"Raiju," the word left Loki's mouth like a curse. Thor gave him a surprised look.

"You know these?"

"Don't tell me you don't. Raijin, and his little monsters?"

"Oh. Him. Jolly fellow. I still don't understand why you disliked him," Thor sighed and ducked as a stray bolt of lightning flew past his ears, "What poses the question is though, how they got them to leave him."

"I don't care," Loki hissed, swatting away a creature, then immediately regretted the decision as he felt elecricity surge through his hand, "It's obvious that they are the primary energy source, hence we must get them away somehow."

"That'll be easy. I'll do it."

"You," Loki said a tiny bit sardonically, though he didn't mean to sound like that.

Perhaps a little.

"I'm great at angering others, remember?" Thor said, swinging Mjöllnir into motion, "And they're good at being angered easily. I'll distract them, you get the shields off, then plant those bombs of yours."

"Wait, we should..."

He was too late - the demigod had already launched himself towards the centre of the room, right into the thick of it with a battlecry. Loki closed his eyes for a moment.

"One of these days, I'm going to have my book, a cup of tea, and silence, and I'll rest... Oh, yes I will," he muttered to himself as he followed his brother, trying to lure away the monsters from the core.

Hijacking one of these ships was easier than Rocket thought. Like really. They were supposed to be one of the most advanced beings in the universe.

Or it was him who was really intelligent, he thought as he navigated through the battle going on in the air. Groot in front of him roared as he swatted away a bigger piece of spaceship-junk, right into one of their pursuers.

Then he saw the big golden globe move slowly and point the portal-opener thingie at one of the ships, spinning faster with each passing moment. Suddenly a burst of energy surged towards it - and left a big smoking hole in the middle.

"I AM GROOT!" the floral colossus yelled, one fist high in the air. Rocket snickered.

"Yes, I can see it. We did it. He didn't think we could, but we did. Now put your hand down, you're blocking my view."

"I'm Groot?"

"A falling body?" the animal frowned, just a moment before he noticed it as well. Indeed, there it was - falling, female, Asgardian, and judging by her scream, very much alive.

Rocket pulled the handle upwards, and the ship obeyed his command.

The warrior woman arrived into the face of the colossus with a sound of surprise. The sword she was holding in her hand fell and went spiralling down towards the ground.

She looked up and made eye contact with Rocket.

"You didn't hear any of that."

"Of course I didn't."

"Good. I'll kill you if you tell anyone about this." She tried to emphasise her words by pulling a hidden sword from under the floor.

"About what?" he asked, grinning.

"Good. Could you take me back to that ship?"

"Naturally."

"I'm Groot!"

"Great! Three more? Do you people know that you were not cut out for flying?"

It was not going as easily as he had hoped.

Of course, nothing was.

Firstly, there was the problem of lowering the force field around what was devouring the lightnings.

Secondly.

In the meanwhile they got company. And they were all for not allowing him to finish what he started; not like he had gotten that far in the process.

He pressed down two more buttons and the field wavered, but did not disappear, and then there was a third guard upon him.

He slashed at his face, taking the careless attacker's eyes out.

He really had no time for this.

"How is it going, brother?!" Thor asked as he zoomed past him, followed by a cloud of bugs, a screaming guard held in his hands.

"Not as fast as I'd like." He ducked away from the fourth and kicked him in the place which hurt all who are male, no matter where it was situated.

Others claimed it was unmanly to do so.

He claimed that if it made an enemy unfocused for just a moment, for decapitation, then it was worth it. He'd be more happy to live as a non-gendered jelly floating through space than dining in Valhalla, but pretty much dead.

"Well, then, hurry up! They're getting angrier and angrier with every second."

Loki scowled. That the same was true for him didn't even matter?

"I'm trying to crack a technology completely unknown to us. I'm sorry, if it's not fast enough for your taste!"

"Forgiven," Thor answered nonchalantly, letting go of the man that fall onto the bug closest to the Thunderer. The two went down and landed in the floor, causing a slight tremor, with a great crash and were barely recognisable anymore.

The screen flashed green.

The Trickster glanced aside.

And his opponent, waiting for just this one moment, went in for the attack with his spear-thing which would have pierced him through the lungs, had it not been for the Asgardian battle ship that came through the walls of the spaceship, four of the six on board howling in either terror or extasy.

