Over the Edge of Insanity (Thorki AU)

Chapter 4

Loki places the book back, before grabbing hold of the trunk and pulling it out. In an instant, we're out of his library, and back into his room.

In an instant, he, and the trunk, is gone. He returns with a book "I found a spell, earlier, but I needed the power to do it. Most of mine is demonised at the moment."

"Why?" I ask and he smirks mischievously "Back at it again with the tricks, are you?" I ask with a soft smile.

"No." he sighs, before giving a sideways frown "Last night, I snuck in to see the tesseract." He reassures "I didn't take it, but I harnessed it's power, to make a few new toys."

"What did you make?" I ask and he puffs away, before returning with a bag and pulling out several balls with different faces. It's not until I see a golden castle, that I gasp "That's Asgard!"

As I pick it up, he stops me "Do not throw that ball." I give a short nod, before he explains "The tesseract is an infinity stone. The stone of space. It's like the bifrost, in the way it travels."

"But you already have portals. Why would you need more?" I ask.

"I have passageways in and out of Asgard, but none on Midgard." he states, before taking the ball from me "I have quite a few of these. The nine realms, Zaakar, the Klyn, Nova Prime, Knowhere, Dimitri's, Titan, a few other places."

I nod, and he continues "Well, I for the spell, I need a few things from knowhere, but I need to drop into Zaakar to milk some units out of an old man."

"I can't believe you're married." I state and he snickers "I can believe that you married for riches."

"Let's get one thing straight." Stark interrupts and I look to him "He married a sugar daddy."

"Indeed." Loki smirks, before shrugging "It's his fault I'm munching on him like a parasite. He likes them godly." Loki sighs "But then again, Zaakar is for lost things, and what am I but a lost soul?"

I frown and he scoffs, before I ask "So what does this spell do? Just banish the madness from your mind?"

"No." Loki sighs, before putting the balls back "The spell will a wall between my sanity, and my insanity. That chunk of power will keep the madness at bay, until the power disintegrates."

"And what happens after that?" I ask, sitting on the edge of his bed "How long until the magic runs out?"

"Could last a minute, could last a millennia." he states, before giving a sad smile "Down comes the wall, the trickster shall take a fall."

"You would kill yourself?" I ask and he scoffs, before tossing the Zaakar ball from hand to hand.

"Better to be dead, than to be mad." he states, before shaking his head "When the wall breaks, my demons will burn through my library, starting at both ends. Then, after I won't remember a damned thing, they will physically kill me."

I give a sad look and he pats my face "Thor, you must realize, everyone must die! Even the Gods!"

He flashes into a outfit, softer than usual. It's like his old, only will a soft green, a yellow cape, and an odd little arrow on his chest "Now, if you will excuse me, I must be going!"

He tosses the ball at the wall and it opens up to expose a bright orange penthouse with a group of people chattering. He walks in and grabs a fube of champagne from a passing waiter.

When the portal closes, the ball is nowhere to be found.

~

"What if it doesn't work?" Barton asks and I give a knowing look "Then he's dead?" I give a short nod.

We sit there for a long moment, before an alert comes up on Stark thing "Loki is back." He states "He's trying to take the scepter."

By the time we get to lock up, Loki has smoothed talked his way in, dressed as a guard.

"What do you think you're doing?" I ask as he picks up up the scepter.

"Following a hunch." he states, before declaring "The first three months of last year, I need to know what happened. When I was in control, and I can't remember."

"So, what?" I ask, before pointing to the scepter "How is that going to help you?"

"My mind is blocking it out on purpose." He states, before placing the scepter in his opposite hand "I could live without knowing what happened when I wasn't in control, but this-" he sighs and places the scepter on the table next to him "Just give me an hour, with the scepter, to read through the books. Just one."

My friends and I share a look, before Stark sighs "You have an hour." Loki smiles weakly, before sitting down at the table and opening a book, using the scepter as a lantern.

When we sit at the table, Loki sighs, before going invisible. After an hour of the scepter lifting, and being sat down, Loki's chair pulls out, the scepter is placed back, and the door opens and closes, by the time we're on our feet.

When we reach his room, he sits on the edge of his bed, frantically brushing his hair back "Loki?" I ask, stepping into his room, alone.

"Get out!" he hisses, but I ignore him and step forward. When I rest my hand on his shoulder, a dagger slices my forearm "I said, get out!" He raises the dagger to my throat and I back away.

Once outside, Banner frowns "He got your arm pretty good."

"I'm fine." I sigh, before looking back to find Loki has returned to trying to fix his hair "But he's not."