Prequel Chapter 43

“We got anything new?”
“The energy is fluctuating more, like something’s trying to come through. We’ve got crews on site, but this doesn’t look like anything friendly. They won’t be able to handle combat.”
“So you’re sending us down?” Natasha asked.
Fury nodded. “We’ll give you specialized suits just in case this gets tougher than we expect.”
Natasha shared a look with Clint. "Where's Thor when you need him?" She asked, though not loud enough for anyone to hear here.
“If this gets out of hand, we have crews standing by with stronger weapons.”
Everyone nodded ten got ready to be taken to the site. Tony didn’t need one of the suits, neither did Bruce; both would do just fine without the extra protection.
Jarvis meanwhile relayed all the information to Loki, keeping him updated on the situation.
Loki started to put his armor back n and get dressed once more. He even found a pair of scissors and cut his hair back.
Tony and the others arrived soon enough at the site and saw what looked like a tear in the sky. “That’s not good.”
“Just as long as whatever comes through isn’t too bad.” Bruce said then looked at Tony. He knew they’d talked about Loki helping, but he was getting nervous when he didn’t see any sign of the god. He might really help with this.
Bruce knew Tony was nervous about Loki helping them. "Do you think he'll come?"
Tony looked at Bruce and shrugged. “It looked like he really wanted to do this. I hope he shows up.”
All eyes were on the portal then something came through. It looked like a massive, hairless dog with no eyes and something like black rocks jutting out of its back. Nice to know at least there were only five. Tony’s eyes widened when he saw the thing.
“Are you serious?”
“Mr. Laufeyson, you may wish to go now. I have set up a clone for you while you are gone and will be giving you all the information you need when you arrive.” Jarvis told Loki what was going on at the site.
Loki nodded as he felt his magic return to him. "Time to go." he said, before disappearing into thin air.
Loki made sure he was well hidden when he arrived at the site and saw the large hairless dog.
He sighed as he thought of what to do. He could lure the creature back in and return it to Nilfheim. He waited for a few moments before finally going in closer.
One of the creatures lunged at Clint and Natasha, both of whom rolled out of the way and fired.
“Well now we know guns won’t help.” Natasha tossed her weapons aside and scowled. Bruce turned into the Hulk as another creature ran at him. Tony blasted at a third but it didn’t seem like he was doing much more than upsetting them.
“Fury, this isn’t working!”
“There are stronger weapons behind you!” The Director watched nervously from his monitors.
The rest of the Avengers ran for them quickly and tried again. They seemed to do more damage this time around, but it still wasn’t much.
“Guys, guys! We need to try and force these things back into those portals!”
“You have any brilliant ideas Stark?” Steve shouted then blasted at another creature.
Loki couldn't resist the answer for that question. "That would be me." he smiled before at them before attacking one of the creatures. Loki went to help Natasha and Clint with their beast first because they were the most human and had no protection.
Tony tensed slightly and looked around. He was happy Loki was there, but he didn’t want the god to get too zealous and show himself. He looked around, but didn’t see Loki. He blasted back another creature, trying to guide it towards the portals.
Natasha dodged on swipe from the beast then gasped when another came at her. She ducked but was amazed that she made it. Somehow, the beast actually missed her. She stared at it confused then looked around, feeling a strange chill.
Loki used a spell of his own to draw the creature away making sure it saw him but that the others didn't. Throwing up a force field around the creature he managed to send it back through the portal it came from like one would throw a ball.
Clint couldn’t believe what he was seeing. What had pushed that thing back through?
Tony however sighed relieved then quickly focused back on the creature gunning for him. He flew up out of range and blasted it again, this time in the face. That seemed to do something; it began to retreat towards the portals.
The Hulk picked up another beast and launched it through the portal with a loud growl.
Dropping down in front of the portal, Loki started working on the spell to close it up before another could come through it.
The others all looked at each other a great deal of confusion on their faces save for Bruce who even as Hulk knew that Loki had helped them.
Tony sighed relieved as the portals closed. He smiled and flipped up the mask of his suit. He looked around, though he knew he wouldn’t see Loki.
“All right, someone want to tell me what just happened?” Steve looked at the others puzzled but no one seemed to know.
“Looks like they got sucked back in or something.”
“Or thrown in.” Natasha said, frowning skeptically.
"Maybe whatever realm they came from someone over there knew about it and did something to bring them back in." Clint said.
“That could be it, I guess.” Natasha sighed a bit. She was just glad this was over.
“Director, did you get anything?” Steve said into his earpiece but Fury was just as stumped as they were.
“We’ll keep an eye on the location and energy frequencies, but so far it looks like you’re done here.”
A jet landed to take them all back except Tony; he insisted he’d be fine flying back on his own. He glanced around again, this time with his mask on and checked for Loki’s energy. He had to be careful not to tip Fury off, but he didn’t see the god nearby. He shrugged then took off.
Knowing his magic would only last so long, Loki used his magic one last time to go back to Tony's home in California.
Tony sighed relieved as he landed back home and his suit was removed. He grinned, waiting for Loki to reappear. The SHIELD agents Fury had sent left, going back to their original posts outside the house.
“Loki?” Tony walked around then went down to his lab to see if the god was there.
Loki was trying to find him but didn’t so he simply waited in the living room knowing Stark would have to come back for him.
“Sir, Mr. Laufeyson is in the living room.”
Tony went back upstairs and smiled when he saw the god. “I think you did pretty well for your first undercover mission.” He went over to the god and sat next to him, clearly excited about the ordeal. “How do you feel?”
Loki looked down at his hands flexing his fingers. "It felt good to have my powers back." he said.
Tony grinned and nodded. “You did really well. Few more missions like this and we’ll have you back home in no time.” Tony was really excited about their little plot. “Did you see the looks on everyone’s faces?” He chuckled a bit.
"No I didn't. I had to return before my powers left me once more." he said.
Tony laughed and shook his head. “It was hilarious. They were looking around, trying to figure out what sent those things back through the portals!” He mimicked the expressions of his comrades for Loki to see then laughed again.
Loki chuckled as Tony showed him the faces. "Do they suspect it was me?"
Tony shook his head. “I doubt it. Even if they did, nobody has any proof you were there. I have surveillance showing you were here the entire time we were gone.” Tony shrugged. “And I had Jarvis mask any energy you might have given off while you were there.”
Loki nodded. "Good way to cover my tracks but I can only keep hiding myself as well as using my magic so long." Loki said. "It's straining to do so."
Tony nodded. “I could make something for you that will help. It’s a kind of cloaking device; I use one on my stealth suit. It can keep you hidden and undetectable.”
Loki nodded. "Please, it saves a great deal over energy."
Tony smiled a bit. “I’ll have it built for you soon. We’ll have to test it a bit, make sure it works right but it should be fine.”
Loki nodded. "Thank you Stark."
“You’re welcome.” Tony smiled at the god then stood. “I’ll go get your cloaking device built. You can come down to the lab if you want.” He grabbed a water bottle and headed to the lab.
Loki followed him wanting to see Stark work.
“Jarvis, get my plans out for the cloaking mechanics.”
“Very well Sir. It will need to be set for a different frequency since the energy from Mr. Laufeyson’s magic is quite different from that used to power your suits.”
“All right, show me some numbers.” Tony started pulling out the supplies and set it on one of the tables.
“I’ve raised the Herz calibration and altered the amount of work done by the device. It will need to use more energy to keep him cloaked.”
“Go ahead and apply the changes and we’ll see how small we can make this thing.”