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The battle against Thanos was long and hard. But they were victorious in the end. Not without costs though. Vision lay dead on the field. Stone ripped out of his head. Grieving Scarlet Witch next to him.
While the dust of the battle was settling down, our heroes are staring at the gauntlet. They stare at Thor. Afterall he is supposed to be a god. But Thor declines. “I am not meant to be wielding the key of the universe. I can feel it in my bones.” Tony Stark stares at Thor. “ Point Break, you have to be kidding me. You’re a god.” Thor smiles sadly. And that’s exactly why. Look at me, look at Asgard, my family. I am so good at making important decisions. Look at the end results. So no, let somebody else do it.”
Captain Marvel steps up. With a big sigh. “Ok, fine. Let me handle it then.’ She sticks out her hand towards Thor. Visibly relieved, Thor hands her the gauntlet. “Well, if you please, Mrs Danvers, press the reset button.” Tony quips to lighten the moods. Carol looks at him. “If it only was that simple. I will spare you a lecture about the fractures in time and space because of what the gauntlet has done.” “Then bring on the sewing kit.” Although it sounds chipper, she can see in Tony's eyes, that he is just as nervous as the rest of them.
She puts the glove on and sighs softly. “ Well, here goes.” The heroes keep their fingers crossed. They see small dust clouds appearing and taking humanoid shape. Slowly the figures gain detail and colour till they are all recognisable. Their eyes closed till the process is complete. Spiderman opens his eyes as he has appeared right in front of Tony. “ Hey, Mr. Stark.” Peter smiles as if nothing serious has happened. “I’m back.” Tony doesn’t say a word. He simply tugs Peter in a big hug. “Don’t you ever dare to die on me again.” “uhh.. Ok, Mr. Stark.”
Thor looks around him. Walking among the returned people, searching for the ones he has lost. “Where is my brother and Asgard? I know Loki did some bad things here, but Asgard? All of them, including my brother, have the right to come back. They all fought diligently to stop Thanos.” Captain Marvel smiles mildly. “Thor, I can not resurrect what isn’t dead.” Thor blinks.His mind can’t comprehend this. He had seen them all dead. He watched as his brother was slowly choked to death in a final attempt to keep Thor safe. This was impossible. His friends can hardly believe their ears either. “What do you mean, is NOT dead? He..” Tony points at Thor. “Saw them floating in space, dead as a doornail. Besides, nobody survives swimming in space.” Thor interrupts. “Friend Tony, I floated in space and here I am, alive and well.” “Well, Mr Indestructible here excluded.”
Captain Marvel chuckles. “As a matter of fact, they are already on their way here. They can arrive at any moment.” She turns her head and looks up to the sky. “Look, here they are.” A gigantic ship appears in the sky. It flies in a lazy U-turn so it can make a landing. The jets in the sky have no idea what to do, till they get the command from Rodney to stand down. Thor recognises the ship as the Statesman. “I don’t believe this. It was blown up to pieces. I was there. I felt the explosion. How is this even possible?” He looks at Captain Marvel, but she doesn’t give an explanation. She only looks at the ship with a satisfied smile on her face.
After the dust has settled, the big cargo bay door at the side of the Statesman opens and a familiar figure is leaning against the doorpost. Staring at his brother with a big smirk on his face. “Surprise.” Behind him the Warrior Three and Lady Sif appear. Carrying the same smug expression as Loki, who continues with even a bigger smirk. “Did you miss us?”
Thor is like a statue. Unmoving while he’s gawking at his not so dead brother. Fandral chuckles as he sees a speechless Thor. In a few steps, Fandral is next to Loki. Thor gets out of his trance when he sees Fandral sneaking an arm around Loki’s waist. He finally manage to speak. “How?” Fandral tugs Loki against him, making Loki look agitated at him. “Thor, you’re looking at the Mother of New Asgard.” Fandral nudges with his head towards Loki. “Fandral, stop joking. This is not funny.” Thor grumbles. He is gotten back to normal and he has the feeling that they are toying with him. “No Thor, Fandral is right.” Lady Sif confirms Fandral's claim. “ Loki has performed, what he called, The Tree of Life. Don’t know how but it worked. We were dead, then now we’re not.”
