Chapter 13

Showing Off

Loki sat and watched the Chitauri descend out of the vortex, swirling around like a school of evil demon projectile fish. It was quite incredible, how all of this was Loki's work. Loki had made all of this possible. He was so proud.

Iron man flew off towards the city as mortals flooded the streets, staring up at the portal and the Chitauri. The screams began when the Chitauri fired blasts of blue energy at the millions of buildings, causing pavement to crack, cars to explode, and storefronts to light up like giant bonfires. He smiled as he watched Tony Stark attempt to quench the flow of blue figures, shooting at them and causing a few to blow up, but then being overcome by more. He sped off, away from the army only to be chased by many of the newcomers. He nearly laughed out loud, but then remembered Tony's threat. The others would be coming. He would have to find his lifeline. He turned around and called her.

"Amber?"

He heard her before he saw her. Soft breathe at his elbow made him jerk it back. He heard her hiss and turned to find her glaring at him angrily. He really did laugh, he couldn't help it. She looked so hilarious with her hair on end and her eyes wild. They soon softened as she looked out at the chaos of burning buildings.

"This is AWESOME! What are those things? They're on our side? Sweet! Can I fight too? Oh please please please?"

This too made him feel proud. He kept grinning and rubbed her head affectionately. She punched his arm lightly and smiled devilishly, awaiting his answer. Loki thought he'd play with her head for a little bit.

"Well, I don't know. I mean, it might not be very safe. And there are so many enemies. You might not be able to handle it."

"I can handle it! Let me go! I'll be okay! I'll crush those guys! Please?!"

"Hmm. Let me think about it."

The air around her was sparking around her. Her hair was static again, sticking up on end and she was practically bouncing up and down with excitement. He knew what would happen next, but he wasn't prepared for it anyway. He felt a bolt of electricity run through his arm and up and down his body. He shuddered and his arm jolted backwards and hit her in the face again. She caught his elbow and threw it back at him, making him fall backwards. Then she caught his hand and steadied him. He stood up straighter and looked at her quizzically.

"You see? You can barely control your power. I wouldn't want you to accidentally knock down a building. That would be rude."

"Ugh, come on. I can do it! Hey…" she looked at him calculatingly. Something had apparently just dawned on her, because she was looking more mischievous. He knew what was coming as he had with the spark, and again had no power to stop it.

"Why am I asking you?" Amber asked Loki, her mouth twisting into a malicious curve, and before he could stop her, she slowly walked backward, eyes on him, until she stood right on the edge of the hole created when Stark had crashed through the window. Her heels teetered above the ledge and she could feel the wind brushing against the back of her neck, disturbing her ponytail. She looked at him naughtily, eyes glinting, "Bye-bye!"

Before he could react, she spread her arms wide and felt herself fall backward out of the window, free falling one hundred feet, arms pressing tight into her body as the air rushed past her. Her hair whipped around her and her entire body went rigid as a board. She loved this every time. She let herself fall for a little bit longer, eyes closed. Then she finally opened them and turned on her magic.

The magic spread like ice through her limbs, blasting her towards the ground. At the last second she pulled up, shooting up into the sky. She blew up the side of a building, legs running up it but making no effort. The glass shattered behind her, exposing offices full of men and women. She summoned more energy and shot bolts of electricity behind her into rooms she had already passed. Some lit on fire and there were screams. He saw people flood out onto the street outside. She saw many people look up and around, as if suddenly realizing that evil blue figures were flying around on strange magical chariots and shooting at people with strange blue lights. She jumped into the now empty room to have some fun with some random peoples stuff.

She proceeded to wreck the place, lighting things on fire, electrocuting random stuff and shooting ice everywhere. Soon everybody was gone, probably seeking shelter in the streets. She decided to head out as well, so she ran and jumped out the window. She flew across the sky, searching for the 'Avengers'. She knew Iron Man was off somewhere and also knew that she shouldn't go after him. Not when he could beat her. She would have to settle for a less powerful hero. She caught sight of Hawkeye and Black Widow flying the Quinjet around the city and shooting at Chitauri chariots. She decided to go after them.

She sped through the air, following them. She jumped from wall to wall, doing flips to free herself from any pent up energy. She caught up to them and sat herself down on the wing. They shot down the Chitauri, and then turned toward the tower. She saw Loki battling Thor savagely. Loki fired blue energy from his staff, knocking Thor aside. He then turned to the Quinjet, pointing his scepter at it as well. It circulated around the air, constantly shooting at him. She got bored of this game quickly so she decided to have some fun with the wing she sat on. By ripping it off.

The wing fell to the ground and crushed a dumpster which promptly burst into flames. Natasha and Clint must have noticed because she could hear screams of "WHAT THE HELL?!" from the inside of the cockpit. She grinned and scrambled off of the jet, right when Loki shot it. She hovered around to watch them slam into the street, still laughing. Unfortunately, they survived. She decided to let them deal with their stupid lives, and go off to help Loki.

