Madness of the Serpent

Loki watched the celestial being he had created from the power of the two cosmic artifacts, fascinated by simply observing her as she attended to the documentaries he had provided. Even after concentrating his focus on her for over two hours, he found her to be an interesting subject.

At rest, she was unlike most other mortals (or even Asgardians) he knew – she did not move. She did not fidget, or shift her weight, or yawn, or express any other involuntary signals that most exhibit when they begin to grow restless. She simply remained still as a statue, her body posture semi-rigid in the confines of the seat.

The only thing that ever changed was her eyes. The dark orbs sometimes moved, and her eyebrows would imperceptibly shift at times, leaving the god to wonder what was going through her mysterious mind. Loki could have forced his way into her thoughts, as he had done with the scientist that had once been a friend to Thor, but that would not have been nearly as entertaining as coercing her into revealing her thoughts of her own volition.

But as with most things, Loki eventually grew bored, his attention span having suffered along with other qualities of his mind from the exertion of his efforts. He had yet to sleep, and it had been three full days since he had breached the planet in order to seize it for his own.

Normally this would not be an issue, as he had gone for days without rest in the past, but he could not recall when he had slept last – before Loki had been given the sceptre and stepped foot on this miserable rock. He had been so eager to traverse the portal and claim the Earth as his own, that sleep had seemed a triviality compared to what was to come.

Loki could feel his body beginning to suffer for this lax care. His joints creaked and his bones ached, but he could not rest. Not yet. There was one issue left to address before his first presentation to Midgard as their new King.

Casting a long glance at the stock-still woman whose eyes continued to remain fixed on the glowing screen, the god stretched out his sore muscles and rose to his feet. Trinity did not look up or take note of his movements, and he estimated that she would be too enthralled with the mortal narratives to endanger herself again. Loki had made sure this time, enchanting every airlock so she could not plummet to her death – not that he believed she was that desperate to escape him.

The god confidently strode to the front of the aircraft, pulling the latch and opening the narrow door that separated the cockpit from the rest of the aircraft.

Agent Barton was at the helm, his focus remaining on the control console as Loki shut the door behind him. Without a word, the god took a seat next to the mortal, his weary body finally quieting its various complaints as he settled into the plush seat.

Loki was beginning to realize how much mortals desired soft objects to rest and recline on – no doubt because they were such a soft people that avoided discomfort and conflict whenever they could. A species that fragile would be almost insultingly easy to conquer.

“I must admit, I am pleasantly surprised by your piloting skills, Barton,” Loki said evenly, watching the human as he guided the aircraft towards their final destination.

“Thank you, sir,” the assassin replied, his glittering azure eyes remaining fixed either on the instruments or simply out into the clear blue atmosphere, the ocean almost too far below to perceive.

“You have also done well in regards to the film recommendations you made for Trinity’s… education.”

“Thank you, sir,” Barton repeated, almost robotically, and the god was disappointed that the resistance he had shown earlier had apparently been snuffed out.

When Loki had approached Agent Barton before the woman’s attempted escape, while they were still in the underground, he had been flustered and flummoxed as to how he could bend her will to his own without using the brutish force of the sceptre. The god was knowledgeable enough about the mortals to despise their cowardice, but he lacked the time and the proper tools to try to convince the spirit of the legitimate flaws of the humans in the short time frame he had available to him.

That had been when the assassin had suggested the films – short snippets of narration and information meant to tell a specific point of view. Barton had even had a short list of suggestions, and it had been simple enough to find a computing device that would project the digital images once they could travel aboveground.

Loki had been stunned by the simple beauty of the idea, and he had asked Barton how he had come to this revolutionary conclusion.

That had been when the assassin, for the first time in his enslavement, had shown resistance. His glowing eyes had grown hard and his jaw had become taut, the muscles flexing in a stubborn refusal to answer.

At first, Loki had been too surprised to react angrily. He had believed resisting the sceptre was out of the realm of possibility – that its inescapable powers were beyond defiance. And yet… this single mortal was clearly fighting its influence with every fiber of his being.

“Barton…” the god had warned in a soft tone, more curious about the human’s refusal to answer than affronted by his act of rebellion. “Where did you get the idea?” At the human’s continued struggle against the sceptre’s power, Loki did begin to grow impatient.

