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Chapter 9 the well
"In ancient times, people believed the heavens were filled with gods and monsters and magical worlds. Then, as time passed, those beliefs faded into myths and folklore. But now we know the stories were true. Other worlds, with names like Asgard, do exist. And beings once revered as gods, like Thor, have returned. Leaving us with more questions and an enormous mess to clean up," Jemma says. Ward puts these pieces debris into a box.
"Don't say I never gave you anything," Ward says.
"Checking for alien spectrographic signatures, one teeny rock at a time," Fitz says.
"A necessary precaution. We don't want anything alien getting in the wrong hands," Ward says.
"Still, this is definitely the type of work a monkey could easily do," Fitz says.
"You're our little monkey," Ward says. I let out a small chuckle. Jemma's phone rings. She pulls it out and takes a glance at it. She declines the call. Fitz turns to Jemma.
"Don't give me that look. I'll talk to them when I talk to them," Jemma says.
"Talk to who?" I ask.
"Mum and Dad," Jemma says. Ward and me walks over a bit. "They want explanations and answers for….. Well, all this. But I don't have any answers. And more importantly, I haven't talked to them since I was ill. And if they knew that, they'd be even more terrified, so, you know," Jemma says. Jemma's phone rings again and she presses a button on it before putting it back in a pocket in her jeans. "Why waste any of our time, really?" Jemma says. We continue looking at objects. Fitz picks up a weird looking thing and scans it. The scanner beeps. Ward and me rush over.
"Fitz, is that… um…," Jemma asks. Fitz gets up off the ground, still holding the weird looking object.
"Definitely not from here. Another piece of the ship," Fitz says. Ward snatches the weird alien object. Ward sprays it with this gas. Ward gives Jemma, Fitz and me a clear look at the device.
"Out of sight," Ward says. Ward puts the weird alien object in a brief case. "Out of mind. It's why we are here. To keep everything under control," Ward says. Jemma smiles.
Scene change.
"Jakob Nystrom, 30. Girlfriend, Petra Larsen. Leaders of a Norse paganist hate group," Ward says.
"And the numbers are growing, thanks to what happened in Greemwich, and thanks to the internet. 'Yay, internet,' she said sarcastically," Skye says.
"Norse paganist?" Jemma asks.
"Obsessed with anything from Norse mythology. Stories of Asgard," Skye says.
"And now a weapon," I say, picking up the 3d model of the staff/ road thing.
"The scan only accounted for one side. Too much damage for complete reproduction," Fitz says.
"But see here? It's clearly broken on both ends," Jemma says.
"So there are more pieces," Ward says.
Yeah. Two, at least," Fitz says.
"Which means Sid and Nancy may be looking for a complete set," Ward says. The door opens and Coulson and May enter.
"The markings?" Ward asks.
"Asgardian symbolism. Hard to translate with our limited knowledge," Coulson says.
"You should give your buddy, the God of Thunder a shout. He gets his power from his hammer, right? What if this is his nail to the hammer?" Skye says.
"I already did. Director Fury told me he's off the grid. And if he has a cell phone, we don't have the number," Coulson says.
"S.H.I.E.L.D.'s investigations are on the trail of Nystrom and his followers," May says.
"We are charged with identifying the object and finding any other pieces before they do," Coulson says.
"They seem to have some sort of advantage. They found this thing in fifteen hundred square kilometers of Norwegian forest," Ward says.
"Guys. What if it called to them with magic?" Skye says.
"Called to them?" May asks.
"We know it's Asgardian, the rules are a little bendy here," Skye says. "I'm no John Constantine, but I know that there is a difference between advanced alien technology and actual magic," I say.
"Just because we don't understand something yet doesn't mean we should regress back to the Dark Ages, talking of magic and fairytales," Jemma
"Actually, that's exactly what we're going to do," Coulson says. I turn to look at Coulson.
"Excuse me?" Jemma says.
"Really?" Skye asks.
