2015.02.28 - Home Sweet home Pt. 1

Lois lives in Soho. It takes Jack longer to get there than normal. A. He's exhausted and about done on the power fatigue. He *probably* shouldn't have gone and got Bruce a set of pants. Probably. B. He's carrying Loki. So, what Lois will see on her doorstep? A completely drained godling and a citywalker who doesn't look much better himself. Jack appears to be uninjured except for a streak of silver stuff that has clearly bled out of his nose in lieu of blood, but he looks like he's about on his last legs in terms of fatigue and energy. And he struggles to press the doorbell, given his arms are full of, well, Loki.

"One moment!" Lois opens the door, and nearly drops her paper in shock. "Loki, Jack? What have you two - never mind, I'll help you get him inside!" She helps Jack as much as she can, considering her size. "So - I assume the whole thing with the mask's been sorted out?" she asks, as she guides Jack inside, laying Loki down on a futon in the living room. "Lay down on the couch, Jack. You look like a breeze could knock you down."

Jack Hawksmoor shakes his head. "No. Loki's out of the mask. His magic, however, isn't. And he used what little he still had..." A pause. "Trying to kill me and Moon Knight. I think he's fine, now. Something about that thing was corrupting things." Jack looks at the couch, and then does flop onto it.

After checking Loki for serious injury, she throws a blanket over the young Asgardian, tucking him in. "So, he was possessed by the mask, in a way? I can't see this Loki purposefully trying to kill you..." She stands up, stretching. "Where's the mask now? Something that dangerous can't be left out there." She pauses. "Can I get you anything? Water, something to eat?"

"Moon Knight has it. And water would be good. I don't eat." Now he mentions it, Lois has never *seen* him eat anything. "In a way. I'd call it more temporary insanity than true possession, but he definitely wasn't himself. The Hulk had to knock him out."

"You don't - Eh, I've seen weirder." Lois goes into the kitchen, getting Jack a glass of cold water from a filter pitcher in her fridge. "Wait." She hands the glass to Jack, eying him. "Hulk beat up Loki?" She sounds just a tad defensive. "..I know Asgardians are tough, but... Hulk, is well, Hulk."

"I know...but like I said, he was trying to kill me and Moon Knight at the time, and he doesn't seem that badly broken." A pause. "I could call Bruce." Yeah, he has the Hulk's phone number.

Lois Lane blinks just a bit. "Have Dr. Banner come over, if he's not too tired himself." she says after a moment. She sighs, glancing over at the sleeping Loki with evident worry. "Poor kid, he didn't ask for that stupid mask. The other him has a lot to answer for." She sits down on a chair next to the couch, sighing. "Are you okay, though?"

"Fatigue and some bruises. Nothing I can't handle." Jack drinks some of the water, then leans back on the couch for a moment before tugging out his phone and dialing Bruce's number.

-- Bruce is at home in a fresh change of clothes when his phone rings. Lifting it up he answers, "Hello?"

"Up for coming over to Lois' place?" Jack asks. "Maybe we can come up with an action plan." He still sounds tired. Very tired. -- "Sure, text me the address." Bruce tells him

Jack Hawksmoor hangs up. He sends a text to Bruce with the address, then sticks the phone back in his pocket and leans back.

Bruce heads out over the address sent. Upon arrival he knocks on the door waiting for an answer.

Lois Lane gets up, and heads into the kitchen. Soon, the sound of a pot being filled with water is heard. "I figure Dr. Banner is hungry, so I'll make up some mac and cheese."

When there's a knocking on the door, she's just finished the mac and cheese. "Dr. Banner I presume?" She opens the door. "Come on in; I just finished making some food, you're welcome to help yourself. Loki's still out."

"Bruce Banner." he introduces himself before stepping inside. Bruce doesn't want to be rude so he does help himself to the food knowing it will be better than the ramen or cereal he has waiting at home. Sitting down he eats, "This is good. Thank you."

Jack Hawksmoor is, as Bruce might notice, not eating. He's flopped on the couch, looking no less tired than when he hauled himself and Loki away from the scene. Staring mostly at the ceiling. "Hey, Bruce."

Lois Lane dips herself out a little bit of food, leaving some in for when Loki gets up, or if Bruce wants seconds. "I'm Lois, by the way. A pleasure to meet you at long last, Dr. Banner." She sits herself down, eating slowly. "So, Jack tells me you had to knock Loki out to protect others from his rampaging." she says calmly. "Will he be a threat when he wakes up?"

