Hola, here's a new update.
Thank you all for your reviews!
Sandy2348 hi Sandy! I should have been clearer, I'm sorry. They actually never broke up, as in the movies, Bella said no and they just kept going. The thing here is that Bella left for New York the day after, so everything is awkward around them. I'm not a big fan of Bella and Edward breaking up, but Captain Rogers is Captain Rogers…
IJustWantToReadEpicStories I'm sorry you felt that way, I don't like to force myself to write, I agree that it never comes out natural. Maybe I was very comfortable with the backstory already put together, so thanks for pointing it out. Anyway, we writers always struggle with many things at once when it comes to expressing everything we want so that the stories we create and that we like to enjoy with everyone can come out well, so you should be nicer if you mean well. Or if you don't have anything nice to say, try to not say anything at all for a change.
For the rest of you, we finally got to the action. I hope you enjoy it!
"If you break something this time, we'll ask for a refund for the serum" Nat yelled to Bella, amused, as the jet took off at full speed from the Helicarrier, heading for Midtown Manhattan.
Clint and her were in charge of driving. Actually, Clint was the pilot while Natasha was tasked with doing what she did better: point and shoot.
Bella, in the back, standing next to the Captain, laughed out of commitment, not wanting her friend to see how incredibly nervous she was.
The post-serum vigor had lasted until her friend had given her her birthday present.
Such a present.
The suit in question had the same basic form as the previous one, the official SHIELD mold: resistant material lined in leather, with the emblem of the eagle on the right arm, a secure zipper from the hip to the neck and, of course, tight as hell. The color choice still intrigued Bella. Why would she choose such a blazing white suit? It would not serve to go unnoticed, she would be an easy target. But that was something she was already used to. Perhaps what did not convince her was simply that she felt that color washed her out.
Either way, it wasn't the color that made her nervous. The suit seemed to come with special gadgets attached, and Bella had no idea what they were for.
She was able to deduce that the black wristbands with small projectiles were improved tasers, just like Natasha's. But right below those, Bella's new suit seemed to have a series of five buttons of an unknown material, each of which gave rise to a thin cable that corresponded to each finger of her hand, and that ended with the suit glove, leaving her fingers free. The same system was installed on her legs, but there were fewer cables, and they ended at her heel, inside the boots she was wearing.
They reminded Bella of a pair of electrodes, but she had spent the last six months of her life connected to them, practically anything could remind her of those devices.
At her hip it had a black belt that buckled in the front, with small pockets where Bella could only assume there were weapons she didn't know how to use.
The second eagle the suit wore, at the level of her navel, was neatly embroidered in white thread and gave an elegant tint to the tight outfit. She ran a hand over the relief of the bird, appreciating the texture.
Steve nudged her gently, a little worried that she might actually hurt herself again like earlier in the other jet. Bella rolled her eyes dismissively but held on with both hands to the metal tubes running above them, just like Steve was doing.
She took a deep breath, finding the bandage on her ribs uncomfortable, and decided to calm down. She'd figure it out later.
It took just a few minutes for the jet to spot Stark Tower from above. Loki knew how to choose his scenarios very well. You could always count on his cynical sense of humor.
Tony had taken off at the same time, but they had seen him speed past, he was probably already fighting Loki.
But as soon as they began to fly over the buildings, a powerful stream of dense, blinding light shot from the highest point of the tower, generating a strange dark expansion in the sky.
"Is that…" Nat began to ask.
"A damn portal" replied Barton, quite familiar with the event.
"I'd love to know why Stark is going all solo with those… things" Bella yelled over the noise of the jet.
The captain shook his head, resigned.
"Romanoff" Rogers announced, watching the agent press a couple of buttons on the control panel and seeing Stark's face on the screen.
"Stark, we're on your right, heading northeast".
"What? Did you stop for a drive-through?" he said, being true to himself, before speaking seriously.
"Head to Park, I'll line them up for you".
Clint turned quickly, heading the jet towards the station while Natasha activated the weapons, being able to take down several but receiving a couple of shots that Barton dodged as best he could.