“Answer me, mortal. Do not force me to coerce the truth from your tongue. I promise you will not enjoy it.”

The god knew when the agent’s will was broken, as his muscular shoulders slumped and the fire in his eyes was promptly extinguished, the glow of the sceptre’s influence in his orbs the only thing remaining.

“My wife.”

The god had raised his eyebrows. The archer was just full of surprises.

“You are wedded?”

“Yes,” Barton answered, his tone devoid of emotion as he exposed the secret he had struggled to protect from the awareness of the god.

“What is her name?” Loki inquired, more fascinated by the life of his mind-slave than he most likely should have been.

“Laura.”

“Curious that you did not mention her before.”

“You didn’t ask,” the agent replied, and though his words appeared confrontational, his tone remained obedient.

“Then I shall ask now. What else are you hiding from me?” the god had demanded with a feral tinge to his voice.

“We have… children,” Barton replied, the tightness in his jaw returning as he once again seemed to fight against the sceptre’s enslavement. The strength of his willful heart was something to behold to the Asgardian.

“How many? Tell me of them.”

“Two. A son and a… a daughter. Cooper and Lila.”

“How old are they, Barton?”

“Seven and three,” the agent replied, a curious vein appearing on his forehead from the strain of being forced to reveal the existence of his family as he continued to fight against the god’s questions.

“The ferocious hawk has chicks in the nest,” Loki had remarked with a growing smile, one filled with unpleasant malice. “Perhaps I will see these hawklings for myself, when you have finished aiding me in conquering your planet.” Loki’s grin only widened as he regarded the assassin with macabre cheerfulness.

“I should like to meet your beloved, as well. See if the mother hawk is every bit as deadly as her mate.”

The mortal’s expression remained blank, though there was a tense undertone in his features, and the god did not miss the sudden clenching of his right fist. Loki had merely grinned and left the archer with instructions to begin educating his celestial captive with a basic understanding of language and letters, giving the agent one last amused remark before he departed:

“I trust you will be patient with her. It should be a simple enough task – treat her as if she was one of your own offspring.”

Perhaps that last remark, meant to be a jab at the assassin, had been the god’s own error. Perhaps it had been perceived as permission for Barton to leave the door to Trinity’s quarters unsecured. Perhaps the mortal had simply been obeying his instructions, finding a loophole with which to free the spirit-woman, as he would have done for his own progeny.

The mortal was clever, and Loki did not plan on making the same mistake again. He would leave no room available in which Barton could further defy the god in any possible manner.

“Tell me about these powerful mortals you mentioned earlier – the ones Fury shall be summoning to his side,” Loki commanded, his mind returning once more to the human aircraft as it made its journey across the Earth. “I wish to know their strengths, and more importantly, the chinks in their armor.”

“Director Fury will most likely reactivate the Avengers Initiative,” Agent Barton began, his tone of voice returning to the quality of professionalism he used when the god called on his skills as a spy. It was curious that he was willing to give Loki all of SHIELD’s deepest and darkest secrets without any qualms, but when it had come to the assassin’s family, he had reacted with such resistance that the god had found it almost admirable.

“There are four potential candidates, though one was rejected and another replaced.”

“Tell me everything.”

“The first entrant is technically Steve Rogers, also referred to as Captain America, though he was not available until fairly recently due to being trapped in a glacier in the Arctic. Born on July 4th, 1918. Rogers’s father was killed in World War I before he was born, and his mother also died when Rogers was young, from tuberculosis. Rogers attempted to join the army during World War II but was rejected due to his small stature and frail health.

“He joined Project Rebirth and was injected with a serum designed by Dr. Abraham Erskine that completely changed his physicality, giving him highly advanced strength, speed, agility, and hand-eye coordination. His standard weapon is a specially-crafted circular shield made out of steel and Vibranium, a meteoric ore from the jungles of Wakanda.”

“How did he come to be in the ice?” Loki asked, his elbow leaning against the armrest as he propped his chin into his palm, watching the assassin intently as he spoke.

