Hey everyone! I'm back! We will see how long me being back lasts this time around. The good news is I have a few chapters written ahead of this.
A bit about my life right now. I started university…it's been interesting. But it has taken over my life and a few weeks ago I decided to take back something I loved, writing this fic.
To make up for the many months without a chapter this chapter is 33 pages. I wrote it all in 2 days, sitting in my residence's laundry room. It turns out the loud noises of a half broken laundry machine does a lot for my writing ability.
In terms of comments, I'm not going to answer any questions this time around since it has been months. But just know I have read all of them and it has kept me together the last few months.
Thank you to my Beta Luke, our marvel expert for his expertise on this chapter. Luke who is the CeCe to my Jess, the Dustin to my Steve, and finally the Jane to my Petra. (Yes, I will keep adding more every week because Luke HATES it and also names these shows/references in the comments). A massive shoutout to my amazing ghostwriter ElianaIsabella who literally edited this chapter at the drop of a hat. I couldn't have gotten this chapter out to you guys without her. *insert round of applause*
Well, it's good to be back guys, and I can't wait for you to read this chapter.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the storyline that belongs to Marvel and She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. If I did own it I'd be rich and married to Sebastian Stan, or Tom Holland, or Andrew Garfield, or Tom Hiddleston or…I'll just quit while I'm ahead. ENJOY!
June 24th, 2012 Aboard the Mobile SHIELD Headquarters (3:08 PM)
Nick Fury stands aboard the SHIELD carrier looking out the window at a motionless sky. But he wasn't thinking about the sky, his mind was focused on them. The Avengers Initiative. He played lazily with Coulson's Captain America trading cards. Nick Fury didn't hope too often but right now he felt hope was the only thing that could pull these 7 together… 'well 8 now' he thought to himself. The eighth of course being Tony Stark's surprise daughter, the witch.
Hermione Granger was someone that Fury was not expecting. Witches and wizards…what has the world come to? Gods, Wizards, Aliens. Ever since Captain America, it seemed the world was changing into a more dangerous place. Not that it wasn't already, but it was being noticed more by the everyday person.
Hermione Granger could be a very interesting type of hero. A smart, driven, humble young girl for people to look up to. A hero that has a genuinely good past, no red on their ledger. The poster child of a perfect role model. Looking down at the cards it finally hits Fury what this girl reminds him of,
She's the female Steve Rogers.
He can feel Agent Hill approach him from behind, the disapproval hanging in the air. She always struggled with his methods of bringing people together.
"Sir." She addressed formally.
"Agent Hill," He responded.
"Those cards," She said, crossing her arms. Afraid of daring to say the words aloud. "They were in Coulson's locker. Not his jacket."
Fury sighed, fiddling with the cards once again in his hands.
"They needed the push." He replied simply and they did. He had great respect for Coulson and was very upset by his death. But Coulson would understand the lying that was necessary to bring the Avengers into fruition.
Then suddenly out of the corner of his eye, Nick Fury saw a jet flying from the docking bay.
'Bingo' he thought to himself. Then as per protocol, the PA sounded with an announcement.
"We have an unauthorized departure from Bay 6."
"They found him," Fury told Hill, knowing full well she'd already figured it out. But Nick Fury was allowed to be petty sometimes and he really wanted to have the subtle 'I told you so' moment. "Get our communications back up, whatever you have to do. I want eyes on everything."
Still in shock that Fury's lie and speech worked, Agent Hill simply said, "Yes, sir."
June 24th, 2012 Aboard the Mobile SHIELD Headquarters (3:08 PM)
"New York?" Hermione asked curiously, her father nodded once again confirming the city. Tony seemed really upset over the location. It wasn't really a surprise to Hermione. 'It's a major city in America, one of the most targeted places in the United States. It has the Empire State Building, The Statue of Liberty, SHIELD Headquarters, and-.' Hermione's eyes widened when she realized where Loki was targeting. "It's Stark Tower, isn't it? That's his play."
Tony could only nod in response, the pain and regret apparent in his eyes. Steve felt the same. Though his home was Brooklyn, New York was always so close. It was where he enlisted, where he and Bucky would sneak off to on weekends even when their parents forbid it. He looked over at Bucky and could tell that his pal felt the same.
"I understand a major city, but why New York? Why not Toronto? Or London? Or Singapore? There are plenty of cities around the world to conquer in order to assert dominance. Why would he pick New York?" Clint asked from the front of the ship. Hermione understood. New York means everything.
"It isn't the city element. It's what New York represents. Ellis Island was a place for anyone to start over. The Statue of Liberty represents the freedom America offers. Two major monuments that represent the liberty and freedom of the people of the United States." Hermione explained.
Everyone was fixed on her words because she was right. Loki could've chosen anywhere in the world to begin his domination. But he's no idiot. He chose New York for a reason.
"Remember 9/11, the terrorists chose New York for what it represented. Hoping to bring the whole country down by the attack. And they did for a moment, it tore people apart. Before it brought people closer together." Hermione continued. "Loki doesn't just want to bring us down. He wants to break us."
"You've got it Elphaba," Tony said reluctantly.
"But during 9/11 they had the first responders. They had everyday heroes to help, and they saved thousands of lives that day. And while we can't even begin to measure up to the heroism the first responders showed that day, we can do what they did. Be heroes." Hermione pointed out. "The world needs us right now. So yes, as much as New York means a lot to most of you, use that love for it to defend it. That's what Fury told us, that there was an idea, called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people. To see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when the world needed them to, to fight the battles that they never could."
She looked to Bucky for this next part. As much as it solidified the lie they had told. It's the reminder and motivation they needed. She knew he wouldn't approve, it was necessary. For the greater good. She said the only thing she could think of that would really drive the point home. "It's an idea that Phil Coulson died for. Is it not our responsibility to fulfill that wish?"
The silence that followed was deafening. No one dared speak. Natasha stood from the cockpit of the ship, standing across from Hermione, staring her in the eyes. Before looking at everyone else, and saying "She's right. It's time for the Avengers Initiative."
"I think I speak for all of us when I say I'm in," Steve confirmed, "Except for Stark of course. Whatcha say?"
Tony looked at his daughter, and he knew there was no dissuading her from this. It wasn't that Tony didn't want to help fight Loki. But to join the Avengers? That was another commitment entirely. A few days before he'd known about his daughter, Tony didn't think he'd ever agree to join such a group. But seeing that look in her eye, a sense of pride and belonging was something that Tony wanted to see all the time. So he looked at his watch and said, "I got some time, uh why not?"
"Yes!" Hermione said, running towards her father and bringing him into a tight embrace. Well…as tight of an embrace as they could while both wearing suits. She pulled away slightly embarrassed by her childish behavior and muttered a quick "sorry" before backing away.