Bella dated a vampire and had seen her best friend turn into a giant dog, anyone could say she knew of strange creatures. Still, those beings were the strangest thing she had ever seen. Their bodies were covered in special armors that seemed to be embodied in that white, reptilian skin. Bella found it extremely unpleasant. They had fast flying vehicles to which they also seemed to be attached to.
They managed to dodge most of the counterattack, and then they were in front of Stark Tower, watching Thor fight Loki.
Nat tried to take him down, but the unbalanced god's troops were faster and fired harder again, driving them down violently.
Clint was clever enough to pick a mostly empty spot to crash land.
Bella gripped the metal bars, amazed at how easily she lifted her weight off the ground and held it steady as the Quinjet rocked. Her confidence increased when she saw that the Captain did exactly the same, she was not bad at all.
"Rogers, what do we do with this?" Barton questioned, pointing to Loki's scepter.
"Let's keep it with us, it will serve to focus the battle here" he said looking at the destroyed streets.
Despite the order, Barton, Bella and Natasha looked at each other. None wanted to carry the scepter.
"Cowards" said Nat rolling her eyes, lifting the scepter from the floor and crossing it on her back with a strap from the seats. She then began to run up the Quinjet's ramp.
"We need to go back up there" said the captain, observing a different energy fluctuation in the portal.
Nothing was going to get better that day.
The sight of an immense enhanced reptile, with a metal casing stretched across its nearly twenty meters of length, emerged from the portal, moving in zig zags, as if it were crawling, but hovering in the air, threatening above all of New York City. More aliens spilled out of their armor slots, taking advantage of the hitch to enter nearby buildings.
"Stark, do you see that?" the Captain said through the earpiece.
"Seeing it. Still trying to believe it. Just let me know when Banner shows up" answered Tony.
"Banner?" Rogers repeated, but a hail of light shots forced them to take cover.
The entire city was in chaos, worthy of any apocalyptic scene. Aliens invading the streets, firing energy-based rifles, destroying everything in their path.
The horde of attackers was led by Loki, who had apparently found a way to evade Thor and was destroying everything in sight with a maniacal, unbalanced look.
"Loki" the captain clucked his tongue, naming it as an insult.
"We have to go cover those civilians" Barton pointed out as he fired one of his lethal arrows almost blindly, reaching his target without mishaps.
Steve looked at the street full of people running for their lives, doubtfully.
"Go, we got this, it's fine, don't forget I have the magic stick" encouraged Romanoff, winking at him while pointing with her head to the scepter on her back. Still, she didn't take it out of its makeshift holster.
Steve nodded stoically and stood up to go on his mission, trusting that Natasha would never let anything bad happen to Bella.
"Tell me you know what you can do," Steve heard Nat say to Bella, opening her deep green eyes in a beautiful plea.
But Bella didn't have time to reply, because while they had been wasting time chatting, a Chitauri ship was approaching, firing blue munitions that ravaged the hard asphalt in front of them, sending large amounts of dust and chunks of concrete into the air.
And in a beautiful cliché, it all happened in a second.
Romanoff and Barton fired back and jumped away, taking cover behind an overturned taxi, while Rogers tried to grab Bella's hand to pull her behind him and his shield.
But the adrenaline of seeing them coming, had triggered something powerful inside Bella. It was the old tingle she felt when that supernatural wave of energy moved within her, but now she could not only bear it, but also seemed to be able to locate it, make it grow or shrink as she pleased.
Instinctively, Bella covered her face with the back of her right arm, but as soon as she was aware of the tamed current inside her body, she reached out forcefully, feeling how the previously terrifying shock wave left her body, but this time it did in a controlled, uniform way, in a column of energy that at the end formed a kind of translucent plate, with a silver halo, that stood firmly between the four Avengers present and the Chitauri troops. Impossible to penetrate from either side, the protective shield Bella had cast bounced the bullets and arrows from her companions to her side, just as effectively as the enhanced shots from her enemies on the other side, causing them to come back at them, causing the explosion of their vehicle, killing the pair of beings that were chained to it.
