Through the Realms

Chapter 3 - Complications

Squeaky landed on the hard concrete with a grunt, glad she'd practiced safely rolling across such surfaces. She came to her feet, panting from the run, and turned, watching the portal for a moment before sighing in relief. It didn't look like anyone had tried following her, good. As she lifted her hands to close the portal, a ripple passed through it, then Roland came flying through, knocking Squeaky to the ground once again.
     "Ow!" Squeaky yelled, she hadn't been expecting that at all. "Get off me!" She snapped, rolling away and crouching, quickly closing the portal before anyone else came through. She then turned to yell at Roland and took a foot to the face, falling back against the pavement. Man, Roland could kick like a horse.
     "Stay down!" Roland ordered, the tip of her sword hovering by Squeaky's neck. She was grinning triumphantly, not currently considering how she'd get back to Asgard. All she wanted right now was to catch this criminal. Squeaky let out a dry laugh.
     "You just locked yourself out of your world, kiddo. Good going." She huffed, trying to sit up. Roland pushed her back down with the blade, drawing a bit of blood.
     "You got yourself to Asgard, you can get me there too. I saw your portal gun, I know you can do it." Roland replied hotly, speaking between breaths. She'd had to run a few blocks from the barracks to get to the scene of the fight, and was still recovering from that. Squeaky snorted.
     "You think I'm going to help you take me back to Asgard in chains? Think again, princess." She crossed her arms, glaring at the sword, then up at Roland. Roland seemed confused by the sarcastic usage of such a powerful title, but brushed it off.
     "Of course you will. I'll kill you if you don't." The young warrior said simply, jabbing the sword into Squeaky's neck even more to emphasize the point. Squeaky flinched back involuntarily, realizing that though Roland was reckless, she was also impatient and determined to the point of using violence to get what she wanted. Two could play at that game; but she'd see if she could talk her way out of it first.
     "You'd kill me? Your only way at getting home?" Squeaky asked with a doubtful tone and a raised brow. "That wouldn't be very smart." She chuckled. Roland seemed to hesitate for a moment, considering Squeaky's point.
     "Well," She spoke up again after a few seconds, sounding rather decided. "Then I'll just stab  your knees." Here, Squeaky frowned.
     "Hey, that's my line." She said sourly. Roland smirked at her.
     "Oh, I know." She replied in a sickly sweet tone, then glanced around briefly. This world was strange... Was it Midgard? From the tales she'd heard of it, it matched up pretty well with how she'd pictured the mortal land. Tall grey buildings stretched into the sky, loud, smelly machines they called cars roared their way through the streets, and some people were arguing nearby. Atleast, they had been, until they'd noticed the strangers clad in Asgardian armor.
     Squeaky took the moment of distraction to lunge backwards, kicking the sword up and away from her neck as she rolled to her feet. Roland jumped in surprise, scowling as her would-be prisoner dashed off down the street.
     "Hey!" She leapt forwards, following at a run. "Get back here!"
     "You gotta catch me yourself!" Squeaky laughed, comfortable with her fifteen foot lead on the other girl. She was fast, and unless Roland was somehow faster, she knew getting away would be easy. As she rounded the corner, she crossed the busy street, vaulting cars and dodging pedestrians. Several people screamed as Roland followed, watching with wide eyes as she stabbed a car that got in her way. There was an ear piercing sound as the otherworldly steel tore through the body of the automobile, and Roland withdrew her sword, shouting a curse at the driver before resuming the chase. She finally made it across the street, just barely catching sight of Squeaky as she disappeared around a building. Sprinting now, she caught up as Squeaky turned to face her.
     "Give up, princess. Go back home." Squeaky called over as she dug in her pocket for some means of transportation. Previously she'd kept a motorcycle in there, but since it'd been destroyed by a dragon in Skyrim, she hadn't replaced it. Thankfully, since her pockets sustained themselves with Asgardian magic, she couldn't feel the weight of the hundreds of pounds of junk she kept in them.
     "Not without my prisoner." Roland responded, approaching again and drawing her dagger as well. Squeaky gripped her staff, ready to fight Roland, knock her out, and run. She'd worry about getting Roland back to the proper world later.
     That's when the sirens started wailing. Three police cars screeched to a stop, labeled 'NYPD'. New York Police Department. Squeaky almost rolled her eyes. Why did these things always happen in New York? That poor city was always getting destroyed. Several officers jumped out of the cars, guns raised.
     "Hands up!" They ordered, hesitant however when they recognized the now familiar Asgardian style garb. "Someone call in Shield." One officer said to another, his hands sweating as he gripped his pistol. If these two troublemakers were from another world, capturing them would be impossible and deadly. Several other officers began moving the gathering crowd away, having learned from experience that when other worlds were involved, things got dangerous. Most of the crowd seemed to realize this as well, but there were still some potentially stupid onlookers who preferred to stick around and get a video for Instagram.
     Roland turned to stare at the officers, confused. These men looked so strange in their clunky bulletproof armor, with their cumbersome utility belts. Little did she know they thought the same of her, eying her ornate armor and glimmering sword with what may have been awe, and obvious confusion. Of course, the wariness was there as well. Squeaky had heard the order to call Shield and frowned, backing away from the officers.