"Lokes!" Rocket called down from next to the handle. "Been wondering what you were doing. This thing is supposed to be down by now."

"Nearly," Loki said, turning back to the main panel and flicking controllers up and down, "Now if you could keep them off my back and... Don't mind that, I'm done."

He watched with satisfaction the barrier that faded into nonexistence, allowing them free entrance to the core.

It was a surprisingly primitive design, with telltale signs of where it could be easily damaged.

A curious mixture of genius and simple-mindedness.

Thor already began his work, placing the bombs he had at the vulnerable spots as he whooshed back and forth, his companions looking at him with worry.

"Don't just stand gawking there," Loki snapped, "Help me."

It was Sif who reacted first; she held her hand out and waited for him to drop two bombs into it before running towards her target. She reached it without any actually problem, those posed by two panicking guards who thought it'd be a great idea to get between her fist and the other one had an unfortunate run-in with her shield, and he did most of the running.

Which left Loki with one for the panel. They had exactly a minute left to leave the ship.

Rather they would have.

It was as if he was watching a scene from a dream, as a rogue bolt of ligthning passed through the staggering guard who still wore the mark of Sif's knuckles.

He fell, straight into the first bomb, starting a chain reaction.

A moment later he vaguely saw Groot reach for him, but it was too late. The force of air already pushed him outside - luckily through the hole the Asgardian ship left.

The others were not so lucky. He saw Thor gather Sif in his arms, her unconscious, him bleeding. Rocket was holding tight onto Groot, the Warriors Three not too far away from them. Something latched onto him - it was Groot. The Colossus was drawing him towards them, the rest of his body sprouting and growing. It was of no use, he must have known that, good for nothing but slowing down the fall, still ending in the inevitable.

Except if he did something.

He saw the towers of Asgard rush towards them and had possibly one of his craziest idea ever.

Had he the time, he'd have laughed. Trusting Midgardian imagination.

But what could happen? At worst?

The rest of the fall washed into one big picture.

A roar. Flash of explosions. Groot's face prepared and serene.

Then something hit his head and he knew no more.

"The prince drew his sword, and the dragon reared, preparing to eat him alive," a voice said, that made him feel warm, but the rest was overpowered by a buzz. A voice that reminded him of his childhood. He knew the voice.

His mother was sitting by the side of his bed, in his old chambers which were astonishingly clean, in her hands a heavy tome of tales. She looked up, and smiled.

"Good morning," her voice was still barely audible, "Look who decided to join the living."

"Very funny, Mother," he groaned back. It hurt talking.

"Oh, I should hope so, after all the trouble we went through to keep you together. How many times did I tell you, not to meddle with magic you don't know yet?" Her voice was only slightly worried, he supposed she dealt with the worse already. What was more important and surprising, that was the tone of pride

"What do you mean?"

"The pretty little white stuff of thing that stretches precisely fifty and seventy-eight meters between five houses, and which our best cannot seem to get down. Where did you get the idea from?"

"A... Comic book. From Midgard."

"Really?" she asked, her eyebrows arching, "I shall like to see that comic book of yours. But now, perhaps I should tell your friends that you are awake," she gathered her skirt and stood up. In the doorway however she stopped and looked back at her son, focused on his face. Then smiled, and left.

The chains rattled around his wrists and ankles when he entered the throne room.

The sound made the hair on his neck stand up.

The burning sensation however, that passed ups his arms every moment he took a step bothered him even more. Rocket told him what happened after he passed out; Mother was not joking. They literally had to hold him together until the magic worked itself into his flesh and knitted what had been parted.

He didn't really want to think about any of it, yet the thoughts always somehow wormed their way in.

The hearing itself was relatively short, but all the more uncomfortable; some of the advisors did not seem to wholly agree with Odin's punishment and gave voice to their opinions. He couldn't exactly blame them - he had a part to play in the destruction of the Bifröst, and this plan could have ended even more disastrously.

Half of it depended on whether or not Rocket can get the Bifröst to harness the energy of the Tesseract with the help of Heimdall (who has yet to get over the fact that Rocket actually could do it). It was nothing more than a gamble.

Which was successful.

So now, his crimes though not erased were overlooked, plus Rocket and Groot got a literally two hundred and twenty years old spaceship that no one used anyway. Yet, it was more than capable holding itself against any other spaceship out in space.

