A/N: Well, due to popular demand, the events of Thor have been moved to Alamo/Jasper. There will be my own version of certain scenes in this, as I most certainly don't have time to do my own Avengers story, (and then there's the fact that I have no idea where I'd go afterwards,) and there will be references to other major MCU events taking place at the same time. Also, a quick warning, this is my longest chapter yet, and it only covers Predatory and Thor.
More Than Meets the Eye
Chapter VI: Partners
July 16, 2012-Olympic National Forest, Washington
A few weeks after Blackout had shown up, and there had been absolutely no enemy contact, meaning that the kids were now allowed to go back out with their guardians on missions that were labeled low risk, such as the one that Jack was on now. Ratchet had picked up an Energon signature in north-western Washington, and Arcee and Jack were the ones that were sent to check it out. As they neared the location, Arcee's scanner started going off. "That's odd," she stated. "Ratchet's satellite scans were accurate, but subterranean Energon deposits don't cause this kind of surge."
Jack on the other hand had gone ahead and found why the surge had happened. "Arcee, come take a look at this," he said, pointing at an enormous gouge in the landscape. "What happened here?"
"Crash landing," she explained. "Stay behind me, low and close." Jack had no problem following that order, he was always a tad too cautious when it came to these missions.
They soon found the ship, and it looked nothing like the Nemesis, so Jack asked "Bot, Con or Neutral?"
"Can't tell. Wait here, I'm going in for a closer look."
Again, Jack did as she asked, though he was extremely worried for his guardian. The ship was clearly large enough for several Cybertronians, so she could be walking into an ambush. Jack waited for several tense minutes as his friend and partner scouted the ship, making certain to pay attention to their spark bond in case she needed help. Then he finally spotted her . . . stumbling out of the ship? He quickly studied their bond, making certain he didn't accidentally miss something, and sensing no wounds, ran to her. "Arcee! Are you alright? What's wrong?"
"I know who this ship belongs too." Jack almost fell to his knees when he saw the pain and rage in her optics. "Arcee to base, Ratchet, I need a bridge for Jack, now." Jack's eyes widened. A bridge just for him? Whoever this was, it scared Arcee, and enough that she would send him away. But who could scare her that bad? She hadn't even hesitated to go to the Nemesis to rescue him and Miko, or to stop Megatron from raising the army of zombiecons! "Base, do you read? Scrap, comm's dead! The ship must be transmitting a high frequency scrambler pulse."
"Arcee, you're starting to scare me, what's going on?" Jack demanded. This was not the cool, collected femme he had gotten to know over the previous three months.
"Wait here," she ordered, before moving on to scout ahead. Worried, Jack pulled out his Glock and moved into a defensive position. Primus, but he wished he had tested the ammo before now! Well, he wouldn't delay again. He would test it tomorrow, assuming he survived the night.
Jack waited for a couple minutes, with nothing happening outside of the visit of a chipmunk, until a burst of emotional pain came from the bond. He quickly ran to his partner, worried about her. Yet when he found her, she was just kneeling on the ground, completely fine, physically at least. "Arcee?"
"Climb on," she demanded after transforming to her motorcycle form. Worried, Jack followed her orders, only for her to drive like a mad woman to the point of jumping over a small ravine. "Arcee to base, please come in Ratchet."
"Okay, Arcee. Is this really necessary? I have seen danger before, remember? Starscream, Soundwave, MECH. How bad can-"
"Wait here, I mean it this time."
"Okay, first you shut me out, now you're ditching me? I thought we were partners, Arcee." Jack couldn't remember a time he'd been more hurt, even counting the time his mom had taken him and left New York, forcing him to leave all his friends behind him.
"No, Jack, you're a kid. You're only here because it was supposed to be no-risk. Got it?" And then she just drove off.
Jack was absolutely furious! "Just a kid? I'll show her," he decided. He quickly transformed his legs and started following Arcee.
The sun was starting to set, but Jack knew he was finally closing in on Arcee and whatever Con she was going after, so he immediately changed back to his human legs before moving in closer. Then he picked up the Con's spark song, and nearly froze in shock. He knew that song, and worse, he knew that it meant Arcee was facing a true monster. He could easily place the lyrics with the music of the spark pulses, and he knew that after tonight, he could never listen to the song without thinking of tonight ever again.
I was born of a womb of a poisonous man
Beaten and broken and chased from the land
But I rise up above it, high up above it to see
I was hung from a tree made of tongues of the weak
The branches the bones of the liars and thieves
Rise up above it, high up above it to see
Primus, what kind of monster would have Night of the Hunter for a spark song? Then he came upon her. "Oh, a femme black widow. That makes sense," Jack said when he lay eyes upon her. It looked like Arcee had her, but the Con took advantage of Arcee's shock and . . . webbed her to a rock (what was that about?) before turning towards him.
Fortunately, Arcee was able to cut her arm free and shot her before the femme could take a step. "I told you to wait for me!" Arcee scolded.
"Well, you may not think of me as a partner, but I do, Arcee. And I don't ditch my partners," Jack countered as he opened his Swiss Army knife and started cutting her loose.
"Get this through your head, Jack: you're not my partner, you're a liability," Arcee insisted.
"Now why don't I believe that? I know you too well, Arcee, you're scared. And I have never seen you scared before."
Pray to your God, open your heart
Whatever you do, don't be afraid of the dark
Cover your eyes, the devil's inside
One Night of the Hunter,
One day I will get revenge
One night to remember
One day it'll all just end
Arcee had yet another flashback, just as Jack realized that the spider-bot was still functioning. He started cutting even faster, until something Arcee said shocked him. "You're right, Jack, I am afraid. Of losing you!"
