Chapter 5
They watched the cameras with bated breath as Loki held his meditative pose. Thor vaguely recalled someone asking him why that pose specifically, and he had just shrugged. He did not know these magical things, and he was beginning to think that it was a major detriment to rely solely on the standard warrior values, but of course this thought had only come after the damage was done. It was far too late to go back and to change things, but he was not beyond hoping that they could change the future. If he could ever convince Loki of this. He was certain it was possible, he just did not know how. He was not good at these things, this was Loki's area of expertise. An area of specialty that Thor had snubbed time and again, and which had also saved his hide more than once. He felt distraught at the realization of how horrid him and his people had been to Loki, how dismissive. No wonder Loki doubted their father's love, because now even Thor did as well.
A flash, and Loki's head was yanked sideways, as if someone unseen had shoved it to the side, leaving him heaving for breath. Thor saw the tremble of the bottom lip, the shaking of fingers, a flash of terror and green before blue settled once more among his irises. Then Loki stayed in the pose, eyes closed, waiting. What he was waiting for, they did not know, and Thor questioned quite a bit, but knew he was unable to actually get any answers. It would be a long time before he could get answers.
"Well, what the fuck was that?" Tony questioned, dropping the footage down so that they could watch each other. Thor fiddled with the bracelet of his armor.
"I have heard, though I do not know how true this is, of powerful beings being able to establish mental connections to others. Loki has done it over short distances, I shudder to think how powerful this creature must be to manage it over galaxies."
"What about a medium?" Banner questioned. "Like that scepter of his?" Thor groaned in irritation.
"I do not know. This is Loki's area of expertise. Not mine, and I regret to say even the ones who would know cannot be contacted because the bridge is destroyed and my father is far too weak to attempt another portal. Loki knew hidden points of connections between the Tree, but I've never known anyone else to manage this, he truly is a special sorcerer. There is a reason the Elves fear him, and the Dwarves tried to suppress him." Noting the annoyance Thor was beginning to have at their attempts to question him, and realizing that they did not want a lightning storm heading their way whilst in the sky, they paused on their questions.
"Have we tried to knock him out of it?"
"I'm sorry?" Thor raised a brow at Natasha's question.
"I just had a thought. You know those experiments in Russia? The mind control, manipulation, it wasn't any...magical gem thing, but it seems to have a similar way of working."
"They did the same during World War Two," Steve jumped in. "Several soldiers, a good concussion knocked them out of whatever the hell it is that they were dealt. pretty sure they died soon after anyways, given the two men dealing the war were insane. But I get what you are getting at. Thor?"
"To knock a Jotun hard enough in the head that they would develop such a thing would be difficult. Even for an Asgardian it would be difficult, and Jotuns' are supposed to be much more resilient to brute force. Father had said Loki to be runt, but we know too little of the Jotunn people to be certain of it. Furthermore, there is no garuntee that the Mind stone would be subject to the same affects."
"No, but if multiple different types of mind control are stopped by the same thing, it is a logical conclusion." Tony said with a shrug. Thor stared at him.
"Loki may like you as well," He said simply, and bowed his head once. "If you wish to try, you may, but I do not know how we would manage that."
"It can't be too hard right? Like..." Natasha's words were cut off as something big and heavy slammed into their aircraft.
Everyone started panicking, alarms went off, systems blazing, and Fury freaked out.
"We have unwelcome guests."