The Adventures of Kid Loki

Negotiations

Hela came to see Loki once she was sure that the Sword of Surtur was in a safe place. Her entire legion of Devastators was protecting it, and Vlad was on guard duty personally. The rest of the Avengers followed her into the room, where Loki was now sitting up against the pillows. Nostradamus was making him drink a concoction and he had a cool, wet cloth draped across his shoulders. The three Avengers inside: Thor, Natasha, and Steve, were sitting on chairs near a window. Loki smiled at his daughter as she entered the room with Tony, Clint, and Bruce on her tail. She sat down on the bed and wrapped her arms around him. He leaned his head against her shoulder and closed his eyes. "His temperature is finally coming down, my queen. After he drinks this, he could be as right as rain," Nostradamus said.

"Thank you, Nostradamus. Now come on Dad! Drink your medicine right down!" Hela said, taking the cup from the physician and holding it an inch away from Loki's lips. His eyes narrowed drastically before he slowly opened his mouth, and allowed Hela to tip the cup back. As soon as the liquid touched his tongue, Loki had to use all his self-control not to spit it back out again. He finally swallowed it and stuck his tongue out at Hela. She laughed before she kissed him on the cheek. Loki smiled before he looked back at the Avengers.

"Oh, I didn't even notice you were here," he said coyly.

"Liar," Bruce deadpanned as he sat down at the foot of the bed. Loki shrugged before he noticed the rest of the Avengers surrounding his bed.

"Oh come on! Don't get sentimental on me!" Loki said. Clint shook his head before glancing casually at Hela.

"We're not. We just want to know what happens next. You know, since we have Surtur's sword, or something like that," Clint said sarcastically.

"He'll come to us," Hela said. As if he could see into that room, and hear Hela's voice, Surtur arrived outside the gates of Niffleheim, with a flag of truce.

Hela was sitting on her throne, one leg crossed over her knee as Surtur entered, flanked by Amora and Karnilla. Only five of his guards followed him, but Hela had brought in fifty souls from her Deathless Squadron. Loki was in fresh clothes, and lounging in his own chair next to her. The Avengers were behind them and slightly off to the side. Surtur's flaming eyes burned from Hela to Loki, and they lingered on the God of Mischief. He simply gave him a cunning smirk. "You have something of mine," Surtur growled, his voice sounding ten times more terrifying in person than it did through a wall. Hela looked at Loki before she glanced back at the fire demon.

"Once you give us your allies there," Hela said, indicating Amora and Karnilla with her finger, "then we'll talk about giving you the sword."

"Why on earth would I do that?" Surtur asked. "They made a very appealing bargain to me." Surtur looked at Loki again, and the young god blew on his fingernails.

"Because, the sword matters more to you than a stupid bargain. With that sword, even the weakest could become a superpower. That sword is very interesting, isn't it Dad?" Hela asked, addressing her father. Loki straightened up in his chair and tapped the arms quickly with his tapered fingers.

"The sword was not made in Muspelheim. It was forged with a series of other weapons by the Vanir, using power from Yggdrasil herself. The first, was Gungnir, the spear of the All-Father. The second, was Mjolnir, hammer of the storm. The third, was Twilight, the sword of flame. And the final weapon, was, a ring." For everyone who did not know of its existence, the ending was anticlimactic and cliché.

"A ring? Seriously?! Are we entering the Tolkien dimension here?" Clint asked loudly from the back. Ignoring him, Loki continued.

"The ring is called Andrivarinaut. It is cursed, but, can lead to the location of the ring that is not cursed. It's twin. Draupnir. This ring has uncanny abilities that even I am unaware of," he told Surtur, trying not to sound too smug in his knowledge.

"How does this relate to my sword, and the fact that you blatantly stole it from my vault?!" Surtur asked in a booming voice. Loki waved his hand and glanced over his shoulder at the Avengers.

"Eh. Maybe nothing. I might be ranting. The heat can do that to me. After all, your palace lacks the sophistication of air conditioning," Loki responded. A few people in the room snickered, Tony being one of them. Surtur glanced over at Hela, just as she snapped her fingers and Vlad appeared with the sword in his hands. Surtur's eyes focused on it and he took one step towards the throne. Hela's hand went out, and a thick wall of ice separated them from each other. Surtur snickered, but the Avengers had to admire Hela for not showing any fear.

"You think a little ice is going to frighten me?" he asked her.

"It'll make you remember that you came here under a flag of truce. Just a minor detail," Hela pointed out with a smirk on her face. Vlad placed the sword across her thighs and Hela's fine fingers, with their black nail polish, stroked the metal of the blade before she looked up at Surtur. "Want the sword? Then give me Amora and Karnilla. The choice is yours," Hela said as she passed the sword over to Loki. Loki took it and rested the blade against his shoulder. The God of Mischief grinned, his sharp, green eyes watching their enemies closely. Surtur's own did not flicker once. He was obviously contemplating the offer before him. His two cohorts seemed unperturbed by his silence. Finally, Surtur looked up at Loki and Hela. He stepped away from the throne and pointed a finger at them.

"Fine, but tell me something. Who really killed my son?" he asked. Glaring at Loki, he waited for an answer. Hela's lips twitched upwards as she put her fingers in a steeple position.

"That wasn't a factor in our original bargain. We give you back the sword, and you give us those traitors, who turned my father and the Avengers into children. That was all. It's a little late to try to change the deal. I'm not big on that," Hela said, waving her hand. Vlad led some of his Devastators forward and they laid hands on Amora and Karnilla. "And now, you can have the sword," Hela told Surtur, and Loki teleported the blade into Surtur's hands.

"You can't betray us! We had a deal!" Amora hissed, straining against her guards. Karnilla was more controlled and calm, something that unnerved the Avengers.

"Bargains are made and broken all the time in the Nine Realms. Don't feel bad that you just happened to be the one for today," Loki told them snidely from his seat. Before Amora could resist any further, she was struck from behind and knocked out. The Devastators looked at Karnilla, ready for her to fight as well.

"I know how to lose with grace," she said coldly. Hela waved her hand and they were taken from the room. Surtur cast one last withering look at Loki, before he left the chamber with his demons. Hela looked over at Loki and she smirked. He smirked, held up his hand, and snapped his fingers. When nothing happened, both Tony and Clint snickered.

"The white rabbit has failed to come out of its hat," Tony said. Both Loki and Hela chuckled again.

"Who ever said the rabbit was in this room?" Loki asked, and the genius had no response.