Then, as if just to ruin their moment, the spider woke up and started talking. "You sure have trouble hanging onto your partners, don't you? We both know what happened to Tailgate, but I've recently picked up some Decepticon radio chatter regarding the recent passing of Cliffjumper." Jack turned to glare at the femme. Everyone at Omega One knew better than to mention the late Bot, or the circumstances of his death. She was going to pay for that later. "At some point, you have to ask yourself: 'is it them, or is it me?'"
"Do you get it now, Jack?" Oh yeah, he got it alright. She was one sadistic bitch. "Airachnid's not interested in me, she hunts indigenous species, and she's on Earth." That got his attention. But then that would mean . . . "That means humans. YOU! RUN!"
Jack took her advice and started running. "Primus, one Night of the Hunter indeed," he stated, noting that night actually had fallen. How ironic.
Blessed by a bitch from a bastard seed
Pleasure to meet you but better to bleed
Rise, I will rise, I will rise
Skinned her alive, ripped her apart
Scattered her ashes, buried her heart,
Rise up above it, high up above it to see
Jack ran alright, he ran as fast as he could, but only so he could prepare for the inevitable fight. But first, he needed to stop and think, so when he came across a fallen tree, he jumped onto the other side and sat down. What would be the best place for him to fight Airachnid, and have a good chance of stopping her? He was still thinking when Airachnid showed up right behind him. As she got closer, he slowly slid his pistol out, but she seemed not to notice him. Until she looked down at him. "Hello, Jack."
He pulled back in shock before putting five bullets in her, but they didn't do as much damage as he had hoped they would. Instead, they just made her mad. "So, my prey has some sting to it? Interesting."
"You're going to hate me by the time we're done, bitch," Jack answered. Then he started running again, finally ready to kill the spider. He had a plan. How he didn't think of it before, he could only guess. Probably because of the stress that Airachnid had caused.
Pray to your God, open your heart
Whatever you do, don't be afraid of the dark
Cover your eyes, the devil's inside
One Night of the Hunter,
One day I will get revenge
One night to remember
One day it'll all just end
"You're making this too easy Jack. And I do not enjoy being bored!" Airachnid called out as they neared her ship.
Jack simply ignored her as he hid near her ship. It was supposed to be easy to follow him. How else could he make certain that she'd go where he wanted her to go? Luckily, she followed the plan and assumed that he had gone in, so while she taunted him, he made his preparations. All he needed to do was find the spilled Energon, which he did by accidentally stepping in it. "Perfect," he said with a grin. He easily tracked it to it's source, and confirmed that it was still leaking from the ship. Jack then found a nice, dry piece of wood and started shaving off splinters of magnesium onto the branch. When that was done, he turned the bar around and started striking the iron insert, quickly igniting the magnesium, and the wood. With that done, he tossed the branch into the leaking engine and ran.
"JACK!" Airachnid called out in fear, just before the engine exploded beneath her.
Honest to God, I will break your heart
Tear you to pieces and rip you apart
Honest to God, I will break your heart
Tear you to pieces and rip you apart
Honest to God, I will break your heart
Tear you to pieces and rip you apart
Honest to God, I will break your heart
Tear you to pieces and rip you apart
"Good riddance to bad rubbish," Jack said with a grin after he recovered from the blast. Jack turned and started going back to find Arcee, only for his foot to be hit by a blast of webbing. "Ah, come on! What do I need to do to stop you?" Jack grumbled. How did she survive that explosion?
"Nothing you can do will stop me," Airachnid growled from above him, still burning from the explosion. She shot him with the webbing again, this time binding his entire torso to a nearby tree, before raising one of her spider legs to slit his throat.
But before she could, two things happened. First, Jack shot her in the joints of the leg threatening his neck, and second, Arcee came charging in, hitting her on her jaw and knocking the spider-bot away. What followed was a fight the likes of which was the kind that Jack had come to expect from his partner: a dance with death that was more like artwork than a fight. It finally ended by Arcee giving the spider a good, hard kick to the chest that sent the other femme flying through the trees. "Jack, are you okay?" Arcee asked as she freed him from the webs.
"Just fine, Arcee. Things didn't go exactly to plan, but hey, it still worked," Jack said with a grin.
One Night of the Hunter,
One day I will get revenge
One night to remember
One day it'll all just end
Unfortunately, Airachnid took advantage of their reunion by escaping into the earth. Arcee screamed out, only for the other femme to disappear completely. "So much for closure," she grumbled.
"And now she's trapped here on Earth. I'm not sure how wise that was," Jack admitted.
"I'm sorry you had to face my demons tonight, Jack. But you were pretty fearless back there."
"Oh, I was plenty terrified, but mostly for you," Jack answered with a smile.
Arcee smiled back before making a call. "Arcee to Ratchet, requesting a ground bridge. I need to get my partner away from any overgrown insects."
Jack turned to her and grinned. "Partner, huh? I thought I was a kid, a liability?"
Arcee smiled back at him. "So, I was wrong. In any case, you're still my junior partner, just in case I need to pull rank." The bridge activated just as the clock struck midnight, and during the drive to the Darby home, Arcee finally opened up to Jack, filling him in on her time with both Tailgate and Cliffjumper, strengthening the already strong bond between them. Later that night, though neither of them would know it, two items would land near Alamo that would help shape Jack's destiny.
July 17, 2012-Alamo, NV
The next morning, Jack and Arcee drove out of the city in order to finally do the tests that Jack had been wanting to do for nearly two weeks. As they drove down Box Canyon Road though, they passed by an enormous crater, one that had to be a good forty feet wide, yet only nine or ten feet deep, with something in the middle. "Arcee, stop for a minute, I want to take a look at that." Curious, Jack walked over to the crater, and was shocked to find a good sized lump hammer, one that positively radiated unearthly power. There were only two other things that Jack knew of that radiated that kind of power: the All Spark, and the Matrix of Leadership, so what was this thing?
"Jack, I don't think you should be messing with that," Arcee stated.
