Deep space
On a ship in the vast void of space, Loki, god of Mischief, looked around uneasily at the bodies of his people. For he may not be an Asgardian by birth, but he was always one of heart. Even if it may not have seemed like it to his people.
"Hear me and rejoice. You have had the privilege of being saved by the great Titan," one of the beings who had boarded the ship said as he and his allies walked around the dead bodies of his people. "You may think this is suffering. No. It is salvation. Universal scales will be tipped towards the balance because of your sacrifice. Smile. Because even in death, you have become children of Thanos."
The being passed by Loki and walked up to the golden armored, purple being known as Thanos.
"I know what it's like to lose," Thanos began in a deep voice that sent chills down Loki's spine. "To feel so desperately that you're right, yet to fail nonetheless."
Thanos then picked up Loki's brother, Thor, by the throat and Thor gagged in pain.
"It's frightening, turns the legs to jelly. But I ask you, to what end? Dread it; run from it, destiny arrives all the same. And now, it's here. Or should I say, I am," Thanos said as he reached Loki ad his 'children'.
Thanos clenched his fists, which had a gold gauntlet that had several slots. One slot was filled with a glowing, purple stone. Loki knew too well what that stone was. And it could be nothing good.
"You talk too much," Thor said as Thanos set him on his knees.
"The Tesseract. Or, your brother's head," Thanos said as he put the gauntlet close to Thor's head. "I assume you have a preference?"
"Oh I do…kill away," Loki said bluntly.
Loki thought that Thanos would simply drop Thor, but Loki underestimated Thanos' cruelty. He put the glove to Thor's head and Thor cried out in agony as he was burned by the stone. After a few moments, Loki's resolve shattered.
"Alright stop!" Loki cried out and Thanos complied, pulling his hand away from Thor's head.
"We don't have the Tesseract. It was destroyed on Asgard," Thor gasped out and Loki squired.
With a look of regret on his face, Loki raised his hand and the blue cube appeared in his hand, to Thor's shock.
"You really are the worst brother," Thor would have growled if he had the strength.
"I assure you brother, the sun will shine on us again," Loki assured him and Thanos chuckled
"You Asgardians, so optimistic," Thanos said and Loki smiled.
"For one thing, I'm not Asgardian," Loki said, taking Thanos back. "And for another…we have a Hulk."
With a roar, Hulk rushed onto the scene. Loki tackled Thor out of the way, dropping the Tesseract as Hulk and Thanos began to fight. The pair exchanged a few blows before Hulk slammed Thanos up against the wall of the ship. However, to the shock of Hulk and the brothers, Thanos began pulling Hulk's arms off him with ease and then began punching him. Hulk was thrown through a pillar, kneed in the face before Thanos picked him up and slammed him onto the ground.
Thor, wanting to save his friend, grabbed what looked like a pipe off the floor and rushed Thanos. He struck Thanos in the back of the head but Thanos simply turned around and punched him, sending him to the ground. One of Thanos' 'children' waved his hand and Thor was then wrapped up in several pieces of metal, unable to move.
Seeing this, Heimdall knew what he had to.
"Allfathers," he groaned. "Let the dark magics flow through me one last time."
Putting his hand on his sword, Heimdall used his power and a great beam of light passed through, hitting Hulk. Hulk vanished as the light took him away, to safety. Heimdall smiled, satisfied, even as Thanos walked over to him.
"That was a mistake," Thanos said.
Thanos pulled out some spear like weapon and stabbed Heimdall in the chest with it. Thor cried out as Heimdall looked over at his king before the light left his eyes.
"You're going to die for that," Thor said in grief and rage.
One of Thanos 'children', the same one who trapped, shushed Thor before waving his hand. A piece of metal wrapped around Thor's mouth, acting as a gag. The 'child' then knelt down in front of Thanos, offering him the Tesseract.
"My personage bows before your grandeur," it said as Thanos began removing his armor. "No other being has had the might, nay the nobility to wield not one, but two Infinity Stones. The universe is in your grasp."