Bella flexed her hand a little uncomfortably, somehow she had felt the bumps against her shield in the form of an uncomfortable prick in the palm of her hand. It felt lighter in her right hand.
Maybe she had been able to answer her friend's question after all. And some of their own, too. As soon as she felt the energy flow through her hand, she understood the function of the wires in her extremities: they were voltage moderators, allowing her to ration the amount of energy she released, allowing her to mold the shape and even make it proportional to the strength that she applied to the movement of her own body.
She looked at Nat with wide eyes, disoriented in astonishment.
"Swan! I could kiss you right now!" Natasha shouted ecstatically, looking at her bruised and slightly blushing face. Her dark eyes, large and genuinely innocent, seemed to take up two-thirds of her small face. Natasha had never seen her so much as a deer as in that moment.
"That bloody Fury" cursed Barton, laughing incredulously.
It was only after that exchange that Steve was able to really understand what had happened. He had no words for that moment, but he wanted to laugh at the ridiculousness of the whole situation. Captain America's shield was a bit too small for the young Swan.
Despite his awe, Rogers quickly returned to his role.
"Change of plans. Bella, come with me. I'll handle the chitauris, you stay with the civilians and if one of those freaks gets close, you do that". Bella nodded obediently, gaining confidence with each passing second.
"Can you stop them?" he asked Barton and Natasha, still unsure about leaving them alone.
"Captain, it will be my genuine pleasure" Clint told him, enjoying the task.
They started running down 42nd quickly, dodging cars and debris scattered all over the place.
Bella was overwhelmed by her own agility, almost distracted because of it. She felt that she could better observe everything around her, even in motion. Still, Captain America was Captain America. While she had to secure each step before jumping, Bella watched him dodge fallen cars like they were simple cones in training, propelling himself with all the strength of his legs. Bella could see his muscles clench through the mesh of his suit, and then she was overwhelmed by an entirely different sensation.
She shook her head and started to run faster, trying to mimic some of the captain's jumping moves, but he had already left her a few feet behind.
Steve was looking over his shoulder the whole time, making sure Bella was okay, but she just seemed fascinated by the mission.
Arriving a little before her and landing on the hood of a car, Bella joined him just a minute later, running around the side of the car, positioning herself in front of the two confused policemen who were watching Steve suspiciously, but the soldier didn't hesitate.
"Send people to those buildings, there are civilians inside and they will be right in the line of fire. Take them out to the basements or through the subway, but keep them off the streets, she will stay close in case of any inconvenience , and set a perimeter up to 39nd" he said as he looked at everything he named around him, exuding confidence in each order.
Bella frowned as the cops looked her up and down, almost contemptuously, then looked at Steve skeptically.
"And why should we take orders from you?" said one of them, defiantly.
But the answer was clear when an alien ship blasted its way through and Steve easily shot down the two passengers, sending debris flying everywhere.
Quickly Bella extended her right arm over her shoulder, and stretched out her palm firmly, creating a kind of transparent and resistant roof, which protected the officers from the sharp metal of the chitauri armor.
A smirk unconsciously settled on Bella's face as she heard the officer who had glared at them give the exact orders Steve had given him.
It changed to a friendly smile as the officer addressed her respectfully, holding out his hand to let her pass first, on her way to evacuate the civilians.
"Ma'am" the policeman agreed.
"Thank you" Bella replied as she began to run towards the buildings.
As they evacuated the first group, the huge snake lurking in the air passed over them, striking one of the buildings and causing a collapse in the narrow street they were on.
She heard the desperate cries of the people when they saw the great columns fall, and following the same instinct from the beginning, she placed one foot in front of the other, as if she were going to attack someone, but she did not move from there, instead, she swung her flexed arms up and down, similar to the movement made when doing squats. She swung them like this twice to gain momentum, and the third time she accompanied it with a stomp of her left foot, in front of her right, while she extended her hands and positioned them above her head, one on top of the other. She felt the effort was less in her right hand, where her wrist held her firmly in position. Despite that, she was forced to spread her weight on her right foot too, being beaten down a bit by the weight of the concrete on her. She was not expecting it. She focused on the energy leaving her hands, almost invisible, becoming noticeable only a few meters above her, on the slightly glowing, horizontal, rectangular plate she had created to protect the dozens of terrified people at her side.
