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The world burned down on the 14th of April, 2013.
It wasn't too unexpected. For weeks now, SHIELD had been holding its breath.
The last piece of news from Asgard had been simple.
All is lost.
That had been the last they'd heard from Thor. Presumably, he was dead now.
Loki had broken down, to put it mildly. Tony had spent more time consoling him than preparing for the threat.
The unnamed threat. Whatever had beseiged Asgard and slaughtered its inhabitants with ease.
Loki had wanted to return home, but Odin had demanded he stay there and watch Earth. Loki was of no use to them without magic anyway.
But regardless, Odin was dead now. So was Thor and Frigga and everyone in Asgard, insofar as they knew.
They were gone.
It took five weeks before the threat reached Earth.
The Bifrost opened in New Mexico. That was all they knew before Puente Antiguo was wiped off the map.
The threat spread to the north and south.
Agent Barton was killed in Iowa defending his hometown. SHIELD fought to the last man.
It didn't take long.
Natasha simply left the country. The whole continent was in lockdown, but it didn't stop her. She had nothing to stay for.
The Hulk, Tony and Loki were the only survivors of the battle of New York. Battle was the wrong word. Holocaust would be more correct.
They'd survived because the Hulk had protected Tony, and Loki was still enough of a god to survive being crushed when the Helicarrier fell into the Hudson River in New York.
But Clint and Steve were gone. Thor was probably dead. Natasha was missing. And the Hulk wasn't going to turn back into Bruce anytime soon; not with the amount of stress and danger he was experiencing while the invasion went on.
Tony and Loki were just trying to stay alive.
Before he'd been killed in the Helicarrier crash, Fury had announced North America to be a lost cause and had given permission for nuclear action against the threat.
Whoever was still alive on the continent was not statistically significant enough for mercy.
Tony and Loki hid in the safe room under Stark Tower, still in shock, crying and cradling each other - who gives a fuck about masculinity when everyone you know is dead - while the skeleton of New York was blasted to the ground.
A day later, and they were aching of hunger. Tony went out while Loki was asleep, peeled through the wreckage of an abandoned 7-Eleven, and returned with canned goods, alcohol and sweets. Things that wouldn't be affected by the nuclear fallout.
It was very dark outside, despite the fact it should have been just after midday. Dust in the atmosphere, assumedly.
When Tony returned, Loki was angry that he'd risked himself. The god should go, he said. I'd be less likely to get hurt.
They made up fairly quickly. After all, they literally only had each other now. Who knew where the Hulk was and if there was even any of Bruce left in him?
"I love you, I love you so fucking much," Tony spluttered, after Loki had scolded him. "I just wanted to bring you something."
"I know," Loki said, finally accepting a bag of Skittles with a faint, grateful smile. "I love you too."
They stayed in that bunker, eating things of suspicious quality and pretending that the world wasn't over. What else could you do, especially when you were in a small, lead-lined room with a toilet, a sink, a decontamination shower and a painting of Iron Man in it?
Tony worried for Loki. Tony was fairly accepting; shit had happened. He had to move on, even when every breath sent a stab of emotional pain through his lungs. But Loki had never been stable. Their relationship had originally been built on the fact that Tony was the only person who didn't get out of the way when Loki got violent.
That sent more stabs of emotional pain.
And pain in his stomach. And his head.
Tony started vomiting about half an hour after going outside.
-O.O-
Three days had passed since New York was bombed.
One day had passed since it had become very, very clear to Tony and Loki that Tony was sick.
It had started with vomiting; it had progressed to a searing fever, to a migraine and fatigue that left Loki sitting next to Tony as he lay there, his head lanced with searing pain.
"I'm gonna be okay, Lokes," Tony breathed. "Just the flu or something."
Tony was lying. Tony knew it was radiation poisoning. He shouldn't have left the vault.
Loki lifted his head, his black hair hanging lank over his face. His eyes looked bruised, his skin oddly translucent. He was in perfect health, but he looked worse than Tony. Just stress.
"If I understand everything you and Banner have taught me, Tony," Loki said tiredly. "No bacteria, no viruses survived that blast in any noteworthy concentration."
"Lucky protist, then. I'll be fine," Tony said weakly.
Loki looked at him suspiciously.
"Can I have a drink?" Tony asked.
They were lucky the tower had its own independent water supply, or they'd be boned.
As Loki fetched Tony some water, he said "If I had my magic, I could heal you and take us away. Somewhere those foul creatures have not permeated."
