ACT XI, SCENE IV
12th June 2023, New York, Midgard, EARTH-838
It had never occurred to Loki that Strange might have had other romantic attachments that weren't Anthony.
Well, it had. But that had been mostly overshadowed by the fact that he had had a romantic attachment to Anthony.
However, there had definitely been some interesting vibes and back and forth between Strange and the woman that had been in charge of making sure that they were not carrying any illnesses or unknown germs from the universe they came from, vibes Loki had picked up on.
“Shut up,” said Strange, not turning around.
“Do not presume to tell me what to do,” primly said Loki, continuing to stare at him. “Now, about this Christine Palmer-”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” said Strange, keeping his eyes fixed on the back of Mordo’s head.
Mordo turned around with a sympathetic look on his face, but it was Vision who decided to shine a light on the issue.
“Doctor Strange was in a committed relationship with Doctor Christine Palmer on and off, after his brief interest in Tony,” he said. “Doctor Strange’s love for his craft superseded his affection for Doctor Palmer however, and they broke off things not very amicably following his car crash.”
“I did not love my craft more than I loved Christine,” snapped Strange, turning to glare at the synthezoid. “How do you even know this?”
Vision shrugged. “Wong and I tell each other many stories, while we are busy practising our magic or our culinary skills.”
“Interesting,” said Loki, even meaning it. “I should perhaps find more time to hang out with Wong.”
Then she remembered why she had had such a hard time hanging out with Wong lately, and her mood quickly soured again.
As amusing as she found Wong, he was not one to deal with children. He struggled to deal with Peter, and Peter was almost an adult now, by Midgardian standards. The only reason he did so well with Vision was that, while he was a mere child at heart, in mind Vision was far more experienced and grown.
On the other hand, Adis was a baby who demanded constant attention and care, both things that Wong was not willing to give him.
Loki enjoyed the sorcerer’s company, but he was definitely at the bottom of her list when it came to people she would willingly leave her son around.
Which meant that she needed to get back home as soon as possible, before Anthony decided to let this happen or Amaya got it in her mind to convince her brother to shapeshift now that she wasn’t there to survey her actions.
“I hope for your Stephen Strange’s sake that you don’t,” said Strange, looking vaguely concerned at the mere thought.
Loki did not even bother answering back, as that was when they finally reached the point they had been going towards.
“We are here,” said Mordo, opening the doors without much ceremony.
In front of them stood a large ample room, that seemed to mimic the image of the arenas of old Midgardian times.
And in the room, on the tallest part of it, sat four different figures, on very presumptuous looking thrones.
Loki made the immediate artistic decision that she did not like any of them, a decision that grew stronger as Mordo portalled himself in one of the seats as soon as the doors were closed behind them.
“Stephen Strange and company,” said the sorcerer, “You are now called before the Illuminati. I, Baron Karl Mordo-”
“Your name is Karl?” demanded Strange, seeming rather puzzled by that particular information.
“Really, Strange?” asked Loki, looked at him in disappointment. “Is this the time for such behaviour?”
Strange gestured helplessly towards Mordo, as if he truly felt the information merited this reaction.
Mordo cleared his throat. “I , Baron Karl Mordo,” he repeated, “The Sorcerer Supreme, hereby present the following: Captain Carter, the First Avenger.”
He pointed to the woman at his side, a woman dressed in red, blue and red, but with iconography different from that of the Captain Loki knew in her universe.
Carter... where had Loki heard that name before?
“Blackagar Boltagon,” continued Mordo. “Keeper of the Terrigen Mists. The Inhuman King.”
“Blackagar Boltagon?” repeated Strange, clearly unable to keep his commentary to himself.
“Captain Marvel, defender of the Cosmos-”
Another difference from their universe, noted Loki. Their Captain Marvel had a different uniform.
“And the smartest man alive, Reed Richards of the Fantastic Four,” finished Mordo, and this time it was Loki who loudly scoffed.
