Author's Note: Happy Friday the 13th everyone! You have no idea how surprised I am that this very chapter, which covers a Friday the 13th episode, is being uploaded on this day in October, the month of Halloween. I swear, I didn't plan this until about a week ago. Crazy, huh?
Anyway, normally, I'd have more fanfics ready to upload, but unfortunately, I can't upload them today. I do have them, but they're not ready yet, and they can't be ready today, which is when I need this story chapter up. So here's the plan. I upload this chatper today, and I'll upload the rest either tomorrow or Sunday.
One more thing I'd like to clear up. A lot of readers commented about the different Loki's in recent chapters (or the League of Loki's as you all call them). Let me make this clear. While they are different versions of Loki, I promise you, they are NOT from different universes. I understand why you all think that, but I have a different origin for them. Just wait.
The song featured here is a parody of "No Fear" from the Swan Princess.
Libby was even more miserable than usual during her walk to school alongside Molly, Loki, and Scratch. Molly, however, was just as optimistic as ever.
"I've been accused of optimistic overstatements before," Molly said, "But today is truly special because it's Friday!" She then gave a cheerful dance. "It's F-R-I-Day! It's the best day of the week! Except for every other day, Friday is the peak!"
"Do us all a favor and never dance that again." Loki said.
Libby sighed. "I wish I could join your jubilation, Molly, but today is Friday the 13th! My usual bad luck will be extra terrible."
"Pffft! Luck's not a real thing." Molly said. "And Friday the 13th is just hokey superstition."
"Sorry, Moll, but Libby's right." Scratch said. "Luck is very real."
"I can vouch for that." Loki said.
"Are you going to gripe again about how Thor was always just 'lucky' to beat you?" Molly asked.
"He was lucky!" Loki yelled before calming down. "But that's not the point. Luck is a real force of nature, much like gravity or magic. And Friday the 13th is just as much of a burden as you'd think, or a gift depending on how well your luck usually is."
A strong gust of wind blew right at the four for a short moment, just long enough for a paper bag to hit Libby in the face.
"Case in point." Loki stated pointing his thumb at Libby's moment of misfortune.
"It has begun." Libby said.
Once Molly, Loki, and Libby reached their lockers, the Trickster and Scratch began explaining the concept to the girls.
"Normally, good and bad luck co-exist in harmony." Scratch said. "Two sides of a perfectly balanced scale."
"Then Friday the 13th comes along and things get intense." Loki said. "Lucky people get extra fortune and unlucky people get extra misfortune. Take Libby for example."
Libby looked over and found a vending machine. She put in her money for a bag of chips, but they got stuck halfway down. She angrily tried to shake it, but she ended up crushing her foot underneath the machine.
"Take my $1.25 and my dignity." Libby said sulking down before a bag hit her face again.
"Then there's people like you, Molly, who somehow manages to have everything work out for them." Loki continued. "Go ahead. Help yourself to a treat."
Molly shrugged putting her money into the machine. The same snack that Libby bought fell out along with an identical bag. Molly smiled pulling them both out.
"Wow! Two bags of chips?"
"Lucky you." Libby sighed.
"What about you, Loki?" Molly asked. "I mean, you've had a string of bad luck yourself, right? I mean, you did die."
Loki shrugged. "I say the bad luck only gets worse if you let it. It'll hurt if you fight it and it'll be humiliating if you surrender. That's why I rely on my wits. Gotta try my best to use luck to my advantage, whether it's good or bad."
Molly suddenly gasped feeling an idea in her mind. "That's it! Loki, can you use your magic to give Libby good luck?"
"Please, Loki, please." Libby begged.
"Easy, you two. I couldn't do that if I wanted to." Loki said. "I can do basic magic and advanced illusion magic, but luck magic… Yeah, that's not within my abilities. Although, I suppose Scratch's ghost magic can be used for manipulating luck."
"Throw me under the bus, why don't ya?" Scratch snarled. "I mean, I could radically transfer it…"
"Great! Heard enough! Transfer my luck to Libby!" Molly shouted.
"Whoa. These are powerful magic forces, Moll." Scratch said. "You can't just expect me to…"
"I'll give you these Fireblast Jalapeno crunchies." Molly offered.
