The Adventures of Kid Loki

Loki's Helmet

In the pitch black of the secret tunnels of Surtur's stronghold, the Avengers walked. Loki had some goal in mind, and he was traveling there, and not telling them where it was. "A little more sharing, and a little less mystery would be nice right about now," Steve told Loki.

"Wouldn't you like to know..." Loki said, his voice disappearing.

"At least turn on the lights, dammit!" Clint snapped, and that was when he caught sight of Loki's blue fingers, snapping in his face.

"No fire! No heat! As if there wasn't enough of that already?!" Loki hissed in return. Natasha felt Loki walk by her again, and she could feel the cool mist radiating off of him. "If it gets any hotter, I'll faint," Loki admitted. That was when he stumbled and Natasha had to support him. His skin accidentally touched hers, and she cried out.

"Ouch!" Loki turned to tell her to be more careful, but his sharp eyes caught the glint of tears coming from hers. He knew he had accidentally hurt her.

"I said, no touching," he told her in a quiet tone of voice. Natasha nodded her head, guessing where Loki's face was in the darkness. Clint tried to guess also, as his fist just narrowly missed grazing Loki's cheekbone.

"Can't you show some feeling for once in your miserable life?!" Clint asked. "She's hurt!"

"And I gave her fair warning," Loki responded coolly. He knew Clint was glaring at him, but that was when he read Natasha's mind.

What a jerk! And I was just trying to help him! Loki raised his eyebrow, and that was when he turned around. Slamming both his hands against the walls, a cold wind whipped up the passage way. The Avengers began to shiver a little, and soon felt snowflakes touching their faces. Natasha felt a hand take hers and a cool, healing sensation went all over her burn. She looked up and saw Loki's eyes a few inches away from her own.

"Hey! Does my cellphone have a flashlight app?" Steve suddenly asked. Loki felt like he was going to explode. Apparently he was not the only one. A light came on, and all three of them turned to give Steve the stink eye. He tried to look as innocent as he possibly could, but it did not work.

"You had your cellphone in your pocket, this whole time?!" Natasha asked, raising her voice. Steve shrugged. She walked up to him, snatched the phone from his hand, and punched him in the face! Loki's eyes popped and Clint choked on his own laugh. Steve winced and gently touched his nose, while Natasha went to the front and began to walk down the passage. With the flashlight app on, they could observe the frost making beautiful designs on the surface of the stone. They could see their breath in the air. Natasha watched as her curled in front of her, before it took the form of a dragon. She turned around, and saw Loki admiring the walls, but his fingers were twitching. Natasha smiled, but that was when Clint saw it. He glared over at Loki, as the god unsuspectingly manipulated Natasha's frosty breath. Loki got shoved against the wall, and he glanced over at Clint.

"Slipped. Sorry," Clint said, obviously not sorry. Loki's brow furrowed, but he did nothing to Barton in return. He knew an immediate response would be immature. A slowly stewed over, and planned comeback was more his style anyway. He nodded, grinning ever so slightly.

"I'll keep the ice off the floor," Loki told Clint. The walk continued, with nobody making a sound. After an hour of silence, Natasha stopped walking. It was sudden, and her followers were not ready for it. Loki bumped into her first, then Clint hit him, and Steve was last.

"Ouch! Can I please have a little warning?" Steve asked irritably. His nose was still sore.

"I'm sorry! But the wall kind of snuck up on me," Natasha responded dourly. They looked over her shoulder and see the wall in front of them. Loki put his hand out and touched it. He withdrew it instantly and allowed his hand to turn blue in order to cool it off. It was burned.

"So, where now, oh secretive leader?" Clint queried sarcastically. Without responding, Loki blew on it, freezing it. Once it was frozen solid, Loki pushed the Avengers back, and knocked it down with one punch. When the wall was down, the Avengers found themselves looking a room with a lava fountain in the center. The walls were black stone, except for a few spots where crude drawings were sketched.

"What is this place?" Steve asked. Loki walked around, reverting back to his blue skin. Natasha, Clint, and Steve looked around, studying some items that were on display on pedestals. Natasha was drawn to huge stand, where a helmet was sitting. There were two holes in the side to allow access for horns, and a brace came over the mouth, completely covering it. Natasha's hand went out, but an arm batted it away. She glanced over and Loki was shaking his head.

"Surtur is connected to everything in this room. You touch anything, and he'll know there's intruders," Loki said.

"And how is he connected to everything here?" Clint asked as he immediately took a step away from a stand where armor was on display.

"Because when Odin had me spying for him, I stole something and took it with me when I left. An artifact of his that he considered precious. Connecting himself to the rest, allows him to always know where they are," Loki said as he stood next to a niche in the wall, which was empty. The Avengers joined him, and they looked as well. A plaque was on the wall, written in a language they could not understand. Loki seemed mesmerized by it, and a smirk pulled at the corners of his lips, as his hand went out and hovered over the stone.

"What was it?" Natasha queried, allowing her curiosity to get the better of her. Loki withdrew his hand, and stepped back.

"My helmet," Loki responded as he turned and walked away. The Avengers gawked at each other, as Loki went to where a huge sword was resting.

"Your helmet?!" Steve asked before Clint and Natasha shushed him.

"It belonged to his son, who I slew, but I blamed it on his younger brother. Surtur doesn't know I killed him, but he knows I took his helmet. Must be pretty galling to see me traipse around the Nine Realms, in Fire Demon workmanship?" Loki did not seem to notice their stares as he reached out quickly, took hold of the sword, and yanked it from its place. All three Avengers' hands went to their hair and they barely bit back their screams.

"Are you insane?! What was that about not touching anything for fear of being found by the huge fire demon?" Clint exclaimed. Loki turned around, and the sword shrunk down to his size, and cooled off. He grinned at his companions and placed the sword across his shoulders.

"Despite the very good bargain Karnilla and Amora have just given Surtur, I'm going to give him something better. This sword is his most powerful weapon. He'll do anything to get it back. Including, betraying his new found friends!" Loki then waved his hand, and all four of them were enveloped in green mist.