Terror and silence threatened to drown him as he kneeled on the floor along with the other midgardians. The Chitari soldiers flashed their sharp teeth. Their guns lighting up the dark turn of the hall with an eerie blue glow.
If it were not because of the migardian clothing he was wearing, he would be executed on the spot. Chitari weren't that dumb to be unable to tell magic users from non-magic users, but the smell of migardian clothing must have covered it.
Elixir can only catch snippets of their chatter. Even when language never troubled him, it is hard to translate when your head was telling you to scream like a maniac and run.
'The Trickster is not here…' One of them hissed.
'Shall we finish these then?' One asked, excited at the thought of blood. The others screeched with delight.
'No!' The tallest of them all growled. 'Can't you idiots smell it? A faint wisp of magic?'
The others started sniffing the air.
'Yesss…' They chorused. 'Magic means Trickster. Master wants Trickster alive.'
'But which one?'
'We can shoot them all. The one surviving must be the Trickster.'
'No! If Trickster didn't survive, Master will have our heads!'
'If Trickster escape, Master will have our heads!'
'Enough!' The leader roared. 'We will find the Trickster in this group and take him out, then we can finish the midgardians.'
'Yes yes! Finished them!' They screeched, and started scanning through the group with their black, vacant eye sockets.
It wouldn't take long until they pin-point on him. Elixir thought as he lowered his head in an effort to hide his face, in case one of the Chitari recognizes him.
The leader's dead eyes glided over the others and rested on him. He took a step forward and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him closer to his grotesque face.
Sniff. Sniff.
'You are the Trickster.' Her sneered. 'I can smell magic from you.'
'How do you know if I am the Trickster and not someone else?' Elixir replied carefully, trying to keep his voice from shaking. Some of the other humans cast fearful and perplexed expression in our direction, as we continued to converse in Chitari language.
'Midgardians don't use magic. Thunderer is away. You must be the Trickster!'
'Well, I am not the Trickster. Clearly your Master didn't keep track of other magic users visiting Midgard.' Elixir shrugged. 'If you do take me to your Master, keep in mind he can decapitate you for bringing the wrong person.'
The leader's facials scrunched up into a knot. He was forced into a dangerous decision. He, of course, wasn't educated enough to tell someone's magic traces from another person's. Choose the wrong one way to go, he and his squadron will be nothing but dead corpses the next morning. His comrades caught on the uneasiness washing of their leader and shifted restlessly.
Elixir struggled to hide a smirk.
Then suddenly something whizzed through the air and exploded in a thick cloud of smoke. People suddenly started moving. Someone yanked Elixir up to his feet and out of the confused leader's grasp. The person continued to pull Elixir in one direction along with the others, away from the Chitari.
'Go! Go!' Someone urged them on from behind.
They dashed down one unlit corridor after another until Elixir lost count. Then they took off down the stairs, the men with their shoes clacking against the steps and the women bare foot, having already ditched the ridiculous tight heels.
Elixir was starting to fall behind. It's hard to make out the actual places where the steps were in the dark, and they were far smaller than the ones back in the palace.
He missed a step and fell forward from the momentum into empty space.
OOO
Clint saw that coming all along. The clumsy kid won't make it through without messing up.
He quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him back. Elixir jerked his head back and noticed him. Panic flashed across his face.
'I swear if you keep on tripping I will stick an arrow in your forehead!' Clint grumbled in exasperation.
Elixir yanked himself free and raced off, more from him than the bellowing Chitari somewhere behind.
Then he suddenly stopped and turned back.
'What the-' Clint was too surprised to react when Elixir charged back up the steps past him.
'You come back here this instant!' Clint shouted and ran back up the steps after him.
But he didn't stop. He got back to the floor they just past and darted down one side of the corridor.
'Stop!' Clint shouted again. He hesitated to follow. Obviously, he wouldn't need to risk himself getting hurt to go after this crazy idiot, but he felt like he had no choice but to follow as the Chitari noticed him and pointed their alien guns.
OOO
Elixir didn't suddenly lose his mind, but he didn't want the soldiers after innocent people. All they wanted was himself. He could finish them off easily if he allowed himself, but the wild frenzy that will possess him could harm the midgardians more.
It's better to lead the Chitari away from them.
He could hear the angry roar of the arrow man behind him. He wouldn't have time to explain, and he definitely didn't want him included, so he ran into a dark room and closed the door after him.
He tried to soothe his panting as the arrow man ran pass the door cursing and yelling empty threats.
When the arrow man's noise faded away, he let out a sigh of relief.
Then he allowed his instinct to kick in.
White flames licked through his body, warming up his very soul. Light danced across the walls and ceiling. He started to grow larger, stronger, faster and more agile. The cold blood that started pumping through his heart brought immediate comfort. An agitated tail swished over the floor. The very freezing cold radiating from his body made frost ripple out from beneath his paws. He let out a deep breath and a cloud of mist puffed out.
Then the lust for blood and flesh brainwashed him. The sound of approaching people came from outside.
He sniggered, only to find a terrifying snarl vibrating out from deep inside his throat.
The hunt begins.
OOO
Clint leaned against the wall next to the stairwell and took in deep breaths. He was sure he scanned every corridor on the floor, but he didn't even see a shadow.
Maybe he came back to his senses and went back down the stairs? He peered down them, only to find them very empty.