"Done! No take backs!" Scratch said before slipping into Libby's turtle bag.
"Offer him junk food, and suddenly, he's willing to meddle with the forces of the universe." Loki commented.
Scratch left the bag holding a penny in his ecoplasmic hand. "Now, some would consider a lucky penny cliché, but I like to think of it as tastefully classic. Now give me some room."
Loki and the girls backed away allowing Scratch to gently place the penny on the ground. He did some vocal warm-ups before growing in size, changing everything a purplish color, and floating the penny in midair before him. "I HEREBY TIP THE SCALES OF FORTUNE…"
"He's so dramatic when he curses." Lippy whispered to Molly.
"I know. Isn't it cute?" Molly asked.
"…AND TRANSFER THE LUCK OF MOLLY MCGEE INTO THIS PENNY! WHOEVER HAS THE PENNY WILL HAVE GOOD LUCK TODAY!"
A green glow escaped from Molly's body and into the penny. He shrank back down to normal size and passed the penny to Libby while Molly gave him the chips in return.
"I actually caught it!" Libby gasped in surprise. "It didn't hit me in the face and I didn't accidentally swallow it! My luck's already turned around!"
"Hmm. I wonder how unlucky Molly's going to be." Loki said right before Molly took her first step only to step on something sticky.
"Aw, what? Come on! There's gum on my shoe!" Molly complained.
Loki took a sniff in the air before covering his nose. "I'd be more concerned about your other shoe."
"Smells like Mr. Bates brought the corgis to school again." Scratch said.
Throughout the day, the best things were happening to Libby while the worst things were happening to Molly.
On Libby's side, she started out befriending a bumblebee without any fear of getting stung. Later on, during a school gathering at the auditorium, her name was picked out in a raffle earning her a prize and praise. She was even lucky enough to balance a tray of lunch on her head perfectly. She then passed by a soccer game where a ball hit her on the head. Not only did he not feel pain, but the rebound from the ball lead it to the opposing team's goal allowing Brighton's soccer team to win.
On Molly's side, the bee that Libby befriended ended up attacking her along with its swarm. When Libby won the raffle at the auditorium, Molly's wristband was caught in her bag, and although she managed to free herself, she accidently hit herself in the face. At lunch, Molly tripped and fell facefirst on the ground which was just wet from a dog's "business". Lastly, at the soccer game, while Libby helped the team win, Molly fell into a freshly dug hole.
Finally, it was the end of the school day. Libby was happy as can be while Molly was scarred and bruised all over her face.
"This has been the best day of my life." Libby said. "Thanks for donating your good luck, Molly."
"Yeah. I'm happy for you, Libby." Molly groaned. "But now, I understand why you hate Friday the 13th." A paper bag hit her in the face.
"Been a good day for me though." Scratch said. "You know, I thought messing with luck was bound to spiral out of control and lead to universe-threatening peril, but nope. Everything is a-fine."
"Yes. Very fine." Loki grinned. He headed over to Libby. "You know, Libby, this whole good-luck route was fun for you and all, but perhaps it's time someone else had a turn."
"Why?" Libby asked suspiciously. "What do you need it for?"
"Oh. Nothing much." Loki said. "It's just hard to make good potions with the limited resources and ingredients I have on hand. So surely, one hour with that thing is all I need."
"Uh, I don't know." Libby said. "Can't I enjoy this for a just a little while longer?"
"Libby, come on. Don't make me..." Loki said. He took an extra step, but a gap in the sidewalk caused him to trick. Libby jumped to the side to avoid him.
"Nice try." Libby said.
At that moment, Scratch ate a jalapeno chip which caused him to burp out a burst of fire which pushed Molly forward. She accidentally bumped into Libby and they both tripped over Loki. During the fall, Libby dropped the coin and it flew across the air until it landed in a nearby purple-blue bag. That bad belonged to Andrea Davenport, who was waiting for her ice cream from a vendor.
"My lucky penny!" Libby screamed out.
"Oh. Our digital payment system just went down." The ice cream vendor said giving the cone to Andrea. "So this one's on the house."
"Free ice cream? Wow!" Andrea exclaimed happily. "Must be my lucky day."
