Chapter 10 – Arrival

The Mojave Desert facility was in chaos. The facility's personnel were all running around looking for evacuation methods or collecting their own personal research. Ten minutes ago, an announcement instructed everyone in the facility to evacuate immediately. To the personnel, it was just a mishap with some of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most classified material. But that was far from the truth. For tonight, a chaotic battle between good and evil would begin.

Agent Coulson exited the main building as a helicopter slowly made its descent. Once it landed, the door slid open and Nick Fury exited, followed closely by Maria Hill, Fury's second in command and one of the agency's highest ranking espionage operatives. Fury walked up, nodding to Coulson.

"How bad is it?"

"That's the problem, sir." Coulson said. "We don't know."

ooooo

Carrie looked around scared as four agents quickly escorted her out of her room. Everyone was running around looking for a way out, and the excitement around her made her nervous. She sighed in relief when her friend, Agent Tremel, came up.

"Maureen, what's happening? What's going on?"

"Something bad." Tremel answered. "We gotta get you out of here."

Carrie blinked. She hadn't left the facility in two years. She quickly followed Tremel onto a helicopter, and as it took off, she looked down at the facility one final time.

ooooo

Fury and Hill followed Coulson deep into the main research building, descending down numerous flights of stairs and passing by numerous evacuating agents and scientists.

"Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hour ago." Coulson explained.

"We didn't authorize Selvig to test the Tesseract." Fury said, frowning. But Coulson shook his head.

"He wasn't testing it, sir. He wasn't even in the room." He explained. "Hikesh thinks it was spontaneous advancement."

"It just turned itself on?" Agent Hill spoke up for the first time, sounding surprised. Fury took in a deep breath.

"What are the readings now?"

"Climbing." Coulson said. "Hikesh is doing his best to contain the flares, but we ordered evac just in case."

"How long will it take to get everyone out?" Fury asked.

"Campus should be clear in the next half hour." Coulson responded.

"Make it better." Fury ordered. Coulson nodded, and left the pair. Agent Hill, looking unsure, strode up to Fury's side.

"Sir, evacuation may be futile." She said with a no-nonsense tone.

Fury looked at her incredulously. "You want me to tell everyone to go back to sleep?"

Hill frowned. "Sir, if we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance."

Fury walked up a few steps, and then stopped and turned to face Agent Hill, who stepped back at the look he was giving her. "I need you to make sure that phase two prototypes are shipped out, and just hope that Hikesh finds some way to contain the loose energy."

"I don't trust Hikesh." Hill said.

"And I don't trust anybody," Fury retorted, "but until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech below. Every piece of phase two on a truck and gone."

Hill sighed, and then saluted. "Yes, sir."

ooooo

Fury entered the laboratory that the Tesseract was currently being held. He saw numerous scientists bustling around trying to fix the mess. Looking to his left, he saw Dr. Erik Selvig frantically typing on a high tech computer. Looking over at the object of importance, he saw Hikesh surrounded in a dark energy field, carefully trying to handle the Tesseract. Suddenly, there was a spark of blue energy and Hikesh's dark matter shield broke, and he stumbled back, hissing. When Dr. Selvig first came to the facility, you can imagine he was shocked to see the Prothean there. While he had heard Darcy make mention of an alien being in S.H.I.E.L.D. services, he didn't actually believe her until now. Over time, though, the two cooperated with each other, as both were very capable in the scientific range. Fury called to Selvig.

"Doctor?"

Selvig turned towards Fury, and nodded. "Director."

Hikesh walked up to the pair, shaking his hand around to rid himself of the burning feeling. Fury nodded to them both. "What do we know?"

"The Tesseract is misbehaving." Selvig said.

"Is that supposed to be funny?" Fury said with a frown.

"Do we look amused to you?" Hikesh said, his four eyes glaring. Fury gave the Prothean a look and then turned back to Selvig.

"How soon can you pull the plug?"

"The Tesseract is an energy source, Director Fury." Hikesh spoke up. "If we attempt to turn off the power, it will turn itself back on. And if it reaches peak level…"

Fury interrupted him. "We've prepared for this, gentlemen. Harnessing energy from space."

Selvig just shook his head. "We don't have the harness. Our calculations are far from complete. Now she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation."

Fury blinked, images of the Hulk flashing through his head. He looked at Selvig wearily. "That can be harmful."

Fury suddenly remembered something, and looked around. "Where's Agent Barton?"

Selvig and Hikesh looked at each other, and then back at Fury.

"The hawk?" Selvig asked, and Fury nodded. Selvig motioned upwards. "Up in his nest, as usual."

