The Unsung Avengers

The sun beat down and reflected little streaks of light on the green grass below. Scattered trees cast shadows over various patches, making the grass appear a darker shade of green and creating a slight chill under its long branches and shuddering leaves. It was a warm day for fall. Thus, it was a good day for a bit of fresh air and maybe a bit of a picnic.
A girl sat at a picnic table planning to do just that. Her curly light brown hair fell on her shoulders, her single blonde streak running down either side of her head, a stark contrast to the rest of her hair. Her bright blue eyes flashed with annoyance as she glanced down at her watch.
“Come on, guys,” she muttered. “You’re late! How come I’m the only one here?”
A smooth male voice came in answering, sounding slightly angry. “We’re not late, you mewling qui-”
He was cut off by the voice of a woman. “Loki!” the voice said. “What did I tell you about calling people that? Especially my friends!”
The girl at the picnic table turned her head to see the newcomers, though she already knew who they were. Shading her eyes from the bright sun with her hand, she made out the small figure of a woman with gorgeous long dark brown hair standing next to a taller man’s figure. The man, Loki, wore a casual Asgardian green tunic and had long, dark hair neatly combed back.
“Hey, Kerry!” the sitting girl said, standing. They embraced for a moment, then Kerry said, “Sorry we’re a bit late, Sarah. Where’s everyone else?”
Sarah issued a warm hello to the man beside Kerry, “Hello, Loki,” and then turned back to Kerry. “I don’t know. Well, Megan… tends to be late, we’re lucky if Tony shows up, Thor has to travel quite a long way, and who knows about the rest?” Pausing for a second, Sarah looked at Loki. “Do you… happen to know where Thor is?”
“No,” he replied. “We may be brothers, but we don’t know where each other are all the time.”
Sarah sighed. “Thanks anyway,” she said. “Anyhow, we might as well set up. I brought the sandwich meat.”
Kerry nodded. “We brought the bread and paper plates,” she added, producing them out of a bag she held at her side. She moved forward and set them on the picnic table. Just then, three more people approached. Kerry turned to look at them.
“Sorry we’re late, ma’am,” said a tall, muscled man with neat blonde hair.
“I told you not to call me ‘ma’am’, Steve,” Kerry responded. “We’re friends. I’m Kerry. And anyway, I just got here. Sarah’s the one who’s been waiting.”
Steve nodded and turned his attention to Sarah, who was busy setting out plates. “I’m sorry to have kept you waiting, Sarah,” he said apologetically.
“Well, I’m not,” said a man behind him. He had dark brown hair growing from his head as well as from a mustache and beard. His brown eyes shone with a rude playfulness. “I got here just when I wanted to.”
“Tony Stark!” said a girl beside him, lightly punching him. Her straight brown hair framed her face as she scrunched it up slightly in irritation. “Show some respect. We made Sarah wait.”
Sarah rolled her eyes as she finished placing the last plate. “Thanks, Megan, but we all know that ‘showing respect’ is not his thing.” Tony shrugged unremorseful and sat down at the picnic table. “So,” he began, “when do we eat?”
Sarah let out a snort and Kerry answered for her. “When everyone else gets here,” she said, also sitting at the table and motioning for Loki to join her. “We’re still waiting for Bruce, Thor, Clint, and Natasha.”
Sarah looked at Kerry, surprised. “Isn’t Rachel coming?”
Kerry shrugged. “She said she was busy but she’d come when she could. She told me to start without her. Oh yeah! These are from Rachel.” She took out some bananas and put them down on the table.
"Ok. Hopefully the others will be here soon." Sarah motioned for the newest additions to the group to join them at the picnic table. "What did you bring?"
Steve handed her a ziplock bag of tomatoes and lettuce, Tony threw some chips on the table, and Megan brought out some little containers of mustard and mayonnaise. "I hope this is enough," she said. "I hadn't realized I'd gotten so low."
"I'm sure it's fine," Sarah said as she caught sight of something over Megan's shoulder. "Oh, thank goodness. There's Thor." Thor, a tall man with no lack of muscles, long blonde hair and facial hair, greeted them with a lifted hand from afar. "Greetings," he said as he reached them.
"Hello, Thor," Kerry said. "So what'd'ya bring?"
"Bring? I do not understand."
Loki looked annoyed. "Food, you buffoon. What food did you bring for the picnic?"
Thor looked surprised. "You wanted food? I was puzzled by your request of 'junk food'. So I brought these." He held up a pop tarts container and put it down on the table. Megan looked inside hopefully. Her face suddenly took on a look of disappointment. "There's nothing in here but pop tart wrappers!" she said. Thor nodded. "Junk food."
Sarah shook her head. "The pop tarts woulda done it, but no use crying over spilled milk." She took the box and walked to a trash can. Tossing it inside, she turned around to find that Bruce had joined the group. He was welcomed with a "Banner!" from Tony. Bruce placed Sprite and Coke on the table, along with plastic cups, and sat down with the rest. The group didn't have to wait much longer before Clint and Natasha showed up.
"Oh man, are we the last ones?" Clint asked. The group nodded, and Natasha apologized, saying, "We ran into some interference." Megan gave her a weird look, but figured she'd do best not to ask.
Clint had brought SnackPack pudding and Natasha, cookies. Natasha raised an eyebrow at Clint's pudding.
"I, uh," he said. "It turned out I didn't have much food at my place."
They all arranged the food on the table and settled down to eat.
“Hey, so, Tony?” Megan began. “I’ve been meaning to ask you -- and don’t laugh, ‘cause I’ve been wondering this for a long time -- have you ever needed to go while you were in your Iron Man suit?”
“...Go?” Tony inquired.
“To the bathroom,” Megan explained.
Tony’s expression went flat. “Really? I work with technology greater than you’ve ever seen and you ask me that?”
Megan nodded and Tony let up. “Well, this one time--”
He was cut off when Sarah interjected. “Woah woah, TMI. We’re eating lunch. We can talk about that later.”
Kerry put turkey slices, bacon, spinach, pickles and mayo on her sandwich. She added Sunchips and some grapes next to it, fixing her plate up professionally. She stared at the choices of drinks before her, unsure what to drink. Loki reached over for orange Sunkist and poured some for himself then offered some to Kerry, pouring some for her when she agreed.
Thor had piled a whole bunch of food into his sandwich, which was extremely messy compared to Kerry's. Loki scorned at Thor; he had very little on his plate compared to everyone else's. "You're such a pig, Thor."
"A god's gotta eat, brother! You don't even eat nearly enough!" Thor gestured to Loki's plate which only had a piece of bread folded in half with a slice of ham and a few leaves of spinach, a small handful of strawberries and grapes.
Loki shrugged "What can I say? I'm saving room for the pudding.."
"Come on Loki, you can a least put more on your sandwich," Tony pointed out.
"Yes, you can't starve Loki," Kerry said. "How can you be a king one day and not be healthy? Your people will need a strong, powerful leader!"
Loki smiled. "You're right," he said as he reached for more sandwich things. Everyone shifted uncomfortably from what Kerry said about Loki being king. Megan and Sarah shot questioning looks at Kerry, scared and upset at what she had said.
"I'm just trying to encourage him," Kerry mouthed. Natasha and Clint looked at each other, questions running through their heads in suspicion. Tony snorted and Bruce shifted awkwardly, Steve staring suspiciously at Kerry as he ate his sandwich.
Thor was busily studying a juice box. Bruce watched amusingly as Thor turned and flipped the juice box around, looking at it with a puzzled expression. "What is wrong, Thor?" Bruce asked.
Thor held up the juice box frustratedly. "How doth one get the juice out of this box?! I don't understand!"
Everyone giggled. Steve reached for the box "I know how to open it!" Tony quickly slapped Steve's hand out of the way. Sarah objected at Tony's rude behavior, but he ignored her.
"Let the god figure it out himself, this is funny." Tony snickered.
"No! Please help me!" Thor pleaded
"Oh come on, Thor," Loki rolled his eyes. "You have to poke the straw through the hole."
"Straw? There is a hole? Where?" Thor examined the box again. Loki gave an exasperated sigh and snatched the juice box out of thor’s hands, ripped out the straw, and poked the sharp end into the foil covering the hole, then held it up to Thor.
"Thank you, brother!" Thor beamed as he took the juice box. He sipped it happily. Everyone ate their food, having small conversations with each other.
"There you go, Loki!" Kerry smiled. "The more you eat, the better. I wonder...in your lifetime you get to eat all sorts of foods around the world. I wish I could do that."
“Well it’s not like he’s constantly eating food for 5,000 years...right?” Megan shot a questioning look at Loki.
“Of course not,” Loki said with annoyance in his voice, then turned back to Kerry. “You know, you could perhaps travel with me sometime. We could eat all the food in every one of the realms!”
“Oh that would be nice! Sometime…” Kerry blushed, trying to hold in her uncontrollable excitement.
