Avengers: The King of Kings.
Summary: "One year after Ceil Zak'Vael's defeat, tensions are running in all new highs as anticipation for the Black Hunt's return takes its toll. After reaching a breaking point with Loki, who has grown distant as "the inevitable" looms closer, Thor returns to Earth in hopes of clearing his head before the fight that is to come. However, his "pity party" is quickly interrupted when he inexplicably reunites with the Avengers, who give him some disturbing news: millions of people have been disappearing, and some of the biggest cities in the world have gone dark. With S.H.I.E.L.D scrambling for answers, they're finally forced go after the one man they believe capable of such chaos- Loki. Now, tasked with saving the Earth from certain doom- and his brother from wrongful imprisonment- while at the same time trying to find a reason to keep fighting, Thor's got to decide what's worth what and, most importantly, why, before an old enemy returns to wreck havoc on the one place that was supposed to stay safe- and with a near-silent, morose Loki by his side and constant infighting within the Avengers to boot, Thor's got his work cut out for him… but when tragedy strikes too close to home, it's time to get serious again."
Warning: "This will be a relatively tame fanfic, with the exception of some blood, violence, angst, some language, a character death or two, and other adult situations. So, to be on the safe side, we'll be going with Rated T. I have watched the Avenger's movie and all relating Marvel movies, but this does not mean that I am perfect and/or know absolutely everything there is to know about, and I'm bound to forget or misuse some small detail. So, with that, please forgive me if I screw up, and just enjoy the story."
Disclaimer: "I do not own Thor. Please don't ruin my day by thinking I do."
Author's Note: This story is dedicated to PhantomLilac AND MischievousChaos."
N._.s._.S
Chapter Seven: Reunions.
"Reunion reveals friendship potential that haven't yet been emerged in the past."
- Toba Beta.
The trip back to Stark Tower was pretty much silent, other than the short, brisk argument that Stark and Banner had over the hood of the car.
"Pull the hood up."
"What?" Stark demanded, "Why?"
"You know why," Banner answered, sharply, with a glance at Thor, "Do it."
"Fury's not going to-"
"I said do it."
And that was that.
Thor knew better than to say anything as Stark grumpily slammed down the hood without another word.
Banner sat in the passenger seat, Stark in the driver's, and Thor got into the back, behind Stark.
The city hadn't changed during the year that Thor had been gone, and he looked through the dark-tinted window, up at the bright, flashing lights of all the tall buildings and the people that rushed back and forth through the streets at every red light.
Thor had never understood the mortal's never-ending fascination with the bold lights, but they were, admittedly, quite entertaining to look at.
But Loki would have hated it.
Thor was absolutely sure of that.
All those lights, all that noise; it all surely drove his brother insane while he was here.
More than he already had been back then, anyway.
"S.H.I.E.L.D's going to be on our heels within an hour," Banner said, shortly, quietly, jerking Thor out of his thoughts and breaking the tense silence, "You know the first thing Fury's going to do is check the Tower."
"We got him first," Stark shrugged, "Besides, we all know he's not the one they-"
"It's not about that. You heard what he said as well as I did."
"And? It's not like Fury's going to arrest him."
Thor listened to the conversation with weary ears, preparing to summon Mjolnir at a moments notice. From the way his two friends were talking, it didn't sound like he was a friend of Fury (the Director of the S.H.I.E.L.D and the man who brought the Avengers together in the first place) at the moment.
"We don't know that for sure. S.H.I.E.L.D's got to act before this gets even worse."
"Worse?" Stark replied with a chuckle as the car slowed to a stop at a red light, "You seriously think this can get any worse? Fury should be handing out medals-"
Unable to keep silent anymore, Thor made a loud "tch"-ing noise, startling his companions and bringing an abrupt to their conversation. Banner turned his head to look at him, dark heavy brows cinched together, clearly concerned about something.
"Sorry," He said, with a small grimace, "We'll tell you everything as soon as we get to the Tower."
Stark snorted.
N._.s._.S
"Dammit," Stark swore as they entered the underground garage beneath the tower. Instantly, Banner turned his attention to where Stark was looking, and Thor was surprised when the normally soft-spoken, and sometimes unnaturally patient, man swore too.
He followed their gazes.
Steve Rogers (AKA Captain America, or "Cap" in some circles), stood stiffly with Stark's assistant Pepper Potts (whom Thor had met only very briefly two years ago), his arms crossed rather tersely over his broad chest.
"That was quick," Stark said with a lopsided grin as he, Banner, and Thor climbed out of the car and Rogers approached, Pepper following at his heels, "What's up, Cap? Been a while."
"Fury's going to kill you," the soldier declared, stiffly, with a concerned glance at Thor.
"Oh, Fury's mad? Furious?"
"Are you crazy?" Rogers demanded, unfolding his arms in exasperation, "You can't just-"
"Jury's out," Stark interrupted, cheerfully, as he turned to Thor and Banner, "Come on."
