The railing Loki had held onto during the conversation between Steve and Bucky was now squished, his handprint imprinted on it as he had held it so tight that the metal had given up and buckled under the tension. Loki staggered back a bit, feeling an odd sickness in his stomach as well as the overbearing sadness from the heart-tearing speech Bucky had given. But the thing that struck him most was the look in Steve's eyes that empty looks of sadness and diminished hope as he watched Bucky walk away from him, and Loki wondered if that was what Thor would look like when he would tell him the truth and leave him. Or maybe… That was what he would look like. His brother walking away from him in disgust, sickened by the thought of having a monster for a brother, or adopted in this case. Loki walked backwards, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from Steve, needing to see what the soldier would do. He was not prepared for what came next.
Steve looked down at the floor, his fists clenched in fury. After a little while he looked up and stared straight at Loki, who suddenly felt like a deer caught in the headlights.
"You!" Steve shouted and pointed his finger at Loki while walking towards him, his steps increasing in speed as he walked forward.
"Me?" Loki asked, almost squeaking when the mountain of muscles strode towards him from down below, and Loki knew that it wasn't a good when someone made a face like that, which at the moment looked like something close to a maniac.
"You did this!" Steve shouted, and Loki's eyebrows frowned in response, and all his brain could produce at the moment was one coherent word;
"Huh?" Loki stood dumbstruck still for a moment, not really understanding what the soldier below was talking about.
"You did something to him, didn't you! I saw you yesterday, you messed up his memories!"
Loki didn't think his eyebrows could travel any further up on his forehead, but the soldiers ridiculous and preposterous statement proved him wrong, and even Bucky had stopped in his tracks to stare at Steve who looked majorly pissed off.
Steve was still staring at Loki, his teeth showing, like a dog growling.
Thor turned around and stared at Loki with a slightly worried look.
"Is this true brother?" He asked, and Loki cold only stare at him with a gaping mouth before retorting with an annoyed tone;
"Of course not! That's ridiculous!" Thor looked at him for a short time before nodding solemnly, but that didn't seem to convince the soldier that he was telling the truth about the matter.
"Of course he would say that! We don't even know anything about him or his brother, for all we know he could have brainwashed Bucky!"
Steve breathed harshly, and Bucky was now staring at him with eyes pressed together and his mouth closed in a way that most people would describe as someone pitying one another.
"Leave him out of this." Bucky said, and Steve's gaze on Loki finally broke as his head snapped to Bucky, who was still staring at him, slightly annoyed with Steve's outburst. Steve stared at Bucky for a moment before calming down a bit, and then he spoke in a slightly less threatening tone, but Loki could tell that he was still majorly pissed off at him.
"I'm going to take you to Dr. Strange… And he is going to fix whatever damage Hydra and this man has done to you." Steve said, and by the look on Bucky's face it was easy to tell that he was not pleased by the decision Steve had made for him.
"I don't want help…" He gritted out between his teeth, and both of his fists were clenched, and he was now facing Steve from across the room.
"That's just the manipulation, its making you do and say things you don't want Bucky… I know that you are still in there, and I am going to make sure that you are healed properly…" Steve said as he walked forward
"Why aren't you listening! " Bucky roared, and Loki could feel the tension between the two seep into his very bones, the dreading feeling of experiencing something similar with his brother making his stomach turn inside out.
"Because I have heard enough. I'm taking you with me whether you like it or not." Steve answered as he walked forward, and though the other people in the room seemed to be in doubt, they made no movement or statement to stop the lunatic soldier. That is until the wall behind Steve was torn open, and a man with a cape and a helmet floating through it.
Everyone stared at the man who seemed to be floating on a metal plate, and even Steve had turned around to stare in confusion. The man in question seemed to be really old, but that hadn't stopped him from removing the entire wall, as well as transporting a hoard of people who were currently streaming into the Helicarrier. When they were all inside the man on the metal plate spoke up, and Loki could already tell that he meant trouble, judging by the scared expressions the others currently wore, as well as the fact that they were reaching for their respective weapon of choice.
"Greetings fellow mutants and… Inferior beings…" The man said, and Loki could see that he was staring at the man with the eye patch and the woman with red hair before turning his gaze towards his brother and then him. There seemed to be a slight glint in his eyes when his eyes wandered over them, and his mouth turned upward in a mocking smile.
"Do not fear, we mean you no harm. Just hand over the Tesseract and we will be on our way." There was an amused smile on the man's face, and while Loki at first wanted to laugh at him for not knowing that it was back at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, the look on the man's face with the eye patch told him that it might not be true. Had they seriously brought it with them on the plane?
The man hovered in silence, and the man with the eye patch walked forward to the railing while gathering himself.
