ASGARD
Heimdall crossed his arms, wishing he had a chair to sit on. He was in the throne room, facing the Allfather. The messenger had urged Heimdall to come and tell Odin the news of Loki's return.
Heimdall had explained everything to the King, who had nodded and smiled throughout the conversation, as if it pleased him.
Now, the old King, Odin, had his hands clasped together, looking thoughtful.
Heimdall gritted his teeth. Everyone knew the Allfather was slow, but this was ridiculous; he had been standing here waiting for some form of reply for twenty minutes.
He was just about to march out of the throne room in aggravation when Odin finally spoke.
"I thought I had finally gotten rid of him..." Odin said, his expression a cross between happy and in extreme pain.
"Pardon, sir?" Heimdall asked, confused by that statement.
"...And then he comes... back." Odin finished, ignoring Heimdall. "How much damage has he inflicted?"
"Only a little." Heimdall replied quickly, forcing out the images of Loki gutting Midgardians with his cruel weapon.
Odin looked grim. Then, grasping his magical staff—Gungnir—he stood up. Heimdall raised an eyebrow, half-hoping that the old King would topple over just for his own amusement.
"I should have known." Odin said, his lip quivering. "I should have known it was too good to be true."
"Known what—" Heimdall started.
"—That Loki was dead!" Odin snapped. "That I wouldn't have to listen to his complaints anymore."
Heimdall resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
"While he was growing up, I did everything I could to make him happy." Odin went on, apparently going into some form of a rant.
"Like that time when you sewed his lips together?" Heimdall supplied.
"He enjoyed that, yes." Odin nodded. He took a shaky step forward. "He has been nothing but trouble from the beginning. Did you know that when I brought him home when he was just a baby, he would not stop crying?"
"I did not know that," Heimdall replied.
"Hours and hours, he wouldn't shut the fuck up." Odin picked at his beard. "It turned out, later; that he had been suffering from heat exhaustion. Apparently he was so picky that he could not sleep near a roaring fire. So henceforward, we made him sleep in a corner, on the floor."
"Oh." Heimdall said, feeling uncomfortable and not knowing what to say. "My lord, what do you intend to do about this? Shall we just leave Midgard to burn in ruins?"
"HEYAURGHY!" Odin screamed, throwing his magic staff at Heimdall. Heimdall moved to get out of the way, but it was too late; the staff hit him and he fell to the floor.
When he had gotten back up, he was surprised to find that Odin laid upon his back on the floor, his arms sprawled out.
"My king!" Heimdall yelped, and rushed over to Odin.
Odin's eye was closed, and it seemed he was unconscious. Other then that, he did not appear to be injured.
"This is why we needed to get him Life Alert." Heimdall muttered angrily. Whenever Odin got stressed or put in an environment where his support was vital, he was sure to fall asleep.
Heimdall called for the guards, who quickly rushed in.
"Again?" One of the guards asked boredly as he helped the other lift Odin. Heimdall didn't bother answering.
"Get him to the healers." He ordered.
It took the guards several minutes to lift Odin, and they almost dropped him on two separate occasions. But in the end, they finally managed to carry him out of the throne room.
Heimdall sighed. Most likely, the King would be out of commision until the whole Midgard ordeal had been closed.
Which meant that Thor would be in charge of all Asgard until then.
Heimdall felt his lips curl into a snarl.
The fool would surely bring the golden city to ruin.
HELICARRIER BRIDGE
There was a buzz of excitement and energy in the air. Agents were overcrowded on the bridge, drinking coffee, using computers, or simply staring dumbly into nothingness
Coulson glanced behind him, making sure that everyone was on board. Nick Fury was in the process of greeting all the recruits.
He spotted Maria Hill hunched over a computer screen.
"Did we vanish yet?" Coulson asked her eagerly. Ever since SHIELD had developed the reflective device for the Helicarrier, Coulson was always first to demand they turn it on.
"Not yet," Hill said, her eyes still focused on the computer.
Feeling rather bored, Coulson walked over to Fury, wondering if the introductions were done.
"—Alright, you motherfuckers know it's pay-to-play. Ten bucks, and then we talk." Fury was saying.
"What do you mean, we have to pay you to help save the world?" Natasha crossed her arms.
"This is a privilege. Ten bucks, or I will personally push you overboard." Fury said. At that, all the agents in the room gasped.
Tony Stark was the first to hand in his admission. However, Fury wouldn't take it right away;
"Actually, since you're rich, it'll be twenty bucks." Fury said.
"This is discrimination!" Tony screeched.
"Twenty. Bucks." Fury said firmly.
Looking very angry, Tony shoved the money into Fury's hands and marched past him. Pepper Potts and Natasha gave in and paid as well. Steve started walking away.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, just where do you think you're going?" Fury snapped at him. Steve stopped and looked at him in surprise.
"You have to pay admission!" Fury held out his hand expectantly.
"But I don't have any money!" Steve complained.
Coulson felt his heart leap up into his chest. This was it; this was his moment to show Steve how much he loved him. Quickly, he pulled out his wallet and retrieved a ten dollar bill out of it.
