AN: This story takes place in the Marvel Comics Universe which is in a different cycle then Bound by Fate (although you can see it as partly a precursor to events here). Setting for this story is taking place AFTER the Secret Wars story line that will be out in Summer of 2015 as part of a Marvel wide cross over.
Copyright: Loki, Sigyn and all Asgard were created by Stan Lee, Larry Leiber, Roy Thomas and John Buscema. Verity Willis was created by Al Ewing and Lee Garbertt, Ivy Holt was created by Darkspellmaster.
This is the story of Loki. Loki, who had always been the villain, the bad son, the trickster who was always to be the bad guy until the day he died. But this was something he didn't want, and tried to change, he wanted to be something more than just his role. So…he died, which was the greatest trick he'd ever played. Reborn as a child on earth thanks in part to a deal made with Hela to remove his name from the book of death, so that he could have a second chance.
A new personality, a youthful body, free of his old corruptions –a kid Loki as it were. At first he was free of his old fate, but it seems all Loki's must damn themselves. For soon enough a ghost copy of the old Loki appeared and the child Loki took that copy, made it a magpie called Ikol and used it to advise him and give him knowledge.
Fate though is cruel and hard to break free of. Ikol had no magic nor power, but what he had was the skills to manipulate, and so he did. Having the boy's ear he was able to come up with a scheme that allowed him to kill the new soul in the child's body taking control of it for himself. But as I said Fate is fickled and, in a twist, the souls seemed to merge rather then completely destroy the boy he became part of the Old Loki who now had a vastly different personality then once he had.
This new Loki, this Agent of Asgard, soon learned that he was nothing more then a weapon used by his old self to kill his new future. But Loki is cunning and tricky, and he realized he didn't want what his old self had wanted. He wanted that chance to be free again and sought about doing so by having his crimes removed piece by piece via working for the All Mothers (Frejya, Gaia, and Idunn).
The echo of the child's dying scream changed him, forced him to be better, and he tried to grow. Pain and suffering soon followed as the truth of his crime was learned and a future-self, King Loki, appeared to make sure his future came about. Loki lost the trust of his brother Thor, the Odinson, only to gain it back by actions that persevered during a time when Thor found himself unworthy and helped change the course of events in a Secret war that exploded over the whole of the universe and the ten realms.
The All-Mothers were broken up, and Odin and Frejya reigned in their stead. As for Loki, there was more to be had for him. Even though he now had found a way to redeem himself in his own heart, others were going to need to redeem them in their own eyes. So for now he remains a ….Agent of Asgard.
Broadway, New York (The great white way. Where the lights are always on.)
"Hurry, if we don't catch it, it's sure to make another jump!" Sif shouted out to Loki as they hurried over the roofs of the smaller theaters in the district. The strange red frog like creature, which was the size of a large cat and about as round as a beach ball with stubby legs, was already gaining ground on them. The thing croaked some as it hopped along on it's merry way making the teen trickster rather annoyed.
"This wasn't how I was hoping to spend my Saturday evening you know!" he called to the older woman who was just a stride ahead of him. "How in all the realms did a kid manage to summon that thing anyway?"
"I'm not sure! You're the expert on such things Loki, you figure it out," Sif shouted back as she drew her sword. Her blade flashed in the bright lights of the various billboards that lit up the night sky. Loki pouted slightly at this and then smiled.
"Was that a compliment Lady Sif?"
"Don't get cocky Loki, I still don't trust you." She answered as she slowed her pace, Loki following suit.
Of course not, he thought with some annoyance. But he couldn't blame her, and he was lucky enough that she was willing to work with him. They stopped upon spotting the red demon sitting languidly on the asphalt, clearly in relaxed way. It's almost sort of cute, except when you consider that it nearly ate a whole group of pedestrians a few moments ago.
Sif moved in slowly and Loki grabbed her arm, she turned on him and he held his finger up to quiet her, "Attacking won't be good."
"Why not? We just have to…" she started to say when the creature turned some and let out a cross between a ribbit and a howl. Sif narrowed her brow. "What's it doing?"
"I think it's giving us a warning not to come closer." Loki pondered and took a breath. "This will need a deft hand."
Sif snorted, "Yours I assume."
"Of course," Loki smirked and focused on a spell to encircle the small beast. He knew he was going to have to be quick, his magic wasn't as strong as it once was, and seeing as the creature had a habit of spitting out acid it made sense for him to keep his distance. However the spell he needed to use was more close quartered, so he had to be precise.
Crouching down some he moved forward just a tad, "Here, Kermit. I know a nice little place where you can go. I'm sure they'd be fine with demonic frog legs."
The demon frog glanced at him, then puffed up its belly and let out a stream of vomit at him. Loki dodged back and watched as it left a trail of bubbling goo where once a part of the roof had sat. Sif, who had jumped back as well, shot him a dirty look.
"Was that your deft hand Loki?"
"Well I didn't figure it could understand what I was saying, seems she is quite the clever little thing." He slowly stood up and Sif passed him a questioning look.
"She?"
Loki nodded, "Yes, she. Or at least that seems to be what she is. I think, but I'm not going close enough to tell."
Sif shook her head and made for the frog creature, "Well now that we tried your way, lets try mine!"
She slashed down at the frog who jumped, avoiding her blade and spat out more gelatinous acidic goo at her. Sif brought up her arm guard to block it and had to throw it off as the guard started to melt. The frog dodged left and right, bouncing all over the place, as Loki tried to freeze it, only to have the thing jump on to the ledge. Sif grimaced, "We can't let it go down there."
"You don't think I don't know that?" Loki started to say, when the beast croaked again, and then leaped off the ledge. The duo rushed over to look down and saw the red dot moving down the fire escape. "Well this is turning into a bad music video."
"Hush!" Sif said and vaulted over the edge followed by Loki. Below the two landed on the second landing and hurried down the stairs, bounding down as fast as they could. Once on the ground they looked around, perplexed. "It should be here."
