*I'm glad everyone liked the last chapter so much XD I was quite happy with it myself. Thank you all for the continued support, and I hope you like this chapter, too!
Thor and Tony: April's Fools
"Alright, everyone, we're going to meet up in the debriefing room. I'll be there in a few minutes," Nick said over the earpieces.
"Where are you going? How come you're not going straight to the debriefing room?" Natasha's voice asked.
"I've got something to check on… Agent Hill says there's a problem I should hear about," Nick sighed.
"You think it's another Loki prank?" Naomi asked.
"I don't think so," Fury answered. "She sounded rather shocked, but she's not in the tower. I don't think she's been pranked or anything."
"Speaking of," Clint said slowly. "Who hasn't been pranked yet?"
"Bruce and Nick," Tony said immediately.
"You don't really think he'd prank Bruce, do you?" Steve asked, scratching his chest before Naomi discreetly stuck her foot out in front of his, making him stumble and lose his balance, almost falling over. She smirked; he was now too busy giving her a glare to remember to scratch himself ceaselessly.
"I wouldn't put it past him," Tony sighed. "We thought he wouldn't prank Naomi, but she got pranked."
"Twice," Naomi put in miserably. "I feel so smegging betrayed…"
"The god of mischief, trickery, and lies makes his girlfriend feel betrayed?" Natasha feigned surprise. "What a shocker…"
"And you still haven't told us what he did," Tony said excitedly. "What did he do? You said… wardrobe malfunctions, didn't you?"
"You'll see when we get to the debriefing room," Naomi said shortly. "I am not telling you over the earpieces. I think I'd rather be laughed at to my face. Then my threats to murder you have a little more substance."
"Back to the question of who hasn't gotten pranked," Clint reminded them. "Why do you think he wouldn't prank Bruce, Steve?"
"Because he's the Hulk when he gets mad," Rogers muttered. "And pranking a guy with that big of anger problems probably isn't a good idea. No offense, Bruce."
Natasha relayed the message to the doctor, who didn't have an earpiece. "He says it's fine, and he hopes he doesn't get pranked, too. He wouldn't want to get out of control." She paused. "But he also isn't making any promises."
"Alright, well… Let's meet up, then. I'll see you guys in a few minutes," Steve said. Everyone agreed.
Natasha, Clint, Bruce, Steve, and Naomi soon met outside the debriefing room.
Naomi blushed furiously as she was greeted with both Natasha and Clint's snickers. Bruce managed to hide his a little better, though he was obviously trying not to laugh as he pressed his lips together very hard.
"Something funny?" she snapped, crossing her arms over her chest.
"No," Bruce said, his voice slightly choked. "Just… um… Steve constantly scratching himself is a funny sight."
"Liar," Clint laughed out loud now, unable to contain himself. "Naomi, seeing you in Loki's outfit is just… priceless! It's just… so… comical!" he laughed.
Natasha covered her grin with her hand. "Sorry, Naomi. It's not even that it necessarily looks bad on you… it's just really funny."
The Huntress stuck her tongue out at the group, then shot a glare at Steve, daring him to say something. He hadn't commented on her new outfit, but had been constantly sneaking glances at her out of the corner of his eye. "Any other comments you'd like to add, Captain?"
"At least it's not covered in itching powder," he said mutinously, reaching down to scratch at his knees.
She rolled her eyes. "Fair point."
"So that's what you meant by wardrobe malfunctions?" Clint said, eyeing the Huntress and Captain America.
"Yeah," Naomi sighed, "What part of that isn't obvious?"
"So where are Tony and Thor?" Bruce asked. "I know Nick said he had something to do, but shouldn't Tony and Thor be here by now?"
Everyone looked around.
"I don't know," Steve said, cocking his head to one side. "No one's heard from them?"
They all shook their heads.
"Anyone know what floor they were on?" Clint asked, slowly lowering the microphone to his mouth. "I'll try to contact them on the earpieces… maybe they're just taking their time." He then switched on the microphone. "Stark? Thor? Do you copy?"
Everyone could hear a moment of static on their earpieces still in their ears.
Muffled shouts followed the static, with dispersed static interrupting the muffled shouts.
Then the dissonance cleared enough for the words "—stupid elevator! What the-?!" to be said by Tony Stark himself.
Steve spoke into his own microphone: "Tony, we didn't catch that. Did you say something about the elevator?"
More static and muffled shouts. Then Thor's voice came on. "Stark, do you think perhaps the others can hear us through your ear devices?"
"I don't know, Thor, why don't you try?" tony snapped.
There was the sound of clicking, clattering, and tapping. "Friends, can you hear me?"
"We hear you loud and clear, Thor," Clint said, breathing a sigh of relief. "What's going on? Where are you?"
There was silence for a moment. "I do not hear a response," Thor's voice said fretfully.
There was the sound of banging in the background. "What is wrong with this stupid thing?!" Tony asked furiously.
"Thor? Tony?" Naomi asked again, tapping her earpiece. "You guys?"
"Hello? My comrades?" Thor's voice asked again. "If you can hear me, please respond. We are in distress."
