Chapter 107: Chapter 107: Coulson's Death Flags shows no sign of ending.
Fury is holding the line on the ship's bridge from the intrusion. He is shooting accurately at the mercenary at the entrance. However, agent Barton took the chance to shoot a hacking arrow on turbine no 3 control, making it malfunction. The altitude of the ship drops drastically.
"I got eyes on Barton, does anyone copy?" Fury said on the secure communication line. Natasha, who is fighting the mercenary at this time, snapped the neck of the man in her hold.
"This is Agent Romanov…I copy," Natasha said calmly, hiding her murderous intent. She walks hurriedly to the bridge area. She has some pent-up anger she needs to let out. Barton will be a good punching bag.
"A snicker bar? Let's see what you'll do when I shove tons of it up your…" Her mumbling stops as she sees Barton on the other side of the path. She cracked her head, waiting for him to come near her.
At the Hulk's cage. Thor arrives to see agents' bodies lying everywhere. The ultimate aim of the mercenary is to break Loki out of his prison. Thor's eyes widened as he sees the door on the cage open and Loki is coming out.
"Loki!" Thor yelled as he tried to attack his brother and put him back in the cage. Loki becomes startled and puts up his guard to face his brother. Thor jumped towards Loki, swinging Mjolnir to his abdomen.
However, Thor passed by Loki's projection and entered the cage. The door closes, trapping Thor inside the cage.
"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" Loki said from the side of the cage, near the control panel. He is looking at Thor helplessly, imagining a day when his brother is not an idiot. A team of mercenaries in full gear is with him, protecting him from any ambushes.
"Arghh!" Thor yelled in frustration as he hammered the glass door. The tempered glass cracked, and the clatch on the cage loosen. Loki smiles insidiously. He wanted to press the button, making Thor fall together with the cage.
"Humans think of us as immortal. Let's test that shall we?" Loki almost pressed the big red button. But his mercenary team falls as they are shot in the back of their head. 3 men fall instantly.
"Move away from the control please," Coulson said as he threw away the ordinary gun, and used a prototype destroyer beam gun to aim at Loki. Shield has been trying to replicate the Destroyer beam since New Mexico.
Loki holds his hands up. His face shows traces of fear. Coulson becomes more confident and he makes a big stride in approaching Loki.
Loki is grinning inwardly. His true body already moves behind Coulson's back. Using the scepter that the mercenary handed to him, he stabs Coulson's back.
*Tap tap tap* Running footsteps can be heard.
*Clang* The scepter that had been penetrating 1 cm of Coulson's back, was hit from below. Loki's eyes widened. 'How!?' He was still invisible at the time.
Kai, who arrived just in time, stands between Loki and Coulson. The projection dissipates, making Coulson see what is going on. Kai is staring at Loki with a soft smile, wondering what he is going to do next.
"Dr. Vera. I knew you'd be trouble," Loki said, not intimidated in the least even though he is outnumbered.
"Son of Coul, let me out of here!" Thor said to Phil who is wincing in pain. His face was grimacing as the blood didn't stop.
"Not a chance," Loki said, throwing a small knife onto the control board. The knife hits the button, and Thor falls from the helicarrier! The airflow in the room becomes intense as a gaping hole opens on the floor.
Loki takes the chance in the chaos to attack Kai with his scepter. He swung the blade to Kai's head but was intercepted with a cane.
"You really want to fight in close combat with me?" Kai smirks. However, his eyes widened as he saw Loki's true aim. Loki is throwing a small knife at Coulson's head.
Kai reacted instantly and intercepted the knife with his cane sword. Sparks of fire can be seen when the metals collide. Loki takes the chance to kick Kai in the stomach, making him roll on the floor.
Coulson tries to aim at Loki and shoots him with the 1/10 destroyer beam, but without the element of surprise, he won't be able to do so.
"I want to play more with you doctor, but our time needs to be cut short," Loki said as he summoned a team of mercenaries to the room.
Loki slowly steps back and retreats, as the mercenaries are covering him. At which, Coulson gets his chance. He shoots the prototype weapon towards Loki, however, it is still a projection! The blast tore a hole in the innocent wall.
"Foolish mortal, " Loki grinned as he was already out of the room when the mercenaries came. Kai notices it, but the mercenary takes precedence.
"Get Down!" Kai grabs Coulson who is holding the gun with both hands from the onslaught of the mercenaries. *Ratatatata* Bullets ricocheted from the metal walls and flew all over the place.
"We need to stop Loki," Coulson said calmly after Kai brought him to take cover.
Kai narrows his eyes at the man. He almost died 3 times and he still manages to talk nonsense.
