Chapter 23

The Old Royal Naval College, set up right next to the River Thames, was active with students all moving by to improve on their education. The students were all young an inexperienced with the truth of the world and the peril that it was currently in. For in less than five minutes, the entire campus would be a battleground for interstellar crisis.

In the middle of the campus, directly outside of the large library that was arguably the most noticeable feature of the college, Hikesh, now clad in his red, shell-like armor, was driving one of Erik's tripods into the ground. Sif and Loki stood nearby, the former holding another one of the tripods while Loki just stood boredly. Having actually thought about blending in with the humans, especially considering his past relations, he was dressed in a modern ensemble made up of a deep green formal coat donned over a high-pressed suit.

He cast them both an impatient glare. "Could we hurry this up? They could be arriving at any moment! And people are starting to stare..."

"Well I'm sorry that neither I or Hikesh have the same sense of fashion that you do." Sif snapped.

"You had all night to plan." Loki remarked. "Maybe you should learn from me for once."

This caused Sif to glare. "Planning? Is that what you spent last night doing?"

Hikesh froze, not facing the pair while Loki's face turned serious. "I beg your pardon?"

"Oh, nothing." Sif said innocently. "I just couldn't help but notice you coming out of Darcy's room early in the morning. What were the two of you doing, I wonder?"

"I'm afraid I do not know what you mean." Loki claimed.

"Don't play dumb with me, Loki. I'm not going to let you court Darcy against her wi-"

"Enough." Hikesh growled, not in the mood for any of their foolishness. "You two are over a thousand years old and you are acting like children. Now, focus. This is important. We have to hammer them all in around the site, and than Dr. Foster and Dr. Selvig will activate them from the tower."

"Do you even know how these things work?" Loki asked, quirking an eyebrow.

Hikesh scoffed. "Of course not. I didn't build them."

Suddenly, a loud rumbling filled the sky. All of the students paused, and everyone looked up into the sky to see something very unusual taking place. Large holes had opened up in the sky, and on the other side were landmasses. They ranged from volcanic regions to beautiful grasslands. Slowly, the portals seemed to be growing wider and wider. Not only that, but it felt like the gravity was getting heavier as Hikesh, Sif, and Loki felt a wash of weight briefly push down on them.

"It's beginning." Sif said, gazing up at the sky. She handed the other tripod to Hikesh, who quickly set that one up as well.

"Yes." Loki said, looking up as well. He had never seen the Convergence himself before. The last one was long before his time. To see it now was quite the accomplishment. He could clearly see realms such as Muspelheim, Vanaheim... he even saw Niflheim.

That's where the region of Hel was located. Hela...

"Done." Hikesh said, finishing the last tripod. "Now, if Soladat is done with the others, we can get started soon. All we have to do is wait for-"

A loud, metallic wail shook the area, and a brief, red illumination filled the skies before disappearing. A dark shadow cascaded over the entire campus. The three turned around to look up at the sky, and Hikesh glared in hatred at the creature that had haunted his dreams for so long.

ooooo

At the library, Jane, Erik, Skye, and Ward were gathered over a small device that Jane was working with. They all stopped abrubtly when they heard that same noise. While the sight was familiar to Jane, it caused Erik, Skye, and Ward to gape in shock.

"Oh my..." Ward muttered.

"Holy shit!" Skye said, nearly dropping her laptop as she stared with wide eyes.

ooooo

Soladat hung up her phone and turned to Agent May, who was guarding Fitz and Simmons as they set up the last tripod. "Okay. Hikesh, Sif, and Loki just set up the last few of Selvig's devices. The Reaper should be here at any moment."

"How will we know what this Reaper looks like?" Fitz wondered.

Soladat shrugged. "It's an alien spacecraft. I'd think those would be easy to spot."

That was when the noise occurred. The four S.H.I.E.L.D. agents paused, looking around in search of the source.

"Er, what-" Simmons was cut off when what felt like enormous footsteps shook the campus. In the distance, they cold hear panic and pandomoneum, and saw various students rushing for shelter. Splashing from the River Thames could be heard following each footstep, and then another electronic wail. Suddenly, a shadow moved over the four agents. May was the first to turn around and see. She looked up with wide eyes and a partially opened mouth. She backed up towards her three teammates as they turned around and gaped as well.

