Doctor Selvig sat up slowly, have being thrown pretty hard. I turned to him, smiling at the destruction around us. I could see fire, lighting up the steel buildings with a golden glow. Up here you couldn't even hear the inevitable screams of civilians. My smile faltered as I watched Selvig sit up though, and I fingered my guns nervously. His eyes weren't shockingly blue anymore, and a trail of blood ran from his temple.
"Doctor Selvig?" I asked warily. He looked at me, seeming surprised to see me there, before quickly taking in my S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform.
"Agent," he panted. Despair reached his eyes, no longer devoid of emotion. "What have I done? What –"
Agent Romanov landing on the roof nearby us interrupted his questioning. She rolled, leaping to her feet, guns in hand. She warily approached the portal, and I readied myself to shoot her; the only operative better than I was. Selvig interrupted me though, looking over the precipice he was thrown dangerously close to. Should have gone over, I thought bitterly, because now he wasn't under Loki's control – now he was the enemy that I had to take down.
"The sceptre." He was saying to Agent Romanov. "Loki's sceptre, the energy – the tesseract can't fight, it can't protect against yourself."
"It's not your fault, you didn't know what you were doing." She attempted to reassure him.
"Well actually I think I did." Selvig confessed. "I built in a safety to cut the power source."
"Loki's sceptre." Agent Romanov said, catching the doctor's drift.
"May be able to close the portal, yes. And I'm looking right at it."
I cleared my throat, stepping forward, my boots crunching against the gravel. "That can't happen, I'm afraid." I fired at Agent Romanov, swallowing the small sense of guilt invading my head. Rolling away from my fire, she leapt to her feet, closing the distance between us. I blocked her first strike, returning one with equal speed, following up with a knee to the stomach. She stumbled, but recovered quick, coming back at me with her fists flying. I dodged, swaying back, before lunging forward, tackling her to the ground. The wind left my lungs in a rush as her shoulder collided with my stomach, and her knees flew up, flipping me onto my back. Before I could react she was above me, fists flying, hitting my face, my neck, my arm, my wrist. I tasted blood and heard a snap sound come from the direction of my arm. Blood ran into my eyes and I struggled for breath. White fury filled me and I struggled to my feet. She could not be allowed to close the portal. How dare she fight to defend S.H.I.E.L.D. when their entire organisation was monsters, killers, and corruptors? Loki was going to fix this pitiful world, how could she not understand?
I struggled to my feet, whirling to face her, barely taking a step before registering her position in relation to mine. She had reclaimed her gun, and was standing braced, pointing it directly at my chest.
"I'm sorry, Agent Crowe." She said, pulling the trigger. A roaring filled my ears, and bright blood blossomed from my chest. Distantly, I felt the pain spread throughout my limbs, every extremity of my figure hurt.
The white fury fully encompassed me as I fell, fury towards S.H.I.E.L.D., towards Eric Selvig, towards Natasha Romanov – the only agent ever better than me. Suddenly extinguished I slipped into the darkness, the darkness that was cold, stroking my arms and calling to me. I didn't want to go to this darkness though, it wasn't his darkness, and it wasn't Loki's dark embrace.
AN: Firstly, no this isn't the end of the story (pssht, I like Loki too much to stop!). So please stay tuned, this next chapter might take me a few days. I'll write when I can, when I'm not distracted by minecraft or my SO.
Secondly, sorry it's another short chapter, but this plotty bit was kinda necessarily short. You know, the protagonist dying and all.
Thirdly, please review! I love seeing them, and they encourage me to write. The more reviews the more I write, so yea... the speed of the next chapter is in your hands!