A/N: Special thanks to King Sombrony, Evilhumour, KillerCookie123, The Grim Reaper, New Spark, ZeroInfinity, Drgnwolf, Killabyte, JBGrim, Ketvirtas, ArcaneVisions, Mutie Genic, MoonSparkle The Vampony, and gakuseiakira for your comments last chapter! It is great comments like those that keep me writing! Thank you again, and I hope to continue hearing from you all!
Chapter title now brought to you by Disturbed's "The Animal"
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After another completely unsuccessful search for either Thanos or Loki, Thor and his regular company returned to Asgard with shoulders slumped and heads hanging. So accustomed to solving every opponent and issue with force were Thor, Sif, and the Warriors Three that they had little idea about how to possibly track their elusive foe and the two he took with him.
Heimdall could only give them an understanding nod as they wordlessly stalked by him to leave the Bifrost and head to the main castle. Upon entering the golden fortress that stood as the pinnacle of the realm Thor did not slow his own pace, forcing his more weary companions to fight to keep up with the brooding man.
It only took a few turns down some hallways for the others to realize where they were headed, and that realization put a spring in their steps.
A spring in front of Thor to halt his progress, that is.
Thor attempted to push past the others, but Volstagg, Hogun and Sif stood firm. Fandral came up behind Thor to put a consoling hand on his prince’s shoulder while the others continued to act as a wall.
Not amused by the resistance, Thor snorted as he once again took a step forward to press past them, “I will have words with them.”
The area they were approaching previously was none other than main prison of Asgard, where its most notorious criminals and foes were kept as they either awaited judgment or were confined for the rest of their lives.
Fandral attempted to speak consolingly to his leader, “Hey, come on, we all know you are furious that someone dared come here and take your brother—”
Thor’s step forward cut him off as the man attempted to force by once again, this time pushing Volstagg back a step.
“—but killing Asgard’s prisoners will not help us!” Volstagg complained as he grunted and pushed back against Thor.
Their efforts only earned a snarl from him, “I have no intentions of killing. Possibly maiming and mauling, but no killing.”
Sif was the next to try and appeal to his better judgment, “Thor, you need your father’s permission—”
Thor stared at her with a small frown, his face growing distraught. His expression prefaced what he was about to say to her, as it was not often that Thor would show a face of such sorrow.
“I will be speaking with Lorelai, among others.”
Those words were all it took for Sif to step aside and give Thor the room he needed to pass by them. Hogun shook his head sorrowfully while the other three moved to turn and watch as Thor continued to continue on his path to the prison.
“Now that’s just cheating,” Volstagg complained, but made no further movement to stop Thor. Nothing would change their friend’s mind once he had set in on something, after all.
Thor would be okay...the jail cells would make sure of that. He would be safe from her...
Without her even moving, the wind around both Loki and Illidan riled up and lashed out. Both were knocked away from one another, their bodies being tossed laterally with the body of water.
Loki crashed back onto Trixie, who acted as a cushion of sorts for his fall. Ikol took off, not wanting to be involved with the brewing conflict, leaving the other two to get up on their own. Of course, Loki had no trouble trying to rise, but Trixie remained unresponsive to everything in her comatose state.
When Loki went to rise and whip out a blade of ice from the readily available water in the area, he was once again surprised by the woman as she was suddenly by his side helping him up.
Loki narrowed his eyes at her as she helped him to his feet. The wind subsided and her voice came out sounding genuinely sorry, “Oh, I’m so sorry, my apologies.”
Once he managed to drag himself upright, Loki found himself to be entirely confused. Here was this woman whose mental state seemed iffier than the warden Shadowsong’s, and despite blasting him a few feet to the side with her wind she had instantly moved to help the same man she just blasted away.
The people of the land truly were mentally insane.
Loki waved her away with some annoyance, still flustered from his fall. He needed a moment to both regather his thoughts and to thank random chance that he had not fallen into the deep waters nearby.
Sensing his irritation, the water sprite being left Loki’s side with a sad nod only to see how Illidan was faring. Illidan had calmed down his fighting stance when he had risen to see her helping Loki. He too did not know what to make of the situation, though his eyesight allowed him to see her energy control the wind and thus lash out with it.
It had appeared to be a reflex, not a conscious action.
Her pale face smiles right at the Betrayer’s own, her eyes brightening as she looks into his own clothed eyes.
Her voice is as cheerful as her face as her wind powers help sweep Illidan up onto his feet just as he had been standing before, “So, my large friend, you can see my life energy. Those are very good eyes you must have. You must be so popular amongst your people...famous, even. They appear most...unnatural.”
