One and the Same (Loki Fanfic)

Chapter 16: The Apprentice

A bolt of anticipation thrummed through Taylor's body as she stood inside the golden, clockwork interior of the Bifrost. It was tempered, however, with unease. Heimdall had reported, not fifteen minutes ago, that the king of Helheim and disappeared momentarily, only to reappear and begin acting strangely. It was a clear indication that Keziah's apprentice was lurking about in the fire realm, and that they had an influence over the realm's inhabitants.

Dressed in their mission clothes, all of the Avengers (plus Loki) had immediately assembled and prepared to be zapped over to Helheim. They had a good plan and everyone was prepared for a fight, all healed and energized. The only problem was that Taylor had this strange feeling that something wasn't right. All these years without raising alarms, and suddenly Keziah's apprentice was dropping just enough of a hint to lead the Avengers to them?

Taylor had expressed her apprehensions when they'd been forming the plan, a couple of the others had even echoed the sentiment, Steve included. However, as he and Tony had pointed out, sitting around waiting for the apprentice to make the first move wasn't getting them anywhere. It was best to be "proactive" they said, but they'd be cautious about it. Technically it'd be a recon-mission, but everyone was prepared for a real fight. Half the team would take a look at what was happening in the place Helheim's king had disappeared to while the other half would stand by until they got word from the others to move in or fall back.

Loki and Taylor were both on the recon-team. Taylor, because she would be best equipped to deal with the environment in Helheim, and Loki, because he could spot magic from a mile away. He'd be able to detect any barriers shielding the apprentice. At least, that was the hope.

"Never a dull moment," she chirped brightly as the great machine hummed to life around them.

"Leave it to Taylor to find interdimensional space travel to a planet made of fire in order to stop an evil necromancer fun," Clint scoffed.

She widened her eyes at him, eyebrows raised in comical disbelief.

"Do you even hear yourself? When you put it that way—duh! God, we should have our own comic books or movies or something."

A couple of the others chuckled, imagining it for themselves. Really though, who would be interested in their lives? Most of the time it was lounging on the couch or going on standard missions or training. What was so cool about that? Taylor gasped as her thought process went further.

"A TV show!" she squealed, giggling, "Even an animated one. We could do crossovers into other animated TV shows and we'd have action figures and stuff."

Tony snorted, the helmet to his Iron Man suit off for the moment while they were talking.

"What would they even call something like that?" he wondered.

She thought for a moment but eventually shrugged.

"Maybe something like 'Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes'?"

Loki rolled his eyes at her at the same time Clint snorted.

"Imaginative."

She stuck her tongue out at him, placing her hands on her hips defiantly.

"Hey, don't judge if you can't come up with better," she replied.

Thor cleared his throat, calling their attention from their debate. They could discuss the finer points of television later.

"It is time to leave," he informed them, "we must focus."

Steve nodded, adding on, "Thor's right. We gotta keep our heads in the game if we want to beat the apprentice—and no, Taylor, that's not your cue to sing anything from High School Musical. Everyone knows their job?"