"'If 'ifs' and 'buts' were candy and nuts-" Tony sang roughly. "I dunno what comes next. But Odin's not exactly in a position to give it back. Gotta find some other way in the world. Make our way to Malibu, maybe. Pick up one of my suits."
Both Loki and Tony knew they couldn't travel like this.
Tony's Iron Man suit had been shredded by Earth's attackers. The Hulk had found him cowering and protected him, and the pair had torn apart the Helicarrier to find survivors. There had only been Loki.
-O.O-
Tony was dying.
This was obvious to both of them.
He'd gotten steadily worse over the next day. He wouldn't - couldn't - eat. Or move much. His fever was sending him into delirium. His skin was clammy and he was losing hair. He'd had a seizure an hour ago, and Loki's pale face had been streaked with tears as he tried to just make him well again.
"I can't lose you," Loki had said, voice wrecked from crying.
Tony slid into lucidity for a just a moment and realised that Loki was no longer there.
-O.O-
Tony went into circulatory shock about an hour after Loki left.
It didn't matter. He wasn't nearly alive enough to notice.
Loki burst through the thick door, sopping wet and shirtless. "Tony," he gasped, dropping to his knees, his hands glowing.
Tony didn't react to him at all.
Pushing the energy swirling around his hands onto Tony's chest around the Arc reactor, Loki willed his love to heal.
It took a minute for the magic to take; it was dirty magic, impure, not designed for a living host, but Loki pushed every spark he could summon into healing Tony's failing organs and wrecked cells.
Then he sat back and hoped to Odin and Thor and Frigga and all those other dead, broken gods that it worked.
-O.O-
Tony wasn't expecting to regain consciousness, but he did anyway. He felt good. Great, even. Much better than someone who was dying of radiation poisoning an hour or two ago should've felt.
"Loki?" Was the first question out of Tony's mouth. Then he sat up to see Loki sitting there, staring at him. "Hey, babe."
"You're alive," Loki breathed, swooping down to press a kiss to Tony's mouth, then pulling him into a tight hug.
"For now," Tony said dryly. "How'd you...? I thought I was fucked for good that time."
"Magic," Loki said, pulling back to show Tony the elegant gold and emerald circlet of intertwining snakes he was wearing. "It feels good to have it back."
Tony's hand moved to examine the circlet - he could move again! - but Loki twitched back.
"I wouldn't recommend you touch it," Loki said. "It shares the typical property of a magical artifact of its nature; temperamental and possessive."
"What, so it likes you?" Tony asked.
Loki nodded.
"I'm glad it does," Tony said. "Where'd it come from?"
"The Helicarrier," Loki said. "It was an artifact I examined and placed in storage."
Loki, as a magical expert, had been granted the job at SHIELD of identifying and sorting magical items.
Not that it mattered now. If the threat had spread, then the human population was dead, and no animal gave a fuck whether or not the sceptres were compartmentalised.
"What's it do?" Tony asked.
"The kenning they gave it was the 'Serpent Crown'," Loki said. "It gives or enhances magic powers. It was Dr Strange's before SHIELD confiscated it."
"Why'd they'd confiscate it?" Tony asked suspiciously.
Loki shrugged. "I do not know. But we can travel now. I can protect you from those demons," Loki levitated to his feet. "I'm a true god once more."
Taking Loki's hand, Tony got up. "Where're we going? I hear Yosemite's nice."
Loki put his hands on his lover's shoulders. "If we travel to Malibu, JARVIS may still be functioning, and you can reclaim your suits. We could do more than survive here."
"I'm in," Tony said, cracking a smile for the first time since the world had ended. "You and me, babe, in the wreckage of the world. It'd make a good movie, if Hollywood wasn't gone."
Loki snorted. "At least that dreadful Cage actor is dead," he said, humour blacker than imaginable.
Tony suddenly remembered when Loki had developed a hatred of Nicolas Cage; for once, the whole team had turned up for a movie night, and Loki was still developing a taste for movies. He'd hated that one.
At first he laughed, but then he thought of Clint doing impressions of the characters onscreen and his throat tightened again.
No more moping, Tony thought. I need to survive now. And if by some miracle we're safe and stable one day, then I mourn.
"Let's go to Malibu, babe," Tony said quietly.
The emeralds in Loki's circlet glittered and glowed, and they vanished from the bunker.
-O.O-
New York and Ottowa had taken the most bombing of the North American continent.
The citizens of LA had been butchered, yes, and fighting had taken place, but the whole city had been overrun by the threat moving north and hadn't actually been damaged much. Tony's Malibu house was isolated enough from the carnage that it looked eeriely pristine.
