A Classic Battle

I’m honestly a bit surprised to be writing this. I’m not really a fan of time travel/alternate reality shenanigans. And I don’t really like Loki. But even so, this particular scene with Classic!Loki hit me. And I wanted to write a bit of a different outcome to it.

In the end, I wanted to write a reunion scene. So here it is.

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Loki stared at the scene in front of him.

His variants. The fools. Going forward with such a half-cocked plan and attempting to distract Alioth by waving a metal fire stick.

Honestly, it made him embarrassed to be connected to them. Was he that stupid when he was younger? Surely not.

Maybe this is what being a hero did to a person?

He let out a huff. Guess he was about to find out.

Reaching within himself, he drew upon his magic for what was quite possibly the last time, and began to craft what he would insist to be his finest work.

Illusions… they were only ever as good as their details. Which was one of the reasons why most good illusions were small (not that you needed large illusions for the most part).

Making a sword look just an inch shorter than it really is… Making somebody’s features look just a little off…. Making a door look like a wall… The simpler the task, the better the illusion was really.

Alas, such subtleties were beyond Alioths notice. He would need something bigger, more noticeable. An illusion that big was almost impossible to actually create realistically due to the level of details required.

But there was one thing that Loki knew better than his own face. Something that was large enough to actually be a tempting target for a creature that ate realities.

So Loki summoned every bit of magic he had, every drop he could spare… And like a rose blooming in a desert, Asgard was created around him.

Home.

For thousands of years he had missed his home. Years he had spent dreaming of Asgard… Every detail burned into his memory. There had been bad moments for sure. Course there was - when you spend a thousand years in any one place there was bound to be - But there had been so many good ones as well.

From the grand towers and spires of Valaskjalf where he grew up. Himinbjorg, where they would spend hours upon hours listening to Heimdall tell stories of the realms. The Treasureyard of the Wolves, where he, Thor, and Sif would challenge the Warriors Three, Brunok, Siegrold, and Hilda…

Everything. Every memory of Asgard that he had, Loki poured his heart and soul into. If he was to die… Then he wanted it to be here. In the very heart of his home.

And it worked.

Alioth, as dumb as it was powerful, looked at his grand creation and saw only a potential meal.

Loki cackled as it attempted to devour the spires and bridges that existed only in his heart, imagining the confusion the beast had. For each attempted swipe, he’d simply reconstruct it once more.

This was his element. Misdirect and trickery - The God of Mischief everybody!

But… All things must have an end. Powerful though he may be, his strength was not inexhaustible.

Loki collapsed to his knees as his illusion slowly collapsed, feeling more tired than he had in a thousand years, yet at the same time oddly triumphant.

As Alioth came barreling through the last remnants of his illusions, Loki managed to stand up once more, a manic grin on his face.

“Glorious Purpose!” Such a stupid reason to die, and yet here he was!

For all his faults and all his mistakes, a coward his entire life, here he stood. A proud Asgardian Prince before the end. Alioth charged at him, the creature filling his vision.

His only regret was that he couldn’t see his brother one last time.

Loki stared defiantly at Alioth’s amorphous maw coming closer and closer -

And then the world exploded in white.

Loki stumbled backwards as a wave of sound and heat slammed down in front of him, shaking the very ground as Alios roared in pain and confusion.

What, was he not even allowed to die properly now?!

As he blinked the spots out of his eyes, a figure stepped out of the light (a lightning bolt).

It was an old man. A strong old man, as despite the white beard and scars across his body, he still retained sizable muscles. He wore an old cuirass, a faded red cape hanging from his shoulders, and his left arm had been replaced with a metal arm (something that looked like it came from a Destroyer, Loki noted absently).

The face was weathered, with one eye missing. Yet through his remaining eye, he stared at Loki with unabashed wonder and tears in his eye.

But it was the helmet. That stupid, moronic winged helmet, dinged up and scratched up that it was, that let him realize who this was.

“Thor.” Loki whispered in a strangled voice. D-did he accidentally create another illusion in his final moments?

