Half of a man
Yin and Yan
The happy landscape seemed unchanged by this new intruder. People were chatting happily and kids were still playing with their fake magical wands. Everything was calm and normal.
Except for them
Loki and Natasha stood side by side scanning this new creature that had appeared out of nowhere. He resembled Loki but his burnt skin was downright charcoal black and his marks were shining red. His red eyes were pure evil. In his hands he held the mythic spear of Jotun, the Hodnir.
"Who are you?" Natasha asked him with a low voice that frustrated her. She wasn't afraid. She wasn't afraid of anything!
The creature looked at her cocking his head on the side and smirking.
"Well, I am Loki off course." He answered.
"No, you're not." Natasha said getting more confident now. She looked up to her lover's face and saw his discomfort. He was tensed and his jaw was tight. Something was wrong.
"Oh, but he knows better, don't you?" the sinister laugh of the dark creature captured her attention again. His bloody eyes were now focused on the man next to her. Loki tightened his fist and breathed heavily.
"Oh, you know exactly who I am. Ehehe, I like this; all this sentimentality and kindness… go on, tell her." The dark Jotun said. Loki swallowed hard and turned his face towards Natasha looking at the ground though. He couldn't bring himself to admit the truth. He knew but if the words left his mouth it would be real then.
"Time with the Midgardians has made you weak. I despise you! Tell her who I am, tell her your true identity!" the demon yelled.
"You are not…"
"It is me." Loki interrupted her with a whisper. Natasha stopped and looked at him with eyes wide open. She tried to ask him what did he mean but he put a finger on her mouth.
"After I… after I killed my brother I… I thought there was something wrong with me. I did not know of my true parentage at the time and I was but a young lad taking hold of his magic. I thought I was evil so to protect my family… I… I found a wise old man; a mentalist and he separated my soul." He said and a deep gasp made his head fell even lower. Natasha looked at her lover not able to believe her ears.
What was he saying? He had separated his soul? Was that even possible?
Has he no soul?
"I thought that by keeping Him locked somewhere in my mind, I would protect my family." He admitted in a defeated voice.
"Now we both know how that ended, don't we weak head?" The dark Loki said. Loki stiffened again and clenched his fist. He thought he had gotten rid of Him. He thought that everything would be normal after that but life was never soft on him.
"It wasn't Loki's fault!" Natasha tried to defend him to his dark self but his sinister laugh, resembling that of the devil himself, made her sick.
"I am Loki, my little Russian wench; I am every hateful thought, every angry word, and every sinister dream. I am his blood thirst, his madness and his cruelty. I am his power and he is the weakness." The dark soul said smirking at the two of them.
Loki looked at him with distaste. He was everything that was bad about him and apparently there were plenty for he was powerful. He remembered now how light he had felt when he had locked him in a cell on the back of his mind, hearing his roars and pleas to come out every time Loki got mad. Unfortunately that was quite often. However his mind power was always exceptional and therefore the little shadow stayed lock; but every bad thought, every dirty desire mad him grow stronger and stronger weakening his barriers. The truth of his parentage had been the last straw that unleashed the monster. He had made a few efforts to get back his control but Thanos got to him first.
"That old goat you call father did the trick though; he put me back for good and then that bullet… Ehehe, you were quite lucky but now… now I have this." The dark figure said and tossed the Hodnir from one hand to the other.
"What do you want?" Loki finally said. His evil half laughed and leaned casually on his stick. He was so calm it got to his nerves. Loki was known to never lose his temper and superiority in times like that but now…
His own reflection scared him.
"Oh, what do all men want? Why do people fight over and over again dying stupidly for hundreds and hundreds of years across the universe?" he said.
"Freedom." Natasha answered. She stood her ground firm holding Loki's hand. No matter what, they were in this together and together they would win.
"You want to leave this body and act independently. Sorry for not wanting a maniac double to ran across the universe getting me in trouble." Loki mocked and Natasha relaxed a bit. If Loki was cocky enough to mock this monster then they might have a chance.
"Who said you'll be out as well? My dear half, you should know better that; two objects cannot be at the same place at the same time." Evil Loki said. Natasha looked at him confused trying to comprehend his train of thought if there was one. But something in that sentence sounded familiar. Suddenly two voices belonging to two separate men popped in her head.
No, that's wrong. He should be dead the moment he entered the timeline. Two objects cannot be at the same place at the same time, one of them needs to be removed.
"Only one of us gets out of here alive." Loki's evil twin said as if he had heard her thoughts. "So I'm going to give you a choice because of the few thousand years you kept me around. You either stay here with your friends and family and live a heavenly life with them, never have to worry about invasions or any maniacs for that matter Or you do the noble and stupid thing of fighting me." He added.
Natasha and Loki looked around. The avengers were sitting around a table discussing something that obviously Tony found hilarious. Edward and Marie were talking with Sif and Hogun while Fandral and Volstag were sparring with Jenny, Logan and Vali. Pepper was speaking with Jane and Riley sipping casually on their drinks and the Queen and King had gathered the young boys for a fairy tale.
