Hey guys! Here we go with the next chapter and wrapping up the drama that Loki has created! I hope I do the action scenes justice for you all. They're the hardest parts to write as there's just so much movement happening all at once. Here's that reminder that I don't have nor claim rights to anything Marvel! With that out of the way, you can go ahead and get to it! As always, hope you enjoy! Xoxo-NickyLynn
When Tessa's eyes finally cracked back open, she blinked up at her surroundings in confusion. She looked around at the familiar walls of Tony's apartment on the top of Stark Tower and began to wonder if she was just coming out of some crazy dream. Her suspicions of things being a dream quickly evaporated as she took in the sound of voices around her. She sat up, instantly on alert.
"Oh good, you're awake." Came Loki's voice. Tessa turned her head to find the dark-haired man striding towards her from the balcony. Tessa jumped up to her feet, holding out a hand in his direction as she opened the gates on her power, her body beginning to glow with it. "Uh, uh, I don't think you want to be doing that." Loki warned, stopping and casting a warning finger at her.
"Oh, I really think I do." Tessa told him, glaring at his smug face.
"Then you risk losing the chance of finding out what it is I know about you, about where you come from." Loki said, continuing forward. Tessa's eyebrows pinched together as she watched him circle around her. She didn't reign in her powers, but she didn't attack quite yet either. "You're quite interesting for a Midgardian. Agent Barton told me that you were born nearly a ninety years ago. Now stop me if I'm wrong, but aren't Midgardians typically a little more wrinkly at your age?"
"Yeah, well…molecular regeneration is a bitch." She bit out at him as she had to turn to follow him as he circled behind her.
"Yes, I suppose that would be the only logical explanation you could incur." Loki responded, coming to a stop in front of her. "Or perhaps there's another reason." Tessa's heart rate picked up as she watched him. The images she had gotten when she had first touched him ran back through her mind and she was left questioning things. Could Loki truly know her origins? "That bracelet on your arm." He said, motioning to the golden rose wrapped around her wrist. "Did you know it's magically enchanted?"
Tessa blinked down at her arm in surprise before looking back up to Loki. "The thing about magic is that each caster has their own type of magic. They leave a signature on the spell, so to speak. If you can recognize that signature, you can determine who casted the spell."
"And do you recognize it?" Tessa asked him, not being able to stop herself from the curiosity that had demanded answers over her unknown history her entire life.
"Oh, yes." He said, a smirk lifting up half of his smile. "And I know who that magic was crafted for." He added.
Tessa's mind went spinning. There was part of her who desperately wished she could believe him; believe that he knew who she was. But everything she had read and knew about the Asgardian standing before her, told her to take caution to his words. "You're lying." She accused with narrowed eyes. "That's what you do right? They call you the Trickster God for a reason."
The other side of Loki's smile pulled up so that he was grinning at her. "Perhaps I am." He acknowledged. "Or perhaps I'm the only one who has the answers that you so desperately seek."
A loud boom suddenly shook the area. Loki's eyes drifted over to the wall of windows behind him before turning angry eyes back to Tessa. "If you wish to learn what I know, then I suggest you stay put." He said before turning and walking out of the room and out onto the balcony. Tessa watched as Tony, in his suit, landed on the disassembly pad outside and began walking towards the inside of the apartment. Loki, carefully watching him, turned and moved back inside from his side of the balcony. The two men made their way inside, Tony locking his eyes onto Tessa as he stepped into the room. "You okay Tess?" he asked, looking her over for signs of injury.
Tessa took a step forward, her head bobbing up and down. "I'm fine." She assured him, looking from him back over to Loki, who was striding across the walkway in front of the large bay windows.
"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity." Loki said to Tony in amusement.
"Actually, I'm planning on threatening you." Tony told him.
"You should have left your armor on for that." Loki responded, walking closer.
"Yeah. It's seen a bit of mileage, and you've got your glowstick of destiny." Tony said, pointing to the scepter in Loki's hand. He walked down the steps and stopped in front of the bar at the side of the room. "Care for a drink?"
Loki let out a laugh. "Stalling me won't change anything."
"No, no. Threatening." Tony corrected as he walked behind the bar. "No drink? You sure? What about you Tess?" he asked, looking over at her. "I'm having one." He said, moving over to the wall of bottles and grabbing hold of one of them.
Tessa just watched him with a raised brow. She did want a drink….she wanted several drinks actually, but she stayed silent, carefully watching Loki. Loki just turned to face the windows. "The Chitauri are coming. Nothing can change that." He said, coming to a stop in front of the glass before turning around to face Tony again. "What have I to fear?" he asked.
"The Avengers." Came Tony's reply as he pulled the stopper out of the bottle and began pouring himself a glass of the amber liquor. "That's what we call ourselves." He explained with a roll of his eyes. "We're kind of like a team. Earth's mightiest heroes type thing."
