Once again, a big thanks to krystal lazuli for beta-reading this chapter!
Please review and tell me what you think about it! Constructive criticism is always welcome, it allows me to take your critics into consideration and helps me better this story and my writing.
Disclaimer: I do not own neither Gakuen Alice, which belongs to Tachibana Higuchi, nor Avengers, which belongs to Marvel and even less Harry Potter, which is the work of the wonderful J.K.R. I wouldn't be writing fanfictions otherwhise! However I do own the plot and my OCs characters of course.
Chapter 12: Of Distress and Confusion:
"What did you exactly meant by 'has gone missing', Fury?" Steve finally asked, outraged. He had been the first to recover from the shock. Nevertheless, he was still dumbfounded by the revelation.
"Well, it all depends on which part of it you didn't get." Tony suggested sarcastically.
"Oh, no! Please, be kidding!" Luca winced.
"Just as if we were in need of more problems." Natasha sighed.
"How could you lose an Infinity Stone, Fury?!" Hermione exclaimed, putting her hands on her hips, her eyes flashing dangerously.
"When I brought the Scepter back to you, I believed that it would be in safe hands, Fury. How could you allow such a thing to happen?" Thor reproached.
"Oh, come on you guys! It can't be that bad. It's just a piece of stick after all." Dracy attempted to calm them down.
"The same piece of stick that allowed Loki to put Selvig under his control and gave him his mental breakdown, Darcy!" Jane felt obligated to remind her.
"Alright! You all just shut up!" Fury shouted sharply. This had the benefit of interrupting the bedlam and everyone was reduced to silence. "We already have a lead."
"We are all ears." Tony sighed dramatically.
Fury glared at him furiously . "Just zip it, Stark!"
Tony smirked insolently but made a show of raising his hands in defeat. Harry had to chew on the inside of his cheek to keep himself from chuckling while Ron placed his fist against his mouth in a desperate attempt to do the same.
Hermione and Steve rolled their eyes and shared a look of exasperation at the three. 'Are they ever going to grow up?'
"Wolfgang von Strucker, one of HYDRA's leaders, stole it. They are keeping it in their Research Base in Sokovia and I want you to retrieve it."
The blood was drained from Steve's face. Noticing his white face, Harry, Tony and Ron had the decency to regain some seriousness. Especially since Harry and Tony were aware of Cap's past with the terrorist organization.
"HYDRA?" he repeated faintly.
"Yes, Agent Rogers. They are weaker and fewer than what they used to be when you first confronted them, but they are still active." Maria Hill spoke up.
"How? I always believed S.H.I.E.L.D had dismantled all their forces." Steve said faintly, still reeling from the realization the group still existed.
"Obviously, we haven't done the best job on this field." Fury admitted with an annoyed frown on his face. "For years, HYDRA had managed to deeply infiltrate our ranks. We realized it only few months prior to Loki's invasion. We had to arrest nearly half of our staff."
"Half? Half the staff?" Steve looked at Fury incredulously. He rose up and pounded a fist into the table, "I'll say you didn't do the best job. That's insane.
As Steve sat back down, he felt Luna reach out and squeeze his hand gently. He threw her a small smile, thankful for her gentle show of support.
"Let's go beat some asses!" Tony proposed.
"This ain't much of a plan, Stark." Hotaru pointed out.
"It's already twelve percent of a plan." he shrugged, a small smirk playing on his lips.
"How was your day at the bloc?" Stephen casually asked Christine while she was hanging her coat on the hook.
"Fine, really. Nic says hi by the way." Christine replied, attracted by the pleasant smell of the food emanating from her kitchen. "You ordered Chinese?"
"Obviously."
Christine rolled her eyes at the slight touch of arrogance in her boyfriend's tone, still with an indulgent smile on her face. She quickly finished removing her shoes and joined Stephen in the kitchen where she found him setting the table. Wrapping her arms around his waist, she tiptoed to give him a light peck on the cheek. "I missed you."
"I missed you too."
"Mikan and Mordo aren't coming tonight?" Christine wondered, surprised by their friends' absence and rightfully so. Indeed, the four of them had developed the habit of meeting every third Saturday of the month in her place, where they would just hang out, enjoy a good meal and share one or two drink. Then, late in the night, Mikan and Mordo would retire to allow Stephen and Christine the privacy to enjoy some pleasant intimacy.
Stephen went still in their embrace. Worried, Christine stepped back to be able to observe her lover.
"Is everything alright, Stephen?"
