I don't own anything except any original/own characters and any original plot.

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Chapter 8- Project Pegasus

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SPACE. LOCATION UNKNOWN.

"And there came a day, a day unlike any other, when Earth's mightiest heroes and heroines found themselves united against common threat. On that day, the Avengers were born to fight the foes no single superhero could withstand! Through the years, their roster has prospered, changing many times, but their glory has never been denied! Heed the call, then, for now, the Avengers Assemble!"

Kneeling behind a throne, a dark armored figure, The Other, bowed, "The Tesseract has awakened. It is on a little world. A human world. They would wield its power...But our allies knows its workings as they never will. They are ready to lead. And our force, our Chitauri, will follow."

(Y/n) and Loki stood side by side as The Other turned to face them. Loki was given the Chitauri Scepter. A long golden handle, fitted with a blue gem encircled with silver blades.

"The world will be theirs. The universe yours. And the humans, what can they do but burn?"

S.H.I.E.L.D. PROJECT P.E.G.A.S.U.S FACILITY

Out in the New Mexico desert, a remote research facility is in a state of panic. It's an evacuation. A swooping helicopter flies in. Soldiers on foot jump onto Humvees, accelerating out of there.

Standing a few yards from the landing pad, a fed in a suit with sunglasses, peered at the helicopter as it landed. Agent Phil Coulson. Walking out of the helicopter was Agent Maria Hill. Following her, Director Nick Fury climbed out.

Hill and Fury approached Agent Coulson.

"How bad is it?" Fury asked.

"That's the problem, sir. We don't know," Coulson answered.

Agent Coulson lead Hill and Fury through the radiation section of the facility. Hundreds of technicians and other staff ran around, taking only the essentials.

"Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago."

"NASA didn't authorize Selvig to test phase," Fury stated.

"He wasn't testing it, he wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous advancement." Phil stated.

"It just turned itself on?" Hill asked.

"What are the energy levels now?"

"Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered the evac," Phil said.

"How long to get everyone out?" Fury asked.

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

"Do better," Fury ordered.

"Sir, evacuation may be futile," Hill pointed out.

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

"If we can't control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance," Hill explained her earlier statement.

"I need you to make sure that the prototypes are shipped out," Fury ordered.

"Sir, is that really a priority right now?" Hill asked.

"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 2 on a truck and gone."

"Yes, sir," Hill turned to two standing agents, "With me."

Fury entered the lab facility where the Tesseract was being held by a compact muon solenoid coil chamber.

"Talk to me, doctor."

Erik Selvig emerged from behind the CMS machine, concerned. The Tesseract is glowing unusually brighter and flare rings shootout at random.

"Director," he greeted.

"Is there anything we know for certain?" Fury asked.

"Tesseract is misbehaving."

"Is that supposed to be funny?"

"No, it's not funny at all. The Tesseract is not only active, she's...misbehaving," Erik explained.

"How soon until you pull the plug?"

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

"We've prepared for this, doctor. Harnessing energy from space."

"We don't have the harness. Our calculations are far from complete. Now she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation."

"That can be harmful." Fury's eyes scanned around the room, "Where's Barton?"

"The Hawk? Up in his nest, as usual."

Clint Barton, dressed in black tactical gear, sat on the railing up above, watching the people below. Fury called Barton on his earpiece.

"Agent Barton, report." Barton rappelled down from the catwalk. He walked up to Fury. They both walked around the facility in a discreet manner. "I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things."

"Well, I see better from a distance," Clint said dismissively.

"Are you seeing anything that might set this thing off?"

"No one's come or gone. It's oven is clean. No contacts, no I.M.'s. If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end."

"At this end?" Fury questioned.

"Yeah, the cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? The doors open from both sides."

Erik worked quickly on his computer and saw on the monitoring his worst nightmares. Suddenly the Tesseract thundered and shook the entire facility. Big enough to where both Agents Hill and Coulson could feel and they were at different ends of the facility.

The flaring rings and glow of the cube spout out brighter and louder, like a boiling pot of water. The Tesseract's energy built up into a beam much like the Bifrost Bridge, which hit at the end of a platform that was wired to the CMS device. The great maelstrom beam fired the Tesseract energy. The beam then formed a vortex, which opened up a portal. From the portal, the blackness of space, beautiful and mysterious, strewn with a billion stars appears and a gust of blue energy filled the room, blinding everyone.

The Tesseract's energy formed into a cloud that reached to the top the facility's vacuum chamber ceiling. It was abnormally quiet. Then... breathing was heard from the platform.

S.H.I.E.L.D guards slowly approached, weapons in hand. Two figures were kneeling on the platform, smoke coming off of them. It's Loki and (Y/n).

Loki was in his Asgardian armour, ready for battle. (Y/n) was dressed in an outfit not seen by those who had met her before. Gone was her Asgardian armor, replaced by a top that stopped above her stomach and a skirt that reached her mid thigh. Not the outfit you'd think she would wear for a battle.

