Wanda had been fighting alongside the Avengers, doing her best to make sure that the female warrior in front of them didn't take the staff that Natasha was holding. She didn't understand the whole situation, but that much was clear: if Loki got his hands on that scepter, it was all over.
We can do this. We can win.
Then Loki called out to the heavens above, and received a quick response in the form of a whole army. Wanda felt her heart sink, and along with it, her legs. She fell to the ground, knowing full well that they had no way to combat this army of supernatural beings. And if she died here, she would never see her brother again.
Thoughts of running away, abandoning her new allies crossed her mind. It was tempting, and a week ago, she wouldn't have spared a second thought. In fact, if her only teammate were Mr. Stark, she would smile as she walked away. But the Avengers had been far kinder to her than anyone ay HYDRA had been. If she had to choose a group that she'd rather betray, HYDRA would win, hands down.
One of the Asgardian soldiers pointed what looked like a sci-fi gun at her; she could hear the whine of the weapon even at the few feet that stood between them. She could possibly deflect it, but she wondered what the point was.
If I die here, Pietro, I hope to meet with you again, wherever we end up. She closed her eyes, waiting for the end, and a sudden breeze shot past her, whipping her hair into her face. She sputtered, wondering if the enemies had some sort of air device, but then realized that she was the one moving rapidly. The explosion that came from behind her also supported her theory.
She slowly opened her eyes, seeing the world rush by her, and wrapped her arms around the object that was lifting her off the ground. That white hair, that speed, that laugh…it could only belong to…
"Pietro!" she shouted, bringing her tear-stained face against his neck. She had to make sure that he was real, had to make sure he wasn't injured, and had to make sure that she didn't make a complete fool of herself.
"You always said I liked dramatic entrances, yes?" Mischief shone in his bright eyes as he stopped to let her down. She quickly gave him the once-over. Aside from some stubble on his chin, he looked the same, and she couldn't find any mysterious injuries.
His impish grin made her want to simultaneously hug him and sock him. She settled for a mild shove. "Pietro, you jerk! I was worried sick about you! Where have you been? Have you been well?" She had too many questions, and she didn't have the speed to get them all out like her brother.
For the first time, he looked serious. "Wanda, I would have come for you sooner, but I didn't have the power to take on all the Avengers." Then he grinned again. "The situation has changed, though. An entire army of HYDRA agents are on their way as we speak. This is our chance to escape, while HYDRA and the Avengers fight. Even if they chase us, I have the power to defeat all of them now." His voice was lifted with excitement. No doubt he had already planned a suitable place for them to go after they escaped. She had a wild guess that it would be somewhere warm, a place with lots of beautiful women in swimwear.
She also noticed something gleaming in his pockets, but she could ask him about that later.
She had dreamed of something like this for years. She should tell Pietro that she agreed, and let him take her away.
Unfortunately, she thought, I seem to have grown quite the conscience.
She pulled on Pietro's arm to get his attention. "Pietro, we cannot. The situation has changed over here as well…more than you could possibly guess." And she told him everything that had occurred after their separation. He didn't want to believe it. He suggested that her mind had been tampered with, or that perhaps she was even lying to herself. Nothing he said would budge her.
"You're telling me that everything we have ever thought about the Avengers has been a lie, falsehoods?" Pietro was almost yelling in his agitation.
"No, I suspect that everything we heard about Stark is correct enough," Wanda mused. "But the others are genuinely good people. Strucker blinded us to the truth. I only wish I had seen it sooner. But now that I do know, I can't turn my back on them. Please brother, help me." And without looking to see how he responded, she turned away and dashed off towards where the fighting had been. Even at that distance, all she had to do was follow the explosions.
She yelped when she felt herself get scooped up, and then relaxed at the familiar feeling of being sped away at high speeds. "Thank you," she whispered.
