A Cosmic Rendition: Chapter 13 (Patreon)

The Helicarrier was en route to Bermuda and they needed to keep the Hulk at bay for the foreseeable future to ensure the landing happened without any hiccups. Nick Fury stood with Maria Hill inside the bridge as Steve and Peggy helped Diana keep the Hulk at bay.

Already most of the tunnel had collapsed and it was mere fortune that the exterior was still undamaged. The air friction would have blown up the Helicarrier had it been compromised in any way.

Over to the other end of the Helicarrier, Tony Stark flew in his Iron Man suit alongside Clark Kent in his new Kryptonian suit toward the destroyed engine.

“Fuck this looks bad,” Tony muttered as they reached their destination. They had hoped that only the outer unit was destroyed so that the backup could be triggered and something could be salvaged. Alas, the entire unit had been blown up to smithereens. Static electricity and sparks shot out of the engine as dark fumes hovered over it.

“How long until you can fix it?”

“Your SHIELD gear is more complex than it looks, man. Can’t say for sure, but it looks like it’d take an hour at least,” Tony replied as he began to work on disassembling the faulty unit.

“We don’t have an hour, Stark!” Clark exclaimed. “Already we’re miles away from home without landing yet. We need that engine up and running ASAP!”

“Yeah, real good shouting at me will do,” Tony retorted with a snark, continuously working on the engine. A concentrated beam of energy shot out of the small cylindrical hole on the finger of his suit as bits and debris detached and fell. “The wires are all done for. Sorry, man. This cannot be fully fixed. The best you can hope for is to somehow manage to get this thing land on that little island.”

“Fuck!” Clark cursed.

“Listen, you can either keep cursing here or do something to help,” Tony rebuked.

“What would my help even do here!?” Clark asked agitatedly. “Didn’t you just say it can’t be fully fixed?”

“Yeah, but it can be replaced. Don’t you keep any spares handy?”

“You think this Helicarrier would have an entire fucking engine ready to be replaced? The most you’ll find is spares.”

“At least that’s better than nothing at all. Go and bring me whatever you can and I’ll see what I can do. Be back in ten.”

With nothing else to do, Clark shot off back into the Helicarrier.

Meanwhile, things didn’t look too good for Diana and the others. The woman might have managed to push the Hulk back and stop his mad charge into the bridge but they had by no means succeeded in subduing it.

Diana shot another beam of glowing white energy from her bracelets straight at the Hulk. The creature growled in rage as it kicked Peggy away. The woman collided against the metallic wall with a painful grunt.

“Peggy!” Steve cried out, gritting his teeth as he braced another punch from the green monster. He grunted at the force on his shield and his eyes widened when the floor under him shattered. His feet pushed through the cracked metal and as he looked in front of him, his eyes widened.

A massive green fist collided face-first with him, sending him crashing against the same wall his wife had crashed into mere moments ago. He grunted, coughing up blood as he landed harshly on the floor.

“This is going nowhere,” Peggy grunted as she painfully pushed herself back to her feet, looking on as Diana did all she could to divert the Hulk’s attention away from the bridge.

“Our priority right now is to keep him away from that cockpit at all costs, not to defeat him,” Steve sighed, grimacing as he shot to his feet. He tightened the straps of his shield on his arm and looked at his wife who was supporting her weight on her Vibranium sword. “Let’s go.”

Nodding, Peggy followed him.

“I think he can handle a little pain, Peggy,” Steve told her as they ran toward the Hulk and Diana.

“Won’t that enrage him even more though?” Peggy asked.

“Well, I don’t think we can afford to think about that right now. Do what you must do.”

Steve threw his shield just as Diana jumped in the air and kicked the Hulk right under the chin. The creature’s head tilted back as it growled before it groaned when it felt the metallic shield hit him on the side of its head. Meanwhile, Peggy jumped off a pile of debris, and with a snarl, she brought the blade down. Her eyes widened when the sharp metal didn’t even cut the creature’s shoulder.

“Oh no,” Peggy whispered as the Hulk grabbed her by the legs.

“Peggy!” Steve shouted, watching in horror as the Hulk began slamming his wife against the floor like a piece of meat. He did not fear for her life but the sight terrified him nonetheless.

