Chapter 1: Just Another Day At The Office
For the elite super squad The Avengers it started out like any other mission. In the S.H.I.E.L.D Hellicarrier, where the call came that Loki brother of Avenger Thor was up to no good. Again, what was this the third time? Nick Fury sent out the notification "Attention all Avengers we have a code 42 in progress down on 59th street" came Nick Fury's booming powerful voice through the ear piece of Natasha Romanov a.k.a the Black Widow herself. "All right boys we have a code 42 in progress let's move" she said putting her hands on her hips, and then she walked up the gangplank and into the cockpit of the Avengers Quin Jet. Looking behind her at the other seats, she noticed one was empty, she sighed "Where's Stark?" she asked a hint of annoyance in her soft voice. "Cap, any ideas?" "I regret to say I haven't ma'am" replied Captain America pulling his mask firmly over his eyes, Bruce simply shrugged "haven't seen him since this morning", "Clint?" "Natasha, it's Tony. God knows where he is" snorted Hawkeye, Thor just shook his head "I am afraid I have not seen the Man of Iron since breakfast, he was on that hand held talking device again".
"It's called a Cell phone point break" came the familiar yet mocking voice of the world's biggest pain in the ass according to Natasha, but known to the rest of the world as Iron Man or more commonly Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. Clutching a large take-away cup of Starbucks coffee Tony casually sauntered up the gangplank into the Avengers jet. "Where the hell have you been?" snapped Natasha "We have a code 42 in progress didn't you get the message". "One I've been at Starbucks duh!" he indicated his cup of coffee "two this suit fly's you know I could have just met you there and three I know what a code 42 is" "well that's one of us" said Steve cutting in from the steering wheel "Code 42 Steve, it means goldilocks deranged little brother here is back on earth and up to something", "just another day at the office eh boys?" Natasha chimed in. "Doesn't he ever get sick of being bashed up then thrown in jail?" said Tony looking at Thor. "I do not know anymore" replied Thor.
Natasha hit the button on the dash closing the gangplank to the jet, "Alright boys fasten your seat belts" said Natasha sitting down and fastening her seat belt. "Um....Agent Romanov are you sure Steve can fly this thing?" started Bruce. "Of course he can besides Clint taught him", "And how did he do?" asked Bruce still uncertain, "he did great" said Clint with a forced smile, Steve grinned back. Clint beckoned for Bruce to come closer "fasten your seatbelt as tight as it can go. Now!" he whispered "why?" "When I said he did great..." "Yeah" "I meant great if he were training to be a kamikaze". "Then why aren't you flying the plane?" "because Natasha gave me a death glare when I suggested it, said Cap needs to come into the 21st century" there was a moment of silence between them as the thought of Natasha's death stare crossed their minds, "fair enough" replied Bruce as he tightened his seatbelt. "All right, Now the on button" said Captain America as the engine whirred to life. Steve began to drive the jet forwards on the run way getting faster and faster, Bruce was clinging to his seat with his eyes tightly shut. The jet ran off the edge of the runway and free fell for about thirty seconds before he put it into the correct thrust. The Avengers clinging on for dear life as Steve kept stalling the engine, forgetting to change thrust, speeding up and slowing down, jolting and even flying loop de loops just to show off, but terrifying everyone. Even Thor was unnerved by the Captains flying skills. Banner took it worst of all "I think I'm gonna vomit" he said putting his hand over his mouth "this is why I hate flying, even when the pilot is not trying to kill me".
The jet flew over the bustling city of New York with its many cars and people going about their daily business as usual. It was surprising that nobody really noticed a supersized jet dropping in altitude and puffing out large amounts of black exhaust. But then again it is New York I'm sure nothing surprises them anymore. The constant rocking of the jet made everyone feel queasy; Natasha who was gripping the edge of her seat stared at Clint "What?" he asked, "Why didn't you drive this bloody thing? We could have been there by....LOOK OUT!" yelled Natasha, Steve swerved narrowly missing the top of the empire state building. "ME! You're the one who said Cap had to come into the 21st century", "well you should have made that call you're the pilot around here" snapped Natasha "Natasha you gave me a death glare! The last guy who defied you when you gave him a death glare ended up in a coma for a week!". "Well you, you...you snore" Hawkeye opened his mouth to respond when Steve turned around and said "guys shut up I'm trying to concentrate, how can I do that with you guys yelling at each other?". 'Steve! Keep your eyes on the. STEVE!!" said Clint, Steve turned around and turned sharply scraping the end of the wing along the side of the Stark tower. "Hey" said Tony "I only just got that glass put in", Bruce who was sitting beside Clint but across from tony had his hand still clamped tight to his mouth suddenly said "No, I can't do it, I'm gonna...hang on I think" there was another jolt "nope" Banner lent forwards and vomited all over the Iron Man suit. "Ew!" said Tony wiping the vomit off of his mask, "sorry " said Bruce "I just really hate flying".