"Yet it's not." Loki mused and waved his hand to see if he could pick up any magic trail, something he'd not tried in a long time. As he was doing so a familiar face joined them in the alley where they were standing. Dressed all in green Fandrel stood out among the dark environment, his arrows at the ready.
"Any luck?" he asked looking concerned. Sif shook her head.
"We had it, but then it jumped off the roof."
"Damn," Fandrel cursed under his breath and scowled, "How many of those blasted things made it here?"
"One," Sif said and scowled, "But one is enough."
"I thought eight was," Loki joked and for a second he caught Fandrel covering a slight chuckle. It helped, a little, to know at least the blonde man trusted him just enough to laugh at a horrible joke. Sif on the other hand did not look amused.
"This is ridiculous. A demonic frog should not be so hard to catch!"
"Aye, but they're tricky wee beasts," Fandrel noted and looked over at Loki who grimaced, perplexed. "No luck?"
"None, it's like it's vanished," he turned towards the two companions he now had and leaned on the wall, "So, would either of you like to tell me how one of Volgstaff's children managed to summon a bunch of demon frogs?"
"Accident apparently," Fandrel informed him and cricked his neck. "They were all over the city. We're lucky that Amora closed the portal."
"I assume someone's going to be grounded?"
Sif nodded, "Already taken care of by her mother."
"I see, pity. Well I suppose as long as she doesn't do it again. Though I'm sure it was rather fun for her to see…." He paused when he saw the looks on the other two and quickly changed his tune, "To see the lesson that she would learn. Yes, very bad of her to pull this stunt off."
Fandrel patted Loki on his shoulder, "We all know how you think Loki."
No you don't, but at least you're willing to be pleasant about it. He thought smiling and following the two warriors out of the alley. "So options. We go out on our own, or stay as a group."
Sif looked around, "There's a lot of ground…"
"And people," Fandrel pointed out.
"Yes thank you Captain Obvious," Loki muttered under his breath and glanced at Sif. "Split up then?"
She nodded, "We'll meet back here in two hours. If you find the damn thing, don't let it escape."
"Right! Easier said than done," Loki waved as he hurried off into the crowds. It was already eight and the evening performances were about to start. Where oh where did you go frog. When I get you I'm going to let Lorelei use you in part of a science experiment.
The crowds didn't seem to notice him, then again, a quick illusion spell helped with that, and Loki was able to move among the mortals with ease. It was something he was rather proud of in spite of everything that had happened over the last several months. His green eyes searched out any indication of the red beast, and hit pay-dirt when he saw it sitting inside a backpack of a young woman with a pixie cut who was heading towards a theater.
"Ah Miss! Excuse me," he cut in front of her as she headed for the back stage door. The woman stopped and stared at him. "I don't suppose you work here do you?"
"Yeah, I do, and I'm late." She looked him over and smiled some, "So who are you supposed to be? Harry Styles or one of the boys from 5 days of summer?"
"Neither," Loki said, he was getting tired of that joke, and kept the charm up. "I was wondering if by chance I can take a look in your bag."
That got the woman's suspicions up and she pulled the backpack closer. "What for? You're not with some tabloid are you?"
"Gods no," Loki said and waved it off quickly. "I'm merely looking for something a friend lost. He dropped a pet of his and we've been searching for it."
The woman with the pixie cut snorted, "Well good luck finding it around here. If it's not a dog or a cat, it's likely squished or in the sewers."
"Yes, well I think it may have gotten into your bag."
"My bag?" she gave him an incredulously look and then scowled. "Look pal, I don't know what your game is. But I don't have time for it. Buzz off or I call the cops, got it."
From out to the corner of his eye he noticed the bag begin to wiggle and soon the frog squirmed out from under the flap. Not good, he thought as the woman lectured him about boundaries, her finger in his face. Loki held up his hands, backing up some, hoping the creature wouldn't get loose, but as luck would have it, it did and the frog turned on the two of them, croaking.
The woman looked over when she heard the noise and stared at the creature, "What the hell…" she managed to say before the thing filled up its sack, aimed and fired at them.
"Watch out," Loki pushed her aside as the spray hit the wall opposite them and the thing hopped down from the trashcan where it had made it's stand, and up the steps of the theater, spitting at the door, and making a hole in it before it vanished inside.
Cowering the woman gripped onto Loki, "What the…what was that…thing?"
"A rather nasty pet, told you it was in there," he said brushing her off gently and rushing the door, using some magic to unlock it before bolting in side leaving the woman scared stiff. From the moment he went in Loki was in hunting mode. He could hear the start of a musical number and took a moment to get his bearings. The lights were dim backstage and he caught the shadows of the crew running back and forth with headsets. Ducking around a corner he quickly transformed himself in to a little girl and peeked out.
At least now if I'm caught back here I can always say I got lost, he thought moving quietly on the wooden floor and through the sets. Keeping his voice low he called out in a cute girlish whisper, "Here froggie froggie, come to Auntie Loki, you rascal."
"Ain't it a fine life carrying the banner through it all!" voices sang out from the Newsies musical and Loki peeked over at the stage. The cast was in full swing of its second number when he noticed the frog sitting on a prop crate and gritted his teeth.
Don't notice it, don't notice it! He thought desperately as he attempted to use a small spell to gently float the frog demon up and pull it to him. Only problem, an extra dancer noticed it and moved towards it slightly causing the frog to react and spit at him. The dancer jumped back causing the movement to change for the others.
"Oh no," as quickly as he could Loki dashed around the remaining sets, just as the red creature began to croak and move in at the now stumbling dance troop. It opened it's gaping maw showing rows upon rows of shiny sharp teeth as it launched itself at one of the younger boys on stage. The boy screamed and shield himself with his arm, readying for the worst, when he heard a sharp sizzling sound and loud thumping as the frog hit the stage hard. The audience screamed as Loki, still in his little girl form, rushed over and blasted the frog again just as it tried to attack once more.
