Another Life

Smooth escape

Author's note: Hey, reader! Thank you for passing by! While reading this chapter I recommend to listen to the song "Smooth", by Carlos Santana. Since I'm a non-native English speaker and this is my first long narrative in English. I might have made some mistakes although I revised everything. If English is your first language and you would like to let me know about any errors in this chapter and in the future ones, please send me a private message. If you like my story please leave your vote and comment. Thank you and I hope you all enjoy the fanfic!

Also, this story is for my friend Leticia De Freitas Bueno from YouTube. Visit her channel whenever you have the chance!

Chapter 1: Smooth escape

It was 2012, and the Avengers had just arrested Loki, the god of mischief and brother of Thor. The former spread chaos throughout New York, attacking the city with his alien army while determined to get the greatness he thought he deserved. Like many other overly ambitious men, Loki ended up blinded by his power hunger and lost the war to the famous hero group. He was with mixed feelings after being arrested: part devastated; part relieved. No one knew, but the mad titan, Thanos, to capture the Tesseract, a shiny blue cube also known as the Space Stone, and try to rule Earth, manipulated Loki with the stone. Not even Thor imagined that the trickster was just a pawn on Thanos' master plan.

Loki had blue eyes, medium black hair, and light skin. He was in chains and with a metallic mouthguard, keeping him from talking. The trickster walked in the lobby of a building with Thor, Tony Stark, and some guards. Nobody had decided yet what should be done with the Tesseract, the only certain thing was that the god of mischief would go to jail in Asgard. "Everything is over... I lost to my brother again. When will I ever beat that bastard? I'm done coming in second place all the time.", thought Loki, frustrated and getting less obsessed with world domination as the manipulation faded. His eyes could not stop staring at the silver suitcase where inside was the Tesseract.

Suddenly, Tony Stark fell on the floor, appearing to have a heart attack. Everybody panicked and went to his direction, leaving Loki alone on a corner and the suitcase on the floor, vulnerable. Thor came closer to Stark and said:

- Stark, can you hear me? – But Tony did not answer. He was almost having seizures due to his lack of oxygen and, although he would never admit it, Loki was feeling bad for him and even a little worried... but not enough to forget about the opportunity that had opened to him.

Unfortunately, a guard grabbed the suitcase, so he remained still. In the same second, Hulk arrived in the lobby by smashing a door, making people scream and run. He knocked down the guard, which made the suitcase open; the Tesseract was thrown away and landed by Loki's feet. The trickster widened his eyes and looked around, making sure everyone was distracted enough. That was his only chance of escaping his imminent punishment and, perhaps, recovering his glory.

- Come to me... - he whispered to himself, barely. Loki slowly bent down, doing his best not to make any noise, grabbed the Tesseract, and faded away in a blackened blue smoky cloud.

After getting his precious stone back, Loki got stronger and entered into a magic portal filled with dark-blue light while traveling at an insanely high speed. He shape-shifted into a butterfly, escaping from his chains and mouthguard, then into an eagle, and grabbed the Tesseract with its claws. If Loki were in human shape at that moment, he would have a massive smile on his face. The brother of Thor did not even care about ruling the world; he just wanted the Tesseract back to not feel like a complete failure.

Loki turned back into himself and held the stone with his hands. He stared at that beauty, thoughtful.

- What have I done? I was so blind... - he whispered. Loki was mad for power; however, he could admit that he crossed many lines by taking innocent lives and causing a huge mess. He was afraid that Thanos would kill him after the New York fiasco and thinking about other ways that he could have used to gain power.