Chapter 28

After telling them everything that happened after they lost the feed, Loki demanded they let him get up and dressed. They agreed and Fury began to access their information.

"And you have no idea where he took her?" He asked the God.

"He mentioned a name but I can't remember it." Loki was beating himself up on the inside for forgetting something that important.

"I have some news of my own." Fury sighed. Loki pulled his shirt down over his bandaged chest and the others furrowed their brows at the tone in Fury's voice.

"This....Loki has been posing as President Haynes since the first attack." He informed them.

"What??" Tony scoffed.

"The day he was released he...he killed Brad and took his form. That's how he knew about the implant in Alex, he put it there." Fury added.

"How do you know?" Tony asked as he crossed his arms.

"They found Brad's body in his vacation home. The state of it told detectives he's been dead since around the first CT attack." Fury sighed.

"Okay, but why would he put the implant in Alex but take the one in Loki out? Wouldn't having control over Loki be better?" Tony asked, shaking his head.

"He is Loki. He knows not to keep another Loki around." Thor pointed out.

"Yes. My son is...mischievous and a trickster. This one knew having another would prove dangerous." Odin chimed in. Loki sat down on the bed and began racking his head as he tried to remember what the other Loki had said before he tried to kill him. He played the events over and over again in his head but they blur when the other Loki snapped his fingers.

"I want you guys to come back to the Hellicarrier so we can discuss things." Fury ordered before his end went silent. Thor helped Loki to his feet but he jerked away from his brother in a fit of anger. He blamed himself for not protecting Alex, for allowing him to take her. The three of them returned to the bifrost and Heimdall stood before them.

"You can't see her?" Loki desperately asked the man. He shook his head no and Loki dropped his had in defeat as he and the other two stood together.

"Why did you not answer my calls after Tronlet?" He asked Heimdall. The keeper stayed silent as he slowly looked over at Loki, his knowing eyes burrowing into the God.

"I could not see nor hear you. He had blocked me from seeing most of the universe. I was....blind for some time." He felt disgrace for not being able to help the Prince of his people. Loki nodded and put his hand on the keeper's shoulder, giving it a comforting squeeze.

They left Asgard and appeared on the deck of the Hellicarrier. Loki put his hand on Thor's shoulder and Thor put his on Tony's and they appeared in the large conference room with the others. They took their seats and Loki stared at the empty one between himself and Peter.

"Alright. Now that we're all caught up. Next step is figuring out where this Loki took Alex and the Guardians." Fury said as he sat down in his chair.

"Two Loki's. It's like something out of a movie." Clint shook his head as he crossed his arms.

"That, or a bad children's book." Nat rolled her eyes. Hearing those words brought the memories of his mother telling him and Thor stories of the worlds around them. Something clicked in Loki's head and his eyes went wide as he looked over at Fury.

"Loki?" He asked the God.

"Show me the universe we have mapped out so far." He ordered as he stood up. Fury pressed another button under his side of the table and the holographic device came out of the middle of the table and threw a giant interactive map of their universe around the room. The blinds automatically closed on the windows behind them for better viewing. Loki walked around the room, studying the different galaxies they knew of. He zoomed into his world and shook his head as he looked around the empty surrounding area.

"We don't know anything about the worlds outside of Asgard and your people refuse to tell us." Fury explained as he crossed his arms.

"For good reason. The worlds around us are home to different realms. Ones that hold evil." Loki said as he slightly zoomed out. He placed his hand next to Asgard and counted 5 hand spaces and then stopped and stared at the empty area.

"What is it brother?" Thor asked as he raised a brow.

"Remember that story mother used to tell us as children? The one about Aksel and his war with Svanhild?" Loki asked as he looked over at his brother. Thor nodded and Loki looked back at the map where his hand was.

"Aksel, descendant of the Old Gods, defeated Svanhild by destroying his own world and people, trapping the beast under the rubble and near core. He drew ancient ruins around the entrance and sealed them by slitting his own throat, making a blood sacrifice of himself to the Old Gods to keep the beast there." Loki explained to the confused others.

"This was a children's story?" Wanda asked, raising her brows.

"What does this have to do with anything?" Peter asked as he crossed his arms.

"Brother, what was the name of the planet?" Loki ignored the other two as he looked at his brother.

"Oskar." Thor nodded.

"Oskar." Loki whispered as he moved his hand and pointed to a point on the map.

"That's where he took Alex and the others." Loki informed them as he looked back at the group.

"That is not possible, brother. Father said they cut ties and closed the gate to Oskar long before Aksel and his war. No one can travel there." Thor argued as he shook his head. 

"This other...Loki has the ability to call upon his own bifrost. That's how he took us the first time and how he took Alex the second." Loki quickly explained as he furrowed his brows.

"He could have very well made Oskar his base of operations. No one would even think to check there." Loki laughed a little at how genius this other Loki was.

"How do you propose we get there?" Thor asked his brother.

"We open the gate back up."

*Alex's POV*

I glared up at this other Loki and smirked at the black patch covering his eye. I wasn't sure why he hasn't fixed it yet with his magic but he didn't. He looked down at me and growled before turning away from me. He had tied me up with some magic binding wire that tightened and dug into my wrists every time I moved. He also placed a metal mask over my nose and mouth, silencing me. I sat in the middle of a large cave room, under me looked like writing in runes but I didn't understand it. I sat in the middle of the circle the runes formed. The Guardians sat against the wall to my left, tied and gagged as well. I was happy they were alive and, for the most part, unharmed.

Loki refused to talk to me, he just stared down at me with that dull eye of his. He would walk around the room a few times and make small comments to himself about how it was all coming to a grand end, but that was it. I knew as long as he was here with us then he wasn't destroying Earth, so that brought me comfort. I had no idea what he had in store for us but I had a feeling it was going to be big.

