Chapter 37 – Half Time!
"Now where are we?" Thor asked.
"Watch your back!" Tauriel shouted, reaching behind to grab her bow. "We're under attack!"
Alerted by her shout, they all put their hands to their weapons, staring out at the mob of men bearing down on them.
Loki eyes raked the men racing towards them. The group in front of him where running with their heads down, all wearing green helmets with the same emblem painted on them. Their house colors were clearly green and white as they wore matching green shirts and white pants. The battle had obviously been going on for some time as their white pants were stained and dirty. He darted his head to the rear, inspecting the remaining attackers. These men were dressed in dark blue with black pants, also wearing helmets.
"I take it that we are no longer on Earth?" Thranduil shouted about the roar. "Is this back on your home world?"
Thor raised his hammer, whirling it around his head several times, he slammed it down to the green grass they were standing on. Lightning erupted from the ground and their attackers were thrown back. This afforded Thor the opportunity to better inspect his surroundings. He realized they were in some sort of coliseum. "I am not certain…"
"What? The Mighty Thor doesn't know where he is?" Sif teased as she kept her sword at the ready, in case the men resumed their attack.
Their attackers slowly regained their feet, shaking their heads from the effects of Thor's hammer. They were obviously stunned to see the strange group standing in front of them.
"What the hell...?"
"Where did they come from?"
Silence descended on the crowds who had been witnessing the battle. Thor looked up at them.
"I must say, this is a strange culture." Thranduil stated.
"Why do you say that?" Tauriel asked.
"Well, it appears that the majority watch the battles," he pointed up at the multitudes of people staring down at them.
Loki started laughing.
"What is so funny brother?" Thor demanded.
"I do not believe we were the subject of the attack," Loki finally said as he bent down and picked up a brown object. "This is what they seem to want."
"Ah, a game perhaps? I think I have heard of this game… foot ball… I believe it is called. I remember watching it one day at Stark's."
"Foot ball? This does not look like a foot?"
"No, it's a game they call foot ball. I do not know why as they do not play it with their foot, except for running that is," Thor replied.
Men dressed in black and white walked hesitantly towards the group. "Uh, boys… and um, ladies," one of them addressed the group. "You aren't supposed to be out here. Security!"
Several uniformed police officers came trotting out onto the field. Loki took one look at them and stated. "Stop right there!"
"What the hell is going on? Who let the halftime show out early?" The announcer started screaming at no one in particular the instant Loki and his party had appeared in the middle of the play.
"Sir? We're on air. Please watch your…"
"I don't care if we're on air. Someone get those clowns off the field! Who let them out early? We still have thirty-two seconds left in the half!"
"That don't look like Coldplay," one of the techs stated.
"And it sure ain't Beyoncé or Bruno. Who the hell is that?"
"Looks like someone sent Captain America instead," one teach chortled.
"That ain't Cap, that's Thor. Can't you tell the difference?" his partner scoffed.
"I don't care if it is Elvis Presley, we still got thirty seconds left on the clock!"
"Run a commercial!"
"Which one?"
"I don't care, just pick one till we get this sorted out!"
Chaos in the television booth continued as someone finally managed to find a commercial to play. Phones and radios were going off like crazy as everyone tried to figure out what had happened on the playing field.
"Mr. Stark?" Kat had settled down in the sitting room in the suite they'd secured at the resort hotel.
"Tony, call me Tony."
"Okay, well, Tony, I think I found Loki and the others," Kat replied.
"Really? Where?"
"You'd better come here…"
Tony's cell phone rang. "Hi honey, what's up?" Tony spoke.
"I do believe we've found Thor and the others," Pepper's voice came through the speakers.
"That's what Kat was saying. Did you send the jet down?"
"I'm on it right now, but I would suggest you go check out the TV… the Super Bowl is on.."
"I don't care about the Stupor bowl…"
Pepper's voice broke in. "I know you hate football, Tony, but seriously. Turn on your television!"
"Kat has it on. Let me see, she was just shouting she'd found Thor." Tony walked into the sitting room where Kat had been watching the television.
A television reporter popped up on the screen. "Sorry folks, but we're not sure what happened here, but we are not under attack. At least I don't think we are. We've had a slight malfunction with the, umm… half-time show. Right. There was a glitch and they started it early. As soon as we get things sorted out, we will be returning you to live coverage of the game. There was still thirty-two seconds left in the half and play was in motion when someone sent out the opening act…" he paused, holding his hand to his ear listening. "Okay, so that wasn't the opening act? What the hell was it?"
He looked back into the camera. "We are still trying to get confirmation as to what precisely happened… but …" his face was replaced by a replay of the scene that had just happened on the field.
"How did Thor get there?" Tony started laughing as the group appeared in mid-field stopping play. "That has to be the best Super Bowl ever!"
Author's Note: Thanks to AutumnLeaves for the suggestion! Sorry it has taken me so long to update. I've had this planned, just no time to sit and write it. Hope to be updating more frequently!