The Robbed That Smiles
Chapter 07:
"I take it you weren't expecting this." Muttered Loki to Wong as he and the monk stood facing a Midgardian wizard.
Following the alarm shrieking through the Sanctum, Wong had hurried towards where the alarm was loudest - which was upstairs - while the mischief god followed behind. With the intent to sneak off to the library, if by chance whoever was portalling in actually broke through the Sanctuary Spell. Midgardian magic was different than his own, but not so much that it didn't have the same drawbacks. Chiefly that any spell strong enough to break through the Sanctuary magic would consequently be strong enough to break the protection lock on the library. Though whether it did so inadvertently or not relied on how precise the caster was.
Loki had been just about to check, when the portal was torn open feet from the library and the Midgardian stepped through. Male, bronze skinned and wearing robes similar to Wong, this sorcerer was unknown to Loki, though judging by the monk's reaction, Wong knew the intruder. Called him Mordo.
"Friend of yours?" Loki asked, curious by the conflicting body language displayed by the monk. Though Wong switched to an offensive pose the moment he recognized the other man, he made no move to launch an assault. Neither did the other.
"At one time." Mordo spoke before Wong, while two other people stepped through the portal, after which it closed. One was definitely Midgardian, but the other...Loki could swear wasn't despite looking completely the part. Whether through illusion or hologram, the mischief god found it difficult to determine, which irritated him. "We parted ways a while ago."
"Whatever it is you're here for, you best leave." Wong scowled, still holding his fight stance. Although it took a while to catch on to what had been happening, he and Strange had unearthed their former colleague's antics since leaving. Robbing Kamar-Taj students' magic, even those who chose normal lives over defending the Sanctums. Rendering many of them crippled or worse once the magic 'healing' them was gone. "I won't warn you again."
"Really." Was all Mordo said before attacking, his two companions joining in the same second.
Leaving the two Midgardian wizards to duke it out between them, Loki led the companions away. Making quick work of the Midgardian - a brawler rather than sorcerer - by knocking him over the railing using an illusion trick, he then focused his attention on the non-Midgardian. This one wasn't a sorcerer either, but did use daggers as deftly as the mischief god.
Loki grinned at his opponent, dodging and blocking the other's thrusts for a few minutes, before throwing one of his daggers and nicking the guy's shoulder. Although he was aiming for his lung, he just missed when the brute dodged. Despite his annoyance, Loki just smiled, smugly. The next second his opponent lunged forward at him, only to phase through the mischief god's illusionary form.
Reappearing behind the faux-Midgardian, having shapeshifted into the thrown dagger precisely at the right moment, Loki summoned another dagger and threw it at his opponent's back. His grin faltered when this attack was dodged as well.
"Come on. I've been practicing that for weeks. If some brats in a comic can hoodwink someone with that move then…" He trailed off and instead scowled, thinking about the Midgardian book series he'd read recently on the e-reader the Avenger's had bought him. Composed mostly of drawings with dialogue - a comic or manga as some annoying Midgardians had insisted - he hadn't been enthralled at the prospect of reading it, but quickly became hooked as the Midgardians say. Especially after the book gave him an idea for an excellent prank, one dealing with the Midgardian's Mt. Rushmore. "...I am not doing the other move." Loki muttered to himself, as his thought of the visual novel series reminded him of another 'prank move' he had wanted to try. At least before his female doppelganger had ruined it by practically doing the same thing in front of Stark, flirting throughout.
His opponent thrusting a dagger at him pulled the mischief god's focus back to the fight, and he smoothly dodged the strike. Expression inscrutable as he evaded another thrust, Loki led the faux-Midgardian closer to the stairs and banister. The two kept up the attacking and dodging, every move of Loki's filled with finesse while only the faux-Midgardian's dodging showed any. There was skill, but each dagger thrust contained more brute strength than necessary. Something Loki rolled his eyes at.
"If you honestly think one of those is going to connect with me…" Smirk on his face, Loki shook his head. Seconds later he tripped up when sidestepping out of the way of a particularly heavy dagger strike and it connected, right to his gut. Or through, as the illusion faded and the faux-Midgardian tripped forward, propelled by the momentum of his attack. Towards the railing.
Expecting this, the faux-Midgardian managed to change his trajectory with quick footwork, though his forward momentum changed little. He was already falling against the windowsill and getting zapped by the protective spell around the Sanctum, before he realized the mischief god had tricked him.
