The Poisoned Crown Chapter 21

By: Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to Thor, Marvel and Disney do so please don't sue. Rated T for violence, gore, adult language and situations, character death, may be higher rated in this chapter. Please read and review, it's much appreciated.

Warning: This chapter is much more violent

Mephisto clapped his hands and said, "Cone of Silence. I have to say, that Heimdall guy who's supposed to have the best eyes in all the Nine Realms really seems to miss a lot."

The grey demons overpowered Loki and everyone Asgardian left in the room. Their bodies were as cold as ice, but disturbingly soft to the touch as if they were darkness itself made flesh.

Thor screamed, "No one may attack me in my home! I will avenge the deaths of my fallen comrades Fandral and Volstagg! By the power of Mjolnir I…"

Mephisto cut him off, "Have fun lifting the hammer while it's on fire."

Thor's hammer on the ground burst into flames. Thor's expression melted to the Asgardian equivalent of "Of crap."

Loki said, "What do you bloody want this time Mephisto?"

"The same thing you do Loki. To find the real Odin, take his power and replace his rule with my own, and maybe defeat my own brother in the process. If I get bored I just may use Thor's scientist friends to use the convergence to open up a permanent portal between Earth and my home dimension."

Mephisto transformed into Odin. The resemblance was near identical, except for his red eyes.

Thor screamed, "Never!"

Mephisto said, "Silence him."

Thor grew muffled as a demon shoved its hand in his mouth.

Loki faked calmness. "Odin is dead. And even if he wasn't I would never give you what you want."

The demon lord got close enough to touch and transformed from Odin into a replica of Loki. It was like looking at his reflection, only with crimson bloodshot eyes.

Mephisto said, "I can tell you're lying to me. Why are you protecting him? I know you better than you know yourself. We're not so different, you and I. We're both tricksters born to kings with aggression in our family trees and holier-than-thou brothers we can't get along with. We're both gifted with magic and mind games. Except I'm better at everything than you are. I've been doing this for thousands of years longer and I will always win. So make it easy on yourself and…"

Loki said, "Are you really pulling the 'Not So Different' villain cliché out?"

Mephisto snarled in a non-human voice, "Don't interrupt me, bitch! I'm monologing here! You tell me now, or I will rip your heart out and eat it!"

Loki saw the looks of concern on Thor, Karnilla and even Sif's faces. It gave him strength.

Loki said, "No. And ripping people's hearts out is also a cliché."

Mephisto morphed from a copy of Loki into his normal appearance. The lower demons shoved him forwards and Mephisto pulled his shirt open. He held his red right hand up in front of Loki's face and the fingernails extended into long claws with serrated edgings.

He plunged his claws through Loki's sternum. Loki forced himself to not scream.

Mephisto smiled and said, "Tell me, or I'll pull it out."

Loki refused to give in. "No."

He felt like his chest was on fire. The veins and arteries he took for granted all felt strained to bursting.

"Tell me, you arrogant little prick."

Mephisto's talons scraped his insides. The pressure was as if his core was being pierced by a thousand swords.

Karnilla screamed, "Odin is in Section 33 of Dimension 7! Will you let him go please!?"

Mephisto pulled his hand out and Loki gasped. His feet gave way but he was held up by the demon minions. As he caught his breath his thoughts raced between realizing what he had just narrowly survived, understanding that if he had any doubts about it before Karnilla just proved she really loved him, and being hit with the danger of what his enemy could do if he took Odin's power and place.

Thor mumbled something, but it was garbled by the minion who held him.

Sif snapped at Karnilla, "You've just damned us all for a man who isn't even worth it. Loyalty to traitors is a fool's game."

Mephisto retracted his claws and ran his index finger still covered in Loki's own blood down Karnilla's cheek. It looked like a trail of tears.

The demon said, "Thank you. Karnilla, isn't it? You're one of Satannish's things. I have a history of taking my brother's things"

Mephisto eyed Loki as he spoke, as if he was fishing for a reaction.

She said, "I'm not a thing. I'm a person."

"I see no difference between people and things. You're just territory to be marked. Where did he put his brand on you? Was it somewhere…intimate?"

He gave Loki a mock-conspirational wink. Loki suspected he was being baited.

Loki said, "The marks are on our wedding ring fingers. Leave her alone about it."

Mephisto pulled her left hand out. "How romantic. It disgusts me. Open up Section 33 or I'll break every bone in your hand."

Karnilla gasped, "I'm sorry" and opened a portal. Loki and the others were pulled through to the splinter realm.

Odin still slept on the bed, but something was off about how Loki remembered things. His hands were perched on top of the comforter and his hair appeared to have been brushed. A small lacy handkerchief had been placed next to the bed. It was as if someone had been giving him extra care.

Loki looked at Karnilla curiously. She looked exhausted.

Mephisto ordered his minions. "Pick him up. We're going back home."

Sif asked warily, "Where is home?"

Mephisto said, "Disneyland."

He opened a portal of his own. The hole was filled with swirling blackness. It smelled of charcoal and embers.

Loki said, "No. Don't let him drag us back there. Don't let him…"

The demon with its hand in Thor's mouth yelped. A black, tarry substance leaked from its fingers as Thor bit into it and head-butted him. They fell back and struggled. Sif let out a battle cry and kicked back. Loki got into the spirit and elbowed the demons holding him. The wound in his chest burned, but he fought on.