     "No need for that, we'll move along." She said, grinning easily. The last thing they needed was Shield sticking their nose where it didn't belong; she'd managed to keep on their good side up until now, but she knew Fury considered her a dangerous rogue. He wouldn't hesitate to catch her if she came within easy reach. Roland would be an easy catch as well, since she was so clueless on how things worked in Midgard.
     "Yes, right on back to Asgard. This girl is my prisoner, and if you help me get her back, I'll leave right away." Roland said quickly, briefly tossing Squeaky a triumphant smirk. Squeaky's grin disappeared. Roland just had to ruin everything, didn't she? The officers exchanged confused looks, guns still trained on the two.
     "Actually," Squeaky interjected, stepping forwards, "She's my prisoner, and if you help me get her back, we can leave even sooner!" She said, shooting Roland a glare. How dare the prissy Asgardian suggest that Squeaky was her captive! It may have been true two minutes ago, but it was a different story now. Plus, Roland would have been Squeaky's prisoner in a few minutes, anyways. Again, the officers looked totally confused, and one finally spoke up.
     "You're both going to be our prisoners, you're disturbing the peace." He said sternly. Squeaky's frown deepened.
     "How so!? I didn't do anything." She huffed, crossing her arms. She'd never purposely hurt Midgardians, not unless they were killing people or something like that. The fact that the officer insisted that she had interrupted the peace was simply insulting. "Okay, well," She admitted, after a moment of thought. "Maybe it was a bit more peaceful before we arrived."
     It was then that a car exploded. The little white car that Roland had stabbed had somehow caught fire and then went off. Squeaky assumed she must have punctured the gas tank and then damaged something to the point of sparking, thus creating the fire. Thankfully, it appeared that the owner of the car had possessed the common sense to get out of the vehicle before it combusted. Squeaky winced. So much for that.
     "It was her fault!" She pointed an accusing finger at Roland, who seemed surprised by the sudden fireball. Now it was Roland's turn to frown.
     "I didn't know it was going to explode!" She exclaimed, seeming a bit distraught at the fact that she'd almost killed people, even if it was an accident. Even more flustered now, the officers took a threatening step forwards.
     "Hands up, and drop your weapons!" One repeated, angry that these intruders would cause such damage so quickly. People would be killed if this kept up, and they'd had enough of that. With the invasion of earth by the Chitauri, then the attacks by Ultron and the chaos caused by the Winter Soldier, earth had suffered a lot. Many people had lost their lives, and the officers were going to do all in their power to stop it. Even if it meant risking their own lives. Roland looked a bit nervous for a moment before scowling again. She knew from training that the Midgardian weapons could do her no harm.
     "I'll leave, but not until I get my prisoner!" She said, leaping at Squeaky.
     "I'm not your prisoner, you're mine!" Squeaky retaliated, then spun around to take cover behind a dumpster, knowing the officers would shoot. Unlike Roland, the full-blooded Asgardian, Squeaky could be harmed by bullets. Sure enough, a barrage of bullets sprayed across Roland's armor, though were promptly deflected onto the asphalt in a shower of sparks and bits of rock. The gathered crowd began to shout, some in alarm and others in awe. Cameras and phones were raised, capturing the fight on video.
     The bullets did hurt, Roland noted. Almost like tiny, sharp punches flashing through her body. The pain took awhile to fade, but it was bearable, and she followed Squeaky around the dumpster, brandishing her sword.
     "Oh yes you are!" She growled, aiming a jab at the other girl's side. The tip sank into Squeaky's armor, but didn't break skin. Squeaky was fast enough to get out of the way and leapt behind the next dumpster, mind racing for a way out. Her armor was Asgardian, but she wasn't sure it could deflect bullets. She'd never bothered to test it. Roland was coming in fast, and Squeaky knew she needed to move. Down the street was another alleyway she could probably lose her pursuers in... But what about Roland? Dang complications. Maybe the other girl would follow. Hoping for the best, Squeaky crouched, then sprang up, headed for the alleyway.
     Another wave of bullets flew through the air, this time aimed at her. She felt two hit her armor
and was relieved to find that they practically bounced off. Man they hurt, but not enough to deter her from running onward. Roland scowled and followed, earning angry shouts from the officers. Drawing on what energy she had left, Squeaky sped up. She was almost to the alley, just a few more feet... There was a yell of surprise and pain, and Roland suddenly collapsed, her chin driving straight down against the pavement. Squeaky winced, knowing that had to hurt, and slowed down, turning to see what had happened.
     As she looked behind her, she instantly became aware of the two Shield quinjets hovering there. The side of one was open, and several armored agents were aiming threatening looking guns at them. It was then that Squeaky noticed the icy projectile lodged in Roland's back. It appeared to be some kind of cold based dart, and was working quickly to drain Roland's strength and energy. The dark haired girl groaned, obviously in pain. This was to be expected; her face and hands were bleeding badly, and the dart seemed quite powerful. Squeaky muttered a rude insult as a voice came over the speakers.
     "This is Shield speaking; put your hands in the air and get on your knees!" It echoed loudly across the street, hurting the ears of those close by. Squeaky scowled, glaring at Roland.
     "Good going, princess. Now we're both gonna be prisoners."