It was only thanks to Diana’s sudden help that his wife escaped without any serious injuries. A bolt of energy hit the Hulk square on its fingers that were wrapped around Peggy’s body and the hold loosened. Steve wasted no time and quickly caught his wife as Diana engaged the Hulk once again.

“Peggy!?” Steve was frantic as he shook her. Her face was bloodied and bruised and her suit was also tattered in places. Enraged, he looked over at the creature that still dared to growl at Diana.

“Captain,” Maria Hill said with as much calmness as she could muster. “We will take care of her.”

Steve gritted his teeth and nodded as a few SHIELD agents picked up an unconscious Peggy and followed behind the brunette who carefully led them through another tunnel that must lead to the medical wing. He could only hope that things were okay on that end.

XXXXX

They were not.

Bruce, Selina, and Natasha were currently hiding behind a barricade as the turned agents were raining down rounds after rounds on them from the opposite end of the corridor.

“Where the fuck did they get so much ammo from!?” Yelena asked from behind the one opposite them.

“Clint’s with them. I believe that explains it all,” Natasha replied, wincing as yet another explosion rocked their barricade. It was not at all plausible for it to hold on to more of those and they knew they needed to get a move on.

“We could do with a bit of help here, Bruce,” Selina muttered. “These rounds don’t seem to be stopping anytime soon.”

“Already on it,” Bruce replied. “You’ve got their positions mapped out?”

“Two on either side, one in the middle with the minigun,” Natasha replied.

“Good. Take the sides when you attack,” he said and pulled out several pellets. He flung them over the barricade and the pellets exploded, shrouding the entire corridor in smog. “Now!”

The women wasted no time and immediately jumped into action. No sooner had they emerged from behind their respective barricades than there were grunts from the opposite end as their aims rang true.

“Needless kills,” Bruce said distastefully as they walked through the smog. He stared at the dead bodies of three agents of SHIELD who had unfortunately been turned. All three had bullets through the middle of their skulls.

“Come on, we don’t have time to waste,” Natasha said firmly as she walked in front, followed by the rest. With a sigh, Bruce followed suit. They rushed through several corridors before suddenly skidding to a stop at the sight in front of them.

“Well, isn’t this fortunate?” Loki, out of his cage and clad in his opulent combat attire, smiled mischievously as he stared at them. “I was going to look for you. So nice of you to come here by yourself, little girl.”

Yelena smirked as Loki looked at her and brandished her guns, pointing them at the God of Mischief who merely chuckled.

“Pretty narcissistic of you to think that your mere toys would do anything to me,” Loki smiled.

“You’ll know a lot about narcissism, I’m sure.”

“Oh I do,” Loki replied easily. “Although I like to call it loving oneself.”

Yelena grunted when a powerful punch sent her crashing against the wall. Everyone stared with wide eyes. They had never seen Loki move and yet they could see it was him who had punched her.

“I’m here, you know,” Loki said with a smile and they looked over. Their eyes widened at the sight of another Loki right where he had been mere moments ago.

Another Loki appeared right in front of Natasha who barely dodged the kick and thrust her electric batons forward. Her eyes widened when the batons simply passed through.

“Illusion,” Bruce muttered under his breath and rubbed the side of his mask. Immediately, a blue sheen covered the gap through which his eyes were visible.

Before anyone could react, he pulled his massive gun up and aimed at the Loki that had kicked Yelena mere moments ago.

“Not so quickly, creature,” Loki hissed and shot forward. However, Bruce quickly changed his target to the one standing the furthest away from them – the one that had been speaking all this while, and fired.

Loki slid to the side on the floor as the ground he was standing on exploded, sending debris all around.

“You are full of surprises, aren’t you? Able to see through my tricks. That will unfortunately not be enough,” Loki grinned.

“We’ll see,” Bruce grunted and fired another round. Loki jumped away once again and raced forward.

“Not so fast,” Selina smirked and made to intercept. However, her eyes widened when her kick passed through Loki. “Another illusion?”

“No, something much better,” the same Loki smirked and kicked Selina away. Bruce’s eyes widened.

