Disclaimer: I don't own the Marvel Franchise. They belong to their rightful owners.

Chapter 25:

Victory Party Gone Wrong

Clio spent the whole day helping out Helen on fixing Barton while Tony and Bruce kept themselves inside the former's lab to study the complexities of the scepter which Thor had given them approval to study it before he return it to Asgard.

Thinking about Asgard, she still wasn't sure if refusing to go back was a good idea. She truly did miss the place but the thought of remembering every pain she tried so hard to forget scared her. Besides that, she wasn't that sure Tony would let her go.

"I find it hard to believe you don't have a girlfriend, Mr. Barton," Helen teased making Clio and their patient chuckle.

"Busy shooting arrows?" Added Clio as she studied his vitals for any complications.

"You bet," Clint answered as he watched the two doctors intently. "Any news about my condition?"

"You're as good as new," Helen commented as she shut her clipboard and put it on the desk.

"No one's going to notice the difference," Clio offered as she poked the new skin. "Does it hurt?"

Clint grunted and sighed. "I could barely feel your finger poking it."

"That will only be temporary," claimed Helen and stood next to Clio. "Your perception will be back once the mother cells completed its task of binding."

Natasha, who recently just come in with a bag of chips, smiled at them.

"Where'd you run off to?" Asked Barton and grabbed a handful of chips.

"I started planning for the party," the redhaired answered.

Clio gasped and glanced at Natasha. "Oh, right! I forgot about the party."

"No biggie," answered the former spy. "I've got nothing to do anyway. Besides, the beverages and foods were already taken care of by Maria. Most of the works are done now. The only problem is the guest and who to invite. Your daddy is holed up with Banner inside his lab."

Clio sighed dejectedly. "He's not coming out until the party that's for sure," she commented earning a sympathetic pat from the redhaired. "I'll take care of the invitations. How about the music?"

"Maria told me you'll be the one to take care of it," she said and Clio nodded with a grin.

"I've contacted one of my friends who is a DJ. He confirmed he'll come," she replied as she scrolled on to the messages and emails on her phone. "Where are the others- Cap and Thor?"

"Steve is busy studying the intel Coulson gave about the twins," Natasha answered. The redhaired gave a brief discussion about the two mutants that showed up at the battle earlier to which Clio find it to be interesting. "Thor, on the other hand, went to visit Jane."

Clio nodded and grinned at Clint who also returned it with a grin of his own. "Do you think he'll get an ear full this time?" He asked referring to the God of Thunder's girlfriend rage.

"Maybe," answered Clio then chuckled. "Unless she instantly melt away from Thor's swooning. She has the tendency to be swayed by the Asgardian's way of words."

Natasha and Helen chuckled. "Anyone would get swayed by his words," Helen commented with a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Do you get swayed, Dr. Cho?" asked Clint teasingly making Natasha roll her eyes.

"I did say 'anyone'," she responded.

"Not me," Clio denied as she wiped her palm on her pants.

"Neither do I," Natasha said.

"Well, you bet your ass I don't too," Clint grunted making the three ladies laugh.

Clio, shaking her head with mirth, walked towards the exit. "I'll be going now. I have a party to organize," she said then winked at the male assassin. "Feel better, Clint. Or you won't be able to join."

~0~

She watched Tony sighed dejectedly from the door way. Whether he heard her come in or not, he did not show it. But knowing her father, she knew he was too holed up into his work to even notice anything at all. The creased on his forehead deepened with concentration as he observed the holographic image in front of him.

She cleared her throat to gain his attention and he jumped a little which made her smirk. He turned around and saw her leaning at the doorway.

"Nat asked me to pick you up," she said with a smirk on her lips. "Party's about to start."

Tony, finally noticing her outfit, chuckled lightly. "It must've slipped from my mind," he muttered as she stand next to him.

