The Adventures of Kid Loki

The Mask

Loki opened his eyes, and was not surprised to find he was chained to a wall. The chains felt cool at first, but when he tried to move, they heated up, causing him pain. Loki bit his lip, refusing to cry out. These chains had been designed with a Jotun in mind. And he was the last one. The cell he was in was dark, with no windows. Loki curled up on the floor, ignoring the flaming heat in the chains. He hated dark, tight places. He knew the mortals would call him claustrophopic if they knew. Even Loki had always been smaller than Thor, he never hid in the hard to reach places when they were children. He preferred plain sight. A scraping sound in the door made Loki look up. A sliver of light came in, but he caught the flash of emerald green and royal purple. "Ah, I see you've come to visit me. Let me get some coffee or tea," Loki teased as he put himself against the wall. A foot was buried in his stomach, and Loki almost coughed up his supper. A fist would have landed in his face as well, but Karnilla was more collected than Amora. She held her colleague back until Amora calmed down. That was when Karnilla turned around and knelt down next to Loki. As she gripped his injured shoulder, she could feel his child's body shuddering from the exertion of trying to breathe.

"There, there, my sweet little prince! You're all a tremor," Karnilla said as her hand stroked Loki's back. He recoiled from her like she was a viper (well, she kind of is), but winced as the chains heated up. "Now, you don't want to hurt yourself. Amora wants to do that. She wants to harm you physically, but, I want something more," Karnilla said as she ran her fingers through Loki's black hair. He glared at her, but actually held his retort back. "What I want, you treasure far above your body." Loki's eyes widened as Karnilla's grip tightened around his skull. "Your mind! It is by far the most valuable asset in all the Nine Realms! Do you know how many people have actually desire to have your brain, Loki?" Karnilla queried.

"Didn't know the realms were full of Frankensteins. What were they hoping to accomplish once they had my mind? Put it in a liquid and on display over their fireplaces?!" Loki snapped. Karnilla smirked and suddenly held his head in place. Amora stepped forward, grinning as well, and she pulled something from the folds of her green, flowing coat. Loki gasped as he realized what it was. The Mask of Eternal Silence!

"Remember this? Thor made you wear it when you failed to take over New York. You didn't take it off until your trial. You know what it does," Amora said as she approached. Loki fought against Karnilla, despite the chains and the agony he was in. He had promised himself that he would never wear that mask again!

"We don't need you talking. We actually need you in a more comatose state in order to do what we want to do," Karnilla said as her fingers held Loki's mouth partially open. Loki was about to cry out, when Amora snapped the mask over the lower part of his face. Loki choked. His tongue was now held in place with pincers that would lacerate it if he even tried to speak. Clamps came into play, holding tight to the skin of his cheeks, and beneath the jawbone. Some clicking was heard as the mask sealed itself to him. The only person who could remove it now, was the All-Father. Karnilla let go of Loki and he just sat there. The tears were brimming in his eyes as his hands came up and lightly touched the mask that was keeping him silent.

"Now, I get to have my fun," Amora said as she created a small whip in her hands. Loki was barely able to avoid the first blow, but Amora rained more down on him from above. As the strikes became more frequent, Loki had to cry out in agony. The mask immediately carved up his tongue. Loki choked on his own blood, and Karnilla stopped Amora.

"That's enough. He's weakened, he's silenced, and he's ours. Let's just take him to the lab," Karnilla ordered and Amora growled. Removing the chains, they dragged Loki to the place where they were going to dissect his mind.

Hela pulled a leather costume on over her slim body. The sword of Richard the Lionheart went on her back, and she took some knuckle dusters. "You're not going alone," said a voice and she turned to see Thor and the Avengers standing there. They were in their battle gear as well, even Tony had managed to construct an Iron Man suit in his size on Niffleheim. She chuckled as she slipped two knives into her boots.

"And what does my dad mean to you all?" she asked as she approached them. She looked pointedly at Thor first, before her green eyes sidled onto other people. Hela could read them all. Tony really did not care. He just wanted to use his new armor. Thor was genuinely concerned about Loki. Hela knew it was mostly guilt. Bruce was afraid; of what would happen if he stayed behind, and if he went with them. Clint did not like Loki, but he wanted to impress Hela. Steve just wanted to do what was right. So predictable. Natasha was harder. She was worried, but also aloof. A mask. Hela smirked.

"He might not be the best friend I would trade my life for, but, the way I see it is this: he could have left myself, Clint, and Natasha on Muspelheim any time he wanted to. But he didn't. He didn't ask for the company, but he kept us along anyway. Considering as how we're so 'annoying' if he can put up with us, we can lend a hand to get him back," Steve said. Everyone glanced at him before they looked at Tony, as if he had the final say.

"Oh don't look at me. He's the boss. I just build everything, and design everything, and make everyone look cooler," Tony remarked dryly. Hela had to smirk a little at Tony's humor. "What? No years of my life taken?" he asked in an amused tone of voice. Hela walked over and let her knuckle dusters scrape lightly across his jawline. Tony had to shiver. She (like her father) knew how to just creep people out.

"Maybe I'll take something else from you," Hela said dryly before she walked by him. As she past Clint, her hand lightly caressed his cheek. He shivered, but he was smirking. That made everybody else give him a weird look.

"Seriously, dude?" Tony queried.

Loki was lying on a table. A light illuminated it from underneath, and cuffs held him in place, in case he was strong enough to wake up. A cold sweat had collected on his skin, and he was so pale. Loki was barely breathing, but he was reduced to the state of helplessness that Amora and Karnilla wanted him at. Karnilla was sitting at the front of the table, her hands doing a little dance around his head as she began to sift through his inner most thoughts. She had to peel back the layers of Loki's mind to where he kept his secrets. Amora was watching from a corner, enjoying the painful expression on Loki's face. Karnilla's own face was twisted slightly. Loki's mind was his most precious possession, and he guarded it well. Karnilla had to beat his defenses first. "Are you going to hurry up? I'm getting the sneaking suspicion that we aren't going to be alone for very much longer," Amora said. Karnilla could not talk. She was too busy, but Amora was ignoring that. Suddenly, Karnilla stiffened, her eyes wide, her mouth hanging open, and her fingers twitching. "What?! What is it?!" Amora asked as she touched her compatriot on the shoulder.

"Ha, ha! Ha!" An eerie laugh filled the room and Amora looked around wildly. She recognized that laugh.

"That's impossible!" she said.

"Oh, nothing's impossible with me, or haven't you learned yet? I am the God of Mischief!"