Steve, sitting beside Sarah, took a bite out of his sandwich, chewed, and swallowed with satisfaction. "It's nice out here today. I'm glad people still have picnics in the 21st century; it's not all that different from before."
Sarah smiled at him. "I'm glad you feel at home. This park is really pretty."
Steve nodded. He was about to respond with "So are you," but decided against it and instead went for, "You've been very welcoming to me. Thank you."
"Not at all," Sarah said, shaking her head and lifting her sandwich to her mouth. "Really, I'm glad I've gotten to know you." She bit off another mouthful and Steve hid a smile with a mouthful of his own.
Megan had been watching this brief exchange and smiled to herself. Oh my gosh, they totes have crushes on each other, she thought.
Meanwhile, Tony decided it'd be fun to poke some fun at Thor. Taking a chip, he flicked it at Thor and pretended he hadn't done anything when Megan flashed him a look. Thor looked in Tony's direction, but let it slide when he saw Tony's feigned innocence. When it happened again, Thor looked at Tony with narrowed eyes. Upon a third happening, Thor's face clearly conveyed a threat and Tony decided not to anger the god anymore. Loki, however, disagreed. Seeing his chance, he took it and flicked a chip at Thor. Thor turned angrily to Tony, thinking it was him, and shouted, "Mortal! Cease disrupting my peace!"
Everyone wore surprised expressions on their faces at Thor's sudden outburst. Except for Loki, whose smug expression grew more smug as he stood, proclaimed, "Food fight!" and tossed a piece of bread coated in mayonnaise at Tony's face.
"Loki!" said an angry Kerry at his side. But it was too late.
"Oh, it is on, puny boy!" Tony declared, accepting Loki's challenge and throwing a cup of pudding aimed at him. Kerry smacked it out of the way. "Now you two had better--"
Whatever she said next was drowned out by the shouting of the others as they all joined in.
“THIS MEANS WAR!” Thor announced.
"Stop wasting this delicious food!" Steve shouted as he threw a banana. Sarah rolled her eyes. That's not helping, Steve, she thought.
Bruce got up from the table and walked a few yards away, opting out of the food fight. Sarah and Kerry followed, figuring they didn't want to dirty their clothes. Megan, however, stayed behind and tried to talk Tony into stopping. Tony ignored her and simply continued creating a ruckus.
Thor was wildly throwing food -- pudding, chips, chips covered in pudding, pudding covered in chips, bread, cookies, ham, cheese, tomatoes -- at any target he could see. Natasha was skillfully dodging, jumping and ducking, and throwing some of her own well aimed projectiles. Clint had backed off and was throwing food from afar, one of which hit Megan square in the face. Kerry and Sarah winced in concern for their friend, but after she paused for a moment, Megan smiled viciously and wiped off her face.
"Whatever happens next," she said dangerously, "you asked for it!" She then picked up a cookie laying on the ground and threw it like a frisbee. It would have hit Clint in the face if he hadn't leaned to the side.
"Not bad," Clint allowed. "But you're going to have to do a lot better if you wanna talk big like that." The food fight continued. Megan and Tony had forming a kind of alliance, while Thor was throwing food at everyone and Natasha and Steve were just sort of dodging around and throwing food back. Clint seemed quite content as people ignored him, throwing food at whomever he wished.
Eventually, Megan decided that was silly. “Hey, why isn’t anyone hitting Clint?” she asked. Everyone suddenly stopped and turned to look at Clint. His facial expression shifted, clearly conveying “Uh-Oh”. Megan, smiling wildly, yelled, “CHARGE!” and ran for him. Natasha raised her eyebrow wickedly and followed suit, the others not far behind. Suddenly it was everyone against Clint.
Sarah stood with Bruce and Kerry, her arms folded. Tired of this childish behavior, she stepped forward and yelled, “WHAT are you doing?! Are you KIDDING ME?! That food does NOT come free! How dare you take advantage of my freely given kindness?! FOOD IS NOT FOR FIGHTING WITH!! It's for eating, and that's exactly what I had in mind when I went to the trouble of organizing this picnic! This... this SKIRMISH is NOT why I spent my time on all this! I can't BELIEVE you would betray me like this! You all have no honor whatsoever! And what's more, you have no IDEA how to food fight, do you?! If you're going to do something, you might as well do it right! Steve, what were you doing throwing whole bananas? Nonononono, you want everything to be as mushy and icky and moist as possible! Open up the banana peel, throw it on the ground in front of someone who's not paying attention to their feet, squish up the rest of the banana, and throw it in a massive ball at someone's face! And Thor, if you're gonna just take everything that's thrown at you, at least give just as much as you get! You are absolutely COVERED and no one else has anywhere NEAR as much food on them as you! GEEZ, if you're gonna betray my trust, DO IT RIGHT!”
Huffing, she stepped back and surveyed the others’ reactions. They all stood motionless, stunned. Steve looked down at the banana he was holding, Thor began brushing the food off of him, and Megan seemed to forget the handful of chips she was holding as she loosened her hand and the chips dropped to the ground.
Meanwhile, Kerry had joined Sarah and now stood next to her. “Clean up,” she said. “NOW.” Their heads drooping, they obeyed and bent down to pick up bits of food.
Sarah and Kerry stood at the cleaning crew coldly as they did what they were told. “What happened here?” said a voice behind them. Kerry looked over her shoulder and looked at the young lady standing behind her. She looked similar to Kerry, with dark hair and eyes.
“Oh, hi, Rachel,” Kerry said. Sarah turned around and gave Rachel a little wave. “I’m afraid you missed the picnic. The boys started a food fight and now lunch is all over the park!”
“Oh.” Rachel looked disappointed. Sarah was about to apologize when she heard a commotion behind her.
“Loki!” Kerry said. “Behave yourself! Do your work!”
Rachel looked over Sarah’s shoulder and caught sight of Thor in a trash can, Loki blocking him from exiting.
“What?” Loki said defensively. “I’m putting food in the trash. See? Garbage-” he motioned to Thor, “-trash,” and patted the garbage can after shoving a mashed banana in the garbage with a raging Thor inside. He then snickered to himself, but Thor didn’t seem quite as amused.
“Then you belong in here with me!” Thor grabbed Loki and they started fighting.
“No!” Loki squealed. “I am not trash! I refuse to go in there with you!”
Kerry just watched events develop and nibbled on a cookie which had somehow escaped the massacre. “Ah,” she sighed. “Brotherly love.”
Rachel shook her head, amused. “Looks like they found where they belong,” she chuckled. A little laugh bubbled in Sarah’s throat as she watched Natasha grab the collar of Thor’s shirt.
"You’re making a mess everywhere!” Natasha yelled. “We already have enough to clean up! Stop horsing around!”
Kerry decided it was time to intervene, too. Walking up to them, she scowled at Loki. “Loki!” she said. “You are disgusting! Get out of the garbage can!”
“I can’t!” Loki complained. “Thor’s fat is taking all the space!”
“I am not fat!” Thor corrected. “It’s muscle!” Thor tried to flex his arms in the tight space, squishing Loki even more.
Hands on her hips, Kerry let out a groan of annoyance and stood next to the garbage can, her leg drawn back. She quickly brought it forward.
BANG! Kerry kicked the garbage can over and Loki and Thor came tumbling out. They moaned in pain.
“That wasn’t very nice,” Thor stated.
Megan made her way over and waved a hand in front of her nose as she drew closer. “Ew!” she coughed. “You guys reak! You really need to go home and clean yourselves up or something. You can’t possibly go on with your day smelling like that.”
“Nah,” Thor said jokingly. “This is man smell.” He flexed his muscles again in an attempt to look as manly as possible, in which he succeeded.
Loki rolled his eyes. “Ugh, please.”
“What’s the matter, shrimpy?” Thor asked in a condescending tone. “Jealous?”
“Not at all, brother,” Loki replied, quite coolly. “Your overconfidence is very amusing.”
Kerry bent over to where they were still on the ground and grabbed them by their shirt collars. “Come on, you two,” she ordered, hauling them up. “We’re going to my place. You are going to shower, the both of you.”
Loki wriggled in Kerry’s grasp. “I can walk!” he informed her, and Thor said, “This god is not in need of a shower!” Kerry only tightened her grip. “Shut it, you ungrateful whelp. You two are going to take a shower now.”
Sarah smiled to herself. It’s nice of them to humor her, she thought. I’m sure they could wrestle free whenever they want. “Aren’t Kerry and Loki cute together?” she asked, surprising herself. Had she said that out loud?
Kerry didn’t seem to notice. Turning her head to look over her shoulder, she called back to the group, “Meet me at my place when you’re done cleaning up here.” Sarah nodded and told the others to get back to work. Megan straightened up the trash can and started piling the garbage back inside.