"Well." Fury said, his voice going dark. "Then I guess you leave me with no choice but to—"
"—Here sir!" Coulson interjected, holding out the money. "I'll pay for him."
Fury seemed to hesitate, and for a minute Coulson worried that he would refuse to take it. However, Fury merely shrugged, and, taking the money, said; "He's all yours."
Coulson stared at Steve. He was so perfect. Everything about him screamed perfection.
"Thank you…" Steve said, looking a bit uncomfortable.
"It's my pleasure." Coulson smiled.
Biting his lip, Steve walked away.
Coulson followed him. "So, I was thinking." He began. "Maybe you and I could—"
"—Agent Coulson!" Fury yelled from the far side of the bridge. "Get your ass over here; we're going to explore science!"
Coulson felt a wave of aggravation pass over him. Damn it. His one moment; ruined.
"Let's go," He nodded to Steve and then set off to follow Fury and the others. They walked out of the bridge and down several hallways until they came to a room.
Inside was equipment for science experiments, computers, an insane amount of wires and a water tank.
"Now," Fury stepped over to a monitor and began tapping at it. Coulson looked over at Steve, who looked tired.
"That's a touchscreen," He pointed out, wondering if his future boyfriend was confused by it. Steve merely nodded in response.
"So this low-key guy," Steve spoke. "...What's his name again?"
"Goddammit Steve, didn't you read those files I gave you last night?" Fury spat.
"What exactly does he want?" Pepper asked timidly, standing close Tony. Coulson fought back a grimace. He had long suspected Tony of being an abusive partner, and last night had pretty much confirmed those suspicions. Or maybe he had just been high.
"He's just spewing average villain bullshit. World domination and other evil stuff." Fury tore his eyes away from the computer and looked over at all of them.
"The blue-cube has a miniature camera inside it, allowing people to take pictures with it." Fury began.
"Yeah, I read up about that last night... why exactly does it have that feature?" Natasha asked with a furrowed brow, crossing her arms.
"It just does." Fury snapped rather rudely. "So I have devised a plan. Somehow, sometime, someone is going to take a picture with it."
"How could we know that for sure?" Pepper asked. "Why would anyone, particularly a terrorist, use the Tesseract to take a picture?"
"All terrorists take pictures, and selfies, and videos, that's a well known fact." Fury grunted. "When he or one of his minions does, the blue-cube will automatically upload the picture to it's instagram—"
"Wait a minute, wait a minute." Tony scrunched up his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Whose instagram?"
"The Tesseract's instagram, of course." Coulson supplied.
"The Tesseract has an Instagram?" Tony's eyes widened in shock.
"Yes! And then we will log onto the Instagram and be able to trace the photo back to its location!" Fury practically yelled.
"Okay, so your plan is waiting for Loki to take a picture? This is your plan?" Natasha demanded, her tone heavily doused with aggravation.
"A picture will be taken!" Fury pointed his index finger at her.
"No it wont!" Natasha objected.
"Yes it will!" Fury retorted.
"I... I'm very confused." Steve said softly. Coulson looked pityingly at the super soldier. He wrapped an arm around him.
"It's okay baby; it's nothing important." Coulson reassured him. Steve shrugged his arm off and stepped away.
Coulson pressed his lips together, regretting what he had said. Evidently, Steve was uncomfortable with his attempts at showing his affection. He'd have to settle with some mild flirting instead, at least for the time being.
Coulson looked back at the others. Natasha and Fury were still arguing back and forth, while Tony and Pepper watched.
"Yes they will!" Fury shouted.
"No they won't!" Natasha insisted.
"Motherfucker, someone is going to take a picture with it; it is inevitable!" Fury shouted.
"I think we should—" Tony had just begun to say something when a loud beeping noise pierced the air.
Coulson glared at the computer next to him; an alert had just come in.
He tapped the screen once, and the beeping stopped. Then he pulled up the alert.
Coulson's eyebrows raised in surprise when he saw what it was.
"Sir...?" He turned to Fury. "The Tesseract's Instagram page has just been updated."
Fury looked over at Natasha, a triumphant smile on his face.
"Put it on the big screen, Agent Coulson." Fury said, his voice overflowing with pride. Coulson looked back towards the computer, and that was when everything went black.
UNDERGROUND BASE.
SEVERAL MINUTES EARLIER
Loki glared at his empty glass. He had already had three drinks, but the effects were taking forever to settle in. He was contemplating whether or not it would be a good idea to get another refilL.
He had barely slept the night before, and he felt worse than ever, plagued by an invisible illness that weakened him.
Loki knew this was not what he should have been doing; he should have been making plans for another attack, preparing a speech, and possessing more Midgardians.
Instead he was sitting here, at the kitchen counter attempting to intoxicate himself so he could forget about his problems. And he couldn't even do a task as simple as that.
"Hey Mr. Loki!" A voice cut into his internal lamentation. Loki turned and glared at the approaching Barton.
For some reason Barton still had not reverted back to being mindless like Loki's other slaves. Loki gritted his teeth. If Barton kept this up he would have to off him.