"So now you're attacking news boys? Really?" she said and waved her finger. "That's not nice at all Mr. Frog. You're going back where you came from!"
The frog croaked again, spitting out more goo sending the cast scrambling and Loki returning the spells as quickly as he could to knock the creature off balance. The demon frog soon tired of the mini fight and hopped off stage with Loki on its heels, managing to say to the lead singer, "You're a lot better than Christen Bale was in the original."
He flung himself after the beast as it dashed into a wing and trailed it down steps into the main theater hall. The audience was in a small uproar as he raced past, blocking the spit that was hurtled at the patrons.
"Oh no you don't! You're not getting away that fast!" with a quick change he was back to his normal self and running it down outside again. This time he was ready.
A cage, if I can get it in a box! He thought and watched as people moved out of the beast's way. Determined not to fail, he uttered a spell under his breath and saw a square appear on the ground in green. Pulling his sword he swung at the frog, making it dance closer to the trap he'd set. That's it…just a bit closer!
The frog demon let out another burst of acidic vomit, barely missing him and a pedestrian. Loki growled, "Oh please, try to aim for once." He slashed, making the creature jump back more and fall backwards into the square. With a snap of his fingers a green cage of energy appeared trapping the beast and making it docile. He caught his breath, and watched as the creature smashed into the bars several times, before wearing itself out and collapsing in the cage.
New York, Manhattan, the new apartment of one Prince Loki of Asgard.
Morning light shown through the curtains of the midsized apartment in less expensive side of Manhattan, and in his bed our hero was resting, or at least attempting to, after the long night of trying to catch a small creature that had been summoned by a kid from Muspelhiem. They had been running all over the city, on roof tops and through the theater district where it nearly ate the latest cast of Newsie.
"You have some very odd tastes," Loki had told the beast once he had captured it in a small magic cage and sent it back to where it had come from, much to the cheers of the people in the streets of the Great white way who had seemed to think it was a stage show on the street. Of course he had enjoyed that, vanity was something he still had, although he was working on most of his other faults. Chief among them making up for his crimes and trying to fix the damages he'd done to others in the past.
Which for the most part wasn't working as well as he hoped. Sure he now had Thor's trust back after a near death experience, and perhaps he had his Mother and Father's, maybe, but others in Asgardia…they were still doubtful, and he couldn't say he didn't blame them. And it was because of this that he was trying harder than before, he didn't want to give into the frustrations that had been plaguing him, yet at the same time he was growing annoyed with the fact that others refused to see that he had changed. He didn't want to be in a box, locked forever in a role of others design for the rest of his life. He wanted to build his own role and he knew he had to or else he would just fall down the same path.
His mother wanted change but security, his father wanted the old way back, and yet seemed to embrace some of the change. It was hard to figure out what everyone wanted, and, now that he knew what he wanted, he was going to try his damnedest to get it. It was the fact that he was able to gain a friend in the mortal Verity Willis, a woman that was a living lie detector. She could see through lies and deception, which made living life rather hard, particularly if you had no way to have a suspension of disbelief, so movies as a kid were out as was non-fiction. Verity had helped him accept what he was, gotten him through a hell of a time when his brother had stopped loving him, and he had been grateful for that. She'd even helped him free two of his other acquaintances, Lorelei –sister of Amora the Enchantress and Sigurd "the ever glorious" –a former hero who seemed to enjoy being a quasi-bad guy with Lorelei, after they had been contained in rock as punishment by Odin.
It was also through Verity that he was able to convince his brother that he wasn't lying and that he wanted change, that he was sorry for his actions and that the feelings that the child Loki had had for Thor were his own. He loved his brother and wanted to try to be better, after all Thor had found his younger self, he'd brought him back to Asgardia, protected him from others, he owed him his life. Even when things were darkest, he still cared deeply for Thor and looked up to him, flaws of the Odinson and all. And it was because of Thor and Verity that Odin had given him another chance, as long as he agreed to take tasks others couldn't, he would be allowed to work for his redemption, whatever that would bring.
So it was with those thoughts that he was buzzed awake by a loud alarm clock that he'd set up the night before. Mumbling he reached out and grabbed the silver clanging wretched thing, and was about to hurtle it out the door of his bedroom, when he cracked open one sleepy emerald green eye and let out a groan of annoyance. It was ten o'clock, on a Tuesday, and he had nearly forgotten that he promised Verity that they would meet for coffee to talk about an offer she had for a job.
Pushing himself up, he set the clock on the night stand and rubbed his eyes yawning. How do mortals do this during the work week? With a quick stretch he was out of the bed and up on his feet flicking quickly through his closet to find something to wear.
"Just my luck to have to have dealt with a random monster on the day before I get a break and have some fun," he muttered pulling out a green and white t-shirt and some jeans. Grabbing all other essentials he headed for the bath, towel around his neck smirking, "Well it won't be so bad. We should be beating the morning rush and its well before the lunch crowds."
He only stopped when he heard the front door buzzer of his front door.
"Odd, Verity said she'd meet me at the café," he muttered peeking through the peep hole, and then frowned slightly. On the other side of the door was a tall blonde woman in a blue midriff bearing shirt, waist high skinny jeans, a dark blue blazer and matching heeled boots that made her even taller. She stood outside, arms crossed loosely, looking rather impatient.
Loki let out a sigh, Idunn, what in hel is she doing here? What can she possibly want?
"Loki, are you in there?" her voice came forcefully through the door. "I know you have to be, the security guard said he saw your mortal friend come see you last night."
Damn, he watched as she pressed the buzzer again and reluctantly opened the door greeting her shirtless.
"Glad tiding, Lady Idunn, or shall I call you All-Mother still?"
Idunn glanced over his form with a sharp smirk that made him feel slightly unnerved, then brushed past him as she walked in. "Lady Idunn is fine Trickster. You know, as well as all of Asgardia knows, that we are no longer the All-Mother. "
"Ah, would you come in," he said rolling his eyes behind her back and shutting the door. "As I asked, what brings you here?"