When she finished, she stood and surveyed the area, looking for the next spot she would clean. Instead, she caught sight of Tony sitting doing nothing. She approached him from behind and made a motion that would suggest that she was about to slap him over the head, but thought better of it at the last second. Coming around to the front, Megan looked at Tony sternly. “You helped make this mess,” she said. “Clean it up. Like the rest of us.”
When Tony refused, Steve came to Megan’s aid. “She’s right, Tony. Be a team player for once. Even Rachel’s helping and she wasn’t here to participate in making it.” Rachel turned at the mention of her name, smiled, and waved.
Tony gave a sigh. "FINE! If it'll shut up Mr. Righteous over there," he said, swinging a hand toward Steve. He rose to his feet and looked around for something to do to appease the others. Rachel was dusting her hands off as the others admired their handiwork.
"Well," Rachel said, "I think we're done! Good as new!" Clint and Natasha nodded in agreement while Bruce appeared from where we was still hanging back. Tony shrugged at Steve who then shook his head and turned to join Rachel and the others.
Megan shot Tony an annoyed glance. "You should have helped," she said. Tony didn't reply.
“Oh pfft, I can’t stay mad at you, man!” Megan punched Tony playfully on the shoulder.
"Thanks, you guys," Sarah said as Megan and Tony merged with the group. "Job well done. Kerry should be waiting for us at her place; wanna come?"
Clint cast Natasha a sidelong glance in questioning. She shrugged, and Clint said to Sarah, “I didn’t finish eating lunch. Will there be food?”
Sarah rolled her eyes. “Men,” she muttered, and Rachel chuckled beside her. Then Sarah continued louder so everyone could hear, “Yeah, we still have some food that didn’t become ammunition for your little game. We can eat there if you’d like.”
Clint agreed. Natasha said she might as well, and Steve told Sarah that he’d love to enjoy their company for a while longer. Bruce decided to tag along and Tony promised to bring the champagne, to which Sarah responded, “You’d better not, Mister!” Megan said absolutely and Rachel was already going there; after all, as Kerry’s sister it’s her house too.
Sarah nodded. "Alright, the whole gang. I hope Kerry's ready for a full house."
"As long as no one makes a mess," Rachel said, eyeing the food fighters.
"Right," Megan agreed. "You must promise to behave. Tony?"
"What?" Tony looked surprised a the direct mentioning of his name. Megan just kept staring at him. Tony gave up the act. "Ok, ok, I promise to behave!"
"Good," Sarah said. "That's more than I expected out of you. What about you, Steve?" She turned in Steve's direction.
Steve gave her a sheepish grin. "Yes, ma'am. I apologize for my misconduct earlier."
Sarah's stern gaze softened as her heart melted. "It's fine, Steve. It wasn't entirely your fault."
After everyone had promised not to get too rowdy, the group headed for Kerry's.They had to catch a bus and ride to the edge of the city, but their journey didn't take long. Once they arrived at the two-story house with a small hill and forest at the back, Rachel made a beeline for the front door.
"Is it locked?" Bruce asked. "Do you have a key?"
Rachel didn't bother to turn around, but continued walking to the door. "No, it's probably not locked. We hardly ever lock it when we're in." Rachel stood in front of the door and reached for the handle. Twisting it, she pushed the door open and caught sight of Kerry. She was carrying a big bundle of clothing across the front room.
"Sheesh," Kerry was muttering, "why do they get to wear freaking awesome clothes that are so hard to get off?"
Realizing the awkward situation, Rachel backed up and attempted to close the door again without Kerry noticing. However, she was too slow. Kerry looked at her with startled eyes and her cheeks lit on fire. Rachel made an apologetic expression with her face as Kerry mouthed, "Tell no one!"
Too late. Sarah was already standing behind Rachel, trying to hold back a snicker. Rachel shrugged and opened the door the rest of the way. The others crowded around behind her and spotted Kerry's arms full of clothes.
Kerry gave Rachel a look that said "We'll talk later; I'm not happy," and turned to the rest. "I'm taking Thor's and Loki's clothes to get laundered," she told them, and ran into another room.
"Umm, guys? I think Kerry is like their long lost mother or something," Megan said as she entered the house with the rest of the group. She continued in a voice meant to mock Kerry's: "Oooh, Loki, you stinky god! You take a bath right now! And Thor, you too! Get out of the garbage, you two! Stop fighting!"
Laughter sprung up among the group, but stopped in time to hear Kerry calling from the other room. "I heard that! I'm not deaf, Meg-!" She stopped suddenly.
Sarah and Rachel looked at each other in confusion. Megan called back to Kerry, "You know I don't like being called 'Meg!'"
Kerry walked back in, here stare blank as she made her way toward a couch. Steve was worried she was about to fall over in a faint and tensed to come to her aid if she did, but she reached the couch just fine and sat down with a heavy FWUMF. Her spine stood straight up as she crumpled a piece of paper in her hand, opening it up and reading it, her eyes shifting from left to right. Sarah was about to ask what it was, but Kerry spoke before she had chance to.
"I found this in Loki's pocket while clearing out their pockets to put in the wash..." Kerry said, then read the note aloud.

"Dear Brother,

Ever since you've tried to take over Midgard and that cute little maiden that you kidnapped as a hostage agreed to be your guardian for your house arrest, you've seemed more open.
I'm glad that you've come to appreciate the mortals world like I have, and I have started to see a change in you.
I have noticed you seem happier each and every morning, almost smiling to yourself. I see you leave Asgard every afternoon feeling nervous but looking forward to something, and I believe I know why.
Just like I have, you have started to appreciate and become fond of your hostess. Please, brother...be kind and respectful to the young maiden. If you need any advice, I'm more than willing to help.

With a sincere heart,
-Thor"

A moment of silence passed until Megan broke it. Confused, she said, "But... So Thor wrote that for Loki? Who's the 'cute little maiden'? He kidnapped a girl?!" The others didn't even spare Megan a glance. As they had predicted, realization soon spread across her face; she had heard of the time when Loki had kidnapped Kerry and held her as a hostage. "Ooooooh!" Megan said. He means Kerry, derp, she thought, doing a face palm.
Kerry sat there staring at the piece of paper, deep in thought, fingering the paper in her hands.
“Oh my goodness,” Sarah breathed. “That is absolutely adorable.”
Kerry blushed and got very uncomfortable at this. So embarrassing, she thought, then continued out loud, “Just because I agreed to be his… hostess… doesn’t mean anything! I just wanted him to stop his whole ‘take over the world and be king’ thing. It was unhealthy for him! I wanted to teach him how to live his life and have fun.
Megan smirked. “Yeah, and he’s very fond of you for that,” she said, and Sarah chirruped, “Awwww, she really cares!”
Once again, Kerry’s cheeks burst into bright red flames. “I told you,” she said, her voice taking on a twinge of annoyance in her embarrassment, “I just want to help him appreciate his long life!”
Tony smiled but said in a very serious tone of voice, “Oh, I can help him learn how to appreciate life.”
Natasha shook her head. “All you would ever do is teach him how to be a dirty little pervert like you are, Tony,” she said.
Tony looked at her, offended. “Why would you say that?!” he asked indignantly.
Clint only added to Natasha’s comment. “Or you would teach him how to be a crazy party person like you are. Is that what you mean to do? To teach him how to party?”
Tony let Natasha’s remark go and laughed. “You got me there. That is how you live life, right? By partying?”
Steve shook his head and earnestly looked Tony in the eye. “No, Tony,” he said. “Living life means you do all you can to help others with truth and honor.”
Sarah folded her arms and nodded in agreement to Steve’s statement. Tony only rolled his eyes. “Says the popsicle,” he murmured, then said, “This is getting boring. Is there any wine around here?”
“No, we do not have wine here,” Megan said, slightly irked. “Like we would let you have any in the first place.”
Bruce hadn’t been paying attention to the conversation as it teetered away from its original subject. “If Kerry is actually able to change Loki’s heart,” he said, deep in thought, “that would be a miracle. Maybe a little weird at first, but the other guy might not feel as tense around him.”
Megan agreed and confidently added, “Well, if anybody can do it, it’s definitely Kerry!” She giggled. “Especially because of how” -- snicker -- “fond he is of her!” She burst out in laughter and held her hands to her stomach as she found it increasingly hard to breathe.
“Oh, stop it,” Kerry insisted.
Megan wiped tears from her eyes and said in between her bouts of laughter, “I’m just crying over how sweet it is!”
“I can babysit for you -- at a good price,” Sarah added.
Megan’s laughter was calming down and she gasped at Sarah. “What are you implying?” she asked.
“Um, that my services are expensive?” Sarah replied with a sly smile and raised eyebrows.
Tony had obviously lost interest in the conversation and said, “Well, I’m gonna go meet Pepper at Stark Tower. We, uh, have some business to discuss,” before heading out the door and flying off in his Iron Man suit. Megan swooned at the amazing smile he’d flashed her.
