"Bring your tired, Bring your shame, Bring your guilt, Bring your pain, Don't you know that's not you're name, You will always be much more to me Every day I wrestle with the voices, That keep telling me I'm not right, But that's alright 'Cause I hear a voice and He calls me redeemed, When others say I'll never be enough, And greater is the One living inside of me, Than He who is living in the world, In the world, In the world, And greater is the One living inside of me, Than He who is living in the world..." Greater, MercyMe
Chapter Four
My thoughts were churning with anxiety as I got closer to my destination. I don't even want to know why SHIELD had Natasha drop me off here. Wouldn't it be safer to keep me in the jet? Or was Fury just testing me? If I chose to run now I'm sure he would easily catch me. Though he would have his hands full when Loki gave himself up.
The Stuttgart Oprah House was a massive building, and it shouldn't be hard to miss in such a small city. So why was I wandering around like an idiot? That question seemed to keep returning as I slowly made my way towards what I guessed was my destination. By now I'm guessing that Clint's already made his way past the guards. Which meant it wouldn't be long before Loki wreaked havoc in the building. Let's just say he needed an eyeball and be done with it.
I still cringed at that. Needing an eyeball made me think of all those horror movies I've refused to watch over the years. But hey, whatever got things moving at this point.
Once I crossed the street I noticed that there weren't any security guards around. Than I realized that they probably wouldn't even let me inside. I wasn't exactly dressed for the occasion. A hoodie and jeans weren't exactly formal clothes for such an event. Plus I never got the invitation.
So I guess I was supposed to stand here and wait until people came out screaming. That shouldn't take long, especially with Loki in the area. I had a feeling that once everything was in place this would move rather quickly.
While waiting for Loki to attack, I couldn't help but think of everything happening. First off I had that really strange, well I guess that it was a vision if anything else. I mean, if what I thought was true than this was all just a bad dream. Which I was still hoping I would wake up from.
The Tesseract. I'd mentioned it more than a few times and suddenly have a vision like that. What made me more anxious than anything else was how vivid that vision was. I could clearly make out a face, but I couldn't remember who or what he was. I just kept getting that really bad vibe that he was evil. And would do anything he could to take over the world.
Minutes seemed to pass before anything happened. I sat on one of the steps, twirling my hair with my finger while trying to pass the time. Boredom was never something I had to worry about before. Now I was beginning to see why. My life had always been hectic, and now I was left to just sit and wait.
Suddenly the sound of people screaming caught my attention. Glancing up I noticed that they were streaming out of the building, running in a panic. Well, I suppose it's time to run and hide. Loki really liked to put on a good show - his ego made Stark look like a saint.
I didn't get very far, and decided to take the chance and hide behind a statue. This was a chance to see Loki in action. And I was not missing that opportunity. So slowly and carefully I inched my way around so that he wouldn't hopefully notice me. Though with the luck I have, he already knew I was there.
He walked confidently down the stairs, outfit changing from a formal suit to a gold and green armor with that tacky looking helmet.
I just stood and watched as he ordered the crowd to listen. Obviously they weren't going to. They were panicking too much to even notice. All the while I was wondering when Steve would come in and stop this madness. Wasn't there someone who would stand up and almost get killed?
And of course he only got angrier.
"I SAID KNEEL!" He slammed the staff down, sending a shockwave throughout the area.
At this point everyone stopped running. An eerie silence fell upon the crowd as everyone began to do as they were told. I just watched with fascination as they looked at Loki with both fear and fascination. Much like my reaction when I first saw the movie. A few people had noticed me lurking behind the statue, desperation written across their faces.
"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state?" Loki began speaking, and already my stomach was doing back flips. This was one scene I had pretty much memorized. Loki had that powerful voice of his that always seemed to make everyone love him.
Of course here I could see that it was only stirring fear. Well done screenwriters. Tom Hiddleston was the perfect actor for Loki.
"It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad rush for power, for identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel."
At this point I was already at a loss for words. It seemed to be happening a lot. I could listen to Loki's voice all day if I had to. This was what it felt like to be in the movie. And I wonder if this was what it was like when they were filming.
I was still pressing myself against the statue, afraid of what would happen if Loki noticed me. What I hadn't noticed were the clones scattered across the crowd. That was when one of the clones appeared next to me. I nearly squealed when I finally looked at the flickering image.
The clone suddenly grabbed me by the arm and dragged me away from the statue. I struggled in vein to free myself from his firm grip. The God of Mischief looked slightly amused at my failed attempt at fleeing.
"Did I not just tell you to kneel?" he demanded in a mocking tone.
Seeing him up close sent shivers down my spine. I've never actually met the actor Tom Hiddleston, so I couldn't exactly compare them. But Loki was definitely not the type of enemy I'd want to piss off. With a simple flick of his hand he could kill me faster than I could say his name.
My legs refused to move as he continued glaring down at me. Noticing the scepter he was holding, I swallowed nervously. That blue energy reminded me of the Tesseract, and I wondered if they were somehow connected. I wasn't about to find out.
"Well? I'm still waiting."
For what? I just shrugged and looked anywhere but him. Where was Steve with that shield of his? I could really use some backup right now. Of course knowing SHIELD they could be waiting for me to make the first move. Which I sure as hell wasn't about to.
