To say Nick Fury was having a bad day would be putting it lightly.
The Director of Shield, a tall African American, bald, wearing an eyepatch over his visibly scarred left eye, with a penchant for wearing black, was currently sitting within a custom S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter brooding about where his day started to go wrong.
To start with, the World Security Council had, that very afternoon, had spoiled a perfectly good day by contacting him in an attempt to coerce more information than he was willing to share, especially regarding the Phase Two weaponry in development.
It was at the conclusion of this meeting, more like a battle of attrition due to the stubbornness and stupidity of the Council, that he received word from Coulson about an issue developing at the 'Potential Energy Group/Sources for the United States' research site, better known as the P.E.G.A.S.A.S. project.
The gist of the problem being that the Tesseract was displaying abnormal spikes of increased passive energy output, and not even the lead researcher specifically brought in for this project, Doctor Eric Selvig, had a clue as to why.
Not wanting this day to get any worse, Fury decided to head to the Dark Energy Mission Facility himself.
He was accompanied by Agent Hill, an average height Caucasian woman with dark brown hair done up in a pony-tail, the well developed and cat-like physic of a gymnast or martial artist (of which she was both), and she always could be found wearing agent apparel, at the moment that consisting of a light urban conflict setup.
Agent Hill was a highly accomplished member of S.H.I.E.L.D., having succeeded where many others had failed, and had worked her way into being one of two agents technically holding the title of second in command, all while still under the age of thirty-five.
Other than his other second in command, Fury couldn't think of anyone else he'd rather have at his side.
He was brought out of his ruminations as the custom AW 109 helicopter began its descent through the starless night sky, and checking his equipment, he felt a wave of relief, childish as it may be, feeling the handles of his two custom Desert Eagle pistols hidden beneath his black leather trench coat. They may not have been the most dangerous or useful part of the veritable armory he carried on his person at any given moment, but they had seen him through thick and thin, and with how this day was turning out, the feeling of their familiar outline was welcome.
There was a slight jolt as the helicopter touched down, and opening the side door, Nick Fury stepped out, a small armed escort, lead by Phillip J. Coulson, a balding Caucasian man of below average height wearing his customary suit, directing agent of the P.E.G.A.S.A.S site, and Fury's other second, standing at attention within the helipad's spotlights.
'All Personnel, Evacuation Order has been confirmed, I repeat, this is not a drill, Evacuation Order has been confirmed, Proceed to your designated vehicles immediately.'
The intercom continued to repeat its message, the facility's klaxons blaring in alarm.
Nick Fury spared a glance between Hill and Coulson, seeing his expression of worry mirrored on them.
"How bad is it?" Fury asked, noting the barely controlled chaos around him.
Coulson's report four hours ago had only been slightly worrying, not worth a full evacuation order. It was obvious something had changed between then and when he and Hill arrived.
"That's the problem sir…" Coulson lead them into an elevator, swiping his authorization card over the keypad before glancing in Fury's direction, "…we don't know."
The elevator closed, plummeting into the lowest depths of the facility, and as the lift descended, Coulson continued his report.
"Doctor Selvig read an energy surge, level three, emitting from the Tesseract four hours ago, that's when I initially contacted you."
Fury spared Coulson an inquisitive glance, but before he could ask, Agent Hill beat him to it.
"NASA didn't authorize Selvig for testing on that magnitude, he was only ever supposed to take it to an output of .5 percent."
Coulson's expression grew grim.
"Doctor Selvig wasn't testing it, he wasn't even in the room, this was a spontaneous event."
At that, with an out of place cheerful * ding*, somehow still audible over the facility's alarms, the group arrived at the 50th sublevel, were the majority of Project P.E.G.A.S.A.S, and more importantly, the Tesseract, was held.
"Two hours ago I tried to contact you again, but at that point the energy spike had doubled, interfering with our ability to communicate outside the facility," Coulson continued, leading them towards the primary testing chamber, "An hour ago the spike doubled again, well beyond the scope of what this facility was designed to handle. Doctor Selvig is currently attempting to funnel the excess energy, in an attempt to preserve the facility, but as of thirty minutes ago, with no progress being made, and energy levels still climbing, I authorized the Evacuation Order."