Loki had heard of Reed Richards. Similarly to how Loki had her rivalry going with her Stephen Strange, Anthony loathed Reed Richards. He was a man he and James had gone to MIT with and that, while not a superhero, Anthony found himself arguing with or about pretty often.
Loki did not know much about him, but he stood with his husband when he said that Richards was not smarter than Anthony.
Reed Richards frowned at her for a moment, but then glanced at Strange.
“Hello, Stephen,” he greeted.
“Fantastic Four?” said Strange, obnoxiously and condescendingly. “Didn't you guys chart in the sixties?”
“I'm sorry,” said Captain Marvel. “Is this a joke to you?”
“Well there's a guy over there with a fork on his head, so, yeah,” said Strange, shrugging. “Little bit.”
“Be grateful Black Bolt doesn't engage you in conversation,” said Captain Carter, eyes narrowed.
“Why? Does he have bad breath?”
“This Strange is even more arrogant than ours.”
“I have been thinking the same thing since I met him,” agreed Loki, ignoring Strange’s glare and continuing to observe the woman. “I know you.”
“I know you,” said the Captain, not looking very fond of her memory of Loki at all.
Loki did not particularly care, because she had just realised how she knew her. “Margaret ‘Peggy’ Carter,” she realised, snapping her fingers together. “You are the woman who helped raised Anthony.”
“An- Tony?” asked Carter, appearing caught off guard. “Are you talking about Tony Stark?”
“Or not,” said Loki, thinking about it. “If you have suffered the same fate that the Captain in our universe did, you would have been displaced for seventy years, until you were found in time for my ill timed invasion. So you would not have raised Anthony.” She made a face. “Please tell me Rogers was not the one to take your place and raise Anthony.”
“Steve?” she said, and Loki was not a fan of the way her gaze turned sad and fond at the name. “You know Steve?”
“Unfortunately,” said Loki, sneering at the mere thought of that mortal.
He was still alive, as far as she knew, having given in to a life of vigilantism in the few countries that had not signed the Accords alongside Natasha Romanoff. From the offhand comments Anthony had made in his regards, Loki was pretty sure he went by ‘Nomad’, nowadays.
“Our universe is different than yours,” interrupted Reed Richards. “As Loki has just proven. Your arrival here confuses and destabilises reality. The larger the footprint you leave behind, the greater the risk of an incursion.”
“An incursion?”
“An incursion occurs when the boundary between two universes fall apart, and they collide, destroying one or both entirely,” explained Loki.
Everyone except Vision turned to Loki in vague surprise.
“What?” she asked, one eyebrow raised.
“How do you know this?” asked America, very clearly confused.
“Loki makes it her business to know everything about everything,” dutifully said Vision, when Loki just let out a deep sigh.
“Thank you,” she said, inclining her head. She glanced back at the Illuminati. “Our intention is obviously not to cause an incursion. As Mordo was made aware of when he tried to poison all of us, we did not wish to come into this universe. We accidentally ended up here because of the Scarlet Witch. May we now speak of her, please and thanks?”
“Strange’s alternate self created the Illuminati to make the difficult decisions that no one else could,” said Carter. “Today, we're here to determine what to do with all of you.”
“I must have misunderstood,” said Loki, smiling falsely. “Because, for a moment, it sounded to me as if you spoke of handling us.”
“You are risks to our universe-” started Reed, but shut up with one glare from Loki.
“I am going to move past these ridiculous attitudes of yours,” started Loki, politely, “And tell you just what is going to happen here. And if you truly are the smart man you think yourself to be, Richards, you shall keep your mouth shut and listen. Or I will be doing it for you.
“Here is what happened. There is a child struggling. A witch is planning to come after her and us, and she has no qualms about using innocents or killing anyone to get what she wishes to get. You are either going to help us find what we hope to find, or you are going to get out of our way as we attempt to figure out another way home. There is no handling of us involved in any of this, and do not think I cannot guess what the Inhuman's powers are. I am a mage, you fools, not a run of the mill sorcerer or whatever joke my version of you was.”
