Uniting Asgard [Book Three]

Chapter Twenty-One

Loki hurried towards Tony's home, ready to share the news with him. Pepper had opened the door to him and looked at him with surprise and confusion as he quickly enveloped her in his arms. When he pulled away, Pepper was even more confused by the bright smile on Loki's face.

"Are you alright?" She inquired.

"I have excellent news that I have to share with the both of you."

Loki closed the door behind him, took Pepper's hand in his and made his way down towards the lab with Pepper trailing behind. Hearing the commotion, Tony put down his tools and turned to see both Loki and Pepper.

"Loki? What is it?" Tony asked him. "And why does your face look like that?"

"I've discovered a way to get to Thanos."

Tony and Pepper both shared a look before directing their attention back to Loki.

"I noticed that one of his ships was among the damage. It must have crashed but something had to have been in control of it as the engines still work and are programmed to go to Home Base, also known as the coordinates to the realm Thanos resides on."

"And you're certain that ship can get us to Alice?" Tony inquired, narrowing his eyes.

"Absolutely. That ship will be able to take us directly to him."

There was a moment of silence as Loki waited for Tony and Pepper's response. He began tapping his foot on the floor, knowing that every second wasted would prove detrimental to their mission. Tony took a breath before leaning towards Pepper and whispering something in her ear. The two then shared a kiss and Tony went to grab a toolkit of his before making his way towards the stairs. Loki looked on with a furrowed brow and Tony stopped himself halfway up the stairs to turn around and face Loki. He then rolled his eyes and chuckled lightly, shaking his head.

"Are you going to take me to this ship or not?"

Tony smiled as Loki followed after him, making their way to the ship.

Once Loki had exited the ship, Erica took off her cloaking spell and began looking around the ship. Although abandoned and in somewhat good condition, she wanted to make sure that she was truly alone. She warily made her way around the ship, checking every compartment and room she could find. While examining one room, she heard someone entering the ship and quickly hid herself in the small room, quietly closing the door. From there, she could make out a few muffled voices before the sound of the ship closing echoed through the space.

After waiting a few moments and hearing no movement, Erica opened the door and stepped out into the small hallway. As she continued on her search, she found herself in one of the holding areas where the Chitauri were stored. She did her best to be as quiet as possible in the event that there were any left over or hiding, waiting to attack. Just when she thought the room was all clear, she heard shuffling against the metal of the catwalk above her. Erica conjured her magic as she tilted her head up, trying to identify where the noise came from. She then put her hands up, getting into her fighting stance as she waited in silence. Every so often, the slight sound of water dropping could be heard. Suddenly, she heard a loud roar from behind her. Turning around, Erica's eyes widened seeing a lone and battered Chitauri charging towards her.

She raised her hand and before she could use her magic, the Chitauri yelped in pain as a bright blue energy blast exploded against it. The Chitauri hurtled into the side of the room, falling dead against the machinery. As the smoke cleared, Erica felt the blood drain from her face seeing Tony standing at the door with only a portion of his arm covered by his suit. She saw the reactor's power die down as he slowly made his way down the stairs.