The Indigo Light (8)

“Before you go to fight Loki,” Grandmaster said the next day, “you will need to understand quite a few things. His most obvious, negative issue is his astounding arrogance. He just doesn’t ever consider that he is wrong, his goals are wrong, his motivations are wrong, his methods are wrong, his outcomes could be wrong… to the point, he is a pure, undiluted narcissist.”

“I do not believe that I have ever come across a more pure example of the narcissist than Loki Laufeyson. Every task, every goal, every maneuver he makes is steeped in grandiosity, pride, egotism, and a lack of empathy. And therein lies your “in.”

“If you remember, a few battles hence, we studied the Dark Triad- made up of psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism. While Loki may also be Machiavellian in his approach to humanity, he falls short of the drive of a pure dictator, like Darkseid or Thanos.”

Grandmaster must have seen my eyes start to glaze over.

“It will be important to have this foundation later on. While Loki would rather ignore a foe, or run from him, rather than be bothered with expending the time and energy to do something about that foe, he will kill. Often without warning.” My eyes brightened back up.

“He will be highly motivated to kill you. He is currently being held in prison in Asgard. I am going to have him released into my custody. If he is able to defeat you, I will negotiate on his behalf with the Asgardian authorities for his permanent release.” “You would do that?” I asked. “I am not expecting that I will have to. I am counting on your victory. But I will not tilt the odds in your favor. The victory must be yours alone. That is why I am taking the time with you to lay this comprehensive groundwork. Everything I share with you will be critical in your understanding of Loki.”

I straightened up and listened. “That’s better. Now it will serve you well to remember that his greatest power is deception, illusion and misdirection. He is a master at Image Protection as well as Thought Casting. He cannot read minds, but he can make very powerful suggestions that can alter your very actions toward him. He is an absolute master at Asgardian Science, what others incorrectly call magic, and he can duplicate or mimic nearly any other power he has ever seen used. If he sees you use invisibility, he can duplicate that power very little effort.”

“While he is able to direct kinetic force or energy attacks at foes, he very rarely attacks directly, preferring to misdirect his opponent’s attention, and then appear behind them to slide a dagger in between their ribs. He is capable of raising a shield against energy blasts, and can often block mental scans.”

I started at him, waiting for the part he hadn’t said yet, but that I knew was coming. “You are starting to understand. He is malevolent, manipulative and deadly. And his Psyche power is equal to yours.” I slumped. “How can I beat him then? It sounds impossible.”

“You can, because the Ring chose you. Primal forces like Loki exist all over the Multiverse. When miscreants such as Loki, Lobo, Doomsday, Ronan the Accuser, General Zod, or Annihilus need to be checked, people like Superman, Captain Marvel, The Avengers, Shazam or the Fantastic Four aren’t always going to be available. What happens when they aren’t. Or worse, what happens if Superman or Green Lantern or Captain Marvel go rogue? Fate forbid if we see Parallax or Dark Phoenix again. Who will stop Onslaught, if the X-men are in the middle of a battle with Apocalypse? You know these names. Check the Universal knowledge database in the Ring. Their violence and misdeeds are recorded there.” I started at the ring. “But-“

“You are an Indigo Lantern. You can, because the Ring has decided you are one to wield it, to unlock its awesome potential, to make a difference in the Mulitverse. Now- will you continue?” I raised my hand with the Ring on it. “I will.”

He transported me to the arena. Loki was sitting in the middle, on a dirt mound, looking bored. I threw up my force field. “Please,” said Loki with a tone more bored than his look. “This thing isn’t going anywhere.” “What?” I asked. “He, Grandmaster, wants us to fight. Why do you think?” “Because it’s part of my training,” I answered. “Typical,” Loki said. “He wants us to fight not because it benefits you, or even benefits me. He wants us to fight because it benefits him. I will have no part in it.”

“But, Grandmaster told me that he has offered you a great reward if you win.” “Big deal,” said Loki. “Anything I want or need, I am capable of getting myself.” “So we aren’t going to fight?” I asked. “Oh we will fight,” said Loki. “Just not each other.” Loki stood and started walking toward me. I raised the hand with the ring, making a fist. “Stay back!” Loki stopped. “Ok, ok, I’m not coming close. But let’s consider this- I have the capability of increasing your powers to levels you have never seen. What if I fortify you, and then we fight Grandmaster together?”

“Fight Grandmaster?” I asked. “Why would I do that?” “Because,” Loki answered, “that blue fool has riches and knowledge and resources stashed away and piled high. It would be more than enough for both of us to accomplish anything we wanted- me, correcting my birthright issues, and you with your crusading against injustice. You would be unstoppable. Let me show you something.”

Loki swirled his hands and a huge scene filled the arena. I saw myself, standing against Lobo, and with one blast, vaporizing him into nothing. In another scene, Dark Phoenix rose up from the ground and came at me. I enveloped her in an energy cocoon, and held her still, unable to act. She blasted the cocoon with energy beam after energy beam, but she couldn’t break through. In another scene, the leader of the Red Lanterns groveled at my feet for mercy.

“You see?” asked Loki. “You see what I can do for you. You see the power I can bestow on you? No one would stand in your way.” I stared at the scene. “Dark Phoenix? Lobo? Atrocitus? What about the Hulk?” “Well,” said Loki. “No one captures Hulk. But you could knock him unconscious for a while.” I looked at Loki. “But-“

“But what Lantern?” he asked. “That’s not the way the ring works,” I answered. I came aware just at the instant that Loki tried to shove a blade into my ribs from behind. My force field barely came up in time. “You just made a lethal mistake,” Loki said. “I wasn’t going to kill you. But I think that now, I will.” (fight results here)

“I didn’t want to do that,” I said reappearing in the infirmary. “And that,” said the Grandmaster, “is why you will have success.”