AN: As if you guys don't already have to wait long enough for the chapters... I'm SO SORRY T.T I just have the worst case of writer's block right now. Like, I think I literally strained myself trying to right this. Warning: there is a LOT of dialogue.
I might bump the rating up to M for later chapters. I mean much, much later chapters. I'll keep the ever-so-slightly "censored" version on Wattpad like I've always done, and anything too adult for a PG-13 rating will go on Fanfiction.
As per the norm, the TARDIS came crashing down, smashing into a nearby building. Luckily for the four on board, no one seemed to notice. For no apparent reason, it seemed to be a particularly busy day in Malibu, California, in the year 2006.
"... And that's why I have 17 identical blue jackets," the Doctor finished as he casually strolled out of the TARDIS and stretched his arms over his head. "Figured that guard on Asgard would want to keep his present, anyway, leaving me with only 16 now. Oh boy, feels nice to be out of there. It's kind of cramped, don't you think?" the Doctor asked jokingly.
Loki rolled his eyes and smirked. "Sure it is." He coughed, then cleared his throat. "So, where exactly are we going?"
"Erm... I'm not quite sure. But that's why I brought this!" The Doctor reached into his jacket and pulled out what looked like a small phone with a small box connected to it with a thin wire. "It's my timey-wimey detector. It's a more portable version, though, so the ding is quieter." He handed it to Loki. "You'll need it."
"Why? What is it?"
"I already told you, it's a timey-wimey detector. It goes ding when there's stuff. Timey-wimey stuff to be specific, and the stuff you're looking for will probably be somewhere within the whole 'wibbly wobbly' spectrum of 'timey-wimey stuff.' Anyway, just point it at random things. The closer you get to a timey-wimey, the louder it dings. Got it?"
"Yes, but how will it help me find six impossible things?" Loki paused, then pursed his lips. "How will I know if I've found an impossible thing? How would you even define that?"
"Malibu is one of the few locations on Earth in which there is a temporal rift. Temporal rifts are basically points in space and time that are weaker than the rest. This can cause all sorts of strange things to wash up from different points of everywhere. I couldn't tell you the exact location of the time rift, but I know for certain it's here in Malibu. If you don't have any luck here, I can take you to Cardiff. I'm not quite sure how to answer your other two questions."
Loki sighed and stared at the strange contraption in his hands. It wasn't like anything he had ever used before. "Alright. I'll get to looking. You're coming with me, right?"
"Oh, I'll just be keeping an eye out for you, don't worry about me." The Doctor comically waved Loki off. "I'm sure you'll do fine."
The jotun rolled his eyes. "Sure you will." Loki was about to walk away when he realized something vital. "How exactly am I supposed to use this?"
The Doctor snatched it away from him and showed him. "You've got to hold this curvy part up to your ear and point the box at timey-wimeys. Pretty simple." The Doctor handed the box back to Loki and gave him a thumbs-up.
With that, Loki set off to find his six impossible items. People were casting him strange glances, but he found it quite easy to ignore them. It only took five minutes of him walking to lose the Doctor entirely within the crowd of people. The timey-wimey detector was leading him down some strange roads, all ending at a place that was closed off by many gates. Behind these gates he could see the tops of the houses of the rich people. Although there seemed to be no way in, Loki's timey-wimey detector was telling him that was the only way to find the temporal rift. So be it, he thought.
Loki walked up to one of the tall gates. There seemed to be no way through, but the timey-wimey detector told him this was the fastest way to the temporal rift. After looking around the general area to see if he could find a way through, it all boiled down to one option. Loki sighed and tapped into his unusually short supply of seidr. He was going to have to muster all he could to phase through the gate. The jotun sat down on the clean, green grass and set the timey-wimey detector next to him. His brow furrowed and his eyes shut as he began concentrating his seidr into a spell. He mouthed intricate spells, causing him further stress. After the first minute of trying to make the spell work, he exhausted himself too much to do anything. He collapsed on the ground and gasped for breath. "Oh, I can't do this," he grumbled unhappily between breaths.
After spending a few minutes panting like a dog on the ground, he sat back up and tried the spell again. His mouth moved to the words of the spell in his head. He could feel his seidr gathering up, at a lot slower yet smoother pace than last time. Patience, Loki thought. His essence was building up. The spell was almost ready.