"Arcee, it's just a hammer. What's the worse that can happen?" Jack countered. Jack then walked into the crater, reached for the hammer and picked it up. "This has some serious weight to it," Jack commented as he messed with it. "Not exactly my style though," he stated as he put it back where he found it.
"Why did you put it back?" Arcee asked after they'd been driving fifteen minutes.
"Because I'm betting that it's owner will want it back, and what better place for him to find it than where it landed? Ah, that will do," Jack stated, pointing out a hillside on their left. Once Arcee stopped, he quickly set up two small tables, his Glock and the ammunition. Jack then pulled out a tape recorder and, setting it to record, he started "This is Jack Darby along with my trusted assistant, Sadie. We are about three miles west of Alamo, and six miles south of Box Canyon Road on Pahranagat Road and it is the seventeenth of July, 2012. This is the first round of the Energon tests on gunpowder." Jack then turned off the recorder and turned to his guardian. "Arcee, I'm really glad that you trusted me enough to tell me about your other partners. I think it's time that I repaid that trust."
"Jack, you don't need to do that," Arcee countered.
"Yeah, I do," Jack disagreed. "I've been keeping a secret from you guys since the day we met," he explained as he loaded the pistol with the first bullets. "Starting control test, three unaltered bullets fired into the nearby hill. Firing in three, two, one," Jack stated into the recorder before firing the three shots. He then took measurements, documenting everything he could.
"What's with the recording and precise data?" Arcee asked.
"It's something every scientist does when doing experiments like this," Jack explained. "I'm certain that even Tony Stark did recordings like these when he was developing the Iron Man armor."
"Not sure how much you should look up to him after the other night," she stated in derision.
Jack almost winced at that. The morning before their encounter with Airachnid, the news had reported that Stark had thrown a wild birthday bash that ended in a drunken fight with his friend Lt Col James Rhodes, and Rhodes taking the Mark II suit. "Well, some people like to throw parties like that when they realize that they're dying," Jack explained.
"Wait, what? What do you mean, dying?" Arcee demanded.
"The Iron Man suit is run on a miniature Arc reactor, as is the magnet in his chest. Arc reactors run on palladium, and when palladium is used in nuclear reactors, it gives off two 'waste' products: silver and rhodium. Rhodium is highly toxic to the human body, but since we have so few uses, no one really knows how to treat it. So yeah, Tony Stark is dying. In fact, I bet that either he will find a replacement for the palladium, or we will hear of his death, and soon."
"How do you know all this?"
"Before last year, I wouldn't have. But fate intervened, and things changed," Jack explained. Throughout his explanations he had continued his experiments, starting off with one drop of Energon in the powder, and slowly increasing the dosage to the point where he was testing 10 drops of Energon. Then he made one mistake. "Last year, something happened that scared me to death, but now, I can't imagine life any other way. I gained the memories and mind of someone else, someone who knew about the Autobots, Decepticons and the war. Testing Energon infusion strength of 15 drops in three, two, one." This time, when Jack pulled the trigger, the gun exploded, destroying Jack's table/firing range and creating quite the dust cloud as a result.
"Jack!" Arcee cried out in fear. Not again, this could not be happening again! Was Airachnid right after all? Was she cursed to be able to do nothing while her partners died?
Then she heard something that both confused her and made her spark jump for joy. "Scrap! What in the pits happened?! There is no way that should have happened so soon!"
It couldn't be! Jack had been at the very epicenter of the explosion! Yet as the smoke cleared, she could clearly see him, perfectly fine . . . or was he? The more the smoke cleared, the clearer the image became, and Arcee saw . . . a metal, armored arm. She instantly knew what it meant. "What have you done with Jack, pretender?" she demanded, her blasters aimed at the being she had believed to be her partner.
"Pretender? What are you talking about, Arcee?" Jack asked. For the first time ever, he was scared of his guardian. And why was she calling him a pretender? That was the term that Bee had used to describe Alice, wasn't it? And she had been a Con . . . disguised as a human. Oh, that's it, isn't it? For the first time since the explosion, Jack looked at himself. "Scrap," he whispered. While it wasn't as bad as it could be, it was quite obvious that if he were human, he'd be dead. The flesh on both his arms had been burned off up to the elbows, and there were pieces of metal sticking out of his chest. Then he remembered that his partner was still pointing her blasters at him and decided he had better calm her down, and quick. "Arcee, it's still me. I'm still Jack, and I can explain if you'll just give me a few minutes."
"How long has it been since you replaced Jack?" Arcee demanded.
"Arcee, it's me! Listen, this is what I was trying to tell you! There is no Pretender here, it's just you and me. How can I prove that it's really me?" Then he figured it out. "Arcee, haven't you noticed anything odd about me, like say, a difference in weight when compared to the others?"
"How did you know that?" Arcee demanded.
"Because the change in my weight happened a year ago. Until then I was your average human. One night I went to sleep human, the next morning, I had the memories of someone from another universe, and under my skin, the body of an Autobot."
"And how do I know you're not just a Pretender using that story as an excuse?" Arcee asked, in a slightly more friendly tone.
"Because we have a spark bond, Arcee, or have you not noticed it?" Jack explained. "If you pay attention to it, you can tell when I'm lying. How do you think I knew it was you that had been hurt during the spacebridge battle, or knew where to find you last night?"
Arcee had to give him that, and decided to see if he was telling the truth about the bond. Sure enough, there was a guardian/partner bond between them, even if it was slightly strained at the moment. "Alright, start talking," Arcee stated while lowering her blasters, though not disabling them.
"Okay then, have you ever heard of the multiverse theory?"
Arcee nodded. "Of course. It's the theory that says that there are an infinite number of universes and that we live in one, while in another universe we could have lived very different lives. For example, a universe where we won the war back on Cybertron, or Megatron decided not to fight Optimus. I also know Vector Prime went to a pocket dimension after he discovered Liege Maximo plotting against the other Primes."
