17 Attack on Earth Part 1

Plot: The guardians head to earth for another visit. Then, everything changes when the fire demons attack.

Tone: Serious

It had been a few weeks since Christmas and still, things remained quiet for the Guardians. Boringly quiet…

"Is it bad that I kind of want something to attack us?" Quill asked, rolling his eyes as he leaned back in his seat. Somewhat, Loki thought.

"No, I agree," Drax replied, slumping over the control panel.

"Yeah," Rocket added, nodding. "I never feel more alive than when I'm about to die."

"And nowadays, we're practically on life support," Quill added, gesturing to Loki.

The god rolled his eyes. "Sorry for saving your life," he replied, his tone thick with sarcasm. A few of the Guardians chuckled.

"You should be sorry," Nebula grunted, her lip twitching up in a smile.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Hey, you helped us in the time heist." Nebula growled though she didn't reply. Smirking Loki added, "And defeating the two Thanos's."

Quill perked up, turning around in his seat to gaze at Loki. "Wait… there were two Thanos's?" he asked, his eyes wide.

"How does that work?" Mantis asked, tilting her head to the side.

"It's complicated," Loki answered, not wanting to discuss the details.

Quill just shrugged. "Eh, it's probably less complicated than time travel."

Loki nearly burst out laughing. He covered his mouth with his hand to silence himself as Gamora and Nebula shared knowing looks and Rocket giggled into his paws.

"Yes… definitely." Loki replied, nodding to Quill. Before he could continue, something bright swirled in front of him, and a piece of paper appeared. Loki took it in his hands and read it.

Dear Loki,

You are cordially invited to the wedding and coronation of General Sif in New Asgard in three days' time.

Loki cracked a smile. "About time!" he exclaimed, smiling ear to ear.

"What? What is it?" Quill asked, jumping up to gaze at Loki from behind the paper. The others had crowded around him as well, curiosity shining in their gazes.

"A wedding invitation," Loki answered, putting the paper aside." Valkyrie's taking a queen."

"Good for her," Nebula grunted, folding her arms. There was a moment of silence.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Loki asked, gesturing to the group. They all sat back down in their seats, doing their seatbelts while Rocket started up the ship. Quill was the only one that still stood.

"You really want to go back to earth?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at Loki. "I mean, we were just there a few weeks ago."

"Eh. It's not like we have anything better to do," Rocket replied with a shrug.

"Besides, you haven't all seen New Asgard yet," Loki added, glancing at Nebula and Gamora. "It's quite a sight."

"Yeah!" Mantis added, smiling brightly. "Quill and I got lost there!" She cast a glance at Loki. "It'll be nice to visit again." Loki couldn't help but smile as he met her gaze.

"But it's just for a dumb wedding!" Quill snapped, stomping his foot into the ground. The others fell silent, gazing at their friend with wide eyes.

"Quill?" Loki sat up and reached toward him. Quill turned away with a grunt, stomping down the stairs. The ship was now awkwardly silent.

"Uh… should we…?" Mantis stopped before she could finish her thought.

"I'll go talk to him." Loki stepped out of the group, making his way down the stairs and below deck. Quill was at the table, his arms covering his face.

"Quill…?"

Quill met Loki's gaze, his eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"

Loki bit his lip. "You seem… off. What's wrong?" He sat down next to Quill, resting his hand on his friend's shoulder.

Quill let out a sigh, looking away. "I don't really… like going back to earth. It's… well, it's where my mom died." He clenched his teeth, and his eyes welled with tears. "That was my last memory of that place… apart from music and movies."

"I understand," Loki sighed, nodding. "I didn't want to return to earth at first either."

Quill turned to Loki, raising an eyebrow. "Really? What makes you so fond of it now?"

"Well… for a while I completely associated earth with Thanos but…" He gazed at the picture in his locket. "Then I met Tony. Well, I met him years before but I didn't… know him." He let out a sigh, gazing into Tony's eyes, though the photograph didn't capture the deep brown depths that Loki had known in life.

