*Chapter 32*: Chapter 32
April 22, 2012
Harry sat waiting for the thunder god to arrive with a barely contained smile. He wondered if the god would be able to detect his presence. His brother certainly couldn't. Harry was sitting directly across from the god of magic and so far the man hadn't seemed to notice anything about him. He had given Harry a once over when he entered the jet but had clearly deemed him a regular human and not a threat. Harry was sure that the man had given himself to Shield willingly but without either going through his brain or finding out more information about his plan, he really had no clue as to why. The man, most likely, had some form of mental defenses and Harry was curious if he could push through them or not. He continued to stare at the god with a slight smile on his face. Loki had eventually taken notice of Harry's unwavering gaze and creepy smile. The god smirked at him.
"Is there something you would like to say to me?" Loki asked with fake politeness. Harry's smile widened a little.
"Oh no. I'm just excited. He's almost here after all." Harry said to the god. Loki frowned slightly at that.
"Oh? Who's almost here?" He asked curiously. Harry just stayed silent as he felt Thor close in. Just then, there was a loud thundering and lightening outside the jet. Loki looked up and frowned nervously. He too could now feel the presence of his stepbrother. He glanced back at the still smiling form of Harry. How did the boy? Tony took notice of Loki's sudden nervousness.
"What, scared of a little lightning?" Tony asked rhetorically.
"It's not the lightning that I fear. It's what comes with it." Loki said ominously. No one understood except Harry who chuckled at the comment. Tony looked confused and was about to question further when there was a loud slam on the top of the jet. Everyone looked to the point of origin except for Harry who already knew who had joined them.
"What the hell was that?" Tony asked.
"More company it would appear," Harry said back. Harry walked over to the back hatch lever and flipped it open. As the back opened up, Tony yelled back at them, "I'm going to see what that was."
Before the man could take off, another man came flying through the hatch at incredible speeds. The blonde was wearing silver armor with a red cape. He looked to come straight out of the old storybooks that children read. He smashed into Tony and sent him flying and falling on his back. He then grabbed the stunned Loki and took off into the night. Tony immediately got up and powered up his suit and Captain America unbuckled himself from his chair.
"Tony wait.," Natasha called back but couldn't finish what she was going to say since he blasted off towards the two gods. Captain America strapped on a parachute and prepared for himself to jump out.
"You should sit out of this one Cap. Those guys are practically gods." Natasha called back as she slowed the jet down. Steve just shook his head at her words.
"There is only one God ma'am and he certainly doesn't dress like that," Steve said before he ran towards the exit and jumped out. Harry just watched the scene with amusement.
"I suppose you're going too," Natasha stated as she looked back at Harry. Harry just looked at her and smiled.
"Well, I really don't want to miss out on all the fun so..." Harry said as he unbuckled and walked over to the exit.
"Don't forget your para-" Natasha tried to say but was ignored as Harry hopped out of the jet after the gods and other heroes.
"-chute. God, why do men all have to be testosterone-filled morons." Natasha muttered to herself as she looked for a place to land the jet.
Harry on the other hand was already on the ground and watching as Tony just took off with Thor, leaving Loki alone. Harry watched Loki for a moment. He wasn't moving. He seemed to watch Thor and Tony's little argument from a distance with a smirk. Seeing that he wasn't going to try and escape, Harry decided to reveal himself.
"My, oh my. What have I found here? A little trickster all by himself. How curious that the little trickster does not seem to be putting any effort into trying to disappear while he has a chance. One might come to the conclusion that he WANTED to be in the hands of his captors." Harry said as he stepped out of the shadows. He enjoyed the look of a brief shock on Loki's face as he turned around and saw him. Loki quickly covered it up with another arrogant smirk.
"So Shield even has children watching over me? They must be desperate." Loki stated while continuing to smirk. Perhaps he thought he could distract Harry with his taunts. Harry smiled.
"They are, but not in the way you are thinking of. Besides. I am not here because of Shield, I am here because I want to test something. Would you giving me a hand with my test?" Harry asked not caring what Loki answered.
