Hope y'all had a happy Halloween! I didn't go Trick-or-Treating because... I'm too lazy to walk, BUT I still had a lot of left over candy since not many kids were Trick-or-Treating in my neighborhood. Unfortunately, all of those damn kids took my Kit Kats...

The title of this chapter is from Breaking Benjamin 'I Will Not Bow'

I think you all know by now that I don't own Marvel

Chapter Ten

Now the dark begins to rise

Madison. Madison. Madison. Madison. Madison. Madison. Madison. Madison. Madison. I stare up at the grey cloudy sky above as the ship soars through the Dark World. After the little brotherly fight between Thor and Loki, an awkward silence fell over us that I didn't know how to break. So, naturally, I got really bored. And now, I'm lounging on the bench lazily, my elbows on the edge of the ship and my head tilted backwards up towards the sky.

Nearby, Loki watches me out of the corner of his eyes. I consider my position, but then just shrug it off.

Sure, I'm exposing my throat right next to a mass murderer, but what's the worst he can do? Kill me? Phh, yeah right, I'd like to see him try!

Madison. Madison. Madison. Madison. Madison. I continue to repeat in my mind, bobbing my head every time I think her name. I've been trying to contact her for a while now. I know I couldn't talk to her on Asgard, but now I'm on Svartalfheim (it took me forever to learn how to say that) which is a whole different realm. For all I know, it could be closer to Earth than Asgard is.

Madison. Madison. Madison.

I haven't gotten a reply.

Madison. Madison. Madison.

I gave up hope a while ago, actually. Now I'm just saying her name out of boredom. Who knows, maybe my annoying thoughts will cut through time and space and she'll hear me?

Madison. Madison. Ma- My thinking is cut off by the Wolf snarling in my mind, Will you shut it? She can't hear you!

Why don't you- wait, you can hear me when I'm talking to her? I ask, knitting my eyebrows. The Wolf rolls its imaginary eyes and replies, You're not talking to her. You're talking to yourself.

So, you can hear my personal thoughts? I counter, Creeper.

Well, when you keep on repeating the same word over and over! it retorts, and then goes back to sulking at the edge of my mind.

I pause for a moment, and then start bobbing my head again and continue, Madison. Madison. Madison. Madison. Madison.

The Wolf groans.

"What are you doing?"

My thoughts are interrupted once more, but this time by Loki. I pull my head up and look at the trickster, "Trying to talk to my sister. Now hush. I need to think through the fabrics of the Yggdrasil to reach her."

Thor, who's still sitting next to Jane, perks up and asks, "Madison. Can you contact her?"

"Well, I'm trying." I reply, "But so far, I've got zilch. That means nothing."

The God of Thunder nods and turns back to Jane. I'm about to continue with my mental phone call when I notice Loki staring at me. Again.

Can't this guy keep his eyes to himself?

"Who's Madison?" the Sly One asks. I sit up and answer, "She's my sister." I hesitate, and then correct myself, "Well, step-sister. I'm adopted."

An odd look flashes in his eyes for half a moment, but then Loki asks, "If you aren't related, then how can communicate telepathically? Thor and I aren't blood brothers, and we cannot do that."

I frown and tilt my head, "You and Thor aren't related?"

"No." Loki growls, the tone of his voice saying not to pursue this conversation. Meanwhile, his brother glances over at us and says, "I've mentioned this before, Lady Zoey."

I roll my eyes and sigh, "I need to pay more attention to what you say."

"Don't." Loki says immediately, "I promise, it won't do you any good."

Thor glares at him.

"Answer my question." the trickster demands, and I remember what he asked. "Alright then, bossy." I grumble, and then explain, "First, I told you I'm a wolf mutant, right?"

He nods and I continue, "So, when I was born, my stupid parents sold me to some science lab where scientists did all this crap on me and made me a mutant. Yeah? Okay, so, this military dude named Mason got me out of there and sort of adopted me into his family, which is basically Madison and her mother. Then, like, almost eight years later he shows up again and tells me all this random stuff about my powers. And I'm just like 'dude, kinda late for that'! I mean, talk about keeping secrets! Anyway, then all this stuff happened with the Avengers and- wait, you know what? I'm getting off-track here. Main point, he told me that Madison and I have a 'special connection' because when I first met her I was ready for a 'subject'. Not really sure what all that meant, but there's your answer."

