In The Shadows | Loki

YOU AREN'T GOING TO LIKE IT, BUT I DON'T CARE

    "Uh, Ophelia?"

       "Yeah Clint?" I ask with a huff. It was kind of pathetic, but I was exhausted. Stairs were my weakness.
        "You aren't going to like this." He pauses before continuing. "Loki isn't in the tower. He's flying around on one of those tiny alien ships." I stop where I am.
        "You're joking." I mutter. "Please tell me you're joking. I just walked up forty three flights of stairs." I wait for Clint to say he's joking, but he doesn't. "Okay." I let out a long breath. "Got it. I'm going to figure something out." I run a hand through my hair, glancing around the stairwell. I watch as a few Chitari fly by the large windows.
        "I've got an idea." I say, not waiting for a response. "And no you aren't going to like it, but I don't care."
        "Ophelia...." I hear Nat say in a warning tone.
        "I'm only jumping out the window. I've done worse." I reply, glancing out the windows. I saw a few Chitari ships heading this way. Eight were going to fly right under this window.
       "Ophelia!"
        "Too late. My mind is set." I reply, moving back as far as I can. "It's not like this'll kill me."
        "It might."
        "It most likely won't." I say. I hear Nat mutter something, but I don't pay attention. I watch the ships fly by, and I count. One, two, and three fly by before I start to sprint, holding my swords out in front of me to help break the glass. Four, five, and six fly by before I burst through the window. Seven flies under me while I'm in the air, and I land on the eighth Chitari ship.
        I react quickly. There were three Chitari on the ship. Two firing, one driving. I use my swords to slice through the two firing, and turn towards the one driving. He turns and screams in my face, the reek of the thing's breath hitting me full force. I grimace before swinging both swords through the creature.
        "Do any of you know how to drive these things?" I scream, grabbing the large control that I had seen the Chirati using. All I do is make it go hurtling towards the ground even quicker. I let out a string of curses, yanking down on the control. The ship jerks upwards. "Nevemind. I figured it out."
        "She worries me." I hear Tony say. "Ophelia."
        "Yeah?"
        "Is that you right behind me?"
        "Well if you'd stop firing at me, I'd tell you, but unfortunately I'm trying to dodge your shots!" I reply, yelling towards the end.
        "Sorry." I hear him mutter.
        "Clint, where's Loki?" I ask, trying to swerve away from the straight line I was flying. This was much more difficult than it looked.
        "Last I saw, he was trying to create as much chaos as possible a few streets down." Clint replies. I nod, turning the craft.
        "Can I fire while flying this thing?" I wonder aloud. "Wait, scratch that." I blink, and my vision goes red as I blast as many Chitari out of the sky as I can, all while looking for Loki. I catch the tail end of Nat's conversation as I turn down yet another street.
        "I've got a ride. Could use a lift though."
        "Nat, I know what you're thinking. These are a lot harder to drive than you think." I say quickly.
        "How hard can it be? You're driving one." She shoots back immediately. I let out a huff, knowing fully well I wouldn't be able to stop her.
        "You sure about this?" Steve asks.
        "Yeah. It's going to be fun." I turn down another street just in time to see Nat grab onto a ship mid-flight. Steve is immediately, attacked, and I swerve towards him. I lean down, keeping one hand on the control as I use the other to hold my sword, cutting through as many as I can in one sweep. I really hoped that helped Steve not get killed.
        "Nat, are you using his body to drive? That would've been so much easier than this." I say, frustrated.
        "Ophelia, he's on my tail." Is all she says in reply. I make as sharp of a turn as I can, going towards where I last saw Nat flying. Towards the tower.
        "Thank you." I spot  Loki chasing her, and then firing at her.
        "Nat, what are you doing?" I hear Clint ask. A few shots make it a little too close for comfort.
        "Uh, a little help." She replies. The three of us fly closer to where Clint is stationed. I'm trying to catch up, but there's something wrong with my ship.
        "Clint, wait-" Clint fires before I can finish. One second, there's an arrow heading for Loki. The next.... he isn't dead. "Did he just-" I'm cut off by an explosion in front of me. Loki goes flying.
        "Ophelia, something's wrong with your ship."
        "Really Clint? I didn't notice." I shoot back. My ship refused to go any higher than it was, and I was loosing height. "I'm switching ships, hold on." I let go of the controls, launching myself into the air below me. I land harshly onto another ship, nearly rolling off. I stand as quickly as I can, turning to the first Chitari. I swing my sword, slicing his, ah, head clean off.
        I turn around just in time to watch the second Chitari drive his spear into my stomach.
        "Ophelia!" I hear Clint yell, panic clear in his voice. My expression moves from one of shock, to one of pain. "Ophelia!" I can't even speak, the pan is so intense. The Chitari slides the spear out of me and shoves me away. I stumble back, and straight off the Chitari ship.
        I feel air rush past me as I fall. I slam through a window, glass raining down around me. I slide across the floor, my head slamming on the hard surface. I wasn't sure when I had dropped my swords, but they weren't in my hands anymore. I... I didn't think I could sit up. I didn't want to try.
        I hear something else crash inside the building, and then screaming. Someone was screaming. There was loud slams, and then something large and.... green walked in my path of sight. I blink slowly. Had that been the Hulk?
        I turn my head slowly, using all the strength I could. I feel my other cheek hit the cold ground, getting cut open by a piece of glass. A few yards away from me lies Loki in a pile of rubble. He lets out a high pitched groan. The Hulk must have thrown him down.
        After a long moment, he moves his head. He looks at me, and I see confusion go across his face. I don't pay attention to that though, paying attention to his eyes. I watch as the blue begins to slowly fade, and I let a tired smile dance along my lips.
        "Told you." I whisper.
        I let my eyes slowly slide shut.