"How long to get everyone out?" Fury asked.
"A half hour more and campus should be clear"
"You have fifteen minutes, prioritize, and leave anything that can be left."
Coulson salutes before splitting from their group, heading off to lead the evacuation efforts no doubt.
Reaching a set of stairs, Agent Hill spoke up. "Sir, if Coulson's report is accurate, evacuation may be futile."
"Are you saying we should tell them to go back to sleep?"
"Sir, with all due respect, if we can't control the Tesseract's energy output, there may not be a minimum safe distance."
Turning to Hill, Fury nodded in acknowledgement.
"Hill, I need you to clear out all the Phase Two prototypes, as much as can quickly be removed."
"But Sir, is that really a priority right now?" Agent Hill asked.
"Until such time as the world ends we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear it out. Every removable piece of Phase Two on a truck and gone."
"Sir!" Agent Hill motions to their escort, "With me!"
Fury watched for a moment as Hill lead her contingent around the corner, and once they were out of sight, he entered the doorway he'd stopped at.
Entering what had been dubbed the Tesseract Chamber by the team of researchers working on P.E.G.A.S.A.S, Fury gave a brief chuckle, if only they knew that this chamber had been used for a similar project in the past, if not a different application. Light Speed engine design, rather than energy harvesting for weaponry.
At the thought of that buried project, Fury brushed his fingers over the outline of a device beneath his trench, but dismissed the idea. She had more important things to deal with at the moment.
Making his way deeper into the chamber, Fury passed by the various scientific equipment and researchers scattered around the room as he approached the one man who might have good news for him.
"Talk to me Doctor"
Doctor Eric Selvig glanced over his shoulder, giving a brief nod before returning his attention to the computer before him.
"Director."
"Is there anything we know for certain?" Fury inquired, slightly worried Selvig hadn't started talking his ear off yet, just showing how focused the Doctor was, which was an abnormality at the best of times.
"The Tesseract is misbehaving."
"Is that supposed to be funny?"
"No, Director," Selvig stated turning towards me before leading us to another array of equipment, making adjustments as he continued. "The Tesseract is not only active, she's misbehaving in the strongest sense of the word. It's already fried several energy relay setups, and I've only got one left before…"
"If this doesn't work…" Fury looks at the Doctor, "… how quickly can you pull the plug."
Selvig scoffed at the question. "the Tesseract's an energy source, Director, we haven't been actively feeding power into it since she first started acting up, and any attempt we made at suppressing it didn't end well."
Selvig motions to the floor around the Tesseract's containment, the burnt remains of the Cadmium enclosure, and the obvious dried trail of blood from where someone was hit with the shrapnel.
"We're just lucky none of the damage caused by the enclosure's explosion was to anything too important, other than a couple researchers and a guard of course," Selvig stated waving his hand in a dismissive gesture, not taking his eyes off the screen before him. "But I've since been informed that they're expected to make a full recovery, though one without the lower portion of his right leg."
Fury grimaced slightly at the image, observing the frantic operations of Selvig and his team.
"We've been preparing for this Doctor, harnessing energy from space."
Selvig sighed, almost in defeat, "But we don't have the harness. My calculations are far from complete, and to make it worse she's throwing off interference on a massive scale though with low enough output as to not be harmful. Electrical, magnetic, low levels of Gamma radiation…"
"That can be harmful." Fury interjected, thinking of a certain Gamma project gone wrong.
"…Even if my attempt at funneling the energy works," Selvig pointed towards the far end of the room, where a series of reflective panels were set up beneath a large concrete dome, "At this point in my research I don't have a viable way to store the energy, the best I can hope for is causing the energy stream to invert on itself, hopefully nullifying any destructive repercussions, though the chances of everything going to plan at this stage are slim."
Glancing around the room, Fury voiced the question on his mind. "Where's Barton?"
"The Hawk? Up in his nest, as usual."