“Our version of you is currently King of Asgard and closed the borders between us and Asgard as soon as Thanos showed up,” said Mordo, acidly.
Loki hummed. “Well, colour me surprised. A not idiot Loki, at last.” She waved her hands dismissively. “That matters not to me. What I was saying-”
“What Loki is trying to say is that it’s not incursions you should be worried about,” said Strange, ignoring the glare Loki levelled him. He really was doing his best to make Loki miss her own version of Strange, wasn’t he? “The real threat is the Scarlet Witch.”
“Oh, we can handle either of the witches, if she decides to dream-walk,” confidently said Captain Marvel.
“No, you cannot,” said Loki, scoffing again. “You are far too arrogant for your own good, and so far I have yet to see anything that would give you reason for such overconfidence. You have never met this witch, meanwhile we have battled her. We have seen her might and we have fought alongside other versions of two of you, and we are confidently explaining to you that she is dangerous. How is the idea that perhaps you should heed our warning still not computing in your minds? You are not invincible.”
“You are not endearing yourself to anyone,” said Carter, eyes narrowing.
“That would suck, had that been my intention,” said Loki, smiling. “My only intention, however, is to find the quickest way to get back to my husband and my children, and you are standing in my way.”
“I understand,” said Richards, trying for a frankly insulting calming voice. “I too have children, and-”
“Please do not attempt to bond with me,” said Loki, raising one hand. “My husband does not like you, and I do not like you either. Let’s not do any of this.”
“Our best way of defeating the Scarlet Witch is with the Book of Vishanti,” said Strange, stream rolling past Richard's offended expression.
“We appreciate your concern, Stephen,” came a voice, and Loki’s eyes narrowed as a man in a wheelchair appeared in the room. “But it's not the Scarlet Witch that we fear. From our experience, the greatest danger to the Multiverse, it turns out... is Doctor Strange.”
“Plot twist,” whispered Vision, in the short silence that followed that.
America high fived him, whispering, “Mm, whatcha say?”
Loki glanced at them. “Meme?”
“Meme,” agreed Vision.
“Your Doctor Strange?” managed Strange, after a moment of silence. “Earth's Mightiest Hero who died defeating Thanos?”
“Our final member...” said Mordo, pointing at the bald man in the wheelchair. “Professor Charles Xavier.”
“Truth is,” said Xavier. “That's not how our Strange died.”
“Oh great,” said Loki, rolling her eyes. “Because that is what this meeting lacked. A dramatic backstory.”
“We were at war,” started Xavier, not deterred by her. “While the rest of us banded together to try to stop Thanos, Stephen, as always, chose to go it alone.”
That did sound like Strange.
“He turned to the Darkhold.”
... that sounded less like Strange.
“He began dream-walking, in hopes that our salvation might lie in the Multiverse.”
“And guess what?” asked Captain Marvel, unamused. “It didn't.”
“But he kept doing it anyway,” continued Richards. “One day, you called us all together, to profess that you've been dream-walking. And that, in your words, 'things have gotten out of hand.'”
“His.”
Everyone glanced at Loki in confusion.
“I beg your pardon?”
“You said ‘in your words’ and 'you called us',” she repeated, one eyebrow raised. “You should have said ‘in his words’ and 'he called us'. I feel as if it’s important that you make that distinction clear in your heads. He might look the same, but he is not.”
Strange looked at her in surprise, but Xavier nodded.
“You are right. He said, not you. He never told us the details of what had happened. Only that he had inadvertently triggered an incursion.”
“You- he,” said Richards, shaking his head. “Our friend, had caused the annihilation of another universe.”
“Everyone in that reality died. Everyone.”
“Stephen renounced the Darkhold,” continued Mordo. “He even helped us find the Book of Vishanti. A weapon we did use to kill him, to defeat Thanos.”
“Thus, one final threat remained,” finished Xavier. “Him.”
Strange looked stricken at this news, but Loki could not help notice how unsurprised America, of all people, appeared.
She herself had... opinions of all this.
