Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, they belong to Marvel (and Norse mythology :D). I am very sad about this, but I have borrowed them to write my own story.
Song for the day: 'New Divide' by Linkin Park.
Quote for the day:
Tony Stark: "No hard feelings Point Break. You've got a mean swing."
Chapter Four – See who I am.
Loki rubbed his head as Clint left him. While the intel he had gathered through his conversation with the marksman had proven to be very interesting he still had no way to actually use it and so the energy he had expended to carefully go through the human's mind had been wasted. Groaning quietly Loki crumbled the last of the dry bread he had managed to find into the remains of the cold tinned soup he had been provided, of course the mess hadn't been edible even when hot.
Giving up on being able to force himself to eat any more of the Midgardrian food Loki pushed away from the table and wandered back into the large dank room where Selvig was working with the Tesseract. The scientist's voice echoed back to him and Loki hitched a smile onto his face as he crossed the room to where the older human was working, he supposed at least he was providing one of these mortals with some new knowledge. Shaking the stray thought away, Loki strode up to the plastic separating the scientist from the rest of the room and leant against the fragile supports next to where Clint was playing with a box of something.
"Where did you find all these people?" Loki found himself grinning at the easy camaraderie the two had kept even with his mind control.
"Shield has no shortage of enemies doctor," Loki watched Clint tap something and hold it up. Suddenly he understood that it was a computer of some kind. "This the stuff you need?"
The scientist barely looked up, "Yeah, Iridium…It's found in meteorites and forms anti-protons."
Loki blinked…anti-whats…he really needed to pick the scientist's brain soon. Rolling his shoulders he focused back in at the conversation, "It's very hard to get hold of."
"Especially if S.H.I.E.L.D. knows you need it." Clint sounded almost indignant at that.
"Well I didn't even know I needed it." The scientist less so. Loki decided to make himself known and Selvig's attention instantly switched to him. "Hey!" the scientist greeted. "The Tesseract has shown me so much, it's more than knowledge. It's truth."
Well then, Loki thought, perhaps they were actually getting there. "I know," he agreed calmly, smiling at the scientist for a second before glancing out of the corner of his eye at the bow-man. "What did it show you Agent Barton?"
The crackled, ice-blue eyes of the marksman turned on to him and the human smiled, "My next target."
Loki raised an eyebrow, "Tell me what you need." Despite his calm answer Loki was hoping to get out of the chilled, damp atmosphere of their lab.
Clint turned and walked towards the case containing his bow as he answered and Loki felt a mischievous smile dance across his face, "I need a distraction," the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent snapped the bow into a useable size, "and an eyeball."
Loki glanced over his shoulder as he walked elegantly across the plaza in a place called Stuttgart in a country called Germany. It had taken no effort on his part to transport not only Clint with him to the location needed, but also several other mercenaries, the sceptre's power was obviously much greater than anything he could have hoped to achieve without the gift. At Clint's suggestion he had changed his clothes into a multi-layered, Midgard-styled suit, complete with dress shoes and green, silken scarf. The sceptre had shimmered down into a walking cane, and while he had been able to call on his own magic for the change of attire the sceptre had needed him to use the gifted power again. The glance over his shoulder was carefully planned, allowing the cameras that Clint had explained to him to catch a glimpse of his face in profile. After all for his plan to succeed he would need S.H.I.E.L.D. distracted.
A seductive smile and several charming sentences later Loki found himself looking down at a crowd of Midgardrians, all of whom seemed to be dressed in the finery Selvig had explained and all of whom were lying to each other, or partially with-holding the truth. Loki check the time piece Selvig had provided him with and noticed he had at least five minutes until Clint would need the distraction and the eyeball. With time to spare Loki leant against the white marble railing and studied the humans below him, the male whom he would need to acquire attributes from was easily spotted as he was gesturing calmly as he explained on of the pieces present to a crowd of eager listeners. Marking the human with a flare that would appear only to his magical sight Loki took a chance to fully absorb the mortals' style. The woman all seemed to favour floor length dress, slit up to the thigh and plunging at the front, even occasionally at the back as well. These women were even further beneath him than a normal mortal would have been, all show and no substance. The few older females there caught his eye and he mentally calculated the wealth they were wearing and found himself impressed, some of those pieces would not have been out of place at an Asgardrian feast. These woman were dressed more moderately, and in fabrics Loki could place, in his eyes they looked much more elegant, despite their obviously greater age.
A glance at the timepiece told him he needed to move and so abandoning the effort to find an individuality amongst the male dress Loki abandoned his watch post and casually walked to the head of the stairs. Even as focused as he was he took no small delight in the admiring glances sent his way by the many female eyes turned his way, he preened a little as he realised there were even some male gazes fixed on him. With the elegance he had been taught to use his entire life Loki, stepped lightly down the grand staircase, firstly he needed all eyes on him and to do that his next move would have to break the spell of the high pitched string instruments that were being played. Mind made up he carefully spun the sceptre-come-cane and grasped the wrong end of it, then without breaking his stride he swung it into the jaw of the slow to react guard.
