A NEW LIFE
Chapter 13
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners.
AN: I adopted some of the lines in this chapter direct from the movie AVENGERS. Some of them were just too good that I couldn't resist while others were very technical that I couldn't make heads or tails on them so please bear with me.
-ANLANLANLANL-
2nd April 2012
Russia, Solenski Plaza, Night.
Natasha resisted the urge to begin dozing out of boredom. She had been on the trail a small gang of Russian gangsters that were becoming a pain in SHIELD's side. It had been over three weeks since she was at Potter Cove and hopefully she would be completing this mission today and visit. Granted it was Friday night, Harry will likely to be fighting in Mexico tomorrow in his Lucha Libre match.
Bringing her attention back to her captors, she saw that they were talking on the phone while eyeing in trepidation. Maybe they were finally ready to take her to their boss. She blinked when the one who had been talking handed her the phone. she looked at her hands that had been tied behind the wooded chair and raised her eyebrow at the Russian.
Snarling, the Russian gangster put the phone on her ear and Natasha spoke.
"You need to get back." Agent Coulson's voice spoke making Natasha frown.
"I am working here."
"This takes precedence."
"But I am almost concluding my mission." She protested. "In fact I was in the middle of an investigation and this idiot was giving me everything to get done with this."
"Burton has been compromised."
Her heart skipped a beat.
"Let me put you on hold."
She head-butted the guy who had been holding the phone for her and as she pulled her head back, she followed the movement as she lifted her legs and kicked him in the neck as the chair fell. The guy clutched his necks as he struggled to breath. The others came to attack her but she rolled away with her hands still tied behind the chair and sat down pinning the man's leg with the chair. The man bent down as he cried in pain and she head butted him as well.
She turned and kicked him in the torso sending him flying into another man who had come to the rescue. She heard movement from the door and bracing her legs on the wall, she propelled herself towards the door with the wooden chair on the front and crushed into the two men who were entering. They rolled down the stairs and she landed hard on the last one which also made the chair to brake.
Grabbing the broken leg of the chair, she stabbed the man's shoulder who had been unlucky enough to fall right next to her. The second man managed to get to his feet but she didn't give him time and ran at him sending him flying into the concrete wall with a drop kick. She picked his gun and put a bullet in his head. As she ran to get back to the stairs, she also shot the one with a broken leg of chair in his shoulder.
She reached the room to find that two of the men had recovered and with fast reflexes, she dived and rolled in a forward motion dodging one man's bullets and ended her roll right in front the man. She punched his balls and he cried out in pain though his cries were cut off when she shot him directly over the heart. She turned to shoot the other man who was still having trouble breathing but the gun just clicked uselessly.
She dodged the man's kick and grabbed the leg pulling it with her making the man fall. Before he could get up, she grabbed his hand and wrapped her legs around his neck and with surprising strength she twisted her legs and broke the man's neck. All this took less than one minute and she picked her shoes as well as the phone and continued speaking.
"Where is Burton?"
"We have no idea but we believe he is still alive."
"I see." Natasha answered. "What do you want me to do?"
"Talk to the big Guy as well as your magic friend. We shall brief you on everything when you get back."
"You know what circumstances Harry would be willing to help, right?"
"I do and trust me this is one such circumstance."
"Very well"
-ANLANLANLANL-
Mexico
"I can't believe you brought me at a fighting club of all places."
"Give yourself some credit, Br. Banner." Natasha said as she led the way into the club. "We are just here to pick my friend anyway and we shall leave soon."
"The magician?"
"Wizard actually." Natasha answered.
Convincing the man had been quite hard. Granted, she had lied to him about being alone with him but one couldn't be careful enough where Bruce Banner was concerned. In hind sight, the extra security probably wouldn't have been much help other getting themselves ripped up by the Hulk. As for herself, she would have simply used her port-key if the situation had gone out of control and left the other SHIELD agents to deal with it. She was a spy after all, not a Hero."
"Sounds the same to me." Banner replied looking at the people cheering for the match going on in the ring.
"You saw what he is capable of, somehow I doubt a magician can do that."
"I am still not sure I believe what I saw as real."