The casual way of him dismissing his work did not go unnoticed by her but she didn't want to probe anyway. "Look at you!" He said as he twirled her around; her blue dress swaying gracefully with her every move. "Such beauty! It must've come from your father," he teased making Clio laugh wholeheartedly.

'Yes, he's right. You're father was a beautiful Xhylorian,' the voice spoke making her smile falter slightly. A lump formed inside her throat.

'You know my father?' She thought.

'I know everything there is to know about you,' it said.

Clio pursed her lips tightly. 'No. You don't. And my father is not a Xhylorian and he is standing in front of me,' she thought and the voice laughed as if what she said was very amusing when it was not.

"Clio?" Tony called out snapping her from her own thoughts. He put a hair behind her ear as he looked worriedly at her. "Sugarplum, is everything alright?"

Clio slowly swallowed the lump in her throat before she smiled at him. "Y-yeah, I'm fine," she murmured before she raised an eyebrow. "You've been holed up again inside your lab since you got back from Sokovia, Dad," she reprimanded lightly earning a roll of his eyes.

"Quick to change the subject as ever," he observed with a frown.

"I'm fine, really. The voice is just annoying as ever," she assured as she patted his back. "But you need to get ready. They're already looking for you."

"A host needs a grand entrance," he countered giving her a light jab at her side which she swatted playfully. "Okay, J.A.R.V.I.S., wrap it all up."

"Certainly, sir," the AI responded.

Tony walked over to the exit. "Make sure to keep the guests entertained while I'm gone, Sugarplum," he ordered.

Before he could finally exit, she called him out. "I," she began when he turned back to him. "never got to thank you."

Tony's brows creased in confusion. "What for?" He asked.

Clio took a deep breath and smiled genuinely. "For this life," she answered. "I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for you," she added her voice breaking a little.

Tony regarded her with his brown eyes. She could see his Adam's apple bobbing up and down. He slowly walked over to her and gathered her up in his arms.

"You know, adopting you was and will always be the best decision I ever made in my entire life," he muttered and kissed her head.

Clio bit her lip as she sniffed. "I never get to know my real father but I'm very thankful that I got to have you than anyone else," she muttered back.

"Do you want to know who your real father is?" He asked and she shook her head in answer.

"Why would I need to? You're already hugging me," she said and chuckled lightly.

"Good," he said. The two of them shared a moment together as father and daughter not once bothering to speak up.

Clio sniffled once again before parting from him. "Okay, you really do need a bath," she teased and laughed lightly when he sniffed his armpit.

"Yeah, you're right," he said and hurriedly walked out of the lab.

~0~

The moment he heard footsteps, his eyes were wide awake, his whole body alert and his senses were high. Slowly, he stood up and grabbed a knife hidden from his shawl. His body hadn't rested enough for him to jump to another planet. His body needs nourishment too.

His brows creased when the light careful footsteps turned to be a shuffling noises. With light steps, he prowled his way over to one of the high rock and peered ahead.

Now that the weather was still, he noticed more the surrounding of the place he accidentally jumped into. Across the wet place, an unknown specie was gliding -rather, dancing- its way towards what looked like a forsaken, dark temple.

Loki raised a brow when something about the way it moved felt so familiar to him. But he shook it at the back of his head. That's not a priority right now. It must've have some kind of ship somewhere in this barren land for it to arrive here.

Flicking his hand, green light emerges from it. Under his breath, he chanted spells to track its way to where it came from. The green light from his hand suddenly moved forward doing its work. With quick feet, Loki followed the light silently as possible to not alert someone.

Despite the weather stilling, the fog and mist around the place was still thick giving him hard time to see where he was running off to. His hands swatted here and there little reptiles that looked like lizards.

The lizard, he figured as he studied it closely, was known as Orlini. 'Morag,' he thought of the planet he was on. Orlini was the major inhabitant of Morag, he read from the books.

His feet abruptly stop when he noticed a ship from a distance. He would have continued running towards it had it not for the four or five alien species guarding it which he quickly took noticed as a Sakaarans.