“Like that, creature?” Loki smirked. “You might be able to sense which one is true but what will you do when I can switch among all these in an instant?”

Dozens of illusions suddenly emerged all around them and wide-eyed, they stared at the smirking faces of Loki as they all charged as one.

Bruce held up his gun and fired a powerful blast right in front of the approaching illusions, watching how they fizzled in the air before converging toward them once again.

“Shit. We’ll have to take them head-on,” he muttered.

“Which one is the real one though?”

Bruce couldn’t reply. Loki was cycling through multiple illusions every second which made it impossible for him to pinpoint which one would be the real one.

“I can’t say for sure. Just fight assuming you’re fighting the real one,” he replied as the horde reached them. Natasha and Selina nodded as they readied themselves.

However, Bruce’s eyes widened when all the illusions smirked the moment they reached them. His screening device told him all the illusions were just that – illusions.

A loud cry from further away prompted them to look over in shock.

“Yelena!” Natasha cried out at the sight of her sister, standing hunched over with Loki standing behind her. Bruce and Selina watched in shock as a massive blade protruded out of the woman’s chest. Loki stared, smirking, as he pulled the blade back and thrust it forward once again before he let the prone woman’s body fall on the floor.

“Didn’t I tell you you’ll pay for those words?” He said in a furious whisper, glaring as he raised his blade to deliver the fatal blow.

“You bastard!” Natasha cried out as she charged forward. Amused, Loki looked over, and with a smirk, he vanished from sight. Suddenly, Natasha felt a presence behind her and her eyes widened.

She turned around abruptly when she heard a grunt and she looked over to see Loki being thrown against the wall to the side. Bruce stood with his massive gun poised to attack.

“So you can see through my invisibility as well, hmm?” Loki asked rhetorically as he stood up. “You sure are a pain, aren’t you?”

Bruce did not reply. He merely kept a close eye on Loki who stood, smirking, as Selina dragged Yelena toward Natasha. Together, the two women lifted her.

“Go,” Bruce nodded. They needed no further encouragement. Yelena was alive, but just barely. The blade had fortunately missed her vitals but she had lost a lot of blood. She needed medical attention, and fast.

Natasha glared at Loki in parting as she and Selina took Yelena quickly to the medical wing of the Helicarrier. Bruce glanced at them and turned back around to look at Loki who still stood, smirking.

“The plight of a sibling – one I can relate to so well,” Loki remarked casually. “I would love to talk to you but I have a prior appointment to attend.”

Bruce raised his gun once again and aimed. However, the moment he did, a blast of energy hit the gun and it was knocked out of his arm. Shocked, he looked over and saw none other than Clint Barton with that scepter in one hand and an unconscious Elizabeth Ross slung over his shoulder.

Loki took the scepter from Barton and turned back toward Bruce who braced himself. He knew he was at a massive disadvantage here. He was against two and Loki had that scepter, not to mention they also had a hostage.

“You don’t have to do this,” he said firmly. Loki merely shook his head with a sigh.

“Unfortunately I do,” he replied. Bruce braced himself as the scepter lit up a shade of ominous yellow.

Suddenly, a powerful jet of light hit Loki who crashed through the metallic wall of the Helicarrier and fell into the abyss below. Barton’s eyes widened as he looked over.

Bruce wasted no moment and immediately charged the turned agent. A powerful fist came crashing against the side of Barton’s skull, making him grunt as he dropped his hostage on the floor and staggered. Bruce quickly pulled the woman to the side and out of sight.

He had no time to brace himself though as a solid kick sent him crashing against the wall. He looked over to see Barton assume a combat stance with a small sword in one hand. Cocking his head on either side to get rid of his slightly stiff neck, Bruce braced himself.

Barton charged at a furious pace and Bruce was surprised at his agility. He knew him as a ranged fighter but his melee was nothing to scoff at either.

He dodged under the man’s punches and deflected his slashes with his arm-guard before trying to get his hits in. Barton easily evaded his punches as well, ducking under his fists and trying to slash his chest or belly. Bruce jumped back to avoid the slashes even though his armor could sustain them. A thin portion of his neck was still exposed and he knew the Hawk’s keen eye had spotted it long ago.

