Lyria Stark
Chapter 2
Loki stood in front of a museum, dressed in 21st century attire and with the tesseract-powered scepter disguised as a cane. He walked up to the entrance of the gala and slipped in with the crowd before heading up onto a balcony in order to locate his target. Inside was a lavish gala with a string quartet playing beautiful soothing music, and it made Lyria's ears hurt…she wanted her rock and metal not this soft crap. She was stuck at this gala because she and her brother had donated a lot of money to fund their newest wing and Tony, the lucky little bastard, had sent her so he could talk to Fury instead. She had decided to wear an ankle length gown in a beautiful lilac color with Amethyst and silver jewelry to match. Loki noticed the dark-haired beauty in the crowd, deciding that once he had subjugated these people he could claim her as his prize, but first he had work to do. The quartet was interrupted as the head Doctor walked up to the microphone to give his speech. Loki looked from above and descended down the massive staircase towards where the head Doctor was. As he made his way down the staircase he flipped his cane around to hold only one end and, when the guard there noticed him and pulled out his gun, Loki used his scepter like a club and swung it hard to hit the man and send him flying into a wall. Chaos erupted as people began fleeing the museum in fear and panic. Loki grabbed the doctor and flipped him over onto a marble table, pulling out a horrible looking device which he plunged down onto the doctor's eye. The doctor man twisted in pain until Loki finally released him. As the crowd ran away, Loki slowly walked outside and materialized in his gold and green armor with a helmet bearing curved horns. The police cars arrive and with absolutely no hesitation Loki blasts the cars with blue light, flipping them end over end and slamming them into each other. He looks out at the crowd backing away from him and speaks in a calm tone.
"Kneel before me."
The crowd ignores him and tries to flee in another direction but another Loki appears, blocking their pathway. Loki after Loki appears, all of them grinning as they raised their spears and tapped the ends hard on the ground causing a bright light to flare while they encircled the crowd.
"I said. KNEEL!"
Everyone became quiet and knelt in front him as his voice echoed out around them. Loki spread his arms out, smiling as they complied with his demand. Lyria knelt with the rest of the crowd so as not to draw attention to herself, she would wait for the right moment to act…especially since she didn't have her suit with her.
"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."
As the words resonated through the kneeling crowd, an elderly German man refused to kneel any longer and stood up to face Loki. This man remembered the atrocities borne upon the innocent masses by Adolph Hitler, a man who had thought to rule others through fear and death…and he would not be the one to stand by and do nothing, not again.
"Not to men like you."
Loki gave the elderly man a slightly amused look.
"There are no men like me."
"There are always men like you."
Loki pointed his scepter at the elderly man and spoke to the kneeling people before him.
"Look to your elder, people. Let him be an example. "
Loki was about to execute him with his scepter as the light glowed blue, and the elderly man just stood there ready to face it. Lyria stood up then and let her lavender colored wings unfurl, pulling Loki's attention away from the elderly man and onto her instead. He was surprised to see the dark haired beauty he'd noticed before, though he was impressed that she had the nerve to stand up against him.
"What have we here? A little mortal woman with wings?"
"Leave that man, and the rest of these people, alone. You want to pick on someone? Pick on someone who can fight back."
Loki gave her a sinister smile and pointed his scepter at her instead, intending to hit her with a softer beam that would render her unconscious rather than kill her, but just as the energy beam shot out Captain America arrived. He dove in to crouch in front of her just in time to block the blast with his shield, knocking Loki onto his ass. The Captain stood and checked on Lyria before turning to face Loki.
"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing."
"The soldier. A man out of time."
"I'm not the one who's out of time."
As the Captain finished speaking the Quinjet came in to hover overhead, pointing a large weapon at Loki as Natasha's voice came over the external speakers.
"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."
