Chapter 18
Darcy and Loki squinted, trying to see through the cloud of dust that was kicked up from the ground after the explosion. Destroyed fragments of the Aether were scattered across the ground, smashed apart like tiny glass shards. Darcy sat up, looking wide-eyed at the sight.
"Did it work?"
Before Loki could say anything, the Aether particles suddenly began to rise up from the ground and into the air. Darcy and Loki both blinked, looking around at the spectacle before the pieces suddenly started moving together, forming a cloud of red in midair. That was when the smoke finally cleared, revealing Malekith, who had a sadistic grin crawling across his face.
"No." Loki replied, grimly. "It did not."
The blood red particles molded together, engulfing as one inflamed substance. It seeped into the air once more before Malekith extended his arm, and the Aether was immediately drawn to him. This time, no one was able to stop it. Entering through his eyes and mouth, Malekith lurched back as the power of the Aether fed into him. Once it was all in, Malekith bent forward, gripping his stomach, before regaining his posture and gazing menacingly at the two warriors. His eyes were now glazed over with red. He smiled.
The power of the ancestors had been returned to the Dark Elves.
Turning to walk back to the ship, Malekith held the stunned gazes of Darcy and Loki before leaving. Darcy sat stunned, unsure of what to do, when Mjolnir suddenly pulsated with a white light in her grip. Her heart skipped a beat when a familiar voice invaded her thoughts.
Stop him!
Gripping Mjolnir, Darcy raced off after Malekith, ignoring Loki's demand to stop. Snarling, Darcy prepared to bash Malekith's head in, when a bright red light shone over her. Reacting quick, Darcy moved to the side, but not quick enough to avoid the small shockwave created by the occulus beam as she was knocked back several feet on her back. Observing this, Malekith lifted an eyebrow, watching as Darcy pulled herself back up and glared at him. Twirling the hammer around, she flew at him again, while the mothership above growled again, preparing to deliver another blast.
Malekith merely lifted his hand, and the ship stopped. Turning back to Darcy, he smiled. It was time to demonstrate the true power of the Aether.
Darcy didn't have time to blink as a blast of red hit her right in the gut, the very force of the attack shattering her breastplate and knocking the wind right of her. She flew back several meters, before landing hard on her back, skidding a few meters until the friction slowed her down. Mjolnir fell out of her grip the moment she was hit, crashing into the ground a few feet away from her. Dazed and shocked, Darcy pulled herself up, and when she looked up into the sky, she saw that the ship was already flying up off the ground and through the cloud bank.
"No..." Darcy said, gritting her teeth in anger. Suddenly, a volley of particle blasts struck the ground near her, and Darcy hastily got to her feet, glaring over a platoon of Dark Elves who had decided to stay behind and deal with the pests.
Reaching out, Darcy called Mjolnir to her, and it passed over to her, knocking down an unfortunate Elf along the way, and landed perfectly in her hand. Sparking with electricity, Darcy lunged forward, striking a Dark Elf and sending it flying.
While she was bashing around the elves, Darcy didn't notice the one that was sneaking up behind her. Grinning madly beneath his mask, the Elf pulled out a large stone dagger, gripping it madly and preparing to drive it through her heart. As he was upon her, lifting the dagger up and preparing to deliver a fatal blow, he gasped, or at least tried to, when someone pulled his head back and slit a dagger right through his throat.
Coughing up blackish blood, the Elf fell forward, dead. Loki stood over it's prone form, looking on with disinterest. Another Elf flew past his head, and he just casually glanced in its direction before turning back to Darcy, who just finished with the foolish platoon.
She was glaring at Loki. "Great plan, Lok. I'm so glad to have been a part of it, really."
"I thought it would work." Loki argued, not appreciating being talked down.
"Oh, you thought?" Darcy said, feigning surprise. "Is that how you thought of your other plans? You know, blowing up the smurfs, taking over Earth. Yeah, your plans have always worked out great."
Loki's eye twitched. "You're never going to let that go are you."
"Nope." Darcy said, bashing away a lone Dark Elf that had started to get up, and then sighed. "At least Jane's gonna be okay now. By the way, where is she?"
"I'm right here." A voice spoke up. Darcy looked over to see her best friend, up, running, and full of energy. Well, sort of. She looked like crap after the whole experience.