Loki emits a faint sound as if awakening from a bad dream. He furrows his brow and opens his eyes, looking around. He doesn't want to move, his entire body just feels absolutely worn out. "Wh...h..." screw it. His brain hasn't quite woken up enough to talk.

"There was a child involved. He was wearing the mask and we were trying to get it from him." Bruce begins to explain, "I managed to break it enough that it released its hold and the boy escaped. From there most I recall was Loki wanting everyone to die. I vaguely remember as Hulk smacking him on the ground a little bit. I think the dark power left him so he should be alright. If anything I think the mask holds his power."

Jack Hawksmoor nods. "That's what I think happened anyway. The kid was...well...we managed not to hurt the kid, at least, but he was doing some horrible stuff to the Theater District."

Lois Lane nods. "Well, Loki is a God of Mischief and Chaos. I'm still hesitant to find out what the mask made me do." When she hears Loki start to wake, she goes by his side, kneeling down next to him. It's clear she cares for him. "Shh. You're safe now, Loki. Don't try and move too much."

"I don't think I have to worry about that...even breathing makes everything ache. My ability to heal...it's not working. My magic pool is empty. I...I have no powers!

Bruce gets up walking over, "I am Bruce. Your friend Nicky has been looking for you. I'm sorry.. I had to be rough with you." he sighs deeply, "I'm sure you can get your power back. We just have to figure out how to separate it from the taint of the mask."

Jack Hawksmoor nods. "And frankly, it's not like anyone else could be trusted with it, so we need to get it back anyway." Jack doesn't move more than that initial nod.

"I'm sorry..." Loki says a bit breathlessly as if not quite awake. "I'm sorry...I'm sorry...I didn't mean....I didn't know." He seems to be fading out again, looking up at Lois drowsily.

"Shhh, it's okay. I'm not angry with you." Lois brushes some of Loki's hair away from his face. "Just rest for now, okay? I'll take care of you." She smiles, rather fondly. "I'll make you up a nice steak for you once you're up to eating."

"Don't worry, Loki. The boy got away safely and I did more damage than you." Bruce smirks a little bit. "I feel I should be more tired than I am but... I just rarely do."

Looking at Bruce, Loki nods slightly. "I am glad he was unharmed. Are Jack and Moon Knight all right? I wasn't in control...I could see what I was doing but it was like watching someone else doing it even though that person would be me in the future."

"I'm a little bruised, and very exhausted. The kid was trying to transform the City and I wore myself out containing him." Jack says. "I'll be fine..."

Lois Lane pats Loki's shoulder. "We'll figure this out, Loki. Right now, you need to rest, and not stress yourself. I'll call into work, let them know I'm staying home for a few days." The woman smiles. "We'll find the mask, and find a way to return your powers."

"That other guy has it." Bruce tells them, "Moon Knight... If you know how to get a hold of him then maybe he will give it back. Not sure why he'd want to hold onto it. I do see why Nicky said it had green tentacles but I don't see how the Green Lantern might be involved."

"No," Loki replies, "The tentacles are the energy trying to latch onto a new victim. It was like being in a turbulent ocean with no way to reach the shore. Every time you would start to make progress, it would pull you back and attempt to drown you. Moon Knight should put it in a container and not touch it."

Jack Hawksmoor nods. "I think for right now he thought it better that it was separated from you, given what happened. So, until we work out how to get your power back...without that taint..." Hawksmoor frowned. "It got me for about five minutes. That was bad enough. *I* was able to resist, but I think that's because I'm used to handling power." He glances at Bruce. "You'd have a chance to, I think."

"I don't want to know what Hulk would do with Loki's magic." Lois says bluntly. "That's... No, just no." She shakes her head, squeezing Loki's shoulder. "I don't blame you for this. I blame that other Loki. You're not going to end up like that jerk, not if I have a say in things."

Bruce blinks a little bit, "I don't want to know either actually." he admits to this. "I do enough damage without power so.. Me with it well.. That would be very bad."

Loki furrows his dirt-streaked brow. "I..well...about that dark magic.." He looks away and frowns, deciding he doesn't want to talk about it.

Jack Hawksmoor nods. "My point is I think you might have a chance of resisting putting it on...or getting it off...because you're used to controlling your own brand of chaos." A pause. "You attacked me physically. You attacked Moon Knight mentally. Why?" Does the young god know?

Lois Lane looks between Jack and Bruce from where she's crouched on the floor. "Loki, if you know something that could help us, please." She smiles softly. "We're here to help you, okay? You mentioned someone else was making you do those things."

