Loki's Pain

Chapter Twenty-two- Ash's Problems Grow

After twisting thru several long hallways, and backtracking a couple of times due to the confusing layout of this residential floor, he finally arrived at the door to their room. Scratching his head in confusion over the difficulty he had finding it despite the "helpful" signs, he muttered in frustration even as he knocked lightly on their door.

Hearing some muffled footfalls padding towards the door not long after, he waited patiently for the door to open. When it didn't open after a few minutes more, he was confused. The footsteps had clearly stopped right on the other side, Peter had heard them quite clearly. "Hello?" Peter said, his confusion evident, "I know someone is there.... I could hear you walking over.... I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you. I would just like to talk. I think there has been some kind of misunderstanding... So...if you don't want to talk right now, can you please text my phone to set up a time that works better for you?" Peter said all of this without knowing which of them was on the other side, but it didn't really matter which one it was. He needed to speak to both of them anyway. So when he had finished speaking he waited a few moments more to see if he would even be acknowledged at all. In the end he heard a faint rapping of knuckles from the other side and nodded towards the peephole in understanding before walking away.

Ash watched him leave thru the opening, breathing a sigh of relief once he disappeared from sight. His jealousy had only grown since the last time he had seen the kid. He knew it was wrong, but he couldn't seem to help himself. Looking back on things, even he realized that it had to be a simple misunderstanding, but he still could not stand the thought of him being anywhere near Loki. The thought of him placing even a simple, comforting hand on Loki's arm made him want to rip the kid to shreds.... And he could only hope it was an effect left over by Maw's mind games, and not from the experiments that Thanos had done to him.

The memories burned in his head, leaving a sick sensation crawling along his veins. The serum he had been injected with had been an odd green color. It had even glowed in that test tube rather menacingly before they had injected it into his arm. Ash had told the Avengers about Thanos experimenting on him, but had not gone into much detail about it. He hadn't told them about the serum at all, something about it kept his tongue still in his mouth when he'd been asked, and lead him to claim amnesia about the details.

He didn't talk about the nightmares he now had, about the visions, or about the voice he had begun to hear that told him to do things that would hurt his friends. A voice that sounded suspiciously like Thanos. A voice that he was determined to ignore, but that had grown louder by the day.

It was this same voice that had warned him about Peter's intentions.... Intentions that Ash was now sure didn't actually exist. He had allowed that voice to manipulate him, and he cursed himself for it, but the irrational jealousy was still burning deep within his heart.

'Yes.... That's it... Let me in little one.' Ash heard the faint whisper in his head and felt chills racing down his spine just before he watched his hand slowly reach forward and open his apartment door. The problem was that Ash hadn't told his hand to move at all. When Ash tried to stop it he realized he couldn't. His body was moving under someone else's will entirely. He had lost complete control. He screamed helplessly within his own mind as his body moved forward.

Once the door had opened, Ash's body walked out and followed behind Peter. Eventually it caught up to the kid as he stood in front of the elevator. Ash's body crept up behind Peter slowly and silently, reaching stealthily for his neck. At the last minute Peter's spider sense kicked in and he jerked away and out of reach.

"What the heck!! Ash!? What are you doing!?" Peter shouted in shock, still a tad slow to react even as Ash leapt into full attack. Rushing forward at Peter, Ash's body threw out a right punch that Peter blocked easily enough, and he was still holding Ash's right hand as the left followed after. Once Peter had grabbed both of them, Ash's body performed a backwards flip, swinging his legs in a cartwheel with the intent of bringing his feet down onto the top of Peter's head.