Natasha just shrugged. She had briefed Banner about the situation and she had showed him a little bit about each of the people being rounded up for the job. Harry's fight with the Phoenix at Jean's childhood home had been ignored as a YouTube video. She figured Harry would be more than willing to show him just how real the fight had been.
The two slipped with in the crowd of fans who were cheering and with good amount of maneuvering, they both ended up at the front, just next to the ring.
"This doesn't look like a place to find a magician." Banner complained and Natasha could see that he was afraid of losing control and start pounding everything in his way.
"Trust me it is." She answered watching as one of the two people in the ring was pommeled by the bigger of the fighters. "I unfortunately introduced him to Lucha Libre and he spends every weekend here, defending his title."
"You mean he is one of the fighters?"
"Yep."
The two fighters were obviously masked and the bigger one was dressed in a bright yellow costume with a dragon on the back and looked like he was on the verge of winning. He grabbed the smaller one by the throat and launched him across the ring. The audience cheered harder and the man let out a below as he stalked towards the downed wrestler.
"Well, at least he knows how to use his fists." Banner commented as the bigger wrestler, Red Dragon grabbed the other man who had just stood up and head butted him sending him right back on the ground. "Or his head."
"Actually, Harry is the one in green." Natasha said as her lips twitched in amusement.
Harry's costume was a skintight suit with a snake drawn in a way that looked like it entered the flesh of the wrestler and got out from the other side. The emerald green suit was completed by an emerald mask that covered most of the face but Harry's green eyes were very clear. Natasha pulled back slightly as Harry was launched across the ring and he fell right where they were standing.
"That's it Harry." Natasha cheered along with the crowd. "You got him exactly where you want him."
Harry looked and her in betrayal and was just opening his mouth to answer but Red Dragon grabbed him by the legs and lifted him on his shoulders and then slammed him head first into the ring with his finishing move. Pinning him, the referee came and counted up to three and the match ended.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we finally have a new champion…. Reeeeeed Dragooooooon." The announcer declared and the crowd cheered. Apparently Harry wasn't very popular around here and Natasha wasn't surprised seeing that he had been champion for seven months now and the fans had been craving a new one. Knowing the fans, they will be wanting Harry to become champion again within two weeks.
Natasha gestured for Banner who had found himself cheering along with the crowd to follow her to the locker rooms. A minute later she was standing in front of Harry's room marked King Python and knocked before she entered. Harry was already changed into casual clothes, black jeans and t-shirt, along with black boots. He grabbed a leather jacket as the two entered.
"You never told me who named you King Python." Natasha said as she gave him a hug in greeting.
"Trust me I have no idea." Harry answered her reveling in the feel of her chest on his. "You are looking quite bright today, is that a glow…"
"Shut up." Natasha rolled her eyes and led the way out of the room. "I have someone you need to meet."
"Uhm, hi." Banner greeted quietly. "Sorry about your… loss back there."
"Oh, don't worry about that." Harry waved him off as he shook the man's hand. "It was getting quite monotonous winning all the time. Harry Potter is the name, charmed I'm sure."
"Bruce Banner." Banner replied. "So… you lost intentionally?"
"Why would I do that?"
"Uhm, well…" Banner seemed to not have an answer for that.
"This guy was something else." Harry said. "I am suspecting drugs though I am still not sure. You think there are drugs that can fool those weird machines…."
"Maybe?" Natasha smiled to herself seeing how Banner was floundering for an answer but Harry had already moved on.
The two followed Natasha as she led the way out of the building using the wrestlers' exit.
"You are not replacing me Natasha are you?" Harry asked as he caught up with her.
"Dr. Bruce Banner is an accomplished Nuclear Physicist and an expert on gamma radiation." Natasha explained leading them to a SHIELD car. "He is one of the people SHIELD is calling in to help us on the situation."
"Not your cup of tea them." Harry let out a dramatic sigh of relief. "I was almost worried there. Wait, where did I hear that name before…. In your mind when I was being held prisoner in that cell."
"I don't think that is important_" Natasha started to speak but she was interrupted by Harry.
"The Hulk." He shouted turning to Banner who was seated next to him in the back seat. "You are the Hulk, and you have a frigging cell at the Helicarrier made specifically for you."
Natasha face palmed. Trust Harry to make a completely easy mission complicated.