"A test? What idiotic test could a mortal like you have created that includes someone like me in it?" Loki continued with the same arrogance.
"Oh I think that you will like it quite a bit but first, let's make sure that we aren't disturbed while our friends are busy having their own fun..." Harry said as he pulled out a stone. The stone was flat and had a small but complex runic scheme on it. Harry tossed it on the ground and as soon as it touched the dirt, transparent white energy pushed outward from it. It expanded until it was close to 30 yards wide and formed a dome around both Harry and Loki. Loki lost his arrogant look as he saw the use of magic.
"You are a Seiðr?" Loki asked quietly at Harry. Harry just shrugged. He had come across the term when studying ancient Norse runes but did not know the qualifications to make one a Seiðr.
"I couldn't say, I have no idea what qualifies one to be. But enough on that. I still want to see how powerful the supposed Norse god of magic really is. Please let loose Loki. Otherwise, you'll just bore me like so many others." Harry said as he got into a stance to prepare to start casting magic. Loki sneered at Harry.
"You really think you are powerful enough to challenge me? I knew mortals had grown dull since the days they worshiped us but I did not know it had gotten this bad." Loki said. Harry smirked and lifted his hand and shot a red bolt at Loki's feet that caused the ground to explode in front of Loki causing the god to cover his face otherwise get flying dirt all over it.
"Enough talking. Time to see if you are as powerful as you were made out to be." Harry said with confidence Loki sneered before giving a smirk. He charged at Harry and conjured two knives in each hand. Harry smiled and conjured a claymore that he would smash the god with. He brought the sword down just as Loki got in range. He put quite a bit of strength into the swing. Loki didn't have a chance. He had not even brought his blades up to defend. Harry did not sense anything amiss until he saw that Loki was smirking up at him still. As soon as the blade connected to the top of Loki's skull, his body disappeared in a dull flash of gold.
'An illusion?' Harry thought to himself but it was too late. The next thing he knew, he felt to blades slice deep into his back and cause him to collapse to the ground. He looked up to see Loki smiling over him.
"Did you honestly think a little mortal like you could do even a little bit of damage to me?" Loki asked back to his arrogant self. Harry smirked as he already felt the wounds on his back fully heal. He flashed from the ground and was already mid-swing with his claymore as he sliced through the god once again only to discover that it was once again an illusion.
'So he truly is good with illusions. He better not think that will be enough to take me down. I'm not even close to showing my true hand.' Harry thought as he looked at the reappeared god who was standing 40 feet from him now and eyeing him carefully.
"I hope you didn't think that would be it," Harry called at him. As he ran at the god one more time. This time he covered his blade in black flames. Loki's pupils focused on Harry as he approached with his huge flaming sword which he wielded as if it weighed as much as a wooden stick. Harry moved to the god extremely fast. He knew that he would try to dodge and replace himself with an illusion. He was prepared for it this time though. Harry brought the sword down on the man's illusion and just as he thought he disappeared with another dull flash. He continued to bring the sword down. When the flaming sword smashed into the ground, a shock wave of black flames exploded from it in all directions, burning every flammable thing in its a path save for Harry himself. Loki who had been preparing to attack Harry's back once again had to quickly make a u-turn and retreat back as the wall of black flame chased after him. He made it far enough to escape the shock wave, his cape however was not so lucky. Had he been mortal, he would not have had the speed necessary to tear it off and throw it away from him before it could consume him.
Loki exhaled a breath of relief before glaring at Harry who looked pleased with himself.
"You shall pay for that," Loki said through gritted teeth. Harry just smiled wider.
"Oh, I look forward to you trying to fulfill that threat. Now shall we continue? Oh, and I know you are trying to hide your true abilities from me still but I wouldn't try that illusion trick on me again. I figured out how it works and how to counter it." Harry said. Loki scoffed. There was no way to tell his illusions apart. Even the Allfather couldn't tell his best illusions apart. This time, he charged at the boy but formed illusion copies of himself as well so the boy wouldn't be able to tell where the true attack was coming from. Harry sighed at the god's attempt to trick him. Before Loki could get to close enough to strike, Harry threw out a dark purple curse at the second copy from the left. Loki barely had time to widen his eyes as the curse smashed against his chest and very painfully sent him flying back. He could honestly say that the harsh crash landing was the most pleasant part of the experience. He gripped his chest in pain.
