Astoria hits the ground with a grunt of pain, rolling slightly before she thrusts her sword into the concrete to stop herself from moving further, she has to admit that battling a god is actually pretty hard work. She's strong, yes, she knows that, but 'god' level she is not. Steve is half kneeled close by, leaning on his shield. He looks across at her as she blows her hair from her eyes.
"Do either of us have the upper hand?" She asks Steve who shoots her a look, she reaches over and grabs his arm, he frowns. She then turns, throwing out her hand. Waves of blue energy erupt from her palm and flow around them and through the crowds. Time comes to an absolute standstill. Steve turns around, looking at how still everyone else is. There is not even blinking happening. Sound has dropped out too. There are sound from beyond this block, traffic from further away, sirens but the immediate area is completely silent.
"What did you do?" He asks as he turns back to Astoria. She pushes herself to her feet and moves towards Loki.
"Pressed pause for a moment" She answers and cocks her head, her eyes moving over Loki. "It won't stay like this for long" She manages through gritted teeth. Pausing time is always difficult because the natural order, the natural flow is always fighting to take back control from her. Plus she can feel Loki fighting back against her. He's stronger than the usual humans she uses this on. And he might even be aware of what she's doing, his eyes are still moving, tracking them. "What is that?" She asks as she stares at him, because there is something wrong with his mind. There is an open connection in there. To someone else. Someone else is watching her through him. Someone else might be pulling the strings.
"What?" Steve counters as he joins her. She rounds Loki, probing at his mind.
"There is something wrong...." She answers as she moves back to him, she turns to Steve. "He's mind is a mess...." She offers. "Like someone went all up in there and screwed with the wiring"
"Are you saying that someone brainwashed him?" Steve asks her, she cocks her head.
"No...not brainwashed....this is mind control" She answers and looks at Loki. "Someone..." She stops and then snaps her eyes down to the sceptre in his hand. "Or something is doing this" She moves to Loki and grabs the sceptre. "I can feel my control slipping" She looks at Steve. "You got restraints?" He frowns.
"No" He answers and frowns harder. Why didn't he think of restraints? She rolls her eyes and then waves her hand, time restarts, and she is quick to trip Loki up onto his backside. Pointing the sceptre down at him with a smirk. He frowns and looks around. Confusion written all over his face. He looks back up at Astoria. He underestimated a being who's name is Magix, he knows he did now. He thought it was going to be some fruity display of powers that just looked like magic, but she might just actually have real magic. He can almost taste it. In the air, but there is something off about it too. Restraint. Held back. If she does have magical power. She's not using her full potential. Behind Astoria and Steve, Natasha pulls the quinjet into place before it starts to land. And beyond that, a red and gold streak is flying towards them. A little late to the party. Suddenly, AC/DC's "Shoot to Thrill" overdrives the quinjet's speakers.
"Agent Romanoff, did you miss me?" A voice states. Astoria, Loki, and Steve all look up at the sky as Tony Stark flies in wearing his Iron Man suit. Astoria raises an unimpressed eyebrow as Iron Man touches down and takes a few steps towards them, looking at Loki who is already down and out of the fight. "Am I late?" Tony asks, Astoria scoffs a little. Tony Stark reminds her too much of her childhood. That whole public eye superhero thing that she hated. And it bothers her that someone actually chose to be in the public eye like that. Loki goes to move but Astoria turns and hisses at him a little, pushing the sceptre closer, touching his neck. He lifts his head and stares up at her, eyes on her mask and glowing eyes. Loki holds up his hands and surrenders. His armour materializes away.
"Smart" She offers with a small smirk. She glances at Tony. "Did you bring anything to restrain him with?" She asks.
"No" He answers and shrugs. Astoria lets out a breath through her nose. What were they expecting to happen here? He'd just let them walk him into custody. "Did you?" Tony counters.
"Yeah, actually" She argues, Steve and Tony give her a look. Her sword retreats, disappearing along with the armour on her arm. She holds out her hand and a tiny portal appears beneath her palm.
"What is that?" Tony asks moving closer. His scientific curiosity getting the better of him.
"A portal" She answers and thrusts her arm into the portal. "It's kind of like....a never-ending invisible handbag" She explains as she rummages around. "From this portal here, I can pull most anything imaginable. Like office desks and lava lights and Bert, who is a cannibal." Steve raises an eyebrow at her. "And these..." She adds as she pulls her hand back to reveal a zip tie. "Always be prepared" She teases and thrusts the sceptre at Steve who takes it, watching as she moves to stand behind Loki, pulling his arms back with little resistance. Which is weird. Why isn't he fighting back harder? Why isn't he 'resisting arrest'? She ties his hands back with the zip tie and then pulls him up to his feet. "Let's go, Handsome" She offers as she pushes him towards the quinjet. She's probing again. Something else has to be going on. Some plan she hasn't crossed yet. Some reason for the ease of this fight. Two of them against a 'God'. It should have been harder.
YOU ARE READING
(1) Alis Propriis Volat (Loki)
Fanfiction- I am bringing this back after the replacement kind of fizzled out. (Book One - Ljubičica Čarobnica) Being a Hargreeves is difficult. All that trauma and unresolved childhood issues tear them apart from the inside. But now, Astoria has a second ch...