Loki simply grinned and watched his opponent slide to the floor, with a bored gleam in his sea-hued eyes. A frantic scream from below him wrenched his attention away, his eyebrows raising when he recognized Reyda's voice.
~0~
Her wild eyes glowing crimson and her skin icy blue, Lokki squeezed the Midgardian's throat, the sheer cold of her skin causing the man's neck to grow red. The wrath in the frost giantess' face, its pure unadulterated fury, was terrifying to behold. It silenced Reyda watching to the side and caused the Midgardian intruder's eyes to widen into saucers, as well as nearly making him empty his bladder and bowels.
"You dare," Lokki spat, while her hand that was not squeezing the Midgardian's throat ran over her abdomen. Her fingers traced the fresh cut, small and crusted over by protective frost, that the intruder had placed there. Shortly after being knocked over the railing by the god of mischief, the Midgardian had picked himself up and noticed the two women. And whether because he thought it would make things sway his way or if he honestly thought the two were a threat, he'd gone after them. Despite neither doing anything to aid in the fight upstairs. "You dare endanger my child, worm?"
Lokki pushed the Midgardian against the wall, nearly cracking the wooden panel. It certainly caused her victim to flinch and open his mouth, trying to gasp in pain. All that came out was air, Lokki's frost numbing his vocal cords. His eyes locked on the goddess, pleading soundlessly for mercy, while Lokki simply barked a curt laugh. Mirthless. The type of laugh that is barely more than a breathy, forced-cough noise. She removed her hand from her abdomen and instead summoned a dagger, its blade incredibly thin and sharp.
The magic-suppressing cuffs lay at her feet, the Midgardian's swipe at her abdomen with his iron-knuckled fists having triggered a safety Strange had woven into it. If at any time she or her child were in mortal danger, the cuffs would open and drop off, allowing her to defend herself. The moment the Midgardian's fist swung past her and one of the spikes on his brass-knuckles sliced her skin, the cuffs released her.
Within seconds she had shifted to Jotunn form and grabbed the Midgardian by the throat. All while the fight upstairs waged on.
"What shall I do to you?" Lokki purred, the sound menacing. Nothing about her soft anymore. "You can't scream. Can't make a sound." She raised the dagger, trailing its keen blade over the Midgardian's cheek. It cut through his skin like paper, leaving an angry red trail behind. She did the same to his other cheek. "There are so many pain points on a mortal's body, so many places that elicit screams of agony." There was a pause while she lifted her dagger from the man's face, only to immediately dig it into one of his fingertips. "I care little for screams. But it doesn't mean I'm above torture. Used to be. Used to prefer other means to interrogate or punish. Gentler ways. Manipulative but gentler." There was another pause and she removed her dagger from the Midgardian's finger. "My ex-husband would be really angry if he saw me doing this. So would many of his colleagues." She pushed her dagger into another of the man's fingers, then another and gave a cold laugh. "But, well, my universe is dead. Everyone I cared about gone. And you were going to harm the one thing that matters at all to me?"
I'm sorry. The Midgardian mouthed, unable to speak; tears streamed down his cheeks, mingling with the blood dripping from the cut. By the scent coming from him, he had relieved himself during the torture. Unable to scream and terrified. At this time the sounds of combat upstairs had lessened, though Lokki didn't notice. She merely pulled out her dagger from the man's pinky finger and sliced across his entire line of fingers. Her dagger cut through the flesh and bone, while her crimson eyes stared at the Midgardian's mouth. Watching him scream soundlessly, while behind her Reyda squealed in horror watching the maimed ends of the man's fingers hit the floor.
"Sorry doesn't cut it." Lokki smirked, the pun bringing the first real laughter to her lips, though it was filled with cruelty. Lifting her dagger to the man's chest, she hovered it over the left side of his chest. "Punctured lungs are a terrible way to die, or so I've heard. Should do perfect for a wormy quim like you."
"What are you…" Loki grabbed hold of his doppelganger's wrist just as she attempted to plunge it into the Midgardian. Drawn by the Asgardian woman's shrill scream, he'd gone downstairs to check, and saw the terrified Reyda gaping at Lokki and the Midgardian. Loki's brow furrowed a bit and his eyes roamed over the man pinned against the wall and his injuries, noticing the bloody ends of the man's fingers. And the hints of bone peeking through the crimson. Taking this in, his nose scrunching up at the stench of the Midgardian's bladder that had soaked the man's trousers, Loki viewed the intruder with disgust but also an uneasiness. If his brother saw this… If Stark… Or Banner…. "Why?"