'Could there be more of them?' He mused. He could easily take them out if he was in full strength. But with lack of nourishment in his body, it won't be an easy fight.

"What do you think the rewards would Ronan give us for the orbs?" One of them spoke in a foreign language. Had Loki not been blessed by his multi-language, he would not have understand it.

'Ronan?' He thought. He have heard of the name before. When he was still a prisoner of his captor way back. A shiver ran down his spine. The alien soldiers were somehow connected to him. And what of this orbs they were talking about? He needed to get inside the ship to get an Intel and pass it on to Odin quickly.

Sighing, it's now or never. With quick and quiet step, he slipped behind them with a quick thrust of his knives he took down two of the aliens before there was a loud explosion from the temple distracting the other remaining guards. The guy from before was running away from the one chasing him which turned out to be one of the aliens he took down.

Four more appeared out of nowhere to stop the guy a gadget was thrown at their feet and magnetizing them to the ground. Loki took down the remaining two who was about to shoot the guy.

"You're not one of them?" The guy asked when he stopped by and shoot something behind him.

Loki turned around just in time to see a Sakaaran fall down to the ground with a whole on its chest.

"No," he answered and flipped his knife in his hand. "Is this yours?" He asked pertaining to the ship behind them.

"Yep," the guy answered.

"Care to give me a ride out of here?" Loki asked almost knowing what the answer will already be.

"Nope," just as he thought. "I work solo."

Loki smirked at him. "So do I," he said then pulled out something he picked while the guy was busy shooting. "But I think you might want these back?"

The guy stiffened and Loki wished he could the expression behind the mask. Despite changing for the better good, he couldn't help the glee whenever he do mischief.

"Give those back!" He demanded.

Loki tilted his head and glanced at the thing on his hands. It was a smooth, blue box with a black wire connected to it in the end that looked like ear muffs. It looked worn out due to the rusty color.

"Give me a ride out of here and I'll give this back to you," he ordered.

A roar erupted from a distance and they saw a Sakaaran running up to them. The guy prepared his gun but before he could pull the trigger, an illusion of Loki appeared behind it and stabbed it in the back.

"I mean no harm," he added as the Sakaaran leader fell dead on the ground. "I just want to get out of here."

The guy regarded him slowly before he pushed a button behind his ear. Loki's eyes widened in realization why this guy's moves was so familiar.

"You're a human," he pointed out.

The guy raised an eyebrow at his statement. "Yeah," he answered and glanced at him. "What about you?"

"As-" he began to say but stopped mid-sentence. "Jotun," he corrected.

The guy's brow raised. "Jotun? What- you mean from Jotunheim?" he asked incredulously.

"Yes. Why?"

"Dude, I thought that place doesn't exist or... I mean... if it really do exist it's millions of light years away!" he said and gaped at his appearance. "But from what I recall from the stories, Jotun are big and stupid and blue. You're not blue."

Loki gritted his teeth at how stupid the man in front of him. But he tried to calm himself. Not all species from the Universe knew about Yggdrasil. "I'm not like most Jotun," he hissed. "Unless you want me to turn blue and have this thing crush under my hand then I'll be happy to do it-"

"Don't you dare," he threatened pointing his gun at him.

"Then get me out of here," he demanded with finality in his voice.

The man was silent for a moment, weighing his options. He must have held a great value for the thing on his palm for him to take his time. Finally admitting defeat, the guy sighed and pocketed back his gun.

"Fine," he grumbled under his breath. He turned around and walked back to his ship.

Loki followed afterwards with his guard up just in case the man was planning something that wasn't funny.

"So, what's your story? How'd you got here?" the man asked when they entered the ship.

"There's nothing to tell," Loki said and smiled without humor. "Just took a wrong jump."

The man was silent as he sat on the pilot seat and started the ship. Loki sat to the next seat and buckled up. "Do you got a name then? Or should I call you Jotun-man?"

