Chapter 3
"We're a time bomb, a chemical mixture doomed to explode. I never wanted to be here but you and all of S.H.I.E.L.D just had to come and drag me into this intergalactic mess!" Banner huffed frustratedly, glaring daggers at the team of "oh-so-remarkable-heroes". He grimaced at the fact that Nick Fury had even thought of putting these people together in a team. Of all people! Not only that, S.H.I.E.L.D was the one that got themselves in such a mess.
Phase 2 weapon creation for the prevention of future intergalactic wars. Oh so very creative of the government. Now they had their eyes set on killing other worldly creatures that would have never been needed had they not been interested in extra-terrestrial warfare. It was to protect the earth from who knows what in the universe, plans from an organisation that were bent on exterminating him first and then needing him for their war purposes.
A sudden flurry of dark intent washed over him, in the sudden outburst he had felt the other guy just by the surface of his subconscious, hammering down on the thinning wall of his patience and conscious thought, so dangerously close to having his green brutish form appear. He bit his lip in frustration and concentration. Stay calm Bruce, stay calm.
"Banner, put down the sceptre." Fury put up both his hands slowly, gesturing for the currently flustered scientist to put down the alien weapon.
Banner's eyes widened with shock as he turned to see the gold and blue colour sceptre grasped tightly in his arm, the blue glowing menacingly to suit his current agitation. He swallowed slowly, the silence and tension in the room overflowing.
The hulk was already something to be nervous about. A hulk with a magical alien sceptre was something else entirely.
"Er, sorry…" Banner quickly dropped the sceptre onto the table as if it burned his fingertips. He blinked awkwardly, staring the sceptre that now dimmed into a faint blue glow, as if disappointed in him not wielding it.
The sceptre seemed to have a mind on its own, being able to sense agitation, frustration and anger. It was as if wired to feed on any emotion that contributed to destruction and chaos, to serve any person that was willing to obliterate any creature which angered them, a true servant to chaos and death.
Fury sighed loudly, sounding extremely old and tired.
"This is not the time for any of us to argue with each other. Earth is at war with a force we have no information on, right this moment we are teetering on the possibility of Earth's conquering by a certain arrogant maniac god." At this statement, Fury's glare was directed at Thor who as usual, seemed indifferent about it.
"My brother cannot be swayed from his evil plans, any form of reconciliation with him has proved futile. I fear darkness has plagued his heart." Thor said slowly and sadly, gazing at the floor. Slowly he faced the rest of the team. "But even so, he is still one of Asgard and he is my brother. I will swear by Odin's name that I will do whatever in my capabilities to protect this realm, be it a fight with my adopted brother."
Thor swallowed, how far had his brother and he grown apart? His heart stirred with the possibilities of bringing about Ragnarok in his oath to protect Midgard. His fight with his brother seemed inevitable now, having seen first hand how dark and scheming his brother had become, how he had coldly killed 80 Midgardian men and women, to cause such chaos on the realm he was sworn by duty and love to protect.
His heart was in turmoil, which was he more obligated to? His brother he had betrayed and hurt badly or the realm where his duty as the God of Thunder and bonds with Jane and her friends? The answer seemed as clear as day yet Thor's guilty heart would spare him from this troubling thought. Oh how the Norn's loved to torment their brotherhood, setting their paths to their utter inevitable destruction.
He had learnt about Ragnarok as a child, forced to study in his chambers with his private mentors. The story was full of holes, the fight of a broken brotherhood, where families severed and destroyed themselves and welcomed the waging war full of blood and suffering. Of how the brothers, not by blood but by bond alone, had fought each other to death, the pitiful playthings of the Gods who ruled over gods themselves.
He had cried when he had learnt of his brother's plight, by blood he was Jotunn but by bond they were brothers. Was their bond not enough to steer his brother from this path of evil? Thor had admitted to his wrongs and was extremely depressed over the matter. He would never be given forgiveness for Loki was dead and now Loki was not the brother he used to know, filled with bitter rage and thirst for revenge and power. It now rang clear as day, the story of Ragnarok was not merely a story told by parents to teach children the importance of loving their family, it was a foretelling of the future.
How Thor had cursed the Norns and wished that Odin had not taken the baby from the land of Frost giants so as to spare him from this fate. To spare him and Loki of the suffering.
How he wished the Norns would be sympathetic as he trudged out of the room, silent pleas for forgiveness for he had sworn to kill his brother if the need arose.
I am so sorry.
Fury's frown deepened, his menacing glare pointed at the many screens in front of him, all blaring code red as high amounts of gamma radiation had concentrated onto the top of the Helicarrier.