"Very well, Ma'am" said Steve looking at Natasha "This is 59th street where is the trouble making bastard?". "That is a very good question. Thor do you have any idea?", Thor pointed to a giant warehouse "There!" "How do you know?" asked Bruce wiping up the last of the vomit with a handkerchief Clint had found in one of his pockets. "Call it gods intuition" said Thor sitting back down, "really?" asked Captain America "because I call it, obvious. He left his mode of transportation parked outside", Thor blushed "I could still tell". Steve bought the jet around and landed in a large field about two streets over. Once again Natasha hit the button on the dash opening the gangplank, the other Avengers undid their seat belts and began to make their way down the gangplank, when Bruce made for it like a crazed bull knocking everyone out of his way he sprinted down the gangplank, collapsed on the ground and began to kiss it repeatedly. "Thank god, I'm alive, I swear if Steve is driving us back to the Hellicarrier. I'll go Hulk!" "No!" said Natasha, "he won't be flying us back. Right Clint?" said Natasha rising an eyebrow glaring at Clint, "Agent Romanov has spoken, sorry Steve" said Clint turning to a rather hurt looking Captain America.
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"Why does Asgardian magic have to be so hard to master?" said Loki, God of Mischief from inside the warehouse, attempting to read the ancient dwarf text, from the frame of a stone set into a golden staff, made in the mines of Asgard. "I am a god! Why will THIS INCOPETENT THING NOT WORK!". "I have studied magic since my teenage years. I have mastered all dwarf languages. THIS SHOULD NOT BE THAT DIFFICULT!" shouted the god, banging his staff upon the ground sending cracks along the warehouse floor. Suddenly he felt a gun to the back of his head, "Having a little tantrum there Loki" "ah I should have known you'd find me eventually well it does not surprise me. Hello Spiderwoman" Natasha gave a puzzled expression "It's the Black Widow", "Yes and the Black Widow is a spider is it not?" "Well yes but..." "And you are a woman are you not?" cut in Loki "obviously but..." "So Spiderwoman is also an appropriate name" "no it's not...I am not affiliated with Spiderman in any way so therefore... oh just shut up and drop the weapon" said Natasha getting annoyed.
"You want me to drop the weapon?" said Loki a defiant look in his eye "very well' he turned around and again bashed the staff onto the ground, in a burst of bright green light he sent Natasha flying through the air, she landed on top of a pile of wooden crates . "Natasha!" called Clint "Are you ok?", " I just face planted on a pile of wooden crates do you think I'm ok?" "So I'll take that as a yes?" Natasha sighed and rolled her eyes while climbing to her feet. "Ah and you have decided to bring along the entire squad ofincompetent creatures" Said Loki looking at all the Avengers their arms bared and ready to attack at a moment's notice. "The Man Of Iron, The Solider, The Mindless Beast, my Twit of a Brother and The Off Centre Archer, I still cannot believe that this is the best this pathetic excuse for a realm can offer". "Loki!" bellowed Thor "What is the meaning of this? It was my belief that you were confined only to Asgard", "Wait a second are you saying Loki the diva of divas was grounded? That's priceless" said Iron Man. "Brother what is the means that you come to Midgard?", "I was let off for good behaviour" said the god with a cheeky grin that really no one could read.