"Well, I'm living proof of the theory," Jack stated. And with that, he set off on a basic explanation of Sam's history, his interaction with the Autobots and NEST, eventually becoming part Autobot himself, and the end of Earth. Arcee paled as the story continued into the resistance and the rebuilding of Cybertron, and finally Sam's death. "Well, the next thing he knew, he was waking up in my mind, and I was absolutely panicking. Who wouldn't in my position? I go to sleep an average teen, and I wake up with someone else's voice in my head and, well, these," Jack finished, gesturing at his arms.
"Is that everything?" Arcee asked, worried about her partner. It was clear that Sam had gone through hell several times, and who knew what effects having those memories had on Jack.
"No, just the bare bones. But I'm not telling you the whole story simply because I don't want you to be bored when I tell the others," Jack replied. "I'm fine though, Arcee, it's Sam that isn't."
"If you're certain, Jack," Arcee said, the worry clear in her voice.
"I am," Jack replied, going over to gather the ammunition. "By the pit, no wonder the ammo exploded!" he exclaimed. "I wasn't paying attention to where I got the ammo from! That was the 50 drop strength, not the 15 drops. Come on, Arcee, I need to get back. There's no way I can't continue the tests now, especially considering the results of the first tests."
"What were the results?" Arcee asked. Who knew what kind of side-effects adding the Energon could have?
"With each drop of Energon, there was a decrease in the amount of smoke and sound, while there was a comparable increase in the accuracy, and possibly the range as well. This could definitely help me fight the Cons, when I'm human at least."
"Speaking of which, how are you going to hide your arms?" Arcee asked.
Jack just grinned at her. "The same way you hide the fact that you're driving yourself when I'm not around, Sadie." With that, he activated his own holographic emitters, which completely hid his non-human parts.
"Not bad, I can't tell a difference," Arcee complimented. When he climbed on her, Arcee got another shock. "Hard-light emitters? How did you get those?"
"You mean you don't have them?" Jack asked in shock.
"No, we never really needed holograms, so they're your average hologram, what humans currently have."
Jack shrugged at that. "Must be because Sam's Autobots spent so much more time on Earth amidst humans. They needed to blend in more, so they upgraded their holograms." Arcee couldn't argue with that, and took off for Alamo. On their way back, they discovered that an enormous tailgate party was taking place around the hammer's crash site, and on the side of the road, there was a black van with a guy in a nice suit by the van. He quickly picked up his phone and saying "Sir, we found it." Jack just shrugged his shoulders and allowed Arcee to speed off, figuring that the G-man wouldn't be here long, and that whatever brought him to Alamo couldn't be that important.
July 17, 2012-Alamo, NV
Special Agent William Fowler was mad. No, he was beyond mad. Mad is what he got when Prime couldn't keep things on the down-low, mad is what he had been when he first got this particular assignment. But no, he wasn't mad about SHIELD poaching his territory, he was pissed. And Fury was going to find out, just as soon as Fowler got through with Fury's favorite agent/stool pigeon.
Luckily enough, said pigeon had spotted him. "Agent Fowler, this is a surprise. I didn't realize SWORD had any interests in the region."
"Come off it, Coulson, you knew SWORD would be interested in the 084 as soon as you heard about it," Fowler countered. "Look, cards on the table, we both know about Foster's theory, and that this thing could be connected to it. That makes this a SWORD matter," Fowler finished.
"And as you said, it is a 084, meaning it could be from right here on Earth, making it a SHIELD matter," countered Coulson.
"You're not going to bend on this, are you, Coulson?" The other agent shook his head. "Fine, how about this, we share the 084. You provide the security, I supply the scientists, and we both take the data back. Is that good enough?"
"We have a deal, Fowler," Coulson agreed, shaking the other agent's hand.
Asgard
On Asgard, five people were discussing the events that led to the hammer landing on Earth. "We should have never let him go," Volstagg the Voluminous stated. He was a very large man with thick red hair and a long beard, and one of the famous Warriors Three, the greatest group of warriors in the Nine Realms. Volstagg was speaking of their prince, Thor Odinson, who had left Asgard with the five people in the room on a trip to Jotunheim, realm of the Frost Giants to discover how several Frost Giants had infiltrated Asgard. The visit had not ended well.
"There was no stopping him," Sif responded. She was the only woman in the group, and the dark-haired beauty was as highly regarded as a warrior as the Warriors Three, despite how few women warriors Asgard had.
"At least he's only banished and not dead," Fandral the Dashing stated. He was another of the Warriors Three, and as his name suggested, the most handsome. "Which is what we'd all be if that guard hadn't told Odin where we'd gone.
"How did the guard even know?" Volstagg asked as Hogun the Grim rubbed some medicine onto his frost burned arm.
"I told him," answered Loki, the current crown prince of Asgard. But despite the title, Loki was as shaken by the visit to Jotunheim as the others, for a more personal reason. Though Thor was considered his brother by all, Loki had learned a potentially disturbing truth. Volstagg's frost burn had happened because a Jotun had simply touched him, yet when the same thing happened to him, Loki's arm had turned the same shade of blue as the Jotun. Loki thought he knew why, and the answer terrified him.
"What?" Fandral asked in shock.
"I told the guard to go to Odin after we'd left. I'm just surprised it took him so long. We should have never reached Jotunheim."
"YOU told the guard?!" Volstagg cried out in shock and anger.
"I saved our lives. And Thor's," Loki pointed out. And indeed, if it wasn't for Loki's actions, they all knew that they would have never left Jotunheim. "I had no idea that Father would banish him for what he did, but I can't say I'm surprised."
"Loki. You must go to the Allfather and convince him to change his mind," Sif insisted.
"No," Loki stated.
"NO?!" the other four asked in shock.
