SHADOW OF DEATH

Chapter 23: Mind-Control

One torn up parachute, one inflatable raft, three yards of rope, a bit of duct tape, and two hours later, they managed it. It was well past midnight by the time one tired astrophysicist, one sore princess, one mulish alien cat, and an unconscious alien prince were safely on-board the Wakandan jet. No other unseen enemies materialized from the broken city and they were able to work undisturbed, save for the constant interruptions from T'Challa on Shuri's kimoyo beads. He continued to monitor their progress until he knew his sister was safely in the air and only then did he give them a few minutes of peace.

"I am so hungry I could eat a hippopotamus," Shuri said as she groaned and stretched her muscles. She tapped at the orange and green controls of the jet before her. "Jane, can you find some food in the back?"

"Yeah," Jane answered. Jane got up and balanced herself against the narrow walls of the small jet. She made her way to the back where she rummaged through a cupboard and came back with a bottle of passion juice and some pink packages of biscuits.

"Nothing for you?" Shuri asked, nodding towards the single bottle of juice.

"I don't think I can eat. I'm not feeling too well."

"Jane, you need to eat. You will feel worse if you do not. It's been too too long since we ate last."

Jane reluctantly fetched another bottle of juice and package of biscuits. She grimaced as she nibbled on them. Shuri's were gone by the time Jane swallowed even one sip of juice.

"I think I may need to add 'weight-lifting aliens' to my list of things I do each day," Shuri said with a groan. She stretched out her thin, dark arms to watch her muscles flex in the dim light. "My arms are too too sore now."

"We are lucky this jet even had that parachute in it. You were right. He is heavier than he looks."

"I think it is the dimensional pocket. It adds weight. Perhaps he keeps his own spaceship within his belly."

Jane laughed. "He doesn't seem like the spaceship type. Maybe he is carrying around a horse instead."

Shuri giggled. She finished off her snack and brushed the crumbs off her red shirt. Jane struggled to finish her first biscuit and she grew distracted, her eyes gazing out the cockpit window into the darkness outside their plane. The stars strewn overhead were the only visible lights in the ocean of darkness around them in the expanse of the Sahara Desert below them.

"Shuri – why did he turn blue? And why was he so cold?"

"I do not know. Can you check on him? There is a First Aid kit in the top cupboard. It should have gloves and bandages. See what you can do with the largest of his cuts."

"Ok."

Jane returned to the seat beside Shuri nearly an hour later. She gave a loud sigh and lay her head against her hands.

"Your turn," Shuri said. "I am too too tired." The princess rose out of the pilot's seat and motioned for Jane to take it.

"Shuri, I don't know how to drive this thing. I can't even fly an American plane and those ones have controls in English."

"It is on autopilot. Just sit in the seat and if something beeps at you or if you see a mountain or a building or a flying spaceship in front of you, poke me and I'll take over," Shuri said. She sat in the passenger's seat nearby and lay her head against the wall. She closed her eyes and tried to hide how her hands were shaking by hiding them beneath her legs. "How is the mgeni?"

"Still unconscious. Loki hasn't even twitched a finger. He's looking better though. His skin is taking on his usual hue, his blood has turned red instead of blue, and his wounds look to be healing up a bit. I cleaned up what I could and found a blanket for him. Goose has taken up residence on his stomach and is taking a nap."

"Shuri…," Jane began again. She paused. Shuri cracked open one eye to show she was listening and closed it again. "Do you think that guy-the one who was talking-do you think he was telling the truth? How did he know all that?"

"I do not know," Shuri said. "I suspect we need to run some tests on that alien death spear and I need to reevaluate the case of Sergeant Barnes in light of what we have seen today. I also suspect that more than the Winter Soldiers have experienced mind control at some level or another."

"Shuri-the things he said…I don't know how to even process it. This is all a whole lot more complicated than I originally thought…and I have no idea what to think anymore."