Karnilla unleashed green lightning against Mephisto. He blasted fire back at her.

The hole got bigger and the whole room tilted into it. Loki tried to grab on to the floor, but slid towards the opening. He reached for Karnilla, but she was pulled through. He heard Sif scream and Thor roar, and then blackness swallowed him.

He hit the ground with a thud. Dazed, he tried to pull himself up to his knees. There was no sunlight, only the flicker of firelight. The demon minions surrounding them looked bigger.

Loki had trouble breathing. He thought it was from the wound in his chest so close to his lungs, but Thor, Sif and Karnilla gasped as well.

Thor coughed, "I have been to Disneyland with Jane. This is not Disneyland."

Sif asked, "Is this Niffelheim? Are we dead? I always thought I would become a Valkyrie in death."

Loki said, "It's Hell Dimension Nine. Demon Lords are practically omnipotent in their home realms."

Thor said, "You are far too familiar with demons, brother."

Karnilla muttered. "We can't survive here long. The living are not built to endure in the lands of the dead."

Mephisto said, "I'll keep you alive long enough to see me drain your father and conquer your worlds and not a moment longer. Minions, put them in chains and bring them to my throne room for the ritual."

They were roughly shoved forwards with their hands behind their backs. The demons shackled then with handcuffs.

Odin was slung over the shoulder of one of the minions, asleep as usual. Loki envied his ability to sleep through everything significant.

Loki said to Karnilla. "You saved me earlier, even after what Sif said."

"Do you think me so petulant I could watch my husband be tortured to death because you picked the wrong woman first? And such a harpy she is."

Sif hissed, "I heard that witch."

The women gave each other a mutual death glare.

Karnilla whispered, "Did I make a mistake in saving you? Have I condemned us to a worse fate?"

"I'm tired of being saved by other people. I'd like to get the glory of being a hero myself for a change."

He stared at Thor, the so-called champion for any sign if he had a plan or confidence. Thor's blue eyes just looked blank and empty.

They walked past various prison cells. Some of the doors had names on them: Ivan the Terrible. Mussolini. Cynthia Von Doom.

They came to the throne room. It was like a dark mirror of the Asgardian seat of power. Instead of gold, the room was built of black and silver iron, twisted into sharp points and spires. Loki searched for anyplace they could escape to, anything he could use to survive.

Mephisto rested on the central chair and pulled out a book. It was another bound in humanoid-looking skin, but thicker than the guide to demons.

The minions dumped Odin's body onto a table. Mephisto put his hand on his comatose chest. Loki thought he was going to rip his heart out for real. In his own heart, as much as he hated Odin he didn't want to see that.

Thor screamed, "My father deserves better than this!"

Loki said, "Just mercy kill him already."

Mephisto said, "There is no mercy in Hell. Why do either of you care? A son can't step into his father's glory until his father dies. My father is immortal so I won't ever have that luxury. I think I know why he wasn't drained of the Odin Force completely yet. You were too afraid to kill him. I'm not."

He paged through the book and recited, "OM SIGGURATH DEMONICUS POR DORMAMMU IN DIABOLUS EX MACHINA."

A light glowed around Odin and then absorbed into Mephisto's body. Loki felt himself getting weaker. Karnilla also looked like she was being drained of any remaining Odin Force she had.

Mephisto smiled and lit up a cigar. "I am a God now."

Thor broke free and flung himself onto Odin's body. He broke into manly sobs. Sif sniffled.

Mephisto said, "Pathetic. He's not dead yet, but with the lack of Asgardian air he'll probably go in a few hours."

Two demons pulled Thor away as he screamed. Loki used the distraction to pull a key from one of the nearby demon's pockets. He could only hope it would fit his own cuffs.

Mephisto got in the same position as Loki did do astral project. He called out, "Oh Satannish? Are you there?"

Satannish's disembodied voice responded, "What do you want brother? I'm busy."

Mephisto snarled, "Are you in the middle of a Breaking Bad marathon?"

"No, a civil war you idiot. Haven't you heard I'm an Emperor now?"

"Haven't heard. Don't care. I have your children. If you want to see Karnilla and Loki alive again come to my throne room now."

Thor gave Karnilla and Loki a confused look.

Karnilla shouted, "It's a trap!"

She was muffled by her demon captor. Loki was muffled as well, which kept him from trying keys.

Satannish said, "Give me 5 minutes."

The time took forever. Satannish finally appeared in front of them. Sif and Thor looked taken aback at the sight of him. Loki was so used to Godfather's double-headed appearance he forgot how frightening he looked. Satannish stared at Odin's body.

Mephisto gloated as he held up a ball of energy in his hand, "Did I not mention I have the Odin Force now? I'm strong enough to kill you with it."

Satannish said, "Do you really think I'd come here without reinforcements? Remember the Valkyries?"

Forty women dressed in Asgardian battle gear materialized in the room. Ten feet away stood Frigga. She looked younger than when he had last seen her, but Valkyries were rumored to regress to their prime in their afterlife.

Loki called out, "Mother?!"

To be continued.