By the time I finish my explanation, Loki has a strange expression on his face. It kinda looks like he's remembering something. I glance over at Thor and see him wearing the same look, only less intense.

After a moment, it dawns on me and I glance back at Loki, "You got daddy problems too, Jailbird?"

The trickster jerks back to reality and narrows his eyes at me, "That's none of your business." He turns away and gazes out into the distance.

I'll take that as a yes.

"Same here." I say, leaning back, "Only I don't really consider him my dad." He gives me a sharp look and I add, "I mean, I never really talked to him much, and he's kinda like my boss, ya know? It's also really awkward between us whenever we do talk, so I just leave all the daddy socializing to Madison."

"And you don't feel any anger towards him," Loki asks, his eyes inquisitive, "for keeping the truth about your abilities from you?"

I glance at the sky, pondering for a moment, and then say, "Well, I already knew that I was different, and I had memories of the science lab. But, yeah, of course I did feel a little betrayed that he didn't tell me everything." Shaking my head, I look at him and say, "Whatever. That was then. Focus on the future, not the past."

The Sly One simply replies with a thoughtful, "Hmm." He turns back around and continues gazing at the land around us. Although, from the way his eyebrows are knitted and eyes are focused, I can tell that he's contemplating something.

Tilting my head, I scoot a bit closer to his kneeling position near the control stick and ask, "What are you thinking about, Jailbird?"

He doesn't answer right away. After a few moments of silence, I assume that he's not going to reply and just ignore me, but then he lets out a sigh.

Eyes still gazing out, Loki says slowly, "I'm thinking… that we're close to our destination."

I look up and finally notice our surroundings. It looks like we've gone deeper into the hovercraft graveyard, but now they're positioned so it seems like a city. Large metal structures lean over us, looking jagged and half-destroyed.

Beside me, Loki glances over his shoulder. I follow his gaze and see Jane has finally woken up. Hmm… something's off. Peering closely at her face, I notice her eyes are dark, with a crimson red glint in them.

I growl quietly. The Aether.

"Jane." Thor says, starting towards her. The astrophysicist ignores him and instead lifts herself up and looks over the ship's edge. She stares up at the sky, and I notice a large hovercraft emerging from the clouds. Uh oh.

So quiet that I can barely hear it, Jane murmurs, "Malekith."

I mentally groan. Ugh, not that white dingus again.

"We should land." Thor says loudly, looking at Loki. The trickster stands up and grips the control stick again, "Where?"

I look around, and then point to the land below us, "How 'bout behind that hill over there? So we can have the Element of Surprise?"

Loki nods and pushes the stick. The ship turns smoothly towards a group of hills on our left. As we fly, Jane stumbles to her feet and Thor puts a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

I frown, glaring at the blackness filling her eyes. Sniffing, I growl softly as the Aether's scent reaches my nose. My skin prickles uncomfortably and I give a very wolf-like shake of my head, making my ponytail flap around.

Wrinkling my nose, I move away from her and stand next to Loki. That doesn't help at all. The aura of magic around him makes my spine tingle and I grit my teeth, feeling frustrated.

Can't I feel normal for just five minutes?

Loki guides the ship down behind the hills and lands it gently in a valley. Thor jumps off first, and then turns to help Jane. Loki glances at me and I roll my eyes. Brushing past him, I leap off of the edge of the ship and land on my two feet.

The ground beneath me is basically just a landfill of pebbles, crushed rock, and some shards of metal. Yikes, better avoid those.

Soon, we're all off of the hovercraft and gazing at the land around us.

"What's the plan?" Jane asks after a pause. Thor glances at her, and then admits, "I never planned this part."

"Wonderful." I huff. Jane shrugs, suddenly looking small, and says, "Well, we can't just walk up to Malekith and ask him to take the Aether out of me."

"Yeah," I nod, and then perk up, "Well, maybe we can approach him like we're going to fight, and then…. something happens."

They all give me 'seriously?' look and I grin sheepishly, "Just a suggestion. Got any better ideas?"

