The Avengers: Featuring Salem Ridge

Epilogue

As Loki plummets through the vastness of space, his raven-black hair billows around him, mirroring the chaos within his mind. There's an expression of sadness etched across his godly features, his dark eyes reflecting the conflict between loyalty and his desire for recognition. The once-ambitious Loki now finds himself spiraling into the unknown, torn between his adoptive family and the insatiable thirst for power.

He watches the faces of his loved ones grow smaller as he falls away from the Bifrost and into the void.

Even the gods couldn't survive in open space for very long. As the sight of Thor and Odin, and all that Loki had ever loved faded away he closed his eyes and prepared himself to embrace death and whatever was to come after his frost-giant heart had ceased to beat.

Loki feels himself drift into unconsciousness. As he plummets further, painful memories of his past actions flash in his mind's eye – moments of deceit, longing, and the relentless pursuit of his father's validation. The echoes of Thor's voice and Odin's disappointment reverberate in his ears, intensifying the emotional maelstrom within him. He dreams of Yggdrasil, and of the World Serpent. In his imagination, he and Thor are boys again, whose young minds are not yet concerned with such things as loss or betrayal.

When Loki awakens he has no notion of how much time has elapsed since his fall.

All he knows is that he is not dead. And he is not in Hel, nor is he celebrating in Valhalla.

Loki instead is surprised to find himself laying in a stiff cot, in a barren room. Trying to regain his bearings, he sits up, only to discover that his hands and feet are shackled to the floor beneath the cot. His Asgardian armor has been replaced with a simple tunic and trousers made of a material Loki could not name. He scans the small room slowly, taking in every detail of his new surroundings.

A slight humm in the air caught Loki's attention. He had the sense he was not on solid ground but instead on a mechanical vessel of some sort. The room lacked decoration, and held no indication of its owner's race or creed. The chains he was bound in were of simple design, telling Loki it was unlikely he was being held by a Dwarf race. But whoever his captures were, he was obviously not well-liked by them.

He hoped he had not been discovered falling through a wormhole by a scavenger's ship. Loki scorned the scavengers' use of barbaric tactics. The marauders had been known to board the ships of travelers and liberate them of their belongings, sometimes taking prisoners to be either used as slaves or sold at the next port. If they had happened to come across Loki, he knew they would likely place a ransom on his head. A prince of Asgard would be worth a mighty bounty. If word got back to his father that Loki was alive, he knew he would be dragged back to the place he had worked so hard to distance himself from.

As Loki sat contemplating his escape, a panel in the wall slid open revealing a door. The door opened, and there stood a creature Loki did not recognize.

The Other before him stood at his height, its face covered with a dark hood. The only exposed skin was its gaping hole of a mouth, full of sharpened teeth. Loki watched it carefully as it strode across the room.

Without a word, the Other unhooked Loki's chains from the floor and motioned for him to stand.

"Come with me, Asgardian," it's low toned voice rang out.

After pausing a beat, Loki found himself more curious than anything else, so he followed the figure out of the room, his chains clinking quietly. The pair walked along a dimly lit, and equally unimpressive hallway in silence. They made a series of turns, which Loki could tell was leading them deeper into the center of the vessel. Finally, the figure came to a stop before a large archway, which led to another room.