"Jay?" Tony asked, walking around the atrium. The fountain was still running, and the view was still perfect, like Pepper would round a corner any minute, smile sarcastically and hand something to Tony to sign.
Oh, gods, Pepper, Tony thought.
"Yes, sir," JARVIS replied.
"Jay, thank fuck, you're alive," Tony breathed. "What state is the house in? What's the radiation risk at the moment?"
Loki paced across the floor with his long, long legs. "I'll examine the kitchen," he said. "We may need to gather food."
"Gotcha, babe," Tony said.
"Sir, the house seems to be largely intact, though I would warn you that fault lines have been disturbed by recent concussive action and earthquakes are frequent. The radiation risk is moderate and may cause illness from exposure over a long period."
"I can live with that," Tony said. Then he took a deep breath. And another. "What's the casualty rating for North America?"
"Estimated at 100%, sir," JARVIS said. "However, that is an overseas estimates. It is considered likely that there are small pockets of survivors."
"Like Lo' and I," Tony said. "What's the situation overseas?"
JARVIS paused for some time, scanning everything he had access to. "Unknown, sir."
"Is there any internet activity overseas?" Tony asked. That would definitely show presence of people unaffected by the invasion.
"Little to none, sir," JARVIS said. "However, radioactive activity is likely to be disturbing my sensors."
"Based on all data, what is the probability of humanity in anything more than isolated groups?" Tony said.
And that was the question. Had mankind even survived? If they had, they were probably poisoned by radiation. Water, food, everything had to be contaminated. And Tony didn't know if the threat was still out there.
"Unlikely, sir. The invasion force was too powerful for any deterrent."
Tony sat down heavily onto the hardwood floor, dropping his head into his hands, rubbing his hair.
"There is a geological curiosity you may be interested in, sir," JARVIS said, bringing up a holographic image of Earth, taken from the still-functioning satellites in space.
Loki appeared suddenly behind Tony. "We have adequate preserved food for a week or two - oh Norns," he breathed on seeing the map.
"Holy fuck," Tony said.
A huge chunk of the planet was gone.
Literally. Parts of Russia, Asia and a large part of the Pacific had been mutilated, leaving a gaping maw of ocean, torn land and magma that was steaming visibly from space.
"How-" Tony said.
"North Korea deployed their cache of weaponry, causing seismic shocks that activated many other weapons of mass destruction in nearby countries. The chain reaction was sufficient to tear apart the land, sir," JARVIS said.
"Earth's fucked," Tony said harshly. "Loki, Earth's gone. It's not just humans. Plants and animals can't survive this either. Nothing's left."
"I am," Loki said, sitting next to him. "You are. Other humans may be. Plants and animals will adapt. JARVIS, are the...attackers of Earth still present? Is there an official statement on their nature or name?"
"As far as I am aware, Master Loki, the invasonary force was never named, but was colloquially referred to as the Locust Swarm. They have mostly vacated Earth through the same method they used to arrive in New Mexico, but have left a small occupationary force. The nearest outpost is in Hawaii, and is composed of two members of the species."
"Two guys in Hawaii. Got it," Tony said. He leaned on Loki, nestling against his neck. "We're here now, babe. I guess we upgrade the Iron Man suits, you practice with your magic, and we try and defend Earth. But the fallout's gonna wipe out the other survivors soon."
"What curatives are there for radiation sickness?" Loki asked. "We could perhaps begin treatment, with my magical aid. My people are gone; I should help yours."
"It's complicated. Too complicated for me; I'm a medical dunce. I think we're working with magic only," Tony sighed.
"I do not trust this crown," Loki admitted. "It has a mind of its own, though it is easily subdued."
"Don't wear it then," Tony said. "Just when you don't need it."
Loki shook his head, the serpentine circlet glittering on his hair. "I'm healing you actively. There is radiation here too, in small doses; I don't want to break the link in case you grow sick again."
"I won't. Or you can just heal me in one big go again," Tony said.
"I would rather you stayed well," Loki answered firmly. "I need this magic, Tony. I missed it sorely and with Odin dead I won't ever regain my own."
"It's on you, Lokes," Tony admitted wearily. "But first thing's first. We need food and sleep. Then we can start Earth Mark 2."
Loki nodded and teleported both of them to the kitchen. It wasn't far, but they were both tired and lazy and having Loki's magic back was a novelty.
They had a dinner of frozen pizza and canned peaches, which wasn't bad fare. Tony was happy that he'd updated his Malibu house to run on arc power and recycled water. It was practically luxury.