Fury looked up, and saw Agent Barton perched on a lone railing suspended from the ceiling. Fury locked eyes with the master archer, and motioned for him to come down. Nodding, Barton took out his signature bow and arrow, shot an arrow with a cable attached to it, and flew down it like a zipline. He landed next to Fury, and soon the two were walking slowly side by side.

"I gave you this job so you could keep a close eye on things." Fury reminded the agent.

Barton shrugged. "Well I see better from a distance."

Fury looked over at Barton. "Are you seeing anything that might set this thing off?"

Barton shook his head, contemplating. "No one's come or gone. It's oven is clean. No contacts, no I.M.'s. If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end."

Fury blinked, and then frowned. "At this end?"

"Yeah." Barton said, looking at Fury. "The cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? Doors open from both sides."

Fury took this in and considered it, but before he could say anything else, Hikesh spoke up.

"Director, it's spiking again!"

Selvig instantly ran over to the computer monitor and read the levels. He cursed slightly when he saw then rising dramatically. Suddenly, the machine containing the Tesseract started to shake as pulsations of blue energy began emanating from the cube. Everyone in the room backed away from it as the pulsations only intensified. Suddenly, a blue beam shot out from the Tesseract and struck the wall at the far end of the room. A torrent of blue energy formed in the impact zone, and as the beam continued to fire, the torrent continued to grow. Then, the beam stopped, and the torrent suddenly exploded outward, sending washes of energy in different directions. The room's occupants stumbled slightly at the force of the blow, but the energy didn't harm that at all and merely bounced up the walls and gathered at the ceiling, moving around as if trying to find an escape route.

But the energy wasn't what the room's occupants were so focused on. It was the figure that was left standing in the place where the beam had fired.

Yes, it was a grown man, who looked to be in his mid-twenties. He had pale white skin and long, sleek black hair. He had dark shadows under his eyes, making him look as though he hadn't slept in days. He was wearing green robes that reminded Erik of the Asgardian armor Darcy wore whenever she was using Mjolnir. He was holding a golden scepter with a blue gem placed at the end, and a bladed tip.

The man had his eyes closed, and breathed heavily as if taking in fresh air. He rubbed his forehead, feeling if his skin was still intact and then opened his eyes. They were the greenest eyes anyone had ever seen. It was then that he noticed he wasn't alone. Six armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents slowly approached him, their guns raised.

"Sir?"

The man looked up in the direction of Director Fury, who spoke to him calmly. "Please put down the spear."

The man blinked, and then looked at the weapon he was carrying. He briefly looked back at Fury, and then with a grunt, he jerked the spear forward and a blast of blue energy suddenly shot out of the gem.

Barton's eyes widened as the blast raced towards them, and he quickly pulled Fury out of the way and the blast impacted with the machine behind them.

The agents instantly opened fire on him, but the bullets just seemed to bound right off of him. With a warrior's yell, the man leapt towards one of the agents and plunged the bladed tip of his scepter into his chest. The man got off of his victim, and quickly pulled three knives and threw them at the other agents. All three agents grunted in pain as they each had a blade embedded into their throats, and they all fell to the ground, dead. One agent came up and attempted to beat his head with the barrel of his shotgun, but the man just smacked his face with the scepter, sending him flying backwards.

Turning towards the others gathered around him, the man fired another blast from his scepter, which raced towards Hikesh and Selvig. Hikesh quickly raised a dark energy shield, and the blast was caught in midair and slowly dissipated. The man fired a second blast at a trio of unfortunate scientists. The one standing in the middle was vaporized by the impact, while the ensuing blast sent the other two flying. Agent Barton ran up to attack him directly, but the man just kicked him away with little effort.

The man surveyed his work with satisfaction, having not even broken a sweat.

Barton slowly started to get up, grunting, and he sensed the intruder approaching. Quickly, he pulled a knife from his pocket and turned around to attack the assailant, but his wrist was seized. The man tightened his grip, and the knife fell from Barton's hand.

The man smiled evilly. "You have a heart."

Fury, Hikesh, and Selvig, the only other ones left standing, watched in shock as the man pointed the head of his spear at Barton's heart. Barton gasped, and his eyes were suddenly overcome with black. He shook for a few moments before calming down, and his eyes were suddenly normal looking, albeit with bright blue irises. The man let go of Barton, who didn't even make any move to attack him and just stood there, as if waiting for the man to give orders. Hikesh grimaced. It was like Reaper indoctrination...

The man turned towards another agent, who groaned and started to get up. Walking over to him, the man pulled him up and repeated the same process as before. While the man was busy, Fury quickly made his way over to the Tesseract. He quickly pulled it out of the device, and he felt intense heat burn through his glove as the Tesseract was still cooling down from the blast. Opening a silver briefcase, Fury placed I inside a secured socket, shaking his hand off and hissing in pain from the heat. He closed the briefcase, and stood up. He was about to leave.

