Jewel Thief ◇ L. Laufeyson

epilogue

"MY HUMBLE PERSONAGE...bows before your grandeur."

Ebony Maw, the flat-nosed alien, was speaking of such honor of Thanos, even though the Mad Titan had just murdered another in cold blood. Heimdall, as punishment for opening the Bifrost and whisking away Hulk and Y/N, was stabbed once again, Thanos twisting his blade within the gatekeepers body and bringing end to his life.

Thor watched, traumatized, as he was powerless within his metal restraints.

Creeping towards the fallen Tesseract, Ebony Maw continued. His words were laced with intense pride, all for his leader Thanos. "No other being has ever had the might, nay the nobility, to wield not one, but two Infinity Stones."

Handing over the Cube, the Ebony Maw bowed his head slightly to his master. "The universe lies within your grasp."

Thanos held the Cube and relished in the moment, as Thor watched and struggled against his metal cage. Loki was no where to be found, but Thanos wasn't worried about the god of mischief. To Thanos, Loki had accomplished what he wanted - saving Y/N. A shame Loki sent her to Thanos' next stop on his quest for the stones. Her death was simply delayed, thought the Titan.

Thanos crushed the Tesserect with ease, revealing the beautiful blue Space Stone from within the broken cube. Carefully, he set the stone in his gauntlet, next to the purple Power Stone.

As the stones set, Thanos could feel the power ranging through himself. Breathing a sigh of relief, another victory completed, he turned to his followers. "There are two more Stones on Earth," Thanos narrowed his eyes, "Find them, my children, and bring them to me on Titan."

The bird woman, Proxima Midnight, kneeled respectfully with a skillful twist of her spear. "Father, we will not fail you."

Suddenly, and admittedly cheerfully, Loki emerged from behind Thanos' followers, a welcoming grin upon the god's face. "If I might...interject..." Loki gestured politely, "if you're going to Earth, you might want a guide. I do have a bit of...experience in that arena."

Thanos was unimpressed. He was familiar, of course, with Loki's attempt to take over Migard, and knew of Loki's failures. Still, he was curious enough as to why Loki wanted to help him. Perhaps the god of mischief only wanted safe passage back to Earth with them to see his woman, Thanos thought.

"If you consider failure experience," Thanos replied rudely back to Loki.

Loki remained unphased by the Mad Titan's retorts, and only tried to raise his charmingness. "I consider experience, experience."

At Thanos' feet, still trapped within metal constraints, Thor had given up trying to get out. His only hope was Loki helping him, and based on Loki's current behavior, Thor considered this to be his end.

"Almighty Thanos, I...Loki...Prince of Asgard..." Loki said smoothly, side-eyeing Thor for no more than a millisecond, "...Odinson..."

This confused Thor, but he chalked it up to another one of Loki's mood swings. Refusing to exchange the Tesseract for Thor's life, suddenly bragging about Hulk, saving Y/N, now siding with Thanos...admittedly so, Thor was used to Loki's bipolar antics. But Loki always had purpose for whatever he did, there wasn't anything he did that had no reason.

He was planning something.

"The rightful King of Jotunheim..." Loki continued, the blue light of the ship and galaxy upon him making him look cinematically mystical, "God of Mischief...I hereby pledge to you..."