"Thor, what's going on?" Natasha demanded, speaking loudly and clearly into the microphone.
"Why do they not respond, Tony?" Thor asked worriedly.
"I don't know, Point Break," tony said angrily. "I don't really care so much about that. What I want to know is why this elevator stopped working!"
The others exchanged dark looks as they heard the conversation.
"What's going on?" Bruce asked, still in the dark from lack of earpiece.
"They can't hear us, and it sounds like they're stuck in the elevator," Steve quickly explained.
"Another prank?" Bruce sighed.
"Sounds like it," Natasha sighed, rubbing her forehead.
The four Avengers with earpieces paused and listened intently as Tony's voice came in a mumble through the microphone again.
"Okay, Thor, keep trying to contact them… I'm going to try to hack into the building systems… this is ridiculous," Tony muttered to himself. "I have to hack into my own building technology."
"Let's go try to get them out," Clint sighed, heading down the hall towards the elevators.
00000
Thor and Tony had no idea what was going to happen when they stepped into the elevator. Nick had left them moments before, claiming he had some business to take care of with Agent Hill. The two were to continue to the debriefing room.
And so they planned to… until the elevator managed to get itself stuck.
"Fifteenth floor is the debriefing room, correct?" Thor asked the painted-green man as they stepped in the elevator.
"You got it, Zeus," Tony answered, stretching his arms over his head before pausing and absentmindedly scratching at the paint on his elbow. "You have any idea how irritating it is to be covered in green paint?"
Thor smiled. "No. However, I have been the victim of many of Loki's pranks. None of which have been particularly pleasant." He inspected the rows of buttons in the elevator and pressed the one for the fifteenth floor. "Though who is this Zeus you refer to? No doubt it is some reference to some or other movie you and Naomi Carson always find it so amusing to quote, despite my lack of understanding."
"There you are actually wrong, my godlike friend," Tony said, brightening as the elevator started to lower. "Zeus is actually a reference to Greek mythology. Zeus is the god of lightning and thunder."
Thor cocked his head to one side, thinking this over. "Ah, I now see your jest about calling me Zeus," he nodded and grinned.
Tony smiled. "Little slow on the uptake, but I guess that's okay."
The elevator stopped and the two readied to leave, stepping toward the doors… which didn't open. They waited a moment.
"Hm…" tony tapped the doors with his painted-green shoe. It stayed shut. "What on earth?" he kicked a little harder. It remained shut. Tony stepped back and looked at the numbers above the elevator doors. "W-wait… this isn't the fifteenth floor, Thor."
Thor looked back at the human, his blue eyes wide. "What do you mean? Your elevator is supposed to stop on the floor which the button you pressed refers to, correct?"
Tony nodded, and pointed at the numbers above the elevator doors. "That's what it's supposed to do… but right now the light for both the twenty-third and the twenty-second floor are lit up… so I'm guessing we're in between the two." Tony stamped his foot, as if hoping the elevator would continue descending. "Why'd this stupid thing stop?"
Thor frowned. He didn't like this one bit. "Perhaps Loki has done something to the elevator…"
Tony shook his head vigorously. "No way. This is my technology. He could not have done anything to it. Jarvis must be having issues." Tony then hit the side of the elevator. "Come on, J! Let's get going now, shall we?"
Thor felt uneasy. This situation didn't sit well with him… he knew Loki. This seemed like a prank that he would pull.
Stark now started pounding on the walls of the elevator and shouting for it to move.
"Stark, please calm yourself," Thor said in a would-be soothing voice if Tony was even listening. With a sigh, Thor lowered his microphone to his mouth, but still addressed Tony. "Stark, do you think perhaps the others can hear us through your ear devices?"
Tony huffed, now poking every button on the panel in an effort to get it to respond. "I don't know, Point Break. Why don't you try?"
Thor fumbled with his microphone for a second, making sure it was in the correct position to transmit. "Friends, can you hear me?"
The two men in the elevator paused, listening carefully to a steady static.
"I do not hear a response," Thor said fretfully.
They continued trying to contact the others for another moment… at least, Thor tried to contact them while Tony started ranting about stupid technology and yelling at the elevator.
Finally, Tony unscrewed the control panel from the wall of the elevator. He explained that he was going to hack into the building's systems to try to get the elevator to move again.
"I shall try to contact our comrades," Thor said with a sigh. "I do not know why they do not answer. Perhaps Loki has them trapped in their own horrible prank. We should try to find a way to help them, Stark."
Tony muttered something under his breath about helping themselves first, and it wasn't Loki, it was the stupid tech. Loki couldn't do anything to his technology, Tony muttered indistinctly, twisting a few wires inside the panel and rearranging a few others.
"I think you'd be surprised with what Loki can do with magic," Thor said ominously, looking over Tony's shoulder at the circuit boards and wires.
"Hmm…" Tony frowned and rubbed his chin. "Still can't seem to get it to work. I'm going to access Jarvis's main systems now and see if I can't at least get him to talk to us and see if he can tell us what's wrong." Tony moved his hands to another part of the circuitry and fiddled with it. "Jarvis, you hear me?"
"Yes, sir," a voice said from the speaker in the elevator.
