Title: Tricksters at Play

Characters: Loki, Spider-Man, Sigyn, Ikol, Morwen

Summary: Morwen once again sets her eyes on Tess Black so Spider-Man calls on Loki to help. But he didn't know about Loki's rebirth.

Note: This fic was inspired by Amazing Spider-Man #503 & #504 in which Spidey and Loki team up to save one of Loki's half-mortal daughter, Tess, from the Sorceress Morwen. At the end of their adventure, Loki asked Spider-Man to keep an eye on Tess and gave him a rune to summon him should Tess be in danger again.

I thought it was rather OOC of Loki, but after reading it I got the idea of Spider-Man summoning a de-aged and de-powered Loki who has absolutely no idea what was going on.

This is set in the same time-line as The Lady's Request.

If you have access to Marvel's Digital Comics Unlimited, you can read the issues here (remove spaces):

marvel . com / comic_books/issue/290/amazing_spider-man_1999_503

marvel . com / comic_books/issue/361/amazing_spider-man_1999_504

As far as the world was concerned, Tess Black was just a normal woman. A normal stock trader living in a normal house with a normal boyfriend and a cute, normal toy poodle. I knew a lot about Tess, probably more than I had any right to, considering that I never formally met her. For instance, I knew she was actually a half-god (so, not so normal). She didn't even know that. Her father wanted it that way to protect her. Normally that's the sort of thing you'd expect from a father. But what made this weird was that her father was Loki.

Yeah, Thor's evil brother. Crazy, I know.

Anyway, he sorta put me in charge of keeping Tess safe (which is why I knew so much about her) and I've been doing a pretty good job at it, if I do say so myself. It's pretty easy when an evil sorceress wasn't trying to take control of her.

Like now.

Tess was curled up on the floor, clutching her head and crying while her boyfriend was shouting frantically into his cell phone. Probably calling 911, not that they'll be able to help. My Spider-Sense was going crazy. I wasn't a magic user but I've dealt with it enough to know what it felt like. I also knew it was going to need some backup to take on this threat.

I pulled out the rune Loki had given me all those years ago and stared at it for a couple of seconds. How do I even make this work?

I tapped it. "Uh, Loki? You there?"

The air before me shimmered and the image of a young man reading a large book appeared before me. He gave a little yelp and dropped the book. "What-?"

"Um...I think I have the wrong number. I was looking for Loki."

"I am Loki," he replied.

Did he think I was stupid? He looked nothing like that evil, maniacal god. He was too young, for one thing - younger than me. He didn't have those stupid-looking horns and he looked like he was actually sane.

"Ah, you probably don't believe me," he said. "It's a long story, but I'm really Loki. And you're Spiderman, right?"

"Spider-Man, with a hyphen," I corrected him.

"What?"

"That's not important. Your daughter's in trouble."

"Hela?"

"No, Tess."

"Who's Tess?"

"Your daughter!"

"Another one?" he exclaimed. "How many kids do I have?"

How was I supposed to know that? "Look, it's not my job to keep count of your kids. So are you going to come and help or not?"

The kid (he's younger than me, I can call him that) nodded . "Right, I'll help." He looked at the rune in my hand. "Hold out that rune."

I complied and he reached for it. There was brief flash of light and the image was replaced by a very solid Loki. Now that he wasn't transparent, I could see there was a resemblance to the guy I dealt with prior. Now that I think about it, Thor had mentioned something about his brother being younger.

And sane.

"So, what's the situation?" the kid asked.

"Well, Tess..." It was at that moment that I realized my Spider-Sense was no longer going off. I turned back to the window and saw Tess' boyfriend helping her up off the floor. She was still holding her head but she wasn't under attack anymore.

Did she rebuff the attack or did Morwen manage to take control?

"Can you tell if that lady in there is being possessed?"

"Should we really be looking into strange people's windows?"

"Since when did you develop a sense of propriety?"

Loki sighed. "I told you it's a long story."

"Well, I don't have time for it right now. Check to see if she's possessed."

Loki nodded, took a deep breath and closed his eyes, concentrating. "I sense some residual magic, but nothing else. I don't think she's possessed."

Well, that was a relief. But I knew this wasn't over. Morwen would no doubt try again later on.

"Excuse me, Mr. Spider-Man."

Loki was being polite?

"All right, mister!" I said, pointing an accusing finger at him. "There is no way you're really Loki, so spill it! Who are you?"

But before not-Loki had a chance to reply, a voice from inside the house said, "I think there's somebody outside the window!"

Crap!

I grabbed not-Loki and quickly slung up into a tall tree. I clamped my hand over his mouth to make sure he stayed quiet and froze until I saw the boyfriend walk away from the window.

"Let's go someplace where we can talk."