Loki sent a blast of blue energy at the Quinjet and Natasha maneuvered it out of the way just in time, giving the Captain time to throw his shield at Loki. The two men both began to fight each other as Loki flung the Captain to the ground. The Captain then threw his shield, but Loki swatted it away like it was a mere toy it way. Captain America started using boxing moves to hit Loki but was knocked down. Loki stood over the crouching Captain and placed his scepter on his head, trying to push him down onto both knees to make him kneel.
"Kneel."
"Not today!"
Captain America flipped over and knocked Loki down with a leg sweep, but Loki grabbed him and flipped him over as well. Natasha tried to get a clear shot at Loki but the two men were moving too fast and she didn't want to hit the Captain by accident.
"This guy's all over the place."
Lyria flapped her wings and flew at Loki, distracting him for a moment before he threw her to the ground, though he was far gentler with her than he was with the Captain it still knocked the breath out of her lungs for a bit.
Suddenly, AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" overrode the Quinjet's speakers on the outside, and Tony's voice sounded over the headset Natasha wore.
"Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?"
Both Captain America and Loki look up at the sky as the song blasts across the courtyard. Lyria smirked at Loki as Iron Man flew down and blasted Loki right back to the ground before touching down in a crouched landing next to his sister. Iron Man stood up and pulled out every piece of weaponry his suit had, the Quinjet maneuvering in behind him and pointing its guns at him as well.
"Make a move, Reindeer Games."
Loki put up his hands and surrendered at Tony's words. His armor materialized away and returned to the suit and scarf he'd worn for the gala. Lyria had to admit it looked pretty good on him, though she'd never tell her brother that because he'd blow a gasket or something.
"Good move."
Iron Man let the weapons return to their places and turned to lift Lyria from the ground, setting her gently on her feet and checking her for any injuries.
"You alright Princess?"
"I'm fine Tony. I promise. I've taken worse hits than that."
Tony let out a small sigh of relief and hugged her before looking at the Captain. Captain America turned to Iron Man as the man let his faceplate drop and gave him a respectful nod.
"Mr. Stark."
Tony glared at the man, blaming him for their father's obsession with the super soldier serum and the fact that he'd hardly ever been there when they'd needed him. His tone was rather icy and unfriendly and it left the other man wondering what he could have done wrong when they only just met.
"Captain."
Captain America turned to Lyria and gave her a little half-bow of respect, hoping she'd be a bit less frosty than her brother.
"Miss Stark."
She was decidedly warmer towards him than her brother was as she let her faceplate drop as well. She didn't hold their father's neglect against the man because he didn't as their father to devote all of his time to the super soldier thing.
"Captain. Pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise."
Loki watched as she folded her wings and they vanished, curious as to how a mortal woman could have acquired such a rare gift. He'd never really had any interest in mortal women before but this one was a stunning creature that could rival any Asgardian woman. Once they were all back in the jet and heading back to the Helicarrier they felt a bit more relaxed. Natasha watched the skies as thunder rumbles and seem to come out of nowhere. Fury speaks to her over her headset.
Said anything?
"Not a word."
"Just get him here. We're low on time."
Loki was cuffed to his seat as Tony and Steve watched him from a distance, whispering to each other while Lyria just tried to ignore them all. Loki was making it very difficult for her to ignore him with the way he stared at her, his gaze never wavering even once. She felt his gaze like a flame licking across her skin and it made her skin tingle and bump up until she finally opened her eyes and gave him a bored look, earning a raised eyebrow in return.
"I don't like it."
"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?"
"I don't remember it being all that easy. This guy packs a wallop."
"Still, you are pretty spry, for an older fellow. What's your thing? Pilates?"
"Tony…"
Lyria gave Tony a warning look while Steve just looked confused.
"What?"
"It's like calisthenics. You might have missed a couple things, you know, doing time as a Capsicle."
"Tony…play nice."
Thunder roared as lightning nearly hit the jet, making it shake violently, and Lyria closed her eyes tightly for a moment. Tony put a hand on her shoulder to calm her but she shook him off and went to sit across from Loki, intent on not having a panic attack. Loki watched her closely, feeling the fear radiating from her as it escalated the more violent the storm became, and for some reason he felt an urge to comfort the mortal woman that left him wondering what was wrong with him. Natasha looked around in confusion at the storm that seemed to have come out of nowhere.