"Soladat..." May muttered.

"Oh my god..." Soladat said, staring at the Reaper.

"We're gonna need a bigger hammer." Fitz mumbled.

ooooo

Nazara gazed down at the fleeing humans. Pathetic. All of them. Its optic photoreceptor scanned those that fled, when its eyes fell upon the four that were staring up at it with fear. It scoffed in disgust, briefly contemplating vaporozing them before the millions of individual programs within its collective mind decided against it. There were more important things to attend to. It was time for the tool to do its work.

The Reaper walked along the River Thames, emerging at the shore, marching right up into the center of the campus. Stopping, a light emanated from Nazara and hit the ground. Materializing from it was a platoon of Dark Elves. Standing in the center was their leader. Malekith.

Slowly, Malekith marched forward, his pinions in tow. He paused briefly, gazing up at the growing portals overlooking from above. He grinned, ever so eager to carry out with the plan, only for his happy thoughts to be interrupted by a loud crackle of thunder from the heavens.

Turning abrubtly, Malekith sneered as Thordis fell down from the sky, Mjolnir in hand. She hit the ground with so much force that a small crater was created by the impact. She gave Malekith a smirk.

"Sup."

Almost immediately, Darcy was flanked by Loki, Sif, and Hikesh. Loki drew his daggers, Sif drew her sword, and Hikesh's aura flared. Malekith blinked in surprise when he saw the Prothean's aura. The red coloring was one thing, but the energy that he gave off filled Malekith's senses, and he glared furiously. He had suspected something was wrong after he took the Aether on Svartalfheim, but he dismissed it as nothing.

Now, he knew.

"You four are very persistent." Malekith said as he drew closer, fists clenched as he glared hatefully at the four. "I hate persistence."

"As long as you still breathe, we will persist as we please." Sif growled, gripping her sword as she stared at the man responsible for the death of her realm's king. "Not that it would have mattered. Death would have claimed you even if we failed."

"Death?" Malekith chortled incredulously. "You think it is I who will fall this day, shield maiden?"

"You will be disposed of inevitably." Hikesh responded. "If not by us, by your master. Once you are no longer useful."

Malekith's eyes widened, if only briefly, before he glared again. "You spoke to the intelligence."

"We did." Sif confirmed. "And it told us everything. You and your people claim to be warriors of great prospect that seek what is best for the universe, but in reality you are all just puppets that are being used for something even darker."

Above, Nazara made a discomforting groan, and Malekith's eyes seemed to narrow dangerously in response.

"I am no puppet." He growled. "I am merely taking a different alternative with more satisfying results."

"How is allying with a genocidal machine a more satisfying alternative?" Darcy asked incredulously. "Don't you have any clue as to what these guys did to the Protheans?"

"Of course I know." Malekith sneered. "I spoke to the intelligence. I heard the tales its creators had experienced. At first I brushed them off as simple fairy tales mean to deter my attention away from it. It changed when he appeared."

Malekith glanced up at Nazara, and his four opponents seemed to cringe and glare in slight disgust when the Reaper seemed to gaze down at them with malicious intent. The leader of the Dark Elves returned his gaze to them.

"When I attempted to investigate his arrival, he bore visions into my mind. I saw what Nazara and his kind had accomplished, what they had seen throughout the millennia. His kind outlives even mine. My kind, who have forever been present since you mortals were nothing more than single celled organisms crawling up from the oceans. The things his kind could tell us would be unlimited. In exchange for giving me this knowledge, Nazara gave me one simply task. To bring his kind back from the dark and into the light."

At this, the four looked at Malekith like he had grown a second head. It was Darcy who broke the silence. "Have you been hit on the head?"

"Excuse me?" Malekith said, frowning at the girl.

It was Loki who answered this time. "I believe she was asking if you had incurred any recent brain damage that might be accounting for your suddenly suicidal behavior. You've allied with a race of machines whose only true goal is to eradicate all life in the universe. The only contribution you pose to them at this moment, is your control over the Aether and the advantage you have at bringing the... others back. Once you have done your job, you will get nothing. Except maybe death."

