A lot of people commented that I kept switching between past and present tenses while writing and that it gets confusing. So very sorry for that, my grammar isn't the best (as in I've never really learned it and it really just depends on my "instincts"), but I will try my best to stick to present tense from now on.
Also, how's life y'all?
Chapter 8: What a lovely fucking surprise, says everyone
If one in New York City can see around 10 kilometers away and chooses to look up in the sky at a very specific moment in time, they would see a large circular glass box falling through the sky out of nowhere. Two figures, one blue and one silver, would be trapped and tumbling in the container, before the glass shatters and both shoots out, the blue figure struggling away from the silver figure's grappling.
Oddly enough, although the silver figure is showing the usual symptoms of being in freefall, hair whipping and clothes flapping wildly out of control, the blue figure doesn't. Instead, the wind seems to have no effect on the blue figure at all, who falls straight down without being pushed around by the wind, its clothes completely still save for the occasional ruffle. A faint white light surrounds the blue figure, which seems to be the reason for the strange occurrence.
Above the two figures is another red-and-gold figure, who streaks down with a loud whine. It seems to be flying down as fast as possible – perhaps to strike both down or to save them – but the two figures were so far ahead that the possibility seems bleak.
The onlooker might wonder, what the hell is going on? Before seeing yet another alien vehicle being carried out of some building, then shrug and take out his/her phone, take a snap, and walk away.
Just another day in New York City.
"But seriously, Boyiqing, what happened?"
A few days ago.
Hellicarrier.
Eragon's POV
"So. One week ago, a sorceress pulled out your soul." Saphira sounds rather incredulous, "A sorceress like Angela?"
Eragon can understand Saphira's current confusion. Having just regained enough energy to awaken hours ago, the dragon had to accept that Eragon was currently under captivity, nearly got mentally incapacitated, had a visit by a sorceress spirit, who also mentally saved him,and that two godsare nearby, all in one go.
Regardless to say, Saphira was happy to see Eragon alive.
"Well, yes. I find it quite fascinating, in fact. When we have time, we should try to replicate the magic. It would be most useful."
Saphira puffs, her conscious still whirring from all the information being processed, "And so this sorceress, wants us to find her in this…New York? What kind of name is this?"
"Not an Alagaësian one for sure. I am looking forward to visiting it, though. It seems like a very interesting place." Eragon supplies with a hint of amusement. The ancient sorceress's visit has given him a new motivation in this world, and since then Eragon has been subtly collecting information about this planet while patiently waiting for his moment to arrive.
Interestingly though,although this planet is quite interesting with their history and technology (he finds the concept of a smartphone quite genius), not to mention the so-called "Avengers" that has been taking all the attention recently, no mention of sorceresses or the "Ancient One" exists in any mind that he has examined. On Earth, magic (true magic, not the silly tricks that the so called 'Magicians' do), it seems, was a complete secret.
"Hmph. What do you think of the sorceress?"
"She calls herself the Ancient One." Eragon says. "Even I couldn't sense the complete depth of her powers." Which is quite shocking, as Eragon is undoubtedly the most powerful Rider in Alagaësia. "I can tell that she means no harm though, and based on what she said, she will help us to return home." After all, no one likes having a blind eye on world-destroying monsters.
"Dimensional monsters." Saphira snorts, recalling the mentioned threats that Eragon heard from the Ancient One. "Maybe we should grab one of them and let it carry us to our world."
Eragon smiles and wisely changes the topic before she starts to actually consider it. "I scanned a few agents' memories. It seems that we are flying towards New York City within a few days."
Saphira hums, "We must break out by then."
"Breaking out is easy." Eragon says, before briefly telling Saphira about the cell's settings. Namely, how it can be released from the carrier. It's an awfully straightforward plan, but the simplest one too. "I do not wish to leave Brisingr and Adurna behind, though. I plan on briefly leaving the cell to retrieve them before being 'dropped'."
