Loki Misses the Asgardian Prison System

Chapter 94

Loki backs up a few steps, giving Natasha space to play in front of him. Thor and Steve move away and out of their gamefield, the former plopping down on the couch and the latter leaning against the wall.

"Ready?" Natasha asks.

"Ready," Loki says.

Natasha hits the home button on her remote, and immediately, the game is back on. The ball is on her side of the court, just barely over the net, but in the time it takes to process that, it's practically bounced beyond the line.

She hits the ball at the last second, propelling it back over the net. Loki's front player sends it back, and Natasha's back player hits it again. This time, it's Loki's back player who has to grab it, which gives Natasha's front player the perfect opportunity to hit it back. It bounces once just in front of Loki's front player, and Loki dives to the side to get the back player to hit it. It bounces again before he's able to.

One point: Natasha.

"There we go," Natasha says, glancing back at him with a smirk. "Now we're even."

Loki frowns. "I'll be honest; I had not anticipated that."

"Gotta be careful who you challenge," Natasha says. "Some of us have more than 30 minutes of experience. "

"In my defense," Loki says, "you challenged me, not the other way around."

"Okay, yeah, that's true," she admits. "My serve. You ready?"

"Always am."

Natasha's Mii throws the ball up, and she flicks the remote. It ends up being a fastball, taking him completely off guard. He doesn't hit it.

"Still think you're gonna win?" Natasha asks with a smirk.

"How did you do that?" Loki asks in disbelief.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Natasha says teasingly.

"Yes, I would!"

Natasha does not end up telling him how it works. Her next serve isn't a fastball, so Loki hits it with ease. It begins another back-and-forth, and he focuses all his attention on the ball, careful to swing at the exact right moment. It goes well at first, but the longer it goes on, the more often the ball ends up on the sides of the court, and they both have to dive to the sides to hit it. Loki nearly crashes into Thor (again) at one point, and another, he and Natasha nearly collide.

Loki jumps from one side of the room to the other, trying to cross the whole field, but his Mii doesn't travel as far as he'd like and the ball bounces right by him. Loki throws his head back, exasperated. There's literally nothing else he could have done. This is not his fault.

Natasha throws her hands up, beaming. "Winner!"

"This would be a much easier game if it existed in the real world and not on a screen," Loki says. "My character can only move so far and so fast."

Natasha stares at him, clearly trying not to laugh (and failing spectacularly at it). "If tennis existed in the real world?"

"Yes," Loki insists. "These sensors are some impressive technology, but they do not necessarily capture one's intent."

"No, wait, back up," Natasha says, her face turning a faint shade of red from trying to hold in her laughter. "You don't think tennis exists?"

Loki blinks at the question. "It..." He cocks his head to the side. "It's a video game. It exists as a video game."

"Oh my god." Natasha throws her head back, her body shaking with laughter. "You don't think tennis exists." She looks over at Steve. "He doesn't think tennis exists."

Steve watches her, amused. "Yeah, I noticed."

Loki glances between them. "Does tennis exist outside of this game?"

Natasha puts her head in her hands. "Oh my god," she mutters to herself. She lowers her hands and looks at him. "Yes, Loki. Tennis is a real game."

Loki scoffs. "Well, now I'd like to play real tennis."

"Yeah, good luck with that," Natasha says. "I'd take you to a tennis court, but, y'know..." She gestures to him vaguely.

"You can't," Loki finished for her. He's very much aware of that. "Can it be played inside?"

"Well, not inside here," Natasha says. "In a gym, maybe, but not here."

"It would hardly be a fair game, anyway," Thor adds. "You can teleport."

And use telekinesis, Loki almost wants to add. Illusions, too, if he needs to cover something up. There are a lot of ways he could cheat.

"But I wouldn't," he tells his brother. (He's lying.)

"There's always pingpong," Steve suggests.

"That's not the same," Natasha says.

Loki furrows his brows. "What is that?"

"It's kinda like a smaller version of tennis," Steve says. "You play on a little table. It doesn't take a whole lot of space."

Loki frowns. "That sounds remarkably underwhelming."

"It is," Natasha says. "You're better off just playing on the Wii."

Steve shakes his head to himself. "I tried."

"Wait." Natasha's eyes light up. "I have an idea."