"Hurry up, keep going, keep going," she yelled at the policemen in charge, who had been staring at the strange phenomenon, amazed.
But in addition to the weight she was carrying, she had another problem. She couldn't just make her shield disappear, like she had the previous two times. If she did, debris from buildings would fall directly on her and some of the officers.
So once the civilians were safely heading into the parking lot of one of the buildings, Bella leaned in a bit to gain momentum and push her debris-filled shield so that it slid slowly over the nearest muscles in his back felt a little stiff, and the tear in his left shoulder made him curse out loud, but unbelievably, it had worked. But it was clear that he was not going to find rest that day.
The nasty flying snake had rounded the corner, following a metallic figure, heading toward where Natasha, Barton, and probably the Captain were.
She ran with all her might, noting that the muscle pain was present but it wasn't something that slowed her down, or interfered in any way.
She arrived at the station just as Thor landed, easily finishing off the chitauri that were there. Steve walked over to her and cupped her chin, wiping the trail of blood from her upper lip with his other hand.
Bella hadn't noticed, and took the hand that was on her face, giving him a reassuring look. Nodding, he turned to Thor.
"What's the story up there?" he wanted to know the state of the situation.
"The energy around the cube is impenetrable" he explained.
"Thor is right, we'll have to deal with them" they heard Tony say through the earpiece.
"I'd love to know how," Nat said a little under her breath.
"As a team" answered the captain without thinking twice. Thor was not very convinced by that idea.
"I have unfinished business with Loki", explained the Nordic god.
"Do you? Well, get in line" Clint replied as he prepared his arrows.
"Ladies first, then" Bella narrowed down, resentful.
"Save it" reprimanded the captain. "Loki will keep the fight focused on us, and it's just what we need. We have Stark upstairs, he's going to need…
Steve started to say, but the sound of a motorcycle approaching interrupted him.
He turned to see Banner get off the bike, shaking his head a little at Stark's random wisdom.
They immediately approached him.
"Well, this all looks horrible" he said, still a little hunched over, looking at everything around him.
"I've seen worse" Nat told him, Bella took a step behind her, rubbing her arm lightly.
"I'm sorry" said Dr. Banner, sadly.
Natasha shook her head.
"No, we could use a little worse right now".
If Bella hadn't been there, she would never have believed the captivating tone with which she had given that sentence.
"Stark, Banner is here, just like you said" the captain told him.
"Tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you, happy birthday kiddo".
Suddenly, the huge reptile turned violently around one of the corners, dragging pieces of buildings with it, just as Bella had seen two blocks back. Seen from the front it was a thousand times more terrifying, especially seeing it descend almost to street level, destroying everything in its path, emitting those sharp, metallic roars that made Bella's hair stand on end.
"So, next year don't feel the need to throw a party for me".
Natasha turned to smile at her as Steve laughed a bit before turning to Banner.
"Dr. Banner, now would be a really good time for you to get angry".
Bruce gave her a sad smile before starting to unbutton his shirt, walking forward.
"That's my secret, cap. I am always angry".
Bella's breath caught in her throat as she watched the hunched-over Dr. Banner turn into a seven-foot-tall, almost six-foot-wide, green creature with giant fists.
A single punch from the Hulk, well aimed at the face of the giant reptile, was enough to stop it long enough. But the speed at which it was seeing was so fast that the rest of its body bent over them.
"Hold on!" Stark ordered from the air as he sent a series of small missiles into the reptile, spread fifty feet above his companions on the ground.
"Bella!" Steve yelled at her.
Bella reacted to the captain's order ipso facto, stepping her left foot forward and extending both hands into the air, creating an irregularly vertical shield that covered all of her companions from the huge alien's blast.
Her palms burned a little, but Bella was fascinated discovering every detail of her new ability.