Pleased at the assistance but still guarded because of the whiplash of actions, Illidan moved a step back all the while giving a fake smile, “I would not say famous.”
His movement did nothing to deter her off-kilter smiling, “Infamous, maybe?”
Loki could see the purple demon elf’s brow furrow. Illidan may have come to terms with his lot in life, but hearing a stranger almost mock it made a small piece of him grow ready to put her in the ground.
The expression on her face remained flatly positive, not seeming to care at all for his discomfort and her tone instead seemed to show a hint of pleasure rather than empathy.
“Oh I have hit a nerve. What did you lose when you became an outcast?”
Loki had no illusion that Illidan might strike her in anger, but he was too cautious to allow her to give him more reason to cast aside his regular zen.
Given her more favorable reaction to him, Loki tried to approach her much like Illidan had, “That is enough—”
A gust of wind whipped out at him and knocked the breath out of Loki, the air cutting into him at such a high speed that Loki felt the front of his skin rip. His chest erupted as blood was torn from his ribcage and bones were brought into view.
Loki gasped as he felt his body thrown back at a rapid speed that sent him tumbling over before taking a sudden shift in direction and being tossed directly towards the water body. There was almost no curve to the change and instead Loki had the momentum change come out in his back, which he could feel snap as he instantly lost and regained speed.
As Loki hit the water, the woman twitched in place as her whole body tremored violently, “Do not…” her hands clenched as her shoulders lifted and lowered both with no pattern, “Touch me.”
Wasting no time, Illidan summoned forth a blast of fire to strike her. The green flames of the fire tossed about in the air and twisted around their intended target as her magical shield of air stopped the incoming assault.
She did not appear to actually notice the attack from Illidan as her breathing and body began to calm, her movements being less frantic and exaggerated than before. With a final shake of the head, she seemed to notice the splash in the nearby water that was Loki.
Illidan too looked over to the water, reminded of his companion’s plight. When Loki’s arms did not instantly flail and no further splashing was made, Illidan leapt forward into the dark water to retrieve the sinking man.
While possessing no normal sight, Illidan could see the energy signature of Loki. He would be able to see his heat signature as well, but Loki was difficult to sense in that manner. Illidan passed it off as a side-effect of Loki’s frosty origins, but no real answer was needed for the mutated elf.
A faint trace of green energy was visible amongst the light blue energy emanating from the waters themselves, a magical quality belonging to them that seemed connected to the similarly light blue energy of the woman.
As Illidan brought his arms forward to swim and catch up to Loki, whose slight energy was flickering out like a dying candle, both Illidan and Loki found themselves being blasted out of the water and into the air as the water around them erupted upwards.
Once they were in the air and above the regular water levels, the eruption of water beneath them disappeared and instead a strong yet gentle gust of wind pulled the drenched men onto the shore.
“I’m sorry! Please, forgive me!” Her pouting was almost lost on the half dead man and his blind ally. With Loki’s wounds in mind, the woman rushed to his side once again.
Once she reached him her body radiated a rainbow colored mist that quickly enwrapped Loki and dampened his skin and damaged clothes. Her previous traces of being smug were lost as tears fell down their pale skin, “Don’t go, I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
Previously too wounded to speak what with his nearly exposed lungs, Loki found the pain receding as his wounds grew warm. With a hard struggle, he managed to tilt his head up an inch or so to observe as his skin regrew.
Furthermore, his bones reconnected where they had been forced into organs, and the traces of blood that had been ripped from him and splattered across his chest were gone either because of the waters or the sparkling mist in front of him. His pain was leaving him, and in a single moment that felt like it lasted an eternity he felt half healthier than he had since his arrival.
The effort seemed to exhaust the shapeshifting woman slightly, as she soon let out a heavy breathe, “There, are you feeling better?”
Having not encountered it since Luna, Loki found himself presently surprised as he observed the regrowth of his own flesh. He was worried about saying or doing anything at this point given her volatile emotional state and ability to kill him just reflexively.
In fact, he was surprised he had not lost consciousness or died from her attack that almost gutted him...
“Healing magic…” Loki mumbled as he slowly brought his hand over his chest, which no longer was threatening to let his heart fall out.
Despite having issues with others getting close to her, she had initiated this contact, which left Loki with an idea...
He looked over to Illidan, who had similarly had pieces of his flesh skinned from her winds at some point but who appeared to not be minding the damage at all. There was another who might benefit a little from some healing though...