"Agent Romanoff?" Banner asked, his eyes narrowing and Natasha could see that he wasn't very happy.
"I wasn't meant to say that was I?" Harry said sheepishly before he perked up. "But forget the cell, can I see it?"
"See what?" Banner snapped.
"What do you mean the what, of course The Thing, the monster." Harry exclaimed in excitement.
"I am not sure_" Natasha was once again interrupted.
"We can play show me yours and I show you mine." Harry continued. "You show me the monster and I show you magic, how about that."
"HOW ABOUT YOU SHUT UP." Banner roared at Harry clearly angry.
"Whoa." Harry breathed, his eyes shining in wonder. "Your skin is turning green."
Banner blinked at Harry before he took a deep breath as his skin went back to normal.
"Dr. Banner, I assure you everything I told you was the truth and Harry…" Natasha glared at him. "If you don't shut up, Illyana will be looking for a new trainer."
"Sorry." Harry apologized to Banner. "I just let my excitement at meeting you get the better of me."
"Its fine Mr. Potter."
"Harry."
"What?"
"Call me Harry." Harry said as he smiled at the older man. "So, how does it happen… is it some kind of mental trigger or perhaps an allergy like donuts? Please tell me you are not allergic to donuts."
Natasha sighed as Harry continued talking to Banner. At least the man looked more amused than angry as Harry tried to get him to change by saying certain words he hoped they were a trigger. She also knew that he was trying to distract the physicist from confronting her about the cell that was apparently waiting for him at the Helicarrier.
The drive to where the SHIELD helicopter had been parked was spent with Harry talking non-stop about Harry. He kept referring to Hulk as a monster while making jokes about it that by the time they reached the helicopter, Banner found the fact that he was being called monster more amusing than anything.
"You know I can read minds." Harry suddenly said as they got out of the car apparently switching gears. "I can just go in there and find out the secret myself."
"If you try reading my mind Harry, I will have the Hulk bite off your head."
"That's gross, even for a monster." Harry made a disgusted face. "I think I'm going to be sick."
Harry reached with in the pocket of the jacket and pulled out a small box of donuts which he unshrunk and started eating as they entered the helicopter.
"Donuts anyone, Bruce?" Natasha picked one while Harry practically forced the SHIELD pilot to eat one as well.
"I am not sure I want to eat something magicked out of your pocket." Banner said eyeing the box of donuts suspiciously.
"Suit yourself." Harry shrugged as he took a seat and the chopper took the sky.
Soon they were looking down at the Helicarrier as they approached it.
"I have to say it looks really ugly from up here." Harry commented and Natasha rolled her eyes.
They touched down and the three got out looking around at the activity going on the huge battleship. There were SHIELD agents almost everywhere and they all seemed to be busy with one thing or the other. Natasha's comm beeped and she was informed that Coulson and Captain America had just arrived as well and that she should send the Agent to the bridge as soon as possible. She led Harry and Banner towards where she could see Coulson.
"Agent Romanoff, I understand you have met Steve." Phil said as he gestured towards the man in question.
"Ma'am." Steve Rogers greeted Natasha shaking her hand.
"Hi." She turned to Coulson. "You are needed on the bridge immediately."
"Great, I will leave him in your capable hands then." Coulson said and walked off.
Natasha led Steve towards the railing where Harry and Banner were looking over at the water.
"Are you absolutely sure he wouldn't come out." Harry was saying. "We can try and see now, isn't science all about making experiments?"
"Throwing me off the railing into the water is murder, not an experiment." Banner answered walking away from the railing and nearly ran into an agent.
"Oh come on, where is your sense of adventure."
"Dr. Banner." Steve walks to him and shakes his hand. "And you must be Mr. Potter."
"Oh, yeah I was told you would be coming." Banner said.
"Apparently you can find the cube."
"The cube?" Harry asked in confusion having not been told what was happening.
"Must be strange for you, all this." Banner continued as he gestured around.
"Agent Romanoff has been a great help." Steve answered. "Though I haven't been here before but the military, the guns, they seem kind of familiar."
"I still have no idea what is going on." Harry said but he was ignored.
"Gentlemen, you may want to step inside." Natasha said leading them towards the entrance to the bridge as the Helicarrier started rising.