Then they sat out on the balcony, watching the sun set thoughtfully. The sunset was a slightly off colour and dark, so dark. Days were getting colder. If the dust didn't clear soon, cold would become a serious issue.
They enjoyed a proper shower instead of a biohazard one for once, and fell into bed, tired but wanting to take their minds off things. A handjob later, and they both fell asleep clutching each other tightly, the crown still perched on Loki's head. It stayed on eeriely well.
-O.O-
After breakfast, Tony was sitting out on the balcony again when something fell from the sky.
It was a dead seagull. It had died mid-flight, crumpling pitifully against stone.
-O.O-
Tony spent the day in the workshop, fixing and upgrading (and greeting DUM-E with love because he still had something left) all his tech. Loki had been doing magical exercises all morning, getting used to being himself again.
JARVIS had been right - the nearby faultline was throwing a tantrum. There had been small earth tremors all day, including a big one that had resulted in Tony accidently stabbing himself with a fine wire.
As the afternoon wore on, Loki appeared in the workshop abruptly.
Tony turned, then jumped in fear. "Loki!" he gasped. "What happened?"
"I went to the city to see what could be salvaged," Loki said roughly, snatching a dustcloth and using it to swipe the blood and gore off his arms. "A Locust was walking through town."
"New rule: before we go anywhere, we tell the other person," Tony said quickly. "You actually managed to kill one of those things?"
Loki gave a fae, cruel smile. "Oh, yes. With the aid of my magic."
"Good. Good to know we can fight them. JARVIS, alert me whenever there's a Locust within fifty miles of our position. I don't want to get caught out again," Tony said.
"I was, sir," JARVIS replied.
Huh.
"What's in town? Is it worth a visit?" Tony asked.
Loki frowned, sitting down. "There are no hostiles. I assume there is food."
They sat in silence for just a moment before Tony said "What aren't you telling me?"
"I'm not sure," Loki said tentatively.
"How are you not sure what you're not telling me?" Tony asked.
"I don't remember what happened," Loki admitted.
"When you went to town?" Tony clarified.
Loki nodded solemnly. "There is a blank space. Perhaps the Locusts have telepathic abilities?"
"Jay, can you do readings on that?" Tony said. "Do you think it's worth a trip? I'll wear the Iron Man suit in case of more of them."
-O.O-
They did end up going into town. Tony wished they hadn't.
As far as anyone could tell, the Locust Swarm had wanted people. No animals, no plants, no life forms, except humans.
Thusly, destruction of LA was limited to where buildings had been peeled open to tug the people out. Pretty much everything was still standing, but wrecked and coated in gore. Plants were withering and animals had collapsed in the street.
It was very quiet. The nuclear contamination wasn't nearly as bad as other places, but it still wasn't anything livable for long periods of time, and animals were probably not feeling well.
Los Angeles probably hadn't been this quiet for a few hundred years.
It smelt terrible, too, a product of the half-mutilated remains left behind by the Swarm.
There was lots of food for them to salvage, and it was surprisingly good fun, just taking things. The world after people was a strange one indeed.
Tony walked down the Walk of Fame. All these names, all the back-stabbing and populares that had gone on to get them there seemed so...irrelevant. Having your name written on a star on the ground didn't really matter when humanity was dead and there was no one to read it.
Except Tony Stark and Loki Liesmith, and quite honestly, they didn't give a fuck.
Loki stopped and looked around. "I thought this was where I discovered the Locust."
The street was actually much clearer than several others they'd been down, barring cracks in the road from earthquakes, random objects splintered in the street and (Tony was trying not to look, but it was so hard) half-mutilated but still fresh-looking corpses under the eaves of buildings. But nothing like a Locust, even though there were magic burns on the road from where Loki had clearly been fighting.
"Maybe they clean up their dead," Tony suggested. "There's a lot we don't know about them."
"No blood," Loki pointed out.
Tony just shrugged. He didn't have any answers, and this wasn't his main concern.
"Jay," Tony said into his visor. "Do you know if there's anything important alive in our vicinity? Locust, human, whatever?"
"No, sir. You are quite alone," JARVIS replied.
-O.O-
What Tony and Loki needed to do was catch a Locust. Just one, by itself, so they could learn about it.
Learn how to kill them, so they could take back Earth.
Hawaii was their closest bet, and they were making plans for attack. Loki could kill them, after all.