Saphira laughs, "You are talking as if we're not prisoners."
"If I wasn't weakened beforehand, I wouldn't be here in first place." Eragon replies mildly. It was the utmost confidence in his abilities, not arrogance, that created such a statement. Although the lightning god was extremely powerful, he still would've undoubtedly been able to escape if he wasn't mentally damaged and magically depleted.
"Very true, little one. When do you want to leave?"
"Hm. How about three days?"
3 days later.
Melinda May's POV
Agent May doesn't know what to do with the alien.
She's no longer on 24/7 guard for the alien due to other projects (she believes that Fury was in a rather high state when he delivered the orders), but she would still come to the cell every night for a few hours, when the moon is high above the sky: a most ideal time for an escape, when the guards would be at their most vulnerable state.
The first time she came on night duty the elf was asleep, but instantly sat up the moment she stepped onto the platform, its features alert.
Enhanced hearing? Tucking the information in her mind, she had accepted the chair that one of the guards passed to her and sat in front of the cell. The elf by this moment had already completely sat up, its legs crossed neatly together, chin resting on its palm. Its features had softened to an extent where no emotion was shown, even for Agent May.
She had sat on the chair for three hours. She stared at the alien for three hours, and so did the alien. For three hours the alien had stayed in the same pose without the slightest sway, and for three hours May had tried to read anything from the alien, but failed.
By the time she had left her chair, she thinks she understands one of Hill's remarks that came during one of their conversations about the alien.
People say that eyes are the windows to one's soul.
But how can this alien seem so innocent?
Agent May's years of experience tells her that it's pretending, but damn it's a good actor. If she could, she would try to slap out the actual alien that's not looking at her like some fucking Romeo, but she has important duties that requires her to be alive.
Innocent my ass.
She swears, she's going to find out what's underneath there.
The next night she came, the elf wasn't asleep. It was already sitting up in the same pose as the night before, as if it was waiting for her. She sits down, silently challenging the alien to do something. She never looked away, and neither did the alien.
And the next night.
And the next.
It was like a staring contest, Melinda May versus the elf. Too many days she had spent in front of the cell, and it's still going nowhere.
It needs a fucking Oscar.
Today, though, feels a little different. As she sits down for the umpteen time, an odd feeling nags at the back of her mind. She can't pin it, but the chill at her spine knows that something will happen.
An hour passes. No sudden murderous rampage, crashing out of the glass, aggressive dancing, acts of mating or whatsoever anything happened.
The next hour passes smoothly.
And the next.
Just when Agent May is about to call it a day (night?) with no progress, the alien moves.
For the first time since their staring contest started, it gets off the bed.
A sudden sense of unease fills May, and she stands up as well.
Then, for the first time since their staring contest started, it walks up to the glass.
What is it doing? Her instincts are yelling at her to do something, and she steps away from the cell. The guards have already snapped at attention, their guns pointed at the glass.
"Hey." She says. "What, you have stiff legs?"
It stares at her silently, an odd look in its eyes. Agent May stares back steadily, her body tensed in preparation for anything unexpected.
Its corners of its lips tilt up.
An alarm blares in May.
A small smile graces its features, yet she finds herself pinned to the ground by a paralyzing pressure.
Fuck.
It opens its mouth, and four clear, perfectly pronounced words comes out,
"You're a good agent."
It talks?
She almost missed the genuineness amidst the surprise.
"Agent May."
Agent May didn't have any time to comprehend how it knew her name, or how it fucking talks before a sudden darkness takes over her.
Well, shit.
Nick Fury's POV
"Sir!" An agent bursts into the director's room. "The elf is missing!"
Nick Fury's hands freeze, his single eye widening slightly. A string of curses leaves his mouth as he abruptly stands up.
"Where the fuck is it?"
"N-not sure, sir, but it's heading towards the west area." The agent's volume drops. "The research area."
"We suspect it's heading towards Banner's lab,"
"Or Loki's cell."
Nick Fury feels a mighty headache incoming.