Loki wasn't enjoying himself. He was currently engaged in a rather agonizing fight involving a hammer and an idiot. He couldn't keep Thor down, just like the old days. The old days when Loki was continually out shined and shoved down by his brother. Even being dropped from the rainbow bridge had all been because of Thor and his thoughtless blunders. And now he was back to the old brotherly rivalry. Trying to beat each other to the death and chuck each other off a tower. Yep, just like old days.

And, of course, there was the small, psychotic girl sitting on the ledge and watching him get beat up by his older brother.

He stared at her questioningly, and she responded, "It's getting up." She was pointing at his brother. The idiot was gawking up at the sky with the look of a lost cow. These things were completely normal. What wasn't was the giant Chitauri leviathan that was emerging from the vortex of evilness. The one that Loki had created. Loki was so ecstatic, he even joined in with the maniacal laughter issuing from Amber's mouth. She was practically rolling around on the railing, giggling and pointing at the giant snake-like creature. He was positive that she really wanted one. Now he knew what to get her for her birthday. When was her birthday? Did she even know? He'd have to ask her when he got the chance.

The leviathan passed over three small figures. He saw Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Captain America look up as its Chitauri infested underbelly. Loki saw similar expressions to Thor's reflected on their faces. He could have, would have laughed if he hadn't lost the ability to a moment later. Unfortunately for him, he was soon unable to when Thor grabbed his head and turned it forcefully to face the flaming mass of destruction that used to be the city of "Manhattan".

"Look at this! Look around you! You think this madness will end with your rule?!" Thor cried. He was obviously worried. Loki was almost tempted to lay down his weapon and let Thor take him back to the old days. He resisted the urge and instead turned his head away.

"It's too late. It's too late to stop it."

"No," Thor insisted, voice suddenly changing, lifting, "We can. Together."

Loki looked at him with new eyes, showing signs of hope. Then he stabbed Thor in the chest with a small silver dagger. Thor keeled over, groaning. "Sentiment," Loki hissed.

Thor got up and kicked Loki in the chest. Loki toppled and Thor grabbed him and lifted him into the air, then slammed him down hard on the ground. Loki looked up at him for a split second and then, covered in dust and blood, rolled over the edge.

Amber watched all of the brotherly rivalry unfold, choosing not to help only because it was entertaining to watch and she still didn't know if she could trust Loki. Thor picked him up and threw him down and Loki rolled off the ledge to land on a Chitauri chariot. By now she was bored again and there was a free opponent standing right in front of her, so she decided to take this opportunity to beat him up. He couldn't yet hear her, she had made sure that no one would interfere with her watching the fight, but it was so boring to fight a person when they couldn't see you. Took all the fun out of it. She dropped the magic and stood up to face Thor.

He stared at her for a moment as if sizing her up, and then turned away. Amber felt as if this was insulting her strength, so she hit him on the back, not really hard, but hard enough to leave a bruise. He turned around, "What?"

"Why are you turning your back on me!?"

He looked at her as if it was obvious, "Because I know that you are on our side. I can't let Loki be let on to this. Keep up the good work."

She was stunned. She couldn't believe that he could possibly think that she was actually planning on turning her back on Loki, would help the Avengers. That was the first time she realized that she considered herself and him a team. She was not going to leave him. She was going to help him. She wouldn't give up. She would fight with him to the death. And it really annoyed her that Thor could blame her for helping him take his brother-defeat his brother. She would show him. She would destroy him.

"What 'good work'?! There is no good work."

"You can drop the act with me. You are helping me, helping my brother. You're giving him back to me. You are changing him, making him into my old brother again."

"That's the problem."

His face changed into a look of confusion. His mouth opened slightly, so that he looked like a flabbergasted goldfish, "What's the problem? There is no problem!"

"Yes there is. I may be changing him, I don't know, but what I do know is that the problem with me helping him is that he and I are more alike than you realize. I'm just as insane as he is. I'm on his side!" She jumped at him, raising her nails turned claws. They made contact with his face before he even knew what was happening. She slashed his face open, making three dark, bloody gashes. Thor recoiled blocking his face. He raised his hand and summoned his hammer.

It came hurling towards him, a blur of agonizing steel. Amber automatically extended her arm to catch it, and was caught by surprise when it dragged her away on its path to its master. She was flung back, over Thor's head. She crashed into the wall, head over heels. The wall cracked under her and she sunk to the ground. She rolled over, groaning, ears flattened against her large furry fuzz ball of a head. Her eyes opened dazedly to find Thor advancing towards her.

She got up and bounded off the ledge. Mid jump she summoned her magic and sped off in search of another opponent. She saw Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye look up and Loki fly over them followed by many more chariots, firing at the street and setting off a chain of explosions. Terrified people ran from Loki, looking over their shoulders as Captain America looked down the bridge.

He said something Amber couldn't hear and Black Widow pulled out a pistol and fired. Hawkeye pulled the trigger on his bow and an arrow was mechanically chosen from the quiver on his back. He shot the arrow into one of the death creature's heads and it stuck there as the Chitauri soldier died, giving Cap a few seconds to jump off the bridge. Cap did and dashed along the street, leaping over dozens of explosions. Meanwhile Hawkeye ran over to a bus to help people get out of it. Amber decided not to stick around.

She flew off to try her luck against a more powerful opponent. It was time to fight Stark.