The devil you know
Hidden from sight, Loki appeared in a secluded corridor of the Q-ship. Without the presence of mortal minds to act as a buffer between Loki’s own mind and Maw’s telepathy, Loki had to actively shield his presence. Strange’s cries of pain rang in the bowels of the ship at regular intervals and Loki hazarded a guess that Maw had begun trying to break Strange already. Wondering at the number of opponents he might have to face while rescuing the second-rate sorcerer, Loki cast a detection spell, frowning when it returned with only four living signatures. Maw and Strange were directly below the section where Stark and his spider-child had taken shelter.
Did Maw and Obsidian truly come to retrieve the Time Stone by themselves?
Where were the foot soldiers? The Outriders? It didn’t make sense for the ship to be devoid of life altogether. Unwilling to risk any hidden surprises, Loki targeted his next spell specifically at beings that might not fully register as organic. He was equal parts pleased and alarmed to discover an entire host of hibernating Chitauri, which while answering his question about foot soldiers, also raised the issue of Maw calling them to his aid were Loki to attack just then. As much as it pained him to admit, Loki needed to take care of the Chitauri before he could deal with Maw.
Before doing anything at all, however, he needed to shed Banner’s disguise, seeing how there would be no logical explanation for the man’s presence aboard Maw’s ship and Stark would immediately grow suspicious. Then again, Loki couldn’t just step out wearing his own face before the Midgardian heroes. He would be shot at and attacked before he could so much as open his mouth to speak. Loki’s disguise needed to be inconspicuous without appearing weak or untrustworthy. The perfect cover presented itself when Loki recalled Midgardian heroes’ predisposition towards helping the fairer sex. There were exceptions to the case though seeing a woman would at least give them pause long enough for Loki to spin things into his favor.
Course of action decided upon, Loki shed Banner’s guise, donning a skin that he rarely used anymore. Summoning the form’s battle armor, Lady Loki ran a hand through her shoulder length ringlets and glanced down at the gold and green ensemble. She frowned, deciding that the color scheme was ill-suited to her purposes. She briefly considered adopting Thor’s colors though that idea was quickly discarded. The All-Mother’s colors would work better and if it was in part as a tribute to the mother who had always seen the best in her, even when the world had turned its back on Loki, nobody would know.
Cloaking her presence, Loki moved through the ship until she came to the Chitauri hibernation chambers. Seeking the control panel, Loki made her way over and pressed her palm to the screen for activation. A quick look through the settings and Loki navigated her way to the master controls where she turned off the alarms and then disabled the hibernation pods’ life support. Destroying Maw’s backup proved to be ridiculously easy and in less than a minute, the entire hive was dead. Satisfied, Loki stepped away from the console and cast another detection spell, just to ensure that there wouldn't be any surprises when she went to deal with Maw.
The scans returned with only four signatures, the three mortals and Maw. When her targeted scans did not yield any different results Loki cloaked herself and teleported a few feet away from Stark and his spider-child. Strange’s screams of agony were now loud enough for Loki to guess that Maw was utilizing those accursed scalpels. He must be very desperate to retrieve the stone if he's brandishing the scalpels already.
Loki listened as Stark and the child bickered while trying to come up with a plan to rescue Strange. The exchange only made half sense to Loki who had in fact not been able to watch 'that really old movie: Aliens' as the spider-child had put it. It had been one of Hawkeye's favorites but there was only so much culture Loki could cram while trying to plan a failed invasion. Nevertheless, she stood by Stark's side, cloaked from sight but seidr at the ready to defend the mortals as needed. The spider-child used his suit to cloak himself and Loki had to admit she was impressed by Stark's ingenuity. It was rare for a mortal to utilize technology in a way that came so close to replicating the effects of seidr without actually understanding the basics of it first. It was truly a shame they hadn't met under differing circumstances. Loki could have almost pictured having a pleasant acquaintanceship with the man.
She watched the spider-child carefully move across the ship, clinging upside down to the beams that sprawled across the hold as he drew closer to Maw and Strange. Loki frowned, wondering why Maw hadn't picked up on the telepathic broadcasting of the boy. It was loud enough for Loki to follow without having to think about it so then why did Maw, a superior telepath, not detect the child? Nothing in his body language suggested that he had noticed the mortal’s presence. Maw was capable of multitasking so the fact that he was currently focused on torturing Strange should not have been enough of a reason to— there! Loki saw purple of the Power Stone flare across Maw's burnt skin and suddenly it made sense. The Power Stone's energy might be keeping Maw alive but at the same time it was interfering with his telepathy. No wonder Maw hadn't come running when Loki had killed off the Chitauri hoard. He had no idea his minions were dead.
