The Ghoul, the Government, and the Heroes

by YallpEEps

Everyone was dead: both the people he had destroyed himself to protect and the people he had forsaken to get stronger. They were all dead. He had nothing to live for, so like the coward he was, he was prepared to die. But things never go as planned. (Warnings and further descriptions inside)

23. Chapter 22

'words' - Centipede

---

Kaneki turned the corner and led the group to the exit. The hallways were near empty besides the occasional straggling guard. Crashing and explosions echoed above their head, but he tried not to think about it. He couldn't do anything until these people were safe.

It felt like forever, but they made it to the exit.

Kaneki paused before he opened the door and signaled the group to be quiet. Natasha waved the group to line up against the wall to keep them out of the way.

Kaneki closed his eyes and forced himself to focus.

He couldn't hear anything outside besides the sounds of the city. If there was a car, it wasn't running.

Natasha made her way over to him, a questioning look in her eyes.

"No one is there, but that means there might not be a car either," Kaneki whispered.

"Hopefully Fury had the insight to drop one off. It's suspicious that there isn't anyone here."

Kaneki clenched and unclenched his jaw. "Maybe they didn't think we'd make it this far. That, or we are about to set off another alarm."

"Does that really matter at this point?" Natasha pinched the bridge of her nose. Her body was tenser than Kaneki had ever seen it. "What's the plan?"

Kaneki was almost surprised she asked. "If there is a car, you should be the one to take them to safety. I'm hoping you have a few connections here on the west coast."

Nat nodded.

"The hellicarrier isn't safe until we know who all is involved. Neither is the tower. Take them and get the hell out. I'm going back to join the fight. Hopefully, I'll find Clint in time and send him your way."

Natasha nodded again, even if she didn't seem happy about it. It made the most sense that he was the one to join the fight. Natasha is an amazing fighter, but she is also the only one that could feasibly get everyone to safety.

Kaneki returned her nod and gripped the handle of the door. Ever so slowly, he pried it open.

The door opened into an alleyway. He could hear the fighting, but it seemed to be mostly contained indoors.

Right in front of him was a large white van.

Kaneki motioned the group to stay before walking out into the alley. He sniffed the air for any sign of explosives or gas leakage but found nothing. It seemed safe.

He circled the van once more before opening the driver's door with a creak. The keys were right on the seat of the car.

Kaneki turned to see Nat's head poke out from the door. He gave her a thumbs up and quickly waved her over. In return, she waved to the rest of the hostages. Without hesitation, Kaneki tossed her the keys and made his way back inside.

"Don't die," said Natasha as she started the engine.

Kaneki smirked, "Wouldn't dream of it."

---

Loki wandered around the Avenger's tower aimlessly.

He had practiced magic tricks until they failed to amuse him, then watched human TV until he lost interest in that as well. He cooked a bit, drew a bit, napped a bit, and so on and so on.

In short, he was bored.

The tower that was usually loud was now eerily silent.

Loki wished he could have gone on the mission with the rest of them, but he knew he was here on a probationary period at best. He hadn't built up the full trust of the team, much less that of S.H.I.E.L.D. They weren't going to risk it. Hell, they barely let him out of the tower.

Green sparks of random magic danced around Loki's head. He spun around with it in aimless circles with a bored sigh. He clicked his shoes against the floor in random patterns.

After a while, he found himself back at the gym he'd left Kaneki at.

The thought pushed boredom to the background of his mind.

Loki hadn't met a ghoul for years, much less a half-ghoul. It made him nostalgic. It dragged up memories and emotions that lay dormant, buried by the years that were the rest of his life.

There was a disease when he was just a child that killed the ghouls of Asgard.

It appeared out of nowhere. Loki remembers it started with a single child. They wandered in from the forest in a fever-fueled trance. Loki was in the village that day. He remembered running for the child's parents, tears beginning in his eyes, and he remembered the panic that spread as fast as the disease itself.

It caused their organs to shut down slowly and painfully; their regeneration wouldn't keep up with the disease. That was the first time Loki truly felt the effects of death.

The ghouls had been among the most feared warriors, with strength rivaling gods themselves, yet it felt like they were wiped out overnight.

80% of the population died in a matter of thirty years, and those who survived faced sterility. That was when the number of half-ghouls spiked, but cross breeds between Asgardians and ghouls were sterile as well. Their numbers never recovered. By the time Loki reached full adulthood, only a few hundred ghouls were left. A hundred years later, there were none.

Loki always loved the ghouls. He connected with their chaos and insanity, and they with his. Their community took him in when his home was hostile. They helped him with magic when his mother was busy. They tutored him in things other than combat, something his father never supported him in.

There was a time when he lived with the communities of ghouls more than he ever did at home.

Killing the ghouls would be something he never forgave his father for. The man didn't even deny it when Loki came crying to his throne. His lover had passed from the disease and in a blind rage, Loki accused his father of killing them. The king of Asgard merely shrugged in apathy.

Loki didn't bother asking why. Odin has killed many a species, and ghouls had political sway. They were strong enough to stand against him.

Loki's mind wandered back to Kaneki. He felt a connection with him that he hadn't felt since the fall of the Asgardian ghouls. But this ghoul from another world… Kaneki had much more madness and sorrow than any he had met before. Kaneki's world had not been kind to him, but humans are rarely kind to those that are different.

Loki did admit that neither were Asgardians. That was something he had seen and experienced firsthand.

But Loki had quieted the voices in Kaneki's head and felt the weight lift from the young man's shoulders. He wished he could make that chaos go away.

Loki decided against going further into the gym and instead turned to leave. Maybe he could find some TV drama that Stark watches that doesn't make him want to jump off a roof.

Loki made his way to the elevator.

"Jarvis, top floor please."