Bruce Banner's POV
Bruce and Tony stand frozen, their postures still hunched over the blue sword.
Tony still has a chunk of his muffin in his mouth, but Bruce wasn't in the mood of chastising him for it. Not when the freaking elf-king that was supposed to be in his – no, the Hulk's – container is standing right in front of them.
"Hello?" The elf says. He talks? An alarm blares in Bruce. The elf was completely silent during his entire containment and doesn't respond to their attempts of negotiation. Everything took it that the elf doesn't speak their language.
Ha. They were so wrong.
"Apologies for intruding." The elf is speaking as if he had been doing so since birth. His voice is rich and smooth, the words flowing out so easily that Bruce wonders how the hell had they missed it. "But I would like to have my sword and bow back."
Bruce snaps back to attention, his body jerking up so fast that he thought he would topple over. Where is the alarm button? It was under the worktable, but his hands aren't. How is he going to alarm everyone without alerting the elf?
"I have a question." Tony's somewhat muffled voice comes in like an angel. "How the hell are you here?" Bruce slightly turns his head to see Tony swallowing down the last of his muffin before straightening his back, his hands swiping the numerous holograms aside, fully revealing the elf's face. Bruce catches the change to let his arms fall under the table, where his hands begin to scrabble silently to feel for the button.
The elf lifts an eyebrow. Its entire posture is loose, elegant even. The Hulk in him roars in anger at the careless display, but Bruce has heard enough to know that the elf is a very dangerous figure and can probably snap his neck before he even finishes transforming.
His fingers find the button and presses down. He knows that the alarm is transmitted to the others instantly, and everyone in seconds would be able to see their situation.
Bruce lifts his head just enough to see the security cameras' red light blinking rapidly, and his heart falls back into his chest. Just a few minutes and help would arrive. If they can actually help us, that is. Bruce thinks forlornly.
His heart didn't stay in there for long, for the next second the elf's entire figure sharpens with alert, its eyes rapidly scanning him and Tony. Does he know something? Bruce can feel a chill running down his back. He…Did he sense something?
"Well, I came out." The elf says, his eyes flicking to the two weapons on the table, his hands reaching out. "I will be taking them back, if you excuse me."
Bruce turns to Tony with wide eyes. They need to stall the elf long enough for help to arrive.
Tony looks back while saying steadily, "Sure. But do you mind if we finish this scan?" He drags a blue screen in front of the elf, where a large "SCANNING IN PROCESS", accompanied by an incredibly cliché – so typical that Bruce wants to laugh at that moment – loading bar flashes at the elf's face with the force of a sun. Well, not exactly that bright, but to that moment Bruce did feel as if the entire world has brightened with that screen, because what the hell is Stark thinking?
The elf blinks, its pupils dilating briefly before Tony's surprise attack. They look like cat eyes. Bruce notices.
Tony lowers the screen slightly with a straight face, as if he didn't try to blind the elf a few seconds ago, "You see, this scan has taken us forever, like, what the hell is your sword even covered with?"
The elf stares at them with an unreadable expression.
He pauses briefly. "You seem like a nice guy." Bruce snorts silently. What the hell is he doing? "I mean, surely you wouldn't bear to stop us at 99 percent, right?"
The elf pauses, and a few dozen possible painful scenarios flash through Bruce's mind, before amusement flashes across its face, "Sure." A sense of incredulity rises in Bruce, as the elf then proceeds to pull his arms back, folding them neatly in front of its chest.
Huh? Did the elf just…listened to them?
He can feel Hulk's rage boiling under his skin. Although it's not very smart, Bruce can feel the overall message as something like "How dare it look down upon the mighty Hulk? How dare puny alien stand before the almighty Hulk without trembling in fear?"
Puny. Bruce snorts.
A small prod from his mind shakes Bruce out of the sudden Hulk-ness, and he pushes Hulk's emotions away. Now is not the time to let the "muscles for brains" monster affect him.