"Oh, this is bad. This is very, very bad." Loki said with a genuine expression of fear.
"So Andrea has the penny." Molly said. "Can't Scratch just whip up another one?"
"You don't get it." Scratch said sharing Loki's fear. "Andrea's already lucky. So with the lucky penny, her luck will hit critical mass and create a Luck Such, a vortex that will suck in all luck until there's none left!"
As Andrea left the ice cream truck, everyone looked over at Kat, the pink-haired girl who was standing next to a fire hydrant. The hydrant burst letting out an explosion of water that lifted Kat into the air.
"It's already started." Scratch said while the others looked on in fear.
Andrea listened to music during her walk home. While she did that, everyone she passed by ran into a sudden increase of misfortune which caused them bodily harm. Mrs. Roop slipped on a skateboard and Principal O'Conner was drenched in sewer water that exploded from a nearby manhole. Molly, Loki, Scratch, and Libby watched in shock seeing everything in town unravel so quickly.
"Oh, this is bad." Loki said.
"You're telling me!" Scratch said still eating his chips. "This is exactly why I didn't want to mess with cosmic forces! And all for one bag of chips!"
"It was two." Molly corrected.
"Oh, right. Totally worth it." Scratch said still eating the chips and feeling the burn that came with them. "The only way to stop the burn is to keep eating. That's science."
"Scratch, focus." Loki said. "At this rate, there won't be a single bit of luck anywhere in Brighton except for Andrea. We have to get that penny back."
"Then obviously, we need to… OOMPH!" Libby started to say before getting interrupted by a plastic bag. SMACK! "We need to…" SMACK! SMACK! "We need…" What came next was a whole barrage of bags hitting her like bullets from a gatling gun.
"You have enough problems right now, Libby." Molly said. "Scratch, Loki, and I will fix this."
"I'm just surprised there are this many bags in Brighton." Loki said. "There are only so many stores in town, right?"
"Can we really get that penny from her?" Scratch asked. "I mean, she's bound to have a whole bunch of good luck protecting her like a shield."
"We have to try." Molly said. "If not, all of Brighton will be destroyed.
Molly:
Our home is in danger
Things are getting stranger
So now, it's up to us
Everyone:
Good luck
Molly:
A great big incident
Loki:
And all for a single cent
Scratch:
So let's try not to bust
Everyone:
Good luck
Molly:
Although, we may face impossible odds
Loki:
At least you've got help from a trickster god
Molly:
All this bad luck will be our cattle prod
Everyone:
Good luck
Scratch:
It will be a big pain
We may even get maimed
Left in very bad condition
Everyone:
Good luck
Scratch:
Hope you don't mind if
I eat some spicy hot chips
Loki:
Scratch, focus on the mission
Everyone:
Good luck
Molly:
If we don't do something, we'll be sitting ducks
Scratch:
All right. Okay
Let's go. Make way
Everyone:
Good luck
Their first attempt to catch up to Andrea and grab her bag didn't have much success. At the last second, she moved away from them to admire a bird that offered her a flower. At the same time, a car crash caused a tire to fly over her and hit Molly and Scratch. They rolled down past Loki until they managed to escape. They went on to continue their attempts to take the penny.
Everyone:
Though we may hit a wall
We can power through it all
With our skill
Though the world's in our way
We're gonna save the day
With sheer will
The trio followed Andrea to her home where she was greeted by her parents who gave her a new pony that was offloaded by a business associate of theirs. Scratch tried to take the penny while she was distracted, but the pony kicked him into Molly and missing Loki.
The trio then followed Andrea to the park where she was doing a live tweet bragging about her fortune. She was then blessed with two backstage passes to an Atomic Pink concert. Molly, Loki, and Scratch tried to sneak up on her, but they were then stopped by a crowd of children who wanted to go to the concert with Andrea. When she and the kids were gone, Molly and Scratch stood back up with bruises while Loki didn't look scratched at all.
Andrea continued to walk across town and the trio then went for a desperate run for her, but they somehow ended up in the middle of a traffic jam barely avoiding the cars for safety.