Loki rolled his head over to one side to see where Trixie lay, only to have to look the other way and find her still form right by the edge of the water. She was on her back, and a new wound across her gut seemed to indicate that she too had been tossed aside as the wind had rushed to Loki.
“My other companion is in need of assistance. If you desire to make amends, cure her affliction.”
Much like how an animal might snap at a hand forced towards it while the same animal might willingly move towards that very hand should it remain still, Loki had prodded this seemingly good natured but violent woman to approach at her own leisure.
Proving Loki’s spur of the moment hypothesis correct, she nodded and floated over to the side of the severely damaged Trixie. After a moment of observation, she summoned forth her magic again and sighed, “I can assure that any structural damage she has incurred is removed. The rest...”
The rainbow washed over Trixie. Not only did it instantly remove her wound, but some color returned to her ever dirtying coat of blue fur. Fur regrew where it had been stripped, and while still unconscious she appeared to be more comfortable and less troubled now that she did not have lingering body damage along with her recent gash.
Feeling more powerful than he had in ages, Loki crawled to his feet. Whatever the woman had done, it had restored his powers to some degree, though he would have to test just how much was brought back to him.
Hearing him rise brought out a sad whimper from the deranged chimera of souls, “Please don’t go.”
Loki most certainly wanted to do just that though. Staying around volatile women, or men for that matter, was not exactly a great idea for surviving in a hostile environment.
However, not staying would mean disobeying the deranged woman now...and even doing what she didn’t want you to before she informed you as such could end with one’s death.
Illidan rose to his own feet and lumbered over to Loki, who he gave a frown. He had no idea what to expect at this point, but he was sensing power far greater than he was accustomed to from this being. It would fluctuate from moment to moment however as he observed it more, likely switching between the different energies of the beings whose souls had congregated together.
Loki frowned back, similarly worried about their predicament albeit more worried about her mental state than her powers. Power could be overcome, but an unpredictable mind could make doing so difficult.
While the two intruders on her domain glanced at one another, the woman took another step towards them though her body glowed as her voice spoke and shifted to sound more mature though also with an accent that reminded Loki of that orange farmer who associated with Twilight, “So, you were talkin’ about yer lover.”
This time, she became a little shorter than her previous petite size, though her face seemed more mature and serious. Her skin became a very light aqua shade, while her eyes became red. Her clothes seemed to resemble a Midgardian one piece swimming suit to Loki, though a random trace of the armor from before remained to cover her feet.
Not exactly fond of the idea of giving information on Luna to someone proven to not be all there mentally, Loki hid his frown as he turned towards her with a raised eyebrow, “I am curious as to why you would be so intrigued.”
“No reason…” her obviously lying voice trailed off as she grew a smile and turned to Illidan, “He has not been here long, has he?”
That brought a small amused snort to the tall being, “No. Nor does he have the tolerance for isolation that I have accrued in my own life.”
Loki groaned at the amusement being made at his expense, though said nothing. He still desired to test the waters.
Seeing his hesitation made the woman sigh, and she brought a hand to touch her own face, “We...ahh...don’t have anyone ‘ere,” she gave a small sad laugh as she lowered to the ground and brought her knees up to her chest, “At least...that’s...our memories were among the first things to leave us. If we saw someone from any of our lives we would not even know it…”
“I am sorry.”
Loki had said it before he had even realized. Normally he would have said something like that as a calculated plan, not as an actual empathetic gesture to be said to cheer someone up. The world of the colorful, happy horses had left its mark on him after all...
In this particular instance, however, it was exactly the wrong thing to say. The teal face of the blue clad being turned to anger at a record pace, and her voice went from soft spoken to suddenly shouting as she jumped to her feet and sent her fist right at Loki’s head.
“You damn human, don’t look down on me!”
His attempt to dodge her strike was initially successful, as Loki sidestepped the sudden attack, but her limb stretched out in an even darker green and warped so that it still struck him in the cheek. With him caught off guard by the shift, the elongated limb easily slipped around his throat and head only to lift him into the air and start choking him out.
“Illidan!” Loki gasped with the last of his breathe, his concentration shot from the immensely powerful tentacle of sorts that was now trying to crush his upper body.
The Betrayer moved at an even greater speed than the woman had to try and assault her with a fist burning green with demonic energy.
When the strike collided with her, no wind repelling him this time to his surprise, she barely budged at all. It was almost as if she was extremely dense in the physics way, for Illidan felt his fist actually ignite with pain upon colliding with her.
Only seemingly annoyed by him, she scoffed, “Sugah, nobody invited you.”