The raccoon sighed in delight as he patted the ship, not caring a bit for the dirty look the Asgardian mechanic gave him.

"It'll be good to be on the move again. I mean, no offense, but this place is just..."

"Not what the rumours made it out to be," Loki nodded. Rocked snickered.

"Well, you put it in a lot nicer way then I'd have, but yeah. All this gold is just too shiny? And your dad? He'd definitely not win the "Best father in the universe" title. should we go first?"

"Yes, about that," the trickster god said hesitantly, "I don't think I'm going."

"What? Oh, crap, man, don't do this to me!"

"It's not like I have a say in this," the black haired man added quickly, "But currently what's keeping me standing are these specifically enchanted clothes. It's forbidden to cast a spell for five months

or to engage in active fighting for a year at least. And as far as I've experienced it, the latter makes up two-third of a bounty hunters life."

"This sucks."

"Don't tell me."

"But your mom won't keep you walled up in here?"

"No. As an agent of Asgard, I'll be the ambassador of the realm on Earth. Those people are learning quickly. Best it not be without guidance."

"Mmm," Rocket nodded, "But keep in touch, you hear me?"

"You'll never have one resting moment, if you'd have it that way."

"In touch, not 'bother me for 24/7'. By the way where is the next planet with something that's not made for killing, like your mead is?"

"You follow the asteroid line until you get halfway to Midgard. There is a moon without planet there. Then, you take the next turn on the right. Vanaheim. Good place."

His heart thumped hard in his chest as he made his way towards the All-father's personal chambers.

Rocket and Groot left not half an hour ago. The guard found him there, where he was still looking at the point where the ship disappeared, pretending he could still see it.

He could not fathom what sort of further business the King may have with him.

"No need for formalities," Odin waved as he stepped through after given the permission, "I heard your recovery is going well?"

"Yes."

"You must be wondering why I called you here."

Loki didn't answer, though he could have sworn that there was a hint of a smile behind the old man's mask - pitying, malicious or genuine, he could not say.

"It's this," the monarch said, holding up a small white stone, "It contains all the memories of your wife; or rather, it's a copy of them, containing the key."

"You're giving it to me?"

"Of course. They're no use to me, and so are only good for gathering dust. Besides, I don't think it likes me."

"But," Loki looked at the tiny thing, slightly lost, "What should I do with it?"

"Keep it. Throw it away. Give your wife her real life back. It's no concern of mine anymore."

There was a thousand questions on the tip of the once-prince's tongue; but when he looked up, Odin had already returned to his work.

"So you come from Asgard," the mortal said, his one good eye blazing with suspicion. Loki smiled his best cold smile.

"Indeed."

"Why did they not send Thor?"

"He's needed elsewhere."

"Oh, really."

"It's not really any of your business, Director, but I'm better at negotiations. He's good at scaring bad guys back into their places. And now, there are quite a few planets beside yours that require his attention more."

Fury leaned back, his face betraying his distrust, though he might have thought that it was a perfect poker face.

Loki's smile widened.

Somewhere far away, so did Rocket's as their pray stood in front of them on wobbly legs, helding all four of his arms up, begging them not to let the "crazy sorcerer" at him. And wished that said crazy sorcerer is all right, but not for the worth of a million stars would he have said it out loud. People would think he's getting touchy-feely.

"Truly astonishing," Frigga said, flipping through the pages of the "manga", unbothered by the exchange between her son and the Director Fury in the mirror that Odin was watching, "I've never thought to use magic like this."
"Midgardian imagination, Frigga."

"Perhaps it is, but did you ever think about using focused fire sorcery as a canonball? And in this one," she tapped another book belonging into a different series, "A girl uses a well infused with magic to travel into the past. Not impossible, even more so dangerous, but it could be counted as a feat even for you, if you wished to do so in physical form."

Odin sighed, massaging his temples. He could feel a headache coming on.

A break from kingship. A vacation. For a week.

Yes, that would be good. He could leave Frigga reign in his stand, with Thor setting up peace again across the nine realms.

She liked doing his job, anyway.

Last-ish chapter? Got caught up in some pretty deep plot holes - sorry about that. Perhaps I'll try to mend those. Perhaps I won't.

And indeed, Loki should not experiment with magic from Bleach. Or he shall face the wrath of a mother. It's a scary thing.