A most uncomfortable and awkward silence falls over the lab, as the fucking song Staying Alive softly covers the room. Of all songs. Bruce wants to laugh at the irony. Staying Alive?
He tries not to shuffle around, but the stare – it's not even an intense one – from the elf is making him really awkward, and the Hulk does not like it.
The loading crawls forward at an agonizingly slow pace, and Bruce almost feels like letting the Hulk take over to get out of this incredibly awkward situation.
"Whatever you're doing, it won't harm Brisingr, will it?" The elf seems completely unaffected by the current tension. It's voice light and friendly, one can even mistake them as having a normal conversation.
Well, it is pretty "friendly" though, Bruce thinks to himself, if only the elf is not a damn elf.
"Bri-sing-gor?" Tony asks, lifting an eyebrow. "You gave your sword a name?"
"I did. And my bow too, actually. If you want to know, it's called Adurna." The elf nods toward the bow.
"Cool name. Very un-Earthly." Tony nods in approval. "I'm Tony Stark, by the way. Genius, billionaire, philanthropist. what's your name?"
An odd look flashes through the elf's eyes, as if it is assessing Tony, before an evident smile curls up on the elf's face, "Eragon."
How the hell are they having a conversation? Bruce's head throbs. He would also rant about how unbelievable it is for the elf – no, Eragon – to be so normal, to just casually throw out its own information despite the fact that they had attacked and imprisoned him. Shouldn't he be bashing our brains out right now?
And what the hell is Tony Stark is doing? How is he doing it so calmly?
Looking at Tony discreetly, though, Bruce sees a different story. A hand clenching in a trembling fist so hard that its knuckles are turning white, the faint sheen on the back of the neck, and Bruce realizes that Tony is scared – perhaps even pissed – right now.
Of course he would be scared. Bruce mentally berates himself. They were just in a battle against aliens that tried to destroy New York City. Aliens that nearly killed Tony Stark. Aliens that came out of a freaking portal that the elf came through.
Now that he was thinking about it, how on Earth is Tony not killing the elf on the spot?
A loud bleeping sound cuts across the room, including Bruce's complicated feelings, as everyone looks down to see the flashing "SCAN COMPLETE" on the screen.
Bruce's heart sink at the sound.
Eragon looks at them, "Well, I suppose that it is complete?"
A forced smile stretches on Tony's face, his hands tightening around some contraption that just came out of nowhere – was it under the table the whole time? A sense of alarm rises in Bruce. What is he thinking? "Well…yeah, but there's still a few procedu-"
"Stand down!" The door bursts open, and Thor with all his godly-ness swoops into the room. A dozen more SHIELD agents flood in as well, all covered in super-Kevlar (probably just to make the entrance more dramatic, Bruce thinks). "Step away from them, elf!"
At the same time, Tony moves, and Bruce finally gets to see what he was holding just before. Is that a…Chitauri gun?
Eragon's casual stance disappears, as faint wariness appears on his face (Bruce suspects that it's only for Thor). Although his voice is still light, one can hear the tension in him, "I am not harming them. I am here to retrieve my weapons."
"Yeah, sure." Tony's voice is now tinged with hostility and unease. The Chitauri gun hums with energy as he lifts it towards the elf's face. "Would you please go back to where you belong?"
"Tony!" Bruce hisses at him. "Not helping!"
Thor has a grave look on his face, "I do not wish to exchange swords with you, elf. If you would stand down and return back to your cell, we can negotiate about this later on."
Eragon stares at everyone in the room, his gaze slowly sweeping across.
The air feels unusually thick. Bruce struggles to keep the Hulk down.
"Well, I was planning to return there, so no need to panic." Eragon raises his hands, the damned smile still on his face. Return? Why?
Thor's brows furrow, and lightning begins to crackle around his hands. "What are you planning, elf?"
An odd look flashes across Eragon's face, "Finding a way home."
What?
