The Reality of War

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"Remember, this is only the first wave!" Shouts Odin.

Mickie could see Ebony Maw floating across the battlefield but suddenly he was covered in ice.  She turns to see Loki, in full Jotun form, freezing everything that crosses his path.  Thor extends his hammer, charges it and then releases it straight at Ebony Maw whose eyes widen in horror as the hammer strikes home and shatters him in to a million pieces.

"Well done my sons!" claims Odin and Loki's heart swells with joy.

Mickie watches several scenes play out in front of her.  Natasha and Clint are creating their own devastation.  Bucky and Gabe coordinate with Fury and the heavily armed S.H.I.E.L.D. forces.

It all feels so surreal to Mickie as the battle wages around her.  She walks as if in a daze.  It's one thing to see the battle on the big screen, it's a whole other thing to actually be in it.  She can smell the blood, the sweat; she can hear the screams and the roar of the beasts.  Swords and spears slash and stab around her.  She can hear the pop sounds of automatic weapons fire.  Tears begin to flow down her cheeks – so much death and destruction.

An arm snakes around her as Loki pulls her back to his side. He can see the pain in her eyes, but they need her to fight.  He kisses her on the forehead.  The coldness of his lips awakens her, and he watches as her eyes turn black.  She turns and rises in the air enveloped in blood red smoke. She raises her glowing red hands and sends waves of destruction through the enemy lines.  Even Odin is astonished by her power.

The enemy forces attempt to regroup and form an arc in an attempt to outflank her but were met with huge resistance from the S.H.I.E.L.D. forces on her right and the Asgardians on her left. The Wakandans, led by the Queen of Wakanda herself, rush through the center and break the enemy.

"That ought to get his attention." Mickie says and she is right.  A portal opens in front her and out walks the mad tyrant Thanos.  He is a lot larger in person and she feels her reserve begin to falter.

"Most formidable, little one.  You impress me, but it is now time to surrender for I am inevitable."

Fighting ceases as Thanos strides towards her.  It is then that she notices that he wears the Time Stone and the Mind Stone in his gauntlet.  When had Strange and Vision fallen? Did he raid Tony's vault and acquire the Tesseract? Loki sees it too as he immediately puts her behind him.

"You shall not have her!" He screams.

Tony swoops out of the sky but even his and Rhodes' strongest blasts have little effect against Thanos with five infinity stones.  Thor and Odin both raise their weapons but again they have no effect.  Thor charges Thanos, but the titan simply throws him to the side like a rag doll.  Loki summons everything he has, and the ice seems to slow Thanos down. Steve hurls his shield but Thanos catches it and breaks it in half.

"You are the last, little one.  Surrender yourself.  Take your true form and I will allow what remains of these brave warriors to live."

"Noooo!" Loki cries and he charges Thanos who grabs him by the throat

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"Noooo!" Loki cries and he charges Thanos who grabs him by the throat.  Her eyes grow wide.  It had hurt to watch Loki die in the movie, but this was real.  Tony again begins firing in an attempt to get Thanos to loosen his grip.

"You shall not harm my son!" screams Odin and he showers Thanos in blasts from his staff.  Thanos staggers but his grip only becomes tighter.

"Thanos!" Mickie cries. "You want my true form; you shall have it.  Release Loki first."

The titan appears to contemplate the offer and then releases Loki who collapses on the ground. Thor pulls him to safety.

"Our bargain, little one."

"No, my love." Loki coughs out.

She leans down and strokes his face. "Do you love me?"

"With all my heart." Tears stream down his face.

"With love, comes trust.  Trust me baby." She winks at him, and Loki's look of despair turns to one of confusion.  She turns to Thanos. "You wish for me to turn into a jewel you can mount on your silly gauntlet?" She chuckles softly and now its Thanos' turn to look confused.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, you big purple ape.  You really should do your research before you start picking up strange rocks."

"Do not play with me! Honor our agreement or I will rip your love limb from limb and with the Time Stone, I will do it for eternity.  His agony will be never ending."

Loki rose to charge again when she calmly turns and says, "Shhh baby, I got this."

Turning back to Thanos, "Our agreement was for me to present myself to you in my TRUE form.  That you shall have, but I am not a stone.  The stones are simply vessels to hold the essences of Time, Space, Power etcetera, very much like the body you see before you."

"I am a singularity.  You see I am more than what you could begin to understand with your tiny, shriveled mind." She disperses into a red fog that covers the battlefield.  Her voice echoes across the plain. "I am all, I am everywhere." The gauntlet with the already mounted stones pulses and throbs as if it is alive.  The stones begin to shake and dislodge themselves.

"No!" Thanos screams as the stones shoot up into the air.  Mickie reforms into herself and the stones circle around her.

"I am Reality and I thereby control Reality, you never will!" She raises a hand and the stones link around her wrist.

"My Reality is these are my friends, and you shall not harm them." Vision and Strange appear alive and unharmed.

"My Reality is that I love Loki Odinson and I will be his Queen." Loki smiles in awe.

"My Reality is your army doesn't exist." Thanos army begins to fade from the field.

"My Reality is YOU don't exist."

Thanos looks at her with shock on his face as he begins to fade away into dust.

The battlefield stands in silence as she floats back down to the ground. She places a jaunty hand on her hip. "Who needs a fucking snap?"

The Time Stone floats over to Dr. Strange and the Mind Stone remounts itself on Vision. The other stones absorb into her body.

Loki runs up and embraces her tightly. She pulls back and punches him in the shoulder. "I told you not to take on Thanos by yourself!  You saw the movie and you still did it!" She sobs against his chest. "You must have been the baddest little boy! Hardheaded!"

"He was a terror." Pipes in Odin.

"See!" She shouts.

Loki smiles and pulls her into a deep kiss.  When he releases her, she staggers backwards. "I sure do like a bad boy." She mumbles.

Odin roars with laughter. "She truly is formidable, my son.  The wedding will be held on Asgard."

"Father, we haven't set a date yet." Loki protests.

"I am the AllFather and I have spoken. Heimdall! Open the bifrost , return our troops home.  The battle is won!"

~~~~~~~~~
It takes over a week to return everyone home and repair the damage to the Wakandan landscape.  Loki pilots the quinjet while the rest of the team sleeps in the back.  Mickie crawls into the co-pilot seat and smiles at him.

"So," he says, "The remaining stones are inside of you?"

"Yes, for now until Strange and I can determine a safe place to keep them."

They sit in silence.  Loki clears his throat. "The Tesseract?"

Mickie feigns shock. "Loki, I swear you love that thing more than me. Yes, I put that someplace very special.  You should have fun trying to get to it."

Loki laughs. "You are wicked darling."

"You have no idea."

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