*Disclaimer: I have two disclaimers about this chapter. First is that I do not own the lyrics that are in this chapter; they are from the original Road to Eldorado movie and have remained unchanged. Second, I have never been either high or drunk, so I neither know nor care to know how accurate this chapter is in reference to the trippy drunkenness that Loki and Thor get themselves into.

Chapter 9

It's Tough to Be a God

Thor managed to tug Loki out of their temple once they were fully clothed in their godly getup, and soon Thor, Loki, and Sleipnir were at the bottom of the stairs, and before them a huge crowd of the citizens of Norumbega had assembled. It had grown far colder outside now that night had fallen, and there was snow gently falling to dust everyone lightly with white. For a long moment, the three stood on the very last step, and they looked out over the congregation of those who believed they were gods. Nobody said anything for a minute, and the only sound was that of the wind blowing, bringing little flurries of snowflakes with it.

And then Chief Selvig's voice was faintly heard from somewhere off to their right: "Come on, smile! Like you mean it! And a one, and a two, and a one, two, three!"

Some cheery music then started up, and the place sprang into life as a few small children dashed forward and gawked up at the two men and their eight-legged horse. And then a few men stepped forward and excitedly ushered their gods into their midst, pushing foods and drinks at them eagerly. Music and voices swirled around Thor, and he lost sight of both Loki and Sleipnir for a short second. But…. Well, there couldn't be any harm to a little bit of revelry, right? Besides, some food and drink was not the same as giving in to temptation. Thor happily accepted a drink from a pretty young woman and lifted it to his lips.

Wait… was that Jane over there in the crowd, wildly waving her arms at him and shaking her head vigorously? What was she telling him not to do? Thor didn't understand. He shook his head in confusion to indicate his lack of understanding, and he then took a very long draught from the cup that he had been given. He glanced back towards Jane once he had finished. She was slapping her hand to her forehead and staring up at the sky angrily, as if asking the real gods 'why do I even bother?'

Thor just shrugged again. He was feeling a definite lightness in his limbs, and a bubbly feeling in his heart and head, and that bubbly feeling escaped from him in a very loud laugh. Everything seemed very… funny, suddenly. He finished draining the cup he had been given, and then he threw it to the ground when it was empty. "Another!" he roared, and the crowd cheered in approval. Another cup was pushed into his (now slightly tingly) hands, and he took another big swig.

What followed this all seemed very blurry in Thor's mind for a while, and then things were very colorful and bright and happy. He wasn't sure how much of it was a dream, and how much of it was real. But this was what he remembered:

Loki floated towards Thor through the crowd (was he floating or walking? Did the laws of physics extend that far for them? Oh, wait… no, Loki was walking. Thor had had to try very hard to focus on Loki's feet in order to see them). Then Loki burst into song and sang to Thor:

"I hardly think I'm qualified

To come across all sanctified

I just don't cut it with the cherubim…"

Thor laughed and leaped forward, seeming to hang suspended in the air for a moment before gently floating down to land gracefully on the ground before Loki. He gestured grandly around at the citizens of Norumbega, who seemed to be alternately flitting through the air like butterflies and then bowing on the ground before Thor and his brother, paying homage to them with more goblets of that delicious substance Thor had imbibed. He throatily sang to Loki in return to his worries,

"Loki, what are you talking about?!

There again, they're on their knees!

Being worshipped is a breeze!

Which rather suits us in the interim…"

He swept up a cup of that godly drink and shoved it into Loki's hand. For a moment, Thor thought he saw Jane and Naomi jumping in slow motion somewhere far away, waving their arms in warning, but Thor couldn't be sure—it might have just been the breeze carrying some snow—and Loki gulped down his cupful.

To Thor, Loki's smile seemed unnaturally large, and he couldn't be sure if either of them were wearing shoes anymore (he certainly couldn't feel his feet, and his eyes didn't seem to be able to focus on the ground anymore). But who cared if they had shoes, anyway… had he not told Loki earlier in their adventure that their shoes would randomly disappear and reappear at strange intervals?

Loki swayed slightly on his feet, and he unsteadily twirled as he repeated Thor's words in singsong.

"The interim, the interim

It's me and him

Oh, my god!"

Thor laughed heartily, and he slapped Loki's back, launching the pair of them into flight (or were they running? It was impossible to tell when they couldn't see or feel their feet anymore), and they danced over rooftops and ducked shooting stars as the brothers sang together.

"It's tough to be a god!

Tread where mortals have not trod!

Being deified when really, you're a sham!"

