Untrustworthy | N. Romanoff

| Twelve |

The sound of classical music filled the ballroom as guests chatted amongst themselves, and enjoyed the calming atmosphere of the event, oblivious to the fear that was about to overcome them. Loki had ditched his traditional Asgardian drapes and now sported a formal black suit with a green detailing, his horned helmet absent from his head as he stood on the balcony and overlooked the guests who were happily enjoying the ball.

There was a spring in his step as he skipped down the stairs that descended to the ballroom, his walk turning into more of a strut as he walked down the final set of stairs, a look of determination etched onto the features of his face. Flipping his sceptre a full three sixty degrees he caught it swiftly before he swung it at the security guard posted at the bottom of the stairs, and sent him instantly to the floor, catching the attention of the guests, who gasped at the sound of a body landing with a thud on the ground.

Loki sprung into action as he approached his main target, and gripped him firmly by the scruff of his neck, pushing him to the table-like statue situated in the centre of the room. He flipped the man over swiftly before he took an extraction-like device from the inside pocket of his suit. Loki gave the device a slight flick, which activated it as it emitted the blue energy source from its tip. The device began to whirr before Loki brought it down on one of the man's eyes as he squirmed around in pain on the table, the remaining guests now recovering from their initial shock as they fled the ballroom in all directions.

Loki grinned manically at the sight of mayhem before him, and watched as the guests screamed in terror as they bolted from the building. Satisfied, Loki removed the device from the man's eye and smiled to himself, pleased that his master plan had worked. He began following the crowd, though, in a much less frantic manner, and his appearance changed from the formal suit he was wore, back to his traditional Asgardian drapes, and once more, the horned helmet dawned his head.

He walked with purpose out of the building, the pandemonium that was once inside now lined the streets of Stuttgart. The crowd flocked to the square in the centre of the road, hoping and praying for their safety as the sound of police sirens could be heard as they came to the rescue. The emergency services didn't get much of a chance to respond as Loki sent a blast directly at one of the police cars, which exploded into a large burst of blue that caused the car to flip onto its nose as it skidded across the road, and eventually overturned, landing upside down.

The fear amongst the crowd of people increased as multiples of Loki surrounded them in all directions. "Kneel before me" Loki demanded, as he continued to duplicate himself in a bid to spike fear into everyone in front of him. "I said..." Loki said as he brought his sceptre down, colliding with the ground as the sceptres of the clones connected with his own, forming a blue barricade around the crowd. "KNEEL!" he yelled.

Obliging, everyone in the crowd stared at him in shock and fear as they collectively kneeled before him. Pleased, Loki's grin grew immensely at the sight as he held out his arms in success. "Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?" he began as he walked closer to the group of citizens, pointing his sceptre ahead of him. "It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."