"No, I won't. Father was right to banish Thor after what he did. He's not ready to be king yet. Look at what he did on Jotunheim! Laufey insulted him once, using something all of us have used at one point or another, and Thor attacked them! In any case, Father made plans for Thor's return," Loki stated.
"What plans?" Hogun asked.
"After sending Thor to Midgard, Father enchanted Mjolnir so that whoever is worthy can pick it up and wield Thor's power. Once Thor is worthy to return, he will do so," Loki explained before leaving. He immediately left for the weapons vault and picked up the Casket of Ancient Winters, a prize Odin had taken from Jotunheim after his last war with them.
"Stop!" Odin called out from behind him.
"Am I cursed?" Loki asked.
"No," Odin answered simply.
"What am I?"
"You're my son."
Loki turned around, revealing that he now had the blue skin, red eyes and tattoos of a Jotun. "What more than that?" he demanded as his skin returned to it's usual appearance. "The Casket wasn't the only thing you took from Jotunheim that day, was it?"
"No," Odin answered. "In the aftermath of the battle, I went into the temple and I found a baby. Small, for a giant's offspring. Abandoned, suffering, left to die. I eventually discovered that the babe was Laufey's bastard son, born to an Asgardian woman whom he captured early in the war."
"Laufey's son?" Loki asked, latching on to that one detail.
"Yes."
"Why?" Loki asked in confusion. "You were knee-deep in Jotun blood, why would you take me?"
"You were an innocent child," Odin answered.
But Loki knew there was more to it than that. "No. You took me for a purpose. What was it?" When Odin remained silent, Loki yelled out "TELL ME!"
"I thought we could unite our kingdoms one day; bring about an alliance, a permanent peace. Through you. But those plans no longer matter," Odin answered.
Loki was understandably upset at that, and unleashed his anger on his adoptive father. "So I am no more than another stolen relic, locked up here until you might have use of me."
"Why do you twist my words?" Odin asked, assuming that his meaning had been clear.
But Loki was too lost in his emotions and the shocking revelation to even think about deeper meanings. "You could have told me what I was from the beginning, why didn't you?"
"You're my son, I wanted only to protect you from the truth."
"Why? Because I'm the monster parents tell their children about at night?" Loki stuttered out. Odin tried to disagree, but started falling to the floor. "You know, it all makes sense now, why you favored Thor all these years! Because no matter how much you claim to love me, you could never have a Frost Giant sitting on the throne of Asgard!" Loki lashed out. By the time he was finished ranting, Odin was lying on the ground, asleep. Loki, as angry as he was, worried about his adopted father, recognizing the signs instantly and called for the guards. Odin slept for days, sometimes weeks at a time in order to replenish his strength, but he had been putting it off for a long time, longer than Loki could remember, and now he worried that the only father he had ever known might never wake.
July 17, 2012-Alamo, NV
Jack and Arcee were having a nice, simple drive when they had to stop because a large blond man was walking down the middle of the street, with the visiting scientist, Dr Jane Foster following him. (Dr Foster had arrived a few days earlier with another scientist and a college student. She believed that certain atmospheric phenomena that had been occurring over the previous two months were connected to her cosmology research. Personally, Jack doubted it.) What made things even stranger was the subject of their conversation. "Where are you going?" Dr Foster asked.
"Two miles west of here," the stranger stated.
"Why?" Dr Foster demanded. Jack, who had started becoming curious about the stranger, decided to follow them and see what was going on.
"To get what belongs to me," the stranger answered. Jack grinned, he knew the owner would show up to claim it.
"So now you own a satellite?" Dr Foster asked. Jack's eyebrows raised at that. The Feds were claiming it was a satellite? How crazy was that?
"It's not what they say it is."
"Well, whatever it is, the government seems to think it's theirs. So, you just intend to go in there and take it?" The stranger claimed that was exactly what he was going to do, and that he would explain everything once he had reclaimed 'Mjolnir,' whatever that was.
The other scientist, a Dr Erik Selvig pulled Dr Foster aside and said that the stranger was dangerous and delusional because he was talking about Mjolnir, Thor and Bifrost. Jack gasped at that and turned to Arcee. "Did Cybertron ever meet a human-like civilization before? Maybe one calling itself Asgard?"
"Sorry Jack, but I'm the wrong person to ask about that. Optimus or Ratchet would be the only ones that would know about that," Arcee apologized.
Just then, a black van drove off with several pieces of equipment, things that Dr Foster claimed was hers. Curious, the duo followed the scientists to their hotel, and were shocked to find that Fowler was there, along with several other agents. One of them introduced himself as "Agent Coulson with SHIELD." Dr Foster objected very strongly to what he was doing, especially when he gave his explanation. "We're investigating a security threat. We need to appropriate your records and all your atmospheric data."
That was when Jack decided to step in. "Agent Fowler, do you really think that Dr Foster has anything to do with national security? She's a cosmologist, not a nuclear physicist."
"Yes, yes, exactly!" Dr Foster agreed.
Fowler just shook his head. "Jack, this has nothing to do with you or your friends," indicating Arcee at the end. "Stay out of it."
"Well, as I recall, you can't legally do this unless you have a warrant, even under the PATRIOT Act," Jack countered, but Coulson just thanked Dr Foster for her 'cooperation,' and drove off, but not before Jack managed to shoot a tiny bug into the van and one onto Coulson himself.
The trio were quickly commiserating their loss as years of research had been taken. When Dr Selvig asked about the backups, Dr Foster answered "They took our backups. They took the backups of our backups. They were extremely thorough. Who are these people?"
Dr Selvig answered "I knew this scientist. The pioneer in gamma radiation. SHIELD showed up, and he wasn't heard from again."
"You don't mean Bruce Banner, do you?" Jack asked. When Selvig nodded, Jack grimaced. Banner was everything Selvig said and more, as the man had been researching the potential of gamma radiation in strengthening the human immune system. "Well, in a few minutes, I'm going to get everything you lost, doctors."
