Devils in the Heavens Chapter 1

By Cadet Deming

I don't own the rights to The Avengers, Marvel and Disney do, so please don't sue. This is a sequel to "Spying is the Loneliest Profession" but can stand on its own. Rated T for violence, death, adult language and situations. Includes Loki, Bruce Banner, and several Marvel canon characters including Ms. Marvel/Lt. Carol Danvers. Reviews are greatly appreciated!

The U.S. Government deems both Loki and the Hulk too dangerous to keep on Earth, and sends them into space, while Thanos plots for vengeance against Loki.

In the mind of Dr. Bruce Banner, anything could turn him into a time bomb: A crying baby, getting cut off in traffic, even the thousand tiny cuts from the tension of everyday life. Normal people just had to worry about getting ulcers or heart attacks from stress. Bruce had to worry about transforming into a thousand pound, green-skinned mutation of the basest instincts of human nature.

He listened to the beep of the monitor on his arm. It registered his heart rate. It may as well have been a countdown to an explosion. If his heart rate went over 130 beats a minute, he lost control and his alter ego The Hulk took over.

At least it used to be just the part of his personality he called Hulk. It was the simple savage but childlike Mr. Hyde to Bruce's Dr. Jekyll. Lately when Bruce changed other parts of his personality had started to come out. They were parts even he was frightened of. Perhaps that was why he had let the U.S. Government capture him after his last rampage and send him into space.

The man in the cage next to him asked him, "Why are you contorting yourself into that bizarre position?"

Bruce clenched his hands into the floor. His neighbor in imprisonment Loki had a knack for raising his blood pressure dangerously high.

Bruce muttered, "It's called the Downward Facing Dog pose. It's Yoga."

Loki said, "And you wonder why I think you're a beast pretending to be a man?"

Bruce felt his veins tightening.

He said, "I don't wonder because I DON'T CARE what you think of me."

Bruce tried to sound nonchalant, but his voice deepened in rage.

Loki, "You're lying. I'm the God of Lies, I can tell."

Bruce changed position to the Upward Facing Dog pose in an attempt to stretch his back and stay calmer.

Bruce said, "You're not a god anymore, and you never really were."

Loki frowned. "What would you know about my true origin?"

Bruce sensed he'd touched a nerve. He switched to the Cobra position.

Bruce stretched his neck back. "You Ass…guardians aren't really gods. You're just aliens with more advanced science than we have on Earth."

Loki said, "God and alien are just words. Just words to describe something more powerful than you."

Bruce twisted one of his legs over the other and breathed deeply. He squeezed his knee. Part of him was trying to release tension. The other part, the side he thought of as, "The Other Guy" was starting to get louder in his mind.

HULK IS STRONGEST THERE IS. BREAK PUNY LOKI. RIP HIS HEAD OFF.

Bruce tried to fight it off with words instead of Hulk's childish need for action.

"You're not more powerful than me. You weren't stronger before Odin depowered or whatever it was he did to you, and you sure as hell aren't now. You're trying to bait me into being angrier and I won't fall for it."

He glared at his antagonist. The former God looked pale, sickly pale. Everyone had gotten paler over the last few months. Loki's default expression was still a smug smirk, but it wasn't as prominent as the day Bruce first laid eyes on him. Prison had a tendency to break people, no matter where it was.

A woman interrupted them, "Thank you for not sinking to his level Doctor Banner."

Bruce perked up at the sound of "Doctor." His title made him feel respected, made him feel human, and made him feel a little more in control.

Bruce smiled, "You're welcome Lieutenant Danvers."

The word "Lieutenant" didn't quite roll off of Bruce's tongue as naturally as it could have. Bruce had been hounded by the military for so long, he mistrusted anyone in uniform. Even if the uniform was that of a United States Air Force astronaut.

Loki leapt up against the clear Lucite of his cell. Bruce noticed Loki always stood at close attention when Carol Danvers came to their holding tank. He almost pitied her for it.

Loki said, "Does Banner think if he pretends to be a good boy he'll be freed?"

Carol said, "I won't make any promises about parole I don't have the authority to keep. Good behavior is its own reward."

Loki burst into laughter. "You are so naïve. Good behavior is the boredom people submit to keep their souls out of Hell."

Carol clutched at the gold crucifix she always wore around her neck.

She said, "I'd rather follow the rules and avoid eternal damnation than risk that for a little excitement."

