AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope you guys enjoy reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. By far, this was one of my most favorite chapters to write in all three stories. From here on, the dynamic between Loki and Barbara will be the exact same as the one they shared in part 1 of Game of Shadows. We will also pay homage to the events of Thor: The Dark World.

Born to be a King

Chapter 20

The howling was incessant. For the last three days, the somber and haunting calls of the wolves that inhabited the dark mountains behind the city of Asgard had echoed in the stillness of the night, disturbing the citizens who were quickly becoming uneasy. The weather was colder than normal for this time of year when summer was supposed to ebb slowly into autumn. Instead of calm and cool nights, the air was eerily chilly. There was something in the air that hovered, not yet palpable, but neither unnoticeable. The king had quickly quieted the populace, comforting them with news that the gatekeeper had detected no looming danger, and that the early arrival of cold weather was due to an alignment of the Asgardian axis that placed it further from their star than what was customary. The creatures of the mountains were simply reacting to this celestial phenomenon, which occurred only once every twenty-five thousand years.

The Hel hound went undetected as a palace guard as he moved through the royal residence. From the shadows, he watched the king of Asgard take the secret passages beneath the palace. Using his own keen vision, he pinpointed his destination somewhere to the South of the city. Following the route through the streets, he soon saw in the distance the most logical destination: The magnificent tower of the Temple of Idunn. Then, concealing himself as a priest, it entered the golden gates and observed the clerics retreat to their living quarters, then he caught sight of the Asgardian king meeting with the High Priestess who escorted him to a secret area deep within the bowels of the temple. The Hel hound growled from under his priestly hood, then slunk from the temple and made for the city's Southern gate. Upon entering the forest he transformed back into its normal form and dashed to the highest peak. When he reached the summit, he stiffened his back and raised his voice to the heavens in a bone chilling howl that sent the mountain wolves into a frenzy of terror.

It was the Death Howl. A howl whose sound waves crossed the city and traveled through the universe beyond, then reached the deep nether recesses of Yggdrasil, into the realm his mistress ruled.

Then, the night changed.

From his post, Ragnar turned his head away from the sight of his king being toasted to by the Verdandinian king. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end as he registered the shrill, ear-splitting howl that rose above the others just as the crispness of the night now became a chilling cold. The wind picked up violently, the waters of the ocean began to churn, creating high waves that crashed with unparalleled force against the shore, inundating the coastal structures. These were not the effects of a planetary alignment, but the calling card of a force greater than the lives of those who resided in the Realm Eternal. A force that ruled their lives, and reigned over them in death.

"No" he breathed.

Then, it happened. Though it was not yet midnight, the celestial bodies began to fade as the sun began to break slowly over the Eastern Mountains. The day was setting anew before the night had even reached its peak.

"By the raging swells come the hounds of Hel
And there where the once king befell
Shall the day set anew, and night become blue..."

Just as the Norns had foretold.

Dexterous fingers worked over the needles and tubes connected to the body that lay on the gurney. The heart monitor beeped at a slow and steady speed and the brain scanners alerted of high activity, indicating the woman's state of deep sleep. Her chest rose and fell evenly, and there was a peaceful look about her face. Victor von Doom ceased his work, and looked up at her.

There she was.

"Barbara" he sighed as his knuckles traced over her cheek.

Two years. It had been two long years since he had last seen her. Two years since he had heard her make her choice, her voice vehemently reminding him that she was bound to another, and no amount of preexisting history between them could tear her away from her chosen fate. She had walked out of his life, leaving behind the one small yet powerful token that had now ensured his final victory over her. Perhaps she knew.

Perhaps. He had hoped, he had dreamed that in her action of leaving the Gauntlet in his hands, she was reaching out somehow, eliciting a quiet cry for help for him to save her from the fate that had cruelly been bestowed upon her, a marriage she had been forced into entering.

He was torn from his thoughts when a sudden beeping in the heart monitor indicated a sign of distress. Her heart rate was elevating quickly and her breathing was now fast and labored. The alarm on the brain scanner was also going off, indicating dangerously high brain activity. Her hands balled into fists and she began sobbing in her sleep while her arms tried to reach out to something, or someone. In her nightmare, she clawed at Doom as she tried to grab onto whomever she was seeing in her dreams. Quickly, he injected a dose of tranquilizer into her bloodstream, and her struggle ceased. Her hands fell to her sides, and with a sigh, a name escaped her lips...

"Arik..." she breathed so faintly, he almost did not hear it.

