As a forewarning: I have never read the comics, nor due I fully understand the Chitari as a species. So I made some stuff up and rolled with it. Hope you guys enjoy! C:
Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers or any characters associated with them.
The sun had long since set on the realm of Asgard, and night's ebony now reigned the skies, interrupted only by the stars and planets afar. Even in the darkness, the glowing rainbows of the Bifrost Bridge illuminated the waters below as well as the observatory, colors glinting off the golden sphere.
Clacking hooves echoed against the crashing waves, slowing as they neared the building. Heimdall, ever vigilant in his watch of the realms, remained at his post before the gate to the realms. The horse drew to a stop before him and a woman slid off the saddle, walking regally toward the gatekeeper.
"You wished to see me, my old friend?" Frigga asked with a smile as she stopped in front him.
Heimdall nodded. "Trouble brews on Midgard."
The queen's eyes narrowed minutely as her smile fell. "Are my sons alright?"
The gatekeeper did not speak and Frigga shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. New worry coursed through her mind and she felt her heart beat grow quicker. A million thoughts and possibilities swept through her, but she managed to brush them away, instead choosing to scrutinize the Asgardian before her.
"What has happened on Midgard?" She asserted, forcing calm.
Eyes unblinking, Heimdall responded, "The Chitari seek your younger son in vengeance. I fear there is not much we can do."
Her hands flew to her mouth and she sucked in a breath, willing away the horrid memories that resurfaced and blinking away unshed tears.
"No…" She whispered. "Surely, we can do something. We can gather…we can gather the army..and…"
"I'm sorry, my queen, but if you believe the people of Asgard will rally to save him, you are sorely mistaken."
"There must be something," She muttered hoarsely, pacing across the bridge, trails of color following her steps.
"Loki is intelligent, my queen. Even now, he plots to trick the creatures and sever their connections with the realms," The gatekeeper said stoically.
Frigga shook her head. "I fear he will not succeed. The Chitari are not led by a fool."
Heimdall canted his head slightly. "With all due respect, how would you be aware of this, my queen?"
She stopped, stiffening at his question and realizing she had let slip that which she did not wish to reveal. She inhaled sharply and turned back to her horse, settling back into the saddle.
"Thank you for the information, Heimdall. I'm sorry, but I must speak with Odin immediately," She said curtly, before digging her heels into the horse's side. The animal tore across the rainbow bridge. The movement sent cascades of color across the waters below, lighting the way before them.
Frigga did not think about the horse's gallop as she rode on. Her mind was on other things, other troubles.
Loki, her son, her dear, beloved son, was chased and hounded by the Chitari at this very second. She couldn't help but wonder how long they had pursued him, how long they had yearned for his blood. Had it been only since the battle those six months ago, or had they sought out the trickster for far longer, hungering for the opportunity to torture him; in both mind and body?
She knew her son had not attempted to conquer Midgard of his own will. She knew the eyes of the controlled, of those who had had their minds ripped asunder and replaced with the will of another. She had seen it once before, but had not recognized it. For how many years after had she wished she'd seen it sooner? How long had she wished she could change that past; that things could've been so different?
Maybe then, she would not have cried herself to sleep all those nights ago, nor would her younger son suffer under such atrocities. The Chitari would not be merciful to him if he failed in his trickery. He had done more than fail them. He had unwittingly deceived them and outsmarted them, and Midgard was not where he had done so.
Memories flitted through her mind; memories of long lost days and long gone life. Tears slipped past her eyelids as her horse galloped faster and faster toward the palace. She shook her head. Now was not the time to mourn that which was already gone. Now was the time to try to save that which hung so precariously on the edge of the abyss of death.
As the queen dismounted her horse and tore up the steps to the palace, heading straight for Odin's throne, she pushed all mourning away.
Her son needed her, and she would do all in her power to aid him.
The ventilation shafts in the Chitari ship were strange and unlike the ones on the Helicarrier that Clint was so used to. Instead of being rectangular, they were curved, similar to the corridors below, but much smaller. They had the same old bronze arches and slick black floor. The main differences were the size and the occasional grate against the wall.
The archer also quickly realized it was scalding hot inside them, a fact he had graciously been pre-warned of by Loki. Apparently the Chitari hated the cold and had a higher tolerance for heat than most creatures. However, this also meant their tolerance for cold was of a rather low scale.