"How did you know..?" he wheezed out. Harry looked amused at him.
"Your illusions are good. Almost impossible to tell apart. Sadly for you, I can track someone based not only on their magical signature but their heartbeat as well. So unless you plan to take out your heart sometime soon, you can no longer hide from me." Harry said. Loki scowled at this. How did this creature at the same level of an ape evolve his senses enough to be that strong? The boy was right, he could not stop his heart without causing, at least, extensive damage to his physiology. He was really being backed into a corner. He did not want to show his true strength or the other humans might detect it and wonder how they had captured him so easily which would mess with his plan.
"You are stronger than I thought," Loki admitted trying to buy some time to see if there was some weak point in the force field. The stone that had the rune sustaining the dome had disappeared so he would need to find another way fast.
"You haven't seen anything yet. Just wait for me to actually start putting major effort into killing you." Harry said he then held out his palm and conjured a ball of flames with a diameter of 5 feet. He condensed it so that it would explode on contact. He then released it at the god of magic. Then unbeknownst to Loki, he ran directly behind it to catch the man off guard.
He predicted correctly. As soon as the fireball came close to him, the man had jumped to the right only to have Harry waiting for him with a smile. Harry grabbed the god by the collar and punched him directly in the nose. Loki couldn't remember the last time he had been punched so hard. It must have been during a training session with Thor a few years previous. He fell to the ground and cradled his nose.
"You're still convinced to take it easy huh? That's fine. It will give me a chance to try all sorts of methods to push you're supposed godhood to the test." Harry said with an insane glint in his eye. Loki shivered at that. His stare then hardened. This child wanted to test him? Fine! He would show him the true power of the trickster god of magic.
"You want to battle with a good boy? Fine! I'll give you one. Consider it your last request!" Loki yelled. Before Harry could retort, the god's body started to shift before his very eyes. His skin hardened and formed scales. His arms melded into his torso while his feet melded into each other. At first glance, Harry was concerned that the god was about to morph into a mermaid in which case, he wasn't sure if he could continue to take Loki seriously. Then as the transformation continued, it was clear the man was turning into a snake. A very big snake. It wasn't quite the size of the Basilisk but Harry believed that may have been simply because of the limited space. While not having the Basilisk's size, Loki's snake form seemed equally if not more dangerous. It was pitch black with glowing red eyes. Harry briefly remembered that Loki was known to have fathered a snake so massive that it could not fit in one dimension. Maybe he had slightly underestimated the god. The snake reared back and struck at him. He barely dodged to the jaws of Loki and had to get up before it could get him on the floor. Harry had to reevaluate
'OK. Loki can turn into a giant snake that can move at super-fast speeds!' Harry thought to himself. He was about to prepare to dodge again but instead of striking at him. The snake reared its head back and shot a stream of flames at him. Harry threw up a magic shield and held it as he watched the flames try to break threw and consume him.
'Damn he's good. I need to do something before he can get a true advantage over me. I could blow up the entire area with my flame. I probably don't have enough magic left to do that and make sure that the fire doesn't harm me as well. Hmm. His skin is extremely durable and partially magic resistant as well. That leaves its eyes and mouth. I'll stab his eyes out. Hopefully, that will cause him enough pain to force him out of this form.' He had to do it fast too. He could sense the others had already stopped fighting and were looking for Loki.
Harry looked at the snake. He had a plan. Hopefully, it would work too otherwise he probably wouldn't get a second chance. As soon as Loki stopped breathing fire at him Harry struck. He did a quick levitating spell on the snake but supercharged it to make sure that it would get by its hides resistance. Loki, suddenly, was pulled up into the air as if by a hook. Harry yanked him up about twenty feet and then dropped him and charged, conjuring twin, steel, daggers in both hands. Loki wasn't harmed by the fall just shaken by the suddenness of it. He shook it off and looked for the mortal that he was going to tear apart. What was surprised him was that Harry was not on the ground in front of him but in the air mid-leap towards his face above him. Before he could react, he felt the boy land on the top of his head and watched as two glinting pieces of metal approached his eyes, and then he saw no more. His sight had seemed to be replaced with pain, red hot burning pain. He screamed in agony as the blades simultaneously piercing his eyes.