"Where's this coming from?"
Thunder rumbled overhead as Loki stared out the window intently, looking rather unnerved, though he did send a concerned glance at Lyria when the sound made her jump and curl up into herself even more tightly. She'd had a fear of storms since she was a little girl and almost died in one. Their father had been drunk when he picked her up from a friend's house and ran off the road, landing in a river. A passing car had seen the smoke coming from below and stopped to help, managing to get both of them out safely before the paramedics even arrived. Lyria had feared storms ever since, and it was the same reason she hated alcohol. Steve decided to mock Loki a bit for his nervousness only to have Tony glare at him angrily and motion towards his sister, which made Steve feel bad immediately.
"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?"
Loki's voice held a small bit of nervousness as he spoke and it made Lyria fidget in her seat across from him, thinking that anything that could make a guy like him nervous could not possibly be a good thing for the rest of them.
"I am not overly fond of what follows."
"Something tells me we won't be either…"
Tony and Steve stared at Loki and Lyria in confusion until a blinding light hit the jet. A loud thud was heard as a man dropped onto the top of the jet, landing in a crouch with a large hammer in his fist. The mighty Thor. Thor opened the jet's ramp and grabbed Loki by the throat before flying out. Steve and Tony were left staring in dumbstruck shock before Tony recovered and put the Iron Man helmet on. Lyria cursed loudly and caused Steve to look over at her in shock, not used to hearing women curse like men.
"Now there's that guy."
"Another Asgardian?"
"Think the guy's a friendly?"
"Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."
Tony turned and got ready to jump off the jet to chase after Thor, but Steve stopped him for a moment.
"Stark, we need a plan of attack!"
"I have a plan. Attack."
Iron Man jumped out of the jet and chased after Thor. Captain America grabed a parachute and started trying to get it on as quickly as possible. Lyria watched him for a moment before calling her wings up and letting them unfurl from her back and jumping out to follow her brother down to earth. Natasha looked at Steve as she fiddled with the controls around her.
"I'd sit this one out, Cap."
"I don't see how I can."
"These guys come from legend, they're basically gods."
"There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like that."
Captain America followed the others out of the jet while Natasha tried to find a safe place to land the thing without crashing.
As they fell to the earth Thor threw Loki into the side of the mountain as he raised the mighty hammer, Mjölnir, over his head as if to strike Loki with it. He looked down at his brother, whom he had thought to be dead and was angry to see him alive in this fashion.
"Where is the Tesseract?"
"I missed you too."
"Do I look to be in a gaming mood?!"
"Oh, you should be thanking me. With the Bifrost gone how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here? Your precious Earth."
Thor dropped Mjölnir, causing the mountain to quake slightly from the force of the impact. He grabbed Loki by the back of his head and brought their faces close together, the raw emotion in his eyes momentarily causing Loki's stand-offish expression to falter. Although Thor was still angry for what he had done family is everything, whether you are man or god it does not matter.
"I thought you dead."
Loki was being a little smartass and mocking his brother's sadness and anguish.
"Did you mourn?"
"We all did. Our father..."
"Your father. He did tell you my true parentage, did he not?"
Thor let go of Loki who walked away from him. Thor tried to reason with his brother, to bring him back to how he used to be, but Loki was unwilling to hear his brother's words.
"We were raised together…we played together…we fought together. Do you remember none of that?"
"I remember a shadow. Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss. I was and should be king!"
"So you take the world I love as recompense for your imagined slights. No, the Earth is under my protection, Loki."
"And you're doing a marvelous job with that. The humans slaughter each other in droves, while you idly fret. I mean to rule them…and why should I not?"
"You think yourself above them?"
Loki gave Thor a look as if he were a simpleton incapable of understanding basic language.
"Well, yes."
"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. A throne would suit you ill."