"I see you have made a new home for yourself then?" She ran her fingers over his couch and then took a seat.
"Oh, won't you sit down," he said in a mocking tone, "At least allow me to put on a shirt."
"As you will," she waved him off and Loki hurried back into his room to see the time. It was already six after ten and he had a good hour before he had to meet Verity. Pulling on a t-shirt he thought over what options he had. Kicking her out seemed the best option by far, but it was curious to him that she would come to Midgard to see him. Idunn was the keeper of the apples of youth, and the last he'd heard she had been seeking out a new home for Asgard, so her presents there puzzled him.
"Coffee?" he offered coming from the room and going to the kitchen.
"No thank you," she said promptly and he nodded grabbing a bottle of water for himself and sitting down in the green armchair across from her then waited. She watched him carefully, weighing something in her mind then cleared her throat. "I suppose I ought to tell you why I'm here then."
"Yes, I suppose you ought."
She quirked her brow some, "You're curious then?"
"Well," Loki admitted sitting back and crossing his leg over his knee and raising a brow, "It is rare to see you of all people coming down to Midgard. I thought you were avoiding this place after…well everything that happened."
Idunn shrugged and fixed the purse she had on her side. "Sometimes one has to go places one doesn't like to."
"Sometimes, meaning what?"
Again she took a long pause and seemed to shift uncomfortably, as if pushing down her own nerves. "Meaning…" her voice broke some and she cleared her throat calming herself, "Meaning that I came here to ask a request of you."
Loki swallowed some water, "Why not go to someone else, Lady Idunn?" She folded her hands carefully, crossing her fingers, while leaning forward and staring hard at him.
"Because there's no one else that I can trust do this request, Loki."
Loki snorted, "No one? Really?" he looked down at his water then back at her with a mocking smile, "You didn't seem to care that much when a certain King came into the picture. Why don't you ask him? Or better still ask someone who cares."
Idunn frowned, "That was then Loki…"
"And this is now," he pointed out. "And I have a friend to meet. So let's get this over with Lady Idunn. You came to me because you didn't want other people knowing about something. But I'm done taking orders from you and Mother. Give me one reason why I should even think about helping you after everything you and they put me through? One."
Idunn took a breath and he knew he had her. There's nothing you can possibly say to even get me to think about helping you out Lady Idunn. "Well?" Idunn licked her lips and avoided his eyes for a moment. Loki sat back triumphant and set his water on the arm of the chair, "Thought so."
"I need your help." Idunn started again and he got up.
"I'm not listening to this," he set the bottle on the table and strolled for the door. "As I said I have no reason to listen to you."
"I need to find someone!" Idunn nearly shouted and he glanced over at her.
"Ask Thor, or Fandrel or someone that cares, Lady Idunn. I'm through playing go-for for you…" he pulled open the door, but she didn't move. "Now would you please leave?! I have to take a shower and you're going to make me late."
Idunn looked at him worriedly, "I need to find her Loki."
"Find who?" he drolled, this game was becoming dull and he didn't want to care. Idunn got up and was trembling slightly as she moved towards him.
"My sister."
Loki hesitated for a moment, his disinterested face trying to stay neutral as he waited for her to head out the door. Idunn frowned and stormed over to him, her blue eyes flashing dangerously. "Loki, I need you to find my sister, please."
He gripped the door hard. Memories that were from his old self flooded in at her request, memories that he didn't want to think about or see. Her voice sounded distant as she spoke, "You're the only one I can trust with this Loki."
He caught her hand moving into her bag and she pulled out a small mirror and handed it to him. "Contact me if you want to do this job. I'll make it worth something to you."
Loki looked at the mirror, sighed, and snatched it from her hand, "I'll think about it."
Nodding Idunn stepped outside the door, and winced as he slammed it shut. He glanced at the mirror then tossed it onto the couch before heading for the bathroom to shower and change.
E Sharp café. (A little hole in the wall. About fifteen minutes later.)
Verity was waiting for him at a small table outside when Loki arrived with his hair still slightly wet. He gave her a sheepish smile as he waved, "Sorry, ran into someone this morning." He explained as he sat down. Verity nodded as she pushed up her glasses and pushed over a cup of coffee to him.
"So who was it?" she asked calmly. Loki grinned, the best thing about his best friend was that she could tell right off if he was lying or not. So he didn't have to worry about her commenting on lame excuses. Taking the cup he took a sip and let out a long sigh.
"One of the former All-Mother's Idunn."
"Right, you told me about them once," Verity nodded as she listened. "She's, what, the youngest of the three?"
"Yes, and the most flirty," he admitted setting down the cup as Verity's brows knitted. She knew that visits from that level of Asgardian's meant that something big was going on, and she was a tiny bit worried that they would be pulled into yet another one of Loki's schemes. She'd gotten used to it, but still, she preferred if he asked her rather than just dragging her along as he usually did.
"So what did she want?"
"Hummm, hard to say…" he started to say and she gave him a look. Loki paused and huffed a little, "It's really nothing. She wants me to find someone for her."
"Find someone?" Verity asked curiously and Loki glanced over the menu avoiding eye contact. "Is someone missing?"
He shrugged, again trying to ward off the question. "Not sure. She seems to think so."
"So then why come to you?"
"Exactly!" he said, "Humm I should try the bacon muffin, that sounds interesting," then went on to add, "I told her she should go ask Thor, or Fandrel or someone that cared."
"And you don't?" Verity asked seriously as Loki got up.
"No, I don't, and that's the last I want to hear about this subject. When I get back we're going to talk about what you wanted to, and leave Lady Idunn little request to rest."
Verity watched as he walked hurridly into the café to place his order and she cupped her cheek frowning. He wasn't lying but she could already tell that he was hiding something. She just didn't know what, and that bothered her. He was far more tense than usual, and normally he didn't seem to not want to talk about such things. But at the moment the whole thing seemed unusual, and that was saying something given it was Loki.
