The screaming had already started. Sigyn and her group followed the sounds, barely sparing a glance towards the sky where monsters poured through the portal. The main road they found was full of stopped cars, drivers out of their vehicles, looking up at the sky as Iron Man tried to stop the Chitauri that were coming through. Small explosions from above had people screaming and running to the nearest building.
"Listen up!" Sigyn yelled over all the noise. Her voice drew attention as the group of six all echoed her words. Silence fell for a moment, and Sigyn took her opportunity. "There is a mandatory evacuation for this area! I need all of you to remain calm as you retreat. Don't draw attention to yourselves. Please get as far away from Stark Tower as possible. And drag as many people with you that you can!"
Sigyn waited for a few seconds, expecting the crowd to take her advice and get away from the Chitauri. But they stood there, watching her. "Idiots," she mumbled under her breath. "Run!" And finally the stupid people did, running in the opposite direction of Stark Tower.
Sigyn could hear the destruction of the city growing closer to her. She had her priorities for now. Soon, she would be able to unleash the full force of her power.
For some time, Sigyn, Liz, Matthews, Richardson, Fischer, Jacobs, and Weber weaved through streets, pulling people out of crumbling buildings and burning cars, and occasionally rescuing someone from the hands of a Chitauri. They covered ten blocks as they stayed as much out of view of the fighting. A big point of relief for Sigyn was that there were five other teams out on the streets, doing exactly what she was right now. Helping people escape.
Sigyn couldn't have imagined the destruction or death toll if they hadn't gotten the warning of a threat out to important people in New York. She had purposefully let Barton know that the Tesseract would be activated in New York, but she didn't know if they were able to use that head start to begin evacuations. No, Sigyn knew the groundwork she had placed weeks ago when she had first thought of the plan was the real reason the number of casualties was going to be so low.
She couldn't help but take a second to remember.
It had been surprisingly easy to get within range of the Mayor. Liz had done a quick search for locations the Mayor was known to frequent, and by the end of a week, they knew which places he was likely to be at. The variation of schedule was quite disappointing for Sigyn. But it made things easier.
Before they got close to him, Sigyn, Liz, and half a dozen other people wrote letters. Many of them were about strange happenings and weird people showing up. They were odd-looking, some military, others so large that they couldn't be human. Most of the letters were threats. The eight of them would sit around a table for hours, writing out specific details of what the supposed terrorist organization was going to do.
They had decided on something simple, something that would be easy to replicate or cause if it actually came down to it. The threatening letters all suggested, or straight out said that there were going to be gas leaks popping up all over the city. And there was. Groups of agents, directed by Loki, hit important gas pipes in heavily populated areas simultaneously. After a dozen days of new leaks being discovered, the Mayor thought it a good idea to at least evacuate the areas that were likely to be affected most.
Because of Sigyn's plan, millions of people had been displaced from their homes, their jobs. But the displacement was worth it. Those millions of people would be far away from the destruction that was about to rain down on New York City.
A noise drew Sigyn out of her memory, a noise she had heard once before on a rock in the middle of space.
"Oh no," she whispered, turning to look towards the portal. A flying monster came barreling out, heading straight for the ground before leveling off to dump even more Chitauri onto buildings. "We have to get over there and stop that thing."
Almost as one, Sigyn and her group of six started running towards the beast. Sigyn had to be careful about this. She didn't want the heroes to know that she was here, that she had a crazy power that could cause a lot of damage, but that beast was going to kill a lot of people if she didn't help. Her first step would be to protect people inside the buildings. That thing was a rampaging beast, going farther than the evacuation had mandated. Those people would be trapped in the buildings, too afraid to come out, but also in danger of being crushed by the building.
"Listen up," Sigyn said, stopping and turning towards her group. "I need each one of you to go into those buildings and get as many people out as possible. If you can't do that, at least get them to a lower level of the building. This thing is going to wipe out anything it touches."
Sigyn saw the hesitation in their emotions, their unwillingness to leave her alone. "I don't care about what Loki ordered. All I know is that there are people in those buildings, people who could die if we don't help them! Now go!"
It took a few seconds for Weber to step away, but she finally did, followed by Richardson, then Jacobs, Matthews, and Fischer. Then it was just Liz and Sigyn standing there in the streets, the monster barreling towards them.