She turned her attention to the new enemy, and with a raise of the hand a large torrent of the nearby water exploded outward and hurtled directly at the purple elf. The sheer quantity of it was too much for him to avoid, and Illidan was forced backwards with the overpowering force of a bursting dam. He tried to keep his footing, but even his two large hooves could not keep him steady.
The attention paid to Illidan proved to be enough to have her lighten her grip on Loki, who with the small reprieve used his restored energy to teleport away from the crushing grip.
On the ground choking, Loki was too busy hacking and wheezing for breath to observe whatever else was going on. Illidan was still fighting her from the sound of things, but Loki had kept trying to breathe in to make sure he would not die…
Only, breathing in was not making him feel better. In fact, the constriction on his throat was all that had been bothering him come to think of it. When he had been tossed in the water before he had been in too much pain to realize if he had been suffocating then either...
After many moments where his only focus was in drawing breath, Loki found himself fine enough to stand up and face the battle ongoing. Illidan had been holding his own for the moment, if not dying could be considered doing just that. His fiery powers were completely negated by the water she would drench him in, the magical fires he was raising being put out by her equally magical water drawn from her seemingly infinite source right nearby.
Her power was massive, though Loki was getting the feeling that it varied back and forth due to the ever changing intensity of her winds and that she was seemingly changing forms automatically. Illidan might be able to handle this monster at its weakest, but right now it stood at a level far greater than Loki as well as the being who captured him, Thanos.
She was having a mental breakdown though, one caused by her seeming issues related to her own self image and also a result of her inability to let others get close to her.
“Your words…” Loki coughed as he felt his previously crushed throat start to throb in pain.
Loki could use that, much like he had with Maiev before. Whereas Maiev’s anger made her make fatal mistakes, this lost soul’s rage would help the breakdown spiral into a complete shutdown.
Illidan had been forced into the waters, unable to block entire torrents of water that would sweep around him and cycle back towards their source. With the one opponent handled temporarily, the aqua skinned woman could now face Loki and it took him no time to realize that she was furious and mentally mad to the point of breaking.
Isolation could do many things to one mind...but to multiple souls bound together with no memory between them? Loki figured that must make matters far worse for them, and coupled with the seeming sensitivity and interest shown about relationships Loki pretty much had the woman pegged.
“Lady Death has this insane fascination with broken things. Tell me, what is it that you desire?”
She swung a green and arcing arm at Loki while screaming, “Don’t act like you know me!”
This time she made no contact despite the almost impossible to dodge attack she had thrown at him. Loki had only needed to teleport once again to avoid it completely, giving him time to lodge a dagger in the upper part of her back spine. The blade barely sunk in, but it made its mark and Loki teleported again before she could retaliate.
To keep up her anger, Loki taunted her purposefully, “This land is not much for company I would assume. The others are just as lost and insane as you, and losing your memory must be frightening.”
Her body glowed once again, albeit with a different sheen as she visibly shifted in form before Loki’s eyes. Her body shifted before his eyes, the form growing taller and even growing a giant mass underneath it.
“Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!”
Her skin became a pale shade of blue, akin to Trixie’s own and even a little lighter, and out of the amorphous black blob beneath her came forth two giant tentacles that appeared to be like a large kraken’s. Her face was no longer anything one might call cute, now appearing vicious and completely deranged.
Illidan had recovered from his brief swim, he came over to the shore where he could only groan in disbelief at his partner’s tactics.
“Need I tell you that you that angering the monster is not going to help us?”
Loki tumbled out of the way of a sweeping tentacle, calling out to Illidan as he did his best to not be crushed by the giant squid woman.
“It worked with your Warden, who was much more skilled than I. Let us see its effect here before discounting it entirely.”
Infuriated further by her own failures, the water sprite cast both her regular arms forward towards the sea. Her voice growled in her now sinister voice, “Regole!”
Illidan jumped ashore just in time to avoid the sudden bite of an undersea beast whose teeth left a large gash in the mud and rocks that bordered the steep incline that marked the end of land and the beginning of the waters.
Having only avoided the new beast’s bite by a second and by a few feet, Illidan growled out to Loki, “Easy for you to say!”
After observing the sprite again as she lunged forth once again with her elongated tentacles fit on a piece of calamari, Loki found the dagger he had embedded in her back. When her body lurched forward, Loki utilized the very efficient tactic of teleportation to land on her exposed back. Her size was so great now that she would have an issue reaching back for him, not that it mattered much.