She didn't have long to reflect when a large shadow passed over and she looked up to see a very large blonde haired man dressed casually standing by their table. Verity took one look at him and smiled, "Thor, a pleasure to see you again!"
"Well met Verity Willis!" smiled the God of Thunder. "I see you are in good spirits."
"Mostly, yes. Thanks for asking."
"I'm seeking my brother, have you seen him?" Thor asked as she offered him a seat and he shook his head. "Nay, though a kind offer, I have little time. I've come to ask his help on a matter."
"Seems like he's been getting that a lot today," she said and Thor blinked.
"Odd, did someone come to see him already?"
"Aye…I mean yes." Verity said and this time Thor took the chair to sit. "He said that Idunn came to see him about a request about a missing person. But he wouldn't say anymore."
Thor rubbed his chin slightly over the beard he'd since grown. "Lady Idunn has been said to be seeking out a new Asgard. Though what use she has of my brother I don't know. That is very strange."
"I thought so too," Verity offered him a menu, which he again declined, so she sipped her coffee. "More so that he refused to accept the request."
"He did? This all bodes ill," Thor commented, and then noticed Loki coming towards them and quickly motioned to Verity, "We shall speak of this matter later, for now let us keep silent." He raised his hand and Loki waved back slightly. "Well met brother!"
A smile came over Loki's face at hearing that. After all the hell he'd gone through with Thor to regain his trust it was, nice, to have him actually smile and greet him. "Thor, a surprise to see you here. Don't tell me you've come to bask in the my tale of great heroism?"
Thor rolled his eyes, "Nay Loki, I have already heard you're story about the demon frog," he held up three fingers, "Thrice, from you since last night."
Loki shrugged, "Then I'm sure you won't mind if I tell Verity all about…"
Thor held up his hand, "Hold brother, there is a reason I'm here."
"Oh?" Loki sat down and broke open the muffin offering a bit to Thor who took it, and tasted. "What for?"
"Odd food this one." Thor muttered as Loki took a bite.
"It's called a bacoffin."
Verity paused mid sip, "A what?"
"Bacoffin," Loki said after swallowing a bite, "Apparently it's a muffin with bacon in place of fruits. Not too bad, a bit dry in places, but I'm sure they'll perfect it." He looked over at Thor. "So what reason are you here if not to spend time with me?"
"I have a request…" Thor started to say and Loki was ready to cut in when Thor added, "from the Avengers."
This gave the trickster pause as he set down the muffin. "Go on."
Thor crossed his arms. "There's a matter that we need your help with. Pym has need of your services as Dr. Strange has said he can't quiet decipher the nature of the spell upon an item that was recovered from a robbery."
"Robbery?" Loki glanced at Verity who glanced over her smartphone to see if there was any news. Thor quickly shook his head.
"You will not find it there, Verity. This matter happened in Miami."
"Miami you say? I've been wanting a trip." Loki grinned at the very thought of taking off for a vacation on the beach. Thor gave him a sharp look that only an elder brother would and Loki's grin dropped.
"Oh very well, I take it I'm not going anywhere?"
"Nay, you are, with me to the tower," Thor told him. "This matter is delicate in nature so it's best to not discuss here."
With a long breath Loki looked over sympathetically at Verity, "Would you mind having a rain check?"
"For your brother, sure." Verity waved them off, as Loki and Thor teleported a moment later by one of Loki's spells. Instantly they were inside the lobby of the Avenger's tower, home of the main team that Thor belonged to. Loki whistled as he looked around.
"Very nice, you know this is the first I'm seeing of the Lobby."
"Aye, because the last time you were here, you climbed in through an open window like a common burglar." Thor said leading him to an elevator, Loki quickly trailing behind him, he grinned all the way as they went up.
"Well that's what seven league boots will do for you."
Loki glanced out the windows as the elevator rose to a mid-floor at the world below him. Cars and people became toys to play with and he wondered if the Avengers ever thought like that as they climbed up their glass tower. The ding of the bell foretold the opening of the doors as Thor led him down a simple hallway that turned a few times as they made their way to a lab that was in one large room.
The room itself was about half the floor in length and width. Florescent lights hung from the ceiling casting a cool glow around stainless steel and glass walls. Random workstations were littered with various tools and technology. Loki raised his eyes seeing a Doombot walking around muttering to itself about how demeaning its work was. There were also various robotic arms moving around, a table for testing out repulse rays and strange armor for Tony Stark's suits, as well as other experiments that were happening around the lab. In the center of it all an average sized blonde haired man in a lab coat was busy testing an arm guard. Beside him was a helmet with a strange speaker contraption in the front and a pair of antenna on top.
As they approached the man looked up and Loki caught sight of a red, blue and black uniform. His lips quirked, "Dr. Hank Pym I presume? Ava mentioned you once, said you were a great teacher."
Hank looked up from his work, pushing up a pair of goggles and blinked. "Loki?"
Loki gave a little bow, "One and the same. My brother told me that you were in need of my services?"
Hank glanced over at Thor, "Interesting choice for this." He waved them over as Loki shrugged, of course the Avengers still didn't trust him as he was the reason that they first formed, but he was getting more and more used to it. He would just have to prove himself until they did. Walking over Hank pushed the tray to the two Asgardians, inside was a gray arm guard that emitted eerie energy. "Know what that is?"
"An arm guard, or have you never seen one Doctor?" Loki smirked a bit and held his hand out over it, then pulled back as it zapped him. He shook his right hand and rubbed it, "With a nasty spell on it apparently."
Hank nodded slowly and leaned his hands on the table as he looked at the younger man, "Right, a nasty spell, one that nearly fried the guy that was wearing this and Scott Lang."
Loki crossed his arms and gave a slight tilt to his head as he listened.
"About two months ago we started seeing some minor criminals starting to have strange powers. They were small things: extra burst of speed or strength, the ability to slip past cameras, those sort of things. In each case the person had on some small form of armor. Gloves, boots, a belt, wrist bands, those sorts of accessories, then about two weeks ago things got a bit more….serious."
