I can't believe this is chapter 8 already, this is the longest story I've ever done and I'm not planning on stopping any time soon! Thanks for those who have reviewed/commented I love you all! For those who haven't yet: please do even if you don't like the story, give me some advice to make it better! ;) The plot bunnies keep popping up I'm so happy about all of this! Flashbacks are done btw.
ABOUT THAT PREVIEW: THOSE WHO REVIEW CAN ASK FOR A PREVIEW (I WILL SEND IT TO THEM) WHEN THIS CHAPTER HAS MORE THAN 5 REVIEWS!
Tony Stark gets there first, of course he's the one with a super-powered suit and of course, it's a suit of his own making, so the only thing you have to remember from all of this is that Tony Stark is amazing and his technology is even more so. His joy at being a genius is drained from him the moment he can actually see what's going on. He had been casually destroying aliens attacking earth (this was just 1 warship he would handle this, easy as pie) when Fury had suddenly started screaming in his earpiece.
"Stark you're the closest to Thor and Loki, you have to go to the meeting point now! There's be-" Fury doesn't have the chance to even finish his rant because somehow the connection fails. Stark's connection never fails, that means something or someone must be interfering with it. Even though Stark wants to ponder upon that (who on earth… or beyond could do such a thing?), he can't, he has to go to the meeting point, Fury might be annoying as hell he had sounded serious so better check things out there, he remembers thinking. Can't be that bad.
So he might be wrong, just a little bit, it's pretty bad. Thor is nowhere to be seen, there's a lot of smoke however, very far from Stark's current location. It doesn't take a genius, playboy, philanthropist to guess where Thor is. Instead he redirects his gaze downwards where looks for Loki.
He spots Loki easily and immediately wishes he had been faster, Loki is lying on the ground, barely moving and the alien stands above him, it grabs the demi-god roughly, Tony can see the portal just behind the creature, this does not bode well, he has to do something and well although he is a strategist he also likes to blow things up that aren't his for a change so that's exactly what he does.
"Full power Jarvis, lock onto the target and make sure not to hit Loki!"
"Of course sir." All the weapons in his armor are pointed at the target, Tony wants to wait for dramatic effect but he knows he can't afford it right now so he skips to the shooting. There's one thing Tony hasn't counted on however, the seriously annoying enhanced hearing of this alien he's trying to shoot, it seems to have known this attack would come all this time and simply moves out of the way of every missile with such precision it's like he is able to predict where every one of them will land.
Tony might not have counted on it, he sure as hell had known it had been a possibility he hadn't thought it possible what happened then however. Instead of letting the projectiles hit Loki, it draws a shield and protects the demi-god from the deadly missiles fired at him. Tony had ordered Jarvis not to hit Loki, and every one of those missiles would have missed Loki grandiosely. Tony doesn't have time to hover dumbfounded because the alien doesn't hesitate and fire at Tony as well.
Gigantic bright blue beams, coming from the staff it's holding, they look quite deadly so Tony makes a mental note to find out its working as soon as his life isn't endangered by it anymore. That might take a while. He evades them easily but then something happens he's not prepared for, the creature disappears.
His sensors are overloading trying to find it but when they do Tony knows it's too late, somehow it has managed to appear in his blind spot, the one spot his weapons cannot reach immediately. The blast hits him, full force and his system overloads, Tony Stark had to crash land and when he does so, it feels like felt when falling down from that portal in New York.
XxXxXxXxXx
Fury is watching everything and he has never felt so helpless and useless. Not even in the Battle of New York because even then he had had things to do, things to take care of. Now he can do nothing but watch as the demi-god who had ravaged their planet was beaten easily, how the thunder god was slammed into one of the tanks that were further away and how Stark practically crashed in on the road almost a mile away.
He has already beeped up Natasha and Clint but they are both far away from the meeting point and even the projector on that place had been destroyed he can't even talk to them, the communication is down. It failed the moment he had ordered Natasha and Clint to come to the battle so at least he knows help is coming.
He doesn't like Loki, not at all, he would not cry over him if he died but he knows that if Loki falls into the hands of the enemy the result would be catastrophic for earth and everyone else. Fury does not particularly care about everyone else but from what he had heard from Thor, there were Nine Realms for a reason. He almost sighs of relief when he sees Natasha coming from the right and Clint from the left.
This relief is short-lived however. They will never reach the alien that is called the Other in time, they're very far away, too far for arrows he surely hopes Natasha still has some bullets in her guns. Luckily she does. The Other is just about to grab the demi-god for the second time that day but a bullet stops him mid-action. It ricochets off his gloves however but it does startle him.