It had been a week, now, since the fall of New York. They were still alive. Loki's magic kept Tony in excellent health. They had food and water and electricity. Tony could swear it was a little brighter outside; perhaps the dust was clearing, or perhaps it was wishful thinking.
JARVIS informed Tony that bushfires were becoming rampant across not only California but several other states. There was nothing to stop them from burning buildings now.
On the morning they were planning to attack, Tony woke up alone.
Walking out in search of Loki, he found the god on the balcony surrounded by a blurry miasma of magic, cackling like a demon and fighting to the death.
Against nothing.
Tony walked out cautiously. "Loki?" He said, afraid.
"Stay back!" Loki shouted. "I'm a little busy!"
Tony recognised the purple lashes of energy Loki was using as lethal, goddamn lethal force and he didn't seem to realise that he was alone.
"Loki," Tony said again, in his calmest voice, approaching slowly. "Calm down. There's nothing here."
Loki's eyes were manic. "I know," he gasped desperately, his voice cracking. The moment of lucidity passed and Loki sent out another blast of energy. "Get back, you disgusting beasts!"
"Take that crown off!" Tony shouted, seeing the emeralds of the serpents glittering and glowing.
All of a sudden, Loki fell to the ground like his strings were cut. Then he just sat up - that fucking circlet still delicately poised on his head - and looked around at the magic burns and broken windows. "What happened?"
"You-" Tony started. "Take your crown off. Please."
Loki bristled. "No. We have little defence if I do."
"C'mon, babe. I don't like it. Isn't there anything else you could use?"
Loki shook his head. "Not that I've seen. Are we leaving soon?"
Tony didn't want to go. He didn't want his back being watched by Loki while that crown was on his head. He loved that stupid god, but that didn't and would never mean he trusted him blindly on a matter like this.
However, Loki would never accept that, so Tony just said "I think we should leave it to tomorrow. One of my new upgrades to the Iron Man isn't working properly."
Loki narrowed his eyes suspiciously and said nothing.
-O.O-
JARVIS tracked evidence of life forms in their vicinity. Nothing human, but nature would soldier on.
-O.O-
After Loki's outburst that morning, Tony got more suspicious of Loki's visit to town in which he'd apparently fought a Locust and won, but with no evidence and he'd forgotten it.
Watching footage of a military battle with the Swarm to study the enemy, something was bugging Tony.
He watched the Hulk finally manage to bring one down, with black, tarry blood oozing onto the wrecked concrete below.
Loki had turned up bloody with red blood.
Corpses, underneath the eaves of buildings. Suspiciously fresh ones.
No.
Tony leaned his face into his hands, tears leaking between his fingers.
They were survivors.
He needed to get that crown off Loki.
-O.O-
He tried it while Loki was asleep that night.
The emeralds glowed as Loki snapped awake. It took him a second to realise what Tony had been trying to do, but when he did, he just looked angry and vanished.
-O.O-
Tony was sneakily watching Loki as the god tried to get a snack. He'd gotten out a can and put it on the bench, then he'd stared at it for some time, before sitting down and rubbing his face tiredly.
"Babe?" Tony said cautiously. "Need a hand?"
Loki looked up, confused.
Tony noticed for the first time that Loki's eyes seemed a strange colour.
"Need a hand?" Tony repeated.
Loki kept staring. "Anthony Stark," he said, like he was testing the weight of the word in his mouth. "They are both Germanic names; together they mean 'praiseworthy strength'."
"Yeah..." Tony said, coming closer in a careful way. "What's going on in your head, Lokes? It's me. You can tell me anything."
Loki's face morphed into a mask of cocky nonchalance. "I'm excellent," he said brightly, getting to his feet and opening the can with a swipe of his hand, before retrieving a spoon and scooping a preserved lump of pear into his mouth. "Is the Iron Man fixed?"
"Yeah," Tony said distractedly, looking at Loki's eyes. The whole surface had become slightly misty and white like he was going blind.
-O.O-
Loki was definitely overcompensating for something as the afternoon went on. He was bright and sassy and perky, but a little too much, making it seem a little forced.
And Tony couldn't help but notice that Loki seemed to keep forgetting simple things.
Over the next half a week (the mission to catch the Locusts in Hawaii had been unofficially postponed until Loki was back on his mental feet) Loki continued to not sleep in the same bed as Tony, and continued to forget things - the god had looked at Tony or his surroundings a few times like he just couldn't comprehend what was going on - and JARVIS warned him of the few times Loki seemed to be hallucinating again.
But he wouldn't take the crown off, no matter how much Tony asked.