"Kil," he answered nonchalantly. Well, he wasn't the God of Mischief for nothing; might as well put his skills to work. "You?"

The ship slowly descended from the ground as he smirked at him. "The name is Star-Lord," he said coolly.

"Peter?" The two of them turned towards the sound of the voice behind them. A red lady stood behind them with a wary expression.

Peter, upon realizing the newcomer, regarded the lady with caution. "Hey, um... uh..."

'Is this for real?' Loki thought as he watched the man named 'Star-Lord' fiddled with the right words to say.

"You... I... forgot your name-"

"Bereet!"

"Bereet! Right! Bereet, I totally forgot you're here too," he said sheepishly.

"Who is this?" Bereet asked.

"No one. You know what? Why don't you go back to where you were hiding? I'll call you when we're back in Xandar," Peter persuaded.

Bereet was easily swayed and went back to her little cocoon.

"Xandar?" Loki asked and thought for a moment. Xandar was not his planned destination but it was the first civilization he'd come across after some time.

"Yep," he answered, popping the 'p' sound at the end. "I got to give a relic to someone," he added.

Loki suddenly remembered something and he pulled out the blue device. Peter saw it too and glanced at him warily. "I won't drop you, okay? Just don't break it!"

"I won't. I need answers."

"First, you need a ride and now you want answers. Great," he muttered the last part.

"I could easily break-"

"Okay, fine! Damn it!" he cursed. "What do you want to know?"

Loki regarded him slowly. "What do you know about this 'Ronan'?" he asked.

Peter glanced at him sideways. "Why do people keep talking about that 'Ronan' guy? I don't even know him," he admitted. "Who is he, anyway?"

Loki studied Peter's face. He was telling the truth, his gut was telling him. He knows when someone was lying in front of him and it never failed him yet. "I just heard it from the soldiers before," he said then his eyes squinted. "Why are they chasing you?"

"They were out to get the orb, too," he answered.

"What orb?" Loki asked.

Peter pulled out a sphere from his jacket and showed it to him. Loki's brows creased at the object.

"This is the orb. I was given the task to steal it and give it to the Broker in Xandar that's why I'm headed there," he explained.

Loki thought about it for a moment. He needed to know more about Ronan and the only one he can get that information was the Broker this person was talking about. This might lead him to his captor and his evil plans.

~0~

Clio was watching the others playing deck of cards at the lounge area. The party ended an hour ago and they decided to have a little after party since Thor's going back to Asgard tomorrow.

Clio opened her phone when it vibrated from her hand signaling that there was an email. A holographic image appeared when she pressed a button. A genuine smile appeared from her lips when she read the sender. Slowly, her smile grew into a grin as she read the content of the message.

"Is it a boy?"

Clio flinched slightly in surprise and turned towards the voice who happened to be Natasha Romanov. She chuckled lightly before nodding. "Yep, it is," she answered making the red-haired agent smile teasingly.

"Care to share?" she asked as she offered a bottle of beer to which she gladly accept it.

She showed the content of the email to her friend which she eagerly read before her brows creased. "Peter Parker?" she read the sender's name.

"He's actually the boy I saved from the Battle of New York, remember?" she asked.

"Oh!" Natasha responded and grinned at him. "That's five years ago. How old is he now?"

"Somewhere around 15, I think. I gave him my email address before he was taken care of the police. Every now and then, he would send me an email of his achievements in school whether its big or small. In fact, his recent email consist of the yesterday's Science fair held in their school. He won first prize," she informed proudly. "I was actually there when he received the trophy."

Natasha's brows creased. "Yesterday? You mean when you said you'll visit someone? That's Peter?" she adked and Clio nodded.

"He didn't know I was there, however."

"Why?"

Clio shrugged her shoulders. "I had to go quickly for the party," she explained. "Tho, I did inform him I was there. You know, I had Happy collect information about his school and gave him scholarship under my name."