"Christine, there has been some complication amongst the ranks of Kamar-Taj lately." Stephen sighed. "You might as well want to take a seat."
Following Stephen's advice, Christine sat on her chair and he proceeded to catch her up on all the events from the past month.
"That's so messed up! What does she do to always get herself in so much trouble!?"
"Well, it looks like she dragged me into this mess too." Stephen replied, rolling up his sleeve so he could show her the bracelet.
"What's that? Oh, my goodness! Stephen, is it melted in your skin?!"
"Yes. Mikan and I had to make a blood pact to ensure Loki's loyalty to her. We'll see tomorrow if he'll keep his words: after he brought me back here, we agreed on Mikan coming to Earth one day each month so we can check on her wellbeing." Stephen explained, an exasperated look on his face.
"What happens if one of you breaks the pact?" Christine asked faintly.
"He'll die."
Christine felt her blood drained from her face as she went as white as a sheet.
"It's a relatively radical solution."
"Loki is the god of Lies and Mischief, Christine. He also wears the well-earned names of the Liesmith and the SilverTongue. Believe me, this was the least we could do."
"Then, maybe you should have stayed there with Mikan, don't you think? I mean, the guy is sick."
"No. I am needed here and I would have been quite useless there. Furthermore, Mikan is a grown woman, she knows how to take care of herself. Even though it doesn't help that she is an idiot!" Stephen sighed. "I swear this girl is looking for problems; not only did she go in his cell once but three times in a row! And now it's worse: you should have seen the tension between them!"
"Are you afraid that she might fall for him or something?" Christine frowned.
"I know her too well, I don't doubt her capacity to commit to such idiocy. Furthermore, Loki is an Aesir for crying out loud! They have quite an history of falling for Midgardian women, just take a look at Thor and Jane Foster! And, oh God, I can't believe what I am about to say, but let's admit it anyway: Loki doesn't lack charms."
"Hmm. Though, no matter how handsome he might be, I still doubt that mass murderers are Mikan's type."
"If I were you, I wouldn't bet on that! You should have seen the way they were making eyes at each other!"
"I see. But if this Loki is as smart as you all claim him to be, I think that he'll prefer to avoid any complications between him and Mikan. So, wouldn't keeping their relationship platonic strike him as one of his first priorities?" wondered Christine.
"Oh, I don't doubt that either. But you, my dear, seem to have forgotten Mikan's stubbornness and her bad habit to stick her nose where it doesn't belong."
"Fine, I'll give you that. But I still believe that you should give Mikan more credit!" Christine pointed out.
"I already do. I just don't want her to get hurt. You know better than I do Mikan's weird obsession for trying to fix what's irreparable. I am just afraid she might fall under the illusion she can change him for the best."
"True, but it worked out pretty well for you, didn't it?" Christine felt the need to remind him.
"Yes, but I wasn't unfixable!"
"Well, I, for sure, couldn't 'fix' you. And, if Kamar-Taj and the Ancient One helped a lot, it is the friendship you grew for Mikan that made the man I am so proud to be in love with today."
"Really? It truly surprises me to hear you say that when I remember you being quite jealous of her few months ago," he remarked with a smug smile.
Christine's cheeks turned bright red with embarrassment. She sighed and rested her head on his chest. Closing his arms around her, Stephen drew her closer to him as he leaned to kiss the crown of her head. Playing with a button of his shirt, Christine smiled to herself.
"It's true. But I learned to know her better. We had the Talk and she assured me that she finds you too old and too annoying to be interested in you that way!"
Stephen rolled his eyes at the comment.
"She sure talks a lot for someone who surpasses anyone in this field!"
"No, she doesn't. Mikan is a sweetheart. In fact, I even doubt her capacity to even be more likeable! She is quite the opposite to you, very good at growing on people which surely ain't your cup of tea! Always rubbing them the wrong way… You know what, my little finger tells me your arrogance has something to do with it."
"Christine, it can't be called arrogance if I obviously excel at all that I do."
"And if this ain't arrogance!" Christine chuckled.
"Why don't we try well placed pride." Stephen proposed.
"Oh, please!"
He laughed as Christine slapped him gently on his shoulder. Tilting her head, she gave him a passionate kiss as she slowly melted in his embrace. Too soon, they parted away.
"I like this part of your personality Stephen and this is because I love you."
Stephen deposed a smooth kiss on her forehead.
"I know, love."
Caressing gently his arm, Christine closed her eyes and simply enjoyed their closeness.