Harry hopped off the head and panted as he looked on at the god that had already shrunk back it to his more human form as he wailed in pain and agony. Harry took a second to suck in some air and look at Loki.
"I...forgot...you...could...shape...shift..." Harry said between breaths. Not only could he shapeshift, but he could turn into a fucking fire breathing, magic resistant, black snake. Not cool.
"YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" Loki yelled at where he thought Harry was. Harry took a few more breaths before walking over to the man.
"Relax I'll heal your eyes later. God's shouldn't be such little pussies." Harry said to the downed man. Loki just spat at his feet and missed completely. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Hey! No one told you to come here and threaten my planet man. You should have figured there would be consequences for trying to take my position of top dog around here." Harry said to the groaning Loki.
"You will perish under my boot." Loki spat at him as blood leaked from his currently useless eye sockets.
"Chill. I said I would heal you didn't I? Few days, you will be back to your plot to try and take over my planet in which case I really WILL kill you." Harry said as he collapsed the barrier so they could finally leave. He conjured a rag and forcefully wrapped it around Loki's eyes. Harry then grabbed the weakened god and put him on his shoulder before heading out. Loki had already passed out from either pain or tiredness and Harry was sure that he was not that far behind. He walked where he felt the search group was and started walking towards it. When he got close enough for them to hear he finally sat Loki and himself down.
"Tony. Get your ass over here!" Harry yelled out into the forest. As soon as he screamed it, he could feel both Tony and Thor coming to his position at high speeds. Tony landed first.
"Harry? What the hell happened?" Tony asked as he walked over to his tired and injured friend. Harry smiled as he thought of what he must look like. He had burns and scrapes all over his body that he had avoided healing so he wouldn't pass out from exhaustion.
"Picked a fight with a god. I won." Harry said with some arrogance. After all, not every day one could brag about such a thing.
"Easy there, hotshot. I beat him too and I beat him first." Tony said with his own arrogance.
"Nope sorry. He was kind of holding back on you it would seem. You seem to forget that Loki is a god of magic and can apparently shapeshift." Harry said. He saw it click in Tony's head a second after he said it.
"Wait...magic like what you can do?" Tony asked somewhat nervously. Harry nodded.
"His is different. It's much older and less refined. Doesn't make him any less powerful though. Really gave me a workout before I could take him down." Harry said. Just after he finished his sentence, Thor touched down. His eyes immediately zoomed in on his brother's injured form. He gained a thunderous expression on his face and raised his hammer which sparked with lightning. He pointed it at Harry and glared.
"You have 10 seconds to explain what you have down with my brother." Thor threatened. Harry shook his head as his vision started to blur.
"We fought, I won. Can't explain. To sleepy. Tony, make sure I get to a bed safely. No Shield experimenting with me." Harry managed to say before he passed out.
April 23, 2012
Harry slowly opened his eyes and yawned. What a lovely sleep. He hadn't slept that good in years. It must be something about totally exhausting yourself that made you sleep well.
"So, you're finally up." a voice said. Harry turned his head and saw his favorite redhead in a chair next to his bed staring at him with amusement. Harry cracked a smirk.
"Well, I did beat a full-powered god to a pulp you know. Did I mention I was by myself? I'd like to think that was pretty impressive." Harry said. Natasha cracked a smile at him.
"Done puffing up your own ego?" She asked.
"Almost. Have you been staring at me sleep all night?" Harry asked teasingly. Natasha rolled her eyes at this.
"Don't flatter yourself. I'm just the only that Tony allowed in here besides himself." She answered back. Harry 'tsked' at that. Harry knew why. Tony was not subtle about his attempts to try and get him to make a move on the attractive super spy.
