Loki

In the immediate aftermath of the reckless mortals’ clumsy scrambling of timelines, Loki noticed something quite curious. The sap bleeding from Yggdrasil had a new, particularly magical essence.
He began to experiment with it. Shape it. Concentrate and intensify it. Time, he discovered, was the core of its essence, and right away, he conceived an intense desire to visit a future Asgard to see what mischief he might make there.
Quickly, he learned how to do just that, but he came away not only disappointed but frightened and—not that he ever would have admitted it—saddened. For the future Asgard he beheld was a ruin, its throne broken and cast down, its collections looted, its surviving people grubbing in the ruins to survive.
No, Loki thought. Surely this is not Asgard’s only future.
He brewed the enchantment once more…and discovered an Asgard overrun by Jotun, with Laufey himself grunting on the throne and Asgard’s people little more than bones.
And another Asgard in flames, with Surtur bestride the blazing trunk of Yggdrasil while the fabled towers of the realm collapsed in fiery rubble.
And another, windswept and empty, the Cask of Eternal Winters broken open in the throne room.
And another, shattered into drifting fragments against a sea of stars.
And another, impossibly sunk under an ocean, with vast shadows moving in the moonlit waters above.
Hundreds more, thousands more. Asgards burned, Asgards frozen, Asgards overrun by Dark Elves or dwarves or enemies from Midgard or the worlds beyond the stars. A Kree-devastated Asgard, an Asgard ravaged by the Eternals, an Asgard ruled by an alien overlord whose minions oozed and sprang like living shadows, hunting down the last of the realm’s true subjects. In all of these, Loki did not find the one thing for which he truly searched.
Himself.
And then, at last, an Asgard mighty and unbroken. An Asgard overarched by Yggdrasil’s branches and underpinned by Yggdrasil’s roots. Her towers shining, her people vibrant and untroubled, her wealth untouched…and her throne occupied by Loki.
He reeled back into his own time, mind aflame with the implications of what he had seen. How many destroyed Asgards had he witnessed? After all that, to see the one surviving realm be ruled by himself…
Well, Loki thought. The only Asgard that survives this absurd misadventure is one in which my true destiny is at last acknowledged, my primacy accepted, my sovereignty celebrated. As it should be. Now remains the work of bringing this future to pass.
Immediately the crucial points of the plan presented themselves to him. First, or course, he would have to maneuver the All-Father into the deep enchanted slumber of Odinsleep. Tricky, but he had done it before. The biggest obstacle was making sure that Heimdall didn’t notice until it was too late. Then, Loki would use Thor’s desire to help their father against him, guiding him into a certain place where Loki wouldn’t have to worry about him for a long time.
But these were powerful enchantments, even for Loki. He was going to need to bring in a co-conspirator or two. It would be easy enough to betray them and rid himself of them later, but for a brief time they would be useful. Karnilla, of course. Aligning with the Norns was an absolute necessity if he were to retain rule over Asgard and not see it suffer any of the tragic fates he had witnessed. And while a master of magic, the Queen of the Norns was no great schemer — at least not compared to the God of Lies.
He also thought of Karnilla’s closest ally, Hela. She would be useful because of her vast power and unlimited legions, who would keep the Valkyrior and Crimson Hawks busy, leaving the throne unguarded…
If Loki could just figure out what to offer Hela in return.
*
He manifested in her realm unannounced, just because he could, and he knew it annoyed her. As soon as she sensed his presence, Hela sent an escort. This time, it was a retinue of fallen Asgardian warriors riding skeletal horses and singing the ghostly songs of the Asgardian dead who never made it to Valhalla. To the accompaniment of these mournful, discordant strains, Loki followed his escort to Hela’s throne. In this kingdom, bones twisted by dark magic paved the path to her castle while particularly favored souls became feasts for her Nastrond crows. Loki hated the décor even more than he hated the thought of Thor sitting on the throne of Asgard. Well, perhaps not quite that much.
And speaking of thrones, Hela sat on hers, regarding him with an imperious and icy stare as he approached and the ghostly retinue vanished. “Loki,” she said. “Whatever foolish scheme has brought you here, be assured it will not succeed. Return to your realm and disturb me no further.”
“O my great queen, it—”
“Whenever you call me queen, Loki— I know you want something. Tell me what it is and spare me the insincere implication that you care about dignity.”
“Oh, I do,” he said. “I do very much. We both rule realms, and we have a responsibility to rule them as well as possible. Unfortunately, we are not currently doing that, because I am not ruling Asgard. I propose to rectify this error, and —”
“And you want my help.”
“Yes,” Loki said. “My plan will succeed with or without you— ”
For the third time, she interrupted him. “Why should I?”
“Why, to be rid of the All-Father, whose time is past — and to be rid of our beloved Odinson, who would otherwise succeed to the throne of Asgard.”
“Which is the one thing you cannot stand to see happen.”
Loki did not give her the satisfaction of agreeing.
“You see, Loki,” Hela said, “of all master plotters, you are the easiest to predict because all of your plots are ultimately only about one thing.”
Loki inclined his head, again unwilling to make a verbal acknowledgement.
“You have been working new magic. I smell it on you,” Hela said. “Tell me.”
“Ah. The sap of Yggdrasil. Observe.” Loki cut a small notch in one of the World-Tree’s roots. As the sap oozed out, he captured it and began to work a charm to extract its essence. “As the World-Tree shapes the limits of our realms,” he said, “this substance shapes the limits of our time.” After a moment he held a small ball of what looked like amber in the palm of his hand. “Take it. It will show you the future of your realm just as it showed me the future of mine.”
“Yours? You speak of Asgard?”
“Yes,” Loki said. “That is why I wanted to see you.”
He placed the ball in Hela’s hand and began to describe what he had seen.
*
“Ah,” she said when they had returned from the visionary voyage.
“Yes, it is quite deserving of an ‘ah,’” Loki said. “But the real question is, will you help me?”
“I will,” Hela said. “But I have my own vision for this — Chronovium — for it has fallen in my realm as well. In return for my help, you will help me bring this vision to fruition.”
“Of course,” Loki said, intending it to be a lie — but not even he knew when an attempted lie might become an inadvertent truth.