When Loki opened his eyes, he found himself transparent. He triumphantly cried out and picked up the timey-wimey detector to make his way through the gate. It felt uncomfortable, the feeling of having something solid pass completely through his body, but it got him where he wanted to be. I can't believe I did it!, Loki thought. He had never done anything that complex before. The timey-wimey detector stayed true to the original path and led him through the many paths weaving through the large, expensive houses. Loki found that getting to his intended location was child's play. With minor cloaking and illusion spells, it was unexpectedly easy to pass by cameras, guards, and residents without raising alarms.
He eventually reached an area that had a path surrounded by trees. It lead up to a flat, white house looking over the edge of a cliff. The timey-wimey detector's beep progressively grew faster as Loki approached the house. There were no cars or people in sight, but Loki kept a small cloaking spell on just in case. He found the timey-wimey detector was leading him somewhere seemingly underground, or at least over the edge of the cliff. The only way to get there without falling off the edge of the cliff would be to go to the bottom of the house. What if it doesn't have a basement? Loki wasn't so sure he wanted to be at this particular time rift, but he might as well, considering he spent to much time and energy getting himself there.
After walking around the house, he saw that the easiest way in would be to phase through one of the windows. Loki had tried open some of the doors around the large house, but found them all locked. He saw cameras outside the house, but didn't worry about them because of his cloaking spells. The jotun preferred not to use anymore seidr, but he felt driven by the need to release his son. The process of using the spell was noticeably less stressful than last time, simply because of his previous practice. However, because he used so much seidr on both spells, he knew his cloaking spells would wear off soon. All he had to do was see what he could find at the rift then get back to the Doctor as fast as he could.
The spell worked, leaving Loki exhausted yet proud. He felt quite confident that the mission would be successful, since his spell-casting had improved. The house he was in was very open and spacey, and had an overall golden glow about it. He continued looking around the room, admiring the house owner's nice taste in decor. It was only a few minutes into the searching that he found a circular staircase leading downward. He would have descended if it hadn't been for the strange statue standing at the edge of the staircase.
It was a small, deteriorating statue of what looked like a young boy. The head was chipped in half, and it was missing one of its hands. The decay and rot of the statue didn't match the rest of the house, leaving Loki wondering why it was there. Loki reached forward to touch the hand of the statue. Before he could, the hand crumbled off and fell to the ground. He leaned forward and picked up the hand. "Oh dear, um..." A small noise from the bottom of the staircase caught his attention. Loki absent-mindedly placed the hand in one of his pockets as he slowly began his descent.
Luckily for him, the lower part of the house had nobody in it. However, it was also almost pitch-black, and Loki couldn't find a light switch. He would've used his seidr to make a small light if he hadn't already been using so much of it for cloaking and phasing spells. Maybe I will have to go to Cardiff to get that stuff... Loki thought as he slowly retreated from the room. He was about to go back up the stairs until he heard the giggling of children. He quickly whipped back around. "Who's there?" he asked. He left the safety and light of the staircase to walk back into the dark room. The pitter-patter of small feet echoed throughout the room.
The mysterious children giggled again. Loki's common sense told him to get out of the room, but his curiosity pushed him further. "Hello?" he asked. Loki could hear the timey-wimey detector beeping so fast it was almost one single continuous beep. He removed his cloaking spell, realizing that was probably stopping them from being able to hear him. They giggled again, and the footsteps approached him. "Is-" Loki had no time to finish his sentence before a tiny stone hand touched his ankle.
Without warning, all the lights in the room flicked on. "Stop!" a voice with a British accent shouted, scanning the room. To the voice's surprise, there was nothing unusual in the room but a small clunky machine and a bunch of cherub statues in the room that hadn't been there previously.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"WHAT!.. Where am I?!" Loki was freaking out. A few seconds ago he was in the basement of that large house, and now he was in the middle of traffic. "Aaah!" He ran between cars to get back onto the side walk. "What... Where is this... How did I get here?!" People stared at him like he was crazy. "I was in that house... I'm here?! How?! WHAT IS GOING ON?!" Loki also realized he dropped his timey-wimey detector in the house. The Doctor is going to kill me... I cannot risk returning to the house, not to mention I do not have enough seidr left to perform any more phasing spells. Loki let out a long string of creative curses under his breath as he took off to find the TARDIS.
