Loki's Tale
Hannah folded her arms but tried to fix her expression into one rather less hostile than it had previously been as Loki shifted a little uncomfortably before meeting the Doctor’s eyes.
“I was forced against my will and I wasn’t strong enough to fight back,” he stated, sounding ashamed.
The Doctor frowned, gently, and stepped forwards. “How so, Loki?”
“They had hold of my mind, Doctor,” Loki explained. “I couldn’t stop them, and once they had it, well, I was trapped.”
“Who did that to you, Loki?” the Doctor asked.
“The Chitauri,” Loki replied, and the Doctor’s expression changed quicker than a traffic light going from red to green as he suddenly, to the alarm of both Hannah and Loki, seized the latter’s arms, his eyes suddenly wild.
“The Chitauri did that to you, and you survived?! Loki, count yourself lucky you’re here now to tell the tale!”
Hannah frowned. “Who are the Chitauri, Doctor?”
“A very, very evil race of aliens, Hannah,” the Doctor replied as he whirled about to face her.
“How evil?”
“Put it this way, they’re second only to the Daleks!”
Hannah blanched. “That is bad!”
“You’re telling me, I’ve met them!” The Doctor turned back to Loki. “They tortured you?”
Loki shuddered at the memory. “Yes. They wanted to seize Asgard first, get control of that and then deal with Midgard. When that failed, they decided to just go ahead and attack Midgard anyway, figuring that only Thor would try to stop them and they could take him down easily.” He fiddled with the inside of his sleeve. “They didn’t bank on his new friends helping, though.”
“How did you get away?” the Doctor asked, sounding both awed and concerned.
Loki looked away. “One of Thor’s friends beat me half to death and that broke their link to me.”
“Link?” Hannah repeated.
“Yes, Hannah, the Chitauri can inflict mental torture as well as physical,” the Doctor replied, looking over at her. “Once they have control of your mind, they can tap into your intermost thoughts, find what you care about most and use it to make you do their bidding, classic evil character trick, you see it all the time in books too, don’t you?” Hannah nodded. “Like working a puppet on a string, they can manoeuvre a person to do anything once they have control of them,” the Doctor added. “They can make a person kill even something or someone they care about and there’s nothing that person can do except obey and watch it burn.”
Hannah shuddered. “Not a race you want to meet in a dark alley, then, Doctor?”
“No, indeed,” the Doctor replied, and then in a gentler tone he added to Loki, “What was it they had on you, Loki? What were they threatening to do if you didn’t comply?”
Loki met his look again. “They found my weakness.”
“Which was?”
“You two.”
Hannah blinked at him, but the Doctor didn’t look at all surprised.
Loki elaborated. “They said they could track you two down and then they’d torture you both to death right in front of me. I thought at first they were lying, but then they showed me that it could be done...” He stopped for a moment and shook his head. “Doctor, that vision, it was so real...”
“I know,” the Doctor murmured, patting his shoulder. “Their power of illusions can outshine even yours, Loki.”
Loki finally managed a small smile. “I didn’t want to do any of it, Doctor, you have to believe me. That whole time I was invading Midgard, hurting those people, all I kept hoping for was for either you two to show up, or for Thor to come and stop me, one or the other. With invading Midgard there was a chance I could somehow regain control of myself, with help, but I couldn’t stand to watch you two be killed.” He glanced at Hannah and in spite of knowing that he was a rather skilled liar, she, like the Doctor, could see the young boy they had once known, once played with and given advice to, standing in front of her and knew he was telling the truth. “You’re the only friends I’ve got.”
The Doctor gave his shoulder a squeeze and offered him a smile. “It’s over now,” he said, softly.
Hannah sighed and then walked over to them. “Oh, come here,” she murmured, holding out her arms and then hugging Loki tightly. Rather relieved that she wasn’t about to slap him again, Loki returned her hug, glancing at the Doctor over her shoulder.