Not waiting for him to comply, I picked him up and swung over to the roof of the apartment building across from Tess' home. I wasn't exactly gentle with not-Loki, but he didn't say anything when I dropped him on his rump. He just calmly picked himself up and began straightening his clothes.

That annoyed me.

"Okay, kid, what's your game?"

Not-Loki crossed his arms and gave me quite an annoyed look. "You disrupt my studies, summon me to Midgard for what turned out to be a false alarm, toss me around like a sack of potatoes and now you accuse me of lying."

"Well, you're Loki. That's what you do."

"You just accused me of not being Loki!"

Ah...he got me there.

"Okay, look. We're getting off to a bad start here so why don't we just start over." I held out my hand. "I'm Spider-Man."

The kid (I didn't know what to call him at that point) took it a lot quicker that I thought he would. "I am truly Loki Odinson thought not as you knew me."

"Well, I don't know about you," I said going to the edge of the roof. "But I'm going to keep an eye on Tess for a while. So if you want to stay, you can tell me your long story while we wait."

I perched up on the edge and looked back at Loki. He regarded me for a moment, then joined me on the edge of the roof.

"Well, where to begin?" he muttered.

"Try the beginning," I offered.

That actually made him smile a bit. "I went hunting with my brother that day. We didn't catch anything but we had so much fun. I went to bed late that day because we had waited up for Father to tell him of our day. When I woke up, I was in Paris with no memory of who I was or where I came from.

"I fell in with some other homeless kids. We conned tourist to get money. Then Thor found me." A fond smile appeared on his lips at that point. "He gave me back my identity and took me home." The smile disappeared. "But it was just as strange to me as Paris had been. I didn't know anybody but everybody knew me and they hated me."

"Wow," I said. "That had to have been tough."

Loki shrugged. "It wasn't so bad, really. I had my brother. Thor always believed in me regardless of what everybody else thought."

"Yeah, Thor's a great guy," I said, smiling (though Loki couldn't see it).

"You're one of his allies, right? On The Avengers?"

"Correct!"

"So, how do you know me? I..." he hesitated. "I hope I didn't do anything too bad to you."

My initial wisecrack died on my lips when I saw the remorseful look on Loki's face. Eh, the kid probably got enough flack for stuff he really did without me making up stuff.

"Nah, it was actually pretty amicable. You did give me a hard time at first but we actually made a pretty good team. Well, there was that guy you almost killed." Loki winced. "But he's fine now!" I added quickly.

"You came looking for a sorceress named Morwen who had taken control of your daughter, Tess. We managed to drive Morwen out and you asked me to keep an eye on Tess." I pulled out the glowing rune. "You gave me this to summon you if she was ever in trouble again."

"Oh...that was nice of me," he sounded surprised.

"Yeah, it was. It kinda weirded me out."

Loki laughed at that.

"You know, your story wasn't all that long," I pointed out.

"I suppose it's a lot longer when you've lived it," Loki replied. I nodded in agreement.

"Say, why don't I go get us a couple of hot dogs? You didn't eat the last one I got you."

"Hot dogs?" Loki repeated. "That's a Midgardian food, right? I've never had one; not that I can remember."

"Well, then..." I began but cut off when a strange wind began to blow. "Uh, oh. Mariah's back."

Loki was already on his feet. "Is this Morwen?"

"It is indeed!" Morwen appeared before us, though she was incorporeal. That was a good thing, right? "I retreated from my attack on your daughter when I felt your presence, Loki. But there was something odd about it. Then I remembered strange murmurings that I had heard about you. So I came back to investigate."

She grinned wickedly and Loki suddenly fell to his knees with a cry, clutching his head, much like Tess had been earlier. I tried shooting my web at Morwen, but of course it went through her. This wasn't good at all. Loki was under attack right in front of me and I couldn't do a thing.

"How delightful. The all-powerful Loki now little more than a fledgeling sorcerer. So weak, yet so much potential. Perhaps I shall use you as my host."

"NO!" Loki shouted.

There was a flash of green light and the next thing I knew, I was airborne. Well, that was no problem. A little web-slinging and I was safely back on the roof next to Loki. The kid was on all fours, gasping for air.

"Hey! Are you okay?" I asked, genuinely concerned, kneeling down beside him.

He nodded. "Give...minute..."

It took more than a minute but eventually his breathing evened out and he was able to speak. "I drove her away," he said, rising to his feet. "But it was only temporary. She'll be back. Sorry, I didn't mean to hit you with my attack."

"Eh, no harm, no foul. Can you beat her?"

Loki considered this for a moment. "I think so. But I'll need help."

… … ...

Loki's room looked about how I'd expect a sorcerer's room to look. A lot of books and parchment and magic-looking items everywhere. The first thing he did (after picking up the book he dropped earlier and telling me not to touch anything) was go over to a full-length mirror.