She listened to Strange speak to the Illuminati for a while longer, asking about Christine and why the statue even existed, if he had been a hack and a fraud all along.
“We made a difficult choice because we knew what our Strange was capable of,” finished Carter. “Or perhaps, every Doctor Strange is capable of.”
It reminded Loki that while in the end Anthony had mourned and missed the woman, she had lied to him for years about his father’s demise.
“No,” she said, shaking her head. Everyone glanced at her, and Loki met their eyes unflinchingly. “I do not buy this.”
“I’m sorry?”
“You wish to demonise Strange because he had been trying to save his universe - this universe. You did not kill him to punish his treachery. You punished him for your own conscience.”
“Excuse me-”
“I know what it is like to be with your shoulders against the wall,” said Loki, unimpressed. “How it is to feel as if you and only you are able to fix something. All Strange had been trying to do was to try to find a solution for the Thanos problem that did not lay in holding hands and in believing in the power of friendship. I do not condone what he did, and I do not approve of using the Darkhold. It is named the book of the Damned for a reason.
“But I see what sent him to do this, and you see it too. Are you telling me that none of you has ever gone too far in your quest to protect someone you loved? Am I expected to believe that none of you has ever made mistakes in the name of protecting someone you cared for?”
“None of us killed an entire universe,” snapped Captain Marvel, looking plenty angry.
“Yet,” softly said Loki. “As a hero, the guilt of living with his actions would have been enough, and you know it.” Loki was not even a hero, and there were days where his guilt for what he had done to Jotunheim caught him off guard. “You killed him because you could not stand to look at him and wonder if you yourselves would have done something similar. You could not stand to think that one of you could have done what he did, and what that meant for you all as people.”
“You don’t know what you speak of,” said Richards, glowering at her.
Loki smiled, sardonically. “I know better than you believe,” she said, just as the alarm bell started ringing.
Loki was not even surprised.
“The building's been breached,” said Captain Marvel, standing up. "We need to go."
“Raise your hand if you are surprised by this turn of events,” said Loki, quickly stepping closer to America, even as her eyes started scanning the room for a hint of red.
“I trust them,” suddenly said Xavier, much to many’s surprise.
“Xavier! We should vote on our return!”
“This Loki is different from our own,” said Xavier, and while earlier he had been looking at Strange, now he was looking at her. “She is wise, and she knows truths we might not have even realised ourselves.”
Loki bowed. “Thank you.”
“I don’t trust her,” said Richards, unsurprisingly.
“I trust...” started Carter. She grimaced, and then sighed. “I trust that her and Stephen do not want to hurt us. I trust that they really don’t care about staying in our universe.”
“Peggy,” said Captain Marvel, looking betrayed.
“We must go,” urged Mordo. “The sentries are failing! We’ll vote when we get back.”
If they got back, thought Loki a little morbidly.
“Stephen, Loki, once Christine gets here you must guide America Chavez,” he said. “Save the girl, and get to the Book of Vishanti.”
“What, you have the book here?” asked Strange, sounding annoyed.
“You couldn’t lead with that?” demanded Loki, equally as irritated.
“Yes. You built a waypoint-”
“Charles,” interrupted Mordo. “We cannot trust them.”
“You tried to poison us,” reminded him Vision. “I believe it is us who cannot trust you.”
“I believe we can,” said Xavier, calmly. “Just 'cause someone stumbles and loses their way, doesn't mean they're lost forever. We will see what kind of Doctor Strange you are.”
“Thank you,” said Strange bowing.
“And Loki,” he continued. “I wish I had a longer chance to speak to you. You are delightful.”
“I know,” agreed Loki, smiling politely. “Please don’t you ever attempt to breach my mind again, or I might have to stab you.”
Xavier did not look like he took her threat seriously, as he and his team rolled out of the way, the wailer looking displeased at not having had a chance to use his powers on them.
Now, to the waypoint.
+++
Loki would have found how quickly the Illuminati had fallen to Wanda Maximoff almost funny, were it not for the fact that it meant that now the witch was chasing after them.