Loki:
GET GOING! GET RUNNING
THERE'S SO MUCH OVERCOMING
THAT WE HAVE TO GO THROUGH
Everyone:
GOOD LUCK
Scratch:
IT'S HOPELESS! IT'S NO USE
IT'S A BATTLE WE'RE MEANT TO LOSE
THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO DO
Everyone:
GOOD LUCK
Molly:
LET'S AT LEAST NOT GET RUN DOWN BY A TRUCK
DROP YOUR HEAD
Loki:
RAISE YOUR GUARD
Scratch:
IT'S JUST TOO HARD
Molly:
TOO MUCH
Loki:
TOO ROUGH
Scratch:
WAY TOO MUCH STUFF
Molly:
WE'RE SAFE
Loki:
FOR NOW
Scratch:
BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD
Everyone:
GOOD LUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK
After narrowly escaping the traffic, the trio rested up at the sidewalk leaning on a wall. Libby shortly joined them with her head covered with plastic bags.
"Couldn't escape the bags?" Loki asked.
"Unfortunately." Libby said sadly. "No luck getting the penny."
"You don't know the half of it." Scratch answered. "It's no use. Andrea's luck is protecting her."
"At least we're still alive." Loki said. "That's something, right?"
"Easy for you to say." Scratch said. "You weren't run over by a tire, kicked by a pony, or trampled by a bunch of kids."
Molly's eyes lit up. "Wait a minute. That's true. Loki, you're the only person out of us who didn't get hurt by Andrea's luck."
"You know, you might be right." Loki said. "How's that possible?"
"Maybe… Maybe it's to do with what Andrea considers lucky." Scratch said. "I mean, she got free ice cream and a lot of people are lactose intolerant."
"So me not being hurt is part of Andrea's good luck?" Loki asked.
Molly stood up instantly letting out a long, loud gasp while pointing at Loki. "OH, MY GOSH! SHE TOTALLY LIKES YOU!"
"What?!" Loki gasped.
"What?!" Libby repeated. "By 'like' you mean…"
Molly nodded. "Yeah! Andrea likes Loki! And guess what! Loki likes her too!"
"For real?!" Libby asked before smiling toward Loki. "Tell me more! When did this happen? You gotta…"
"You two are delusional!" Loki interrupted keeping the two at arm's length. "There's nothing between me and Andrea! So don't be crazy! There's nothing between me and Andrea!"
"You said that last one twice." Molly said.
"Because I always have to repeat myself to you fools!" Loki shouted.
"As spicy as this is," Scratch said, "I think we should act on this."
"Oh, Scratch. You too?" Loki asked dreadfully.
"Not like that." Scratch said. "Loki, so far, you're the only one who isn't hurt by Andrea's good luck. So you're the only one who can take the penny. Just walk up to her and ask for the penny."
"You really think it'll be that simple?" Loki asked.
"It's like you said," Molly said, "We gotta use luck to our advantage, good or bad."
"Nice throwback." Loki said.
"Then let's…" Libby started to say before a bag hit her face again. "CAN WE NOT HAVE ONE SECOND TO FEEL HEROIC?!"
The kids found Andrea entering the Brighton Bargain Bag where she was rewarded for being the 1000th customer. Loki took a breath before following her. The others hid in one of the aisles watching it unfold.
"Hey, Andrea." Loki greeted.
The rich girl turned to Loki and smiled. "Oh! Hey, Lukas! Funny running into you here. I guess I'm luckier than I thought."
"You have no idea." Loki said under his breath before speaking up. "So… perhaps you can help me with something."
"Of course. Whatever you need." Andrea said. "So… what do you need?"
During the conversation, Molly, Scratch, and Libby noticed that the lights began to flicker. They looked out the window noticing bright flashes of green and blue light all throughout the streets of Brighton.
"Scratch, what's going on?" Molly asked worryingly.
"It's worse than I thought." Scratch gasped. "It's a luck paradox!"
"A luck paradox?" Libby asked.
"It's a clash between good luck towards somebody and bad luck towards someone else." Scratch said. "Andrea's good luck is protecting Loki, but Loki's bad luck keeps trying to hurt him. If this keeps up, then the catalyst that comes from this clash will rebound and twist all probability in Brighton in a chaotic and dysfunctional way!"
"That doesn't' sound good." Molly said.
