Loki’s Escape
Thor and I were thrown into the nearest wall. As glass shattered around us, Thor jumped into action immediately and shielded me as best he could.
“Are you alright, my lady?” He looked me over.
“Other than being nearly crushed by your body, I think I’m doing okay,” I huffed out a laugh.
“My apologies.” He helped me up when Steve’s voice came over the coms.
“Evie! Are you okay?!”
“Fine, Thor took most of the impact. You?”
“All good. Stay safe.”
“You too…”
“I don’t think that’s Bruce anymore…” I said as I muted my com. We heard Hulk’s roar and soon his giant footsteps echoed further in the ship. He must have been chasing Nat! “Thor, we need to help her!”
“I will go. You need to stay here and safe!” He took off to find the pair playing cat and mouse.
“The hell I will…” I mumbled. Loki. That was where I needed to be. This was obviously his doing as a diversion. I needed to stop him.
Retracing my steps back to the detention level, I found myself hoping against hope that I could somehow get him to listen to me. But how could I reverse the magic on him? Would my healing be enough to pull the darkness from him?
The whole ship tilted dangerously, and I scrambled to find purchase. Fury’s voice came through my earpiece. “It’s Barton. He took out our systems. He’s headed for the detention level. Does anybody copy?”
“Agent Green. I copy. I’m on my way.”
A few seconds later, I let out a sigh of relief to hear Natasha’s voice come through. “This is Agent Romanoff. I copy.”
Entering the detention level, I saw Thor running to meet me. We share a look before seeing Loki escaping.
“No!” Thor yelled and charged at him. But instead of a battle ensuing, Thor went right through Loki. The image of Loki shimmered before flickering out. By the time we realized it was a trick, it was too late. Thor was trapped in the cage.
“Are you ever not going to fall for that?” Loki asked as he and one of his men stepped out from behind a door.
Thor raised Mjolnir to hit the glass. I screamed at him to stop, but his hammer hit the glass anyway. It merely cracked it, but shook the whole ship.
I turned to see Loki moving over to the control panel. “The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?”
“Loki, do you really want to harm the man who you thought of as a brother all these years?” I pleaded.
He gave me a look. “Brother? I was always in his shadow. I was never a brother- an equal- to him.”
Out of the corner of my eye, I see movement. One of Loki’s henchman falls to reveal Agent Coulson holding a giant gun.
“Move away, please.” Loki stepped away from the panel as Phil kept talking. “You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent the destroyer. Even I don’t know what it does. Do you wanna find out?”
Seeing the wicked glint in Loki’s eyes I stand in between the two men. “Loki, please. This isn’t you. I can help you, I know I can. Just stop hurting people… please…”
All of a sudden, Phil goes down behind me. I gasp to see the true form of Loki in his armor, complete with his scepter, standing over his body. The Loki I had begged was merely an illusion. I knelt down to hold Phil’s body. I could feel that he had a head injury that could be fatal, but he was still breathing.
My eyes found their way to Loki’s. The look on his face surprised me. His eyes looked more green and there was pity there.
Is that the true Loki? He could have easily killed Phil from behind, and yet he is still breathing. Did my words get through to him?
Hope filled my mind before Loki’s eyes went back to blue, and he said, “No one can help me.”
Phil spoke weakly, “You’re going to lose.”
“Am I?” Asked a haughty Loki.
“It’s in your nature.”
“Hmm.” Loki pondered for a monument before continuing, “Your heroes are scattered. Your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?”
“You lack conviction.”
Had Phil noticed something off with Loki too?
Phil seemed to pass out again. I called his name and shook him, but he wouldn’t wake up.
Loki moved over to the control panel and gave a long look at Thor. I knew even without looking that his eyes were warring between blue and green. Even still, Loki hit the button and Thor was sent plunging down to earth.
I pressed the back of my hand to my mouth as a sob escaped, and Loki looked at me again. We stayed like that for what felt like minutes but was likely only a few seconds. He gave me a short nod, eyes more green than blue, and walked out of the room.
I could feel the panic bubbling within me, but I would not allow it to get the better of me. A deep breath calmed my shaky nerves, and I focused on Phil. He was steadily bleeding from his head, and his breathing had slowed even more. Laying him flat, I hovered my hands above his wound and closed my eyes. I knew without looking that my blue power was seeping from my hands to his head. Instinctively, I knew when his wound had fully closed and he was healed completely.
My eyes opened, and I slumped over to the side— healing tended to take a lot out of me, and I had just finished “recharging” after healing Tony, Thor, and Steve’s minor wounds. I could see Phil’s eyes open.
Fury came in then. “Green! Coulson! What happened?” He asked as he helped me up.
“Loki. He injured Phil badly, but I healed him. He should be fine now.”
As he helped up Phil, Fury looked at me. “I knew you would be a good addition to this team.” I gave a small smile. “Agents Coulson and Green are safe,” he said on the coms. “It appears Loki, Thor, and the Hulk are missing.”
“What now?” I asked.
“Team meeting. We will see what we can do next.”