The Avengers: Finding Young Loki

The Circus of Crime

Loki looked at himself in the mirror in the makeup tent.  He adjusted his cape, which was fringed with raven feathers.  When he raised his arms, it looked like he had wings.  “Ready for your debut in Frankfurt?” asked a voice and Loki turned.  Princess Python was behind him, giving him a smile.  Loki nodded his head and then turned back, he was wearing black shirt with silver designs on it.  Ravens cawing at each other rested on his shoulders. 

“I plan on amazing Frankfurt,” Loki said as he stomped his boots on the ground just to hear the sound.  A hand on his shoulder made him look into Princess Python’s eyes.

“You’d better.  If you don’t, the Ringmaster won’t be happy with you.  I would hate for Bruto to ruin that cute face of yours,” she hissed before she walked away.  Loki glared at her, and then looked down and saw that his one fist was spouting green flame.  He quickly extinguished it and then pulled his hood up, concealing his face.  Loki followed the other performers to where the giant tent was set up.  Tonight was the Circus of Crime’s last show.  Loki was going to shut them down!

Steve looked up from under his ball cap as he, Natasha, and Thor entered the tent.  Thor was wearing a jacket with the hood pulled up to hide his face.  Natasha had her red hair tied up in a bandana.  The trio of them looked like construction workers, coming in for a fun evening at the circus.  “Let’s get front seats people.  We’ll be closer to the action,” Steve said, but unfortunately, the first couple of rows were already taken.  The three Avengers had to content themselves with a fourth row group of seats.  Thor leaned back in his chair so people could see over him, and Steve did the same.  Natasha leaned forward in her chair and rested her chin in the palm of her hand.  It did not take long for the show to begin, but they had to contend with Tony talking in their ears for a good bit of it.

“Just watch out for popcorn and spitballs!  People like to throw those around at the circus,” Tony whispered through their comms.

“Shut up Stark!  I can’t enjoy this with you blathering in my ear!” Thor whispered vehemently as he tried to enjoy the Great Gambonnos perform incredible acrobatic feats.  Steve watched with his mouth hanging open.  Natasha, on the other hand, was scanning the crowd for any potential targets.

“Stark, I’m of the opinion that their target is off sight, and that the circus is simply a distraction,” Natasha whispered into her comm.

“I think the same thing Nat,” Clint’s voice answered.  “It would be just like Ringmaster to have everybody staring at the show, while he was off somewhere else doing the job.”

“Then that’s what we’ll be scanning for,” Bruce answered.  Natasha then went back to watching the show.  When Rajah, the elephant trainer came out on his huge elephant, the clapping and cheering was thunderous.  Both Thor and Steve were completely amazed. 

From behind the curtain, Loki watched as the man made his animal do remarkable stunts.  His hood was still up, and his one hand was fiddling with the raven feathers on the shoulders of his cape.  His act was next, the last of the evening.  “Need any props?” Ringmaster asked as he came up behind Loki.  Loki simply turned around and smirked from under his hood.

“I make my own props,” Loki answered.  The Ringmaster wrinkled his nose at Loki and then stepped out again to close out Rajah’s act.  As soon as the elephant had exited, Loki breathed in deep and prepared to teleport himself into the rings. 

“And now Frankfurt!  Are you ready to have your minds blown?!” Ringmaster asked and the people cheered in response.  “You think you’ve seen magic before?  Well, I’m here to tell you that you haven’t seen anything yet!  He is magic incarnate!  He is the greatest prestidigitator in the history of our world!  He is the sorcerer supreme!  He is the Raven!”  The Ringmaster pointed, and a cloud of smoke appeared and then raven’s wings.  The people held their breath in awed silence.  Natasha, Thor, and Steve were all leaning forward now to get a better look.  The wings closed, and a young man stepped out.  His cowl hid his face and he raised his hands, magical light twinkling on the ends of his fingers.  He looked up at the audience and they saw glowing green eyes.  Thor, who was sitting in between Steve and Natasha, gripped both their hands.  Natasha winced, but Steve knew what Thor was thinking of.

“It could be a trick on the part of this Raven.  Would Loki really subjugate himself to somebody like the Ringmaster?” Steve asked Thor in a quiet voice.  Thor shrugged, but now, he was focused on every move the Raven made.  The first magic trick the Raven performed was to make himself float.  He showed them that he was not suspended on wires, then he turned himself upside down, and poured himself a drink.  While suspended upside down, the Raven drank it.  The clapping was loud.  Thor’s hands alone made thunder.  “Why do you need Mjolnir again?” Steve asked with a smile on his face.  The Raven came down from his invisible perch and then called for someone from the audience.  It was the first time he had spoken that night.

“I need a brave and uncompromising helper from the audience to assist me in my next trick!” the Raven called.  His voice itself gave away a higher education.  This made Thor and Steve raise their hands high above their heads.  Along with so many teenage girls, who were dying to get close to the Raven.  Instead, the Raven turned and pointed to a hooded person in the audience.  The person froze and that made Thor, Steve, and Natasha study him hard.  He seemed very hesitant, but the Raven waved his hand, and the man was pulled from the audience and onto the stage.  As soon as he touched down, the Ringmaster appeared on the side and was giving the Raven strange looks.  Instead, the Raven ignored him and put the strange man in a large, rectangular box.  “After I say the magic word, you will immerge and tell the audience the truth about yourself.  You will then have no memory of it,” the Raven said.  He turned to the audience and raised his arms.  “What’s the magic word?” he queried.

“Please?” Steve said and several people laughed.  Natasha went lower in her seat to avoid being seen, but Thor seemed very amused.  The Raven looked in their direction for the first time, and his fists clenched.  Both Thor and Steve noticed the subtle movement and exchanged a look.

“No.  It’s Abracadabra!” the Raven said and the box opened and the hooded man stepped out.  “What truth will you reveal?” the Raven asked, giving Ringmaster a sideways glance. 

“I am a teller at the Frankfurt National Bank.  I was hired by Ringmaster as an informant to give him codes and information so his Circus of Crime could get into the vault.  That is where they are now,” the man said.  The audience gasped and the Raven turned to Ringmaster.

“The universe has revealed this truth.  You are finished!” he said, pointing at Maynard Tiboldt.  The audience was frozen in horror at this, and the Raven turned to face them.  “Encore?” the Raven asked.  It was Ringmaster drawing a gun on the magician that made the Avengers spring into action.