Barton charged once again and Bruce ducked. He grabbed the man’s arm and twisted it, making him cry out in pain. He twisted the arm even more, trying to make the man release the sword when something knocked the living daylights out of him. Barton pulled his leg back and kicked him in the balls once again, making him release his hold on his arm. Grunting in pain, the Hawk stepped back, massaging his broken arm gingerly. Bruce belatedly realized through the haze of his pain that he had successfully disarmed his foe.

He winced as he moved his legs. Not even in his wildest dreams could he have imagined that Barton would pull such a pathetic move and he chided himself for it. This was combat for life and it meant nothing was off limits. It seemed he needed to add another armor to the long list of armor he had already commissioned from Lucius.

Barton slowly stepped toward him as Bruce somehow pushed himself to his feet. He was in tremendous pain even now but there was no way he was going to let this farce continue more than it already had. Barton needed to be confined for the destruction he had wrought upon this Helicarrier so far and everything else he’d done for Loki already. He knew too much and was too big a liability to be left running loose.

He once again looked over at the man who had shot Loki off the Helicarrier. The man merely waved his hand in greeting. He could only sigh. Stark was content in merely watching this spectacle instead of helping out already.

He braced himself when Barton, now with only one hand able to be used for combat, charged him. The man speared him against the metallic wall, making him grunt. Bruce pushed through the pain and flipped the man around, holding his injured arm in an armbar. Barton cried out in immense pain as Bruce twisted that arm even more. The fractured arm was punished even more as Barton thrashed about, trying to make him release his hold.

Bruce had no intention of doing anything like that though and he firmly grabbed the man by the skull. Barton went down, hard, as Bruce slammed his head against the metal flooring twice in quick succession. He blearily looked over at Bruce who simply stared at him before knocking him out cold.

XXXXX

Steve ducked under the Hulk’s fist and delivered a resounding uppercut, rocking the creature’s head backward. He wasted no time and slammed a large metal rod on its kneecaps. The Hulk merely roared and slammed its fists against him once again, sending him crashing against one of the fighter jets.

Diana was the only one who had managed any success at dealing a powerful blow to the Hulk. However, even her powers were not enough to take it down. She knew anything lethal was out of the question so it limited her considerably.

“We’re still in the air.”

“How long, Nick?” She asked.

“We’re above the landmass. Landing in five minutes.”

“That’s too long,” Diana muttered as she saw Steve get rag-dolled by the Hulk. She winced when the man crashed against a fighter jet and fell on the floor, coughing blood.

“Steve, you alright?”

“Been better. We need to do something soon, Diana.”

Diana nodded as they engaged the Hulk once again. Steve was keeping his distance and had once more resorted to using his shield to distract the creature while she attacked it. Their diversionary tactics had been working fine so far and she hoped they could somehow last five more minutes.

They did indeed need to do something about him though. Almost the entirety of the Helicarrier around them had been destroyed and if things continued like this, there was no telling how much loss they would sustain. Subduing the Hulk was also important to prevent more waste of time.

Loki was planning for a nefarious purpose in New York and they could not afford to waste too much time here in Bermuda. They needed to make their way over to fend him off and stop him from doing whatever he was planning to do. Thor might have gone ahead on his own but he was by no means enough.

Diana grunted when the Hulk slammed its arm across her midsection and sent her crashing against one of the fighter jets. All pain was fine as long as the Hulk was kept away from the control center of the Helicarrier which happened to be right behind them.

It also looked like the Hulk was just fine keeping things the way they were. It had not even tried to get past them even once, always keeping itself where it could fight them. The place had already been torn apart but at least it was all material loss. That was manageable. What they could not tolerate was losing any more personnel than they already had.

She had not yet heard from the others but something told her things were not all that good elsewhere either. However, given they were still floating about, she was hopeful that Clark and Stark had managed to get the destroyed engine fixed.

It seemed as if her husband had sensed her thoughts as a concentrated beam of crimson collided against the Hulk’s torso, sending it crashing against more fighter jets. The jets broke into pieces, sending debris, shrapnel, and chunks of metal flying off in every direction. Diana smiled at her husband who looked entirely unharmed.

“Sorry it took so long,” he said. She chuckled and shook her head.