"I think I should fly ahead and have JARVIS scan the area to see if we can get any more information. I'll have JARVIS sync myself and Hermione's helmets to your comms." Tony told, then he looked at Barnes. As much as he hated it, the super soldier had a soft spot for his kid, he knew that Barnes would protect her if she needed it. "You are to stay with her at all times, got it?"
"Yes sir," Bucky replied respectfully, honored that Stark would entrust the safety of his daughter to him.
"I don't need a nanny Tony," Hermione said, slightly insulted by his insinuation that she couldn't take care of herself.
"I didn't say you did kiddo. However, if I can't keep an eye on your safety, whether you need a babysitter or not. I am going to entrust the job to someone else." Tony explained to her. Hermione simply crossed her arms and rolled her eyes in response. "Don't roll your eyes at me. I told you I trusted you to do this whole hero thing and I do. But there is a big difference between fighting criminals and fighting a god, regardless of whether or not you've beaten him before. Now I can't believe I'm saying this but it's always smart to work in pairs, Barnes just happens to be yours. Am I getting this right, Romanoff?"
"As much as I hate to admit it, Stark is right. Barton over here is usually my partner on missions and Barnes over here was Steve's." Natasha told the young witch. Hermione huffed in frustration but reluctantly looked at her father and muttered 'fine.'
"Is that cool with you Steve?" Bucky asked his friend, unsure how his friend would feel changing up the partner routine.
"No, I agree, we should work in pairs unless absolutely necessary." Steve agreed. Sure it would be weird to work without his best pal but he was reluctant to let Hermione fight with them in the first place. He knew that she was in good hands with Buck.
"Well I'm going to get ahead and I'll meet you guys on the ground," Tony told the group gesturing for Hermione to join him by the end of the ship, where he would soon depart. She walked towards him, dreading this conversation. She knew there was a risk something could happen to either one of them. However she had to do this, Harry had instilled a sense of heroism in her over these last years. She had to help.
"What's up?" She tried to say casually, tears brimming in her eyes. Tony gave her a soft look as he asked,
"Are you going to be able to do this Sabrina?" He asked, concerned her mind wasn't totally focused right now. Hermione sniffled, wiping the tears before they could fall.
"Yeah no, I'll be fine just…please please please be careful," Hermione begged, she knew there were always risks. But from what Hermione remembers from watching him on the news is that Tony can take many unnecessary risks. "Don't do anything too risky and stay focused. Promise me."
"Of course, I'll be careful. And no more unnecessary risks, I promise. I don't just have myself to think about anymore. I got two girls waiting for me to come home." Tony said with a smile, ruffling her already bushy hair. "Same goes with you. Stick with Barnes, stay sharp, and if it gets to be too much get the hell out of there. Fly far away and call Pepper, Happy, and, I know you haven't met him but, Rhodey. They're all preprogrammed in your suit and they'll be there for you as soon as they land. Don't play the hero Hermione. No unnecessary risks, promise?"
"I'll be careful," Hermione replied.
"No, I'm not letting you off this jet if you don't promise me." He told her firmly. "No unnecessary risks."
"I promise." She responded firmly.
"Good. Well, okay I'm gonna go. I'll let you know when I'm on the ground yeah? You do the same." He asked her.
"Will do." She replied. As he started to back up, the unloading gate began to open. "Be safe, I love you."
"I love you too." He told her, admiring the way she looked. The suit combined with her confident stance, he knew that he'd made the right choice letting her decide her fate. She would be okay. He gave her one last look and closed his helmet before flying away, the unloading gate beginning to close again in his wake. Hermione never looked away until it fully closed. Once it did, she turned around to look at the others, who had been watching the whole scene, turned to Steve, and asked,
"So Rogers, what's the plan?"
June 24th, 2012 New York City, New York (3:37 PM)
It didn't take long for Tony to reach New York, despite the roughness in the suit's flight ability. He was so busy thinking about the 'what if's' with Hermione that he forgot to even put on a playlist for the trip. "I've made it to New York, approaching the tower now." He messaged Hermione. She responded with "Right behind you." Stark tower was just in view when Tony checked in with his AI.
"JARVIS, did you shut it down?" Tony asked his AI.
"Yes sir, I've turned off the arc reactor. But the device is already self-sustaining." The monotone voice replied just as he flew up behind Dr. Selvig, who was powering a Tesseract stabilizing machine.
"Shut it down, Dr. Selvig." He ordered the scientist, his suit rocking slightly from instability.
"It's too late!" Dr. Selvig replied, his eyes glowing abnormally blue, admiring the machine in front of him as if it was his child. "She can't stop now. She wants to show us something. A new universe."
Tony rolled his eyes from under his mask, powering up his repulsors to shoot the machine. "Okay."
He fired his repulsors which ricocheted back when trying to hit the machine as it struck an invisible force surrounding it, sending Tony reeling back. It took a moment to regain his balance after the blow, especially with a damaged suit but he managed.
"It's unbreachable sir," JARVIS informed the billionaire.
"Yeah, I kinda got that," Tony replied sarcastically. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Loki standing on the terrace of the tower. "Plan B." He said, informing JARVIS of a new plan.
"Sir, the Mark 7 is not ready to be deployed." The AI responded warningly. Tony tried to think of a solution quickly.
"Then skip the spinning rims," He told the AI. " We're on the clock."
Tony, with great difficulty, landed on the base of the tower. A predesigned mechanism slowly takes his ruined suit off. Loki watched him patiently from afar. As his helmet was removed, Tony locked eyes with the god, staring him down. Loki turned around, planning on meeting the god inside Tony's living room of the tower.
"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity," Loki asked the billionaire sarcastically. He then continued in a mocking tone, "If not for yourself, do it for your niece. Hermione. She needs you right now. Blah Blah Blah."
"Actually I'm planning to threaten you," Tony responded, how dare he mention Hermione after everything he did to her.
"You should have left your armor on for that." Loki smiled to himself, 'oh this is going to be fun.'
"Yeah." Tony huffed out, almost scoffing at the threat. "It's seen a bit of mileage and you've got the glow stick of destiny."
Tony walks towards the bar, "Would you like a drink?"
"Stalling me won't change anything," Loki informed him, fiddling with his staff, and looking out the window.
"No, no threatening." Tony corrected, beginning to fix himself a drink. "No drink? Are you sure? I'm having one."
"The Chitauri are coming. Nothing is going to change that." Loki persisted. Tony ignores this comment, continuing to make his drink. "What do I have to fear?"
"The Avengers," Tony replied simply, pouring some whiskey into an ice-filled glass. Loki gave a look of slight confusion at the name. "That's what we call ourselves. We're kinda like a team. 'Earth's mightiest heroes' sort of thing."
"Yes, I've met them," Loki told him, not threatened by the idea of the heroes.
"Yeah." Tony replied with a smile, also clearly not threatened by the god. "It took us a while to get any traction. I'll give you that one. But uh, let's do a head count here. Your brother; the demigod, two super soldiers, a living legend… who I hate to admit it but lives up to the legend."