Clint stared after him. “I think he meant,” he altered his voice to mock Tony’s, “I’m gonna fly to Stark Tower, drink myself stupid, and flirt with Pepper.”
Steve nodded. “Yep.” Bruce and Natasha sighed with disapproval, and Megan joined in with “Totes.”
Sarah cast Megan a sidelong glance. “Hey Megan?” she began in concern. “How do you plan to compete with Pepper?”
“What?” asked Megan, surprised. “What do you mean? He can marry Pepper for all I care. He’s just a friend I like to hang out with because he’s so amaz!”
“Aw, you’re so selfless,” Sarah said in a flat voice. Does she really think we don’t notice? she thought to herself. She definitely has a thing for Tony; she’s not fooling anyone! How daft she must think us. “Look at her hiding her true emotions,”she voiced jokingly. It’s sooo cute.”
“No!” Megan burst out, but Sarah continued. “We’re on to you, Megan,” she warned.
Steve glanced between the two, confused. “Does anyone know what they're talking about?” he asked.
“Girl things,” Natasha responded. “Men wouldn't understand.”
“Best we stay out of it,” Bruce counselled wisely.
“That’s right, stay out of it, all of you!” Megan said, flustered.
Sarah smiled fondly at Megan, then turned to Steve. “I'll explain it to ya later, Steve,” she said.
Megan, desperate to direct the attention somewhere else, said, “Ooo! When's later?”
Sarah just looked at her. “Later,” she repeated.
But Megan wasn’t ready to let it go. “What, like, you two all alone later...?” Sarah just stared at her with deathly cold eyes and that shut her up.
“I was in the helicarrier as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent,” Kerry said suddenly.
“What?” the others turned to her.
Kerry looked up at them and realized how vague and off-topic she had been. “When Loki was captured,” she elaborated, then sunk into full-on story mode. The others were familiar with the signs and settled down into relaxed positions, ready for the story they were about to be told. “But heck,” Kerry continued, “I didn't even know he was there when they caught him. I only heard from Fury that they had captured Earth's greatest threat for the time being. Being new at the time, Fury wanted me to deliver some papers to Bruce, but on my way back I got lost. The helicarrier is big enough to get lost in, it's huge!” she defended herself, then started up again with the story. “Then I came upon a door that looked different than the others, and being curious, I went in... Worse thing I've ever done. I saw a guy laying down in the glass dome and I silently walked up to it, keeping my distance. I was wondering why in the world someone would nap in such an uncomfortable place, but then the guy sat up, startling me. My mind was blank as he stared his piercing green eyes at me, as if he was staring into my soul. After a moment of silence he spoke. "Why are you here? Did Fury send you here to entertain me? It's about time." I just stood there staring at him, and for some reason… I felt like I needed to do something for this guy. I replied, "No… I… I got lost, and I found this place...What are you doing in there?" He just smiled at me. Ugh, that smile gets to you so hard. I just melted right then. He then said, "I just happened to accidentally lock myself in here... Could you let me out?" I nodded, and just as I was about to let him out, Fury and some agents came bursting through the doors and shot me with some sort of tranquilizer. I was hurt and confused as Fury dragged me out of there; why was he treating me like a criminal?! So later, after I woke up, Fury chewed me out. That's when I realized that that guy was Loki, the god of mischief, and he was the bad guy. I felt really stupid for almost letting him go and I decided I was going to get him back for that, but Fury had me go home. I never got back with S.H.I.E.L.D. after that.”
Sarah whispered once Kerry had finished, “Oh goodness, she’s so infatuated. It’s adorable!”
Megan leaned into Sarah and whispered, “I'd better be invited to their wedding.” The two giggle quietly, catching Kerry’s attention.
“What?” Kerry asked.
“Nothing!” Sarah and Megan chimed in unison.
Just then, Loki and Thor appeared from the direction of the bathroom. They were squeaky clean with messy hair and were wrapped in cute little ducky towels. They both sat on the floor and glared at each other. Rachel quickly turned away at the sight of nearly naked men.
“There,” Kerry said to them, pleased. “Now, doesn’t that feel better? Not smelling of garbage...”
“I told you I didn’t need a shower,” Thor mumbled, still dissatisfied.
“Well, brother, I very much enjoyed it!” Loki boasted. “A god’s gotta look his best when in the presence of a woman! Especially me.”
Thor looked even more annoyed when Megan commented, “Aw, look how cute they are! Little yellow ducky towels!”
This infuriated Loki as well. “Stop with your petty remarks, mortal! I am Loki of Asgard, god of mischief! I refuse to be treated this way!”
Kerry looked at him with sympathy. “Sorry, the ducky towels were all we had left. Your clothes should be done in about twenty minutes.”
Both Thor and Loki sighed hopelessly.
“Loki, can I touch your hair?” Megan piped in.
Loki opened his mouth for a nasty retort, but glanced at Kerry and changed his mind. “Very well,” he allowed.
As Megan advanced toward Loki, Kerry gasped and said, “What? No! Don’t touch the hair!” Megan swore she heard her hissing and backed off, repeating the words, “Okay, okay,” over and over and holding her hands up in surrender.
Clint sniffed the air. “What kind of shampoo did you use? You smell like Charming Cherry Blossoms.”
Kerry’s lips turned upward in amusement as Loki glared at her and Clint. “That was all there was to use,” he told them, annoyed. “Besides… how did you know that it was exactly that kind?”
“Erm, what?” Clint fumbled. “I, uh, I know because… of… Natasha! Yeah, because of Natasha.”
Natasha hit him upside the head. “Don’t use me as an excuse!” she ordered.
Rachel smiled in remembrance. “Oh yeah! I remember one time when Clint needed shampoo so I let him use mine! He never did return it…”
“Ha!” Megan laughed. “Clint uses girls’ shampoo!”
“C’mon!” Clint said defensively. “It’s not that, I just love cherry blossoms!”
“Me too…” Loki mumbled. Everyone looked at him in surprise. Kerry smiled and grabbed something from off the table.
“Then you’ll love this!” she said and playfully lunged at Loki. He tried to hold her back as she started spraying him with Rachel’s Creamy Apple Body Splash.
“No!” Loki coughed and spluttered. The group laughed lightheartedly as Rachel yelled, “Hey! Where did you get that?! Who said you could use that?!”
“Hahaha, LOKI’D!” Kerry laughed, then the laughter caught in her throat. “ACK!” she coughed, then lost consciousness and collapsed on top of Loki.
After a moment of stunned silence, Rachel was the one laughing. “Heh, she passed out from all the perfume! How’s that for a taste of your own medicine?! She can hardly stand me spraying that stuff at all!”
Thor had long since finished sulking and grabbed the perfume bottle. “I kind of like the smell,” he said. “It’s strong yet simple.” He then sprayed some on himself. Rachel wouldn't stand for it and ripped it out of his hands. “No!” she told him. “This is mine! You or anyone else will not use this without my permission!”
Megan rolled her eyes. “Stop fighting, you guys. Apple doesn't smell that good, anyway.”
Meanwhile, Loki was awkwardly cradling the unconscious Kerry in his arms, not sure what to do with her as he was dressed in only a towel. “Oh dear,” he said. “She sprayed too much perfume. She’s out cold.”
“Oh, shoot,” Sarah replied. “Give her here, I'll take care of it.” She took hold of Kerry and slapped her face. “C'mon, wake up, Kerry! YOU WILL NOT DIE ON ME TODAY!”
Kerry stirred slightly.
“Stop it, Sarah!” Megan said, appalled. As she dragged Kerry away to rest on the couch, Sarah said, “What? I was just trying to wake her up.” Loki just looked a bit disappointed.
Thor shook his head at this foolishness and left to change his clothes.
“Don’t worry,” Megan reassured Loki. “She be fine. She just needs a bit of rest and she’ll be back on her feet in no time.”
Sarah was kneeling beside Kerry. “Geez, she’s out,” she informed them. A bit of water splattered on Kerry’s face. “That’ll do it,” Sarah said.
“Sarah, what’s wrong with you?!” Megan asked as Kerry continued to sleep.
“Just trying to help!” Sarah explained. “Hmm... Maybe it's like Snow White?” she suggested.
“Yeah!” Megan agreed. “She needs true love's kiss!”
“Ooooh, Loookiiiii!” Sarah called him over.
Thor looked confuzzled. “I do not understand,” he said. “Who is this… ‘Snow White’?”
“I understand!” Steve called out, excited. “I know who Snow White is…”
“Who is she?” Thor probed.
Steve’s cheeks took on a slight tint of pink. “She’s, uh, a princess… a fake cartoon princess.”
Sarah patted Steve on the shoulder comfortingly. “You'll catch up, Steve. One day,” she assured him.
“Have you seen it, then, Steve?” Bruce asked. “Since you seem to know so much about it.”