On an elevated platform in the far corner behind the two crouched Agent Barton, better known as Hawkeye among the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., for his unmatched precision when it came to projectile weaponry. It was only due to this talent that the higher ups allowed Agent Barton to use his preferred weapon, a custom compound bow and quiver, over conventional weaponry.
"Agent Barton, Report." Fury ordered, tapping into Barton's coms.
Using a zip-line no doubt installed by Barton himself, said agent left his roost, dropping to the floor not ten feet away.
Barton walked closer before standing at attention with a salute. "Sir!"
"At ease." Fury gave a nod before walking towards the end of the chamber, the expected echo of his own footsteps matched by Agent Barton.
"I gave you this detail so that you could keep a close eye on things Agent." Fury stated, coming to a stop just outside the dull blue glow the Tesseract was emitting from within the device housing it.
"I see better at a distance," Came the expected reply, Fury folding his arms, waiting for Barton to continue. "And also the scientists didn't want me to get in the way presently."
Fury gave an almost indiscernible nod of understanding.
In the background, one of the researchers called out to Selvig, apparently the energy had spiked once more. A scowl formed on the Director's expression as he overheard.
"Have you seen anything that might have set this event off?"
"no one else besides the team of scientists and guards within this room have come or gone since this project started two months ago." Before Fury could ask, Barton continued. "and before you ask, I've already double and triple checked everyone's background thoroughly, the only anomaly being Doctor Selvig's direct interaction with Thor just over a year ago."
Barton turned to his Director, his face set in grim certainty. "Whatever tampering has occurred wasn't from our end Sir."
"Our end?" Fury asked, secretly hoping his own theories, ones he had began forming ever since Coulson first contacted him, were wrong.
"Well, I'm no scientist, but according to what information we have about the cube, it's supposedly a doorway to the other end of the universe right?" Barton motioned towards the Tesseract, the researchers beginning to shout back and forth to each other. "Doors can be opened from both sides."
Before Fury could reply, the Tesseract began to spark, drawing both men's attention even as Selvig began furiously jumping back and forth between the device and the computer monitoring it. Suddenly standing stock still at what he was seeing on the monitor. "What the…?"
Felling his hair raise from the sudden electric charge in the air, Barton pulled Fury back towards the wall, out of the potential line of fire.
Blue energy pooled around the cube, the device containing it sparking as the energy began to swirl towards a nozzle.
A truly massive beam of energy shot from the Tesseract towards the reflective relay, and, as explained by Doctor Selvig earlier, the mirrors turned the energy back on itself in an attempt to nullify it, even as the excess energy started to collect within the gap between.
Just as suddenly as it began, the Tesseract stopped the emission, the device holding it continuing to smoke and spark, but more concerning was the blue energy remaining on the platform, now folding into itself even as the mirrors, not designed to contain such an energy field, began to glow red from the heat.
With a crackling noise not unlike that of thunder, the inversion of energy opened up like a gateway to hell, spitting out the form of a kneeling figure before the mirror relay collapsed completely, sending the residual Tesseract energy bursting apart, the residue crawling along the walls of the dome towards the ceiling, where Fury noted it began to collapse upon itself again, only this time in an uncontrolled manner, slowly chewing through the reinforced concrete and steel. When that thing blows…
Disregarding the literal time-bomb sitting within the dome above, Fury turned his attention to the figure still kneeling on the platform, mist or steam rolling off his form.
As the figure rose from it's position, Fury pulled one of his pistols in caution, keeping the weapon out of the steaming figure's line of sight.
The figure was clearly a man, a short mane of spiky hair flowing down to graze his shoulders, a facial profile much like a bird of prey, the unnerving smile and unnaturally shimmering blue eyes panning the room with a dismissive air. His clothing pointed towards some kind of nobility, what looked like a vested leather armor and pants of dark emerald greens and forest browns, edged with golden embellishments. Most worrying about the figure was the spear he carried, the metallic shaft the same golden color as seen incorporated into his apparel, with a slightly hooked set of silvery steel blades, one arching over the other, and the luminescent blue gemstone seemingly cradled within the gap of the twin blades.
Almost unconsciously Fury briefly glanced in the Tesseract's direction, confirming that yes, the two glowing objects did match each other's color. Hopefully that was the only similarity they had.
