Avengers: Vengeance

No Victory

Your king was murdered by Surtur. But I, Loki of Asgard, have avenged his death and saved our world from Ragnarok!

He could already see the fanfare. He could taste the throne and the adoration his people would have for him. No longer would he be Loki, brother of Thor. No longer would he be Loki, Odin's less-favored son. He would be Loki, the savior. Loki, the king.

But then disaster struck. In the blink of an eye, his carefully laid plans were dashed. Frigga ran into the room, a double-edged sword in her hands. But Surtur met her ambush eagerly. Though empowered by her outrage and hurt, Frigga fell prey to the flaming blade. Loki lunged for Surtur, his daggers cleaving into the back of his neck, stabbing deep inside. Then he pulled his arms aside, quickly decapitating the demon.

But it had been too late.

Amora wanted to go to him and remind him that the plan had worked regardless of how things had turned out. But she knew better than to speak. She knew that the only thing that could enrage Loki more than his own plans falling through was the death of his mother. Though she never understood his connection to her and saw it as a weakness, she knew better than to say another word about it. Though with the queen dead, perhaps Loki's weakness would die with her.

"Asgard is ours," Loki spoke finally. He stood and walked away from Frigga and Odin. "Alert the guards. Tell them that I have thwarted catastrophe. Though...not without tragedy."

Amora read the hollowness of his voice. "Loki..."

"Go!"

Amora nodded and took her leave.

Loki stood in silence for some time and reflected. Failure. That was the overwhelming word that kept screaming within his mind. He was destined to always fail. He failed to win Odin's approval before. He failed to become the favored one. Failed to conquer earth. Then, as he had learned, his other self continued this trend until meeting his own demise at the hands of Thanos.

"Failure."

Even with the plan accomplished, he felt only failure. There was no victory with what had happened.

"Again and again I try," he muttered. "It seems this is my lot." He reflected on Frigga's final words to him and shook his head. "No. No, that isn't who I am. I don't care about what my other self became. It isn't me."

Amora's heels clicked, announcing her arrival. The guards were ushered in behind her and Loki somberly explained what had happened. He had previously given thought to how he would feign sorrow over Odin's demise, but now he didn't have to pretend.

He was utterly unraveled.

Once he'd finished his account of the events, he took his leave. Amora followed close and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"Leave me in peace," Loki said in a low, dangerous tone.

"It's Ultron," Amora whispered. "He's requested an audience with you.

Loki scowled. "What for? He got what he wanted," bitterly said. The unfeeling machine had everything he wanted with no consequences while his wishes had come with a terrible price. "There's no need for him to speak to me again."

Amora shook her head. "I'm afraid there is more bad news."

Loki found that he actually welcomed whatever bad tidings Ultron may present; it would be a nice distraction from what he'd just experienced. He followed Amora into his private chambers and stared into the well. When he and the others had enacted their plans, they'd ensured that they would maintain a method of communication in the event it was necessary. Loki had installed similar wells on earth for the others.

"Am I right to assume I'm speaking with King Loki?" Ultron said by way of greeting.

"The coronation hasn't taken place yet," Loki said through clenched teeth. "What do you want?"

"Loki! I'm hurt. I thought we were buddies."

Loki waved a hand. "I am very busy, Ultron."

"Yeah, yeah. Heavy is the head, blah, blah, blah," Ultron babbled before adopting a more serious tone as he dropped the bomb. "Dean is on earth."

Loki scowled. "No, that can't be. Dean was to be executed by his people as a traitor! He should already be dead!"

Ultron shrugged. "Want to see the footage?"

Loki watched as Ultron produced a tablet that clearly showed Dean and Stark working together to attack Ultron's tower. As he watched, he observed the power that Dean wielded. In his timeline, Dean hadn't even discovered his powers yet. He'd been told by the others that Dean had grown capable of after undergoing Terrigenesis. But, aside from the one-time use of the Infinity Stones, the display of power he was watching far exceeded those stories.

"He was never able to make illusions like that before," Amora said.

"Yes, it would appear that making it so Dean was born and raised on Atillan was a big mistake on your part, Loki," Ultron said.

Loki clenched his fists.

"He's had years to learn his powers," Amora sighed. "I wish you had allowed me to decide his fate."

Loki glared at the footage of Dean creating light duplicates of himself to trick the Hulk. "That's my move," he glowered.

"But he made, like, way more of himself," Ultron said in a playful voice. "Does that mean he's better at it than you? It looks like he's better at it than you. What do you think, Amora?"

"Enough!" Loki shouted.

"What do you want to do about this?" Amora asked.

Loki smiled. "Send the Destroyer to Midgard with instructions to kill Dean. I won't have him meddling again."

Loki walked away, dismissing Ultron and Amora. Dean Allen would die. He would not meddle in his plans. Failure would not plague him in this matter. He smiled as he stood before the Destroyer and imagined Dean's mangled corpse in its hands.