"From now on, I'm staying away from portals." Jane said, looking sick.
"I just might do the same." Darcy said, then looked back at Loki. "How's Sif?"
"She'll be fine. It'll take a few minutes for the poison to wear off, but she'll survive." Loki assured.
"I still don't see why poisoning her was necessary." Darcy said, frowning. "She's gonna be super pissed at you."
"And? She always is." Loki pointed out.
"Wait a minute. What?" Jane said, looking shocked. She stared at Darcy. "You mean that poisoning Sif was a part of the plan? Did she know this?"
"Of course not. No offense to her, but Sif is the worst actress in all the Nine Realms. She couldn't pull off a stunt like that." Loki remarked. Then he realized something. "Where's your Prothean friend?"
"Hm? Oh, crap, Hikesh! I didn't see him after the ex-"
Darcy was cut off abruptly when a boulder, roughly the size of an RV, crashed right into her, sending her flying over fifty meters away before impacting a large hill. The impact shook the landscape, and the hill crumbled. Loki and Jane looked on shock and surprise, when the ground quaked as the source of the attack landed nearby.
Growling menacingly, his implants sparking from recent damage, Algrim marched over to where Darcy landed. Stopping before the boulder, Algrim lifted it with ease and tossed it aside. Where it landed, he didn't care. There was only one thing on his mind.
And that was killing Thordis.
Darcy groaned in pain, not expecting the attack, and opened her eyes to see Algrim standing over her. Glaring, Darcy reached out, calling Mjolnir to her, and it raced towards them on an impact trajectory with Algrim's head. But to Darcy's surprise, Algrim spun around and slapped the hammer away, sending it skidding off to the side.
Growling down at Darcy, Algrim lifted his foot up, and Darcy yelled in pain as he stomped hard on her chest repeatedly. Gritting her teeth, Darcy grabbed his foot when he was about to strike her for the fifth time, and struggled to force him away.
With a yell, she forced him away and then jumped to her feet. Rushing forward, she delivered a hard punch to Algrim's face, denting his helmet and forcing his head back. She bashed her other fist onto his head, and then up his gut. She continued to punch him before Algrim grabbed her fists, growling as she tried to wrench free, and then threw her to the side.
As Algrim ran towards her, Darcy quickly called Mjolnir to her and flew at him, striking him in the gut hammer first and carrying him up into the air a few hundred feet. The two raced over in an ark trajectory, Algrim bashing Darcy repeatedly in an effort to free himself. Darcy just grunted as his fist struck her in the head, and she was forced to push herself away from Algrim. She watched as he fell from the sky, landing safely on his feet. The ground shook from his landing.
Landing nearby, Darcy faced down the Dark Elf, who glared at her with eyes, which, for some reason, were glowing red. His fists clenched, and Darcy blinked when red electricity crackled around them.
Algrim spoke, but it sounded different. "WE LIVE TO KILL YOU."
It was almost as if something was speaking through him, as it sounded like a combination between two voices.
Darcy didn't have time to think it over, as Algrim rushed forward, driving his fist into her gut, a small blast of red energy adding to the impact. Darcy yelped in pain as she was thrown back, and grunted as a volley of fists were thrown at her, driving her further into the ground.
Dazed and beaten, Darcy blinked up at Algrim, his red eyes gazing evilly as he lifted his foot up, prepared to bash her brains in. Before he could, a blade suddenly pierced through his chest.
Grunting, Algrim looked down at the blade, before turning. From Darcy's point of view, she saw Algrim move aside to reveal Loki. The Asgardian prince backed away in surprise at the futility of his attack, and grunted as Algrim grabbed him. He looked ready to drive Loki to him, which would have caused the bald protruding from the Elf's chest to impale Loki's solar plexus.
Loki closed his eyes, accepting the circumstances, while Darcy looked up helplessly. Suddenly, a form leapt at Algrim, driving their knee into his head. While the strength was enough to cause Algrim to let go of Loki, it wasn't enough to knock him down.
He glared at the person, seeing that it was Sif, now wide awake, but sporting a bloody shoulder. She was glaring at Algrim furiously, gripping her sword and shield.
"You've taken enough lives, monster."