He held her hand tightly in his, almost regretful, almost apologetic. Her body and mind were fighting against the spell that had been cast on her. He had been made aware of it at her delivery, when the king's magician informed him of the method used to tear her and her husband apart. A potion had been concocted which placed them in a sleep that would last a day and a night, a sleep in which their memories of one another would be wiped out and replaced with recollections that established their present condition. When she awakened, in her mind she would no longer be Loki's wife, but his.

Doom now connected her to the final piece of equipment. He gently hooked the highly sensitive brain sensor to her cerebellum, and activated the protocol on the artificial intelligence panel. It was the same program he used on his cyborgs that equipped them with his own consciousness and sentience, but he had programmed an entirely new conscience just for her. Whatever new memories had been created by the potion would be overridden and replaced by the ones he had created. If she was truly going to be his now, it would be on his terms.

But sadly, her entire spectrum of memories could not be replaced. The original protocol he had created in which she had never even met Loki had been rejected by her and caused her to almost go into a seizure. Though she was human of birth, her new Asgardian nature had prevailed in safeguarding the memories she had of her first encounter with another of Aesir nature, thus making it impossible for him to erase her initial memories of Loki. Well, perhaps what he had first thought a problem was a blessing in disguise. Her first association with Loki had been one of abduction, forced labor, fear, unwilling cooperation and violation. The cur had forced himself upon her, instilled terror into her soul, tore her from everything she held familiar and dear, and drove her to betray herself and her race. How he managed to make her love him was unthinkable to Doom. And yet, perhaps those memories, separated from their ultimate outcome, would serve him. She could keep those memories of a time when she was torn apart, and linked to new ones in which it was he who put her back together again.

The computer panels began to load the transmission, and the sensors attached to her brain began to hum softly...

5% - Now rescued by S.H.I.E.L.D., she returned to her life and her work. The Ambassador's ambitions for a new era of clean energy had come true in a plan forged with Von Doom Industries. Always the active and involved statesman, the Ambassador oversought the plan's progress, and of course, always next to him was his curious and vibrant assistant, the MIT graduate who dreamed of becoming an astronaut.

Doom now worked on removing her garments and anything associated with her past. He looked over her armor, observing the intricate workings of black leather, gold plates and green silk. He cursed the Asgardian blackguard; of course he would make her wear his colors. The first thing to go was the jeweled ring on her right hand, the symbol of her married status. The gold band with black diamonds and emeralds was tossed aside, and then he reached for the velvet box that sat on the working station next to the gurney...

25% - Soon, she and Victor were inseparable. Friendship became an attraction that quickly deepened into something more. He was willing to take the next step, to invite her into his life, but she was always fearful and hesitant due to the effects of her horrifying ordeal. Her once blind obsession with space was now marred by fear of the unknown. Her vivacity and ingenuity were now replaced by reservation and distrust. What little she spoke of her ordeal was always said with pain and a hatred she gave no voice to, but was evident in the deeper vibrato and the intensity of her words.

He replaced the ring on her finger with one made of silver that boasted a single, solitaire diamond. It was a promise ring, one he had given her on their first anniversary of dating. He now removed her boots, and began to unclasp the bindings of her armor. The gold plates came first, then the constricting bodice...

40% - It took time, but finally, she allowed herself to hope, to trust, and to believe again. He taught her to see the stars again as beacons, not as threats. To look beyond the dangers of the universe and see once more the wonders it held. It was on one of these nights, when they looked through the lens of one of Keck Observatory's twin telescopes that the final wall came crashing down. That night, she gave herself to him, trusting and ready. He took her gifts eagerly, and with him, she traveled to the stars both in ecstasy and in truth.

Her leather leggings were pulled off, revealing her silky, well-toned legs. His breath left his body as he took in her creamy, tawny skin. He remembered removing the pieces of shard from her calf, reveling in the feel of her skin while trying to remain as aloof as possible. He now had full access to explore, to touch, to feel, to taste. His fingers traced her legs from her calves, up her knees, up her thighs, where his hands faltered, fighting against the scorching desire to derail and touch the center of her womanhood. But not now, that would come soon. He kissed her hip and then his lips traced her thigh up to her knee...

65% - He granted her a position in his research team that would travel to the space station being built in the atmosphere to study an incoming solar cloud. She trained hard, she worked hard, and soon, she boarded the rocket alongside him in the greatest expedition since NASA's missions to the moon. They reached the space station, and three days later, destiny became fate.