"What are you going to do?" Liz yelled over the approaching noise.
"Stop it."
Sigyn turned, not waiting to see if Liz did as she was told. She focused all her energy on the flying monster, burrowing deep into her mind for her power. She prepared herself, watching as it drew closer and closer until it was right on top of her. But explosions in its face caused it to turn, smashing into one of the buildings causing debris and rubble to fall directly where Sigyn was standing.
Acting quickly, Sigyn jumped out of the way of a giant piece of concrete before throwing out her power to protect a few people who just couldn't get out of the way fast enough. She didn't stop to catch her breath as she started running after the thing, looking up to see Iron Man high above, leading the beast away.
Sigyn ran as fast as she could, trying to anticipate where Iron Man would be leading the beast. If she had to guess, it would be where there were reinforcements, a place where he would have more help to take the thing out. The most likely place for that was Stark Tower.
Running full out, using spurts of the energy she gathered around her from the entire city to propel her forward, Sigyn was happy to see Iron Man weaving in and out of buildings, trying to get the thing to tire out before everyone fought it.
Ahead, in almost the center of the destruction, stood five people. The heroes. Dodging from car to car to keep out of sight, Sigyn got close enough to hear what they were saying. It was the redheaded woman who she heard speaking. "I don't see how that's a party."
Sigyn turned, looking back the way she came and saw the monster once again barreling towards her. She stood, sure that the others would be too focused on the beast to notice her, and began to gather her power. It was close to the ground, cars flying to the sides as it was hit, debris thrown into the air.
"Doctor Banner," Sigyn could hear faintly. "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."
"That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry."
And with those words, Sigyn's eyes widened as the man suddenly turned into a large green muscular monster, punching the thing right in the face. The whole monster continued moving, the momentum causing it to turn tail overhead, getting close to crushing civilians and the heroes. Sigyn, her power already posed to strike, protected everyone within range of the monster from being crushed or blown up by an explosion. She wasn't sure how she had reacted so quickly because she had no idea where the hell that explosion came from. She was glad her instincts had protected those people.
She witnessed the group of five heroes standing in a circle, their backs towards each other, ready for battle. Impressed by their coordination, Sigyn created daggers in each of her hands, throwing one right after another at the Chitauri nearest to her.
"Guys."
That one word caused Sigyn to look up, seeing the full might of the Chitauri descend out of the portal.
"Call it, Captain." The voice of Iron Man brought Sigyn's attention back to the ground.
"All right, listen up." Captain America turned towards the rest of the group. "Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof. Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you go to the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."
"Can you give me a lift?" Clint asked Iron Man.
"Right," came the robotic voice. "Better clench up, Legolas."
With those words, Iron Man grabbed Clint and they took off into the sky.
"Thor, you got to try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up."
With a nod, Thor swung Mjolnir in a circular pattern, creating enough force to lift him into the air.
Captain America looked at the redhead woman as he said, "You and me, we stay here on the ground. We keep the fighting here. And Hulk...Smash."
With those last words, the green beast jumped, crashing into a building.
It was time, Sigyn thought. It was as good as a time as any to show herself, to let the others know what she could do, to find out how she could help.
"What about me, Captain?" She asked as she jumped over fallen rock to reach them. "What can I do to help?"
Sigyn was unsurprised to find the Captain's shield up and the redhead's guns pointed directly at her face.
"Help?" asked the woman.
"Yes, help," replied Sigyn, looking her fellow redhead in the eye. "Like I already told the Captain. I'm trying to save the world too."
"But I thought you were helping Loki!"
"None of us know what we're up against. These Chitauri only have one purpose, and that's to conqueror this world. After spending my whole life here, I would really like for it not to explode."
"How do I know we can trust you?" Captain America asked.
"Because if I was the bad guy, you would have already been dead." With those words, Sigyn spun around, conjuring a shield as she went, blocking a body slam from a Chitauri. She pushed the thing off her shield, created a dagger, and stabbed through a weak spot on its helmet. Behind her, Sigyn could hear the other two fighting chitauri of their own. She guessed that with everything else going on, she was the least of their worries.
Sigyn held back, not wanting to use the full force of her power. Dagger after dagger flew from her hands, shields appearing wherever bolts from the enemy's weapons zoomed towards her. More than a few times she killed one before it reached the woman or Captain America, and they always looked surprised. But she didn't falter, swinging towards the next enemy.