"I don't know if she's ever told you, Stephen, but Mikan considers you two as her big brothers. You're her only family. Don't you ever forget that. She needs you. Please, take good care of her."
"I know, sweetheart," sighed Stephen, resting his head on hers, "I know and I will."
"This is a simple choice I am giving you have here, Eitri: either forge me the Infinity Gauntlet or I will eradicate your kingdom."
"Over our dead bodies, Thanos!"
"I will give you one more chance to be reasonable, Eitri. Forge me the Gauntlet and I will forget your nonsense!" Thanos proposed one more time, starting to lose his temper. 'If this imbecile doesn't obey me, I will be obliged to ask for Her help!'
Looking down at the Mad Titan, a determined twinkle crossed the eyes of the Dwarves' king. 'I would rather have my people die holding their heads high than letting them bear the responsibility of the doom of the whole Universe on their shoulders!'
"I stand firm on my position, Titan." Eitri drew his sword. "Dwarves! All with me!"
"Fine, Eitri. You will be the only one to blame for your Realm's downfall." Thanos smirked, advancing in a calm and measured stance toward Eitri. The latter, followed by his army, charged, fiercely leading his people toward an inexorable death as they roared one last battle cry.
Mikan woke up in a cold sweat, her heart furiously pounding against her chest. She could hardly breath. Her trembling hand covering her mouth, she closed her eyes as she tried desperately to recall the reason of her sudden awakening.
The young woman jolted in surprise when Loki suddenly burst in her room, a worried expression on his face, wearing nothing but loose pants and a shirt.
"Are you alright?"
Noticing that Mikan was safely sitting on the edge of her bed, all covered in sweat, her dilated hazel eyes looking at him with a lost expression, Loki felt the need to explain himself for he realized he might have overreacted.
"I… You screamed."
"I screamed?" Mikan repeated dumbly. Her sweaty palms tightened their grasp on the sheets of her bed.
"Yes," nodded Loki, now frowning. "You screamed like there was no tomorrow."
"Ah." Mikan whispered weakly.
If possible, she became even paler. Loki couldn't help but wonder what in the Nine Realms could have possibly happened to reduce Mikan to such a panicked state. Aware that he couldn't simply leave her like this, Loki materialized a glass of water that he gently handed to her. Her hands were shaking so much that half of its content was spilled on the floor. Materializing a charmed mop, he made sure the mess would be cleaned up.
"Thanks."
Loki shrugged it off and leaned against the frame of her door, patiently crossing his arms against his chest. When Mikan finally realized he had no intention of leaving before she explained herself to him, she sighed resignedly and invited him to take a seat next to her, too shaken to be self-conscious of her poor state.
As he sat next to her, Loki noticed the flower he had gifted her two days ago was laying on Mikan's nightstand. His eyes fixed it for an instant; Mikan had obviously been taking good care of it.
"I think it's bad. Really bad. This has happened to me before, Loki. Twice." Mikan paused as she felt the need to collect herself. Taking another sip of water, she continued, "It somehow works like some sort of premonition, I think. It happened to me the day I had to kill Natsume and the one Stephen confronted Dormammu."
Loki rose up to his feet at Mikan's explanation.
"I see. I will check if anything happened that could explain this."
"Wait! I'm coming with you!"
"Not in this state." Loki disapproved firmly.
"I am perfectly fine!"
Loki sneered at her comment which earned him a dark look. He rolled his eyes at her antics.
"You definitely are a terrible liar, Little One. You should rest, I won't take long."
"I am coming with you," Mikan reaffirmed strongly, this time without shaking, "I will neither be able to sleep nor to rest as long as I will be in left in the dark. I know that something terrible has happened, Loki. I feel it in my guts and it's killing me."
"Fine," Loki conceded, exasperated by Mikan's stubbornness. "I'll give you ten minutes to clean yourself up. Meet me in the library."
"Thanks, Loki." Mikan replied, grateful yet mildly offended by his comment at the same time. Even though she knew he was right.
As agreed, Mikan found Loki diligently waiting for her in front of the library dressed in more casual clothes. It was with apprehension that she observed him examine her appreciatively. However, her heart was warmed by the slight wave of reassurance that flowed through his body as he noticed she had regained some colors.
"How do you intend us to check things out, Loki?" Mikan asked him, curious.