We all fall silent, trying to think of a plan. Unfortunately, brainstorming isn't one of my specialties. Soon, my mind starts travelling to other irrelevant things, and I give myself a sharp jerk of my head to get focused again.

Jane hums and suggests, "Uh, I could 'wander' over there and pretend to be lost. I mean, if I have something as powerful as the Aether then it wouldn't be so surprising that I could find a portal to transport me here."

"No." Thor protests immediately, shaking his head, "We would have to be out of sight and far away to pull that off. If Malekith were to hurt you, then I may not be there in time…"

"Yeah, I guess so." she sighs, looking down.

I frown and scratch the back of my head. Hmm…. we need a plan to fool a Dark Elf…. a really white Dark Elf…. hmm…

Well, I've got nothing.

So, Wolf, I say in my head, Got any of your genius plans?

The Wolf huffs and peeks into my consciousness. Growling lowly, it rumbles, The prisoner.

Who? I raise an eyebrow and glance at Loki, You mean Jailbird? What can he do? Well, I guess he does have magic and all-

Use his villainous reputation to your advantage, the Wolf interrupts, seeming impatient.

I pause, processing what it means, and then my eyes widen, Ohhhhh, that's actually a good idea!

The Wolf rolls its imaginary eyes and huffs again. Turning to the others, I gesture to Loki and say, "He can pretend to betray us."

They all look at me. Thor frowns, "Betray us?"

"Pretend." I emphasise.

Thor and Loki glance at each other, and then the God of Thunder nods, "That could work. We've done something similar before."

"Yes, and it nearly got us killed." Loki sneers. I shake my head, making a mental note to ask about that little adventure later.

"So, we go up to, like, the top of the hill," I say, "And then Jailbird starts fighting us, or something like that."

"You'll need to neutralize me if Malekith is going to remove the Aether from Lady Jane." Thor adds, looking at his brother. The Sly One smirks, "Cutting off your hand should suffice."

Awkward silence.

….

"Anyway," I drawl, shifting my weight uncomfortably, "Then Loki can do something to Jane, or like, give her to Malekith?" They all look at me and I say, "Just try to show that you're kind of on his side, but not so much that you're going to help him with all the dark stuff."

"Of course." Loki says, still smirking. He opens his mouth to continue, but before he can say anything, the ground suddenly rumbles. I hiss and spread my arms to keep balance. The shaking continues for a few moments, and then stops.

We all straighten up and look at each other.

"That's our cue." I announce, turning towards the hill. Thor nods and says, "Malekith must've landed his ship." he leads the way up the hill, "We have no time to lose."

Jane follows him, looking a little shaky. I frown and sniff the air, hoping the Aether's not acting up again. The harsh, metallic scent reaches my nose, but it's not any stronger than it was before. This time, fear-scent is laced with it, rolling off her in waves.

I let out a sigh of relief. Good. Sort of. Better than the Aether, at least.

The back of my neck prickles and I glance to my left to see Loki staring at me. I raise an eyebrow and gesture to the hill, "Ladies first."

He rolls his eyes and starts up the slope. Grinning, I follow him and trot to his side. The wind starts to pick up as we climb higher, whistling creepily in my ears. My Asgardian toga thing flutters in the breeze and I flinch as little bits of rock and metal hit my legs.

Finally, we reach the top of the hill and gaze down at the land below us. Malekith's ship has landed at the edge of a large valley, and, with my enhanced eyes, I can see Dark Elves emerging from it. Although, I don't think anyone needs enhanced eyes to see the white snowflake in the midst of them.

"Alright." Thor says, watching the group, "Are you ready?"

Jane and I both nod. Next to me, Loki says, "I am." Thor gives him a look and then steps forward a bit, eyes on the Dark Elves.

Loki glances at me and asks sarcastically, "You know this plan of yours is going to get us killed?"

"Yeah, probably." I shrug casually. He gives a judgemental huff and moves next to Thor. Silently, he holds up his cuffed wrists, looking at him expectantly. Thor hesitates.

"You still don't trust me, brother?" Loki sneers. Thor glances at him and asks, "Would you?" Without waiting for a reply, he unlocks the handcuffs. Once free from the restrains, Loki lowers his hands and rubs his wrists.