-O.O-
The dust didn't seem to have settled much. It didn't get much warmer than night during the day, and the nights were bitterly cold.
Any surviving humans out in the world had to be very sick of radiation poisoning by now.
-O.O-
Finally, Tony couldn't watch his stubborn lover destroy himself anymore. He resolved to take that stupid circlet by force.
"Take off the crown, Loki," Tony said, missiles pointed at the man he loved.
Loki's eyes flashed brightly, dangerously. "I am a god, you pathetic, snivelling mortal! Do not dare to command me!" He shouted, his eyes misty and white as he moved impossibly quick and snatched Tony by the throat, throwing him into the wall.
Stunned, Tony saw Loki drop to his knees and clutch his head. "Make it stop," the god pleaded, tears dropping from his eyes. "Please get it off. I'm begging you. I kneel in supplication; help me!"
Tony crawled weakly towards Loki, his head throbbing from his impact. He reached out to finally, finally remove that cursed, bewitched circlet from Loki's head.
"No!" Loki snarled, a mindbolt of magic searing Tony's hand inside his gauntlet. He drew it back, hissing in pain. "Do not touch it. I must protect you."
"Please," Tony begged. "Just take it off. I don't care if I die. It'd be worse if you didn't remember me. I can't live without you, babe."
"I would do anything to keep you safe," Loki said harshly, sweat dripping down his forehead. Then his expression twisted from grimaced affection to pure, joyful insanity, the misty white of his eyes becoming a completely flat white. "The world will feel my power!" He shouted, but he didn't get up, still kneeling.
"You're just making it worse," Tony protested back. "You're losing your memory, you're losing yourself. It's not helping. Please, let me take it off."
"I can control it," Loki said pleadingly, sounding like a lost child.
Tony reached out for the crown again. "Just let me take care of you. Please."
Loki raised a hand, dangerous purple magic swirling around it. "You can't," he said desperately, before hitting another crazy mood swing. "Control me. The Locusts will rue the day they took my Earth."
Getting to his feet, Loki waved his hand and for the first time in years, wore the elegant metal and leather armour he'd attacked Earth in so long ago. But he didn't summon his horned helm. Instead he wore the circlet, glowing brighter than Tony had ever seen before.
Then he vanished.
-O.O-
Loki didn't come back.
Tony could still feel the ever-so-slight warmth in his chest from where Loki was constantly healing him. It was how he knew Loki was still alive somewhere, even if he was insane and giggling in a ditch.
By midnight, Tony was going through the room Loki had been staying in. He found a wad of papers stuffed haphazardly into one of the pillowcases.
Untangling them, he figured out what they were.
Loki, when you reread this, remember you wrote it all down because you're losing your memory.
Today Tony continued to avoid me. I did not recognise him when I saw him. I do not remember large sections of what happened today.
I can't remember what the crown made me do. Tony looked upset. If you read this, I'm sorry.
Tony, it's just you and me in the wreckage of this world. And I wish I could care for you better, but this crowns both gifts me and robs me of everything I have.
I have identified the curse - the crown is possessed by the energy of the god Set. I thought Set and I were friends.
I am writing this because I reread my notes from yesterday and could not remember any of what I learned about this crown. My head is so blurry.
This magic keeps you alive, Tony, and it's driving me crazy. I'm losing myself and I'm afraid you're going to lose me too.
I would rather go insane than allow you to wither from the poisons in the air. When the circlet grows too powerful, I will leave you be. The healing and protection spells I have cast on you will continue even when my sanity does not.
I know you'll find these, Tony. You are the invasive type. I'm so, so sorry. Whatever I do, it's not me, it's the crown.
I don't think I could find the strength to remove the crown if I wanted to.
Then shorter, simpler:
As Tony would put it, I'm fucked.
I miss you, Thor.
I love you, Tony.
Tony curled up in a ball in the bed that smelt like Loki, the notes crushed in his hands.
He wished he'd tried to intervene sooner. Now he was alone and so was Loki.
-O.O-
Tony didn't even bother to get up the next day.
He'd made a resolution to soldier on, no matter what. But he hadn't expected that he'd lose Loki.
-O.O-
The next day, Tony forced himself onto autopilot.
As the satellites in space weren't doing anything, he started reprogramming them. He needed accurate surveys of Earth. Radiation toxicities for various area. Survivability. Evidence of life.
He needed to understand the new Earth.
It was clear that help was not forthcoming from other planets. Asgard had always been kindest to Earth, and that was gone.
