The Rise of Hel {Loki Laufeyson} Book Two

Chapter Thirty-Six

"So... we're screwed?"

"No, we're not screwed - it just means that we have to design a better plan than we had before."

"But, we didn't have a plan before..."

"Exactly."

Steve stands before us in the auditorium. Me, Tony and Natasha sit behind him, watching the chaos unfold.

"So what do you propose we do, Captain Ameri-can't come up with a last minute plan for shit?" Harry mutters and I glare at him.

"Harry." I say his name menacingly and he looks at me. His stare is enough to send a chill down my spine. His pupils are blown out, his skin a sickly pale green and his nose especially pointy at the tip.

His smile urks me, his teeth a bright yellow. "Well? I'm right, aren't I? We haven't been trained for very long and you four just expect us to run headfirst into a battle without having formulated a half-decent plan? You're all insane." He cackles.

"This isn't our fault, okay? We are doing our best!." I snap, getting up in his face. Upon getting closer, I notice that his pale skin is laced with tiny green veins, his eyes wide and crazed. Where the hell is he getting the Globulin Green?

"Obviously, your best isn't good enough!" He growls and suddenly, my temper flares and I fight the urge to pounce on him.

Steve yanks me back by the arm, forcing me back into my chair.

"Don't listen to him. It's not our fault that this is happening and it's not our fault that it's happening so soon." Steve whispers to me and I look away from him toward the big double doors.

"As for our plan," Steve continues. "we have to make two of them. One for me and Natasha, and one for the rest of you. We're going to tackle the Helicarriers while you go after Hel and the others."

Max steps up. "And how do we go about doing that without being pummelled?"

"With teamwork. We're cutting the training short and moving onto teamwork. I'll create scenarios in which we'll all team up and work through them. Once we've mastered that aspect, we'll start devising a plan to stop Hydra and Hel."

Tony leans forward. "And A.I.M. That's who took Pepper - made her into an Extremis soldier."

"How do we defeat Extremis?" Asks Natasha.

Tony shrugs. "Drop them from a tall cliff and wait for them to go Kaboom?" Natasha shoots him a look. "I'm not kidding. Either that or get close enough to..." he drags a finger across his neck, making a choking noise.

She sits back in her seat. "We'd better get to work." Her eyes flutter to Steve. "C'mon Rogers."

"Let's meet up in the courtyard in ten minutes." He looks around the room. "Break!" He yells and everyone scatters.

***

As I slow my pace, I look around and see two basketball nets at either side of the courtyard. Steve stands in the middle with a ball in his hands, sweat band around his forehead and a t-shirt and shorts.

My injured shoulder has recovered tremendously - of course, that's Loki's doing because he refused to let me into the building without medical attention to the wound. He gave me th esame elixir from before and soon enough, it was healed.

I stop, taking it all in. Everyone passes me, making their way over to Steve and I feel someone grab my arm, dragging me along. Harry.

"I understand that you're a girl and all, but are his bulging muscles really that distracting to make you stop in the middle of a trail just to stare at them?" He chuckles.