Lokki glared at her double, understanding his single word question but not caring to answer it. Instead she tried to wrench her arm free from Loki's grip, only for him to pick up the magic suppressing cuffs and clap them over Lokki's wrists. The frost giantess' scarlet eyes widened at the action, stopping her effort to pull her arm away. Her other hand was still clasped around the Midgardian's throat.
"You…" She gazed up at Loki, bewildered. Truth be told, the mischief god himself was surprised at how easily he rebound his doppelganger. It was the safer option for himself, sure enough, but it was also a pseudo-form of self-sabotage.
"Tell me." Loki growled, determined to understand why the woman hadn't simply killed the Midgardian intruder. Despite the Avengers' staunch stance against allowing murder, the mischief god understood that killing a Midgardian in defence was granted some leniency. Torture was not. It was, however, a surefire way to piss off his brother and the Avengers. His eyes narrowed when his doppelganger didn't respond. "They'll lock you up!"
"...So?" Was all Lokki verbalized, while her stare reflected a jaded disbelief that her male counterpart actually cared. That whatever happened to her shouldn't matter to him.
The mischief god quietly seethed, and grabbed his female self's other arm, wrenching her hand from the Midgardian's throat. "It matters. The bastard Midgardians already want to lock me up for some statue, if they find out our connection and discover this...mess…" Loki gestured his head to the Midgardian who was now sitting on the floor, unable to stand and cradling his maimed hand against him. "No way will they give up trying to imprison me, despite what that sorcerer-doctor admits."
Lips pursed, Lokki stared at her male doppelganger, while he met hers with his own piercing glare. Wordlessly demanding she explain herself.
"He attacked her." Reyda answered instead of the mischief goddess. "Despite us both telling him she was with child. He even...he deliberately targeted her abdomen after we said that."
Loki stiffened, turning to look at the Asgardian, his muscles and jaw pulled taut. It took every ounce of willpower he had to not let go of Lokki and resume where she'd left off. The life his doppelganger carried inside her wasn't his, not in the usual understanding of things; but Lokki was a version of himself. Similar to how he'd felt violated during Lokki's naked flirtation with Stark, he felt enraged by the Midgardian. By the man's audacity to attack as he had.
If he had a child and some worm tried killing him or her, Loki knew his reaction would be nearly identical to his doppelganger's. Except that his torture method would include more trickery and manipulation. More mind-fuckery in general.
"He what?" The mischief god scowled at the Midgardian cradling his maimed appendage on the floor. A hint of a cold smile graced Loki's lips when he saw the flinch the man gave at the sound of his voice. Releasing his female doppelganger's arms, he stepped towards the Midgardian, towering over the man. The expression on his face filled with disdain and a wild desire to put the cowering mortal in his place.
Something he got no chance to do, as there was a crash upstairs along with the noise of breaking wood, shattering glass. It sounded like a window with its frame had been burst through, broken by a large or heavy object thrown through it. In this case a person. Loki tensed, understanding implicitly who had been thrown - the Sanctuary Spell would've fried and repelled anyone here except Wong, as it had the faux-Midgardian.
"That...this is…." Lokki glanced around, her attention drawn initially by the sound; then by the shift in the air. The Sanctuary magic engulfing the Sanctum, protecting it from breach, vanished; triggered by the monk being forcibly ejected from the building. Barely a moment passed before the Sanctum's door was thrown open and footsteps came charging. Unfamiliar footsteps.
There were also familiar ones, accompanied by a familiar voice.
"Hold it." Steve Rogers said to the soldiers trying to storm the building, having cut off their approach with the least amount of force. Mostly just dodging past the handful of them to reach the foyer. "I know you have your orders, but this is all a misunderstanding." Rogers started explaining, reluctant to fight fellow US soldiers. "The statue…."
"This isn't about a statue." Mordo interrupted, standing at the top of the staircase. He'd just finished using his magic to send the iron suit Stark had sent to help through a portal. "That's a smokescreen. Something S.H.I.E.L.D and the US government decided to use to apprehend the god who thinks Earth is just his playground."