Tony began to slip on some silver cuffs, a prototype he'd been working on. "There's also a man with breathtaking anger-management skills, two master assassins, oh and let's not forget the witch, your niece. And then there's you big fella, and you've managed to piss off every single one of them."
"That was the plan." Loki smiled at the notion of pissed off, powerful people. Oh how he enjoyed making big people feel smaller. Tony took a sip of his drink before replying,
"Not a great plan." Tony pointed out. "When they come…and they will. They'll come for you."
"I have an army." Loki defended, his ego clearly bruised.
"We have a hulk." Tony replied.
"I thought the beast had wandered off." Loki responded with a smirk.
"You're missing the point, there is no throne." Tony began to tell the god. "There is no version of this where you come out on top."
"Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us," Tony continued. "But it's all on you. Because if we can't protect the earth, then you can be damn sure we'll avenge it."
"How will your friends have time for me when they are going to be so busy fighting you?" Loki asks him, moving to press the tip of his staff on Tony's heart, in an attempt to take control of his mind. The staff hit the metal of his arc reactor, Loki's spell having no effect on the billionaire. Loki, with a look of confusion, tries again. Once more the spell has no effect on Tony.
"This usually works," Loki says to no one in particular. Tony, who takes every opportunity he gets to make a sexual innuendo replies to the comment with,
"Well performance issues, not uncommon." He says with a shrug. "One out of five…"
Tony is interrupted by Loki grabbing his neck and throwing him to the ground. Without a suit, Tony had to admit it was quite painful being at the mercy of a god.
"JARVIS, anytime now, really," Tony whispered into his AI-powered watch, while slowly getting back up. He really hoped this would work, he suspected that him being beaten to death by Loki would break his promise to Hermione. That was one promise he did not intend to break.
Before he was even fully back up, Loki once again grabbed Tony's neck.
"You will all fall before me." Loki spat in his ear.
"Deploy," Tony ordered JARVIS. As he was lifted by the neck by Loki, Tony could see the suit vault opening for a brief moment before being launched out the window by the god.
He could feel himself falling faster and faster to the pavement below. Then he heard it, the suit following behind him. He could see the suit sinking with his cuffs when he felt his repulsors form around his forearms. Then his back, chest, and legs, and finally his helmet before the suit fully covered his body. Just in the nick of time, he began to fly back to the top of the tower. Back to Loki.
"And there's one other person you pissed off," He told Loki through his mask. "His name was Phil."
Loki went to cast a spell with his staff, but before he could, Tony blasted him with his repulsters. Knocking the god off of his feet.
Behind him, the Tesseract stabilizer shot a beam of energy into the sky. Tony looked up and saw a portal forming from the beam. Swarms of the alien army began traveling through the portal.
"Right, army," Tony remembered. He flew up towards the portal, blasting anything he could see. He launched some extra missiles from a shoulder blaster, hoping to get some more of them out of the sky. Which worked, but with every alien he shot out of the sky, two more got past him. He looked down and saw that the army began attacking the citizens below. More importantly saw Loki, standing atop the terrace, looking down at the chaos below.
Tony saw a red cape fly past him. "Well, at least flying Hamlet over there is alive and well." He thought to himself before continuing to fight the aliens coming in from the portal.
June 24th, 2012 Atop Stark Tower (4:04 PM)
Thor landed atop the terrace of what he thought might be the ugliest building of all time. He could see his brother Loki just above him, admiring the chaos.
"Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it." Thor threatened his brother, grabbing his attention.
"You can't." Loki replied, delighted to see his brother so furious over the mischief he caused. "There is no stopping it. There is only the battle."
Thor, already fuelled by his anger, had had enough of Loki's games, "So be it."
The two began engaging in a vicious battle, metal staff colliding with the metal hammer, the two weapons and the extension of their wielders. Loki attempted to stab his brother, only to get knocked back by Mjolnir. In an attempt to hit his brother, Loki knocks a couple letters off of the side of the tower, sending them hurtling towards the ground.
June 24th, 2012 New York City, New York (4:16 PM)
"The city is just up ahead, I'm just looking for a place to land this thing," Barton said from the cockpit.
"Welcome to New York doll, the land of street hot dogs, traffic jams, and muggings." Bucky smiled at Hermione, trying to make her feel better.
Natasha briefly pulls up a new feed. Stark hadn't been giving them much to go on and the redhead wanted a quick recap of what was happening.
"We now move to show you the current events at Stark Towers, in this clip you can see billionaire Tony Stark better known as the hero Iron Man being launched out of the 51st floor of his own tower by an unknown person-"
"What?" Hermione gasped, her eyes leaving the city before her, solely focusing on the clip in front of her, Tony is launched from the tower by her Uncle, falling fast to the pavement. Tears well in her eyes as Bucky's flesh hand grasps her shoulder, "No-"
"However the billionaire must have 9 lives as he seems to have summoned a suit for himself just in the nick of time. Now as you see her, he is flying towards a portal in the sky, attempting to prevent what looks like an alien invasion that the attacker of Germany, 'Loki' as he calls himself foretold no more than two days ago-"
"Oh thank god." Hermione breathed a sigh of relief, bringing her hand to her chest.
"You okay kiddo?" Natasha asked the young witch.
"I'm fine Nat. Thank you though." Hermione replied kindly, her breathing slowing from the scare of losing the only parent she had left.
"Are you sure you're ready for this?" Steve questioned one last time. He already knew the answer. But wanted to give the girl an opportunity to remember why she is fighting again.
"As I'll ever be." The witch replied to the captain.
"Good, because we're landing right in the thick of it," Barton informed them.
"I'll comm in Tony." She asked JARVIS to conference in Tony. "Tony? We've just arrived. We're landing now."
"You there Stark?" Natasha asked after a moment of no reply.
"What did you stop at the drive-thru?" He asked breathlessly. "Swing up Park, I'm gonna lay them out for you."
Natasha heads to the cockpit to control the ammo fire. Seeing Stark pass she began shooting the aliens that followed him.
"Sir we have incoming," JARVIS informed him.
"Fine, let's keep em' occupied," Tony told JARVIS and in turn the group on the ship.
Tony and the rest of the Avengers dodge and swerve the alien army, passing Stark Tower. They could see Thor and Loki engaged in a fierce battle.
"Nat?" Clint asked,
"I see him." She replied simply.
Clint turned the ship around and pointed it at the dueling pair. Aiming for Loki. The trickster god noticed this and threw his brother to the ground, then pointed his staff at the ship and sent a blast their way.
"Shit," Hermione cursed as she stumbled into one of the seats of the ship roughly due to the impact. Her head roughly jerked back and forth, causing slight disorientation. She then asked, "Did we lose an engine?"
Her question was answered as the ship slowly began lowering fast to the ground.
"Hold onto something!" Steve told Bucky and Hermione. The witch was still dizzy from her fall, and fumbled to grab something quickly. Bucky grabbed her by the waist, pulling her to him as he held a bar over their head. Fully grasping the situation, Hermione still had time to blush at the feeling of being so close to the soldier. She looked up and saw him smiling down at her.
