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The amount of people dressed as their favorite superheroes was mind-blowing. The Avengers had received intel that this particular event was going to be a target, which naturally, prompted them to join the masses as a group of visitors.
“Nice cosplay, Cap!” A Falcon cosplayer yelled from one of the queues at the entrance. Sam waved at him with a bright grin and turned to Bucky, who was standing behind him in line with his old Winter Soldier mask covering his face.
“Still feels weird being called Cap.” He said, though he never stopped grinning.
“Don’t let it get to your head.” Bucky replied, while adjusting the wig he was made to wear.
“Too late. It already did.” Sam replied, waving at two Captain America cosplayers who passed them by. “Wish Steve was here. We would have rocked the double Cap cosplay.”
“It’s not a costume if you go to work in it.”
The two Avengers turned to the source and were met by Doctor Strange, who walked over to them.
“Could you repeat that louder? I don’t think people heard you.” Bucky said.
Strange simply rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “They’ll only think we’re roleplaying.”
“Right.” Bucky sighed. He could have been spending the day sleeping, but no, he had to be called out of hibernation because Strange needed their help in catching Loki.
“Any leads?” Sam asked.
“Only that he might show up here.” Strange sighed. “Peter’s keeping an eye from... somewhere. So is Hawkeye. We’re covering the ground level.”
“Remind me again, why are we after him? Last I heard, he was dead.” Bucky said, looking around him, just in case he noticed something.
As the line moved, the Avengers moved along. “This one seems to have something to do with time. I still don’t know how, but...” Stephen looked down onto the pendant against his chest, which was glowing. “It’s been doing this all week.”
“What does it mean?” Sam asked.
“Loki’s tampered with time and I need to know why and how, so I can fix it and send his ass back to wherever he came from.”
The line moved again and the three men moved along. Sam waved at more cosplayers and he nudged Bucky when he saw a female version of his friend walking past them. “You look good in heels, Buck.”
“Don’t call me that.” Bucky said, eyeing the female version of him. “But I do look good in heels.”
“Hey doc, ever seen a female version of you?” Sam turned to Stephen.
“God, I hope not.” Stephen shuddered at the thought.
“There’s a first for everything.” Bucky told him and gave him a nod to his left. Stephen turned and saw a tall woman, almost his own height, wearing a version of his clothing. She even had the Cloak of Levitation made with such accuracy. Had he not had the cloak around his shoulders at that moment, he would have thought she was wearing it. The cloak poked at his cheek and Stephen slapped it off.
“Okay, she’s good.” He said and the cloak poked his cheek again. “Yeah, yeah, you look good too.” He told the cloak and watched the cosplayer join a group of her friends.
There were a multitude of cosplayers around. Not only dressed as the Avengers, but also as various characters from various shows, most of which Stephen didn’t even recognize.
All of a sudden, Bucky gasped and grabbed at Sam’s arm, almost crushing it. Sam and Stephen were on high alert and looked at the direction Bucky was looking at.
“Nazgul!” Bucky said, his voice sounding like a fanboy seeing their favorite character.
Sam blinked in confusion and turned to Bucky. “Seriously? Losing your shit over a Nazgul cosplay?”
“Shut up, that’s a pretty accurate cosplay.” Bucky was still staring at the Nazgul.
“I see hearts in his eyes.” Stephen said, smirking.
“Should we go ask them out on your behalf, fanboy?” Sam teased.
“I’ll do it myself.” Bucky was about to leave the line, but Stephen stopped him.
“You can ask them out later, after we’re inside.”
Bucky sighed. “Right.” He made a mental note to kick Loki’s face, just because he was made to wait in line instead of being able to go an mingle with the Nazgul cosplayer.
While waiting in line and conversing about all the cosplays passing them by, Stephen was focussed on trying to find Loki. Peter and Clint were silent, which meant there were no suspicious activities for them to report. Or that Peter was chewing Clint’s ear off.
When they were finally inside, the three split up and went on their search for any signs of Loki.
“This place is massive. He could be anywhere!” Sam said through the comms.
“Or anyone. He’s a shapeshifter.” Stephen replied.
“Why didn’t we get Thor? He could have sniffed him out.” Bucky said. “Hang on... no, false alarm. It was a cheap Loki cosplay.”
“At least someone had gotten over the invasion.” Sam commented. “I’ll go check the autograph area.”
“I’ll take the vendor hall.” Bucky replied.
“That leaves me with the cosplay competition. Peter, Hawkeye, keep an eye on the floor from high points.” Stephen said and received confirmations.
