Lucy was at war with herself. On one hand, she felt free, unburdened, and fulfilled as she obeyed Loki's commands. However at the same time she was torn, confused, and angry. But for the life of her, she couldn't exactly remember why she felt that way. It felt natural to follow the gentle prods inside her consciousness. She wanted to obey the Asgardian, she wanted to help take control of mankind, and currently she wanted to commandeer Stark Tower.
-sublimation-
With renewed energy, the Avengers made their way past the confused SHIELD agents, suited up and ready to go. With their protective and stylish gear they brought commanded respect and fear from the hearts of every person they passed. Without slowing their march, they quickly approached a lone quinjet. Entering, the others went to their appointed stations.
The young pilot stood up, confused; "You're not authorized to be here…" he began nervously in the face of the world's very own real live superheroes.
Steve stopped him with an exasperated hand, "Son…just don't."
-sublimation-
Disabling JARVIS's security would take Lucy no time at all. Tony was good but she lived for puzzles. Once in a while she would break in just to keep him on his toes. The only evidence she would leave of her hacking would be an email she had JARVIS send to him from his own account, outlining her suggested improvements. It annoyed her godson to no end but he always took her advice. That didn't mean she wouldn't find other ways to get past his security. She was one of the few people on the planet with enough skill and enough knowledge about the genius billionaire to accomplish such a task. Taking her had been a very strategic move; Loki needed her to operate the power source maintaining Stark Tower. The elevator dinged as it opened to the basement level where the mainframe was located.
-sublimation-
Tony in his Iron Man suit could be seen flying by the bridge windows. Shortly after a quinjet departed the deck. Maria Hill and Director Fury stood watching them leave.
"They found it." Fury smiled, the first bit of good news they had in a long time, "Get our communications back up, whatever you have to do. I want eyes on everything."
She nodded with a grin, "Yes, Sir."
-sublimation-
A twitch had developed in the side of her neck. Every time she went to do something, her body would reject the action. It happened just for a second, before the calming presence in the back of her brain told her all was well. In front of her were the rows of computers powering Tony's A.I. system, JARVIS, which was controlling the building. Just A Rather Very Intelligent System, a small grin cracked her stoic face, they had had a ball coming up with that acronym in memory of the real Jarvis. A wonderful butler he had been to both Tony and Howard. His wife Ana had been divine as well. When they both had finally passed, it hit Tony hard, leaving her as his only living friend.
Her fingers were poised over the keys ready to hack into the database when she froze, the memories of Howard, Jarvis, and Tony triggering something. Her head was pounding again. Her eyes watered as she blinked, trying to will away the pain. Something didn't seem right; but she didn't know what it was. There was an idea, a memory, an action she was forgetting, something important on the tip of her tongue. Whatever it was, it balanced on the edge of a knife threatening to fall either way but never actually moving.
Shaking her head to clear her mind she carried on with her work, diverting the power to the device Doctor Selvig built for the Tesseract. Rapid commands flew from her nimble hands as she easily slipped past Tony's set defenses. She smirked; the man was unpredictable to everyone but her. After a few moments she was in. Checking the clock she noted the time. 2 minutes. Hmm, new record for longest time. Maybe she was losing her touch. She scoffed. Unlikely. It looked like Tony had finally upgraded his system after her last invasion. Lucy stood up, pushed in the chair and left to head back up to the top of the Tower, her work now complete.
-sublimation-
Tony flew up to his newly revealed building to see Erik Selvig on the roof. The Tesseract was already inside the portal stabilizing machine.
"Sir, I managed to turn off the arc reactor a few minutes after our systems were compromised." JARVIS notified him, "The device is already self-sustained."
"Shut it down Doctor Selvig." Tony commanded, hovering over the rooftop.
"It's too late!" Selvig laughed, "It can't stop now." He turned back to look at the cube in awe, "He wants to show us something. A new universe."
"Okay." Tony replied skeptically. He shot a large bust of energy at the machine with his hands but the Tesseract had shielded itself. The energy backfired; it hit the Iron Man with a loud boom, causing him to spin backwards in the air.
"The barrier is pure energy." JARVIS supplied, "It's unbreachable."