How in the world did I get back here? Loki thought, wondering if it had something to do with the time rift. While on his way back, he walked by a small store with plenty of snacks on display in the window. Maybe some food will help me think. The sight of food made Loki go ravenous again. All of the feeding in New York had been enough to stop him from drooling at the very thought of food, but seeing the shop's snacks re-awakened the hunger. He looked around nervously, then slipped into the shop. There were snacks galore. Loki only hoped there was enough room in his pockets to hold it all and to be able to get out without paying. He was about to grab a small bag of cheese popcorn off the shelf until someone frantically grabbed his shoulders from behind. "FINALLY!"
Loki frantically whipped around to see who had grabbed his shoulders. When he saw who his surprise person was, his heart stopped. "Wha... Who... How..."
"DON'T let them TOUCH YOU!" the person yelled. "You'll regret it! 200 YEARS OF WAITING! 200 years of watching and waiting for this moment to come!" His surprise person had a death grip on Loki's shoulders, turning his knuckles white. "It will drive you INSANE!"
"Who are you?!" Loki recoiled and attempted to pry his attacker's hands off his shoulders.
"Oh, please! You know who I am!"
"Then how are you... Did the TARDIS bring you back here?"
"No! The angels! The touch of the angels will send you back in time! They sent me back 200 years ago!" He dramatically pressed his face up against Loki's. "Don't turn your back, don't look away, and whatever you do... Don't blink." The man twitched, then looked around the shop. "He's coming. I need to go... Don't let them touch you."
"Oi, Loki!" The familiar voice made Loki turn back around. The Doctor was standing at the entrance to the shop. "What are you doing back here?"
"Uh... I was hungry." He turned back around only to see his mysterious attacker was gone.
The Doctor walked up to Loki. "How'd you get back here so fast? Last I saw you disappeared behind that gate."
"Can we talk later? I'm really, really hungry. Say, do you still have that card?"
"I do indeed. Wait outside the shop. I'll get you some snacks."
Loki stood outside the shop and waiting. It was only a few minutes until the Doctor came out with two small grocery sacks in his hand. The jotun walked over to the Doctor and curiously peered inside one of the bags. Without warning, Loki snatched the bag of potato crisps out of the Doctor's sack and, without even bothering to open the bag, shoved the entire thing in his mouth. Despite the fact his seidr was low, he used a little bit of it to widen his mouth enough to shove the entire bag of crisps down his throat and into his stomach.
The Doctor gawked at Loki with an expression of disgust on his face. "Geez, Loki, you're an animal!"
"I'm hungry!" Loki barked before snatching a Hershey's bar out of the sack and eating it whole.
"You're not supposed to eat plastic wrappings! Your stomach probably can't digest that stuff!" the Doctor retorted with sass.
"I don't care!"
"FINE! When you start anally excreting plastic, don't come crying to me!" The Doctor crossed his arms and 'humph'ed in false agitation.
"I won't!" Loki snatched both of the sacks out of the Doctor's hands and began shoving each snack one by one down his throat. The Doctor cringed and turned away so he wouldn't have to watch Loki eat his food in such an unusual fashion.
After Loki was done eating his snacks, he turned back towards the Doctor. "I didn't see much at the rift."
The Doctor grunted. "This was the one with a portion of it hanging over a cliff, wasn't it?" Loki nodded, and the Doctor grunted again. "I was so sure that was the one in the south eastern Asian islands. Hmph. Guess not." The Doctor tapped his chin. "How did you get back so quickly? And where is my timey-wimey detector?"
Loki shifted nervously. "Erm... I'm not entirely sure of the answer to either of those questions."
"Okay then, start with my timey-wimey detector. I made that myself and I want it back."
"I think I dropped it in the room I was in before I was sent back here."
"Sent back here?" The Doctor had a look of confusion etched on his face.
"Yes... The time rift was mostly hanging over a cliff, but I could access a small portion of it by entering the basement of the house on the edge of the cliff. I used some of my phasing spells to enter the house. When I went down the stairs, I couldn't see anything, but I definitely heard some strange noises. I was only down there for a few seconds before I felt something tiny touch my ankle. Before I had time to react, I was transported right into the middle of town."
The Doctor held his knuckle against his chin and wrinkled in brow as he thought deeply on what Loki just told him. "That's odd. Most space junk should just fall into the ocean. Could you describe the strange noises?"