"You know what's wrong with this stupid elevator?" Tony asked, frowning. Jarvis's voice sounded a little off… but it was probably just the confines of the elevator distorting it or something. Small spaces and metal walls could mess up sound, right?
"Yes, sir, I know exactly what's wrong with your precious contraption," the voice said.
Tony frowned and looked at Thor. "That's not Jarvis, is it?" he asked, grimacing.
Thor shook his head, his face a mixture of "I told you so" and grim apprehension. "Loki, we know it's you. Stop your trickery and allow us out of this elevator."
"Oh, but what would be the fun in that, brother?" Loki's voice mocked. "It's so much more enjoyable to sit here and watch Stark have a tantrum over his technology… I don't get to see it often, and I'm starting to think I should ambush his devices more often," he said thoughtfully.
"You'd better not, Reindeer Games!" Tony said, shaking his fist at the security camera in the corner of the elevator.
"Ah, yes, because you're so obviously able to stop me," Loki drawled sarcastically.
"Loki, we will catch you and stop you from causing anyone any more grief and trouble today," Thor vowed.
"I'm sure," Loki said, obviously unconvinced. "Anyways, I just wanted to wish you a happy April Fool's Day… you are both April's Fools, by the way."
"So we noticed, Lok—" Tony's retort was cut off with a scream as the elevator suddenly plunged straight down without warning.
Both the genius's and the god's legs buckled as they lost their balance, and they collapsed to the floor.
Loki's malevolent laugh emanated from the speaker for a moment.
Thor managed to pull himself off the floor and then yanked Stark upright as well. They braced themselves against the metal walls as they continued to plummet. "Loki, stop this madness!" Thor shouted over Tony's continued panicked scream.
And to both men's surprise, the elevator did stop, just as suddenly as it had dropped. And as the floor seemed to push upward from the sudden gravity, they both felt their knees buckle and they fell to the floor again. Both cursed under their breath.
The doors slid open to reveal an anxious-looking group of the other Avengers standing outside.
The elevator let out a merry ding, and Loki's voice came once again from the speaker. "You have now reached your destination. Enjoy your reprieve… while it lasts."
The other Avengers looked shocked.
"Um…" Naomi raised her eyebrows at the two men, now struggling to their feet once again. "Pranked again, huh?"
"Shut up," Tony spat, sighing in relief as he exited the elevator.
Thor followed. "Loki somehow ambushed the elevator so that we were trapped, and then let us plummet the rest of the way to this floor."
Clint, Natasha, and Naomi cleared their throats awkwardly. "Actually, that last part was kind of… us…" Clint said slowly.
Tony turned on them. "What?" He let his eyes survey the wall next to the elevator. The elevator call button panel had been stripped away, exposing wires and circuit boards.
Bruce was holding a pair of pliers, and a few wires hung loose on the floor around him. "Sorry, guys. I didn't realize it would drop that fast. I disabled the circuits that were holding you between the twenty third and twenty second floor… I didn't know that would also disable the brakes until you reached this floor. My bad."
Tony gaped at the doctor. "Your bad?" he repeated. "Your bad?! You gave us both heart attacks and we could have died dropping like that and the best you can say is 'my bad'?!"
Steve, Clint, and Thor were now holding Tony back from leaping on Banner.
"You should be thanking me!" Bruce protested. "I got you guys out of there, didn't I? If I hadn't, Loki could've held you in there for hours!"
Everyone froze as their earpieces let out a static hiss, crackle, and then a voice. "Avengers, assemble in the debriefing room," Nick's voice demanded. "I will be their shortly. We have an even bigger problem than we thought."
They exchanged looks.
"What?" Bruce asked.
"We have got to get you an earpiece," Steve muttered. "Nick needs us to meet up in the debriefing room… where we're supposed to be, anyway."
"It's not our fault the elevator was hacked!" Tony exclaimed.
"Shut your mouth, Stark," Natasha sighed.
"Nick says we have an even bigger problem than we thought." Steve finished.
"By the way, Stark," Naomi added offhandedly. "You scream like a girl."
Tony's eyes widened. "You heard?"
"Tony, I'm fairly sure the queen of England could hear you…" Naomi reconsidered. "No, I'm fairly sure they could hear you in Asgard. Come on."
She sidestepped as Tony tried to tackle her, skipping out of the way with a mischievous grin.
"Okay, you guys, act your age. Debriefing room," Clint said, stepping in between the genius and the young woman. "Now. Before Loki pranks us again."
Note from LoquaciousQuibbler: Lol Tony and Thor, both pranked again… stuck in the elevator. *shakes head tragically* And then plummeting another seven and a half floors… but that wasn't even a Loki prank XD all Bruce's fault there… :P
So… who do we have left? Bruce and Nick? WILL Loki have the guts and brains to prank the Hulk? Or is he too filled with trepidation after what happened in the penthouse during the New York invasion? (Puny god…) And would Loki have the audacity to prank Nick Fury? Well, we shall find out, won't we? Heheh we still have a couple more chapters to go ;)
Please tell me what you thought of this chapter in a review, and favorite and follow, too. I shall see you next Wednesday!