“The waypoint is too far,” said Loki, as the sounds of Maximoff running after them grew louder. “The waypoint is a door, correct?”
“What?”
“A door! A door between this universe and the space between the universes.”
“Yes,” said Palmer, still appearing confused. “But-”
“Listen to me, America,” said Loki, turning to face the girl. “You need to get us out of here.”
“I can’t,” immediately said the girl, frustrated. “I told you. I can’t use my powers, I don’t know how.”
“You can,” insisted Loki. “You just haven’t realised how.” America opened her mouth to protest, but Loki continued. “Every time you are in trouble, your magic activates. That’s a link. You use your powers to get out of a dangerous situation, getting yourself to a safer universe. You said you travelled the multiverse 73 times, correct?”
She nodded hesitantly.
“And how many times have you ended up in a universe where you risked death or where you did not get help when you went looking for it?”
America paused, biting her lip. “Never. But-”
“Your magic is helping you,” she said, quickly. “But you are stopping it from helping you, because you are scared of what happened to your mothers.”
America reared back. “I-”
“You blocked your powers,” explained Loki. “You are trying to keep them down, to not allow them to ever take control of you the way they did the first time. You are scared that if they do what they did before, you will never get control again. You are scared of them hurting you like they hurt you before.”
“You created a mental block,” surmised Vision. “Like blocking a bad memory.”
“Precisely,” said Loki. “You have linked your powers to the memory of your parents and are refusing to push past it.”
A rush of dark magic seemed to suddenly saturate the air around them, and Strange stiffened. “She’s coming.”
“I think I got this,” said Vision, coming to stand beside America. “Every time you manifest your powers, you think about your mothers, don’t you? You remember what happened to them, and wish for safety. For it to not happen again. You need to stop doing that.”
Loki moved to stand beside Strange, glancing at the dark tunnel in front of them for Maximoff. She paused when she felt Strange’s eye on her, and glared. “What.”
“I don’t like you,” he told her, frankly.
“I am shocked,” said Loki, rolling her eyes. “How will I live?”
“The other me does like you, however,” said Strange. “And you like him.”
“Do not insult me.”
“When you said you’d let this universe burn without a care, I wondered how that could be the case,” he continued. “How he could trust an individual as wicked as you.”
“Is there a point to this?”
“You have morals. They might not be the same as mine, and your motivation and allegiances definitely aren’t, but you are not evil.” He glanced back at Vision beside Palmer, encouraging a discouraged America. “And you are a good teacher.”
“I am my most successful student, of course I am,” said Loki, eyes narrowing as she felt the witch’s approach. “Vision, America, any time now would be ideal.”
They could fight and possibly win against her, but Loki would rather not. The tunnels were not a place she was familiar or comfortable with. Palmer had said that they were under some sort of river, and while Loki did not feel any type of way about water, she had a feeling that a few of the present people might drown.
“I can’t do it!”
“Yes, you can,” said Loki.
“Think of your mothers,” said Vision. “Remember your happy memories. Recall them, waiting for you out there.”
America let out a distressed sound. “I am trying, but I can’t. I can’t-”
“Little girl,” said Loki, turning on her with a glare now. “My children are out there, waiting for me to come home so we can have dinner. My husband is most likely freaking out. My Modir nearly kickstarted Ragnarok and the end of the Nine Realms for me. Let us not even consider my Mother and my siblings and what they might do. You have no idea what I would do for everyone in my family, for every one of them.
“Yes, I too have two mothers. And they had taught me to never give up, that it is not over until it is over. They are the strongest women I have ever met, and they taught me to be strong too. What would your mothers say, seeing you giving up like this?”
America’s eyes were red. “I am not giving up!”
“Then,” said Loki, as Strange erected a shield between them and Maximoff. “Open that Norns damned portal.”
America glared at Loki, an angry tear rolling down her cheek and then put her palm out, eyes closing.