“Doctor, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have fallen for their lies-”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Loki,” the Doctor cut in. “Even I could if they showed me people I cared about being tortured, any Time Lord could, and we happen to be a pretty sharp race.” He tucked his hands into his pockets, looking sheepish. “And...I’m the one who should apologise, Loki, for not being there. You remember those few times, Hannah, when we’d be chasing or running away from hostile aliens, like that time on Falagos 1?” Hannah, having broken her hug with Loki, nodded. “And the Tardis tried to alert me to something-?”
“And you just whacked the console with a hammer and told her to behave?” Hannah cut in.
“Precisely,” the Doctor nodded, looking very ashamed of himself. “Well, after doing a little bit of research, looking back over that, I know now what she was trying to tell me, that we needed to go to Asgard. At the time I ignored it, thinking the Tardis was on the blink or something...again, but she wasn’t. She was letting me know that you needed us, Loki.” He faced the young God with his most apologetic look. “And I ignored that. I wasn’t there when you needed help most, and for that I’ll always be extremely sorry.”
“Hold on, though,” Hannah said, before Loki could respond. “If you had gone to Asgard when the Tardis told you to, then would we be here now? Would we be building a team to fight aliens over in Britain?”
The Doctor frowned and scratched his head. “That’s a point, I hadn’t thought of that. Oh!” He groaned and ruffled his hair up in frustration. “Why can’t Time ever go in a straight line instead of being all wibbly-wobbly-all over the place?” Hannah and Loki both began to laugh as he looked up at them. “What? Is it the hair? Does it look like yours first thing in the morning, Hannah?”
Hannah shot him a glare. Loki quickly recovered from his laughing fit and adopted a serious expression.
“I’m not angry with you, Doctor, if that’s what you’re thinking. I suppose deep down I knew you’d come if you could.”
The Doctor smiled, benevolently, and then turned in the direction of the doorway that led into the rest of the Tardis. “Well, perhaps you’re right, Hannah, perhaps this is the way things were meant to turn out. I mean, think about it, think about it. We are the best spy in the whole world of fiction, two of the most famous wizards who ever existed, a consulting detective, an ex-soldier turned medical doctor, the God of Mischief, a cryokinetic human, and of course, me! And the Tardis! Who better to save the Earth from the threat of alien invasion?” He looked over at Loki. “Want to be part of a team that wins for once?”
Loki nodded. “Yes, Doctor, I do.”
“Good man,” the Doctor smiled, clapping his hands together. “Hannah, round up the troops! Oh, and put the kettle on while you’re at it.”
That remark earned him a wet snowball to the back of the head and another bout of laughter from Loki. Before leaving the room, however, a thought struck Hannah and she turned back to her old friend. “Hang on, Loki, why didn’t you tell Odin about this?”
Loki gave her a look. “Because he’d never have believed me.”
“But we believe you.”
“That’s because I’ve never had any reason to lie to you two.”
With a thoughtful frown, Hannah made her way into the kitchen and the Doctor beckoned Loki up the Tardis console, flicking a few random buttons on the way through. “Odin’s put some kind of restraints on you, hasn’t he, Loki? It’s just the type of thing he would do.”
Loki held up his arms, showing two gold leather arm guards that looked as if they were actually just a part of his tunic. “They limit my magic, Doctor, and only magic can get them off.”
“Oh, magic!” The Doctor groaned again, rolling his eyes. “Let me tell you something, Loki, magic is just a word people use for unexplainable feats of science, and let me tell you that when it comes to science, I happen to be an expert!” Whipping out the sonic screwdriver, he pointed it at Loki, who automatically flinched, not entirely sure what the Doctor was about to do to him since he now seemed rather agitated, and pressed the button that gave the device its power. The arm guards fell off and Loki blinked up at him. “If we’re fighting hostile aliens, you need your full powers,” the Doctor explained, tucking the sonic away in his pocket. “And when all this is over, I’ve got more than a few things I want to talk to your adopted father about.”
Loki frowned. “How-?”
“Please, Loki.” The Doctor cocked his head on one side. “I might be nine hundred years old, give or take, but that doesn’t mean I’m going deaf just yet. I know who Laufey is.”