"I heard the giggling of young children and footsteps. I called out and asked who was there, but no one answered."
The Doctor's hearts each skipped a beat. "Did you actually ever see anything unusual?"
"Well... Not really, except for some out-of-place decor."
"What did it look like?" The Doctor's expression of confusion quickly turned to one of grim doom as he walked closer to Loki.
Loki took a small step back. "A decaying statue. Nothing special, really. It-"
"Was it reaching out to touch you? Did it move when you looked away?"
"It didn't move, but it was reaching out. Its hand crumbled and fell off. Actually..." Loki reached into his jacket and pulled it out. "I've got it. I don't know why, I won't be needing an extra hand..."
The Doctor snatched the stone hand away. He mumbled a bit under his breath before handing it back to Loki. "Keep it. You might find it useful enough."
"Why would I find it useful?" Loki didn't want some crummy statue hand.
"Not sure. Now shut up and follow me." The Doctor took a few steps forward, then turned back around. "Where exactly was this house?"
"On the edge of a cliff. It was big, white, and flat-ish looking. It certainly looked very expensive."
"Did it have a long, winding path with trees leading up to it?" The Doctor thought he knew which house Loki was talking about.
"Yes! That's it. How did you know-"
"Of course it had to be his house..." The Doctor murmured. "Come on, we're taking the TARDIS. It'll be much quicker. Loki followed with a very confused expression etched on his face.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
When they exited the TARDIS, Loki saw that they were indeed in the very same house he had visited not moments ago. "How did you know this was the house?"
"Because I know who lives here. Actually, I knew his parents better, but that's beside the point." The Doctor turned around and held out his hand. "Did you bring a torch along?"
"No."
"I asked you in the TARDIS! Oh, whatever, I'll get it myself. You'll need one too."
The Doctor soon exited the TARDIS with two torches in hand. He flicked one on and handed it to Loki. "Where was this room you were in?"
"Over here somewhere," Loki replied as he took the lead. The staircase wasn't far from the windows at all. When he reached it, he was surprised to see the statue was no longer at the edge of the stairs. Instead, it was positioned so it looked like it was about to start walking down the stairs. "It... It moved..."
"Not good," was all the Doctor muttered before observing the statue. He could see it had no hands, therefore wasn't a threat. He turned back to Loki and grabbed the jotun's shoulders. "Loki, can you promise me something?"
Loki was confused, but he complied. "Sure. What is it?"
"If you happen to come across a stone statue of an angel, do not turn around, do not look away, and no matter what happens, no matter what you do... Don't blink."
"Why? What's so special about this statue?" Loki immediately thought about the crazy man in the shop.
"This-and possibly some other statues around here-are called 'Weeping Angels'. Whenever you look at them, they are stone. When you look away, they become something else entirely. It's called 'quantum-locking' and it's their defense mechanism." The Doctor sighed. "They are some of the most cold-hearted killers in existence. When they touch you, they'll send you back in time and feed off of your memories and all of the moments of life you'll never experience. They're creatures of the abstract and are extremely dangerous."
"Moving statues?" Loki raised an eyebrow. "Sending you back in time? That explains the crazy man in the snack store.."
"Crazy man in a snack store?"
"Yes. I met a man... Well, I met me, but he wasn't me, but..." Loki huffed in frustration. "He looked like me and he sounded like me but he was talking nonsense about not letting them touch me."
"Then that was probably you from the past, which means at some point in time during today you will be touched by an angel." The Doctor shuddered. "It shouldn't be that bad, though, since you're jotun and you'll outlive the angel's touch anyway. You and I will probably meet up elsewhere later on today."
"I don't know. He-erm, I-sounded pretty upset about it. The angel sent me-him, no, me-back in time 200 years ago."
The Doctor stood there, thinking deeply about what could be done about the angels. "As much as I'd like to leave to prevent that from happening, I can't just let a bunch of Weeping Angels roam around Malibu."
"Could I stay in the TARDIS?"
"No. Attempting to take on the angels with only one person is an utterly horrible idea. I've got an idea, but I don't think you'll like it too much."
"What is it?"