"Well, that's new" Tony said, surprised, descending to where they were gathered, finishing forming the line-up of a group that despite all odds was proving to work wonderfully.
Something that Loki could see from above, poisoned with hatred.
"Send the rest. And tell the Italians that this is their moment".
"Guys…" they heard Nat say, before turning to see three reptiles identical to the one they had worked so hard to kill.
" Call it, Cap," Stark warned.
Steve watched the portal as he took a deep breath.
"Listen: until we can close the portal, we´ll have to contain them. Barton, on that roof, look for patterns and isolated enemies. Stark, you have the perimeter; if something strays more than three blocks, you return it or turn it to ashes".
"Would you give me a ride?" Barton said, preparing his bow and arrows.
"Yes, you better hold on tight, Legolas" he told him before grabbing his vest and flying him away.
"Thor, Bella, try to congest the portal. Bella, slow them down as long as you can, be a plug for that black hole. Thor, anything that escapes it, you electrocute".
Bella nodded confidently.
"You hold on tight too" Thor said to Bella, taking her by the waist, hitting her against his body as he twirled his hammer. Bella frowned for a second before realizing what he meant. She got to see the captain's grimace of discontent before the entire city became a great gray blur at her feet.
Bella gripped tightly to the edges of his metallic suit at his collarbone.
Thor decided to leave her at the highest point of Stark Tower itself. He planted both feet firmly on the gray gravel, but Bella's were still in the air, due to the sure grip of her partner, who had firmly anchored his hand on her waist.
"Mmm, I think I can go down now" she said.
"Sure," Thor said, depositing her on the floor.
"Next time, give me a heads up, okay?" she said somewhat annoyed. Thor blinked in surprise, but nodded quickly.
Bella exclaimed in surprise seeing a man lying, injured on the floor, leaving her anger behind.
"Selwig!" Thor positioned himself at his side, taking the pulse in his neck.
"Is he alive?" Bella asked.
"Yeah, he's just unconscious"
Bella winced, that was slightly better.
"We have things to do. Try to hold them from here, I'll go to that thin building and hold them from the other side" he said as he climbed to one of the tower's edges.
Bella laughed softly.
"Thin building? Maybe one day we could take a city tour together, you know?" she said, now more relaxed.
"Like… like on a date?" the blonde frowned. Thor was flattered, of course, but Isabella seemed too young to him, plus he'd seen her with the captain, that sounded like trouble he didn't need. Besides, he was with Jane… well, being wasn't the right word, but…
"God, no!" Bella immediately clarified, cutting off her partner's train of thought. "Like friends," she clarified.
"Friends," Thor repeated, assimilating the word.
"Yes friends. I could use one. I don't know about you" Bella joked.
"I like it. Let's be friends", he said, nodding his head, convinced. Bella laughed once more, enjoying the bizarre moment.
"But first, work".
"First work" he repeated. "Let me know if anything goes wrong, understand?"
"Loud and clear," Bella promised.
"See you later, friend" he said, smiling, disappearing into the air.
Bella shook her head a little and cracked her neck, shaking her hands lightly, exhaling the air in a huff.
She looked up, breaking out in a sweat as she calculated the distance from her spot to the portal, adding the unpleasant presence of those modified lizards.
She made the same move as in the 42nd, putting one foot forward and swinging her arms to build momentum and eventually create a wide shield as she stomped her left foot and passed her hands crossed, as if handcuffed, over her head. At the level of her forehead, she felt a conflicting tension, and she bent down a little to be able to detach her joined hands from the sweat of her furrowed brow.
Once she was able to extend her arms, they began to tremble, especially the left one.
Bella let the pain out on a breath through clenched teeth, concentrating solely on her shield. The energy had managed to flow down her arms for a considerable distance, creating a huge horizontal plate above her head.
Extending her arms a little wider, she managed to get her close enough to the portal.