I notice a flash of green in his right hand and see him holding a dagger. My eyes widen, but before I can do anything, he mutters, "No, I wouldn't." and stabs Thor. The God of Thunder grunts in pain and Loki throws him down the hill.

"Thor!" Jane and I both yell. Suddenly, Loki whirls around and grabs me roughly by my shoulders. I yelp in shock and he shoves me off my feet, tossing me down the hill. Hissing, I unsheathe my claws and scrabble as I continue to tumble. The rocks and metal shards dig into any bare skin they can find, and I mentally thank Sif for lending me some battle armor.

Finally, I manage to roll onto my belly and dig my claws into the ground. As I slide to a stop, I hear Loki's voice echo, "You really think I cared about Frigga? About any of you?"

I whip my head to the side and see the Sly One stalking towards Thor. I'm about to go attack him when the Wolf barks in my mind, Wait!

Its voice causes me to hesitate and I watch as Loki kicks his brother in the face. I flinch, but notice that Thor reacted a bit late.

My eyes widen and I let out a quiet sigh of relief. Good, he's sticking with the plan. Damn, they're good actors!

White flashes at the edge of my vision and I glance over to see Malekith walking closer. Ignoring him, Loki continues ranting to his brother, "All I ever wanted was you and Odin dead at my feet!"

Groaning, Thor raises an arm and tries to summon Mjolnir. As the hammer comes flying to him, Loki lunges forward and slices his hand off with his dagger. This time, I notice the blood coming too early, and way too dramatically.

Still, Thor yells in pain and cradles his handless arm to his chest. Jane rushes to his side, and then looks up at me.

"Zoey, help!" she cries out and I feel my heart lurch. Uh oh! She thinks this is real!

Malekith glances at me and I reluctantly scramble to my feet, trying to look a little injured. Loki turns to me and gives a flick of his wrist. Suddenly, black vines appear and wrap around my hands and feet, sending me crashing to the floor.

Grunting, I look up and watch as the trickster roughly grabs Jane by her midsection and lifts her up. Jane struggles, but he pins her to his side and drags her forward.

"Malekith!" he shouts, "I am Loki of Jotunheim, and I bring you a gift!" I frown in confusion. Jotunheim? Isn't that the land of those frosty guys that Thor was once rambling about?

I make a mental note to bring that up later as Loki throws Jane at Malekith's feet. She looks up at him, her dark eyes glinting with fear.

"I ask only one thing return." Loki says, and arm raised, "A good seat from which to watch Asgard burn."

Acting, acting, acting, acting, acting. I repeat the word in my head, praying to whatever god that can hear me for it to be true.

The big, rock-like elf from earlier (I thought I killed him!), who I now know as Kurse, mutters something to Malekith. The lead Dark Elf remains emotionless, assessing the God of Mischief in front of him. Without a word, he walks towards Thor and growls, "Look at me."

With his foot, he kicks Thor so he's on his back. Malekith then gives me a long look, and I resist a shudder. Turning away, the Dark Elf raises an arm. At the same time, Jane starts levitating in the air. I inhale sharply and watch as Malekith starts to draw the Aether from her. It twirls in the air, vile and evil-smelling.

This time, I'm ready for the Wolf's freak attack. It jerks around in my head, snarling, Let me out! Let me out! Time to morph! Time to kill!

Time to shut the hell up! I retort, grabbing its presence in imaginary hands and shoving it back down. It tries to push its way back up, and I feel my snout grow longer for a split second. Growling with determination, I push it down with all my might and look up.

Now, all of the Aether is suspended in the air, flicking and twisting eerily. Jane drops to the ground with a thud. For a moment, a heavy silence falls between us.

Then, Thor shouts, "Loki! Now!"

Suddenly, his hand reappears and the vines around me vanish. Thor summons Mjolnir and lashes out at the Aether. Lightning erupts from his hammer and strikes the dark magic.

Sensing the danger coming, I scramble to my feet and rush towards Jane, who has the least armor on her. I fling myself on top of her, shielding her from the sparks of electricity flying.

I feel a heavy weight on my upper back and my spine tingles. Loki. The trickster is forcing me lower to the ground, his arm next to mine and his armored torso shielding my face, as well as Jane. Peeking out from under his chest, I watch the scene before us.