For a brief moment, Malekith actually seemed to consider the trickster god's words, but an electronic hiss from Nazara caused his facial features to change from a look of contemplation to a sneer.

"This coming from a shamed prince who himself allied with a foreign force simply out of fear." Malekith bit harshly. "How you, who has made nothing but mistakes his whole life, could ever hope to comprehend my logic is beyond me."

"So then you are just going to willingly abandon the goal you set forth over five-thousand years ago?" Sif asked incredulously. "For the sake of ill-given knowledge?"

"Are you even listening to yourself?" Hikesh growled at the Dark Elf. "This isn't logic. This-this is madness! I may know little of you, Dark Elf, but I know from experience that this is not you speaking. Nazara is manipulating you and you don't even realize it!"

"That's not true!" Malekith retorted arrogantly. "I am Malekith, last lord of Svartalfheim! I am manipulated by no one. I tire of arguing with you lot. You have hindered me long enough. If killing you will put an end to this charade, then so be it!"

Malekith performed waving hand signals as the energy of the Aether was channeled around his body. With a grunt, he threw his hands forward, and a blast of red Aether energy shot out towards the group. Thinking fast, Hikesh lifted up his hands and a force shield of dark energy was lifted up around them. He grit his teeth as the force of Malekith's attack slammed into the barrier, pushing them all back.

Moments later, Hikesh dropped the barrier, and the attack had kicked up dust and dirt, obscuring the group from Malekith's vision. Squinting, Malekith tried to see through the dust, when suddenly, a silver hammer flew out and hit him right in the gut.

Malekith grunted in pain as he was flung back several meters. The other Dark Elves all spun around to look at their master in surprise. Colliding with a nearby pillar connected to one of the buildings. The pillar broke apart and crumbled as Malekith flew right through it and into a nearby parking lot, where he crashed into a black taxi cab, which was crushed underneath Malekith's inhuman weight as he impacted hard.

Mjolnir flew away from the downed Dark Elf and back into the dust cloud, falling right into Darcy's waiting hand. Twirling it around, Darcy gave a yell as she flew off towards Malekith. Nazara gave out a furious wail as it turned in her direction and marched slowly towards her.

However, a blast of red Aether/dark energy collided with its side, causing its shield to dim and shimmer slightly. The force of the attack was surprisingly powerful, as it actually caused Nazara to stumble back a step. Looking down, Nazara's optic sensor glowed dangerously down at the accursed Prothean and the two Asgardians flanking his side.

Hikesh, meanwhile, was staring at his hand with a raised eyebrow. He smirked. "Interesting..."

"Hikesh!" Sif yelled. The Prothean looked up, and quickly brought up a barrier to block the powerful red laser shot from Nazara's eye. The laser exploded violently against the barrier, but didn't break it, and the loose strands of energy scathed the campus, burning the one beautiful grass lawn.

As Hikesh dropped the field, Nazara gave another enraged shriek. Almost instantly, the other Dark Elves aimed their rifles at Hikesh, Sif, and Loki and opened fire. The three instantly sprang into action.

ooooo

"Holy shit," Skye said, wide-eyed. "Did you guys just see that?"

"Yeah." Ward said, looking equally shocked. He turned to Erik and Jane. "Status?"

Erik shook his head as Darcy worked with the small device that powered the tripods. "We're running out of time. The Convergence will be reaching its peak in seven minutes."

"Then we'll just have to keep Malekith busy for eight." Jane clarified, though deep down she was trying to assure herself as well. She stared out at the battle being waged on the campus grounds. "Come on, Darcy..."

"We've got hostiles approaching." Ward said urgently, drawing his gun. Jane looked up to see a large number of Dark Elves, all armed, appraoching menacingly

"Shit!" Skye muttered.

"Jane!" Erik said, facing his student.

"Hold on!" Jane said.

Nearby, Soladat, Fitz, Simmons, and May were rushing back to join the others, when they saw the hostiles. Soladat instantly drew her gun, while May paged Ward.

