They were all tired, hungry, and mad. Yes, after a day of fighting, The Avengers were beat.
"It isn't usually this hard!" complained Tony as he flopped down on the ground.
Steve glanced wearily at him. " I don't know what to tell you" the super soldier said. " He seems to have more energy today".
This was a true statement. After the huge battle in New York, Loki had been tossed in a jail cell up on Asguard. The Avengers had been told that he would spend the rest of his life there. Which is why it was so surprising when about six months later, The Avengers walked into Stark tower to find the place in ruins and Loki in the center of it all, demanding revenge. Another fight had occurred, and once again, Loki was off to jail. Every now and then, though, Loki would break out and come to Midguard. The last four or five times this happened, though, Loki seemed more tired, more willing to surrender and he caused less injures.
Today, however, Loki fought with new energy. A glean they hadn't seen for a while was back in his emerald green eyes. He held his scepter in a more royal sort of way, he was utterly convinced he was going to win.
He didn't even have an army.
" But why?" whined Tony. " Why?"
" He has a plan."
This sentence the teammates closest to Captain America to turn around in bewilderment. The Captain repeted himself.
" He has a plan. That's why he has so much energy, that's why he's so sure of himself…he has a plan."
At this exact moment, Loki screamed out, " I will win, you foolish mortals! I do what I please with you! Ha! Perhaps I will send you off to another dimension! Another dimension, what do you think of that?"
" Calm yourself, brother," Thor called out, " Calm yourself!"
" Never!"
Thor sighed and swung his hammer around his head. Lifting a few feet off the ground, he soared towards his brother. Loki noticed this and said, " Very well, then. It seems as though we are going on an adventure!"
Tony, Clint and Steve were all in the process of making there way towards Loki when something stopped them dead in their tracks. Loki had begun to scream loudly in a langue none of them had heard before. With one hand, he banged the scepter on the ground. With the other hand he seemed to be drawing shapes in the air.
"Brother, stop!" yelled Thor.
"What the hell is he doing?" wondered Tony out loud.
A blue light seemed to be coming from the scepter. Loki chanted louder. Something seemed to be pulling the the Avengers into the scepter, like gravity was dragging them.
"Holy shi-"
Tony's words were cut short when Thor fell directly on top of him. Tony grasped the ground franticly, trying to hold on to the dirt, the gravel, anything as he felt his body being lifted up and being dragged to the portal that was forming. In a panic, his fingers grasped the ground, dragging it with him as he went. He felt heat wash over him as he screamed in terror. Blue light flashed in front of his eyes. He went swirling down into the portal, twisting, being pulled downward….
...0...
Tony woke in the dark. He heard shouts and- was that gunfire? He moaned and looked, and gasped.
A large creature stood above him, his outline clear against the tall skyscrapers behind him. With the wind blowing and the darkness falling, it seem to Tony that a very large bat was perched a few feet above his head.