This was already published in the last trash book. Nothing new, just wanted to keep all the parts in the same book. That's all.
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Loki shook his head, slamming shut the seventh Harry Potter book in annoyance. "I don't know if I can finish this."

Shelby looked up from her iPad. "What part are you on?"

"McGonagall just had Filch lock the Slytherins away for the fight." Loki grumbled. "All they suggested was to turn Harry Potter over to prevent the loss of innocent lives."

Shelby nodded in understanding. "Slytherins were definitely screwed over in the last book. I wish it was written better so some kids don't grow up thinking being Slytherin is a bad thing."

"I have no remorse being a Slytherin, that's for sure." Loki stated defiantly, before smiling slyly at Shelby. "And you are my loyal Ravenclaw lackey."

Shelby snorted. "If anything, you're my Slytherin lackey."

"A Slytherin would never be a lackey."

"And a Ravenclaw would?"

Suddenly, Shelby's front door flew open, and Thor stepped inside. "Greetings, friends!"

"That's okay, Thor, you can come in." Shelby muttered sarcastically.

Thor smiled. "Thank you, Shelby. I appreciate that. And look- I brought a friend!" Behind him, a shorter man with greying, curly hair peered inside.

Shelby gasped excitedly. "Dr. Bruce Banner!"

Loki smiled shrewdly at Bruce. "Hello, Banner."

"Uh, hi, guys." He waved awkwardly.

"Banner confided in me that he needed lab subjects to test how humans hold up in the different atmospheres of the other seven realms." Thor explained.

"We already know that humans thrive in Midgard's atmosphere- you know, because we live here. And I could breathe just fine on Asgard- but I had a slight pre-consisting condition." Bruce stated awkwardly. "But once all the fighting was done and settled, I wondered if regular humans could withstand the different atmospheres. Obviously Asgard is gone- sorry guys- but the other seven realms still remain."

"Niflheim, Muspelheim, Jotunheim, Vanaheim, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, and Helheim." Thor listed off. "Shelby-"

"Yes, I'll do it!" Shelby jumped up excitedly.

"What?" Loki glared at her. "Uh, I have to interject. This sounds rather dangerous."

"I can't deny that the research isn't dangerous." Bruce admitted. "But I'm taking precautions."

"He has a PhD in bio-organic chemistry." Shelby whispered. "Shut up and let me do this."

"Let you be a lab rat?" Loki asked, baffled.

"For the love of God, yes!" Shelby yelled. "Let's go!"

"Perfect." Bruce sighed in relief. "Thank you, Miss Ferrell. I promise we will be extremely cautious in how we precede." He explained as Shelby left the couch and join Thor and Banner at the front door.

"I'm so honored, you have no idea." Shelby breathed, before turning and waving at Loki. "Bye, Loki! See ya later!" With that, they exited the house.