Loki smiled charmingly as he strode towards his target, that had gotten their attention, and he had to say he did like having the eyes of all these mortals on him, the time had come to remind them why they had once called him a god. With no effort on his part Loki backed his target up and flipped him to land face up on the middle of one of the displays. The crowd backed up slightly, not moving to save the elder human in Loki's grasp. Sighing softly at the cowardliness shown Loki carefully placed down his cane and reached into his inner pocket causing another gasp and flinch to echo around the crowd. The man in his grasp finally started to struggle and Loki chose to look at the crowd and smile slightly madly, rather than at the human he was injuring in such a callous manner. The technology may be impressive, but the rather blood way it proceeded made even his war hardened stomach clench in disgust.
The humans were fleeing from him now, and so with his part in the retrieving of Iridium done, Loki left the still twitching human across the artefact and strode casually across the floor behind the fleeing humans. As he walked he allowed the sceptre's magic to flow across him and called to mind the ceremonial armour he had worn in Asgard, after all the people needed to know who they would be bowing to. By the time he reached the cool night air he was dressed head to toe in his gold and leather armour, horned helm in place and green velvet cape flowing to ankle length.
As a large percentage of the mortals ran about in panic before him, Loki took a moment to admire the courage of those who tried to herd them to safety. A loud whining noise caught his attention and Loki tilted his head in annoyance, well he couldn't have anyone interfering. A quick movement and the sceptre ended the noise and possibly the humans in the metal carriage that had created it. That got the attention of the rest of the mortals who had been standing staring in confusion. Deciding he couldn't allow them to flee Loki reached down, and fighting with the sceptre's own magic forced an image of him to appear in front of the fleeing crowd.
Ignoring the sweat beading on his brow at how hard it was to use his innate magic Loki spoke softly, "Kneel before me."
The humans seemed panicked and disinclined to acquiest to his request, turning to flee in another direction, so he formed another clone directly in their way again. "I said…"
When the third clone was complete he decided to borrow some of the All-Father's dramatics to lend flair to the performance and finished the sentence at full volume and with a flash of blue light from the sceptre in his hand, "Kneel!"
Silence fell over the plaza and Loki copied Fandral's swagger and smile as he surveyed them. Ignoring the way his clone-images flickered, Loki laughed softly. "Is not this simplier?" He asked, wondering just why he felt like such a fraud with all of their eyes on him.
He walked forwards arms open in greeting, ignoring the winces as he passed the kneeling humans, "Is this not your natural state?" Loki shut down on the senses he would normally use to incite mischief and sense lies as the back lash was giving him a headache and he knew he would need to be capable of fully playing his part when the agents form S.H.I.E.L.D. arrived, as he had no doubt they would.
"It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation." Loki lowered the sceptre to gesture with it. "The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power…" He broke off drawing in a deep breath as he fought to keep a hold on his own magic, the clone-images flickered and he growled mentally. "For identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end…you will always kneel."
Loki felt his eyes grow wide as a frail looking, older male rose silently to his feet and with untold bravery looked directly into his eyes. The human's frame was proud even as age wrought it's tremors on the very heart of him. Loki felt a swell of emotion sell up in him and his hold on his clone-images fell, allowing them to flicker out. Beneath the human's eyes he felt worthless and flinched at the quiet words that disputed his entire purpose. "Not to men like you."
There was a simplicity there that Loki admired, a truth that he could not take away from this human. They old eyes showed that this was a man who had faced pain, faced the very darkness that could drive you insane and was now choosing to face death rather than kneel again. Loki felt cold suddenly, this one man's courage and quiet strength could cause him to fail. He gripped the sceptre tightly with suddenly sweaty palms, he found himself agreeing with the human. This male should bow to no-one.
Even as he lowered the sceptre, free hand starting to reach out a pulse went through the sceptre and he narrowed his eyes. While he may admire this man, the human's defiance could ruin everything. Yet he fought to keep the sceptre by his side, "There are no men like me," he re-joined with a derisive laugh. Mentally he willed the human to just kneel, if the male kneeled he could spare his life.
The human never flinched from holding his gaze. "There are always men like you." There was quiet certainty in the male's voice, a soft dignity and Loki's heart bled for a few moments before he steeled himself as the sceptre pulsed again.
"Look to your elder people," he quipped, raising the sceptre and using it to point at the standing male. He whipped his voice back as it shook, wiping away a single tear from crackled, ice-blue shot, emerald eyes and his grip was white knuckled on the sceptre, "Let him be an example."
The light grew at the end of the sceptre and he watched the old human's eyes widen as the mortal stared down his death, with barely a flinch. Loki's determination wavered for a few seconds before he remembered that it would be the life of this human or his own. As this thought crossed his mind his ice-blue eyes hardened and he felt the power flow through the sceptre even as he held it steadily aimed at the foolish human who clearly deserved to die.
AN: Go on leave me a review. Please :D