"How do you know about the Tesseract, and why would you think we have it here?" The man said, and the older man scoffed and smiled a little bit while hovering a bit closer, all the while the other people around Loki seemed to prepare for the worst to happen any second.
"I know you have it, and I should also let you know that stalling won't do you any good. If you won't tell me where it is…" The man's smile dropped, and his right hand rose from behind him, and as if he was crushing a paper he clenched his hand, which simultaneously caused the walls to tear, the floor to shake and the Helicarrier to rumble.
"I will simply have to tear this whole ship apart until I find it, and trust me… it won't take long to erase the floor you are standing on, so I suggest for your crewmen's safety that you tell me before I start looking myself."
"Who are you?!" Thor roared, and the man ceased to tear the ship and turned his attention towards him, and a dangerous smile played over his face.
"But of course! Where are my manners? My name is Eric, though many call me Magneto by these days. I have a simple goal… To eradicate all those who oppose me and my cause, mutants and humans alike."
"You aren't human?" Thor asked, and Magneto raised his eyebrows, as if the question could have been asked by a 4 year old.
"No. I am a mutant, a new step in the evolution of mankind. My people are being discriminated by the humans who fear us, and so I have taken it upon myself to cleanse the earth of all humans, so that we mutants can live in peace. I have seen many mutants, but you and your associate over there are new to me. Tell me… Are you also mutants?"
Thor stared back at Magneto defiantly, and he smirked a bit before unholstering Mjölnir from his waist.
"I am not from this world, and neither is my brother. We come from Asgard, and we will protect these humans from you." Thor said, and by the surprised look and Magnetos face Loki almost giggled by how baffled he looked.
"Thor… And Loki?" Magneto said, and he was currently fixating his gaze on the two, or to be precise Thor's hammer, and the small smile seemed to be his way of acknowledging the statement.
"Intriguing… and why are you defending the humans if I might ask? Why bother saving the weak when it's the stronger that will prevail?"
"Because it's the right thing to do." Thor said, and he was already getting a firm grip on Mjölnir, and Loki could see how everyone got ready to fight.
"Stop right there bub!"
Loki whipped his head and body around; with an expression that was something in the style of "really?" It was now more people streaming in from the other side of the room, a man with metal claws growing out of his knuckles, a woman with blond hair, a man with odd glasses and a bunch of other people behind him, all sporting black costumes with an "X" symbol on them.
"Wolverine! What a pleasant surprise seeing you here! Now if you would just be so kind to wait a moment while I retrieve the Tesseract, I promise you that I will destroy you, just wait your turn." Magneto said in a mocking tone, and the man called "wolverine" growled at the remark, very similar to a dog actually.
"Save it tin-head, the professor has sent us here to make sure that you don't get the Tesseract, and we sure as hell aren't going to wait just so you can play around with these kids!"
"Excuse me?!" The man with the eye patch shouted as he looked at Wolverine. Who the hell do you think you are, and why are you on my ship?!"
The woman with white hair stepped forward and shoved Wolverine away, who seemed close to jumping onto the man with the eye patch.
"We mean no harm to you Fury. We are simply here to stop Magneto. Our leader, Charles Xavier located the Tesseract on this ship, as well as Magnetos men. We are here to help."
The speech seemed to have calmed Fury down, though he still stared at her with a suspicious eye before turning back to Magneto.
"Alright then-"Fury didn't have any more time to say anything before the right wall of the carrier blew open, with a giant orange rock-looking man jumping through, followed by a man on fire, a woman and a man in blue costumes. At this point Loki didn't think it could get any more ridiculous.
But it did.
Because suddenly the left wall smashed open, this time revealing two men, one with a green coat and a metal mask, and the other one had a skull mask and a white cape. Loki didn't even know what to say anymore.
"We heard your call Nick!" The man in blue shouted, and Loki half expected the floor to drop down any moment right now.
"Richard! Magneto is after the Tesseract, we have to stop him from stealing it!"
Fury shouted, but the man in the green coat and hood interrupted the
conversation from carrying on any further.
"Actually… I'll be taking the Tesseract if you don't mind." The man said, and
the man with a white cape drew his sword.
"Doom!" the man called Richard shouted, and Doom turned his attention
towards him.
"Why are you doing this?! And why is Taskmaster with you?!"
"Simple Reed… The Tesseract is worth a fortune, which just so happens to be
what Doom is paying me." Taskmaster said, and Loki knew that any moment
now something was going to happen. Like for example the door opening right
below where they were standing, which at the moment was right in the middle
of the gigantic hangar, with the mutants ahead, the four uncanny people on the
left, the two men in cloaks on the right and the avengers plus Thor and Loki
behind. It was the man from yesterday, the son of Coul.
"Nick, I just picked it up from the ship, where do you want me to put the Tessera- oh."
