Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 78

Loki does not understand video games in the slightest, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying this immensely.

Tony decided to buy a Wii for the tower, and it's been a hit among the humans. With Thor off in Asgard and Clint on a mission, there are just enough Wii remotes for the rest of them to play together as Loki spectates.

The Halloween party starts to make a bit more sense as he sees Clint and Natasha's costumes come to life in this Super Mario Bros game. It's an absolutely ridiculous game, but it's fun to watch. Steve tries to offer his remote up a few times, but Loki always refuses. He'd rather not get caught up in the fights that occur nearly constantly. He prefers to watch them instead.

"Do not die!" Natasha says firmly, shaking her remote like her life depends on it.

"I'm not making any promises," Bruce says. "This is hard."

"Maybe you shouldn't have died," Tony says, "and you wouldn't be in this situation."

"Okay, you're not even in the game anymore," Natasha reminds him. "You lost all your lives, so I don't think you get to talk."

"You guys are ridiculous," Steve says. He shakes his remote, too, and Bruce jumps up to pop his bubble, bringing Steve back into the game, and Steve pops Natasha's bubble, too.

"Alright, take two," she says. "Let's try this again."

"At least now we know what not to do," Steve remarks.

"You mean listen to Tony?" Bruce asks. "I thought we already knew that."

Tony scoffs, but he's already out of lives so he can't exactly claim they're wrong.

They try this part of the level again, and this time, it seems to be going much better. It doesn't stop then from fighting with each other, but at least the bickering is mostly limited to Natasha and Tony, so Steve and Bruce are doing just fine.

Then Thor comes running into the room, which distracts them all and kills both Steve and Bruce in the process.

"Loki," Thor says quickly, "I need your help."

Natasha pauses the game, which, much to Loki's dismay, puts him and his brother in the spotlight.

"With what?" Loki asks. He's sure he could lend a hand, but he does kind of just want to watch the game.

"You know of a secret passageway between worlds," he says, more of a statement than a question.

Loki furrows his brows. "You must be able to use the Bifrost if you've returned from Asgard."

Thor shakes his head. "Not for this," he says. "Where is that passageway?"

"I really don't think that I—"

"Where is it?"

Loki sighs. "I can't tell you where it is," he says. "It's small. You can hardly see it until you're a dozen feet in front of it. Words couldn't adequately explain—"

"Then show me."

Loki's brows shoot up. "I beg your pardon?"

"You were able to follow Stark when he needed your help," Thor reminds him. "Now I need your help. Show me where this passageway is."

"No," Loki says immediately. Not a chance.

Thor scoffs. "No?"

"No," Loki says again. "I am not returning to Asgard in any form for any reason."

"Loki, the fate of the world is in danger," Thor tells him.

"So?" Loki asks. "Asgard has never cared about me. I see no reason not to return the favor."

"Loki!" Natasha says in disbelief.

Loki shoots her a glare, jutting his jaw forward and narrowing his eyes. He doesn't speak. He doesn't have to. He can see it in her face that she knows. If she interrupts again, he's not going to be so lenient.

"I don't just mean Asgard," Thor says. "The entirety of the Nine Realms are in danger. The Earth is in danger."

Loki purses his lips. Okay, that might be a little bit different. He does live here, after all. He eyes his brother up and down, and all he can see is his desperation. "I assume you want to go behind the Allfather's back."

"It's the only choice we have," Thor says. "Father refuses to see this for what it is: an attack on everything we know."

"An attack by whom?" Loki asks.

"The Dark Elves."

Loki barks a laugh. "Oh, I'm sure," he says sarcastically. "And next you'll tell me you want me to lead you to the Dark World."

"That is exactly what I want."

Loki balks at that. "Thor, you—" He cuts himself off. He marches over to his brother, grabs his arm, and roughly drags him out of the room.

Once they're out of earshot of the other Avengers, Thor pulls his arm free, crossing them over his chest. "Do I have your help?"

"You want to go to Svartalfheim?" Loki hisses. "You're fighting the Dark Elves?" He scoffs, throwing his hands up in disbelief. "Is this why you couldn't tell me about Asgard's affairs? Because they've grown so much worse in my absence?" A new thought, probably much worse, occurs to him. "Or is this a lie, too? You need my help, but you cannot tell me why, so you invent this ridiculous story to goad me into it."

"I promise you, brother, I am telling you the truth," Thor says. "But I do not have time to argue with you about it. Do I have your help or not?"

Loki shoots him a glare. He can't believe this. This is why Thor has come crawling back to ask for help? This is ridiculous! But if he's willing to go behind Odin's back to do this, it must be important, so Loki sighs, his gaze softening. Maybe he'll hear him out, but his brother will have to hear him out, too.

"If the Allfather hears that I dared step foot in Asgard, he will have me executed."

"If we cannot stop Malekith, you'll die regardless," Thor says. "As will everybody else. At least this way, you take your fate into your own hands."

"I hardly consider that a success if I'm likely to die either way," Loki remarks. He shakes his head to himself. "I really do not want to return to Asgard."

"Loki..."

He sighs. "Will I have to talk to your friends?"

"You'll only see them for a short while," Thor assures him. "If you would like to ignore them, you may. They are not looking for your company; they are looking for your help. We are looking for your help."

Loki nods slowly. Well, if he's going to die anyway...

"And Mother?" he asks.

Thor furrows his brows. "What about Mother?"

"If I do this, will I see her?"

Thor sighs and shakes his head. "She's with Father. You couldn't—"

"I'll do it."

Thor's brows shoot up. "You understand that I am saying you won't see her."

"I do," he says. "And I will hold you to that. I will subject myself to Sif and the Warriors Three, but I do not want to see Mother. I've worked hard to burn that bridge. I do not want to go through the pain of losing her again. Do you understand me?"

Thor sighs and nods solemnly. "I do."

"Good," Loki says. "Now, where should we meet?"