"Look" said Natasha from the top of the crate, putting her hands on her hips "Loki this can go one of two ways. We all know how this is going to go you'll say something snarky that no one but Thor will really understand, then we'll fight, you'll end up doing something insane, then you'll end up losing and we'll put you in hand cuffs and take you back to S.H.I.E.L.D, where you'll be tossed in a cell, then you'll be sent back to Asgard, where you'll face the wrath of Daddy dearest and you'll be chucked into another cell. So you can save everybody a lot of trouble and time and just drop the staff and come with us, plus Clint made a reservation at the Hilton Hotel at six, so I'll take at least an hour to choose an outfit and another hour to do my hair and makeup so It's all up to you, we don't have all day". Again Loki threw her a dirty look and blasted the crates beneath her, Natasha was thrown from the top; Clint ran to her and caught her just in time. "Natasha, are you alright?" Natasha flicked a lock of curled red hair from her face "I'm fine, pissed off, but fine. I knew you should have made that reservation for seven" Clint shrugged and put Natasha back onto her feet.
"AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!" yelled Iron Man "you pathetic creatures you think you can defeat me?" "We have before" said Captain America "I have twice" Thor chimed in, "Hulk smashed". "Yes I remember" said the god narrowing his sapphire blue eyes "I still have bruises all over my legs from that, and you do not even want to know about the nightmares" the Hulk just smiled, "Hulk do it again". "So you think" Loki replied blasting at the Hulk, Cap blocked it with his shield, crossing her arms Natasha rolled her eyes "Boys and their fights". Suddenly Natasha noticed a blast coming her way she cart wheeled to one side, staring back in disbelief at the crater where she had just been standing. "Ok I guess it's gonna be that way" she said glaring in Loki's direction she pulled out her second handgun from her hip "let's go", clicking off the safety and ran towards the god, and just like that the battle began.
It was Hulk that through the first punch, reaching for the god, Loki managed to evade him easily sending Hulk into the warehouse wall smashing a hole. Loki laughed as he started to make his way to the door. When iron man suddenly came from nowhere landing directly behind the god , "Aw you're not leaving are ya? The parties just starting, Hawkeyes got the snacks", "wha...?" started Loki turning around. Iron Man signalled with his finger behind his shoulder, Hawkeye came running and threw Loki a left hook catching Loki in the jaw, knocking him to the ground. "Hope you like knuckle sandwiches" replied Iron Man giving the god a smug look, raising his repulser and pointing it at Loki. "You know I don't remember it being this easy" said Hawkeye looking at Iron Man "Because it is not!" said the god from the ground the staff glowed green again and hit Hawkeye straight in the face "should have seen that coming" Hawkeye replied before he hit the ground unconscious.
"Loki! That's enough" came the booming voice of Steve Rogers and charging across the warehouse came the Captain shield raised. "You think that you can harm me with that pathetic piece of metal solider?" sneered Loki. Captain America threw the shield it sailed right past Loki's left shoulder "see your aim is off, you cannot hope to defeat me I am a god and I will not be threatened by...." The shield bounced of the warehouse wall and had hit Loki directly in the back of his head knocking his helmet so it slid over his eyes. "What... oh damn this helmet!" said Loki stumbling around with his arms outspread. He pushed his helmet back just in time to see Iron Man coming straight at him, he picked the god up and dropped him onto a crate filled with mirrors, on impact the crate gave way, sending smashed pieces of all over the floor. "Oooh that's seven years bad luck" Iron Man said smugly hovering in the air. "You incompetent metal man" said Loki struggling to get up off the floor. Before Loki could regain his footing, Hulk kicked the god; Loki flew across the warehouse and into the wall causing large cracks. The Hulk smiled "I told you Hulk would smash!", Loki sighed "I think I feel another bruise coming on" he said peeling himself off the wall trying to recover. "Loki enough! Stand down" Pleaded Thor "I do not want to have to harm you brother". "I am not your brother, you blundering oaf, I never was", "Loki why would you say that? We were raised together, we are brothers even if not in blood", "You have become soft Thor, and perhaps you deserve to perish with your precious mortals and Midgard", Thor suddenly wore a hurt expression he almost looked like he was about to cry. Natasha charged at Loki "Nobody hurts Thor and gets away with it, He loves you, you jerk and that's more than you deserve" She yelled jumping into the air and throwing the hardest flying karate kick she could muster, slamming hard into his cheek. "I will not have a mewling quim tell me what I should do!" Loki said raising his staff again it began to glow a deep emerald green, Natasha back flipped through the air landing neatly she pulled out her handgun and pointed it at the god "you don't even deserve to be treated the way Thor treats you! You are nothing but a lying, deceitful, selfish, son of a..."