Thor no longer minded that everything seemed overly bright and beautiful, and it seemed that neither did Loki, for they were masters of the universe, gods of the world, and—oooohhhh look, there was a shiny thing! He reached forward and grabbed for it, seizing the shiny thing.

"Hey!" Loki shouted, but he was too busy laughing to make his shout of protest sound convincing. Someone had just said something very funny, he thought—someone had just asked if he was alright. For some unfathomable reason it had struck him as very funny, and he hadn't been able to stop laughing since. But Thor had just grabbed the shiny golden horned helmet off of Loki's head. "That was my helmet, you oaf!" he informed Thor.

Thor blinked blankly for a second. Loki's voice seemed to be coming from a long way off, and he thought it might be underwater as well. When Loki's words finally sank in, he glanced down at the shiny thing in his hands. Ah, so it was! The shiny thing was Loki's helmet! Thor started laughing along with Loki, until something touched Thor's elbow.

Thor turned slightly to see an angel astride some great dragonlike beast… it was the most beauteous and yet fearsome sight he had ever seen. Then Jane's voice came from the angel:

"Thor, Loki, come over here!"

The dragonlike beast pranced in place anxiously and then took a few steps away, obviously trying to get Thor and Loki to follow.

"Sleipnir!" Loki slid forward and threw his arms around the dragonlike beast's neck, and Thor suddenly thought maybe he was looking at Sleipnir and not a dragon. "It has been ages since I last saw you!" Loki proclaimed, and he planted a kiss on Sleipnir's velvety nose, at which the horse looked rather confused and uncertain.

"Come on, you two," the Jane-angel beckoned again, and there was suddenly a lightness on Thor's head.

"Hey!" Thor cried. "Did you take my winged helmet?" he reached up to feel his head (it took him a few tries to find his head with his hands, and then he confirmed that his helmet was indeed gone). "You took my helmet!"

"And you have to catch me to get it back. Follow me!" Sleipnir bounded up into the air, flying over people's heads and twisting through the air like a bird of prey. Thor gaped at the flying horse and then leaped up, finding that he could fly, too! He shouted in joy and beckoned for Loki to join him. Then Thor swam through the air as if it was water, shooting after Sleipnir and Jane, determined to get his winged helmet back. As he flew, rainbow bubbles of color bobbed past, making him fuzzily think that this really was like swimming, except he didn't need to hold his breath.

There seemed to be two copies of Sleipnir running through the sky in unison, and Thor wasn't sure which one to follow. Or was he seeing double? He couldn't tell anymore. He pointed to one of the Sleipnir's and barked at Loki, "You go after that one, and I'll go after the other!"

Loki nodded solemnly, and Thor blearily thought that Loki was a good brother, to help him chase after multiple dragony-looking Sleipnirs and angelic Janes too get back his winged helmet (hmm each of the Jane's was holding a winged helmet, and he wasn't sure which was the real one, and those colored bubbles kept popping in his face like they were made of flash powder: how distracting…). But he must vanquish the dragon and retrieve his winged helmet!

Bellowing, Thor charged after Jane and Sleipnir, his feet scattering stardust as he leaped over the moon and kicked floating snowflakes out of his way. Loki followed, drops of moonlight splashing up around his feet as he tried to tackle one of the Sleipnir doubles, but he misjudged the distance and stumbled into a cloud heavy with snow, and more snow blew in on the wind. The two Sleipnirs nickered and pranced in unison, drawing the two brothers forward tantalizingly, while the two Janes held up the two winged helmets persuasively.

Growling in frustration, Thor and Loki ran after the dragonlike horses, pursuing them through the night sky.

"This way!"

Sleipnir rounded a corner, but Loki and Thor were not fast enough to change direction, and they found themselves slamming into something hard—the face of a building that both of them were sure had not been there before. The world exploded in a beautiful show of rainbow dewdrops and sparks, and the indistinct sound of laughter and music that faded into silence as the rest of the world faded into black was a welcome warm darkness from the loud color that had reigned their minds this evening.

00000

On Asgard, Heimdall smiled wryly. Even in mortal form, Loki and Thor had not lost their taste for partying and causing trouble. He just felt bad for the girls and Sleipnir, who had to deal with them now. Poor Jane and Naomi were taking responsibility for the brothers… and surely that would only lead to more trouble.

In the meantime, Heimdall consoled himself with the thought that they'd be waking up in the morning with what would surely be a killer hangover.

Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: Yay, super-trippy randomness! Lol. I just wanted to recreate that utter weird imagery from the It's Tough to Be a God scene, but I didn't want to make it too long. So I just used parts of the It's Tough to Be a God song and let the rest of it just be more randomness. I hope you enjoyed it

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