"When we first found the hammer in New Mexico. I consulted one of the world's leading experts on Norse mythology. Eliot Randolph. A professor at a university in Seville. We'll leave immediately. Maybe he can tell us something about these markings," Coulson says.
Scene change.
"This is ridiculous," Ward says.
"This is anything but. Ward you passed out. And you were acting not right," Skye replies.
"Coulson ordered me to give you a full work up and that's exactly what I'm doing. Um, before you lost consciousness, were you feeling claustrophobic?" Jemma says.
"Why?" Ward asks.
"She is ruling out a panic attack," Fitz says.
"I don't panic. Ever," Ward says.
"There we go. Ruled out," Jemma says.
"Touching the staff caused it, right?" Sky asks.
"Any residual effects? Are you exhibiting any extra strength?" Jemma asks. Ward turns to the screen to show Coulson interrogating Eliot.
"Why don't I try it out on that guy?" Ward asks.
"Why don't we not do that?" Skye replies.
"What's the last thing you remember before you lost consciousness?" Fitz asks.
"This is a waste of time," Ward shouts. Ward gets out of the chair. "We need to find the staff," Ward says.
"What exactly did you remember?" Fitz asks.
"Something I hadn't thought about in a long time," Ward says.
"Why don't we leave it alone?" I suggest. Jemma and Fitz talk over the top of each other.
"Quiet," Ward says. Ward turns to look at us. "I want to hear this," Ward says. Ward presses a few buttons.
"One of my men is hurt, the staff is gone…," Coulson says.
"I didn't want any of that to happen," Eliot replies.
"What did you want?" Coulson asks. Coulson walks closer to Eliot. "The staffs power for yourself?" Coulson asks.
"Nothing like that," Eliot says. Eliot sighs. "You know I just wanted to be the first to study it. To prove that the Berserkers were actually here, a part of history. You think about that," Eliot says.
"Oh, I'm think about it," Eliot says. The screen changed to show the S.H.I.E.L.D. logo. Ward turns to look at Jemma and Fitz.
"What are you doing?" Ward asks.
"Your heart rate is rising, adrenaline's spiking. You need to calm down not get worked up," Jemma says. Ward sighs. Ward takes a few steps.
"The memory, was it about your brother?" Skye asks. War turns to her.
"Drop it," Ward says.
"Ward, if you need to get it out. I am here…..," Skye says.
"Right. To talk. Because that is what you do. Talk and talk. Don't you ever get tired of hearing your own voice?" Ward says Ward walks closer to her and Skye backs away.
"Ward!" I say. I put my hand on his shoulder. "Cool it," I say. Ward turns to me with a death glare and almost punches me. I remove my hand.
"Well, this makes more sense. Ward, what you're experiencing, this feeling? It's chemistry," Jemma says.
"Hope so," Skye says.
"Yeah, spikes in his adrenocorticotrophic hormone. It's like hearing those stories you hear when a mother is able to lift a car to save her baby. An adrenaline surge can create massive….," Jemma says.
"Stop talking! Just fix it!" Ward shouts.
"I wish I could. We can relieve some of the symptoms. I'm going to give you ten CC's of benzodiazepine," Jemma says.
"Chill pill. Good idea," Skye says.
"A sedative? Not gonna happen," Ward says.
"Yeah, well, be reasonable. Look how you're behaving," Fitz says.
"And if I'm sedated and we cross paths with those juice freaks, the ones who crush cars and smash people up, are you gonna take them on? Keep us safe?" Ward says pointing at Fitz, whilst getting in Fitz's face. "Or am I gonna have to have to save Simmons' a** again?" Ward says pointing at Fitz. Ward grabs his shirt and marches out of the room.
"That was just a biochemical reaction. He didn't mean all that," Jemma says. I can hear cracks in Jemma's voice.
"No, I know," Skye says, not looking at any of us and walking away.
"No explanation necessary," Fitz says, walking away, not looking up from his tablet screen.
