"Who exactly is Dr. Strange," says Steve, "and how did he know all this?"

"Yeah, I thought that was pretty bullshit too. So apparently there are guardians of the mystic arts hanging out in sanctums, one of which was in New York. I don't know if they all have sentient cloaks or if that was just Strange. Never said hello because - well, he hasn't got a good excuse for not making me aware that there was another target for alien attacks in New York, but I guess he does have a good excuse for not telling you, since you were a fugitive. Really looking the part, by the way."

"I'm told I pull off the beard. Go on."

"He had the time stone. Wore it on a necklace. When we got to Titan he sat down and looked through millions and millions of futures, and then he gave Thanos the time stone and said that this was the only winning move he saw."

       "He gave Thanos the -"

"Yeah." He feels uncomfortable disclosing that there was bargaining for his life involved. He should - he should maybe get over that. "Asked him to spare me, gave him the rock. I thought maybe one of the hits he took had knocked him off his rocker but apparently you need me. So now you have me. Hi."

Rhodey hugs him. They can't actually feel each other through the armor, but it's still nice.

"Are we that confident in how these stones even work, or is this obviated by... extra Loki?" says Steve. "You're sure she's just healing Wakandans? They let you guys in so she could do that?"

"We teleported in. We thought there might still be fighting going on. I know she hasn't run off to engage in ritual combat for the throne, I'm tracking her tablet, but I haven't got details."

"Perhaps I should go meet my new sister."

"Just, you know, don't die. You're a plan element."

"Loki was never my equal in combat. - Hela, on the other hand, made mashed potatoes of the both of us."

"That's super reassuring. Go make friends, I apparently need a Wakandan for this plan and so I want to avoid grievously offending them all."

Thor takes off flying.

" - since when can he do that? And why'd he trade the hammer out for -"

      People shrug, tiredly.

Thor seeks out Loki.

Bopping around bopping people, Lævateinn back on her belt harmlessly.

He lands. "Hello."

"Oh! You're probably boy Thor! How do you... fly without a... maybe Asgardians here are different."

"The circumstances required me to forge a better weapon, and to channel my powers more effectively even without it. Also my last sister broke my hammer."

"You have a sister? Oh, uh, it's not conventional to borrow alts' siblings quite like that, some of my alts have twins and I don't consider them extra sisters." She pops to two more people to heal them and that's the last of it besides walking wounded. "I'm not even sure your Loki is a me and not just some strange thing, my boyfriend'll look into it but might take a while to get here."

"Stark explained. How did you get here?"

"So, my time's very valuable for all kindsa reasons - spell development and handling the Tesseract and stuff - but I've done a lot of literally minimal break time spell development in the last recently, had to save a planet from an evil god, it was a thing, it sucked, and now I cordon off a fair amount of not-doing-high-stakes-things time. I go to chocolate tastings, or I spar with my sister, or I read books, or I hang out with my friends who sing a lot without simultaneously doing politics and worldsaving and listen to them sing... or I go to a planet somebody's turned up with a really awesome field of giant mushrooms, and my precog's either falling down on the job or thought this was worth it and couldn't have me arrive better-informed, because apparently some of the mushrooms if you brush up against them fling you a few hops away on the map of worlds-you-can-get-to-from-other-worlds."

"The bifrost has been destroyed but I can travel as though by Bifrost with my new weapon."

"Snazzy! Yeah, what, uh, happened, to your Asgard?"

"A great many things went terribly wrong at once. The first was that, long ago, my father Odin had another child, his daughter Hela; she terrorized the realms with him. When he came to regret this approach to galactic diplomacy, she didn't. He, unable to destroy her, sealed her away for as long as he would live. The second was that Loki impersonated my father, erased his memories, and left him in a nursing home on Earth. The third was that this occurred just as it had come to my attention that the Infinity Stones were, improbably, turning up across the Nine Realms in event after event, after ages during which they lay dormant. I went out seeking them. Loki ruled Asgard in my father's stead. And when I returned and discovered the impersonation, my father was on the brink of death, and we had no opportunity to prepare for my sister's attack.

She drew her power from Asgard itself and was indestructible for as long as it endured. And so in the end it was necessary to destroy Asgard to destroy her. The refugees fled towards Earth. Thanos met us on the way."

"...okay, I think that is all just different in my Asgard, Frigg's certainly had chances to tell me if - or is this a half-sister, my lines of communication with Odin are not good, she could totally be hiding a half... sibling... from me and my Thor."

"I do not know who Hela's mother was."