A loud, obnoxious cry wormed its way into the God of Thunder's skull.
Scrunching his nose, he turned onto his stomach and buried his nose into the soft... dirt?
Shooting up onto his knees, Thor blinked unseeingly at the forest around him, panic gripping his chest like a vice.
Where in Norse name is was he? What the heck happened?
The distinctive cry occurred again and the muscular man spun to look behind him, at the golden gurney squashed in-between two crushed trees.
"Who goes there?" he shouted, wincing at the ache in his joints as he clambered to his feet. The cries ceased as he gently edged his way around the trees, hammer poised above his head...
"Brother!" he almost screamed, dropping Mjolnir onto the grassy floor and reaching forth to touch his sibling, to ensure that he was really there.
Wide, bright eyes greeted his, shiny with unshod tears.
The dirt on his face was streaked with tears that had previously fallen.
Oh it was a sorry sight, indeed.
"What in Odin's name happened just now? Have you any idea how we got here? Is this Midgard? Why are you strapped to a Care Bed?"
The young man paused for breath and his little sibling's mouth twitched into a sad smile. "Have you no memory, brother?"
Only then did Thor see the thick rivulets of crimson trickling onto the dirt, like a broken tap.
His brother's bare skin was discolored and stained maroon in some places. "What? Oh, brother. Who-?"
"I remember not how or why we were sent here." Loki frowned, lowering his head to gaze dazedly at the canopy above him, like he could see straight through the sky to Asgard. "I remember the... lashes, and... nothing."
The two boys sat there, bemused and hurting; each experiencing their own blend of guilt, regret, pain and depression.
The last thing Thor recalled was fighting against the Guard's that stopped him from protecting his brother.
The grunts, the whips, the shock. And then...darkness.
"How badly are you injured?" Thor inquired, effortlessly lifting the gurney from the trees and over his head, walking out of the clearing.
"It hurts," Loki replied with gritted teeth, the torn skin on his back burning with every exuberant step his older brother took.
He was gently lowered to the ground and both boys glanced around them in surprise.
This place was not New York, the city they always visited on Midgard. No, this seemed to be a different world completely.
Thor pushed Loki to the roadside, where a huge painted sign rested to the left, the beautiful, tranquil town behind it.
Welcome to the Morpeth, Newcastle, England!
"It's 1998." Thor whispered, squeezing the gurney railings in a daze.
Had they slept for a century? Was this some bizarre form of time travel?
"I believe it's a form of manipulation, dear brother." Loki grunted, shifting his body to glance at the city below them. "If father wished to banish us to a different era, it makes going home quite the journey."
"But why would he?" Thor questioned, beginning to walk forwards into the main road.
They couldn't stand here all day; they had to find somewhere to stay before the people emerged and attempted to burn them at the stake. "The city was on fire, people needed our help and he... sent us away?"
"And wiped your memories, clearly." The youngest sighed, relaxing his sore body.
He allowed his brother to wheel him into oblivion. "No, dear brother. There is something at work here that we know nothing of," a tear ran down his cheek and rested at the dip in his collar bone. "-and father wants to protect us."
It was 5:53 am on a Saturday morning and the town was strangely quiet. Everything looked so... odd. Huge lumps of colored metal slumped on grassy gardens and a large, luminous sign screamed "McDonald's!" in splotches of red and yellow. Long gone were the uneven muddied roads and the trademark scent of fish and gutters. No harlots attempted to pluck you from the street, and it seemed relatively free of drunken oafs and penniless children. It was peaceful, nice, and drama-free. Loki could get used to this. Loki could get used to this.
Sorry for the short chapter! I'll try and update over the weekend but I'll be in a different city so that may be difficult. Apologies! Here is an image of Tommy to make it up to you!
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