Smiling in his mischievous manner, Loki raised his head. (Y/n) continued to frown, her eyes sad. The smile on Loki's face died down. He looked deep into the eyes of Fury, Barton and Erik. He stood up, holding the scepter.

"(Y/n)?" Erik questioned, his brows furrowing in confusion seeing her on Earth, and without Thor.

"Sir, please put down the spear!" Fury yelled, lifting his gun.

Loki looked at his spear then suddenly pointed it at where Fury and Barton were standing and shot out a blue exploding light. Barton tackled Fury and they both barely missed Loki's fired shot.

All hell broke loose. A machine gun was fired at Loki. (Y/n) waved her hand and the bullets deflected off a red gold shield. Loki jumped from the platform and attacked those firing at him. In the blink of an eye, Loki took down several guards with his knives and energy blasts from the scepter.

(Y/n) had not harmed a single person during Loki's violent attack. She kept a shield over herself and that was it. Her eyes stayed on Loki, continuing to be filled with an overwhelming sadness. Blue eyes, not green. Blue. Loki's eyes had always been beautiful. Green, like his favorite color. The chitauri made them blue, like the scepter, and she didn't know how to fix them.

"You must leave," (Y/n) told Erik hurriedly as Loki was distracted with Clint.

"Why are you doing this?" Erik asked, "What are you wearing?"

"Loki is easier to convince when I wear something like this. I am afraid that I have broken your trust," she whispered, glancing over at Loki as he turned Clint, "But I swear it is for a greater cause. Please trust my words."

"Please don't, I need that," Loki looked at Fury as he tried to leave with Tesseract.

"This doesn't have to get messier," Fury warned.

"Of course it does. I am Loki, Prince of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."

"Loki? Brother of Thor?" Erik asked, his eyes moving to (Y/n), "This is Loki?"

"We have no quarrel with your people," Fury stated.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot," (Y/n) spoke loudly for the first time.

"You planning to step on us?"

"We come with glad tidings, of a world made free," Loki spread out his arms.

"Free from what?" Fury asked.

"Freedom. Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart..." Loki turned to face Erik who was standing behind him and places his spear against Erik's heart. Erik's eyes glowed black before fading to a bright blue. "You will know peace."

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

From the vacuum chamber ceiling, the Tesseract's energy cloud rapidly built into what may have been an implosion.

"Sir, Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow. Drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us," Clint stated.

"Like The Pharaohs of Odin," Fury said openly.

"He's right. The portal is collapsing in on itself. You got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."
 

"Well, then..."

Loki, looked at Barton, who didn't even hesitate, he shot Fury who fell to the ground. (Y/n) winced, her fingers twitching, she yearned to heal Fury. But that would ruin everything. Barton grabbed the case containing the Tesseract and left the lab with Loki, (Y/n), Erik and the other S.H.I.E.L.D personnel Loki controlled.

Loki, and (Y/n) sat down in the bed of a humvee, their hands finding each others despite the chaos. (Y/n) closed her eyes, she could feel her Loki in there somewhere, beneath the rubbish that had been drilled painfully into his head. Hill looked at the scene in confusion.

"Need these vehicles," Clint said shortly.

"Who're they?" Hill pointed to (Y/n) and Loki.

"They didn't tell me."

Agent Hill looked suspiciously at them as they got into the truck and turned to leave, as she was walking away...

"Hill, do you copy?"

Loki and (Y/n) turned to Hill.

"Barton is compromised."

Suddenly, Hill turned to shoot at Clint, but Clint was already pointing his gun at her and began shooting, he moved to the driver's seat of the truck and drove odd as Hill kept shooting.

Hill slipped into a jeep and followed after Barton's truck. Loki's trucks screeched across the tunnel. Several S.H.I.E.L.D trucks pulled up to them. A drive-by shooting ensued. Loki used his scepter and emitted energy blasts, flipping over S.H.I.E.L.D. trucks.

Hill's jeep roared up to the side of Barton's truck and pulled up alongside them on the left. She drove way ahead and pulled her brake, she swerved in a 360, facing Barton's truck and driving in reverse.

Barton's arm reached out the open window and he began to open fire. Agent Hill shot through her windshield, firing back at Barton.

(Y/n) moved her hand forward, pushing the jeep faster than natural. Her brows furrowed as she did so, passing Hill safely as they left. She looked behind her, discreetly flicking her fingers on one of her hands and saving Hill from being crushed by the rubble.

From above them, Fury's copter loomed. Fury pulled out his gun and began to shoot at the jeep. Loki raised his scepter and shot at the copter, knocking it from the air. (Y/n) moved to the back and slowed Fury's fall, giving a salute. From those in the jeep's point of view it was mocking, but (Y/n) knew Fury would see what it meant.