Just Another Stolen Relic

II

Even with their combined strengths, it took the Avengers two hours to capture the mad god. By then, the controlled civilians had wrecked most of the interior of Stark's expensive building.

Bound up in chains once more, Loki growled while being taken in. His mind slaves had destroyed the cell tailored to powerful magic users such as himself, so he was kept in one that could only restrict his escape. Natasha shoved him in and watched in anger as Loki tried the lock. "Asshole." Her voice rang across the empty room as she walked away. Her and the other avengers likely had to clean up the destruction he had caused.

If Loki was to tell the truth, he let himself be captured. The god was satisfied with the amount of damage, and, well, he needed a place to stay. Especially since he had no currency, no housing business would allow him to stay- they would likely call the authorities on the spot. He didn't really mind being a prisoner, since he could use his magic for everything but leaving.

The team were too preoccupied to interact with Loki for the time being, so the only 'person' watching his actions was Jarvis. He felt extremely lonely, and all the events that had unfolded over the past few days had hit him hard. His hands were involuntarily shaking as his mind replayed his pitiful exile. Though he hated Asgard, he harbored all his fond memories there. But he could never return to the place of his upbringing, ever again. It was only when a salty drop hit his unsteady hand that he noticed he was crying.
"Why am I crying?" He spat, the only one listening was himself.

It's because I'm weak. I was never going to live up to Thor, and Odin made that excessively clear. He was not wrong, though. I'm but a shadow to him because he's capable.

Loki spent a few hours mentally degrading himself, flinching at how correct the cruel words were. After a certain point, the long haired god felt something snap within him.

With no hesitation, Loki used his magic to summon a small but sharp knife. He studied the edge, and after a second plunged it into his pale arm. He gasped, pulling it out and watching blood flow from it as lava flows from an erupting volcano. Unmoving, the man watched it as if it was a science experiment. It hurt, but his hyper-regenerative DNA would heal it in a matter of hours. For some reason not even he understood, he felt relief. It was just for a second, but he recognized what bliss felt like. It intruiged him, and the fact he felt less stressed meant he'd explore this.

Loki stabbed his arm amd dragged the knife across, making a deep gash. Crimson red escaped his white arm, the color that stained his skin reminding him of his brother. The thought angered him, and he struck his arm again.

"Master Stark, I have an alert. Loki is stabbing his forearm with a knife, in his cell."
"What? Show me live footage."
Without skipping a beat, Jarvis pulled up the live video. Tony watched as Loki stared at his red arm, emotionless. The man had stabbed his arm so deep that it stayed lodged in him, which caused him to bring his arm up to examine the damage.

"Is he insane?" Tony cringed at the sight. The security camera quality was top of the line, so you could clearly see every gash and stab wound Loki had inflicted on himself.

Tony decided to go to the cell himself, to ask him what the hell he was thinking. As Loki noticed the man approaching, he casted an illusion to conceal his arm and the blood soaked knife.  "Stark. Come to gloat about my capture? Do experiments?" He shot gingerly.

"Actually, I'm here to answer one question. What the fuck do you think you're doing? Stabbing your arm like that?" Tony sounded annoyed, but he couldn't help the concern was laced in his voice.

"What are you on about?" Loki made sure the illusion held strong as he threw his exposed forearms into the air. It stung to even move his arm.

"Cut the crap, I saw the footage from your cell." Tony crossed his arms. Loki's eyes glared up to where the security camera was. "Cursed, detrimental machines." He muttered.

Though it wasn't visible, Loki's wounds continued to bleed and he started to feel the effects of blood loss. Tony continued talking, but Loki only heard a painful ringing in his ears. His shaking hands tried holding out for support as the cell started to spin until everything faded to black.

Stark continued to talk, until he saw the Norse god collapse. Impulsively, he unlocked the cell and dragged him out. Since he wasn't consious, the illusion faded, and the salt-and-pepper haired man could look at his injured arm up close. "Fuck, those are really deep. It almost went through his whole arm." Tony talked to himself before taking him to a room with a decent amount of medical supply.

Tony decided against telling the others, but made it a point to keep a better eye on the Asgardian. Loki was only unconsious for a few hours, and woke up in his cell, but with a newly bandaged arm.

Loki almost felt sympathetic for Stark, but he was not going to stop. He forced himself up, and summoned a spear. After a few moments, Loki managed to completely destroy the security camera in his cell. He would be alone, even if only for a while. The ravenette let the spear dematerialize and in its place was the tiny knife he had used before.