The first hit from one of the reptiles nearly flipped her over in pain. This time, her shield had managed to extend far, but had not retained its impenetrable condition, and had absorbed the force of the alien's blow against it. The damned reptile didn't go through, but the force it had put into the charge Bella felt it to her bones, making her cry out in pain, closing her eyes tightly.
Screaming helped, so she kept doing it as she endured the wave of pain and concentrated on reinforcing her shield, balling her hands into fists, digging her nails into her palms.
When she felt she couldn't take it anymore, the force exerted against her shield decreased noticeably, and she opened one eye to see the Empire State Building turned into a high voltage tower, with Thor at the top of the skyscraper, pointing his hammer at the portal, electrocuting those damn reptiles.
"My friend," she smiled as she drew strength from somewhere to once again reinforce her shield.
A few moments later, she almost cried with emotion when she saw Stark shake off a couple of ships that had noticed what she was doing and wanted to shoot her down. Once again, she clenched her jaw and dug into the gravel, making an unearthly effort to keep the plug the captain had ordered.
There was nothing like high morale in a team.
"What…" she heard the rambling of the man next to her.
"Selwig?" Bella yelled at him, unable to turn around, praying he didn't want to attack her.
"Who are you?" he asked, lost.
"Are you okay?" Bella couldn't think of a better way to ask him if he was still Loki's slave.
"The scepter... the energy inside it... defends itself if you want to leave, I, I'm very sorry" he continued rambling.
"Forget about it" the young woman spoke with a lot of effort, Thor's help was inconstant, "you couldn't know what you were doing" despite her pain, she tried to comfort him.
"Perhaps I knew" the scientist began to tell her.
Even in the middle of the fight, Nat saw Steve look at the portal for the tenth time so far in the fight.
"You don't see any flying snake on your heels Rogers, she's fine and doing her job, do yours" she yelled as she climbed on top of one of those aliens to use her taser directly on its disgusting skin.
"I'm sorry" the captain told her as he threw his shield against the last chitauri behind Natasha.
"Nat, Captain, can anyone hear me?" They heard Bella's voice through the headset.
"Bella" the captain said desperately, "are you okay?
"Yes, and Selwig too. He says that the scepter can close the portal"
Rogers and Natasha looked at each other triumphantly.
"I'm on my way" Nat told her.
"We have to get you up there".
"I got a ride. But I could use a little push" she said smiling.
Steve looked at her suspiciously.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, it's gonna be fun" she said before taking a run and jumping against a car first, to then do it on the shield that the captain was holding appropriately, to make her take off with a jump.
He watched her dangle away from an enemy ship before heading to the bank above Madison.
Bella breathed easier when she felt Natasha fall behind her. Her arms were on the verge of cramping and the rest of her body couldn't bear another ounce of weight on her. She just
had to hold on a little longer and it would all be over.
But just as Nat was getting to her feet, Loki was speeding by in one of those damned flying vehicles, grabbing Bella by the hair, lifting her off the ground with a loud scream of pain, causing the silver force field containing the Chitauri to collapse, vanishing suddenly.
"Shit!" Nat cursed out loud. "Stark, do you hear me?"
Bella felt that her scalp was going to detach from her skull at any moment.
Arms still sore, she gripped Loki's wrist tightly with both hands and swung herself around to push herself up and roll over him, bending his hand as she did so.
"I see you've learned a couple of tricks in my absence," he told her, smiling slyly. They were going too fast for Bella to be able to identify anything or anyone on the streets.
"You have no idea," she told him, landing a headbutt that left her dizzy too. She took advantage of the moment Loki cursed holding his nose to taser the driver embedded in the ship, causing it to lose control of the vehicle.
Loki, behind her, kicked her hard in the back, forcing her to double over on the dead alien below her.
"I almost gave you a second chance, luckily I always think only with my head" he spat at her maliciously, taking her by the hair again.
Bella elbowed him hard in the already injured nose, watching as the ship was still moving at full speed but descending. She didn't think about it for a second and jumped towards whatever was waiting for her below, reaching the floor much sooner than she had thought, falling backwards against the cement. She stood like that for a moment, hunched over in pain and dazed, before slowly getting to her feet, groaning loudly.
