.16
TESSA: SHIELD HEADQUARTERS
PRESENT DAY
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"Fury. Pleasure seeing you again." I smirked as I turned around to face the one eyed director of SHIELD. "And no, I don't do that kind of thing anymore. I fly solo. The Lone Ranger. No teams."
"Not anymore," he said.
"What do you mean?" I asked. I turned to Dad, who had a smile on his face.
"You're with SHIELD, Tessa," Dad said. "And if you want, you're an Avenger."
"No way!" I squealed and turned back to Nick. "Seriously?"
"I've seen your moves, kid. We want you on the team," he retaliated.
"This is so cool. I can't even process this right now." I took deep breaths. I'm an Avenger! Wait, oh god. I'm gonna screw up somehow.
"C'mon, I'll take you to the office." Fury gestured for us to follow him.
"What's your name going to be?" Dad asked me as we followed Nick.
"I don't know, can you come up with something catchy?"
"Loose Flames? No, no, no, Black Flame? Wait, how about Red Flames?"
"Move on from the flame section," I urged. I thought for a little bit. "Red Flames?"
"Red Flames! But honestly. That was the best I could come up with."
"How about The Red Flame?" I suggested.
"That's fine. Just do something with flames, please. It's all I've seen you do."
"I'm capable of a lot more than flames." I pointed out.
"I know that, Tessa. How about Bloody Magic?"
"Eh, no."
"Magic Flame!" He gave me a look. "That has to be it."
"How about just Flame?"
"I thought you were capable of a lot more than flames."
"Well, it seemed to work out fine." I shrugged my shoulders.
"Flame it is!" He held up his hand in triumph.
"If you two have stopped deciding on a name, we can get to the official part," Fury said.
"Go ahead," I replied.
Fury took a deep breath. "The Dark Elves have declared war on Earth."
"What realm is this, again?" Dad rolled his eyes. Thor had walked in the room.
"Svartalfheim," Thor replied, not receiving the sarcasm.
"So, another evil force from another realm wants total rule over Earth, again? Problem solved." Dad clapped his hands together. "We defeated Loki, now we defeat the Dark Elves."
"Loki is less powerful than the Dark Elves, Stark," Thor stated. *cue Loki rolling his eyes from Asgard* "The Elves have magic that can destroy the Nine Realms entirely. But Odin made a truce with them so they could not use their evil powers."
"Why are they attacking now?" I asked, interested.
"Because they have heard of the Avengers," Fury answered. "They want to -"
"Test you," I finished.
"Test us," Tony said.
"Director Fury, they want to see if we can protect the whole Earth," Thor said.
"So, HYDRA has nothing to do with this?" I clarified. Fury nodded.
"Not one thing."
"Why do you need me?" I finally asked. "I'm nothing special." Dad glared at me. He glared at me. "What's your problem now?"
"First, you're a master assassin."
"I knew that," I sassed.
"Second, you have the magic-y stuff."
"I kind of knew that."
"Third, you're my daughter."
"Thanks for the clarification, Dad." I smiled. "But how am I going to stop the Dark Elves?"
"I don't know, ask Thor." He pointed at the god.
"You alone won't be able to stop them," Thor said.
"We all have to do it together," Steve said, walking in the office. "How're you feeling, Tess? I didn't know that you were getting out of the hospital."
"Good, I guess. I just learned that I have to help defeat the Dark Elves, so that'll be fun." That's weird. He's the one who convinced the doctor to let me out.
"She's with SHIELD?" Steve questioned Fury. He nodded. "That's great." He smiled. Really? I would think he would be the first to know. I started to get suspicious.
"When do I start?" I asked.
"Right now. Come with me to the training room, Tessa." Steve gestured for me to follow him. I turned to my Dad.
"Don't do something stupid while I'm gone, okay?" I asked jokingly.
"I make no promises," he said as I walked out of the room with Steve. I followed him through the halls and we finally walked into a room. He locked the door behind him. We seemed to be in some sort of cell.
"Uh, Steve? This isn't the training room," I said, getting worried.
"Silence, mortal," he said in a gruff voice that didn't belong to him.
"You're not Steve!" I panicked. He gave me a sickening smile. My stomach jumped into my throat.
"Oh, Tessa. You are too clever, aren't you?" 'Steve' said.
"Where is he?" I asked.
"I am wearing a disguise, child. Do not fear." He peeled off the disguise, and after I got over the sensation that I was going to puke, I finally saw his true form.
"What do you want?" I asked. My hands were behind my back, where I was charging a fire ball.
"I want the Avengers under our control," he replied. He flicked a hand at me and I get thrown against the wall. "Did not you think I can see what you are about to do?"
"I was hoping you weren't," I groaned as I pulled myself up.
"You have a gift, Tessa. You could be on our side."
"Your side is the side of evil," I stated and threw a fire ball. It connected with his chest and he got knocked down. "Betcha didn't see that coming, did you?" I asked. I walked up to him and put a foot on his chest. "Here's what's wrong with being the bad guy. You never win." I put my hands around his throat only to get thrown off.
"But here is what is wrong with being the good in the -" It was my turn to throw him against the wall this time. He tried to escape, but my force field stopped him.
"There's nothing wrong with being the good. But there's no getting out of here alive, Dark Elf. This is an act of war," I hissed.
"As you wish, Midgardian." He gave me another sickening smile. We then raced towards each other only for me to heat up my hand and shove it through his chest. He gasped and fell to the floor, hands at his chest, trying to stop the bleeding. "You have won this round, but there are more rounds to come," he gritted through his teeth.
"Then bring them on. There are some things that Earth has to win." I finished him off by melting him.
"There are more rounds to come."
What did he mean by more?