“Rogers sacrificed himself in order to crash the Red Skull’s airplane into the Arctic, as it was on a deadly trajectory to New York City. The ship had also been transporting the Cube, which is how the Strategic Scientific Reserve eventually got ahold of it. They would one day become SHIELD, though we had only recently begun to explore the Tesseract’s unlimited energy potential.”

Loki mused for a moment before stating:

“I always wondered why Odin left the Tesseract on Earth where the humans could easily find it. Though I suppose his negligence is now my advantage.” The Asgardian thought to himself for a moment before asking, “This enhanced human survived the ice? He is mentally and physically intact?”

“As far as we can tell. Despite being frozen for sixty-six years, he was the picture of health once he was defrosted. Although, it is possible Rogers may have psychological trauma due to his near-death experience, as well as waking up in a world that has left him behind.”

“This Captain seems to believe he is a Messiah figure.”

Agent Barton nodded and said, “That was the impression Fury had, and he plans to use it to his advantage. Unfortunately, it may be his greatest weakness. Rogers was especially affected when he was unable to save his childhood friend, Bucky Barnes, from falling to his death during the war against Hydra.

“Rogers was also close companions with Agent Margaret “Peggy” Carter and Howard Stark. Stark was killed under suspicious conditions, along with his wife, and Carter is now an old woman nearing the end of her life and suffers from Alzheimer’s disease.”

“A savior who is unable to save his friends. I can see how that could cause a man to break,” Loki remarked, the ghost of a smile reflected on his face.

“His greatest asset may not be in his fighting skills, but in his ability to evoke unshakable loyalty. He’s what you would call a natural-born leader, and he can inspire others to follow him into battle, and even death.”

The god’s expression was deep in thought as he stared past Barton to the blue dome of the sky, churning the information over in his weary but still-sharp mind.

“Is there anything else?”

“All of the candidates for the Avengers Initiative have extensive backgrounds, and it would take me several hours to go over all of them.”

“And you remember all of the details that SHIELD holds regarding these individuals? With perfect clarity?”

Barton shrugged and said, “If you ask me for specifics, I’ll be able to recall them.”

Loki was not quite sure what to make of this. Either the agent had a memory which recorded everything he saw, or the sceptre’s power was able to extract information from his mind that even Barton was unable to remember.

“Give me the concise version of their biographies – what you would consider the most vital aspects of their abilities, history, and personalities for when I am to face them in battle.”

“Acknowledged,” the assassin said with a nod. “The Captain is a capable leader who values loyalty and good deeds, but he is also a man alienated from the unfamiliar world around him. His inability to be a shield for others is, most likely, his greatest fear.”

“I will keep that in mind. Continue.”

“Doctor Robert Bruce Banner, also known as the Hulk, was born December 18th, 1969. He is a scientist in the fields of biochemistry and nuclear physics, his specialty being in gamma radiation. He was attempting to recreate the Erskine formula in 2005 when he intentionally dosed himself with the experimental formula, as well as a lethal-dose of gamma radiation.

“Instead of becoming a supersoldier like Rogers, his muscle mass increased a thousandfold, his skin became green, and he developed a volatile, enraged alter ego. Banner can eventually revert back into a normal human, but he will transform into his hulking form when he becomes too emotionally charged.”

“It is absolutely riveting how far you mortals will go to weaponize your own bodies. Is your entire species this mad, or is it just a disturbed few?”

“I wouldn’t know, sir.”

“It was a rhetorical question, Barton. What more do I need to know about this hulking beast?”

“Only that he’s the most dangerous on the roster – his strength is immeasurable and he has little to no control over his actions when he’s changed. Though he seems to do better when he has a target to focus on, like when he fought the Abomination in New York or General Ross’ forces at Culver University.”

“Fury does not seem like a man who would drop such an untamed beast amidst his well-trained hounds,” Loki remarked as he continued to stare with laser-like focus on the assassin, who did not seem to notice or mind the Asgardian’s intense observation of him.

“The Director will most likely use him to track the Tesseract, not for his abilities in a fight. His greatest asset is also his greatest weakness – he’s an unstable pile of munitions waiting to go off, equally as likely to destroy friendly targets as he is the enemy. But as long as his usefulness outweighs his risks, Fury will keep him around.”