Silence.

"Jarvis?"

Nothing.

"Did Stark put you up to this again?"

Loki heard a crash and the sound of the elevator moving upwards. That couldn't be right though, Loki had made his way from a higher floor. No one else was supposed to be in the tower.

Loki cursed and quickly moved towards the stairs, keeping his footsteps as light as he could. His hand barely grazed the door when he heard voices and stomping boots.

"It says he should be on this floor."

"Where is the fucker?"

"Fury better have given us the right tracker, or I'm sending him her ear."

Loki quickly backed away and ducked into a nearby room instead. His mind raced.

Tracker, tracker? Where the fuck did they hide a tracker?

They had let him roam without handcuffs starting weeks ago, so he knew it wasn't that. Loki always suspected there would be a tracker on him, but he never found it before.

Loki quickly stripped out of his jacket and tossed it aside. He took off his shirt and shook it violently, then his shoes and socks. He scanned himself for magic and came up clean, so he knew it wasn't that.

Loki heard footsteps getting closer and began to run out of ideas.

Then he wrinkled his nose. If it wasn't on him, there was only one more place it could be.

"This better work," Loki mumbled to himself before sticking his fingers down his throat and forcing himself to vomit. He didn't have time for much else, so he broke the window, then went to the corner and made himself invisible.

Not a second later, armed men broke the door down.

"FUCK!" one yelled.

The two others rushed to the window to see if they could see a Loki that wasn't there.

Loki made sure they couldn't hear him, but he breathed as quietly as he could anyway. He didn't dare move an inch.

"The boss is gonna have my head!" The man who yelled looked at the pile of vomit and scowled. "He figured it out. Calibrate the trackers to exclude the ones in this room." He barked at the other men in the room. "We have about ten more hours until they are completely out of his system at this point. Let's hope they have the west coast on lockdown by now."

He turned to leave. "Go, now. I'll let the boss know the area is clear."

Then all three left the room.

---

Kaneki sprinted through the building.

The pit in his gut grew bigger and bigger the longer he was away from the group. The halls were empty and the alarms had stopped, but the battle shook the whole building.

He didn't know how much was a trap. He didn't know how much was Fury trying to help them out. He didn't know the plan these people had to kill the Avengers, but the level of planning means they fully intended to carry through.

Kaneki half hazardly stripped out of his suit jacket and threw his tie in a random direction. He didn't need anyone grappling him using loose clothing, especially when there were so many people.

He growled and took off his shoes in one fluid motion. He needed to run faster than they would allow.

The first thing Kaneki noticed was the smell. Copper, iron, sweat, meat, and fear reached out to Kaneki. It was intoxicating and dangerous. His head felt light. Adrenaline started pumping through him. He felt the blood pounding in his head.

The second thing he noticed was the carnage in front of him. No one was left standing. All the enemies lie dead or unconscious on the ground. There were piles upon piles of bodies, hundreds of people dead.

The floors were cracked, chandeliers lay broken on the ground, and walls looked like crumbled messes. Everything was stained in blood. The tacky mess stuck to the bottom of his feet. It was a sea of red.

The third thing he noticed was a man in a white suit. It stood out boldly against the red.

Suddenly his head became fuzzy and he didn't really register why.

He could hear his heartbeat in his ears like drums. It was so loud it hurt.

His body tensed and shadow pains danced across his hands and feet and legs and ears and arms and neck.

His eyes wouldn't focus. He couldn't breathe. He didn't know why.

Kaneki forced himself to look. He scrunched his eyes closed and opened them again. Every voice in his head screamed.

'No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.'

Kaneki registered light yellow, almost white hair.

'No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.'

The man was tall. Maybe that was a weird thing to notice, but the shadow he cast triggered memories in Kaneki.

'No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.'

He heard the cracking of fingers. Kaneki copied without thinking.

'No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.'

Black and red eyes snapped to Kaneki.

Screams he hadn't realized he'd filtered out stabbed his ears like knives.

'Or centipedes.'

"KANEKI!" he vaguely registered the voice as Wanda. She was flat against the ground, over to his left. He didn't look. He couldn't tear his eyes from the man in front of him.

A scream came from Tony as the man in white snapped his arm in an awkward-looking direction. Kaneki flinched like he was slapped, but never took his eyes off that man.

Tony was dropped to the ground with a thud.

The man took a step forward.

"Ka-ne-ki-kun~."

Kaneki took a step back. He felt dizzy.

The man licked his lips. "Your fear smells delicious."

'Jason is here.'

Kaneki just shook his head. He took another step back and the man took a step forward.

"You are dead." Kaneki's back hit the wall. "I KILLED YOU MYSELF!"

"YOU ATE ME BUT YOU DIDN'T KILL ME!"

The man's eyes were wild; his smiling teeth were stained pink from blood.

"After you left me to die, after that twerp of a CCG agent cut out my Kagune, I ended up here. A portal swept me up and dropped me in a graveyard in Japan."

Jason cracked his knuckle with his finger and took a step closer.

"IF YOU WANTED ME DEAD, YOU SHOULD HAVE EATEN MY HEART AND BRAIN WITH THE REST OF ME."

Another step forward and another step back.

'Let me out.'

"YOU SHOULD HAVE GROUND UP MY BONES AND SUCKED OUT MY EYES AND CRUSHED MY SKULL."

'Let me out.'

"I'll kill you again."

"I was never done playing with you."

'Let me out.'

Kaneki growled. He was afraid but he was angry.

And Kaneki was getting hungry.

'Let me out.'

'Let me out, Kaneki.'

His head spun. His Kagune left his back without him thinking. Jason's began to unfurl as well.

'Let me out.'

'Let me out.'

'Let me out.'

'Let me out.'

Eyepatch blacked out.