"Ward, this is May. The devices are planted. What's your status?"

"We're working on it!" Ward said back. He quickly faced Jane.

Biting her lip, Jane tinkered more with the device, before she smiled triumphantly at the results. She looked up. "Okay. You guys might want to hold onto something. The gravitational shift may push you back a bit..."

Twisting a knob on the device, Jane watched as the devices out on the campus suddenly lit up and started beeping. The air around them seemed to shimmer, causing the Dark Elves to pause slightly and look at the devices in confusion. Then, a shimmering field erupted from the devices, warping them and any nearby Dark Elves out of sight.

"Woah." Fitz said, wide-eyed.

"It worked!" Jane said, smiling.

"There are still more here!" Soladat urged.

"Right, right." Jane said, and twisted the knob again. However, the device that was triggered happened to be the one that Soladat and her three teammates were standing near; they, and five Dark Elves, vanished completely.

Jane, Erik, Ward, and Skye, who were all watching from the building nearby, all gaped.

"Oops..." Jane muttered.

ooooo

A second ago, Soladat was standing on guard with May and Fitzsimmons. Then, suddenly, she felt as though a hook just behind her naval had been suddenly jerked irresistibly forward. For a second, all she could see was blank nothing, and couldn't feel any ground beneath her. Then, after that once second, Soladat found herself on the ground again, but with totally different surroundings.

May and Fitzsimmons were with her again, but looked equally perplexed. Looking around, Soladat saw that she and her teammates were no longer on the campus, but one of the small parking lots wedged in between two of the college dormitories.

"What the hell just happened?" Soladat exclaimed, looking around.

Suddenly, there was a loud swooshing sound as two Dark Elves suddenly dropped out of nowhere and onto a small silver Toyota. Fitz let out a terrified scream, and Simmons hid behind him while Soladat faced May.

"Get them away from here!"

May nodded, albeit reluctantly, and pushed for Fitzsimmons to get away and Soladat drew her rifle.

Soladat took a shot at one of the elves, causing it to stumble back. The other one swung a machete-like weapon at her, intending to decapitate her, but Soladat ducked and delivered a swift punch to the Dark Elf's unarmored plastron. The Elf doubled over slightly, surprised by the amount of force behind the mortal's punch, and as Soladat was about to deliver a second strike, the other Dark Elf strode forward and delivered a fierce backhand that sent Soladat flying.

Soladat yelled as she crashed into the side of one of the buildings, leaving a lard indentation in the concrete. She fell face first onto the ground, and looked up, her lip busted and a bruise forming on her cheek.

Not even the Chitauri had that kind of throwback.

Drawing rifles, the Dark Elves opened fire on Soladat. With good reflexes, Soladat's silver vibranium wings unfolded and shielded her from the attacks. The plasma bolts reflected off of her wings, and Soladat quickly flew up and zoomed away, the Dark Elves pursuing her with great speed.

ooooo

The moment Malekith pulled himself from the car, he spotted Thordis flying at him from above. Lifting Mjolnir up, Darcy channeled electricity into it and bashed it into the ground a few meters from Malekith. The earth quaked as electricity traveled from the hammer through the ground and into Malekith. Malekith roared in discomfort as he felt millions of volts of electricity coursing through his body, but was able to withdraw the pain long enough for the electricity to die down.

Turning his wrathful gaze to the Asgardian-empowered mortal, Malekith waved his hands around before shooting them out. A torrent of red Aether energy flew towards Darcy as she quickly reacted and ducked below. Sliding forward with the splits, Darcy charged energy into Mjolnir as she slammed it right into Malekith's chest. Malekith grunted as he was thrown back, but instead of slamming into a minivan like Darcy had hoped, he vanished in a shimmer of distortion.

Darcy blinked in surprise, and edged closer to the distortion. She decided to rush in to wherever the portal led and finish Malekith off, until the Dark Elf himself jumped through, fist outstretched, punching her away.

Darcy slid across the concrete before the friction slowed her down. Malekith marched over to her, and she quickly prepared to swing the hammer up at him, but Malekith grabbed her wrist and backhanded her to the ground, eliciting a small cry from the girl.

