6. Dark hot beverages.
As I feel the portals energy surrounding me, I see one last projectile coming my way. I know I can't move, so I just close my eyes and let it hit me. It hurts, but not as much as expected. The portal must have absorbed most of the - I'm falling. The hit clearly must have messed up the coordinates, and now I'm in the middle of the sky, ready to meet the ground. Its just one of those days when the fight never ends, even when you travel worlds away. I'm getting old for this.
I spot Starks monument and aim for it. Its going to hurt, but it could be worse. I land on my knees and begin standing up when I see a group of people looking at me from inside. I recognize Stark, Banner and Romanoff. The other two are strangers.
Stark runs to help me. There are wires coming out of his chest. Strange man.
"I'm okay" I say, although I'm actually in quite a lot of pain "I need to talk to you. All of you."
"Natasha"
"On it" She runs off.
"what is it?" he looks concerned.
"What do you think?" We start walking to the elevator.
"Loki" I nod "oh for gods sake. What did he do now?"
"He escaped"
"And he's here?"
"He's been here for weeks, maybe even months"
"maybe? You don't know?"
"it…took us a while to realize he was gone. We know he's here because this is the only inhabited planet he could have reached with the amount of energy unaccounted for in the portal we were building."
"I see"
"We were at war, okay? And he left an illusion is his place"
"Yeah, he likes those ones, your brother" says Banner.
"Um" the young man I don't know is looking at me "Hello" I realize I haven't introduced myself.
"Hello. I am Thor, son of Odin. Excuse me for not introducing myself properly, but this are pressing matters"
"Peter Parker, hi, yes, I can see that" I shake the womans hand. She is named after a local spice. "You really took a beating didn't you?"
"Like I said, we are at war."
"So, its not over?" asks Banner
"Far from it, but I finally managed to gather enough power to come here. Loki is my responsibility."
"And you are doing a terrific job with that!"
"Shut up Stark." The elevator doors open. We are in a big control room. There is a lot of people, all of them moving around constantly. I see Natasha among them. Apparently I've brought some of the battlefield chaos with me.
"Sorry point break, didn't mean to hurt your feelings" I grunt. People always back off when I grunt.
"Hey Bruce, I think Thor is challenging you to a grunt-off!" Then again, Stark has always been the exception to that rule.
"Very funny Tony"
"So, who is this guy again? And why does he have a hammer? Who uses a hammer?"
"This is Mjolnir, Peter Parker. It is the tool of a king. My father…"
"For the king of the tools" I assume that is some manner of insult
"Shut up Stark"
"Oh come on, it was begging to be said" He looks at Peter Parker "He is an alien Peter"
"I come from Asgard"
"I see. And your name is Thor"
"Precisely."
"Like the God."
"not like. He's the real stuff" I recognize the voice. I turn around and see Barton and Rogers, dressed in their strange combat uniforms. Humans are weird.
"Thor. Good to see you" I shake the captains hand "But I'm betting this is not a good omen"
"Not at all"
"Does your brother have anything to do with this?" Bartons eyes are piercing. I can see the hatred in his eyes.
"He does" Barton grabs a dark hot beverage from a man walking by us. Coffee, they call it. I remember the first time I tried it. I smashed the container, and Jane got upset. I find myself thinking of her for longer than I should, I think someone asks something else, but I am not listening.
"Son of a…" Barton spits the coffee "This shit is horrible! Who makes the coffee around here anyway?"
"Oh, shut up." Romanoff joins us, behind her come Philip Coulson and Nick Fury. For a second, I get dizzy, and my head hurts. Strange. My wounds are almost healed. It might be a side effect from the travel, but its never happened before.
"You okay buddy?" asks Coulson.
"I am, thank you" He isn't convinced "buddy."
Fury asks me to explain the situation. I talk, they listen. I tell them about the war that has been waging in Asgard since I left Earth, and the chaos Asgard has been immersed in since then, I tell them about Loki being gone, along with some Artifacts that had been confiscated from his quarters in the royal palace. Of course, they ask about the Tesseract, and I reassure them: its safe, we've dared use some of its power for the war and for the portal, but we mostly keep it locked under extreme surveillance.
"Father would never allow for it to fall in the wrong hands again" I say. Most of them seem satisfied with my story. Peter Parker isn't getting everything, and Stark is frowning a lot.
"So, what do we do know? How do we find Loki?"
"I…don't know"
"you don't know?"
"No."
"Ah." Its bad news, but Stark is always grateful for a chance to stand out "Okay then. I guess Bruce and I have some work to do"
"Right" Says Banner, putting on his glasses "off to the science cave"
As they walk out, Stark turns around "You coming Parker?"
"What? Me? Really?"
"Well, you are part of the team now." Says Banner "We could use you up there"
"Actually I was thinking he'd just watch me do my magic, but sure, he can help. He can fetch the drinks or something"
"Wait" The captain says, and everyone looks at him. Even Fury seems to be expecting orders "I'm sure Peter could be really helpful for you guys…"
"not really"
"but he's the new man here, its his first day and I don't think he's up to speed with whats going on, right?"
"right, Sir! Steve. Mister Rogers. Uh."
"Its ok son."
"He's from the forties, he calls everyone son, son."
"I'm guessing I won't be of much use right now, so maybe I should brief him on the rest of the situation. When we're done, he can go help you."
"fetch us drinks, yes"
"The rest of you, we are all staying in the tower until there's new progress, that way we'll be ready"
"Ok then." Fury seems uncomfortable with the Captain taking the lead like that "You people do that, we'll let you know of any new development." Banner and Stark leave, talking about potential ways to figure out when and where Loki arrived.