Just as he was about to go down to check, when a blood-curling scream pierced the air. He jerked back to find a Chitari soldier rushing towards him. Another second and an arrow was protruding from his head, sending him crumbling to the ground, dead.
Clint moved forward cautiously, arrow notched and eyes scanning frantically for any other signs of movement, but there was none.
He looked down at the corpse, finding the alien's gun missing.
He was running away from something. He concluded. Something terrifying enough to scare aliens.
He moved away from the dead body and down one of the corridors. The air was thick with silence, making every scrap and swish he made a hundred times louder. Clint shuddered as the temperature dropped a few degrees.
He peered around the corridor and found a scene perfectly laid out from a horror movies, except this one was real and very alive in his sight.
The corridor was coated in a glaze of frost and red, with bits and pieces of metal armor embedded in solid ice. The stench of blood and metal rushed up Clint's nose. A white tiger the size of a truck had his back towards him, munching on a frozen piece of something Clint didn't want to relate to. His fur flourished in white and silver, complete with messy streaks of black along its entire length. The monster's claws were like a set of perfect daggers. Its eyes were blood red and empty of any emotion.
Clint had no idea how this creature suddenly appeared. Even though it very conveniently got rid of the rest of his troubles for him, he could be his next snack. It was definitely not an ally of the Chitari, but how come Shield got his hands on this?
The creature seemed to sense his presence and perked his ears up. It turned to face Clint, and swallowed the last of his lunch.
And it's still interested in desert.
'Damn it.' Clint muttered.
The creature bared its pearl white canine teeth.
Then it lunged forward.
OOO
'Clint? Clint?' Natasha tapped on her intercom, wondering if it's broken.
'Clint Barton! You answer me this second!' Her shriek startled a few of the agents nearby, making them jump.
'Nat!' Clint cried out. 'I am busy this second.'
'Are you taking on a squadron on your own?' Natasha knew Clint well enough to know his stupid ideas.
'No-' He sounded like he was only trying to talk between each ragged breath. 'It's- a lot- worse-'
'Clint, are you sure you are fine?' Natasha started to worry. How much trouble is he actually in?
'Nat! Clear the Reception area!'
'Well,' Nat peered around. The Reception area was crowded with injured people and nurses. 'I am afraid it's going to take time.'
'But you will have to! I got a-' Then he went silent.
'Clint! Clint!'
'What's wrong?' Steve walked over and asked.
'I don't know, it sounds like Clint got something-'
A crash sounded from the stairwell. Everyone in the Reception looked in the direction of the noise with confused expressions.
'-dangerous behind him.'
A bellow of smoke poured down the stairwell. Clint sprinted out from the cloud, looking unharmed but screaming like a girl, when behind him something large and white howled as it smashed the stairs to smithereens in pursuit of its prey.
Then everyone was screaming. People gathered at the front doors in an attempt to escape. The few that could not crawled over to the nearest surviving furniture and hid.
Natasha, Tony and Steve stood frozen to their spots as Clint ran towards them, leading the monster in their direction.
'I should have kept the suit on.' Natasha heard Tony groan as the pair of red eyes laid fixed on them, unmoving.
Steve raised his shield, but it looked pathetic against the size of their predator, more like a Frisbee than anything else.
Clint hid behind Steve, completely unnerved by the monster.
The tiger continued to stare at them intently with vacant eyes, showing no intention to pounce.
Yet.
'Any plans?' Tony mouthed. He stood un-Stark-ly still in the freezing presence of the creature.
'You are usually the one with plans.' Steve mouthed back.
'Well, when I have my suit for back up.' He retorted.
'Shh.' Natasha raised one finger to my lips.
The boys immediately zipped their mouths up.
She took in a shaky breath, and took one step forward. The red feline eyes dilated, as if seeing not only her, but also her past, her bloody, horrifying past…
'The sun is getting real low…' She whispered, just loud enough for the beast to hear.
She expected Clint and Tony to now inappropriately burst out laughing, but fortunately they still have their brains on them.
Or maybe it's because they lost them that they couldn't laugh. But either way, this was better than the alternative.
The creature's fur seemed to rise on its end as Natasha continued to approach him, ever so slowly. Perhaps even more cautious than she did with the Other Guy.
She then held out her hand in front of her.
The worst that can happen now would be losing her hand.
Natasha held her breath as the creature started to draw near. Its fur glistened like fresh snow in the crisp mornings. The brushing of its paws over the floor was like the soft sound of falling flakes in winter nights. The bright red in his eyes seemed to fade and turn dark and brown.
Before she realized it, the tiger had already touched its nose to her palm and she stared into the emptiness of those feline eyes. The cold numbed her fingers.
Then, gradually, she turned her hand around and drew a line on the icy pale skin, sending a shiver through her.
The tiger closed its eyes and let out a long purr. It pulled away and backed off, one meter, two meters, three meters, until he was out of arm's reach. Then fire engulfed it.
Natasha fought the urge the scream as the flames swallowed the creature whole. Then the mass began to shrink, smaller and thinner, until the fire died away to reveal a humanoid shape gasping on the floor.
OOO
Elixir's breath slowed. His chest stopped heaving. He closed his eyes.
Now that the horror and fear, the lust and fierceness gone, sleep welcomed him into her arms.