By that point in her life, she wasn't even surprised to see what was in front of her.
On a common terrace, decorated with delicate flower pots and patio furniture, a petite woman of about forty, bald and wearing a bright yellow oriental robe, managed to shoot down the chitauri ships that she saw passing by by launching a kind of strange laser, as if it were somehow fire, every time she moved her little hands gracefully, in sync.
"Finally, Miss Swan" the woman greeted her in a deep, velvety voice.
"Who are you?" Bella asked, sending a small current of energy to her hands, ready for the attack.
"They call me The Ancient One" she told her with a polite smile.
Bella had been frozen in place, with a strange expression on her face. She shook her head and concentrated on what she had to do.
"Where am I?" she said, trying to find some reference to the place.
"You're on Bleecker Street, at 117A" she replied calmly as she sliced an enemy ship in half, with the simple movement of her index and middle fingers.
"Bleecker street!? That's about forty blocks from Grand Central. I need to get back to the fight" Bella complained.
"Maybe I can offer you a shortcut" she said, suspending two fingers in the air with one hand, while with the other she drew a wide circle, leaving it circumscribed in an orange ring that seemed to spark. Of course, that wasn't the strangest thing of all. Because within the confines of the ring of fire, Bella saw a street she didn't know well, but was sure was New York.
Bella narrowed her eyes, looking the strange woman up and down. She walked slowly, without taking her eyes off her, until she was half a meter from the incredible magic circle, positioning herself to the side, looking both ways, verifying that the view of the small street only existed inside the ring. She looked up at the sky, at the portal that was very similar to what was in front of her.
"Are you an alien?" she asked, throwing her head back a little.
The Ancient One smiled slightly.
"I am helping you", she replied instead.
"Why?" she questioned her, hesitant.
"Because you need help, of course", the woman replied.
Bella looked back at the portal in front of her, exhausted from the supernatural.
"Do I want to know?" she asked with a sigh.
"You'll know everything. Eventually" she replied with a smile.
Bella shook her head, squared her chest and began to walk towards the small portal. After a deep breath, she lifted one leg to get around it.
Once on the other side, she marveled at the portal enclosing the image of the cozy terrace on Bleecker Street. She looked around, indignant.
"Hey! This is not near Grand Central".
The woman nodded calmly.
"Because the fight you have to win isn't there" she told her solemnly, but before Bella could tell her anything else, she added:
" Just remember that you are right-handed, and that you can always count on friends".
Bella caught a shadow out of the corner of her eye.
"The hardness of a skin has no competition with the softness of a soul. It has been a real pleasure, Isabella" she told her, closing the portal with a wave of her hand.
"What the…" Bella began to curse as she watched the last orange spark disappear in front of her. She turned her head quickly to where she had thought she had seen a shadow, but she saw nothing.
She squinted and managed to read the signs on the corner post. It was at Thirty-first Street and Eighth Avenue. Well, at least it was closer than before.
The battle hadn't done the same damage as downtown, and the street was fairly clear. She prepared to start running, but a quick movement to her right caught her attention.
She turned her head when she heard a noise behind her and the image that materialized in front of her eyes sent her pulse racing.
Protected by the shadows of the nearby buildings, wrapped in a long gray cloak and with his red eyes fixed on her, he inched closer.
Bella was rooted to the spot, stunned.
"Felix," she whispered breathlessly. He heard her perfectly.
"Isabella," he seemed to greet her.
Bella began to look around, searching for a nearby ray of sunlight.
"What are you doing here?" she said, wanting to buy time without knowing very well what for. There was no chance that she would get out of this place alive.
"A mutual friend let us know you were visiting New York." He smiled toothily, sending shivers down Bella's spine.
Let us know?
She turned frantically to where she had thought she had seen a shadow to watch Alec coming into view from his hiding place in a small alley between two buildings.
"You have very interesting friends," Bella replied sarcastically.
"We've seen that you do too," Alec told her.
