Hey, everybody! So sorry I couldn't update on Saturday! Here's an extra long chapter to make up for it! And congratulations! We have officially started The Avengers!
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Chapter Four
The portal sent out a blast of energy that knocked the humans to their knees as I stepped through. The blue light and energy gradually dissipated, fully revealing the white and silver Midgardian lab. The portal sealed shut behind me, and as I looked up, I spotted the glowing blue cube of the Tesseract.
It was cool here. It made me feel stronger, and I was glad to leave the oppressive heat of the cavern behind.
"Sir!" a voice called. I glanced around for the source of the voice and found the same tall, dark, one-eyed man that talked with Thor's friend. "Please put down the spear!"
Spear? What spear?
I glanced down at the pointed Scepter in my hand. From his distance, it must look very much like a spear, but it wasn't. It was much more than that.
I glanced back up and found that some of the humans had been slowly inching towards me, their weapons held at the ready. The Scepter told me that if I concentrated, I could get rid of them, blast them out of my way so that I could get to work.
I focused on the Scepter and the Stone inside. I drew its energy to the surface and forced it out, sending a large and powerful blast towards them. The blast hit one of their computers, and the humans opened fire with their weapons. The Scepter protected me from their bullets as I launched myself towards them. I knocked one to the ground, and more bullets flew towards me from behind. I used my own magic and summoned three daggers, throwing them at the human guards. The knives struck the three of them in the throat, and they stopped firing, collapsing to the floor.
Another bullet hit the Scepter.
Why were they aiming for the Gem? If they broke it, I wouldn't be able to have it.
I took aim towards the collection of humans that shot at me and sent another blast of the Stonen's energy towards them.
Several managed to dodge the shot, and another charged towards me. I brought my foot up and kicked him squarely in the chest, throwing him into a wall. The breaking of his spine could be heard even from where I stood.
I looked around for a moment, taking in what I had done. What the Scepter had done. It was unbelievable. The power it had was immeasurable, but I couldn't take it in for too long. I had a job to do, and I couldn't do it alone.
One of the men had started to get up, and I rushed towards him. He was the one who had shot the Scepter. I grabbed his wrist as he got up, dragging him towards me. He struggled, straining to lift his gun. A brave one.
"You have heart," I muttered.
The Scepter whispered to me, saying that I if I needed his help and unwavering loyalty, I could have it.
I brought the Scepter up and touched the tip of it to his chest. The blue light of the Scepter intensified, extending into him. His eyes turned black for a moment before it faded into the same bright blue the Stone of the Scepter currently held. I briefly saw into his mind as the Scepter did its job. His name was Clint Barton and he had a wife and children and was unmatched in skill with archery.
Barton looked back up at me and relaxed. I released his wrist, and he took a step back, holstering his gun.
It had worked. The Scepter was always right. The calming and electrifying power of the Gem raced through me all the more.
I needed more. More of the power in the Scepter and more people to help me.
I rushed off and found another man in a suit and did as the Scepter instructed, placing the sharpened tip of the Scepter to his chest. The man's eyes changed to black, then blue, before I took the Scepter away from him.
Footsteps sounded behind me, and I turned to find the one-eyed man sneaking away with a silver case.
"The Tesseract is in there," the Scepter whispered.
"Please don't," I asked, making the dark-skinned man freeze in place. "I still need that."
"This doesn't have to get any messier," he assured.
"Of course it does," I countered. "I've come too far for anything else." The man turned and stared at me intensely. "I am Loki. Of Asgard," I introduced. "And I am burdened with glorious purpose."
"Loki?" a familiar voice called. "Brother of Thor?" I turned to find Thor's friend getting up from the floor.
Was I really to go down in history as just "the Brother of Thor"? I couldn't have that. Especially since I'm not his brother at all.
"We have no quarrel with your people," the one-eyed man said, holding up a gloved hand.
As they shouldn't. "An ant, has no quarrel with a boot," I agreed.
The man stood there for a moment before lowering his hand. "Are you planning to step on us?"
For once, I didn't have a response. The energy of the Scepter was making my thoughts so scrambled. I wasn't planning to crush them, but with the Chitauri, that might happen anyways. Luckily-despite my current lack of eloquence-the Scepter was there to supply me with speech.
"I come with glad tidings," I voiced, repeating what the Scepter whispered as I took steps closer to Thor's friend, "of a world made free."
"Free from what?" the one-eyed man asked.
"Freedom," I readily answered, the Scepter's words coming into my mind faster and faster until I could barely distinguish them from my own. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart," I spun around and placed the tip of the Scepter over the heart of Thor's friend. His eyes turned black then bright blue as he also fell to the Scepter's power. Professor Erik Selvig was his name, and he was a skilled scientist. "You will know peace," I finished as he relaxed.
I above all people knew how they were feeling right now. It was a wonderful dream, but unlike them, I was in control.
"Yeah, you say peace," the dark-skinned man said, "I kinda think you mean the other thing."
"Sir," Barton called, marching up to me, "Director Fury is stalling." Fury? A fitting name for the little I knew about this one-eyed man. "This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us." I glanced up at the rolling blue light above Director Fury. It burst and clicked like rushing ocean water. "He means to bury us."
"Like the pharaohs of old," Fury confirmed.
"He's right," Selvig called, gesturing the the computer screen that proved Barton's theory. "The portal is collapsing in on itself. We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."
"Well, then," I muttered, turning to Barton and mentally ordering him to get us out of here.
Clint lifted his gun and took a deafening shot towards Fury, hitting him in the shoulder. Fury cried out as he fell to the floor and dropped the silver case that contained the Tesseract. I ordered Selvig to pick it up as I followed Barton out of the lab and down the hall. My steps were still so unsteady, and I didn't understand why. I have the Scepter now. Why am I still stumbling?
