Abduction

Chapter 13

Valda fought as hard as she could against the brainwashed agents while trying her best not to deliver killing blows. At this point she wasn't sure it would be wise to kill people who had been forced to fight against their fellow agents, though she knew killing them was something she just might have to do to survive. S.H.I.E.L.D. would understand why; and she could see other agents delivering killing headshots or fatal injuries.

"Where did Sybil go? I hope Loki hasn't hurt her... that Asgardian bastard." She continued to search for her best friend as she fought the agents.

Several times she fought one on one against the few that had managed to get far enough into the helicarrier's halls to find her. Each time she was nearly beaten by a more experienced agent. However, as the fighting spread it was easier to get assistance. The agents that hadn't been placed under Loki's magic spell were able to shoot them down. There wasn't time for thanks though, they were much too busy going to where the main fight was.

Avoiding the controlled agents let alone fighting them was difficult, which wasn't helping her progress of finding Sybil, but at least she hadn't come across too many. In fact, the number getting past the agents seemed to be diminishing. Perhaps she'd make progress after all... Hopefully before it was too late. Sybil had powers she could use but all it took was one well aimed bullet or worse... Loki himself getting to her. She shook the thought from her head. Her friend wasn't one to die easily.

Valda heard a loud explosion from outside and the helicarrier rocked dangerously for a moment, sending her tumbling into the wall. Seemed Thor and Tony had been able to destroy the stolen jet... she briefly wondered- hoped even- that Loki had died in the crash. Knowing Asgardian's however, based off what she'd heard and learned about while here, that snake had probably survived.

"He won't for long if the Avengers are still on his tail though..." She wasn't even sure if her own thought was reassuring or not.

None of the gun fire ceased. Loki's magic spell over them was still clouding their minds, which meant the trickster was still alive. That had to prove he'd lived that explosion. Valda scowled and rolled back to her feet in time to see one of the controlled agents round the corner with a hand gun aiming directly at her head. She froze. If the man fired she'd be dead in an instant. Valda knew she couldn't move fast enough to dodge a bullet and even if the first shot didn't kill her the man would easily be able to deliver a killing shot a second time around.

"Valda!" Sybil's voice echoed from under the sounds of the fighting and the agent turned around from the distraction.

She watched in chilled fascination as a spear of ice went through the man's torso with enough force to nearly go completely through him. The agent gave a choked sound and spun slightly to the side to reveal his gun hand had been sliced off by some other attack before he fell to the ground. Sybil lowered her weapon and raised hand, her breath showing in the air for a millisecond, before she ran over.

"Are you alright?"

Valda nodded. "Yeah, he didn't have time to do anything... That was great though! You've gotten pretty strong for being a newbie at this hero thing."

"...Yeah... I guess." Sybil shrugged and looked down at her scythe. "I mean, I don't want to lose you now do I? We're our own team here, heh, Team Newbie!"

"Could use some work... later." Valda smiled but quickly reclaimed her serious expression. "Come on, let's find someplace we can hide this out or something. I'm not as good as you are yet. My victories are just out of luck at this point."

"Right." Sybil made her weapon disappear as she followed, though Valda noticed she was still ready to use her magic attacks.

She wasn't quite sure where to go other than obviously away from the sounds of guns. At one point she swore she heard the Hulk but didn't stick around that area long enough to find out if it was real. Finally, things began to go quiet as she reached the lower levels. Valda checked to make sure Sybil was still following before slowing down and looking around at the dimly lit area.

"You think this is good?"

Sybil stepped up next to her and bit the inside of her lip. "I guess... kind of boxes us in though for an ambush..."

Her voice drifted off again as if she'd been distracted by something. She frowned in response to Sybil's tone. "What is it?"

"N-nothing. It's nothing." She shrugged and walked forward again. "I just thought I heard something."

"I didn't." She glanced back the way they'd came; should they go back?

Sybil closed her eyes for a few minutes before opening them again. "No one's here. I just checked. We should be fine."

"Alright." She relaxed and started walking further away from the stairs.

The area around them was filled with pipes and machinery; there were tons of places for them to hide if needed. She was about to turn and mention the thought to Sybil- not that her friend probably hadn't already thought of it-before seeing a blur of movement. Pain swept through her head as the blunt object slammed into her skull and Valda staggered to the side, crashing into pipes lining the wall. She blinked dots out of her vision and groaned at the sudden attack.

Sybil stared back down at her with an unreadable expression. Valda nearly choked on her own breath as she realized she'd been betrayed and tricked to stay down here. Her friend muttered something under her breath and waved her hand in the air. A moment later Valda felt her eyes beginning to shut and her body felt as if it were being melded to the floor by her own weight.

"S...ybil...?" She gasped out the name right before slumping to the ground. "...y-you... t-t...traitor..."

Her dark haired friend looked back over her should as she left, something that could've either been guilt or Valda's mucked up vision flashed across her face before she turned away. She briefly struggled against the spell Sybil had placed on her; to get up, to follow her friend, to understand why she'd done this... but it was useless.After finally giving up her weak attempts she let the darkness of unconsciousness fill her mind. Hopefully the Avengers or someone in S.H.I.E.L.D. would find her soon...