Loki did not bother to hide the smile on his face. If the Director of SHIELD was foolish enough to bring the beast anywhere near the god, he would not live long to regret it.

“Go on.”

“Anthony Edward Stark, born May 29th, 1970, is the son of brilliant entrepreneur Howard Stark and Maria Stark – the couple I mentioned earlier who died under suspect circumstances. Howard Stark was instrumental in helping Rogers survive the experimental procedure with Erskine’s formula, and he was a founding member of SHIELD along with Agent Carter.

“Tony Stark was rejected from the Avengers Initiative due to his impulsive, anti-social, and egotistical personality. He displays possible signs of PTSD from his capture in Afghanistan, and it was there that he created the prototype for his armored suit while under duress by his kidnappers. His suit, dubbed Iron Man, was accepted into the Avengers Initiative.”

“But he was not.”

“No. My counterpart was sent to infiltrate his multi-billion dollar corporation, Stark Industries, in order to gauge his qualifications into the Initiative, and she informed Fury of her findings during an event in which Stark attacked one of his colleagues, who also donned one of his Iron Man suits.”

The god’s lip curled into something akin to a sneer. “This human sounds unstable, hostile, and selfish. I think I like him.”

Barton continued as if Loki had not interrupted him.

“Stark has recently outfitted a new power source that will run his building, Stark Towers, for at least a year with carbon-neutral, sustainable energy. The man is an inventor of genius-level intellect, but Fury did not bring him into Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. because of Stark’s recent aversion to creating weapons of mass destruction.”

Loki’s eyebrows furrowed as he indicated to Barton that he should explain further.

“While in Afghanistan, Stark was nearly killed by a missile of his own making. Metal shards of shrapnel had lodged in his heart, and he had created a miniaturized version of his Arc Reactor in order to keep the shards from piercing his heart. It was this device that was then used to power his prototype suit, enabling his escape from his captors.

“Since that time, Stark Industries has ceased to be the largest military contractor in the world, and now focuses work on the Arc Reactor as a source of clean energy.”

“And Fury was using the Cube to begin to create celestial weapons,” Loki remarked, already knowledgeable about the project due to his influence on Dr. Selvig for the past few months.

Barton gave a curt nod. “Not something Fury wanted Stark to be aware of, though he still retained him as a consultant, and used him to sabotage the World Council’s efforts to bring Emil Blonsky, also known as the Abomination, onto the Avengers’ roster. He was replaced instead by Dr. Bruce Banner, also effectively pushing General Ross out of the Avengers Initiative project.”

“Fury traded one monster for another.”

“No,” the agent disagreed, causing Loki to glance at him sharply. “Fury replaced an unstable, highly-aggressive soldier with an intelligent, radiation physicist who would rather isolate himself than present a danger to others.”

Loki stared at Barton for a long moment, running his tongue over his teeth before responding.
“How very astute of him.”

The agent shrugged, and Loki briefly wondered how long it would take for Barton to hit the unyielding water if he were ejected from the aircraft. Surely a simplistic human machine such as this would not be that difficult for the god to fly.

“Tell me what else I need to know about this Iron Man.”

“If Stark has access to his suit, he has the ability to fly and shoot a concussive energy beam using his Repulsor technology, which does a significant amount of damage. The level of tech in a single suit alone is more advanced than anything SHIELD has.

“But without his suit, Stark is an emotionally-stunted alcoholic who bears the mental scars of an abusive father who showed more affection for a long-missing supersoldier than he did for his own son. Stark uses humor to ward off anyone who tries to personally connect with him, and he retreats into his work with such compulsion and obsession that his responsibilities and health eventually suffers for it.”

Loki had to stop himself from jerking in his seat, and the only sign he gave of distress was his pale fingers digging into the armrest.

“I see,” the god responded once he found his voice, forcing his hands to unclench as he steadied his breathing. There was no logical reason to be upset by this information. True, Loki had a few similarities to this mortal, but it was not as if they had anything deeply in common.
Loki forced the thoughts from his mind as thoroughly as possible.

“Who is next?”

“You know him already.”

