2.What is Phase 2?
“Loki means to unleash the Hulk.”, we heard Natasha’s voice through the speakers, meaning the plan worked. Why am I here again? I like Bruce but I’m not a fan of his green rage buddy. “Keep Banner in the lab, I’m on my way.”
As soon as I heard that, I started running towards the lab, fear, and anger pulsing through my veins.
“What are you doing Mr. Stark?” Fury asked as we stepped inside the lab, leaving me confused.
“Kind of been wondering the same thing about you. “ Stark replied from behind his desk.
“You are supposed to be locating the Tesseract.” Fury said, raising his voice a little bit.
“We are. The model’s locked and we are sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we’ll have the location within half a mile.” Dr. Banner explained, pointing to one of the screens.
“Yeah, then you get the Cube back. No muss, no fuss.” Stark said, getting interrupted by a small sound coming from the screen in front of him. What the hell is going on? “What is Phase 2?”
“Phase 2 is-” I started, but a loud bang interrupted me.
“Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the cube to make weapons.” Captain Rogers shouted standing beside what seemed like a gun.
“Excuse me what?” I asked, as confused as ever.
“Oh don’t act all confused now, you work for him, I’m sure you are just as deep as he is. You were studying the cube, helping him build these.” Rogers snapped at me , stepping closer.
“What the hell is your problem ? I had no idea what he was doing. I’m just as shocked as you are Captain. Nick care to explain? "
“Amelia, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we’re making-”
“Sorry Nick, what were you lying?” Stark interrupted him, turning his computer screen towards us. There were plans, and prototypes of weapons on there.
“No...You didn’t ...They died because of this ??!! This is what you needed to move so desperately that they had to stay behind and save it for you from the explosion?? This is why He needed to stay behind? To make sure your weapons got shipped off ??!!!” I shouted at him, tears threatening to fall from my eyes. I couldn't believe it.
“He knew Amelia. He knew what he was risking his life for, it was his choice.” he told me, trying to calm me down.
“No! You are lying, Nick...You are a liar !! I hate you, I hate this, all of you !!” I shouted, letting my tears fall. I felt a pair of arms wrapping around me from behind, making me turn around, meeting Stark’s eyes.
“It’s ok kid, let it all out.” he said, pulling me closer to his chest.
“The agents that died in the explosion ...they died because of these ?” Captain Rogers asked, his voice full of anger.
“They were trapped under. The Phase 2 prototypes were shipped out before the explosion. He stayed behind to make sure everyone got out Amelia…” Fury said, his voice was gentle.
With my face still buried in Stark’s chest, I let out a muffled laugh.
“Do you think that justifies anything? If it wasn’t for your order to ship these out, they would have managed to get out.” I said slowly getting out of Stark’s arms.
“What’s going on? Amelia, are you ok?” Natasha asked as she rushed into the lab followed by Thor.
“Did you know?” I questioned her, motioning towards the gun.
“Please, try to calm down ok?” she said, confirming my suspicion. “Dr. Banner, do you want to think about removing yourself from this environment?” she added, looking at the doctor standing just a few feet away from me.
“I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed.” ,he pointed out, letting out a nervous laugh.
“Doctor, Loki is manipulating you.” Natasha said, stepping closer to him.
“And you have been doing what exactly?” I stepped in, looking at her.
“Amelia, stay out of this.” ,she warned me.
“Why? So you can go ahead, and feed us some more lies?” I asked, wiping the remaining tear off my face.” I would like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction!
“Because of him.” Fury finally said, pointing at Thor.
“Me?” he asked, visibly shocked.
“Last year Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned.” Fury spoke, looking me in the eyes.
“My people want nothing but peace with your planet” Thor stated.
“But you are not the only people out there, are you?” Fury asked, moving his gaze towards him. “And you are not the only threat. The world’s filling up, with people who can’t be matched, that can’t be controlled.”
“Like you controlled the Cube?” I asked, stepping closer to him. “Director, your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it!”
“Exactly, it is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war. ”Thor said, his voice filled with anger.
“A higher form?”
“You forced our hand, we had to come up with something-”
“A nuclear deterrent.” I cut him off.
“Yeah, because that always calms everything right down.” Stark said, finishing my thoughts.
“Remind me again, how did you make your fortune Stark?” Fury asked, turning around now facing him.
“I’m sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck-deep-”
“Hold on, how is this now about me?” ,he cut the Captain off mid-sentence.
The atmosphere was getting tense and I felt my head starting to spin.
“Guys, stop. This is exactly what Loki wants.” Natasha exclaimed, stepping between the two.
“You know you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.” Rogers said ignoring Natasha, continuing his argument with Stark.
“What, like you?” Stark asked, looking him straight in the eyes. ”You’re a laboratory experiment Rogers, everything special about you came out of a bottle.”