“You can show yourself now,” Loki said with a smirk as he walked into a tunnel that led out of the bustling Shenloong Arena. “I know you’re there, Victor. I can see right through that adorable little cloaking spell.”

“I expected no less from the new Crane Champion…” Doctor Doom replied, revealing his metal-clad form with a wave of his hand. “But tell me, Loki, how did you do it? How did you persuade the Crane Mother to choose you as the new Immortal Weapon of K’un-Zi?”

“I have been known to be quite convincing,” Loki said, his eyes glowing green with ancient magic. “You know full well that the right words in the right order can be quite magical… and I always seem to have plenty of words to spare.”

“I would not have thought that your Asgardian enchantments would work on an Immortal Beast of the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven,” Doom mused.

“If I can bewitch Odin, I can bewitch anyone,” Loki said with a laugh.

“Duly noted,” Doom said, wondering if Loki’s words were a veiled threat.

“Oh, and you must not have been watching my big debut,” Loki continued, “or you would know that there apparently are Eight Capital Cities now. Or at least there will be if the mortal in the devil horns gets what he wants. Speaking of which…”

“Ah, yes,” Doom replied, gazing at Loki’s outstretched hand. “We made a bargain… and now, I suppose, you want to be paid…?”

“In full,” Loki quickly added.

As Doom reached into his cloak, Loki thought back to how he had gotten here. After the confrontation with Knull on Klyntar, Loki was determined to track down Hela, the Goddess of Death. She had broken her pact with Loki when she decided to fashion herself as Knull’s Queen in Black. After her ploy failed miserably, she retreated to safety, taking sanctuary in the secret Eighth City — which had merged with the other Seven Capital Cities of Heaven to become the Heart of Heaven. Loki was determined to have words with Hela about her betrayal. Strong words.

