Chapter 10
Loki stood over a crowd of German citizens with his scepter in hand. "Kneel before me!" The crowd still stood, captured by fear. "I said kneel!" They startled into compliance, falling to their knees. Loki gave a pleased smile. "Is this not simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power. For identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel." An old German man stood up. Loki's eyes narrowed at him. "I thought I told you to kneel." he hissed. "Not to men like you." The man said boldly. "There are no men like me." "There are always men like you." Loki gave a sickening smile. "You see your elder! I will make an example out of him." He pointed the scepter at the stubborn man and fired. It never met its target as a man with a shield dropped inbetween the two and the shot was reflected on the shield back at its caster, throwing Loki backwards into a car.
Sasuke, who was watching, saw this as a chance to interfere. Samuel and Barton were within a building with large stone pillars. They had the tesseract with them. They seemed to be making their leave. He shunshinned to their position. Barton hooked an arrow and fired at him. He dodged it and quickly shot a tranquilizer at Barton. Samuel took out a gun but Sasuke hid behind a pillar. He shunshinned behind the man and tranquilized him too. He made sure to touch the two with the tesseract and activated a portkey back to Imperius Tower.
"Did you see that?! Someone just disappeared with Barton and the tesseract." he exclaimed. Steve shouted "What? Are you sure?" "Yeah Capsicle." "We need to take Loki back to the helicarrier. We will discuss it there." Natasha Romanov said. They did as she instructed. Loki came with them willingly, his smile unhidden. Though he was worried about the missing tesseract.
At his tower harry had Barton tied in a chair in an interrogation room. With a simple enervate the agent woke up with a start. His eyes flashed blue, the hold of the scepter still on him. "Agent Clint Barton. Good to have you awake." "What do you want?" Barton asked in a hoarse voice. "Tell me Loki's plans." The man snarled. "Even if I knew I wouldn't tell you." Naruto, who was hovering nearby, said "Perhaps the power off the scepter is making him more tightlipped." "Yes, perhaps." He looked Clint in the eye. "Ligilimens." His mind was flooded with the scepter's hold. Harry gently pried the blue tendrils from Barton's mind. It tried to resist but Harry was stronger. When he withdrew Clint was sweating and slumped on the chair, exhausted and disoriented. "Who are you? What do you want?" he asked. Harry said "You already know who I am. What matters now is what you can do for me. What do you remember if your capture?"
Clint looked up and realization dawned on him. It was Hadrian Potter. His face closed off. "I don't remember." "Of course not." Harry muttered, a small upturn of his lips his only show of annoyance. "I do not care about your adventures either way. What I'm interested in is the location of SHIELD's base." Barton remained closed off. Harry smirked. "Tell me Agent Clint Barton. What is the most important thing to you?" Harry started prowling around the agent like a predator. Barton had to turn his head to follow his movements. "is it your job? Your employer Nick Fury? Perhaps it's your best friend Natasha Romanov?" Barton's eyes narrowed. Harry's smirk turned absolutely manic. "Oh, I know! It's your precious family hidden away in the Safe House."
All color drained from Barton's face. "I hear you have a beautiful little girl; Lila. Do you care about her Clint? I'd hate to see her suffering. Sins of the father and all that." Harry said lowering himself to Barton's level. He could see the panic clear in his eyes and it pleased him. No one said he wasn't evil. Barton asked "How did you know about them?" "it doesn't matter Clint. Tell me where SHIELD is based." Barton swallowed. "It's a helicarrier in the sky. Only authorized people can get in it." "Then you'll take us there Clint. All you have to do is board the ship." Harry instructed. Clint glared. "No. I won't take you there you bastard." Harry pressed his watch. The mirror opposite them flashed to a live video of a woman playing with a small girl on a swing. Clint gritted his teeth. Harry smiled. "Please?"
An hour later Clint Barton was released. Itachi approached Harry. "Samuel has come to." They both went to Samuel's room. Zack was by his side. "Samuel. It's good to have you back." The redhead smiled. Itachi had broken the scepter's hold on him. "Thank you Harry. Being controlled was not a pleasant feeling." Harry smiled back. "You have Sasuke to thank for that. What do you remember?" Samuel frowned. "Not much. Everything was blurry." Harry nodded. "You can rest as long as you need. Zack, take care of your father." Zack grinned. "I won't leave his side!"
