sword, prepared to finish the job, when the now-unconscious Hulk returned to his ordinary human form. A powerless Terran wasn’t worth his time. Even the Asgardians retreating through the portal didn’t really matter. They weren’t his goal. He turned back to Thor, and more importantly, the person he was guarding.
Loki knew that he had only been holding the portal open for a few minutes, but it felt like hours. Using an Infinity Stone, even in its containment device, required an enormous amount of energy, and right now, Loki himself was replacing the arc reactor-powered portal generator he had mind-controlled Eric Selvig into building in New York. Poor Selvig, he thought, he really didn’t deserve that. Thor says he’s never been the same since… As his concentration slipped, so did his connection to the Tesseract. He cleared his mind again, and strained to force the portal to stay open. He kept it open for another few...seconds? Minutes? Hours? He wasn’t sure, and he didn’t care. He would do it for as long as he needed to.
“ Loki!” A voice broke his concentration. Thor’s voice, which Loki had never been so glad to hear. “ That’s everyone!”
Loki returned the Tesseract to his coat pocket, and caught his breath. He had no time to rest, though; the portal was quickly shrinking. As he turned to run through the portal, he saw a sight that sent chills down his spine. Thanos was charging after Thor, who was racing toward the portal with an unresponsive Bruce Banner in his arms. In one hand, he carried his sword, and on the other, he wore the Infinity Gauntlet. In that brief second, Loki understood exactly why Thanos had come. Of course , he thought, he’s collecting the Stones . Just like he always planned . And if they didn’t run, he would have another to add to the Gauntlet. So Loki ran. Thor followed close behind, and as the portal collapsed, the Sons of Odin dove through it together.
As the light of the gateway faded, Proxima Midnight, another member of the Black Order, followed her leader into the now-empty room. She saw that Thanos had Ebony Maw pinned against a wall, with the Gauntlet aimed directly at his face.
“You assured me that you could deal with them!” Thanos bellowed, “How could this happen?”
“If I may, sir,” Maw attempted to placate the Titan, “all is not lost. Not yet.”
“You let that Asgardian escape with the Space Stone! Explain to me how ‘all is not lost’.”
“The Prince of Asgard has close ties to Earth. More than likely, that is where they’re headed. That means that there are now three stones on Earth.”
Thanos seemed to consider this for a minute. “Then take your ring ships to Earth, find them, and bring them to me on Titan.” He locked eyes with Maw as he added, “Do not fail me again.”
Any further threats he might have made towards Maw were interrupted by the chime of a communicator. Thanos pressed a button on the small device, revealing the holographic form of a cloaked figure.
He bowed his head in respect. “Mistress Death.” Thanos almost whispered her name, with a reverence he reserved only for her.
“Were you successful?” she asked.
Thanos sighed. “No. Maw allowed them to escape. Without the Space Stone, we will have to divide our forces to collect the remaining Stones in time.”
Mistress Death gave a disapproving “hmmm…”
“Rest assured,” Thanos continued, “this is only a minor setback. The Black Order will go to Earth as planned.”
“And you? Do you still plan to seek out the Collector yourself?”
“Yes. That part of the plan is…delicate. I wouldn’t trust anyone else with it.”
“You are still confident that you can obtain all of the Stones?” A bit of doubt was creeping into her voice now.
“I am. Trust me, and the universe will soon be balanced, and we will be together again.”
“I look forward to that day.”
“As do I.”
The hologram disappeared, and Thanos seemed to tremble as he raised his head. For the first time, Proxima Midnight considered the idea that the Mad Titan could feel fear. And if Mistress Death made even him afraid, she feared for the universe, for what it would become once it was “balanced” and under her control. But she was still a soldier, and she had her orders, so she headed for the hangar where the ring ships waited. The rest of the Black Order was already making preparations to leave, to carry out those orders on an unsuspecting world at the edge of the galaxy, an unimportant place that had somehow become the center of a galactic conflict. Earth. Terra. Midgard. C-53. Whatever name you gave the planet, its people had no idea what awaited them.