"Sir!" The figure looks towards Fury, a small smirk appearing on the man's expression as the Director continued. "Please put down the spear!"
"Oh…" A voice like oil filled the chamber as the figure responded, looking down towards the spear, the blue glow casting shadows across his grinning visage. "…You mean this old thing? I'd rather not."
Before anyone could react, the man jerks his arm, causing a stream of blue energy to shoot forth from the spear, incinerating the midsection of the guard the beam impacted, killing him instantly.
The response was immediate.
Sounds of panic filled the air as scientists fled, even as the fifteen guards remaining opened fire.
Agent Barton pulled back on Fury's shoulder, causing the Director to fall behind him, Hawkeye firing upon the man even as he yelled over his shoulder. "Get the cube Director!"
Normally, Nick Fury wouldn't take orders from subordinates, but in this case, he could make an exception.
Quickly grabbing the metal briefcase propped against the device holding the Tesseract, Fury began quickly pulling on a pair of black leather gloves to protect himself from the cube, while doing his best to keep an eye on the battle raging around him.
The figure had already methodically removed several guards from the fight, having shown a level of combat prowess and skill beyond what humans could normally achieve, and demonstrating feats of strength and speed well beyond human capacity as he danced across the battlefield, casually dodging or deflecting bullets, spearing his combatants before, with a morbidly elegant spin, using the corpse as a distraction and/or projectile even as he moved in on his next target.
In a matter of moments since the fight began, it was over, the chamber entering a chilling quiet as the remaining researchers realized the truth of their situation, even as the last of the guards died, thrown against the wall beside them with such force he died on impact.
The figure started moving towards Fury but Agent Barton approached, firing his pistol towards the man in what was now clearly a futile attempt.
Almost faster than could be seen, the figure was standing in front of Barton, holding him off the ground by his throat as he oddly stared into his eyes, obviously contemplating a decision.
"You have heart mortal." The man stated, before placing the tip of his spear against Barton's chest. "Let me reward you for your courage."
As Fury placed the Tesseract within the foam padding of the case, having finally managed to release it from the device holding it, he watched as a dull blue pulse of energy entered Barton, he immediately relaxing within the figure's grasp.
Placing him on his feet once more, Agent Barton shocked Fury by holstering his pistol, before turning to face him, his eyes no longer hazel-green, they having taken on the same coloration and unnatural shimmer as the man's.
Clicking the case shut, Fury started stepping away, already trying to formulate a plan, halting in his tracks when the man spoke up once more.
"Please don't." The figure pointed his spear towards the case, the gemstone letting loose little sparks of energy. "I still have need of that."
Deciding a pyrrhic victory might be the best he'll manage to achieve, Fury eyed the energy bomb hovering above, keeping tabs on it as he replied.
"This doesn't have to get any messier."
"Of course it does!" The figure stated, spreading his arms out as if in celebration. "I've come to far for anything else! For I am Loki, of Asgard, and I've been burdened with glorious purpose!"
Shit. Was the only thought that passed through Fury's head hearing Loki identify himself. Before he can reply he's interrupted by the one researcher he'd hoped would stay quiet.
"As in Loki, brother of Thor?" Selvig asked.
Loki gained a scowl across his face, pinching the bridge of his nose as he muttered something under his breath.
Seeing the tension rising, Fury interjected before Selvig could continue and possibly get himself killed.
"We have no quarrel with Asgard."
"I am not here representing Asgard, only myself, and besides," Loki smirked maliciously, "An ant has no quarrel with a boot."
"You planning to step on us?"
Loki approached a fallen researcher, checking the unconscious man's pulse before converting him the same as Barton, the scientist immediately standing to his feet.
"I come with glad tidings!" Loki began, motioning around as he walked closer, his two converted following close behind. "Tidings of a world made free!"
"Free from what?" Fury couldn't help but ask, despite Loki being close enough to see the madness held within his eyes.