Roger listened to the sorcerer while holding back the soldiers, who thankfully seemed as reluctant to fight him directly as he was them. All he had to do was block their path heading further into the building. "If you have a problem with Thor's brother, or if he did something, you could simply tell us. We have developed a knack for apprehending him after all."
"I have little issue with him. He's not a human sorcerer, and I'm not S.H.I.E.L.D, nor the government." Said Mordo as he descended the stairs.
"But you're working for them."
"Actually…" Mordo muttered, the next second opening up a portal and sending the intruding soldiers into a void. Rogers' eyes widened in shock and horror. "I'm not."
"What did you do?! They better not be…" Rogers rounded on the rogue sorcerer, concerned for his fellow soldiers. Despite them charging the Sanctum, he was furious at the idea of something terrible happening to them.
"Dead? No. But they might prefer it." Mordo replied, cryptic. "Now where's Loki?"
"No idea. He's probably already left." Roger shrugged, while eyeing the other man. He wasn't sure how well his skill set would do against the wizard, especially one who could portal him away so deftly.
Mordo shook his head, amused by something the captain said. His reaction triggered alarm and confusion in Rogers, who leered silently at him. Keen to stop the wizard, whatever the man's scheme was. "...I wasn't asking about him."
Rogers froze and sucked in a breath. "What?"
"Come now. You and your team are not the only ones who know of the other one." Mordo clarified. "Where is she?"
Stiffening in surprise, Rogers faltered just a moment before he shook his head. "You're not getting her. Whatever it is you want her for, you're not getting her." The captain growled, glaring defiantly at Mordo. If this confrontation had happened yesterday or just a few hours earlier, he may not have been so adamant in his denying the other man. (He'd have still refused, just less forcefully.) But there was zero chance he would let a dangerous sorcerer near the pregnant woman.
Mordo simply stared wordlessly for a moment at Rogers, a silence that threatened to stretch until broken by sounds from further in the Sanctum. Originating from either the snack room or the lounge area. The wizard glanced towards the location, while Rogers instinctively moved forward to block him. Mordo simply opened and stepped through a portal into the other room, sidestepping the captain's defense and leaving him behind.
Rogers grimaced and hurried further into the Sanctum, towards where the sounds originated from. He got there within moments of Mordo approaching Lokki, and tensed, unsure of the sorcerer's intentions. Seeing how close the man got to the pregnant woman and that the magic-suppressing cuffs were around Lokki's forearms, he exclaimed. "Don't you even dare harm…"
"That's not my intent." Muttered Mordo, answering Rogers but staring at Lokki. There was less than a couple feet between them, and the goddess scowled down at the dark-skinned Midgardian. Her sea-hued eyes gleamed with curiosity and she glanced towards Rogers who approached nearer, ready to fight the human wizard. Noticing this, Mordo opened a portal just beneath the Avenger, transporting him away.
Lokki tilted her head. "Then what is?"
Mordo didn't answer for a moment, and just stared at the goddess with a peculiar look in his eyes. Then it shifted. "To give a warning: He knows and is coming for what is his."
The goddess narrowed her eyes. "He?" She asked in a demanding tone, but Mordo said nothing else, and instead just repeated himself. He portalled away before the Jotunn could grab hold of him and demand the sorcerer elaborate. The goddess glowered at the now empty space in front of her, silent for a few moments before her whole form shifted.
His shapeshifting spell dropped, Loki stood unmoving, curiosity and suspicion filling his eyes. He glanced towards the sideroom where Reyda had taken Lokki seconds before Mordo had portalled in, the goddess' retreat one the Asgardian healer insisted on considering the recent close-call with the pugilist. Leaving dealing with Mordo to Loki - it was simply on a whim that he decided to shapeshift into his female doppelganger, having overheard bits of Mordo and Rogers' conversation.
'What are you hiding, Selfie?'
~0~
"Too slow." Stark chided as he dodged his maul-wielding opponent's arcing swing and sent the brute toppling forward with a power blast to the torso. Hovering over the floor, his red and gold Iron Man suit covering him head to foot, he watched his opponent. The humanoid was of medium-large, muscular build and tall, towering two feet over Stark's height. Leather armor studded with brass covered the stranger, leaving only bits of the man's yellowish-gray skin visible.