For a second, nothing happened. But then, before anyone could say anything, a small star started emerging from her palm.
America’s brow furrowed, an unhappy expression crossing her face.
“Your Mothers,” said Vision. “They are out there, and they are proud of you. They love you. Think of their smiles, think of their love for you.”
Maximoff was almost upon them. Loki steadied himself, and got himself ready for impact.
Before she could, however, a new sound was heard, and Loki watched as the gold of Captain Marvel crashed against the witch, shoving her back once more.
“Not today, witch,” she said, and when Loki glanced at her, her suit was in tatters, but the rage in her face clear. “You do not get to kill everyone and get your happy ending.”
Uh. Perhaps Loki had underestimated her.
“I did it!” suddenly called out America, shocked. Loki turned around and indeed a portal in the shape of a star was open behind them. “Loki, look! I did it, me and Vision-”
“Touching!” said Captain Marvel, continuing to stand between them and Maximoff. “Now get out of here!”
“I thought you did not trust us.”
“I don’t,” said Captain Marvel, throwing a jet of energy so hard against Maximoff that it created a hole in the wall. “But Xavier did, and Xavier died trusting you. So get the fuck out of here now.”
Strange did not hesitate. “She might let go of the body once we are gone,” he said, as he rushed with Loki towards the portal.
“Just go!”
Loki paused in front of the portal, and then sighed. “Marvel,” she then called out, pulling out a dagger from a pocket dimension and throwing it at her.
The woman let it clatter to the ground, glancing at Loki with a frown.
“It’s cursed,” explained Loki. “Don’t miss.”
And then she followed the others through the portal.
“Shut the hell up,” said Loki, as soon as the portal closed behind him.
“I did not say anything,” said Strange, but there was a hint of respect in his eyes.
“Your face said something,” said Loki, glancing around, and feeling her foul mood returning when he saw what appeared to be a mountain in the sky not unlike Olympus. “This is not New York.”
“You didn’t tell me where I was going,” protested America, looking a little embarrassed.
Loki would have demanded why she’d have needed to specify to her that she wanted the portal to take him home, but then he got a good look at where he was. “Is that the book of the Vishanti?”
“This is the waypoint,” said Palmer, surprised.
The other three also started looking around, and America startled. “Yes,” she said. “This is where we came, where the other Strange tried to kill me.”
Loki blinked. “I beg your pardon?” she asked, Palmer also looking very wary.
America did not elaborate, instead walking forward. “I was not even thinking about this place,” she admitted. “I mean yay, because this is what we were looking for, right?”
“What were you thinking about?” asked Vision, looking around with both fascination and a certain level of uncertainty.
“My Mothers,” admitted America. “I was just thinking about-”
“Halt!” called a voice, and all three of them moved in front of America, getting into battle position.
“I can make a portal,” said America, from behind them.
“Not so fast,” said Loki, looking at the figures who seemed to have appeared from nowhere. They were standing in front of the book with archaic looking spears in their hands that Loki did not trust one bit. “You just made a portal. It’s not safe.”
“I feel fine.”
“This is why I hate teaching,” muttered Strange, keeping his mandalas up. Then he raised his voice. “We have no quarrel with you.”
“Anyone seeking the Book of the Vishanti has a quarrel with us,” said the woman standing on the side.
They were dressed similarly, in grey robes, but that was where their similarities ended. They weren’t sisters, but there was something about the first that was pinging at Loki’s awareness.
“Go back where you came from.”
“We-”
“Wait,” said America, suddenly trying to force herself between them. “Wait, I know that voice.”
“America-” tried to stop her Strange, but Loki did move. Thor might be the god of fertility, but Loki knew magic.
Magic had rules, and feelings were powerful.
America moved in front of them, and the two women glanced down at her.
Loki saw the exact moment the realisation hit both of them, the way the first gasped in shock while the second’s eyes widened, her weapon falling to the ground.
She did not need to hear America’s words to know.
“Mami,” said the girl, voice breaking. “Mama.”
America had brought them to the right place after all.