Valor ↠ Prequel [0] ✓

10 | Overpowered Rubix Cube

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VALOR
x. OVERPOWERED RUBIX CUBE

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   THE YEAR IS 2012, and Riley O'Dair couldn't care less. It was hardly spring, but Riley had already decided that this was the most boring year of her life.

   In all honesty, it wasn't that bad. She was just bitter because she had deferred her first year at Columbia University to prove to Director Fury that she was serious about her devotion to the Avengers. Of course, when Riley made that decision, she'd been hoping the team would have been formed by now. But it was the spring of 2012, and still, the team was practically nonexistent.

   Riley O'Dair stood in the basement of one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s many facilities. With her arms crossed, she stared at a blue energy cube before her—the Tesseract. Sparks of energy were sporadically released from it. Evacuation orders were being repeated over the comms alongside a loud alarm that droned on and on for what felt like hours.

   "You know, you guys really shouldn't have left Tessie out in the open like this," commentated Riley. "I mean, it's a space rock. That's gotta be dangerous, right?"

   Dr. Erik Selvig, a renowned astrophysicist, stood beside her in a state of worry. "I told you to stop calling her that."

   Riley chose to ignore him as she continued on, "Are you sure she just... turned herself on? Or did you make that up 'cause NASA didn't authorize you to go to test phase?"

   Dr. Selvig sighed. "I told you, Agent, I wasn't even in the room when it happened." He paused, watching the Tesseract continue to spark up. "Its energy levels are climbing by the second."

   Riley pursed her lips at his response. She wished she was evacuating with everyone else. Instead, she was stuck safeguarding the Tesseract with Clint Barton. Riley had to be on standby due to the Tesseract's unpredictable and potentially explosive nature.

   "We're really gonna die because of an overpowered Rubix cube," she grumbled to herself just as Director Fury entered the basement.

   Director Fury walked forward, meeting Selvig halfway as he beckoned, "Talk to me, Doctor!" Riley hardly spared him a second glance. She assumed he had just arrived with Agent Hill, who was probably ordered to tend to other matters. "Is there anything we know for certain?"

   This time, Riley peered back at her superior over her shoulder. "Yeah, Tessie's being a little bitch." Dr. Selvig shook his head at the 11-year-old, to which she just smiled in satisfaction.

   Could you really blame Riley for not wanting to be there and basically making a joke out of the situation they were in? Sure, the Tesseract was arguably the coolest thing she'd ever seen, but if it kept acting up, everyone was as good as dead. That wasn't something Riley was interested in, which was why she was evacuating with the others.