Earlier that afternoon...

Pablo saluted Zachary Strange as he stepped through the portal, and Zachary smiled back at him. Lorelei rolled her eyes, dragging Pablo clear of the Sling-Ring portal, which had a distinctly green tinge at the edges.

Her gaze landed on the Eye of Agamotto, which she could still see shimmering on its chain around Zachary's neck. The portal was visibly starting to shrink, and Levi and Okapi stepped through it quickly before it could fade entirely.

"Good luck," Zachary Strange greeted them, and then the portal shrunk to nothingness and disappeared in a flurry of green sparks.

"I don't feel so good," Pablo muttered, grabbing into Lorelei's shoulder for support.

"No wonder, this is your first time travelling through time with a Sling Ring portal," Lorelei remarked, gently taking his hand off her shoulder.

"I didn't even know that you could do that," Okapi commented.

"Nor did I, until a few years back," Levi shrugged, "it's the closest to time travel we've come thusfar, since the library in the original Sanctum was destroyed years ago. It's a very precise art, and so far even my father can only send us up to a year backwards, and not forwards at all."

"Luckily for us, we only needed to go a few days back," Lorelei noted, re-synchronizing her watch with the current time, "this should be the day that the supposed 'Hulk II' was seen."

She glanced up at the circular building in front of them.

"Somewhere around this AWSOMR prison."

There was a moment of silence as they all looked up at the gigantic prison, each mentally comparing it to other buildings they knew and coming to their own conclusions.

Okapi's face was hard to read, but she didn't seem too impressed. Pablo and Levi, however, had awe written all over their faces at the sheer size of the prison. Lorelei's expression was passive -- she's seen bigger.

"So we do what?" Okapi enquired, "just walk in? Wait here?"

Lorelei pursed her lips in thought.

"Well, obviously somebody's got to stay outside," she mused, "otherwise we might miss the so-called Hulk. I suggest Pablo and I go inside to see if there's any clues as to what's going on."

Okapi crossed her arms rebelliously.

"Any why should you two go inside, hmm? Why not Levi and I?"

"Because we're the ones more equipped for stealth," Lorelei explained impatiently, "Luis can shrink to a size where he's barely visible, and I can disguise myself with illusions."

Okapi breathed out with a huff.

"I suppose you're right," she admitted -- (*gasp* what's this? is it... character development?) -- "what do you want Levi and I to do?"

Lorelei was taken aback for a moment by Okapi's quick agreement, but shook it off and studied their surroundings.

"Well... if you could take up a post in that little bit of forest over there..." she pointed to a small cluster of trees, "then you could keep an eye on the place without being seen."

Levi and Okapi exchanged a look, and Levi shrugged.

"Sounds good to me."

-

Pablo balanced on Lorelei's shoulder precariously, while Lorelei created an illusion of invisibility and slipped into the enormous prison. Most of the hallways were deserted, with only the odd guard walking around.

"What exactly are we looking for?" Pablo enquired, "I mean, I assume we're looking for something, because what else would we be doing in here, y'know? But if we're not looking for anything that's fine too, I just wanted to know--"

"We're looking for a laboratory of some sort, Pablo," Lorelei whispered, a small smile gracing her features at Pablo's rambling. He'd been suspiciously silent since they'd traveled through the sling-ring-time-portal-thing, and she'd figured that moving through time so suddenly had messed up his biological clock significantly. Of course, being Midgardian, he was extra sensitive to long-distance travelling methods in general, but the time-travel effect was something even Lorelei could feel, despite the half-Jotun blood that coursed through her veins.

"Right, a lab," Pablo repeated to himself, "so... if I was a secret organization, where would I hide a lab?"

He paused.

"Well, probably not in a prison near dangerous criminals," he pointed out.

Lorelei hummed in agreement.

"It does seem like a rather unwise to have a laboratory anywhere near a whole collection of dangerous criminals," she mused, "but perhaps that in itself is a good reason to do it -- nobody would see it coming."

"I understood that reference," Pablo mumbled.

"What?" Lorelei frowned.

"Nothing, nothing," Pablo shook his head, "we were looking for a lab, remember?"

-

Levi yawned.

"It's been hours!" he complained, "when are Lorelei and Pablo coming back so we can leave?"

Okapi sighed, shaking her head.

"They went inside barely five minutes ago Levi."

Levi groaned, leaning backwards against a tree.

"But it feels like hours!"

Okapi rolled her eyes.

"Develop some patience, idiot. It's a useful trait to have."

"And an impossible one," Levi muttered, "I mean--"

"Shh!" Okapi hissed.

"Did you just shush me?" Levi enquired, arching one eyebrow into the air.

"Levi, quiet!" Okapi prompted, cocking her head slightly as she listened. Levi furrowed his eyebrows in confusion but obeyed, trying to figure out what Okapi had heard.

Then he heard it too; soft footfalls, and a rhythmic crunch crunch as a small group of people approached them.

"Hide!" Okapi hissed sharply, and the both of them took cover behind a tree.

The group came to a halt at the edge of the clump of trees, facing the AWSOMR prison.

"Are we ready?" one of them asked, and Levi's frown deepened as he realized that the voice belonged to a young person -- a boy, not older than eighteen certainly.

"Yes!" two others replied.

"We should get out of here," Okapi muttered, "before we're seen."