Thor stares at his brother. This was a spell, only women used. And as far as he knows it, only females can handle this spell. “Loki, don’t talk nonsense. Only women can do it and you know it. What kind of trick did you really use?” Loki chuckles. “Still not believing me, Thor. Well, I can’t blame you. But it is the truth. You are forgetting that I am a Frost Giant. And Frost Giants are the third gender, which means both gender at the same time. Or have you forgotten that small detail?” And with a sharp voice:” Brother.” Thor doesn’t know what to say. His eyes wander over Loki, till he discovers a small strain of grey hair in Loki’s jet black hair. Slowly he walks up to his brother, not sure if he can trust what he sees. He stands in front of him, pokes carefully at his brother. The moment his finger encounters solid mass, he tugs Loki into a big brotherly hug. Loki wraps his arms around his brother. “ About time, brother.”, mumbles Loki softly into Thor’s ear. As an answer, Thor tightens his hold on Loki and a soft baritone enters Loki’s ear” Yes, I have missed you.”
It takes a while before Thor lets go of Loki and starts talking to his friends. Several Asgardians are peeking curious out of the cargo bay door. Some even dare to take a few steps outside. But not too far from the Statesman or the protection Thor and Loki can offer. Captain Marvel smiles as she watches them all. Then her eyes rest on Loki. “You’re finally here.” Loki smirks back. “ You have missed the party.” “ We could have used you here earlier in the battle.” “ I am so sorry, my dear Captain. I was getting the kids ready to play.” They both grin to each other. Both knowing they had pulled a big stunt together. The whole universe is back as it was.
“So, you weren’t kidding when you said you’re the baby brother of the Goddess of Death.” Loki nods with a smug face. “And so is Thor. But apparently I have been ‘blessed’ with being her counterpart in all of this.” He laughs.”Loki, the God of Live.” A soft “Oh Christ.” escapes Tony’s lips. “Life will never be dull again.” Loki glares at Tony with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
Fandral slams his arms around Loki’s shoulder. “This guy managed to get us all alive again with the Tree of Life. It was one of the most wonderous things to see.” “I am Groot” “No, my brother is not a tree. Sorry Groot.” Fandral corrects Thor. “ I’m sorry, my friend. But your brother was very much a tree when he did this.” Tony and the rest stare at Fandral. “Tree or not to tree. Which of the two is it, Errol Flynn.“ Fandral does not get the reference. “Sorry, the name is Fandral. The Tree of Life is a spell, which transforms the caster into a tree. Roots go into the bodies of the deceased. The bodies get absorbed by the tree. The tree blooms and from the blossoms comes pods. Each pod containing one of the deceased ones. The branch lowers as the pod ripens. When it’s ready, it burst open and the formerly deceased steps out. As long there is a body, The Tree of Life can restore it. That’s why the rest of us is here too. He has managed to transport most of us to the Statesman before we took off.” Loki is looking at everything except the faces of the people who are listening and are staring at him.
Loki had woken up in space after he came back to life. His body had healed. To float in space for who knows how long was not an option. So he used his magic to bring the pieces of the ship together. His vanity couldn’t resist to rebuild the whole ship. But with a whole ship, you need the crew. Remembering The Tree of Life spell, he brought Asgard back to life. No more resurrections, indeed. This whole thing was Loki’s way to flip that midgardian middle finger to the guy. He hardly listened to Odin back then. Why would he listen to some overgrown grape? It felt good to prove Thanos was wrong. To bad they guy was dead. Loki decided to keep this little piece of information to himself. Let them see him as a hero, a savior. He finally manages to look at the faces again.
Heimdal has walked up to Thor. “ Your highness, any idea where all of Asgard shall live?” Thor, still riding on that happy cloud of seeing all his friends back alive, stares at his friend. “Well.. Do you have any suggestions?” “You’re the king now, Thor. You decide.” Thor looks at Loki. His eyes begging for help. Loki lets out a short snicker and looks at Captain Marvel. “How much of Asgard is restored?” She smiles. “ The realm itself is already regenerating. The land is almost done. But the buildings won’t be there. It all has to be rebuild again.” Loki nods approving. “Good. No lies from the past that can stab us in the back. Starting with a clean slate.” Thor gives Loki a big firm pat on the back. Making the younger brother almost lose his footing. “No more lies and cover ups. That goes for you as well.” Loki lifts one eyebrow. “Well, as long as it doesn’t damage New Asgard, Loki. You know what I mean.”
Enthusiastic murmurs rise from the Asgardians. Some already start to discuss ideas for a new Asgard. Thor looks around him. He has never seen Asgard so alive as now: new life, new energy. For the first time in his life, Thor truly feels he’s the king of Asgard. Tony can only laugh. “Here goes Asgard 2.0.”