"Yeah I got that." Tony looked over to another part of the outdoor terrace spotting Loki, "Plan B."
"Sir. The mark 7 is not ready for deployment." JARVIS reported.
"Yeah then skip the spinning rims." Tony dropped shakily onto the landing pad, "We're on the clock." As he strolled down the walkway, the mechanical arms removed his damaged armor.
"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity." Loki snickered joining the owner of the building inside the penthouse.
"Uh…actually, I'm planning to threaten you." Tony replied nonchalantly.
Loki smirked, "You should have left your armor on for that."
"Yeah, it's seen a bit of mileage, and you've got the blue stick of destiny." Tony responded snidely moving over to the shiny bar in the corner, "Would you like a drink?"
"Stalling me won't change anything." Loki belittled looking at the tired man.
"No, no, no. Threatening." Tony corrected, "No drink? You sure? I'm having one."
Loki moved to stand before the floor to ceiling windows admiring the New York City skyline, "The Chitauri are coming, and nothing will change that. What have I to fear?"
Tony popped the cap off a bottle of aged whiskey, "The Avengers. It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team." He explained pouring a generous portion of the alcohol into the glass tumbler, "'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type of thing."
"Yes, I've met them." Loki turned around, unaffected by the idle threat.
"Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction. I'll give you that one. But, let's do a head count here." Tony listed off confidently, "Your brother, the demi-god; a super soldier, a living legend who kid of lives up to the legend, much as it pains me to say it;" he casually reached under the counter of the bar pulling out a honing bracelet, "a man with breathtaking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and you, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them."
"That was the plan." Loki paced about the room.
"Not a great plan." Tony retorted, "When they come, and they will, they'll come for you."
Loki shrugged, "I have an army."
"We have a Hulk."
"Oh, I thought the beast had wondered off." Loki taunted.
Tony rolled his eyes, "You're missing the point. There's no throne, there is no version of this, where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn well sure we'll avenge it." He finished seriously, taking a sip of much needed liquor.
Loki slowly approached the Iron Man, "How will your friends have time for me, when they're so busy fighting you?" he raised his scepter and touched it against the arc reactor in Tony's chest. He paused confused when nothing happened. Again he raised the scepter, "This usually works." He announced, perplexed.
"Well, performance issues." Tony shrugged condescendingly, "You know? It's not uncommon. 1 out of 5…"
His ramblings stopped as the elevator dinged, announcing Lucy's arrival. She was dressed in her state of the art mirroring uniform, knives attached to her forearms. Safety glasses perched high on her nose and tucked behind her ears disappearing behind her securely braided hair. Her lips were set in a cold hard line, posture straight and imposing as she observed the scene happening before her.
"Lucy." Loki greeted, arm outstretched in a welcoming manner, "How nice of you to join us. Look who's decided to drop by." He turned back to Tony as she approached.
"Arie?" Tony questioned unsure what to say to one's godmother whose mind was being controlled by as Asgardian with an insane level of jealously for his brother… and performance issues.
Lucy regarded him coldly, "Well if it isn't the Iron Man. Tony Stark." She blinked unaffected by his presence.
A cold trickle started from his head, pooling at his feet, his teeth gnashed together. She never called him Tony if she could help it. Usually he was lovingly referred to as 'Eddie' or even 'Anthony' if she was pissed. Nicknames were her thing. A little habit he had picked up. Tony shot Loki a look of pure disgust, bile turned in the pit of his already queasy stomach. "We're going to bring you back soon. I promise." He vowed to her.
She gave him a feral grin, "It is not I who needs help, Tony." Lucy whispered, her quiet words piercing the tense room as she began to circle him like a predator would its prey. "The Avengers Initiative was doomed to fail from the start." She continued, pacing slowly, "A group of self-obsessed, stubborn, volatile individuals who don't even like organized operations, convincing themselves that they're heroes."
Tony huffed trying not to be angry when the words coming out of her mouth were not her own, "Sounds like you're mainly talking about me." he stalled for time, waiting for JARVIS to finish his suit.