"Jane, I am going to speak somehow and I wish you to hear me closely. There is much we need to learn and much we will need the mgeni to tell us. But I think we need to walk very carefully. We heard words spoken today that were never meant for our ears. If it were my brother or my father, they would walk away heavy with shame at having their weaknesses so exposed. For big men like they are, they must show they are strong, even when they are not, and they must appear the prince and king, even when they are only a man.

"The Asgardian prince guards his vulnerability like a lion guards its kill. Even a hyena can harm a lion, if it is weak or injured. I do not think our mgeni would ever admit to not being under full control of his decisions or struggling with grief over his brother or admit to weakness of any kind. If it were by brother or my father, I would not address anything that happened unless they initiate the conversation."

"But we need to know what happened!" Jane argued.

"No, Jane. We know what happened, but we do not understand what happened. If he wishes to explain it, he will. If not, he will not. I will tell my father and my brother a general enough story that they can understand what has happened, while withholding information I feel would shame our mgeni. If we guard his honor, allow him to feel he is strong and in control, we will be safe to let down his guard around. He will not fear we will damage his honor if he sees we are protecting it."

Jane rubbed her temples with her hands. "I don't understand," Jane said.

"It is o.k. You can argue with me more later. Sasa, ninaenda kulala," Shuri said and closed her eyes again.

ooooooooooooooo

Loki woke on a stark white bed in the medical center of Birnin Zana. His entire body pounded in pain. He felt as he did when he woke after his first introduction to the Hulk. He groaned and tried to raise one hand to place it against his head. It barely budged.

A series of green flashing lights and soft beeps sounded around him and Dr. Okapi came into the room. He wore an orange and black lab coat and carried a computerized tablet. The doctor placed rough hands against his forehead and glanced over some of the machines around him.

"Prince Loki, you are awake," he said.

Loki looked at him through one eye and shook his head with a wince.

"You have been unconscious for over 28 hours. You need to rest. You broke multiple bones and suffered extreme head trauma but you are healing at an incredibly fast rate."

Loki nodded…and did not hear another word as he sank back into darkness.

It was a darkness mottled with bright blue eyes, swirling snow, and the glow of the mind stone. He could not move, he could not escape, he could not cry for help. The eyes of the Titan peered through his soul like he were a fish, separated from his hunter by only a thin sheet of ice, with the scepter pointed towards him as the spear poised to skewer him through.

When he woke next, he found a tray of food next to him and an orange Flerkin curled up on his side, asleep. He managed to prop himself up on his side enough to reach for the tray and he finished off the glass of juice as quickly as he could. His movements jostled Goose who stretched and looked up at him with grey-green eyes and a toothy yawn. Loki looked back at the Flerkin, smiled, and patted Goose on the head.

"Superior creature," he said. "You have earned the highest of honors, little warrior. You have my thanks."

He stroked his hand up and down along Goose's arching back and pulled a piece of stewed meat off his tray to feed to the Flerkin. Goose released a resounding purr and daintily swallowed down the peace offering. He knew not whether the Flerkin left his side again or stayed with him as he sank back into sleep. Sleep quickly overtook his senses and he knew no more.

Ooooooo

The next time Loki woke, he found Jane, Shuri, and Goose all huddled around him in the small room. Jane and Shuri met him with wide smiles and inquired after him with bright eyes and concerned faces. He managed to sit upright in bed enough to project more strength than he truly felt.

"Dr. Okapi said you are healing well," Shuri said. "How are you feeling?"

"Splendid, princess. Never been better," Loki responded with a grimace.

"You look better," Jane said. "Considering you looked like you were at death's door a day and a half ago, I'm impressed you can even sit upright."

"I am sorry to disappoint, Dr. Foster. Seeing my end come at the hands of my own army on the site of my failed battle would have truly been a glorious sight."

"I don't want to see that," Jane said in a whisper. "You really scared us. We didn't know if you were gonna wake up or not. "

"Prince Loki-who attacked us through those soldiers?" Shuri asked, slightly hesitantly.

"Those would be my allies, princess," he responded drily. "Come to send me a message from their master and return me to his care to receive my reward for my diligent efforts."

