King Loki

Chapter 12
Loki rubbed his hands together with eager excitement. He'd lost his temper for but a moment, but she got the point. Her compliance was inevitable. Loki had plans, so many plans for her and her unique power.
She had a point. What if she wasn't powerful enough to take on these super humans? Well in that case he would have to find anther way. Until then, he planned to exploit her for everything she was worth.
He'd known for some time he might use her to his advantage but he hadn't been sure how. For a year he'd been working in housekeeping as Lana Lake leaving behind a copy of himself for everyone else to gaze upon in his absence. Being a simple housekeeper helped him keep and ear on those around him for traitors.
Cephera had been an answer to his frustration, though at the time he hadn't seen it that way. At the time he'd been merely curious with the intent to eventually capture her and lock her away. He'd created a fake attendant before her so he could place her closer to him without her growing suspicious. To allow her inside information just to see how far she'd go to achieve her goals.
The fact Cephera told Lana absolutely everything she was up to made manipulating her that much easier. That and having her as his Attendant made it easier to make sure she didn't get into any mischief he didn't know about.
Still, he almost wished he'd probed her more for information pertaining to her world, this Mechanova. At the time he'd been playing it safe. Keeping a low profile. He hadn't expected to need plan B so soon, but alas that was information he'd have to do without. Either way it was clear that her world wanted nothing to do with Midgard and would not come totting cavalry. She obviously had no way to contact them here on Midgard, so he chose to push thoughts of her world from his mind.
He had things to attend to this early morning. Cephera was the first, the second was a captured inhuman brought in by Captain Steve Rogers just an hour before Loki had decided to call Cephera to him. Loki was looking forward to meeting this specimen for himself.
XxX
"Good job Captain," Loki told Steve Rogers as he approached the super soldier. He was waiting for him just outside the room their new prisoner was being held.
"I wouldn't say that sir," Steve said back. "It was a blood bath out there. Half the men you sent with me are down, and half the ones who made it back are injured."
Loki always enjoyed the Captains professionalism regarding war. That didn't come from his brainwashing, but rather the man himself. "I have found you help for your next mission. Hopefully this bloodshed will soon be a distant memory."
Loki cared not for the bloodshed. What was happening here, his rule, that was all a farce. He knew it but no one else did.
Cephera was right, Loki had no real interest in the human race, but they gave him an excuse. When he'd fallen from the Byfrost he met a lot of sorted characters in his journey through the outer worlds, but Thanos was the worst.
Loki wouldn't have chosen to become involved with his sort, but at the time he was desperate. He was lost both in reality and in his own mind. The life he knew was gone, shattered by secrets kept from him.
So Loki made a deal with this devil Titan. He couldn't be King of Asgard but a part of him had wanted to do something that would meddle with his would-be brother. He'd chosen Earth for that reason. Selfish and childish even, but still he couldn't turn back once he'd set it in motion.
Of course that was perfect for Thanos who wanted the Tesseract.
The thought of the Tesseract made chills arise along Loki's neck. The cube had become damaged in the New York explosion. The Chitaui had no way to tell their master that and so Thanos had yet to find out, but Loki wasn't looking forward to the day he did.
So far Thanos had not come for the cube and Loki hoped it would be the last stop he made in his journey. He didn't quite know what the Titan was looking for, but Loki knew enough to know it was bad news. It was too late, Loki was already caught up in that drama.
He pushed his thoughts aside. Thanos was yet one more burden to add to Loki's list, and right now he had other things to deal with. If he lost Earth he would have nowhere to go and he might very well lose the Tesseract. Loki would rather have something to give the Titan rather than nothing at all.
So he pressed forward with his plans for world domination.
Inside, the room was lit by a few fluorescent lights, a small couch was pushed against the far wall. A man was chained to the wall inside by his wrists, his white blond hair matted to his forehead with sweat.
"Do you know who I am?" Loki asked him. The mans eyes narrowed.
"You're the alien who thinks himself better than us." His accent was thicker than Loki had expected.
"I don't think it, I know it." Loki replied with a smirk, but the smirk faltered when Loki actually was made to jump. Quicker than his eyes could capture, the man had charged toward him in a flash.
The chains came up short and pulled the stranger backwards. Loki composed himself quickly and narrowed his eyes into an intense glare. He then looked at Steve Rogers who was stood behind him. "Is speed all he does?" Loki asked the Captain.
"It's all he needs." Steve replied. "He helped take down the team I had with me. He ran circles around them causing confusion, tripped them, disarmed them. His speed might seem useless, but I've seen it in use and it's effective."
Loki considered what the Captain said. His grip tightened on his sceptre as he decided whether or not to use it. He could use the extra help from someone a little more impressive than your average human.
"Sir, there was another in the field. We caught this one only because he was distracted trying to save her. She got away, but her power's, they seemed extreme." Steve informed his master.
He saw the white haired man twitch at the conversation. "If all goes well, she won't be a problem and will soon join this one." Loki thought of Cephera and her potential. He didn't think she'd be a problem to control, she would just need reminders of why she should do as he says.
Loki approached the man and like he predicted he tried to use his speed to avoid what Loki had coming, but Loki made several copies of himself and when he finally had the man cornered, confused as to who he should attack, Loki pressed his sceptre to his chest and watched as the last essence of resistance faded from his eyes.
The mind control took a little longer than usual, telling Loki that this man was a fighter, but happily he didn't die from his struggle to fight off the magic.
Loki knew he couldn't use this on every inhuman they caught alive, but that didn't mean he couldn't just lock up those he no longer needed and release them from the magic so he could use it on others. He would find a way for this to work.

Notes