Uniting Asgard [Book Three]

Chapter Twenty-Five

The doors to the main hall opened and they all stepped inside. Loki felt a sharp pain in his head, causing him to grimace as his eyes landed on Thanos. He shook off the feeling as he placed himself in front of Thanos, his eyes wandering to look over Alice. He simply gave her a smile and nodded his head as Alice did her best to keep her emotions at bay. Alice then skimmed over the group and felt her stomach drop seeing all the familiar faces from her vision. The more she thought about it, the more she thought that maybe she couldn't change this vision. However, when her eyes landed on Erica, Alice felt herself overcome with anger.

"Erica! What are you doing here?!"

"Hi, mom." Erica spoke sheepishly.

"How could you let her come here?"

Before Loki could answer, Ebony Maw used his powers to let the coil wrap around Alice's mouth, keeping her from saying anything else. She began to struggle in her bonds and the group quickly noticed her veins begin to glow bright blue.

"Well... it's about time we had this meeting," Thanos grinned. "And I see you've brought reinforcements."

Erica glanced over the gauntlet and took note of the five stones. Knowing their plan, she was worried that things could go wrong very quickly. If Loki wasn't fast enough to kill him... if Thanos could sense the Tesseract on them he might kill them all to get it... her heart began to race as she watched him clench his fist, showing off his gauntlet.

"We have come to bargain with you." Loki told him.

"A bargain? Why should I listen to what you have to say when I have everything I need?"

"That's just it," Loki smirked. "You don't have everything."

Alice and Stephen both were shocked to see Loki raise his hand, revealing the Tesseract. She began to squirm in her bonds as Ebony Maw also used his coil to cover Stephen's mouth. From above, Alice took note of Corvus and Cull watching in the shadows while Proxima stationed herself behind the group with her weapon ready.

Thanos took in the Tesseract and cocked his head to the side, letting out a soft hum.

"I have what you truly desire." Loki spoke.

"It appears as though you do."

"Here is our bargain. For the Tesseract, you give us back Alice, Gamora... and I would also add in the other man beside Alice."

"You'd really give me the Tesseract so freely? Knowing that I would crush it to get the stone? This truly is one of your most stupid bargains you've presented me with." Thanos laughed.

"It's the only bargain we have for you and the only one we will accept."

Thanos took a deep breath as he stepped forward. Everyone could feel the tension in the air as only the sound of Thanos' echoing footsteps could be heard. Taking the Tesseract from his hand, Loki quickly readied himself for his attack. Thanos turned back around to walk back to his throne, examining the Tesseract. Loki slowly began to step towards Thanos, not going unnoticed by Ebony Maw. Everyone watched in anticipation as Thanos turned to face the group, keeping his eyes on the Tesseract. In a matter of seconds, he crushed the Tesseract in his hand as if it were nothing. The group held their breaths as they waited for Loki to strike. Before he could conjure the sword, Thanos blew away the crystals of the Tesseract and reached his hand out to show them that there had been no stone. Even Loki was shocked at this revelation. If there was no stone... why would Thanos say he had everything he needed?

"You bargain with a fake, Asgardian." Thanos scoffed.

"I... " Loki stammered.

"The real Tesseract ceased to exist many years ago and was replaced. It's replica survived Ragnarok. That is what you have brought me here today."