"Some allies," Jane responded with a humph.

"Almost as delightful as the Chitauri," he said with a sardonic chuckle. "Though the Chitauri have better manners - and are nearly as loyal and obedient as my Asgardian subjects during my short reign. I know not whether I dislike my allies or my enemies more."

As he spoke, memories of their short skirmish in New York flooded back over him and he began to feel nauseous. The words and accusations spoken by the Other through the co-opted mind of one of his Winter Soldiers twisted in his gut like a poisoned knife. Words spoken before Jane and Shuri, who would, undoubtedly, share with the king and prince and however many others of the royal council they deemed necessary. His darkest, most guarded secrets, pried from the hidden recesses of his mind without his permission were now drying in the sun before all Midgard for all to see like the flayed hide of a defeated beast.

Even worse-the dark blue underbelly of his worst secret had been openly revealed for them all to stare at in horror and disgust. Not even he had seen his Jotun face with his own eyes. He was exposed, seen as he truly was - the false prince, the pretend son, the gilded monstrosity, the fallacious hero. He felt as though he needed to claw off his own skin, pierce his own eyes, and purge his own mind of the memories of his blue hands poised to kill Jane and Shuri. The Other and Thanos, in their sadistic glee, had truly chosen an apt punishment to begin his interminable display of future horrors.

Now, all Midgard would suffer for his failings. Asgard would be next. Thanos was coming and neither Asgard nor Midgard was prepared for his wrath. He did not save the universe or even the Nine. He simply brought death, misery, chaos, and destruction wherever he turned his hand.

"I am very tired," he said to Jane and Shuri. "I wish to sleep."

"Of course," Shuri said. "We will come again tomorrow."

He pretended not to hear her, turned to face the wall, and feigned sleep.

Ooooooooo

Jane and Shuri sat on stools in Shuri's wing of her lab. Papers, diagrams, charts, and print outs covered the table, the counter, and the walls like a primary school art show and both women were nearly bursting in their excitement to compare notes. Shuri, noting how Jane's leg bounced against the table and the bright gleam in her eyes, motioned for her to go first.

"Sema, Jane. What have you found?" she asked.

Jane grinned and pulled up a projected image of Loki's scepter. The image was filled in with various shades of purples, greens, and blues, each color representing a different stream of data.

"I've started running analytics on that glow stick thing of his. It's throwing out power like I've never seen before. And it's, well, it's not like anything I've ever seen. It responds to stimuli, it receives input, and it is almost as if it is, for lack of a better word, sentient. It's like a super computer AI on a stick.

"The SHEILD data you got me said Loki used it as a weapon and it somehow projected potent energy blasts that were enough to kill on impact and cut through walls. The reports also said he used it to basically brainwash and control people…including Erik," Jane said. Here, she began to tear up. "Erik was taken to help build the portal that allowed all those alien monsters entry to New York. He didn't have a choice. He was stolen and then he was killed."

"I'm sorry, Jane," Shuri said. She wrapped her arms around Jane's shoulders. Jane fought to regain her composure and gave Shuri an embarrassed smile. Then she bit her lip and dropped her eyes.

"I want to keep being so mad at Loki and blame him for everything…but I can't anymore. I was so quick to see everything as either black or white, good or evil and I can't justify that anymore. Do you think Loki's mind was controlled by the scepter as well - that whoever or whatever was controlling those Winter Soldiers was also influencing Loki?"

"It is possible," Shuri said. "Let me share what I have learned."

"Go for it," Jane said, her curiosity brightening her eyes again.

"As you know, I went through what we have gathered on Sergeant Barnes and I can only conclude that it is a very similar process to zombification."

"Wait, what?" Jane asked.

"You know, zombification-the process of creating a zombie?"

"That's what I thought you said. I know you said he supposedly died in the 40's, but he, uh, looked pretty alive to me when I saw him," Jane said. She peered more closely at the photographs of the soldier and the various neural imaging scans Shuri projected for her.

