Loki's New Endgame

Chapter 8

The pain doesn't stop.

That's the worst part.

He's already snapped his fingers and the pain doesn't stop.

Loki frantically claws at his arm, desperate to get this cursed Gauntlet off, to be free of the Stones' power, but he can't. It hurts too much to focus. He doesn't know what he's doing. He just wants it to stop.

Wanda lets go, and for the briefest moment, the Stones' power grows, impossibly more painful than it was before. But then it dies down again, though Loki can't feel her touch. He can't feel anything but the power surging through his veins. He doesn't know where she's holding on. He doesn't even know that it's her. He just knows that somebody is sharing the burden, and he would appreciate it if he could just think.

And then the pain stops.

Loki falls backward, lying on his back and staring at the dust-filled sky. He grabs at his arm, but the Infinity Gauntlet is gone, only his charred skin where it once was. He lets out a long breath and lets his hands fall to the ground.

He's done.

He's not doing anything else today.

Spider-Man's masked face appears over his own. "That was so cool!"

In spite of everything, Loki smiles at that. "It's finally over," he says quietly.

Spider-Man pulls off his mask, and though Loki had already known he was only a child, seeing his face really nails the point home. He's a baby. Seriously, why did the Avengers let a baby fight with them?

Wanda crouches down by his side. "Are you okay?"

"No," Loki says, possibly the first time he's answered that question this way since he was a child, but he doesn't have it in him to lie. He doesn't have it in him to complain, either. He just says it as a fact. No, he's not okay. Moving on. "Are you?"

She brushes her hair out of her face, and it falls perfectly into place in a way Loki's never could if it wasn't so neatly slicked down. "I think so," she says. "That was... a lot."

"Mm," Loki hums in agreement. "But you handled it well — for a human."

The corners of Wanda's mouth twitch upwards at that. "Thanks."

Loki looks over at Spider-Man. "I don't suppose you know who my brother and my mother are."

"You mean Thor?" he asks. "Yeah, I know Thor! Or, I mean, I know of him. I've never actually met him, but I've seen him on the news and things."

"Good," Loki says. "Will you go find him and bring him and my mother here?"

Spider-Man furrows his brows. "Is your mom here?"

"She should be," Loki says. Noting his confused look, he adds, "It's fairly complicated. I suggest you not ask."

"Duly noted," Spider-Man says. "I'll be right back."

He swings away, though Loki has no idea where he's finding things to grab onto and he doesn't have the energy to lift his head to look.

Wanda looks down at him with a frown. It looks like she wants to say something, but she doesn't. He's not sure if it's because she doesn't know what to say or she doesn't know how to say it, but he decides to break the silence himself so she doesn't have to worry about it.

"Are you human?" he asks. "Fully human? A trained sorcerer, perhaps?"

"Uh, no, I've never been... trained, or anything," she says. "It was a HYDRA experiment. They used this on us." She holds the Gauntlet up and taps the Mind Stone. A part of Loki thinks that should be the part that catches his attention, but it's not.