Chapter 7

Jane took a gasp of air as her eyes jolted open and she sat up straight. Looking around, she was surprised and relieved to find herself back in the dark, cold hallway of the abandoned factory. Looking at herself, she notices no scars on her whatsoever. Hearing a familiar beeping sound, Jane looked over to the side, seeing her device unharmed as well but still beeping like there was no tomorrow. Regaining her footing, Jane grapped the device, and after briefly struggling to get to her feet, stumbled out of the hallway.

As Jane took a few steps, she frowned, seeing that no one was around. Had Darcy and Hikesh left? If they did they were so gonna...

Jane's thoughts were interrupted when a hand suddenly grabbed her by the shoulder and yanked her to face its source. Letting out a terrified shriek, Jane slapped whoever it was that grabbed her, resulting in that person tightening its grip on her.

"Dr. Foster, relax! It's just me!"

Jane stopped struggling and looked up to see the serious, alien face of Xegh Hikesh, glaring at her with his four eyes. Blinking, Jane then glared and pulled herself out of Hikesh's grip.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" She scolded. "You scared the living hell out of me!"

"I scared you?" Hikesh said incredulously. "Do you have any idea how long we've been searching for you?"

"No, not really." Jane said, huffing. "Where's Darcy."

"She's outside." Hikesh said, before trailing off. He was now staring at Jane intently, frowning. Something was wrong with her. Looking into her eyes, he noticed that they were no longer their normal brown, but were now... a dark, reddish color. That shouldn't be possible for a human.

Noticing the Prothean's stares, Jane blushed. "What?"

"Are you alright?" Hikesh asked, and Jane was somewhat surprised by the worry in his voice.

"Er... yeah. Why?"

Not answering her, Hikesh gently gripped Jane's forearm, causing Jane to flinch. The moment Hikesh's hand touched her skin, Hikesh gasped when a red pulse briefly flashed from Jane's skin and into his arm, followed by a brief, sharp jab of pain. Hissing off the pain, Hikesh tightened his grip on Jane's arm, and his dark energy aura flared up around him as he read her.

Jane, overwhelmed by the Prothean's sensory readings, just stood there gaping. She watched as a wave of different expressions washed over Hikesh's face, before he released her, his aura fading. Letting out a deep breath, Jane started gasping, glaring up at Hikesh. Hikesh just stared at her blankly.

"What the hell was..."

Hikesh cut her off by grabbing her by the shoulder and pulling her out towards the exit. "Come on, we need to leave."

Hikesh quickly pulled Jane outside, where the sky was now dark, gloomy, and the clouds were moving fast, heralding a possible storm. Frowning at this, Jane turned her attention to Hikesh, and then saw that he had pulled his hood over his head in an attempt to mask his features. Wondering what he was hiding from, Jane looked ahead and saw several police vehicles parked around the factory courtyard. One of the officers was talking to Darcy.

Jane blinked, processing the sight before her. Darcy... Hikesh... Cops... COPS?!

Immediately, Jane pulled herself out of Hikesh's grip, and stomped over towards Darcy. Hikesh, sensing her anger, put his hand out to stop her. "Jane..."

But Jane waved him off and moved over to Darcy, fuming. Seeing Jane, Darcy's mouth fell open in surprise before she pushed past the officer and ran towards her. "Jane!"

When the two were finally face to face, Darcy tried to speak. "Jane, where the hell were you?"

But Darcy's question just seemed to float right over Jane's head. "Tell me that you didn't call the police."

"You told me I wasn't allowed to go Thordis unless the situation was life threatening." Darcy said, frowning. "What else was I supposed to do?"

"NOT call the police!" Jane retorted furiously.

"I was freaking out!" Darcy defended.

"Girls, I..." Hikesh tried to but in, but their bickering drowned out his attempts.

"You call the cops, they call the feds. Next thing you know, S.H.I.E.L.D. will be all over us, berating us for compromising another possible security threat!" Jane exclaimed, waving her arms around frantically. "Do you want another New Mexico, Darcy?"

Darcy glared, putting her hands on her hips. "Okay, first off, S.H.I.E.L.D. is on our side now. And two, New Mexico wasn't so bad, remember?"

"Not so bad?" Jane said, growling. "Buildings were exploding!"

Hikesh pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head as the girls went on, silently cursing Fury for putting him in this mess. Suddenly the sky above them started booming, and Hikesh blinked. Slowly, he looked up, and his eyes widened when he saw that the clouds above were starting to take a peculiar shape. The clouds started to distort in color and appearance, looking like a small nebula. The cops seemed to notice it as well, and were all staring up in shock and wonder. Hikesh backed up towards the girls, who were still bickering aimlessly. Looking back, Hikesh saw that the clouds had started to morph into a formation that looked like the eye of a hurricane. Bolts of lightning shot out of the dark clouds, scathing the air about them. Jane and Darcy remained oblivious.

