Chapter 47: Trick or Treat!

"Found him!" one voice cackled. "And I moved him… hee hee hee."

"What? Where?"

"That's for you to find out."

"Yes…" Loki's voice broke off as he realized they were no longer standing on the street outside of the restaurant. He sighed heavily, then looked around to see who was still with him. "Thranduil – check, Mother – check,"

"What are you doing?" Frigga asked, mystified by her son's comments. "Why am I a check?"

"Oh, just checking to see who is with me and who got left behind. And if any others have joined us. Never know what is going to happen," Loki replied shrugging his shoulders. His gaze landed on Thor and he burst out laughing. "Brother… really?"

"What? What is amiss?" Thor asked, mystified.

"Nifty outfit Thor," Tony Stark piped up as he came around the corner of a nearby building. "But Halloween was last week. Anyone know where we are right now?"

"Halloween?" Thranduil asked, then looked at Thor. He burst out laughing. "I do say, pink is NOT your color."

"Pink?" Thor glanced down to discover his regular clothing was gone and had been replaced by some strange garments. "What is this?" He lifted the hem of the skirt that he wore.

"I believe it is referred to as a 'poodle skirt'," Tony answered. "Love the scarf… really adds to the look."

"Wait!" Thor noticed Tauriel and Sif were both similarly attired. "Like that?"

Tony just nodded, afraid to say anything else for fear of laughing at his friend.

Thor stared at the ladies, each wearing a poodle skirt, a tight fitting white blouse, and a scarf that matched their skirts. Tauriel was in a baby blue outfit, while Sif sported a bright orange one. They each had black and white saddle shoes and a wide black belt to complete the outfit. "You mean I look like that?"

Loki snorted. "Not exactly… but the outfit is the same. Yours fits a tad bit… ah… differently."

Tony burst out laughing. "Shows off your legs nicely."

Suddenly self-conscious, Thor tugged at the hem of the skirt.

Seeing the impending result, Loki shouted. "No! No! No!"

Loki's shout caused Thor to realize that pulling the skirt down further would have some rather unpleasant results. "Oh, thanks," he said sheepishly.

"Whew, that was close. Curious… is your bum as well-defined as your abs and pecs?" Tony inquired.

Thor's jaw dropped, uncertain how to answer that question. Not coming up with a suitable retort, he finally asked, "Does anyone know where we are?"

A chorus of giggles erupted at the question, causing the party to discover that they were being observed by what could only be described as a gaggle of blonds.

"Seriously?" Blond #1 spoke up. "You do not know where you are?" She rolled her eyes. "Like, duh," she pointed away from the group. "You're, like, at the beach. Wow… and they say blonds are dumb."

"And, like, didn't any one like, tell you that Halloween was SO last week?" Blonde #2 quipped.

"What is this Hallowing that you speak of?" Thranduil asked.

"Like, ah, seriously? You've never heard of Halloween? Are you, like, from Mars or something?" Blonde #3 tittered.

"Maybe they're tripping, like, you know?" Blond #5 giggled.

"It's the 'or something', ladies. Long story..." Tony Stark chimed in as he joined the party.

"Wow… you look the most normal, are you, like, sure you're with them?" Blond #1 asked.

"Ah, yes. These people are with me. We are…" Tony paused, trying to come up with some explanation. "On a trip. Yes, they are on a trip around the country. We obviously knew we were on a beach, but which beach exactly?" He'd come to the conclusion they were most likely in California since that was where his credit card had been used most recently.

"Still in California? That's odd," Loki commented.

"Odd?" Sif asked.

"Indeed, we are usually moved quite a bit farther than this…" Loki paused. "Hopefully it might be slowing down?"

"Doubt that," Sif grinned. "Whoever is doing this is having waaaay too much fun." Her eyes shifted back towards Thor.

Loki chuckled. "Indeed. Glad it was him and not me."

"I, like, still can't believe you don't know where you are. Like, how on earth did you, like, get here?" Blond #1 asked.

"Limo, we were cruising around, looking for a good backdrop for a scene I'm going to be shooting. Upcoming movie. That's why everyone is dressed up. Let's move along boys and girls," Tony replied rapid-fire, figuring the gaggle would believe this.

"So, like. This movie, is it about a Halloween party then?" Blond #4 piped up.

"Yes. Yes, it is," Tony said, then an idea hit him. "And it looks like this will be the perfect place for it. Would you ladies like to be a part of it?"

"Ooooh, really? Like, us? In, like a real movie?" Blond #3 squealed. "Oh my gawd, like, ah, who would think we go out for lunch and get, like, asked to like be in a movie? That would be, like, so cool!"

"I take that as a yes then," Tony stated. "Follow me. Venice Beach? Right?"

Blond 1 giggle. "You got it."

As they headed towards the walkway that extended down the beach. Off to the right were brightly colored buildings offering everything from tattoos to t-shirts. To their right, a wide assortment of street vendors and entertainers lined a portion of the beach. Tony knew right where he was headed.