Loki grabbed the backs of each of her regular arms, finding that they were not particularly impressive in terms of physical power. He pulled back on them while she let out a snarl of pain, his boot already having planted itself on the knife. It pushed further into her body, leaving Loki a sense of satisfaction as he realized that he was quickly running out of power.
Her body thrashed from side to side, but Loki managed to keep a hold on her by just gripping her normal arms. Her body’s power seemed concentrated in the lower half where her tentacles emerged, leaving this part more vulnerable and almost appearing to be an afterthought or mistake.
“Tell me,” Loki kicked the dagger as she swung him around more, her efforts growing more and more frantic as she felt the weapon dig into her, “You seemed interested in the people I know. You envy me for having those bonds, do you not?”
“That’s it!”
With another toss from side to side she managed to dislodge her assailant, who crashed into the ground nearby and felt some of his bones crack by her sudden power increase.
More silent than his ally, Illidan was waging his own war. The being he was confronted was a giant shark with draconic features, a sea dragon that seemed very willing and able to spill his blood. It would not venture above the water for more than a moment to strike, but each one left a piece of the landscape destroyed and submerged whether Illidan had been on it or not.
Illidan was fighting to keep one step ahead of it so that he could counter it when it did bring itself into a vulnerable position, but he was more focused on running that striking due to his suspicion that should he land in the water again he would not rise from it.
That was until he noticed the violent and chaotic movements of the monster’s master, who was swinging tentacle after tentacle at her elusive foe. With the last swing of her tentacle before Loki mounted her giantesque back, Illidan lured the monster into her striking path.
Even though the beast was fifty times Illidan’s size, that meant nothing when the entire power of a being whose powers rivaled some gods struck it. The beast screeched as part of its face caved in from the strike, a moment Illidan capitalized on by lunging and striking the very same point. The beast, despite its size and strength, had its head split on the side and it once again screeched.
As it dragged itself back to the water, Illidan could tell that it was going to leave just as soon as it had come. An animal had fight or flight instincts after all, and if the being who summoned it into existence would negligently strike it to the point of near death the beast had no reason to stay.
With his own threat dispatched, Illidan turned to see Loki’s crash into the ground and could see that he was needed to assist. As the beastly woman went for the kill, the Betrayer jumped forward to intercept. His foot collided with her skull, sending the oddly proportioned being reeling before she tumbled over onto her awkward side given the blob that formed her base.
Loki once again dragged himself to his feet once he saw her knocked over.
“That is it,” while she had meant something else when she said it, Loki was using her own phrase to further mock and demean her.
He felt a pang in his leg, but ignored it to limp over to her side. As he drew closer he could see that once again she was changing form, this time ending up in the form he first found her as. She was on her belly and her face was no longer vicious, now appearing distraught as her eyes welled up with tears.
When Loki reached her side he kneeled down to push her shoulder into the ground gently, pinning her without causing her further discomfort, “You are scared. Your mind is drifting away and you have been reduced down to some base sentient being. You don’t have anything and you want what I have.”
She twisted her head away from him to keep Loki from seeing her crying face, though her sobs made it apparent anyways.
Hearing that crying was all the proof Loki needed that his plan worked, “You must have been envious while you were alive for this trait to have persisted beyond your memory. Something that important...” his voice softened, “Can you recall that much?”
...
...
“We…I...”
Her crying continued, though it did not worsen any. She quickly buried her head in the soft ground beneath her as she tried to speak through her own sobbing.
“We...cannot…”
Loki gave her the time she needed, his own arrogance allowing him to revel in the broken enemy beneath him. It honestly was a thrill for him to overcome a foe using his cunning rather than the brute strength he had come to rely on in recent times.
With Loki not interrupting her, and Illidan just watching with curiosity, the water being managed to pull herself together long enough to speak “No, that is a lie…not in any of our lives have we...belonged. Never a true friend or person to trust…maybe...I don’t know anymore...We were different. Be it the fins, the mystical items, the wings, our own false existence...pain...always pain...”
That was all Loki needed to hear.
“I will release you from this. May your soul rest and find a peace not granted here.”
The final twist and shove of the knife that had remained in her back made the pearly skinned woman cough up blood, though she made no struggle as the dagger pierced where Loki presumed her heart to be as well as her spine.
Now unable to move the majority of her body, the mysterious woman began to glow once again, though this time there was no outline or hint as to what she was to become as her body slowly became covered by the light..
“Damnit…are we...dying? I...I don’t want to go…I don’t know what will happen, we don’t want to leave...”
When the light reached its peak, her body disappeared, leaving no trace behind but the bloody ice dagger that then fell to the ground. It touched the pool of blood that had appeared, but was instantly forgotten by Loki as he heard Illidan’s voice.