"Oh, that has got to hurt," Stark declared loudly, coming to the edge of the platform and drawing Maw's attention to himself by posturing. "Tell me, did they teach you that technique at minion academy or did you come up with it while staring in a mirror?"
"These needles were originally intended for micro-surgery," Maw answered, slowly turning on his heel to face Stark. Behind him, Strange gave another cry of pain as three more needles pierced his flesh and dug into the sensitive nerve clusters. "In the right hands, they can save lives."
"I'm guessing yours aren't the right hands?" Stark snarked. "Because I don't see much life-saving going on around here."
"You have quite the mouth on you, worm." Maw narrowed his eyes.
"I know how to use it too, Squidward." Stark had the gall to wink at the most sadistic of Thanos's generals.
From the look of disgust that flashed across Maw's face, he seemed to understand the meaning behind Stark's words. If Loki hadn't been on the receiving end of Stark's particular brand of distraction before, she might have been just as thrown as Maw. As it was, she had to marvel at the bravery and foolishness of this particular mortal. Oh what fun could have been had flyting with this mortal had they met under differing circumstances.
"I could end his life with a single thought," Maw gestured and all the needles currently not impaling Strange lifted in the air, "I could do the same to you."
That was all the warning they had before the needles were shooting through the air, headed straight for Stark. The man of iron made an aborted gesture to move out of the way though he froze in surprise when the needles shattered against Loki's hastily conjured shield and fell to the ground in a shimmering rain.
"Was that supposed to happen? Because let me tell you, I am not impressed, Freddy." Stark maintained a façade of bravery though Loki had been close enough to hear the hitch in his breath. Still looking at him now, standing relaxed and seemingly without a care in the world, it would have been difficult to tell that the bravado was false.
Maw ignored Stark, his eyes narrowing as the purple flared across his burnt flesh. A moment later, Loki felt the necrotic threads of Maw's telepathy cast out, searching for whoever had defended Stark and she allowed a little of her mental shielding to slip, just enough for Maw to notice to her presence but not enough to identify her beyond her species. Maw's nostrils flared, the only sign of irritation that he seemed to allow himself to display as he hissed. "I know you're there, Asgardian. Show yourself and I might show you some mercy. Stay hidden and you will beg for death's sweet relief."
Loki traced the spider-child's careful descent down the beams towards Strange and decided on her next action. Letting the invisibility drop, she smirked at the hateful creature. "Here I am."
"Whoa! Where the hell did you come from?" Stark nearly jumped and Loki felt her smirk widen.
"Why, Stark, I'm wounded you didn't notice me by your side all this time." She pressed a hand to her bosom in mock affront.
"I tire of your inane chatter. Die." Maw said as a beam twisted and broke apart, turning into a pair of jagged spears that shot towards Loki and Stark.
"Look out!" Loki pushed Stark out of the way of an imminent beheading. The spears flew through where Loki and Stark had been moments before, turning in midair as they came back towards the pair. Starks gauntlets whined as they powered up and shot bolts of energy at the spears, redirecting their trajectory. Not to be outdone, Loki summoned Chaosmaker and used the spear to parry the next attacks.
"Enough of this!" Maw snarled, wrenching four micro-needles from Strange's torso, sending them at Loki and Stark. As though sensing Loki's need, the spear transformed into a pair of curved swords, letting her use both hands to parry the jagged spears Maw shot at them in addition to the micro-needles.
They fought for a while, Maw tearing up the platform around them with each attack, twisting the additional debris into more weapons to attack Loki and Stark with. Although Loki was used to fighting back to back with someone else, normally that someone was either Thor or one of the idiots three or Sif. Stark fought like none of them and it took Loki a while to get the hang of letting the other man fend for himself and maybe even watch Loki's back. She cast a powerful shielding spell around them both just in case though.