"Look at that one's long hair. I wonder if it's real, I mean, like, who ever saw hair that long, and he's got, like the most gorgeous braids," Blond #1 whispered to Blond #2.

Thranduil, that oh-so-haughty elven king with keen hearing, heard every word. Simply straightening up even taller than normal, he whirled to face the girls. He stared imperiously at them.

The four girls stopped so abruptly.

"Oh, I think he heard us," Blond #2 stated the obvious.

"Like, ya think?" Blond #3 replied.

"You speak so loudly I could hear you at least seven miles away," Thranduil said. "Your voices are grating."

"Sorry, mister…" Blond #1 paused. "Say, we don't know your names."

"Ah, that's Ed you're speaking to, the ones in the poodle skirts are Sally, Tonya, and Tom, and the other two in the long outfits are Francine and Larry," Tony did a quick introduction making up names as he went. "And I'm…"

"Tony Stark," a muscle-bound man stated firmly. I'd know you anywhere."

A group of men who had been working out at Muscle Beach Gym had wandered over to inspect the curiously attired group.

Tony hesitated, then nodded. "Yes. Do I know you?"

The dude shook his head. "No, I've just followed your career."

"Ah, yes."

"This one," one dude had moved closer to Thor. "Looks like you work out, man. But, dude, ya gotta get rid of the skirt. Seriously. It might give us a bad name."

Thor shrugged. "Not my personal choice for today…"

"They are, like, shooting a movie!" one of the blonds squealed.

"Oh… guess that's ok then," the dude admitted.

"But this one," another muscle-man focused on Thranduil. "He looks like a feather could knock him over."

Doubly mad now, that first his glorious hair had been insulted, and now his physic… not to mention the absolute lack of champagne so far, Thranduil drew himself up imperiously and stared at the dude. "Indeed? I fear you are quite mistaken. I have tackled orcs with just a dagger. I doubt you would offer much contest."

The dude scoffed. "Man, I could take you and that one down with one hand tied behind my back." he pointed at Loki as he spoke.

Tauriel gasped, then glanced at Sif. "This is going to get interesting."

Sif grinned. "Agreed."

"I would not suggest that you attempt to involve my brother in any type of combat," Thor stated.

"What? That wussy?" another muscle-man chortled.

Loki grinned. "This is going to be fun."

"Loki, no…" Thor shouted.

Loki glanced at Thor, his eyes twinkling. "I promise, no tricks, only treats… isn't that the Halloween custom?"

Thranduil shot a look at Loki. "You know of this hallowing?"

"I believe so. I shall explain after we deal with this baby Hulk wannabee." Loki stepped forward. "I do believe you said one hand tied behind your back? We shall allow you to forgo that part of your challenge."

The muscle man snickered. "This'll be like taking candy from babies." He advanced on Loki first.

Loki whirled around and crouched as the man approached. The muscle man put his hands on Loki's shoulders intending to lift him off the ground only to discover his feet swept out from under him by an elegant Asgardian boot. Landing on his back, he let out a grunt. Rolling back on to his feet, he ran at Loki. Loki elegantly side-stepped out of his path, and kicked out his leg as the man ran past causing him to stumble and fall flat on his face.

Angry now, the man shouted. "That's not fair."

"Really? I do believe you stated you could take us both down with one hand tied behind your back, yet you still have both hands at your disposal," Thranduil replied.

Growling, the muscle man raced at the elven king, hands outstretched. Thranduil reached out, grasped the man's arms and easily tossed him off into the sand.

"BOYS!" the other muscle men banded together and charged at Loki and Thranduil.

"Really?" Loki shook his head. "Shall we?" He glanced at Thranduil who nodded. With a flurry of whirls between the two, the band of muscle men soon found themselves all joining their friend in the sand, defeated by the pair.

Loki brushed off some sand from his arm bracers and shook his head.

The blonds sighed collectively. "That was, like, awesome," one of them sighed. "Can we get a photo with you?"

"That was gnarly dude," a blond surfer wandered up.

"I am not an Ent, nor do I know of any despite the fact I live in Mirkwood," Thranduil replied.

"Mirkwood? Isn't that burb that some famous dudes live in?" the surfer asked.

Thranduil ignored him as the blond girls surrounded him and Loki, each pulling out their cell phones snapping pictures with the two. "Any chance there is any champagne here?"

"Champagne? Sure! Oh, cabana boy! Yoo hoo! Over here!" Blond #1 shouted.

When a server popped out of one of the buildings near them, she simply shouted out. "Champagne please!"

He ducked back in and emerged a few seconds later with a tray of champagne flutes and a bucket with two bottles. Popping the cork, he swiftly poured out several glasses of champagne, handing them around to the group gathered around.

Thranduil accepted his, took a sip and nodded approvingly. "Now, tell me about this hollowing."