Angrily, Loki shoved his brother to the side. He walked back up to the ledge and turned back around to face Thor again.
"I've seen worlds you've never known about! I have grown, Odinson, in my exile! I have seen the true power of the Tesseract, and when I wield it..."
"Who showed you this power? Who controls the would-be-king?"
"I am a king!"
"Not here! You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream! …and you come home."
"I don't have it. You need the cube to bring me home, but I've sent it off I know not where."
Mjölnir flies back to his grasp.
"You listen well, brother. I..."
Thor was tackled by Iron Man going full speed and the two men ended up going right off the mountain. Loki let his sarcastic side show with a mischievous little grin.
"I'm listening."
Thor and Iron Man crashed down into a forest. Thor quickly rolled himself up as Iron Man managed to land on his feet a short distance away and opened his faceplate. Thor looked decidedly unhappy as he spoke to Iron Man in a rough tone. Iron Man, of course, let his smart mouth get the better of him as he usually does.
"Do not touch me again!"
"Then don't take my stuff."
"You have no idea what you're dealing with."
"Uh…Shakespeare in the park? Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?"
"This is beyond you, metal man. Loki will face Asgardian justice!"
"He gives up the Cube, he's all yours. Until then…stay out of my way...tourist."
Iron Man pulled his faceplate back up and turned to walk away. In one quick move Thor pulled Mjölnir back to his hand and threw it at Iron Man, knocking him into a tree. Iron Man shook his head a bit and decided he was done trying to play nice.
"Okay."
From the mountain side, Loki watched on in amusement until Lyria landed gracefully next to him and folded her wings back. His attention became distracted by the agitated female who went right up to the edge of the cliff to try and yell at her brother but realized quickly that he couldn't hear her. The sound of a dark chuckle next to her brought her attention over to the dark-haired god of mischief with a small snarl on her lips.
"What part of this is amusing to you?! You are so lucky Fury wants you in one piece."
"Oh? And why is that? You think you can actually damage me little mortal?"
"I may be small but I am not someone to be taken lightly. I can and will kick your ass if I have to Loki."
Loki stood to his full height and towered over her, his bright blue eyes flickering to green and then back to blue as he stared down at her. Lyria stood her ground and stared right back at him, refusing to be intimidated by anyone…ever. Her large lavender wings flared out behind her in a stunning display that momentarily rendered Loki speechless. He took a step back and gave her a charming smile, speaking in a silky voice that rolled over her skin like honey and made her shiver slightly…something Loki took notice of and filed away for later use. He let some of his power seep into his voice and lull her into a slight daze.
"I certainly like your attitude little mortal. All feisty fire and strong backbone…that fire inside of you makes you infinitely lovelier than any other I've encountered in this place thus far. I could make you a very happy woman you know…wealth, power, anything you desire. I can give you the world…all you need to do is surrender to me little one."
He trailed a finger along her arm and she snapped out of the daze his voice had put her in with a low growl of warning, taking a couple steps back from him as her wings flared out in agitation. She shook her head to clear it and glared at him.
"What the hell was that? Look pal…I'm not interested in being flirted with and it won't help you so just get that out of your head right now. Sit down and keep your thoughts to yourself or I'll just have to gag you so you can't use that wicked tongue of yours."
"I look forward to showing you just how wicked my tongue can me little one."
Loki gave her a seductive look but she gave disgusted eye roll, though he noticed the shiver that rolled through her body, and turned back to the fight between their brothers. Thor raised his hand and Mjölnir flew back to his hand. Thor swung the hammer, summoning a ray of energy, but Iron Man stood up and fired a blast of energy that knocked the god on his ass. Iron Man flew back up and knocked Thor into a tree. Thor, while kneeling on the ground, pulled Mjölnir to his hand and raised it to the skies to pull in lighting and thunder. Thor pointed the hammer at Iron Man and the outpouring of lightning bolts increased in intensity. Iron Man fell back as Jarvis' voice sounded in his ear.
"Power at 400% capacity."
"How about that?"