“Enough!” I shouted. Before anyone could have reacted in any way, a beeping sound filled the room, making Dr. Banner rush towards one of the monitors.
“Oh my God.” he exclaimed, then I heard a loud noise, glass shattering around me, then everything went black.
“Agent Harrison...do you hear me?”
“Amelia come on...wake up, come on!” I heard Fury’s voice fill my ears. I slowly opened my eyes, adjusting to the light, feeling my head about to explode.
“Alright...you are ok…” he said, smiling down at me.
“What happened?” I asked, slowly getting off the bed I was laying on.
“We were under attack...You blacked out from the explosion. We lost Loki, he escaped.” Natasha explained as I slowly scanned the room.
“Clint…” I gasped as I spotted the archer standing in the door.
“Hi kiddo.” he said, smiling at me.
“Are you ok?” I asked, trying to take a few steps closer to him, but I found it hard as my legs were not fully functional yet.
“You need to rest.” Natasha said, helping me back to the bed.
“No. We need to stop him, we have to find him.” I said looking around.
“Stark is already on it.” Fury told me, making me nod.
This was all a mess. Aliens attacking the planet, mind control, and magic cubes. I just want it to be over already.
“Time to go.” Captain Rogers walked in, his gaze landing on me.
“Go where?” Nat asked, putting one of her arms around me.
“I’ll tell you on the way.” ,he said, not moving his eyes away from me.
“Can you fly one of those jets?” ,he asked.
“She is not coming with you.” Fury said, making me shoot him an ugly glare.
“Of course, I am!” I protested but he wasn’t having it. None of them were.
“No you are not! You can barely walk, you are staying here with me and Hill, we need you on board.”
“I can fly it.” Clint stepped in, responding to the Captain's question from a few moments ago.
“Alright, suit up, and let’s go. Stark is waiting for us.” ,he said leaving the room, Nat and Clint following him.
“We have an unauthorized departure from Bay 6.” I heard one of the agents say in the earpiece as I took off from the carrier. I wasn’t going to sit there and wait for the best. I need to find Selvig.
“Agent Harrison, circle back to base, I repeat circle back to base.” Fury’s voice echoed through my ears, but I ignored it. I can do this, I am just as qualified as Natasha or Clint. Ok, maybe not but I can manage some aliens. They can’t be that bad right?
**Flashback**
“Come on, Amelia hit me harder.” Tom said getting frustrated with me.
“I can’t! I swear this is all I got.” I told him, throwing my hands in the air. It was my 5th month in this hell hole and all I wanted was to get out. This isn’t for me, I’m not an agent, I’m a 20-year-old girl who can’t manage to make an omelet without burning it to ash. How am I supposed to learn how to fight?
“ Look training is essential. Come here.” ,he grabbed my arm pulling me closer to him. “Alright, this technique is called an elbow strike. For this move to be efficient you have to have your opponent doubled over.” ,he said, making me bend over a bit. “Now you can strike them below the chin, that will make the perfect first move.”, he moved his elbow below my chin, moving my head upwards. “After this, while your opponent is recovering from his pain, you hit them in the face, just like this.” He moved his elbow towards my left cheek, giving it a push. “Now that you made sure that he is holding his position, you hit them right here, on the back of their neck. This will knock them out if you hit them in the right spot, right here at the base of their skull” ,he finished putting pressure on my neck.
“How the hell am I supposed to do that?” I asked, straightening myself back up.
“With practice, come on. Just like I showed you.” ,he said, getting to the other side of the mattress. I let out a deep sigh and obeyed.
He moved closer to me, so I did what he taught me yesterday. I grabbed his head with both of my hands, pulling it towards me, forcing him to lean forward. Next, I lifted my knee up, giving him a perfect hit in the abdomen, making him bend over in pain. Using this opportunity I quickly moved my elbow below his chin, lifting it with all my strength, then elbowing him in the face. My only mistake was hesitation between these two moves, just to make sure he was ok, giving him the perfect opportunity to gather himself and block my hit. He grabbed my elbow, twisting it behind my back, making me scream out in pain. After that he pulled me up to his chest, grabbing my chin with his other hand turning my head to the side.
“Remind me again, what was rule number one of hand to hand combat?” ,he asked ,his lips so close to my ear I could feel his hot breath on my skin.
“Don’t hesitate.” I said, trying desperately to ignore the pain in my arm.
“And still, here you are, immobilized in my arms.” ,he said, and I swear I could feel his smile growing.
Without thinking twice I used my free arm that he seemed to have forgotten about, and gathered all my strength, elbowing him in the side, making his grip loosen a bit, so I could move. I throw my head back hitting him in the face, completely freeing myself. I turned around with the biggest smile on my face, watching him as he wiped his nose. I think I broke his nose…
“Are you alright?” I asked, stepping closer to him. He lifted his head, giving me a proud smile.