“Loki,” Thor rumbled back, his voice… It was so old, yet it still had steel in it. His brother looked him up and down before his mouth twitched upward beneath his beard. “You… Got old.”

All thoughts of this being an illusion vanished.

“I - I got old?” Loki sputtered in disbelief before gesturing towards Thor, “I got old?! Have you seen yourself in a mirror, you musclebound hypocrite?!”

“I try to avoid that these days.” Thor admitted, taking a step closer.

“Well clearly you need to -“ Loki’s retort was cut short as Thor suddenly wrapped him in an ironclad hug, his breath shoved out of his lungs as he felt the hug squeeze his ribs. After a short hesitation, he returned it, feeling tears in his eyes.

“I know not what sorcery this is.” Thor said in a choked voice. “I suspect I might punch you after your explanation. But I am so happy to see you again, little brother.”

Loki scoffed, “Of course you are. Who wouldn’t -“

He was interrupted by a large roar.

Ah, that’s right. Trans-temporal entity trying to consume them.

Thor scowled, “Silence, Beast!” He ordered, gesturing with his hand while turning.

Alioth was cut off as an utterly massive lightning bolt slammed into it. Instead of hurting it, the gaseous creature ignored the blast, surging forward once again.

“Thor, you can’t fight this creature,” Loki felt himself begin to panic. “Alioth is -“

“A cretin that is interrupting a reunion with a brother that I have thought dead for millennia.” Thor interrupted angrily, his entire body suddenly crackling with energy. “And it will be SILENT!”

Suddenly, every arc of lightning being generated within Alioth’s tempest-like body seemed to intensify and turn on the creature. Unlike before, the creature actually stopped and bellowed in pain as it writhed, electricity wrapping through the entirety of its being, tearing it apart.

But, that didn’t make sense… Alioth consumed everything it could, energy and matter alike. Entire realms and timelines - Lightning shouldn’t be an exception, it shouldn’t be able to hurt it, so what…

Loki realized what was happening, and he didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.

“You idiot,” Loki looked at his brother who was wrapping each bolt with his own divine energy. “You finally decide to learn magic, and you focus on making better lightning?”

The Odinforce.

Or, would it be the Thorforce now?

“Did you expect anything less, little brother?” Thor asked with a smirk.

It seemed like Alioth managed to shake off the effects somewhat. But though it was a mindless creature, it was still able to recognize that Thor managed to hurt it. And like anything that didn’t like being hurt, it did its best to avoid what caused that hurt.

By going towards the two Loki variants.

Loki cursed and made for them when Thor stopped him.

“And just where do you think you are going?” Thor demanded.

“Those two over there - I need to distract Alioth!” Loki insisted.

Thankfully, Thor didn’t need any more encouragement than that. Unfortunately…

“Very well.”  Thor let Loki go and made to move forward. A movement that Loki stopped.

“Oh no!” Loki grabbed onto Thor. “I will not have you die on my account. You are far more important than I, and I will not be the reason Asgard loses its King!”

Thor scoffed. “Hardly.” He glanced towards Loki with an amused look. “Sif and I gave up the throne to my daughter Thrudr years ago, my sons Modi and Magni are part of a peacekeeping force for the galaxy. My grandchild and your namesake, Loki, stands with the current guardians of earth, while Skifri is a liaison between the Realms.”

Loki blinked, his mind thrown for a loop at that information until Thor threw another divinely charged lightning bolt at Alioth.

“For once, there is no galaxy spanning war, and all the great monsters and villains have been eradicated. All the disasters the Norns foretold have been prevented.” Thor continued with a proud smile. “There will be and have been others, but I trust my children and their children to take care of them. I, personally, have fulfilled all my goals save one.”

He gave Loki a firm look, “I thought that goal impossible till after my death, but once I felt your power for the first time in so long, I had to move.”

Loki took in a shaky breath, “You idiot.” He managed.

“Aye, but an idiot that is to have dinner with his wife and daughter this evening!” Thor agreed boisterously. “I look forward to introducing you to Thrudr during it!”

