Puzzle Of A Chosen Trickster

You Guys Have Got To See This

(Narrator POV)
Tony stood up abruptly and rushed to his phone. Dialing Natasha and then patching the rest in on a conference call, he told them everything that happened.

Slightly out of breath after ranting about everything he heard in the puzzle, he continued. "Seriously, you guys have got to come here. There's more in this rock and I think we should all watch it together."

After they all agreed, he hung up and sat back down to wait for them. His head still sort of hurt, but the pain was fading even though he had unlocked all that only a few minutes ago.

He stared at the stone in disbelief. Tony could feel the emotions that each quote had brought Loki and he somehow just knew who said each one of them.

Soon everyone showed up and came to stand next to the man who was still reeling after gathering all that information. He had told them everything that he'd heard and even though they hadn't felt the emotions, they too were bewildered.

"I can't believe Odin told him that his birthright was to die." Natasha shook her head a bit. "Anyways, we should get this show on the road before Tony passes out."

The others nodded and Tony scooted up in the spinning chair to get closer to the stone again. The others pulled up chairs, Thor on his left, and Steve and Natasha on his right.

"So, I don't know if you have to have contact with me but to be safe, put your hands on my shoulders or something." They all complied to Tony's request and once everyone nodded at his questioning gaze, he looked back to the beautiful artifact. "Um, can we hear the truth from the God of lies?"

The stone hummed and the light show began behind their eyes again before it was nothing but pitch black and a strangled scream.

Next, they were all standing in a room of completely gray stonework with white lights in the corners. Right in the middle of the room, there was a man chained to the floor on his knees.

He was wearing black boots and pants with a dark green tunic. His hair was black and his head was down so they couldn't see his face, but Thor's gasp spoke volumes.

His ankles and wrists were chained to the ground with thick metal that was clearly cutting into the skin. He also had a metal collar that attached to a chain in the floor that would make it hard for him to move his head back too far.

Suddenly, a door opened with a thud that echoed around the room and the Loki in the middle (with slightly shorter hair than most of them remembered) looked up.

"If you came back for more of my witty banter, I'm afraid that I am fresh out." He sneered before he saw who had come in.

They could see cuts and bruises all over his face, but he was still clearly recognizable. Another main difference besides the slightly shorter hair, was the piercing green eyes that shone like poison in front of a lightbulb. He had had blue eyes during the invasion.

Footsteps seemed to shake the ground. All of them cringed when Thanos' face came into the light. The four observers gasped while Loki just sneered.

"Come to torture me yourself? I'm flattered, really." Thanos grabbed his face before he could hiss out anymore words.

"You will comply to my will and I will break you, little prince." He snarled at the God on his hands and knees. His smile was sickeningly sweet, but clearly fake.

Tony knew that sentence from the puzzle stone and now he understood why he got the feeling that some of the quotes hadn't been said yet.

"What if there isn't anything else left to break?" Loki asked, monotone even though his weakened body was shaking with barely-concealed terror.

"Then you are a pathetic excuse for a God." Thanos spat out as he grabbed a knife and pressed it to Loki's neck. Loki didn't even flinch and continued to stare into those unnerving eyes.

"At least I am a God. You will never be one, no matter what you do." It was spoken calmly, but he screamed out when Thanos hit him so hard that his neck nearly snapped.

The room suddenly changed, but Loki was still there. It looked like they were on clouds. A light blue sky with a dusting of stars was over them while pinkish orange clouds danced below. But on top of the clouds was what looked like if someone laid out a pastel rainbow grid over the clouds to make a flat plane to walk on.

When Loki stood, the ground(?) rippled as if he was walking on top of very shallow water. He looked around with confusion.

"How did I come to the astral plane? They have power inhibitors on me." He thought out loud and stopped from speaking further when a gentle but frigid breeze blew his hair.

"I brought you here." His head whipped to the side and all of them looked passed him too and saw a figure in a black cloak.

Her voice was crackly and cold. They couldn't see any of her body except skeletal hands and feet. The rest was covered by the pitch black silky cloak. She was hovering over the ground a few inches and she inclined her head slightly to Loki. Thor gasped, but the others didn't recognize her.

"Lady Death, a pleasure." Loki said but he didn't sound afraid. He just bowed his head slightly toward her and turned so she had his full attention.

"Prin-."

"Just Loki."

She paused before continuing, not seeming offended in the least. "Loki. I have missed you." She got a bit closer. "I need you for something."

Thor was gaping at the two now. His little brother knew Lady Death?! They seemed close as well which was even more shocking.

"You know what's coming as well as I. You may not have the Sight like Frigga, but you have been known to see the occasional vision."

Loki suddenly looked alarmed. "He's after the Infinity Stones." A pause, deep breath, and heavy swallow. "The war is coming, isn't it?"

"You are the beginning, and you will be the end. I saw your soul when you entered this world, so don't bother lying to me or hiding your emotions because I'll know. I chose you the moment you were born, and I stand by that decision. You will be the end to Thanos."

Loki looked shocked for a moment before a renewed determination filled his eyes, and he set his shoulders. "I will gladly except the burden."

"Good. Do you have a plan?"

A smirk spread itself across Loki's face and a spark of magic seemed to light his eyes into a green inferno that would burn any enemy. Then he spoke in a determined tone that sent shivers down their spines.

"I always have a plan."

A/N I love Loki so much. Just had to get that out there. <3

Also, I can hardly wait until the Loki tv show is on Disney+! This geek is excited!

Hope you enjoy and keep reading!