"Serious? As in how serious?" Loki inquired and Hank stood up, clicking on a remote to show him some video from a bank robbery with a time stamp denoting one thirty in the afternoon, Eastern Standard Time. In it a man busted in through a wall wearing a protective plate and gauntlets, breaking everything in sight. As the guards fired off their Tasers at him the energy around the plate reflected it back causing the guards and several patrons and workers to be blown backwards by the electricity. A moment later the man broke through the teller's desk and stormed into the back, pulling from it a large bag of cash and banging on his chest emitting sound waves that knocked down officers that were responding to the robbery.
"That serious," Hank stopped the video on the intruder as he was coming back into the lobby with the bag in hand. "We've been able to identify him as, Marcus Wolton, a former felon that worked at one time with Whirlwind, but pretty much dropped off the radar, until he popped up here in Tampa about a month ago robbing a bank down there."
Loki looked at the image and wrinkled his nose, "Interesting choice of wardrobe. So, his armor emits sound waves, I don't see what that has to do with," he motioned to Thor and himself, "us."
"Might not seem so obvious here but," Hank said as he pulled up another image on the screen. This time it was a full image of a man dressed in silver and purple armor very similar to armor worn by the guards that worked protecting Odin's chamber in Asgard. A sharp looking helmet with deer antlers coming off the side, silver plating that covered the arms, legs and chest of the man, with a dark purple cloth that protected the rest of his body. A silver gauntleted fist punched out at the viewer.
"Humm, could be even better if you made it 3D," Loki joked and Hank gave a very faint chuckle as he continued. "As you can see, our friend from the bank seemed to have built up his look from his last robbery. This was taken a week ago by Scott Lang's helmet while he was fighting with Marcus in Miami. Took him a good hour to get him down, and when he did, the armor started to emit the waves, nearly electrocuted Scott and Marcus in the process."
Loki walked over to the image and stared at it hard as Thor joined him. "That is certainly styled after Asgardian armor brother."
"Yes, but is it actually ours?" Loki pondered and glanced at Thor. "Where's the suit now?"
"Most of it was destroyed the moment that Wolton was removed from the suit; however Scott did recover a gauntlet and the arm guard that you see there." Thor motioned back over to the table and Loki hurried to examine it again, this time from a slight distance.
"I've been able to decipher that it's made of earth bound metals, but it's the etching that I can't seem to understand. Thor says its old runes, but they're not Asgardian in writing." Hank handed Loki a chart which he flipped through. Page after page of tests on metallurgy to decide what the makeup of the armor was followed by several pages of notes from the second Ant-man, Lang, and witnesses to both crimes, along with attempts to replicate the sound waves that the armor gave off, and none of this interested Loki, it was only when he flipped to the last part of the report that his interests were fully piqued.
He furrowed his brow as he stared at the magnified images and the etchings on them. Runes around the guard seemed to work out some sort of sentence, though the images were hard to see. "Can I get a live view of this Dr. Pym? If possible?"
"Brother, do you know something?" Thor questioned him and Loki shook his head.
"I'm not sure. I haven't seen those runes in years, or at least the design of them. But we both agree that it was certainly made by someone who has knowledge of our armors."
Thor nodded, "Aye, and with a deft eye for details."
"Someone who's had time to make this suit," Loki muttered as Hank pulled up a magnified image on the screen of the runes that were etched into the arm guard. Thor walked over to it and pointed along the curve.
"There."
"There what?" Loki questioned coming over and again Thor pointed to the curve of the guard.
"It's been patched and sealed. Notice how the shape looks like it's been hammered at then smoothed and then heated again. Someone took the time to do that, and did a nearly seamless job at it too."
Loki grinned, "Well found Thor seems your skill on the battle field is worth more than just punching things."
Thor nudged him hard in the ribs and Loki smirked, and then drew his attention to the design. "What would you say? Not something one of our forgers would make. It's elegant enough but…"
"It has more curves to it," Thor muttered and pointed out embellishments in the sides where the runes spell lay, "and more in the way of water and older nature."
"Yes, the animal motif seems to indicate that…" he looked at Thor, "Are you suspecting…"
"A Vanir? It could possibly be, but how are they sending it down to Midgard. They'd need an agent to do so."
Loki frowned, "Exactly, and Father would notice something like that wouldn't he."
"Aye, very much so."
"So they would have to be making it here? But where?" Loki muttered and looked again at the runes. "And they would need someone to enchant the armor. That is Vanir type rune work there Brother. The curve on the shape, it's different then the Asgard way of writing them."
"And the spell?" Hank inquired. "We need to know what we're up against here."
"A very old defense spell, in basic…I am rubber you are glue, what bounces off me sticks to you. That sort of spell, it's easy to get around, just drop them in water or put them in a wind storm and then hit them with electricity. You'd just need some acid to burn off the runes."
Hank lowered his lids and said slowly, "Or….better still. We get this off the street."
Loki smiled tightly, "Ah, and that's what you need me for?"
"In a way, we need to find out where it's coming from. We can handle finding the people holding it, but if this sort of armor gets out there to someone like Red Skull, you know what could happen."
Loki shuddered; going against the Red skull had only lead to disastrous results for him. He nodded, "I understand completely. So I take it then the Avengers are asking me to find the person making these suits of armor?"
"Aye and as quickly as you can. We're going to try to hunt down those that own them…"Thor started and Loki quickly finished.
"While I find out who's making them and stop their little production firm, seems like a plan then."
A second later Hank had out a tablet and handed it to Loki, "Here, this is what we could get out of Marcus. He said that he was sold the armor by a guy who imported it from around lower Manhattan. Find him and we may have a lead to the supplier."
Loki gave a smirk, "I assume that this could mean some of my old files may be deleted as payment?"
"Finish the job and I'll talk to Tony and Steve about it." Was all Hank told him before Thor quickly ushered him out of the room. Loki glanced at his brother.
"He seems nice."