The battle went on, and the power pulsed around her, begging to be released. All the energy around her, from the buildings, from the people, from the chitauri, was being sucked in closer and closer to her, until she could barely move with the tension of it, afraid that one wrong move would cause the power to burst out of her.
Sigyn watched as several steps away Captain America launched the woman into the air, only for her to grab ahold of one of the passing air vehicles. She couldn't focus on that as more chitauri were coming at her from all sides. There was no way she would be able to take all of them out with daggers, or push them away long enough for her to take care of them one by one. Seeing no other choice, Sigyn dipped into that power that was eager to escape. With a scream, she released her hold, pulverizing each chitauri within twenty feet of her. They all fell with a horrifying screech.
At the edge of the circle stood Captain America, breathing hard, his shield still in one hand. "Alright then," he said.
But Sigyn barely heard the words. A blast of energy came from Stark Tower, blue hues traveling in a dome from it. It didn't touch anything, didn't cause any rubble to fall, no chitauri to back down. The only thing it affected was Sigyn.
Once again, she could feel power racing through her mind. But this time, it was the cube calling to her, just like it had all those weeks ago. It was time for the next part of the plan, the most important part. Without a second thought, Sigyn took off. She ran to Stark Tower, avoiding debris and explosions, protecting herself the best she could as the cube showed her what needed to be done.
It took her some time to get to the building, then some more time for her to find an entrance that wasn't blocked by rubble. Finally, she made her way and rode the elevator up to the top floor. As soon as the doors were open, Sigyn rushed out of the elevator and outside to where the tesseract was creating the portal. Doctor Selvig was there, sitting against a structure on the roof, his eyes back to their normal color.
"Are you alright?" Sigyn asked, rushing up to him. There was a good-sized cut on his forehead, and he looked a little worse for wear. He didn't answer her question, only looked at her. "Come on, we have to get ready. It's all about to end."
Sigyn helped him stand, but they only flinched back as an explosion near the building sent debris flying. Sigyn was horrified to see that some of the debris was actually Loki. For the first time since the battle had started, Sigyn opened her mind, reaching out to see if Loki was himself or if he was still under that control. She was horrified to see that the sickness she had pushed from most of his mind had almost completely taken over. The shield she had put around his mind had failed.
Before she could try to push it back, to talk Loki into sense, the giant green monster was suddenly crashing onto the building, throwing Loki through glass windows and into the tower.
"Enough!" She heard him yell. "You are, all of you, beneath me. I am a god, you dull creature. And I will not be bullied by-,"
His speech was interrupted by crashing noises, and Sigyn cringed. She could feel the echo of his pain through the bond as he was smashed into the ground several times. She knew he would be fine, that it would take a lot more than that to kill him. But she could feel the difference immediately. His mind, seconds before was full of chaos and mind control, but now there was only confusion and the sense of freedom.
Sigyn searched desperately through his mind, searching for that sickness. But it was gone, no more of it remained. The only sign that it had been there at all was the cracked exterior, and a few more damaged parts. But it was gone.
"Loki," Sigyn whispered, tears gathering quickly in her eyes and falling to her cheeks. But she didn't have long to revel in the relief. The redhead from earlier walked into view, not noticing them standing behind a formation on the room.
"The scepter," Selvig said when he saw her.
The woman's head turned towards them, her eyes flickering to Sigyn then to Selvig.
"Doctor," she said.
"Loki's scepter," he continued. "The energy. The Tesseract can't fight, but you can't protect against yourself."
The woman walked forward, standing close to the doctor.
"It's not your fault," she said. "You didn't know what you were doing."
"Actually, I think I did. I built in a safety to cut their power source."
"Loki's scepter."
"It may be able to close the portal. And I'm looking right at it." Selvig leaned slightly over the edge of the building and the two women followed his gaze.
"I'll be right back," said the woman.
"Let's get it ready," Sigyn told Selvig as she walked away. Between the two of them by the time the woman had returned with the scepter, the computer reading the power of the tesseract was set up and ready.
The woman took hold of the scepter, approaching the Tesseract and the shield that surrounded it.
"Allow me," Sigyn said, walking up to her.