"It's worse than that! If Loki is going to save Brighton, he needs to get that penny now!" Scratch said as he and the girls turned their heads back at the two. The both of them had a whirlwind blowing around them while they talked.
"Hmm. Must be something up with the A/C." Andrea said. "Anyway, what did you need, Lukas?"
"It's just that… Well…" Loki said unsure of what to say until an idea came into his mind. "I'm missing a valuable penny and I think you have it!"
"A penny?" Andrea asked. "What's that?"
Loki looked confused. "Do you not know what a penny is? It's a coin. A single cent. 1/100 of a whole dollar."
"That's a thing?" Andrea asked. "Sorry. I'm just used to going digital. Hold on." She reached into her bag and rummaged around until he pulled out the lucky penny. "Is this it?"
"Yes! That's it!" Loki said happily. "Please, give it to me."
"Take it easy." Andrea said. "Why do you want this little thing so bad?"
"Oh. It's, uh…" Loki said noticing the flashes outside becoming more frequent. "It's that… Some coins are very valuable, even pennies, depending on what year they're made."
"Really?" Andrea asked looking at the penny. "It says 1975 on it. Is that good?"
"That's what I'm going to find out." Loki said. "I was going to pawn it off to Weird Larry and see if I can get some money off of it."
"Really?" Andrea asked with a sly smile. "Okay, Lukas. I'll hand you the penny, but under one condition."
"What?!" Loki asked just as a thunderous noise boomed outside. "Okay! Fine! What's your condition?"
"Whatever money you make from this penny, you promise to pay for a cup of coffee for you and me." Andrea said. "What do you say? Sound fair?"
"Yes! Sure! I promise!" Loki shouted fearing for the worst.
"Awesome. Catch." Andrea said tossing the penny from her hand. Loki desperately held his hand up until he managed to catch it between his palms.
Once Loki grabbed the penny, the flashes had all ended. The whirlwind died out. Everything was back to normal.
Loki joined back up with Molly, Libby, and Scratch outside of the store to see Brighton as fresh and calm as it ever was. Every plastic bag that would hit them gently fell into the garbage cans.
"It worked! The Luck Suck's gone!" Molly cheered. "Good work, Loki."
"Well, now that we got all that settled, let's wrap up this crazy adventure." Scratch said. "Gimme that penny before you three cause any more damage."
Loki pulled out his penny and placed it on the ground for Scratch. The ghost then went into his curse form to enchant the coin.
"I HEREBY REBALANCE THE SCALES OF FORTUNE…"
"He really leans into the performance." Libby commented.
"And no formal training." Molly added.
"AND TRANSFER THIS PENNY'S LUCK BACK TO MOLLY MCGEE!"
The green glow escaped from the penny and returned to its original source. The coin then dropped to the ground.
"I'm sorry, Scratch." Molly apologized. "I shouldn't have pressured you into messing with luck."
"That's what I tried to tell you." Scratch said. "But you had to resort to bribery, didn't you?"
"Speaking of which," Loki said picking up the penny, "I gotta take this penny over to Weird Larry's for some cash. I owe Andrea a cup of coffee."
"Ah. Getting ready for your date?" Molly teased happily.
"Don't say that." Loki said. "There's no real love between me and Andrea. Besides, I'm over a thousand years old. She's probably 12 or 13."
"So what?" Libby asked. "I didn't think age mattered to Asgardians. I think I read somewhere that Thor's going out with a human doctor."
Loki groaned. "Right. Jane Foster. Forgot about her. But look. Here's the real issue: Who am I?"
"A pessimist?" Molly guessed.
"No! I'm Loki! The God of Mischief! The King of Lies! One of the most diabolical gods in the universe! I tried to enslave the human race over a dozen times! How do you think Andrea's going to react if she learns who I really am?" None of them gave an answer. They just exchanged concerned looks. "Yeah. That's what I thought. So let's just drop it." He lowered his head sadly.
"So… Does this mean our luck's back to normal or…" Libby asked.
Scratch took one last bite of his jalapeno chips, which proved to be too much. He accidently released a big, fiery explosion which left the four covered in soot. The four of them then had their faces smacked with plastic bags.
"Yes. Yes, it is." Loki said.