"There is a slight change in my plans; I decided it would be safer if we will just hover over the branches of Yggdrasil, so we can see if anything wrong has happened in the Nine Realms. It'll be only through an astral projection, Little One. Don't worry, I'll guide you through it." Loki reassured her. "And, if this turns out to be fruitless, we would have to check out on Midgard to see if it ain't something more personal to you."
"Fine." Mikan nodded.
The young woman had to admit she was slightly impressed by Loki's capacity to not only project his astral form so far but also help her to it since the Ancient One was the only other person of her acquaintance who would have been able of such a thing.
"We should sit down. Mikan, during the whole process, you must not let go of my hand. At any cost. Alright?"
Paling slightly, Mikan nodded silently. She was well aware of the dire consequence of such an act: her soul would forever be lost in limbo. So, following his advice, the young woman sat down on the floor, mirroring his position. Loki reached out for her hand that she posed on his inner arm and, as soon as their bodies made contact, Mikan felt the familiar dizzying sensation of her astral form being separated of her physical form.
Loki's grip on Mikan's hand tightened as their projections engaged their travel inside the Yggdrasil's branches. Mikan had never seen anything like this! True, the Ancient One had shown her some glimpses of the Multiverses, however none of them equaled her current experience with Loki. It was simply breathtaking. It looked nothing like what she could have ever expected and yet she would have been unable to describe it either. But everything was so bright! Mikan could actually feel the power and energy of the Yggdrasil's branches surrounding her, invigorating and caressing her soul.
By focusing a tad more, Mikan realized they were surrounded by soft whispers and echoes of discussions she couldn't decipher, soothing her ears like the sound of a murmuring brook.
Before she had even heard them, Mikan's blood ran cold. As Loki was about to ask her what was wrong, wrenching cries pierced through the peaceful, lulling rustle. Mikan sensed Loki fidget against her. He had recognized Thanos' spiritual energy. Noticing Loki's paleness, Mikan bit her lip, fighting down the panic her heart had already started to succumb to.
"Is it…?"
"Yes. Don't let go of my hand." Loki reminded her.
"I won't."
Mikan could have sensed Loki's apprehension from miles away. This was understandable, it was certain that Loki's experience with the Mad Titan had been anything but pleasant.
"I retraced the cries to Nidavellir, home of the Dwarves."
"Good."
Loki nodded to Mikan and, progressively, the dazzling light was replaced by a much darker décor only illuminated by fires that had erupted from there to here, all throughout Nidavellir. The Realm was hosting what could only be described as a complete and monstrous genocide. Mikan covered her mouth with her free hand in horror, thankful that her astral form wasn't capable of throwing up. The scenery was horrifying, all these giant corpses, blood stains, and that horrible smell of burnt flesh. Neither of them were capable of looking away from the terrifying display of Thanos' power and cruelty.
In the center of it all, stood Thanos. He wasn't even half the size of his opponents, yet the purple Titan was single handedly dominating the whole battle, or rather the atrocious massacre. And, the worse part: he wasn't even accompanied by his army of Chitauri.
A terrible guilt filled Mikan's heart. After all, it was because of their intervention on Knowhere that Thanos was taking his anger out on the Dwarves. How naïve had she been to believe that retrieving the Orb would make all the problems go away!
Oh, Mikan was so dying to intervene, or at least try to do something to help them out, anything!
The young woman was surprised when Loki squeezed lightly her hand and started stroking it with his thumb.
"Don't be stupid, Little One. You cannot blame yourself for his madness," he whispered softly, "Thanos doesn't stand failure." Loki added through pursed lips as he grew deathly pale in remembrance of the years' worth of tortures inflicted upon him. 'You will have your war, Asgardian. If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you. You think you know pain? He will make you long for something sweet as pain.'
It was at times like these that Mikan cursed her gift, which she had no control over, to sense others' feeling. The reality of what they were witnessing hit her so hard! She was overwhelmed by the horror, the fear, the pain, the despair, the sadness and the defeated feelings surrounding her; the distress the Dwarves were going through.
"I know, Loki…" Mikan sighed helplessly. "But my heart bleeds for them."
Surprisingly, one disturbing emotion stood out of them all: it was guilty pleasure.
"Oh, dear God! He is enjoying this!" Mikan breathed out in aberration. "We've watched enough of this horror! Loki, please bring us back!" she begged.
Loki finally detached his gaze from Thanos' form to happily oblige Mikan's wish, materializing them back to their physical form as the horrendous scenery faded away to the more welcoming walls of Allice's mansion.