Instead of answering, the Doctor turned his torch on and descended down the stairs. When he reached the bottom, he found the torch was unnecessary since the light was already on. "Hmph. Didn't you mention something about not being able to see when you got down here?" When there was no reply, the Doctor turned around to see Loki standing there with his eyes squeezed shut and his hand pinching the bridge of his nose. "Uh... Loki? Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Loki mumbled as he squeezed the bridge of his nose a little bit harder.
"Are you sure?" the Doctor asked.
"I'm fine," Loki repeated, slightly exaggeration his annoyance.
Loki finally pulled his fingers off his nose and looked around the room. His vision was partially blurred due to his head ache, but he could see well enough to notice there were lots of small metal objects scattered around the tables and desks of the room. He absent-mindedly walked up to one and saw a particularly sharp piece of shrapnel laying on it. Without thinking about it, he reached over and grabbed it. I wonder how long his alien body could handle me stabbing it, Loki thought as he turned the shrapnel over in his hand. His head ache throbbed, but he chose to ignore it in favor of gazing at the metal. Loki clutched so tight in his hands that it gave him a small cut. Realizing what he was doing, Loki dropped the piece of metal back on the table with a soft grunt.
The head ache subsided moments after. Loki walked over to the Doctor to observe what he was doing. "What happened?"
"It looks like someone tore these wires," the Doctor mentioned. "I don't suppose they'd do it without having a good purpose. Maybe..." The Doctor began working on trying to fix the wires in the small box. His leather gloves had small black marks on them from light shocks, but other than that, the actual fixing process was easy for the Doctor.
While waiting for the Doctor, Loki decided to more closely observe his surroundings. Now that his vision was no longer blurred, he could see the metal objects scattered across the tables were tools and small machines of all different sorts. He noticed the timey-wimey detector was still laying where he had dropped it and decided to go pick it up. "Doctor, I've got your wibbly-wobbly thing."
"Do you now?" He looked up and held out his hand. "Thanks." Loki shrugged. Paying no mind to his companion's reaction, the Doctor placed the wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey detector on the ground next to him and continued working on the small silver box. "Don't you find it odd that the pods lined along the wall are missing?"
"Pods?" Loki looked around. "I didn't know any were supposed to be here."
"Yeah, for his suits." The Doctor paused and huffed. "Eh, he probably just keeps them put up somewhere else."
"Suits? Doctor, who li-"
"Ah ha! There we go! I think I fixed it," the Doctor said gleefully. "Now, all I have to do it flick this little switch here and it should work." The Doctor nearly had a heart attack after what happened next.
"Who are you two and how did you shut me down?!" a British voice shouted.
"Woah! Hold on, we didn't do anything!" The Doctor immediately countered. The voice sent Loki into a state of hysteria. He nearly collapsed against a table and his head darted around the room in an attempt to find the source of the voice. "Actually... You sound kind of familiar."
"Answer me or I'll have you torn to shreds!" the voice shouted, clearly panicking as much as Loki had.
"We didn't do anything! We're here to deal with your Weeping Angel infestation! We're not going to hurt anyone!" He quickly pulled out the psychic paper. "If you can read this then you really need too!"
"Is that what those small cherubs were?!" the voice replied, calming down a bit, but still freaking out.
"Yes! That's exactly what they were! Now please... Let us help you." The Doctor lowered his voice, hoping it would help the mysterious voice and his companion stop panicking so much.
"But... How did you get in? And those cherubs? How did they move? I-"
"Let me explain. It's a lot to explain, so pull up a chair... Hold on. Where exactly are you?"
"Answer my questions first."
The Doctor reluctantly complied. He folded his arms across his chest as he began to explain. "This house was placed on top of a temporal rift, which basically means strange things are bound to wash up here now and again. I'm a specialist from Torchwood that takes care of things like this. I got in with my... Erm, transportation machine." The Doctor pushed his half-moon glasses up on his face. "Are you going to show yourself to us now?"
"That's not nearly enough information," the voice countered without hesitation.
"Well then, I'm just going to have to clear out this infestation without your permission then, won't I?"
"There are so many guns and security cameras installed around the house you won't be able to take another breath before you are nothing more than a pile of ash."
"Oooh! I'm so scared of a disembodied voice!" The Doctor spat sarcastically. "Come on, Loki. Let's just take care of those angels and get out of here."
"Wait!" the voice cried out.
"What?" the Doctor asked as he returned his arms to his sides.
