hope everyone enjoyed the opening ceremonies tonight, i thought they were lovely. wish more than ever i lived in GB. but i digress. enjoy this chapter and enjoy the next few chapters...x


My physical body listened intently to Loki's instructions, of how to approach the Chitauri and use their spacecraft, and their spears. My main assignment was simply to destroy everything.

"Do not disappoint me," commanded Loki, turning back, his eyes holding a warning in them . "You must not fail, and you must not fall to them. Do as you are told, Elliot."

I watched this all happen from inside of a mental prison. My eyes watched Loki intently as he barked more instructions, and then my head bobbed in response. My lips and voice worked together to form a reply. Then he was gone, disappearing in a show of green and gold.

My muscles and jointed felt tired from the running, which never suited my body well. After he had left, my body turned in the complete opposite direction and broke into a sprint down the broken street. I watched, completely helpless, as my physical body joined the fight. I felt the pain of running, the burning in my chest, but I could do nothing about it.

This is what it must feel like to be undone. It was as if my mind was subdued, or chained to a fence post, so it could do nothing. There was no thinking, no consideration.

Be a good girl, Elliot.

Two Chitauri warriors were in the middle of overturning a gray vehicle when I approached them, admiring their power, and how majestic they looked in their bronzed helmets. Once they spotted me, they drew their spears to fire, but I spoke to them in a language that was unfamiliar to my tongue. Within seconds, they had withdrawn their weapons and crept towards me, their small, beady eyes observing me with interest.

"I will require a spear, and a vehicle," I spoke, my tongue still speaking the unfamiliar language. "We will make them burn."


Riding on a flying board was nothing that I had ever done before in my life, but I stepped onto it as if I'd done it hundreds of times through my lifetime. My hands deftly activated the spacecraft, and the board ascended into the air with quickness.

"You must strike the buildings," Zhag spoke, drawing his spear as well. "They are the easiest to burn."

With a chuckle, I promised him that the buildings would burn swiftly. I felt the sensations of the wind brushing against my cheek, and causing my hair to fly around me. Zhag hissed behind me with excitement as the spacecraft took off through the city, and he fired upon the buildings with pleasure. Once the board had reached a sufficient height, I steadied it with one hand and aimed with the other, pointing the tip at several buildings. Without any hesitation, I drew the spear back before firing, grunting through my teeth. Satisfaction coursed through me when I watched the building reduce to ashes.

"You are very good," Zhag told me, placing one heavy hand on my shoulder. "Very, very good."

"I thank you," I murmured in response, trying to remain as humble as I could in response to his praise. Promptly, I turned to the other side of the street and fired at another building. Tendrils of fire crawled through the window.

I wanted to lash out. I wanted to scream, I wanted to grab the handles of the flying board and send it crashing to the ground, killing the Chitauri with it. But my muscles were entirely committed to sending beams of blue energy towards the buildings, and at vehicles. No matter what I wanted to do, my body would not listen.

"More come," Zhag told me. "To the sky, mortal."

My body should not have been able to handle the atmospheric pressure as I tilted the spacecraft towards the portal, but for some reason, it did. My breathing didn't constrict as we sailed further towards the upper atmosphere.

"Elliot!" It was a deep, male voice that had roared from somewhere in the vicinity. Curling my lip with disgust, I spotted the Thunder God standing on top of Stark's Tower, with Loki at his feet.

"You must go defend him," Zhag commanded me. "He is our leader."

I handed him my spear, and took a leap off the edge of the craft. My body contorted in ways it had never done before as I landed gracefully on the platform, tucking into a roll.

My breathing was labored, but I stood upright, sinking into a crouch before the Thunder God. At his feet lay Loki, very still, and emitting weak moans. Had he hurt him? What if he was on the brink of death?

"What have you done to him, Asgardian?" I snarled.

My voice was not my own. It was lower, smoother, and held hatred. The Thunder God widened his eyes, struck dumb.

"What has he done to you?" His voice was broken. I sneered in response to his words.

"You speak like a weakling, Thunder God," I purred, watching as his eyebrows came together. "Does Loki best you again?"

"Elliot, what he done to you? You must tell me!" insisted the Asgardian, taking steps towards me.

"You will let Loki alone, or I will kill you where you stand," I warned him. It would be simple; as monstrous he appears, he is weaker to me. My hands curled and my muscles flexed, proving to him that I could bring him to his knees if he even dared to move closer towards me.