The only thing left was her tunic. His fingers now trembled as he untied the strap on her side and pulled back the garment. He let out a breath he knew not he had been holding when his eyes finally drank in her full naked form. She was glorious, just as he had imagined. Soon she would awaken, and he would finally drown in her curves, plunge into her depths, and hear her moan his name in his ear...

75% - A miscalculation, small and undetected, caused the lives of the entire team, save for two. Only Victor and Barbara survived, and the rest was history. They became known throughout the world as "freaks of nature", "the next step in human evolution", "mutants", "a danger to humanity". They were oddities, shunned, and soon ostracized and feared. They only had each other, and together, they came to terms with their new physiologies, and realized that they stood above the rest of humanity, granted powers equal to the gods of men. No, they were gods themselves in their own eyes. Self-discovery led to arrogance, and ambition became ruthlessness. From the shadows they caused havoc, reveling in the terror they wrought. It was finally when Earth itself became the target for annihilation by the Mad Titan, that they joined forces with Earth's mightiest heroes and regained a sense of virtue. But by then, Victor's ambitions reached far beyond the confines of Earth, and with intelligence stolen from S.H.I.E.L.D., built a new armada and fleet capable of interstellar travel. Then, they set off to a place rumored to house ancient sources of power, a string of worlds called Verdandi. They invaded one of their worlds and stole one of the gems. The king called upon Asgard to help, but unexpectedly, it was not the God of Thunder who came to the rescue, but the treacherous and conniving blackguard who now called himself king of the Realm Eternal. But the Barbara he now encountered was not the naïve and defenseless little mortal he had used on Earth. He soon figured it out when she and Doom attacked the capital city of Dwyvendale and stole the Infinity Gauntlet. They had laughed upon realizing that he had also come for the stones. Barbara had delighted upon seeing the astonishment on his face when he witnessed firsthand the scale of her powers. She was a force to be reckoned with: Powerful, mighty, and vengeful. He was the enemy, and she would stop at nothing until his head rolled at her feet...

The sensors continued to hum. The transmission was now at 98%. Her memories of the battle of Angharad were being overwritten. She and Doom had lost the battle, thanks to the aid of the king's legions being led by the Asgardian. He had fought alongside the king's daughter, and Barbara had nearly killed her had it not been for her escaping by riding a dragon away from the battle. The stone fell into Loki's hands, and Barbara had been wounded by none other than Loki.

Doom now took a scalpel from the workstation and braced himself. With great care, he inflicted a jagged and somewhat deep wound into her side. Blood began to flow heavily, but thanks to her Aesir nature, it soon began to coagulate. It would take some time to heal, and given the time left before she awakened, it was enough to make it seem as if she had suffered it the day before.

The humming died down and the computer screen indicated that the transmission was complete and successful. He removed the sensor from her cerebellum and then ordered a working bot to wheel it out of the infirmary. There was only one last thing to do. Doom applied gauze to the wound, bandaged her midsection, and then covered her with a white sheet.

It was hours later when she finally stirred. She groaned deep in her throat, and her eyes opened. Next to her stood Victor von Doom, wearing a concerned yet elated expression on his handsome features. His hand was on her cheek, gentle and loving.

"Barbara, are you alright?" he asked.

Her eyes settled on him and the most beautiful smile he had ever seen graced her features.

"Victor, my love" she whispered.

High above in the palace, a group of three individuals stood watch around the bed where the sleeping prince lay. The Fates would have laughed upon seeing his present state: The God of Mischief, the God of Lies had finally been bested. Someone had managed to trick the trickster. Now, here he lay, unconscious and at the mercy of those who now held power over him. Oh, how fickle, how cruel, and how sardonic the Fates were.

Ireena smoothed the blanket of skin that covered him, adjusting it around him. She said nothing, not even trying to hear what her father and Diarmaid said as they spoke in hushed whispers. She was focused only on the prince who was soon to awaken. He looked so peaceful, so at rest, almost childlike in sleep. With a trembling hand, she reached out and smoothed back a lock of his hair that fell on his forehead. The gesture did not go unnoticed by her father.

"Ireena, be not so eager. You will have thousands of years to spend with him" he jested lovingly.

She only looked at him and smiled abashed in return, then turned her attention back to the prince. Her father and Diarmaid continued their colloquy, and she only caught bits and pieces. They spoke of the stones, the necessity to hide them again, of how to proceed when the prince awoke, of how to deal with Asgard and most particularly his brother when the news reached that the prince had married the Verdandinian princess. What tale would they say when Thor found out that Loki's wife was no longer with him, and he was bound to another?

