A/N: Some Loki POV in this one :3

Chapter 2: Be what may, but off my way!

The forest was thick and green and old, and sometimes when his eyes were closed and his mind was clear, it felt almost like home.

Well.

Until the Kyuubi was trying to eat him, that is. Again.

Dealing with the Fox was hard. He couldn't indefinitely keep him under Sharingan control or even his huge chakra reserves would run out eventually. Talking to the beast didn't stand high on his fav-activities-to-kill-time-with-whilst-stuck-Sage's-know-where list either and even if he knew that convincing the Demon to cooperate was his best bet, he couldn't bring himself to do that just yet. Not when the Kyuubi wanted to murder him on the spot not only for genjutsuing him and accidentally bringing him along to a different universe, but also…

Well, there was a tiny bit of miscalculation on his side. Who would've guessed this weird people here would be immune to genjutsu?

He certainly didn't thought it possible.

Madara sighed. Gathering information of his new whereabouts wasn't as easy as he would've wished. Using Henge and masquerading through the nearest city was simple enough, but as much as it pained him to admit… he felt a bit lost. Firstly, all those flickering devices this world seem so full of tended to malfunction whenever he tried to use chakra on them, so he stopped trying to do that after the street light exploded over his head. Then there were those huge screens in seemingly random spots, showing maps and adverts that moved when you touched them. All of those were in some strange language written in weird, round letters, though, and Madara for the love of it couldn't gather anything of what they were saying. Sure, he wasn't stupid. He was able to recognise the names of the points he already visited and his field orientation was excellent, but he still didn't know shit about this world.

Except that it didn't use chakra at all.

Well, fuck.

He really needed to think about something, fast, because no matter how good of a ninja he was, if he had to stay here for any prolonged period of time, he needed to accommodate at least a little at some point. And that required knowledge.

Rubbing his eyes in a tired gesture Madara turned from his spot on a wide branch to look at the monstrous Fox, sprawled in the little valley beneath him. The place was perfect. The valley was deep enough for the Fox to not stick out of the trees above and wide enough to get a little comfortable. Madara on the other hand felt perfectly fine camping in the woods for a while, hidden well enough to not attract much attention and being able to ponder and plan his next moves.

o0o

Madara was resting on his branch, staring at the stars so different that those on his old sky when a sudden, huge clash ripped the silence apart and the trees shook violently, losing the leaves in the shockwave. Then something exploded.

Huh.

Madara didn't think it was a very normal occurrence to happen in the late evening, in the forest with seemingly no inhabitants other than himself and the Fox. In fact, no normal occurrence at all, from what he gathered about this world so far, and that could only mean something interesting was happening, thank fuck. Not that he was bored all alone in this strange, big, unfamiliar world, but he was always the man of action.

Another explosion lit the sky and Madara grinned, rising to his feet. Apparently there was a battle nearby and a high levelled one at that, judging by shaking trees and a firework show worth of an Uchiha clan's best sparring session.

Sneaking up to take a look couldn't hurt, now could it?

o0o

"Fools," Loki smiled to himself as he watched his brother fight the Man of Iron. To be fair, it was rather stupid of them to assume Loki would patiently wait until they're finished levelling trees and if he didn't, in fact, intend to be caught in the first place, he would've disappeared the moment they left him on his own.

He had a beast to catch, though.

Waiting for his little pawns to stop playing wasn't an option he was much opposed to, really, but he would be endlessly grateful if they made it quick at least. He'd much preferred calm interior of their funny ship than a first row, rocky sit on this ridiculous puppet show.

Gods, this was almost depressing.

Loki could've sworn he had more fun drifting through nothingness, truly.

But playing a puppet master had its perks and as long as nobody noticed he was actually following his own plan, things should've gone smoothly.

…or so he thought before a shadow blocked the moonlight from behind him and a deep voice from out of nowhere said in a cheerful manner "Oooh? That's interesting."

For a brief second Loki was genuinely startled that someone managed to sneak up on him close enough to land a blow if they wanted to, without even slightly revealing their presence.

He was almost impressed, too.

"So? What's this about?" Mysterious man sat beside him, expression wary and focused, face turned entirely towards the two figures fighting below them.

There was something playful in his posture, though, some ease Loki only ever saw in those most experienced in the noble craft of battle before and that was enough to raise all of his guards on alert. You didn't simply meet people like that by coincidence on the outskirts of a fierce fray, wandering through the forests in the middle of the night. Experience has taught Loki such encounters were never, ever a mere coincidence, but a scheme crafted by forces one might know nothing about. That it mattered in the long run. If one did, though… may the Gods have mercy over their wretched soul.