“You don’t look so good, Steve,” he remarked, staring at the battered and bruised form of Captain America who stood to the side, leaning against the wall and holding his shield against himself.

“I’ve seen better days, that’s for sure,” Steve replied, wincing as something throbbed. Clark’s eyes hardened as he stared at the Hulk who looked at the newcomer and roared, daring him to take an aggressive step. Clark glared and fired another beam of crimson straight at the Hulk.

The green monster roared as its skin burned. It held its arms in front of itself to guard itself against the energy beams as it charged ahead. Clark braced himself.

Right when the Hulk was about to slam its fist where he had just been, Clark sidestepped the punch and delivered a sound uppercut, sending the creature crashing against another one of the fighter jets. Diana had a feeling that none of their jets would survive this battle.

The Hulk roared and tore off the chunk of metal beside him, and their eyes widened. In its hand was a massive piece of metal that looked as sharp as any sword. The chunk of metal was massive and with a snarl, the Hulk torqued its body like the best Olympic discus thrower and hurled it right at Clark.

Clark fired another beam, tearing through the chunk of metal and cleaving it in half. He quickly lurched forward, grabbing each cleaved piece in each hand and sending both straight at the Hulk. His eyes widened when the metals simply bounced off the Hulk’s thick skin.

“Nick! How long!?” Diana shouted.

“Any second now,” Nick Fury replied. They grunted as the Helicarrier suddenly lurched downward.

“Clark, we need to contain him,” Steve implored. “If he escapes and gets into a city…”

“There would be untold casualties, not to mention we cannot afford to shift our focus here right now. Loki takes precedence,” Clark replied with a nod. Looking over at Diana, he said, “Yeah. He’s escaped. I guess that leaves an empty cage for us.”

Diana’s eyes widened before she sighed in resignation. She had already concluded that Loki had escaped. Her husband only confirmed it for her right now. She looked over at the Hulk and sighed. It seemed oddly fitting that he would be confined in a cage they had created exactly for this eventuality.

“Steve, distract him. Clark and I will do the rest,” she instructed her friend who nodded and ran forward. He ducked under the Hulk’s arm and ran behind him. The creature quickly spotted him and turned around.

“Now,” Clark muttered. “Go for the left. I’ll take care of the right.”

Diana nodded and as one, they shot forward. Putting all their might into it, they grabbed the respective legs and flipped the Hulk over. With similar grunts, they raised the flailing creature in the air and flew as fast as they could.

The Hulk, upside down, kept flailing its arms about, and it took them all they had to not release their holds on its legs. They collided against the walls on either side of them but they didn’t break their stride as they flew ahead. All the while, Steve followed behind them.

The moment they reached their destination, they released their hold and hovered in the air. The momentum was not kind to the creature and it was sent face-first into the floor where the metal came off and shattered.

“Fucking hell!” Tony Stark exclaimed as he stared wide-eyed, at the sight of a discombobulated Hulk. The creature shook its head as if to say ‘What the fuck just happened’.

“Stark! The cage!” Steve shouted.

Tony looked over and understanding dawned on him almost immediately. He flew over and quickly got the door of the cage open. The Hulk looked around at its many adversaries and roared.

Clark and Diana exchanged a look and nodded. Together, they shot forward and tackled the Hulk, taking it with them and sending it tumbling on the floor. All three shot through the open door of the cage and hit the Hulk with resounding blows straight to the head. The creature kept growling and shaking its head.

Together, they flew back and Tony wasted no time in slamming the door shut.

The Hulk angrily shook its head and looked around. It saw its enemies right in front of itself and charged. However, he slammed face-first into a strong transparent wall.

Finally, Steve and Diana fell on the floor in exhaustion as everyone stared at the Hulk. The creature began to pummel the walls of the cage as it growled, to no avail.

XXXXX

Thor tore through the air at a breakneck pace. His hammer poised in front of him, he stared down at the massive body of water that stretched as far as the eye could see.

He had not wanted to do this but something told him he needed to. Diana had been supportive of this course of action, trusting in his instincts and the last thing he wanted to do was to be proven wrong.

However, he had a feeling that he was right.