Loki stared at her in disbelief, before standing up slowly and shaking his head as he followed them out.

~~~~~

"Is Tony texting you as well?" Thor asked Bruce as he squinted to read the screen of his phone.

"Probably." Bruce muttered as he flipped select switches and made sure all the gauges were functioning and correct. "I'm a little occupied at the moment. Whatever it is, they'll take care of it."

"What does it say?" Loki inquired as he leaned against the back wall.

"A ship has entered the atmosphere near our location. They're on their way, but wondering if we see anything." Thor muttered.

Bruce pressed a large audio button on the dashboard, speaking into a microphone. "How you doing in there, Shelby?"

"Perfectly normal." Shelby answered on the other side of the glass. She was sitting on a physician's bed in a hospital gown, several electrodes and tubes inserted to her skin. She had a breathing mask hooked to an oxygen tank by her side, incase of an emergency.

"I don't like this." Loki muttered.

"The artificial atmospheres will be introduced slow enough not to shock her lungs. I'm monitoring any vitals I could think of. As soon as something starts to go wrong, we'll know and shut it down immediately. She's as safe as she possibly can be for the procedures." Bruce flashed Shelby a thumbs up. She returned it.

He pressed the audio button. "We're going to being introducing the Alfheim atmosphere first. If you feel any discomfort, even if your vitals aren't showing anything, please speak up." With that, Bruce turned a knob. "A replication of Alfheim's atmosphere is being introduced now."

Shelby nodded, taking a deep breath. Her heart rate was up, but it had been consistently due to nerves since she had been hooked up. Bruce would have to add that in his discussion. Everything was steady as the atmosphere slowly increased in the room.

Suddenly, the lights flickered. Thor looked up. "What was that?"

Loki raised a brow. "That wasn't you?"

"No, it wasn't me. Was it you?"

"Why the hell would that be me?"

The lights flickered again, before shutting off completely. There was a crashing noise somewhere in the facility. Shelby gasped in the room. "What's going on?"

"Shut it down." Loki directed, but Bruce was already on it. He rushed to shut off the experiment, and opened the door to unhook Shelby from the machines. Loki followed close behind. The emergency lights switched on. Thor held Stormbreaker at the ready.

Bruce worked quickly to unhook the electrodes and tubes from Shelby as she watched anxiously. "Is there anyone else in this building?" Thor demanded from the other room.

"Not that I know of- it's a Sunday, most people don't come in on the weekend unless they're on the verge of a breakthrough." Bruce explained. "We're probably the only ones here."

"Are we living out a slasher movie right now?" Shelby whispered nervously, crossing her arms over her chest as she shivered.

"No, but something is in here with us." Thor stated decisively. "We should move."

"Um, do I have time to change out this?" Shelby inquired, referring to her hospital gown. It was open in the back, so running around wasn't such a great idea.

"No. Here." Loki slid his vest off and gave it to Shelby. She took it gratefully. It was long enough to cover anything left out in the open.

She hopped off the physician's bed. "Alright, let's get moving before we die.

They moved as quickly as they could to an exit, but they were cautious. Thor brought up the front of the group, Stormbreaker at the ready. His head continually pivoted side to side, looking for any enemy, but also any humans that might have been there without their knowledge . Shelby and Bruce took the middle and the flanks, though they knew they wouldn't be much help. Bruce feared letting the Hulk takeover in fear that he would never resurface. Shelby had no weapon, save for the very little magic (and weak magic, at that) she had taught herself. Loki brought up the rear, wielding two long, sickle-like knives.

The laboratory wasn't a horribly large building, and soon they found an exit that wasn't the front door. They didn't know where the enemy had entered for. They had to try something, however. They were sitting ducks inside. Once outside, there was a chance to escape.

Suddenly, there was a large crash behind them, with high-pitched shouting. Two creatures turned the corner, carrying two glowing guns. Loki prepared to launch himself at the attackers, but they shot first. The blast hit Loki square in the chest, and he fell over instantly, unconscious.

"No!" Shelby shouted, rushing to Loki, while Thor practically leaped over them, rushing at the attackers. They both shot this time, one blast hitting Thor, the other finding Bruce, who had come back to try and pull Shelby away and run. Both collapsed as Loki had. Shelby, tears in her eyes, pushed the creatures away with her mind. They flew through the air, hitting the wall with a sickening smack. Shelby began shaking Loki, trying to wake him up, but she fell forward as well as a blast hit her from behind, fired from a patrol behind her.

~~~~~

Loki felt no pain. He recalled getting shot, so logically, he should feel pain. There was none. He touched his chest, Nothing. No wounds. Just his chest, perfectly intact.

He heard a groggy moan to his left, and managed to will his eyes to open. Bruce Banner was struggling to get up next to him. His lab uniform was gone, and in it's place was a plain purple skirt. Banner sat up, rubbing his temples. "Oh god, what happened?" When he opened his eyes, they found Loki, and widened in surprise. "You're blue."

Loki's brows furrowed in confusion. "What?" He looked down at his hands. Staring back at him was his own deep blue skin, no longer disguised by his magic. His breath hitched for a moment, and he looked up to a wall made entirely of glass. His reflection gave him confirmation. His Asgardian disguise was gone. And as he willed it to wash over him again, he failed to do so.

"My magic." He whispered in shock. "It's gone."

Bruce stared at Loki, the gears in his head turning frantically. "I can't hear him." Banner admitted quietly. "He's gone completely silent. And he's never done that before- ever."

"Loki?" Thor's voice called out from behind the wall next to the god of mischief.

"Thor." Loki called out in relief, forcing himself up and walking towards the wall. "Where's Shelby?"

"I'm in here." She called out from the same room. "Where are we?" She asked nervously.

"I fear I know who our captures are." Thor muttered.

"Who?" Bruce persisted.

"The Timoribus. They're a race of space travelers who no longer have a planet to call home. For centuries, they have roamed the galaxies, capturing different specimen to use for fuel in powering their ship. Very few have escaped because they have designed a weapon that attacks specific strengths of their targets. For example, my lightning powers and strength are gone."

"The Hulk is gone." Bruce confirmed tentatively.

"My magic is gone." Loki admitted reluctantly.

"Don't really know what I had going for me, but I guess whatever it was is gone." Shelby muttered. "How do they use others for fuel? There are so many different species spanning the universe. How is it that there's something in common that these... Timoribus, can use as a resource?"

"Because fear is universal." Thor explained. "They use fear as fuel."

"How... Is that even possible?" Bruce wondered aloud. "I mean, I would assume they collect norepinephrine and epinephrine from the bloodstream, released by the stress response, but there's no way possible that those two hormones are present in every creature they use."

"Oh my god, I'm literally living in the real life version of Monster's Inc." Shelby whispered.

"What does that even mean?" Loki snapped.

"It's an Earth movie." Bruce explained quietly.

"What do we do?" Shelby asked. "Can we escape?"

"We have no powers." Loki muttered. "We're at their mercy."

And that's when the doors popped open, swinging out to reveal a group of Timoribus.