"A Team, in position."
"B Team, in position."
Quill crouched behind a giant boulder, just out of sight of the first set of bridge guards. Gamora crouched behind him, Natasha and Clint hidden on the other side.
"Kid, you ready?"
"Yeah Mr Stark! Let's do this!"
"Alright, everyone ready in 3, 2, 1- go!"
Quill signalled the others- mostly for Hawkeye's benefit- and they made their move. Two black daggers sprouted from the guards' eyes, silent deaths so fast they didn't even have time to recognise their own demise. Quill ran ahead, trusting the others to follow and sprinting across the black ice bridge.
The guards on the other end raised their spears in defiance, as did those on the ice turret the bridge led to, but before they could take a single step a red clad figure swung over the turret. Long white ropes stuck to each of the guards, pulling them off the turret with him and disappearing out of sight. Any screams were silenced by the wind.
"Team A entering Point One," Quill announced as they tore through the wrought iron gates. "Heading to Point Two."
Natasha and Clint peeled off to either side, making their way through the fortress to take out the other soldiers. Stealth, Quill thought, and Russian stealth.
He skidded to a stop in sight of a plain barred gate, rushing toward the two soldiers with full trust in his heart. The soldiers readied their spears and charged forward, faster even than Groot at full speed. They're a lot taller than I realised.
Black knives embedded themselves once again in his assailants, dropping like puppets with their strings cut as he thundered past. He could just barely hear Gamora's light steps behind him; he wouldn't have noticed at all if he wasn't used to the assassin's tread.
He quickly unbarred the door, giving the lock a swift kick when it refused to give. The door swung open with a screeching wine to reveal a stone staircase leading down to pitch darkness. Quill hummed in his throat.
"Team A1 at Point Two. Door is open, guards are down."
"Team A2 calling in, all guards neutralised." Natasha's smooth voice was quickly followed by Peter's excited chatter.
"Team A3 here, all topside guys are webbed up, I can't see any others. This is so cool. I feel like I'm in a spy movie-"
"Team B coming in, ready for extraction."
Soon enough, Tony followed through, coming in through the window with Thor and the Captain in tow. He nodded briefly to Quill as he breezed past, heading unhesitatingly through the door and into the ominous blackness below. He was quickly followed by the other two; Thor didn't even spare him a glance as he strode through the doorway, the Captain waving awkwardly. The darkness soon swallowed them.
He spun to Gamora with a smirk. "Well, guess we'd better get to guarding."
————————————————————————
Seidr twisted round Loki's fingers, snaking up his wrists in golden cords. Something was happening above; he could taste blood in the air, could smell death. He sincerely hoped it was his brother coming to his rescue, and not... one of His minions. He readied himself just in case.
His frost giant guard lay crumpled by the wall opposite his cell, crushed by the iron bars he'd blown off. He crouched behind the wall, peeking round every few minutes. He had an attack spell primed and ready to unleash at a moment's notice. He would not be taken again.
Quiet footsteps pattered down the single icy path into the dungeon. Whoever was heading towards him had managed to navigate the labyrinthine dungeon, so we're either smart, or magical. The trickster god couldn't sense Seidr, or the power of the Stones, which meant it wasn't Him.
"Loki!"
"Are you serious right now?"
Loki pressed his hand to his mouth to stifle his laughter, letting his Seidr go. Stark hissed his reply even before the echoes of Thor's booming voice had faded.
"We are trying to do a covert mission, you giant, over-dramatic idiot."
"Cease your talking, Stark, or lose your tongue."
Silence reigned for a few seconds; even their footsteps paused.
"What the f-"
"I apologise, Stark. That was too much."
"You think?"
"Listening to you two is worse than anything those giants did to me."
Three heads snapped towards him, varying degrees of surprise on their faces. They took in the unconscious- probably- guard, the scorched ground, the bent prison bars. It wasn't hard to figure out what had happened.
"So you mean to say-"
"Tony."
"No, Steve. We planned an entire fucking sting operation to save the brat, and he could've just busted out on his own? Are you fucking serious?"
"If it helps, I couldn't have done it completely on my own. Not without losing at least half my Saidr, and I'd rather keep myself stocked up just in case." Tony stared.
"So we're a convenience."
"If you put it like that, yes."
"You know, Loki, one of these days I'm going to stop chasing after you like a direwolf after a deer."
Loki laughed. "Yes, brother, I suppose you will. But for now, I'm certain you'll run after me every time." Thor grinned.
"I suppose I will."
————————————————————————
"You will pay for this, child."
Peter turned his head to the frost giant lazily, one leg swinging idly from the web hammock he'd made. He and his prisoners were attached to the bottom of their base, a ravine below them so deep it plunged into darkness.