"Girls..." Hikesh said, inching closer to the pair.

"We had a stable, gravitational anomaly! We had unlimited access! Our only competition were ten year olds!" Jane berated.

"Girls, I..." Hikesh tried again.

"Yeah, I'm sure that would all be fine and dandy." Darcy said. "That is, if you had actually been around to help out with it! You were gone for five hours, Jane!"

Jane had been preparing to roar at Darcy again, until she said those words, bringing Jane out of her state of anger.

"Five... wha..?"

Jane was interrupted when a large beam of swirling energy shot out of the anomaly above, striking the large factory building nearby and blowing it to pieces. The shockwave from the event blew Darcy, Jane, and Hikesh off their feet, and the officers, who were at as safe distance, shielded their eyes from bright light and falling rubble.

The beam continued to bore into the ground for a few moments, clearing out whatever remnants of the building remained, until it stopped.

Slowly, the girls and the Prothean looked up at the ruins of the building. They stared at the rubble in shock, before looking at each other.

"T-That..." Jane stuttered in shock.

"That was..." Darcy said at the same time. Quickly, the two scrambled to their feet and ran towards the ruins. Hikesh blinked before following them. Ignoring the demands of stop from the officers, the three jumped over piles of rubble, before coming across a large clearing where a familiar celtic symbol had been burned into the concrete.

The girls' faces lit up with recognition, as did Hikesh's, but his face was more plastered with shock. That symbol! It's...

"Darcy? Hikesh?"

The three jerked their attention away from the symbol on the ground to the source of the voice. Standing nearby, on a pile of rubble, was Lady Sif. She was wearing armor that was similar to the one she wore at both New Mexico and the New York incident, only this had new chain-mail armwear, similar to that of Thordis' armor. Her hair was also no longer in a ponytail, giving her a more Amazon like look. She had her shield and sword in their holsters, and she was looking at the three in surprise.

"Sif?" Darcy said, and then jumped off the rubble and moved over to the Asgardian maiden. Jane and Hikesh followed shortly. Once they were at the Asgardian's location, Darcy gave the woman a smile.

"You know, for a minute I was worried you might have been Loki, back for revenge." Darcy joked. "So how's space?"

Sif returned the smile. "Space is good. It took some time to clean up the damage Loki did, but everything is peaceful for the time being."

"That's great." Darcy said. "So then what are you doing here?"

Before Sif could answer, Jane walked up and spoke. "Are you here about the broadcast?"

Sif looked confused for a moment, before realization hit her. "You know about that as well?"

"Know about it?" Darcy said, incredulously. "Every TV station in the world is playing it!"

"Yes, I figured." Sif said, sighing. "The visions are plaguing the people of Asgard as well. It is quite horrid. But that is not why I am here, however."

"Then why are you here?" Hikesh said, glaring at Sif with his arms crossed.

Actually acknowledging the Prothean's presence, Sif gave Hikesh a glare of her own. "Hello to you, too, Hikesh. I see you still carry strange company, Darcy. Not the kind of company I would prefer."

"Sif..." Darcy said warningly.

"Still bitter over our last argument, Sif." Hikesh said. "Have you even told your kin of the truth?"

"There was no truth!" Sif hissed, gripping the hilt of her sword. "The words of an aged alien matter not to the people of Asgard."

"Er... what are they talking about?" Jane whispered to Darcy.

"It's a long story." Darcy whispered back.

Hikesh sighed. "I imagine you did not come here to argue with us, Sif. Now, why have you come?"

Still glaring at the Prothean, Sif pointed to Jane. "Because of her."

This surprised the group, including Jane. "Me?"

"Heimdall could not see you." Sif said, looking at Jane. "And Heimdall sees everything. With the visions plagueing the realms and the Convergence fast approaching, he sent me to investigate your disappearance."

"Wait a minute." Darcy said, shaking her hands. "The what?"

"The Convergence." Sif said simply. "You have seen the signs of it, haven't you?"

"You mean the anomolies?" Jane said, puzzled. "Why is that..."

"Of course." Hikesh said, shaking his head. "I should have realized it. The Convergence is a rare cosmic event that occurs about every five-thousand years. It is when the cosmic nimbus that connects the Earth with the other eight main worlds enter a specific order of alignment that causes the boundaries between each world to become thin. As the event grows nearer, the boundaries become so thin that portals open up in between worlds."

Sif blinked, surprised and a little worried that the Prothean knew so much about the Convergence. "Yes... that's right."

Darcy and Jane looked surprised. Darcy gave a small huh. "Wow. That's trippy."

"How do you know about this?" Jane said, eyeing Hikesh.

"When my people were studying the nine worlds, the Convergence occurred at least once." Hikesh said, remembering that day. "It was a rare marvel to behold."

"So wait." Darcy said, catching everyone's attention. "This 'convergence' just so happened to begin at the same moment a psychic broadcast is sent out across the worlds? Doesn't that seem a little off to any of you?"