"Give up." Maw declared as he lifted off the ground, bringing some kind of automated weapons to bear down on them in addition to everything else. Loki lobbed several fireballs at them for Maw's trouble, the heat from her spells turning them to molten slag. With a wordless growl, the purple glow beneath his skin intensified, his clenched fists lighting up with the power as tiny flakes of skin began to burn off of him. "Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine. I have the might of an Infinity Stone behind me."
"Yeah, but we have the power of movies behind us!" Unintimidated, Stark's tone was insolent as he shot open a hole into the hull of the ship. The force of the explosion and the sudden rush of air escaping the ship sucked Maw along with it and for a moment it seemed as though they had won. And then one of the broken beams shot out and grabbed hold of Maw's arm, slowly pulling him back inside.
"Mr. Stark!" The spider-child cried and Loki turned to see that he and Strange were also caught in the flow of the rushing air. Though the boy had had the presence of mind to use his webs to anchor them to the wall and the roof farthest from the hole while clutching to the limp wizard with his other hand, she could see them slipping down the length of the web, flying in the middle of the hangar as they were.
"Grab your friends," Loki ordered Stark. "I'll deal with Maw." Without waiting for a response, she jumped off the platform, using seidr to keep her feet glued to the floor as she made her way over to where the wretched creature was trying to find his footing once more. The purple of the Power Stone was flashing beneath his flesh, sparks of energy crackling around his arms as Maw grasped at the beam keeping him tethered to the ship. Loki smiled as she advanced, like a panther stalking its prey.
"I am going to enjoy ending your life," she purred, projecting her words into Maw's mind. "Did you like the little present I gave you on the Statesman?"
Recognition flared in Maw's eyes, his lips pulling back in a snarl. "Liesmith!"
“How nice of you to remember me,” Loki grinned wider, baring her teeth as she crossed the blades of Chaosmaker across Maw’s throat. Pulling on the threads of chaos winding throughout the ship, Loki sent the energy racing through the blades. Aided by seidr, the uru had no trouble slicing clean through Maw’s flesh regardless of the Power Stone’s energy coursing through his veins. The decapitated head flew out the hole, leaving Maw’s headless body jerking in the rushing air like a ragdoll, tangled in the beams as it was. At least until Loki disintegrated the metal with a burst of seidr and let the vacuum of space claim it. “Rot in Hel.”
Loki debated if she ought to close up the hole but Stark beat her to it as he flew through the air and fired some kind of white gunk that solidified across the opening and sealed the ship once more. Plastering on a friendly smile, Loki turned to face the Midgardians, finding it interesting how the sentient cloak was supporting the second-rate sorcerer in his bid to stay on his feet while the spider-child hovered uncertainly in the background. Stark let the helmet of his suit fold away as he watched Loki with narrowed eyes.
"You got a name, Morgana?" Loki did not miss the fact that Stark had yet to power down his repulsors.
"You may call me Loptr," she answered, realizing her mistake the moment the name was past her lips. Stark’s expression grew pinched as he pursed his lips together and the whine of his repulsors filled the air. The spider-child let out an uncertain “Mr. Stark?” while Loki tightened her grip on the sword hilts. Leave it to Stark to know and recognize an obscure name that Loki hadn’t used or claimed in centuries. Still, not letting the nervousness show on her face, Loki quirked a brow as she spoke, "Is this the thanks I get for saving all of your lives?"
"Saving our lives? Or saving your own, Loki?" Stark pointed his gauntlets at Loki's face. Behind Stark, the spider-child let out a yelp of surprise, followed by a loudly whispered, "Mr. Loki is a Miss Loki now?" The second-rate magician finally joined in on the Midgardian idiocy and summoned his mandalas.
Loki rolled her eyes. "Really now, Stark. If I wanted you dead, you three would have been dead already."
"You do realize this is not convincing us to trust you, right? Also, what's with the genderbender?"
"I know, but that isn't going to change regardless of what I say," Loki shrugged, ignoring his second question in favor of casting a discreet spell to disable weapons of an electrical nature in her immediate vicinity. She cast a powerful shielding charm next, to keep Strange at bay just as Stark's and the boy's suits shut down. "Perhaps now we can speak like civilized beings."
"Really?" Stark sputtered in indignation before turning to Strange. "Wizard, you want to take care of our Wicked Witch of the West?"