"Did he now? I'll have to make sure he is updated on who is and isn't allowed in my room when I am unconscious and defenseless." Harry said with a smile. Natasha pouted.
"Does that mean you don't want me here?" she asked like she was five.
"No. I just wanted to let him know that you should always be allowed for future visits." Harry responded with a playful smirk. Natasha raised her eyebrow at that in amusement.
"Oh? Do you plan to make a habit of becoming unconscious then?" she asked.
"Depends. Will you always stay by my bedside till I wake up if I do? That seems like something I can get used to." Harry said with a smirk. Natasha, again, rolled her eyes at him.
"Well unfortunately for you, you can't laze around in bed all day just talking with me. Fury wants to see you ASAP." Natasha said killing the mood. Harry frowned.
"Does Fury think I'm some dog that he can just call at his leisure? Do I need to make another one of his body parts go missing?" Harry threatened with annoyance. Natasha put her hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, c'mon. You know he doesn't mean offense by it. He just needs to do what he thinks is best to keep the people of the world safe. Even if it means standing up to the big bad wolf." Natasha said while blatantly stroking his ego. Harry scoffed then smirked.
"Alright, I'll go see him... if you give me a good morning kiss." Harry teased. Natasha smirked. She grabbed him by both sides of his head and leaned down and kissed him on his lips. It wasn't a passionate kiss that you see in movies, but it definitely wasn't an 8th-grade touch of the lips either. She pulled back and smirked at his surprised face.
"See you on the bridge in 10 minutes," she said before getting up and exiting his room. Harry just watched the woman go.
"I see why they call her Black Widow now," he mumbled to himself before getting up and throwing on some clothes.
1 hour later
"Alright Fury, what do you want?" Harry asked as he entered the bridge and saw the black, bald, man working at one of his terminals. As soon as he saw him, Fury's face hardened.
"Wolfe, what the hell were you thinking!" Fury yelled.
"Before or after I fought him?" Harry asked innocently.
"BOTH!" Fury yelled.
"Well before, I was thinking something along the lines of 'I really want to say I kicked a god of magics ass.' and after, I was thinking something along the lines of 'I can't believe the fucker can shapeshift.' Does that answer your question?" Harry asked as he sat down at the table where he saw Natasha sitting on the other side and watching the scene with hidden amusement.
"Do you have any idea what you could have done? What if he had become so injured that he couldn't have told us about where the tesseract was and how to find it? People's lives are at stake here Wolfe. The world doesn't revolve around you getting your adrenaline thirst quenched!" Fury yelled. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Loki is not going to tell us anything he doesn't want us to know. Besides, even if I did hurt him that much, I would have healed him which I know that you know that I can do since I'm sure little miss femme fatale over there snitched." Harry said as he threw a playfully accusing glare at the redhead who seemed to find the touchpad in front of her very interesting.
"So it is true then. You can heal people. Can you heal Loki?" Fury asked. Harry nodded.
"Sure. I already told him I would." Harry said.
"Good. Then maybe we can get the interrogation underway." Fury said, obviously glad that they were finally getting somewhere.
"He's not going to tell you anything that he doesn't want you to know. You do know it was his plan to surrender and come here all along correct? Probably didn't expect me to kick his ass along the way but he still got what he wanted. Now it's up to you to figure out why he would want that. I'm going to heal him now. You two have fun with figuring out about the plot Loki has concocted. Good Luck." Harry said as he got out of his chair and prepared to track down Loki. He took a few steps to the door before he remembered something.
"Oh Fury. One last thing. Did Natasha tell you about the quarter to beetle trick?" Harry asked. Fury just looked at him baffled.
"The what?" he responded. Harry smiled.
"Nothing sorry. It was just this joke I made. Not really important I guess. Anyway, see you later." Harry said.
Fury just watched Harry leave the room with a frown. He then turned to agent Romanoff to see if she knew what he was talking about, only to find her chair empty with her nowhere in sight. Fury let out a tired sigh.
'I'm getting too old for this shit.'