"Nah, we are too late," Kai said, surprising Coulson. By now Loki will have already reached the quinjet hangar. The doctor takes out a couple of beads from his jacket and throws them at the mercenary. *Poof* Black smoke comes out from the bead.
"Turn to infrared-(slash)" The mercenary helmet is slashed by a thin, silver sword. Coulson can hear screams coming from the inside of the black fog. 5 seconds later, the fog dissipated. All the mercenaries are incapacitated by Kai.
"Loki has escaped. I repeat, Loki has escaped!" Phil said on the communication line. Fury becomes solemn as he sees an unidentified jet flying away from the helicarrier. With Stark fixing the turbine and the helicarrier system being rebooted, no one manages to stop Loki.
After some time, Stark manages to fix one of the turbines, making the helicarrier stable again. Even though Kai had stopped a lot of mercenaries from disrupting the helicarrier, some managed to find their way to where Captain America and Iron Man were.
Tony was trapped inside the turbine before Steve managed to slow the rotors of the turbine, long enough for him to get out. His gold-titanium armor is full of scratches and can barely fly.
"Natasha?" Barton asks weakly as he gets his mind back after Nat slams his head on the wall. He is kneeling in front of the Black Widow. Natasha gritted her teeth and knocked Hawkeye out by punching his head.
"Barton is apprehended," She said to the comms. The chaos on the helicarrier calmed down. Steve and Tony are sitting at the table side by side. Banner is standing near the wall. Natasha is helping Barton in his quarter.
Kai is having an internal struggle. 'Without Phil's death, how should I push the team together?'
…
*Ding* The private elevator that leads to Ryan's floor opens. Bryan leads Amora to the only door on the floor.
He pressed Ryan's security code, swiped his access card, and did retina and fingerprint scans. Amora keeps sticking to Bryan as he is opening the door. She keeps rubbing her body onto Bryan, making a part of him tense.
"Sir, Mr. Mills is here. He is bringing a companion with him," ALBUS notified Ryan who was drinking a cup of coffee while monitoring the roof of Stark's Building.
"Make a path for them," Ryan said, disarming ALBUS's lethal security protocol.
Amora smiles at Ryan as she walks into the house. Bryan introduces Amora to Ryan.
"Sir, I am sorry for the sudden intrusion. But I wanted to introduce my fiance to you," Bryan said what Amora wanted him to say. Ryan's eyes widened and he put the coffee down.
He approaches the happy couple that has no sense of boundaries. Amora smiles widely as Ryan is approaching her. She didn't like to make a mess. She scanned Ryan from top to bottom.
'I think I can play with him for a long time,' She thought, almost licking her lips. Of course, Bryan will get the same treatment.
Ryan stopped 4 meters away from the couple.
'A little bit closer,' Amora hoped. But something else happens.
"You must be very charming, Bryan. You can even pick up an Asgardian to be your fiance," Ryan said playfully.
Amora instantly controlled the stuff lying around the house with her telekinesis. A vase, umbrella, Gwen's China, and so on. Her smiling face turns to a murderous one.
"Knight, it's either you become one of mine, or you will take your last breath today," Amora said. Loki ordered her to kill the Mayor and the Knights. However, Tim and Hiddle aren't here in New York.
She decided to go the other way and controlled them instead. Unlike Loki, Amora didn't look down on the mortals. She will make sure she is going to have a way out if something goes wrong with Loki's plan.
Mayor Osborne is already in her control. Him… and his private army. They are now surrounding the City Hall, waiting for Amora's next order.
Ryan doesn't look like he's being threatened at all. He asks the Asgardian calmly.
"What should I call you?"
Amora smirks and replies, "I am Amora. People call me The Enchantress."
She didn't have the last name as she had thrown away her family when she ran to the Norn and learned magic.
"I see, so Bryan must be under your enchantment?"
"Yes, all men are," She says haughtily as she grabs Bryan's face and pulls it to her face. She sticks up her tongue inside Bryan's mouth, violating it. Her other hand is sticking inside Bryan's pants.
It amuses Ryan to see her doing that. 'I wish I had popcorn,' he thought as he pried his view away to give them some privacy.
"Puhaa," Amora pulls her flushed face away and takes a deep breath. Bryan's mouth was still wet from her saliva. She turns to Ryan. Bryan takes out his gun from his free hand and aims it at Ryan's head.
"Your decision?" Amora asks seductively. She planned after Ryan says yes, she will let him know pleasure on the very spot he stands.
"Unfortunately…" Ryan shakes his head. Amora is disappointed. She had been trying to charm Ryan using her voice, but his mind was too strong for her. She could only use touch or kiss, but Ryan isn't going to give her a chance.