"But he's…"

"Dead," Loki cut Quill off, looking away with a sigh. "I don't like returning to Tony's home, because I'm constantly reminded of his absence, but I have nothing against Earth itself. It was my home for a while after all." He met Quill's gaze again. "But I understand why it doesn't mean that to you. We don't have to go, it's just a wedding, I can tell Valk-"

"No, no, we can go," Quill replied, standing up. "For your sake, I'll go."

Loki tilted his head to the side. "For my sake?"

"Well, you always seem happy when we're out doing things. I care about that, you know. You being happy." He patted Loki's shoulder. Loki smiled as he shrugged him off.

Loki and Quill went back upstairs and got in their seats. The ship started up and sped toward earth. Loki gazed at his bracelet the entire time, tapping the button a few times to light it up. Mantis's bracelet lit up as well. She smiled, pressing the button and giggling in response, making Loki's bracelet glow green.

"What are you idiots doing?" Gamora asked, raising an eyebrow. Loki glanced at her, unable to think of a response. Mantis met his gaze. The two immediately looked away, giggling like fools.

"I believe they are attempting to communicate," Nebula informed, gesturing to Loki and Mantis. The ship screeched to a halt as Quill looked over his shoulder, a smirk forming on his face. Oh no...

Quill cleared his throat and began to do a shitty earth accent. "And here we observe the Lokius Odinsonus in his natural habitat, attempting to woo a mate with the power of the green light."

There were a few chuckles from the Guardians. Loki's eyes narrowed. Then he smirked when an idea came to him.

"And here we observe Peter Quill attempting to impress his crush by striving to sound more intelligent than he really is." Loki gestured to Gamora.

Mantis was the first to burst out laughing. Nebula snickered into her hand and Rocket cackled like a supervillain, while the others screamed, "OOOOH!"

"Damn, take that!" Rocket exclaimed, cackling as he pointed at Quill. Gamora rolled her eyes.

Quill glanced at her, his cheeks burning like a fire, then turned to Loki. "N-no, you are!" He stammered, pointing at him.

"Accept defeat, Quill," Drax replied, his voice dry. "It will be less embarrassing."

"Ugh, let's just get to earth."

The ship zoomed through the atmosphere and landed with a clank on the ground. Loki made his way down the ramp. New Asgard loomed in the distance, floating above the village the Asgardians had once called home and stretching over the sea.

"Woah…" Gamora glanced at the floating city, her eyes wide.

"Damn, now that is a step up!" Rocket exclaimed, pointing at the city.

"I am Groot." Groot rolled his eyes.

Nebula nodded at him. "It is very over the top."

"So was the original Asgard," Loki replied with a shrug.

"It's too shiny!" Drax exclaimed, shielding his eyes with his arm. The gold and silver buildings were glinting in the sunlight.

"Again, so was the original Asgard." Loki gestured for the others to follow him toward the rainbow bridge.

"The bridge isn't straight!" Rocket exclaimed, nearly slipping as he stepped on.

"Well, it is literally a rainbow," Loki replied, shrugging. The guardians exchanged glances of confusion.

"Oh, 'cause rainbows are curvy!" Quill gasped, pointing at him. He laughed a bit. "I get it."

"Yup, that's definitely what I meant," Loki replied, rolling his eyes.

When they reached the top of the bridge, the other guardians began gawking at the sight of the giant statues and fancy buildings. Loki, having seen it all before, looked around the streets as they walked down them. Groups of children, all around Morgan's age, were running around in the streets, chasing each other while their parents attempted to corral them. There were more children than adults on this street…

"Hey man." Loki whipped around. A familiar blue figure stood behind him, made completely of rocks.

"Oh! Hi… you…" He noticed the purple slug-like creature on his shoulder. "Two..." Why can't I remember their names?!

Mantis took a step forward. "Hi, who are you?" she asked, waving at him.

"I'm Korg, this is my buddy Miek." The rock man gestured to the purple slug on his shoulder. "We helped Loki here save Asgard with a giant spaceship." Korg gestured to Loki.

"From his sister?" Quill replied, nudging Loki as he stepped beside him. "Yeah, he's told us all about that."