"Exactly!" Shuri said. "He looks alive, but he had been declared dead many years ago. But, here he is-very much alive! Now his is mind controlled by some kind of bokur who has stolen his ti bon ange and made his body a slave."

"I'm really confused," Jane said. "Are we talking about the same thing here? You know, the living dead? Zombies are supposed to look like reanimated corpses who walk around cities trying to eat people."

"No, Jane," Shuri said with a laugh. "I'm not talking about your silly Hollywood zombies. I mean the real ones. You know, the people who have behaved very badly and so are sold to a bokur-a Vodoun priest, who make them appear medically dead. Then, once they are buried, they dig them up and give them a substance called Datura to keep them mentally enslaved to their bidding for the rest of their lives."

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"You are much closer geographically to Haiti than we are in Wakanda. You have not studied Voudon-an Afro-Caribbean belief system?"

"Ummm, no. I study the stars, not indigenous belief systems."

Shuri shrugged. "As I was saying, Sergeant Barnes has undergone a process somehow similar to zombification. While he was declared dead, his body lives. Yet his mind is not his own. He has all the same symptoms as someone under the influence of Datura-anticholinergicdelirium, hyperthermia, tachycardia, mydriasis, amnesia, and violent behavior.

"He obviously isn't a reanimated corpse, like what you are referring to, so I would assume this has a biological basis and not spiritual…in the spiritual cases, there are different symptoms and they usually last a shorter period of time."

"Shuri…are you trying to tell me that's a thing?"

"Of course….but that's not my point. As I was saying, in his DNA analysis, I've found traces of some tampering with his very genetic code that seems to account for his enhanced healing, his lack of aging, and his strength. Neural imaging shows evidence of destruction of neurons, possible immunolesioning, disruption of molecular mechanisms, and possible actin depolymerization in the hippocampus, amygdala, and the mammillary bodies of the hypothalamus."

"Shuri, I'm an astrophysicist, not a neurologist."

Shuri rolled her eyes. "Jane, I think you need to expand your field of study to be a little wider. Basically, the parts of his brain that hold memories have been tampered with - physically and chemically. However, his neural imaging under his 'normal' brain is distinct from what the images reveal when he was under the control of Loki's spear. When under control of the spear, his brain and body reacted much more similarly to those of someone under the influence of Datura intoxication. Somehow, the waves of energy emitting from the spear act as an anticholinergic agent. It blocks the action of the muscarinic acetylcholine receptors in the central nervous system. The effect of this is similar to that of a deliriant. It enhances certain senses while placing the individual in a more suggestible state. It places them in a state of delirium with increased anxiety, a sense of impending doom, and paranoia. I could go on, but you get the idea.

"Now, here's where it gets interesting. Loki's brain, by the time Dr. Okapi was able to get neural scans completed, showed very similar results to those of Sergeant Barnes as he was recovering from his time under control of his spear. "

"What are you saying?"

"I am saying that when Loki tried to attack us with his knives, we have evidence that it is highly likely he was being controlled by an external entity…and it is possible that this was not the first occurrence."

Jane let out a long exhale and stared at the scans again.

"Did his brain look, you know, human?"

"It was, how shall I put it? Denser and more active. The overall biology is basically similar, but more complicated and slightly larger."

"Don't tell him that, please," Jane said.

"I won't. You will be happy to know that as far as we can tell, Prince Loki has no tentacles inside him. There are no spaceships or horses either."

"That is good news," Jane said. "I do think you should tell him that. Just so he knows."

Shuri laughed. "I will try to remember that."

"Will they be ok? Both of them?"

"Dr. Okapi thinks we can wake Sergeant Barnes within the next few weeks. The extensive treatments will need to continue for some time. It is not easy to reprogram a brain. The team developing the treatments are still testing some options to see if they work or not, but they are very hopeful."

"And Loki?"

"He is healing at an incredibly fast rate. He'll be ok soon."

"But that spear-it could do that again."