Upon arriving in K’un-Lun, however, Loki soon found himself dragged into more of the mortals’ ceaseless conflicts. As he had previously learned in his own realm, Yggsgard, magical domains were not immune to the effects of the Timestream Entanglement. As such, K’un-Lun and its sister cities had been thrown into utter turmoil… but fortunately for Loki, he did his best work in the midst of chaos.

Shou-Lao, the immortal dragon who protected K’un-Lun, had been frozen in time, and multiple different factions were making plays for power in his absence. Some wished to wake him and restore order to the fabled realm, while others sought to obtain the chronal energy infused Chi of Shou-Lao to grant themselves ultimate power. Doom, of course, was amongst the latter.

But when Shou-Lao was awoken from his slumber once more, Doom realized that he could not obtain the dragon’s Chi as easily as he had first hoped. So instead, he publicly challenged the legitimacy of Shou-Lao’s chosen champion, Iron Fist. Doom expected that a solo trial would follow, allowing him to prove his worth. But instead, Shou-Lao unexpectedly matched Doom’s wits and found a loophole to keep his foe at bay.

According to The Book of the Iron Fist, if the title of an Immortal Weapon is challenged while the Capital Cities of Heaven are converged, each city has the right to claim that power by winning a grand tournament to be held in the Shenloong Arena. The game was on… and Doom was less than pleased that he would have to sully his hands to get what he wanted. But he already had a new plan forming in his twisted mind…

Naturally, word of the impending tournament spread quickly through K’un-Lun. Since almost all of the Immortal Weapons had vanished when the Timestream Entanglement struck, the legendary guardians of each Capital City now had to choose replacements from the pool of powerful heroes who had assembled in their sacred realm. And Loki found himself a front-row seat, watching the spectacle with great interest.

The Immortal Beasts chose their new champions swiftly. Z’Gambo selected Storm to fill in for the Prince of Orphans, while Peng Lai tapped Groot. At first, Loki thought he might be chosen by the Huodou of the Under City, but the Mutant called Wolverine beat him to it. By then, almost all of the other Capital Cities had locked in their new Immortal Weapons. And when Zhu Que, the great Vermillion Bird of K’un-Zi, appointed the Invisible Woman to be her avatar, it seemed as though it was too late. What left him feeling slightly disappointed, was that Loki had missed his chance to join the tournament and cause chaos with his tricks..

Just as Loki was about to resign himself to watching the tournament from the grandstands, he was approached by Victor von Doom and offered a deal. Loki was well aware that Doctor Doom had been the one behind the Timestream Entanglement and many of the catastrophes that had unfolded since, so he heeded the maniacal monarch’s words with great caution. But to say he wasn’t intrigued would have been a lie.

“The arrangement is simple,” Doom had said. “If you can find a way to secure your place as an Immortal Weapon and gain the right to participate in the tournament, Doom will help you defeat all of your rivals on the battlefield. All that Doom asks in return is that you hand over the grand prize — the Chi of Shou-Lao — once you have claimed victory.”

“And how does this scheme benefit me?” Loki had asked as he scoffed at Doom’s proposal.

“There is much Doom can offer you in return,” Doom had said. “Name your price.”

“All I want is a single feather…” Loki had replied, a grin curling across his lips, “…from the Phoenix.”

Loki was well aware that Doom’s robotic servants had acquired a Phoenix Feather during the conflict on Klyntar. Loki had already used the sap from the World Tree, Yggdrasil, to create the thread of fate, weaving it into a blank canvas. With a Phoenix Feather as his quill, Loki would only need the right ink to rewrite his destiny and craft a new legend for himself. If he had his way, he would no longer be the God of Lies, but rather the God of Stories!

