Chapter 1
Loki was not exactly sure how this all started. The ship ran smoothly due to Dr. Banner's expanding knowledge on the inner workings of the Grand Master's 'alien deathtrap', as he put it. Thor made a brilliant king, making time to listen to the squabbles of the common folk. Loki honestly didn't understand how he could do it without throwing around a sarcastic comment or bored eye roll every once in awhile. But, if he could do it, who was Loki to argue?
So how it happened that alarms were blaring and Loki was being shaken awake from his previously peaceful slumber was anyone's guess.
"Loki! Loki get up!" Banner said in a hushed tone, gripping tightly to the trickster's shoulder. Loki quickly shook him off, pushing the scientist away.
"What in hell are you doing to me?" Loki grumbled, sitting up and looking around, taking in the situation. Not that the screeching sounds and flashing red lights made everything easier. "What is happening?"
"We're under attack. Some… Some guys in leather just boarded us!" he explained, looking as panicked as ever. Loki had come to realize that, despite Banner's ability to turn into a giant angry monster with ease, he was unsettled by the most simple of occurrences. Putting him on an alien planet almost gave him a panic attack, Loki was amazed he could even walk down the street without throwing a temper tantrum.
"Well, I'm sure there are some men here who are very excited about that… I still fail to see what that has to do with me." Loki rolled his eyes and began to lay down again, ready to go right back to bed. Thor could handle it, this seemed to be the task befitting of a king.
"No…! No, Loki, they're threatening the civilians!" Banner rephrased, realizing his mistake. It was never a good idea to leave Loki any chance to crack a joke. "They're looking for Thor, I think they might kill people!"
This caused something inside Loki to twitch. He thought it might be sentiment, maybe some form of sensitivity. Whatever it was, he didn't like it. It felt mushy and weak, not at all like his usual scathing personality. It had been coming more easily lately, at the simplest things. Loki figured that it was due to his and Thor's newfound brotherhood. Everything seemed to feel like when they were children, but better. Loki didn't feel like he lived in his brother's shadow anymore, despite Thor's new title of king. After all, Loki had shown up to save the lives of the Asgardian people, and such a gesture goes a very long way. People saw the brothers as equals now, heroes to all. While Loki did not want to be a hero, it felt nice not to be eclipsed by his brother's glory. In fact, the two spent more time together than they had in years, regularly sparring together and talking about their adventures, old and new.
"Go find my brother, warn him quickly. I'll protect our people." Loki instructs, getting out of bed and retrieving his signature golden horned helmet. Banner seemed to hesitate, the fear taking over for a second. Loki couldn't have that. "Go!" With that, the scientist ran off, ready to complete the mission. The trickster ran out of the room, daggers appearing in his hands. He wasn't about to let his people die at the hands of some petty criminals.
Dashing through the halls, Loki was brought to a halt by the sight of a corpse. It was clearly not Asgardian, which was a relief, he'd much rather the enemy die than suffer casualties on the already dwindling numbers of Asgardian refugees. However, it was the outfit on the poor soul that gave him pause. The red and brown leathers, along with the uneven, greasy hair, was a far too familiar appearance.
Using the toe of his boot to nudge the corpse so it was rolled onto its back, Loki sighed in exasperation at what the movement revealed. The alien, a male with a newly bloodied face and lightless eyes, still clutched to his gun, clearly having died in battle against one of the ship's more confident civilians. What unnerved Loki was the insignia on his leather jacket, almost worn away from years of mistreatment.
The flames of a Ravager.
With renewed vigor, Loki moved down the hall, clutching tightly to his daggers. Apparently, the bottom feeders of the galaxy had found him, after many long years. Loki had dealt with them before, they used to be his source for all sorts of interesting intergalactic objects. However, the final time they had interacted, Loki had double crossed them, escaping their ship with the goods he requested at the low, low price of absolutely nothing. He had made certain not to cross paths with the Ravagers, as he didn't really want to deal with that mess. But this was a different situation entirely. They had sought out the ship, found Loki, and now they were here to wreak havoc.
But that was Loki's business, he simply couldn't let someone else take over. Just because he felt little twitches of feeling didn't mean he was no longer the God of Mischief.
Soon, the corridor let off into some sort of hanger, one that the Asgardian inhabitants had turned into a throne room. As Loki entered, he took in the sight before him. Ravagers patrolled the area, keeping an eye out for anyone who might try to oppose their impromptu takeover. In the middle of the room sat a terrified flock of Asgardian men and women. Clearly having been ripped from their beds, they watched the Ravagers with a mixture of emotions ranging from anger to terror. Loki crept along the wall, making sure to keep himself out of sight until just the right moment.