Loki shook his head. “Still, Alioth is not just some creature you can punch into submission.”

Thor let out a booming laugh and marched towards the other Loki variants, metal arm clenching and arcing with electricity. “I have crossed blades with god slayers such as Gorr, Desak, and Grog and triumphed!” Thor shouted back happily. “I have fought such entities as Demogorge, Galactus, Mangog, and The Black Winter and lived!”

“Yes, but you had a team at your side!” Loki snapped.

“Yes, and now I go to battle with my brother.” Thor replied with an undeterred smile. “This creature should be honored, for it is the first creature to face the two of us in many years! One might even feel sorry for it.”

Ok, that should not be as touching as it was.

“Yes, well,” Loki coughed and wiped the dust out of his eye. “Just so you know, I’m not doing ‘Get Help’.” He managed.

Thor blinked at him, almost looking confused before comprehension dawned, a delighted smile appeared underneath his beard. “Aww, but brother, it’s been so long!”

“Yes, one of the few good things about my exile!” Loki snapped.

“It always worked in the past.” Thor claimed brightly with a nostalgic look.

“That was before you looked like you’d throw out your back.” He huffed before his eyes widened at seeing his two Variants have to run from Alioth. “We don’t have time for this - we need to keep Alioth contained, yet somewhat close to those two -“

“Say no more.” Thor answered promptly.

“We need a plan -“ Loki was about to say when Thor just blasted off in the direction of Alioth.

Oh, by the Norns - old age clearly hadn’t instilled anything related to common sense or caution into him! This! This is why there were no Thor Variants in the Void! They all charged Alioth like an idiot!

Obviously it was up to him to be the actual voice of reason… Again.

And if Loki was smiling… Well, that was besides the point.

Alioth bellowed in pain once more, but now that it had experienced it, it seemed to shrug it off. Still wary of Thor, it kept its focus on him.

They couldn’t let Alioth run away - that was a little aspect that nobody would have ever thought they would run into. But now it was a real possibility.

Loki didn’t have enough magic for anything big, but a series of smaller illusions… Yes, those could work.

He created another Thor, this time behind Alioth, crackling lightning and all, which caused Alioth to stop dead in its tracks and shriek in rage.

Clearly upset, Alioth simply charged the fake Thor, getting zapped by the real one for his trouble.

Now, Loki could have simply kept to that, creating Thor after Thor, but… He was a Loki.

So he began bringing out Thor’s rogues gallery.

Oh, there were so many.

Malekith and Kurse. Grundroth and Skrymir. Kryllk and Ulik. Enchantress and The Executioner. Yes, his brother had been busy over the years…

The air filled with battle cries as volleys of attacks were launched. But of course, even Alioth would figure out what was going on if only Thor's attacks hurt… So naturally he had to disguise his brother as his enemies as well.

“Loki! You scoundrel!” A reprimand shouted out from a Mephisto looking copy, yet it contained far too much humor to be an actual reprimand.

“This is for your own good brother!” Loki shouted back gleefully. “I’d rather not Sif murder me after this!”

Alioth proved its title as one of the biggest sharks in the tank by powering through Thor’s damage. The air shook as Alioth’s caustic gas lashed out again and again, great swathes of ground simply vanishing with each swipe as it roared in frustration. Yet despite its best efforts, it was never able to find purchase as Loki played the shell game with it.

Had they been trying to defeat the beast, they would have been in trouble for sure. Loki honestly doubted that Thor could deal enough damage to actually kill it (and if Thor COULD… Well, Loki wasn’t sure how to feel about that).

But that was never the goal.

The ending was actually rather anticlimactic. One moment, Alioth was roiling with anger and power, and then… He was suddenly dissipating.

With a sigh, Loki let go of all his illusions, stumbling as the adrenaline passed and he became lightheaded.

Thor landed heavily next to him and collapsed to one knee with a grunt. “I… Am not as spry as I used to be.” He panted, coughing roughly for a few seconds.