With that, Stark pushed by Rogers and Pepper, heading for the elevator. When the three of them got in, he pressed something and the doors closed before either Rogers or Pepper could stop them.
N._.s._.S
Stark Tower was the place that Loki had used to summon the Chitauri with the Tesseract; a fact that occurred to the God of Thunder a little late as the elevator doors opened.
Stark had converted the top floor of the tower, which served as his office, into a sort of lounge. The room was warm, comfortable, and dim, complete with the large, stairway-like balcony that Thor remembered briefly facing his brother on during the battle.
"Okay," Stark said, his voice oddly cheerful as he went behind the bar-area and ducked immediately out of sight, swinging opening a cupboard door, "First thing's first..."
Banner stayed near the door even after it locked, the deadbolt sliding into place with a sharp snap, leaning against the wall with his arms folded and his heavy, dark brows cinched together in obvious vexation.
Thor's eyes were drawn to a certain spot of the room as silence began to reign.
I'll have that drink now.
That was pretty much the only thing Loki had said (or that they had let him say) after his defeat.
Stark had smirked.
"You were in Asgard for the past year, right?"
Banner's voice snapped Thor out of his thoughts, and the God of Thunder looked back up, shifting his gaze from the spot at last.
"I was."
"Except for the whole thing in London, right?"
"Yes."
"What happened?"
"The Dark Elf Malekith attacked," Thor answered, ignoring the rather suspicious undertone in Banner's voice, "After that, I returned to yet another battle."
As Thor was speaking, Banner cast a look to the bar, where they could hear the clink of glass on glass. Stark was putting glass after glass on the table, as though searching for something. Finally, though, just as Stark's head disappeared beneath the table once again, Banner cleared his throat- a startling guttural sound that caused the other man to jerk back up suddenly and smack into the underside of the table.
"Ow!"
"What are you doing?" Banner asked of him, as Stark slowly stood back up, scowling darkly and rubbing the back of his head.
"Engaging the backup alarms," Stark replied, with another dark look, "Hold on."
"What is this about?" Thor demanded, loudly, before Banner could respond, "Why ask me these things? Is S.H.I.E.L.D so concerned?"
"Not about that, per-say..." Banner admitted, slowly, with another glance at Stark, who jumped over the bar table to join them, looking suddenly concerned, "It's something else-"
"Where's Loki?" Stark interrupted, his voice uncharacteristically serious, "Do you know where he is?"
"Loki," Thor repeated, startled by the sudden change in his friend, "Of course I know-"
"Is he locked up?"
"No, he's not."
At that, both Banner and Stark exchanged wry looks, and Thor felt a flash of inexplicable anger.
"What is this about?" He asked again, looking between them, "Is S.H.I.E.L.D after Loki?"
Sudden dread joined the anger at that last question. If S.H.I.E.L.D was still after Loki for his crimes on Midgard two years ago, it would actually mean that, despite everything, Thor would have to step aside- even bring Loki back to answer for them. He (rightly) couldn't demand that they drop the charges, even if Loki hadn't even been in control of his actions (as he was beginning to suspect).
But it would mean that Loki would probably succumb to the Curse in prison.
That he would, in essence, die a criminal.
Like last time.
Only this time, there would never be a chance for redemption.
"I assure you Loki was punished for his deeds here two years ago," The God of Thunder told them, forcing his voice steady and forcing away the grim thoughts, "I promise you, he hasn't-"
"This isn't about that," Stark interrupted, somewhat coldly, "S.H.I.E.L.D doesn't care about that right now."
"Then what is it?" Thor demanded, loosing patience at last, "What do you think my brother has done?"
"What we think he did?" Stark retorted, his voice rising in clear indignation, "Think?"
Banner stepped between them at that moment- and it was a good thing that he did, for Thor was absolutely sure that the conversation may have turned to blows.
"That's enough," Banner said, sharply, looking over at Stark, "We need him on our side, remember?"
"Your side?" Thor cut in, "I am already on your side!"
Banner suddenly ran both hands through his dark, curly hair and backed off, causing the other two to stop their bickering instantly, and Stark to actually raise his hands in front of his chest in surrender.
"Okay, okay," He said, quickly, though grudgingly, "I'll tell him."
"Show him." Was all Banner said.
Stark pulled out a little remote from his pocket and pressed something. Instantly, all the windows blackened, shoving out the light.
"JARVIS." He called out, suddenly.
Yes.
"Give me File E-i-C."
Extracting file from S.H.I.E.L.D hive now.
Blue lights began shooting out from all corners of the room, startling Thor and making him step backward. The lights aligned together to form a huge, holographic map of the world, some places riddled with red, and others completely flooded with it. Video also began coming up, showcasing empty streets and completely abandoned buildings.
"Fury sent me this personally," Stark began, "About a year ago..."
N._.s._.S
Woo! That took forever!
And HAHAHAHA!
How about them cliff-hangers? XD
Anyway, the next chapter will be out soon!
Thanks for all your continuing support!
See you all next time!
