Loki bucks up once again only for the straps holding him down to remain firm. He would be grateful for having not partaken in any of the food or drink as it may have made him docile, but now he gets to experience the coming terror with a full lucidity.
He keeps fighting the stinging at the back of his eyes as the intimidating contraption with its many sharp edges bears down on him. The bright light shining into his face also does him no favors. Though the intensity of the beam nearly burns, he still shivers. This can be partly blamed on the fact that Doom has magicked away his clothing save for his undergarments so he can be laid bare before the dictator.
He is too panicked to think up any spells but knows with a certain dread that he wouldn't be able to reach his magic if he could. Whatever holds him down is even more restrictive than the restraints Jeff placed on him.
Doom remains a dark silhouette just beyond the edges of the nearly blinding light. Loki imagines he can still make out the thirsty gaze of those beady eyes. He tries to keep a brave front on despite his uncontrollable shaking. "You-you're making a grave mistake, Victor," he warns with a quavering voice as he tries slipping his limbs from the restraints.
The lethal cutting instrument only comes closer, and Loki is reminded of the time a very naked Sif held a sword to his face. This is infinitely more terrifying as he has no doubt that Doom is about to vivisect him whereas with SIf he was mostly assured that the swordplay was an over-the-top yet effective warning.
"Often has Doom dreamed of this moment," muses the doctor as if Loki had not even spoken. "Differing circumstances of course, but I am not one to pass up such an opportunity."
Loki's next plea is quickly exchanged for a desperate gritting of his teeth as the serrated blade breaks through the skin of his upper chest and pain sears through his body. He clenches both eyes and teeth together so hard that he fears the latter will crack. The inside of his eyelids burns red due to the unnatural brightness of the light bearing down on him.
Images of the enraged and mutilated victims from his nightmares flash beneath his lids to coincide with that burning red. The sharp edge continues to slowly drag and slice down his small body. Their jaws hang wide open in mocking laughter as he tries to endure the pain.
Tears finally escape from his eyes and roll down his face, and he opens his mouth (nearly unhinges his jaw) to release a piercing scream. He screams and screams, and it is just like in his nightmares where the sound echoes until the walls seem to reverberate with the very sound of his distress.
Loki screams so much he is almost deaf to the sound of several explosions going off at the same time from several floors up.
Political entanglement on the Avengers' side virtually disappears what with the illegal nature of human trafficking and their evidence for pursuing Doom. The question of dealing with the Latveria side of things is easily solved through Thor. The thunder god stonily declares that he will heft the political fallout of their little retrieval mission even if it means having Asgard declare war on the European country.
The next plan is figuring out how the rest of them are going to get there as Thor takes off nearly immediately. Steve can only be thankful he did depart with his communicator in tow, but he honestly wonders how many pieces they're going to find Doom in.
The benefits of Tony being a billionaire genius somehow means he is in possession of experimental jets that fly at absurdly quick speeds. Tony himself suits up in his armor after having entered the coordinates via JARVIS into the plane. He salutes the remaining four before blasting off after the thunder god.
On the flight over, Bruce remains in a constant meditative position. None go near him lest they all find themselves in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. Steve tries outlining a strategy besides blowing the ever loving crap out of Castle Doom, but this becomes pointless.
"Sorry, Cap, but the need for infiltration has long since passed," points out Natasha as she checks her guns for the hundredth time.
"Yep," confirms Clint as he fingers the complicated notches of his bow. "I'm looking forward to seeing how many arrows I can cram into the eye holes of his mask."
"You'll have to find a way around my knives," counters Natasha.
This renders Steve silent as he can't deny that he's been entertaining a fantasy of having his shield ricochet against Doom's head an infinite amount of times. But then he remembers that the scientist is rarely ever defenseless, and he brings up this point with his teammates.
"Pretty sure Thor's lit up their circuits 'til kingdom come," comments Natasha.
"As well as bellowed some sort of declaration to anyone stupid enough to actually come across him," adds Clint. "Believe me, Cap. I thought he was going to bring a hurricane down on our heads when we found the bastard's body in that alley."
Steve holds on to his sigh and observes their determined demeanors. "So I see we're doing a smash and grab."
Natasha's eyebrows rise up in confirmation while a grim smile pulls at the archer's face. "Now you're speaking my language," says Clint.
A beeping interrupts their conversation followed by JARVIS' smooth voice. "We should be flying over Castle Doom in five minutes."
"Thank you," says Steve automatically though it still bothers him that he has no idea where to look when addressing the AI. He nods over at the two assassins who have already donned their parachutes. He calls out to Bruce who had conveniently seated himself by the door. "Banner, it's Showtime."