Clint snickered. “Steve watches little girl princess movies! Hahahaha!”
Steve narrowed his eyes at Clint as Natasha asked, “Hey, where did that trickster god Loki go?”
Rachel smiled as she answered. “He took Kerry to a quiet room. You are all so noisy. I think he likes the Snow White idea. Wait… Oh no he doesn’t!” Rachel suddenly bolted into a hallway. “I won’t let him do anything to my sister!”
But Rachel got there too late.
BAM!
“AHH!” Rachel screamed as she was flung backwards through the air with a swirling blast of blue-green magic. She landed hard and Clint rushed to her side, supporting her as she leaned on her elbows.
“What’s going on?” Clint asked. “Are you okay, Rachel?!” Everyone in the room had tensed and were on high alert. Thor came running back into the room, hurriedly pulling a shirt over his head. Whatever had just happened, it couldn’t be good; something in this building was a threat.
Several pairs of eyes stared at the doorway from whence the destructive burst of magic had come, and they were all witness to Loki emerging fully dressed in his glorious battle armor, giving his most dastardly grin. Natasha swore under her breath and she and Clint charged at Loki, intent on attack. Loki only gave a small, barely audible chuckle and watched as they approached, quickly closing the distance between them.
Another blast of blue-green energy erupted from behind Loki, hitting Clint and Natasha hard.
Loki’s chuckle grew louder. “You really thought I’d changed?” he called.
Steve shook his head angrily. “Dangit!” he snapped. “We don’t even have our weapons with us! I shouldn’t have been so careless.” Turning to Megan, he said, “Megan, do you have a device to contact Tony?” At her nod, he continued. “Call him. Tell him to pick up my shield and Clint’s and Rachel’s bows, and then he needs to join us here. Drunk silly or not, we need him. For now we’ll just have to rely on brute strength and Thor’s hammer.”
Bruce’s eyes widened. He felt something from within himself: a tight squeezing, suppressing his other identity. He had felt it for a while, though it had been dull -- barely noticeable. He simply hadn’t worried about it; but now it was very clear. And he knew. He wasn’t sure if he was happy or troubled by it.
“I won’t be any help, guys,” he whispered, then louder so the others tensing beside him could hear. “I can’t summon the Hulk.”
Before the others could question him concerning his latest statement, Loki continued. “All this time I’ve been conjuring up a secret weapon to defeat you all! And there you sat, trusting me, dining with me, having no idea of the truth! Mortals really are foolish! And I have much to say of my ‘brother,’ too.”
Rachel glared daggers at Loki, and when he had finished revelling in his trickery, she said in an icy tone, “What. Have you done. To Kerry?!” She gritted her teeth and clenched her fist, taking a step in Loki’s direction with the intention of lunging at him, but Clint, who had recovered from the harsh blast he’d just received, put his hand on her shoulder and shook his head. Rachel looked at him with fury in her eyes, but slowly lowered her fist. She’d wait for the optimum time of attack. Taking several quick, deep breaths, she tried her best to stay calm.
Loki only snickered and raised his brow. “Why don’t you see for yourself?” he asked and stepped to the side. “Say hello to your worst nightmare. Behold! Lady Loki!” A dark shadow emerged from behind him; a beautiful yet intimidating figure.
Rachel forgot about her breathing exercises and gasped. “Kerry?!”
Sarah breathed out through her teeth. “Oh snap,” she murmured. Her voice became more and more distressed as she continued. “I had been hoping this wouldn't happen. I trusted Loki not to go this far!”
Steve turned his head to Sarah. “What? What's going on?”
Sarah looked to him in turn and explained. “Well, he's Loki! What can you expect? I shouldn't have trusted him. Since he's taken a liking to Kerry, I was just counting on her rubbing off on him and keeping him in check. I was hoping he wouldn't use her for his own purposes!”
“So he’s brainwashed her?” Steve guessed.
Clint, who had been listening to the exchange, suggested, “Sarah, you and Kerry are good friends, right? And Rachel’s her sister. You guys have to get to her!”
Steve nodded and said seriously, “Clint’s right. We need Foxy Lady, Sarah!”
Sarah paused for a moment and then said in a dangerously annoyed voice, “I hate that name.”
Steve smiled apologetically and Clint opened his mouth to ask a question, but was cut off by Loki. Kerry, or rather, “Lady Loki,” had been glancing across everyone’s faces with a blank stare until her eyes had met Sarah’s and stuck. She held out her hand and a sharp glave materialized in a whirl of blue-green. She clutched it in her fist.
Loki smirked, revealing his white teeth in an evil grin. “It seems to me that Sarah has managed to piss Kerry off; Lady Loki is out for revenge.”
“Uh-oh,” Megan gulped. “Tony had better get here fast!”
“Who needs Tony?” Sarah scoffed. “He’s a slacker.” Just then, a wave of energy surged outward from Sarah, and her eyes vibrated as they turned a bright shade of turquoise, extruding nearly tangible power.
Clint jumped at the sudden swell of power. “Woah,” he breathed. “What just happened?”
Steve answered, “She’s Foxy Lady. Didn’t you know?”
Sarah cringed as the name was brought up again. “Coulson chose the name!” she declared. “It was supposed to be a joke, but…”
“But it stuck,” Natasha finished.
“Ah,” Megan said in understanding.
Clint arched his eyebrows and wore an interested frown as he took in this new information. “So what can she do?” he asked.
“Well, as Fury put it,” Steve replied, “she’s got a surplus of psychic energy, so--”
Sarah cut him off. “I am capable of answering that question myself!” she snapped, then immediately regretted her outburst. She always got cranky when that nickname came up. “As Steve said, I have a lot of psychic energy,” she said more calmly. “Because of that, I have the ability to reach out to others’ minds. The ‘frequency,’ I suppose you could call it, of my energy resonates with water, so I have a strong connection with it. And, erm…” She paused. “I can, uh, transform into an arctic fox,” she finished, a little embarrassed.
“Oh,” Clint said lamely. “Is that where ‘Foxy Lady came from, then?”
“Yes,” Sarah sighed, but looked up suddenly. “However, I think we have more pressing matters at hand currently.” She jumped out of the way as a blast of blue-green magic swarmed around where she once stood and Lady Loki slowly advanced on them, her gaze filled with rage. The group formed a protective shell around Megan.
Megan felt pretty useless. Unlike the rest, she didn’t have any crazy powers and she hadn’t had much training in combat. She looked around for something she could do; she couldn’t stand being weak and useless! I can be a superhero, too! she thought desperately. Something caught her eye and she rushed behind her protective shield of friends and disappeared into another room.
Sarah and the others hardly noticed Megan's departure as they stared at Lady Loki. Sarah glared hard at Lady Loki, trying to probe into her mind. Her mind made contact. She felt a slight pin prick as she entered and realized going further may be painful. What kind of pain was Kerry going through?
As she was focusing on breaking Lady Loki’s defenses and finding Kerry in there, Sarah didn’t notice the spear speeding through the air, aimed at her heart, until it was too late. Sarah realized she had no time to react, but tensed in preparation to dodge regardless. Steve half-tackled half-picked her up and pushed her out of the way. He could feel the whoosh of air as the spear whizzed by his shoulder, narrowly missing. Loki gave a dastardly smile as it stabbed the spot where Sarah previously was. Lady Loki went over and pulled her staff out of the carpet and prepared for another attack when Loki held his hand up, signaling for her to wait.
Loki stared at everyone intently. “You might as well surrender to me now before things get dirty...very dirty,” he finished with a chuckle.
Thor stepped forward but stopped when Lady Loki stepped in between him and Loki. “Brother...it doesn’t have to be this way-”
“I am NOT your brother! Won’t you ever understand?” Loki growled. “Things HAVE to be this way, whether you like it or not!” he snapped.
Thor held out his hand, concentrating hard. Loki’s eyes widened as he realized that Thor was summoning Mjolnir. “Then I have no choice but to utterly defeat you again, Loki,” Thor said mournfully. “I was hoping that I wouldn’t have come to this ever again...I can’t stand seeing you like this, Brother”.
Loki opened his mouth to reply when a sudden bang sounded from another room. Megan appeared around the corner, mumbling “ow ow ow” as she struggled to get her foot free of a cord she was tripping on. Freeing herself and straightening up, she looked up to see everyone’s faces looking at her. Suddenly self conscious, she lifted a lighter, her thumb poised to light it, and held it an arm’s length away. Her other hand raised to the same level and she held a spray bottle behind the lighter. Her shoulders sported clumps of aluminum foil serving as shoulderpads.
“Portable flame thrower,” she warned. “And, as you can see, I’m ready and willing to use it. Nice of Kerry to have this stuff laying around her house, huh?”