"Nah, I don't think so."
"Laufey will rain a storm of ice upon those who dare defy him."
"Not gonna lie, that sounds sick as fuck. But it's not gonna happen, cause Mr Stark'll have a plan to stop him. We're the Avengers, bitch. Get a clue."
"Such attitude from one so young. It is disgusting."
"Yeah, well, I'm a Gen-Z kid, what do you expect?"
"I expect you to obey my every command."
"Get fucked."
"Stupid child. Do you really think we could be truly incapacitated by some string?"
Peter's leg paused as he stared at the giant. "What?"
The warrior threw herself forward with a roar, webs snapping as she tore her cocoon. Peter screamed and dove off his seat, free falling before desperately shooting out a web and launching himself away. He didn't get far, though.
The giant crashed onto him, the weight snapping his web and sending them tumbling down the ravine. His sight flashed from visions of harsh ice to the blinding sky, blurred silhouettes as the other giants escaped their bonds. Peter's eyes widened as the giant wrapped her arms round his torso, effectively trapping him and stopping him from using his web shooters.
Fuck! I don't wanna die!
————————————————————————
"All teams, this is Yondu. The package has been collected and is now being delivered, please return to the warehouse. I repeat, all teams return to the warehouse."
The blue man sat back in the chair, feet up on the control panel and arms behind his head. The mission had been unnaturally successful, and the ravager couldn't shake an uneasy feeling growing in his stomach. Normally their missions went tits up in the first five minutes, so this... You're getting old, Yondu. Old and paranoid.
Quill, Gamora, Clint and Natasha were the first back, chatting amongst themselves as they ambled through the door. They gathered round the table, adrenaline still present if their quick movements and heightened senses were anything to go by. Yondu snorted. He didn't get adrenaline rushes much anymore, so used he was to fight work.
The next lot in were B Team, a cheer filling the ship as the witch sauntered in. He grinned, waving his fingers and restoring his full self and damn if he didn't look like a certain black haired necromancer he'd seen in Asgardian royal tapestries.
"Is that everyone?"
"Wait, where's Pete?"
Silence settled over the group as everyone looked around. Quill shrugged.
"Maybe he didn't get the message?"
"I'm here!"
The teenager sprinted up the ramp to the ship, doubled over with his hands on his knees, panting hard. Yondu froze when he straightened- the boy was covered in blood, a nasty gash still dripping on his forehead, his nose swollen and purple. Stark made a startled noise.
"The hell happened to you?"
Peter held up his web shooters with a crooked grin. "Ran out of web fluid on the way back, face planted the floor. Had to run the rest of the way back."
Quill burst into laughter, others doing the same. Stark rolled his eyes and dragged the kid further into the ship, presumably to find a first aid kit. Thor and Loki wandered off together, as did Quill and Gamora with Clint and Natasha. The archer was complaining about his faulty hearing aids, Quill offering to take a look. Soon, Yondu sat by himself.
The uneasy feeling was back full force, had grown stronger since the spiderling returned. He'd grown to trust his gut over the years, and it was telling him that something was off, something was wrong. Yondu hummed and twirled his arrow between his fingers. For now, he'd keep an on the boy, and if anything happens... well, he'll deal with it then.
————————————————————————
Gagen cackled to herself as she regarded the orb floating in front of her. She could see all the boy saw, hear all the boy heard. It was perfect.
"This is a dangerous plan, Gagen, allowing them to escape like that."
"We have not just the Prince, but the Asgardian brute within our sights. Think, Kushan! Think of the glory!"
Kushan sighed. Gagen was always different. She did not think how a frost giant should think. She schemed, and plotted, and twisted truths. Laufey favoured her, though, for her ability in sorcery, and though Kushan lead the unit they knew Gagen could take command any time she wished. She was dangerous.
However... she did now have a puppet within their prey's midst, knew all they said and did. It was an ingenious plan, he had to admit, and the boy was completely under their control. Or rather, under Gagen's control. This just might work out well for them.
A/N: Merry Christmas Motherfuckers! A longer chapter this time. What did y'all think? What's gonna happen to Pete? Who knows? Fuck knows that I don't.
Question of the Week:
So, not a usual question this time. I'm thinking of opening a Discord. It'll be mostly for this book of course, cause I get a lotta messages with people discussing theories, ideas... thought we could just shove them all in the discord. Obvs you can talk about other shit too, don't have to keep it Marvel related. Maybe get a RP going... is this something y'all would be interested in or not? If it is, comment yay, if not, comment nay, we'll see what happens.
Hope y'all have a great Xmas, get to see family, get some dope ass presents. Eat yourself sick. If you get snow, fuck you, I want a white Christmas too. Don't forget to vote, comment etc.
Stay frosty 🤟🏻