"Sir! There is an incoming ship." Agent Hill announced to Fury. Those who heard turned their attention to them. "Who is it? I did not authorize anyone to come in." Hill replied. "That's the thing sir. It's Agent Barton." "What?" Natasha gasped. Hill asked "Should we let him in?" "He could be sent by the enemy to do something." Fury mused. Natasha was conflicted. "Let him in Agent Hill. Everyone else, get ready for an attack. Take Dr. Banner to his room Hill."
Clint landed on the landing pad and got out. He was met by multiple agents who escorted him in. The Avengers were lined up waiting for him. "I'm fine, it's me." he said. As he got closer he gestured with his hand. It was a code he was speaking in. Natasha's eyes flashed with understanding and anger, as did Fury's. "Welcome back Agent Barton. Before you enter we need to scan you of any compromising items." Fury said. Barton nodded. "Okay." He was searched until they found a small chip. Fury handed it to Tony. "You know what to do." He said. Tony received it but before he could even move the chip gave off a smoking sound and grew hot in his hands. He quickly dropped it. It started crackling with heat. "Everyone clear away!" They scrambled away from it. A few seconds later it exploded in a shower of sparks, leaving a scotch mark on the cement floor.
"Well, that happened." Tony commented. Fury strode into the ship with the others following, muttering about tightening security. Once in the commanding deck Fury turned on Barton. "Explain." "I do not remember much, but I was captured after Loki." Tony quipped. "Yeah, I saw it. I even have a clip of the guy that took you. The video was played. Clint shook his head. "No, that is not the person I saw when I woke up." "Then who did you see?" Thor questioned. Clint replied. "Hadrian Potter and some other blonde man." Fury cursed. Tony looked incredulous. "Wait, the madly dashing-but-not-as-dashing-as-I-am Hadrian Potter?" "You know him?" The brunette nodded. "I met him at a gala. He…did me a favor."
"Well he was the one who took me. He interrogated me, asking what I remember of Loki. I told him I remember nothing. Then he asked me to tell him SHIELD's base of operation." "And you told him?!" Fury hissed. "I had no choice!" "What do you mean you had no choice?" Natasha asked her friend. Clint gave her a desperate and defeated look. "He knows where they are Natasha. In fact, either he or his men were there before" The redhead's eyes widened. "How?" "Beats me." "Excuse me but who are we talking about?" Steve asked, confused. Clint did not look at them. "My family. I had them hid away. No one was supposed to know where they are." Natasha turned to Fury. "We need to relocate them. "Agent Coulson will be on that." The mentioned agent walked off to do as instructed.
"I am going to talk to Loki." Thor announced. Tony said "I'll be joining Dr. Banner." Before they could leave though, alarms started blurring. Hill's voice came through. "Security breach! Be on guard!" Director Fury went to the monitors. Nothing was revealed. "Where is the breach?" he asked into the intercom. Hill replied. "We're not sure. Whoever it is disappeared before we could catch them."
Fury meant to say something but someone beat him to it. "I see you have been busy." Everyone whipped around, some with their weapons pulled. Standing there was Hadrian Potter with hands in his pockets. Flanking him were three men with their own guns drawn. One of them was Liam. He waved excitedly at Natasha. "'Tasha! I can't believe I ran into you. When's our next date?" Natasha frowned silently. Naruto rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath. Sasuke smirked at the blonde's colorful words. Fury ignored Hadrian's bodyguards. "How the hell did you get into my ship?" Hadrian smiled pleasantly. "That's of no concern." He looked around distastefully. "Can't say the same thing for the décor." "Are you going to tell me why you are here Potter?"
"Oh yes, where are my manners?" Hadrian muttered, but everyone heard. "I am here for something on this ship." He gestured to Sasuke. He was handed a briefcase they did not notice till then. Harry threw it at Fury's feet. "In return you will have your tesseract." "If you think I will let you have anything on my ship…" He was interrupted by Hadrian's laugh. "I don't need permission to take it Nicholas. I just don't need that cluttering my storage." He turned his back on them and started walking. Someone clicked their gun safety, making Hadrian pause. "Have fun." he whispered and continued walking. Naruto put his fingers in the ram sign. 'Wind style: Gale palm wind!' A gust of wind rushed between the two groups, taking the Avengers by surprise and pushing them back. Gun shots were fired but they never met their mark.