“Spry? You were never spry.” Loki grumbled back. “You were a lumbering ox.”

Thor chuckled tiredly. “Then I’m afraid my lumbering has gotten worse.” He replied before forcing himself to his feet with a grunt. “Now then, who are these, hmmm?”

Loki watched as he walked over to the Loki variants. He was still close enough that he saw Thor’s eyebrows shoot up.

Thor looked between them with faint surprise before letting out a large chuckle, which swiftly turned into a bellowing laugh.

“By the All-Fathers, what a blessed day!” Thor boomed out with a smile, “I come to rescue a brother, and I find several siblings instead!”

“Not… exactly.” The female Loki managed.

“You are Loki, are you not?” Thor asked rhetorically, his singular eye shining with mirth. “It’s hardly the oddest thing I’ve seen across the Realms. Why, once, I had to fight a clone of myself!”

Thor walked up to the two of them and clapped them on their shoulders, giving each a grandfatherly smile.

“I can tell you have business.” Thor nodded towards the path that had been lurking inside Alioth, visible now that he was gone. “But if you ever need a place to stay, my Asgard will welcome you.”

“Just like that?” The Loki Variant asked incredulously.

Thor chortled. “Well, don’t expect me to put you in my will, or anything of that nature.” He smirked. “But a roof over your head and a warm meal? For family? I can manage that.”

Loki still felt slightly stunned as the Variants eventually both said their goodbyes, and both Thor and he watched them walk through.

With a heavy sigh, Thor turned towards Loki. “Are you ready to go, brother?”

Was this actually happening? Loki could scarcely imagine this was real. It almost felt like this was one grand illusion. But it was an illusion better than anything he could have imagined, and he was the best Loki at magic…

He was about to accept it when he realized he was about to forget somebody.

“Y-yes, just, one moment.” Loki glanced around. He had told him to run the opposite direction after he turned back, but if he knew himself…

There.

Loki waved his hand at an empty spot. “Well, you gonna come out now?” He smirked knowingly.

There was silence for a moment before the air shimmered, and Kid Loki appeared, holding Croki.

Thor raised an eyebrow, “he looks just like you when we were young.” He marveled before eyed the crocodile curiously for a moment before shrugging. “I’ve seen stranger.” He answered Loki’s glance.

He and Kid Loki had no intention of trusting the TVA agent, regardless of his words. Between him and the Void, they would choose the Void.

But this was Thor. The situation was entirely different.

“I know you can survive on your own.” Loki told his younger self. “But now, you don’t have to.” And he’d feel bad leaving Kid Loki by himself with Croki.

Thor nodded seriously. “My home is always open.” He assured him simply.

Kid Loki hesitated for a moment before suddenly lunging. When Loki blinked, he saw Kid Loki with his arms around Thor, and he could hear sniffling.

“I’m sorry.” He heard Kid Loki say. “I-i’m so sorry.”

Thor's eyebrow had shot up in concern, but he slowly brought his hand down on Kid Loki’s head and ruffled the hair slightly. “I think you have more than paid.” He said softly, glancing at the Void. “Your apology is accepted.”

Before they could say anything more, Thor reached out with his other hand and yanked Loki a bit closer. “Now prepare yourself.” Thor smiled warmly. “I look forward to introducing you all to my Sif.”

Before Loki could say anything more, lightning seemed to arc across Thor’s body. When nothing else happened, Thor frowned and mumbled something about ‘more power’, and suddenly light erupted all around them, and Loki felt the almost forgotten feeling of the Bifrost.

When the feeling finally faded, Loki blinked at the sudden sight of buildings, the noise of people that had for so long meant ‘danger’.

Thor clapped Loki’s back as he stared at the sight of Asgard before him. The buildings were different, everything was really, but the architecture and feel of the place clearly gave off the sense that Asgard once did.

“The sun does indeed shine on us both once more, my brother.” Thor told a stunned Loki softly, his hand on Kid Loki’s shoulder while Kid Loki held Croki.

“Welcome home.”