Inside the bridge was very busy. It gave the phrase 'busy as an anthill' definition. There were giant screens and many monitors. SHIELD agents were running from around but somehow managed not to run into each other. Maria Hill was directing everyone and soon enough, the huge ship was in the air and under camouflage. Natasha led the men into a conference room where Fury was waiting.
"Thank you for coming Doctor." Fury said as he offered Banner his hand. The Physicist looked at it for a moment before he shook it.
"It didn't look like I had a choice." He answered. "So how long am I staying?"
"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you are clear."
"Ok can someone tell me what is going on here."
Natasha had been wondering how long it would take for Harry snap and begin demanding answers. He was the most patient fellow on earth after all.
"You keep mentioning a cube, Tesseract and situations. I find myself in a small room with one of the most volatile people in the world, along with an old man who forgot to set an alarm clock before taking a nap and all of you keep taking as if I am not here." Harry ranted somehow managing to glare at Natasha and Fury at the same time.
"Potter." Fury greeted unfazed. "I was hoping we never see each other again."
"Good for you." Harry snapped back. "Now what is going on here and why did Natasha bring me here. I have a lot of things I would rather do than look at your ugly one-eyed face."
"This is the wizard?" Steve whispered to Natasha who nodded. "I expected someone more… ancient."
Though Harry heard him, he didn't even look at him as he continued waiting for Fury to explain.
Fury tapped on the table and the image of the cube was projected.
"That is the Tesseract. It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet." Fury explained. "Someone stole it from SHIELD custody and we have reason to believe that the planet is in danger. That is why we called you, Dr. Banner to help us locate it as it emits a gamma signature that is too weak for us to trace normally and there is no one that knows gamma radiation like you do."
Harry was quiet for a moment before he put his hands in his pockets.
"Well, good luck with that." Harry said preparing to teleport back to Potter Cove.
"Wait, you're not gonna help?" Steve asked and Harry looked at him.
"I am a wizard, not a scientist." He then looked at Banner with a smile. "If anyone is gonna find that thing then it is him."
"Harry wait." Natasha stopped him again as he prepared to go.
"What?"
"It's Loki."
"What is Loki?" Harry asked in confusion.
"The person who took the tesseract is Loki. From Asgard."
Harry looked at her for a moment to see if she was being serious.
"So you are telling me, that Loki Odinson, the Norse god of mischief and magic came from Asgard and stole some powerful box and he is planning to destroy the planet with it?"
"I don't know about the planet part but that is basically what I am trying to say."
"Wasn't his brother here last year?" Harry asked and Natasha nodded and a glint appeared in his eye as his lips slowly started stretching in a smile. "Well, this can't get any better."
"So, are you willing to help us?" Fury asked clearly disturbed with Harry's grin.
"Of course. Can't miss out a fight against a fucking god of mischief."
"Language Mr. Potter." Steve admonished but he was ignored.
"So… about finding this Tesseract…" Harry asked taking a seat.
Coulson stepped forward.
"We are sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet. Cellphones, laptops there are all our eyes and ears."
"Somehow I doubt that will do much against someone with magic. No less the god of mischief himself." Harry said idly as he enlarged another box of donuts. "That is unless he wants you to find him."
"Can you tell us anything you know about him." Steve said. "It could aid us in our search having an idea how he is likely to operate."
"Well there isn't much I can tell you." Harry shrugged. "Asgard was extinct in my universe and the likes of Thor, Loki and Odin were just legends of the past."
"So, can't you find him with your MTS?" Natasha asked while the others looked at her in confusion.
"No, he has managed to mask his magical core so any search would be futile." Harry then straightened. "If he is masking his magical core, then_"
"He is using magic to mask it." Natasha completed. "Can you search specifically for magic?"
"No, but I can search for the Tesseract." Harry said standing up. "I had forgotten why it looked familiar at first but now I remember. It has a unique magical signature that I had never come across and if I can find it…"
"Then we have Loki." Fury finished. "How long do you think you can take to do that?"
"An hour, maybe two, I'm not sure." Harry said before he turned to Banner. "It has been an honor meeting you Doctor Banner. I hope the next time we see each other you will be more willing to let me take a peek."