He smirked sadistically down at her. "You are strong, child. But I will not fall as easily as Laufey did."

Darcy glared up at the monster. "Laufey was a sick fuck like you!"

"I assume that was a mortal's way of insulting someone." Malekith sneered, the Aether's aura appearing around him. "If that is the case, I will respond in kind."

Malekith prepared to bring his fist down and bash Darcy's brains in, when there was a flash of red. Glancing to the side, Hikesh saw Hikesh zooming at superhuman speed, the aura of the Aether outlining him as well. Malekith felt a few of his teeth break as the Prothean jammed his fast right into his jaw, knocking the Dark Elf away from Darcy.

Looking down at Darcy, Hikesh offered a hand. Smiling, Darcy took it and let Hikesh pull her up. The two stared over at Malekith, and charged at him.

Hikesh got to him first, preparing to deliver another punch, which Malekith caught in his own hand, but Darcy soon flew in hammer first and bashed him upside the head. While Malekith was dazed, Hikesh quickly drove his knee into Malekith's gut, breaking some of his armor and knocking the wind out of him. Hikesh then threw a punch that knocked Malekith backwards towards Darcy, who swung Mjolnir baseball-bat style, knocking him a several meters up in the air.

Channeling the Aether, Hikesh jumped up to his level, and brought an energy-wrapped fist down on him. Malekith was sent spiraling down to Earth at mach speed, impacting hard with the ground, creating a small mushroom cloud of dirt and rubble.

Landing near the crater, Hikesh peered through the dust, when a torrent of Aether energy shot out and impacted his chest, sending him crashing onto a minivan. He tried to get up, but a second blast knocked him back down.

"It is time for you to reunite with your ancestors, Prothean." Malekith bit as he prepared another blast.

"Malekith!"

Malekith stopped, and turned around just in time to see Darcy rushing at him. Lifting his arms up, Malekith surrounded his body with Aether energy as Mjolnir crashed into his arms, the shockwave from the strike traveling along the ground and towards the library.

ooooo

In the library, various students heard the commotion from outside, getting up from their seats to get a better look. Upon seeing Thordis, several of the students got out their phones to take pictures and record videos. Some of the men were clearly ogling her.

Jane, Erik, Ward, and Skye rushed through the library, carrying pieces of equipment. Jane looked at all of the students incredulously.

"What are you all doing?!" She yelled. "You need to get out of here. Now!"

"You're joking right?" One of the students said to her, glancing back briefly to address her. He had his phone pointed out, filming the fight. "That's Thordis out there! She's waving her hammer around and everything!"

Seconds later, the shockwave that had been created by Darcy's strike impacted with the library. The entire foundation shook, and the windows all shattered, raining bits of glass everywhere. The students immediately moved away from the windows, screaming and covering their heads, and took to Jane's warning and started to flee.

Jane rolled her eyes. "I warned them."

ooooo

Grinding his teeth together, Malekith let out a yell as he unleashed a pulse of energy that sent Darcy spirling away from him. Screaming, Darcy flew off into the distance, breaking through the edge of the library roof, and out of sight.

Getting to his feet, Malekith breathed heavily as he watched where the mortal had flown. He blinked when he caught glimpse of her returning, and didn't react fast enough as she slammed into him hammer first.

The two flew a few meters back the wind from their flight causing several vehicles to lift up off the ground. The two suddenly vanished in a shimmer of distortion, and the cars, pulled in from the increase in gravity, vanished as well.

Hikesh, who had pulled himself to his feet, watched where the two had disappeared. A large shadow suddenly fell over him, followed by a loud electronic wail, and he spun around to gaze up at Nazara, who 'glared' down at him menacingly.

"Damn..."

Been some time since I've updated. Almost a month to be exact. Well, there's the first part of the Battle of Greenwich. It's already erupting into chaos. Looks like Sif has developed some sisterly protectiveness of Darcy, not really liking the thought of Loki coming onto her. Seems she's finally warmed up to the goofy mortal.

Thanks for reading!