Search for the Soul Gem

Chapter Sixty-Five

I backed up further away from the group, the back of my knees hitting the table. I stumbled slightly and held on to it to steady myself.

"Loki! Stop this! This is madness!" Thor boomed. Loki laughed and leaned over, sliding two knives out of his sleeves.

"Oh is it, brother? This is not madness," he said. He made a grand motion and the door flung open with dozens of more soldiers pushing through, "This is madness, brother!" he shouted over the incredible noise. I covered my ears from the sound, trying in vain to block the sound out. Tony stood in front of me, five Chituri in front of him. Suddenly a stray bullet zoomed by my head. I jumped to the side and fell to the ground. I scampered under the table as far back as I could get, pulling my knees to my chest and covering my head with my arms. I rocked back and forth, terror tight in my chest. Everything was so loud and I wanted to wake up from this nightmare. A creaking caught my attention. I peered up from between my arms and saw the legs of one of the Chituri standing in front of the table I hid under. It didn't move for a long time, so much that I thought maybe they hadn't seen me get under here. I slid forward slightly to try and get a better look out. As I moved forward, the legs suddenly moved forward. It slashed the table in half, sending it splintering over top of me. I screamed, shielding my head from the raining wood that was falling around me. The Chituri stood over me, snarling down at me. I flipped over and scramble from under the shattered table to the one that was right next to it, trying to get away. The Chituri roared in annoyance as it came over to the table I was under. Its fingers curled around the table and flung it over its head. It tossed the table over its shoulder like it weighed nothing and it crashed to the wall behind it. I screamed and scrambled back from it as it stepped near me. It raised its gun and aimed at my head.

"Tony!" I shrieked. I wasn't sure if he could hear me. I brought my hands up to shield my face, "Someone help!" I screamed. Tony turned and raised his hand at the creature; but before he could shoot at it, Thor's hammer collided with the creature, send it flying into the wall. My entire body shook as I followed Thor's hammer back to his hand. I pushed myself up from the ground, my shaking hands pressing against the wall to keep me from collapsing on the ground.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked, stepping closer to me. I looked over at him, my chest completely constricting and making it hard to breathe. I looked over him, shaking my head. Behind him, one of the Chituri spun to face him. I pointed behind him, my hand shaking.

"Tony!" I pointed. He turned around and brought his hands up. I glanced around the room, everyone was engaged with someone or something. Loki appeared in front of me suddenly. I gasped and stepped back into the wall. I glanced over, Loki was still standing there, fighting with Thor. "H-how?" he laughed.

"Have you really not caught on yet? You are daft aren't you," he laughed.

"To-Tony-" I yelped. Loki lifted his hands to my face.

"None of that now," behind Loki, Tony turned to face me and started toward us. "Let us have some more fun then, doctor," he spat. He brought his hand up to touch my face. I slammed back into the wall but he pulled me forward. I reached out to try and keep myself from sliding down. He snickered as he disappeared from in front of me. My limbs went numb and I suddenly couldn't move at all. My eyes rolled back in my head and I collapsed to the ground. My body made a dull thud as it collapsed to the ground, my head slamming against the ground. I wasn't knocked out as I was completely aware of what was happening around me but my vision was flooded with images that I wasn't sure were real memories or fake ones. I writhed and convulsed on the ground as I tried to gasp some air back into my body from the fall.

"Lucy!" Tony yelped. He ran over to me and I could feel him next to me but I couldn't see him. My chest was on fire but in my eyes, I was no longer in Wakanda. I was back in New York City in Stark Tower on the Party Deck. I looked down at myself and saw that I was in the same dress that I'd worn the day I fell for Tony. I looked around and tried to get a grip on where I was. Further off in the distance I saw Tony with his back to me.

"Tony!" I felt the word come out of my throat but my chest was still on fire so I knew that it was in my mind. He turned around and looked at me, but his face was a mixture of confusion.

"Dr. Scaffer, what are you doing up here?" he said. I falter slightly as I walked up to him.