The Swarm had left Earth for another planet, and for all Tony knew, the Nine Realms had fallen. In fact, it seemed likely.
Nothing could stop those things.
That night, despite the fact he'd vowed to give it up for his own safety, Tony got smashingly drunk and cried himself to sleep.
-O.O-
A week later, Tony was still alone. No Loki.
However, JARVIS had shown him something.
Bacteria. Simple, tiny bacteria. They were mutating at a rapid rate, creating new strains, new breeds at an almighty rate.
Maybe Earth could survive after all. The new strains were stronger. More resistant to radiation, and to the bitter cold that filled every day. Tony kept to the workshop and his bedroom, to save on heating. Except for when he was out in the Iron Man suit, exploring the post-apocalyptic wonderland that was America.
At least he was in no risk of running out of food. The Americans knew how to make things that didn't rot.
-O.O-
Loki never came back.
Tony hunted for him. He couldn't find him.
-O.O-
It took two months from the invasion for the dust to settle completely. It felt good for Tony to sit outside in the sunshine.
He was working on two major projects; recording everything and working on ways to stabilise Earth. With many computers and libraries lost, especially in the destruction of the Asian Pacific, information was a valuable commodity. More valuable than money, which was worth less than nothing. Slips of paper and disks of metal were actually goddamn useless. So, Tony had JARVIS cataloguing, well, everything. Everything known about every subject. It would take a while.
Rebuilding Earth? Earth was trying to correct itself. The crazy seismic action had settled a little, the ocean had stopped churning - though it was still murky and heavily sedimented - and everything was generally less toxic.
Once, while wandering around Maine, Tony found seedlings pushing up through the soil.
-O.O-
A year passed, and Tony still felt that warmth in his chest. Loki was out there somewhere.
Meanwhile, he was observing Earth. Many aspects of the environment had gone back to normal, but some were irreversably changed, such as ocean currents. It would take an insanely long time for the radiation levels of the world to drop.
But Tony had spent the last week or two studying something curious he'd found.
It was a wine gum that he'd found the remains of a sweet shop in San Diego. A wine gum with a skeleton, some basic internal organs, and a face. But its body was made of candy, which made no sense at all. Alive, but not sentient, it sprinted around Tony's workshop screaming like a banshee at such a high frequency that he'd ended up sedating it.
He'd spent a long time studying it. It was the product of the extreme mutagenic properties of radiation and of hybrid vigour that had allowed its type to reproduce quickly, passing on the genes, and the inorganic properties of its flesh protected it from cold and toxins. It still shouldn't have been alive. It was a fucking wine gum.
But once he'd gotten JARVIS to do a larger-parametre scan on it, he'd solved that mystery.
It was magic. Magic animating a creature that shouldn't have been alive.
Tony broadened his scans of Earth. Previously, he'd used magic tracking to try and find Loki, but there had been so much interference that he hadn't gotten anywhere.
He could now identify this interference. Earth was spewing magic. Scans showed the whole planet glowing like a disco ball.
Other planets were or at least had been magical. Asgard, for example, was alive with energy. Same with Alfheim and Vanaheim. It wasn't uncommon. But Earth had always been fairly inactive, relying on technology for the wonders that other worlds had wrought by magic.
Earth was now a magical wonderland, and new creatures that should have been inanimate objects were popping up everywhere.
And he still couldn't find Loki.
-O.O-
It had been ten years since the invasion.
Tony hadn't aged a day. It seemed Loki's magic, still thrumming in his chest, prevented it.
The inventor had mapped the world. He'd seen everywhere, seen three-eyed, horned lions in Africa and living roadsigns in England and trees walking around in South America. He'd found the Hulk there too, peaceful amongst the strange trees, but showing no signs of turning back into Bruce. Tony left him alone.
Some of the species showed low levels of sentience.
Tony built things. He'd turned his Malibu house into a sprawling facility of industry, printing books, making water filters and cooking facilities to build a new world.
He'd met humans. But they were either dying and he couldn't save them, or horribly deformed. Most of them he just wanted to put out of their misery. He left them. Maybe, like so many other things, they'd mutate into worthwhile beings.
There had to be normal, living humans somewhere, but Tony hadn't found them.
More of the candy people sprung up in California. They seemed common there, and some of them displayed basic languages skills. Tony taught them English, though they didn't speak it well.
The one thing he'd never found was any Locusts. Any living ones, that is. He'd come across their corpses, splintered and scorched, buckled from cold or exploded from heat. Loki had been there, butchering them for taking 'his' Earth. JARVIS reported that none were left on Earth, and maybe they wouldn't come back, either.