Loki scowled at the intrusion. Motioning to Lady Loki, she advanced on Megan coolly. Megan hesitated, unwilling to send a fiery inferno at her friend. Lady Loki, however, had no problem with harming Megan. Turning, Megan realized her idea was not a good one; it was an empty threat and Loki knew it. She ran for the door, throwing it aside and racing outside. She ran as hard as she could uphill, breathing hard, headed for the little forest behind Kerry’s house. Lady Loki followed, directly on her heels. She would catch up any moment now, Megan knew. So she stopped, turned, and faced reality. Megan would have to make the hardest decision of her life: should she attack and risk killing her best friend along with the monster she had been forced to become? Or should she die at the hands of said monster in the hopes that Kerry could return?
Megan tensed her fingers and began to press downward, arms again raised and ready to fire, when a crackling blast exploded beside Lady Loki. Lady Loki and Megan both jerked to see its source. Tony stood at the door, his face stone as he advised, “That was a warning shot. Don’t you dare.”
With her eyes fixed on Tony, Lady Loki shifted her body away from Megan to face Tony. He seemed to lose interest in her as he caught sight of something more attention worthy. He did skip a beat asking, “Megan, what is on your shoulders?”
Megan looked down at her shoulder and blushed. “It’s, uh… aluminum foil… It was the closest thing to armor I could find! I just thought… oh, never mind what I thought.”
Tony fixed her with a look. “Aluminum? So, Lady Loki” -- he glanced at Lady Loki, then Sarah -- “Foxy Lady” -- Sarah cringed -- “and Alumilady? What is this, the Lady Bunch?!”
During this exchange, the others -- who had been following Lady Loki and Megan -- arrived, from Loki right down to Steve. Lady Loki took note of this and advanced on Steve, throwing the first attack.
“No, I-” Megan began. “What? Alumilady? NO! No way!” Shrugging off the aluminum foil, she muttered, “Ok, maybe it was a dumb idea, but it made me feel better.”
Steve called to them just as he ducked under Lady Loki’s extended spear which she had thrust at him. “Hello? Teamwork! I hate to interrupt your little flirting session, but the rest of us have got our hands full!” He blocked Lady Loki’s oncoming arm with his own arm.
Tony rolled his eyes. “Alright, bossy.” Megan was a bit more startled and stuttered, “‘F-flirting session?! I was not flirting!”
Meanwhile, Thor had bypassed Lady Loki and was approaching his brother. His steady gaze met Loki’s as he pleaded, “Brother, why have you done this to Kerry? I thought you adored her; I thought you were beginning to change!” His grip on his hammer tightened. “I don't understand, Brother.”
“I am NOT your brother!” Loki repeated angrily. “Just because we grew up with each other doesn't mean we are brothers.”
“You are my brother!” Thor yelled back. His voice cracked slightly as he continued. “And I'll do anything in my power to stop your foolishness and bring back the brother I have loved dearly.”
Loki shook his head viciously and commanded Lady Loki. “Kill him!”
Obediently, she turned from Steve and held her spear at her side, sharp end forward, charging Thor at top speed. Thor dodged, grabbing the spear and thrusting it downward in passing. “I will NOT fight Kerry! Fight me yourself Loki!” he challenged.
“That will be your downfall, Thor!” Loki sneered. “I'll take you on!” He raised his hands and blasted blue-green at Thor.
Seeing her master holding his own in battle, Lady Loki turned back to the group, silently assessing them.
“Okay,” Sarah said sarcastically. “My turn to fight Kerry. We do it all the time anyway. I always win, of course.”
Lady Loki’s gaze which she then fixed on Sarah was full of malice and ice. She charged up her magic as it streamed around her form and extended across the spear. “Your ignorance is annoying, you measly human.” She finally spoke, but her voice was not Kerry’s. Something about it was… different. Pointing the spear at Sarah, she let loose her pent up power.
Steve darted in front of Sarah, protecting her with his shield. The magic reflected off and blasted into a tree. It snapped and fell to the ground. Clint and Rachel, now armed with their bows, stood to the side shooting explosive arrows at Lady Loki. Lady Loki knocked each arrow to the side with her spear, but they exploded in her face, knocking her back. Natasha, sneaking up behind her, grabbed her in a headlock, to which Lady Loki responded by hitting Natasha with the handle of her spear. Natasha stumbled backward but quickly recovered, bringing up her fists and throwing one at Lady Loki. Lady Loki dodged and threw a fist of her own. Natasha moved out of the way and was about to strike again when an explosion blasted the space between the two, causing them to jump back.
Natasha looked angrily at Clint and Rachel. “What the heck was that?!” she spat.
Rachel smiled sheepishly, “Uh, er, sorry. That was aimed for… Kerry…”
Natasha shook her head, dismissing it, and turned just in time to get out of the way of Lady Loki’s next blow.
Steve leaned down and whispered to Sarah. “Sarah, while they're fighting, see if you can get into Kerry's head. You might be able to turn her...normal.” He looked at Lady Loki to make sure she hadn’t heard, then he and Sarah nodded at each other. “Alright,” she agreed.
Closing her eyes, Sarah sank deep into concentration. She lost track of what was happening around her; it was no longer important. She had full confidence that Steve would protect her from physical harm. What was important was what was going on in front of her. She had to drill through the thick outer shell of Lady Loki and find Kerry inside.
As she started her task, Sarah was surprised by what she found. This is extremely thick, she thought. It’s nearly as thick as Loki’s defenses… Lady Loki must really not want me to get inside.
As Natasha continued her fistfight, she noticed a change come over Lady Loki. She was getting slower, seemingly distracted. Natasha’s eyes quickly darted to the side. Upon seeing Sarah -- her face scrunched in concentration and her fingers resting on her temples -- Natasha put two and two together. Sarah was breaking into Lady Loki’s mind and now Lady Loki was forced to protect herself on two fronts, both physical and mental. Smiling to herself, Natasha relished the knowledge that she now had the upper hand. She wouldn’t hold back now!
Raising her leg, Natasha kicked Lady Loki in the gut. Stumbling backward, Lady Loki raised her staff to defend her from more damage. Tony approached, aiming his firing hand at her. Clint and Rachel shot more arrows. Natasha came in for more. Lady Loki was being surrounded, attacked from all sides.
Natasha neared Lady Loki and punched her face. “Kerry!” she said. “Are you in there? You need to come back! Fight, Kerry! If you don’t we might be forced to kill you!”
Lady Loki’s eyes filled with rage. Clint shot an arrow at Lady Loki, the sharp edge glinting in a ray of sunlight. It all slowed down for Lady Loki as her world turned red with hatred. She snapped. In one fluid motion, she grabbed the arrow in midair, kicked Natasha hard as she turned around, and punched Tony hard in the chest. To Tony’s surprise, her fist went right through his suit and she grasped the inner workings of the machine. Pulling hard, she tugged it out, leaving a gaping hole in the Iron Man suit.
Megan, alarmed, ran up to Tony, placing her hands on his arm. Concerned, she asked, “Are you okay?!” A small squirm wiggled its way up Megan’s stomach. What was that? This feeling… Megan paused. She had felt it a few times before, but only when she was around Tony. Could it be…? No. It can’t. He has Pepper. He doesn’t need me.
Tony smiled uncertainly. “Yeah, I’m fine. But it seems Iron Man is not…”
Lady Loki’s eyes seared into Tony as she made her next move. Arrow still in hand, she thrust it into Tony’s unprotected chest, digging deep into his flesh. Tony stumbled backward as Lady Loki tore the arrow back out, staring relentlessly down at Tony as he fell to the ground. He cupped his hands to his wound and they quickly filled with blood and spilled over.
“NOO!” Megan screamed as she fell to the ground next to him, examining his wound and fearing for his life. “Tony! Tony!” She desperately called his name, needing to keep him awake, alert, alive.
“Ack. I’m… fine… Still… fine!” Tony coughed and sputtered through his own blood as it dripped from his mouth.
Lady Loki looked down at them. Even though the victory was hers, no joy showed in her face.
Sarah’s eyes shot open. YES! She had her! Lady Loki had snapped, opening a way for Sarah to destroy her defenses. She was so close to Kerry; she could feel it! Just a little more…
Sarah smelled blood and looked at Tony. No… “What… what happened?” she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer, even though she already knew what it was.
Steve, who was still standing beside her, gave her exactly the answer she was expecting: “She got him.”
Sarah shook her head in denial. I was too late! No, this won’t do.. she’s hurting my friends and herself! I have to stop this… keep her still…
An idea lit her mind. Letting go of Lady Loki, she left only a small fraction of her energy to stay in Lady Loki’s mind. “Distract her!” Sarah commanded the others. “Steve,” she said. “You go, too. I can handle myself for now. Just keep her busy.”