"As much as I'm sure he would love to throw me into an eternally falling portal," Loki answered for the wizard in question, "he knows conjuring said portal would rip this ship apart and I doubt any of you would prefer that outcome to spending a few minutes talking with me."
"Oh yeah? Well I'm pretty sure our Houdini can deal with you without conjuring a portal." Stark shot back as he crossed his arms, discreetly moving to stand between Loki and the spider-child.
"Hmmm, I suppose," Loki pretended to think for a moment before shooting the second-rate sorcerer a nasty smile. "Although, I do have to wonder, what is he waiting for?"
Strange made a valiant effort to appear less worn out but Loki was intimately familiar with the aftermath of a session with Maw's favorite micro-needles. Needless to say, Strange wasn't in any state to be casting spells, let alone even properly stand on his feet unaided. As it was, Loki suspected the man was on his feet solely due to the cloak around his shoulders.
"Now then, if we're done with all the posturing, I would like for us to get down to business, as you Midgardians are so fond of saying," Loki said as she dismissed Chaosmaker, internally smirking at the awed gasp that came from the boy at her display. She felt even more pleased when Stark shot his child an annoyed glare to which the child responded with a "Sorry, Mr. Stark, but her magic is kind of cool."
Loki sauntered over to the control panels and leaned against it. "First off, I feel that I must congratulate you three on taking out Ebony Maw. Out of every single child that Thanos took under his wing, Maw was one of his most fanatic generals and had decimated the highest number of planets and solar systems in the Mad Titan's name. I did not think you had it in you but credit where credit is due. Despite your countless flaws, you humans come up with the most amusing solutions to your problems."
"So glad we could entertain you," Strange drawled, though the effect of nonchalance was ruined by his shaking hands. Noting Loki's gaze, Strange scowled and grasped the edges of his cloak to stop the subconscious movement. Loki briefly wondered if the numerous scars on the sorcerer's hands had anything to do with the reason for the tremors before dismissing the thought entirely.
"Now that you three have managed to keep the Time Stone out of the Mad Titan's hands, perhaps you would like to return to your planet," Loki said, pretending not to have heard Strange. "I can use the Tesseract to track down the creature possessing the Mind Stone and open a portal leading you directly to it. You could step through and be home in a heartbeat."
"What about you? You going to come with or...?" Stark trailed off, quirking a brow as he eyed Loki from head to toe.
Giving a lazy shrug in return, she tossed her hair over a shoulder, the epitome of nonchalance. "I am going to track down and steal the Soul Stone."
"Planning on taking over the universe in your old master's stead, Morgana?"
"I've never been interested in ruling the universe, Stark."
"I seem to remember you singing a different tune the last time we met. Giant portal right above my tower and uglier cousins of the borgs flying through ring any bells?"
"I gave ruling a shot, "Loki answered, letting the silence hang until Stark prompted with an impatient 'and?' before continuing, "I've decided it's not for me. Thor is welcome to keep that thankless job."
"You can forgive me for not taking you at your word," Strange drawled.
"Yeah, we're not letting you gallivant off on your own," Stark added.
"Very well," Loki said, pushing away from the console, "I had thought rallying your forces in defense of your realm and warning the populace about Thanos would take precedence but you're all welcome to join me on the perilous journey to track the only unaccounted-for Infinity stone, if you wish."
"Mr. Stark, she does have a point. Shouldn't someone warn the earth?"
"Maybe she does," Stark turned to the spider-child, "but are you really going to step through a portal created by Loki?"
"If I wanted you dead, I would only have had to have waited a few more minutes for Ebony Maw to finish off the three of you before I dealt with him. Saving your lives only to kill you later is a waste of my valuable time and seidr."
"I hate to say it but she does have a good point." It was surprising to have Strange be the one who defended Loki. She glanced at the sorcerer but his face gave nothing away. "And we need to warn Earth of the impending threat."
"Houdini, you've got a stone of your own. Can't you track Vision and portal us to his location?"
"I'm afraid the sling ring lacks interplanetary range. And as Loki pointed out earlier, creating a portal on a moving spaceship will rip it apart long before any of us could step through."
"Think of it this way, Stark. You are all enemies of Thanos and he is my enemy, so going by that saying of your realm, 'enemy of my enemy', even if you don't trust in anything else, just believe that so long as Thanos is our common enemy, you have nothing to fear from me."