Clint and Natasha were still fighting hard to control the ship to land it somewhat safely with one engine. Hermione could see Bucky and Steve fighting to keep their grips. As much as she loved his arm around her waist, she decided to make his life easier and use the magnets in her glove to grip her to the same bar as Bucky.
"Thanks." She yelled, the noise being too loud to speak at a normal volume.
With a rough and jagged landing, Clint was able to land the ship at the large entrance of an even larger building. Everyone breathed heavily in relief.
"Everyone okay?" Natasha asked, looking around to see that everyone was still in one piece. Particularly Hermione since Stark would kill her if anything happened to the young girl.
"Welp, there goes the fear of heights." Hermione joked and it was true. Her worst fear had come true, falling from the sky, and yet she survived.
After taking a moment to catch their breath everyone rushed to get off the ship and join the fight. Cap was first, followed by Natasha and Clint. Bucky and Hermione were not far behind them. Bucky pulled on his mask and JARVIS activated Hermione's as the five assess the battle around them. They began running up the street as they all knew what was needed most but Steve was the first to say it.
"We've got to get back up there," Steve ordered.
"I've got it," Hermione told him, ordering JARVIS to pull out her hoverbroom.
"We've got it." Bucky corrected, Hermione forgot for a moment he was going to join her. She asked JARVIS to expand the hoverbroom to fit two people, a feature she thought of adding at the last minute.
"I hope you have metal in those boots of yours so that the broom may hook you on through a magnetic pull," Hermione told him.
"They do," Bucky replied, not willing to admit he was afraid of flying around on a broom hover thing that was not visible until a second ago.
"Well then hop on, one boot on each blue circle. That will lock you in." Hermione instructed, Bucky reluctantly placed his boots on the broom. "There you go, now bend your knees and hold onto my waist."
Bucky bent his knees but didn't grasp her waist immediately as instructed. It just didn't feel right, he was a proper gentleman and it just didn't feel natural to grab a dame like that. Especially since Stark asked him to protect her, not the other way around.
"Hello? Bucky…James, we have to go." Hermione informed the super soldier, trying to grab his attention before turning around and grabbing his face. "Look I don't know if it's a women thing or a traditional thing but right now you need to suck up whatever crap the 1940s taught you about a man needing to protect a woman because right now I'm in charge and you just need to deal with it. My uncle is up there trying to take over the world with an alien army and I might be one of the only people who can stop it. And despite my wishes, I now have to bring you with me because Tony seems to think I need a nanny. So suck it up and let me fly you up there. Got it?"
That sobered Bucky up real quick, once again bending his knees, grabbing her waist tightly. "You got it Doll, just…don't kill me ok? My pride couldn't take it."
"Haha, hold on spider monkey," Hermione said sarcastically.
"Spider what-?" Bucky asked confusedly before Hermione took off without warning.
"It's from a movie-...I'll explain later." She yelled, focusing on maneuvering the hover broom properly for the first time.
That's when the world seemed to rock and shake violently, including the air, Hermione barely managed to maintain control of the hoverbroom. Making sure there were no Chitari around Hermione stopped, looking at the portal. Watching as a massive turtle, the slug-like alien-looking thing began making its way out of the portal.
"Holy shit." Bucky cursed. "That thing is massive."
"It's the motherload." Hermione corrected, "JARVIS turn on my comms if you please."
"Absolutely ma'am," The AI complied.
Once her comms were turned on she asked, "Everyone can see that right?"
"Yep." Nat replied slightly shocked at what she was seeing
"Yes ma'am," Steve replied politely yet shocked.
"Uh-huh," Clint replied completely in shock.
"Uh no what is it kiddo, I'm a little busy fighting off a swarm of aliens," Tony replied, having not felt the shaking or seen the giant monster in the sky.
"Stark, there's a massive alien worm thing that just came out of the portal," Steve informed the billionaire, not giving Hermione a chance to answer.
"Lovely," Tony replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Oh and now there are individual soldiers jumping off of it scaling buildings," Natasha added.
"Can you see it now Stark?" Bucky asked, not seeing the red suit flying anywhere near them.
"Now seeing, still working on the believing part." He replied. Hermione can see him flying overhead, towards the worm, slug, monster, alien, thing. "I'll admit it's a bad time for this but the hover broom looks great kiddo."
"Not the right time but thanks." The witch blushed at the compliment.
"Where's Banner? Has anyone seen him? He shown up yet?" Tony asked.
"Banner?" Steve asked, confused.
"Just keep me posted," Tony ordered before talking to his AI. "JARVIS, find me a soft spot."
June 24th, 2012 New York City, New York (4:24 PM)
"Look at this!" Thor screamed painfully at his brother, holding the mischief god's head to look towards the chaos brought forth to the city. "Look around you! You think this madness will end with your rule?"
"It's too late," Loki replied simply.
Hermione and Bucky approach the tower from the side, settling below Thor and Loki waiting for the opportune moment to aid the god of thunder. Hermione could hear the difference in his voice from before, back on the helicarrier. Instead of Loki, he sounded like Uncle Tom.
"It's too late to stop it."
That's it. Hermione decided, she remembered what her Uncle Tom asked of her
'You are too young for this. Far too young for this. But I fear you are the only one capable of stopping this. Stopping me. I did not have a choice 'Mione, believe me, I would never have chosen this over you or your parents. Do what needs to be done. Stop me by any means necessary. Even if you are my undoing, I will forgive you. I love you. Please be safe."
This was it. She knew it was time. It was time to see if she was right. To see if her Uncle Tom was really under someone else's control.
She began to slowly move the broom up behind Loki and Thor.
"Doll what are you doing?" Bucky asked, concerned.
"Just trust me," Hermione asked him, looking him in the eyes, showing him that she can be trusted. "Please."
All he could do was nod in return.
"No, we can stop this together," Thor replied. Hermione came into view, removing her helmet, still maintaining her glamor so cameras could not catch a clear view of her face. She decided she quite liked this instead of the stuffy helmet, so she would probably stick with the glamour in the future. Loki and Thor only looked at her. Once she was safely on the platform she retracted the hoverbroom back into her boots. Bucky tripped slightly at this move but quickly recovered.
"He's right Uncle, we can stop this. If it is what you truly wish." Hermione offered to her dear uncle.
"Hermione, you shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be fighting this battle." Her uncle replied. That's how she knew he was in control.
"It is you." She took a step towards him, to which he immediately took two steps back.
"Yes, but I fear I do not have long." Her uncle informed her. "Please, leave while you can."
"What is this?" Thor asked her, slightly annoyed by the human witch as she interrupted his conversation with his brother.
"Thor, I fear my uncle is under the influence of another. This battle he has brought on has not been of his own will." The witch informed the blonde Asgardian. Bucky could only watch as these events unfolded.
