I was so close to making 1k words on this chapter, then I didn't. I'm kind of disappointed in myself, honestly. Anyways, let's say I'll try to update on Wednesdays, at least until this arc is finished. I've got two more chapters ready to go!
And in this chapter, introducing (drumroll) Star-Lord! Pre-Guardians of the Galaxy days!
When Jack woke, he was pressed against something cold. His head was pounding, and his muscles ached more than they had when Pitch had broken his staff. He groaned as he opened his eyes and looked around. He was in some sort of ruins, broken stone and ice surrounding him, although still forming solid walls that he would never be able to get out of without help. He thought he was alone at first, until he glanced around.
Bruce Banner was curled in a corner, obviously unconscious. His face was pale, and he was shivering. Come to think of it, Jack was cold too, for the first time since he'd become Jack Frost. He hauled himself up though, and moved closer to the scientist.
"Dr. Banner? Bruce? Wake up." His hand looked weird too, when he nudged the man's shoulder, and it was then that he realized his staff was nowhere to be seen. It accounted for the part of something that felt as though it was missing.
The scientist's eyes finally pried open, looking at him through slitted eyes before he flinched, eyes going wide now. "J-Jack? Is that you?" He stammered and Jack looked down at himself. He thought he looked the same.
"Yeah?" He said, looking back at the other man. Banner shook his head, reaching out to touch his hair.
"You have brown hair."
"Jack is missing." Loki didn't waste any time when he appeared in the Tower. The Avengers and Bucky were there, sprawled on various couches, watching some sort of reality show. He had no idea why, considering they surely had better things to be doing. Although his Hawk and the woman were both dirty and beaten, and Stark had a bruise on his cheek which he noted to find out where it came from. He was the only one allowed to fight them, he had already made that clear.
"What's Frosty up to now?" Stark asked after Thor had gone through his customary roar of greeting. Honestly, sometimes Loki had to wonder if the oaf remembered they were enemies, no longer brothers, much less friends.
"If I knew that, do you think I would be here?" Loki gritted out. Honestly, his bro-Thor's friends were idiots. "But there was residual frost giant magic where he was last. Thor, we must go to Jotunheim. There is a path from here, but the Bifrost would use less energy if you could possibly convince Heimdall to allow me to travel it." It felt strange, asking Thor to convince someone else to do something. Even wrong, but then, he had little other choice.
"Hold up, you're just going to go running off to Jotunheim because homicidal little brother says so?" Loki sighed at the Hawk's incredulous words. Honestly, he would have preferred to wait to for the assassin to work out his issues later. Right now, he did not have the time, but he opened his mouth to answer anyways, only to shut it when he realized something.
"Where is the beast?" He snapped, eyes scanning the room again. Banner was obviously missing amongst the rest, and he cursed himself for not realizing it.
"Uh, he took a break. Said he was going North and not to follow him." Stark said lazily. Loki gritted his teeth. What were the chances of the two being taken together? But then, what were the chances of anything in his life happening?
"Thor. We must go. Now."
"I don't have brown hair, I haven't had brown hair since-" Jack broke off, one hand reaching up to touch his hair, as though he could feel the change. It felt the same as it always had though, messy and wild, although there was some ice in it right now that he brushed aside.
"Your eyes are brown too. They weren't before, were they?" Far from the panic that Jack could feel welling up, Bruce just looked curious, as though he was some sort of anomaly. Which he was, he guessed. Kind of.
"I need my staff." He barely realized he'd had the thought until he voiced it. His staff would fix this, he was sure of it. It had always been there, he'd always used it for his magic. Maybe if he had it again, he would be able to use it to bring it back. Surely that would work. If not, he didn't know what he was going to do.
"All right… Do you know where we are?" Bruce was looking more alert, although he was still shivering, arms wrapped around himself as he looked around. Jack did the same before shaking his head.
"No. This doesn't look like anyplace I've ever been." He couldn't help the thought that it might not even be earth, considering that shimmering light and the strange creatures that had taken them. Maybe that was why he had returned to what he used to look like. Maybe his magic didn't work here.
He held out a hand, spreading it on the wall and concentrated on freezing it further, maybe pushing it outwards to make a hole. Nothing happened though, and he sat back in frustration. No magic, no powers, no staff. He was useless.
Peter Quill, also known as Star-Lord, stepped off his ship onto a frozen planet and scratched the back of his head, behind his mask.
"This ain't Krylor."