Steve nodded and rushed at Lady Loki. She wasn’t facing him as she wrestled with Natasha and Clint’s arrows. Seeing his chance, he threw his shield at her with full force. She caught sight of the approaching red disc just as it was about to hit her and backflipped away. Natasha, who was standing on the other side of Lady Loki, was now in the direct path of the shield. She quickly followed suit and got out of the way. Lady Loki was defending herself against a barrage of arrows when Natasha came up behind her and raised her foot to kick her in the face. Lady Loki again sensed the oncoming attack and turned to knock Natasha’s leg away, throwing her off balance. As she fell to the ground, Lady Loki held the tip of her scepter to her throat, the sharp point grazing the soft flesh on bottom side of her chin. Steve made another appearance to struggle with wrestling the scepter out of Lady Loki’s hands.
Bruce stood to the side. Battles were raging on either side of him, but he dared not join. He looked in Loki’s direction as he and Thor fought hard. Loki caught his eyes and flashed him an evil smile. He’d done something to him… The other guy was trapped. He couldn’t emerge. Bruce was defenseless to any attack he may receive. He looked to Tony, bathing in a pool of blood with Megan and Rachel fretting over him. Bruce hadn’t been able to stop it. But… the other guy was gone.
Steve flew through the air and landed on the ground at Bruce’s feet. He didn’t miss a beat before getting back up and facing Lady Loki again. She threw a sphere of blue-green at him and he blocked it with his shield which he then use to shove her harshly.
Sarah had stood her ground and was whispering to herself, “Good, good, Steve! Keep her distracted!”
Water began to swirl and gather at Lady Loki’s and Steve’s feet. It grew in volume until it bubbled and swished around them at a satisfactory size.
“Now, Steve!” Sarah yelled at him. “Jump away!”
Steve complied and the mass of water enveloped Lady Loki. Struggling in vain, she batted at the liquid as it rose to cover all but her head. As the water froze she was rooted to the spot, much to her frustration.
Her muscles strained and fought, but she was unable to break free. “ How dare you interfere again!” she spat. “ I will kill you, you measly human! All of you will die!”
“No, Kerry.” Sarah walked toward the others, joining them around their once-friend now-foe. “What's wrong with you? You have to come back to us!” Steve, Natasha, and Bruce stood to the side, watching hopefully as the friends attempted to reason with each other. Rachel watched from where she sat beside Megan, and even Megan looked up from Tony for a moment. The sounds of Thor’s and Loki’s battle faded away as everyone sat on the edge of their seats, waiting for what was to happen next.
The air was thick, crackling with tension, until Megan broke it. Tears spilled over from her eyes and she pleaded through her tears, her voice scratchy. “SNAP OUT OF IT KERRY!! We know you're in there somewhere!! You have to fight it!!!”
Sarah joined in, placing her hands on the ice over Lady Loki’s shoulders. “Fight, Kerry, FIGHT! We know you're tough! You can make it through this! You can win!”
“What are you talking about?” Lady Loki snarled back. She scrunched her eyes as she forced down the pain welling up inside. “What's wrong with..you humans? Don't you…” -- gasp -- “...have any sympathy to..Loki at all?! He was hurt....rejected...alone! He wanted to show how good he was but…” -- gasp -- “Darn headache...YOU TOOK AWAY HIS CHANCE TO PROVE HOW GREAT HE COULD BE! HE IS a KING!”
Sarah sighed. She could see where this was going and it would end the way she had hoped. Taking a step back, she pulled herself back into the alcove of Lady Loki’s mind which she had left open. “I understand,” she said in her mind. “I, too, have suffered in silence. We all have. You are not alone in that. You’re not alone at all. We’re here. You never have to be alone. Same goes for Loki.”
Natasha shifted from one leg to another where she stood. “ Loki is a tyrant!” she said angrily. “There was nothing great about him taking over our planet! The place that welcomed him to make it his home!”
Sarah looked up sharply. “Natasha! You can talk about that later! Right now, that is NOT what we need!”
Lady Loki took no notice of Sarah’s words. “Home? What about home?” she growled.
“Home is where the heart is!” Rachel sobbed, quoting the little saying that hung on their wall at home as she got to her feet and came closer.”Kerry! Come back!”
Lady Loki’s eyes widened and her face relaxed a little. “R...R-rachel?” she asked. She had no more time to continue. Loki came up behind her, chuckling to himself. "When will Thor not fall for that?" He then noticed Lady Loki in her icy case and narrowed his eyes, assessing. What is this? Is someone here a frost giant?
Loki covered up his confusion with arrogance."Heh, you held your own against my weapon pretty well, but you almost lost a comrade I see? You all look dastardly beaten up!"
Rachel shook with cold fury. Kerry had trusted him, cared for him! How could he do this to her?! She vowed to get revenge against the one who had hurt her sister and her friends.
Putting one foot in front of the other, Rachel found her ideal spot, drew her bow, and nocked one of her new arrows. Thor and Sarah had been crafting them to increase her power, but they had yet to be tested. Now was just as good a time as any.
As soon as she held it in her hand, it awakened something inside, singing to it and coaxing to thrum to life. Power and confidence sprung through her limbs, resonating from the arrow, through her arm, and into her core. She smiled evilly and spoke in a low voice. "LOKI! I will kill you for what you did to my sister!!" Her arrow erupted in bright flames, burning purple at the core and softening into pink as it died at the edges. "YOU WILL PAY!!!" she yelled furiously.
Letting go, she released her grip on the arrow and it flew through the air. The air around it crackled as it quickly zoomed for Loki's slightly surprised face. He deftly stepped to the side and allowed the arrow to stab the ground behind him, unfazed. The pink-purple hue of the arrow exploded outward and caused and impressive dent in the ground.
Rachel didn't blink as she reached for another arrow from her quiver, preparing to fire again and determined to get him this time. Clint ran to Rachel. "Rachel! Don't fight him alone!" he told her. "You're no match for him!" He, too, reached for an arrow of his own, but Rachel shook her head and stared at him venomously.
"Don't interfere!" she ordered and returned to her task, nocking her arrow. Clint ignored her order and continued getting his arrow, but Steve grabbed his arm and shook his head. Clint resisted at first, but relented without much trouble. He sighed and stood back, conforming to Rachel's wishes.
Loki smiled as he once again dodged Rachel's arrow, then returned with a projectile of his own. He shot a blast of magic at Rachel and her confidence wavered as she barely managed to dodge in time.
"This is such a fun game, mortal," Loki gloated. "Truly. Perhaps we shall play it some time when I do not have more pressing matters at hand, hmm?"
Rachel shook with rage. How could he take this so lightly? She could feel her anger clouding her mind, filling her with power. She scanned her surroundings and stopped when her eyes rested on Sarah. She knew that Sarah must sense every ounce of anger surging within her. Sarah had once told her not to let your emotions rule you, but to control them and use the power they grant you to your advantage. Sarah’s gaze conveyed that message right now.
Rachel took a deep breath, though she didn’t dare to take her eyes off Loki. She allowed the red anger to seep out of her mind, only to feed the burning fire in her heart. She embraced it and its flames grew higher, extending out of its bounds, swelling out of her.
Loki again attacked. This time, she easily dodged the blast and focused on growing the power within her. She saw her opportunity, drew and arrow, and filled it with her pent-up energy. It erupted in the pink-purple fire and she let it go. Loki’s eyes grew wide as it drew near. It was too big; there was nowhere to go!
The arrow exploded in a flurry of color. No one could see what happened inside the explosion. “NO!” Lady Loki yelled. “MY KING!”
Loki emerged immediately at the mention of him. He swiftly ran up to Rachel and grabbed her by her neck. He was injured, she could tell, but his threat was still dangerous: “NO ONE. Harms. ME!” He summoned up his own blue-green energy up his arm and it slammed into Rachel as he threw her away like discarded trash.
“Rachel!” Clint yelled after her, diving and catching her before she hit the ground.
“No!” She rejected his aid. “Don’t help me! I need to finish this alone!”
“But you’re injured.” Clint disregarded her words. He took another look at her as he prepared to dress her wounds and saw the fighting spirit still shining bright within her. Relenting, he shook his head. Against his better judgement, he relaxed and backed of. “Fine.”
“Loki,” Rachel snarled as she rose to her feet, wincing at each painful movement, “this time, I will not fail!” Her movements immediately quickened and she nocked five arrows at once. A bright fire grew on each one and she shot them at Loki.
With some quick dodging and close calls, Loki managed not to get hit by a single one. He chuckled menacingly at his enemy’s inability to harm him any further. “Eheheheh. You thought that would work, silly girl. Ha! Oh… oh Freya.” Loki looked down his nose at the arrow that was pointed directly at it. It was the biggest, most powerful one yet. Rachel smiled victoriously, but the smile faded into a pained grimace.
“This is for my sister!” she yelled, then quieter, “I’m sorry…” She let go of the arrow and it left the bow with a twang. It extruded a powerful beam and was swallowed up by it. The entire vicinity was filled with a flash of light before it reached its target and the next thing everyone knew was that they were being bombarded by debris.