"How do I know I can trust you?"
"You can't know. You don't know me. But I know the Tesseract. I know what I have to do."
There was a long moment where the two redheads looked at each other, waiting to see if the other would say anything more. Finally, the woman handed Sigyn the scepter. "Only because I saw you fighting them."
Sigyn nodded, gripping the scepter tightly. Slowly, she pushed the tip of the scepter into the shield that surrounded it, pausing when the woman spoke.
"I can close it!" She said. "Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down!" She didn't say anything for a few seconds. "Wait, don't close it yet. We have a bomb on its way. Can you hold it?"
But Sigyn didn't answer. The Tesseract, under stress from the portal, had reached out to Sigyn for comfort, and to show her one last thing.
The vastness of space was something every species had marveled at for their entire existence. Each invention, each new technology, led to the exploration. For the humans of Earth, that adventure was only just beginning. For others, it was something that had been accomplished for centuries.
But scattered throughout the universe were the most powerful objects. Objects that could create portals, control minds, manipulate matter, have infinite power, control time, and destroy souls. For the safety of the universe, they had been hidden away, by their own volition, or by those who sought to protect the people they loved.
But the fight was coming, a war that would devastate not one planet, but every planet. And the plans had been going smoothly. Now, it all depended on one girl, one woman neither human or truly Asgardian. It was important for her to know where each of the stones were. She would need that knowledge to spread the word, to help build defenses so when the war finally did start, everyone stood a chance.
The stone that controlled space had already formed a strong bond with the woman. And because of that bond, it was able to show her every location of all it's brothers. Finally, things were speeding up.
Flashes of vision and knowledge swept through her mind so quickly she couldn't understand it.
In the flashes, she saw a group of beings, surrounded by sparkling purple energy.
Next was a woman, human-looking, and similar red energy surrounding her.
A man stood before her, dark hair, a red cape, and a green glowing amulet on a necklace.
A quick glance of another man, his entire body covered in blue and red skin and a glowing yellow gem embedded in his forehead.
She stood at the edge of a cliff, looking over to a red-skinned man who said, "A soul for a soul."
A quick glimpse of a giant purple man snapping his fingers.
And finally, a brief moment where Sigyn saw the sacrifices that would have to be made.
Sigyn gasped as she was pulled back to her body, away from the darkness of space. She took several deep breaths, looking back at the redheaded woman. From her face, only a moment had passed. Sigyn had traveled through the universe, looking at worlds she may never know the names of, watching visions were show to her. But, back on Earth, after a millennia of space travel, a bomb was about to hit New York.
"Here he comes," the woman said, and Sigyn opened her mind just enough to feel Iron Man coming towards them fast, fear and sadness overwhelming him. Acting quickly, Sigyn drew a small kernel of hope from her own mind, planting it in his. If he was going to take that bomb through the portal, he needed a little bit of hope to get back.
Iron Man, Tony Stark inside, barely clipped the side of his building as he guided the bomb into the space beyond the portal. Sigyn, the woman, and Selvig watched as he went through, and waited. Sigyn could feel Stark through the portal, could tell he was still moving farther into space. And then, by some miracle, every chitauri Sigyn could see dropped, falling on buildings. She sighed relief, knowing that this particular threat was over.
They waited, watching as an explosion lit up the darkness beyond the portal. "Close it!" Yelled the woman, but Sigyn refused to listen. She could feel Stark coming closer, falling back towards Earth by some gift of life. She could feel that if she closed the portal now, if she followed what the woman had said, there was a very good chance that he wouldn't make it through. Instead of closing the portal, Sigyn pulled the scepter out of the shield and handed it to the woman.
"Don't close it until you know he's out." With those words, Sigyn shoved her palms into the sky, creating the biggest and strongest barrier possible. She felt Stark approaching the barrier and softened it enough for him to plunge through before creating the hard shell once more.
Sigyn screamed when the explosion hit her barrier, dropping to her knees. The nuclear reaction tore her power to shreds, but she held on, replacing each weakened patch until finally, the woman closed the portal. Sigyn collapsed to the ground.
"What was that?" the woman asked.
"Me," Sigyn said, gasping for breath as she sat up. "I'm Sigyn by the way."
"Natasha."
"Nice to meet you, Natasha. Now, please tell me it's over?"