*Loki's POV*

"Father, please." That was the first time I had said please to my father in years. He clenched his jaw as he looked down from his throne at me. We were still trying to convince him to open the gates to Oskar up, but he kept refusing.

"If we can just get inside, we can destroy this Loki and stop him from doing whatever it is he's doing." Tony argued as he crossed his arms. Thor and I thought it would be best to bring the humans with us, give them a chance to beg Odin themselves. And giving Odin a chance to hear their please, see how desperate they are.

"You do not know that for sure. I can not risk my people and my world for a few humans." My father harshly replied.

"Asgard would fall victim to this Loki as well!" I shouted at him.

"He's destroying worlds. All of them. He's trying to take over this universe as he's done all the others before us. Who knows how many!" I added.

"I can not risk it, Loki!" He shouted back.

"Father, I don't think you understand what's at stake here. Our universe. Without it, we, our people, won't exist." Thor suddenly said as he took a step towards our father. Odin stayed silent for a few minutes, thinking it over. He looked down at the group of humans and my brother and then over to my mother. She gave him a small smile, she knew he was going to do what was right. He looked back at us and sighed as he shook his head a little.

"If Svanhild were to escape-" 

"He won't." I nodded.

"How can you be so sure?" He asked me, furrowing his brows.

"If he were to escape, I would do as Aksel did. Trap the beast at the core and offer myself as the sacrifice to the old Gods." I firmly nodded.

"You can't be serious, Loki." My mother scoffed as her eyes went wide.

"I am, mother. I have never been more serious in my entire 5 thousand years of life. I will gladly give my life for the humans trapped on that planet, for this universe." I proudly stated. That was a sentence I never thought I would say, but I did and I meant every word. I loved these stupid human-beings. I loved Alex. I would give myself for them. For this miserable universe I call home.

"Fine." Odin suddenly said. 

"I will open the gates to Oskar." He nodded at us. My heart leaped in my chest but I kept my calm exterior as my father stood up from his throne and walked down the steps. He nodded again as he walked past me and I looked over to the group of humans and nodded before following being my father. 

"Are you bringing anyone else?" Odin asked as he looked over at Fury. Fury looked back at the group he had brought here with him. My brother, myself, Tony, Peter, Bucky, Bruce, and Steve. Fury picked us on the Hellicarrier and told the rest to prepare for the worst on Earth. He left the others as a defense team if we fail.

"No." Fury said as he looked away from the group and back at my father. Odin nodded and continued down the hall and outside of the castle. We traveled all the way to the bifrost and Heimdall stood at attention as my father nodded at him.

"Heimdall, open the gate to Oskar." He ordered. Heimdall's eyes went slightly wide and I swear, for a moment, I saw fear in them. Heimdall relaxed his face and tilted his head a little as he questioned my father.

"Are you sure?" 

"Yes. Open the gates."

*Alex's POV*

"It's almost tiiimmmeee." Loki maliciously sang as he walked around the room and looked over at me. I furrowed my brows and he chuckled as he walked over to me.

"After you help me release Svanhild, I will take over the last free universe in existence. Then, I will be ruler of everything." He smirked as he placed his hand under my chin, lifting it up so I looked into his eye.  I clenched my jaw and pulled my face away from his grip, but he grabbed it again, digging his nails into my skin this time.

"Let me tell you how this is going to happen." He began as he leaned close to me.

"I capture you, the others arrive to free you. I torture your friends until you inevitably agree to help me. You use your powers to release Svanhild and I use him to conquer this universe. You and the other...heroes...bow down to me and server under my Empire, which spreads across 200 different universes." He smirked as he harshly released my face and put his hands behind his back.

"Sir!" A guard suddenly yelled as he sprinted into the room. Loki threw his hand up and grabbed the man by the throat as he brought him closer to us.

"What?" He harshly asked.

"T-They're here." The man choked out. Loki threw him to the side, the guard's body smashed into the wall, and then inhaled as he looked over at the cave entrance. I could tell something was wrong.

"They're early." He whispered as he ran his fingers through his hair. He looked back at me and smirked as he dropped his hand and crossed his arms.

"No worries. I've done this 199 times before. They come, they try, they fail." He chuckled as he walked around me and stood behind me with his arms behind his back. I looked over at the Guardians and watched them sigh and lean back against the wall.

Echoes of bangs and booms sounded behind the cave walls and rocks began to fall from the ceiling, smashing the ground around Loki and I. I flinched but Loki put his hands on my shoulders, holding me still and digging his nails into me.

"None of them hit you. Stop moving, it's distracting." He harshly said, his eye still on the entrance. I could hear Loki's men yelling orders and commands to one another as well as the familiar sounds of Tony's suit blasting them away. I heard Thor shout to Bucky and then Steve's shield bounce off of 4 different things before I heard a thud on the ground. Dust flew into the entrance as an explosion went off in the corridor. I could make out the outlines of a handful of people and excitement filled my heart as they stormed the entrance. 

"Ah, welcome heroes." Loki smirked at the group. I clenched my jaw as the men stood in battle formation and assessed the situation. Another figure pushed past the line of defense and I inhaled hard when I spotted those beautiful green eyes.

"What?" Loki harshly said as he released my shoulders and moved around me, standing to my left.

"Surprise." My Loki sang out as he smirked at the other Loki. 

"You are supposed to be dead." The other Loki harshly replied.

"That didn't really work with my schedule....soooo..." My Loki shrugged a bit. I smiled under my mask and knew that having my Loki here was going to mess with the other Loki. It was clear things on this planet, in this universe weren't going as he planned and that meant we had a better chance to win.

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