The son of Coul was currently standing right in the middle of everything, the briefcase with the Tesseract in his right hand. At first it was silent. Then all hell broke loose. The mutants marched towards the son of Coul, while the Avengers and "X" people threw themselves over the railing and into the fight, as well as everybody else. There was metal flying around, fire burning everywhere and ice covering the walls… It was absolute chaos, and Loki didn't know what to do. He turned to Thor, but that oaf had already taken his chance to participate, and was currently taking a swing at a man with a ridiculous red suit who also shouted that he was the "Juggernaut" or something. Loki couldn't have cared less, but at the moment he was sort of torn between what he should do; should he simply join the fight? No, that would be too risky, especially since he couldn't really tell apart who was who with all the beams, shields, shots and various other things flying around at the same time. He had to find Jane and the others and bring them away from the carrier to safety. Loki ran back the way he came, not bothering to ask anyone where exactly they had put them, seeing as everyone was either shooting, running or screaming, sometimes all together. Loki sighed as he ran through the corridor's, looking into each room to find them so he could get the hell out of there. This wasn't exactly what he had had in mind when he left, and now he was seriously wondering how it would all end. Would he even manage to get through this day? Would he die, all alone, never knowing true freedoms taste? No. Loki gritted his teeth and sped up his pace as he tore open all doors in his search.
He would get out of this, and he will definitely be free from everything that holds him back. Even his brother if it would come to that.
Eventually Loki found them, or rather ran in to them quite literally to be honest. They looked fine, save for their terrified and worried expressions, which really was no surprise considering the circumstances.
"Loki!" Darcy shouted after bouncing back from the floor, and proceeded to hug Loki, squirmed in the tight grip.
"No, I- I am not a hugging person! You can stop hugging me!" Loki shouted with a tomato-look-alike face, and while Darcy still had her big smile the same could not be said about Jane or Selvig.
"Loki what's happening? And where is Thor?"
Of course she would ask about his brother, god forbid her asking if he was
alright.
"Thor is fine, or at least I think so, but we don't have time to chat. The
Helicarrier has been invaded by a hoard of villains and "mutants", and we really
Need to-"
"Mutants?!" Selvig suddenly shouted and stared at Loki in awestruck.
Loki gritted his teeth, hating when people interrupted him.
"Yes, mutants, now if you would be so kind to-"
"Incredible! I have to see this!" Selvig said, and he seemed to have completely
Forgotten about the chaotic things that were taking place currently and was
almost about to walk past Loki to get to the action. Almost. Emphasize on the
almost. Loki quickly grabbed the man's jacket and looked him straight in his
eyes while hissing out his next sentence;
"I don't know if you have noticed what is happening at the moment, or what I
just said half a minute ago, but we are currently under attack. If you go to "see
the mutants", as you described it, I can guarantee you that you won't come back
alive, which means you have two options; either walk right into the crossfire and
die a horrible death, or follow me to safety, which only ups you chances of
survival with a few measly percent's, which begs the question; what do you
think is the smartest course of action?"
Loki finished his speech by letting go of Selvig's shirt, and by that telling him
that he could do what he wanted without Loki stopping him. Selvig wasn't as
excited as before, and he gave Loki a small shameful nod before turning around
and starting to walk, accompanied soon by Darcy, Jane and Loki who rolled his
eyes at the old man's stupidity. They ran together through the hallways, people
with guns passing by now and then, until they came to a locked door. Of course
it wasn't any obstacle that Loki couldn't handle, who simply whipped out his
sonic screwdriver and unlocked it. When they walked through the door their
eyes were met with fresh sunlight, as well as many people fighting each
other.
"Well shit…" Loki murmured to himself as he quickly motioned for the others
to stay alongside the walls of the Helicarrier and as far away from the fight as
possible. They half-ran alongside the wall, all while the fight erupted into more
and more chaos, which seemed to be something Selvig enjoyed, judging by his
smiling face as he watched the man on fire soar through the sky. Loki kept
pushing them forward, very much like a mom trying to shove her kid out of toy
store. Eventually they reached the edge of the wall they had ran alongside, and
there was a big ship ahead, most likely the one the "X" men had used, since their
initial was on it.
"Can any of you fly that thing?" Loki asked, and the others turned and looked at
each other before Jane cleared her throat a bit.
"I… I think I can, I mean I haven't really flied one before, but I'm sure that it's
not that hard, right?"
By the looks on the others faces Jane concluded that it probably wasn't.
"Yeah, sure Jane, no problem! I have played GTA a lot, so I definitely know
how to fly one, I mean it's definitely not like you need years of experience or
anything, right?" Darcy said, and by the look Jane shot her Loki could tell that
she was not amused.
The company had only managed to take one step before metal spikes erupted
from the floor all around them and just by their luck Magneto came hovering
down in front of them, his lackeys right behind him.