“Tell me, what was the purpose of this sick being you created? A mad experiment of yours?”
Loki turned to see who his ally was speaking to, but he was not surprised by the newcomer. The cloaked Lady Death, ever the silent enigma, was standing across from them in a silent vigil. How long had she been there, neither could say, but the fact was that she was indeed there.
Loki had just put down a being, or rather an assortment of beings, like a mad animal because of the suffering they had endured. They had been stripped of their identities by their endless existance that was filled with nothing but pain.
This was enough to perturb even the normally cold hearted Loki, who had noticed that the two pearly skinned bodies had looked to be no more than teenagers. For them to be subjected to this world sickened him, and the cause of it all stood before him.
“I know what it is like to feel envy of others. All do, whether they will admit it or not. Is that a crime you now punish with everlasting torment here, or am I mistaken? What makes that right in your eyes?”
Lady Death, as to be expected, said nothing. Instead she rose a hand gingerly to point towards the body of water.
The water had disappeared, leaving a canyon in its wake.
“Witch!”
The entire prison could hear the bellow of Thor, and it was enough for many to quiver in their containment cells.
For one, however, it did nothing of the sort. The seductress witch known as Lorelai was no fool, and part of knowing that was that Thor was one. Rumor had it that he was improving, but bringing up a mindless buffoon to a common level of ignorance and stupidity was no impressive or noteworthy feat in her mind.
With the power to control men with her alluring voice and the magic it held, there were truly few men who the witch feared. Thor could defeat almost any foe in combat, but Lorelai was not one of them since he would never be able to swing his hammer once.
When Thor lumbered over to where Lorelai was residing for the rest of her existance, the woman smiled out of her glass wall at him.
“Oh, hello Thor...so nice of you to visit. Why I—”
Thor angrily swung his trusty hammer Mjolnir at the stone structure beside the glass, careful not to actually hit it while still punctuating his speech with the threatening impact, “No games, criminal. Where is your sister, the Enchantress?”
So, that was what he was after. With a smug face and shrug, Lorelai scoffed at the blonde haired hero.
“If I have not told you before, why would I tell you now? It’s not as if you have your brother to trick me into revealing any information, and you cannot enter this cage without succombing to my powers.”
Thor leveled his hammer at the glass and gave her a face that fully showed he was not playing around, “You forget, witch. I need not enter to coerce you.”
Thor’s lightning burst forth from his weapon, striking the cage holding her in and suppressing her powers. The entire cell became an electrified deathtrap, with nothing stopping the energy from coming in and coursing through the woman whose hobbies include mind control, blackmail, murder, starting wars, and rape in no particular order.
The energy quickly cut off as Thor stopped his attack. Even in a most foul mood, he would not torture this repulsive creature more than he had to.
To his irritation she came out of the shock laughing, “My my, the old Thor would never have had the wits to consider such a method of interrogation…”
Thor growled at her, irked that she seemed to be no more willing to impart information than before, “Tell me what I want, witch, and the pain will end. Lie to me, and I will make sure your stay here is less comfortable and less lengthy. Sif would speak with you about what you have done to her previously.”
“Is that so? I’ll be sure to pay her a visit when I am free, if only to rip off that self righteous face of hers...did I ever tell you about the time I took her lover or whatever he was—”
Thor slammed his free hand on the glass as he let out another bellow, “Do not try my patience, I am losing stock in it, especially for ones such as you!”
“Whatever could have the ever calm and thoughtful Thor so aggravated?” another barbed sentence to try and provoke him…
And suddenly Thor instinctively slammed his hammer forward again, only this time he was in front of the glass. Even his might and weapon was only enough to put the smallest of cracks in the specially crafted cell…
But a hole, no matter how small, was enough for a voice to escape through.
“You should really have reigned your temper in…”
Weird as this was not in my uplist box....
Good fight scene!
Do my eyes device me, or did you make a Ranamon reference
Well...shit. Again Thor's weakness is exploited; his inability to control his temper.
Well shit is about to go down how much more I cannot say at this point in time
whelp
Thor done goofed.
Interesting that the chimeranymph was so unstable and powerful. Not entirely unexpected for the former, but for an undirected wind blast to crush and flay a torso... That's impressive on the level of crashing a jet at supersonic speeds into a nuclear reactor wall and having the jet vaporize. If it was multiple blasts, or directed, it would be less so, but as it stands... That would be some winds going probably faster than a hurricane. She was NOT a wimp.
