Shadowfax (An Avengers fanfic)

Trigger Word

Natasha held Jade back as she leapt at Loki. She hissed and spit like a feral cat, her eyes shining with a murderous intent. Her signature red energy outlined practically everything in the room.

"YOU LOST TWO NORSE ARTIFACTS TO THE BLOODY PROFESSOR? YOU HALF-BORN SON OF A MOTHERLESS, TOAD-FACED- " Jade continued cursing his name in Scottish, the accent taking over. Natasha, perhaps the only one who understood a thing the teen was saying, raised her eyebrows.

Loki was watching her with a rather bemused expression, so he really didn't expect it when Nutsy's fist came careening into his jaw. The was a dull crack as the technopath's knuckles made contact. Jade stopped her cursing to shoot him a toothy grin. "'Atta boy, Nutsy."

Nutsy was shaking as he helped the still-muddled Sphinx up from the floor. The shape-shifter shook her head as she shed her wings and tail. As soon as she could stand straight, she shot Loki a murderous glare before hissing, "Fund impudic!"

Vision cocked his head to the side. "Was that Romainian?"

Sphinx sniffed, raising her chin. "It may have been. Now, what in the world could you have done to lose something so valuable to a man such as that?" Her gaze was ice.

Loki met her gaze indifferently. "He disrupted my journey between the worlds," he stated, holding up his hand to stall Thor's interjection. "No, brother, I don't know how this is possible. Though I suspect Enchantress may have been involved. Anyways, when I...crash-landed, for lack of a better term, he immediately recovered the artifacts. When I awoke, I was in the sub levels of the building Jade found me in."

Thor narrowed his eyes at his brother. "Loki, what were these artifacts?"

Loki chose his words carefully. "Laevateinn: The Damage Twin, my sword. And a vial of Eitr, the poisonous origin of all living things."

Thor looked like he was about to faint, cry, and throttle Loki all at once. In short- he was pissed off. "Where in the Nine Realms did you find Eitr?"

Loki made a face. "Don't ask. You won't enjoy the answer."

Jade sighed, running a hand over her face as Natasha released her. "Let me get this straight. You let the psychopath who tortured and experimented on me get his hands on a magic sword, and some kind of bloody death water? Do you realize how completely and utterly horrifying that is?"

She didn't let Loki have time respond before she was at the gaping hole in the wall, the night sky glittering before her.

"Jade, where do you think you're going?" Tony's voice was filled with an unusual amount of concern.

Jade looked back at him, smiling wickedly. "I'm going to find the Professor, and then I'm going to kick his arse."

...

Jade's hand hovered nervously over the spot on her leg where one of her daggers was concealed beneath her dress. Around her, strobe lights flashed and music blared. The bodies of people, excited and filled with way too much alcohol, danced along to the beat.

As she shouldered her way through the crowd and towards the bar, Jade prayed Nutsy's intel was accurate. Bounty hunters' emails weren't always as reliable as good old-fashioned interrogation.

Not to mention that it this was all for nothing, Natasha would never let her even attempt to do something like this ever again. In fact, the only reason that Natasha had ever allowed her to do this was because she was allowed to drink in Scotland. Blow this, though, and the Avengers would hardly consider her for a serious job like this again.

Straightening, Jade set her shoulders and slipped onto a bar stool. Waving the bartender over to her and ordering a martini, she swirled her drink around the glass. As she took a sip, she surveyed the room over the rim of the glass.

The room was a haze of flashing lights, tangled bodies, and pounding music. It was hard to adjust to the movement, the chaos making Jade's head spin. Her eyes raked through the crowd until she found what she was looking for.

A tall, lanky boy, young and handsome, was leaning up against the far wall of the club. He was attractive enough that he should have always had at least one girl on his arm, and he didn't seem drunk. Amidst the electric, fast-paced tempo of the club, he stuck out like a sore thumb.

Swaying gently as she stood up, Jade danced her way skillfully across the dance floor. When she finally made her way to the boy, she felt a stab of realization as she saw his face. He was the boy who had kidnapped and tortured Sphinx.

"You," she hissed. The boy raised his head, shooting her a cocky smile.

"Hey, gorgeous," he said. "Long time, no see. It's been a while since our last encounter. How's your friend healing up?" He shot her a lopsided grin, obviously flirting - albeit a little rudely. Jade returned the grin, deciding to play along.

"Fine, now that she doesn't have to look at your ugly mug, mate. So, I hear you've been helping a certain someone search for me. I thought bounty hunters of your caliber were 'too bloody powerful' to deal with the rabble." She studied her nails, assuming a bored look. She raised an eyebrow. "What did you say your name was, again?"

"Dane. And we'll go the extra mile for customers if the payment's good enough. Or, you know, if the target's hot." Dane shot her another grin, his eyes gleaming.

'He's a smooth little bugger, ain't he?' Jade mused.

"I'm flattered, but I think it's time we get straight to the point. Where's the bloody Professor?"

Dane got an evil look on his face, and leaned in close to her ear. "Turn around."

A horrified look passed over her face, and Jade whipped around to find a terribly familiar face. 'How had she not heard him coming?' He loomed over her, his face a myriad of scarred flesh. 'Why hadn't she noticed him?' His eyes, subjected to thousands of chemical experiments, were pink like a lab rat's. 'How did he get here?' When he spoke, his voice was warped due to the damage done to his voice box. "Hello, Taboo."

Her old name resonated through her mind, breaking the countless mental barriers she had spent so much time to carefully construct. Visions of blood danced through her mind. "Please," she whispered, "Don't say it."

The Professor ignored her, putting his ruined lips to her ear. "Diabolus peurum."

The trigger words. Already, she could feel her mind shifting, the blood-lust welling within her. Her shadow marks appeared on her skin, the tiger stripe-like black marks appearing in all their inky, black glory. Her true, demonic eye color flashed into view. Jade's canines grew sharper, more fang-like. Her striped hair gained a spiky quality, more like a mane.

Then she tipped her head back, and howled.

...

From across the street, a chill rippled down the Avengers' spines as the bone-chilling howl echoed through the night. People began streaming out of the club, screaming. Following them with predatory desire, Jade came out, a savage growl issuing from deep within her throat. She was laughing, the sound filled with insanity.

On the other end of Natasha's comm, Nutsy was flipping out. "DID YOU LET HER GET NEAR THE PROFESSOR? ARE YOU A TOTAL MENTAL CASE? NOT EVEN LOKI IS THIS MUCH OF A MONUMENTAL SCREW-UP! DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUS SHE IS AFTER HER TRIGGER WORD HAS BEEN SPOKEN? WE COULD ALL DIE!"

Loki, having had opted to stay with Sphinx and Nutsy, butted in over the comm. "What's this trigger word you keep mentioning?"

Sphinx's soft voice answered him, and her answer made everyone freeze. "It's the on-switch for Taboo. And now that she's active, she's going to try to kill us all."

A/N Yeah...This is never going to take this long again. I hope you liked the chapter! Oh, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! (Comments, comments, comments!) 😋