Bruce's eyes flash open, and a smile stretches over his face as he reaches for the door. A rush of wind whips around all of them as it's opened, and in the absence of the doctor, a large roar is heard.
Without another word, Clint and Natasha swiftly follow. As Steve is about to jump out as well, JARVIS' voice surprises him.
"Good luck, Mr. Rogers," says the AI, and Steve's not sure if he's reading too much into it, but he thinks the subtext of this wish is a desire to see Loki brought back safely. He just nods in return to the voiceless entity and soon enough it is just the roar of wind rushing past his ears. He waits the proper amount of time before deploying his parachute.
Before he has even stepped foot on the ground, a string of curses slips from his mouth. A smoking hole serves as their entrance into the castle, and the ground is littered with the mechanical limbs of many a robotic foe.
He halts the two SHIELD agents as he thinks to call Tony considering that they are now all in range of each other.
"Tony? Do you copy me?"
"Loud and clear, Cap," responds Tony almost immediately. He sounds slightly breathless, and Steve thinks he can hear a constant stream of high-pitched whirring.
"What have you got for me, Tony?" asks Steve in a brisk manner. The hallway they stand in is eerily empty of any moving life forms. The sounds of explosions ring throughout.
"Well Thor made excellent work of Doom's pesky robotic forces and is currently either facing down the man himself or one of those annoying Doombots. From the sound of it, the big green menace is making fine work of the lower levels."
"What's your position?"
"I'm scouring the upper most levels for Loki," reports Tony. "No such luck, but I never got to search the ground and sub-levels."
"Understood," replies Steve. He hears a humming on the other end which he takes to be an understood 'Good luck' and turns his attention back to Clint and Natasha.
Before he can get more orders off, their solitude is shattered by the sudden lumbering approach of a swarm of robot guards. Steve's shield goes ricocheting down the walls of the hallway and manages to knock off several heads with a shower of sparks. Clint unleashes an arrow that lodges into the wall at the very end of the corridor, and the ensuing blast takes care of any more oncoming forces. Natasha leads the charge into fighting the remainder head on. The fight drives them into what appears to be a dining hall as evidenced by the splatters of food on the floor and the overturned table. They are mindful of their footing so as to not slip in the greases and liquids which run across the cobblestone floor.
With just a handful left, Natasha bellows, "We've got it from here, Cap! Keep looking for the kid!"
Steve swings out with his arm to shove an imposing enemy back. He eyes the remainder and though it's not overwhelming, he doesn't like leaving his teammates. "Are you sure?"
Clint grunts as embeds an arrow into another mechanical foe's chest and kicks it away. Before he can respond, the ground gives way in an explosion of dirt as the Hulk punches his way through the floor. He continues launching high into the air, and suddenly the pieces of other robots unfortunate to have encountered him are showering down on the trio. When he lands, he immediately starts tearing into the opponents Natasha and Clint had been grappling with. The archer shoots Steve a knowing look, and that's the only encouragement he needs before he's slipping down into the hole the Hulk had conveniently created.
The fall is not so far as to jar him, and he is also fortunate to have more robotic corpses to cushion his fall. Not the most comfortable cushion but better than nothing. He finds himself in another dank hallway and rather than follow the series of holes made by the Hulk he chooses to continue down a set of stairs nearby.
Memories of HYDRA bases flit through his mind as he makes his way down the winding stairs. The two places are similar if not in layout then in atmosphere.
Then a sound reaches his ears. It's a quiet hissing accompanied by a low moaning, and it sends him rushing down the remainder of the stairwell in a hurry. He comes to a crouch at the bottom so as to take out any enemies left. None are there but other gruesome sights meet Steve.
Tubes of floating bodies line the walls of this particular room. The bodies are not even fully formed but are poor mutilated things like attempts at recreating the creature from Frankenstein. What is most eye catching is the bloodied, gleaming cutting device poised over the occupied slab. His heart goes out to whatever poor soul had come under all of those sharp edges. Then his heart nearly gives out as he finally realizes who is on the slab.
He quickly runs over to be by Loki's side, and his fists clench in anger as he takes in the child's form. Loki is a shivering mess who is taking large and uneven breaths with a stream of tears coming from his clenched eyes. He is strapped down, and the most arresting sight is the vivid red line which runs down the center of his too pale body.
"I've found Loki," reports Steve grimly. "And we're going to need medical attention stat."
Mjolnir slightly falters in its trajectory as Thor receives the news. His current bloodlust quells for a second, and he is aware of the battered form beneath him. This moment of hesitation allows for the accursed doctor to blast him off with a burst of magic. He flies off to slam into the wall but quickly picks himself back up with a low growl. He watches the other man with hooded eyes and begins starts to rotate Mjolnir in a hurried flurry.