Okay, so he was vain.

But instead of checking his appearance, he tapped on it twice. A moment later, it tapped back. Loki tapped on it again and then turned back to me.

"We'll be having company soon," he announced.

"Your help?"

Loki nodded and looked out the open window. "And here comes more help."

A black bird swooped into the room and landed on a perch.

"Where did you disappear to so suddenly?" it spoke.

Didn't phase me in the least. Talking birds were downright mundane compared to some of the stuff I've dealt with in the past.

"Spider-Man summoned me, Ikol."

The bird, Ikol, turned to me. "Oh, it's you."

Now that, for some reason, disturbed me.

"I'm sorry, have we met?" I asked.

I didn't know birds could glare.

"What about Thor?" I asked, ignoring the strange bird.

"My brother would gladly help, but I don't think he'll be much use for this situation," Loki replied. "That would only make him irritable so I'd rather not tell him at all if I don't have to."

The mirror tapped again and Loki held his hand out. Another hand came out of the mirror and took Loki's. A beautiful, blonde woman soon followed.

"Thank you for coming," Loki said. "Spider-Man, this is Lady Sigyn. My friend." He added that last part rather quickly. The amused look Lady Sigyn gave him told me it was a bit more complicated than that.

Loki quickly recounted our little adventure.

"Another daughter?" Lady Sigyn said with the same amused look from before. "Who's the lucky lady this time?"

"I...I don't know," Loki said, a nervous edge to his voice. "This was before...everything."

Yep, definitely more complicated.

Loki turned to the bird and quickly changed the subject. "Ikol, what can you tell me about Morwen?"

"She's a fairly powerful sorceress. She was sealed away but released several years ago thanks to a certain somebody's actions."

I didn't know birds could give pointed looks.

"She attempted to take Tess Black as her host, but was thwarted."

"That was us," I whispered to Loki.

"Evidently she still hasn't found a host so this will be to our benefit. She's vulnerable as is."

"That's pretty impressive," I commented. "What, did you compress the Magic Wikipedia into bird form?"

Loki hesitated. "Yes," he said flatly. That was definitely a lie. He probably figured my Spider Mind wouldn't be able to comprehend the complex magic involved in creating the bird. He was probably right.

"I have a plan for defeating Morwen," Loki declared.

He told us the plan and it actually sounded like it would work. Everybody had a part to play, even the bird.

"It's a sound plan," Lady Sigyn commented. "I will help."

"Thank you, Lady Sigyn," Loki said, smiling rather shyly.

Oh, who did he think he was kidding?

He took her hand and drew something in her palm with his finger. "I marked the location with this rune. Gather what you need and take Spider-Man with you. I have some preparations to make."

Sigyn nodded and begin going about the room gathering various objects.

"How come you let her touch stuff," I protested.

"Because she knows what she's doing and won't blow us up," Loki replied, a smirk on his face. "Do you still have the rune?"

I pulled it out. "Right here."

"Use it to summon me, but wait until Sigyn is finished with her work. It'll do no good for Morwen to find me prematurely."

"Come, Mr. Spider-Man," said Sigyn, holding her hand out to me. "There is much work to be done."

… … ...

Lady Sigyn was currently drawing a magic circle on the roof of the building using a stick with what looked like a glowing piece of chalk at the end. I was was being silently useless off to one side (though I did go get us some hot dogs for our victory dinner).

I was thinking about how this was going to be a great story to tell MJ when she got back into town when Lady Sigyn broke the silence.

"You're an quiet one, Mr. Spider-Man."

"Ah, just 'Spider-Man' and I didn't want to disturb you," I replied.

"No, worries," she replied. "I'm quite adept at this." There was no boast in her voice; she was merely stating a fact.

"Okay..." I paused, trying to think of a subject. "Morwen said Loki was little more than a fledgeling sorcerer. I thought he was one the most powerful magic users, well, ever."

"He was, before. But he lost all of that when he returned. Currently, I'm stronger in sorcery than he is. He's far more than just a fledgeling, though, and he grows stronger daily. It won't be long before he exceeds me."

There was another pause. What does one talk about with a beautiful Asgardian goddess?

"So, what's the deal with you and Loki?"

Real smooth, Spidey.

But she didn't take offense; in fact, she laughed. "It's complicated," she replied.

"Yeah, I gathered that."

"There we go," she said with a final stroke. "It's done."

It was a fairly simple circle, as magic circles go. A simple binding spell. If Loki's plan worked, we wouldn't have to hold Morwen but for a few minutes. Sigyn waved her hand across the circle and it flared up slightly before completely disappearing from sight.

Nice.

I pulled out the rune. "Shall I?"

Lady Sigyn nodded and in a few short moments, Loki and the bird had joined us on the roof.