"Why exactly do you need to get rid of these angel statues? I'm sure the guns would be more than sufficient for dealing with them," the voice answered.
"Oh really? Maybe you should look around the house for some angels and test your theory."
"I won't have to look. Your companion there has been staring at quite a few for a while now."
The Doctor immediately whipped around to see Loki standing completely still. As he walked toward the jotun, he understood his companion's sudden quietness and lack of interest in conversation; he had indeed been staring at a trio of small, black cherubs all bundled together and reaching out toward Loki. "How long have they been there?" the Doctor murmured sotto voce.
"A little after you two began arguing," Loki replied in an equally soft tone. His voice was laced with minor, hardly traceable amounts of fear.
Without warning, a bright light lit up the whole room. A repulsor beam had been fired at the small bundle of cherubs. To the mysterious voice's dismay, the angels remained untouched and unharmed. "What? That should've done the job, they should be dead..."
"See? I told you that wouldn't work." The Doctor placed his hands on his hips, not once taking his eyes off the cherubs. "Anyway, we really shouldn't be arguing, especially if there are more of them around the house."
"There are two larger angels upstairs," the voice replied.
"Then don't stop looking at them; we'll be up there with you in a minute, as soon as we figure out what to do with these cherubs."
"I'm not upstairs," the voice began.
"What? Where are you then?" the Doctor asked, daring to take his eyes off the cherubs since his companion was already doing a fine job of staring at them.
"The computer system. I am JARVIS, the AI system that runs this house."
"That's where I know you from! I met you in New York in August 19, 2012! You were the voice I heard after Tony and Loki left the room-"
"Shouldn't we be dealing with the angels?!" Loki snapped, making the Doctor jump.
The Doctor shifted uncomfortably. "Yes, you're right. How strong is the door leading into here? The cherubs aren't near as strong as the adult angels."
"They were meant to withstand up to 150 pounds in weight," JARVIS replied.
"That means..." The Doctor was silent for a moment, working out the math in his head. "Yeah, that should easily contain at least seven cherubs. How many are in the room?"
"Only those three," JARVIS replied.
"Good. That means we can walk out of here backwards while keeping our eyes on them." The Doctor reached over to Loki and grabbed his arm. "I'll stare at the angels and you lead me to the door, okay?"
Loki nodded. "Alright. Telll me when you're ready."
The Doctor had his eyes locked on to the angels. "Ready." The two walked over to the door and exited the room, making absolutely sure to shut the door behind themselves. "Well then, that was far less tension-filled than I thought it would be."
"So, how do you propose we lead those other two adult angels out of Stark's house?" Loki asked. The Doctor faced with him with an expression of confusion.
"How did you know this was his house?"
"You just said it earlier. Missing suits, meeting the AI in New York..."
"Missing suits?" JARVIS asked.
"Yeah. Last time I was here, Tony kept his Iron Man suits down in that very lab."
"Tony doesn't have any suits," JARVIS said matter-of-factly.
"What do you mean 'he doesn't have suits'?" The Doctor asked. Even Loki was quite confused.
"I mean Tony really hasn't bought any suits," JARVIS replied.
"I don't... Oh yeah, it's only 2006," the Doctor remembered. "He didn't build the suit until, what, 2008?"
"What are you talking about?" JARVIS asked.
"Doctor, the angels..." Loki said, getting nervous as the idea of being touched. Not only did he want these things gone as soon as possible, but he wanted to get out of Tony Stark's house.
"Right, right, the angels... How many more are in the house?" the Doctor asked JARVIS.
"Two adult angels are wandering around here, and I think I saw one outside, but only briefly."
The Doctor sighed. "We need to find a way to lure them outside of the house and either get them to stare at eachother permanently or push them off the cliff." He tapped his chin. "Or I could push Loki off the cliff."
Loki paled and glared at the Doctor. The Doctor immediately held his hands up in defense. "Hey, it would fix everything much quicker! Since you met yourself from the past, pushing you off the edge of a cliff would cause a paradox, therefore 'poisoning' the weeping angels!"
"No! There is no way in Niflhel you are ever going to convince me to throw myself off a cliff!" Loki folded his arms across his chest. "Not doing it."
The Doctor sighed. "Fine. We're going to have to get rid of them the hard way. You know, the way in which you will most likely be touched by an angel." Seeing Loki refused to change his mind, the Doctor simply rolled his eyes. "Where in the house are the other two angels?"