It took him almost half an hour to find the sight of the city that was his destination and he flew toward it. Diana had described the building to him in perfect detail and he looked around furiously, trying to spot it. The city was massive and it was not an easy task. However, he kept at it.

Ten minutes of flying about and he successfully laid eyes on Stark Tower. If what they had understood from Loki’s little monologue was correct, this was where it would all unfold.

Thor landed roughly on the open balcony and looked around. Frowning, he noticed that nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. Everything looked pristine as expected and he could not spot any sign of Erik or any other thrall Loki might have at his disposal.

“I didn’t expect you to come so soon,” Thor heard a female voice call out and he abruptly turned. His eyes widened at the sight of his dear sister standing on the other end of the balcony. She was looking at him with her usual smirk.

“Sister,” Thor said with a small smile.

“Brother,” Sylvie said with a slightly mocking tone as she stared at him. “You look healthy. Asgard is taking good care of her future monarch, I see.”

Thor did not miss her tone and a frown crossed his face.

“I met Loki some time ago,” he began but was cut off when she chuckled.

“Indeed you did. He told me all about it,” she replied.

“I see,” Thor nodded. He knew the twins could communicate telepathically so it was not a surprise that they had maintained contact even though they were so far away from each other. “And should I assume that you know all about the conversation I had with him as well?”

“More like a one-sided lecture, don’t you think, Brother?” She asked, chuckling. “You truly have started channeling your father.”

“Our father, Sylvie,” Thor said soothingly. “He is your father too. Don’t tell me it all meant nothing to you either.”

For the first time during this encounter, an ugly veneer came over Sylvie’s face. She glared at Thor who stared back sadly.

“That man has never been our father,” she hissed. “He is what he’s always been. An abductor who took us from our home. We have no father, mother, or family. You should remember that.”

Thor sighed. Time and again, the twins repeated the same. And yet, there was this voice in his heart that told him that they didn’t truly believe it. He wanted to put his faith in them, to help them come to terms with the life-altering truth that they had suddenly been burdened with, and to shoulder their pain and suffering with them like a true family. Alas, each step he took toward them made them take two steps away from him.

“It is truly a shame that you two feel like that, Sister,” Thor said solemnly. “And you must believe that my heart goes out to the two of you.”

Sylvie sneered. Thor looked at her sadly before his eyes hardened.

“But I cannot let the two of you continue this terrorism that you believe would earn you something,” he hissed. “Your revenge, or your lust for power, whatever it is… I cannot let it happen.”

Sylvie chuckled.

“As expected of the defender of Midgard,” she replied. “We knew you will stand against each other. After Odin’s little challenge, you changed, and not for the better. Where did that Thor go, I wonder? The one who took pride in his powers and abilities, the one who knew who was below him, and the one who did not hesitate in showing others their place.”

Thor looked at his sister in sheer disappointment. She and his brother both were cut from the same cloth. Both spewed the same vile words and both shared the same shameful beliefs.

“I shall tell you the same thing I told our brother, Sister,” Thor replied. “You consider the humans inferior beings for you to be trampled on. You could not be more wrong in that regard, and that is the reason why you can never be the rulers of any realm, let alone Asgard.”

Sylvie’s smile became a little strained on hearing those same words yet again, this time from the source himself.

“Be that as it may, once we exert our will, they will have no option but to oblige,” she replied easily.

“You truly believe so?” Thor asked in slight amusement. “And when someone rebels? When they want the right to choose?”

“They don’t get to choose,” she replied easily. “And any rebel will be taken care of the same way your dear Odin took care of his foes. He too did not tolerate seeds of rebellion, you do know what. We will simply follow in the footsteps of the one who raised us. It’s a shame we have been unable to avoid the entirety of his taint from ourselves.”

Thor took a deep breath to calm his anger. Out of the two, his sister had always been the one with a sharper tongue. It was nothing new for him.

“Truly a shame,” Thor agreed. He looked around at the bustling city, hearing the sounds of engines revving and horns blaring. The city was very lively on this day.

“I assume you did not come here so early just to have a little talk with your dear sister, did you?”

Thor chuckled as he looked around.

“I don’t think you shall be telling me your plans.”