"Please don't." The man spoke, and Fury stopped. "I still need that."

Fury didn't turn to face the attacker. "This doesn't have to get any messier."

"Of course it does." The man spat coldly. "I've come too far for anything else."

Fury turned to face the man, giving him his most intimidating glare. The man wasn't moved. With Barton and the other controlled agent standing behind him, the man rose his head defiantly.

"I am Loki, of Asgard." He introduced. "And I am burdened with glorious purpose."

Hikesh blinked. Asgard? He knew that name. Yes, something his people had been involved with.

"Loki?" Selvig spoke, standing up with wide eyes. "Darcy's friend?"

At the mention of the name Darcy, Loki scowled, and snapped, "We are not friends."

Ignoring the exchange, Fury rose his hand calmly. "We have no quarrel with your people."

Loki chucked. "An ant has no quarrel with a boot."

Fury frowned, lowering his hand. "You planning to step on us?"

Loki just smiled. "I come with glad tidings, of a world made free."

But Fury looked apprehensive. "Free from what?"

"Freedom." Loki hissed, glaring. "Life's great lie. It is a chaotic factor that drives even the most intelligent of beings to their doom. Once you accept that, in your heart..."

He suddenly turned towards Selvig, he gasped as the tip of the scepter touched his heart. His eyes were instantly overcome with black, and soon, they were blue just like Barton's.

Loki smiled. "… you will know peace."

Suddenly, Loki noticed a green glow coming from behind him. He turned, and it was then he actually noticed the Prothean present in the room. He blinked when he saw the green aura flaring around him.

"Release them." Hikesh demanded.

"Strange. You are not human." Loki said. Then he frowned. "Unexpected."

Ignoring Loki's words, Hikesh's dark energy intensified. "You will release them now, mutant!"

Loki's eyebrow rose at the mutant part, and then chucked. "I don't think so. I need their assistance in this."

"If you will not release them," Hikesh started, "then I will make you."

Loki's eyes widened when a wave of green energy was released from the Prothean's hand, and suddenly felt himself flying back several meters. He hit a piece research equipment, and fell face first onto the floor. Barton and the other controlled agent fired their pistols at Hikesh, but the barrier around him vaporized the bullets before they could reach him. Jerking his hands out again, Hikesh encased the agents in bubbles of dark energy, and closed his hands. When he opened them, the agents were sent flying back as well.

Hikesh turned towards Fury. "Director, take the Tesseract and… UGH!"

Hikesh stumbled when Loki, who was suddenly upon him, snarling, beat his head with the blunt end of the scepter. Fury took out his pistol and prepared to shoot at Loki, but he grunted when a bullet hit him square in the chest, and he fell back, dropping the briefcase.

Agent Barton put his pistol away and marched up to Fury, taking the briefcase. He turned towards Loki.

"Sir!"

Loki looked over at Barton, and then at Hikesh. He beat the Prothean down with the scepter, and then left him. With Barton, Selvig, and the other agent that most of you readers obviously don't give a shit about exited the room.

Hikesh quickly pulled himself up, and then went over to Fury. Thankfully, he was alive. The cavlar he was wearing protected him from the shot.

"They have the Tesseract." Hikesh said.

"Damnit." Fury muttered. "We need to contact Hill."

The Prothean shook his head and pointed upwards. "There is no time. Look."

Fury followed the Prothean's finger and saw that the energy gathered in the ceiling was sparking uncontrollably.

"The excess energy from the portal is becoming unstable." Hikesh explained. "We only have a few minutes until it goes critical."

"Shit." Fury cursed. He was about to give the Prothean and order, but he beat him to it.

"You must evacuate with the others. But do not worry. I will get the Tesseract."

Thinking it over, Fury nodded, and quickly left the laboratory while Hikesh ran off in pursuit of the intruder.

ooooo

Loki, Barton, Selvig, and the other agent entered the garage. Agent Hill was there, as she had just finished sending off the last few ground agents. She saw the group coming in.

"We need these vehicles." Barton said, referring to some of the jeeps. Hill nodded, and let them pass. It was then she noticed Loki.

"Who's that?" She asked, stepping forward with a frown.

Barton didn't face her. "He didn't tell me."

Loki looked at her without emotion, and Hill turned, giving him an uncertain look. As she slowly started to leave, she blinked when Hikesh, his green aura surrounding him, suddenly barged in.

"Hill, get down!"

