The imprisonment could last for anything up to one thousand years, they said. As he was technically still a man of royal descent, he was allowed a reasonably comfortable cell in Odin's palace. Nonetheless Loki was filled with indignant rage at the thought of his present situation, not to mention completely humiliated at being captured by the Avengers. He spent day after day lying on his bed, cursing the bands of metal he wore on his wrists that contained his magic and prevented him from escaping. None of his so-called family members had visited him since he had returned from Midgard, shackled and muzzled, and all he knew was he was due to be tried by the Asgardian court in the near future. At least they're not being vague about it, Loki thought wryly to himself.

Days and weeks merged together and Loki thought he must be going insane at the monotony of his imprisonment. He had gone over his time on Earth so many times in his head he was sure he could recall every strand of hair on Black Widow's pretty head, every wound Captain America had after the battle, every grunt the Hulk made as he smashed Loki into the ground in Stark Tower. He had just about given up hope for any kind of future when something miraculous happened. Another man might have thanked Odin for the good fortune; Loki made a point not to.

He had woken up from the millionth sleep of his incarceration with the uneasy feeling that someone was watching him. Normally the guard who brought him food did not stay in the cell for long, but this felt different; it was lingering. Perhaps the trial is soon? he thought to himself hopefully, but as he turned over to see the unknown presence he was utterly shocked.

Two toweringly tall creatures stood before him. They both had grey, mottled skin, with distorted features and layers of dark, hardy-looking armour. The most unsettling thing was the purple hue in their small, glaring eyes. They both wore snarls on their faces and clutched vicious-looking knives with serrated edges. Loki was speechless…almost.

"Can I help you?" he asked, fighting to keep the fear from his voice.

"You are the god they call 'Loki', are you not?" one of the creatures said in a deep voice.

"I am Loki, yes," he replied slowly.

"We have been sent here to release you from your captivity," the other creature said. Although the message was a positive one, his voice still dripped with menace.

"Who has sent you?" Loki asked warily, almost unwilling to believe his good fortune.

"We will release you on one condition," the first creature declared, ignoring Loki's question. Loki remained silent, hoping his reticence would give him the upper hand.

"We will take you away from this place on the condition that you retrieve something for our master," the second creature went on, "The Infinity Gauntlet."

"Who is your master?"

"That is the condition. Do you accept?"

Loki thought for a few seconds, weighing up the dangers of this in his head. He already knew his answer though as he was driven by his need for freedom and revenge.

"I cannot help you without my magi-" he began, but as he spoke the metal bands around his wrists fell to the floor with a metallic clatter. "How did you do that?"

"We have access to a powerful magic, God of Lies," one of the creatures said accusingly.

Loki allowed his suspicions to ebb away as he felt a surge of power in his body; his magic was returning…

"Take us to the gauntlet," said one of the creatures as Loki flexed his fingers that were coursing with power.

Loki smiled a wicked smile and with a mischievous wink, he disappeared from his cell, teleporting himself to the location of the Infinity Gauntlet. A new plan was forming anew in his mind; if these beasts were so desperate for the object, they would surely pay dearly for it and he would exploit them for all the power he could get in order to seek revenge on those who thwarted him. He picked up the Gauntlet with ease and chuckled to himself.

Suddenly there were two great hands on his shoulders, digging in painfully. He whipped his head round to see who had found him. It was the two creatures from his cell. He was about to demand how they found him but he was interrupted.

"Thank you for leading us to the Infinity Object. We just needed you to claim it from the Asgardians so we could, in turn, claim it from you. Our Master will be pleased," one of the beasts said seriously, though Loki could see a malicious glee in his eyes.

"Do not try to escape, for we will see you at all times," the other creature told the speechless Loki.

Before Loki could ask the questions that were forming in his mind, he was struck to the floor by a great grey fist. He was about to try and teleport himself away, when he felt a burning pain on his arm. As he was lying sprawled on his stomach, he had to twist his head round to see what was causing the pain. One of the creatures was wrapping what looked like a length of thick black leather around one of his wrists, however it made his skin burn and seemed to tighten by itself. Loki felt his magic drain from his being and he realised this must be a cursed material, not only binding his wrists but also his power. He tried to struggle as the creature finished tying the leather around his wrists, restraining them painfully behind his back, but the burning pain it caused was too much to fight.

The cursed leather seemed to be growing in length as the creature started binding Loki's whole torso, winding down his legs to tie his ankles also. He screamed from the pain of his enchanted restraints and the creature hauled him to his feet with ease and secured another piece of the leather around his mouth. It seemed to grow and mould over his mouth and around his head, gagging him and silencing his anguish. The other creature held onto the Infinity Gauntlet as the one who had bound Loki picked him up and draped him over his shoulder.

"Now we take our spoils to our Master," one of the creatures said and a great light enveloped the three of them.

When the blinding light had faded they were not in the vault of Asgard any longer; they were in a cavernous hall, entirely black and almost gleaming. Loki could feel the danger envelop him as he dreaded to think who 'Master' could possibly be. The creature who was carrying him began striding across the hall, before stopping and abruptly throwing Loki to the floor and forcing him into a kneeling position. He looked up slowly and saw a throne carved from the same dark, shining material as the walls, floor and ceiling. It was a menacing sight, but it did not concern Loki. He was more frightened of who was in the throne.

Thanos glared down at him from the throne with hatred in his eyes.

"Our guest on honour has arrived. Behold the powerful god Loki. You failed to bring me the Tesseract, Loki. Prepare to suffer for your failure."

The terrifying Titan rose from his throne and began striding towards Loki who was helplessly kneeling at the feet of his captors.

He wished more than anything that he was still imprisoned in Asgard.