Tony engaged his flight over HYDRA's base in Sokovia, reviewing their forces, analyzing the structure of their fortress. Of course, his red and golden colored suit, which wasn't exactly discreet, gave away his position quickly.
"Woops! It seems we've just been spotted by the bad guys!"
In their fast-moving Jeep, Clint and Natasha exchanged a complicit glance; they could hear Tony's smirk through their headphones.
"I know," replied Natasha, "they're firing at us!"
She drove the Jeep in between the trees, skillfully avoiding the shots being fired at them from all directions. One wrong maneuver and it would be the end. Natasha mumbled some Russian curses as the tanks on their trails started growing closer. Two of their flying opponents jumped on their vehicle but were quickly shot by Clint's arrows. One tank reached their heights. Barely removing her eyes from the road, Natasha opened her car door and foot-kicked the driver while their fellow Avengers, Thor, Tony, the Hulk and Steve easily took care of the rest of HYDRA's ground forces.
Finally reaching the vehicle fences, Natasha and Clint jumped in sync out of the still moving Jeep that landed heavily on a small troupe of HYDRA's soldiers.
Distancing the others, Tony headed straight to the fortress and was surprised to crash on an electromagnetic shield.
"Shit!"
"Language!" Steve pointed out. "J.A.R.V.I.S, what's the view from upstairs?"
"The central building is protected by some kind of energy shield. Strucker's technology is way beyond any other HYDRA base we've taken!" the AI responded after analyzing the data captured from his satellite.
"Loki's scepter must be here," affirmed Thor while throwing Mjolnir at his opponents, "Strucker couldn't mount this defense without it." he was interrupted by Mjolnir's trajectory. Dodging his Hammer, that brutally landed on the head of a soldier. He stretched out his hand to conjure it back and completed his sentence in a harsh voice. "At long last."
Throwing a bomb on a rolling tank, Black Widow elbowed an opponent to jump on two other soldiers, flipping them in one swift movement, wringing their necks with her killer legs.
"At long last is lasting a little long, boys!" smirked Natasha.
"Yeah! I think we lost the element of surprise!" retorted Clint as his arrow blew a tank up.
"Wait a second! No one else is gonna deal with the fact that Cap just said 'language'?" wondered Tony.
"I know," sighed Steve. Back-flipping out of his motorbike, he threw it at some guys driving their truck, "It just slipped out," Steve commented out of breath.
"Sir, the city is taking fire." J.A.R.V.I.S pointed out.
"Oh, we know Strucker's not going to worry about civilians' casualties. Send in the Iron Legion." Tony ordered with a frown.
Obeying his creator's command, the AI sent a small troop of empty armors in the Avengers' line of vision to work on keeping the civilians out of harm.
Discreetly sneaking his ways in between the trees, Clint pulled an arrow out of his black quiver. Tracking his next target, he aimed at the gunner who was trying to take him down. Moving quickly, he fired his arrow before repositioning himself behind his hiding spot. Caught short by the absence of explosion or striking sound, Clint had a hard time believing he could have possibly missed his target.
Coming out of his hiding place for the second time, he was hit so fast by a non-identified moving object that he was thrown several meters and landed heavily on the ground. Clint bounced back with a groan. A blonde man suddenly walked in front of him, smirking at his confusion.
"You didn't see that coming?", he scoffed.
And, as soon as he had appeared in front of him, the mutant zoomed off before Hawkeye could shoot him with an arrow. The latter, still bewildered by the stunt was hit by a bullet, knocking him back to the ground.
"Clint!" cried Natasha as she heard her friend's moan in pain. Turning around in an attempt to locate the fallen agent, she witnessed Steve being knocked down by a too fast-moving mass.
"We have an enhanced in the field!"
"Clint's hit!"
Finally locating Hawkeye's position, Natasha ran over to where he was lying down. Looking for his wound, she tried to ignore Clint's hiss of pain when she palpated it. Disturbed by the shots fired at them, Natasha cried out: "Somebody want to deal with that bunker?"
Seeing the Hulk diligently devoting himself to the task, she smiled.
"Thank you."
"Stark, we really need to get inside." Steve pointed out.
"I'm closing in." Tony responded. "J.A.R.V.I.S, am I… closing in? Do you see a power source for that shield?"
"There's a pathway below the north tower."
"Great," mumbled Tony as he started looking around himself, "I wanna poke it with something."
Fighting his way to the power source he launched a missile on it. "Drawbridge is down, people!"
Spotting Thor, Steve ran towards him.
"The enhanced?"