"I have some news!" Barton announced with a wide smile.
"What is it, Barton?" Loki asked boredly.
"Nick Fury is starting the Avengers Initiative, heard it last night when you were sleeping." Barton reported.
"Avengers Initiative?" Loki repeated. "What's that?"
"Uh…" Barton looked away. "I think it has something to do with superheroes."
"What in Asgard is a superhero?" Loki asked to himself.
"It's what Thor is." A voice said. Loki jumped up and looked around. Erik Selvig stood behind him, an ugly grin on his face and a peach in his hand.
Come to think of it, Selvig had not turned into a mindless drone either, Loki realized.
"That oaf is a superhero?" Loki snorted. "Well, he is neither super, nor a hero for that matter."
"He kind of is." Selvig objected.
"No he's not!" Loki yelled.
"Stop making Mr. Loki upset!" Barton shouted at Selvig. Selvig merely shrugged and began to lick his peach seductively.
Loki turned back to Barton, managing to swallow his rage, at least temporarily.
"So, what does this Avengers Initiative mean for us, exactly?" Loki questioned.
"Basically it's to stop you from taking over the world. He has brought together several superheroes, which are just people with superpowers or money or stuff like that." Barton informed. "He's only got a few people. I'm sure we could handle them."
Loki did not like the sound of that. Even though, in hindsight, it was ridiculous. A Midgardian rebel force? The mere thought of that was pathetic; he could kill them all in seconds.
That is, he could kill them all in seconds if he was not feeling like Hel was upon his very self.
"Be that as it may," Loki said. "I want as much information as you can possibly gather on these... Avengers…"
"Aye aye Mr. Loki." Barton saluted. And with that he turned and headed out of the kitchen.
Loki looked back towards his empty glass.
"I think I have depression." He said to himself.
"I think you're psychotic." Selvig said. Loki scowled. He had forgotten that Selvig was still there.
"I know a little something that'll cheer you up." Selvig said, his voice uncomfortably close to Loki's ear. Loki turned to face him.
"What might that be...?" Loki asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Follow me." Selvig shot him a creepy smile and walked out of the kitchen. Curiosity got the better of Loki, and he trailed closely behind Selvig.
Selvig had led him to the room where the Tesseract was being examined. The only thing that separated it from them was a clear plastic shower curtain.
Because clear plastic shower curtains prevented radiation from getting through,
apparently.
Not that Loki had to worry about radiation.
Selvig peeled back the curtain and stood, inches away from the Tesseract, rubbing his hands together.
"What is it?" Loki demanded.
"Watch this." Selvig reached out, and, using his index finger, pressed the top of the Tesseract.
"What are you doing?!" Loki screamed. How dare the bumbling fool touch the magical hexahedron of power!
"Watch!" Selvig said. A white rectangle emerged out of thin air above the Tesseract. Then it showed a reflection of Selvig's face; like a mirror.
"It can take selfies!" Selvig exclaimed. "Or, as I like to call them... Selvigies!"
"What's a Selvigie?" Loki asked, walking over and eying the mirror with distrust. He paused when he saw his reflection and found himself smirking in admiration.
His hair, his eyes... damn. No wonder he stayed single—no one would ever rival with his beauty.
"What's the matter, you've never seen how ugly you were?" Selvig asked snidely. Loki glared at him.
Selvig once again pressed the top of the Tesseract. The reflection of him froze; and then a few moments later unfroze. Then, another white rectangle appeared above the mirror-screen, and displayed the frozen image of Selvig.
"It's taking pictures." Selvig explained. "You try."
Cautiously, Loki tapped the top of the Tesseract once.
Again, the image froze, then resumed, and then the picture of himself reappeared up top.
Fascinated, Loki tapped it again.
And again.
And again.
"This is extraordinary!" Loki exclaimed. Why didn't Asgard have these trinkets? Loki's mind bubbled with all the possibilities he'd have at further admiring himself.
"You have fun with that." Selvig said as he began walking away, but Loki barely heard him as he continued to snap Selvigies.
ASGARD
"We leave at dusk."
Sif paused from polishing her longsword, but did not look up. Sitting beside her were a handful of other Asgardian warriors, each of them preparing their armor and weaponry.
She heard the heavy clink of empty chains being dragged across the floor, and the sound of sharp knives and scalpels being placed into a box.
"Are we to kill him, sir?" Volstagg spoke up, standing by the doorway with a large axe in hand.
The prince gave a low, dark chuckle, which soon turned into a loud laugh.
"No," Thor said, his voice brimming with amusement, while at the same time sounding pitying. "But I am going to make him wish we did."
WOW, It's been awhile, I'm so sorry for keeping you guys hanging! I sort of ran into writers block after posting the last chapter, and I kept trying to write more but I just wasn't liking the direction the story was beginning to take.
I'd like to say that chapters will be more consistent now, but with the holiday season upon us, I'm afraid I will be busy for awhile. However, fear not, I am not abandoning this story!
Hope you enjoyed; this one was kinda short but overall I was really happy with it. Let me know what you think if you have the time.
Arrighty folks, I'll see you all later!