"How are you going to do that?" Dr Foster asked.
Jack grinned. "I'm going to make a call." Then he opened his phone and hit 2 on his speed dial. "Firewall, this is Blitz, the backdoor is open. First priority, find everything they have on Dr Jane Foster and Dr Erik Selvig. They should be adding a large amount of information soon, most of it scientific theories. Take it all."
"Blitz and Firewall? What's up with that?" Darcy Lewis asked after Jack hung up.
"Oh, a friend of mine is an amazing hacker, and, well, as you may have guessed, we've had some dealings with Agent Fowler before. So we decided that when either of us needs the other and can't use our names, we would use codenames. He's Firewall because he's a hacker, and I'm Blitz because I'm pretty fast to stand up for what or who I believe in," Jack explained.
Asgard
"Why did he lie to me?" Loki asked his step-mother, Frigga as they watched over Odin.
"He kept the truth from you so you would never feel different," Frigga answered. "You are our son now, Loki, and we, your family. That is why your father discarded his plan to unite our realms. After a few years, Odin cared for you as more than just a potential pawn, but as a son. A pawn he could use as he wished and not be bothered, but he grew to love you just as much as Thor and I love you." Frigga stopped before deciding to reveal another family secret. "Did you know that I'm not actually Thor's mother?"
"What?" Loki asked in complete shock. He would have never guessed, Frigga was the perfect mother to both of them, and now to learn that she didn't share blood with two of her three sons?
"Odin has never approved of Midgard, and as he watched them, he noticed how quickly they grew in power. Asgard has a genius for war, he said at the time, but Midgard, they have a genius for survival, and that can be far more dangerous. If they face an enemy that's stronger or smarter than them, they adapt and become all the more dangerous for it. They are among the weakest species in the universe, but under pressure, the humans adapt, and without much more prodding will soon be ready for a higher form of war. So, in response, Odin decided to create a son that would be strong on Midgard, and slept with Midgard's very personification: Gaea. Thor was the result, and because of that, I very much doubt that Thor would accept the crown when he returns."
"Does Thor know?" Loki asked.
"No, only the three of us in this room know."
The next question just begged to be asked. "And what of Balder, Mother? Are there any secrets around him?"
Frigga just smiled. "No, he's truly mine and Odin's son. I suppose that means by blood, he should be king of Asgard right now, and not you or Thor." With that, Loki smiled for the first time since Thor's aborted coronation ceremony.
July 18, 2012-SWORD/SHIELD camp just outside Alamo, NV
Fowler was glaring at Coulson as the man left the interrogation room. Coulson is put in charge of security, yet one man, one single man manages to not only get through, but take out all but one of the SHIELD agents! To make matters worse, this man hasn't said so much as a word since failing to lift the 084. He would have to watch this one closely. Then, without warning, someone else showed up, a dark haired man in a nice suit. The so-called 'mercenary' spoke for the first time, asking the other man "Loki, what are you doing here?" Loki? Odd name. Sounded foreign.
"I had to see you," Loki responded.
"What's happened? Tell me, is it Jotunheim? Let me explain to father." So, the two men were brothers? He wouldn't have guessed it, but it wasn't so hard to believe. And what on Earth was Jotunheim? Or could it be that Jotunheim was another world?
"Father has fallen into the Odinsleep, and Mother fears he will never waken again." Odinsleep? Almost sounded like a coma the way Loki described it. Then again, if they were aliens, then it might be something completely different.
"When?"
"Not long after he banished you. Between that and the threat of a new war with Jotunheim, it was too much. Mother also says that he had been putting it off for far too long, so you mustn't blame yourself. The burden of the throne has fallen to me now." Well, that settles that. If they were human, they weren't from any place that Fowler had heard of.
"Can I come home?"
"No, not yet."
"Why not?"
"Because you have not learned the lesson Father sent you here to learn."
"Lesson? What lesson?"
"To stop and think before you do something, think about the possible consequences! To stop putting your pride over everything else! Did you really think that Father would put Mjolnir here to taunt you? Don't you remember what Father said at your banishment? You were not worthy of the realms, your title or our friends. Once you are worthy, Mjolnir will be yours again, then and only then can you return. I'm sorry, Thor, but I will not let you return until you are worthy. This is goodbye, for now." Hmm, enlightening, very enlightening.
"Goodbye," the newly named Thor replied, as Loki disappeared from sight.
And just as Coulson returned to the room. "Goodbye? I just got back."
"And I think that it's my turn, Coulson," Fowler insisted. Then, turning to Thor, he asked "Let's start with your brother and how he does his little disappearing trick, shall we?"
Asgard
Upon Loki's return from Jotunheim, he found Heimdall gazing at him intently. "What troubles you, Gatekeeper?" he asked the other man.
"I turned my gaze upon you in Jotunheim, but could neither see you nor hear you. You were shrouded from me like the Frost Giants that entered this realm."
Loki decided to do something that he would normally never do in such circumstances: he decided to be honest. "That is because of the nature of my negotiations with Jotunheim. I have created a binding treaty with Jotunheim that is dependent on one thing, and you would normally oppose it: more Jotuns entering Asgard."
"And why would you do such a thing, my king?"
"Because of Laufey's declaration of war. I am appearing to be giving them a chance to win it effortlessly, when in truth, by the end of the day we will be stronger than them than we have ever been since the end of the last war. The treaty is sealed the moment they set foot in Asgard, no matter what happens to them. Even Farbaut will be forced to accept the treaty," Loki explained. Heimdall simply raised an eyebrow, but simply nodded. "Good, then you will open the Bifrost to no one until I order it so," Loki ordered as he left.
