Fight time! Then Loki time for me, fingers crossed it's good.
A quick shift of power to his repulsors and Tony was in the air once more, even as Cap's shield was already hurtling towards Karnilla. He was impressed, he'd have thought it would have taken Steve longer to directly attack her given how hard the man had found it to truly strike Natasha during training. It seemed Itsy Bitsy's persistence had paid off. Unfortunately another wave of magic deflected the shield aside and Tony dived after it, already seeing Loki move to do the same. A quick burst of power meant he got there first, though a wave of green magic sent him careening into a tree.
"Hey, watch the paint job!" Tony protested, bringing the shield up and around in time to deflect the next blast of magic away from himself.
Then Loki was jerking back to avoid an arrow from Clint and Tony used the opportunity to toss the shield back to Cap.
When he glanced over at Karnilla again, Tony almost did a double take. It seemed Natasha had decided to test her skills against that of the... Norn Queen. And what the hell was a norn anyway? He vaguely recalled it from the crash course of Norse mythology he'd given himself, but he'd focused most heavily on anything and everything relating to both Thor and Loki.
He'd have to look it up again later.
A quick blast at Queenie to help even the odds a little for Natasha, and then he was diving down and past Loki to sweep up the last two kids who'd frozen (har har!) behind a nearby tree rather than fleeing when the fighting had started.
"Come on, let's get you two out of here," Tony said.
"Iron Man!" the little girl shrieked, patting his face plate.
"Yeah, Iron Man, cool huh?"
"I'm flying!"
Tony laughed before he dropped down to land next to Bruce and Clint.
"Hulk!" the boy cried with delight, immediately reaching for Bruce. "Can you change?"
"Uh, not just now," Bruce replied, a startled look on his face as he started to lead the two little ones away.
"Godd- uh," Clint started before stopping with a quick glance at the kids who were still within earshot. "She's as fast and impervious to my arrows as Loki is!"
"I'll look into whether I can design some better ones," Tony promised, glancing back at Karnilla and Natasha. "Hot, aren't they?"
"Stark!" Natasha growled, reminding Tony of his open comm.
Oops.
"What? I'm appreciating your deadly skills being put into action. It's beautiful to watch!"
Clint, the bastard, was laughing at him even as he fired off an arrow. Only this one wasn't aimed at Karnilla, but rather the tree above her, bringing a branch down and forcing her back away from the adults.
"I'll cover you, you get them out," Legolas stated.
"Okay."
It definitely beat trying to fly into the fury that was Steve, Thor and Loki, though Tony kept a careful eye on them. If an opening presented itself, he was always ready to launch Reindeer Games back with a repulsor blast or two.
"Options, JARVIS," Tony requesting, waiting until Natasha's next attack turned Karnilla's back on the hostages, before flying in.
Luckily, as they were adults, he didn't have to tell them to keep quiet.
"If you modulate the discharge of your repulsor at the base of the indicated stalagmite, then it should melt and fall outwards," JARVIS replied. "With it gone, most of the hostages will be able to squeeze through while you work on bringing down the stalagmite to the left of it, thus allowing the others out."
"You're a star, JARVIS," Tony praised.
Added bonus, it gave him two large ice spears to throw at either Loki or Karnilla.
Also, the stalagmite JARVIS had indicated was on the far side of the two gods and so, once on the ground, Tony would be hidden from their immediate sight. He doubted it was at all accidental.
"Is anyone hurt?" Tony asked even as he powered down one of his repulsors and aimed it at the base of the first stalagmite.
"Just some cuts and cold burns," a woman replied. "Where have they been taking the kids?"
"To the police. Keep low and head out behind me when you can."
His repulsor quickly melted through the ice and the stalagmite, though heavy due to its sheer size, was no match for his suit, so he soon had it out of the way.
"Quietly," Tony cautioned as the first few adults slipped free.
A quick glance over at the others showed both Queenie and Reindeer Games were too busy fighting to pay him any attention. Turning his focus to the second stalagmite, Tony quickly had the gap wide enough for the remaining people to squeeze through and they soon disappeared into the ice forest after the others. He couldn't help but wonder how many- if any- of the trees or plants would survive this. If they caught or chased off Loki and Karnilla, the ice should melt quickly, but would the damage already be done? He hoped not as he liked jogging here with Pep.