"One of them is in a sitting room adjacent to this one, and the other one is upstairs," JARVIS said.
"Alright, then." The Doctor stood with his hands on his hips, thinking of any possible ways to rid the house of the angels. "I've really got no clue how we're going to do this."
"Maybe we could use the same method we used to leave the basement downstairs," Loki said. "We could just keep an eye on the angels and back out of the room, blinking occasionally to bring them closer."
"What would we do once we get to the edge of the cliff? Are we just going to walk on air?" The Doctor huffed. "We still have to get rid of those cherubs downstairs. Loki, do you think you can use your seidr to transport them there somehow?"
"No, I used most of it trying to get in here," Loki replied.
The Doctor murmured angrily under his breath. He was about to say something again when JARVIS let out an alarming cry. "Doctor!"
The two men immediately turned to face the doorway to the room adjacent to them. In the doorway stood a Weeping Angel with an outstretched hand, waiting to grasp an unsuspecting victim. Loki gasped and walked closer to it. "This is what they look like?" He cautiously approached it. "Freaky. This one looks a lot healthier than the one I saw on the stairs."
"The one on the stairs?" The Doctor asked. His eyes widened and his hearts stopped when he remembered the angel they had both seen while coming in the house. "The angel on the stairs! Where did it go?!"
Loki whipped around, panicking. "It's gone?! Where did it-" In his moment of weakness, he had taken his eyes off the angel.
The Doctor turned back around as soon as his companion got quiet. "No, LOKI!" His companion was gone and the angel had moved forward. For the second time that day, Loki had been touched by a Weeping Angel.
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Loki stood on the edge of a cliff, his heart racing erratically. "What the... Did I get...?" His speech faded as he observed his surroundings. He was on the very same cliff that Tony's house had been on, except Tony's house wasn't there. Loki began shivering with fear as the reality of what happened to him settled in. I'm stuck here... For 200 years... Loki fell to his knees. What do I do with myself for 200 years?
He sat there on the edge of the cliff, unsure of what to do. Can't the Doctor just travel back in time to pick me up? He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around them. I guess I'll just have to wait here.
And wait he did. For what felt like hours, Loki sat there, in that exact spot, waiting for the madman in the blue box. He watched and waited for some help to arrive, but no help came. He dangled his feet over the cliff and overlooked the ocean, gazing at the waters as the sun went down. Still no help. The moon rose proudly into the night, dominating the sky. Loki decided he was tired of waiting for a man that clearly wasn't going to show up.
The jotun decided to look around for a place he could stay the night. He could continue waiting tomorrow. He stood up and dusted himself off as he walked toward a distance source of light. It was a very small light, surrounded by what seemed to be people. As Loki approached his, the crunching of his feet on the grass alerted the people around the fire. "Hey! What are you doing here?"
Loki approached the men around the campfire. It was a bunch of travelers of some sort. "Please excuse my interruption, but I'm terribly lost. Can you men point out the direction of Malibu?"
"Malibu? What in tarnation is a Malibu?" one of the men asked.
"Malibu is the city close to here... Isn't it? This is California, right? Where all the rich people are?" Loki was beginning to think the angel brought him to a different cliff.
"There ain't no 'Malibu' 'round here. We ain't rich either. Just forty-niners trying ta get rich." He paused and took a sip from something out of a tin can. "Your family leave you behind?"
"No... Where am I?"
"California... Where did ya think you were?" He coughed and hacked a glob of spit onto the ground before taking another sip out of the tin. "You're here for the gold like the rest of us, ain't ya?"
"No, I just... I'm lost. Really, really lost." Loki stood there with his arms loosely wrapped around his waist. "Where is the nearest town or village?"
The man snorted. "You're a foreigner aren't ya?"
Loki nodded and sat down. "More foreign than you could possibly hope to comprehend." He sighed and brushed some loose hair behind his ear. "Can you tell me what year it is?"
" '52."
"Erm, you're going to have to be more specific than that," Loki said.
The man raised an eyebrow. "Now how on earth did a foreigner like you get here and not even know what year it is?"
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Loki replied, absent-mindedly pulling some grass blades out of the ground. "Is is 1752 or 1852? Either way, it's about 50 years off of how long I thought I would be here."