On the subject of her still, I wonder where you go when you die in Limbo (can't remember if this area got an official name but it's pretty much Limbo anyway). Do you go to Double-Limbo? Or do you move on? It'd be interesting if you moved on. It would make the most humane option murder, which is humorous just from the ridiculousness of it.
4664766 That's because Fimfiction unpublished the chapter for no reason
And thank you. That fight scene was the last bit I had to work on most recently, since everything else was finished when my slew of issues came up and hurt me in every possible way
4664884 Your eyes do not deceive you. Ranamon/Calmaramon appeared in this chapter, though Calmaramon was severely more degraded (the squid part of her body was reduced to a black blob). She even had her "farmer pony who associates with Twilight" (Applejack/southern) accent. Sugah.
I started with them confronting Ranamon, then worked back from there and pulled together a few similar characters to her (embodiments of water). As such we had the Blue Sea Dragoons Meru (1st form) and Damia (3rd form) from Legend of the Dragoon. Then we also had Oceanus Shenron from Dragonball GT (2nd form). Then there was finally Ranamon. The healing comes from Meru, the wind from Oceanus, and the main water powers are a fusion of their collective abilities.
4665517 Just because he's getting better does not mean he is quite at a zen like level of anger control
4665954 Well, say more now then
4666687 Yes. Yes he did
She wasn't even at her highest power level when she wrecked Loki's body. The wind came from Oceanus Shenron from Dragonball GT, whose power level in that series was enough to destroy the world multiple times over. A power level of 12,000 can blow up Earth. Her power level is in the millions. 15,000,000 to just put a guestimate on it.
So no, the chimeranymph was no wimp, but Loki slipped a knife in her when her power fluctuated to the lower end of things (like 100-200, while his maybe is like in the 300-400 range).
A very interesting idea you bring up about the whole Limbo thing. Only, this is Hel. Technically it is Niflheim/Hel, so Niflheim could be considered Limbo by some.
And yes, that would be humorous in the most dark and sick of manners Illidan has professed that he is not sure if you pass on after dying, or if you just suffer further. He's not willing to test it since a special kind of Hel awaits the users of demonic energy in his universe.
4665211 All of the feels
Yet, more are still to come.
4665498 That too will be a recurring element of the story
4668390 Hurray! I thought I was the only one to remember her...
4669341 No, you're not the only one I always thought she was both pretty and petty when I was really young and watching the show, so I wouldn't forget her that easily.
Sugah.
4669542 Sugah you sho know how to wright a digilady
4669608 Why thank you. I've always wanted to do a story for her, but I'm afraid there is no audience for such a thing so I have focused on other ventures
Ranamon still has her place with me though She's just so adorably evil
4669777 She's not evil…just incredible self-centered
4669818 Eeyup...and a good example of someone whose envy has turned them into a monster. She acts nasty since nobody actually likes her and she has no friends And nobody likes her because she's nasty. Kind of...sad.
4669845 it's a vicious cycle
4670802 And that's why she's in Hel with many others.
The next closest one of the group to be evil is Oceanus Shenron, who deceived a town into worshiping her...by feeding them and giving them free food so they did not have to work anymore. SO EVIL.
Meru and Damia are heroes though, so there's a little hint that this place is kind of messed up
4670931 I purposely don't look into to other Marvel crossovers so that I don't have them influence this story whatsoever, for better or worse I want this to be the story I want to tell, not a rehash of what others might make.
I am so happy you have enjoyed it, and I hope you continue to do so
Next chapter will be out in a few days. No hold ups this time since I can now type with both hands!
4672180 I noticed that right away :)
4672611 Noticed what in particular amongst the three lines?
4673685 Author suffers from pseudo-helpful comments. It keeps popping back up when he wants to hear actual comments. It's quite irritating
No need to be rude after all
Well that was a rather interesting interaction with the soul fragment leftovers, as well as the others having to deal with a new possible problem due to Thor's frustration. Apparently Loki has noticed his rather new change in views of others, perhaps not too far off on a revelation that he might have been the wrong one in his past rather then his father and brother. And he is still escape from his current hell, a quest not easily accomplished I imagine.
Amazing chapter as always.
4674607 Why thank you very much
Loki's definitely getting better, but he's not about to go admitting that he was a villain or anything of the sorts since both Thor and Odin did screw up Still, he's edging from a nominal hero to a more noble anti-hero. He's learning, but he's got centuries of envy to overcome!
And no, the quest is not easily accomplished at all. He has a whole lot more blood and sweat to shed before he's out. At least Trixie doesn't have to do much of anything to earn her own way out
4686579 You'll see why
Goddammit, Thor.