Loki glanced at his feet. “You mean was, Doctor. The Chitauri-”
“Made you kill him?” the Doctor finished, gently. “Loki, look at me.” Slowly, Loki raised his head. “You’re not the only person in this room who’s had to sacrifice their own race because they had no other choice, trust me.”
Loki wriggled his shoulders, uncomfortably. “You know what I am, Doctor?”
The Doctor smiled, softly. “Frost Giants are a very noble race, Loki, more so than people give them credit for. Noble, vastly intelligent, brave, loyal...occasionally mischievous, but dignified none the less, and incredibly skilled in magic...all traits I see in you, Loki.”
Loki flushed. “Most people think they’re monsters, Doctor.”
“Mm, and you know what?” the Doctor asked, finishing up fiddling around with the Tardis console, straightening up and turning to him. “There are also aliens out there who think I’m a monster.”
Loki was genuinely surprised by that statement. “You, Doctor?”
“I know!” The Doctor spread his arms. “Can you credit it? Mind you, that’s all those hostile aliens who get hot under the collar just because I prevent them from taking over the universe. I mean, you don’t think I’m a monster, do you, Loki?”
“No, you’re one of the best people I know,” Loki admitted.
“Exactly!” The Doctor dropped his arms. “And that’s exactly what I see in you, Loki. Just because you’re a Jotun by birth does not mean you’re a monster.”
Loki managed a smile. “I wish more people thought like you, Doctor.”
The Doctor patted his shoulder again just as the others, sans Hannah, came back into the room. Merlin’s eyes were wide with awe. “Just how big is this place, Doctor?”
“Put it this way,” the Doctor replied, cheerfully, “I could draw you a plan, but it would stretch from this side of London across the Irish Sea and all the way over to countries that your people haven’t even learnt of, yet, Merlin. Where’s Hannah?”
“Putting the kettle on,” John reported.
“Oh.” The Doctor looked slightly guilty. “I was joking.”
“Well don’t tell her, Doctor, she’ll kill you.”
The Doctor grinned and then straightened up. “Right! Cybermen!”
“What are they, Doctor?” Harry asked, and the others got the feeling that he was still slightly sceptical about the existence of alien beings.
“The Cybermen were once like us, but they swapped so many of their human parts for robot parts that they eventually became more machine than man and erased almost every single one of their emotions,” the Doctor reeled off, the textbook version of the explanation he had given to Sherlock and John about two years ago, consecutive time. “With me so far?”
“Um, what does robot mean?” Merlin ventured.
Luckily, John fielded that one, and just as well because both the Doctor and Sherlock turned to look at the young wizard as if he had just said something incredibly stupid. “They’re artificial beings that don’t have feelings, as opposed to humans.”
The Doctor went over to the chalkboard and began to make a rough drawing of a typical robot, like those tin wind-up ones children sometimes played with. “That’s a robot, Merlin,” he said, before rubbing the image out with his sleeve and quickly drawing something else. “And that’s a Cyberman!”
James folded his arms. “If they’re mainly robots, then what are we worrying for? If I’ve learned anything during my work, it’s that all technology can be overpowered in some way.”
“Ah, yes, James,” the Doctor announced, waving the chalk at him, “but remember, the Cybermen were human once, and that is their greatest strength, because you see they understand the way humanity works. Robots don’t, usually, and since most robots are programmed by Asimov’s three laws of robotics-”
“Meaning they can’t do humans any harm,” Sherlock cut in for those who looked confused.
“They are far less likely to threaten the human race,” the Doctor finished. “But since Cybermen still have that teeny tiny part of their mind that functions in the same way as a human’s, they understand. They get that if a human feels that it or someone it’s close to is being threatened, they can get them to co-operate, you know; work with me or I’ll kill your friends type-thing...” The others nodded. “Plus, they do still have some living components underneath their suits of armour, although you really don’t want to see that if you get a chance to.” He shuddered and tapped the drawing again. “Now, thankfully, they do have their weaknesses, namely gold, to which they are basically allergic.” He hesitated. “Sherlock, best phone Molly and tell her to keep that glittergun handy just in case. Now, where was I? Ah, yes, gold is lethal to the Cybermen, but they can also be stopped by a number of other factors – high explosives, electromagnetic pulses, specialised weaponry and-”
“Daleks,” Hannah finished, walking into the room with a tea tray laden with cups, a milk jug and a sugar bowl.