"ENOUGH!!" bellowed the enraged God of Mischief, The staff still glowing a rich emerald green with all the strength he could muster he bashed the staff against the warehouse floor. In an explosion of light all of the Avengers were thrown backwards and pinned against the walls, "Finally some peace" said the God. "Why must you even attack me? I was not harming anyone...yet. I was merely trialling an experiment. For you see you tiny minded fools I have worked out a plan that cannot fail even with you Avengers in the way, I have discovered that you will not always be around eventually as time performs its dance the Avengers shall grow old and decrepit and eventually disappear when Hella eventually takes you." "Loki!" shouted Thor "We will always be around to stop you and when the mortals lives end I will be around", "yes brother but what about when you eventually leave this world then who will stop me?", "Loki then you too will be in your daughters care". "Wait" began Steve "I thought that gods were immortal" "Well actually Captain, we are not immortal in the sense you mortals believe it we just have a prolonged life span in comparison with yours" replied Thor. "Silence! Brother do you not even recognise the staff I have?" Loki said smirking "It is from...Oh no Loki not the dwarf kings sceptre" "That's right Thor it is...". "Hey " began Iron Man "for those of us who have no idea what the hell you're talking about how about a little 411", at seeing Thor's blank expression Iron Man sighed "That means information goldilocks". "The Dwarf Kings staff has the power to grant eternal life to anyone as long as they know magic and how to read the ancient dwarf language, as unfortunately Loki knows both". "Wait so Rudolf here can have eternal life... Oh well that's just great is anybody you know gonna STOP HIM?" "Look Tony we're all in the same position as you stuck to a wall ok so don't get all snarky at us" Snapped Natasha from across the room.
"Well if you are finished I'm going to cast my spell now" said Loki "your little disagreement bought me the time I needed to finish translating the text, now watch as I give myself the power of everlasting life and there is nothing any of you can do about it!". He snapped his fingers and the Avengers were released from the position of being stuck to the walls, they all fell to the ground in a heap. Loki opened his mouth and began to recite the words from the text carved into the staff around the stone. "Quick Avengers give him everything you've got. J.A.R.V.I.S divert all power to uni-beam now!" "Yes sir" replied Tony's Robotic assistant. "What did I miss?" said Hawkeye coming out of his unconscious state, then he saw Loki and the Avengers charging at him "Never mind I remember now" and he withdrew an arrow from the quiver on his back and fitted it into his bow aiming at the God. Just as the Avengers charged forwards, the Great God of Mischief laughed an evilly, maniacal laugh "It's done, It's done Everlasting life is now ALL MINE!" and the stone detached itself from the staff, and floated in the air right in front of the god, the staff succumbed to gravity and hit the ground shattering into a million pieces just like the crate of mirrors.
"I DON'T THINK SO YOU EVIL SON OF A BITCH!" said Hawkeye "AVENGERS NOW!" and Hawkeye released his arrow, Iron Man blasted his uni-beam, The Back Widow fired her handgun, Thor summoned his lightning and Captain America threw his shield with all his might at the giant floating stone pulsating with Asgardian magic. "NO! NO YOU IDIOTS, YOU'LL RUIN EVERYTHING! DESTROYING THE STONE COULD KILL US ALL!" shouted Loki in pure panic but his warning was far too late and all these weapons hit the stone sending it the same way as the staff.
A tidal wave of magic flooded from the stone sweeping up all the Avengers and Loki and slamming them once again into the warehouse wall with the force of a speeding train knocking all but one of the Avengers out cold. Hawkeye remained conscious just long enough to see the God of Mischief stumble and blunder his way out of the warehouse. Using the last of his energy Hawkeye withdrew a tracker arrow and fired it directly into the back of the fleeing villain, the tail fell off and flashed as it began to engage, Hawkeye managed a small smile and watched as the God made off on his transportation which looked like a space age motorbike. Then Hawkeye also succumbed to the will of his eyelids and slipped with the rest of his team mates into the state of unconsciousness.