“What a lovely cape you have.” A blonde woman, dressed in a casual t-shirt and jeans approached him, smiling. “Who are you supposed to be?”
Stephen eyed her with a raised brow. Okay, she’s at a convention and doesn’t know the Avengers? Him? How? “Doctor Strange.” He replied, nonetheless.
“I would have never imagined an adult to enjoy dressing up. Well, outside the bedroom of course.” She giggled.
“To each their own, I guess.” Stephen tried to keep it civil. He wasn’t playing dress up. He was wearing his Sorcerer Supreme attire, which was very comfortable, thank you very much. And the cloak was a magical artefact, but she didn’t need to know that. Nor did anyone else.
With a slight nod, he continued walking through the cosplay competition area. Different people were getting ready for the competition and Stephen watched each and every one of them for any suspicious signs. Loki could be there and he could be anyone of them.
The lights dimmed in the hall and everyone started cheering. A young man stepped onto the runway stage and introduced the event, after which music started blaring and cosplayers started walking down the runway.
“It’s like a fashion show, only better.” Someone whispered in Stephen’s ear and he turned around, only there was no one there. He started moving around the area, trying to find the owner of that voice. He thought he saw a man with black, shoulder-length hair disappearing between the crowd and he followed him.
Stephen stopped for a moment when various Avengers cosplayers started walking the runway. He wanted to stay and watch, but he had a Loki to catch. One he could have sworn he saw walk past him at that moment.
“Catch me, if you can.” Someone whispered to him. Again, the same voice, but no person attached to it.
There was a mix of cheers and boos when the next cosplayer walked the runway. Stephen looked up and both eyebrows shot up to his hairline. It was a female version of Loki, dressed in green, gold and black. The horns curved to a perfection, like it was an actual Asgardian helmet instead of one made with a 3D printer. The young woman didn’t seem to mind the boos, but was thriving in the cheers. As she turned to walk back, her eyes met Stephen’s and she winked at him, before she walked away. Stephen narrowed his eyes at that. Out of all the people, she singled him out.
Next walked a Thor. Stephen thought the resemblance was uncanny as the god of Thunder walked the runway like he owned it. Mjolnir was in one hand and he was waving it around, until he reached the edge of the stage and held the hammer up high and let out a triumphant scream.
As people cheered and Thor turned around to walk back, his eyes met Stephen’s and he winked at the sorcerer, flashing him a smile, even.
Once is a coincidence. Twice is suspicious. And in Stephen’s opinion, highly suspicious, given the person he was after was a shapeshifter.
When the next contestant arrived, the hall gasped and people started talking loudly amongst each other. As Stephen’s eyes moved to the end of the runway, it felt like the whole scene was in slow motion.
In walked Loki, dressed in the very well known battle armor from when he had attacked New York. Stephen knew that wasn’t a cosplayer. Stephen knew then the Lady Loki and Thor had also been Loki. Hiding in plain sight. Asshole.
“Got him.” Stephen spoke into the comms and noticed for the first time that evening, that the Time Stone was glowing even more than before. “Shit.” He mumbled and looked at the stage. There was no Loki anymore, but some kid dressed as an anime character.
“Fuck, I lost him. Going backstage.” He said and practically ran through the crowd.
The Time Stone felt warm against his chest. It had never reacted that way before, not even when he had to use it to fight Dormamu, or when he looked through millions of possible futures while fighting Thanos. He was not tampering with the timeline at the time, so maybe that’s why. Whatever Loki had done, it had apparently affected the Time Stone and it was disturbed by it. If Stephen could, he would have taken the pendant off his chest, just to get the heat away. Unfortunately, he couldn’t. Even if he had tucked it into his pocket, he would have still felt the heat that was bordering on becoming a burn hazard.
He noticed Loki walking through the crowd and he followed. Suddenly, he lost him again. Stephen turned around, trying to find him again. The bastard was making it almost impossible for Stephen to find him.
“On your left.” Came a whisper and Stephen snapped his head into said direction. Loki gave him a toothy grin before disappearing among a group of people once more.
“The other left.” Another whisper and Stephen turned to his right. This was getting ridiculous. He didn’t know Loki. He’d only met him once, back when he and Thor were looking for Odin. That meeting didn’t even last more than a few seconds, before Stephen had to portal the God of Mischief and his brother to Norway, where Odin was spending his last days on Earth.
“You’re quite sloppy with your sense of direction, wizard.”