"So, why you here now, mate?" Korg asked, glancing at Loki

"The wedding."

"And who are all these guys?" Korg pointed at the other Guardians.

"We're the guardians of the galaxy," Rocket answered, gesturing to the others.

"I am Groot," Groot grunted, rolling his eyes. Mantis let out a gasp, covering her mouth. The others glared at Groot.

"Hey, Groot," Korg replied, waving at Groot. Loki chuckled along with the others. Groot's eyes narrowed.

"Uh, yeah… and there's me, Peter Quill." Quill began pointing to all of the guardians. "You got Gamora, Nebula, Drax, Rocket, and Loki's girl-" Loki glared at him. "Uh, Mantis."

"Nice save," Gamora growled.

"Thank you!" Quill smiled cheekily at her. Gamora rolled her eyes, though it looked as if she were fighting to keep a smile from forming.

"Anyways, where are the brides?" Loki asked, looking around the children-covered streets. "I'd like to give them my congratulations."

"They're in the palace overseeing preparations," Korg answered, gesturing to the golden palace in the distance.

"Great. Well, see you later." Loki waved before turning and walking down the street. The others followed him.

"Later, man!" Korg called, walking another direction.

The guardians made their way toward the castle, all but Loki gawking at the sight.

"How'd they build all this in less than six years?" Rocket asked, gesturing to the palace.

"No idea," Loki admitted with a shrug.

The group made their way into the palace, following the red carpet down the hallway. Loki led them toward the throne room. Valkyrie and Sif were already inside, with someone else who was building another throne beside Valkyrie's.

"Hey, Loki!" Valkyrie called, meeting his gaze.

"Greetings, Valkyrie, Sif." Loki nodded to each of them. "I brought all of my friends." He gestured to the others. "I hope that's alright."

"Of course," Valkyrie replied, nodding.

Sif gazed at the other guardians. "I haven't met, uh…" She gestured to all but Mantis and Quill. "Most of you, actually."

"Ah, they were off dealing with other matters last time," Loki informed, gesturing to them.

"Actually, we were betting," Drax corrected. Loki glared at him.

"Other matters indeed," Valkyrie retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Anyways… I just came to congratulate you, both of you." Loki gestured to Sif and Valkyrie.

"Thanks," Valkyrie replied, nodding along with Sif.

"Um…" Loki conjured up a bouquet of pink roses. "Here's a bouquet for you to throw." Valkyrie raised an eyebrow. "Oh wait, that's an earth tradition…" Loki looked away, his face heating up. Rocket and Groot chuckled behind him.

"Midgardians throw a bouquet of flowers at people when they get married?" Sif asked, tilting her head to the side. "Why?"

"Well, the person who catches it is supposedly next down the aisle," Loki explained with a shrug. "Apparently Steve caught it at Tony and Pepper's wedding." Loki didn't attend their wedding, he just heard this from Tony after the fact.

"Sounds like a human superstition to me," Valkyrie replied, rolling her eyes.

Loki smiled. "It is."

"Well, if we're living on earth, maybe we could try out some of their customs,

Sif suggested, taking the bouquet. There was a devious smile on her face.

Valkyrie's lip twitched up. "You just wanna throw something, don't you?" she asked, nudging her fiance's shoulder.

"Yes." Sif and Valkyrie leaned in for a quick kiss.

"Anyways, is there a place in the city we can stay before the wedding?" Loki asked, clasping his hands together.

"Well, there are a few empty houses near the stables," Valkyrie suggested, glancing back at the person who was constructing the new throne. "You and your friends can stay in one of them."

"Thank you." Loki dipped his head and turned away. The others followed him down the hall and out into the street. More children ran past them.

"Why are there so many kids?!" Loki exclaimed, stepping away as one of them dashed past him.

"Eh," Rocket shrugged, "Can you blame 'em? Half of their people died." Quill and Rocket laughed, while Groot chuckled into his hand.

"Oh god," Loki muttered, resting his hand on his forehead.