A sudden pang from my stomach made me nearly fall over. I groaned and almost stopped walking, but one of the men that the Scepter was controlling put a hand on my back and steadied me, pushing me forward again.
I let the Scepter take whoever it thought would be useful. Guards, scientists, telling them to keep up appearances and meet up with us later.
Barton led us through a pair of automatic doors and into a stone garage. "I need these vehicles," he announced as we passed a dark-haired woman. Clint gestured to one of them and waved us in. I gladly climbed into the open back-nearly collapsed into it, suddenly exhausted. When I was let out of the cell, I thought it would be wonderful to finally walk around in an open space, but it was much more of a relief to sit down.
"Who's that?" the dark-haired woman questioned.
"They didn't tell me," Barton answered as he moved towards the front of the vehicle.
The stone of the garage cracked, sending a spray of pebbles down to the floor and letting in freezing cold air. The cooler temperature made my exhaustion dissipate a little, but not enough.
"Hill!" a filtered voice called. "Do you copy?" Fury. "Barton has turned."
Clint instantly turned around and drew his gun, firing off a shot that Hill managed to dodge. Barton ducked into the vehicle as he fired off another shot. He slammed the door shut and ignited the engine, taking us far away from Hill.
Another vehicle followed us as Hill came out of her hiding place and returned fire, but we were moving too fast for her to hit. We tore through the pathways of the garage, vehicle after vehicle appearing and following close behind us.
I took aim with the Scepter and willed a blast of energy to land on the middle vehicle, throwing it off of it's wheels. It was sent up the wall until it rolled and landed on its back, blocking the rest of the oncoming vehicles. But one crashed into it, pushing it forward with determination to catch up with us.
The foundation of the entire building trembled as another armoured vehicle pulled out in front of us. Its tiers skid as the vehicle flipped around. I could see enough to recognise the driver as Hill as she came straight for us. The fronts of our vehicles crashed together, but Barton managed to push her back. They both pulled out their weapons and fired towards one another as Barton drove both of us forward.
Clint suddenly pushed us faster and made our vehicle drift to and fro until Hill's released us. We pulled ahead of her, and she was left behind, straining to catch up.
"The energy from the Tesseract is about to explode," the Scepter whispered.
We needed to go faster. I couldn't talk to Barton while he was inside of the vehicle, but I mentally urged him to take us faster as a sudden blast of invisible energy waved over us. The whole building shook violently, cracks appearing in the stone and spider-webbing across the ceiling. Boulders soon tumbled from the broken walls and blocked the path behind us, cutting Hill's chase short.
Barton drove us through the exit of the the laboratory, and we were released into the middle of the desert night. Another Midgardian transport hovered above us. The door was thrown open, and Fury was leaning out. He drew his gun and fired on Barton and Selvig.
I took aim with the Scepter and blasted it from the sky with its energy. The transport sparked, and fire spewed from the engine as it crashed to the ground. Fury jumped from the open door and fired on us as we made it to the road, but we were too distant and moving too quickly for him to hit us.
Using the energy from the Scepter had eased some of my constant aching. It wasn't gone entirely, but it would disappear with time. Probably.
Barton took us far away from the collapsed facility. We drove until the sun came up and a few hours into the morning. Two other vehicles appeared from the distance and drove alongside us. A quick glance through the windows told me that they were filled with the other people that the Scepter took over.
It took all I had to stay awake, and the unbearable heat from the desert sun made it even more difficult. The power of the Scepter was keeping me strong, but I couldn't go on like this forever. My body will give out if I don't eat or sleep soon.
I slumped down in the bed of the vehicle and let my heavy eyes close for a moment or two. Barton or someone else will tell me when we get there, but I can't fall asleep. Not until Barton took us to wherever he had in mind.
"Are you alright, sir?" Selvig wondered, shouting over the engine noise.
I cracked my eyes open and glanced at him leaning out of the window. "Yes, I'm fine," I assured.
"I don't mean to be rude, sir," Selvig countered, "but you don't look it."
Why did he care? He was being controlled by the Scepter now. Shouldn't he not care about anything except what he was ordered to do?
Maybe the Scepter didn't break you but simply change your loyalties. Changed your mind but not who you are.
"Forgive my impertinence, sir, but you look very sick," Selvig added.
I did? I haven't seen myself since before Odin fell into Odinsleep. I hadn't dared to look in the mirror since my skin turned blue.
A sharp and sudden ache from my stomach made me gasp and lean forward, grabbing my torso to try to quell the pain.
"Sir!" Selvig shouted. "Barton, stop the car!"
I wanted to tell them no, to keep going, but I couldn't. I was too exhausted.
The car jerked to a stop and Selvig bolted out of the cabin and jumped up to me. He shook my shoulder gently, getting me to look up at him. "When did you last eat, sir?" he asked.
"I don't know," I croaked, my dry throat burning as I spoke.
"I know where we can go," Barton voiced as he leaned out of the open window of the driver's side. "It's close to here. It's an underground warehouse, basically. I never told SHIELD about it. It has some food and water stocked, and there's enough layers of protection to keep them from detecting the Tesseract."
I nodded in answer. It didn't matter where we went as long as I could get out of this oppressive desert heat and find a place to rest.
Barton ducked back into the car and reached over to the passenger side, closing Selvig's door. He started the car back up and took off, sending a spray of sand and rocks out behind us.
"I'm not that kind of doctor," Selvig cautioned, "but I would still want you to eat and rest soon, sir."
I nodded again, not having the energy to talk.
I hope you guys enjoyed! See you soon for the next chapter!