Loki and the Bouncy House

Chapter Three

Loki never was the athletic brother. He knew this for a long time, ever since the first race they had had with each other. Loki accepted that he wasn't athletic. He would have to rely on his brain and tricks to get what he wanted, which was perfectly fine with him. It was just that Loki had never thought his "unathleticness" would get him caught in a bouncy cell.

Those plums got me, was the first thing Loki thought when he woke up surrounded by bouncy walls.

Why am I here? was the second thing Loki thought when he shifted up to lean against the wall.

There's someone staring at me, was the third thing Loki thought when he looked ahead, and is the only comment that truly matters.

Indeed there was someone staring at him.

"The Bouncy House King requests your presence," said the figure. Loki rolled his eyes. Bouncy House King? That was an actual thing?

Loki didn't have any time to ask any questions by the time the person pulled him out of the bouncy cell. They walked down the bouncy hallway, and walked up the bouncy staircase. The person left Loki at the bouncy entrance of the bouncy throne room in which he was instructed to sit on a bouncy bench with a pair of non-bouncy handcuffs.

The door opened. Loki stepped in, holding his head up high. Even if he was a prisoner, he was in charge. At least, that's what he liked to believe.

When Loki reached the end of the long pathway leading to the throne, he met the king.

The king was not what he had expected.

Fiddling with a pencil and a notebook, the king paid no attention to Loki. He had dark hair that went down to his shoulders, and startling blue eyes. What surprised Loki the most, however, was the king's left arm. Made of metal, it moved as if it were made of flesh. Loki wondered what had happened. Maybe the man was born without an arm, or he suffered an injury.

Loki stood there for what seemed an eternity. He cleared his throat, alerting the Bouncy House King of his presence.

"Yeah?" asked the Bouncy House King.

"You told me to come..." Loki replied, somewhat confused.

"Uh huh."

"Why am I here?"

The king shrugged sadly. "You messed with a bouncy house."

"It's a bouncy house. With all due respect, they don't have feelings."

"How do you know? Maybe it was screaming in pain."

Loki looked at the king in disbelief. He was insane. Loki decided that he would have an easy time escaping. All he had to do was grab the tesseract, which was laying on a nearby table.

"Will you let me go?" asked Loki.

"Probably not," the Bouncy House King answered. "It's up to the plums."

"Right, right. Of course." This man truly was bonkers. "Who are you?"

The king raised an eyebrow. "I should be asking you. After all, you are my prisoner, no?" Loki was beginning to really hate this man.

"Who are you?" the Bouncy House King asked.

"Loki, Prince of Asgard. Although you may know me as the God of Mischief," Loki told him, holding his head up high. He flashed one of his signature smiles.

The king snorted. He started laughing, struck by a fit of giggles. What was so funny?

"Yeah, and I'm the Winter Soldier," he said, after calming down.

"I was being serious," Loki clarified.

"So was I."

Alright. Winter Soldier. Ok. Loki had heard of this Winter Soldier. Not too much about him, just snippets of conversations in the palace on Asgard. He remembered a guard reporting news of a deadly assassin on Midgard, and Odin saying there was nothing to do. But Loki was a god. He could easily take on a pathetic mortal.

"Uh huh. So, Winter Soldier, what exactly are you going to do with me?" asked Loki.

"Oh. Hmm, well, that really is the question," said the Winter Soldier.

"What?"

"Well, you see, I'm just not really sure," the Soldier started, "You did harm a bouncy house, and that's not acceptable. But you seem like a nice guy. I think." Loki's patience was running out. He just couldn't stand this man, king or not. It was impossible to have a meaningful conversation.

Loki bolted for it, stretching out his hand to grab the tesseract. He was so close.

The Winter Soldier sighed. "It's truly a shame that you decided to do that. We could have been the bestest of greasy hair bros."

Loki whipped his head around, momentarily distracted. What? The Winter Soldier pointed down at the entrance of the bouncy throne room. Again, Loki turned his head, his hair flying. Oh no. Not again, he thought.

Those blasted plums were coming for him. And he had nowhere to run except behind the throne. So that's where he ran. Dashing back, Loki tried to escape the plums. The little purple plums chased him around and around, while the king only sat in his throne watching quietly.

Loki was cornered. Hundreds of plums with small delicate knives surrounded him. Oh, this time he was really screwed. The last thing Loki saw before being dragged down and hitting his head on a hard object was a red star painted onto the Bouncy House King's metal arm. HYDRA.