"Is this true brother?" Thor questioned, the trickster god looked as though he wanted to reply but it was as if a force was preventing his lips from speaking the words.
"I cannot say," Loki said.
"You've been lip locked." Hermione figured. "I can help you uncle, please. I beg you, let me try. If I am able to free you from this spell you can help us end this."
"What would it entail witchling?" Thor questioned, he trusted the witch and believed her. However, he did not know her methods of undoing spells and feared for his brother's willingness.
"I would need to enter his mind, much like how I did to Clint Barton to heal him from the spell that Loki placed on him," Hermione informed her uncle's brother.
"Absolutely not," Loki replied defensively.
"What?!" Thor and Hermione both gasped incredulously. Loki approached Hermione cautious of his own actions. Bucky observed cautiously, still remembering Stark's orders to watch her.
"Hermes, you have to understand. I have a dark past. My ledger is so soaked in red that the ledger has fallen apart. I don't need you to see anything of that." The witch's uncle explained sadly. "I would rather you remember the good things about your uncle than see those memories and have a clear mind. Just let my brother kill me, so you may end this."
"No!" Hermione screamed as she placed a silencing spell so no one but the four people present could hear the conversation about to take place. "I don't care. I don't care what you have done in the past. I know that is not you. You have changed. You have a chance to redeem yourself, to be my uncle once again. Please. Let me try. I beg of you."
Hermione was crying at this point, desperate for a chance to heal her uncle. She didn't care what atrocities she would see, as long as she had her uncle back.
"Her-" Loki went to reply, beaten down by the idea of having to say no to his niece.
"Please." She asked in one final plea. "Don't make me lose you too. I already lost mom and dad. I couldn't stand it if I stood here watching Thor kill you, knowing I could've done something."
Loki could see his niece's heart breaking in front of him. He can imagine what it was like to not have him around during this difficult period of her life. It was because of this he replied,
"Fine, but do it quickly. If the spell takes hold of me once again he will throw you out of his mind." Loki warned, and led Bucky, Thor, and Hermione into the tower to shield what they were about to do from the army. On the way, he cast an invisibility charm on them. The last thing his niece needed was to be accused of being a traitor once more.
"Sit in that chair over there, quickly." She told her uncle, directing him to an obnoxiously long coach in the middle of the room, before turning to Thor and Bucky, "Make sure no one interrupts us. My mind will be focused on Loki's mind and I won't know what's happening. So whatever happens, make sure to keep everyone out of here."
Hermione turned back to her uncle and sat across from him, "Ready?"
"As I'll ever be. I hope this works. For both our sakes." Loki replied. "If it doesn't might I quickly say how proud I am of you, and how proud your parents would be."
"Thank you. See you on the other side uncle." She smiled at the compliment before looking him deep in the eyes, pulling her wand out of her forearm holster, flicking her wand, and muttering
"Legilimens"
June 24th, 2012 New York City, New York (4:24 PM)
Meanwhile:
The aliens continued to attack civilians on the streets. Tony was up in the air, while Steve, Clint, and Nat tried to secure the ground. Buses and cars blew up around them, injured civilians scrambling, desperate to find shelter. For a moment it was like Steve was back in the war. They were currently using a bridge as their shelter to fire from.
"They're fish in a barrel down there," Steve told Clint and Nat using the metaphor to describe the civilians on the street.
Nat continued to shoot the alien soldiers in front of her while Clint covered behind her. Nat looked around her and then turned to Clint who nodded.
"We got this, go." She said to Steve.
"You think you got this?" Steve double-checked with Clint.
"Captain, it would be my absolute genuine pleasure." he responded, before firing an arrow into a crowd of aliens, blowing them all up in the process.
And with that, Steve didn't hesitate to jump off the bridge, onto a bus top below, finally getting to street level.
Clint began helping people out of the trapped bus to get them to shelter. First helping them through the window before finally being able to pry open the doors. Natasha covered him, shooting non-stop bullets at the stream of alien soldiers, her focus never wavering. Once the bus was empty Clint quickly rejoined his partner in the fight.
"Just like Budapest, all over again!" Natasha commented, still firing her weapon
"You and I remember Budapest very differently," Clint said, confused as to how the two were even remotely similar.
Steve continued to dodge Chitari warriors as he ran through the streets, taking as many as he could down without staying in one place for too long. He was approaching a squadron of cops when he heard one running to inform his fellow men in arms.
"It's gonna be an hour before they can scramble the National Guard." The cop told his coworker.
"National Guard?" The other officer questioned. "Does the army know what's happening here?"
"Do we?" His coworker asked. Steve decided then and there that these men should not be out here fighting this, they should be helping get civilians to safety. He decided to guide them a little bit. He landed on top of a car in front of them crouching down slightly to give them orders.
"You need men in these buildings. There are people inside and they're gonna be running right into the line of fire. You take them to the basements or through the subway. You keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th." Steve told the men only to look down and see utter confusion from them.
"Why the hell should we take orders from you?" One cop asked.
Just then a strong Chitari warrior flew through a building heading toward them. Jumping off their flying contraptions as two began attacking Steve. He hit the one to his right with his shield and turned to the left to block the other's fire. Before punching him flat out. The one to his right comes at him again, Steve kicks him in the shin and uses his shield to knock him down as well. Another comes at him on his left, Steve uses his shield to chop off the arm that carries the weapon. Steve takes the weapon in his hand before hitting the alien with a simple hit of his shield, knocking it out.
The cops turn around and one immediately begins giving the same orders Steve had just given them into his radio informing other units of these instructions.
"You need men in these buildings. Lead people away from the streets."
"We're going to set a perimeter as far back as 39th."
Tony had been flying around this creature trying to find a weak point and couldn't find anything. So he continued flying around the leviathan, but decided to shoot flares this time around. Trying to lead the alien in another direction.
"Well, that got its attention," Tony said to himself, then quickly forgot what the rest of his plan was."What the hell was step two?"
Nat and Clint continued to fight aggressively as the alien came towards them, not moving from their position on the bridge.
Clint was thrown on his back, quickly recovering, while Natasha had taken a small wave-throwing staff that knocked the aliens back whenever she fired it. Taking a few out she began to grow more comfortable with the weapon.
Steve rejoins the battle with Clint and Natasha after informing the local police of ways to keep civilians off the streets. Which was more helpful than they'll probably realize. They continued fighting valiantly as they heard Tony on comms.
"Hermione? Where've you been kiddo." Tony asked worriedly.
"Okay, long story but here's the short version; Loki was under a curse- '' She began explaining.
The curse left a cloudy effect in his mind. Like the thickest fog you've ever seen, she could barely see her hand in front of her. But she persevered, beginning to pick through the memories.
Hundreds of thousands of scenes flashed before her eyes. Loki was more than a thousand years old so there were many more scenes than Barton had had.
