3 Chapter

The battle for Manhattan! As well as some new enemies and a unveiling of Thor and Loki's past. Plus a little twist with Leah.

 They were at the battle scene of Manhattan within a matter of minutes, climbing out of the... thing and looking around to see the damage.

There were a multitude of beings flying about, at which Thor gasped and took a step back.

"Do you know what those things are?" asked Captain, turning to the god. He needed as much information as he could so that he could start forming a plan, and it seemed like the other recognized them.

"They're Light Elves, though what has brought them here, I don't know."

"Er, so what are they?"

"They come from Alfheim. Normally, they remain neutral in the wars, though it seems like Loki has coaxed them out for unknown reasons,"

"When you say 'elves', do you mean pixies from the forests or spiritual beings?" asked Tony carefully, trying to work it out and getting nowhere on his own.

"Both. When they are brought into battle, they are fierce warriors." Bruce hesitated for a second before asking,

"Can we hurt them?"

"They are like most immortals, vulnerable to combat as others are, and long living. Father will not like this, but it is what we must do."

"Okay. Iron Man, sweep to see the area of damage, then report back. Hawkeye and Black Widow, check to see that you can evacuate any civilians. Thor, see if you can find your brother and see what he's doing.

And Hulk... smash."

The other Avengers left to do what he said while he began wandering down the street, carrying his shield carefully.

A female Light Elf landed in front of him in a crouch, flicking her long blonde behind her. She stretched out of the battle crouch, lifting up her bladed staff. She was wearing silver armor and her hair was flowing free on a ghost breeze.

"Who are you?" she asked in a sing-song voice.

"Steve." She smiled.

"Loki has warned me about you." Before he could react, she had leapt on top of him, throwing his shield away and setting the blade in his throat. "Shame. You would have made a great ally."

Tony showed up, throwing the woman off of him and into and through a building's wall.

"You really need to keep your wits about you, Cap. There's plenty of these beauties around," he said winking. Steve blushed and stood up, grabbing his shield.

"How's the damage?"

"We got here in time. I can go run perimeter if you don't need any help?"

"Sure, perimeter. I'll sort out the grounded Elves." Iron Man laughed.

"There aren't any." Once again caught off guard, he was snatched up by his fellow Avenger and was quickly placed atop a tall building. "You shouldn't have any problem with finding them up here." Tony winked and closed his mask before flying away.

 

Thor had swung his hammer and was flying through the air, occasionally knocking into Light Elves on his way to a building's rooftop.

He landed unsteadily, stumbling before he straightened up. There was no sign of his brother's green cloak anywhere.

"Brother, where are you? Come out from your hiding place?"

"Must you always insist that I am your brother?" The god spun around, watching Loki languidly sweep his cape behind him and rise from his bow.

"I count you as one."

"But obviously I am not."

"No matter what, I will always count you as my brother." The raven-haired man shook his head and began walking around Thor.

"But I will not count you as mine."

"How did you get the Light Elves to join your war?"

"Maybe if you tell me a secret, than I will tell you the truth. All of it." He stopped striding. "Come now, one secret for a greater truth?"

"What do you want to know?" 

"Hmmm... How about... What did you ask Odin for, after the great Arena fight after his feast?"

The blonde did not want to answer this question, for it was the one that he most wanted to keep from his brother. It was... personal.

"Why?"

"All you need to do is answer," the god said, dodging the question easily. "Do you not remember all those years ago?" He certainly remembered it. If he had asked for anything different...

"I asked Father to spare your life." Loki blanched, not expecting this answer. "After I became Champion..."

 

It was after Thor's 20th birthday, and just after Loki's 19th, making them both eligible to enter the Arena. This would be Thor's second, meaning that he had more experience.

Loki had done all that he could to get out of it, but as a son of the king, it was compulsory for him to compete. 

"Come, brother, it will not be so bad."

"But have you not heard? Magic use has been banned from the Arena!" Loki had begun to wring his hands and pacing around Thor's Arena room. "Father knows that I stand no chance without it."

"Surely he doesn't."

"I will not even pass the first round, and then I will be a disgrace to the family, and I will be cast out-"

"Calm, brother." The god stood up and lay hands on the other's shoulders, stopping his mad striding. "Father would not cast you out for so petty a thing."

"But that is it! We are supposed to be honoring him on his day, and here I will be, without my magic, helpless."

"Stop worrying. Just remember your training and you will be fine." Loki broke away from his grasp and began pacing again.

"That is the problem. I can't remove my magic. It sticks to me, as much as my skin."

"Then tell Father."

"He will not listen! He refuses to believe me. I will be cast out for cheating when it is not even my fault."

"Loki, look at me." He stopped in his tracks and turned back to the god. "I will do whatever I can to protect you. We are family."

"Thank you, Thor, but I do not believe that to be enough." The black haired teen gave him a thin lipped smile. "Anyway, I must ready myself. I am in the first round."

"But who is your opponent?"

"Fandral," he said before leaving the room.

 

Thor was seated beside his mother and father as the first round began, a test of training with spears between Loki and Fandral.