The Doctor grinned at her. “Yes, but since we don’t have any of those-”
“You do still have some of their guns, though, right, Doctor?” John checked. “I mean, they worked last time.”
“Yes, John, we wouldn’t get rid of those.” The Doctor frowned as if John was being incredibly thick.
“What are Daleks?” James asked.
“Well, they’re almost exactly like the Cybermen, but with one small difference,” Hannah said.
“Which is?”
“When the two races get into a fight, the Daleks win.”
Loki frowned. “I always thought they were a myth, Doctor. That’s what we were told on Asgard, anyway.”
“Oh, no, Loki, Daleks are very real,” the Doctor replied, now handing out cups of tea. “They’re the most dangerous and evil creatures to ever exist, so everyone just be grateful it’s only Cybermen we’re dealing with.”
James nodded. “And these Cybermen want to destroy the Earth?”
“Mm, not quite,” the Doctor replied, stirring his tea. “They want to make humanity like them, they call it “upgrading the universe,” in short they want to turn every living creature into a Cyberman, or Cybershade if they’re animal.”
James hesitated. “Right...”
Hannah smiled. “You’ll get used to it.”
“But thankfully,” the Doctor added, cheerfully, “we’ve had an advanced warning this time, and we can be prepared. No one’s been upgraded yet and that’s something.”
Loki took a tentative sip of tea, paying careful heed to Hannah’s “Careful, it’s hot,” warning and found that he actually liked it very much. “How quickly can they do that, Doctor?” he asked.
“Extremely,” the Doctor replied, “once they’ve set up a conversion factory, that is.”
Harry sat carefully down on a stair, managing not to spill his tea in the process. “The thing is, Doctor, it sounds like all this planet needs to be safe from these things is someone like you, so why bring all of us together for it?”
The Doctor grinned and thrust his now empty cup at Hannah before snapping his fingers and pointing at Harry in his usual “Aha!” way. “Ah, because it takes more than physical strength to bring down aliens like the Cybermen, it takes intelligence, human logic, traits that we all share...even Hannah!”
“Hey!” Hannah exclaimed, indignantly.
The Doctor grinned at her. “Joking, Hannah! Besides, you lot,” and here he pointed at Harry, Merlin, James and Loki, “have special skills of your own you can bring to this team! Loki, what’s your best spell?”
A bit taken aback at being the first to be picked out, Loki thought for a second. “Illusions, Doctor.”
“Well, how’s that going to help anyone?” Sherlock snorted, disbelievingly.
Loki shot him a look. “They distract the enemy in battle so they think they’re attacking you when really you’re moving in for the kill behind them, or have you never been in a battle before?”
“Excellent skill!” the Doctor put in before Sherlock could retort. “Harry, your best spell?”
“My strongest’s Expelliarmus, for disarming opponents,” Harry explained, for the benefit of those who were unfamiliar with the books or films, “or Expecto Patronum, for protection, although that only works on Dementors. I’m quite good at Shield Charms too.”
“And Summoning Spells, right?” the Doctor encouraged.
“Right,” Harry agreed.
“There you go, then, you’ve got useful skills too,” the Doctor replied, turning to Merlin. “Merlin?”
Merlin looked slightly embarrassed. “I don’t really know what I’m best at, Doctor, it usually depends on who or what I’m trying to defend myself from.”
“Well, what spells can you do?” the Doctor asked, kindly.
“All kinds; summoning, healing, bringing things to life, element manipulation-”
“Brilliant!” The Doctor spun around to James. “And I know you’re pretty handy with gadgets and weapons, 007, so I won’t even bother to ask!”
James smiled, wryly. “I’m sure I can figure out any technology of yours, certainly, Doctor.”
“Put us down for that too, Doctor,” John added with a grin.