All that didn't matter, not now, not to her. He was hers, and she would be his.

"Ireena" the king gathered her attention again.

"Yes, father"

"You must not leave his bedside. When he awakens, you should be the only one he sees"

She watched as the two men exited the room, leaving her alone with the prince. Then she sat on the bed and took his hand, holding it to her cheek. His touch was cool, just like hers. They were creatures of the same nature, of the same line. Though not the daughter of Laufey, she was the illegitimate offspring of one of his kin. In times before the Great War, Ice Maidens had been valued and treasured, possessing power of the forces of nature that controlled their world. They were also revered for their incomparable beauty. They were wives to kings and princes, but then it all changed. Laufey tore their world apart, plunging it into a civil war that destroyed everything that was once precious and majestic about the realm of Jotunheim. Humiliated and lowered to the status of concubines and servants in the king's harem, Ireena had been the first Ice Maiden to be born since the time of the Great War. Loki himself had been born from one, and his mother had laid down her life to protect him, knowing that he was the one prophesied to finally bring an end to the Era of Darkness.

Ireena wiped a tear from her cheek, realizing that Loki had grown believing himself to be Aesir, and as such, thought of his own race as monsters. It would take time before he let them into his heart and learned to embrace his nature, but she would make sure he did. Together, they would restore their home world, see it rise again to the heights of glory it once enjoyed, and together they would also rule it. She bent down to look at him closely, admiring him. He was so beautiful, so perfectly chiseled, so roguishly handsome. He was everything and so much more than she had dreamed and hoped. Odin's descriptions really had not done him justice.

"Loki" she whispered, and kissed his lips gently. Then she laid her head upon his shoulder and listened to his slow and even breathing. He was in a deep sleep while Diarmaid's spell rearranged his memories and everything he knew about himself. She whispered sweet nothings into his ear as she continued to watch over him, but soon, she too succumbed to sleep. What Ireena didn't know was that the memories being replaced were not being morphed into those intended for him. His subconscious was recreating its own set of memories, distorting events based on his own well of bitterness and pain.

He returned to Asgard in chains, and was soon thrown before the presence of the king, the very father figure who had betrayed him. He listened horrified as the sentence was given: A lifetime of imprisonment and deprivation.

"And what of Thor? You'll make that witless oaf king while I rot in chains?" he spat back in a last attempt for reason, for any trace of mercy and compassion in the old man's eye. But he received none. The guards flanking him pulled him roughly, and dragged him back to the cell where he was being kept.

Now alone and forgotten, he only found comfort in his mother's secret visits. His empty cell slowly became filled with basic necessities and small luxuries. A comfortable bed, a plush chair with a footstool, a mirror, a table, a water basin, and even the gifts of books, wine and delectable meals. They were his mother's gifts, but in Loki's mind it was the least she could do, he was a prince of Asgard after all. Yet secretly, he cherished every short moment spent with her though she was always nothing but a holographic recreation of herself. He could never feel the warmth of her hand upon his cheek or feel her embrace around him.

A year passed in the same routine. Days were spent in the most total of loneliness, often broken by her arrivals. Exchanges were brief and candid, yet oftentimes short and strained. His temper flared up more often with the passing of time as seclusion began to take its toll on him. He lay awake on most nights, and dawn would often find him fiddling absentmindedly or lost in the pages of the many books that were stacked by the wall. Once read, the books were then changed for new material. They were all about the true greatness of kings, and though he scoffed at the ridiculousness and the obvious attempt of his mother at making him see the error of his ways, he still read them all. She also sent books about magic, and about the histories of other worlds.

Sometimes when he lay awake at night his mind would go over the events that led him to this forsaken prison, and as he reached the final events in which he arrived on Earth, he would laugh at himself remembering the little puny human who served only to ensure that the man who created the portal did his work just right. She had been so impressionable and yet so spirited. He had seen the spark of hatred and spite burn in her eyes, and he had enjoyed seeing it burn. She was forgettable and unimportant, yet he always had a good laugh at her memory. That was, until he remembered the last words she said to him which always managed to kill his amusement dead cold.

"You're a lost, wounded soul, Loki. I pray for your sake that you find the peace you now seek in all the wrong places"

Damn her.

More days passed. More weeks. More months. And then, on a day unlike any other, the Fates decided to punish him in the cruelest way possible. And it had all been his fault.

"HE'S NOT MY FATHER!"

"Then am I not your mother?"