"That's very sweet of you," Natasha complimented as she watch the younger woman drink from her beer.

"It's the least I can do for what happened to his family," she muttered; a sad look crossed her face. "He didn't deserve this kind of pain at a young age. I figured supporting him financially would lessen the burden."

"Are you blaming yourself for what happened to his family?" she asked slowly.

Clio thought about it for a moment before she shook her head. "No," she answered. "I just empathized for him. And plus, he's really smart and very dedicated to his school works. I think I made the right decision on that one."

Natasha chuckled. "Indeed," she agreed and then grabbed her wrist. "Let's go back. It's getting cold out here, you know."

Clio smiled and nodded. When they returned to the lounge room, Natasha sat next to Banner while Clio sat next to her as Thor laughed at something Clint said.

"But it's a trick," Clint commented, eyeing the hammer suspiciously on the table while he flipped the drum stick with his fingers.

"No, no," answered Thor. "It's much more than that."

Clint regarded the hammer and with deep voice said, "'Ah, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power'- whatever, man it's a trick!"

Thor, clearly amused by the conversation, indicated the hammer. "Please, be my guest," he said.

Silence descended upon them for a while. "Come on, Barton," Tony beckoned teasingly.

"Really?" Clint said exasperatedly.

"Yeah," Thor answered with a light chuckle.

She giggled when Clint stood up, really considering to try to lift the hammer.

"Oh this is going to be beautiful," Rhodey commented with a grin.

"Clint, you've had a tough week. We won't hold it against you if you can't get it up," Tony added earning a laugh from the others.

Clint, still not really convinced, glanced at Thor. "You know I've seen this before, right?" he confirmed and Thor nodded still really amused by the event.

With one hand, Barton grasped the handle and slowly tried to lift it. A grunt escaped his lips while the hammer didn't even moved an inch. A chuckle formed from his throat. "I still don't know how you do it!"

"Smell the silent judgment?" teased Tony.

"Please, Stark, by all means!" beckoned Clint.

Clio glanced at her father with a challenging look. One fact: Tony Stark was very competitive. Slowly, Tony stood up and unbuttoned his coat with a sigh as if this competition bored him.

"Okay."

"Uh-oh."

"Uh-hm."

"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge," Tony said as he walked over the hammer.

"Get after it, then," Clio said as they watch him grabbed the handle gently.

"It's physic," he explained. "Right, so if I lift it I then rule Asgard?"

"Yes, of course," Thor said simply.

"I will be re-instituting Prima Nocta," Tony added as an afterthought making the women in the room roll their eyes at. He put his foot on the table for more lever and inserted his hand at the string of the hammer before finally lifting it. But of course, Mjolnir didn't budge.

A grunt escaped his lip before he let go of the handle. With a determined look on his face, he said. "I'll be right back."

When he came back, his hand was gloved with his iron man suit making Thor laugh giddily; again of course, Tony failed to lift it.

Tony beckoned Rhodey and the two tried to lift it with their gloved hand from their suit. "Are you even pulling?" Rhodey asked incredulously.

"Are you on my team?" Tony asked back clearly irritated by what's happening.

"Just represent! Pull!"

"Alright, let's go," he muttered and the two tried to lift it and again failed.

The next one to try it was Dr. Banner who grunted and made a lame impersonation of having to turn to the Hulk. Of course, no one was amused by it except of course Natasha.

"Go, Cap," Clio cheered when the said captain stood up.

"Why didn't you cheer for me?" Tony asked jokingly earning a laugh from the others.

"Go, Steve, no pressure!" Clint cheered too.

Everyone watched in anticipation as the Legendary Soldier readied his stance.

"Come on, Cap," beckoned Tony.

Their eyes widened when Mjolnir budged just a little. Of course, after the second attempt Cap lifted his hands in defeat.

Thor who was watching with worried expression chuckled in relief. "Nothing, then," he commented.

"How about the girls?" Rhodey asked.

"I'm out," Maria said as she lifted her hands in surrender.