Iron Man fired at Thor from his hand boosters, pushing Thor to his knees. Like two gunslingers ready to draw, both Thor and Iron Man flew towards each other and met in the middle before flying up over the trees. The two began an aerial battle as Iron Man grabbed Thor, elbowing him and smashing him into the side of a mountain. Thor leapt off the mountain and took Iron Man with him. Thor and Iron Man crashed back down into the ground, smashing down every tree possible on the way. Iron Man yanked Thor right back up, but Thor grabbed both of his hand boosters and began to crush them. Iron Man quickly charged as much energy as he could and shot it right in Thor's face. Thor fell back, losing his balance. Iron Man head-butted Thor, with his gold-titanium alloy helmet and Thor...head-butted him back, sending Iron Man flying across the forest.
Neither of the fighting men heard the angry scream coming from the cliff above as Lyria threatened to castrate Thor if he killed her brother, which only seemed to further amuse Loki as he just sat back to watch the show.
Iron Man fired his boosters up and flew back at Thor, grabbing him by the arm and cape to swing him into another tree. Thor looked up and ran at Iron Man who swung at him and missed, giving Thor the momentum to grab him, lift him and smash him down hard into the ground. Thor summoned Mjölnir back to his hand. Just as he's about to put the hammer down on Iron Man's head the man used his hand boosters to skid across the ground and trip Thor over. Thor stood up and looked for him but Iron Man crashed into his back. Thor stood to face Iron Man yet again, ready to pounce...but Captain America's shield ricocheted off both Thor and Iron Man, stopping them in their tracks as their attention turned to the spangle suited man. They looked up to see Captain America standing on top of a fallen tree with the shield back in hand.
"Hey! That's enough!"
"Now, I don't know what you plan on doing here."
"I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes!"
"Then prove it! Put the hammer down."
"Um, yeah, no! Bad call! He loves his hammer!"
Thor backhanded Iron Man with his massive hammer and lifted it back up as he nearly growled at Captain America.
"You want me to put the hammer down?"
Thor leapt high into the air, raising that hammer over his head. Captain America crouched down and held up his shield as Thor brought the hammer down onto the shield and a massive explosion of light reacted to the Vibranium shield creating a massive shockwave that blew up anything standing within a mile radius of the men. Iron Man stood up first, looking around like `holy shit', and lying right next to him was Captain America who kept his eyes on Thor. Thor looked at both men, ready to go again, until an unhappy female voice interrupted the male staring contest. Lyria landed softly in the large clearing the men had made, having left Loki handcuffed in the back of the Jet with Natasha standing guard over him. She folded her wings back and crossed her arms.
"Are we done with the dick measuring contest now?"
Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man all turned to look at Lyria who was glaring at the three men…though mostly Tony and Thor who both had the grace to look ashamed of themselves.
If you are quite finished trying to kill my brother perhaps we can all act like adults and talk this out calmly back on the Helicarrier?"
"My apologies My Lady…I was unaware a woman was present or I would have been more careful."
"Not what I asked big guy. Can we go now? Loki is back in the jet and Natasha is guarding him alone. I don't trust him alone with anyone with that voice of his."
Thor gave her a calculating look and followed her back to the jet, Tony and Steve following a bit slower behind. When they finally got back to the jet Thor glared at Loki who merely gave him an unrepentant shrug and ignored his brother in favor of watching Lyria. Lyria did her best to ignore the god of mischief, choosing to turn her attention to getting Tony out of his armor and checking his injuries. Thor winced as each piece of armor removed revealed bruises, making him feel a bit bad for what he'd done. Lyria reached into her little bag, which had somehow survived everything, and pulled out a small jar of purple cream which she started to massage into each bruise as Tony whined at her about the pain.
"Suck it up buttercup. I'm almost done you big baby…hold the fuck still."
They finally made it to the Helicarrier and Tony immediately packed his armor pieces into a big sack. They all headed to the main meeting table on the bridge while Loki was escorted by a security team to a special holding cell.