… … …

Lady Sigyn, the bird and I were hiding in the shadows (and in one of her invisibility spells). Loki was sitting in the center of the invisible circle waiting for Morwen to find him. The hot dogs were getting cold.

It took about an hour before Morwen blew in. My Spider-Sense went off a split second before she appeared before Loki.

"What's this?" She said as Loki rose to his feet. "Have you realized the futility of fighting, me?"

"As I recall, I drove you off last time," Loki retorted. Was this really a good time for trash talk?

Of course, it was!

"This ends tonight, Morwen," Loki continued. "One way or another."

Without warning, Morwen attacked, driving Loki to his knees. Sigyn threw off the invisibility spell and said another. The magic circle began to glow and light surrounded Loki. With flash of green light, Loki drove Morwen out again then collapsed. Morwen was successfully trapped in the circle.

That was my cue.

I swung over and pulled Loki out of the circle without disturbing it. When we landed (opposite of the circle from Sigyn) I looked over at the lady. She stood with her hand outstretched toward the circle, a fierce and determined look on her face.

Loki, on the other hand, didn't look so well. He looked worse then he did after the first attack. Either he hadn't fully recovered or Morwen had stepped up her attack or both.

He managed pulled out what looked like a large, gold coin. I helped him sit up and he took two quick breaths before casting a spell on the coin. He blew on it and tossed it up in the air. Ikol swooped down to catch it then took it over and dropped it on Morwen.

At that moment, Sigyn stopped the binding spell and she and Loki spoke in unison the spell that would hopefully seal Morwen into the coin. Morwen screamed as she fought against it. There was a lot of flashes of light and even a bit of lightning.

Then there was silence. Morwen was gone and the coin dropped from the air. Ikol caught it before it hit the roof.

Loki went limp against me. Surprisingly, he was still conscious, but he was pale, shaky and sounded like he was having trouble breathing. Sigyn was at his side in an instant.

"Did it...work..." he gasped out.

Good question.

"It did," Sigyn replied, taking the coin from Ikol. "We did it." She placed the coin inside of her cloak and gently took Loki from me. He rested his head against her shoulder and closed his eyes.

"Is he going to be okay?" I asked.

She gently brushed a hair from his forehead. It was all rather sweet and I now I was really missing MJ.

"I believe so. He just overexerted himself. I will take him back to Asgard to recover." She reached over and took my hand in hers. "Thank you, Spider-Man. We couldn't have done this without you."

"Thank you, as well, Lady Sigyn," I replied. "It was a pleasure working with you."

"Come, Ikol," Sigyn said. Ikol gave me one last glare and the three disappeared in a flash of light.

They didn't even get to eat their hot dogs.

… … …

The next time I saw Thor, he gave me a grand 'Thank you' for helping his little brother. He also gave me the message that Loki wished to see me again. So that evening, after a brief stop, I swung over to that apartment building across from Tess Black's home.

Loki was already there and greeted me with a friendly smile.

"I was out of sorts and didn't get to thank you properly," he said.

"We also didn't get to eat the victory dinner I bought," I held up the bag of hot dogs I had stopped to get.

"So that was a hot dog," Loki said later as he cleaned his hands on some napkins.

"Yep, New York's best. What did you think?"

"I'm not sure. What kind of meat was that?"

I hesitated. "I don't know."

"Oh." Loki looked uneasy for a bit, but then he shrugged it off.

We sat for a while in a comfortable silence.

"So, you and Lady Sigyn. Just friends, hm?"

Loki shot me an annoyed glance. "Yes."

"Well, if you want my advice..."

"I don't," he interrupted.

I ignored him. "You shouldn't let a great lady like Sigyn get away."

I was half-expecting him to hit me. Instead he smiled, but it was a sad smile. "If only it was that simple," he said.

"Complicated, hm?"

"Very." He rose to his feet. "I should be getting back. Thank you again for you help."

"Likewise," I replied, shaking his hand.

"Feel free to call on me whenever you need help."

He bowed elegantly and disappeared in a puff of green smoke.

Show off.

I left the roof via plain old web-slinging.

This turned out to be a very productive venture. Tess Black was no longer in danger of possession (from Morwen, anyway). I got reacquainted with an evil, crazy god who turned out to be neither. I also met a beautiful, friendly goddess and a creepy, talking bird.

I couldn't wait to tell MJ all about it.

More Notes:

1. "Uh, oh. Mariah's back." In the original comic, Spidey reference "They Called the Wind Mariah" from the musical Paint Your Wagon. This is a reference to that reference.

2. "Oh, it's you." Spidey addresses Loki like that at one point (Loki replies: "That's 'Sir You the Mighty' to you").

3. I hadn't intended to write it all in Spidey's POV (or in first person). But I just started writing and it just felt right to continue.