Loki’s face darkened as he pulled his eyes from Barton to stare out of the cockpit, his front teeth beginning to unconsciously chew on his thumbnail as his mood became disjointed and agitated.

“Director Fury sent Agent Coulson to New Mexico around the time that Stark was involved with the battle at Stark Expo. Fury called me soon after and sent me to meet Coulson at the site where Mjolnir was embedded in the crater.”

“Yes. I remember you as one of the mortals tasked with watching over Thor’s beloved hammer.”

Loki could see the agent out of the corner of his eye as he looked confused, his eyes slightly narrowed.

“You would not have seen me. Neither your physical senses nor your machines can detect my presence when I am cloaked from sight.”

“What were you doing near the hammer?” Agent Barton asked, and Loki had to bite his tongue from cursing the mortal where he sat.

“That is none of your concern, and do not inquire into my actions ever again,” Loki growled sharply, glaring at the assassin to ensure his command was understood.

“Yes, sir,” the agent responded automatically.

“Continue,” the god demanded once he was satisfied with Barton’s obedience.

“You know more about the Asgardian than we do, and SHIELD has no way of contacting Thor, so Fury will most likely have to rely on Rogers and Stark to battle your army.”

“Is that all, then? Nothing else of import you can tell me?”

Agent Barton hesitated, his eyes unmoving as he stared out of the thick, curved window of the cockpit.

“Though Agent Romanoff and I are not officially a part of the Avengers, Fury will likely call on the skills of my partner to help in the fight against you.”

Loki could almost sense rather than hear the tension in his voice as he spoke of this agent.
“Something you wish to keep hidden from me, Agent Barton?”

The archer squeezed his hands around the control yoke of the airplane, and he did not respond immediately, which caused the god to lean forward with intense interest. It appeared the hawk’s wings had not been completely clipped. Yet.

“Another secret? Why Barton, I’m beginning to think you have not been completely candid with me,” Loki remarked, a lazy smile adorning his face.

“Natasha and I have always been… close. We met when Fury sent me to kill her, which I…. I couldn’t do. I failed to do.” The assassin took a deep breath and continued to speak while Loki stared at him, unblinking.

“Natalia Alianovna Romanoff is one of the world’s most deadly assassins, a former KGB agent by the name of Black Widow. I managed to turn her, convinced her to work with us, and SHIELD offered her a new identity. A new life. She had been trained to be a killer since she was a child, and… it was her first opportunity to be something else.”

Loki scoffed at the sudden gentleness in Barton’s voice.

“You spared her life because you found her form to be pleasing, nothing more. Do not make it sound any nobler than that.”

Barton met his gaze and did not falter as he said:

“It was not her looks that stopped me from releasing an arrow into her throat. It was… something else. Something in her eyes.” The agent shrugged and returned his glowing gaze back to the control panel. “I can’t explain it. It’s something you just have to experience firsthand.”

Loki’s discomfort and irritation were beginning to grow to an unbearable level.

“Is that all, Agent Barton? I doubt this Agent Romanoff will be much of a threat to me.”

“She could be. The last thing you want to do is underestimate Natasha. She didn’t land on SHIELD’s radar because she was some half-cocked, wannabe spy.”

“How did she attract the ire of SHIELD?” Loki asked, curious despite himself.

“Romanoff was chasing a former KGB agent, someone who was planning on defecting to SHIELD. She hunted him across the ocean and finally caught up with him in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The man, Dreykov, had to stop running because of his daughter’s sudden illness.”

Barton continued to speak but there was tightness in his facial muscles, and Loki relished the discomfort he was experiencing – both because it caused distress to the mortal, and because it meant the information he was about to reveal was worth knowing.

“Romanoff cornered Dreykov in the hospital, but he had hired a platoon of mercenaries to protect him. She had no way of reaching him, so she simply burned the hospital down. Dreykov was killed, along with his daughter, and dozens of other patients who couldn’t be moved in time.”

“What a vicious murderer your companion is,” Loki remarked gleefully, his dark grin trained on the human beside him.

“Romanoff is the most skilled agent and spy SHIELD has at its disposal, but she’s not the same person I found after Sao Paulo. She has a lot of remorse and regret for her past actions.”