The Thunder God remained still, clenching his jaw while he pondered my words. Behind him, Loki began to push himself upright, still moaning. "Do you live?" I called, leaning past the prince. "Where do you hurt? Are you wounded?" I would bash the Thunder God with his own hammer if he had.

"I am well," moaned Loki, standing upright and drawing his spear. "You have served me faithfully. Return to the aide of the Chitauri."

"Loki, have you stolen her mind?" Loki flashed him a brilliant smile.

"But of course."

As long as Loki was well, I was well. Ignoring the Thunder God, I turned on my heel and peered over the edge of the tower, searching.

When Zhag returned, I leaped over the edge.


"The Leviathans will soon arrive," Zhag told me, after he had successfully collapsed a large building on a crowd of people. "And then, Earth will be ours."

"There is one problem." I looked to my left, and to my right, at the Chitauri who followed us, awaiting instructions. "The mortal fighters." Out of the corner of my eye, I could see a black ship approaching the city, and taking the offensive against our fighters. "You!" I barked, pointing at the group to my right. "Subdue them, and take the ship down." They peeled off from us, drawing their spears.

"We cannot allow them to interrupt the plan," I told Zhag, pursing my lips. "If I recall correctly, they are no longer in possession of their strongest warrior."

"Then our victory will be swift."

I glanced over my shoulder at Zhag, who was proving to be a reliable companion. His tongue snaked past the rows of razor-sharp teeth to hiss at me, a hiss of pleasure.

"Shall we return to the ground and advance on the mortals?" he suggested. "I grow bored of the air."

"Let us descend," I agreed, sending the spacecraft into a descent. As we moved closer to the ground, I watched as the first Leviathan arrived, swimming gracefully through the portal and onto Earth. As a greeting, its mouth opened, and released a powerful beam of energy, destroying an entire row of buildings. I smiled in response.

Without warning, Zhag emitted a high-pitched screech and my ears throbbed in response to the high-frequency of his shrill cry.

"The metal man kills my brothers!" he hissed furiously, narrowing his eyes.

"Be at peace," I assured him. "In time."

I brought the spacecraft to a gentle stop and then we disembarked the hover board, leaving it by a pile of overturned vehicles. In our presence, several people ran into buildings for cover. A smiled curled at my lips; if I willed it, I could destroy them all.

But a sigh escaped my lips, and I followed Zhag, who crushed cars with one fist. He and I marched down the street, with his brothers nearby, firing at will. My arms physically ached from holding the heavy spear for so long, but my body ignored the pain. Sweat began to roll down my forehead and into my eye, causing it to sting, but the momentary agony was forgotten. I wanted to collapse underneath the pain, but my muscles wouldn't move.

Ahead, I could see black and white vehicles forming a blockade in the middle of the street. Men drew their guns, yelling at Zhag and his brothers to drop their weapons. I smiled on them with pity, and nodded to Uzhi. With one movement of his fist, he sent two cars rolling in their direction, causing them to scatter. I finished them off with two shots.

"Agent Pedagia!" a female voice called from behind, and I snarled with irritation. The voice belonged to the redhead. I pivoted on my feet and turned to face them. She walked, along with the Captain, and the archer.

They all fixed me with perplexed expressions. "Come!" I barked to Zhag, who had mistakenly continued to walk.

"Elle, what you doing?" the assassin exclaimed. My eyes narrowed in slits as I took in her tiny frame. Zhag could crush her with one hand.

"Which would you like to crush?" I inquired with a smile, turning to Zhag. He bared his sharp teeth.

"All of them."

"Elle?" she exclaimed again, once I turned upon her and aimed my weapon for her chest. Next to her, the archer opened his bow and nocked an arrow.

"I'll shoot her," he grunted, closing one eye. "She touches you, and she dies."

"She's not in the right mind!" cried the Captain, putting a hand in the archer's way. "Something's happened to her."

"They are stalling for time," Zhag hissed with exasperation. "Fire upon them immediately and let us finish our task."

"You go," I said out of the corner of my mouth. "I will be enough to kill them all." I had waited for this moment for a while; the redhead never was especially pleasing to me, and she was too pretty.

"Find us after you have made them burn." Zhag snarled at them once more, a warning, and then he crawled in the other direction.

I narrowed my eyes, wondering which I would shoot first. The innocent Captain? The poor, misunderstood archer? Or the vulnerable assassin?

"Not in the right state of mind?" demanded the archer, still keeping the bow aimed at my chest. He did not intimidate me.

Inside, I was screaming, clawing to get out.