Growling in response, Algrim lunged at her, swiping his fist. Ducking back matrix-style, Sif avoided the attack and drove her sword through his arm. Algrim roared as Sif wrenched the blade, actually cutting off Algrim's arm. Algrim howled in agony as he gripped his stump of an arm, while the severed appendage fell to the ground. It was sparking and spewing blackish-bile like blood, which were cooked by the burning implants.
Algrim looked at Sif furiously, before lifting his foot and slamming it hard into the ground. The resulting shockwave caught Sif off guard and sent her flying. Algrim marched towards her, preparing to finish off that wretched Asgardian cow, when something hard struck his skull.
Darcy furiously bashed him around with her hammer, not letting up or giving him a chance to fight back. "Damn you, fucking asshole! Goddamn it!" She bashed him hard, actually denting his armor and wounding him.
Fortunately for Algrim, he found an opening and delivered a powerful backhand that sent Darcy flying. Screaming, Darcy hit a cliffside, falling down on her but. Her head was now spinning. She looked up to see Algrim, one armed but still extremely dangerous, glaring at her.
"YOU ARE AN ANNOYANCE." He, or it, growled. "IF THE REST OF YOU HUMANS ARE SUCH HINDRANCES, WE HAVE NO USE FOR YOU. WE WILL ENSURE NOTHING REMAINS."
Whatever Algrim was about to do never happened, as a blast of familar red energy impacted him from the side and forced him away from Darcy. Blinking in surprise, Darcy looked over, gaping at the sight of Xegh Hikesh.
Instead of the normal green dark energy aura, Hikesh was now surrounded by a crimson aura. Even Hikesh's skin seemed to now have a reddish tint to it while engulfed in the blazing red field.
But a major physical difference was the Prothean's eyes. They were now blood red, glazed over by the power of the Aether.
"My turn." Hikesh growled. Channeling as much of the Aether's energy as he could, Hikesh zipped forward at supersonic speed. Darcy didn't even see him move. Just one minute he was in front of her, the next he was in front of Algrim, delivering a series of superpowered punches.
Algrim grunted in surprise, actually registering that he was being attacked, and that the attacks were actually damaging him. Looking up, Algrim saw what was attacking him, and his eyes widened.
"IMPOSSIBLE." He said. But it was not his regular voice. Hikesh knew the sound, the signs. He grinned at the husk.
"Your kind is getting sloppy. So much for your unbreakable cycle." Hikesh sneered as he delivered a hard punch to Algrim's head. The Aether energy washed over Algrim before forcing him back. The punch knocked everything out of the Dark Elf, leaving a large crater in his skull that, to put it simply, disabled Algrim for good.
That didn't stop Hikesh's advance. Glaring in hatred at the Elf, Hikesh put his hands back, and started growling as he charged up a dark red aura of Aether energy. His body blazed and pulsated as the energy course through him, and the valley around him was illuminated in a bright red light.
Then, with a loud roar, Hikesh forced his hands out, and the energy he was charging left him and flew at Algrim. An enormous pillar of red energy engulfed the Dark Elf, and grew in size so that it could be seen for miles. It lasted a few moments, but the sight was extraordinary.
Then, slowly, the pillar faded away, and where once was Algrim, there was now en empty crater devoid of life. Glaring, Hikesh stood firm as his aura faded away. His eyes, however, remained red.
Hearing footsteps behind him, Hikesh turned to see Darcy, Loki, and Jane. Darcy and Jane gaped at him, trying to comprehend what he just did, while Loki looked rather surprised and a little envious that Hikesh was able to control the Aether so easily.
"What? No thank yous?" Hikesh growled sarcastically.
Before anyone could respond, heavy footsteps were heard, and the four turned to see Sif. She was staring at Loki with furious eyes.
"Loki..." She growled.
"Sif." Loki said, feigning happiness. "Your alive. How wond-OOMPH!"
Sif drove her fist at his face, hitting him hard and knocking him back. She glared down as he groaned, gripping his face in pain.
"No hard feelings."
Chapter eighteen, finished. Algrim is officially out of the picture, Loki's jaw is probably broken, and Hikesh got a powerup! Win win. Lol. But the victory is bittersweet. How will our group of heroes get off Svartalfheim? Hm...