"Yes, I've met them." Loki responded with a laugh as he walked closer to Tony, not impressed by the so-called group of heroes.
"Yeah. Takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one." He admitted. "But you took something from us and managed to piss off a whole lot of people when you did." Tony told him, motioning over to Tessa. Loki's eyes drifted over to Tessa briefly before returning them to Tony. "Yeah, turns out giving us all a common denominator to fight for helped bring us together, so I suppose I should thank you for that." Tony said, taking a sip out of his glass before letting out a sigh as the liquid burned down his throat. "So, let's do a head count here. Your brother, the demigod. A super-soldier, a living legend, who kind of lives up to the legend. His sister, who is absolutely terrifying in action, believe me." He said, motioning over to Tessa. "A man with breath taking anger-management issues. A couple of master assassins. And, you, big fella," Tony said, pointing at him. "You've managed to piss off every single one of them."
"That was the plan." Loki told him with a smile.
"Terrible plan." Tessa scoffed, causing Loki to turn and look at her as Tony walked back around the bar and strode deeper into the room towards Loki. "You're going to regret waging a war with our world." Tessa promised, her skin glowing brighter again.
"I have an army." Loki sneered at her.
"We have a Hulk." Tony responded, coming down the steps.
"I thought the beast had wandered off." Loki said, looking back over to Tony.
"You're missing the point!" Tessa shouted. "You came here seeking a crown, but you won't find one!" She told him, stepping closer to the two men. "So, bring on your army, and whatever forces you dare. There is no version of this fight where we willingly roll over and watch as you subjugate our world. Hell, maybe your army comes and maybe it is too much for us." She admitted. "But even so, you will still find yourself lamenting your victory. Because if we can't protect this world, then you can be damn sure we'll avenge it." She told him, her glowing eyes boring into his eyes.
Loki stared down at her for a minute, and she could see the anger brewing beneath his skin. "How will you have time for me," he began, stepping closer to Tony. "if you are too busy fighting him?" he asked, tapping the Scepter against Tony's chest, trying to use the mind stone on him. Loki looked down in confusion as nothing happened. His eyebrows drew together as he tried tapping the tip of the blade against Tony's chest again, only for noting to happen once again. "This usually works." He commented out loud.
"Hmm. Performance issues, it's not uncommon." Tony told him with a shrug. "One out of-" he began before Loki's hand snaked out and wrapped around his throat, stopping the words from leaving his mouth.
"You will all fall before me!" Loki seethed at Tony. Tessa moved into action, but before she could even land a hit on Loki, he threw Tony across the room with enough force that he went flying through the glass window. The glass shattered under his weight and Tony went sailing down through the open air.
"TONY!" Tessa shouted in distress, taking off running after him. Loki's hand latched onto her arm as she tried running past, pulling her back. Tessa stumbled back, but brought her elbow up sharply, slamming it into his nose with a crack. Suddenly something came flying through the room, sending the pair stumbling apart as it soared past them. Tessa realized it was one of Tony's suits and let out a breath of relief as she realized it was on it's way to catch Tony mid-air.
She stood off against Loki again as he regained his balance, wiping the blood from his nose with the back of his hand. "If you stand against me, you will never know the truth." He warned her.
"So be it." Tessa said, knowing even if he was telling the truth, stopping him was more important, than getting her own answers.
Tony came hovering into view just outside the broken window, now within the safety of his suit. "Oh, there's one other person you managed to piss off." Tony's voice said. "His name was Phil Coulson, and you murdered him."
Tessa's heart skipped a beat as she took in Tony's words. "You killed Coulson?" she repeated, her muscles spasming as she felt her anger rise to uncontrollable levels. "Oh, you son of a BITCH!" she screamed out, a powerful blast shooting from her and sending Loki flying through the air with a scream.
A blast that did not come from Tessa rocked the building and Tessa's head whipped around to the bright beam of light that was emanating from the roof, up into the sky. Tony and Tessa watched as a portal opened up above them and several alien crafts began flying in through it. "Tony!" she cried out.
"Right…army, on it!" Tony responded before blasting off through the sky to engage with the alien race. Tessa watched as the crafts Tony couldn't stop began flying down towards the ground, sending blasts into the crowds and buildings below. Tessa latched onto one of the crafts as he soared past, and with a clench of her fist, sent it crumpling into on itself and exploding in a ball of flame.
Tessa caught movement out of the corner of her eyes, and she had to drop down as Loki swung the scepter out at her. She spun around and tried sweeping his legs out from under him, but he sent out a blast that hit her in the chest and sent her flying through the window. Tessa transported herself out of the air, landing back on Stark Tower on Tony's landing pad.