And with that, Harry disappeared.
"He can do that?" Steve asked the room at large.
"He can do a lot of things." Fury sighed. "In the meantime, we shall need to use our own resources to look for Loki. Any ideas Doctor?"
"Call every lab you know and tell them to spectrometers on their roofs and calibrate them for gamma rays. I can come up with a tracking algorithm based on cluster recognition." Banner said seriously. "Do you have somewhere I can work?"
Natasha nodded and led him down the hall to where his makeshift lab was. He entered and nearly dropped fainted. The lab was a scientist's wet dream and he forgot he had an escort as he rushed inside and immediately got to work.
-ANLANLANLANL-
POTTER COVE
Harry arrived at his home and went straight to the library. He had been wondering where he had seen the tesseract until he remembered that day he sent Natasha the letter to bring the mirror. Nym had witnessed Fury giving the man Selvig the briefcase the brief case that contained the cube. The Phoenix had told him about the immortal who had compelled Selvig to allow working on the cube but Harry hadn't paid much attention then.
Now it was very clear that it had been Loki. Which meant that he had wanted SHIELD to work on the tesseract and activate its power. Had SHIELD not tampered with it, then perhaps he wouldn't have come in the first place. Therefore, it begs the question why Loki came here in the first place.
Harry looked through his library until he came across one of the few books that talked about Asgard. Flipping quickly, he found the place that talked about the god of mischief. Loki apparently was an adopted son with a great deal of jealous towards his brother Thor, the crown prince of Asgard. The god of mischief had tried numerous times to take over the throne using many his magic, trying and failing to kill either Thor or Odin.
He allied with himself with numerous people and races in his bid to take the throne which even included his kin the Frost Giants and many enemies of Asgard. However, one thing common in all this was that all he cared about was himself. He could easily stab anyone's back so long as it got him what he wanted. All his allies always ended with him betraying them and he made a good number of enemies in his life.
He had been exiled from Asgard numerous times but somehow always managed to worm his way back. It probably had something to do with a prophecy and something called Ragnarok as apparently he was the one supposed to set everything in motion.
However, his life was driven by only one thing. To rule. He wanted to have something where he is worshipped and looked up to as a king. Harry was very sure that the god of mischief had come here to rule planet earth after having failed to usurp the Asgardian throne. What didn't make sense was how he planned to do that. Did the tesseract grant him great powers or something?
According to the book, Loki had been quite powerful in his own right. Loki was a master of manipulation and deceit with superhuman strength, speed, durability and longevity. With his magic, he was capable of astral projection, energy blasts from his hands, flight, illusion casting, inter-dimensional teleportation, shape shifting and telepathy. He had mastered all these skills and he was also a master at conjuration and animation though he could only conjure knives. He had also found a way to cheat death by having his name removed from the book of souls by his sister Hel. Therefore, he could be reincarnated in his current body was destroyed.
Harry found himself grinning widely. If this Loki was similar to the one from his home universe, then it was going to be very fun fighting someone like this. He hadn't been able to have a really decent fight since his battle with Voldemort. While Belasco had been a bit of a challenge, he had been very sure that he would win so there hadn't been much effort.
His fight with the Phoenix had been in the Astral plane so he hadn't gotten to use much if any of his talents apart from making the soul cage. But now, he had someone who could give him a real challenge and make him sweat for the win. He could feel his blood pumping in anticipation for the fight that was sure to come but he pushed back those feelings aside for now. He closed his eyes and concentrated on the tattoo of the Deathly Hallows on his chest as he directed his magic to open a portal.
When he opened his eyes, he was standing in the realm where he first met Luna.
"Hi Harry." Luna greeted happily sitting next to a pond that hadn't been there the first time. "You have been busy."
"So have you." Harry answered conjuring a seat next to her. "You haven't visited me for a while."
"Well, you were training your apprentice and searching ways to go home. I couldn't disturb you." She said as she picked a plate next to her chair. "Do you want some pudding…"
"No thanks." Harry declined wondering where she had even got pudding from. "I want to ask you some questions."
"Ask away."
Harry conjured an illusion of the tesseract in his hand.
"What can you tell me about this."