"He's a blur. Of all the new player's we've faced, I've never seen this!" Steve reported. "In fact, I still haven't" he added with a frown.
"Clint's hit pretty bad, guys. We're gonna need evac."
Thor and Steve shared a look.
"I can get Barton to the jet. The sooner we're gone the better. You and Stark secure the scepter."
"Copy that." Steve nodded.
"Looks like they're lining up." Thor observed as HYDRA's forces were gathering up.
"Well, they're excited!" Steve replied with a small smirk. Holding his ground, Steve positioned himself behind his Shield as Thor pounded on it with Mjolnir. The shockwave was so hard it knocked down all the soldiers.
"Find the scepter." Thor commended before flying off Steve's sight.
"And for gosh sake, watch your language!" Tony jested.
"That's not going away anytime soon?" Steve sighed defeatedly.
'No way in Hell that's ever gonna happen!' smirked Tony in real bliss as he entered HYDRA's base. As soon as he entered the fortress a squad of soldiers started firing at him.
"Guys, stop. We gotta talk about this." Tony stated, hardly impressed as the bullets kept bouncing on his armor. Using his suit, he shot all the soldiers down. "Good talk."
"No, it wasn't." winced back one of the wounded soldiers.
Soon enough, Tony found List's hiding place. Knocking him out, he stepped out of his suit and activated the sentry mode.
"Okay, J.A.R.V.I.S," he said connecting his phone to the base's computers "You know I want it all. Make sure you copy Hill at HQ."
"We're locked down out here." he heard Natasha state through his headphone. Since Steve outpaced him in replying to her, Tony resumed his attention back to computers' screens.
"I know you're hiding more than files. Hey, J, give an IR scan of the room, real quick."
A red beam of light was projected all over the room as J.A.R.V.I.S proceeded to scan the room.
"The wall to your left… I'm reading steel reinforcement and an air current." the AI observed.
"Please be a secret door, please be a secret door, please be a secret door…" Tony kept mumbling as he walked over to it.
Pushing it lightly, the wall opened up.
"Yay!" he cried in victory as he entered through the secret passageway. The room he discovered was filled with recovered artifacts from the Battle of New York.
"We have a second enhanced. Female. Do not engage." Steve informed the team. "Guys, I got Strucker."
"Yeah, I got…" Tony paused as he observed in awe a gigantic Leviathan, "… something bigger."
He finally spotted the scepter.
"Thor, I got eyes on the prize."
Unaware of Scarlet Witch creeping up behind him, Tony was startled as the suddenly Leviathan came back to life and flied above him. Look around him in distress, Tony realized the room he was in had disappeared to materialize his worst nightmare. His heart sank as he saw the rest of the Avengers team all lying dead. Steve being the closest to him, he ran over to his body to check his pulse. Tony jolted when he suddenly grabbed his wrist.
"You could have saved us." Steve breathed out in agony.
The accusation in his voice made Tony want to throw up. How could he be dead in his arms? Why was he back there, back to where he had nearly died two months prior? Why were Leviathans flying above him, making their way back to Earth? 'Why didn't you do more?'
Tony felt himself start to hyperventilate. 'Something doesn't add up, here! This cannot be true! Please, God, this can't be happening! Not again!'
Suddenly, realizing he was in the Chitauri's Realm, Tony snapped back to reality. Quickly he turned around, he noticed the Leviathan had been standing still behind him. Shaking and for once rendered speechless, Tony observed Loki's scepter in confusion, wondering if the artifact was the cause of his vision.
All at once, all Tony wanted was to flee as far as possible from that place. Reluctant to touch directly the scepter, Tony stretched out his arm to summon his armor. The comforting cold metal started covering him. Once secure in his suit, Tony grabbed the scepter and quickly exited the structure. Almost running away.
The mirror Mikan was facing reflected to her a sleepless and paler version of herself. Dark bags appeared around her puffy eyes. The cruelty of the images of the previous night were still too vivid in her mind. Her hands tightened their grip on the sink until her knuckles turned white.
Taking a deep breath, Mikan splashed cool water on her face and the back of her neck, in an attempt to freshen up. Then, she hastily brushed her teeth and took a cold shower.
Once her toilet was meticulously done, Mikan walked up to her closet to choose her clothes for the day. Passing in front of her dressing table, the young woman sighed at her reflection one more time. Self-conscious of her miserable figure, Mikan sat on the velvet covered stool and swiftly applied a light touch of make-up to cover her imperfections, bringing some colors back to her pretty face.