"Hank Pym is a scientist Loki, and yes he can be very nice when he wants to."
"I see I see," Loki reached into his pocket and produced a smart phone, dialing a number as they walked back to the elevator. Thor gave him a curious look as he pressed the down button.
"What are you doing Loki?"
"Making a few phone calls," Loki said with a grin, "You have your crew and I have mine."
A Back Alley somewhere in Midtown. (One night later)
In the quiet of the summer evening three shapes could be made out in the semidarkness that came from the light pollution of the city. Two sat poised well atop a small apartment building, while the third stood out in the middle of the alley wearing a dark brown trench coat and a gray black suit. The suave black man in the alley fixed his glassed and pressed the magic Bluetooth in his ear. "You sure this guy is coming Lorelei? I mean we've been waiting her for over an hour and a half and he said one a.m. on the dot right?"
A soft melodious chuckle answered him and he sighed, "Girl, what's so funny?"
"Patience Sigurd, these things take time you know. He's probably waiting to see if it's a fake out or not," came the reply from the device and Sigurd sighed deeply.
"Okay, well, just so you remember, I've got the title of ever glorious, not infinitely patience. I hope Loki know what the hell he's doing."
"I remember," the red haired woman said from atop the apartment building and glanced over at Loki who was shaking his head and looking at the sky, far more bored then Sigurd. He could wait as long as it took, but he naturally needed something to occupy the time in between. He'd stopped playing words with friends when Kate Bishop and America Chavez both logged off their accounts.
Lorelei looked up at the young man beside her and smirked, "This whole thing seems so retro in a way, you know?"
"How so?" Loki inquired and she laughed.
"Reminds me of one of those old eighties tv shows where the detectives are on a stake out and the bait is below them." Loki chuckled and pushed up off the ledge he was leaning on and stood up as she went on. "I'm surprised you called me in on this one."
"I figured if anyone wanted to know about this sort of thing you would."
Lorelei gave him a sarcastic grin, "And you're trying to make up for all the crap you put us through?"
"Well, yes, that too," Loki gave her a slight smile as he grew serious. "You don't think your sister would get involved in this?"
"Amora?" Loki gave her a nod and Lorelei shook her head looking out at the horizon, "No, not her style. You of all people should know that."
"I suppose, but I don't even know who I am anymore. At least before I thought I did, now, I'm not so sure." He admitted to her softly and Lorelei gave him a sympathy look.
"Which means what?"
"Which means I'm not sure I can trust everything I recall about other people as well," Loki shook his head. The whole situation with his future-self had thrown him for a loop. One moment he was sure of his path, the next everything had gone to hell, and then it got better, only for him to realize that there was more to his story then he first thought. Changing his fate was far more difficult than he'd anticipated, and he didn't like to think too much on it as it depressed him.
Lorelei nodded and quickly diverted the topic, "I don't think she would involve herself in this. Although, I don't think Odin will like the idea of a Vanir selling magical armor out in Midgard."
"Yeah, and that's one reason I'm sure my brother asked me to handle this. He knows that if I'm involved maybe word won't reach the All-Father and the All-Mother and cause fighting to go down." Loki said seriously and paced a bit, then looked over at Lorelei. "I forgot to say thanks for helping. You could have refused."
"What and miss the fun? Never!" she grinned when a buzzing from the phone caught their attention as Sigurd's voice came over in a hushed whisper.
"Just saw a car drive past twice, I think it's checking me out…Yep, it just came back, stand by…" with that he tapped the device so it only let them hear what was going on with the seller. Loki looked over at Lorelei who was holding her breath. If things went wrong they already had a plan to magic Sigurd away and take care of the idiot in the car.
Below in the alley a Cadillac had pulled up and was shining it's lights in Sigurd's face. He held up his hands and moved to the side as a figure of a tall man with a heavily muscular build wearing a very sleek blue suit with a salmon colored shirt stepped out, waved, and laughed upon seeing Sigurd. His ruddy colored hair and bright brown eyes gave him a rather unique look with his tan skin tone.
"Sigurd, the ever glorious! As I live and breathed! It's been a long time, hasn't it!" the man said approaching Sigurd, it took him a moment, than recognition dawned on his face as he clasped hands with him.
"Cosak the crimson-haired, good to see you too, it's been a while hasn't it?" Sigurd laughed as the two embraced for a moment. "Where have you been? You're looking good!"
"Here and there," Cosak admitted with a grin. "It's good to see you Sigurd. Has much changed? You still being the glorious one with the ladies?"
"All the time," Sigurd smirked and then motioned over to the car. "You seem to have done good for yourself."
"Aye, got a rather interesting job. Been asked to deliver goods to warriors that live here," Cosak explained as he went over to the car and hit a button on his keys. A faint popping sound was heard and he motioned Sigurd to follow. Curious Sigurd did as asked and joined him behind the car at the trunk.
"Deliver goods?"
"Aye, though I'm just the delivery man. My boss is the one that gets the items from the maker. I'm just here to sell it to the purchaser."
Sigurd quirked his lips interested, "I see."
"I was a bit surprised when I got a message to come meet someone here this late at night. But I'm glad to see you, some of those other fella's are a bit on the questionable side."
"Other fella's?" Sigurd leaned on the car as Cosak looked about nervously and lowered his voice motioning his friend to come closer.
"Aye, well yes…some of the lot that comes here, they don't look like warriors, but the boss says to give them what they want so I do. Honestly I'm thinking of getting out of it, but it pays the bills. The All-Father…is he back yet? I wouldn't mind going home, it's just…there's a lady here that….well…"
"I hear ya," Sigurd nodded and glanced at the trunk. "So have you got anything to show me?"
"A few things," admitted Cosak as he opened the trunk. Inside was several pieces of finely made armor, and Sigurd whistled sharply.
"Wow, that's some stash you have there!" Cosak laughed sheepishly at this and pulled out a set of boot covers for Sigurd to examine. He took them and weighed them in his hands.
"They don't feel like our normal kind of armor, kind of on the lighter side."