"That thing contains the space stone." Luna answered. "One of the six infinity stones and that particular one governs space. It grants the wielder absolute control over space so long as they can access its power and know how to wield it."
"So one could open a portal for anything to come thorough from the other side then?" Harry asked as he understood exactly what Loki wanted the cube for. "Like an army."
"Indeed." Luna nodded. "However, the stone can only be wielded by beings of great power. A normal person wouldn't be able to hold it directly for long without being consumed. Not even Loki. Its power is near unlimited as it can take anyone to anywhere. It also gives the wielder unlimited control of space and they could do anything space related. There is only one Space stone in the whole multi-verse and it is one of the reasons why you were brought to this particular universe."
Harry waited for Luna to see if she would elaborate on what she meant but she just continued eating her pudding like she it had been someone else talking and not her. It was as if he had even been forgotten that he was still here. Shaking his head, Harry decided to go back to his home dimension. Getting a direct answer from Luna was like trying to catch the wind without magic. He was surprised she had even told him that much.
Finding himself back in the library, Harry stood up and went to the living room. He activated his mirror to call Illyana. His apprentice had been dragged by Anne and Jean to go along with them on a trip organized by the girls at the mansion. When he went in the morning for his Lucha Libre match, he had left them as they tried to convince her.
"Hey Lya, I see they managed to convince you." Harry said when he answered. They were in some kind of forest.
"More like forced." Illyana huffed. "Though I'm glad I came; this has been so much fun."
"Really." Harry smiled at her enthusiasm.
"Yeah, Nym is enjoying herself very much." Illyana said glancing at the phoenix in question who was enjoying the attention from the rest of the girls. "I don't think I'll be coming back today, if that is ok with you."
"Sure take your time… it is quite peaceful here without you bansheeing around the whole place." Harry smirked
"Hey, there is no such a thing as bansheeing."
"Is too."
"Is not."
"Is too."
"Is... hey aren't you supposed to be the adult here?"
"Oh, now you are calling me an old man?" Harry narrowed his eyes at her. "Anyway, just be careful alright, something is happening and I would be most displeased if you died on me."
"Oh, ok." Illyana said seriously. "What is it?"
"Nothing to worry about hopefully." Harry told her. "Now, about bansheeing…"
Illyana just hung up on him. He called Natasha.
"Hi, Harry any luck."
"Not yet, I was hoping seeing your beautiful face would give me some." Harry answered. "Oh, hi Doctor Banner."
Banner's blushing face disappeared from behind Natasha and he could hear him grumbling about physics and magic.
"Well we aren't having much luck either." Natasha said. "I imagine you have a reason to call me?"
"Yeah about that tesseract… Loki is planning to use it to open a portal."
"It can do that?"
"Yep." Harry answered. "He just needs to find a way of stabilizing the portal long enough for his army or whatever he plans to bring to help him take over the planet."
"Iridium!" Banner exclaimed appearing behind Natasha.
"What?"
"It is a stabilizing agent and it would keep the portal open long enough for whatever is on the other side to come through."
"Been eavesdropping on out conversation Bruce?" Harry frowned at him as the man stuttered out an apology.
"Forget him." Natasha said. "We can now narrow down our search to Germany as that is where the biggest stock of Iridium is. Thanks Harry."
"Always a pleasure." Harry answered before he hung up. He decided to take a shower and eat something before the shit hit the fan.
-ANLANLANLANL-
Helicarrier
Back at the Helicarrier, there was a flurry of activity as the new information was put to use and a few minutes later, their efforts were rewarded.
"Sir we got a hit." One agent came over to Fury holding a pad. "Seventy percent match."
"Location?" Coulson asked.
"Stuttgart, 28 Konigstrasse Germany.
"Well, it seems Potter has his uses after all." Fury said and turned to Steve. "Captain you're up."
All he got was a nod as Steve got up and left the room to suit up.
"Agent Romanoff, contact Potter and tell him to join you with Steve." He told her and she nodded following Steve out of the room.
"Harry." she spoke when he answered. "We have a hit and we are heading there to meet our stray god."
"Oh, well I will be joining you as soon as possible. I am a bit busy right now."
"You are soaking in a bath tab."
"Yeah, like I said, Busy. Just try not to die before I arrive." Harry insisted and hung up.