All was going well, it even looked like his brother would win, before Fandral swept him off his feet and set his spear against his arm.

To win the round, you had to score a wound against your opponent. Knowing his brother well enough, he knew that Loki was loathe to hurt anybody, no matter what it meant.

Thor sighed and leant back in his chair, knowing that his had cost him the round and that Fandral had won when he heard a gasp from the crowd. 

A natural web of magic cocooned Loki at all times, invisible to everyone except for strong magic users. It was this that had thrown his opponent back into the Arena's wall.

This called for disqualification, and the blonde set his head in his hands, waiting for Odin to stand and call this to the crowd.

He did not, however, only sitting there so as to let the match continue as if nothing had happened.

'He's going to let this continue to see what Loki does. To see if he commits more of a crime...' Thor shook his head at this, though he knew it to be true.

Fandral stood up, coughing blood, but with no external injuries that could cause the round to stop in victory of Loki. The fight continued with him in a much weaker state, yet his brother refused to draw blood on the other man. Why?

This time, when Fandral went to stab him in the chest, a much more fatal wound, Loki's protective magic sent back a spear of magical energy of it's own, embedding it in the other's heart.

Sif leapt down from the stands, running over to her friend. Blood began seeping through his shirt, though there was no visible wound.

"Stop the round!" The crowd fell silent at these words. "Take him to the healing room immediately, Lady Sif."

"My lord." She bowed and put Fandral's arm over her shoulder, leading him out of the Arena. Loki stood with his head looking up defiantly at his father.

"Magic is banned from the Arena rounds. Why have you not heeded this rule?"

"As I said to you earlier, Father, it is not possible for me to remove my protective magic. I meant no serious harm on Fandral."

"I charge you be executed for this treason, meaning the near death of another Asgardian and betraying your king and father's expressive orders." Thor gasped at this, not knowing the king to at any time be so callous before.

"Fathe-" he tried to interrupt.

"This shall be done after the Arena's round are finished and we have a new Champion." Loki bowed and left, face refusing to register any emotions.

"Father, what does the Champion receive after winning?"

"Whatever he wishes." 

It was in that moment that Thor decided to win that Arena.

 

"You asked for my life?" Thor nodded almost shyly, swinging Mjolnir by his side. Loki's hard expression of dislike softened. "It shows how much Odin loved his so called 'son'."

"It was not your fault that Father was like that that day. It makes no sense at all."

"It's fine, Thor. I care no longer for what Odin says nor thinks of me. My true father is dead, besides."

"Then why do you continue this quest to take over Midgard?"

"Because, I still have Mother." This raised questions in the other god.

"Where does Frigga come into this, Loki?"

"Oh, of course. I owe you the truth, don't I?" The Traitor scraped the staff of his spear along the stone rooftop. "Frigga wasn't my mother, though I already guessed that after I found Laufey was my father. So I went investigating."

Thor was beginning to dread where these words were heading.

"So I went to the Light Elves. I suspected that they might know something, with their magical abilities. Which also brought me to the thought of how I myself was a magical being, however I had a Jotun as a father."

Loki was already becoming agitated as he began pacing again.

"So, I went to the Queen of the Elphame, to ask for her guidance. To my surprise, she welcomed me into her hall with open arms. I asked her myself.

'Who is my mother?' And she replied,

'I am'." Loki paused, looking at the blonde for his reaction; it was one of shock and disbelief.

"No, that can't be."

"Why not? It makes perfect sense. She even showed me the memories to prove it."

"She could have weaved those with her own magic!"

"But why?" This stopped Thor in his tracks.

"I, I do not know, but I know that she only has bad plans for you."

"You never can accept that I am happy, can you?" he said, face solidifying once again. "I know who I am. All i can ask you, is do you?"

Loki swiveled on his heel, either disappearing or turning invisible, before Thor could grab him.

 

Leah snatched up her jacket, pulling it on as she ran into the elevator. As she looked at her phone, she realized that the Avengers would have left by now, and none of them would be answering their phones.

So she had to take matters into her own hands. Little did anyone know that she was quite good at this.

As the doors opened on the garage floor, she scanned the room for a fast car. She spotted a One-77 Aston Martin sitting by itself so she strode over to it quickly. Leah prayed that Tony wouldn't be mad and balled up her fist inside her trench coat and punched the window.

"OW, s**t..." She began dancing around, waving her arm around when she heard J.A.R.V.I.S say,

"Excuse me, Miss Nicholson, what are you doing?"

"Going to go tell Captain that one of his friends is plotting against him." There was a pause.

"You could have asked me to open the car for you." She stopped dancing.

"You can do that?"

"Of course. Mr. Stark won't be happy about you breaking his window."

"If it means that I can save Steve, then he won't mind."

"Go ahead, then." Leah hopped into the car, realizing that she didn't have the keys when J.A.R.V.I.S turned on the car.

"Whoa, what are you doing?"

"Turning on the car for you, ma'am. You don't seem to have the keys."

"Thanks, J.A.R.V.I.S."