He raised his head to stare out the windows, stormy clouds gathered, flashing bright streaks of lightning, dangerously close to the giant airship. The man furrowed his brows, recognising the similarity instantly, a certain blond god and his grand entrance. Surely this wasn't Thor's doing right? Otherwise the giant god of thunder would be a huge danger to the entire ship, more so than even his brother. To threaten Fury's men was like threatening a giant nuclear bomb pointed at your face, god or not, no man was ever going to mess with his men.
"Sir! High concentrations of gamma radiation on top deck! It's similar to Thor's when he first got here bu-" Agent Hill shouted by her computer before a giant tremor racked through the entire airship cutting her mid-speech.
The airship violently shuddered, the blast hitting one of the engines. But that was not the end of it.
The agents attempted to brace themselves, holding onto their desks desperately as the Helicarrier seemed to dive nose down, all the documents and computer components began to slide to the front of the giant airship.
"What in the world?!" Fury shouted as his gloved hands gripped onto the nearby railings.
"Director! The energy readings are off the scale!"
Just as suddenly, the Helicarrier jerked back into its position, along with the quieting of the gamma radiation readings, dying down to a consistent beep, no longer the blaring bright red warnings.
"The readings!" Agent Hill yelped in surprise despite trying to keep a calm façade. "They're all negative sir!"
As most of the members in the room cleared out, Bruce and Tony were left alone to search for the Tesseract.
"Hey Brucie, you know I've been reading up on Norse mythology since Point Break arrived…" Tony started as his fingers flicked on one of the multiple screens, shuffling various documents and his eyes scanning each one quickly.
"According to them, Loki has kids!" He nearly laughed at the fact despite the tension that was in the room just a moment ago.
"What?!"
"yea, who would have thought huh? Bag of cat's has got crazy children too, they're supposed t- "
Tony was cut off mid-sentence, the blast blowing them into the air.
The Billionaire slammed into a nearby wall, toppling down to the ground in a heap, rolling on his side as the Helicarrier dangerously tilted forward and suddenly steered back to its original position once more. His ears rung, his eyes blinking hard to clear out the fog.
Bruce was not so fortunate. The poor man had shot out of the glass window and down onto the lower deck. He lay in a foetal position, twitching violently as he tried to regain composure.
"What the hell…?" Tony mumbled to himself as he pushed himself up, forcing down the feel of nausea and taking in the situation. All the lab apparatus toppled and destroyed, red alarms blaring everywhere.
He blinked quickly, body swaying dangerously as he recovered from the shock senses slowly coming back to him. His first conscious thought was Bruce, not yet a real friend but definitely someone he had to help and also look out for just in case the Hulk did not find him entirely likable.
He trudged towards the edge, looking down, eyes squinting for the small man.
All he saw was a giant green monster emerging from ripped clothing. And then the terrible roar when the hulk turned and eyed him, eyes crazed.
"Shit."
Fury and his team were trying to find out just what had caused that nasty nosedive. Thor, Natasha and Rogers were there by the deck, faces contorted with worry.
"Sir the Hulk's been unleashed!"
"Shit. I want everyone on that tier cleared out! NOW!" Fury yelled at the agent.
"Sir! I think you might want to see this!"
Fury turned around quickly ignoring the man. "Thor, you deal with the hulk. Captain, Romanoff, I need you to go see what caused this mess on deck 5!"
"SIR!"
They quickly turned and made their move to leave.
Fury turned to see the screen.
A giant wolf and 2 teenagers were at the door.
"Father!"
At the small soft voice, a certain dark haired man clothed in a simple green tunic and loose black pants looked up from his book. He was sitting cross legged underneath one of the large trees in Frigga's garden, seeking peace after getting into trouble with the Dwarves of Nidavellir.
He shuddered slightly, fingers brushing across his still not fully healed lips. Brokk had taken his betrayal none too kindly. The dwarf had driven his needle and thread through his lips in a criss-cross manner, making sure to pull tightly and jerk quickly when the thread was pulled through the holes, the friction on his skin was excruciating, blood dribbling down his chin and sharp jawline. His entire body ached with how they had forced him down to the ground, his head still hurt when he had been pounded forcefully onto the hard floor.
About 10 of them had held his struggling self, holding him in place. He smiled bitterly at the thought, 10 men had been needed to hold him down. Had it been Thor, they would have needed at least 20.
He had wanted information, valuable information. Information that would aid in the recent squabble's with Jotunheim and also answer some of his own questions. He needed information on the Casket of Ancient winters.
The story of the casket he was so very well versed with, having been told by his father and many of his fellow scholars. It was a story of Asgard's triumph against the wretched ice monsters, even inarticulate impoverished people told the tale and made the story sound ever more grand and noble for there were so many ways to glorify Asgard.