She looked up to see Loki striding out towards her, his cape and helmet appearing back on him, making him look more like the devil he was. He looked around at the mayhem he had created, and a wicked grin wound his lips up in sick glee. "Don't you see? There is no stopping this!" he shouted, casting his arms out around him. "There will only be war."
"You asked for it." Tessa called out before gripping onto him with her powers and sending him through the air, bringing him down harshly on the cement of the balcony floor below. She transported herself down to him as he struggled back up to his feet. She brought her foot up into his ribcage, sending him flying back again. Before she could make her next move, Loki shot a blast of energy out at her. She transported out of the way and sent her own blast out at him as she landed behind him.
Loki dodged her blast, spinning around and swiping the blade of the scepter out at her. Tessa had to lean back out of the way as the blade barely missed her chest. Another blast was sent out from the staff, Tessa shooting it away with her own blast. The two combined energies, ricocheted off of each other, slamming into the side of the tower, sending the K in Stark exploding out and falling to the ground below.
Tessa, already feeling the drain on her power, transported herself above Loki. She brought her foot down and meant to collide into his chest, but before she could, he swung the staff around again and caught her in the gut with it, sending her crashing back down on the concrete, rolling with the impact. Tessa let out a grunt as she lifted herself back up as Loki strode over to her. She reached out her hand and latched onto his body and with a thrust, sent him flying back into the wall behind him. He crashed into it with his own grunt, the concrete smashing under his weight.
Loki lifted angry eyes up to Tessa as he dropped to the ground. A jet suddenly came hovering into view above them, and Tessa looked to find Natasha and Clint flying the craft, a gun aimed down and firing at Loki. Loki raised the scepter and let out a powerful blast that hit the wing of the jet, sending fire exploding from it. "No!" Tessa screamed out as the plane began to spin out of control, dropping dangerously in altitude. Tessa transported herself to the edge of the building and reached out her hand. She latched onto the damaged plane, using her powers to slow it's decent to the ground below. She strained to keep hold on it as it got closer to the ground and lost complete control over it as Loki attacked from behind, sending another blast into her back, sending her tumbling down to the ground again.
Tessa reached up from the ground, latching onto the scepter in his hand. She pried the metal from his hands, sending it skidding across the balcony out of his reach. She transported herself directly in front of Loki, and began bringing her fists down on him as quickly as she could. She could feel the beginnings of exhaustion taking root in her, so she focused on making physical attacks, knowing she had to conserve her energy. She lashed out with her legs and fists, trying to land a blow against him. Loki blocked every move she made, throwing out his own as he did.
They circled around each other until Loki managed to grab hold of her throat and with a tight grip, he lifted her up into the air and brought her down onto the ground. Her back hit the concrete and pain shot up through her spine that left her gasping for breath. As she laid there, trying to refill her lungs with air, she looked to the portal above and what she saw terrified her. She watched in horror as a giant mechanical beast began pushing it's way through the portal. It was like a giant whale-like creature, composed of a mixture of mechanics and flesh. It was swimming through the sky, more crafts breaking off from it. It let out a deep, unsettling roar as it entered the sky above her. It was massive, terrifying and headed straight for downtown Manhattan.
Tessa sent a blast out at Loki, knocking him off of her. She began coughing as his hand retracted from her throat. She pushed herself up, eyes sweeping over the burning city below. "Look at this!" she yelled out at Loki, casting her arm out to the carnage below. "Is this how you wish to rule?! Standing amongst the blood and burning corpses of the innocent?!" she bellowed, and Loki actually did look around, and Tessa swore she could see something stir behind his eyes. "You're a fool if you think this bloodbath will end with a crown upon your head!"
"It's too late!" Loki called back to her.
"No, it's not." She countered. "You can still stop this! You can end this!" she pleaded.
"No." Loki said with a shake of his head. "You're the fool if you think your petty sentiment means anything to me!"
A roar tore out of Tessa's throat as she went to attack him again. She sent out a powerful blast that sent him tumbling across the balcony, dangerously close to the edge. Loki looked up at Tessa's glowing form, marching over to him, to the scepter at the opposite end of the balcony. Tessa watched in surprise as he finished rolling the rest of the way over the ledge, falling to the ground below. Tessa ran over to the edge and peered down just in time to watch him land on one of the alien crafts speeding below, disappearing into the mass of chaos.
Tessa Took in a deep breath as she looked up at the sky and the beam of light still emanating from the roof. She watched in horror as several more of the monolith creatures began swimming through the portal. Her eyes caught sight of Tony flying through the sky, doing his best to take down what he could. Knowing that the portal needed to be closed, she took off towards the roof, having to make several bursts of travel to make it there as her energy was running dangerously low. When she made it up to the roof, she looked around as she caught sight of Hulk jumping from a building onto one of the massive alien creatures. She ran over to the where the Tesseract was, glowing brightly as it sent the beam of energy into the sky above, keeping the portal open.