Stephen narrowed his eyes. Now Loki was being plain rude. A sorcerer is not a wizard just as a wizard is no seer. Stephen might have been demoted from being one of the world’s best neurosurgeons, but he was the Sorcerer Supreme and Loki, as a magic user, had better show some respect.
Clenching his jaws, Stephen slid his fingers through his sling ring. Once he caught sight of Loki again, he moved his arms and closed his eyes. When he opened them next, he walked into the astral plane. Things slowed down around him as he walked away from his physical form. He observed his surroundings, until he found someone who resembled Loki, hidden among the crowd of people.
Stephen sighed when he saw that the guy he assumed was Loki, was in fact, not him. He continued looking, moving away from the backstage area and out onto the main stage. He had a better view of the floor from there. He smirked when he noticed another Loki, this time he was sure it was the one he was trying to catch.
As Stephen made his way to Loki, he saw the image of the man dissipating before his astral eyes. An illusion? “Fucker.” He mumbled as he continued his search.
“Too many people watching.” Loki whispered. There was a hint of teasing in there.
“What the...” Stephen stopped and turned around. Loki was no-where to be seen. But how could he be in the astral plane? Were Asgardians familiar with it? Or was Loki the exception? “Show yourself, you coward!”
“Now where’s the fun in that, wizard?”
There it was again. It shouldn’t matter to Stephen, but the word coming from Loki felt like an insult. Stephen was sure that’s exactly what Loki was doing.
“The fun will start when I lay my hands on you. I don’t have time for this!”
“Oh but you do, don’t you? Stone Keeper?”
“Is that what you’re after? The Time Stone?” Stephen’s hand instinctively went to the Eye of Agamoto, as if his astral palm had the power of the universe to protect the pendant from being yanked off his chest. While Ebony Maw had gotten a nasty burn trying to take it off him, Stephen wasn’t sure if Loki would meet the same fate. He wasn’t in the mood to test that theory.
“You’ll have to catch me to find out.” Loki whispered again.
Stephen was getting further and further from the backstage area, where his physical form was. He had a few more minutes until his body would painfully hit the floor, so he needed to be quick.
When he found himself at the entrance of the complex, Stephen felt a pull in his chest. “Oh fuck.” He cursed and turned to get back to his body before Loki could do something Stephen wouldn’t even get the chance to prevent from happening. “Keep your hand off the Eye.” He said, not knowing whether Loki could hear him, but he knew the god was very close to his physical form.
The next moment Stephen blinked, he grabbed the wrist that was too close to the Eye of Agamoto for comfort. Loki narrowed his eyes when he saw the sorcerer was back to his physical form, but he didn’t let the shock deter him.
“Hello!” Loki grinned, while twisting his wrist and moving swiftly, so now he was the one grabbing the sorcerer’s wrist. “Time is of the essence.”
Stephen had less than a second to comprehend what just happened. A blue light flashed against his eyes and within a blink he found himself being shoved away. He tripped on something, yet thanks to the cloak, he managed to stay on his feet. He immediately conjured a rope and threw it at Loki. It wrapped around the god, trapping him on the spot, which made Stephen smirk.
“I have no time for your games, wizard.” Loki said, snapping the rope with such ease, like it was made of foam.
“You seemed to have quite a bit of time on the runway earlier.” Stephen conjured a whip and struck at Loki, who simply shielded himself with a magical barrier. He responded with an energy ball, aimed at the sorcerer’s hand. Stephen was a bit too slow, so the cloak took the hit instead.
“That’s different.” Another strike from Loki had Stephen ducking out of the way.
“Define different.” Stephen huffed, creating mandala discs and using them as steps to get the upper hand.
Loki waved a hand and the discs disappeared, making Stephen fall. Once again, the cloak came to the rescue.
“I was buying us some time.”
As the cloak had Stephen land regally on his feet, Loki watched him with a smirk on his face.
“Care to explain or am I supposed to drag it out of you?” Stephen had no more chill, as Peter had told him once.
“You’re welcome to try, but, I’m afraid I can’t. Not without disrupting more of the timeline and possibly creating a nexus event.” Loki replied, holding his palms up in surrender. “I propose a deal.”
“First of all, rejected. Secondly, step back a little. A nexus event? What the hell is that supposed to mean? The apocalypse?” Stephen rolled his eyes.
“Sometimes, it is.”
Stephen didn’t know what to make of that. Whatever Loki was selling, he wasn’t buying. In fact, he wasn’t even going to sample it.
With that in mind, Stephen advanced on Loki. While fought like his life depended on it, Loki deflected each strike with ease, without even breaking a sweat.