Loki had found the story compelling, even as a boy he had found politics and strategies interesting, wanting to learn more from his father and scholars, ever the eager learner. He sighed and his jaw stiffened as he reminisced.
He remembered when the Allfather had praised him for his quick wits and ideas when he was only but 10 and had even bested some of his councilmen, producing sound strategies for rather awry situations. He had felt so very warm that day, his father was praising him, acknowledging him not for his tricks or mischief but rather his intelligence in such situations which had most definitely benefitted Asgard. Childish at it may seem, he still craved for that attention, his lungs felt constricted when he remembered how Thor had many friends to go on hunts with, friends who would invite him to such "masculine" warrior activities.
Thor would always return to the palace with his cape muddied or torn. Every trip the amount of mud and tearing increased but never did the proud smile leave his face for Thor never came home without meat. He was skilful at hunting, being able to shoot down the fastest of deer, rabbits and birds. Thor, ever adept with weaponry.
Loki always behind him.
Weaker with his Seidr.
The womanly art.
His greatest secret. His greatest pride. His greatest shame.
His powers were growing every day and he had made sure that he practised, trained and perfected, formulating new spells through research and experimentation in his workshop. He had no tutor, the knowledge of seidr was given to him through books, volumes of Seidr arts found in the palace library when he had already browsed the other sections.
He read, clearly comprehending the complicities of the art, its beauty in detail and amount of preparation required. From that day on, he had tried out many of the methods within the book, reading and learning. Experimenting on simple spells, cast within his rooms to avoid other's from knowing. Everyday, secretly reading and learning, understanding the age old spells and theories.
He felt a sense of accomplishment when his first small green flame flicked within his palm with a snap of his fingers. The beautiful green glowing flame lit up his dark room, the shadows stretched long and tall in his room, like long dark arms that he crafted himself, for himself, like a mother's caring arms cradling him in his secluded chamber. The thought annoyed him however, how cowardly for an Aesir to rely on such sentiment.
His thoughts were pulled back to the present as his son happily flopped himself onto his lap.
"I did it! I did it!" the little boy yelled in glee. Narfi beamed at his father who couldn't help but smile back.
"Hmmm?" His father said mischievously.
"Look!"
Narfi excitedly bounced back up, shifting away from Loki. With a snap of fingers and a face contorted with concentration, Narfi conjured a bright red flame in his palms before showing it to his father eagerly.
"I did it!" He yelled once more, the sound more beautiful than any enchanted harp to Loki's ears.
"Yes you did. Indeed you did." Loki held his son's cupped hands around the small glowing flame. Small and flickering but still warm.
His bony hands made their way to cup around Narfi's warm hands. Loki slowly got up into a kneeled position in front of his beaming son.
"It's so beautiful and warm father! I made it!"
" Yes you did Narfi. Now come here." Loki shifted a little, stooping down slightly to eye the flame at eye-level.
"Can you see the flame's heart?"
"Heart?" Narfi tilted his head in confusion, eye's questioning and thirsting for his father's knowledge.
"Yes boy, it's heart."Loki gestured for his son to peer the flame at eye level, the boy responding by holding the flame up close to his face.
He peered into the flames, there were small crackles in the core of the flame, bubbling with life and energy.
"The heart! The flame's heart!"
Loki smiled as he casted his own bright green flame, much more controlled and concentrated than his son's.
"Now look into this one."
Narfi did as told, eye's widening as he peered into the green flame. Its cracks were small and quick, full of controlled energy, making tiny pop sounds that only through close inspection could one hear it.
"Father your flame's heart is different from mine!"
"Well, yes. My flame is more controlled dear, but that is not what I wish for you to see."
Narfi was puzzled. Why did father always have to speak in riddles?
"You see, your flame and mine will always be different. Unique."
Loki's waved his arms about, his flame following wherever his hands twisted to, long beautiful green bands of flame dancing about as Narfi marvelled at his father's skill and control.
"It's your flame's heart Narfi." Loki said as his hands gestured for his flame to circulate around Narfi's small red flame, mix of beautiful green and bright red in Narfi's small hands.
"It's your own soul that's fuelling that heart."
The flames mixed together, now burning brighter than ever before. A mix of two signatures, two forms of magic, two souls.
The trickster god stumbled onto the ground, the nose dive unexpected. He furrowed his brows as he pushed himself up from the floor, knees on the ground and arms bracing himself up.
Suddenly his bright sea green eyes turned wide, his whole body turning stiff.
"No."
A/N Yup. Helicarrier can take an intergalactic transportation I'm sure. I swear I think that airship's design is so not practical looking and huge and all but surely something that big should have done some damage eh?
Longer chapter because I felt it was necessary. This is when it gets interesting muahahahha.
Till then toodles!