Chapter 3
One Day Later
Loki walked into the middle of the Midgardian bustling city called Manhattan. People streamed around him, most not bothering to look, as if they were used to having a god in their midst. When one dared to bump into him, he unleashed a telekinetic burst that flung all near him backwards.
The ensuing gasps were music to his ears. Their flight of panic made him stand taller. Some hid behind newspaper stands and poles to record him with their phones. He smiled in delight.
"Bring me Jane Foster," he announced loud enough for everyone to hear.
A man stepped to the edge of a two-story building holding a bow and arrow at the ready. "Or what?"
Loki called forth his armor.
The red and gold tin man landed feet away from him. "Round two?"
"Blood does not have to be shed this day, so long as you give me what is mine."
"Last I checked," said a newcomer with a circular shield, "she's not an object that can be given away."
The God of Mischief pulled magic to his fingertips to form a sphere of energy. "If the next person I see isn't her, this city will rue the day you became its protectors."
A motorcycle swerved to a stop and a slender woman dressed in black slid off the seat. "How about a redhead?" She took off her helmet and dropped it, exposing said fiery-orange hair. Before he could blink, she had aimed two pistols at him.
Loki tossed the ball of energy over his shoulder. As the explosion rocked the ground and sent glass flying all around, he formed another one.
An arrow shot toward him, then a metal shield. He caught both and threw them back to their owners faster than their mortal brains could register. The impact knocked the two men into a backwards spin. The archer tumbled off the edge of the building with an arrow jutting out of his abdomen. The other lay on the ground unconscious.
As the woman called for a medic, she shot at him. Bullets ricocheted off his magical shield into nearby buildings and cars.
Loki lifted another silvery orb. "Shall I?"
"Alright, you made your point." Stark raised his hands in surrender, but then the white discs in the palms of his suit lit up.
Loki teleported behind the Midgardian, ripped off his metal helmet, and hurled it at the redhead. It hit her square in the chest and launched her several feet backwards.
Holding onto the tin man's sparking collar, the God of Mischief forced him to his knees and said, "Will you do as I command now?"
"I'll consider it. If you tell me why you're after her."
Loki growled and went to break his neck when lightning filled the sky. He paused and looked up.
Thunder rumbled loud enough to rattle his bones. A bolt streaked to the ground, forcing him to turn away from the blinding light.
"Brother," Thor admonished him. "Leave the Midgardians alone and come home."
"Who's this guy?"
Loki ignored the mortal and spoke to his brother. "Asgard was never my home."
His brows furrowed. "You've been gone far too long. We miss you."
"Who? The Warriors Three? Lady Sif?" He clenched his jaw. "Father?"
"No more talking. We must go."
"So you're here on orders?" He pushed the mortal to the side and conjured two daggers. "Are there to be chains and a trial?"
Thor lifted his hammer. "I do not wish to fight you, but what you've done here is wrong. You must understand this."
Loki looked around at the destruction and at the superheroes coming back to, some groaning in pain. "This is on them. They could have given me what I wanted, but they chose the harder path."
"What do you seek?" the God of Thunder asked.
Stark climbed to his feet with a grunt of discomfort. "An astrophysicist. And he's not getting anywhere near her."
Loki turned to him. "Where have you put Jane?"
"What's the matter, having trouble finding her?" The mortal smiled, and Loki wanted to kill him.
When the God of Mischief stepped to him, Thor grabbed Loki's shoulder.
"Enough." Thor looked at him like he finally understood his younger brother. "I do not believe this is the way to a woman's heart."
"No, it isn't." The man with the shield walked to them with only a slight limp. "And we'd appreciate it if you two went back from wherever you came."
Loki flicked Thor's hand off him and teleported to Jane's childhood home, to her college apartment, her lab and her favorite coffee shops. It'd been his sixth time to check, and, like all the rest, she was nowhere to be found. He sat on the edge of a cliff overlooking an endless ocean, and concentrated on her presence.
She was still on Midgard, but where exactly was a mystery. She was a mystery. Jane was supposed to have run into his arms and be grateful that he came to rescue her from this lowly realm. That she hadn't only intrigued him more about her change into womanhood during his necessary absence.
He didn't like that she had aligned herself with dangerous people. The green beast most of all. Which left him wondering where the creature was now. Since he wasn't fighting with his friends, then he must be with Jane.
Loki grumbled and traveled back to Manhattan.
"I am ready to surrender," he announced.
Thor stepped to him with a nod of approval.
"Not to you, you oaf. To them." He pointed at the gathered heroes, nursing their wounds.
They looked at him in disbelief. Barton's sneer turned into a grimace as a Midgardian healer snapped the end of the arrow off with a large tool.
"What of this, Brother?"
"When Jane meets with me, and after we talk, I will pay for my transgressions against this world. Until then, expect more of this."
He muttered a spell from the ancient tome that brought life to inanimate objects. Abandoned cars started up with a roar and sped down the streets; trash cans dumped all their contents and hopped about, smashing into windows and people; light posts whipped around like snakes caught by their tail. The mortals fled from the mayhem or were chased by it.
Author's Note: I love the ending for its classic comic cheesiness. Lol.
Thanks for sticking with the story! It means a lot. Love sent my way is also love sent to my sister. The story becomes her baby just as much as mine. Lol
Up Next: Jane POV