Now that she was more satisfied with her own image in the mirror, Mikan finally felt ready to face Loki in the library.
All her appetite lost, Mikan quit her chambers and went straight to the library where she was sure to find Loki already comfortably seated in their habitual spot. Pushing the doors open, she perceived Loki's strong back turned to her. For one instant she paused as she imagined how his well-developed muscles would move accordingly under his cold, robust skin at each of his movements. This same scared skin Loki had shown her few hours ago when she had asked him at what cost had he finally surrendered his will to Thanos. What did it take the Mad Titan to make him accept to inflict the same destruction and chaos upon Earth as they had witnessed Thanos do in Nidavellir. All for a piece of rock.
She still had in mind Loki's discomfort at the lone idea of facing the Mad Titan again, even though it had been only through their astral form. Mikan was left speechless by Thanos' capacity to spread fear all around him, even in Loki's heart.
Mikan was conscious the tortures inflicted upon Loki's body must have paled in comparison to the ones his mind had gone through. And, she couldn't even visualize the amount of atrocities it must have taken to break his pride and dompt his will. Indeed, Mikan knew how prideful of a man Loki was and, sadly, a very cunning one to that. So, she could only imagine that in the midst of the intolerable pain he was put through, the possibility of using Thanos' plan to his own advantage had dangerously seduced Loki's damaged mind, making him fall for the most tempting illusion. After all, what were the humans worth anyway?
Mikan remembered clearly how tense Loki had been when she had raised her hand to retrace his scars, his faint gasp when her warm skin had made contact with his colder one while she, herself, had been holding her own breath. She recalled how rough these cruel marks had felt under her fingers in contrast to his softer, unharmed flesh. And, slowly, Mikan's hand had fallen to her sides as she had leant her face against his bare back, in a small show of comfort. She still remembered vividly how shivers had run through his spine when she had sighed against him. Mikan had then wrapped her arms around his waist and closed her eyes, soothed by the sound of his pounding heartbeat. They had remained in that awkward position until Loki had completely relaxed in her embrace. Then, his hands had covered hers briefly before simply vanishing into thin air.
"How are you doing?" Loki's velvet voice brought Mikan back to the present.
Since his back was still to her, Mikan realized how absurd it had been of her to shrug her shoulders at his question.
"I am fine, I guess. What about you?"
"Fine too."
"Great," mumbled Mikan. Her cheeks had reddened at the souvenir of her own boldness. She still couldn't believe how she had been able of committing such folly! 'You're still working on how to be friends and here I am touching him while he's half naked… He's so gonna have the wrong ideas!' Mikan sighed, 'But it just felt like the right thing to do back then…' she tried to convince herself even though a more reasonable voice was crying bullshit at her own foolishness.
"Today is time for your monthly visit to Earth, Little One." he stated as soon as she had appeared in his line of vision.
Mikan frowned in incomprehension, "What in the hell are you talking about, Loki?"
"I must have forgotten to tell you about this: Strange and I have agreed on you coming back to Earth at least once a month so he can check on you and be reassured I didn't try to do anything that could harm you."
"Nice. You could have consulted me on that by the way." Mikan reproached.
Loki ignored her sarcastic comment. "Do you need some time to prepare yourself?"
"No, this would do. But in the future, remember that I hate when things are decided for me." she sighed, annoyed.
"I'll keep it in mind." Loki rolled his eyes at her.
"Perfect. Now, bring me back to Kamar-Taj." replied Mikan, ignoring as well his exasperated tone.
Somehow, it was more convenient this way. 'After all, there's no way I could have been able to focus on the translations today. Especially not after what happened yesterday!'
Reaching for Loki's arm, Mikan placed her hand on it and the library vanished around them. They reappeared in Kamar-Taj's courtyard where Stephen, Mordo, the Ancient One and a shy Christine Palmer were waiting for them. A happy smile brightened Mikan's tired face.
"I will pick you up here tomorrow." Loki stated while smirking at Mordo's and Stephen's dirty glares.
"Good bye, Loki." Mikan smiled softly. He nodded his goodbye to her and disappeared as soon as he has materialized them in the courtyard. Turning around to face her friends again, she hugged them one by one.
"God, I missed you guys!"
"Damn, Mikan you look like a mess!" Mordo cried out, noticing the dark bags under her friend's eyes.
"What did this bastard do to you?" Stephen asked, barely containing the irritation in his voice.
"Oh, please can't you two just calm down for sec? Let her breath!" Christine reproached them.