Steve fancied himself the kind of soldier –no, man – who never balked at the odds, no matter how stacked against him they were. It was that kind of thinking that allowed his spirits to constantly rise, no matter the opposition. He also knew that he held a lot of responsibility for his fellow Avengers. Many of them tended to look his way when it came to the large battles. If he allowed himself to break, allowed himself to surrender, he knew his teammates might not be far behind. He had to stay strong, for all of them.
It was that determination that led to him KO'ing five different Asgardians already, but it was like snuffing out a few ants out of a whole colony. There was seemingly always another Asgardian swinging a weapon at him, and while his shield though his shield wasn't giving way, it was more than he could say about his own arm.
"Yield!" one heavyset Asgardian howled, his golden dreadlocks adorned with various golden trinkets. He punched Steve in the face, and the pain was doubled thanks to a metallic glove the large man wore.
Cap backed up a few steps, wiping his bloody chin. "Not today," he quietly but resolutely replied as he reared back up and slammed his shield against the man's face. The Asgardian went down without a sound.
And he was immediately replaced by three more. Steve backed up until he was back-to-back with Clint. "Cap, we're losing ground, and I'm running out of arrows. Also, we seem to have lost Wanda. I hope you have a plan." Steve wished he did, too.
"Something will turn up, Clint, something always does." He wondered if it was too much to wish for a miracle. Those weren't common occurrences.
"No, I don't think anyone will be able to save you." Steve turned towards Clint, bewildered. The archer's tone had suddenly changed. Even the grin that Hawkeye gave him was somehow…
Steve's eyes widened as he realized the truth, but it was too late. In a green sparkle, Hawkeye had transformed into his true form, Loki, who then proceeded to impale Steve with his (presumably fake) Odin sword.
At least, that would have happened, if a crimson energy blast hadn't impacted Loki in the chest, sending him crashing against a metal gate with a loud noise. He could see Loki gasp for air as the god stood back up.
"Glad to have you back," Steve smiled at Wanda, who smiled back at him tentatively.
"You and me both," Clint added, no doubt mentally picturing what he would have looked like with a sword in hand, stabbing his own friend. It wasn't a pretty mental image.
"Not to impose," Wanda hesitantly started. "But I didn't come alone." Loki sneered, his confidence having been restored.
"You managed a sneak attack, I'll give you that, but now that I have eyes on you, I sincerely doubt that you'll be able to do me much more damage. Bring whomever you please, it will make no difference." So fast was the blow that knocked Loki back on the ground that the trickster was still talking before he even realized it his head had hit the cobblestones..
He made to stand up, but a blur of wind seemed to knock him back down. "What manner of being?" Loki sputtered. Steve imagined that the sight must look odd to Odin's followers.
"Lord!" various Asgardians cried, rushing to their master's aid, but the blue whipped past all of them, knocking them down as well.
Steve had to blink when the speedster stopped in front of him. "I guessed it might be you." Steve only knew one person who could go that fast.
"I know we didn't get off on the wrong foot, but we would like to make amends," Wanda started. Pietro looked at the ground. "Right, Pietro?" Wanda elbowed him sharply. Pietro frowned as he rubbed his arm.
"Yeah, sorry," he muttered. With a bit more enthusiasm, he bragged, "Now that I'm here, I don't think Loki will be much of a problem." With an exaggerated pose, he dashed off again towards Loki at the speed of sound – but this time, Loki was prepared, and he teleported out of the way at the last second.
"You boast like my brother does," Loki seethed. "But I know a trick that even gives him pause." As Loki spoke, a second and third Loki appeared, echoing his words. A few moments later, dozens of Loki copies filled the area they were in. Some even exited nearby apartment buildings.
Pietro crouched down. "No sweat." Then he ran, and in the blink of an eye, many of the Loki copies had fallen, usually accompanied by a grunt. Even so, as many as Pietro took down, more popped up.
"I can do this all day, but you'll soon tire. One of the unfortunate side effects of being a mere human, I'm afraid." Loki's grin was like a snake that had cornered its meal.
"Let's hope the kid can pull this off," Clint muttered as he checked his holster. "I'm running out of arrows fast."