A few minutes later, Natasha and Captain America were seated in a Quinjet on their way to Germany with Natasha on the controls.
"Your friend not joining us." Captain America asked.
"He will but he is currently busy." Natasha answered.
"He doesn't seem to care much about what is happening."
"Oh he does." Natasha said with a smile. "He just tries to convince himself that he doesn't."
"I don't understand."
"His life up to this point has been about saving others and putting other people before him." Natasha explained. "He feels like he has been over used and now wants to try putting his needs before those of others but he just can't help it. Apparently he has a saving people thing."
The rest of the flight was spent in companionable silence broken occasionally. Natasha knew that Harry had found out more than just the fact that Loki plans to open a portal. Though she doubted it had been in the library. She assumed it had something to do with Luna, whoever she was. Harry always talked about Luna though Natasha had never met her. From what she had gathered, Luna had been close to Harry in his home universe which didn't make sense as she knew Harry had no contact with anybody back home.
Soon they were in Germany air space and on one monitor there was a live feed and she could see Loki with some kind of armor and helmet on, along with a green cape had somehow multiplied himself and was standing around a crowd of people kneeling before him. A few minutes later, the Stuttgart Museum came into view and Natasha lowered the Quinjet a small distance away for Captain America to get off. She then took back to the air and came closer to the museum. On the screen, Loki was still talking.
"Is not this simpler?" Loki's voice reverberated around the yard. "This is the unspoken truth of humanity that you all crave subjugation. You were made to be ruled by gods like me. And in the end, you will always end up on your knees before the mighty power of your god. You will always kneel"
"Not to men like you." An elder man declared defiantly as he refused to kneel and Natasha brought the Quinjet in shooting range of Loki knowing the Asgardian would take insult at being defied.
"There are no men like me." Loki said with a smirk.
"There are always men like you." It was clear to Natasha that the man had a death wish, though she had to admire his spirit.
"Look to your elder and let him be an example." Loki declared as he pointed his scepter at the older man.
The gem on the scepter glowed blue and a beam of energy shoots out towards the still standing man. Natasha was about to open fire when Captain America dived in front of the man and blocked the energy beam which was reflected back to Loki and he was blasted onto his ass as the other Lokis disappeared.
"The last time I was in Germany, a man stood in front of people like you just did." Captain America said straitening up. "We disagreed."
"Ah the soldier." Loki said as he got up dusting himself. "A man out of time."
Natasha by this point was in position and had the gun pointed right at Loki.
"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Natasha said but had to swerve to dodge an energy blast from Loki's scepter.
However, that gave Capt. America an opening and he threw his shield at Loki who batted it away. And dodged Steve's fists with little to no effort. He then grabbed Steve's hand that had been directed at his face while at the same time holding his neck. With surprising strength, he lifted Captain America and slammed his back onto the concrete floor. Cap swung his legs knocking Loki to the ground and made to take advantage but Loki rolled away and grabs the scepter.
In the meantime, Cap grabbed his shield just in time as well to shield against an energy beam from Loki. He then ran towards Loki and covered the distance as he prepared to shoot another beam and they engaged in a bit of short range combat, dodging each other's punches while attacking at the same time with almost matched speed. However, it soon became clear that Loki was faster as he got a punch in Captain's stomach then kicked his shin making him kneel on one knee.
Captain America was no slouch though and used the edge of his shield to slam it in Loki's knee. Any normal person would have been broken but Loki only felt pain when he bent down he met an upper-cut from the Captain. Loki fell on his back but teleported away as Captain leaped at his position with his shield braced to smash in his face. The Vibranium shield met with concrete sending sparks flying and disorienting Steve for a moment as his shoulders shook in their sockets from the impact.
"Kneel" Loki said from behind him as he pointed his glowing scepter at his neck.
"Not today." Cap answered and tried to sweep Loki's legs from under him who jumped and made to step on Steve's leg only to get entangled with him and dropping his scepter. The two males started rolling around as one tried to get dominance on the other.
Back in the Quinjet, Natasha huffed in frustration. She had been trying to get a clear shot at Loki while the fight was going on but it was like the Asgardian knew what she was trying to do and kept moving from one place to another, all the time making it harder for her to get a shot. Suddenly music started playing on the Quinjet's speakers and Natasha knew exactly who had arrived.
