Once again, fantastic readers; thank you SO much for all of your support as always! And I apologiz again for the less frequent updates lately, but I've been trying to juggle real life with this, and I'm trying to head towards getting my real, original books finished and published. That has been a bigger priority up my list, but don't worry, guys! I haven't forgotten about good old Loki!

Onward!

Inside the doorway, there was a dead end of an air lock. Loki groaned, seeing the reinforced titanium door holding him back from entering. He seemed at a dead, but entered into the small, dark airlock, preferring it to out in the open on top of the inner ring of the ascending ship. The spider-kid followed him, his form stiff, and Loki could see that he was uncomfortable.

"You're- you're Loki." The kid stammered.

Loki rolled his eyes. "Really? I couldn't have ever known. Thank you for telling me that. Now I believe there are more important matters to tend to at the moment. Do you know how to get this open?"

The kid's facial expression was hidden by the mask, but Loki could tell by slight twitches of the weight shifting to his left leg that he was hesitant.

"I don't think so..."

It was clear that the kid was lying and didn't want to trust Loki. Loki sighed impatiently.

"I'm not here to steal the Stone. I don't want the Time Stone. I merely wish to prevent Thanos from taking more lives. If you don't let me in there right now, Ebony Maw may have succeeded in overpowering Strange's protective enchantments and secured the Stone. Time is of the essence. I must act quickly to prevent these things from happening if I can, and you seem to be the only candidate capable of helping me at the moment."

The kid sighed, still cautiously keeping his distance. He glanced at the airlock control panel on the wall. It was a sleek grey with a panned of buttons, and a blue lit screen.

Groaning to himself, the kid went forward, reaching for the panel and removing the cover layer of it. His eyes widened as he saw wires and circuits arranged and colored far differently than that of earth's technology.

"Oh god." the kid mumbled. He tapped the side of one of the circuits, and his metal suit's finger reshaped itself to connect effectively with the circuit. Sparks instantly lit up on his fingertip and the kid jumped.

"Ouch! Darn it! Okay... Karen, you think you can override the security?"

Loki looked around, wondering who this "Karen" was.

There was a brief pause before another spark on the kid's fingertip and then the airlock slid open.

"Yes!" The kid cheered, jumping forward to enter further into the ship. Loki put out an arm to hold him back.

"Careful; we don't want to alert our opponent."

The kid nodded. His helmet dematerialized, revealing the kid's face again. Loki couldn't help but infer why someone so young would stand up against such a powerful evil. Loki sighed, and they both cautiously entered. They were on a higher catwalk-sort of overlook. The interior of the ship was grey steel and a rough metal railing separated the two from a fifteen-foot fall. Further into the ship, he could see Doctor Strange restrained by an invisible force, levitating face-down in the air with hundreds of glass-like needles surrounding him. Ebony Maw stood above him, seeming to gloat and threaten Strange with the floating needles. Loki glanced to his right, seeing Iron Man approach them from the side of the catwalk. Nearby, Doctor Strange's cloak floated around aimlessly. Stark's helmet dematerialized. He glanced at the floating cloak.

"Wow... You're one loyal piece of hardware. And speaking of loyalty-"

The spider-kid raised his hands defensively. "I know what you're going to say to me-"

"You shouldn't have come." Stark said.

"I was gonna go home-"

"Don't want to hear it!" Stark said sternly.

"But it was such a long way down- and this suit is rediculously intuitive by they way, so if anything, it's your fault!"

Stark glared. The kid recoiled.

"Okay, I take that back... and now I'm in space..."

"Yeah." Stark snapped. "The one place I didn't want you to be in. This isn't Coney Island or some field trip! This is the one-way ticket!"

Loki groaned at the cattiness of most mortals.

"Alright, arguing won't turn back time, but that Stone can. Speaking of... I believe our damsel is in dire distress."

"And you!" Stark growled. "Why are you even here? What sort of mind-control little tricks did you do to Bruce to make him all of a sudden be your guard puppy? Thor told us you were dead, and now you show up all of a sudden as a loving god who wants to help out? I'm not buying it!"

Loki groaned again. "You mortals are so petty. Don't you believe we have things of higher priority to work on, rather than squabbling about like a couple of pigeons."

Stark narrowed his eyes. "You keep on avoiding the topic on why you're 'good' now."

"Well maybe, I don't know, because my brother died!"

All three of them stared in disbelief. Loki was humiliated and unbelieving that he had admitted anything even loosely related to his personal feelings, and this utterance had revealed the biggest trouble and burden to his mind and spirit. Loki grit his teeth, frustrated with himself and turned away with a shaky sigh.

The kid gasped, "Wait, Thor is dead?"

Loki impatiently glanced at Ebony Maw as the captor continued to torture and taunt Doctor Strange. He pursed his lips.

"We must move with haste if we are to prevent my brother's murderer from acquiring more power. The Doctor seems at his last strength. We need to act quickly."

Loki was grateful when neither of his grudging allies provoked the topic further, though when he turned to look back at them, Stark seemed to be painfully restraining himself from making a rude quip at Loki.

"Okay. We need a plan." Stark said, still glancing at Loki with unease and suspicion. He looked at the kid. "Got a plan? Go."

The kid thought with effort for a second, but his eyes lit up.

"Umm... okay. Have you ever seen that really old movie, Alien?"