Tessa hesitantly reached forward, only to let out a yelp of pain as her hand came in contact with the energy protecting it. She took a breath, drawing in on her own energy, before reaching forward once again. She let the power flow through her, letting it wash over her uncontrolled. She focused the energy into the palm of her hand, and it began glowing nearly as bright at the beam. She sent the energy into the barrier, trying to overpower it. The heat hit her hand again, but she didn't pull back. She floored more energy into her hand and with a yell, pushed forward with everything she had. Tessa's energy wrapped around the barrier, but it wasn't enough. Itwavered slightly, but snapped back into place, sending Tessa flying back as the two energies rebounded off of each other in a bright blast.
Tessa pushed herself back up on shaky arms, suddenly feeling drained. "The scepter." She heard come from beside her. Tessa turned her head to find Erik Selvig laying near the edge of the roof, looking beaten and seemingly no longer under the influence of the mind stone.
"Dr. Selvig." Tessa said, pushing herself onto her knees with a groan.
"Loki's scepter." He said again, looking down over the edge. "I may have been being controlled by the Tesseract, but there was still a part of me who knew what I was doing." He explained. "I built in a safety to cut the power source." He told her.
"Loki's scepter is the safety key?" Tessa asked him in surprise.
Dr. Selvig nodded at her. "And I'm looking right at it." He told her, looking back down at the balcony below. Tessa moved over to the edge along side Erik. She looked down at the scepter laying below and latched onto it, pulling it up to her with her powers. Once it hit her hand, her fingers wrapped around it, and she could feel the energy from it fill her. She pushed herself off the ground and walked back over to the Tesseract. Erik followed her, quickly moving over to the control screen that had been knocked over and picked it back up. "Right there!" he told her, pointing to where she needed to insert it. "Right in the crown!"
Tessa adjusted her grip on the staff and pressed it into the barrier. It resisted, but she pressed forward, combining her own energy with the power of the scepter. She pushed against the barrier, the blade of the scepter slipping deeper and deeper inside. She let out a breath of amazement as the blade slipped inside the chamber and she realized she would be able to close the portal. Before she could do it, however, Tony went soaring past the roof, holding onto what looked like a ballistic missile. She halted in her actions as she watched him fly into the air towards the portal. Tessa knew what he was planning and knew she couldn't stop him. "TONY!" she yelled out helplessly as he flew up and into the portal she was meant to close.
"We have to close it!" Erik yelled over to her.
"NO!" she yelled back, tearing her eyes off the portal for a moment to look over at Selvig. "I'm not closing it with Tony still in there!" she yelled, looking back up at the hole Tony had disappeared into. A fiery explosion could be seen through the darkness of space, and she watched as the ships around her lost power and they began falling to the ground. Her eyes searched the dark void above. "Come on Tony." She muttered, eyes desperately sweeping for him.
Tessa caught a glimpse of his body falling through the portal, so she drove the scepter all the way into the mechanism, along with a burst of her power. They whole area began sparking with the combined energies, the portal becoming unstable. The hole above them began to close shut as the beam of energy sputtered away with a final large burst of energy that sent Tessa flying back. She rolled herself over and watched the portal fade away into nothing above her, leaving Tony's form alone in the sky. She smiled in relief until she realized he was falling without any control. Her smile dropped into a frown and she shot up in alarm. Without thinking, she transported herself through space and latched onto his limp body in his suit.
They both fell through the air, Tessa trying desperately to level them out as they got closer to the ground. She latched onto them both with her powers, knowing she was running dangerously low on energy. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused on slowing their decent. She pictured the ground below and transported them both through the remaining air, landing onto the ground, a crater forming around their bodies as they hit.
Tessa couldn't breathe. The air refused to move in and out of her lungs and so she just lay there, staring up at the sky, gasping like a fish out of water. The familiar faces of Thor, Steve and Hulk's green face came into view, looking down at them in concern. Tessa finally managed to pull in a shaky breath as Steve helped her sit up, eyes running over her body in concern. Tessa pushed him off, moving over to where Tony still lay motionless.
"Is he breathing?" Thor asked, gripping onto Tony's faceplate and ripping it off, throwing it behind him.
Tessa looked down at Tony's lifeless face and her heart nearly stopped. She leaned down to check for signs of life, but there were none. "No, no, no." she muttered, sitting back up. "Come on Tony! Wake up!" she pleaded, looking down to the arc reactor that no longer was glowing. As the seconds ticked by with no changes, everyone began to look around at each other, feeling helpless to what was happening. She felt the panic consuming her and in desperation she reached forward and pressed her palms on his chest. She reached down and gathered all the energy left inside her and let it flow out of her and into him. The blue energy surrounded his form, seeped into his suit and flowed through his body. The reactor in his chest began glowing again and Tony suddenly gasped back to life as Tessa's body went weak and she fell to the side, collapsing from exhaustion.