"Agent Romanoff, miss me?" Tony's voice asked from her comm.
Iron Man flew down towards the fight, his red and gold suit gleaming in the light and blasted Loki off Captain America. He then landed right before his nearly unconscious form and pulled out every piece of weaponry the suit had and pointed all of the at Loki.
"Make your move, Reindeer Games." Tony said as he waited to see what Loki would do. The god of mischief wisely raised his hands in surrender. "Good move."
"Mr. Stark." Captain America said walking towards Iron Man. "A little bit earlier wouldn't have hurt."
"You're welcome." Tony answered giving a pair of cuffs to Steve who handcuffed Loki.
Tony picked Loki's scepter and Captain America's shield and followed the two to the Quinjet.
A few minutes later, the four were back in the sky flying back to the Helicarrier. Natasha's comm beeped and she answered.
"Said anything yet?" Fury asked from the other side.
"Not a word. He is barely conscious."
"Just get him here. We're low on time."
"Of course."
When Fury got off, she glanced at Tony and Steve who were watching Loki while talking to each other.
"I don't like it." Steve said with a frown.
"What, big and mighty giving up that easily?" Tony asked in his usual tone.
"It was too easy." Steve shook his head. "It is never that easy, and this guy packs a wallop."
"Still, you're pretty spry for an old fellow." Tony commented looking Steve up and down like he was a commodity. "What's your thing, Pilates?"
"What?"
"I like calisthenics." Tony said. "You missed quite a lot you know, doing time as a Capsicle."
Steve was now utterly confused. He glanced at Natasha who pretended like she wasn't listening.
"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in." Steve said instead changing the topic.
"Yeah, he tends to forget to say a lot of things."
Natasha's mirror beeped.
"Harry."
"Hey Nat, you're in Germany yet?"
"Yeah, at least I think we are."
"Good, don't try to engage Loki directly yet." Harry warned and Natasha raised an eyebrow. "He is very dangerous and none of you are any match for him."
"We already captured Loki."
Natasha resisted the urge to laugh at Harry's expression.
"Wait what, are you sure you have the right Loki."
"That we do, no thanks to you." Tony pipped in from behind Natasha.
"Keep your goatee out of this conversation, Stark." Harry said.
"Oh, it was? I thought she was watching National Geographic or something." Tony replied. "I have to admit whatever this animal is has a disturbing resemblance to a human."
"Ha ha, very funny." Harry replied before he looked at Natasha. "Something isn't right, Loki wouldn't_"
Harry was interrupted as lightning stuck the Quinjet making it lose balance for a second before she got it back under control.
"What is happening?" Harry asked from the floor where the mirror had fallen.
Before she could answer, the ramp opened a tall man with long blonde hair wearing armor and a red cape jumped down next to Loki. He grabbed him by the neck, swung his hammer and flew out.
"Now there is that guy." Tony said as put the Iran Man helmet back on.
"Another Asgardian?" Steve asked grabbing his shield.
"Yeah, the older brother or something like that." Iron Man answered as he prepared to fly out.
"Think the guy is friendly?"
"Doesn't matter. If he frees Loki or Kills him, the tesseract is lost." Tony replied.
"We need a plan of attack."
"I have a plan. Attack." Tony replied and flew off after the two Asgardians.
Steve looked at Natasha who had been watching everything with a raised eyebrow.
"Is he insane."
"Probably." Natasha shrugged.
Steve strapped his shield on his back also preparing to jump.
"You should probably sit this one out Cap."
"I don't see how I can." Steve replied.
"These guys are from legends. They are practically gods."
"I only know one God and he doesn't dress like that." And with that the man jumped off the Jet.
"Well that was interesting." Harry commented just as he appeared next to her. "That was fast, I thought you were still in Germany."
"We are traveling Harry; you didn't expect us to be in the same place forever did you?"
"Good point." Harry conceded. "I am still having a hard time believing that these guys are the real deal."
"Aren't you going after them?" Natasha asked as Harry was looking at Loki's scepter.
"Oh, I guess I should." He sighed. "Someone has to make sure they don't kill themselves."