Rachel stayed tense and looked at the decimated ground in front of her where Loki has just stood. Is it over? she thought, and breathed a sigh of relief. She turned and smiled at her friends, gasping as she felt a sharp piercing in her abdomen. Choking, she saw the tip of a blade stabbing through her chest, glinting with gold. “L-loki,” she stammered before he let her fall to the ground.
Clint again screamed, “RACHEL!” He had known better! Why had he allowed Rachel to act on her foolish impulses?! He reached her and cradled her head with his hand. He didn’t care if she struggled; he was staying right there. Her face was so pale and her body trembled. He doubted she had the energy to struggle anymore.
Clint heard cracking and shattering behind him. He turned to find the source and found a foot in his face. Lady Loki had broken free of her icy prison and Sarah was holding her head in pain. Lady Loki picked Rachel up by the collar of her shirt and threw her against a tree. Rachel trembled as she settled on the ground, trying to shift positions as blood flooded from her wound.
“How DARE you injure my king!” Lady Loki said furiously. No glimmer of her former self shone in her dead eyes.
Loki walked up behind Lady Loki, glaring down at Rachel’s pitiful form. His breathing was ragged and rage was clearly marked on every feature of his face. His magic swirled around him in quick, aggressive patterns. “YOU. WILL. DIE.” he declared. His eyes shifted and took on a red hue as his skin shuddered and faded to a pale blue.
Rachel looked into his red frost giant eyes and gasped. She immediately regretted doing so as pain shot upward through her body, tingling at the end of each limb. Fear, thick and foul, engulfed her as she prepared to embrace death.
Sarah fought against the blizzard inside which Lady Loki had unleashed on her when she forced herself free of Sarah’s ice. She sucked in a breath of air and focused as she sensed something from within Lady Loki. It wasn’t Kerry, whom Sarah had been searching for, but something far more dangerous. It was sinister, feral, wild, beastly, and it… hurt. Sarah gasped in pain at the sudden shock of the powerful flow of pure hatred and wild power. She held her head and slowly lowered to the ground in pain. Grunting, she severed the connection, but the pain lingered. Steve jumped right to Sarah’s side, catching her before she could collapse on the floor.
Steve stood helplessly with the others, supporting Sarah against his chest as Tony slumped on the ground beside Megan, finding it hard to breathe. Natasha sprang to her feet and ran to protect Rachel from further harm, but even she knew she wasn’t going to make it.
The frost giant, Loki, leaped into the air, aimed directly at Rachel for the final strike.
BAM!
Magic exploded everywhere, ice flying across the field like the blizzard in Sarah’s mind taken physical form. Steve and Megan gasped. Natasha stopped in her tracks. Rachel weakly looked up at the figure standing between her and Loki.
Four deadly words burned into their ears. “Don’t. Hurt. My. SISTER" Lady Loki voice pierced the air.
Loki stepped back in surprise. “Wha..?”
Lady Loki lashed out at her master, flinging him across the field. He didn’t have the luxury of landing before Lady Loki sent a blast of her magic his way and he was kicking into the air. She jumped into the air after him and punched him in the face, quickening his descent and slamming him hard into the ground. Her hand pushed Loki’s head into the dirt and formed a dent.
Clint smiled sadly as the threat to Rachel was taken care off and let tears freely flow down his face. His sadness conflicted with his gratitude that she was still still alive as he once again cradled her in his arms. “Rachel,” he sobbed. “Don’t die on me! You’re so strong yet so prideful; you should of let me help you. Now I might lose you!”
Rachel smiled weakly up at him. “Just make sure,” she whispered, and Clint had to lean closer to hear, “you keep me alive… Clint… I… I love you…”
Clint cried even harder as his tears rolled down his cheeks and splattered on Rachel’s paling cheeks. “I love you, too!”
Steve hid his face as he felt the prickling of tears in his eyes. Natasha’s face became brighter and she looked away. Bruce looked at his feet as he shook his head slightly. Tony chuckled before entering into a bout of coughing. When he finished, he murmured, “Hmph, is that what we’re doing now?” He looked up at Megan sitting beside him. “Megan, I--”
“Don’t you dare, Tony!” Megan snapped. “You are NOT going to die! You don’t have to tell me!”
Loki still lay on the ground where he had landed, clutching Lady Loki’s hand as she squeezed his throat, choking him. He grabbed her arm with his pale blue hand and ice spread from his palm and up Lady Loki’s forearm. Sharp pain seared in her arm, but Lady Loki didn’t let go. Loki lost his energy and faltered, slowly fading back to his normal form. His eyes widened and looked pleadingly up at Lady Loki. She did not respond, but continued choking him, her eyes a storm of cold fury.
“Kerry,” Loki rasped. “Snap… out of… it… It’s me… Loki! Rachel… is fine!” He gasped. “Please!”
Sarah stepped up next to Lady Loki, limping slightly as she cradled her head. Steve followed close behind, ready to catch her if she showed signs of fainting. “Kerry, you need to stop,” Sarah said. “This isn’t you! You’re hurting yourself just as you are Loki!” She stumbled and Steve raced to her side, holding her up. “Don’t worry about Loki, he counseled. “He brought this upon himself.”
Lady Loki lashed out at Sarah and Steve, clearly not appreciating their interference. Steve reacted quickly as he covered Sarah and took the blow for her.
“DON’T INTERFERE, HUMANS!!!!! You and your Avengers are NEXT! He will die painfully and slowly, YOU ALL WILL!” Lady Loki yelled.
Everyone then realized that, rather than becoming her normal self when protecting Rachel, she had morphed into something far worse. She was sinking deeper and deeper into the abyss, losing herself and all hope of returning.
Loki was still struggling under her grasp, but was growing weaker. “Kerry! Come out!” he pleaded.
The trees shook and a huge form sprung from them: Thor. He had returned from wherever he had gone to fight Loki. He knocked over Lady Loki and Loki gasped in fresh air, coughing and choking. “Loki! Change her back!” Thor commanded. He picked Loki up by his clothes. “You’re breaking her heart! How could you do this to her?!”
Tears beaded in Loki’s eyes, spilling over in his right eye, then his left. Quietly, he said, “I didn’t expect this to happen…” Lady Loki got to her feet and fixed her dead eyes on Loki. Thor shoved Loki at her. “Fix it.” Loki stumbled as Thor’s commanding tone followed him. “Now.”
Lady Loki lunged at him in attack, but Loki caught her. He pulled her close, took her helmet off and allowed her hair to fall on her shoulders. Pulling her closer, he pressed his lips hard against hers, kissing her with a desperate hunger. Lady Loki struggled against his grip, fighting to separate her lips from his, but she was unable; Loki’s determination was firm. The fury slowly melted from Lady Loki’s eyes and she froze. She lay limp in Loki’s arms. In a swirl of fabulous blue-green magic, Lady Loki’s costume returned to normal clothing, and Kerry was once again with her friends. Loki opened his eyes slowly, regretfully, glancing at the soft features of Kerry’s face, and slowly he pulled out of the kiss.
Loki tore his eyes from Kerry with some effort and looked at the others. “Well?” he asked. “Are you happy now?”
Sarah was resting in Steve’s arms, relieved to see Kerry as herself once more. Her good humor returned. “Are you?” she smirked. “Don’t try to tell me you only did that ‘cause you had to.”
Loki blushed and turned his face away to hide it. “You don’t need to know how I feel,” he murmured. He returned his penetrating gaze to Kerry and rested his forehead on hers, pressing their bodies closer together. “Wake up, my dear,” he whispered, just for her. “The nightmare is over.”
Kerry’s eyes fluttered open and took a moment to adjust. Her expression was confused at first, then softened as she blushed at how close her body was to Loki’s. She tried to pull back but Loki quickly smothered her face into his chest.
Kerry squirmed in Loki’s arms. With a muffled voice, she asked, “Loki?! What’s going on? What just happened? Why are you smothering me?!”
Loki relaxed his grip and pulled away from Kerry. “Oh,” he chuckled, hiding his yearning, “now you’re the smelly one! Let’s go take a shower, shall we?” He and Kerry walked away, the house standing tall and inviting against the beautiful colors of the setting sun. Besides, Loki thought as they walked to the horizon, side by side, you mustn’t know of the destruction and chaos you’ve created… much less see the wrecked forest and injured friends… and your sister. You must never know what happened here today.
“Loki,” Kerry growled, still in a daze. She didn’t notice the others staring after her. She didn’t notice Megan helping Tony up or Natasha coming to aid them. She didn’t notice when when Clint picked Rachel up and whispered soothing words to her. She didn’t notice Steve and Sarah smiling at each other, then quickly separating when they realized everyone could see them. She didn’t notice the others following behind slowly as they tended to their injured.
“We’ll get them to a hospital,” Sarah said. “Everyone in Kerry’s car. Then I’m going home and calling it a night. Boy, it’s been a crazy day!”

Notes