"Widow?"

"Oh no, that's not a question I need answered," she responded with a grin.

"Clio?"

"I'm happy with my beer," she answered as she lifted her beer in emphasis.

"All deference to the Man Who Wouldn't Be King, but it's rigged," Tony commented.

"You bet your ass," Clint said as he patted Tony's shoulder.

"Steve," Maria called and pointed at Clint. "He said a bad language word."

Steve sighed clearly having had enough of the joke. "Did you tell everyone about that?" he asked Tony who only shrugged in return.

"The handle's imprinted, right?" Tony said. "Like a security code? Whosoever is carrying Thor's fingerprint is, I think, the literal translation."

Thor, finally, stood up. "Yes, it's very, very interesting theory," he said as he walked over to his hammer. "I have a simpler one," he grabbed the handle and lifted the hammer as if it was the most lightest thing and flipped it to the air. "You're all not worthy."

Some groaned and some laughed at the comment while the others just rolled their eyes.

"Oh come on," Clint complained as he lifted his beer to his lips.

The others did the same when a high pitched sound wave echoed throughout the room.

Clio screamed and doubled over as pain erupted in her head since the high pitched sound wave always triggered immense headache.

"Clio," she heard Tony called worriedly. "Are you okay? Something must've triggered the wave," he muttered as he grabbed his holographic phone. Suddenly, the sound wave faded.

She felt a hand grabbed her arm and gently pulled her up.

"I-I'm fine," she muttered, breathing heavily as the headache slowly dissipate. Thor who was the one holding her up nodded but his attention was somewhere else.

A clanking sound echoed the lounge followed by a gurgled noise. "Wor...thy..." something hissed and before them appeared a broken suit part of the Iron Legion. "No... How could you be worthy? You're all killers," it said.

"Stark," called Steve Rogers.

"J.A.R.V.I.S.?" Tony called out, his eyes never leaving the Iron Legion.

"I'm sorry, I was asleep. Oh, I had a dream-" it continued.

"Dad?" Clio called out, alarmed.

"Yeah, the general just got buggy suit," he tried to explain as he continued to press something in his holographic phone.

"-and there was a terrible noise and I was tangled in a... hmmm," it looked at its body as if just noticing it. "Strings. I had to kill the other guy. He was a good guy."

"You killed someone?" Steve asked in a cool rage.

"Wouldn't be my first call but down in the real world we're faced with ugly choices," it answered.

"Who sent you?" Thor asked as he gripped his hammer.

"I see a suit of armor around the world" a voice record echoed the silence.

Clio glanced at Tony in shock to hear his voice.

"Ultron," Bruce answered in realization glancing at Tony in fear.

"In the flesh," answered the Iron Legion. "Or no, not yet. Not this... Christmas. But I'm ready. I'm on a mission," it continued.

Clio alerted all her senses at the word. It seemed like everybody in the room did the same.

"What mission?" Asked Natasha.

"Peace in our time."

With that, two more Iron Legion broke into the glass wall. Steve kicked the table up for defense but was pushed backward, landing on his back.

"Duck," Thor ordered at Clio who did as she was told before he swung his hammer to the approaching Iron Legion.

Everybody scrambled for safety and tried to fight. But they were caught off guard and was not expecting to be attacked inside the tower.

Clio tried to summon an energy blast at one of the approaching Iron legion. It sent it flying backward but another one appeared and hit her that also sent her backwards.

"Clio!" she heard Helen Cho called out to her.

Ignoring the pain on her side, she glanced to where the doctor was located and saw her trying to hide behind the grand piano while a battered legion advanced its way towards her.

Gritting her teeth, she stood up just before Steve grabbed the legion and sent it her way. Summoning another round of energy, she shoot a kinetic blast towards it destroying it for good.

"Ah," someone hissed behind her making all the hair at the back of her neck stand and when she turned around a yelp escaped her lip as sharp pain protruded her stomach.