A shout drew Tony's attention back to the fighting and he saw Cap flying into Thor, sending both of them backwards into a tree which gave way beneath the impact and ice with a loud crunch, sending all three of them tumbling. The sound must have startled Natasha as Tony watched Karnilla kick her in the abdomen, sending the assassin flying to skid to a stop at Loki's feet.
"Are you enjoying yourself?" Reindeer Games inquired with an amused smile.
"Nat!" Clint cried out, losing an arrow which Loki, of course, caught and threw at the tree whose branches hung over the tangle that was Steve, Thor and the original tree.
The arrow exploded, bringing two more large branches down on top of the others, knocking them back to the ground. Natasha took advantage of the opportunity provided to strike out with one of her widow's bites, just above the boot of Reindeer Games' right leg.
The weapon discharged and did... absolutely nothing.
Actually, no, that wasn't entirely true. Tony saw Loki smile as he glanced down, as if amused at a trick a pet had done.
"My dear, Widow," Loki began. "You forget I grew up with Thor, who has been shocking me since we were both still in nursery together. And his accidental... discharges during his adolescence were far greater than your little toys."
Shit.
Tony's own sentiments were echoed by Clint's very creative swearing. Cap's ears were probably turning blue if his comm had survived the pounding it had taken. Tony's comms had never been studier than they were now, yet it still never seemed to be enough. It was quite irksome, even if he enjoyed the constant challenge on some level. He would triumph, even against Thor's tendency to fry his.
"Do we have a Code Green?" Bruce questioned over said comm.
"Not just yet," Tony immediately replied.
Not only had Reindeer Games yet to lay an actual finger on Natasha, but Karnilla had not yet redirected her attention towards either himself or Legolas.
It was all rather civilized in a bizarre and crazy way.
"Are you done with your duel with Karnilla?" Loki asked when Natasha rolled to her feet and remained closer to him than her.
Natasha's eyebrows rose. "Like I'll make the mistake of turning my back to you."
"Nor would I expect you to, but I will not interfere with one of my battle mate's duels. Besides, 'twas such a lovely sight to behold."
"Wait, did Loki just echo my earlier thoughts?" Tony demanded, miffed.
"I guess Thor was right, you two are alike," Clint retorted.
Tony scowled on principle, though he couldn't quite generate the anger or irritation he'd felt the first time Point Break had muttered those words shortly after the invasion and Loki's escape.
"And I am supposed to trust you in this?" Natasha demanded.
"I've got him," Tony told her over the comm. "I just need you to move back a little."
"Karnilla would be quite upset with me at the interference," Loki shrugged.
Natasha made a show of slowly stepping away from Loki without actually turning her back on Karnilla either.
As soon as she was far back enough, Tony hefted the second stalagmite he'd cut and still held, and threw it at Reindeer Games like a massive ice spear. Despite it being a new form of attack coming from an unsuspected source, Loki had a hand up in time and was able to stop the stalagmite in midair. With a flick of the mage's wrist the stalagmite splintered into a million tiny frozen fragments which were sent hurtling back at him.
"Ice is, unfortunately, my element," Loki declared. "I will not be defeated by it."
Even before the cloud of icy fragments hit, Tony was already engaging the anti-icing protocols, so they had hardly covered his suit before he had already overcome them, and he had his arm up to blast Reindeer Games back into a tree of his own.
"I solved the deicing problem years ago," Tony said. "You'll have to try better."
"How about fire?" Loki retorted, launching several green fireballs at him.
"Shit, I thought he wasn't the god of fire?" Tony asked, trying to dodge each one.
He wasn't really successful and one hit him, sending him flying back into a tree crown, taking out branches as he went and no doubt leaving an Iron Man shaped hole in the canopy. Though he felt the heat, his suit held. There was some damage to its structural integrity however.
"He is not, Sir," JARVIS replied calmly after reading off the damage. "According to Norse mythology, Logi is the god of fire, not Loki."
Logi and Loki? Who the hell named kids up there in Ásgarðrland anyway?
By the time Tony had extricated himself from the tree, so had the others and he could see Thor fighting Loki once more. They were truly going at it, Reindeer Games' latest spear clashing with Point Break's hammer, the sound reverberating off of all the ice all around them.