“Oh, I doubt that. If she is as efficient and deadly as you claim, then she enjoyed her work just as any other master craftsman would,” Loki said, his tone hinting at boredom as he sat back in his seat, noticing the world outside had begun to darken. “This SHIELD of yours attempts to tame every monster it comes across, instead of unleashing their full potential. Perhaps I shall teach them that wild animals are never truly broken – they will always remain feral beasts.”

“Fury does everything for a reason,” Barton responded in a tone that was equally nonchalant.
“It’s why he asked me to not only watch over the Tesseract, but Dr. Selvig as well.”

Loki glanced back to the assassin, his lips forming into a sharp frown.

“Explain yourself.”

“Fury noticed that Dr. Selvig was acting oddly while he worked on the Tesseract, so he brought me into the project and I was stationed at the Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility along with Selvig and the Cube.”

Loki felt a sort of begrudging respect for this Director Fury. Even though the mortal had no knowledge of magic or Loki’s abilities, he had somehow gleaned that Selvig was not entirely whole, and had instructed the sharp-eyed archer to watch him.

“But he had no knowledge that I would come through the portal, correct?” Loki was suddenly concerned that the humans themselves had forestalled his invasion and had somehow collapsed the cosmic gateway.

“No. Fury had no idea the Tesseract could even be used for that purpose.”

Loki sat and pondered for several minutes, until the aches and pains in his body began to intrude on his thoughts, and he carefully rose to his feet.

“Thank you Barton, you have been most helpful. If you think of anything else, bring it to my attention before we land.”

“Yes, sir,” Barton responded, his luminous eyes never leaving the controls as Loki opened the thin, cockpit door and departed.

______________________________________________________________________


Loki waited for Trinity to return from the lavatory after she had finished watching the films, and he heard her quiet breathing and soft footsteps before her feminine frame came into view. The spirit-woman purposefully avoided looking in his direction as he watched her closely.

He noticed she looked pale, almost sickly, a weary look in her eyes.

It was going far better than he could have expected. If they had had more time aboveground, he would have shown her all of the news channels which ignored the various human wars in order to show petty, insignificant events that meant to entertain rather than enlighten. The human information network known as the Internet would put the Asgardian library to shame with its instantaneous wealth of knowledge, and he could have shown her the extensive human history of annihilation and slaughter archived within its depths. Loki could have revealed to her everything that was wrong with humanity in the span of a few heartbeats.

They would arrive at their destination in a few hours. Trinity was recovering smoothly from her injuries, Barton would soon retrieve the meteoric metal he needed for the scientist, and SHIELD was no doubt several steps behind him as they still reeled from the loss of the Tesseract and their valued mortals. Still, the organization would be quick to gather their more powerful allies.
In fact, Loki was counting on it.

Loki smiled at her silkily, pleased with himself that he was slowly leading her to where he wanted her to be. And when she arrived at that place, she would be his. Completely, absolutely.
“I particularly enjoy the parts where the humans voluntarily allow themselves to be manipulated and used. It is so much simpler for those with stronger wills to make all of the decisions, is it not?”

Loki had expected the woman to ignore him and continue staring blankly at the ochre-colored clouds, but she turned to stare at him instead. Her eyes were… hardened. Was that… anger in them?

“Its body needs rest.”

Without waiting for permission, Trinity turned towards the window, placing her back towards him as she attempted to uncomfortably lounge in the upright loveseat.

Loki quietly arose from his own place of rest, moving as silently as a night-predator, his form graceful and almost feline as he reached over her still form.

He delighted in the startled intake of breath that was pulled from her as Loki abruptly grabbed the lever which released her half of the loveseat into a horizontal position. There were buttons which did this as well, at a much slower rate, but that would not have been as gamely.

“It helps if you recline the seat,” he breathed into her ear. The shudder it involuntarily drew from her body made him grin much too widely.

Loki knew he should not derive so much pleasure from being able to draw a reaction from the spirit-woman. But it was almost a relief compared to her stoic state in the underground complex, and her unconsciousness soon after that.

Why had Loki ever worried that she would be difficult to manipulate? Yes, she was not as pliable as most, but he would wear her down. There was no doubt in his mind.

Notes