He looks up in the direction of Natasha and that is his mistake, he doesn't notice Clint who's close enough now to fire an arrow, an exploding one preferably but when no arrow comes Fury narrows his eyes and looks in the direction of Hawkeye? He's not there. Not two seconds ago he had seen him running there and now he's just gone.
He tries all camera angles but he can't find his agent and again Fury is reminded of the fact that he can do nothing but watch. And he hates it. Did he already mention that?
XxXxXxXxXx
Loki is very confused. The light still hurts and he hears shooting and fighting so close to him but he isn't hit by anything and at some point he can feel the Other using magic, it envelops him, like a shield but he must be imagining that because why would the Other do that?
He can hear gunshots and he can hear people screaming but he has to focus on other things, he knows the other has been distracted, he can feel his magic returning to him, it feels good. He tries to direct it to his knee, which is obviously broken, his chest hurts and he can feel the blood loss making him dizzy but that's a long-term problem, his knee is more practical right now, he can cope with the loss of blood later, if he survives this ordeal at all.
For some reason his magic is much stronger than he remembers and his knee heals remarkably fast even for an Aes-Frost Giant, Loki suddenly comes to the realization that he knows next to nothing about his anatomy but that are problems for later, he has to focus.
He manages but only just. His vision is not blurred anymore and he's glad because it could have been a big hinder in his next step. The portal is just behind the Other he can only see one course of action he can take. So he does exactly that.
He knows he's surprised the Other and he finds satisfaction in that. He has summoned a dagger in his left hand he knows what he had to do if this plan succeeds. He can't fall into the hands of Thanos alive, he wouldn't survive it, he knows this, like he knows the Other is not Chitauri, he knows that only suffering awaits him if he falls alive in that portal and then death. If he has to die it'll be on his own terms and not screaming from torture and stripped from his dignity.
He charges without thinking and only now he can appreciate that, he's starting to understand what Thor sees in this, charging head-first in battle, it's exhilarating, he feels strangely alive the blood loss doesn't bother him anymore and the pain in his knee doesn't either. It's an annoying throbbing but he pays it no heed.
He collides with the Other with so much force that he can hear his own fucking ribs cracking and he's not even surprised when he doesn't feel the usual pain accompanying an injury like this. Yes, he can definitely understand Thor better now, battle has never seemed very appealing to him because what fun is rolling around in the dirt and your own blood? But now he can't feel the dirt or his blood or his injuries he feels the thrill of battle and he likes it. It roars in his ear and for a 300-year-old he has a lot of strength, he doesn't know where it comes from but he has it now and he plans on using it to the full extent.
They're falling now, into the portal and he can't help himself but he feels panic, it grips his throat and for a moment he can't breathe. He can't stop his hands from trying to grab something, anything to stay alive, to not fall, self-preservation has always been his greatest flaw, he doesn't want to die.
Because his hands are grabbing at nothing he lets go of the knife and it falls. The Other has fallen already and Loki loses grip on Midgard but then his hand actually grabs something, he doesn't even register what but he grabs it anyway.
He holds on because it is his life that depends on it and even though whatever it is, it's cutting in his hand and he can feel the blood dripping from his arms he doesn't let go.
He can only slightly feel the pull, his hands clamp even tighter around the rope, thinks, and he has to shut his eyes because the light fucking hurts. His mind is clouded again by dizziness, wariness and pure exhaustion, he wants to know though, he wants to know who's saved him from falling into the hands of Thanos, the light is too blinding to see anything properly but he tries anyway, his eyes manage to focus for a mere second. In that second Loki can see that what he's holding is indeed a rope, it's thin and it looks like fluid silver, it's shining, reflecting the sun and Loki tries to see who's holding the other side, he can't. He drops his head and gives up, before he closes his eyes he can see the end of the rope, behind him, still a bit in the portal but he recognizes the thing hanging from it, it's an arrow.
XxXxXxXxXx
It's dead silent, there are eight people in one room and if a needle would drop, you would be able to hear it perfectly. The only sound heard is the uneven breathing of the child, lying on the bed. Nobody knows what to do next because none of them know anything of Frost Giant anatomy and they might get something wrong and do more damage than good and Thor has refused to take that risk.
It's been only a few hours after the attack and neither Tony nor Thor have been properly cared for but neither of them care. Bruce looks miserable because he has offered his help, he might not be a real doctor but the knows a few things however Thor had declined his offer to help multiple times by now so Bruce has given up. He's standing there awkwardly, like all of them are. Fury hasn't even ranted about anything yet, he just stands there, his one eye narrowed in the direction of the little demi-god in the hospital bed.
They arrived on Stark Tower very soon because Loki had obviously needed help and they couldn't risk bringing him to a normal hospital. Clint is leaning against the wall, face emotionless and with a look that suggests you better steer away from him for a long time. Natasha's sitting on a chair, doing absolutely nothing and Tony is sipping from some alcoholic drink Bruce isn't particularly interested in (does that even surprise anyone?).