"Yeah, the fact is they're made from metal from Midgard rather than our normal metal. Harder to get the good stuff down here, although if you want I can tell my boss you're more interested in original metal." Cosak scratched the side of his beard. "Though I think that it'll cost you more for that, oh and the spells would have to be re-engraved."
"Spells?"
Cosak nodded, "Yes, spells. This here is enchanted."
"By who?"
"Don't know," Cosak admitted and heaved a sigh. "That's why I'd like to get out of this; too many damn secrets. Us sellers don't even know who makes this, or who our boss really is. We just know them as, 'Boss' and they leave us messages."
"Uh-huh," Sigurd said as he set down the armor, "Well that's all I needed to see." Cosak smiled brightly ready to add something when Sigurd tapped his ear slightly, "You heard all that?"
"Loud and clear," came a voice from behind them and Cosak turned around to see a portal open allowing Lorelei and Loki to step on through from the roof. The red haired man's face fell as he backed up to the trunk and started to shut it, but was blocked by Sigurd.
"Ah, ah, ah," he said and pushed Cosak over towards the other two. Loki smiled cheerfully at him.
"Ah Cosak, we have some questions for you, and if you answer them, well it would be most appreciated."
"I….what's…." he looked at Sigurd and shouted, "You tricked me! I thought we were friends."
"We are, but he's paying more," Sigurd said simply and motioned to Lorelei. "Some nice stuff in there, you don't think Loki would mind if we…"
"Actually I would," Loki sighed and held his phone up to Cosak, "Now I have a few questions, and I need you to answer truthfully, or we may have to take this up with a certain All-Mother and I don't think she would be too happy to know about this."
Cosak gulped as Loki quickly asked, "So how did you get this job anyway?"
"Through…Through the paper if you can believe me. There was an add looking for someone who knew about Asgardian armor, and I know something about it, so I applied for it."
"And what happened then?"
"I…you see," Cosak was sweating some and Loki wondered if they were being watched, but Lorelei had said she'd checked everywhere before they even picked a meeting spot. So he waited as Cosak stumbled, "Well I…I got invited to this dinner. A lady shows up, says that she was sent by the Boss. I thought it was a might weird, but she said that that was how they did business. She asked me if I knew anything about Asgard and the armor that warriors used, and I told her I did, and she said I got the job."
"And you didn't question that, like at all?" Lorelei asked crossing her arms and eyeing him with suspicion. Cosak shook his head fervently and she snorted, "I don't believe him."
"He's not lying," Verity's voice came over the phone and Cosak yelped a bit.
"Who's that? Who's there!"
"Never you mind," Loki instructed him, and forced Cosak's attention back on him. "So this woman, did you get a name?" Another shake of the head, "A nick name?" again Cosak shook his head, "Did you ever see her again?"
"No, never."
Loki sighed, that wasn't helpful at all, then Cosak cleared his throat and said softly, "But I do know what she looked like. She's a blonde, very beautiful. Had dark gray eyes, seemed to not want to talk very much outside of flirt."
Useless, Loki thought and gave Cosak an irritated look as he added, "Anything else? Some sort of way to get into contact with her?"
Cosak shook his head, and Loki glanced at Sigurd and Lorelei who were examining the armor pieces. Lorelei spoke up first, "These spells on them are really impressive for how simple they are."
"Which makes me wonder," Loki quickly looked at Cosak, "What about your employer? Anything you can say about him?"
"Don't know if it's a 'him or her'. All I know is that they send me messages of where to meet the people I have to deliver them to."
Loki glanced at Verity who shook her head indicating that he was telling the truth. With so little to go off of Loki was beginning to wonder if he was going to have to apply to the ad himself to get the information. The only problem was that he knew that people would know who he was and his shifting abilities were still on the low end.
"Where is all this armor made? I'd like to get to meet the person who created such fine crafts."
"Ah, t…that….well…."Cosak looked nervously at his shoes and Sigurd slipped on a gauntlet, aimed at a trashcan and watched in surprise as a blast of energy smashed into the can sending it flying up and crashing down on the opposite end of the alley. Cosak jumped and glared at his old friend who shrugged.
"Just a test drive, that's all."
Loki raised his brow and then glanced at Cosak. "I can't promise that he won't accidently send something flying our way you know. And I can't be certain that I can protect both of us so…"
"Alright…Alright," the former warrior sighed and held up his hands. "I…the guy that I pick stuff up from, from time to time, Tom Tyler, I think that's his name, this one time he and I were drinking and he lets me in on this small bit of information. The person that makes this stuff is located in a town called Glendale, New York. That's all I know about it."
Again Loki glanced at Verity. "He's telling the truth Loki."
"I'm sure he is," Loki said flipping the phone around, "Verity, Cosak the red-haired. Cosak, my best friend, Verity Willis."
Cosak nodded and then looked at the dark princeling. "So…can I go?"
"Sure," Loki said pressing some buttons on his smartphone. "That's about all I needed to know."
Cosak nearly ran to the car, moving Lorelei aside as he slammed his trunk, jumped in the front seat and took off driving at high speeds. The trio watched as he rounded a corner and screeched down the street. Lorelei glared lightly at Loki, hands on her hips. "Well that was a waste! You just let him go."
"Hummm, somewhat," Loki admitted, and she gave him a confused look.
"What do you mean…" she started to say, when Sigurd tapped her on the shoulder, "Huh? What is it?"
"I don't think he's getting away," Sigurd retorted and the two watched as Spectrum, Blue Marvel, Falcon, and She Hulk of the Mighty Avengers along with Thor, chased him down. Loki glanced up at the shocked faces of the duo and smirked.
"I had Verity send a message to the Mighty Avenger's call center, something about a former Asgardian selling illegal magic potions." He chuckled and smiled, "Well then, I'll see what I can do for payment for your help, but for now. Verity and I have a drive to make to Glendale."
With that the Trickster teleported from the scene, plans for finding the mastermind dancing in his head.