A fact the two assassins were all too willing to exploit.
As they reached a part of the shafts where it branched off into two directions, Clint signaled to his partner. They each took separate routes. Natasha went right, toward the direction of the main computer terminal, and Clint headed left and downward, aiming for the heating system.
With each step he could feel the temperature increase. He finally came to the point where he could no longer touch the walls unless he wanted to scald himself. The archer could vaguely see the heat emanating from the walls and wiped sweat from his own brow, his arm flickering. He sighed in relief as he spotted a grate a few feet ahead of him.
Pulling an arrow out of his quiver, Clint used the shaft to slide the grate away from the wall. Seeing and hearing no Chitari below, he jumped out of the hole and landed in a crouch. He eyed the amplifier carefully for a second, watching the purple glow that only he could see. With a moment's trepidation he flicked his wrist, sending a jolt of warmth down his arm. The warmth encompassed his entire hand, leaving it surrounded in a purple glow.
"Why do we need to take the vents if we have the invisibility spell?" Natasha asked warily, watching the trickster across the table. The hologram now had two green lines that followed a path through the ventilation system above.
Loki flicked his eyes to her. "For one, the spell will last longer if it doesn't detect anything to hide you from and for another, I am very well aware Barton is rather fond of ventilation systems," He said with an indifferent glare aimed at the archer.
Clint smirked. "You only lost me for an hour."
"I still haven't figured out how you even got up there."
"Can we talk about this later?" Steve interrupted, a hand on his forehead.
"Of course," The trickster replied with a smirk. He grimaced when he glanced at the clock and turned to the one who had previously spoken. "Rogers? Go prepare the plane, there's something I need to show Barton before we can start our game."
Steve arched an eyebrow, but obeyed nonetheless, running out to the landing pad below the balcony. Clint walked over to where Loki kneeled, his partner following close behind.
"What is it?"
Loki eyed the archer for a moment before speaking. "Can you feel my magic?"
Clint blinked, "That warm humming thing in my chest?"
"Yes, that," Loki sighed with an eye roll. "Can you channel it?"
"Can I what?"
Resisting the urge to slam his head into a wall, the trickster stood up. "Let me see your hand."
With a confused, yet wary look, the archer slowly extended his arm, raising his palm up to the Asgardian in front of him. Natasha stood behind, watching curiously with an air of suspicion.
The trickster raised his own arm. "You only have enough magic to encase your hand, so I need you to mimic what I do," he said, flicking his wrist and enveloping it in a green glow.
Nodding slowly, Clint copied the movement, smiling as his hand was sheathed in purple. He noted silently the annoyed look that crossed Loki's face when he saw the color, but said nothing of it. Instead, he moved his hand carefully, watching as the glow moved to encompass it with each change.
"What is it?" He asked, lifting a curious eye to the trickster.
Loki snapped his hand down and the glow around it dispersed. "It's a protection spell. It's the second thing I learned after healing."
Clint looked up, snapping his hand just as Loki had before, his own purple glow scattering. "So…the magic inside me…"
"Is relearning everything to accommodate its new host," Loki finished with a smirk, though there was a twinge of irritation in his tone.
Natasha's gaze twitched up to Loki's. "So, that's why Clint's injuries were healed so fast?"
"That would be it, yes."
"Guys!" Steve's voice jarred them from their conversation. "Plane's ready and we've only got a few more minutes."
The archer glanced at Loki, catching a faint twitch of fear before it was veiled and hidden behind a mask of mischief. With a smirk, the trickster walked toward the balcony. "Let the game begin."
Clint carefully grabbed the vent cover, finding the searing heat it gave off didn't even warm his hand underneath the protective glow that encompassed it. With more confidence in the spell Loki had shown him, the archer pushed the grate back into its place and flicked his wrist, the glow vanishing.
Silently thanking Loki for both the invisibility spell embedded in the amplifier as well as the one he had just utilized, Clint crept along the wall, following its path downward. His movements were slower than he would've liked, but the faster he moved or the more deliberately he walked, the easier it was for the amplifier to glitch for a split second. A simple glitch could send the spell into oblivion and compromise the entirety of his mission. So, checking his patience learned so long ago, he slid silently against the wall and toward the metal door at the end of the hall.