July 18, 2012-Autobot Outpost Omega One, NV
The next morning, Jack decided to take Arcee's advice and ask Ratchet about Thor, so he deliberately got up early so that when he finished talking to the grouchy medic, he could go check on Thor and Dr Foster. He wasn't expecting much, so naturally he was shocked when Ratchet asked "And how do you know about Thor?"
"Umm, outside of Norse mythology, apparently he's here."
"Asgard's crown prince is on Earth?! What is it about this backwater planet that everyone finds so fascinating?" Ratchet asked aloud.
"So you do know Thor and Asgard?"
"Oh, yes, Cybertron had diplomatic relations with Asgard before the War. It was just after they had finished their own war with Jotunheim, a planet of ice creatures that had dreams of conquering other planets and eventually overthrowing Asgard as ruler of the 'Nine Realms.'"
"And what are the Nine Realms?" Jack asked.
"Oh, nine planets connected by a group of wormholes that they accessed through a device they called Bifrost. We last saw them a few months before the War began, as Odin, the ruler of Asgard declared that they would be retreating from the rest of the universe, at least for now. Asgardians are very long lived, and like so many other long lived races, do not have much luck when it comes to fertility, so it was most likely in order to allow their population to recover. Even your own galaxy is a very crowded, dangerous place," Ratchet explained.
"It is?" Jack asked, shocked to hear that there were yet more alien races out there to be found.
"Oh, yes," Ratchet continued. "Among the most dangerous are the Kree and the Skrull empires. The Kree are a harsh, violent, humanoid race, typically with blue skin, but more human skin colors are also possible. The Skrulls are a shape-shifting race that typically grows it's empire by trade, though they also have a strong military. Those two have been at war for millions of years because of a simple contest the Skrulls had set up. Then there is another, one who is easily more dangerous than all the other races, near and far combined. His every step is marked in the blood of billions, he is so feared that none speak his name save in whispers, myth and nightmares. He has been responsible for the destruction of entire worlds, he is almost pure evil, and his name is . . . Thanos." Jack stared at the tough medic in shock, as he shuddered in fear just of the being's name! How dangerous was this Thanos?
Asgard
Loki knew what would happen the moment the Bifrost activated, and he also knew that the Warriors Three and Sif had never so much as liked him. So, if his plan to secure the peace was to work, he needed to buy some time, and there was only one way to do that: he activated the Destroyer. "Follow them, and delay their return, and make certain they view you as a threat, but do not kill Thor."
July 18, 2012-Alamo, NV
An hour later, Jack was returning to Dr Foster's to see how well Raf had done in retrieving her data. He was shocked to find that Thor, whom Ratchet had called a prince, was serving breakfast to Dr Foster and her team. Suppressing his shock, Jack knocked on the door and was quickly welcomed in by Dr Foster. "I don't know how you did it, but thank you! We got all our data back thanks to your friend!"
"Don't mention it, Firewall and I have been looking for a way into SHIELD for a while now, but their firewalls were simply too good, even for him. I had come up with a way to deliver a Trojan Horse to SHIELD, you simply provided the perfect opportunity," Jack said.
As the three scientists and Thor ate breakfast, Dr Foster explained her theory of the Einstein-Rosen bridge, and the possibility of a connection to Asgard. But Dr Selvig doubted it, stating "It's a beautiful theory, Jane. But you won't convince the scientific community of any of it. Not without hard evidence."
Just then, there was another knock at the door, and a voice calling out "Found you!" The three humans and one cyborg turned around and froze in shock at the sight greeting them: four humans, all dressed in a kind of armor that Earth had never seen. Darcy and Selvig were so shocked that both of them dropped their coffee cups. Jack simply studied them, and unknowing upgraded his armor.
Thor on the other hand greeted them warmly, calling them "My friends! This is good! This is good."
Then the large, bearded man who had originally greeted Thor introduced themselves as "Lady Sif and the Warriors Three, at your service."
Thor smiled at them, but there was a touch of sadness in his eyes. "My friends, I have never been happier to see anyone. But you should not have come."
They laughed at that before the blond stated "We're here to take you home."
"You know I can't go home, not until I have redeemed myself enough to be worthy of Mjolnir again. I have placed my home in danger of war and nearly got all of you killed. No, I must stay and serve out my punishment, it is just."
"No, it is not," the Oriental-looking man stated. "We have reason to suspect that Loki cloaked the Jotuns that disturbed your coronation. Your actions may have been your own, but they were guided by Loki's hand."
Thor started to get mad at that. "Have care with your words, Hogun. You speak of my brother, and it is because I did not listen to his counsel that I stand here today."
"And Loki sits on the throne!" Sif argued in return.
"Then you speak treason by speaking against your king!" Thor retaliated. "Have you even found any evidence against Loki?"
"Whoa, I guess we should be glad Thor doesn't have Myeu-muh, 'cause he looks like he wants to put the hammer down on them," Darcy whispered.
Jack was about to nod, when he noticed a small cloud forming to the north of town. "Thor, who can use Bifrost?"
"It has only been built in Asgard, but anyone in the Nine Realms can use it, why?"
"Because someone else is coming here," Jack explained, pointing out the window. Everyone rushed to the window, while Jack listened to the bug on Coulson. Get someone from linguistics down here, Coulson ordered, just before the Bifrost's distinctive column of cloud descended almost on top of him.
Is that one of Stark's? someone asked.
I don't know. The guy never tells me anything, Coulson complained. Then he heard Coulson speaking over a bullhorn. Hello. You are using unregistered weapons technology. Identify yourself. He must have stopped using the bullhorn, because his next words were quieter. Here we go. Incoming! Coulson screamed out, just before several explosions sounded over the bug.
That was enough for Jack. He ran out of the diner and hopped on Arcee. "Arcee, can you activate your guns like those Cons could the day we first met?"
"Easily, but why?" Arcee asked as she allowed him to take them north.