The first memories of Loki as a boy, playing Thor, pretending they were in battle. A young boy who is desperate for his father's approval. They played a game constantly called "get help" which amused her.
As Loki grew up so did his desperation to prove himself. His tricks became greater, more menacing. His father began to take him and Thor into battle and to witness the aftermath of battles. Odin would pit the two against each other. As if proving the littlest of things would determine who would become king.
As they grew into young men, Thor and Loki grew distant, they were still close… but their relationship was never the same. Because of Odin.
Then Loki began to sneak off, tricking others into taking the fall for his acts of mischief. Hermione saw many beheadings of innocent men and women in these memories. Each of them had taken the fall for Loki's tricks.
She watched as her uncle murdered and pillaged entire villages just for his own amusement. She was getting closer. She could feel it.
Suddenly an unidentifiable purple alien came into his memory and…a human beside him? Loki did not look as though he had come willingly to this meeting as enchanted chains bound him. The purple man ordered the human to use the staff…but not in staff form…no a wand! The human was a wizard!
Hermione watched as the wizard placed a spell she did not recognize on her uncle. Cursing the trickster god to be their puppet. They used this to control Loki into having his own brother banished, to attack a small town in Texas, and most importantly to summon the Chitari.
Hermione knew then that without knowing the spell's counter curse, her only hope was to bring good and happy memories to the surface to counteract it. Locking memories away was not an option in this case. She could only hope that the joy and happiness of past memories were enough to break the curse.
She began looking. And it was not an easy task.
'Come on, good memories. I just need a few of you to bring to the surface before I can lock the spell away.'
She focused on his childhood once again, specifically his mother Frigga. Hermione followed Frigga's lines and found nothing but happy memories. Even leading to adulthood, Loki still had a deep love for his mother. Many of his good adult memories are because of the love and compassion she had for her son, regardless of his faults. Hermione pulled as many of those memories to the surface as she could, continuing to search for more.
She looked for more recent memories, which for Loki, recent being the last 50 years or so. Until she found it. Her father and mother. God, they looked so young and happy. She pulled all of them when he and her father first met. When Loki met her, the first time he held her in his arms. The first time she made him play tea party. The first birthday party of hers he attended. The first time he babysat her, all of it.
While the memories of his mother and her parents were strong, it was their connection that contained the purest memories. The love he had for his niece. She brought them all to the surface.
The fog began to recede until everything was once again clear and she was launched from his mind.
She only hoped it had worked.
Bucky caught the young witch as she was thrown back into his arms as she slowly began to come to.
"Hermione…are you okay?" He asked.
"Yes, did it…?" Thor asked the witch. Bucky waved his hand as if to say 'back off.'
"Did…it…work?" She asked slowly in between breaths. This was the first time Bucky even thought to look over to Loki to see if it worked.
The god was clutching his head as if he had the biggest headache of all time, gasping for air. Bucky sat Hermione up to face her uncle. The trickster god and the young witch both took their time but raised their heads as their eyes met.
"Uncle?" Hermione asked cautiously, praying to whatever god was not currently in the room with her that it worked. He looked at her incredulously,
"Y-you did it." He said excitedly, smiling warmly and pulling her into a tight embrace.
"Oh thank god." She sighed in relief. Before realizing they were currently in the middle of a war zone. She asked Bucky, "How long were we out?"
"Surprisingly, no more than 10 minutes." He informed her.
"Really?" Hermione couldn't believe it, Barton took hours. "No matter. We need to inform the others that Loki was under a spell but has since been freed. We need to stop that machine."
"There is no stopping it. There is no way." Loki insisted.
"Oh uncle, haven't you learned?" Hermione asked rhetorically, "Anything is possible. Now JARVIS put my helmet up."
Her comms system was immediately activated.
"Hermione? Where've you been kiddo." Tony asked worriedly.
"Okay, long story but here's the short version; Loki was under a curse. Something from my world, where a person essentially becomes a puppet for whoever casts the spell. I freed him from the curse, similar to the way I freed Barton. He is on our side. We're going to stop the machine." Hermione spits out quickly. "Everyone got it? How is the mega monster?"
"Are you sure he can be trusted?" Steve asks cautiously, completely ignoring her question. Bucky decided to pop on the comms.
"Steve, I watched her do it. This guy, it's not the Loki we know. I vouch for him." Bucky told his reluctant pal. Hermione mouthed a 'thank you.'
"As for the mega monster, he's being dealt with," Tony responds.
"I will fly to them to help with battle, you and Loki figure out how to stop the machine." They could hear Thor speaking to Hermione through the comms.
Within what felt like seconds, four oncoming warriors were electrocuted to a crisp as the god of thunder joined them.
"We heard the story upstairs. Is it true?" Steve asked the god.
"Yes, Stark's little witchling was able to heal Loki and return him back to himself," Thor confirmed the story for a third time to the group. "Now… the power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable."
"Thor's right, leave the Cube to the people upstairs. We gotta deal with these guys." Tony added in the comms.
"How do we do this?" Natasha asked.
"As a team," Steve replied. "We got Stark on top. He's going to need us to-"
The sound of a choppy old motorcycle came up from behind Steve before he could finish. It was Bruce Banner.
"So this all seems horrible," Bruce commented, trying to lighten the mood.
"I've seen worse," Natasha replied bluntly.
"Yeah well," He began
"No, we could use a little worse." Natasha corrected.
"Stark we got him," Steve informed Tony of the new appearance.
"Banner?" Stark clarified.
"Just like you said," Steve admitted.
"Then tell him to suit up. Cause I'm bringing the party to you." Tony told them. "Glinda can you poof yourself and Barnes down here while Loki releases Dr. Selvig? We may need your magic tricks."
"Uh, sure? But then I need to come right back. This machine is going to need an insane amount of magic to shut it down." Hermione told her uncle they would be right back and to release Dr. Selvig from his hold, catch him up to speed and they would be right back. She grabbed Bucky and apparated to the bridge she'd seen them on from the tower.
Suddenly, Hermione and Bucky were in front of them. They'd heard of her teleportation skill before but had never seen it. It was incredible. Except for how it affected Bucky.
"Oh my god I think I'm going to be sick," Bucky gasped, dry heaving.
"That'll pass in a moment," Hermione politely informed him.
"I'm surprised to hear about your uncle, Hermione." Natasha said nonchalantly to the young witch.
"It is a very very long story that I will explain as soon as Tony's 'party' is over," Hermione promised.
That's when they saw Tony, followed by the massive leviathan.
"I don't see how that's a party," Nat said to no one in particular.
As the leviathan got close, Bruce moved closer to it.
"Dr. Banner," Steve called. "Now might be a really good time to get angry."
"That's my secret Captain," Bruce explained, "I'm always angry."
And the incredible Hulk appeared in front of him, immediately punching the massive alien right in the face.
"Hold on!" Tony shouted, aiming his repulsors at the alien, shooting at a weak spot on its stomach. Everyone took cover as the alien's tail blew to pieces around them. Hermione saw the large pieces, just one of those pieces could easily crush all of them.