His breath hitched and he froze in place as the door slid open and a disgruntled Chitari soldier ambled out, waving its gun haphazardly. As the metal contraption began to ease closed, Clint darted forward, his form shimmering. His hand caught the edge and he stilled, hoping he had not been seen. When nothing else moved, he carefully pushed the door back open enough for him to slip through.
Once inside, he blinked for a moment at the large, dome like room. In the center, an enormous, glowing red machine stood, several pipes and vents feeding from it and into the outlying shafts that ran through the entire ship. Taking a quick survey of the Chitari inside, the archer took a silent breath of ease at the small amount of the creatures that ran the machine.
Walking silently against the metal grating below his feet, Clint slinked closer to the metal. He could feel the heat grow with every step he took, but pressed on. He dropped his hand to his side and gripped a metal canister positioned tightly against his belt. It was cold to the touch and felt good against the smoldering heat emanating from the machine.
Moving against the machine now, Clint analyzed its exterior closer, searching for the grate he knew was there. His eye caught a flare of light to his left and he crept closer to it. His form shimmered again, despite his slow movements. Glancing down, he noticed the dimness of the purple circle on the amplifier, and hurried his approach.
As he reached the grate, the archer flicked his wrist again and it was enveloped in the same glow as before. Carefully, he pushed it aside until the opening was roughly half a foot. Not assimilating the glow, he shifted his hands, passing the cold canister to the one encompassed in purple. Flicking the top open, a cloud of what looked like steam began to pour out.
Clint threw the metal container unceremoniously into the machine just as the lights blinked out, shrouding the entire room in darkness. The furnace whirred to a stop and he smirked upward, flicking his wrist again. The Chitari in the room grunted to each other in confusion, searching for the reason for the blackout. In their bewilderment, they did not notice the temperature slowly decrease, nor did they notice how the machine did not return to its humming.
What they did notice, was the sound of the door slamming closed. One screeched to the other and the majority of them darted out of the room and into the corridor, chasing that which they could not see. But one stayed behind, not willingly, of course.
He did not follow, because he was dead; frozen to the ground by an ever increasing cluster of ice crystals.
"Their heating systems are like giant amplifiers," Loki explained as he handed the canister to the archer.
Clint arched an eyebrow inquisitively as they approached the jet. "Meaning?"
"Meaning, that whatever is put in is enhanced and amplified a thousand fold before being dispersed throughout the ship."
"So," Natasha started from behind them, "All they need is a small flame to heat an entire ship?"
The trickster nodded. "Yes, and if we put something else inside; something colder…,"He trailed off with a dark smirk.
The sniper mimicked the movement with a twitch. "Sounds like fun."
Natasha pressed against the grate above the enormous computer terminal, eyes roving over everything within the room and counting the creatures inside. She fingered the USB drive in her hand, giving the tiny device a glance. If Tony didn't do his work, she was in deep trouble. They all would be.
Taking a calming breath, the lithe spy slipped the grating silently off and slid it into the vent. Nothing below seemed to notice the movement and she mentally sighed in relief. Tightening her hand around the metal drive, she carefully eased out of the hole, thankful for the amplifier around her wrist. Soundlessly landing on the slick, ebony floor below, Natasha slowly and stealthily crept toward the computer.
She continually glanced around, sure to make her movements careful lest the spell slip and her position revealed. None of the Chitari had noticed her. Not yet.
Once at the computer, she searched for anything that resembled a USB port, fairly certain none would be found. When she did not see the port, she hissed at herself, looking for something else that would work. Finding nothing, Natasha dug through one of her pockets, fishing out a small cord with a strange outlet hooked on one end and a USB port on the other.
Scanning the expansive terminal again, she shoved the one end of the cord into the first port it would fit into while simultaneously jamming the USB into its respective port on the other end. Stray sparks lit up around the cord, but otherwise nothing occurred.
A Chitari looked up at the sound of the sparks and glanced around. The spy froze, standing stock still as the creature looked directly at her, but through her at the same time. It grunted, before turning back to its work.
Managing to keep herself from exhaling in relief, Natasha turned back to the terminal, setting her fingers against the glowing screen beside the port. She watched it eagerly, waiting for what had to happen for them to succeed.
Soon enough, the blue haze of the screen flitted away and was replaced with flashing numbers and letters that streaked by too fast for her to comprehend. Her job complete, Natasha slowly edged closer to the exit, knowing what was soon to become of the vents she had just traversed.