"Shoot him," She whispered to Bryan. No mortal men should disobey her. Their punishment will be death.
She is waiting to see Ryan drop on the floor lifelessly. A minute later, she became confused.
"Shoot him, Bryan, what are you waiting for?" She whispers as she strengthens the enchantment on Bryan. However, it still didn't work.
She looked at her crush's face and saw his nose was bleeding. His finger on the trigger is shaking.
"You, are you fighting my order?" Amora is truly saddened. Tears pool up in her eyes. She truly believes Bryan could be the one.
Ryan is eating popcorn at the time, delivered by ALBUS. He is strengthening Bryan's mind, to make him break free of the enchantment himself. That way, he will never be trapped again.
Amora can feel something is wrong. Something is interfering with her magic.
"You… are a magician?" Her eyes widened as she looked at Ryan. She released Bryan's hand that she had been holding and is getting more serious.
"Not me," Ryan said nonchalantly while popping popcorn in his mouth.
"Don't lie to me!" Amora smashes the controlled object towards Ryan. He jumps around to avoid it. The porcelain shattered into pieces as it attacked the floor.
Shards upon shards of ceramics from Gwen's plate collection are surrounding Ryan. Amora didn't use her other magic as her magic storage is low.
She has a major weakness. The longer she is away from Asgard, the weaker her magic will be. She can supplement it by sucking the life-force of man, and she had been doing so during her time waiting for Loki.
Last night, she had to control a lot of people. Her magic volume has decreased drastically. She is saving her magic in case she needs to teleport away or until she is sure she can kill him.
"I didn't lie," Ryan said as he avoided the shards flying toward him. It slashes his clothes, making cuts everywhere. The sleeves, the shirt tails, and so on.
"Then who is it?" Amora asks angrily. Did the guy look down on her or something? Why isn't he telling the truth?
Suddenly, a voice whispered next to her ear. The dark, deep voice that seems malicious, makes her get goosebumps all over her body.
"It's me."
Eclipse(shadow clone) appeared in the house!
Amora dodges forward and turns to look at the source of the voice. A man in a dragon skin suit that covered his full body appeared! Her eyes widened as Loki briefed her about who he was.
"Earth Guardian!" Amora said in an anxious voice. Loki tells her not to fight the man. She will lose. Quickly, she cast teleportation magic to get away.
"My MAGIC!! WHAT DID YOU DO!!!?" Amora becomes fearful as she can't feel her magic source.
"In the domain of another magician, others' magic will be useless," Eclipse says as he shows Amora the runes on the walls of Ryan's house.
It is a different rune from the 14th-century witch's runes that Agatha Harkness or Wanda used. Eclipse is using dragon language runes he got from the trading site. It is 3 times more powerful than the witch's rune.
Amora realizes that must be why Ryan is dilly-dallying. He is distracting her so that Eclipse can complete his domain.
"No, I am of Asgard! You can't touch me!" Amora said, panicking. Without her magic, she is just an ordinary Asgardian woman.
Bryan already snapped out of control. Osborne who is nearby City Hall gains his clarity back, but not the memory of what had happened.
He thought he was going to work as usual today. He sends his army back and enters the City Hall with just his bodyguards.
"Bryan, help me!" Amora yelled as Eclipse was inching toward her. Bryan shook his head. He enjoyed the time he spend with her, but he won't do anything stupid like saving the enemy.
Amora feels her world has shattered around her when she sees Bryan shaking her head. She plops down to her knees, waiting for her demise to come. She looks at Eclipse with teary eyes.
"Put this on, and I will be lenient," Eclipse said as he dropped a heavy metal handcuff in front of the kneeling Amora.
"Really?" Amora said, sniffling. Ryan feels a little bad seeing her in the situation. Amora is a bad guy in the comic, but she is not a 'BAD' bad guy. Mostly she is tricked by Loki or falls in love with someone she is not supposed to. There is also her short-lived career as a hero.
"Really."
Amora compiled and put on the handcuff. It is made with Uru metal from the Destroyer wreckage and added with mithril from the trading system. Once she put it on, Eclipse controlled the runes at the wall into the handcuff.
The red rune seeps into the handcuff, locking Amora's magic source. The girl in a silk dress is now restrained by Ryan.
"What is Loki planning?" Eclipse interrogated Amora. He says it slowly and calmly, but Amora is extremely afraid of the man in front of her.
She can feel he is radiating evil. Learning magic from the Norn, she is more sensitive than an ordinary Asgardian magician.
Ryan's Eclipse suit was made from the hide of a young shadow dragon. Shadow dragons are generally evil dragons.
