Chapter 16

"Hey, Loki!" I jump off my rocky hiding spot and approach Loki in a casual stroll. "What bring you to this part of Utah?"

Loki turns and fixes me with a glare and bares his teeth in a very feral manner. "Ah, Daughter of Iron, I thought I broke you."

I chuckle as I ignore my teammates screaming at me in my ear. "No, sorry, still whole enough to see another sunrise. You did cost my dad a pretty penny for an arm, though."

Loki growls. "You and your father both underestimate me. Are you going to offer me alcohol next?"

I snort. "Yeah, sorry, the suit is many things, but a cooler is not one of them."

Loki narrows his eyes. "How is your back healing?"

I cock my head, putting on a contemplative face. "I don't know, Loki, how should it be feeling after being scarred by a maniac whose end plan didn't even work?"

Loki laughs, and he sounds even more insane than before. "Oh, but it did, my dear, it did. How is your precious hawk faring?"

"Still alive and stronger than before. Just like last time you messed with him. You should really stop doing that, by the way, he's got some very protective, dangerous friends now."

"Friends? That's all you are? You know, when I kill him, I think I'll do his lips first. You will never kiss him again!"

I turn away from Loki and pretend to put on a sob show.

"Guys, where are you? Loki is freaking certifiably insane!"

"Well maybe you wouldn't be listening to his monologue is you had waited for back up! What happened to that plan?"

"Sorry, dad, I'll just lounge back and let him build an army next time, my mistake."

"That is not what I am saying,-"

"Will both of you be quiet for just one moment?" Steve sighs.

After we fall begrudgingly silent, he continues. "Beta, your dad is right, you probably should have waited, but I understand why you did what you did. Now, you can either keep him talking, we are about ten minutes away, or you can lead him back to us. Your choice."

On that happy note, the comms fall silent. I hear a pebble click behind me and I remember the psycho I just had my back to for over five minutes.

I pretend to sniffle and scrub my palms over my eyes as I turn back to Loki.

"You're right, I am more than his friend. But that is only more reason for you to stay away. I will protect my team, no matter the cost, and you have no idea how much I am capable of."

Loki's eyes become slits as I square my shoulders and discreetly prep my repulsors. "And neither do you, my dear."

He lowers his scepter towards me, but I immediately dart off with his army hot on my tail.

"Talking was no longer an option. I'm leading his army back your way, can anyone intercept me?"

"Roger that, Beta. We are all on the ground in plain sight, use all evasive techniques necessary. Understood?"

"Got it, Cap. I'm coming in hot."

I cross the peak of a ridge to see my team spread out in a circle, weapons at the ready.

I dive sharply down the ridge and head for Thor, rolling left just before I hit him so the wolf bot snapping at my smoke trails gets its head caved in courtesy of Mjolnir.

The rest of the bots looked stunned for a split second before resuming their chase, this time with me spinning in wide ovals so Hawkeye and Widow can have a free-for-all. After about twenty beasts are taken out, I flip over so I'm facing the bots and my dad and I prime our missiles. Another thirty bots and soldiers go boom after three anti-aircraft missiles and ten minor shoulder missiles.

I roll to avoid an arrow that explodes against a soldier's chest and then wipe the blood off my faceplate with a grimace.

"Wow, thanks Hawk, every girl feels special when you splatter them with blood."

"My pleasure, Beta, how does your kill rate look?"

"Maybe fifty or so. You?"

"Aww, like, thirty five –no, six…no fair…" I chuckle at the pout evident in his voice.

"Is the feared Hawkeye pouting? I'll get ice cream later. Seriously, though, on your left!"

I zoom in on my holoscreen to watch him turn, taze a wolf, and give me a nod and a thumbs up before being forced to abandon his perch and jump into the mass of chaos as it crumbles under the weight of a robot.

I frown slightly but doom back into the fray, kicking and punching and blasting for all I was worth. I think I even head butted a few soldiers.

I catch a glimpse of a golden horn and kick off the wolf using my leg as a chew toy before following it.

I start spinning and rolling again – albeit more clumsily than before, thanks to the dents in my suit – but just as catch up to the glinting gold thing, all the chaos around me disappears.

I can still see the battle, but it sounds like it's underwater as I turn to face the owner of the horned helmet.

"What now Loki?"

"Just checking up on your progress my dear. Your team is grasping at straws, you know. Thor's mighty hammer is tiring herself out,"

Loki waves an arm to where Thor is playing whack-a-wolf with a barely sparking hammer.

"the beast is being overrun,"

Hulk has about five wolves climbing up his back and another two clamped to his arms.

"the Captain is showing his humanity for once,"

Steve is swinging wildly at beasts with his right arm while blood seeps from his left.

"the Widow is trapped,"

Natasha is slowly backing up with a cliff to her left, a wall to her right, and wolves in front and behind.

"your father's iron is rusting,"

I look in horror as my dad's knees wobble against a three part attack.

"and the Hawk is nowhere to be seen. Why don't you just kneel, like before?"

I open my faceplate to glare at Loki and actually spit on his shoes. "How about no? The first person kneeling here will be you, you puny, selfish, b-"

"Ah, ah, ah, no need to get nasty, that is really unbecoming, my dear. Just putting a simple…suggestion…on the board." Loki holds his hands up in a façade of surrender.

I snort and rolls my eyes. "Right, Loki, I wasn't born yesterday. That counts as a suggestion the day Hawkeye says he hates arrows."

Loki just pauses and rocks back on his heels. "You know, you're right. That wasn't a suggestion."

He waves an arm as whatever was muffling the battle disappears as the roars, screams, and shots assault my ears.

I'm so busy wondering what the heck just happened that I fail to notice the gargantuan wolf clamping onto my leg until I hear metal plates screeching, and by then I just have enough time to secure my face plate as I fly out over the lake in hopes of dropping and drowning the thing.

Instead, the leg it is chewing on gets yanked apart, causing one thruster to go offline, and a blue blast hits the other one and then I'm free falling.