Chapter 13: Lost Vegas

•£• Loki •£•

"Where is she now?" Loki stormed out of the portal.

"Las Vegas," Heimdall replied.

"Is there any way we can get to her before Fury does?" He approached the sentry.

"I do not believe Director Fury will find her. She is moving quickly, as if she knows where she is going, while he has no clue where she is nor why she is even there."

"That is true, for I myself do not quite understand her reasons." Loki sighed. "But I need to find her, and we both need to travel to Niflheim."

"As you wish, my King," Heimdall gestured towards the portal. "What of the others with her?"

"Leave them on Earth, or bring them back here. Your choice." Loki grinned, knowing that the Lady Sif and the others would not be happy with being stuck on Earth. "Now, on to this Las Vegas."

Loki walked back through the portal, arriving on Fremont Street in downtown Las Vegas. No one took any notice of the Norse God, which rather surprised him, until he noticed that everyone was staring up at a light show over the street.

"Excellent," he mumbled to himself, starting to walk down the brightly lit street. "Now, where does one find a wife who is carrying a container of nuclear waste?"

~ß~ Katirya ~ß~

Darcy stared at the small rock Katirya held. "That's the nuclear waste?"

"It is now," Katirya grinned.

They'd collected the waste, then traveled directly to Las Vegas. They were currently strolling down the strip outside of the Bellagio Hotel.

"Any idea where we might find Thor or Mjölnir?" Sif inquired, noticing that several tourists were gawking at them.

"Hey, lady. How much?" One man shouted at them.

Darcy rolled her eyes. "Not for sale, dude."

Fandral halted, pointing up towards a brilliantly light billboard. Flashing neon lights proclaimed a new show, called 'BITE ME – A Vampire Revue,' was playing at the Stratosphere. "Why don't we go there? Wouldn't hurt to have a vampire along with, would it?"

"Perfect!" Katirya smiled at him. "Where is this Stratosphere?"

"Umm, I think it is this way," Darcy said, as she pointed back down the strip.

They hiked in the direction Darcy had suggested, reaching the hotel eventually. Several men were dressed up to resemble Dracula, advertising the show inside.

"Uh, I don't think these are real vampires," Darcy commented.

"Well, we shall take one with us just in case." Hogun grabbed one of the men.

"Say, they didn't tell me this was part of the job," the vampire tried to shrug off Hogun's grip. When he realized he couldn't, "I am getting double-time for this, right?"

"Yeah," Darcy spoke up, "double-time and a half, you good with that?"

"Sure!" The vampire responded enthusiastically, joining in willingly.

"Now where?" Sif asked.

"What are you babes looking for?" the vampire asked.

"Thor, or Mjölnir," Katirya answered.

"Thor? Like the real deal? The dude who has that hammer and summons lightning?" the vampire asked.

"Like, yeah. Him." Darcy shook her head. "We're never going to find him. This place is…"

"Madame Tussauds, at the Venetian," the vampire interrupted her. "They just opened the Avengers exhibit. You can find Thor there."

"What?" Everyone stared at the vampire.

"They got a wax museum there. The Avengers exhibit just opened, with Thor, Captain America and even Iron Man!" the vampire explained, excited to help.

"Perfect! Where is this place?" Katirya asked.

"The Venetian? Back that way." The vampire pointed back down the strip.

Hogun and Fandral grabbed the vampire, and the group marched back down the strip towards their new destination.

•£• Loki •£•

"Hey, man. You look just like Loki, ya know?" A drunken woman staggered up to Loki, grabbing onto his arm.

Taking a whiff of the alcohol, Loki attempted to step away from her. "You appear to be inebriated, my lady."

"Hee hee heeh," the woman giggled. "You called me a lady. Wait'll I tell my husband that. He'll never believe me…" she staggered, taking a stronger grip on Loki to steady herself.

Loki looked at her, wondering how to get rid of her, when a man spoke up.

"I see my wife's bothering you, sorry. She can't hold her liquor," a man walked up, apologizing. He looked closely at Loki. "That's an awesome costume you got there. You heading out to the new museum?"

"New museum? Why would I go to a museum?" Loki asked.

"The Avengers one. We were out there this morning. They got all the Avengers, well, not all, but they got Thor, Captain America…"

Loki cut him off, "Thor is there? Where is this?"

"At the Venetian, out on the strip," the man replied. "They don't have a Loki, though."

"How do I get to this Venetian?" Loki pushed the woman at her husband. "Here, take this."

"Take a cab," the man replied, staggering as his wife stumbled into him.

Loki took off at a run down the street. Seeing a cab at the stoplight, he jumped in the backseat. "Take me to the Venetian!"

Startled, the cab driver looked at him in the mirror. "Wow! You look just like Loki!"

"Thanks, now take me to the Venetian!"

"You got it mister!" The light turned green, and the cabbie slammed his foot on the gas pedal. The cab sped down the street. "How long you in Vegas for?"

"Until I find my brother," Loki replied, wondering why the man was trying to talk. "Just keep driving."

They pulled up to the front of the Venetian. "That'll be twenty bucks," the cabbie said.

"Sorry, no money," Loki got out, slamming the door. Looking around, he noticed a sign advertising the museum. Walking into the hotel, he headed towards the museum.

As he reached the front of Madame Tussaud's, he saw a group arriving from the other direction.

"KIRI!" He shouted across the crowded hallway.

Katirya paused, looking around, then seeing Loki. "Loki! What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you."

"Well, it appears you have been successful." She looked closely at him. "What happened in Hel?"

He quickly explained his brief visit, ending by telling her that they needed to go to Niflheim at once.

"No, not now. I think Thor is here. If we can find Thor, Thanos has nothing." Katirya explained.

"He has Erik, Jane and Ian," Loki pointed out.