"I think your brother is need of his protector," taunts the ruler. "Mustn't prolong the reunion."
"I have time enough to part your head from your body," threatens Thor in return. Without another thought, he flings the hammer at Doom. The other man attempts to dodge it but such is the fury of Thor's wrath that it aims true and launches the doctor clear through the thick stone walls.
The thunder god rushes towards the prone form as he simultaneously calls for the mighty hammer to return to his hand. It sweeps down in another deadly arc, and the dictator attempts to throw up an energy shield. To Doom's credit, it does repel the hammer, but the force of the blow shatters the barrier in turn and shoves him deeper into the ground. In place of Mjolnir, Thor decides his fists will do and quickly dives in to deliver a blow himself. He gets the drop on his opponent and punches him rather viciously in his masked face.
Thor's satisfaction is short-lived though as the damaged skull spurts out sparks rather than the sound of bone cracking. In his continued fury at having fallen for this ploy yet again, he places both of his large palms around that neck and wrenches the head from its body. The body jerks and convulses underneath him, and he quickly crushes the head in his hand as easily as the flimsy aluminum containers his Midgardian allies so often drink from.
Tossing the head aside, he rises from the ground and summons Mjolnir back to his palm. His fingers flex around the leather bindings of the handle, and he yearns to mete justice against the Latverian.
He sees a movement in the corner of his eye, and just as he turns towards it, another magical blast barrels at him and knocks him off his feet. Thor rolls over and regains his footing lest he suffer another blow. His blue eyes narrow at the man before him, and Mjolnir whirls in his hand once more.
Energy crackles from Doom's hand in response to the lightning sparking across the surface of the hammer. A storm brews between them as the tension mounts.
Then a sudden roar breaks out in place of the rumbling of thunder, and before Doom can respond, his green cape is grabbed by larger green hands. The Hulk twirls him through the air like a lasso and then finally slams Doom into the ground with a resounding crunch. The Hulk growls in contentment, and after the dust clears, Thor sees how beneath the mangled armor there are scrapes and scratches which bleed. He nods his head in thanks to his teammate who in turn grabs Doom from the ground so as to not lose track of him.
"GO JOIN LITTLE GOD NOW," demands the Hulk as he creates another exit through the wall and promptly drops to the ground. Thor follows suit and after getting a more approximate location from the Captain, they smash their way into the dungeons.
Thor nearly drops his hammer as a familiar and sickening sight meets his eyes. Tubes of experiments presumably gone wrong, the lethal cutting instrument with its various tools, and in the midst of all this is Loki crouched over on a slab. To his immediate relief, Loki is still in one piece save for a bright red line which runs down the center of his small body. His brother sits quietly staring off into the distance as Barton attends to his wound. Steve is off to the side hunched over while Natasha pats him on the back.
Their arrival garners attention, and Loki's eyes widen as he registers who has just now arrived. In a few quick strides, Thor is at his brother's side, and Clint has respectfully moved back to Natasha and Steve.
"Y-y-you came for me," croaks the boy.
Thor's hand goes to cradle Loki's neck, but his brother flinches away from the touch. He curls his fist and settles for letting it rest on Loki's shoulder. "But of course," he simply says in return.
The small god's head turns to look at the group of assembled Avengers. "A-all of you came. For me," he says quietly. A shiver travels through his frame, and Thor could hit himself for having avoided his brother's state of undress. He internally thanks Clint for dressing Loki's wounds as best he could as he takes off his cape to wrap his brother in it.
"How else are we supposed to mete out our punishment?" quips Tony who has just flown in through the hole in the wall. "By my estimation, you're grounded until we all die from old age."
"Tony," rebukes Steve as both SHIELD assassins throw glares at him.
This seems to strike something within Loki as he bounds up to nestle his head in Thor's shoulder. His thin, shaking arms wrap around the older god's broad neck, and Thor feels warm breath rapidly fan across the skin of his throat.
"I'm sorry," apologizes the boy shakily. Whatever restraint he had been holding on to dissolves as Loki continually shudders against him. Thor is quick to drape his red cape around his brother and rub his large hand up and down the boy's back. This only seems to cause the boy to take deep gasping breaths into his shoulder, and he continues to apologize.
Rather than back away from the two of them, his teammates actually inch closer. Thor recognizes the expression of helplessness on their faces as he is sure it is the very same one on his own. It is Steve and Clint who stretch out hands to also comfort the boy.
Loki's muffled apology is the only thing to be heard in the space of the room, and Thor wonders for what he apologizes. If anything, it is he who has failed to provide a safe haven for his brother. Thor aims to fix this again if he only knew how.