Thor looks equally confused, but he attempts to continue, "We can help you." He says. "I do not know where you come from, but if you would just stand do-"
"I appreciate the offer." Eragon interrupts him, the smile returning on his face. "But I really should be going." Why? Bruce feels something very important is in the elf's words, but it's just out of his grasp. If he's planning to escape, why now? Does it have to do something with Loki?
A loud whine comes out of Tony's Chitauri gun, where he steadily aims it at Eragon's face.
"Last time aliens came to New York, I nearly fucking died in space." Tony says with deathly calm. A look that Bruce cannot pinpoint appears on Eragon's face briefly. "You think you can just swoop in, throw me in a building, and act like it's not my business?" The numerous shuffling from the agents' guns emphasizes his point.
The elf pauses for a second, as if seriously considering Tony's words.
"I do apologize for that." His eyes flicking back towards the sword on the table, he continues in that annoyingly light tone, "But I don't feel like staying here."
A sudden thought came to Bruce.
"Er-Eragon," He impulsively blurts out. "Is there something in New York?"
The elf spins around and pins him to the spot with a look. It's not a murderous one, but he – the Hulk – can see the faint ripple of emotions behind his pleasant façade. A look that promises no mercy. A warning.
"I wouldn't advise following me." Eragon did not deny Bruce's question. Is he not afraid of them?
(Bruce realizes later what a stupid thought that was)
"Why, is SHIELD planning to use my powers to develop "self-defense" equipment?" His eyes darken for the first time, as an overwhelming, threatening, vicious pressure seems to descend upon everyone's shoulders.
Everyone's face hardens at that line. The emphasis on the words "self-defense" brings an almost terrifying conclusion to Bruce: the elf knows about the Tesseract. No one said anything, but he can almost hear the message in the room: How did he know that?
The elf continues, "Is the snake going to dissect me to find the secrets of my powers?" Contempt tinges at the "snake" and "dissect".
"Snake?" Bruce asks. Although SHIELD certainly has a lot of secrets that he still doesn't know, he's pretty sure no one has ever mentioned a "snake". "What are you talking about?"
An agent – probably a high ranking one – interrupts Bruce and says levelly, "We can talk shit later. Secretary Pierce and Director Fury has demanded the elf to be contained."
Eragon – whose threatening presence that was there just seconds ago has already disappeared – lifts an eyebrow, and a deep unsettlement (along with the Hulk's struggle) grows in Bruce's chest.
"Oh."
"Well, that's…unfortunate."
The agents and Tony reacted to his words before Bruce did.
The last scene unfolds before Bruce, where he sees the synchronized movement of the SHIELD agents' guns, the rapidly brightening light of Tony's Chitauri gun, Thor's eyes widening in dreaded resignation, and the elf's apologetic yet smiling look.
The Hulk remains unusually silent.
And everything goes so completely wrong.
Well, that happened.
(Please review! OwO)
Damn, how is this chapter 3.5k but feels like nothing has really happened?
(Someone help me with my writing rhythm why does it feel so fast ahhhhhhhh)
Hm, tried to leave two small easter eggs (possible plot?) in there. Hopefully it's not too subtle.
sorry if this chapter was boring without eragon's dramatic (?) escape but shit's definitely happening in the next chapter, i swear!
God i wish i wouldn't procrastinate so much asjfdahlsfhdlajsfdasasjv
I'm planning on setting Eragon as like the no.2 most powerful person in the current plot. No.1 would still be ancient one for now because she does seem really OP and definitely has a way against eragon's mental powers. Thor (and maybe loki? I'm not exactly sure about his full extent because the movies aren't very nice to him) Would tie for second as well. So really, super powerful, but he rarely gets serious and would settle to "play along" (not exactly the best description but something like that?) as along as it's under control. BUT, when he does get actually mad though…hehe. I really like the "nice but with crazy hidden underneath" kind of persona, just saying.
But anyways, if you have any better ideas for what he could be like, please comment:))))))))