"Gragh!" The humanoid growled, pulling itself and its maul up from where it'd tumbled. Its eyes a sharp, fiery amber locked on Stark, the inventor hardly reacting to them. The creature lunged again at the Iron Man, swinging its heavy two-handed maul above its head. Aiming for Stark who hovered just out of reach of the arcing blow. He dodged, repeating his previous counter.
He rolled his eyes when the humanoid got up and rushed at him using the same technique. "Again? You know I may have said this wasn't my first rodeo, but your dedication is astounding. I'm not even waving a red flag." Stark paused, glancing amusedly over his suit before continuing his quip. "Oh. My mistake." He grinned, not minding that his joke fell on only his and his opponent's ears.
"Grrrr." The humanoid growled and once more swung at Stark, this time changing it up by swinging the maul from the side rather than overhead. It didn't make any difference, as the billionaire inventor sidestepped the swing as easily as before. This time though, Stark grabbed the maul and pulled before sending the humanoid spiraling forward with a power blast.
The humanoid's grip around the bashing weapon slipped and it stumbled, falling into one of the inventor's workspace tables. It remained there, gasping for breath, while Stark watched. Holding the maul in his Iron Suit hands, the billionaire lowered himself to the floor. Curious.
"What? Had enough?" Stark asked, taking a few cautious steps towards the humanoid. Behind his closed helm, he watched the creature and the biometric scans his computer was doing of his opponent. There was no response, and he shrugged and issued a command to the computer to secure the humanoid.
It wasn't until seconds later that he realized something was wrong; the maul he'd disarmed from the humanoid wouldn't leave his hand. He tried to place it on a worktable and even throw it down, but to no avail. Whatever it was, it refused to leave his grasp. His fingers literally gripped tighter around the handle after his each attempt to drop the maul, despite him willing the opposite.
"What the fucking hell?" Stark mumbled, merely curious at first before the maul started getting heavier and colder. And colder. To the point he felt the shift in temperature through his Iron Suit, though the weight gain stopped well before his suit enhanced limit. The temperature drop continued to worsen, enough that his fingers beneath the glove of his Iron Suit showed the first signs of frostbite. He scowled. And started to remove his Suit, hoping the maul would simply stay attached to it.
"That's futile." The humanoid spoke, or rather a voice from the armlet around its upper arm did. Subtle, the band resembled the creature's skin, and the speaker hidden on its surface looked like a skin blemish. It was even partly implanted in the humanoid's arm. "An ancient curse imbibes the handle - you'll only be able to drop it by being disarmed or quenching its bloodthirst."
"Curse?" Stark rolled his eyes, scoffing at the idea initially before his brain reminded him that magic did exist. He'd encountered enough sorcerers in recent years to shift his belief on such a thing, though he doubted curses existed. "Tell me something believable. Say, like, who are you? And why did your buddy here attack me?" The inventor demanded calmly, his concern settling once the temperature of the maul bottomed-out at just under the old temperature limit. Nowhere near close to the new limit he'd developed since the fiasco with Lokki and the floor. The inbuilt safety mechanisms of his suit were already warming his fingers, reversing the beginnings signs of frostbite.
"Who am I?" The voice muttered, bemused by the inventor. "Just someone whose feathers you ruffled."
Stark pulled a face behind his helm's visor. "...You'll have to be more specific. I've ruffled lots of feathers over the years. Mostly the husbands and boyfriends of ex-flings." He replied flippantly, not that he believed whoever was talking through the creature was the spouse of an ex-fling. After settling down and marrying Pepper, those sorts of confrontations had stopped - not that any had ever sent a creature after him. (One had hired a hitman once, but he'd squared that up by paying the hitman double for the name of who'd hired him. Before turning both over to the authorities. This was well before he'd become Iron Man.)
"It's not something so trivial that moves my hand." The voice scoffed, its tone lacking the bitterness and spite of a cuckolded spouse. Instead it was collected and cold, the sort of tone Stark encountered from businessmen and CEOs throughout the years. And one that meant much more boredom. "You've been reaching into a hornet's nest. Back off. You wouldn't want someone else to pay the price for your curiosity."
Stark raised an eyebrow, his biometric scan of the creature having completed during the conversation. Its readout sparking much more of his curiosity than the words coming from the armlet speaker. As such it took him a moment before he registered the hard emphasis the voice placed on the words 'someone else.'
"You…" Stark tensed, grabbing hold of the creature's arm and barking into the armlet microphone, demanding what the voice meant. Nothing but a curt laugh followed by static replied back.