Immediately, Hill ducked as gunshots were fired, but of course the aura protected Hikesh. When the jeep started to leave, Hikesh quickly fired an energy blast, but Loki fired a blast of his own, stopping the attack in midair. Hill fired her gun at the retreating vehicle, but it was already gone. Hikesh helped her up.

"They have the Tesseract!" He said. "We must pursue."

Nodding, Hill jumped into another jeep, and Hikesh got into the passenger's seat. Not even fastening her seatbelt, Hill started the jeep and raced off in pursuit of the enemies.

Racing through a tunnel, Loki and his crew found themselves being pursued by several vehicles. One agent attempted to fire at them with a pistol, but Loki turned towards them, his scepter pointed out. A blue blast was fired, striking the car. The front exploded and the car slid wildly and into a nother vehicle, damaging it. This effectively cut off the other pursuing vehicles, and Loki smiled in satisfaction.

Suddenly, Hill and Hikesh drove in from an adjacent route and spun around, facing Loki and his crew directly. Hill drove her foot down on the break, and the jeep stopped, but Loki's vehicle continued to move and smashed nose to nose against Hill's jeep. Hill and Hikesh's heads jerked forward as their vehicle was driven forward by the other. Taking her pistol, Hill fired at the driver, and Barton quickly jerked his head to the side to avoid the shot. Hill fired a few more times, but each shot was ineffective. Standing over the roof of the car, Loki fired another energy blast, but Hikesh raised a barrier just in time, protecting the jeep from the blast.

ooooo

Agent Coulson and several other agents quickly raced down the steps as the ground started shaking violently, evidence that the out of control energy was intensifying to unstable levels. Some of the agents dropped a few canisters they were carrying, labeled phase two. They attempted to pick them up, but Coulson stopped them.

"No, leave it!"

Obeying his command, the agents followed him towards a black van that was waiting for them. As soon as they entered it, the driver slammed his foot on the gas and the van raced away from the facility. Picking up his walkie-talkie, Coulson contacted Fury.

"We're clear upstairs sir, but the last ground transport has left. You're gonna have to take a helicopter."

"Copy that."

ooooo

On the roof of the building, Fury saw the helicopter, but also saw that the floor was starting to crack and crumble. He quickly got into the helicopter.

"Get us out of here!" He told the pilot, who nodded and the helicopter was airborne in minutes. Below them, the building crumbled and slowly fell apart as the vibrations got worse.

Suddenly, explosions started rocking the entire area. The energy had finally become to unstable and imploded.

Fury watched as the entire facility collapsed. The ground beneath it cracked and opened, and the entire facility was sucked into the abyss. Looking to the east, he saw a few vans escaping. Hopefully Coulson, Hill, and Hikesh were among them.

ooooo

The jeep swerved as the explosion shook the tunnel, and Loki quickly fired an energy blast at the front, pushing the jeep away. While Hill and Hikesh were left behind, Loki and his brainwashed lackeys drove safely from the tunnel. Hikesh raised a protective barrier over him and hill as rubble started to cave in around them.

Loki's crew exited the tunnel, finally in the wide open air and away from the doomed facility. However, Loki scowled when he spotted a helicopter flying in to intercept them. His scowl only increased when he saw Fury standing inside.

Raising his pistol, Fury attempted to make a few shots at the group, but the distance made it increasingly difficult.

Loki quickly pulled himself up, and pointed the scepter at the copter. Jerking the scepter back, Loki unleashed an energy blast, which exploded against the helicopter's tail, blowing it clean off.

Fury quickly leapt from the helicopter as it crashed and slid a few meters away until the friction slowed it down. Pulling himself up, Fury spotted the jeep retreating into the distance, and fired a few futile shots.

But it was already gone.

"Director?" The voice of Coulson spoke. "Director Fury, do you copy?"

Taking his walkie-talkie, Fury spoke. "The Tesseract is with a hostile force. I have men down. Hill?"

Hill's line came in. "Hikesh and I are alive, sir. But we've got lot of men still under. Don't know how many survivors."

"Sound the general call." Fury demanded. "I want every living soul not needing rescue looking for that briefcase."

"Roger that." Hill responded.

"Coulson," Fury spoke into the walkie-talkie, "get back to base. This is a level seven."

Taking a deep breath, Fury said the few words that nobody really wanted to hear. "As of right now, we are at war."

The line was silent for a few moments, when the voice of Agent Coulson came in. "What do we do?"

Fury looked into the distance where the jeep had been driving towards. With a look of determination written on his features, he brought the walkie-talkie up to his face.

"What we were trained to do."

Duh duh duh! Phase one has begun! I'm so stoked on writing this fic right now :). I hope most of you are enjoying it cuz I am. Next chapter, S.H.I.E.L.D. rounds up the Avengers and prepares for war. Review pleaz!