Chapter 27 – A Brief Abrogation

Loki sat in a cell back on the Helicarrier. Not a near-impenetrable glass cell, but just a cell, one he could easily break out of. But he had no intention of doing so. He sat a broken man, his dreams torn away and his plan ruined. By mortals. Mortals!

Loki still couldn't fathom it. How had the mortals grown so powerful in the years? First Darcy, now this. Midgard had become a godless realm.

But Loki's biggest concern is what he would do once he learned of his failure. Loki shuddered.

Suddenly, the door slid open, and Loki blinked when he saw Darcy enter. The girl walked up to the cell, glaring at Loki.

"What do you want?" Loki said, glaring. "Come to gloat over my failure some more?"

"No." Darcy said. "You've been embarrassed enough. S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't consider you a threat anymore. But some of us no better."

Loki smirked. "Smart."

"But that's not why I came." Darcy said. "I came because I want to know the truth. What happened after you fell through that portal, Loki? How did you end up meeting the Chitauri?"

Loki grimaced. "I fell, for a long time. For a long while I was surrounded by darkness, wondering aimlessly for months. And by the time I surrendered myself to the darkness, the monsters that nightmares are made of came for me."

Darcy's eyes widened. "And were they already planning on attacking us?"

"Yes." Loki said plainly.

"Why?"

"They wanted the Tesseract."

"Yeah, we got that. But what did they need it for?"

Loki chuckled darkly. "I have no idea."

"Bullshi-"

"Alright." Loki said, sitting up and glaring at Darcy. "Think for just a moment. What reason now would I have for hiding anything from you and your 'friends'? I lost everything because of you. To goad you even further would be foolish. Even you should know that."

Darcy opened her mouth, but closed it quickly. She and Loki just stared at each other for a few moments, and Loki glared, trying to read her expression. His eyes grew dark, and glared at Darcy intensely.

"What have you found out?"

Darcy took a deep breath. "Carrie tapped into that scepter of yours, and she saw something. Or someone. I'm gonna go ahead and guess that you know who I'm talking about, right?"

Loki said nothing, and turned his gaze away from Darcy.

Darcy edged closer to the cell, and whispered gently. "Who is he?"

Loki grimaced, and turned slowly to look Darcy in the eyes. "Someone with enough power to kill us all."

ooooo

It was over. A week had passed since Loki's failed invasion attempt, and he and Sif had returned to Asgard. With the Tesseract.

Fury made no argument. After what the group had experienced, he had finally realized that keeping the Tesseract on Earth would only cause more problems, especially with Loki's allies still out there seeking it. Hopefully Odin would do a better job at keeping it well protected.

Before she departed, Sif apologized to the Avengers for her behavior. She especially apologized to Darcy, and admitted that even after everything they had been through, she was indeed a capable warrior. However, they were not buddy buddy enough to completely call each other friends. Both were okay with that.

So Loki was gone. The Earth was saved. But the Avengers had no more reason to stick together, and went their separate ways. Thordis returned to New Mexico with Dr. Selvig, where they would carry on with Jane Foster's research, which had now jumped ahead due to recent events. Archangel, Black Widow, and Hawkeye returned to the shadow division, continuing with their covert operations for S.H.I.E.L.D. Xegh Hikesh and Carrie White willingly returned to S.H.I.E.L.D., the latter whom the agency promised to give a better life after she helped them save the world. Captain America went off to explore the new world he had become stranded in, but promised to come in whenever S.H.I.E.L.D. needed his assistance. Tony Stark returned to just being Tony Stark, but is also struggling to keep up his responsibilities as Iron Man while also retaining a good relationship with Pepper. As for Bruce Banner and Claire Voyant, they vanished from the map, and S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't bother to maintain watch.

Currently, Director Fury was in the Helicarrier's conference room, preparing for the imminent conversation with his least favorite people in the world. The Helicarrier was still undergoing repairs after the attack.

Taking a deep breath, Fury paged the council, and the images of the councilors appeared on the different screens in the room. They all looked at him with indifference.

"We were wondering when you'd answer this call." The British councilwoman said. "You have a lot of explaining to do."

Fury smirked. "I know. But before you get all antsy, I just want to clarify that I don't regret what I've done. However absurd my methods seem to you, they saved the planet. If it weren't for me and my team, we'd all be kneeling before an insane Norse god right now."

"Yes." One councilman said. "And it is for that reason that we have decided not to take action against you."

"However, we still run this agency." The Indian councilman said. "And until the day comes that we are no longer needed, you will answer to us."

Fury frowned. "We'll just see, councilman."

The council frowned at Fury, but then continued on. A French councilman spoke next.

"But now onto a more serious matter." He said. "Where are the Avengers?"