"It could. Jane, in all seriousness, you need to be careful around that thing. We do not know what triggers it and we do not know who is on the other side. I do not want to see what it would do if it grabs ahold of somebody else."

"I'll be careful."

"Good. Now, let's get back to your traversable Einstein-Rosen bridge," Shuri said with a wide grin that mirrored Jane's.

"I would be delighted," Jane said.

A few of the loose papers, they collected. A few of the loose papers, they buried in stacks of more drawings and diagrams and charts. Soon, it was difficult to differentiate between diagrams of neural pathways and diagrams of wormholes. Goose joined them sometime later and found all subject matters equally agreeable to nap upon for the rest of the afternoon.

oooooooo

Loki's own chambers in the palace had never felt more welcome than they did when he finally felt well enough to return there. He ran his hand along his side table and sank onto his favored arm chair. He drew in the familiar scent of wood and plants and humidity. Goose seemed similarly content and began to bat at a leaf of his canna lily. His body still ached, but it could move of his own volition and, once he could get across the border, he could heal his remaining injuries with his magic.

He laid his head onto his hands and stared out the window into the bright daylight. He could see across the city and into the distant green of the mountains nestled behind Birnin Zana. The shallow blue sky seemed to taunt him with its endless freedom. Freedom would always be the one great lie. The more he sought freedom, the tighter his bonds grew. Thanos knew his location and could send minions to reach him. Thanos also had ways to manipulate his scepter directly and cast the mind spell upon his person, even from the outermost edges of the Void.

Was it only a few days ago he planned to leave Wakanda for some time? Circumstances were different now. In Wakanda, he would have warning. The shields protected him as surely as they caged him in. If he stayed here, he had the finest army and best technology in all Midgard to protect him. But he was powerless to defend himself and he was caged. He hated feeling trapped. He could choose to forcibly take control. If he ruled the cage, would it cease to be a prison if it instead were his kingdom?

It would be so easy. A few whispered words here, a few well-placed suspicions there, and Wakanda would implode in on itself. He thrived on the tension, on the potential for chaos: when he was the match and the world his powder keg, when he was the stone that would release the avalanche, when he was the cornerstone that would cause the archway to crumble. He basked in that power.

Perhaps that is how Thor felt when he summoned lightning.

That is how Loki felt when he summoned chaos - intoxicated by the pandemonium around him. He could stand as the one solid object, the one unchanging being in the swirl of chaos, the only one unturbulent force in the face of his created tempest.

Though perhaps that is where he lied to himself. It was he, himself, who was the very source of chaos, the very heart of turbulence, and the origin of uncertainty. He simply sowed that same chaos upon all he touched.

Was he ever really in control? Events on Midgard had proved him the fool. Even now, were his thoughts his own or had they been placed in his head by the scepter? Was the Mind Stone even now corrupting his memories and feelings without his knowledge? He did not know. Every time he closed his eyes, he could hear the Other's voice and he saw his blue hands holding a knife to Jane and Shuri. He could not escape it. Even as he slept, the vision haunted his dreams. The words of the Other rolled through his mind in constant repetition that nearly drove him mad.

It was tempting to try to form a sense of freedom through robbing others of theirs. But then he would find himself in the same place. Unchanged and always changing. Satisfied with dissatisfaction.

And he did not relish ruling. He was not a hero. He was a lackluster king. He thrived on creation and change and newness and felt drained by the mundane, the everyday stuff of kingship.

Thor would have been a better king.

Thor had always been the better man.

But Thor was not here.

The Wakandan prince and so-called Black Panther reminded Loki too much of Thor. The symbol and protector of the kingdom, the heir, the favored son of the Golden Tribe. Despite the differences in personality and manner, the roles they filled and the adoration they garnered echoed disconcertingly close to a very raw place that Loki preferred not to dwell on.

So he avoided the prince as much as he could.

Loki looked out his window onto the glittering lights where night had fallen upon Birnin Zana. The streets now resembled glowing rivers of fireflies against the dark patches of light-less earth. Their infrastructure remained intact. Their king ruled in peace and order. Their rules and history were still remembered. Their prince waited his turn to reign.