“Oh, you two have fought Cybermen before, I don’t need to worry,” the Doctor replied, waving airily at them. “Let’s just hope this time around we don’t all end up hanging off the hands of London’s most famous clock tower again.” John and Hannah stifled their laughter and even Sherlock cracked a smile as the others looked confused. “Now-”
“Doctor,” Hannah interrupted, “if we’re going to be a team, then shouldn’t we have rules?”
“Rules?”
“Yeah, you know, like whenever anyone sets foot on the Tardis, don’t mess with time and all that.”
The Doctor shrugged and walked over to the chalkboard, flipping it around to the clean side. “Alright, then, Rule Number One – Always Listen to the Doctor! And I mean this, now,” he added, turning to the others with a meaningful look. “You might not believe it but I’m nine hundred years old, give or take a few years, and in all that time travelling through time and space, I’ve learned a lot about the universe, about aliens, about time itself, so therefore if when I tell you something, no matter how mad it might sound, just go with it, because it could just be the key to saving the universe. Um, Rule Two...” He thought for a second. “Rule Two, Don’t Abandon the Team. If we’re going to be a team from now on, then it’s one for all, all for one, not every man for himself.” Hannah cleared her throat. “Or every girl for herself. The key to fighting a race like the Cybermen is teamwork, alright? Rule Three...”
“Don’t touch that!” Hannah yelped as a curious Merlin went to touch something on the console and the Doctor spun around. “Sorry, but I’ve no idea what that button does,” Hannah explained, “so it’s best not to risk it.”
“Oh, sorry,” Merlin apologised.
“No, that’s good!” the Doctor exclaimed, writing again on the board. “Rue Three, No Fiddling with Tardis Console...Unless Advised by the Doctor or Hannah! Rule Four...” Looking embarrassed, he glanced at the others. “Now I do trust you all, please don’t go thinking I don’t, but Rule Four should be No Stealing; it’s so easy to accidently pick up a piece of alien technology that looks harmless but could turn out to be extremely dangerous, or have extreme consequence for the galaxy, so please, everyone, just be careful you don’t.”
“Unless necessary, Doctor,” Hannah replied, calmly. “You’ve “borrowed” alien technology before in an emergency, don’t forget.”
“Alright, No Stealing Unless Necessary,” the Doctor agreed, marking it down. “Rule Five, No Killing...Unless Necessary. I mean, unless we don’t have any other choice. With some aliens, there are means of defeating them that don’t necessarily involve killing, but sometimes it is a necessity. But I don’t want any of you lot,” and here he pointed around the group with the chalk, “killing anything that doesn’t pose a threat. Got it?” The others nodded. “Good, now, Rule Six...”
“How about listen to each other, Doctor?” Hannah suggested.
“Ah, yes, good! Listen To and Respect One Another...and Rule Seven, seven should be enough, don’t you think? Rule Seven...”
John cleared his throat. “Doctor, if we’re a team, then that means we should make decisions as a team, don’t you think that should be some kind of rule too?”
“Ah, yes, a voting system! Excellent!” The Doctor grinned. “All in favour?” Automatically, the others raised their hands. “Rule Seven, All Decisions to Be Made Through Voting System...”
James leaned closer to Hannah and muttered “Does he always talk like he’s just had six cups of coffee?”
“Come on, then!” the Doctor exclaimed, tossing down the chalk and springing down beside them. “No time to lose, and I can say that legitimately as a Time Lord!”
Hannah smiled. “As I said before, Mr Bond, you’ll get used to it.”
"Oh, and one more thing!" The Doctor opened the Tardis doors and shouted up to the ceiling. "Heimdall, I don't suppose you could-?" Heimdall somehow seemed to know what the Doctor was thinking, for their was a sudden burst of rainbow light and the Doctor came back into the ship carrying a long golden sceptre which he tossed to Loki. "Here you go, Loki, much better to use on Cybermen than just a dagger."
Loki smiled. "I was beginning to miss it, Doctor."
"Right, now we're all ready," the Doctor decided, clapping his hands together. "Let's go!"