"The child was attacking too before Loki appeared right?" Bruce asks, "So maybe it wasn't Loki's actual power but a possession from the mask. The child wasn't acting too sane himself. Though as the Hulk I was able to resist it all to get close."

Looking back at Lois, Loki furrows his brow. The cut across one of them looks as though it may bleed but thus far has not threatened to stain the couch. "Mother doesn't know I did this...I was learning sorcery from her but I wanted to learn more, faster, so I visited Karnilla. I have a great power pool, but part of is is dark magic. It is difficult to keep it at bay. It is like how you turn green."

Jack Hawksmoor nods. "And that's what got me from the mask. It tried to..." Jack paused. "It tried to interact with my own abilities to turn New York into Chaos City." Jack sounds grim. "If I had a little bit less strength of will, it would have succeeded."

"Karnilla?" Lois asks, having no idea what Loki was talking about. "You're hardly the first magic user who's lost control of their gifts." She shifts a bit, sitting down more comfortably, still by Loki's side. She takes a small handkerchief from her pocket, dabbing at Loki's forehead.

Bruce sits back down eating more of his mac n cheese, "At least you could control it. Sometimes when I turn its a total black out an then sometimes I remember what I am doing. Even enough to control myself a little bit in that state." he glances to jack.

"Karnilla is another sorcerer that lives just past the Plains of Ida. I sort of...learned dark magic. So now I have dark magic to control...sometimes it wins. I have not yet told mother. She would have my head."

Jack Hawksmoor nods. "Okay. But I haven't seen you having control problems except right *now* and that's the mask, not you." Jack sits up slightly. He's looking slightly better. Slightly.

"I haven't really used my powers much since coming here. But yes, I suppose it was the mask, and not my conscious control. I hope my brother has not heard of any of this. He hates me enough already."

Lois Lane taps Loki on the nose, just once. "At least you know you did wrong. Let it be a well remembered lesson." She winks. "Unlike myself, because I can never seem to remember to keep well enough alone." There's a chuckle in her voice. "And Jack is right - whatever happened is due to that mask." She pauses at the mention of Thor. "If he has a problem with you, he has to talk with me, first. You are a guest in my home."

"Thor knows what's going on, the basics. He doesn't know about what happened today. I was hoping he could help get you out." Jack sighs. "He went off to look for mystical help and hasn't come back yet."

Loki's eyes well up as Lois says her kind words and suddenly rolls onto his side to wrap his arms around her. He rarely was shown such kindness except by Frigga. "He probably got distracted by women and ale." He sighs, burying his head in Lois's shoulder.

Lois Lane hugs Loki back warmly, brushing his hair back off his face. "Hey now, it's okay. No need to cry." She rocks him, ever so gently. "Your brother is a stupid lunk." the woman says frankly. "He's too dumb to realize what an amazingly smart and sweet little brother her has."

"He's also your brother. I might not have any *personal* experience with having a brother, but I've seen enough of other people's." Jack shrugs a bit. Nope, not moving from the couch.

Eating silently for a moment, "I know Thor." Bruce says lightly, "I didn't know you were his brother until Nicky told me. But don't let him get you down. Nicky says you are a good person and you seem good to me."

With a sniffle, Loki pulls back and lays back down, looks at the others. "We had so much fun just a month or so ago, and I come here to this version of him. He should try being how he was when he was close to my age. He might learn to like it and have a better personality."

Lois Lane gently wipes away any of Loki's tears from his face. "The world would be a lot better, I think, if everyone took that advice, Loki." She tucks the blanket about his shoulders. "It must be so hard, to find yourself in a place and time removed from your own. But... You're not alone Loki. We're your friends."

Jack Hawksmoor hrms. "I wasn't ever a particularly lighthearted child," Jack admits. "Never had chance to be." Then he grins. "Maybe once this is all over we could do something silly to celebrate. Like a snowball fight. Powers not allowed."

"That sounds as though it would be fun. But no turning large and green! That would be cheating!" Loki smiles faintly. "I am not certain about Moon Knight though."

Laughing at the thought, "I couldn't see that side of me throwing just snowballs." Bruce sets his bowl aside. "I wasn't very outgoing as a child either. Kept to myself mostly."

Lois Lane chuckles, bemused. "At least without powers I might have a fair shot." she points out. "...I was a pretty reserved kid, myself. Comes from having a military dad, I guess."

Jack Hawksmoor grins. "That's why no powers, it wouldn't be fair on you otherwise." A pause. "Mil brat? My parents..." Jack shrugs. "Not really important. Middle class nobodies who had no clue what to do with me. I'd rather have friends than family, really."