"Oh my gosh, look!" Quill's jaw dropped as he pointed at the enclosure where some pegasi were gazing. "Pegaus's's… s's's's...s's."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Pegasi." Quill rolled his eyes.

"Ooh, can we ride them?" Mantis asked, turning to Loki.

Quill squealed like an excited child. "I've always wanted to do that!" he gasped, clapping his hands.

"Knock yourselves out," Loki replied with a shrug. Quill and Mantis cheered and dashed toward the enclosure, easily jumping the fence to get it.

"Knock them out?" Drax's eyes were wide. "Why would you want that to happen?"

"That was figurative," Loki explained. Drax still looked confused, but he nodded. "Anyways, I should go keep an eye on them."

Loki made his way toward the enclosure, pushing the gate open. Quill and Mantis were in front of two pegasi, attempting to approach them as the pegasi staggered backward, flinging their hooves in the air and fluttering wildly.

Loki chuckled. "You have to feed them first."

Quill and Mantis flinched in surprise as he approached. Grabbing an apple from one of the barrels, Loki approached a black pegasus, holding the apple out to him. The pegasus licked the apple up and dipped his head. Loki rested his hand on the stallion's head, stroking its chin with his other hand. It whinnied contentedly.

Mantis and Quill each grabbed an apple and held it in front of two gray pegasi. They trotted toward them. Licking up the apples, the pegasi dipped their heads, nuzzling against Quill and Mantis.

"Do we just climb on now?" Mantis asked, casting a glance at Loki. Loki nodded, mounting his pegasus.

"Shouldn't we saddle them?" Quill asked, stroking the pegasus wing.

"Only if you want to be thrown off," Loki replied, rolling his eyes. Ugh. Earth and its barbaric ways.

"When did you learn how to ride a pegasus?" Mantis asked, guiding her pegasus to stand beside Loki.

Loki held his head up. "I was a prince. It was an essential skill…" With a smile, he added, "Though Thor wasn't very good at it."

Beside them, Quill was still struggling to get on his pegasus, who was flapping its wings impatiently, exacerbating the problem. Finally, Quill found his balance, his hands rested on the mare's neck.

"Alright." Loki nodded to Quill, then glanced at his pegasus, stroking its chin. "Ready to fly?" Loki asked, gazing at his friends.

"Hell yeah!" Quill replied, holding his arm in the air.

The three gestured their pegasi forward. With a whinny, the three pegasi dashed toward the fence before spreading their wings and leaping over it. They soared into the air, above the buildings.

"Woo!" Mantis held her arms up in the air.

The trio soared past the human statues, whose swords were pointed at them. Continuing forward, they weaved their way around the pillars, Loki and Mantis's pegasi brushing past each other as they switched places.

"This is amazing!" Quill called, soaring above them.

Loki gazed around at the city. There was a rainbow bridge seemingly leading nowhere, with a few people standing at the edge. In the distance, was a floating island, with a few trees, plenty of flowers, and some water pouring off the edges where the incomplete bridge seemed to be leading too. Far below, was another pegasus flying toward it.

Loki, Mantis, and Quill directed their pegasi toward the island, flying side by side. They descended onto the island, dismounting their pegasi. Loki rested his hand on his stallion���s mane, looking around to see several other pegasi grazing.

"How is this island floating in the air?" Quill asked, looking around.

"A levitation charm, I'd suppose," Loki answered, with a shrug.

"Dang, Asgardian magic's pretty crazy," Quill replied, walking toward the edge of the island.

"So how does it work? This Asgardian magic?" Mantis asked, stepping beside Loki. They each kept a hand rested on their pegasi, allowing them to trot beside them.

"What do you mean?" Loki asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, do all Asgardians know magic? Is it something they can just do or do they have to learn?"

"No, not all Asgardians can do magic. Most can perform simple spells, but only a handful can do more complicated spells, and it takes years of training." Loki and Mantis allowed their pegasi to stop for a drink in the pond.

"I was lucky, I had my mother to teach me." Loki looked away, biting his lip.

He looked up at the sunset, slowly approaching the edge of the island. Mantis rested her hand on his shoulder. They locked gazes for a moment, then Loki let out a sigh and looked back at the sunset.