Thor got up and leapt forward with his hammer raised. Liam whipped out his wand. "Protego!" The hammer shattered the shield and threw the two apart. He waved the wand. "Dipulso!" It hit Thor, throwing him back once again. Tony's suit had already assembled itself on him and he fired his repullsor at Sasuke. He rolled to the side. The three were now separated. Naruto fought hand-to-hand with Barton and Romanov. Liam was occupied with Thor. Opposite Sasuke was Iron Man. One man was missing. His senses blared to life prompting him to duck, avoiding the shield that was headed for his cranium. He used the momentum to spin around and swipe Captain America's feet from under him. Before he even hit the ground Sasuke had turned to Iron Man, who fired another shot at him. He dodged again and continued to avoid a barrage from Tony.
Just as Iron Man let up Sasuke took the chance. His eyes turned red with three tomoe. The sharingaan spun furiously as he cast an illusion on Captain America. The man froze and dropped to the floor in a heap. He drew a kunai with an explosive tag and threw it at Iron man. It exploded, throwing Iron man back with his suit charred in places.
Liam was hurled at a nearby wall, drawing a silent scream from him. Sasuke stepped in front of him and the oncoming Thor. He made some hand signs. 'Lightning style: Electric jet!' Lightning shot out of his fingers and struck Thor. The force pushed him onto his knees and the shock on his face was unmistakable. "Thanks." Liam said. Sasuke helped him get up. "Still in?" "Yeah." They jumped back into the fray, exchanging opponents.
Harry went into the room that held the scepter. Dr. Bruce Banner was there but he was ignored. His presence, along with the fight he could hear in the helicarrier, prompted him to turn into the Hulk. Harry faced the oncoming threat. He flicked his hand at him. 'Stupefy.' A red beam hit Hulk. He staggered and fell to his knees but did not pass out as intended. Harry stunned him again, this time stronger and the beast was out cold.
He now stood in front of the scepter. A mental probe brushed against his defenses. "So this is what you do. A mind stone, one of the six infinity stones. Fascinating." He muttered. Just then Fury, Agent Hill and Agent Coulson entered the room. They immediately opened fire on him. The bullets stopped before they reached their target, stunning the three. Harry smirked, bullets dropping like flies around him. Once that stopped, he said. "Let's see how you fare against one of your own." He woke Bruce up followed by a mild cruciatus. That really angered Hulk. Harry made himself invisible to the beast so he charged at the only other targets; the three SHIELD agents. They all had no choice but to flee, Hulk on their heels.
Harry turned back to the scepter but immediately knew there was something wrong with it. "Finite." He muttered and the illusion fell away. "Homenum revelio." Loki, previously hidden, now glowed like a beacon in his sight. "What sort of chaos do you bring to Midgard Loki?" he asked, looking straight at the demi-god. Loki let the illusion fall. "You are powerful. Why do you live among these insignificant fools?"Harry answered with a question of his own. "Why do you submit to someone else's rule?" "I submit to no one!" Loki hissed. Harry raised an eyebrow. "No one but Thanos." "How do you know of him?" "Why do you follow his advice?" Loki scowled. "You have answered none of my questions." "Neither have you."
They descended into silence, but then Loki smiled. "No matter. I will finish what I started. Then I shall rule." "Rule what? Corpses?" Harry asked with a snort. Loki glared. "Talk all you want mortal, I will have what I came for." He flared a sudden and bright light, startling Harry into throwing a shield and averting his gaze. When the light dimmed, Loki was gone. Harry cursed inwardly and apparated to his employees.
It was chaos. The Avengers were beaten but still fighting. His employees were not without injury either. "Enough!" he shouted, gaining all of their attention. "Let's go." He said and apparated out with a crack! The three activated their portkeys and left too. The Avengers were left panting. Natasha and Clint had taken quite a beating. Steve was still unconscious. Thor had bruises on him but was relatively fine. Tony's suit was damaged and he had a bit of blood running down the side of his face. "What just happened?" No answer came forth.