“Now that’s what I’m talking about Harrison.” ,he said, pulling me into a hug. “Although next time we are in that position try not to break my nose.” ,he whispered in my ear, leaving a kiss just below it.
**End Flashback**
“Stark Tower is ahead.” ,the board's virtual assistant announced, pulling me out of my trance. Great now what? I haven’t thought this through.
I quickly put the jet on autopilot and made my way to the back. I opened the door, standing on the edge waiting for the right moment to jump. Great plan isn’t it? As the jet moved just above the tower I saw Selvig with a big machine next to him. Ok, that’s it, here we go. With that I jumped out of the jet, landing on my side, putting my arms flat against my body, to help roll it on the ground, making the landing a little less painful. The problem was, I didn’t plan it right and I knocked Selvig over as well, making him fall backward hitting his head on the brick wall.
“Shit! Professor, are you ok?” I asked, slowly getting up walking towards him. Thanks to my uniform, the landing was less painful than I thought...and of course thanks to Selvig.
“Amelia?” ,he slowly opened his eyes only to be interrupted by a huge crash that came from above us. After a few seconds, we saw Stark flying up in his Iron Man suit. As he tried to fly towards us, the machine beside us let out a loud noise before shooting a blue light right up into the sky, opening a wormhole, letting the Chitauri step into our world.
“What have I done?” Selvig asked, slowly getting up.
“Guys, is everybody seeing this?” I heard a voice in my earpiece, recognizing it as being Nat’s.
“Yeah, very much seeing it.” Stark responded, flying towards me, while the Chitauri were heading towards the city.
“What are you doing here kid?” ,he asked as soon as he was standing in front of me “Trying to help I guess. There has to be a way to stop this.” I said gesturing towards the portal.
“There might be.” Selvig spoke up, making us look at him.
“Alright, you two close the portal, we take care of the army.” Stark said, flying off, leaving me with the professor.
“Can you close it?” I asked, stepping closer to him.
“The scepter...the energy…”
“Hey, it’s not your fault, you didn't know what you were doing.” I told him, putting my hand on his shoulder.
“I think I did.” , he said, looking at me. “I built in a safety to cut the power source.”
“Loki’s scepter….I’m on it, stay here doc.” I told him, making my way towards the door that leads inside the Tower. I rushed down the stairs and into a long hallway, only to find myself face to face with the God of Mischief himself.
“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the precious Amelia herself.” ,he said, looking at me with that arrogant smile on his lips.” I wondered when you would show up. I’ve met everyone except for you, for a second I thought they lost you in the Hulk attack.
“Can’t get rid of me that easily.” I said putting my hand on my gun.
“How foolish of you to come here alone. Perhaps you came for something, am I right?” ,he continued, now taking small steps towards me. He was luring me like I was his prey.
“If you handed me that stick of yours I would be very grateful.” I said moving away from him. Just as he was about to get closer to me, Hulk jumped through the windows knocking him off his feet, making the scepter fly out of his hand and land next to me.
I froze. From what the director told me, Hulk made quite the mess on the carrier, almost killing Nat, so me being here is not very promising.
He slowly turned his head in my direction making me swallow the lump in my throat. He just huffed at me, turning his attention back to the God standing in front of him.
“You are all of you beneath me! ”,he shouted looking at me for a second. “I am a God you dull creature …” I didn’t wait for him to finish his speech, I just quickly picked up the scepter and ran towards the stairs, praying that the green rage monster would stay with his other green buddy.
“Amelia, get out of there now. You have a nuke coming in!” Fury's voice filled my ears as I reached the rooftop.” I pressed my earpiece hoping someone would register what I was about to say.
“Guys there is a nuke coming in, it hits in about 3 minutes.” I said, panicking already.
“Shit.” Stark responded. ”How about the portal?”
“I think we can close it .” I said, looking at Selvig. He gave me a reassuring nod.
“Then close the damn thing! “ Captain Rogers decided to step in, his voice full of struggle.
“Did you not just hear what the girl said, Rogers? We have a nuke headed our way, and I just know where to put it.” Stark continued. ”Kid, I need you to listen to me. The moment you see me fly through that hole, you close it, got it? If I’m lucky, I can get out just in time."
I did as I was told. I made my way towards the machine and started to push the scepter through the energy field around it. All I needed to do was touch the cube with it. I looked up to the sky and saw Stark fly towards the hole. As soon as he was in I froze. I needed to wait for him to get out. Seconds that felt like hours passed and still nothing.
“Close the damn thing, Amelia.” The captain's voice filled my ears once again, bringing me back to reality. With a powerful push, I managed to push the cube out of its position, breaking the line that led to the portal. I moved my gaze back up, waiting for Stark to fly through before it closed. As I was losing hope and felt my eyes fill up with tears, he appeared as the portal closed, falling with an uncommon speed. Just as he was about to hit the ground, my green rage buddy jumped up, catching him, then throwing him on the ground as soon as they landed. We won….