"What the hell?" Tony demanded as he looked further to find both Steve and Clint holding a struggling Natasha down.
"Do not look Karnilla in the eye!" Thor shouted.
Luckily, JARVIS reacted faster than him and Tony's HUD went black just as he was looking in Queenie's direction.
"Why?" Tony asked.
"Apparently she can do some kind of love spell on men," Bruce explained. "I'd come out, but I have no idea if it would work on the Other Guy."
A love drunk Hulk at Karnilla's beck and call? Yeah, Tony didn't want to see that either.
"JARVIS, give me heat sensor data but be ready to take over full control if I become a love slave," Tony ordered.
The HUD flickered back to life, but now in blue and black with individual pillars of red and orange flame. As Tony had hoped, the extreme cold gave him all the data he needed, particularly when JARVIS helpfully labelled each figure.
"Wait, why is Loki so much cooler than everyone else?" Tony asked.
"Not now, Tony," Bruce replied.
Right, priorities.
Since Thor had plenty of experience holding off Loki on his own and seemed to be fine, Tony turned his attention to Karnilla and his other teammates. As he didn't know if cognitive recalibration would work and his suit wasn't exactly designed for delicate work, he instead turned his weapons on Queenie, firing several repulsor blasts in her direction. She evaded one and must have used magic on the other as it didn't seem to harm her.
Even before JARVIS warned of return fire, Tony was already banking and swaying. Although he couldn't see it, Karnilla had not struck him as the kind to take an attack without reciprocating.
"Stark!" Natasha called out.
A quite glance over showed her being dragged towards Karnilla by both Cap and Clint. While Tony knew she could probably break free if absolutely necessary, he could understand she might not want to use those methods as a first resort. Right, so what could he do?
Tony smirked as the idea came to him and he dove for Legolas even as he fired off several missiles at Karnilla to keep her occupied. Clint gave a shout when Tony snagged him, but regular human strength was no match for his suit and so he easily got the archer up high in one of the trees.
"Stark!" Legolas protested. "I must do what my love commands!"
Tony winced at just how furious he knew Clint would be when he recovered from this. The poor guy still hadn't gotten over being Loki's mind slave and now this. At least being love drunk and restraining Natasha had to be better than before. Still...
"Well played," Karnilla praised when Tony flew back down. "Now what will you do about the captain?"
"Is it just me or is she toying with us?" Tony asked over the comm.
"She definitely isn't trying her hardest," Natasha agreed. "The question is will she pounce or just keep amusing herself like this?"
Even as she spoke, Natasha continued to fight, holding her own surprisingly well against Steve, all things considered. Tony could only assume the spell clouded Cap's judgement on some level.
"Sir, based on previous estimates of Captain Rogers' strength, you would be able to safely knock him out at this strength," JARVIS stated, bringing stats up on the HUD.
Huh, it was tempting as Tony couldn't deny he hadn't wanted to knock the guy out more than once. Both before and after he'd actually met Steve. Plus it would keep him from potentially hurting Natasha.
"Angle Cap's head away from yourself," Tony ordered.
With surprising ease Natasha did and Tony wasn't at all jealous of her physical prowess as he dove down, careful to modulate the strength of his blow to precisely what JARVIS had calculated. His punch struck true, and Steve dropped like a sack beside their teammate.
"Well, you definitely do what is necessary to achieve your goals," Karnilla said. "Are you sure you do not wish to remove your armor?"
"Physically you may be my type, Queenie, but I've always been big on consent," Tony retorted, landing beside Romanoff. "If both parties aren't having fun, then it shouldn't happen."
Karnilla laughed. "You think I would allow it to go so far? Nay, I require more stamina than a mortal is capable of."
"Oh, ouch!" Tony brought his hand up to his arc reactor. "That hurts."
"I am certain you will recover. Besides, what do you expect if you will not show me your face?"
A roar of pain and anger from Thor made Tony shift and he flickered back to normal vision to assess the situation. As he'd feared, Reindeer Games had somehow gotten close enough to stab Thor.
Again.
You'd think the big guy liked it by how often it happened.
Unfortunately, Thor had dropped his hammer when it had happened as Loki had managed to stab him in the arm. The look on the mage's face proved it had been deliberate, but even before Tony could call out a warning, Loki had blasted his brother back and walked up to Mjölnir.