No. He needed Wakanda to remain as they were. They required no intervention. They faced no imminent doom and destruction. They were not on the verge of civil war or starvation. He dealt with those problems enough with the rest of Midgard. Maybe, at another time, he would have enjoyed stirring the bees' nest and seeing Wakanda fall.

But not now. He was tired. Too too tired. He wished for nothing but sleep.

ooooo

Loki woke to a knock on a door and Shuri's voice calling to him. His body felt stiff with sleep, though his mind still felt weary. His dreams had been dark and he felt the weight of their echoes upon his mind. He quickly pulled some clothes on and bid her enter.

She came carrying a tray of food. She placed it on a table. Her keen brown eyes analyzed his person from head to toe and she motioned with her head towards the tray.

"Kula," she said. "You need to eat."

"Princess," he said in a gruff, unused voice. "Since when did the royal family of Wakanda turn their hand to serving food?"

"Asgardian princes do not serve their guests? You know little of hospitality there," she said with a dimpled smile. She knelt on the floor beside a chair and rested her chin against the chair to watch him.

Loki shook his head and sat. At the smell of eggs and mandazi, he realized he was famished. He picked up his plate and began to eat.

"You were gone," Shuri said. "We came to see you but Dr. Okapi said you left. For two days you have not left your room. We were worried."

Had it been so long? Loki remembered waking a few times, falling into bursts of panicked activity followed by a lethargy so great he desired only to sleep. He lost track of days.

"I had matters to attend to," he replied.

Shuri nodded.

"You are healing. You must remember to eat," she said.

He gave a dramatic show of placing a mandazi in his mouth and consuming it. Shuri gave a half-smile in approval. Then she fell into silence. When he finished, she took the tray and left him to his rest.

Oooooooooooooooooo

Shuri returned the next morning, similarly intentioned. She carried a tray of beans and maize and plantains and she greeted him with a cheerful smile. She hummed a tune to herself as she arranged the food on the tray. Then she resumed her position across from him while he ate. She carefully folded her bright yellow dress around her legs and leaned her braided head against the chair.

Loki obliged her and sat to eat.

"Did you rest well?" she asked.

"I did," he answered. He lied, but he was not going to share how his dreams tormented him that night and how he woke in a near panic. He gave a polite smile. He finished half the meal before he spoke again.

"Princess Shuri, why are you here?" Loki finally asked, when he could not hold his curiosity any longer. "If you wish to pepper me with questions, you are doing an abysmal job. If you wish to inquire into the truths you overheard spoken by my allies or if you wish for my insights into your inventions, you do not need to lower yourself to serving me breakfast."

Shuri cocked her head to one side and bit her lip.

"Asgard must be a very lonely place," she remarked.

Loki's confused expression caused her to continue.

"You expect to only be sought after when you can provide a service-as if you are a milk cow. I don't wish for anything from you, bwana."

"Then why have you come?"

"Do I need a reason?" she said. "You should not be alone all the time, especially with the weight that you bear….no….no….before you growl like a stubborn baboon and say you are not weak and manage all alone…I see you misinterpreting my words based on your expression. You are far from home, bear the weight of grief, and need to heal. One stone cannot bring a pot to boil, bwana."

Loki refused to answer her but instead gave her an imperious glare which he hoped would encourage her to leave him be. It didn't work. She continued to sit until he finished his breakfast. Then she gathered his tray and left.

Ooooooooooooooooooo

Author's notes:

Zombification in Haitian Vodoun: Concepts taken from the work of anthropologist/ethnobotanist Wade Davis.

Translations:

Mgeni: visitor/outsider

Sasa, ninaenda kulala: Now I am going to sleep

Bwana: sir/term of respect

One stone cannot bring a pot to boil: Swahili proverb referring to method of cooking where a pot is balanced on three stones over a fire. Meaning: you need other people.

Sema: speak

Nini: what

Paka: cat