Hopefully it wasn't his doom impending this night.

"…and you are?" Loki demanded in response, because of course he was not going to share anything meaningful unless he knew his ground. This man seemed… dangerous, at least. And he was not suited to play with fire just yet. If only he didn't give up his sceptre… The purpose was glorious, though, and sacrifices had to be made.

The only response Loki ever got was a toothy, sharp grin with madness leaking through the broken edges that somehow, just a little reminded him of his own, changed beyond repair so not very long ago. Loki might not have been the most stable or wholesome person in this realm, but he could recognize akin soul when he saw one.

How… very curious.

Intrigued, Loki risked a better glance at this unexpected companion and maybe, just maybe felt the need to find out a bit more about the man's reasons to be here with him – in the forgotten by all things living piece of dull scenery.

The intruder had long, dark unruly hair and was clothed in a heavily looking, leather armour, the sort of which his own people would take into a remarkable battle, and that alone was eerie enough to flair his interest even more. People of Midgard didn't seem to sport that kind of protection anymore, too old-fashioned to jibe with their clever machines and their smart devices.

But it was not the armour that eventually did the trick.

The man's eyes were blazing red, glowing in the dark almost and for a split second Loki's insides froze at the painful reminder of his own cursed origins. But those weren't the eyes of a Jotun. Nor of any living creature he bore the knowledge of, and as such were worth at least further investigation.

"You are not of this realm," he said instead, infusing his voice with a bit of wonder.

"No." Another toothy grin, but this time the man has tilted his head slightly to look directly at Loki. "Same for you, I suppose."

Lightning cut the sky and the sound of thunder reached their ears when Thor called up on his true powers. Well, a bit of information couldn't hurt, Loki decided in a heartbeat, gesturing towards the fighting figures as his mind went through every scenario he could turn this meeting to his advantage.

"I am Loki of Asgard," he pointed with his head for emphasis, "and my not-brother, Thor" — Loki spat and the slight hardening of the stranger features at the mention his oaf of a brother didn't escape his attention. He briefly wondered what kind of familial drama was there to cause it, but… not that he cared much — "is fighting Man of Iron over something powerful I might or might not have in my possession."

Loki smirked as the implication sank in and the man's eyes lit with mischievous interest.

"Reeeally? You don't look like a Shōgi master to me."

"I don't look many things." Of course he didn't. Like his own race for the matter. Loki almost snickered at that thought, and something must've shown on his face because suddenly there was a shift and his mysterious comrade no longer paid attention to the rumbling below, but faced Loki whole bodily, with a wicked grin and gloved hands stroking gently the edges of his armour, impatiently.

"Uchiha Madara," he said after a moment of hesitation and a grin widened. "I believe we could come to an agreement."

Now, that's a win.

"Cheers to that."

And then Madara laughed. Openly, loudly and in a manner that shouldn't suit him in the slightest but did nonetheless, and Loki wondered what mess has he gotten himself into this time. And hoped. Just a little, that maybe for once his plans won't end up a disaster.

"You are most fortunate they are too busy knocking out trees to hear you," he pointed out, relaxing a bit when Madara finally regained his composure. "I might be skilled in the art of stealth and battle, but facing both Thor and the Man of Iron while," he raised his cuffed hands ostentatiously, "not fully capacitated might not end… well."

Madara stiffened.

Loki truly began to believe this man had only two modes changing fluently: mad smiling and dead-serious face. Or maybe somehow both at the same time, too.

Madara meanwhile narrowed his eyes, staring intensively at the cuffs for a few seconds and reaching towards Loki as if in the urge to touch, "They're running on lighting, aren't they?" And there was genuine curiosity in his voice so Loki simply bend over to let him have a go.

"They are restraining my magic, yes."

Madara frowned but didn't answer, touching the device with one hand and focusing on the connection. Loki instantly felt the metal warming up and tried to protest, "Wait, no! What are you doing?! I need that to catch a beast…!", but it was already too late. Dull snap crossed the air and his hands were free again. Madara's freshly acquired smugness was thoroughly blinding.

"You were saying?"

"You imbecile!" Loki's temper broke when the first spark of magic returned to his grasp. "How am I to unleash the monster now, whilst they won't think me capable of holding captive?!"

"Huh." Madara only winked at Loki's sudden outburst, entirely unimpressed. "You want a monster? I'll show you a monster!" And before he could really register anything else, Loki was unceremoniously grabbed by the elbow and shunshined away.

o0o

It was only many minutes later that the Avengers finally noticed the lack of their prime prisoner. What a drag.