"I'll… see her again. I'll see all of them again. One day."

"You mean… when you die?" Loki nodded. Mantis let go of Loki, her heart thumping loud enough for Loki to hear. "Th-that will be a while yet, right?"

Loki was stunned for a moment. "Of course! I'll outlive you…" He looked away, folding his arms. "I'll outlive all our friends. That's just what's destined to happen."

"I know." Loki glanced at Mantis. Her head was hung low, and her antennae were drooping.

Loki's eyes widened with realization. He scanned her mind, immediately seeing images of herself, surrounded by the other guardians. One by one, they each began to disappear. Then, Mantis stood alone in a graveyard, each tombstone engraved with her friend's names. Loki stepped back, his eyes wide.

"You?" Mantis nodded. She looked away, her teeth clenched as her eyes welled with tears. "Oh… I-I never… thought about… I'm sorry."

Mantis threw her arms around Loki, burying her face in his shoulder. Loki hugged back, stroking her hair. He fought to hold back his tears. Finally. Someone who knows what it's like.

Loki sat in the windowsill of the house he and his friends were staying in. Everyone else was dozing around the house. Quill was on the couch, Rocket on the floor, Mantis and Gamora in the two beds, and Drax in the chair. Nebula and Groot, however, were awake. The former was fiddling with some tools while the latter was staring at his screen.

"You really should go to sleep," Nebula grunted, gesturing to Groot.

"I am Groot."

"I don't need to sleep. You do."

Groot pointed at Loki. "I am Groot."

"Fair point." Nebula met Loki's gaze. "Loki, can you go to sleep? You're a bad influence on the kid."

"Since when do you care about that?" Loki asked, leaning against the windowsill. "But seriously, Groot, go to sleep. You should know better than to let me influence you."

"I am Groot!" Groot groaned, looking back at his video game.

Loki didn't know what he said, so he just replied, "Don't make me wake Mantis."

Groot's eyes widened. Recoiling in disgust, he pushed his video game aside and laid down on the floor, closing his eyes.

"I'm watching you," Nebula growled, gesturing to Groot.

There was a crash in the distance. Loki stiffened. He glanced out the window to see smoke rising from somewhere in the city.

"What is that?" Nebula asked, rushing to stand beside him.

"I don't know. Wake the others, I'm going to check it out." Nebula nodded.

Shoving the door open, Loki dashed out into the city, toward where the smoke was rising. As he got closer, he could make out yowling and grunting. He knew those sounds: the sounds of battle. Summoning his daggers and armour, Loki rounded the corner to see a swath of fire demons.

"Dammit, not them again," Loki grunted, rolling his eyes.

The demons were brawling with the Asgardians, who stood at a distance slashing their swords and spears at them. Loki lunged into the battle, slicing his knife across the demon's face. It split into pieces.

Whipping around, Loki threw himself into a crowd of fire demons, holding his knives out to his sides and slicing apart every demon around him. They all crumbled to pieces. Loki looked around to see Valkyrie and Sif, standing back to back as they swung their weapons at the fire demons.

"Where did they come from?!" Loki called, casting a glance at Valkyrie as he sliced a fire demon's throat.

"I don't know!" Valkyrie grunted, shoving a fire demon into the ground. She thrust her sword right through the demon's chest before turning to another one.

"They must've accessed the Bifrost somehow!" one of the warriors called, slicing a fire demon in half.

"It doesn't matter!" Sif snapped, impaling a fire demon on her spear. "Focus on driving them off for now!" Sif thrust forward, creating more fire demon kebabs.

Even as the Asgardians fought, the armies just kept coming, smashing windows and scorching the pavement as they closed in around them. Summoning multiple knives, Loki flung them at the demons. Something scorched his shoulder. Loki whipped around, swinging his arm. Ice shot out of the ground, impaling the demon and making it go limp. Loki smiled. However, his smile quickly faded as a mass of fire demons charged at him from every angle.