Thor's lightning is still shocking the Aether, to no avail. The electricity only forms a white circle around it. With a blinding flash, the ball contracts and then explodes.

I squeeze my eyes shut and the pressure on my shoulders increases as Loki cringes. A fragment of red stone cuts my nose and I swallow a yelp. Finally, the shards stop flying and I open my eyes.

Altogether, the Aether-stones slowly rise into the air. Thor glances at them and frowns, breathing heavily. Above me, Loki shifts as he eyes them warily. They turn into sand-like particles and then suddenly rush towards Malekith, flooding into his mouth, eyes, and nose as he screams. I wince. Gross.

When Malekith opens his eyes again, they're black and red, like Jane's were. Uh oh.

Giving Kurse a sharp look, the lead Dark Elf turns around and stalks back towards the ship. A group of elves start towards us and Loki rises to his feet, pulling me up as well. Jane stands, but stumbles, so I grab her arm and yank her behind me.

"Go." I mutter, "Run!"

Obeying me, she turns around and flees.

As the elves get closer, Thor swings his hammer and whacks them aside. I move to help him, but stop as Kurse glances back at us and tosses something over his shoulder.

I narrow my eyes in confusion, and all of the sudden a hand grabs my SHIELD collar and yanks me back. I yelp as Loki pushes me behind him and I fall to the floor. He moves as if to dive onto me, but suddenly a black hole bursts open in the air and sucks him back.

The trickster grunts as he's lifted into the air, trying to get back onto the ground but failing. I scramble to my feet, my heart rabbiting as I watch him get closer and closer to the hole.

Without a second thought, I let myself morph into my wolf form and leap. I haven't morphed since the battle in the prisons, but I never noticed how much I've grown over the year. My now bigger and stronger legs push me into the air with such force that I collide with Loki harder than intended.

Grunting, I grab his scruff in my jaws as we fall back onto the ground. I land on my four paws with a thud, but don't let go of Loki. The wind from the black hole is still tugging at my fur, but I'm too heavy to be sucked into the air.

Abruptly, the pulling stops and I let go of the trickster. He drops to the ground and his knife clatters before disappearing in a flash of magic. The trickster looks up at me, dazed. Confusion passes over his face and he whispers, "Fenrir?"

I frown. Who is this 'Fenrir' he keeps talking about? Hmm, could it be that other wolf I saw with him in my dream?

Deciding that this isn't the best time for questions, I morph back into my human form and hold out a hand. Loki looks disappointed for a moment, but then grabs my hand. As I pull him up, he mutters, "Wolf mutant. Right."

Suddenly, Malekith's ship starts humming as it prepares to leave. Nearby, Thor flies over to the elves walking onto the ship. Before he can do anything, Kurse whirls around and whacks him back.

The God of Thunder crashes onto the ground and Kurse stalks towards him. The Dark Elf punches him again, sending him tumbling farther away.

Meanwhile, Malekith's ship leaves, but I notice a bunch of Dark Elves staying behind and charging towards Loki and I. Glancing to my left, I see more elves approaching us. Gathering together, they all form a circle around us and raise their weapons.

I slowly back away, not taking my eyes off of them. I search for the familiar tingling feeling of Loki's magic and follow it to him.

Soon, we're back to back, eyeing the Dark Elves surrounding us. Quietly, I take out the daggers that I stole from the guards when Thor and I went to the Asgardian prison. Reaching behind me, I silently pass one to Loki.

Thor never gave him a weapon.

The trickster takes it without a word. The Dark Elves continue to circle us. I wait, my muscles taut, for one to make the first move.

None of them do.

I notice a few of them looking at me like 'what the hell is this stupid mortal doing here?'. Smirking, I lean back a bit, my back brushing Loki's, and murmur, "You take the ones on the right, I'll take the ones on the left?"

He lets out a soft, but mischievous laugh and lunges forward, grabbing one elf's shoulder and disarming it before stabbing the creature in the neck. As if on cue, all of Dark Elves start attacking us.

"I'll take that as a yes." I mutter before diving into battle.

Okay, if any of you draw a picture of that scene (with Loki and Zoey back-to-back about to kick some elf ass) I will love you forever! I just- they're just so- yes! Okay, I got that out, so now... yeah, bye

-Periwinkle Skittles