Thanos took the Tesseract and crushed it with his hand. Opening it, he stared down at the glowing blue stone surrounded by the remains of the cube. Thanos then picked up the stone and put it in his gauntlet, right next to the purple stone.
"There are two more stones on earth," Thanos said after a moment. "Find them my children and bring them to me on Titan."
"Father, we will not fail you," one of them said as they all bowed before him.
"If I might interject," Loki said as they all turned to him. "If you're going to earth, you might want a guide. I do have a bit of experience in that arena."
"You consider failure experience?" Thanos asked amused.
"I consider experience experience. Almighty Thanos, I, Loki, prince of Asgard…Odinson," Loki paused, looking at his brother before turning back to Thanos. "The rightful king of Jotunheim, god of mischief, do hereby swear to you, my undying fidelity."
Loki then pulled out a knife from behind his back and attempted to stab Thanos in the throat. However, Loki found himself frozen, his arm glowing a blue glow.
"Undying?" Thanos asked amused and Loki felt fear grip his heart as the Titan grabbed his arm, plucking the dagger form his hand and throwing it to the ground. "You should choose your words more carefully."
Thanos then grabbed Loki by the throat, lifting him into the air as he choked the life out of Loki.
"You…will never be…a god," Loki gasped out against Thanos' grip.
Thanos simply smirked as he tightened his grip. The sound of bones breaking filled the room and Loki's body slackened in Thanos' arms. Thor let out a cry of grief which was muffled against the metal gag around his mouth. Thanos walked over, still holding Loki in his arms before he tossed the Asgardian his brother's body, laying it at his feet.
"No resurrections this time," Thanos said, clenching his fist with the gauntlet.
The purple stone glowed and the glow passed through the ship, it seemed. Then, a series of explosions seemed to rock the ship as it began being overrun by purple fire. Thanos and his 'children' disappeared in a blue portal as Thor broke free of his restraints and crawled over to his brother's body. He fell on top of it, lost in grief and anguish as the ship exploded around him.
Earth-1, Allen residence
Morning
Wanda Allen, formerly Maximoff, sat up in bed, breathing heavily.
"Dreaming about other guys?" Barry Allen, her husband, asked dryly from where he sat up in bed, his phone out.
"Yeah, but not how you think. Why do you ask?" Wanda asked as she looked over at him.
"You said Thor's name in your sleep. What's going on?" Barry asked as he looked over at her.
"I was dreaming about him. He was in trouble…I think he died. It felt so real," Wanda said shaken.
"Hey," Barry put his phone down and took her face in his hands, pulling her close. "It was just a dream, okay?"
"Yeah, just a dream," Wanda said as a pit she couldn't explain formed in her stomach.
Earth-66, New York
Same time
In the New York Sanctum, Stephen Strange and Wong were bickering when something crashed through their window. They whirled around to see a giant hole in the staircase as it crashed there. They cautiously approached the hole and looked down.
"Thanos is coming. He's coming," Bruce Banner said as he return to human form.
Stark Industries
Same time
How has life been for Tony Stark since returning to Earth-66?
Well, pretty normal, believe it or not. He had, in his free time, been trying to work on a way to amend The Accords, as he promised. But it was a slow moving process, so, in the meantime, he had decided to retake the CEO position at Stark Industries to honor Pepper. Try and become the man she always thought he could be.
He was currently on the phone with an investor when suddenly, a yellow portal opened up. Tony jumped out of his seat as a bearded man wearing a red cloak walked out.
"Tony Stark, I needed you to come with me," the man said.
"I'm sorry, I'll have to call you back," Tony said before he hung up. "You giving out tickets to something?"
"We need your help. It's not overselling it to say that the fate of the universe is at stake," the man said.
"And who's we?" Tony asked wearily.
"Hey Tony," Bruce said as he walked out of the portal.
"Bruce?" Tony said surprised as his friend walked up and hugged him.
"Like I said, we need your help Mr. Stark," Dr. Strange told him grimly.