"It's 1852." The man gave him a suspicious look over the top of his tin as he took a sip of his drink. "Where are you from?"
Loki shook his head and chuckled. "Damn. That's about 150 years. Well, I guess that's a good thing." He looked up to face the man sitting next to the fire. "If I told you where I'm from or how I got here you would call me crazy."
The man looked back at his friends all sitting around the fire, then turned back to Loki. He leaned over and whispered. "Don't worry, Ah've seen some pretty unexplainable things before. Everyone thinks I'm crazy, but Ah know what I seen."
"Uh... You know, I think I'm just going to find someone that can help me," Loki said, standing up and brushing the back of his pants off. "Well, it was fun, but I need to find somewhere to stay for the night."
"Wait!" The man stood up after him. "Where do you think yer going? Ain't safe to travel the wilds at night."
"To someplace where I can figure this problem out. And possibly get a roof over my head." He scratched the back of his head and began walking off. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight!" The man called out, then scoffed as he turned back to the fire. "Weirdo. He's gon' be dead by morning."
Loki strolled back to the edge of the cliff. What if I took the Doctor's advice?, he thought as he approached the edge of the cliff. Would the paradox even work now that I've been sent back in time? Or would it only affect angels in this time period? He sat himself down on the edge of the cliff and pulled the broken Weeping Angel's hand out of his pocket. "I don't even need this thing," he muttered. He held it behind his head, ready to toss it into the ocean, before he stopped himself.
Moving stone. The thought made him place the little hand in his lap. The flesh of a stone creature. Hmph. He laid his back on the grass and held the little hand up in the air. I think I've just found my first impossible item. Loki chuckled jovially. "Finally, some good news." He put the hand back in his pocket before continuing his mental debate as to whether he should throw himself off the cliff or not.
There aren't any angels in this year, not any that I've seen... Loki pursed his lips and his brow furrowed. I don't know what else to do... Will I still be alive after the angels have even died? It was suicide, but Loki didn't know what else to do. He couldn't imagine being stuck on a planet and being surrounded by humans for 150 years.
Loki's heart pounded as he stood up on the edge of the cliff. If this worked, the paradox killed the angels and saved Malibu. If not, he was just another dead body at the bottom of the ocean. Loki edged a little bit closer. Here goes nothing... He lost confidence and was about to take a step back until his left foot slipped, sending Loki tumbling over the edge. He thrashed about as he plummeted toward his death. This is it. Loki took one last look at the ocean before closing his eyes and bracing for impact.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
How in the world did I get back here? Loki thought, wondering if it had something to do with the time rift. While on his way back, he walked by a small store with plenty of snacks on display in the window. Maybe some food will help me think. The sight of food made Loki go ravenous again. All of the feeding in New York had been enough to stop him from drooling at the very thought of food, but seeing the shop's snacks re-awakened the hunger. He looked around nervously, then slipped into the shop. There were snacks galore. Loki only hoped there was enough room in his pockets to hold it all and to be able to get out without paying. He was about to grab a small bag of cheese popcorn off the shelf until the intense wave of deja vu hit him like a hammer. He looked down at the bag of cheese popcorn on the shelf and stared at it. Haven't I done this before? Memories flooded back to him. Loki dropped the bag of popcorn on the floor and stepped back in shock. He was about to run out of the store until someone grabbed him harshly from behind.
"You did it! Ha ha, you really did it, you little trickster, you!" The Doctor cackled like a madman while hugging Loki from behind. "See, I told you getting yourself killed would kill the angels!"
"Did it reset the time, too?" Loki asked.
"Yes! Heh heh, guess if I remembered to mention that little bit, you would've been a bit more willing to go through with it, wouldn't you?"
"No," Loki admitted. "I only did it because I will take desperate measures to avoid having to stay with humans for a long time."
"Yeeaaah, sure you did." The Doctor laughed and patted Loki's arm. "Come on, then. Sorry you didn't get what you were looking for."
"Hmm? Oh, the impossible item?" Loki smiled and pulled the broken Weeping Angel's hand out of his pocket. "The flesh of stone. This would definitely work."
The Doctor held the little angel hand. "If you say so. Only five more to go. C'mon." The Doctor and Loki exited the store and began walking toward the TARDIS. "Actually, I think I know the perfect place to go next..." He gave Loki a mischevious grin.