"Freedom, life's greatest lie!" At this Loki approached Selvig, the man backing up against some equipment in an attempt to get away. "Once you accept that…" Loki's spear touched Doctor Selvig's chest, the blue pulse entering his body as his struggles stilled. "…you will know peace!"
Fury glances at the Tesseract cloud once more, a spark of curiosity briefly existing in his mind as he notices it collapsing into itself as it did before, but shoves his curiosity aside to focus on the immediate situation, keeping Loki distracted.
"See, you say peace, but all evidence points towards you meaning the other thing."
"No true peace can be had while I am not at it's head as king."
"War never brings peace, only further hardship to those who merely wish to live."
Agent Barton stepped up to Loki at this point, whispering into his ear. Loki glanced up at the collapsing energy, before looking back towards Fury, a modicum if respect in his gaze.
"You planned to distract me long enough to bury us?"
"Like the Pharaohs of old." Fury replied, the handle on the case creaking, his grip on it tightening as Loki smiled.
"I would say I'm impressed were it not for the fact you would be buried as well."
Before the verbal battle could continue, Doctor Selvig walked up to Loki. "The energy is no longer stable, and will begin imploding soon. We have two minutes tops before it goes critical, turning this facility and the surrounding couple of miles or more into a crater."
"Well then, we have no more time to waste on you." With a wave of Loki's spear, Agent Barton drew and fired his pistol, the round impacting Fury's chest, sending him to the ground unconscious, the case containing the Tesseract landing beside him.
With a wave of his hand, Loki sent Selvig and Barton ahead, and after retrieving the case, looked upwards towards the coalescing energies grinding into the dome above. With a victorious smirk, he caught up with his new lackeys, slaughtering or converting all those who got in his way.
Barely a minute passed before Fury stirred, a groan leaving him as he sat up, pulling the flattened bullet free from his under-armor before glancing about. His fears were confirmed, Loki took the Tesseract, leaving a trail of bodies and chaos in his wake.
Stumbling to his feet, Fury patched in to Agent Hill's channel, "Hill! Do you copy!"
"Sir?"
"Barton…" Fury winced as he began walking towards his exit. "Barton has been turned."
For a brief moment, the sounds of gunshots filled Fury's earpiece before it cut out.
"They have the Tesseract."
Fury hoped Hill had heard him, and knowing he was needed on the surface, Fury began pushing his pain aside as he strode for the hidden elevator, but once more an electric charge filled the air, and glancing towards the collapsing energy field in a brief moment of fear, the Director came to a sudden stop.
Rather than setting itself up to implode, the energy once more opened into a portal, though unlike previously, this was rough, like a tear, or rift, rather than a gateway.
Fury watched as the banded edges of the Rift seemed to become corrupted by a light purple fire, before with a loud canine yelp, a white wolf, the size of a pickup truck at least, fell from the portal, and with a cry, crashed into the platform which previously held the reflective relay, the force of it's impact causing the platform to collapse in a mess of twisted steel.
Drawing both his Eagles, Fury approached the platform slowly, whines of pain emitting from the pile of steel.
Ducking beside the bent metal for cover, Fury glanced over the top of the deformed steel crater's rim, only to find himself staring eye to eye with the massive creature, its nearly luminescent violet eye filled with pain as arcs of blue energy singed it's skin and fur before sizzling out, but not before its eyes rolled back into its head, the beast clearly falling unconscious.
Chancing another glance at the ceiling, Fury noticed that the energies seemed to have settled somewhat, though still agitated enough to not risk delaying for too long.
Looking towards the beast once more, Fury noted that the visible burn wounds across its form from the lightning-like arcs of energy were slowly healing, a more interesting thing to note was the silvery bands crisscrossing it's form in an elaborate design that was still simple enough to follow. This was clearly no ordinary creature.
Before he could ponder further, a crack resounded from the ceiling, and glancing up briefly, saw that the structural integrity of the dome had weakened further. It was time to leave.
But what to do with…
Looking back towards where the wolf was laying, Fury caught a brief glimpse of the beast being enveloped in a faintly bubbling pale luminescent mist, but quickly jerked his eyes away, closing them tightly as an indescribable pain and pressure filled the back of his eye sockets, the same as if he had stared into the sun.