Stark pinched his nose in defeat before turning to Loki. "Fine, create a portal to Vision and Peter goes through to warn everyone."
The spider-child yelped in indignation and burst out. "You can't send me back! What if you need me later on?"
"Kid, remember your aunt hottie-hot-hottie? She nearly cut my balls off when she found out that I had taken you to Germany without permission. If she finds out I took you on a space road trip without informing her, you better believe she will skin me alive. And then she'll go after the family jewels."
"But, Mr. Stark—"
"Nu-uh, I am not listening to your arguments. I like my jewels right where they are, thank you very much. Not to mention, I seem to remember telling you to stay on earth, but you disobeyed my orders and still came along to rescue the wizard. Well, mission accomplished. Now, it's time for you to go home. Houdini and I can keep watch on Reindeer Games."
"Actually, Stark, I need to return as well," Strange said. "As the Sorcerer Supreme I can't leave the planet for extended periods of time without putting proper precautions in place."
The boy opened his mouth to argue but snapped it shut as Stark held up a finger and scowled at him. "No, that doesn't mean you get to stay. You need to go back and let May know you're alright. Especially considering you probably haven't picked up her calls since Leatherface showed up. I can handle Morgana myself."
Loki sorely wanted to disabuse Stark of that notion but decided to hold her tongue in favor of getting rid of them faster. Maybe the child might yet convince Stark to leave with him instead of straggling along with Loki.
"Maybe we can all go to Earth," the boy suggested hopefully as he looked between Stark and Strange. "I can let May know that I'm okay. We warn the others about Thanos, and then help Miss Loki with her search for the Soul Stone."
"I suspect that by now Thor ought to have retrieved the Reality Stone from the Collector, and so he will most likely be headed to Earth through alternate means," Loki interjected before the others could respond. "I intend not to be on the same planet as him for a while."
"Why? Did you stab him the back again?"
Loki bristled at Stark's insolence and it was an effort to remind herself not to stab the mouthy mortal because the annoying twat would be useful in future confrontations with Thanos.
"Think whatever you may wish, Stark. If you three do not reach a decision soon, I might just leave you stranded on this ship. Have fun trying to navigate this ship back to your backwater planet on your own."
"Pfft, I'm a genius, give me a couple of hours and I might just do that."
"So you can read dead alien languages and communicate with a telepathic interface?" Loki quirked a brow.
"Never mind that." Strange took a step forward when Stark looked ready to argue. "Spiderman and I will take you up on that offer for a portal, Loki. Stark is welcome to the attempts if he so wishes."
"I think I'll tag along with Lokes. See what the universe has to offer."
"Mr. Stark, I really think I can—"
"Kid, no means no, alright?" Stark snapped and the boy took a step back, crestfallen.
“O-Oh… I’m sorry. I’ll just stop bothering you…”
Stark let out a harsh sigh, seeming to realize the effect his words had had on the child. He walked up to the boy and pulled him out of hearing range. Loki did not think it was prudent to mention that her enhanced hearing could still pick up on their whispered conversation when Stark began to speak. “Peter, look… I’m sorry, but I don't want to put you in harm's way. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive myself if I take you along and something happens to you. I know I offered to make you an official Avenger and I also know that you can handle yourself pretty well in a crisis, but if you get hurt… Can’t you see that that's going to be on me? I’m the adult here and I need to make sure you’re safe. Well… safer than you will be gallivanting across the universe in search of magical stones, which is why you will be going back to Earth. Rendezvous with Dr. Banner and Thor and help them rally our planet’s defenses. Think you can handle that responsibility?”
The boy looked hesitant for a moment, almost looking like he was going to argue though in the end he relented with a defeated nod. “You can count on me, Mr. Stark.”
“That’s a good Underoo.” Stark clapped the boy on his back before turning back to face Loki and Strange. “Alrighty then, I guess we have everything hashed out. Oh no. Wait.” He spun on his heel to face the spider-child, holding out a hand onto which his suit spat out a clunky cellular device. Loki frowned at that for a moment before recalling that it was the device that Captain America had sent to Stark at the end of their ‘civil war’. “Here, this might be more useful to you than to me.”
“Okay?” the boy looked confused as he accepted the device. “Umm… Mr. Stark, why are you giving me a flip phone?”