"You're welcome, miss." She sighed, focusing on the car. She had a feeling that she had to be careful with this expensive car, and that she was going to do the exact opposite.

 

Captain America was fighting off various warrior maidens, feeling sorry for them as he threw them off the rooftop, but less so as they flew back into the air with their magic. 

There were also priestesses wandering about, healing the wounded as they fell from the sky. This was annoying the Avengers to a great extent. 

"Hey, Tony!" Iron Man stopped by the building as he was about to fly past, dodging the Elves that were following him. "Isn't that your Aston Martin down there?" He turned around to where Steve was pointing as the man fought off another Elf, shield-bashing him away.

"What the hell, someone's stolen my Aston!" Iron Man flew away to investigate, not caring about the battle and obviously forgetting all about it.

"Oh, okay, I'll sort this out..." Captain dodged a greatsword that was about to slice into his shield arm and he retaliated by punching the person behind him.

It was a girl, to his surprise, no older than 16. He lowered his shield as he saw her fall to the ground.

"Steve!" He turned around. "Steve, over here!" He finally found the voice, realizing who it was. It was Brittany, one building over from him. Loki was holding her with his spear at her throat. Captain looked at the gap, judged it, stepped back then made a running start to the next building.

He barely made it and he managed to keep a hold of his shield luckily.

"Captain, we meet again. Strange, it seems that you know this girl."

"Let her go." Loki tapped his chin.

"Hm... okay." He pushed her towards Steve, who took a hold of her under his shield, protecting her.

"Steve?" He looked down at her, thinking it was strange that she was grinning.

"Cap, watch out!" 

 

Once Leah saw Iron Man flying towards the car, she gave a sigh of relief and immediately vacated it.

"Tony, quick!"

"What is it?" he asked, landing and raising his mask.

"It's one of Cap's friends, Brittany. She's on Loki's side, and she's here!"

"Then we should- Wait, what's with my car window?" The girl tried to awkwardly hide the damage, though not succeeding. "You smashed my window!"

"Look, we should go save Captain before Brittany tries to kill him. Your window is replaceable, Steve isn't."

"Good point." He lowered his mask once again and slid an arm around her waist. "Let's go." She took a deep breath as he jetted them into the air, his suit struggling a bit as it tried to fly to the building.

It began gaining altitude quicker until they could see the rooftops clearly. Loki was throwing Brittany across to Captain, who had he under his shield arm.

"Cap, watch out!" said Stark, charging towards them, dropping Leah onto the rooftop beside Loki. She looked up at him, then leapt up, looking towards Steve. 

Brittany was grinning and laughing, She'd manage to stab Captain in the side, and the girl guessed that it was poisoned as he fell to the ground. Before he could run towards him though, a cold hand spun her around.

"Well, well, who would have guessed?"

"Let me go, Loki!" 

"Why don't I change you to spite him?"

"Leah..." muttered Captain, inches away from her, throwing away the dagger. 

"What does he mean?"

"What I mean," the Traitor said, lifting up his scepter, "is that I'm going to make you join my side."

 

As he rested the spear in her chest, she closed her eyes, then lifted up a hand and flicked it away.

"Never," she growled, opening her eyes and smiling at his shocked face. He made to say a spell before she charged him, sending him flying backwards as she yelled something that she didn't recognize. 

"Who are you?" he muttered.

"Leah." Loki went flying off the side of the building; not to his death, though, as he rose due to his magic.

She yelled something else at him, something more angry and violent, which made him frown and put a hand to his chest.

"You're like me." He began falling from the sky before a strange lady appeared out of nowhere, catching him. The other Light Elves began gathering around her, in a defensive circle with blades faced outwards.

"It's the Queen!" yelled Clint, appearing out of nowhere on a nearby building with Black Widow. There was a roar as Hulk came running up from behind them, leaping towards the Queen.

She muttered something, whispered something to Leah and the Elves and Loki all abruptly disappeared. Hulk landed on the road underneath, making a hole a few inches deep.

She turned back to Steve, who she had forgotten about in her battle with Loki.

"Is he okay?" she asked Tony, who was holding him.

"He's been poisoned. Where did that traitorous b*****d and his lackey go?"

"I don't know where Brittany went, but Loki and the others are gone from here. They teleported or something, with their magic." He nodded. "Look, I might be able to do something, to keep alive."

"But you're completely normal. You don't have any powers..." She set her hands over Captains wound, which was a deep gash just above his hip.

"Stay with me," she whispered to him, though it looked like he had passed out. She muttered something else, which sounded right to her, and a strange glow emitted from her hands. 

The gash didn't heal itself, but black began oozing out of the wound; the poison, she guessed. It began pooling by his side, and she felt herself getting tired.

"What is she doing?" whispered Natasha, crouching beside them.

"Sh," said Tony, watching closely. Leah finally stopped, lifting her hands from his hip and moving them over the blackness. She solidified it into a ball before saying something else and launching it away from her.

"Bandage him," she said quietly, lying down on her side. "He'll be fine..."