Mischief on Midgard

Reflection

"Nebula," Loki said slowly, voice strained as they finally reached their destination. "There's something wrong about that planet. Something very, very wrong."

Loki stared down at the planet that Rocket and Yondu had just landed on. The hairs on the back of his neck had risen upon seeing the inconspicuous planet. It was hard to describe the feelings coursing through him as he gazed upon the planet. A primal, eerie thing that... that pulsed and thrummed with power. Even though Loki had been stripped of his magic, he could still feel the energy below them. The sensation was that powerful. Nebula turned her head and looked at him with a frown.

"And what are you basing that assumption on?" she asked.

"Feelings... sensations..." Loki frowned in annoyance. Once again, he found himself cursing the fact that his Sorcery had been locked away. "It's almost as if the planet itself is sentient... no, sapient. It... feels hostile."

"What? Suddenly scared now?" Nebula asked in a mocking tone.

"You've seen me chained up, trapped and unable to escape both Thanos' and your siblings' clutches," Loki said, shooting her an annoyed look. "You have witnessed me during times when I both had my magic and those times without it, and yet I never once asked for mercy from any one of you. Are you truly accusing me of being a coward?"

That drew Nebula up short, and she frowned. She turned her head and eyed the planet warily herself, her brow furrowed in thought. Loki gave her a few moments. She nodded her head slowly, and Loki relaxed. Good. She was acknowledging that if he said something was wrong, she would take him seriously.

"Gamora is down there," she said with the barest hint of a whine in her voice. "I want to kill her. I need to be the one to kill her."

"That place is hostile," Loki said with an understanding nod. "We can proceed, of course, but we should make sure that we have an escape plan prepared."

"Hn," Nebula let out a huff and looked at him, head tilting in that odd, bird-like movement she always did. "You sound like you have experience in that area."

"Oh, if only you knew!" Loki said with a snort and a soft chuckle. "All the times that Thor went off on an 'adventure' without thinking things through, dragging me along with him most of the time to boot. And what happens? We get surrounded and trapped by enemy forces or wild animals, of course! All because he wouldn't take a moment to bloody think. Leaving me to be the one figure out how to get us out of the mess he caused."

Nebula let out a snort of amusement, and Loki continued, hands waving about theatrically.

"Oh yes, you should have heard him the first time I got us out of one of his messes," Loki said with a laugh before shifting to straighten up and speaking in a mockery of his brother's voice. "'Loki, how did you know that was there?! I would never have thought we could go that way to escape!' Bah. I knew because I looked over the place before we entered it. Observing the guard routes and the way the messengers moved as we went in. Thanks to that, I had our escape route planned out before Thor's inevitable cock-up."

"Thor," Nebula said, tilting her head thoughtfully. "Your brother."

"Yes," Loki said with a heavy sigh and a roll of his eyes. "My 'Gamora' if you will."

Nebula stayed quiet for a few long moments, eyeing the planet below them. She looked up at him with a raised brow.

"Shall we go and kill him once we are finished with Gamora?" she asked in a dull tone that somehow also sounded earnest. Loki let out a small snort of amusement at the offer.