“Take a look at the contacts list later, alright?” Stark answered before he wandered over to Loki and Strange.
“If everything is settled?” Strange gestured between Stark and the spider-child and Stark scowled at the sorcerer.
“You have a problem with me being a responsible mentor?”
“Did I say that?” without waiting for Stark’s response, the sorcerer turned to Loki. “Will this location do for the portal, or do you need to be somewhere specific?”
Loki gave the man an icy smile before summoning the Tesseract. Staring at the glowing cube in her hand, she dipped into the power contained within, deeper than she ever had before. It began as a soundless hum, rising to a crescendo until the Space Stone’s wordless song was ringing inside her head, like a siren’s call pulling her towards it, wanting to drown her in its infinite wonder. Loki followed its call part of the way, letting the energy surround her core and lend it strength far beyond what she was naturally gifted with and then cast a detection spell targeted to the creature possessing the mind stone. The energy flared in her palms, burning and freezing at the same time, as though she were trying to cup molten metal in bare hands. She followed the invisible thread leading her back to Midgard, and then to where she could sense the Mind Stone. Location in mind, Loki created a portal and gestured for the two Midgardians to step through.
The call of the Space Stone grew to near deafening levels even inside her head. Loki found herself sinking, slowly surrendering to the endless power until she splintered into infinity itself. She was in the asteroid field that was all that remained of Asgard and the obliterated capital of the Nova Empire. She was in Saraab, Alfheim, Nidavellir, Jotunheim. She was in every Ravager ship congregating at the call of Stakar and Aleta Ogord, to the lone ship landing on Knowhere outside the Collector's museum.
She was everywhere. From distant galaxies and blackholes to backwater planets and some of the most advanced civilizations that existed. She was in the Q-ship headed to Titan, watching Stark observe the husk that was her physical self and she was in Midgard, watching the Sorcerer and the spider-child duck for cover as an energy blast blew up a street.
Moments later, the child stood up to join the fight taking place above the rooftops of the sleepy Midgardian town when the sorcerer grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Mr. Strange, Vision is in trouble," the spider-child cried before the two were forced to duck a second time.
"I know, which is why you need to go back through the portal and get Loki and Stark. We'll need their help."
Looking around, she spotted the little red witch and the construct possessing the Mind Stone fend off another attack from Proxima Midnight.
Proxima Midnight?
Loki frowned and she felt and saw the husk that was her physical body follow the motions.
"Hello? Lokes? You in there?" Stark poked her in the shoulder. He appeared to have been doing so for quite a while.
In Knowhere, a motley crew cautiously approached the museum. Inside, Thor and Banner followed the Collector through a labyrinth of curios. Outside, the Sanctuary drew ever closer.
On Midgard, the spider-child split from the Sorcerer and wove his way through the rubble already littering the streets to where the portal was. With an effort of will, Loki pulled away from Asgard, then from Xandar, followed by Saraab, Alfheim, Nidavellir and Jotunheim. She withdrew from Midgard and then from every Ravager ship. She withdrew from every splinter of infinity until all that was left was split between Knowhere, standing next to Thor as he discussed the threat that was Thanos with the Collector and with Stark as he tried to get Loki to respond as her husk stood, surrounded in a glowing vortex of blue. A part of her wished to remain with her brother but Loki pulled away, flying back through the stars until she slammed back into her body. The next moment, she brought up the strongest mental shields that she could conjure and blocked out the Space Stone's call.
She only had a moment to revel in the blessed silence inside her head before the spider-child was stumbling through the portal, gasping for breath.
"Mr. Stark!" The boy cried, eyes wide and face covered in soot, "Aliens are— attacking earth. We need help! Vision is hurt. Strange sent me to get you two."
"Did you know about this?" Stark growled as he turned on Loki.
"Does it look like I knew about this?" She hissed in turn, summoning Chaosmaker to one hand before she stomped over to the portal. "Let's go save your construct."
When Stark remained rooted to the spot, "Oh for Norn's sake, Stark. I don't want you or your allies dead but if you remain acting so suspicious of me, I might just stab you anyway. Now are you coming through or not? The Black Order won’t wait around for you forever."
Without waiting for a response, Loki went through. Moments later, Stark and the spider-child arrived and Loki finally sent the Tesseract away.