Amora shares everything that Loki told her to do. But she didn't know what he was planning.
Loki asks her to control Ryan and the City Hall so that they will create chaos when the time comes.
Eclipse(shadow clone) apparated with Amora to his hideout.
His hideout is on the Andes mountain range. Amora's eyes widened and shook as she saw the mountain of bones in the place.
It is actually the eels bone and some other bones Ryan bought on the trading site. He brings it there to study them. Some of them are humanoid, and it enhances fear in Amora's brain.
She keeps crying as she surrenders to the fate of being eaten. 'Why did I decide to follow Loki,'
Amora is locked inside a cell that was created from Ryan's knowledge of runes. The handcuff can stop her from gaining magic for one month. The cell can do it forever.
"Will you eat me?" Amora asked meekly the evil man in front of her.
Eclipse is confused by the development. He didn't say anything and he teleported back to New York. Amora sobs violently, thinking the silence is the answer.
In Ryan's messy house. Bryan is apologizing to his boss. Ryan is helpless as Bryan is quitting the job. From the Spymaster incident to this, he feels he can only offer inadequate protection.
"Bryan, I will decide about your resignation later. Right now, I need you to pull yourself together. There may be a war coming," Ryan said seriously.
Bryan nods after he hears the explanation. He is positioned in the Knight Industry to help the disaster shelter there.
" (sigh) Is this why the bald one asks me to stay home? " Ryan mutters. She told him that something bad will happen if he decides to interfere, but she didn't explain much. To explain is to add the variable on the timeline.
In one of the timelines the Ancient one saw, Ryan is in the helicarrier. The one who is monitoring New York from the house is Gwen. When Amora comes, she has hurt Gwen.
That is when all hell broke loose. Loki and Amora were killed, Thor fought with Ryan to avenge his brother, Odin interfered with Midgard, and so on. The chitauri won't even be a problem by then.
"ALBUS, connect me to the City Hall and the White House," Ryan said after thinking for a while. If the Avenger formation is inevitable, then he can at least smoothen the process.
The WSC doesn't want the Avenger? Let's see if the President feels the same way with a guillotine on his neck. But that is not his purpose this time. He needs the President to allow him to act freely as the first line of defense.
Loki arrives at Stark Industries at this time without knowing the situation brewing in New York or Amora's failure. The Avenger is still taking its sweet time on the helicarrier.
…
In the Helicarrier. Fury is thinking about how to give the Avenger a push on the bridge. The Avenger is in another room. But Kai has another idea. Kai arrived with Coulson by his side.
"Captain, Iron Man, are you guys done?" Kai asks coldly to the bickering man. He purposely let out his killing intent to the duo. Tony gulped while Steve avoided Kai's eyes. They feel ashamed to act like they do in front of Kai.
Coulson didn't die, Stark isn't in mourning. He seems to be taking it easy, and it irked Steve.
"Banner, do you remember the last ping of the tesseract?" Kai turns to the depressed Banner who is standing near the wall. All eyes are on Banner, waiting for his answer.
"The last ping is in New York," Banner said after he struggled to remember.
"Stark, the cube needs a big energy source for a kick-start, can your building provide it?" Kai asked. There isn't time to push them all together, so Kai has to improvise.
"I think so, it's either my building or the Shield headquarters in New York," Tony answers.
"Then we have a target. Can any of you connect with New York?" Kai turns to Coulson.
"Communication is down, but we can bring it back up if we have the time," Coulson replied.
"That isn't good enough. I think Loki is going to call his army now," Kai said, surprising the people there.
Steve asks, "Why?"
"He targeted us one by one. To break us. He needed to be sure that we were not there to stop him. That's why he purposely got caught," Kai explains while looking around the room.
"Him breaking out meant that whatever device he created is ready," Kai said as he turned to Banner.
"Will you come with us?" Kai looks Banner in the eye. The wrath incarnation didn't kill anyone in the helicarrier, thanks to Kai. Banner trust in Kai has skyrocketed after the incident.
"I….I will," Banner said, surprising Tony and Steve.
"Are you sure?" Steve asks for confirmation.
Bruce Banner nodded. His girlfriend is in New York.
"Steve, go ask Natasha if she can fly one of the jets. Stark, can your Iron suit still fly?" Kai asks them one by one.
Kai, Coulson, Rogers, Natasha, Barton, and Banner will fly to New York together. Fury saw the unauthorized Quinjet taking off.
"They found him," Fury said. They have found Loki. It will take 20 minutes to get to New York from their position. But when they arrive there, the sky… already has a hole in it.
Weekly Power Status
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