The medical room is stuffed with equipment and after a long debate they had manages to convince Thor to put bandage around Loki's chest wound with salve on it to make sure it wouldn't infest, disinfectant has been applied to Loki's face as well. There was nothing else they were allowed to do so they had eventually just given up. Bruce has no idea how long they stand there but he's pretty sure it's a long time because at some point he couldn't feel his legs anymore.
There's cough, then another and then there's a fluttering of eyelids and four of them release a sigh they hadn't even realizes they had been holding. Bruce hadn't even noticed it himself, or maybe he had denied it but he had been worried about the little demi-god lying there. Somehow even though he hadn't had many conversations with him, Loki had won him over, not fully but still.
The fluttering is slow and Bruce almost doesn't see Clint and Fury leave when they do, he is surprised that Natasha has stayed but he doesn't let his mind linger on it for any longer because now there's more movement coming from the bed. Loki is trying to sit up and Bruce can see him grimacing from the pain before he gives up and falls back into the bed again.
He looks frustrated but most of all he looks in pain, which is only logical of course his wounds are serious and no real medical attention has been given to them because Thor won't allow it. Bruce rushes forward together with Stark because they both know what they're doing and Thor even backs away, he helps Stark move the cushions and the bed in such a way that Loki can sit upright without having to do it himself and so that he has something to lean on as well. Loki's eyes are clearer now, more alert. Loki closes them again and breathes through his nose slowly.
"Give him some space, friends." Thor's voice is lowered to a volume Bruce doesn't even know Thor's capable of. He backs away and Loki relaxes. Small green sparks and golden ripples flow through his body and Bruce can't help himself, he's staring, he can see the blood that had slowly been more visible on the bandage fading and the color is returning to Loki's face again, it stops however very soon and Loki starts to fall forward, Thor jumps forward and catches him just in time for he had almost fallen out of the bed. There's still blood on the bandage and Loki's still not looking very healthy but he looks a lot better than before and for that Bruce is glad.
"We should let him rest," Bruce forces himself to say when he sees Thor gently laying his brother down with a look of hurt in his eyes. He looks so distressed and confused and angry all at the same time and he obviously wants to stay with his brother but rest is the only thing Loki needs right now so Bruce wants to make sure he gets exactly that.
Thor nods slowly, Tony leaves first, yelling (what did you expect?) about treating everyone with a drink that would blow their minds. Steve follows though everyone knows it's not for that drink since he can't even get drunk and Natasha after him. Bruce expects Thor to make a fuss but the Asgardian's shoulders just slump and he strokes his brother forehead gently as not to wake him. Then the Thunder God walks out of the medical room at a brisk pace as if he can't stand to be there any longer, Bruce follows and turns off the light. Loki deserves some rest.
XxXxXxXxXx
Dead bodies lie scattered across the floor, their limbs bent in unnatural ways, blood drips of the wall and even now, screams can be heard, the sound bounces off the walls and the wind carries them over the whole barren planet.
Smoke rises from what was once the face of a Chitauri warrior, there is no head anymore just a gap, black and burned and He hasn't even begun yet, the Other stands far away and watches his Master maim his followers until they're nothing but rotting corpses on the floor. Their stench makes even the other uncomfortable, some are still alive twitching and shaking, most of them do not even have lips anymore to cry, their faces are like molten wax and black blood makes the ground slippery. This is the wrath of the Mad Titan, this is what happens to the lucky ones that fail him, the whole squadron that had returned from earth alive lays here now, husks of what they once were, sacrificed the Lady Death.
The Other has not been punished yet but he knows it will come, he does not fear his Master's wrath for selfish reason such as his own suffering but because if his Master kills him he cannot serve him anymore, he has to find a way to please Him, to soothe his anger, the Other will become a sacrifice, a gift to her, he knows this and embraces it but he will not be one today.
The Trickster has not been retrieved, the only thing besides the Tesseract He desired and they have failed to even bring him that. The Other barely hears one of the Chitauri enter but he does hear what it has to say, it's frightened and once it has finished the other knows that his master will be pleases, enough to spare his unworthy servant who had failed him.
He brings the news to Him, once He has finished burning another Chitauri warrior, its screams echo in the cave and the messenger cringes and whimpers, stepping back even though that if his Master wants to he can take one step and crush the unworthy servant. It opens its mouth to speak, voice shaking like the rest of his body.
"The scepter is still on Midgard, Master, and we know its location."
Wouldn't you like to know what they're gonna do with the scepter? It's not a big cliffhanger I think, compared to the others, the next one isn't so bad either I promise. Can't make promises for the chapter after that one hehehe.
XxTheAlgea
