The fight Jebediah and Sigyn begins.
Differences mentioned in this chapter: All of it.
The group made their way past the desolation. It was difficult for Ariana. As the Goddess that symbolized life, the lack of it and the death in the area hurt her. Several times, Loki had to wrap his arm around her to keep her from stumbling just from the pain locked in the rubble, not even because she had tripped.
After an hour, they spotted Sigyn and the Iron Menace. Sigyn somehow managed to conjure up some Asgardian armor, but not nearly as impressive as that of many other warriors. In fact, it looked more like a cheap alternative rather than that of any god or warrior of Asgard. Yet, she looked amazing in the leather.
"How did I know you would come?" she sneered. "Very heroic. Like every other good dog, you come to your betters."
Ariana held Loki back before saying, "I'm sorry to disappoint, but I heard there was a stray bitch dirtying up the place." She glanced at Jebediah as he opened the Iron Menace suit. "I just didn't know about the shit she brought with her."
Jebediah and Sigyn attacked with missiles and magic. Loki tried to pull Ariana away, but she wouldn't budge. He decided to trust her as Wanda and Thor readied themselves to fight but there was a blast between the two teams, fifty feet from both sides. Ariana smiled.
"You know how I know you will lose, Sigyn," she said. "My team trusts me, even if it seems dangerous. You two can't even time your attacks right."
Wanda used her magic to bind Sigyn while Thor sent lightning towards the Iron Menace, throwing him back. Ariana looked at Loki before running towards Jebediah. Loki went to Sigyn. She was his mistake, and he had to handle her.
Ariana ripped the panels off of the Iron Menace and pulled Jebediah from the machine by his shirt. He looked at her in shock and fear. She sighed.
"You're under arrest, Jeb," she said. "Growing up, I never would have thought you would be my enemy. That you would be one of the people we would send to the Raft." She began walking him towards the jet, keeping a hold of him. "Yet, here we are."
"If I can't have you, Ari," he said, reaching into his pocket, "no one can."
He turned and stabbed her in the stomach. Or tried to. The Asgardian armor was so strong, it broke the expensive-looking knife instantly. She looked down, saddened by how far Jebediah had fallen for a false sense of power. But when she looked up, she was shocked to see and Asgardian blade materializing in his hand with a sickly red glow. She didn't have time to register what was happening before she was fighting for her life.
"The sorceress taught me a few things," he growled, grabbing her and forcing her to watch Loki and Sigyn also fighting hand to hand. "Such as how to immobilize a Goddess so she can watch the man she loves die."
Ariana screamed when Sigyn impaled Loki. Jebediah chuckled only to be thrown back moments later. Ariana's grief exploded out from her. Wanda ran towards Ariana, understanding that her chosen sister was hurting. But before she reached Ariana, the young Goddess grabbed her staff and activated the hidden blade.
She ran and shoved the blade deep into Sigyn's body. The red-haired woman looked at Ariana in shock as blood flowed freely from the wound. Tears fell from Ariana's grief filled eyes. She didn't register the scene behind her, of the illusion of Loki disappearing as he stabbed Jebediah before he could harm Ariana. Almost as if it were planned, Loki and Ariana removed their weapons from their foes so that Sigyn and Jebediah fell at their feet.
Ariana collapsed to the ground, sobbing. Loki picked her up and she looked at him in shock, examining him as best as she could. He held he tight, almost to the point of pain so that she knew he was real. So that they both knew.
"But I saw…" she said.
"Me too," he replied. "One of Sigyn's tricks. You broke her spell with your blast."
"Never again." She hugged him tightly in return. "No more dying, Lo. It's not a good prank."
"This was not my idea, love, but I can keep that promise to you. After seeing you die in front of me… I will never put you through this pain again."
"This is unacceptable!" Fury said. It had only been a few hours since Loki, Thor, Ariana, and Wanda returned. "You were supposed to bring them in, not kill them!"
"Emotions were high," said Wanda.
"It was the only way," Thor said.
"I fail to see how you couldn't arrest them and place them on the Raft!" Fury continued.
"Sigyn was able to cast a spell on multiple people," said Ariana. "Meaning that she would have been able to escape instantly."
"Considering that you and Loki killed them, we couldn't place the dampening cuffs on her to stop it from happening."
"She would have had an illusion up before the cuffs even came out of your pocket, Fury."
"You acted on emotion, not logic."
"I acted as I saw necessary. It happened, the threat has been neutralized. Now, are we done here?"
Fury sighed. "Yes, we are done. After we assess what damage has been done because of your actions."
"This was an Asgardian matter and we required the aide of the Avengers. It had nothing to do with SHIELD, so there is nothing to report. We tried it your way, but we had to do what needed to be done. You can tell that to your superiors, Fury, because that's what this was."
"Jebediah Stane was a SHIELD threat. Not Asgardian."
"He was threatening me, an Asgardian Goddess. Therefore, it falls under Asgard's responsibility. Now, I would like to go rest. It's been a long day."
Before Fury could respond, the four of them left the room. Tony stood by the Lab door, waiting. Ariana walked past him and he could tell that she was barely holding it together. He decided to wait until later to talk to her. As much as Tony hated it, he knew that only Loki could help her in that moment and he had to leave his little girl in Loki's care.
Ariana sat in her room with Loki. Both of them just held each other. It didn't seem like this would be the real end. As much as both of them hoped that they had fulfilled the prophecy, they couldn't let themselves hope it was that easy.
"I feel them," Ariana said after a moment. "We left too early. We had time…"
"Love, do not dwell on it. We won today. Save the worry for tomorrow."
"We need to tell the others to keep a look out for them. They will only cause us problems later and we have to stop them before that happens."
"We will tell them tonight. They are too dangerous to let run free if what you say is true."
"They had the same magic, Loki. I know you know they do."
"Yes. That has me worried as well."
"I want our family's help, Loki. This is a problem bigger than you and me."
"Tonight, love. We will tell them tonight."
She agreed as they drifted off to sleep.