"And just abandon Pablo and Lorelei?" Levi frowned.

Okapi shook her head.

"No, I was suggesting we join them inside the prison. We're of no use out here anyway."

Levi hesitated a moment.

"But Lorelei said..."

"Are you really going to listen to what Lorelei said?" Okapi rolled her eyes, "I mean come on, she's... she's the daughter of a supervillain!"

"That doesn't make her a bad person," Levi pointed out.

"Not directly, no," Okapi agreed, "but I think in the very least we should treat her with caution. I mean, how long have you known her? A few weeks?"

"Almost a year now," Levi answered hesitantly, "Thor brought her to the Sanctum because he was too busy saving the galaxy to watch her as well. But... are you suggesting we shouldn't trust her?"

Okapi sighed.

"I'm not saying you shouldn't trust her, I'm just stating that I don't."

"And how does this affect our current situation?"

"Let's just get into the prison! We can keep an eye on both Lorelei and still do what we came to do."

Levi hesitated a moment longer, and then nodded in agreement.

The duo slipped away unnoticed, heading for the ASHDRAY.

-

Lorelei's eyes flashed from left to right, searching for anything helpful. Pablo walked beside her, back to his normal size, and Lorelei had dropped the invisibility illusion so he wouldn't lose her.

She froze as she heard footsteps behind her, and whizzed around to face Levi.

"Levi!" she exclaimed angrily.

"Levi?" Pablo frowned, turning around as well.

"Heyyyyy Lorelei," Levi smiled sheepishly.

"What are you doing here?" Lorelei hissed sharply.

"Well, you see, there were people outside, so we thought that instead of just running off we might as well slip inside and see if we can help."

"We?" Pablo enquired.

"Yeah, Okapi and I split up so we'd have a higher change of finding you."

Lorelei gritted her teeth.

"Pablo, stay here with Levi. I'm going to find Okapi. And if either of you so much as moves a muscle..."

She left the threat hanging in the air, storming off in a huff.

"What's up with her?" Levi asked softly once she was out of eyesight and earshot.

Pablo shrugged.

"She's been really edgy since we got here, I think she just really doesn't want to fail. After all, this is her chance to prove herself, ya know? I mean, she's being trying to do that since she came to the Sanctum, obviously, and I mean, I don't think it's necessary, she's proven herself already, but try telling her that. It's like talking to a -- what were those things called again, Bilchsteim? Anyway, why couldn't you and Okapi stay outside though? I mean, I'm sure there were plenty of trees you could've hidden in."

Levi echoed Pablo's shrug.

"I guess we could've, but sitting still isn't really my forte."

"Ah yes, the patience factor, Lorelei should've taken that into consideration," Pablo muttered.

Levi's cutting retort was drowned out by the howl of a loud alarm, which blared through every speaker in the area and made both of them cringe in surprise.

"What is that?" Levi asked.

Before Pablo could answer, the two screens started lowering down on either end of the passage, like massive airlock doors. Pablo and Levi exchanged a look and ran towards the closest one, sliding under it and finding themselves in an almost empty room.

Almost empty, except for Lorelei and Okapi.

They wore matching scowls, bickering loudly and not even noticing Levi and Pablo's approach. The alarm was still resounding through the building, making it hard to understand what they were saying.

"...oh, so you're accusing me of treachery? Look who's talking, oh right-- the daughter of the Lord of Mischief!"

"...you can't just stomp in here like you own the place! Just because you're a princess in Wakanda doesn't mean you're royalty here, you egotistical--"

"...no wonder Thor ditched you on earth! You're impossible to bear!"

"...I'm not surprised they didn't want to let you fight in the war, there's no knowing who's side you'd be on!"

"Take that back!"

"Hah, not likely!"

"Girls, calm down!" Levi ordered, but neither payed attention to him.

"Allow me," Pablo smirked, gently moving Levi aside.

Pablo took a deep breath.

"SHUT UP, INSUFFERABLE MEWLING QUIMS!"

That got their attention all right. They both turned to face him, arms crossed and eyebrows furrowed. The alarm began to die down, but the room was still hermetically sealed.

"Great," Pablo crossed his arms as well, "now that I've got your attention, would either of you mind explaining to me what's going on?"

"Sure," Okapi replied, "what happened is that Lorelei betrayed us by setting the alarm off."

Levi and Pablo's eyebrows shot into the air in sync.

"And you... saw that?" Pablo asked carefully.

"No," Okapi admitted.

Pablo turned to Lorelei, who's face was still tinted slightly red in fury.

"And what's your story?"

Lorelei took a steady breath to calm herself down, and ran a hand through her black hair.

"I saw Okapi running out of a room across the passage just after the alarm went off, and I think she set it off."

"So basically you're both accusing one another of the same thing?" Levi asked, some amusement in his voice.

"Yes," Okapi answered seriously, "except that the trivial difference is that Lorelei is obviously lying, because it's in her blood."

Pablo saw the spark of anger in Lorelei's eyes and intervened before it could get out of hand.

"Stick to the facts, Okapi."

"Hmpff, well, Okapi's not to be trusted either," Lorelei grumbled, "we've barely known her for a month!"

Okapi opened her mouth to protest, but at that moment the airlock doors slid open to reveal a squad of armed guards.

"Hands up, you're under arrest for infiltrating private territory!"