The people around me were staring in wonder. Most of them were horrified, but a few had noticed that I refused to obey. And it was probably the stupidest thing I've ever done. Because I was about to become Loki's latest victim.
"Look at this mere child, people," he began, spreading out his arms like this was a huge deal. "Let her be an example."
I braced myself for the pain that would follow. Loki raised his scepter, the blue energy suddenly flashing violently. Still my legs were glued to the ground, while my mind was screaming at me to run.
The clone only held on tighter as I struggled once more. The energy was hurtling towards me. So I suppose this was my last dream. No one would even remember who I was or what I did. But I sure hope this would wake me up.
Closing my eyes I silently prayed to God that this would end quickly. Hey, there may be an angry God of Mischief glaring at me but I still believed in one God. No one could ever change my mind about that.
The blast never came.
To my surprise and relief, I was still alive as the burst of blue energy surrounded me. I opened my eyes to see that it was already dissolving into nothing. Thank you Father above! Looks like my prayers had actually been answered this time.
Loki looked at me in confusion and anger. Mostly anger. I wiped away the tears that started falling and glared back as Loki tried figuring out what was going on. Clearly someone had interfered with the blast. So he fired again.
And it dissolved again into nothing. The same thing happened again and again, until frustration got the better of him. Not a good sign for me, as I was still shaking from the experience. He suddenly grabbed me by the collar of my sweater and held me up.
"What are you?" he demanded. I only responded by struggling even more, trying desperately to get away.
"Let me go!" That only seemed to piss him off more.
He suddenly threw me into the statue and held up his scepter against my throat. For a brief moment we locked gazes. I saw a mixture of anger and something else within those eyes.
"I am a God!" he snapped. "And you will bow to me!"
"I only believe in one God!" I choked back; it took a lot of effort not to cave in.
That only seemed to make him angrier as he tightened his grip around my neck, cutting off my oxygen. My breathing had become ragged, to the point where I thought I might pass out. Just as I thought this was it, a shield suddenly flew towards us. Loki blocked the shield with ease thanks to his scepter, but he dropped me in the process.
I was gasping for air as I fell to the ground. Checking to make sure he hadn't done anything to my neck, I let out a sigh of relief. Hopefully his grip wouldn't leave any marks.
The shield flew back to it's owner. I spotted Steve standing not far away, the parachutes he'd used falling to the ground. He looked good in his new suit, looking rather surprised to see Loki standing beside me like a predator.
"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man stand above everyone else, we ended up disagreeing." Ah yes, the fight between him and the Red Skull. Who wouldn't forget that battle? But seeing him now I wondered how much he knew about Loki.
He looked surprised when he finally noticed me. I remember all the arguing between him and Fury, disagreeing that it was a bad idea to send an unarmed teenager into battle. And not for the first time I had to agree with him. By far this was one of Fury's worst ideas.
"The soldier. A man out of time." Loki smirked as Steve lifted his shield.
"I'm not the one who's out of time."
As he said that the jet Natasha was flying earlier suddenly appeared above us. Where were they five minutes ago? Getting pizza?
"Loki, drop your weapon!" That was Natasha's voice over the speaker. And Loki just fired another shot of energy towards the jet. Really, telling someone to drop their only weapon was a dumb thing to say.
Suddenly Loki attacked Steve and fired another shot of energy at him. Steve blocked the energy with his shield, but it still sent him reeling back.
"Kneel!" Loki shouted once he had Steve pinned to the ground.
"Not today!" Steve shot back. He did a back flip and knocked Loki out from under his feet with his leg.
Why couldn't I perform moves like that? Maybe it was time I learned some self defense. If I was lucky maybe Steve could actually teach me when this was all over.
Guess it was time to sit back and watch them brawl it out. I've watched this scene so many times that I knew how it would play out. Soon enough Tony would arrive and make fun of Loki's helmet. And than the rest of the movie would finally play out.
Loki was getting ready to charge again when a blast came from nowhere, knocking him aside. Steve just turned and looked at me, and I shrugged. Well at least I know for sure that Tony was joining us. "Don't look at me," I told him.
It didn't take long for the red and gold suit to appear. Iron Man landed on the concrete not far from where Loki and Steve were standing. Tony raised his arm and pointed it towards Loki.
"Make your move, reindeer games."
That was enough to crack me up. Don't ask me why but for some reason that scene always made me laugh. Maybe because it was true - the helmet did make Loki look like a reindeer. I know I could never find myself wearing something like that in public.
Loki dropped his scepter and put his arms up in surrender.
"Good move." Tony turned to Steve, than to me.
"So you're the crazy kid I've been hearing about," he commented as Steve helped me up. I couldn't say a thing. My mouth was dry from all the shouting I'd done earlier. "What, too awestruck for words?"
"Are you hurt?" I only shook my head in response. Still a bit dazed actually from what had happened.
"She's just at a loss for words seeing me for the first time," Tony pointed out.
"Getting shot at by a repulser blast is never a good first impression," I retorted.
Tony just smirked at me as the jet lowered to the ground. Once it landed Tony and Steve held up Loki by the arms, making sure he didn't disappear on them. Something told me this was going to be a long and uncomfortable flight.
AN: Thank you everyone for your wonderful reviews :) I'm really enjoying writing this. And yay for fast updates ^^