'Bombarda!' She shouted pointing at the end of the tail. Blowing it up into small chunks to prevent any danger.
This REALLY angered the Chitari.
The eight of them faced their backs to each other, each getting a view of where they needed to attack. Forming one large circle.
The Avengers.
More and more Chitari, big and small, began coming through the portal. Natasha was the first to notice this,
"Guys." She alerted.
"Call it Captain," Stark suggested.
"Until we can close that portal our priority is containment," Steve ordered and continued, "Barton, I want you on that roof. Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays."
"Stark you got the perimeter. If anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash.
"Can you give me a lift?" Barton asked Tony.
"Right." Tony turned to Hermione. "Be safe kiddo, keep me posted." Then the rest of the group "Clench those cheeks Legolas."
"Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal," Steve told the god, Thor nodded. "Slow them down. You got lightning, light up the bastards."
Thor nodded, whinding himself up, and flew towards the portal. Natasha, Hermione, and Bucky looked to Steve awaiting instructions.
"The four of us, we're going to stay on the ground. Hermione, get back up to the tower. You blow things up with that wand of yours?" Steve asked her expectantly, she nodded in confirmation. "Blow some stuff up on the way up there, as much as you can. Bucky, Hermione's got Loki and Selvig up there, she'll be fine. You stay with Agent Romanoff and I down here. We keep fighting here."
Hermione activated her hoverbroom once more, hovering slightly off the ground as Bucky warned her, "Be careful."
"I'll be fine. I told you I don't need a nanny." Hermione replied simply, before bolting towards the tower. Blowing up every alien she passed, she was fully capable of taking care of herself but Bucky couldn't help his worry.
"Oh and Hulk," Steve remembers, pointing to the massive green monster. "Smash."
Hulk took that quite literally as he began smashing every alien that Hermione would've missed while heading to the tower. Taking quite a lot of enjoyment in smashing.
Agent Hill approached Nick Fury hurriedly, he was at the monitors watching everything go down. This was an urgent matter that needed to be addressed by Fury.
"The council is on." She informed him. Fury shut off the monitor immediately, walking to a private conference area.
Hermione could see Thor landing on the Empire State Building, she watched as he raised his hammer to the sky summoning a massive charge of thunder. Sending a wave of electric charge through the whole building. Thor used this to channel thunder and lightning up towards the portal turning every alien who exits it into ash.
She heard Barton in her comms, "Stark you've got a lot of strays sniffing your tails."
"I'm just trying to keep them off the streets," Tony replied.
"Well, they can't bank worth a damn." Barton laughed, then suggested, "So find a tight corner."
"I will, roger that," Tony confirmed.
Hermione watched as Tony rounded a corner, Barton lined up a few of the aliens and shot an arrow in their direction. With a direct hit, the arrow allowed Tony the chance to turn around and take them down.
"Oh, boy" Tony commented with only two left on his tail. He went into a tunnel, being able to bash the last two into a wall. He had to give it to Barton, it was great to have him in the air. "Nice call. What else you got?"
"Thor is taking down a squadron on Sixth," Barton informed, Tony, who let out a mock gasp
"And he didn't invite me?" He faked offense.
Another massive alien headed right toward an office building. The Hulk began running through the building to take it down. Hermione saw a struggle for the Hulk to take the alien down,
"Bombarda!" She yelled, aiming for the giant alien. Blowing it up instantaneously. The big guy gave her a dirty look for helping him, indicating that he had control of the situation. She smiled sheepishly at him, "Sorry big guy!"
Nat, Steve, and Bucky were fighting through the 3 block radius as Tony, Thor, and Barton sent aliens their way. Nat had just finished a brutal fight, when Steve came up behind her. She was exhausted from fighting
"Captain, none of this is going to mean a damn thing-" She breathed heavily. "-if Granger doesn't close that portal."
"Granger, can we get an ETA on the portal?" Steve asked into the comms.
"Uhh we could use a little help up here…Nat?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah I'll be right up." Nat responded, regaining control of her breathing.
"You need a ride?" Hermione asked her, Nat looked at the sky seeing the flying army when she got an idea.
"I got a ride, I'll be up in a few." Nat responded, she looked at Steve. "Can you give me a boost?"
He nodded, backing up holding up the shield, and asked, "You sure about this?"
Nat shrugged nervously, "Yeah, it'll be fun."
She ran forward, bouncing off a taxi, jumping on Steve's shield had he pushed her up, she grabbed onto the bar, fighting the alien until she overtook the flying machine.
While she flew she observed the Hulk and Thor fighting together atop a massive alien, before taking it down, crashing into a building. She watched as the Hulk punched Thor to the ground at the end of their battle together.
She approached the tower, seeing Loki, Hermione, and Selvig surrounding the machine.
"I understand the council has made a decision. But given that it's a stupid-ass decision. I have elected to ignore it." Fury persisted demandingly.
"Director, you are closer than any of our subs." An anonymous member of the council informed Fury. Before ordering, "You scramble that jet-"
"That is the island of Manhattan you are talking about." Fury pointed out angrily. "Until I'm certain my team can't contain it, I will not order a nuclear strike against a civilian population."
"If we don't hold them there, we lose everything." The councilmen ordered.
"If I send that bird out we already have." Fury said simply, before ending the call with the council.
Nat lands on the tower with the group, unaware that the Hulk was right behind her. The Hulk spotted Loki and lunged towards him, taking him through the window, into the living room of Stark Tower.
"Bruce no!" Hermione shouted, running to her uncle's aid, Natasha following behind her.
The hulk grabbed Loki by the foot swinging into the floor left and right.
"Hulk that's enough." Hermione ordered angrily. The Hulk stopped, dropping Loki muttering 'puny god' before walking away. Hermione and Natasha ran to the crater where the tricker god laid to see if he was ok.
Loki gasped wide eyed, staring at the ceiling.
"Uncle! Are you okay?" Hermione asked in a panic. He groaned, sitting up.
"Tis but a scratch." He replied painfully, she smiled at his reference.
"Really? Monty Python at a time like this." Hermione asked with a chuckle. "If you are well we need to shut of that machine."
"I am well." He said, finally standing again, taking a moment to get his footing, "Let's shut it down."
Selvig waited for them by the machine. "I think the Tesseract is being controlled by the staff."
"The staff?" Natasha asked.
"I think subconsciously I knew what I was doing when I was building this machine." Selvig explained. "I-I built in a safety to cut the power source."
"The scepter, actually." Loki corrected, the doctor nodded.
"It may be able to close the portal"
"Accio scepter." Hermione cast, holding out her arm to catch the summoned scepter from where Loki had dropped it during his fight with Thor. The scepter pulled itself into her hand.
Hermione walked over to the machine, approaching it with the scepter in hand. Just as she was about to close the machine. Fury's voice come through into her ear.
