TITANIA: Goddess of War

Chapter 12

After events at Asgard, Neilrosa returned home to her worried parents. She told them everything that happened, minus the part where she nearly died. She knew she needs more training, so every day, general Nall could find her in the palace courtyard, working on her combat skill and mastering her powers.

He was watching her as she trained till her hands were bruised and cut, till she was so exhausted she couldn't continue. His heart ached when he was her like this. He loved her from the very start, he wasn't much older than her. But he couldn't bring himself to tell her what he feels. He feared rejection.

Neilrosa was beating herself up for what happened on Earth. She gravely endangered Thor and others playing to be a hero when she wasn't ready at all. It knocked some sense into her and she knew what to do. She screamed in frustration when she missed the target again with her electric bow.

She couldn't anymore, but she needed to. For others not for her, because if she won't be ready, if she won't be the Goddess she claimes to be... Others will die and the blood will be on her hands. And now when she found out that her mother is pregnant, she needs to train even harder to be able to protect them. 

At one point, her power ran out and she collapsed. As she was laying on the courtyard's floor, tears started to stream down her face. Everything until now landed on her and the wall she built up broke, letting memories flow like water, flooding her mind and bringing back the nightmares she had since she fought the Destroyer.

"Neilrosa!" She heard her mother's voice call her, but she didn't move. He mother found her there as she was and kneeled to her.

"Oh baby..." she whispered and scooped her daughter's head to her lap, caressing her hair as she sobbed softly into her gown. No words were needed, it was mother-daughter bond thanks to which she could feel what kind of monsters her daughter is battling. They stayed like that until Neilrosa has fallen asleep from all the crying as she was exhausted.

"General Nall," her mother, Queen Atenia called, sensing his presence. He came out from behind the pillar and bowed, trying to avoid Queen's eyes.

"Can you please carry my daughter off to her chambers?" She smiled softly at him. He bowed again and with another word, he scooped princess into his arms. Queen stood up with his and with small bow and smile excused herself.

He glanced at the goddess in his arms as he was carrying her down the hall to her chambers. She looked so peaceful but her face was red from all the crying. He hated to see her like that, he wished he could be there for her, but he knew where is his place.

Guards opened the door for him and he set her on the bed. Maids came running in and he needed to leave. General glanced one last time on the beautiful princess peacefully laying in her bed and left to clear his mind.

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A helicopter sounded through the whole chaos in S.H.I.E.L.D./NASA research facility. Agent Coulson was standing on the heliport, where the helicopter landed and Director Nick Fury with Agent Maria Hill exited it, observing the surrounding. They walked over to Coulson.

"How bad is it?" He asked, putting his hands on his hips.

"That's the problem, sir. We don't know." Agent Coulson said as all three made their way through the crowd of evacuating staff, running up and down, trying to save as much as they could.

"...energy surge from the Tesseractfour hours ago." Coulson gave more details about the situation.

"NASA didn't authorize Selvig could go to test B." Fury said authoritatively.

"He wasn't testing it. He wasn't even in the room. Spontaneousevent." Coulson turned around as they were walking down the underground corridor to the lab.

"It just turned itself on?" Maria Hill turned to Coulson.

"Where are the energy levels now?"

"Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down we ordered evac." Coulson started to Fury.

"How long to get everyone out?" 

"Campus should be clear in the next half-hour."

"Do better." Fury said as he continued down with agent Hill and Coulson turned around to hurry up the evacuation. They were walking to the lower levels, to the lab.

"Sir, evacuation may be futile," Hill said as they neared the entrance to the lab.

"We should tell them to go back to sleep?" 

"If we can't control the Tesseract'senergy there may not be a minimum safe distance."

"I need you to make sure the PhaseTwo prototypes are shipped out." Fury said as it was the most important thing. 

"Sir is that really a priority-"

"Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech below. Every piece of Phase Two on a truck and gone." Fury interrupted her and ordered.

"Yes, Sir. With me." She confirmed and took some guards with her.

Fury walked inside the lab, where a lot of scientists were running around, trying to cut the energy from the Tesseract.

"Talk to me, Doctor." He said to doctor Selvig as he walked down where Tesseract was as one of the scientists poked into it and energy burst a bit.

"Director."

"Is there anything we know for certain?"

"The Tesseract is misbehaving."

"Is that supposed to be funny?"

"No, it's not funny at all. TheTesseract is not only active, she's misbehaving." 

"How soon can you pull the plug?" 

"She's an energy source. We turn off the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level-"

"We prepared for this, Doctor. Harnessing energy from space."

"We don't have the harness. My calculations are far from complete. She's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of Gamma radiation." Selvig said, not tearing his eyes from the screen before him.

"That can be harmful. Where's agent Barton?" Fury said as he crossed his hands on his chest.

"The hawk? Up in his nest, as usual." Selvig chuckled and pointed up to the balcony. Fury moved there, standing right below the nest of famous Hawkeye.

"Agent Barton. Report." Sounded in Clint's earpiece. He grabbed a rope and slid down.

"I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things." Fury said as they walked to the Tesseract.

"I see better from a distance." Clint's answered, looking around with his spy eyes.

"Have you seen anything that might set this thing off?" Fury eyed him. 

"Doctor! It's spiking again." A NASA scientist called Selvig to look at the screen.