As a guard passed by on his rounds, Loki grabbed him from behind and dragged him into the shadows. Without a moment of hesitation, he slit the guard's throat and stashed him safely away in the corner, using a spell to silence the man's gurgling last words. Stripping the corpse of its freshly bloodied jacket, he shrugged it on. If he's going to confront the enemy, he might as well make a show of it.
Loki surveyed for just a moment longer, assessing the Ravagers. They all seemed fairly skilled and strong enough to be good warriors, but even the best of warriors had fallen to Loki's trickery and illusions. Loki recognized one of the Ravagers stood by the hostages, a slimy bastard by the name of Martinex. He was addressing the Asgardian prisoners, clearly putting himself into a place of power.
"Alright! Move an' we shoot! Speak out o' turn an' we shoot! We control all o' you now! We need t' get our hands on your fearless leader!" He shouts, pacing in front of the people. Loki smirked, this seemed like a perfect time to pop in for a visit.
Loki swaggered out from his place in the corner and into the center of the room, his face both proud and mischievous. The lookouts looked towards the sound of footsteps, eyes widening and guns pointing at Loki's chest. They all seemed a little disturbed by the jacket the trickster now wore, which was exactly the feeling he was going for. He wanted them to imagine the horrors he could commit, to imagine what he had done to their friend without them even knowing. Loki's smirk widened.
Martinex turned and chuckled loudly as Loki came to a stop in the middle of the throne room. "I believe you were looking for me." Loki said slyly, head held high, daggers in hand.
"Not you, fucker! Your king brother!" the Ravager replied.
"Ah, but you see, Thor's not the one who saved these people's lives. I brought them this escape vessel."
"But you're still not king! After all, you've always been a failure, Loki." Loki laughed at the man's sad attempt to be scathing.
"Oh, Marty, you really are thick. Always have been. I'm not looking to be king anymore, I'm already their messiah."
Martinex rolled his eyes and pointed a gun at one woman's head. She whimpered in fear, shrinking back ever so slightly. Loki knew he had to act quickly. Reaching down and tapping into his power, he duplicated himself several times over until his form surrounded all of the Ravagers in the room.
The Ravagers all shouted in surprise, just before firing their weapons at the forms nearest them. Loki kept his eye on those who aimed for him, switching his position with another duplicate whenever a bolt headed his way. He never left the circle, though, as he knew Martinex could be terribly trigger happy, especially when threatened.
"Show yourself, Trickster!" Martinex yelled over the gunfire. "I'll kill her, show yourself!"
All of the Lokis chuckled in unison, then spoke. "Oh, Marty, how naive. Do you really think we'd let you take us?"
"We aren't here for you, scum! Stakar's got a plan much bigger than tha'!" In that moment, Loki and his apparitions engaged the Ravagers, causing all of them to rush into battle, save Martinex. That's where Loki headed, quickly slashing at him, making him stumble away from the woman he was threatening. Knocking the gun from his hand, Loki stabbed into his chest, then pushed him away. After a moment of watching the battle ground for signs of his clones struggling, Loki moved over to the hostages.
"Quickly, back to your rooms, lock the doors." he instructed. "Warn anyone you see on the way, we can handle this." The Asgardians nodded, rushing away. Loki made sure his other forms defended the civilians as they ran, keeping them from encountering Ravagers.
The Ravager guards were easily slain by Loki's illusions, a fact which made the real Loki quite proud. He had grown stronger as of late, sparring with his elder brother did him a lot of good, though he wouldn't admit it to his face. There was only one person left to finish off, Loki realize as he approached Martinex, who lay sputtering and weak on the throne room floor.
"Fucker!" he spat as Loki shed the leather jacket he wore, dropping it near Martinex's head to add insult to injury. "We… We'll get ya… ya…"
"Clearly, you won't. As I've proven, yet again, I'm stronger than all of you combined." Loki said, feigning a look of sympathy.
"Ya… Ya brother…! We'll get ya brother…" he gasped out, coughing raggedly.
Icy cold fear spread through Loki's veins as the realization hit. They weren't here to kill Loki. They didn't even want to hurt him.
They were here for Thor.
Loki threw one of his daggers down into Martinex's eye, finishing him off. He then wasted no time in running out of the throne room and through the halls of the ship, looking for his brother.
He hoped it wasn't already too late...