“If you behave then I just might,” Sylvie replied, smirking.

Thor looked over and chuckled.

“Understood. What would you like me to do for you to tell me everything?”

Sylvie stared at him for a moment with a smirk.

“A vow,” she replied, earning a frown from him. “A vow on your honor as a warrior and an Asgardian that you will not interfere with whatever Erik Selvig is or will be doing. Your friends can do whatever they want. You though will stay as far away from Erik as possible. In return, I shall vow to tell you everything about our plan, where Erik is working on the portal right now, and how to close the portal.”

Thor frowned. For her to demand a vow from him meant whatever they were about to do could be jeopardized if he got involved, which meant he had the power to prevent it all from happening. They knew the portal would open here, but they did not know where Erik truly was. He could not see anything so far and it meant they were blind to their machinations right now.

However, he could learn everything they were planning to do, but it meant he could not prevent it from beginning. Given Sylvie had not asked him to stay away from the fights meant that was not her concern. What concerned both her and Loki by extension was that he could stop it all from starting altogether.

“I can see your brain working more than it ever has,” Sylvie giggled as she looked at him. “So? What is your decision? You could get to know everything we have planned. All you need to do is vow not to interfere with Erik Selvig. What you do thereafter is not my concern. You can even tell Diana and the others to do it in your stead.”

Thor stared at the smirk on his sister’s face.

“What will it be, Brother? Do you have the courage to put your faith in others?”

Thor contemplated his sister’s terms once again. He could gain all the information he could want regarding this evil scheme of theirs. All it meant was for him to not get involved with Erik. He recalled what the others had said about Erik and why they needed him. It was for opening that portal through which they would rain hell on Earth, which meant the army of the Chitauri would arrive through that portal.

However, even if he could not get involved did not mean he could not get others to do it. All it needed was for him to put his faith in them. Sylvie and Loki believed they would not be able to do it. However, he had faith that they could.

He looked at his sister and nodded.

Sylvie let out a triumphant grin as they swore their vows. She and her beloved had not planned this. Thor arriving so soon had compelled her to improvise. She knew she would not last against him in a battle and if he reached Erik Selvig right now, their plan would crumble before anything could be done. Dangling the proverbial bone of information about where the portal would be activating and how it would close was a very obvious choice to make when their entire plan was suddenly in jeopardy.

She smirked as she looked at Thor. He could not interfere now and given what she had just heard from her beloved, it would take a lot of time for Diana and the others to get here – enough for them to open the portal.

Thor could tell them everything he was about to know, but there was no way anyone could prevent the portal from opening now.

“Fine then,” she said smugly. “Our plan, as you might already have guessed, is to lead an army of the Chitauri through a portal that will open right above our heads. Erik is currently down below in that room with the infinite source of energy and he is working on setting up the device that would use the Tesseract to open the portal.”

Thor looked down with a concentrated look on his face.

“We both know you cannot look through solid surfaces,” Sylvie rolled her eyes. “Now, I don’t need to tell you what the Chitauri will do. Once we are done with this city, we will move on to the next. It will take a while but eventually we will conquer the entire realm of Midgard. Whoever bends the knee will be graciously welcomed into our new empire and the defiant will be taken care of.”

“How will you close the portal?”

Sylvie looked at Thor for a moment. She knew this was the only information that might prove to be a complication but she had no choice but to part with it. After all, this was the biggest reason why Thor had agreed to this vow.

“The only way to counteract an Infinity Stone is another Infinity Stone,” she replied easily. “You can get it to close if you can find one.”

Thor nodded.

“So there you go, Brother,” Sylvie smirked. “You know what we are planning to do and how to stop us. What will you do next?”

“I think we both know the answer to that,” he replied.

Sylvie chuckled.

“In that case, you might want to hurry. I hear there have been certain eventful… developments on that carrier of theirs.”

Thor’s eyes widened slightly as his hand tightened on his hammer.

“They are on an island called Bermuda, wherever it is. I am sure you can get things sorted out before anything happens.”

Thor gritted his teeth as he swung his hammer about and took off, leaving his sister staring at his retreating figure with a smirk on her face.

“Ah, and the race begins.”

To be continued…