"I'm not currently tracking their whereabouts." Fury said smugly. "I'd say they'd earned a leave of absence."

"And the Tesseract?" The councilwoman asked.

"Where it belongs." Fury said. "Out of our reach."

The middle councilman glared. "That's not your call."

"If I'm not mistaken, it isn't your call either." Fury replied, folding his hands behind his back. "If you have a problem with it, you can take it up with the goddess who did it."

"So you let her take it and the war criminal, Loki, who should be answering for his crimes." One councilor said, giving Fury a disapproving look.

"Oh, I'm sure he is." Fury said, smirking.

"I don't think you understand what you've started," the British councilwoman said, "letting the Avengers loose on this world. They're dangerous."

"They surely are, and the whole world knows it." Fury said, and then looked serious. "Every world knows it."

"Was that the point of all this?" The head councilor spoke incredulously. "A statement?"

"No." Fury said. "A promise."

And with that, Fury cut the feed, and turned to leave, when he saw Soladat, now in civilian clothes, leaning in the doorway, smirking.

"Nice work." She said, arms crossed. Fury just smiled at her.

"Just getting my job done, Agent Wrekk." He said, and exited the room. She quickly followed him, so they were now walking side by side.

"So what happens now?" She asked. "I mean they've all gone their separate ways, some pretty far. Loki may be gone, but what happens if we get into a situation like this again?"

"We do what we've always done." Fury said, as he and Soladat entered the bridge. "We fight. I trust you'll be there?"

"Course I will." Soladat said, smirking. "But what about the others? We may have taken down the Chitauri, but there could be others out there that are stronger than them. We could be outnumbered again."

"Way ahead of you on that, Soladat." Fury said, smirking, and Soladat blinked when he turned on the many monitors surrounding them. Soladat's eyes widened when she saw the number of images and dossiers placed around them.

"Wow." She said dumbly.

"Indeed."

ooooo

"You did well, my dear." Mephisto said, smiling down at Claire in approval. Giving her master a nod, Claire smiled.

"I did exactly what you asked, my lord." Claire said. "I'm a little hurt that you would doubt me after all these years."

Mephisto chuckled, and it was a dark, frightening sound that even Claire cringed at. "You are my most faithful servant, Claire. But you are also a brilliant schemer. I can't help but be a bit… cautious, when working with you."

But then, his demonic visage turned serious, and his eyes narrowed down at her. "But onto more pressing matters. What did you learn as you walked among the mortals?"

Claire cleared her throat. "The Avengers are everything we expected. They are indeed worthy adversaries."

"Indeed…" Mephisto replied. Then he frowned down at Claire. "I realize you fought alongside them. You helped save the mortals from this creature. This… Loki."

"Loki was blinded by rage." Claire quickly said. "Besides, would you rather that fool let Death claim the souls of the dead rather than leave them for you?"

Mephisto smirked. "No, I suppose not. But despite this recent victory, your part in this conflict is not over, my dear."

Looking up, Claire blinked in confusion. "But Loki has been defeated."

"Yes, the prince of fools has been thwarted." Mephisto said, and then gave an evil smile. "But we both know he is not the real threat. It is his unseen support that we must drag into the light.Once they have been dealt with, there will be nothing left to stand in our way. Earth, Asgard, and all the other realms will be mine."

ooooo

The Other quickly marched up the steps towards his master's throne. The Chitauri were ruined. The army was lost to them. All because of that stupid Asgardian!

The Other snarled as he thought about that fool. They never should have given him chance to speak when they found him. They should have just killed him right then and there. Because of him, the master's forces were now ruined and scattered. He would pay dearly for his insolence. The Other quickly came before the throne, which was turned away from him. Kneeling down, the Other spoke to the master.

"Humans." He hissed in contempt. "They are not the cowering wretches we were promised. They stand. They are unruly and therefore cannot be ruled."

Suddenly, the master stood up, glaring off into the darkness of space. The Other quickly lowered his head, and hissed in fear.

"To challenge them…" The Other slowly raised his head, "is to court… Death."

Slowly, the master turned to face his subordinate, and the Other frowned in confusion as he gave a wicked smile. He turned around so that he was facing the Other completely, and he spoke with that dark, sibilant voice that sent shivers down the Other's spine.

"We shall see."

And with those words, Thanos returned to his throne, directing his attention back to the cosmos.

And that is the end of Phase One. The story will continue, but not for some time. Until more Phase Two films come out in theaters, this story will be on hiatus, because if I moved onto phase two already, I would probably botch the original canon and things would be a huge mess.

So anyway, hope you've enjoyed this story, and thanks for being such good readers. Review pleaz and have a good day.