Here be'eth chapter two. I also fixed a typo in the summary *headdesk*. I may not always be great at responding to reviews but I appreciate them all - I'm just trying to focus on getting writing done!
From here-on-out, we're in Darcy's POV.
Chapter One: Public Service Broadcast
We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you an urgent news broadcast.
Darcy Lewis glanced up from the stitches she'd been squinting at to frown at the TV. She only had it turned on for the background noise—it provided a little company in her tiny Brooklyn apartment. She didn't pay much attention, but those words dragged her back to the real world. They couldn't herald anything good.
She waited, like she expected everyone who'd just heard the words were, and cursed under her breath when she realised she'd lost count of her stitches. Now she'd have to unpick and reknit the row. Silence rang and the screen flickered blue before an empty podium filled it. The podium stood on a stage that looked suspiciously like the one the President normally gave press conferences from.
After a pause, a middle-aged woman with an immaculate twin-set and chignon stepped onto the stage, heading for the microphone. Text scrolled across the bottom of the screen, announcing her as Violet Mayhew, Head of the World Security Council.
"Please don't be world war three," Darcy muttered to herself.
"Just over a year ago," Mayhew began, "the city of New York, where I now stand, suffered the worst catastrophe in its history following the invasion of an alien race." Her delivery was flat, robotic. Like she didn't believe what she was saying. "Their invasion was halted and the city—the entire Earth—was saved from destruction at their hands."
Darcy hadn't been here at the time, but she'd watched the devastation on a TV back in New Mexico. Even when she arrived in New York three months ago, the damage was still evident in places. Hell, it'd been the one of the most surreal points of her life, watching the guy she'd once tasered stop the invasion with his superhero friends. Only slightly less surreal than the time his brother had tried to destroy the town she was living in, but infinitely more scary when she'd realised he was the one leading the invasion. She'd seen the same CCTV stills as everyone else, and he'd looked like he was enjoying himself far too much.
"It has now come to our attention," Mayhew continued, "that our planet is still at risk. We cannot stand alone against the forces that would seek to attack us if they could. We must unite, every country, every nation, as one. We must come together under one leadership…" She paused, took a deep breath. "The leadership of a protector. An emperor."
There had to be a reaction from the crowd, but they were mute save for the rhythmic clicking of camera shutters.
Darcy glanced down at the glass of Coca-Cola she'd been drinking, trying to remember when she'd accidentally spiked it with hallucinogenics. There was no way the head of the World Security Council just announced the Earth needed an emperor. But this still didn't rank as the strangest day of her life. If Darcy wasn't high, then Mayhew was making this speech under duress.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you our noble protector…his exalted highness, Loki of Asgard."
From behind a curtain a tall figure emerged, black-haired and cloaked in armour—several cows' worth of black leather—heavy boots pounding on the floor as he stalked up to the podium. His hair was longer than it had been in the photos from his last jaunt to Earth, now falling around his shoulders. It was choppy, looking more like crow's feathers than real hair at the ends. His skin wasn't just pale, but pallid, bloodless, and the armour was battered and tarnished. It was impressive—intimidating—and Darcy knew this was the effect he wanted to have. In his gloved hands he carried a glowing blue box, its surface patterned with runes and emanating an eerie light.
She'd never properly seen his face before—rude, when you considered he'd tried to kill her once—and if it weren't for the expression on his face, she might have called him handsome, but pulse-racing fear overrode any other reaction she might have felt.
"Thank you for your introduction," he began, and his voice shocked Darcy. He sounded genuinely courteous, and his accent was pure, crisp upper-class English. She'd been expecting more inflection, more evidence that he wasn't of this world, but she'd met people who spoke in that accent. He looked so different to his brother but sounded so alike. "I graciously accept the role of Emperor and the burden that befalls me in doing so." He set the box down on the podium and stared directly into the camera. His eyes glittered, taking on the same blue glow, and Darcy got a glimpse of the maniac who'd wreaked havoc the last time around. Not so like his brother, then.
She realised with a start that Mayhew was now on her knees beside Loki, head bowed towards him. Darcy couldn't see her face, but her posture suggested she was not happy at being there.
"Some of you may be wondering why you should accept me as your lord and ruler. You may have heard stories about me before, whether ancient or much more recent. Alas, those stories have all come from those who would seek to diminish me, and you must learn to take only my own words as the truth. Further, you are all used to your apparent freedom, or subjugation at the hands of your fellow man. I am not like other men. I am a god—older than any nation and far more powerful than any man has ever been or ever will be. To demonstrate this to you, I conducted an experiment yesterday."
The screen changed to an idyllic atoll—Darcy guessed somewhere in the Pacific. The sand was white, the ocean turquoise, and palm trees swayed in the breeze. It was travel porn. "The island of Eloau yesterday," Loki said. His voice really was soothing, when you couldn't see his face. "And how it is today."
An iceberg came onto the screen, jutting out of azure waters. "No one lives on Eloau, because I do have it in me to be merciful. I have not yet wastefully killed any of you to prove a point. But you see, my ancestors caused ice ages here in this realm, and I have the same ability. That may be one small island, but make no mistake, I can do the same to any country that defies my rule. You either accept me as your ruler, or an endless winter will return." The camera cut back to Loki, a manic smile on his face, and Darcy shivered at the sight.
The screen went black, more words scrolling up. You will await further instructions from your Emperor. In the meantime, please go about your daily business as usual.
Knitting abandoned, Darcy decided it was in her best interests to get to Stark Tower, and any sanctuary SHIELD could provide, as fast as she could.