Finally, Pietro began to tire; Steve could tell because he could actually see the silver-haired youth. Still, he fought on, the cocky grin still plastered to his face.
"You know, that's not a bad trick," Pietro huffed as he slammed into three more Loki copies. They all raised an eyebrow.
"That's it? I was expecting more resignation from you, or panic perhaps." All the voices boomed as one; Clint made a comment about how it was like surround sound, but Steve was only half-listening.
"Well, if I may borrow something my sister recently said, I didn't come alone either." He raised both arms, and Steve realized that he was signaling someone. Just then, a hail of bullets started to rain down on the area. Steve raised his shield and pulled Wanda against him.
The majority of the bullets, however, seemed to be aimed at Loki and the Asgardians. Over half of the copies were vaporized, and the real one was finally forced to show himself as he erected an energy shield. The rest of the Asgardians had no such powers, and were forced to either flee behind mountains of rubble, or use their own metallic shields to block any rounds. Natasha and Sif, who had been fighting, were both forced to temporarily retreat,
"Is that…HYDRA?" Clint sounded shocked, and Steve couldn't blame him. There was something weird about seeing one of their most hated enemies fighting alongside them.
"With Strucker gone, I was apparently the only one suitable one to lead." Clint jumped; none of them had seen Pietro zip beside them. "And I'm not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, as you say." Wanda hugged him tightly.
"Oh, Pietro, I knew you would have something up your sleeve." Pietro winked at her. "Oh, that wasn't my big surprise. This is!" He zipped away without another word, and their eyes were only able to follow him because of the dust trail behind him.
He ran towards Loki, who had blasted a couple of HYDRA agents, and tackled him to the dirty ground, before reaching in his pocket, and pulling out a glove. With his gloved hand, he reached inside his other pocket, and pulled out three gleaming gemstones. Steve knew instantly what they were.
"Is he planning to use the Infinity Stones to defeat Loki? I hope he knows what he's doing." Wanda stepped forward, wanting very much to go and aid Pietro, but unsure if her presence would somehow trigger something in the gems.
"I hope so too," she replied, but praying in her heart that Pietro didn't cause some kind of injury to himself.
She watched as Pietro chose the yellow-hued stone, and attempted to tap Loki on the head with it. But Loki was quick, and the god grabbed Pietro's arm.
"Do you seek to use the Mind Stone to control me? Well, I don't think so. I very much dislike being manipulated in any way. I prefer to be the one holding the strings." He kicked Pietro off him and teleported a few feet away.
Pietro blew out in frustration before regrouping with the others. "This would be easier if I knew how to use these stupid things." Steve grabbed his shoulder.
"That was brave, son, but until we know these stone's full capabilities, we should hold off on using them." Pietro didn't seem to agree.
"The Mind Stone sounds simple enough. We use it to force Loki to surrender. Neat and simple, and best of all, quick."
"Yes, but do you have any idea what the Space and Reality gems can do? Pietro sheepishly shook his head, leaving Steve to continue, "For all we know, using it the wrong way could create a black hold large enough to suck in New York City itself."
Clint rolled his eyes. "Yeah, let's avoid that. Also, I really hate Infinity Stones, in case you guys didn't know."
"Fine then," Pietro cut in impatiently. "I won't use the last two stones, but I believe I'm still fast enough to strike Loki with the Mind Stone. So unless you have any objections…" He broke off from the group before they could voice any, and headed straight for Loki. And then he stopped.
Everything around him stopped. Steve, who had started after Pietro, was frozen. Wanda was in a pose, her hand outstretched after her brother. Clint was pointing a finger where Pietro had been, his mouth opened as if he had been giving the youth a scolding.
Various dust clouds that had appeared during the fight failed to dissipate. Birds were seemingly glued to the air, their wings in mid-flap. And if one were to look at any clocks in the area, they might notice that none of the hands moved.
The other thing they might notice was that everything was deathly quiet.
Author's Notes:
I've reached chapter 20. Milestone. :D
Just when the heroes were starting to turn things around...well, things always get worse before they get better.