Everything was so calm, so peaceful.
It made his heart fill with joy. Yes, maybe he could live a life like that.
He turned towards Natasha who was watching the oblivious bunch having fun. She was smiling lightly. Suddenly her smile flew away though and looked at him with the serious look of the Russian spy.
He saw flashes of a human sea, filled with dead people, dead Asgardians and Jotuns.
Nothing of these was real. It was only an illusion.
"I may not be a hero but I am not a coward. I will not flee and hide in some kind of illusion letting you spread chaos. Besides that is my job." Loki said smirking. Natasha kept neutral but she was smiling inside. They would bring him down.
"Alright then, since you don't need them." The dark Jotun said and with a swing of his spear every guest, every child, friend and parent fell dead painting the light grass red. Loki flinched but did not run to them. He felt Natasha doing the same. They saw their friends on the ground with their lifeless eyes staring to eternity. They looked at their boys as they laid down into bloodied masses. Just a few minute ago they could hear them laughing and playing.
Just then both them realized how it felt to lose someone so close no matter if it was real or not. At that moment the pain of hundreds of victims and their families hit them.
But they did not flee, they hardly moved. They took a deep breath and looked at the blood thirsty existence that was grinning maniacally.
"Just so we make the fight more interesting…" he said and another swing took the lake and the forest away replacing them with a burden land that resembled Muspelheim. The dead bodies remained there. A light gasp draw his attention.
Natasha was bounded. She was chained to the ground with heavy cuffs on her wrists and ankles and a collar around her neck.
"What is the meaning of this?" Loki demanded. His demonic equivalent smirked and an odd sensation made him want to vomit.
He was really a monster
"I want her to be the extra prize; after all I am such a little devil." He said and Loki was pushed back by an incredible force. He stood his ground and looked back. His darkest half was still standing giving him a taste of his own smirk.
Alright, he would show the little demon who was the one and only Loki Odinson.
He extended his hand and called upon his scepter. It surprised him somewhat that it actually appeared given the fact that they were in a slot of time and space. He released an energy blast and let his full armor along with his helmet to appear on his body.
The evil shadow cocked his head on the side avoiding Loki's attack without an effort. But Loki was not scared. It wasn't what he was aiming for.
He knew himself better than anyone would think.
He threw a bunch of energy daggers and ran towards his opponent. His evil twin extinguished them with a simple move and blocked Loki's physical attack. He threw him down and brought the Hodnir on his head with force. The Asgardian God raised his scepter and blocked the attack swinging his leg to throw the demon down.
That was something he had learned from Natasha.
The demon fell down and Loki swung his spear to slice his chest but the moment he touched them a great energy wave threw him several metres back.
"Loki!" Natasha screamed but he couldn't hear her. His ears were ringing. He pushed himself on his knees and opened his eyes. The sight made him want to vomit. He had landed next to the corpse of his younger son. His face was full of blood and his big beautiful eyes were blank. All because of him.
"Loki, it's not real! Remember, it's not real." Natasha screamed fighting to free herself.
As of instinct the God the Mischief bolted up hitting his evil opponent before he could slice him in half. With a graceful turn he caught his scepter and found the charcoal black head sending it metres away.
"Never, ever think you can beat me at my own game." Loki said approaching him.
"You forget that it is my game too." The dark figure said and liquid fire bolted up from beneath the ground.
Natasha
It only took a moment of distraction for the young god to find himself roaring in pain as the fire penetrated his sensitive skin.
"God of Fire and Chaos; kind of ironic for a Frost giant don't you think?" the demon said but his laugh was cut by a beam of ice that took him off guard. Another one glued him on the ground and a third made all the fire fountains disappear.
Loki emerged from the smokes with his clothes broken and somewhat tired. He threw his helmet and upper layers of his armor away before the evil shadow could charge him again. Loki matched hit for hit defending himself with his scepter. He was losing ground though. All this heat and the energy he had wasted had tired him.
He couldn't let Natasha fry being chained with no chance of escaping.
"You are weak, pathetic. You let your emotions get in the way. You are a disgrace for your name; you puny god." His evil twin said.
"I am Loki of Asgard and I am burdened with glorious purpose; the purpose of getting out of here with that!" Loki whispered and pushed him back. He hit him with the scepter and let a magic attack. The dark Loki dismissed it and threw him a rain of fire daggers. Loki matched them with ice balls and green blades. Losing no time he charged him with a powerful spell. A blue fire swallowed the dark figure making him disappear. But Loki didn't smile for his victory.
A sear pain went through his body. His scream filled the barren land. He could feel all of his blood rushing to the right of his back. He needn't look down to realize what had happened. Much like he had done to Coulson, he was now stabbed from behind.
"You cannot beat me; for every trick you have I have a thousand more, for every spell, I have a thousand more. I have no morals, no mercy and that makes me powerful." He whispered in his ear before getting the Hodnir out of him.