-O.O-
It was as Tony was flying over the Canadian Rockies that he encountered his first traces of intelligent beings.
A harsh, cold mountain crater - now extinct - had been carved into a colosseum-like arena. That definitely hadn't been there before the apocalypse.
Unless the Fight Club actually did manage to uphold the first rule of Fight Club for once, Tony thought, giggling at the reference. None of the dumbass candy people could even talk properly, much less understand references.
Swooping downwards, Tony realised that the stands of the arena were filled with all sorts of things. Rocks with faces carved onto them and snowmen and the occasional pile of sticks, all placed there to simulate an audience.
Whoever had made this was nuts.
"Ladies and gentlemen!" A voice shouted.
A sharp stab of recognition shot through Tony's chest.
Loki.
"For your king's favour, a fight to the death to determine who is worthy of the title of 'Praiseworthy Strength'!" Loki continued.
Flying lower, Tony could see a tall, slim figure sitting in what was clearly a special viewing box. For the king, obviously.
Loki was a rich, deep blue, in the Jotunn form that Tony had once admired with teeth-tongue-lips to help him get over his insecurity. Apart from a rather dramatic loincloth, he was butt naked.
Barring that goddamn circlet, sitting innocently and prettily on top of nightshade hair that hadn't been cut for a decade and was plaited down his back.
Instead of the rich, bloody scarlet that Loki's Jotunn eyes were normally coloured, they were just a misty white. He was glaring dangerously at a rock and a snowman in the arena that seemed to be fighting, but neither had arms or legs.
I finally found you!
Tony wanted to just swoop down and knock that stupid circlet off Loki's head, but Loki wasn't sane. Jumping suddenly into the arena would probably get him blasted. Instead, he slowly hovered down into the crowd. Loki didn't even seem to notice.
As it turned out, several of the snowpeople were alive and sentient. Loki's doing.
"What's going on here?" Tony asked.
The snowman Tony had asked couldn't have looked less concerned that a metal man had just dropped from the sky. "Not much, mate," it said in an Australian accent.
Huh?
"Yeah, the Ice King's still hunting for his strong guy," another snowman added in a similar accent. "Been doing this for months. I don't know why he bothers; it's just us snowmen here, and he made us. He knows how strong we are, and it isn't very."
"Why'd he start doing this?" Tony asked.
"I know!" A tiny, misshapen snowchild said. "He said he needed to find him, so he could fix something. But he started talking about waffles after that, so I don't know how right that is."
Yes, Loki was bonkers.
But hey, Tony was talking to snowmen. He probably shouldn't judge.
"Do you guys think I should try it? I need to talk to Lo - to the Ice King," Tony said.
"He doesn't want to talk to you," a snowwoman said. "He talks to himself."
"I'm the guy he's looking for," Tony said. "I think he will."
The snowpeople gasped in surprise at that. Tony took off, heading for the flat fighting area.
"I challenge this arena," Tony said, his voice amplified by his suit. "I am a champion of-" Shit, shit, shit, this is a kingdom of ice, so I come from - "the Candy Kingdom, and I am of praiseworthy strength!"
A few of the snowpeople cheered.
Please recognise me, Loki, please, I'd do anything to have you back, I can't believe I finally found you -
Loki, his chin resting on the back of his hand, thoughtfully said "I will allow this. Defeat the two miserly weaklings in the arena."
Tony apologised to the rock and the snowman before searing both of them with repulsor blasts. The rock wasn't alive, anyway, and the animated snowpeople on the whole seemed fairly apathetic.
I'm rationalising shooting a snowman, Tony thought. What a world I live in today.
Then, victorious, Tony flew up to the box where Loki was sitting and removed his helmet, praying against logic that Loki would recognise him.
"Hey, babe," Tony said, in the most Tony-ish voice he could to jog Loki's memory. "Good to see you."
Loki's white eyes narrowed and he got to his feet. "You dare call your king babe?" The god snarled roughly, the emeralds on his circlet glowing evilly. "A champion you may be, but you will be punished for your insolence!" He snatched Tony by his armoured throat - the cold of his blue hands hurting Tony's jaw - and threw him from the box.
Tony fell several metres, only just managing to cushion his blow before he hit the ice hard.
Lying there, stunned, his gauntlet wrapped around his helmet, he felt tears stinging his eyes. He could feel Loki's magic - the crown's magic - healing him.
Loki was gone. The Serpent Crown had taken his body and his face and broken Tony's heart.
At least he had his new utopia.