She scanned the buildings in the area, quickly ruling out being able to yell for help. If they came to kill her, they would deal with any witnesses who might expose them. Bella was in the middle of the street, with the two vampires a few feet away, in front of her. They were a bit apart from each other, but it wouldn't have mattered if they were right next to each other, Bella wouldn't be able to get to either corner anyway if she wanted to run. Nor could he dream of landing a good punch on one, much less both.
But in no way did she plan to die that afternoon, she would draw strength from wherever she had to in order to get out of that place.
"Is that why you're here? Cause I'm vampires exclusive only?" she snorted, trying to stall for time.
It would have to be an incredible effort to create a barrier that could contain not just one, but two sadistic vampires. She moved her fingertips as she located the current of energy in her chest, gathering it, molding it, holding it in place instead of bringing it into her palms, afraid it might dissipate a little along the way.
"Actually, yes," Alec corrected her.
"Aro is very disappointed by your new choice" Felix added.
"Lucky it's none of his business" she spat, beginning to sweat from the effort of keeping the wave of energy at bay in her chest.
"Do you know what happens when you mix poison with super soldier serum?" Alec said, approaching her slowly, like a trusting predator.
Bella let the air out of her lungs as she felt the wave of energy in her abdomen, descending a little more. Luckily, the Volturi in front of her interpreted it as fear.
"Exactly. In amounts sufficient to make a change in an organism, they are simply incompatible" Alec continued.
"Apparently you can't have the best of both worlds, honey" Felix told her.
"They should add that to the side effects manual" Bella answered with a grimace.
"Aro gave you a second chance, and you just wasted it" Alec said with a deadpan voice.
There was something in the way Felix looked at her, or the way he shifted his weight almost imperceptibly from one foot to the other, that let Bella know it was time.
Just as Felix pounced on her, prey to the pressure built up inside her, she stretched out her arms at the same time as she stomped her right foot hard, causing an inordinate wave of energy to be released from each of her limbs. Her stomp slammed it across the ground, destabilizing where the vampires were standing, and creating a thick shield that materialized from the bottom up, covering her just in time to bounce Felix off.
Bella felt a huge pang in her head that forced her to lean back, disintegrating the shield in the movement.
Felix was pushed against the edge of a building, leaving the mark of his back on the surviving bricks, and was quickly back in position.
Bella raised her shield once more, but she didn't have the time to gather the same amount of energy as before, so at the first thrust she came apart painfully.
Felix smirked before slamming her chest hard, slamming her into the first-floor balcony behind her, from which she tumbled to the floor. But before she felt the sidewalk beneath her, Bella managed to reach out with her hands, creating a small force field that prevented Felix from grabbing her neck before she hit the ground. When she hit the cement, she swung around quickly to get down on one knee and take cover again. It worked once more, but naturally, Felix couldn't get tired and lunged at her again.
The young woman didn't have time to create another force field right away, and the vampire finally grabbed her by the throat, lifting her two feet off the ground and slamming her against the wall of the building.
Bela put her left hand on top of Felix's, trying to scratch the marble itself. Fighting for oxygen, she couldn't think of a better idea than to charge her right hand with energy and hit him hard in the face.
That was much more than luck. The punch she had dealt had sent Felix genuinely away, as if somehow her steady right hand was indeed a match for his superhuman strength. Well, the strange woman had been right to remind her that she was right-handed after all.
"Don't move!" she heard him yell at Alec. Well, that would serve Bella well. She was well aware that she was still alive because Felix seemed to like the foreplay.
"You may be super now, but you're still a filthy human" he roared in disgust before running towards her once more.
She managed to erect another force field in the shape of a semicircle, locking herself against the wall behind her.
"Yes, I am" she remembered once again the words of the woman and with her voice contained by the effort, she hurried to speak.
"Thor? Can you hear me? I'm on Eighth and 31st and something is going really wrong in here".
So here I am again because I want to know if you like the friendship between Bella and Thor, if you saw it coming, if you are not quite convinced of it…
And, of course, Bella's shield. Tell me if you liked it, if I missed anything or if you have an idea to make it better.
I love reading what you think.
See you soon!