"Need some help?" Everyone turned to see the guardians, charging into battle with their weapons unsheathed. Loki smiled. Shooting up more ice from the ground, Loki impaled the fire demons while they were distracted, and charged toward his friends.

"Took you long enough to show up," Loki commented, telekinetically throwing a knife at a fire demon's throat as he jumped to stand beside Quill.

"We were passed out okay?" Quill grunted, shooting some demons down. He let out a yawn, gesturing to the group. "Mantis had to wake us all up."

"I need a weapon!" Mantis informed, stepping beside Loki.

Loki summoned some swords for her. Immediately, a fire demon lunged at her and she raised the two swords, shoving the fire demon back with a grunt. Biting her lip, she shoved the sword into its chest. The fire demon crumbled to the ground. However, another immediately took its place, which Nebula shot down with one blast from her gun.

The group all stood with their backs to each other, maintaining that position as the fire demons attacked from all around their circle. A fire demon lunged at Quill, grabbing his face. The man let out a yowl, kicking the demon away as smoke drifted off a newly made mark on his face. He clicked a button to put on his mask.

"Stupid fire," Quill muttered, shooting the demon in the face. Its head shattered into pieces and the rest of its body flopped to the ground.

Groot stood beside Rocket, the two of them shooting down every fire demon without getting too close. Drax handled the demons head-on. He lunged at them, repeatedly stabbing and slashing them, not flinching once even as they burned his skin. Nebula used her knives as well. However, she fought with strategy, ducking under attacks, and waiting for the right moment to get close and stab the demon to death.

Eventually, a call filled the air. The fire demons all stopped fighting and gazed up at the sky. Then they turned and ran.

"Make sure they leave!" Sif called, pointing her spear at the fleeing demons.

The warriors all turned to the fire demons and charged after them, following them all the way to the city until stopped right before the rainbow bridge. The demons charged down it, before disappearing in rainbow light. The group paused to catch their breath.

"I thought we were done with those guys," Quill grunted, getting rid of his mask.

"Apparently not," Loki muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Their sights are set on this planet," Valkyrie informed, turning around. Everyone glanced at her. "They must realize they can't conquer any other realm and decided to attack this one."

"They might attack again, then," Sif replied, twirling her spear around. "Which means, we need a plan."

"We need to contact Earth's Defenders," Loki replied, summoning his communicator.

"Th-that's us?" Sif gestured to herself and the other Asgardians.

"I was referring to the Avengers actually. We'll need all hands on deck if the fire demons are trying to conquer the entire planet." Loki began typing out a message.

"Fair enough," Valkyrie replied with a shrug. She turned to her warriors. "Half of you, stand guard! Inform us if there is another attack." The warriors nodded. Half of them walked away, disappearing into the city. "The rest of you, await further command."

"Me as well?" Sif asked, her eyes wide.

"Yeah, I want you around this time," Valkyrie replied, nudging her fiance's shoulder.

"Good." Sif smiled, nudging Valkyrie back. "I didn't want to miss another one of your crazy adventures."

Loki sent the message, which read:

January 12th

Me: Pepper, there's been an attack on New Asgard. We believe the combatants have plans to destroy or conquer the earth. Can you contact the remaining Avengers?

"Loki…" Loki flicked his communicator away and glanced at Mantis. She held up her hands, revealing them to be burned and red. Loki's heart skipped a beat.

"Sorry," she sighed, looking away. "It's a habit, and they got rid of my swords."

"It's not your fault," Loki replied, gently taking her hands.

"I just wish I could use my powers on them." Suddenly, an idea hit Loki like a bolt of lightning.

"Actually, you can." Loki held her hands tightly and after a few moments, an orange aura appeared around them. He let go of her. Mantis held up her hands, which were now back to normal, apart from a slight orange glow.

"What did you do?" Mantis asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I put an enchantment on you, to make you immune to fire. Now you can touch them without being hurt."

"Wow, thank you!" Before Loki could continue, his communicator let out a ding. He read the new message from Pepper:

I'm contacting them now. We can meet in New York at the old Stark Tower, since Bruce owns it now.

Loki's eyes widened. New York… great…