“I’m getting bored here, wizard.”
“Sorcerer.”
“Not when you fight like that.”
“And how is that, exactly?” Stephen conjured a spear and threw it at Loki, who caught it and sent it back. Stephen jumped out of the way, rolling on the ground and accidentally twisting his ankle. He hissed at the pain, but stood up and immediately created a portal under Loki’s feet.
“Like you think I’d fall for that twice.” Loki teleported away from the spot and Stephen closed the portal. Loki appeared behind him, tapping his shoulder. When Stephen turned around, he was met with a grin and a fist aiming at his face. The cloak wrapped its corner around Loki’s wrist and pulled it away, Loki along with it and tossed him aside. Loki was quickly on his feet, smirking as he sent a wave of magic at the cloak, which shimmered in green and lay motionless around Stephen’s shoulders.
“What did you do?” All colour drained from Stephen’s face when the cloak didn’t react to his touch. His hands were shaking even more than normal now. He tapped the cloak, tugged at it, trying to get any kind of reaction. It seemed like it had been stripped of its magic and now it was just a piece of cloth draped over his shoulders.
“Put it to sleep.” Loki replied in a calm manner. “Give me the stone and I will give it its life back.” He offered.
Stephen didn’t even need to think it through. “No.” As much as it hurt him, he couldn’t give up an infinity stone to a villain. Especially not to Loki. He’ll have to revive the cloak some other way. Wong would know what to do, Stephen was sure of it. At least, he hoped so.
“Is a useless paperweight more important than a priceless artefact?” Loki tilted his head as he watched Stephen glare at him. The moment of shock was wearing off and Loki knew a strike would follow, so he had to act fast.
He teleported in front of Stephen and put his palm over the Eye of Agamoto. Stephen’s eyes widened when Loki pressed against it. The heat radiating from the pendant was burning. He thought he could smell the fabric of his tunic getting singed, but it could have also been his imagination.
Loki could feel the strong protective spells under his palm. Had he used force to pry the pendant off, he would have had his ass handed to him. So instead, he lay his palm gently over the pendant, pressing ever so slightly, while at the same time casting a spell to prevent Stephen from moving.
“W- what are you doing?” Stephen struggled to move, but he felt trapped. Why didn’t they teach magic using your mind at Kamar-Taj? Why did it have to be with a sling ring and intricate hand gestures?
“Giving someone a very hard time.” Loki moved his palm and the Eye of Agamoto glowed as it opened up for him. He grinned as he opened his palm and the Time Stone dropped into it.
“Let go of me and I’ll show you what a hard time is.” Stephen practically growled.
Loki was holding the stone between two fingers and admiring it. He looked at Stephen and clicked his tongue. “And they call me a narcissist.” He rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t talking about you.” He closed his palm and when he opened it, the stone was gone.
“Give me back the stone,” Stephen warned.
“How about I keep it and in exchange, you and your group of incompetent heroes get to keep your lives.” Loki countered. “Besides, it would be safer with me.”
Stephen narrowed his eyes. “Why?”
“Ever heard of He Who Remains?”
“I’ve heard of He Who Shall Not Be Named.” Stephen mocked in response.
“You tickle me, wizard.” Stephen’s eye twitched. “As amusing it is to compare an actual threat to a fictional character missing a nose, said actual threat likes to dip his very much existent nose into everything.” Loki raised both palms as a sign of peace, before he flicked his hand and Stephen was released. “If you’re willing to listen, I’m willing to share.” Another wave of hand and the cloak shimmered back to life. It almost dragged Stephen along when it wanted to retaliate against Loki, but Stephen placed a hand over it and the cloak calmed down.
“Speak.”
“Ever heard of the Multiverse War?”
Stephen’s face blanched as he nodded.
“Well...” Loki dropped his gaze with a sigh and crossed his arms over his chest. He then looked at Stephen with a mischievous grin forming over his lips. “See you soon.” Loki snapped his fingers and Stephen found himself back at the comic con.
He was back at the cosplay competition area. People were clapping and filming whatever was happening on the stage. Stephen looked around. Nothing had changed and he felt the communication device still in his ear.
“No sign of him.” He heard Sam speaking.
“Strange, anything on your side?” Bucky asked.
Stephen looked down onto the Eye of Agamoto. The green glow wasn’t there anymore and the pendant was cool to the touch.
“Strange?” Bucky repeated.
When Stephen looked up, he saw a dark-haired man blending through the crowd. He turned to Stephen, winked and disappeared among the masses.
“We lost him.” Stephen finally replied, defeated.