"Trust me, you'll want them!" Jack shouted. Within seconds, they had arrived at the man-shaped machine, one that could probably compare to Arcee in size. Instantly Arcee started firing, though the hits didn't seem to do much damage. "Scrap! I'm open to suggestions!" Jack said as they narrowly avoided a blast from the machine.
"Do you see any weaknesses?" Arcee asked.
"No. It's made of strips of metal, but I don't see where they welded the strips together. Hell, I can't even see what's keeping it standing, or tell what's controlling it!" They made several more passes at the machine, but it continued into town, destroying everything in sight. Volstagg attempted to take it from behind, but with the great shout it gave, the Destroyer easily heard him coming and backhanded him into a car. It was about to blast Volstagg, until Sif stabbed it from behind, seemingly taking it out. At least, until it rebooted and turned itself around to blast her. And now it was mad, blasting Sif and everything it could hit. Jack and Arcee were barely able to keep ahead of it's attacks, until out of the blue, Thor walked up to the Destroyer as calm as a summer breeze, and speaking to Loki. He begged for forgiveness for whatever wrongs he had committed against his brother and asked that he take his anger out on him instead of the people of Alamo. The Destroyer, which had done absolutely nothing during his speech, simply backhanded him when Thor got too close. Volstagg had taken a similar hit and walked away without anything worse than bruises, but for Thor, who was as weak and vulnerable as a human, it was fatal.
As Jane wept over Thor, the Destroyer walked away, unsatisfied, or at least as unsatisfied as a machine without true intelligence could be. It had failed in it's mission and killed Thor. As Thor's heart slowed, he could have sworn he heard Odin's voice saying Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor. At the SHIELD/SWORD outpost, Mjolnir moved for the first time since Jack put it back where he found it. It shuddered, breaking some of the rock around it before shooting up into the air and flying at supersonic speed back to it's masters hand. As soon as Thor touched it again, an enormous storm cloud formed over Jasper and struck Thor with a blast of lighting, reviving and healing Thor, as well as returning his armor to him. Jane had only one response to it. "Oh. My. God."
"In this case, I think the proper phrase would be 'Oh my gods,'" Jack quipped, though he was just as shocked at the turn of events as Dr Foster was. With his revival, Thor quickly hit the Destroyer with Mjolnir before flying up and creating a twister of all things in the middle of town, one that quickly picked the Destroyer up, yet left the rest of the town untouched. Within two minutes, Thor did on his own what Arcee, Sif and the Warriors Three had not been able to do, and destroyed the Destroyer. Upon his landing, the humans finally got a good look at what Thor usually looked like, and Jack had to say "Now that is what I expected Thor to look like."
Thor was just about to leave in order to return to Asgard when Coulson and Fowler arrived. "Donald? I don't think you've been completely honest with me," Coulson stated.
Thor's response was simple. "Know this, Son of Coul. You and I, we fight for the same cause, the protection of this world. From this day forward, you can count me as your ally if you return the items you have taken from Jane."
"Stolen," Jane corrected.
"Borrowed," Coulson corrected her. "Of course, you can have your equipment back. You're going to need it to continue your research." Thor then flew off with Jane to the Bifrost sight, while Coulson called out "Wait! We need to debrief you!" When it became clear that Thor wasn't going to come back, Coulson turned to Jack and stated "My men saw what you did. When you graduate, we'll be-"
"Oh, no you don't, Coulson," Fowler interrupted. "I already have a claim on him. If Jack is joining either of our organizations, he's joining SWORD. Especially since he already knows about a Level 7 secret," he grumbled.
"SWORD?" Coulson asked. "SWORD is the underfunded laughing stock of the intelligence community. SHIELD is highly respected, the successor to the SSR-" The two continued for some time, allowing Jack, Dr Selvig and Darcy to escape the duo and go their separate ways.
A/N: Okay, first things first, I must give credit where credit is due. The explanation as to why Tony is actually dying belongs to Ryan Carlyle, a man who took what we know of the Arc reactor and wrote an article for the Huffington Post, explaining not only how it probably works, but also the effects I explained. The line about Asgard having a genius for war and humanity a genius for survival as well as the description of Thanos comes from Nimbus Llewelyn's Child of the Storm, a Harry Potter/Avengers crossover that is a massive hit, and an impressive read. He has created an amazing world in the story, which is currently at 65 chapters and more than 500,000 words, and he hasn't even finished the Hogwarts year that he started in!
Next, a quick explanation about Mjolnir. The enchantment says that 'whosoever is worthy' may wield Mjolnir. Jack is able to pick it up for much the same reason that Sam can hold the Matrix of Leadership as I believe that the requirements would be the same. (Admittedly, I am quite confused as to why Steve can't lift Mjolnir, but I am encouraged by the fact that he actually moved it. That's more than almost anyone else can say.) Third, that is the last we'll see or hear of the Avengers or other Marvel characters for the rest of the season, but rest assured, they will be returning, even if the majority of you vote against New York. Fourth, for those of you who haven't seen Agents of SHIELD, a 084 is an object of unknown origin, which Mjolnir certainly counts as at first. And for the final note, SWORD and SHIELD are basically the same organization, SWORD just deals with extraterrestrial threats, while SHIELD focuses on Earth-based threats. Right now, SWORD is an under-funded branch of SHIELD that is considered a laughingstock throughout the intelligence world and is mostly concerned with the Transformers war and SETI. Now I have a request for those of you with YouTube accounts: make a music video of Airachnid with Night of the Hunter. Despite how perfect the song is for her, there is nothing! The one who does and let's me know gets Airachnid's next chapter dedicated to them, and I will grant them one request concerning this story, whether it be spoilers, creating a plot point, whatever.
In the next chapter: the Bumblebee/Megatron storyline and my explanation of the Cortical Psychic Patch, including why the Autobots banned it, why the two sides can't just hack each others minds to get them to switch sides, and how Megatron managed to jump to Bee's body.