"That is precisely why Heimdall was so worried." Sif said. "He believes there is some manor of conspiracy afoot. And these events are just the beginning."

The three exchanged worried glances at Sif's words, and Jane looked at Sif. "What kind of conspiracy? Who's behind it?"

"I don't know." Sif said shaking her head. "But I'm pretty sure that whatever it is, it's not good."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure that we're going to get arrested." Darcy said, glancing back. Following her gaze, the group saw that the officers had surrounded them, and one of them was stepping closer towards them.

Great. Jane said mentally.

Sif glared at the approaching officers, and slowly reached for her sword, but Hikesh shot her a warning look. Sif glared at the Prothean, before giving a huff and letting go of the hilt.

Jane gulped as she looked at the approaching officer. "Can I help you, officer?"

"Are you Jane Foster?" The officer questioned.

"Yes..." Jane said worriedly.

"This is private property, and you're trespassing. The whole lot of you." The officer said, glancing at the group. He paused briefly when he saw Sif and Hikesh. Blinking at them, he backed away slightly at the glare Sif was giving him. Clearing his throat, he looked back at Jane. "You're gonna have to come with me."

"B-but...!" Jane tried to defend.

"Sorry, Ms. Foster." The officer said, and reached for her arm. For a brief second, Hikesh saw Jane's arm flare up with a strange red light. His eyes widened, and he jumped forward.

"Wait!"

The officer grabbed Jane's arm to pull her away, but right as he did, a sphere of red energy suddenly exploded from Jane's form, thrusting the officers, Darcy, Sif, and Hikesh all away from her and in different directions. While Darcy fell headfirst into a pile of rubble, Hikesh and Sif oomphed as they fell on their back, and grunted as she pulled herself up, and looked at Jane in shock. Jane, meanwhile, felt like all the energy was ripped out of her the moment that blast was unleashed, and fell to her knees, shaking. The officers all groaned as they pulled themselves up, and Hikesh and Sif both stood, staring at Jane. Hearing struggling behind them, the two looked to see Darcy waist deep in rubble, struggling to pull herself out.

"Darcy..." Sif said, stepping forward.

"No, it's okay. I got this." Darcy said. She struggled to pull herself out of the rubble, pulling herself out briefly, before sinking back in. She pushed through the pile before stumbling out, giving a yelp as she fell face first onto the ground.

Sif looked at her bemusedly, before looking at Hikesh, who just rolled his eyes. "She's fine."

Turning back to Jane, Sif ran over to her, as did Hikesh, and shortly, Darcy. Hikesh gently helped Jane up to her feet. Jane was rubbing her head, which was throbbing painfully.

"Are you alright?" Hikesh said, worriedly.

"I don't know..." Jane grunted. "I feel like I just got hit by a truck."

"So do I." Darcy muttered, rubbing her nose, which hurt after she fell on it.

Shaking her head, Jane looked around at the small crater that was created from her little episode. "What the hell was that?"

"Freeze."

The four looked up to see that the officers were all pointing they're guns at them. Hikesh gripped Jane's shoulder protectively, while Darcy and Sif all stood up, taking out their weapons and glaring at the officers.

"Put your hands above your heads." The head officer ordered. "Step away from the girl."

"Are you crazy?" Darcy said. "Did you not see what she just did?"

"She is unwell." Hikesh growled, stepping in front of Jane, who was looking at the officers with a scared expression.

"She's dangerous." The officer declared, stepping closer. "Now, put her hands up and step..."

The sound of a sword being drawn from its sheeth silences the man, and Sif pit the tip of her sword right at the officer's throat. The officer blinked in surprise, and dropped his gun and stepped back as Sif forced him away, glaring. The other officers pointed their guns at her.

"Are you mad?" The officer said, glaring at Sif.

Ignoring the officer, Sif glared at him and she forced him away. "Stay back, all of you. This is beyond your control."

Immediately, one of the other officers pulled out a walky-talky and began speaking into it. "Requesting armed response officers to the scene!"

With a grunt, Sif kicked the officer away, knocking him on his back, and moved over to her three companions. Darcy looked at her in surprise.

"What are you doing?"

Ignoring her, Sif looked up at the sky. "Any time now, Heimdall!"

Almost immediately, a swirling beam of light fell down upon Sif, Darcy, Jane, and Hikesh, and warped them away from the scene. The officers all covered their eyes from the light, while the head officer, who was still on his back and only a few inches away from the light, stared up at the sky in shock as his hat was blown right off his head.

Soon, the beam stopped, and the skies above returned to normal. And there was no sign of the group.

Well, here's chapter seven. Hope it was good, and I hope you all had a good Christmas :) next chapter, the group is given a tour of Asgard, and knowing Odin, he won't be to pleased at the visitors. To bad that's the least of his problems. Review pleaz