Mikan smiled faintly at Christine.
"I had a sleepless night. It's hardly Loki's fault." Mikan sighed and scratched her head, finding no way to soften the bad news. "Last night, I had a bad premonition. We decided to check things out and we discovered that Thanos had chosen to take out his anger on the Dwarves. He decimated them all, no survivor was left. He destroyed an entire Realm!"
Unbeknownst to her own self, Mikan had started shivering uncontrollably and tears of powerlessness flowed down her cheeks.
"Oh, sweetheart!" Christine soothed in her ear as she took her back in her comforting embrace.
"Thank you, Christine. Please don't worry, I am fine. I promise. It's just the backlash."
The Ancient One and Hamir, who were already aware of the situation, exchanged a look while Mordo and Stephen were still trying to cope with the immensity of Mikan's revelation.
"Why hasn't Asgard intervened?" Stephen questioned.
"I asked the same question to Loki. He told me that since Ronan and Nebula were in Odin's captivity, he probably didn't want to risk challenging Thanos more."
"But an entire Realm was exterminated!" Mordo pointed out outraged. "If anyone could have arrested him, it's the Asgardians!"
"I know," sighed Mikan as she wiped her tears away. "Loki said we may have to be prepared to the possibility of Thanos requesting Death's help. In the meantime, there is nothing much we can do," she added, annoyed by their impuissance to face Thanos' threat over the Universe.
"Well, Loki is wrong. There's still something we can do and it's making sure Thanos doesn't gain possession of any of the Infinity Stones." the Ancient One reminded her.
"You're right." Mikan smiled faintly.
"Please, Mikan, don't beat yourself over this. What happened was none of your fault. If Thanos is now capable of this scale of destruction do you even imagine what could have happened if the Orb had fallen under his hands?" Mordo pointed out.
"God forbids such a disaster from ever happening!"
The lone idea made shivers run through their spines.
"Now come here," invited her the Ancient One, "I am sure that a cherish flavored tea is going to cheer you up."
"You bet it will!"
In the second-lowest level of the Ministry of Magic, the Golden Trio walked through the Department of Mysteries, heading straight towards the Space Chamber. They were closely followed by Luna, Jane and Hotaru.
"We should consider ourselves lucky that Kingsley Shacklebolt allowed us to come back down here once again." Hermione remarqued.
"And with two Muggles nonetheless!" Harry pointed out, still impressed.
"Ewee… This place is giving me the creeps!" Ron shivered, voicing Jane's opinion.
"Is everything in your world this weird?" Hotaru wondered.
"No, of course not! This place is just one of the multiples exceptions! If you're interested, we could make a stop at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes later. It's my brothers' shop." Ron replied with enthusiasm.
Hotaru nodded silently to his proposition. 'Why not? After all, I'll probably never ever get a chance to explore the Wizarding Society again.'
"Mione, are you sure this is going to work?" Harry wondered once again.
"No, I am not. But we'll never find out if we don't try."
As they finally reached the door separating them from the Space Chamber, a common apprehension made them pause few seconds before turning on the handle. Pushing the door open, the two scientist and their fellow wizards remained in awe at impressive view before them. The dark room was filled with planets and galaxies floating in mid-air, creating a perfect replica of the Universe as they knew it.
"It's just wonderful!" breathed out Jane in a murmur, mesmerized by the precision of the creators of the Space Chamber.
"Isn't it? I recall blowing up Pluto here twelve years ago." Luna remarqued in her dreamy voice.
Jane and Hotaru shared a confused look, trying not to be too disturbed by their friend's odd remark. Somehow, they were starting to comprehend Shacklebolt's reluctance to let them enter the Department of Mysteries.
"You sure did, but it seems that they took care of it ever since." observed Hermione, frowning seriously. "I think it's time for us to see whether Muggle technology and Magic truly can be conciliated or not!"
The small group followed Hermione's lead as she placed herself in the center of the Chamber. She pulled out of her enchanted purse the result of the two geniuses' hard work. Then she stepped aside to let Jane and Hotaru carry on the task.
"This is the moment of truth!" Jane smiled, trying to quiet down the pit of anticipation that was starting to build up in her stomach. "Hotaru, would you please do us the honor?"
Hotaru obediently nodded to the woman who had managed to earn her respect. Holding her breath, she pressed the red button.
AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA AGA
A.N:
I really hope that you have enjoyed this chapter!
Please review and tell me what you think of this new chapter ! ^^