Scene change.
"I had no clue. Did you?" Fitz says. Fitz turns to look at Jemma before his eyes returned to the screen. "Hidden in plain sight. An actual Asgardian. Brilliant," Fitz says.
"How long do you suppose he's been on our planet?" Skye asks.
"A thousand years, maybe more. If we could just cut him open a little bit, get some tissue samples maybe some bodily fluids, we could find out," Jemma says.
"Or we could just ask him, weirdo. This is way, way batter than The History Channel. I mean, this guy lived through all the scary stuff. The Crusades, the Black Death, disco," Skye says. May comes in pressing buttons on her tablet. "What are you doing," Skye asks.
"Sealing the interrogation room door," May says. Everyone looks at May. "Coulson's orders," May says.
Scene change.
We enter the church. "It's been a while. I wonder… Ah! Yes. There it is. Still here," Eliot says. He walks over to a book were we see a picture of him with the staff. "Well, the nose isn't quite right, but…," Eliot says.
"That's you?" Fitz asks.
"Yeah. They venerated me a bit as a saint," Eliot says.
"They're idiots," Ward says. "Where's the staff?" Ward asks.
"It's upstairs," Eliot says. We walk upstairs.
"Was that the normal Ward, or the new, angrier Ward? I can't tell," Skye says. I shrug.
"It's quiet," May says.
"Why do you think I trusted them with my secret? They take a vow of silence," Eliot says. He opens a box to find it only to be empty.
"But. When you get them talking, they squeal," Nystrom says, as he comes out behind a corner with two berserker staff fragments. Nystrom stabs one into Eliot's stomach. "If you want to defeat a god, you must become one," Nystrom says.
"You're right," I say. I take the fragment of the berserker staff out of Eliot. I see a vision of my father shooting himself in the head. I let out a roar and charge at Nystrom. A grab him and flip him over the railing. I then get up, lift Nystrom and drop him.
"We need to help him!" I hear Skye say.
"I'll get her," May says. Nystrom gets up and knocks me into a wall. I see my mother get stabbed in the heart by Slade Wilson. I grab one of the church chairs and lift it up and smash it on top of Nystrom. Nystrom tries to hit me with his fragment. I knock it out of his hands. I then kick him into a door. Skye runs over with May and Ward behind her.
"Oliver. Drop the staff," Skye says.
"Get away from me," I say.
"Agent Queen," May says.
"This isn't you," Skye says. A door opens and Nystrom's followers enter.
"Get back," I say. I pick up the Nystrom's fragment with my free hand. I see Laurel die in the hospital bed. I hit one of Nystrom's followers. Another one charges at me and I flip him over. I see Shado being shoot by Ivo. I hit some more. I see Felicity being shot by DeVoe in the chest and her lifeless body falls to the ground. After I hit the last of Nystrom's followers I drop the staff fragments. I fall to the floor. Skye runs to me.
"On, my God, are you okay? Come here," Skye helps me up off the ground. Nystrom and his girlfriend enter the room. "Oh you got to be kidding me," Skye says. I was about to grab the staff but May grabs my hand.
"Let me help," May says. I move away from the staff.
"Yeah, come on," Skye says, as she and Ward help me stand. After a short battle between May verse Nystrom and Petra, May wins and puts down the staff.
Scene change.
"Coulson did that? He just shoved his hand inside?" Skye asks.
"Well he had to. I froze. Didn't know what to do," Jemma says.
"Hey, you didn't freeze. You just weren't up for the idea of putting your hand somebody else's chest," Fitz says. Jemma's phone rings. Jemma pulls out her phone.
"Maybe I should jump in," Jemma says. I nod.
"Yeah," Fitz says. I give her thumbs up. Jemma answers the call.
"Hi, Dad," Jemma says. I see a vision of my dad shooting himself in the head. "Yeah, it's great to hear your voice, too. I've been meaning to call you for a couple of days. It's been a difficult few weeks," Jemma says.
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