He swallowed hard and steeled himself for the words he was about to say. "You're not"

She chuckled in an effort to contain the bitter tears that stung her eyes. "You're always so perceptive about everyone but yourself"

Those were the last words she ever said to him, and he to her.

It was that night, when his mother's soul departed the world of the living, that his last thread of sanity was severed. He finally saw himself for the true monster he was. It was not his parentage that made him the stuff of horrors, it was he, himself, deep down to his core that was corroded and rotten. He had shunned and killed the only person he truly loved, even from the dungeon. Though he was imprisoned, locked away and forsaken, he still managed to destroy the only thing good left in his wretched existence. Now, he was truly alone. He might as well die. Hel seemed a sweet reward compared to this pathetic fate. He sat against the wall, torn and disheveled, contemplating the best way to bring about his own death when the thundering footsteps in the distance alerted him to the fact that perhaps death was not the best course to take.

Malekith, the leader of the Dark Elves believed to be long dead returned along with the Aether. Having attached itself like a leech to Thor's beloved human strumpet, it was now in Asgard. Loki was the only person who could take Thor and Jane off world to defeat the Dark Elf. Thor promised vengeance, and a reward of life behind bars in reward for his help. Of course he would accept, the simpleminded fool did not need to dangle the promise of revenge in front of his nose like a trinket to ensure his cooperation.

Ultimately, he lay dying in Thor's arms. His redemption was complete. He had avenged his mother and died for his brother. It was a fitting end for him.

"I'll tell father what you did here today"

"I didn't do it for him" he whispered with his dying breath. His last vision was of Thor, the only person beside his mother who still laid claim to a piece of his heart. He had hated Thor, hated him with an abhorrence so deep, he must have loved him fiercely. Kindled by brotherhood and not by blood, their bond was one that could never be broken, no matter how hard he had tried to sever the link. Therefore, it was Thor who deserved to see him die, to take the reward for his most selfless act.

He now laughed malevolently as he watched his brother walk away from the throne upon which he sat.

"No, thank you" he said after him.

Asgard was his.

It wasn't long before the gatekeeper caught glimpses of the Infinity Stones hidden in a world that up till then had been unknown. Now with the greatest relics in the universe at his disposal, it was unthinkable not to go after the stones. It would not be long before Thanos also found their location and set after them. Equipped with the Infinity Gauntlet, he set off for this mysterious world, and soon came face to face with a grand reality, one greater than the one he had realized that day long ago, when the true nature of his parentage had been unveiled.

The truth that Odin had kept from him all his life was a lie. The lie he had been told his entire life was actually the truth. Just how deep did the falsehood go?

Upon his arrival on Verdandi, he also encountered a most amusing development. Some human fool had also come to Verdandi in search of the stones and accompanied by the very female he had used on Earth. Armed with a unique set of powers, they had fought and lost against Loki who led the king's Shadow Legions.

The little chit thought herself powerful.

How amusing.

Loki now stirred, signaling his return to consciousness. His eyes opened and he frowned upon realizing that there was another with him on the bed. Then he smiled when he saw the princess lying against him with her head on his shoulder. How long had she sat watching him sleep before she could no longer fight against it herself? Discovering that Odin had secretly obtained a bride for him had surely been a shock, but if it meant securing the throne of Verdandi for himself he was in no position to decline. He would marry the naïve, innocent little princess. He would corrupt her, ruin her for any other man, and then drop her cold when the throne was his and Beyard was dead at his feet.

He kissed the top of her head and placed his arm around her. She stirred and sat up, looking down at him with wide eyes upon seeing him now awake. He reached out and touched her cheek, his eyes burning with all the sentiment and ardor he could master. He smiled lovingly at her, but inwardly, he was laughing. She was as disposable as any other.

"Ireena, my love" he whispered.

End of Chapter 20

Responses to reviews:

CLTex: Oh yes, poor Arik. Now in Loki and Barbara's mind he doesn't even exist, and to think that Hela is coming for him now. Oh man, I wonder what's going to happen! :-o Lol Thanks Christi! Luv ya girlie!

westernfemme: Thank you hun! I hope you like the new dynamic of the story. I can't wait for you to see what happens when Loki and Barbara are face to face again!

LokiGrey: Becca I love your new screen name! lol. Noooooo, don't feel sad, enjoy it! I promise you that the story will be a lot of fun from here on! ;-)

FIRE ELF MAIDEN: Thank you, thank you so much darling! Bless you! :)

Guest: Oh yes, shit definitely got real! Lol Thank you! :)

LisaF: Thanks a lot, Lisa! :)