When I Met You

Chapter 27: Madness

It was the first naturally occurring thunderstorm of the year, seeing as all the ones Thor made didn't really count, but tonight wasn't peaceful by any means. Although the Thunderer did not bring this storm to fight injustice this night, there was another using it as cover for their battle against New York City's underbelly. Just like so many other nights over the past few weeks an unknown vigilante, a being described as shadow and death came out of the dark to exact revenge, but against who precisely was unclear. No villain or petty crook was safe from their wrath, although this individual seemed to target larger groups of criminals, being gangs for the most part. The Mode Blanks, Ghost Boys, Dogs of Hell, and Concrete Dragons, had already been dealt with, the majority of them either incarcerated, hospitalized, or dead, with many of the other gangs of New York laying low in the meantime, as this vigilante was no joke. 

On the menu tonight for this vigilante was the gang known as Poison Memories, they had a hideout on the Lower East Side, in an old warehouse that used to manufacture fabric. These guys were cocky, Kimeiko Ashu, the gang's leader seemed unphased, as this so-called "Shadow Killer", one of several nicknames for this vigilante, was nothing against the might of his gang. Mr.Ashu was forced to eat those words as he watched every single member of his crew get cut down without mercy, the entire warehouse soon stained with their blood and his own. Well, watched was a strong word as he didn't actually see the vigilante, no one did, you'd only hear the screams of their victims and see the mess they left behind, that was of course until you became their next target. Not like seeing this vigilante would change anything, or lead them to be caught, as they had a disguise, well technically Loki used an entirely different form when he went out under the cover of darkness. 

The God of Mischief was losing his mind, you had been missing for weeks and all the leads they had only hit dead ends, as far as anyone could tell, you were really gone. Loki couldn't accept it, nor would he, he'd keep searching until he found you, even if he had to scour every last inch of Midgard in order to find you. The hold you had over him was suffocating, Loki could barely breathe or function knowing you were in the arms of a monster, a monster who could be doing unspeakable things to you. There was no way to get rid of these feelings, the only relief he found was when he went out every once in a while to lay waste to the scum of the Earth, not destroying them by casting spells but by using weaponry to cut all those filthy mortals down. His blades had not feasted like this, not in centuries, nor had he ever gone so savage before, fighting and duelling was always a dance in which he enjoyed but now, there was no joy, only suffering. 

The Avengers and other heroes still helped from time to time, chasing down new leads as they came, if they came at all but even they started to doubt the likelihood of finding you. Not that they wanted to give up but after weeks of getting nowhere, they lost hope, sinking down into depression from losing a friend, so they tried to focus on other things. Even Thor was starting to waver, not doubting his brother's intentions by any means, but he worried for him, as the Thunderer knew what losing you was doing to Loki, what it could turn him into if he kept going down this path. Loki began to feel like everyone was turning against him, or that they were only pretending to care, not even his own father would help, forebaying Heimdall from using his sight to locate you. Thor protested to this of course, but Odin was firm on the subject, with Loki even declaring that if you died he would never forgive him and would lay waste to Asgard. Thor didn't exactly agree with destroying Asgard, as they weren't at fault for their father's decisions but he stood by Loki, declaring that if you were indeed lost, he would never forgive Odin, forfeiting his claim to the throne and place as the crown prince of Asgard. 

Loki didn't expect Thor to react like that, well at least he still had his brother, there was no one else though, except maybe a certain snake he'd sometimes spend time with. Actually, Loki went to see Lily almost every day, teleporting to the island Shield had put her on, as they couldn't have a giant snake in New York, not only was it against the law but it seemed cruel to keep her in such a small space. It was actually something you brought up on more than one occasion with Loki, your worry as Lily didn't stop growing you wouldn't be able to keep her, although you would be fine living in a tiny house, you doubted she would. Loki knew you would hate it if Lily was put in a Zoo or ended up in a lab, so after some initial tests to determine what species she was, discovering that she was in fact, a lab experiment to bring back Titianoboa and weaponize them. It was an experiment Shield put an end to a couple of years ago, or so they thought, clearly several specimens survived and although Shield debated putting her down, the Shield Academy, as well as several Avengers, stood in their way. So Fury ended up turning Sandman's old prison island into a place for Lily, but without you, your snakey baby was still very sad, barely leaving her new bed, unless Thor or Loki stopped by.