Doom agreed to Loki’s terms. And to prove his devotion to the plan, Doom promised that he would find a way to remove the Invisible Woman from the contest. Thanks to his deep history with the Richards family, Doom claimed he knew exactly what strings he needed to pull behind the scenes to manipulate them into unwittingly following his whims. In fact, it was a pastime he took great joy in. Once Susan Richards was no longer a concern, all that would remain was for Loki to convince the Crane Mother that he was the best possible replacement for Crane Champion.

Loki traveled through the Heart of Heaven to K’un-Zi, where he hoped to be met with a fond welcome befitting Asgardian royalty. Instead, he was forced to fight his way through a seemingly endless army of Crane Daughters. Even though Loki could summon his own army of devious doppelgangers to face these warrior women, his clones were merely illusions and could not withstand the martial arts mastery of these mystical maidens. When the Daughters came together and merged into a giant burning Crane, however, Loki took another approach. He shapeshifted into his true Frost Giant form and batted the winged creature out of the skies. Once the Crane was grounded, Loki did not hesitate to open the Casket of Ancient Winters and extinguish the creature’s flames before moving on to meet Zhu Que.

The Vermillion Bird was impressed by what it had witnessed but not impressed enough to offer Loki the vacant title of Crane Champion, Immortal Weapon of K’un-Zi. It was then that Loki made the ultimate gamble, attempting to bewitch Zhu Que with a spell that he had learned long ago from his erstwhile ally, Amora the Enchantress. He had seen her use this charm to sway the minds of Frost Giants and Dark Elves, but an Immortal Beast was another story.

Alas, Zhu Que was unaffected by Amora’s incantations, but Loki still had his own words to sway the Vermillion Bird’s opinion. Loki claimed that, if he were chosen to be the new Immortal Weapon of K’un-Zi, he would give her a Phoenix Feather to show his thanks. He reached in his coat and pulled out a feather plucked from Munnin the raven, igniting it with a touch of Muspelheim’s eternal flame. Though it was merely a parlor trick, the Vermillion Bird believed Loki’s lies. Before long, the Crane Mother had changed course and had granted Loki her blessing.

Loki returned to Doom with the good news. Though on the surface he would be fighting for Zhu Que and K’un-Zi, it was Doom who would truly be his patron in the battle to come. Even without that clandestine knowledge, the entire Shenloong Arena still erupted with gasps when the God of Mischief was introduced as one of the contestants in the upcoming trial.

And now, here Loki was, ready to accept the prize that Doom had offered him. A prize he coveted far more than a shard of some ancient dragon’s soul. One he would never give to the Vermillion Bird, despite his promise otherwise. The Phoenix Feather contained life and rebirth incarnate… and it was almost in his grasp…

“You will get your payment, Laufeyson…” Doom said, pulling an empty hand from his cloak, “…only after the tournament is won.”

“You dare defy me, mortal?” Loki growled, lowering his staff so that its bladed tip pressed against Doom’s armored chest.

“Doom dares,” Doom responded. “But what I — and every other mortal — should never dare to do is to trust Loki. When the battle is over, Trickster, the Phoenix Feather shall be yours as promised. Not a moment sooner.”

Enraged by Doom’s deceit, Loki considered casting a spell to turn Doom into a frog — or perhaps something far worse. But after a moment, he decided against the notion. After all, Doom wasn’t wrong. The likelihood that Loki would have lived up to his end of the deal and completed the tournament once the Phoenix Feather was in his hand was next to nil. And besides, after what seemed like ages of fighting alongside brutes like his brother Thor, Loki felt relieved to finally find himself paired with someone who actually played games at his own level.

“Then I suppose I should start to prepare for battle,” Loki said, exiting the shadowy corridor beneath the Shenloong Arena and leaving Doom behind. “It will take more than just tricks to defeat the most powerful champions in the Multiverse. Though, I am certain some will come in handy… and I still have quite a few of them up my sleeves…”

“Once again,” Doom said, a slight grin showing from behind his metal mask, “I expected no less…”