"Uh, Loki can't pick up Thor's hammer, right?" Tony checked, trying to decide if he should dive in for it or not as he'd done with Cap's shield earlier.
He'd hate to do so only to wretch his arm out of its socket should Mjölnir refuse to budge for him.
"Loki!" Thor roared, rising to his feet once more.
Even as the big guy raised his arm to call Mjölnir back to him, Loki was placing his hand on the handle. There was a blue glow and ice crept across Mjölnir from both ends. The bottom attaching it to the icy ground and the top covering it in a thick layer of the stuff. Mjölnir twitched briefly as if to respond to its master, but that was all Thor managed to achieve as then it was encased in ice.
"Impossible!" Thor exclaimed, eyes wide in shock. "You do not possess the ability to break my connection with her!"
"Thor, Thor, Thor," Loki tutted, shaking his head even as he continued to thicken the layer of ice covering the hammer. "Always thinking of the easy answer."
"Oh, intriguing," Karnilla said, suddenly appearing at Loki's side and peering down at Mjölnir. "See, I told you it would be advantageous."
"Aye, you were right and I was wrong," Loki sighed, smiling when she smacked his shoulder.
"You are lucky I like you."
Yeah, those two were sleeping together. Tony could tell from the easy way she invaded his personal space and the way Reindeer Games' whole attitude changed around her. He was pretty sure this was the first time he had seen that particular smile on Loki's face. It was all soft and genuine in a way none of the others had been on those few occasions the mage had actually smiled in anything other than mania.
"Loki?" Thor questioned with a puzzled frown, glancing from his brother to the norn queen.
"This has become boring," Loki said, his face taking on a bland expression as he glanced around at the carnage their fight had caused. "Is this what you consider a challenge?"
"Now just wait a da-" Tony cut off as both Loki and Karnilla vanished. "Did he just diss us?"
"He wasn't exactly wrong," Natasha replied with a scowl. "They did essentially decimate us."
"And yet we're all still alive."
It was something which Tony had given more and more thought to lately. Even during the invasion, all of the attempts on their lives had been halfhearted at best. The closest they had come was when Loki had thrown him out of his own window, and he'd survived that because of his suit. Given that Clint had made it clear in his debrief with SHIELD that he had informed Loki of Iron Man's abilities and suit, Tony wasn't entirely certain it had been intended to kill him. Not after what they had seen of Rock of Ages' ability to shape shift into Captain America, and thus presumably all of them, after his capture. If Loki could do that even with those special magic dampening manacles on, then what could he do without them?
It was a worrying thought and, given that further questioning of Thor had revealed invisibility, teleportation and world walking among the many other skills Loki possessed, well it just didn't add up for Tony. Why would such a powerful mage do what he had done during the invasion given all of that? Why hadn't he simply pretended to be Thor when he first arrived on Earth? While SHIELD wouldn't simply have handed over the Tesseract to him, they would definitely have been far more accommodating, and Loki would have been able to get his hands on things like the iridium without alerting anyone to what it was that he was doing.
Most of his concerns had been brushed off with a simple 'Loki's clearly mad', but Tony wasn't so sure. He could be pretty coherent and logical at times for a madman.
Ta da! The first Avengers vs. Loki & Karnilla fight, I hope you enjoyed it. I definitely had a lot of fun writing it. Tony's pov is quite the interesting contrast after spending so long writing Ásgarðrian Galdr. Not to mention a Loki whose come further along accepting his true nature.
So what do you think of the little predicament Loki's left Thor in?
I'm also happy to state that I managed to finish another chapter for this fic over the weekend at the first in-person NaNo write-in we were able to hold in ages. It was glorious, and not just because my favorite two boys were up to far too much mischief and misdirection 😄
Norse Mythology:
Norns - deities responsible for 'shaping the course of human destinies' - the 3 primary Norns tend to the Yggdrasill, while others were said to visit newborns in order to determine the person's future.
Logi - 'fire, flame', alternatively Hálogi 'high flame' - a jötunn & the personification of fire. He is a son of Fornjótr and brother of Ægir or Hlér ('sea') & Kári ('wind'). Logi married fire giantess Glöð and had 2 daughters: Eisa and Eimyrja.