Cursing briefly, he once more turned to the steel crater, only to be brought truly speechless for the first time since… a while at least, for lying within the crater was no longer the massive form of a wolf, but rather the naked form of a young woman lying in the fetal position, pale white skin as if she had never seen the sun, hair white as clouds with a silvery metallic sheen.
Quickly coming to a decision, and praying it doesn't come to bite his ass later, Fury first hopped into the crater, checking her corpse-still form for a pulse. After a tense moment, he felt her heart beat once against his fingers, proving she was still alive, even if her pulse was weak.
He quickly glanced about the destroyed testing chamber, and spotting something suitable, retrieved a clean lab-coat left behind in all the chaos, and draping it over her now barely shivering body, he hefted her into his arms, carefully walking around the rubble within the room before going into a sprint, planning a route up through the winding stairwells and hallways.
The building shook apart around him, the sparking wires and falling debris causing him to briefly stop to adjust the coat covering the girl so she'd be better protected. With how quickly the building was coming apart at the seams, Fury knew he'd be cutting it close.
Finally exiting the building, a haggard Fury and his cargo stepped out into what could only be called pandemonium.
Faculty were running every which way, cases of supplies being left behind in the rush to evacuate as parts of the building collapsed as another episode of vibrations shook the complex.
Following the crowd, Fury heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Agent Coulson helping agents and researchers being guided into the cargo trucks
"Coulson!"
"Sir!"
"Take the girl! I'm going back to my helicopter to attempt pursuit on Loki! Keep a detail on her in case she's a threat!"
Coulson saluted before taking the still unconscious young woman from the Directors arms.
With that, Fury spun on his heel sprinting for the helipad even as the concrete began to crack apart beneath his feet.
Soon the last of the faculty staff had been loaded onto the vehicles, and Coulson stepped into the back of the last truck, the same as he'd had the unconscious girl placed into.
As the truck began speeding off, Coulson glanced towards her, some memory sparking in the back of his head, but he ignored it in favor of the current moment. Bringing his radio up, he reported in.
"All faculty clear upstairs sir, we are out of time."
"Good, relay that the safe zone is at the three-mile mark, and get your asses there Now!"
"Affirmative!"
Switching his radio to the emergency channel, Coulson relayed the message.
"All personnel, safe mark is at three miles, disregard speed limits, arrival at safe distance objective is priority."
The line of trucks surged forward, and not a moment to soon.
With the muffled THUMP of an explosion, the center of the complex distended, before collapsing into itself, buildings falling into the massive hole forming in its wake even as the crater's rim continued to expand, the road dropping away almost beneath the tires of the truck Coulson was in before it stopped, Coulson couldn't help it as his jaw dropped at the craters sheer size, he estimated the crater was at least around four miles in diameter, possibly half that in depth!
Ordering two agents to watch over the girl and notify him of any changes, Coulson made his way to the front of the truck, where he swapped seats with the co-driver.
"Director." Coulson asked into his radio. "Director Fury, do you copy?"
"I copy," the Director's voice crackled over the radio, "the Tesseract is with a hostile force, and I have men down here. Hill?"
"A lot of men are trapped within the tunnels," Agent Hill replied, her breath sounding somewhat ragged as she continued, "I don't know how many are still alive."
A moment of silence passed.
"Agent Hill, sound a general call, I want every living soul within S.H.I.E.L.D. not performing rescue operations searching for that briefcase."
"Roger that."
"And Coulson?" Fury asked
"Yes Director?"
"I have two priorities for you, first, get that girl set up in a meta-chamber, she came through after Loki did, though her transport appeared less smooth."
Coulson looked back at the young woman laying between the bench seating along either side of the truck-bed, once more feeling a faint hint of recognition from somewhere, though the memory was so faded as to make it an annoyance more than a help. He'll figure it out later. "Yes Sir! What is the second task?"
"I need you to return to our mobile base, get it ready, this is a Code Black event."
Coulson stilled completely hearing that.
"You mean…"
A heavy sigh came over the radio, "Yes Coulson, as of this moment, we are at war."