Bruce said, "You picked an interesting career path for someone who wants to avoid excitement. Why bother becoming an astronaut?"

He glanced through a porthole into space. All he saw on the other side of the glass was an eternity of space. It could hold an eternity of dangers.

Loki sighed. "Following the rules is eternal damnation. I could use something to break up the monotony."

Carol said, "Don't say that. You'll tempt fate."

Bruce said, "It's not like he said out loud, 'What could possibly go wrong?' I just jinxed us, didn't I?"

In another galaxy

Thanos glared at the army gathered to follow him. Its ranks swelled with mercenaries, denizens of warmongering planets, the lost and the bloodthirsty. He cared little for his followers. His affections were limited to one thing only, and it certainly wasn't the advisor who called himself "The Other."

The Other hissed with his guttural, wet voice, "We've located the failure Loki. He escaped from Asgard to the Earth, but the Earthlings cast him out as well. They sent him on a spaceship to the edges of their solar system, along with that beast they call the Hulk."

Thanos furrowed his brow. In the culture he was raised in, failure was an unforgiveable sin. It was almost as bad as weakness.

The Other continued, "Need I remind you that I told you not to bargain with Loki, to not entrust him with the Tesseract and put our ability to cross dimensions and conquer all known worlds in his fingers? If you had listened to me we would possess it."

The nearby soldiers stared at them. Thanos sensed dozens of eyes, probing for someone to blame. The Other kept his own eyes cloaked, so Thanos couldn't see his expression.

Thanos said, "I don't take orders from you. As my second-in-command, you merely give advice. And it was your underestimation of Earth that led to the defeat of the Chitauri."

The Other clutched his slimy, pallid hands together. "The fault is not mine."

Soldiers whispered to each other. Thanos knew they were sizing him up, observing how he would react to this disrespectful upstart. If he showed any weakness, he couldn't lead them.

He loomed over his advisor. "Are you saying I am to blame? I, the greatest military genius the universe has ever known? Do you dare to imply your intellect outshines mine?"

Thanos hoped he would back off and crawl away in a show of subservience. Instead, he stood his ground and poked a bony finger in his face.

"If you had listened to me the Chitauri would never have failed."

Thanos grabbed The Other's hand and squeezed. He screamed in agony as Thanos lifted him up over his head.

Thanos bellowed, "You have failed me!"

He ripped The Other in half, spraying black bile and blood across the room. Crimson spattered in droplets.

For a brief moment, Thanos felt at peace. He saw the one thing he loved: Death. She appeared to him as a vision of a shrouded skeleton whenever he took a life. Thanos swore he could see a smile in her bare skull directed at him and him alone.

As the blood cooled on Thanos's skin, she faded from sight. He was alone again. Alone in more ways than one.

He looked at the twittering masses and realized he had just murdered his only companion. The Other had been the closest thing to a confidant Thanos had. He needed a second-in-command.

Staring defiantly at the twittering masses, Thanos declared, "You see the fate of any who defy my rule. The Other is gone. Who dares take his place at my side? Who has the bravery? Show yourself, or forever forfeit the honor and glory of my presence!"

No one answered. No one came. Perhaps Thanos needed to rethink his recruitment policies.

"I will offer my services as your new second, oh great Lord Thanos."

The crowd parted as a tall, red humanoid man came forward. He stepped through the entrails of The Other. Steam rose up from his feet.

Thanos frowned in recognition. "Mephisto the Demon Lord. What makes you believe I would cast my lot in with the likes of you?"

Mephisto said, "I prefer Dimension Lord. Demon is such a racist term. I offer my services because, well, no one else is rising to the occasion."

Mephisto smiled at the crowd.

Thanos crossed his arms. "I have heard stories of deals you made with those foolish enough to bargain with you. You have a history of double-crossing and treachery."

"Only with those who exchange their souls for wishes I grant. I'm not offering you a wish, just my expertise and assistance. You want to capture Loki's body. I want possession of his soul. I'm sure you and I can come to a mutually beneficial agreement."

Thanos stroked his chin. He didn't have any other options, and a Dimension Lord at his side could do more for him than another slithering Chitaurian.

Thanos held his hand out. Mephisto shook it. His grip burned but Thanos didn't flinch. There were too many people watching.

Mephisto smiled and said, "I'll bring Loki to us. Trust me. What could possibly go wrong?"

To be continued