Just...
Goddammit.
Also hey, Loki's growing a heart!
... Sorta
4696976 Yeah...Luna's not the only one whose anger is showing up
And yeah, Loki's growing a heart...sorta
4697573
Speaking of Luna, I am saddened by her lack of appearance, this chapter.
Well hey, it's progress, ain't it?
4697827 All things require balance, and Luna has been in nearly every chapter in this story up until just recently. This balances Loki's minor disappearances last arc. Don't worry though. Once this is all settled you can expect to see our regular cast united
Progress, yes. Important progress!
4697894
Aw, fine. I suppose I can go one chapter without her
All progress is important!
Unless it's negative progress...
4697905 You'll be getting more Luna than ever before soon enough
And negative progress is call regression Luckily Loki isn't really doing that.
4697976
I'm glad!
I was afraid I might have to force it out of you
I know what it's called, dangit.
Well, luckily, yeah. But who knows what could mess up his progress?
4697993 I love Luna, my kids at camp love Luna, everybody loves Luna. You don't need to worry about Luna showing up
A lot of stuff could mess Loki up, and has
4698045
I know, but it doesn't hurt to be sure
It's like Loki's a magnet for it all
4698064 Haha, a lot of extra Luna
fc09.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2012/128/5/3/princess_luna_by_applecider1412-d4z0dqi.jpg
And yes, Loki is a magnet for everything going wrong ever
4698157
I..
Did you...What.
And yes, yes he is. Poor guy
4699213 What? I've said you'll get more Luna, and that's more Luna Lots of character development too!
So, did I what?
Loki also has a few things go right in his favor though, so we must not forget those
4699740
I have a slight suspicion you're foreshadowing.
What sucks is you could be trolling.
You suck.
Well of course I won't forget those, but they're pretty insignificant when put up against the bad
4702377 What? Me? Foreshadow? Why I never, ever do that
And you know what also doesn't suck? The fact that I could be trolling
Well, one good thing that happened to Loki was being found by Odin. That's a pretty crucial one
Also, you hear that they made Thor a woman?
4702653
Suuuure, you never foreshadow.
It may not really suck, but I'm still gonna say it sucks.
Well true, but who knows what could've happened if Odin didn't? Maybe better or worse, we shall never know
Well I saw an article about something referring to who's gonna play Female Thor but I didn't really bother about it
Agents of Shield, I'm guessing?
4702664 I foreshadow pretty much all of the time How long have I said Celestia will get character development, only for that character being developed being the one in her womb? I troll and foreshadow at the same time. It is an art of sorts.
We know what would have happened otherwise, and that would be Loki dying. That'd be bad
And no, it's in the comics in a blatant grab for girl readers. It's not as if they could have, you know, JUST MADE ANOTHER CHARACTER OR ANYTHING. No, they had to make Thor get a sex change...imagine if they did this for a more current religious figure. That'd be a hoot.
4705014
Yeah, sure an "art". Whatever you wanna label it, it doesn't change anything
Hey, Loki could've survived by some magical, mysterious way.
I'm surprised there's no Femverse or something where every character we know has a femals counterpart.
I wouldn't put it past these guys to make something like that
4705071 Why would I troll you about this though
They don't need a femverse because the normal verse has She-Hulk, Spiderwoman, etc, etc. They already got the female counterparts for many heroes, as well as completely original female characters. Just usually these characters are in ADDITION to the regular ones, rather than replacing them entirely.
4706566
Oh, because you're evil?
Well that is true. Still, why would they make Thor of all people a woman, that's just.
What.
4708363 I'm not evil. Just chaotic neutral in my postings
And the whole Thor woman thing is just them trying to win over female viewers, though it has come at the cost of many other viewers who think changing the gender is just stupid. Loki has changed genders before, but he is a shapeshifter. This is to be expected and no-one cares as a result. But Thor? He's about as masculine as it gets, and this change just comes off as pure and simple "please read us".
4708696
Chaotic Neutral while leaning more on evil than good.
Also,
Lovely explanation.
He is Thor, always has been. The wielder of Mjolnir.
4708701 It'd only be leaning if I didn't always give you guys tidbits and stuff to have fun with
...and that explanation from Marvel is stupid. I'd still be more interested in a story about de-powered Thor than someone stealing his place.
4708706
Yeah, well. Sometimes they're so vague they're as useless as a female Thor is
And by sometimes, I mean a lot of times
I still don't see why he just can't have a female counterpart