"Leaving so soon? We were just getting started!" Magneto exclaimed with an
amused smile, like a kid who were playing with an ant running across the yard,
blocking its path for fun.
"What do you want from us?!" Loki roared, sweat showing on his forehead and
the stress quickly building up inside of him.
Magneto only gave a small scoff of laughter before answering.
"Don't pretend you don't know… One of my subordinates sensed the Tesseracts
presence, or to be exact in you left pocket, so I suggest you hand it over before I
impale all of you."
"The Tesseract? What are you talking about we don't have it! Right Loki?
Loki?"
Loki was very still, just remembering that it was true; he had the Tesseract, or at
least a piece of it, and now he had doomed them by using for such a simple task
as opening a door. He had been a fool. And now everyone else would suffer.
Loki shuffled a bit, not sure what to do, seeing as Magneto would hardly be
interested in the small piece he had chipped of the old block, but he could still
save the others by using his brain.
"If I give you the Tesseract you have to let the others go, alright? Let them go,
and I will give you the Tesseract."
Magneto stared silently at Loki for a moment before waving his right hand in a
dismissing manner, the spikes next to Jane disappearing, but other rising along
the ground, leading to the plane. Jane and the others looked around nervously
before walking away from Loki, and he only got one look of worry from them,
until they turned their heads forward and continued to walk towards the plane
ahead. After they had got on the plane and lifted (Loki could spot an "X" pilot in
the front seat of the plane) Magneto turned towards Loki, who had a serious
exterior while he was almost panicking inside, trying to remember a spell that he
could use against the mad man.
"Well…?" Magneto asked, and he had now come down to the ground, and he
was currently standing right in front of Loki, his right hand extended to grab the
Tesseract Loki didn't have. Loki looked at Magneto and his fellow henchmen
who seemed rather eager to attack him the second he handed over the Tesseract.
Too bad he wasn't planning on doing that.
"Sure." Loki said with a brilliant smile, and with that he quickly seized Magnetos
hand with his own, all while mumbling the only spell he could think of at the
moment. Magnetos eyes went wide and his knees buckled as he tried to force his
hand out of Loki's iron grip, but it was no use.
"Let's see how mighty you are after I suck all your life out…" Loki hissed, and
Magnetos mouth was wide open, a silent cry for help, but it was too late, a fog
traveled from Loki's hand and surrounded Magneto, and when it cleared the only
thing that remained was his robes on the floor.
"ERIC!"
Loki's head snapped at his right side at the scream, a lady with blue skin and red
hair running towards him with intent to kill, but just like the people around
Loki who were ready to kill him they were stopped, due to the fact that more
people had joined the fight, and they had to defend themselves unless they
desired to be blown to smithereens. Loki looked around, not exactly sure what he
was supposed to do next now that Jane and the others were safe. Would he join
the fight? Loki pondered over his options; he could always just jump off the ship,
but that had hurt so much that Loki only shuddered at the thought of doing it
again. Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a cry, no wait… A wailing?
Was there kids fighting? Loki looked around to try and find the source, which to
his astonishment seemed to be right next to him, though at the ground. Loki
stared at the spot where the wailing came from, and he crouched veeery slowly
down, lifting the robes on the ground. Loki's jaw dropped. Literally. Because
what he saw was unbelievable. There was a baby lying in the robes, and Loki's
eyes were wide in horror as he had a pretty good guess of who it might be. This
wasn't exactly look had pictured when he had learned the spell, who in the book
had called it something in the style of "taking away a person's years", which Loki
now really wish he had understood what it truly meant. Loki was now currently
holding the gurgling baby in his hands, sweat pouring out of his body as he stared
at the little cretin that had threatened his life before, and was now pulling his hair
and giggling.
"What the hell am I supposed to do with this?!" Loki half shouted and moaned at
the same time. He couldn't just leave it there, could he? But he couldn't bring it
with him, he had no experience with babies! Loki looked around, looking like he
was ready to pass along the baby to anyone who might pass by, as if he was
holding a ball. When no one seemed to be in range Loki swore and gathered the
robes on the floor to tuck the baby in, while he ran away from the battle, trying to
figure out what in Odin's name he was going to do with a baby on his hands.
This day couldn't possibly get any worse or crazier, but of course that was just
wishful thinking for Loki, who came to a dead end at the far end of the carrier,
halting abruptly in his tracks as a bright light descended onto the platform from the
sky, with five Asgardian warriors stepping through and armed to the teeth. Loki stood
absolutely still, the baby still in his arms, the mutants and everybody else fighting
behind him including his brother who sent a number of people flying over the edge
of the Helicarrier. The Asgardian soldier in the middle walked forwards from the
group and eyed Loki up from down before smirking.
"Well, well, well… If it isn't Asgards own little freak…"
Loki swallowed hard and unconsciously held the baby closer to his chest. This was
definitely worse than before.