"Granger? Do you hear me?" He called on a private communication so the rest of the Avengers couldn't hear. She knew it had to be important if Fury connected to a private communication with her.
"Yes sir."
"Director Fury is no longer in command." The council women announced to a pilot, gearing up to fly.
"Override order 7 Alpha 1-1" The pilot informed his communications team.
"7-Alpha-1-1 confirmed. We're a go for take off." The communications team responded.
Agent Hill hovered frantically over the ship's monitors. Noticing the bogey about to take off. She sent the notice to Fury at the other end of the room, who began sprinting to the flight deck.
"Anyone on deck, we have a rogue bird." Agent Hill announced to the flight deck. Frantically trying to find a way to stop this bird from taking flight. "We need to shut it down! Repeat takeoff is not authorized."
Fury ran on the flight deck with a bazooka in an attempt to stop the plane from taking off. He successfully took one down with the large weapon. However, a second plane began to take off, and without more ammo for the bigger gun, Fury discharged his pistol. However he was unable to take down the bird before it took off from the ship. Heading to New York.
First he thought of calling Rogers or Stark, however he decided to take a leap of faith. Stark would kick his ass for this later but desperate times call for desperate measures.
"Granger? Do you hear me?" He called on a private communication with the girl.
"Yes sir." The young Brit replied simply.
"You have a missile headed straight for the city." He told the witch simply, no point beating around the bush.
"How long?" She asked, concerned.
"Three minutes, max." He informed her. "The payload will wipe out Midtown."
"JARVIS bring up Midtown." He heard the girl ask her fathers AI. Fury now slightly regrets asking this girl for help given she knew nothing about the layout of the city. He knew she had seen the size of mid town when all she could muster was, "Shit. I'm on it."
All Fury could do was pray he didn't regret this.
"Shit. I'm on it." Hermione replied to Fury quickly. The witch set a 3-minute timer in her mask to keep track of how long she had left. She handed the scepter to Loki and could only say, "End this."
She summoned the hoverbroom and began flying towards the water. She ordered JARVIS to locate the missile so she could redirect it. He quickly locked in on the coordinates.
"Miss Granger, I must insist you call your father." The AI argued.
"What? JARVIS no it would only worry him. Do not call-" But her pleas were drowned out by the sound of a phone ringing.
"Kiddo? I'm a little busy here. Is this important?" Tony asked, she could hear his metal hitting the alien's weapons as he fought them. "Wait, why is JARVIS pulling up your coordinates for me? Why aren't you on the tower with Loki?"
"Change of plans. Fury's changed my objective." She told him vaguely. She really didn't want to have to tell Tony about it.
"Sir, what she means to say is that there's a giant missile headed for Manhattan, and Director Fury wants her to redirect it," JARVIS replied. Hermione cursed the damn AI for opening his fat mouth.
"I'm sorry what?" Tony asked, shocked.
"I've got it, Tony, don't worry." Hermione tried to reassure, though she knew it was useless.
"Okay, that's it. I'm on my way," Tony replied, annoyed.
"Fine." She responded annoyed.
"Don't 'fine' me young lady, we're going to have to set some ground rules from now on. Like 'no going after deadly missiles without telling daddy first.'" Tony informed her, clearly angry at her disregard for her safety. "How long till detonation?"
"1 minute 29 seconds." Hermione had JARVIS sync her countdown clock to Tony's mask so they were on the same time. She could see the missile ahead of her.
"Loki can close it. Does anyone copy?" Natasha informed the group.
"Do it!" Steve yelled.
"No wait!" Tony told her. "We've got a nuke coming. Mya and I need something to throw it into."
"It's gonna blow in less than a minute," Hermione added. Her father came up beside her as they approached the missile.
"You grab one side, and I'll grab the other," Tony told her, it took some chasing but he grabbed the left side of the missile, while she grabbed the right.
"If you two go into that portal it's a one way trip." Steve pointed out.
"It doesn't have to be." Hermione told them, "Just-Natasha and Loki close the portal. On our count."
The father and daughter guided the missile up towards the portal.
The world watched as they may be seeing the end of New York news reports began to swirl.
"The streets of New York City have become a battleground. The army is here trying to contain the violence, but clearly it is unmatched. And I have to say in all my years of reporting, I have never seen anything like this. We have limited information on the team of 8 but we do know that billionaire Tony Stark and an unknown iron clad female hero are-"
Tony and Hermione approached the portal, before Tony warned his daughter, "We're going to start pushing this up and it's going to get really heavy."
"Yep, gravity, I know." The young witch grunted as they began to push the missile up.
That's when Tony's boot thrusters gave out.
"Tony what's happening?" As she heard the thrusters give out.
"Fuck, I can't fly anymore. You're going to have to push it up." Tony said as they began to give out, Thor flew up to catch the billionaire. However Tony's comms stayed on to help guide her. He hated this. She should not be doing this right now. He made a mental note to kill Fury later. "You've got this keep going kiddo. Just push it in and get the hell out of there."
Despite the missile weighing more than she'd ever lifted in her entire life, her suit came to her aid.
"Oh my god I need to join a gym," Hermione grunted out, 15 seconds. She struggled to keep pushing until she was just below the portal. 8 seconds, "I'm going to push it in, close the portal once it's in."
"You've got it." Nat replied.
Hermione then realized she wasn't strong enough to just push the missile inside the portal. She would have to go with it. Not knowing what the atmosphere could be like she put on her helmet and a bubble head charm for good measure. Using her thrusters she pushed herself and the missile inside the portal. She saw the mothership and knew the blast radius would be enough to kill it.
"NOW!" She yelled having no idea if they could hear her.
The portal began to close. She used whatever was left of her thrusters to push herself out of the portal. 3…2 She just barely made it through the portal when her thrusters stopped working.
…1.
With the exception of the small hole Hermione used to escape, the portal was closed as the missile blasted. The impact of the blast came through in the small hole, knocking Hermione back.
Her world went black as she began to fall.
To Be Continued…
Okay so as far as the last chapter's poll question, I win by a longshot so suck it, again, Luke. This means that the score is now,
Delaney-9
Luke-2
This week's poll question is who do you think was the superior film Spiderman?
Personally I believe strictly in terms of who was the best SPIDERMAN not Peter Parker, I think Andrew Garfield was perfect.
Luke however thinks that Tom Holland is the better Spirderman.
Anyways leave your thoughts in the comments because seriously we can't let Luke win!
This is the LAST WEEK to submit ideas for Hermione's Avengers name. Next week I will be revealing either a name created or got from a suggestion. If I choose your name, you will get credit! I'm pretty stuck on one but I think if there was a good enough suggestion, I could be swayed to change it.
Alright, that's all for me this week, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Finally, I just want to thank you all so much for reading and for giving me all the support. It is what keeps me going. See you all next week!
I love you all so much and thank you so much for sticking with me through these last few months. I'm glad to be back.
-Delaney