Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 108

Loki tries to find Ultron; to project himself to that monster's side and see what horrors he's concocting. He can't do it. He's not alive, Loki realizes; not in the one sense that matters. He can think, he can fight, he can bring about horrors unknown, but he's not alive, so Loki can't find him.

Stupid magical technicalities.

So, after much pacing back and forth down his hallway, he decides to check in on the Avengers. It's been uncomfortably silent, and though he knows they have more important things than to check on him, he can't help but feel like something is wrong.

He was right.

It seems the reason it's been so quiet is that the Avengers aren't even in the tower. Instead, he finds them – or, he finds Thor, Tony, and Steve – in a dark, gloomy factory. He can feel that air of foreboding. Nothing good comes of a place like this.

There's a robot here, much taller and much less damaged than the one he'd seen before, but it must still be Ultron. His eyes glow an ominous red, as if cementing him as the villain of the situation. Behind him, other robots stand, but they're smaller, less imposing presences.

And they're not alone. There are two other people with him — kids, he'd say, though that may be his own age speaking. They're young, though; younger than the Avengers, at the very least, though no less threatening in their stance. His gaze is drawn first to the boy, his blonde, wind-swept hair brushed back behind his face. Then, he looks to the girl, smaller in stature, with a much darker appearance. Everything about her, from her dark brown hair and her eyeliner to the black dress she wears, screams untrustworthy. He would know; he's the same way.

"You two can still walk away from this," Steve tells the kids.

She plasters on an insincere smile. "Oh, we will."

Still, Steve doesn't give up. "I know you've suffered," he begins.

Ultron cuts him off with a groan. "Captain America: God's righteous man, pretending you could live without a war." His tone is patronizing, perhaps fairly so, but it seems to hit Steve hard. "I can't physically throw up in my mouth, but–"

"If you believe in peace," Thor interrupts, "then let us keep it."

"I think you're confusing 'peace' with 'quiet,'" Ultron says.

"Uh-huh," Tony says dismissively, then changes the subject. "What's the vibranium for?"

"I'm glad you asked that," Ultron says sarcastically, "because I wanted to take this time to explain my evil plan."

The words have barely left his mouth when he attacks, shooting out a blast at Tony while his drones attack Steve and Thor. Loki steps back, eyes scanning the room. His instinct is to step in and help them, but his intellect says otherwise. Thor may be eager to jump into battle, but Loki's always been the smart one, always the one to hold back and take in the whole scene before deciding where he's most useful.

And that's when he realizes this is a little more complicated than he's realized. Those two kids, they're not just for decoration. The boy takes Thor out with ease, moving at a speed Loki hadn't thought possible. The girl is just as strong, if not more so, and just a single blast of her power is enough to knock Steve off his feet.

Loki cocks his head to the side, eyeing her with intrigue. She looks human, but that... That wasn't human. That's far more power than one human should possess, and he's almost afraid to know how she has it.

But that's not the only commotion in the building, and Loki has to know what else is happening. He follows the noise, and he's glad he does, because he finds Natasha fighting for her life against what must be half a dozen men with guns.