Her form shimmered and the amplifier buzzed against her arm, sending a jolt of anxiety through her veins. There was a growl behind her and she whirled around to meet it. Her movement only sent the fading to fail further and the green circle to diminish more. The Chitari soldier screeched and charged toward her, its gun in its hand.
The lights above suddenly cut out, plunging the entire room into ebony. Natasha quickly took advantage of the situation, scrambling out of the room and through the exit before any of the Chitari could see her escape.
Once the door was out of sight, she slowed her dash, her form flickering warningly. Sending an annoyed glance at the dimming amplifier, the spy crept along the corridors of the ship, searching for the rendezvous point at which she was to meet Clint. Without the lights, the halls were darker, casting eerie shadows across the floor, interrupted only by dim, glowing bulbs beside the bases of the arches that lined the walls.
She shivered, glancing up at a vent. A cloud of cold seeped out of the grate, everything it touched slowly freezing. Hastening at the sight, Natasha peered around the corner. Deeming the following hallway safe, she pressed on, slowly but surely making her way downwards.
The archer turned around the corner, slamming himself against the wall and willing his heart to slow from the excitement. The amplifier buzzed in annoyance and he hissed under his breath as his form faded in time with the slowing pulse of the circle. Hearing the thump of the Chitari, he bit his lip, holding his breath and willing the amplifier to hold out just a bit longer.
The creatures walked by at an agonizingly slow speed, their weapons coming within inches of him multiple times. One of them sniffed the air, a growl growing in the back of his throat. Clint stiffened as it drew closer to him. Another growled louder in response, beckoning the other to follow. With a snort, it followed and they moved on, passing from the corridor into another door at the opposite end.
As their steps faded, he allowed himself to breathe again, straightening from where he had pressed himself into the wall. Glancing around him, Clint slowly began to traverse the ship once more, smirking at the tendrils of white that slowly flowed out of the vents from where he had come. The air behind him grew colder and the wisps began to overcome the floor. Quickening his steps, the marksman pushed against a corner, peering around the edge. Finding nothing of danger, he shuffled into the next corridor, slowly making his way downward.
The faintest sound of footsteps drifted to his ears and he immediately halted, eyeing the corridor with a scrutinizing eye. The noise continued, unheard had his ears not been so acute. He narrowed at his eyes as he saw something shimmer, the dim light from below bending at an odd angle.
Something warm suddenly pressed against him and he flinched back, causing his form to fade and the amplifier to buzz in annoyance. To his surprise, he barely heard the buzz of another amplifier and another form shimmered in front of him, the spell blinking out of existence around a red haired woman.
Natasha blinked in confusion before sighing in relief at the sight of her comrade. The archer glanced down at his arm, realizing it had rematerialized and the purple glow on the amplifier had diminished completely.
"Not exactly where we agreed to meet," The spy muttered wryly as she surveyed the corridor.
Clint smirked. "Close enough."
His partner smiled in good natured mirth. "Now?"
Taking a quick look around the hallway, the sniper turned around, motioning for her to follow. With careful steps, they tread across the ebony floor, slowly edging away from the freezing vents and the core of the ship that emanated the icy death. Their shrouds gone and amplifiers useless, they moved faster and swifter through the maze of the ship, remaining hidden from the prying eyes of the Chitari that ambled the passages.
After a few minutes the archer stopped suddenly in the center of the corridor, eyes narrowed and twitching about. Natasha stood behind him, watching for a second before he spoke.
"Do you hear that?" He whispered.
Natasha blinked, straining her ears, but heard nothing. "Hear what?" She asked back in confusion.
Clint didn't respond, instead turning his head slowly as if to try and hear the sound better. Something in his eyes clicked and he darted to her side. Grabbing her hand, he dragged her to the floor just as a thunderous boom resounded throughout the ship, sending the entire corridor rumbling. Green and white tendrils of energy surged past them, ripping through the untouched wall before dispersing.
The spy looked up at her partner from where she lay pressed against the floor and inhaled sharply. His blue grey eyes shone back with the same question and they both simultaneously scrambled to their feet. With a hesitant glance to the ebony door in front of them, the two assassins each set a hand on the entrance and pushed it aside.
Little did they know what awaited them behind that door.
Do amplifiers work that way?
Probably not.
But this is scifi,
So I do what I want. C:
Thanks for reading! Thy reviews and criticisms of the constructive variety doth remain highly appreciated~