"That is a slight problem, but I believe we can get them back. Let's see about Thor first."

"How do you propose to find Thor?" Loki asked. "And why here?"

"This is the absolute perfect place to hide him," Darcy chimed in. "I mean, like… he would blend right in, right?

"She does have a point," Loki admitted.

"And we have nuclear waste and a vampire. Kiri said that Thor can't be far from mew-mew, and we're going to use these to find the hammer," Darcy added.

"Nuclear waste and a vampire?" Loki lifted one eyebrow. "How were you planning on using these?"

Katirya shrugged. "I'm not sure, I was hoping they would trigger something with Thor's hammer. I know he cannot be far from it, and no one else could move it, right?"

Loki briefly remembered his attempt to pick up Mjölnir the time when Thor had been banished to Earth. "Correct," he admitted.

"Then, let's go in." Katirya started towards the entrance, when suddenly the rock she'd been carrying started to glow.

"Oh my god!" Darcy stared at it. "What is it doing?"

"They've got a bomb!" someone shouted.

People started screaming, only to be drowned out by the shriek of sirens.

"Fury!" Loki guessed. Grabbing Katirya, he pulled her into the museum.

"LOKI! STOP RIGHT THERE!" Fury's voice exploded over the cacophony of noise.

Ignoring him, Loki pulled Katirya deeper into the museum.

Katirya clutched his arm, "Stop! The hammer, it's right there!" She pointed to the wax figure of Thor holding a hammer.

"That's a wax…" then Loki saw the real Mjölnir at the foot of the wax figure. "You're right. THOR!" he shouted.

Thanos suddenly appeared in front of them. "I said, Niflheim!" and just as suddenly, he disappeared.

"What the hell!" Darcy shouted, having caught up with them. "Where did he go? And mew-mew! It's gone, too!"

"What?" Katirya stared where the real hammer had been sitting. "How did he do that?"

"Thor. Thor must have been here. Damn!" Loki shouted in frustration. "Kiri, we have to go to Niflheim, now. It's our only chance to rescue Thor. Do you have the Stones with you?"

Katirya nodded, patting the pouch at her belt.

"Loki, stay right there!" Fury shouted.

"Oh, crap!" Darcy muttered.

Loki scowled as the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. burst into the room. "My sentiments exactly." He glanced at Darcy. "Rather describes this situation to a 'T'."Focusing his attention back on Fury, "I really must apologize for leaving, but we have to be somewhere. Prior commitment and all, I'm sure you will understand."

"No," Fury roared back. "I do not understand. You," then pointing to Katirya, "and especially you, are staying right here."

As he was shouting, the room filled with agents from S.H.I.E.L.D. blocking all the exits.

"We could just leave them," Katirya pointed out, "but I do believe we ought to deal with Mr. Fury, and set him straight."

"Is that even possible, given my past history with him?" Loki asked.

"We might need his help sometime… in the future… maybe…" Katirya shrugged.

"Fine. Mr. Fury!" Loki walked to confront the director. "I think we need to have a little chat."

Fury looked at Loki as if he had just sprouted two heads. "Chat? Do you think I want to chat?" he bellowed. "You and your wife just incapacitated an entire nuclear waste facility! Then you come here trying to steal the figures at the museum? That doesn't even take into account the helijets you sabotaged, and the mess you made back in New York!"

"Look, I am truly sorry about New York: as to the nuclear facility and the helijets, I think my wife can explain," Loki said.

"Sorry? SORRY!?" Fury shouted.

"Yes, he really is sorry." Katirya stepped up to join the conversation. "We will look into what we can do to fix it, but right now, we are in a bit of a hurry. As to the waste facility, I only took a small amount. I left everything intact… well, except for the guards." Katirya tried to look harmless, "I did forget about them. I can fix that." She raised her hand.

"NO!" Fury swatter her hand down

"That was not nice," Katirya looked at her hand. Then a mischievous look sparked in her eyes.

"Kiri, no…" Loki started, but realized he was too late.

The wax Avenger figures suddenly sprang to life. They each raised their character's weapons and began shooting at the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, with Thor focusing on Fury. Instead of real ammunition, however, they were shooting out blasts of light and small clumps of wax.

Patrons in the wax museum started to scream at first, then laugh as the wax hit the agents and began melting down their faces. Rivers of various-colored wax dripped off the agents onto the carpet.

The Thor figure swung his hammer, aiming at Fury. At the last possible second, Fury ducked as the hammer flew through the air to slam into the wall. It hit the wall with a plop, and then slid down to the floor.

Loki closed his eyes momentarily, then opened them again, trying hard not to laugh at the mess the agents were in.

Fury was apoplectic. He started to speak, but words failed him. "You… you… !"

"Me?" Katirya looked at him innocently. "I really did try to explain, we don't currently have much time to deal with your issues…"

"MY issues?" Fury finally spit out. "My issues are with the pair of you. Now you are going to come along with me, or else."

"I'm sorry, but this will truly have to wait until later," Loki spoke coolly, still trying hard not to laugh. "My brother is being held by Thanos, and I need to take my wife along to help rescue him."

"I don't care about your brother!" Fury roared.

"But I thought you liked him?" Loki replied.

"I do, but right now we need to deal with this mess you two have created!" Fury barked.

Loki looked at Katirya, "Honey, I think we need to leave. I do not believe he is going to be reasonable at the moment."

"Agreed, perhaps when he's had a chance to cool off?" Katirya then looked at the others in their group.

"HEIMDALL!" Loki shouted, and seconds later, they were gone, leaving Director Fury and his wax-covered agents standing there, staring at the mess.

Author's notes: First, I want to thank my friend, OldPingHai, for her inspiration and editing on this chapter. Second, in case you missed it, I did post a Loki one-shot called RAGE, which has a connection to this story.