"Of course I'm talking about you." She sneered, "You egotistical, narcissistic, overconfident little boy. Always so afraid of being rejected you don't let anyone near. Ignored by your parents you came to who else but me and in a moment of weakness, I pitied you. Did I ever tell you Howard almost willed Stark Industries to me? I rejected his offer, but where would you be if I didn't have any pity?" She came to a stop in front of him; a look of contempt curled her lip. "No friends, no family, just you, alone in the big bad world. Without me, you are nothing. You hide behind your insults and your sarcasm, a petulant infant trying to save the earth. Like a child you believe yourself to be invincible. You think you are unstoppable, that you can fix anything and everything by yourself. That is your flaw."
"See, I know everything about you." Loki commented when she finished. "A little treasure trove of information isn't she? Lucy knows more about all of you than you probably know about yourselves." He smirked at the thought of the 'Avengers'. "Intelligence is her specialty; delicate, elegant, impeccable skill. We'll make quite the team." He finished appreciating the woman beside him, the crown jewel of his collection. Her intellect was far superior to any other being he had come across on this strange planet.
Never in his long life had Loki met such a conflicted person. Someone who saw all possibilities of a decision, right and wrong, good and bad, selfish and selfless. Someone who could so easily slip over to the dark side and yet stayed firmly on the straight and narrow, constantly fighting the shadows that threatened to consume her. The thirst for knowledge was strong and yet so was the fear that accompanied her every action and the meticulous planning that went into every decision. Furthermore was the confidence that overrode that fear, which controlled her indecisiveness, which made her a hero. The strength, selflessness, and determination that helped her survive for half a century, alone, in a strange time that didn't stop for anybody. Finally, here was somebody who could appreciate his cleverness, his resourcefulness, and his ambition as he appreciated hers. It was a pity she wouldn't follow him without the specter's power.
"Yeah I'm going to have to stop you there." Tony interrupted, recovering from the hurt inflicted by Lucy's blunt truths. "Firstly, she's taken. Spangles called dibs, like a hundred years ago. Secondly, what you're desperate enough to brain wash a girl because you can't get one? Listen man I really suggest you get your issues checked out. Like I said 1 out of 5…"
"Lucy." Loki commanded calmly rising to the bait.
Tony's eyed widened as she clicked her forearm knives open, standing in an offensive battle position. "JARVIS!" Tony shouted, he should have stalled for enough time by now. Then from the same elevator Lucy had just exited a moment ago, the Iron Man mark 7 suit came shooting out. It went right through the window, shattering it with a mighty bang. Tony ran to follow it and jumped out before they could come after him.
In a moment of clarity she screamed after him as his body fell out the window, "Eddie!" Lucy ran toward the broken glass face to see the suit identifying his tracking bracelet and catching him before he could reach the ground. From behind, Loki tapped her back once more with the scepter, once again establishing their bond. He was worried; no one else had needed to be refreshed once he had taken control of their minds the first time. Lucy's body shuddered as the effects of the specter rippled through her being. Her eyes opened, once again clouded by the electric blue energy.
A second later the Tesseract shot a bolt of energy straight into the air. In the sky above Stark Tower, dark clouds immediately began to form. A dark hole opened up in the midst of the column of crackling blue energy. Small figures started to fly out of the portal. The battle of New York had begun.
"Right." Tony looked up to see the aliens. "Army." He remembered Loki's words. Flying up to meet the strange beings be shot burst after burst at them. From his shoulder a compartment opened revealing tens of miniature missiles, killing a good amount of the beasts.
In the streets, civilians paused in their mundane day-to-day lives, looking up at the strange phenomenon. Cars idled their engines as their owners stepped out to better view the scene. It wasn't until the first monsters started to rain fire upon them they realized it wasn't just another Iron Man stunt. Screams erupted as a tidal wave of fear crashed down upon the populace. Tables flipped and vehicles were abandoned as they scurried to any form of safety they could find. Fires started, sparks flew, and smoke became abundant as the creatures flew over the streets wreaking havoc upon the unsuspecting humans.
"They'll be coming." Loki looked to Lucy, speaking about her former teammates. "They take orders from the Man With A Plan I presume." He turned back to watch the demolition of mankind, "Destroy him." He ordered casually.
She nodded without a moment's hesitation. Turning she walked off the roof and landed on a passing Chitauri chariot. Now all she had to do was wait and they would come to her.