The Adventures of Kid Loki

A Bag of Cats

Hela conjured herself and the Avengers into Nornheim. Her hand went back for her sword, but she did not draw it. She was on the alert, but not ready for an attack. "I want Hulk and Captain America to be the rear guard. Black Widow and Hawkeye, skirmish order, now!" Hela gave two quick signals with her hand, and her orders were obeyed. Tony was in his Iron Man suit, and since she seemed to be giving the orders, he was waiting to be deployed. "And you," Hela said, looking over her shoulder at Tony. "Take the heavens." Tony nodded and shot upwards, leaving smoke behind him. That was when Hela drew her sword and the light of the moon glinted off the steel. "I'm coming for you Dad," she whispered as she approached Karnilla's fortress.

Amora looked around and found herself walking down a dark hallway. She could barely see her hand before her own eyes. What had Loki done? "Where are you?! You little shit! Show yourself!" Amora ordered. That exclamation was followed by the creaking sound of a door opening. Amora spun around, but she saw nothing. Amora took a step back and raised her hands defensively and waited for whatever Loki was going to send to her. She was not prepared for what she saw. A door opened and a sliver of light came out. Amora was pulled in and found herself standing in a room. The room belonged in the royal wing of the Asgardian palace. Amora tried to bring her hands up to her eyes to cover them, but she found herself frozen. Instead, she was pulled to the side of the bed, where she saw herself. And Loki. Loki was in his adult body, and gently stroking her back, making circles on her white skin. Her golden hair was strewn over the pillow, and she was smirking. "You're still not your brother, you know that right?" Amora said to him. At her statement, Loki's naughty fingers went down and Amora stiffened.

"I wouldn't want to be my brother. Where's the fun?" Loki asked as he turned her over and pressed his lips to hers. Amora allowed him, her own hands resting on his broad shoulders. The present Amora gasped as she knew what was coming. Loki's hand suddenly rested over her heart, while his other touched her temple. Amora began to convulse as Loki drew some of her magical essence out. His own smirk widened as he transferred it to his own body. Amora sagged in bed, too exhausted to even more.

"What have you done?!" she screamed hoarsely at him. Loki smiled, climbed out of bed, and began to dress himself.

"I've taken a part of your magic and your knowledge and given it to myself. Let me put it in simpler terms for you, Amora. You won't be performing up to par, ever again," Loki told her. He gave her one last kiss on the lips before he turned around and walked away. "Still want my brother?" Loki closed the door behind him and Amora screamed.

Hulk kicked the doors down and Hela looked at him with respect and awe. "Why hide this beautiful form from me? It's the real you," Hela told him as she black, leather glove stroked down his huge, muscular arm. Hulk roared in her face, but she was unfazed. "Whatever. I don't speak Hulk." The Hulk growled and ran down one of the hallways, taking out the guards who were standing there. But, they did nothing to defend themselves.

"What's wrong with them?" Steve asked as he nudged one with his shield, and he just remained standing there. Hela walked over to one and looked into his eyes. They were wide and white.

"He's in a trance," Hela said.

"Wow Dr. Who! I could have told you that," Tony said as he flew by. Suddenly, a wave of green energy came flowing out from somewhere in the center of the palace. Tony was the first to meet it. When it hit him, he suddenly stiffened and fell out of the air.

"Tony!" Clint called as he fired an arrow at the ground that exploded into Styrofoam gel. Tony landed on it, but not a single sarcastic remark left his tin can.

"What's wrong with him?" Thor asked as he approached. When he reached Tony, he became still too, his eyes wide, and his mouth partially open.

"I know what's going on now!" Hela said. Natasha, Hulk, Steve, and Clint looked at her, waiting for her explanation. "They've been sucked into Dad's mind! He's pulling the strings of this puppet. And, if we're going to help him, we have to go in too," Hela told them. Both Clint and Steve winced at this. Hulk took a step back, but Natasha walked over and stood beside Hela. The daughter of Loki looked at the assassin with a raised eyebrow.

"I've seen some pretty crazy shit in my line of work. Aliens, gods, the undead. I think I can handle his mind," Natasha told her.

"What about the part where Bruce said his mind was 'like a bag of cats'? Not ringing any bells?" Steve queried.

"Entering my dad's subconscious is not for the faint of heart. Any and every dark secret you ever had will be exposed. That's how Dad operates. Once his fears were preyed on, he made it his mission to do the same to anybody else who messed with him. If we're going to find him, we have to face all our fears and get him out," Hela said. The Avengers realized what that meant. Facing things about their past that they did not like.

"I'm not going to enjoy this," Clint said.

"Nope," Hela responded before she walked toward the green field. Natasha followed her. When they both entered, their world went black.

Natasha opened her eyes and found herself staring into a nursery at an orphanage. Little girls were playing on the floor. Some in large groups, some in small bunches, and others by themselves. She soon saw herself. She was alone, drawing weapons on a piece of paper. "That one," said a voice and Natasha turned. She gasped when she saw the matron of the Red Room standing there. "She'll do just fine." A big, burly man appeared from behind her, and walked to where little Natasha was sitting. The child looked up at him, her big blue eyes unblinking. He scooped her up, and she was enveloped in his arms.

Thor found himself in the training area of Asgard. The climbing ropes, the notched posts, and the high bars were all there as he had left it. Thor looked around, but nobody was in sight. "Ah!" A cry of pain reached his ears and he spun around. He saw a slight boy, black hair and pale skin, being driven into the wall.

"Why don't you use your lady's spells to get yourself out of this situation?" another noble's son asked as he punched the boy in the stomach. Thor knew it was Loki. Loki coughed and looked pleadingly at the boy standing next to him. Tall, already, and blonde hair tied up into a pony tail. But he was being held by two other boys. It looked like he was going to step forward, but they pulled him back.

"He made a deal, Thor! If he can't take this beating and uses his magic to escape, he is no son of Odin!" the first one said. The bully landed another punch and Loki convulsed in agony.

"Leave him be!" the real Thor said as he approached. When his hand reached out to touch the noble man's son, it went clean through and the memory disappeared. A chuckle reached his ears and Thor spun around.

"It comes too late, Odinson. You should have saved me on that day," he heard Loki's voice say. Thor knelt in the gathering darkness, buried his head in his hands, and wept.