Breathing heavily, she glared at the hideous creature in front of her. "Tell me how much pain you're in," it hissed again as he embedded the sharp object deeper.

Groaning, she lifted her hand - now, her claws were out - and cut the object in half before she punched it in the face making it fly backward. But another legion appeared in the air near her and readied to shoot.

Steve ran up to her as Clint threw his shield which he caught and threw it again at the last legion, deactivating it in the process.

"Madness dramatic," the hideous creature commented as Steve caught her when she fall backward.

"Thanks," she muttered and he nodded in answer but his eyes were on the object that was protruded on her stomach.

"I'm sorry, I know you mean well but you didn't just make it through."

Steve steadied her gently and readied his stance just in case another round of legion appeared.

"You want to protect the world but you don't want it to change. How is humanity saved if it's not allowed to evolve? There's only one path to peace," it said and then paused.

"The Avenger's extinction."

Thor threw his hammer finally destroying the last Legion. "I... was a... string... but now... I'm... free," it hissed before it began to quiet.

Silence descended upon the group as what happened sunk inside their head. When Steve slowly lowered her to the ground making slight noises only then the others snapped back.

Tony's eyes widened at the sight of her bloodied ran up to her and so does the others. Helen Cho ordered Steve to bring her to the cradle.

"No, it's okay," she declined as she slowly grasped the sharp object. "I just need a clean towel, please."

Without further ado, Rhodey ran up to the bar counter and opened a draw to retrieve a cloth. He threw it to Maria who quickly caught it and gave it to her.

"This will be bloody," she warned to the others before she pulled out the object from her stomach. Blood oozed out and she tried to stop it with a towel.

"Helen is right, we need to get you to the cradle, Clio," said Steve urgently but she shook her head.

"Wait for it," she murmured as she closed her eyes in concentration.

"What is she doing?" she heard Clint whispered to Natasha.

"I don't know," she heard the red-haired whispered, her voice filled with worry.

Slowly, Clio opened her eyes and grinned weakly at them before she took off the towel from her stomach. "Ta-da..."

Helen and Maria gasped while the others gaped at the clear skin on Clio's stomach where the wound was located a while ago. She forgot that only Tony, Rhodey, Bruce and Thor knew about her healing abilities.

'What a bunch of losers,' taunted the voice.

'Wow, good to hear from you AFTER the fight,' she thought back.

'Hey! It's not my fault! Every time your adrenaline would rush up, I will be blocked. It's your necklace!' it complained.

'I'm not taking it off,' she thought firmly and shut the wailing sound it produced in her head.

With Steve's support, she slowly sat up and sighed. "What now?" she whispered as she looked around the others. Her head felt light from the blood loss.

Everyone was silent, contemplating the questions.

Tony stood up. "JARVIS?"

No answer came from the AI.

Clio looked up at the ceiling as if the AI was there. She felt something heavy fall upon her. "We need to move," she said making Steve nod in agreement.

"Thor," Steve called out. "Follow the trail of the legionnaires. Everybody, let's check what it meant by extinction."

Every one in the room nodded and started working. Steve stood up and helped her on her feet gently as Helen ushered her cautiously. Tony was silent the whole time and was avoiding her look.

Natasha rounded up to them a few moments later, eyes wide and panicking. "Loki's scepter is gone!"

Thor cursed under his breath and flew out of the balcony to follow the trail.

Author's Note:

Okay, who here watched the Endgames? I watched it yesterday and it hurts so much after the movie we went straight to the bar to drown our sorrows out with a beer.

But the movie inspired some ideas to this story. I just want to remind everybody that I may be following the MCU's timeline but the plot will be different from the story. Oh, by the way, the Maximoff twins will probably show up next chapters. Who here wants Pietro alive? Or not? Let me know what you guys think.

Oh and Peter Quill finally made an appearance in this chapter! He's one of my favorite characters in MCU.

Read and Review! Thank you so much!