Loki heard someone scream but he couldn't place the voice; there was a warm feeling in it though. He fell on his knees holding on his wound, feeling the cold blood running freely as if it was a river.
He had lost
He was about to die
He was so tired
He felt blood rising in his throat and fell on his hands to spit it on the ground. It had a metallic taste and it was cold. So that was what blood tasted like; what his blood tasted like. He raised his eyes and looked at the dark figure looking at him.
He never had a chance to win
He was everything he was, he knew everything he knew, every move, every spell, everything and he had no remorse. He was more powerful than him.
Why couldn't the story end up as all those stories in Midgard that he had read?
Justice always prevails and such
Was this justice?
The dark figure lowered in front of him and pulled his hair so he could look at his eyes. His breath was horrible and his hair was sticking to his head.
"The stronger prevails, Loki. You knew that and you forgot it. We used to be one, you and I; we could rule the world together, like Yin and Yan. Now you will rot in this pit of time fabric while I take your woman and your world." He said and let him fall.
Loki let some more blood fly off his lips but something had caught his attention.
Yin and Yan
What is that, I see it all around New York.
Well, of course, Tom, that's the symbol of Yin and Yan, male and female, good and evil. A bit of black inside the white and a bit of white inside the black, it's the essence of balance.
Balance
Good and evil together
One could not exist without the other and they were the same
One person with a bit of black and a bit of white in him
"Stop" Loki tried to yell but a weird sound came out of his mouth. The evil figure stopped however and approached him.
"Does the King of Losers have any last words?" he mocked. Loki tried to get up but he felt so weak. His clothes were soaked and the ground beneath him was in deep crimson colour. He fell once or twice and heard his evil self laughing mocking him.
"Why did everyone think that a weakling such as you could conquer anything but a bottle of ants?"
Loki succeeded in standing up but he was not very stable. He managed a bloody smirk and brought one leg in front of the other.
"You may be the boot but I am the leg that moves you." He said and the dark figured looked at him confused for the first time.
"We are nothing without each other." Loki added and in a move no one expected he launched himself forward and grabbed his darkest part from the wrist. He was burning hot and had a smell of hundreds of corpses. The demon tried to free himself but it was to no avail, Loki's grip was very firm. The Asgardian God started murmuring something making the mythical Spear glow a honey, golden light.
"What?" evil Loki said.
"You are me and I am you." Loki said as the light engulfed them both in a golden sphere that grew bigger and bigger. Their hands melted together in a mixture of white and black. Their bodies were attracted like magnets and melt like wise until all that was left was a spinning mass of black and white.
Natasha watched in awe as the mass kept spinning faster and faster taking with it all the angry roars the curses. The golden orb grew bigger and bigger reminding her of stars that were about to explode.
Then it happened
An incredible force threw her back as her sight was filled by a sudden burst of light. She could hear someone breathing heavily.
A tired man
She opened her eyes but all she came up was darkness.
What had happened?
Had they won?
From the dark she saw a small glow approaching. It grew bigger with every step. It was a figure, tall and lean. He was holding a tall, crystal spear in the colour of honey.
He was Loki
She bolted up and she realized she was no longer chained.
"That was an odd experience." Loki said. His clothes were burnt and there was blood all over them but his wound had long disappeared. The hits were evident on him, even the dried blood on his lips. He was breathing heavily and looked tired but he was alive.
"Are you ok? What happened back there?" Natasha asked him scanning him to make sure everything was ok.
"I restored the balance." He simply said. Natasha looked at him trying to figure out of he really was her Loki.
"Are you even the real Loki?" She asked him narrowing her eyes.
"Who else would know that you taste wonderful with paste on your head?" he teased and she smiled. It had to be him, it felt like it.
"What do you mean you restored the balance?" she asked him.
"I disturbed the balance when I separated my dark side from my good one allowing him to be independent. We did not share a body; it was simply me or him, ultimate good or ultimate evil. I fixed that, I got him back, we are now one again." Loki explained.
"That thing is inside you?" Natasha said disgusted.
"You of all people should understand of dark sides." Loki said. Natasha nodded. She did understand. If she ever met her evil half it would a lot worse than Loki's she was certain; maybe a kind of medusa or something.
Loki held the Hodnir with pride in front of him. They had done it, they had taken it. Now the universe depended on them. He looked at Natasha whose gaze had fallen on the mythical spear. They were thinking of the same thing.
The end was near.
She took her necklace off and handed it to him. He accepted it with a nod. The blue orb glowed at touch.
"Let's save the world." He said and the blue glow swallowed them.
"For a villain you sound very much like a hero."
"I am neither a villain nor a hero woman! How many times do I have to say it?"
Owo, that was quick updating, wasn't it? I feel like my mind was suddenly unlocked and I can see all the way through the end. The fact that I can now sit in front of the computer without nauseating is good too.
So did you like it? Please review an d let me know what you think.
Our heroes are getting out of the cave and to the middle of the war. Which will they help first, Midgard, Asgard or Jotunheim?