"Well, B-Banner said that you were having a party and invited me to come up," I said. He eyed me carefully. He stood up and straightened his suit. He held his arms out and a woman shored themselves against him on either side. They looked like they had come right off the runway into his arms. Each was drunkenly giggling next to him.

"Well, Dr. Scaffer, enjoy yourself. I know I will," he said with a smirk and turned from me. I followed him with my eyes confused. The image in front of me stuttered before shifting completely. My vision cleared slightly and Tony came into focus. His mask was gone from his face and his hands were cupping my face. His face was twisted in complete panic. Behind him, Rhodey was fighting the Chituri that tried to get to us.

"Lucy, sweetheart? Look at me, Lucy? I love you, please come back to me. Lucy?" he ushered, shaking my face slightly. I couldn't find my voice to say anything, and I still couldn't seem to move any part of my body except for my eyes.

"Lucy?" someone called me from in front of me. I shifted my eyes over to see who was calling to me. Standing above me, was Thalia. Her hands were deep in her pockets. A smile rested on her face and she cocked her head to the side, her wild hair brushing off her shoulder. "Lucy, what's happened to you?" she asked. Her voice shot ice in my veins and tears sprang up from my eyes. I tried reaching my hand out to her but all my hand did was twitch in the direction. My back arched as I choked on my breaths and sobs. I felt Tony's hands on my face but I couldn't bring myself to turn away from Thalia. I tried to call out to her, to say her name but I couldn't. All I could do was mouth the word as it came out more like a whispered croak than an actual sound.

"Someone help, I need help!" Tony yelled from next to me but it was covered up by the roaring battle going on behind us.

"What mess have you gotten yourself into this time?" Thalia asked. I didn't understand what she was saying. "How have you gotten yourself into harms way again?" she asked. Her face curled back into a harsh grimace that I'd never seen her make before. "I never liked you, you know. I only put up with you because you were half good at your job," she said. "You were always only half useless, just like right now," her words shot through me. I tried again to say something to her but my voice was frozen inside me. She leaned down so close to me that I could feel her hair brush my face. "You are nothing and you are nobody. You should just lay there and die," she said. I tried again to say something but I couldn't. Before Thalia could say anything more, Tony's face appeared in my line of vision again.

"Lucy, you've gotta come back to me," his hands were shaking and his face was closing in on itself like it did when he was anxious. As I looked at him, I watched his face transform into one of the monsters that were all over the room. I tried to push him away but my arms were made of jello and couldn't seem to work. My mind was racing as I tried to get my brain to figure out what was real and what wasn't so I could figure out how to make this stop. If it was all in my head, I needed to reset my head. I closed my eyes tight against the Chituri in front of me and shook my head as much as I could manage before opening my eyes. Tony looked down at me when I opened my eyes again. My arms shook as I forced them to move. It was like I was trying to move my arms that someone was holding down. After a few minutes of struggling, I finally got my hands up to Tony's face. I tried to focus my eyes on his but as I did, another vision passed through my eyes. The entire room was on fire and I was at the center of it. I looked around and around me lay every one of my friends. There was blood on the floor around me. My chest constricted and it was hard to breathe again. My fingers dug into Tony's helmet although I couldn't see him. I gasped in another deep breath before pulling myself up as hard as I could. My forehead collided with the metal of Tony's helmet in a thick thunk.

"Oh my god, Lucy! Why'd you do that!? Are you okay?" Tony gasped. I blinked a few times, the impact sending stars in my vision. The vision disappeared and all I could see was Tony and the others fighting in the room. I blinked a few times to get the shooting pain out of my head and brought my hands back down to his face.

"I-I-he, put visions in my, head. I needed to get ri-rid of them," I breathed. His hands were on my face. I pushed myself up to be sitting in front of him. There was a flash of green that shot between us and toward Loki. We both looked over and saw the Stone shot into Loki's hand. He smirked as a staff of red materialized in his other hand. The Stone shot from his hand and rested itself on top of the staff. The staff glowed slightly in his hands. A sick smirk spread across his face.