"No one's come and gone. AndSelvig's clean. No contacts, no IM. If there's any tampering, sir, it wasn't this end." They came to the platform and Barton pointed to the cube. A the same time Selvig's face changed from concerned to worried.

"At this end?" Fury raised his eyebrows, not believing what he has heard.

"Yeah. The Cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? Doors open from both sides." Clint grabbed his chin with his hand as he was thinking out loud. Then the Cube sparks.

"What's that?" Selvig muttered as the Cube sparked again. This caused a big rumble going through the whole building. Maria Hill turned and looked around her, hearing a cracking noise of the walls.

The Cube started to spark more and more till it opened a portal, all the energy going to the ceiling. A man on his left knee appeared on the platform with his head down. As he lifted it, a smirk was seen on his face. It was Loki, God of Mischief and Lies. He stood up slowly, still grinning menacingly. Fury and Barton was a few inches away from the Cube with their mouths opened staring in shock. Selvig was in awe and horror.

"Sir, please put down the spear!" Fury was the first one to react. 

Loki looked at it, then on Fury and fired. Barton, just in time, pushed Fury away as the blast knocked out the NASA scientist. Guards open fire, but the bullets were useless. The god jumped and stabbed one with the sceptre, firing at others in the process. 

Everyone was unconscious or barely there, Barton was trying to stand up. Loki got to stand behind him and as he turned, spotted him and trying to hit him, he grabbed his hand.

"You have a heart." With the tip of his sceptre, he touched Barton's chest. A blue wave of energy disappeared in his chest and his eyes turned blue, he put his gun back to the holster. As Loki moved to another agent, Fury quietly picked the Cube and placed it in a suitcase, closing it and tried to walk away.

"Please don't. I still need that." Loki turned around.

"This doesn't have to get any messier."

"Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else. I am Loki, of Asgard. And I am burdened with glorious purpose." Selvig, who was checking on NASA scientist, heard and came closer.

"Loki, brother of Thor?" He asked surprised.

"We have no quarrel with your people." Fury was trying to start a conversation, win some time over.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot."

"You planning to step on us?"

"I come with glad tidings, of a world made free."

"Free from what?"

"Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart..." He turned around and placed the tip of the spectre to Selvig's chest, his eyes turning blue too.

"...you will know peace." Clint looked up and saw the accumulated tesseract energy on the ceiling.

"Yeah, you say peace. I kinda think you mean the other thing."

"Sir, Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us." Clint looked up again and then on Fury.

"Like the pharaohs of old." Fury chuckled.

"He's right. The portal is collapsing in on itself. We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical." Selvig said as he checked the computer screen.

"Well then," Loki said as Barton picked his gun from the holster and shoot Fury, who let go of the suitcase. He grabbed it as they were leaving with Loki, Selvig and another agent.

They walked through the closing gate as Maria Hill came from another room.

"We need these vehicles." Clint pointed to two vehicles, Maria just nodded as she spotted Loki.

"Who's that?" She asked, frowned her brows.

"Didn't tell me." Clint just side-eyed her as he walked to the driver seat.

"Hill!" Fury's voice sounded through the radio on Hill's hips. He was sitting on the platform, taking out the bullet that hit him to the vest.

"Do you copy? Barton... has turned." As Loki and Clint heard that, the agent started to fire at her and she rolled behind the wall and returned fire.

"Get the Tesseract. Shut them down." Fury said to the radio as he was stumbling out of the nearly destroyed lab.

Hill throw the radio on the passenger seat and she jumped to the driver's seat, speeding after Barton. Those were driving between car, trying to get out and Hill drove out from the right tunnel, right before them. She made a sharp turn and now she was bumper to bumper with Clint's car and take out a gun. Clin did the same and they fired at each other.

The ceiling started to collapse, sending explosion through the whole building. Agent Coulson nearly fell from the stairs with other guards and cases. As they tried to pick it up.

"Let's just go. No-no-no! Leave it, leave it. GO!" He climbed into the canopy of the truck.

"We're clear upstairs, sir..." He informed Fury through the radio.

Fury stumbled outside to the last waiting chopper as it took off. Barton fired one more time at Hill and speed up so she needed to turn around and go after him. As they were near the exit, the tesseract cloud in the lab exploded and took the whole base with it.

Fury watched from the chopper and Coulson from the truck as the ground collapsed, burying everything and everyone who was left behind.

The tunnel collapse, Hill tried to get out of it, but it collapsed on her too. Loki with others got out safely, but the chopper was already waiting there for them. Fury opened the fr and started firing at them. Loki positioned himself on the back of the car and fired from the sceptre, hitting the engines of the chopper, sending it down to the ground. Thankfully Fury was able to jump out before it hit the ground.

"Director," Coulson said to the radio.

"Director Fury, do you copy?" He tried again.

"The Tesseract is with a hostile force. I have men down. Hill?"

"A lot of men still under. Don'tknow how many survivors." She answered as she climbed out of the crushed jeep.

"Sound a general call. I want every living soul..."  he sounded on Hill's radio.

"...not working rescue looking for that briefcase."

"Roger that," Hill answered.

"Coulson, get back to base."

"This is a level seven." On Coulson's radio.

"As of right now..." On Hill's radio.

"We are at war." Fury said.

"What do we do?" Coulson asked him. Fury looked in the distance, knowing really well who to call.

/* A.N. Thank you so much for your support, I made a playlist to this book: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6xj5OdVkG81ovO0xDfnMAw */