In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated | An Avengers Fanfiction |

Chapter 2: You Made Me a Monster

Finn stared down at his own chest as a blue smoke-like substance poured into his body. When the smoke charged up his neck and into his face, his eyes turned completely black and changing his face into something out of a nightmare. They faded into that same eerie blue, as if the smoke had pooled in his irises. His body relaxed along with his hand on my arm, and he gazed trustingly into the stranger's eyes.

I watched this metamorphosis in complete shock, unable to believe what I was witnessing. Maybe this was a nightmare brought on by jetlag and too much alcohol. Nothing else could explain this bizarre turn of events. That or I had completely lost my mind. I waved my hand in front of Finn's face, but Finn's blank expression followed the stranger as if he couldn't see me.

"What..." I squeaked in horror, unable to form a full question.

"Now," the stranger said, pulling his cane away from Finn and checked his watch. "I don't have time to explain, tight schedule, you see." The stranger cocked his head in my direction. Finn, like a puppet, grabbed my arm again, this time with iron fingers. I yelped at the pinch, and the stranger, having taken a step, turned back to Finn.

"Bruise her and I will kill you," he said casually.

The fingers loosened a bit, but not enough for me to pull my arm out. Still, Finn avoided my eyes. The stranger turned back towards the party downstairs and Finn followed, pulling me along with unyielding strength.

I didn't have the presence of mind to fight. I didn't even know why I wanted to fight it. There was nothing about this situation that I could grasp.

"What do you...what are you...wh...what is going...what where..."

"Not to fret. Simply a little harmless mind control. He's fine. See?"

I studied Finn as he robotically dragged me by the arm. "What do you mean, mind control?"

The stranger stopped again, impatient as if I was a toddler asking too many obvious questions. "Gersemi, I will explain everything to you in due time. Right now I have three agents waiting upstairs for the biometric key to the iridium I need to stabilize the Tesseract so that I can build a portal to bring the Chitauri to Earth."

I blinked. I wasn't the one who'd lost my mind. He was. He was a lunatic.

I let out a scream that lasted one second before Finn's other hand slapped over my mouth. I fought then, pulling as hard as I could while terrified, drunk, tired, and in high heels, hitting and kicking anything Within reach until I felt a new, colder hand on my other arm. The stranger's eyes flashed dangerously, and I went limp, scared of what he'd do to me. He leaned in close until I could smell his cologne.

"I realize this must be awfully confusing for you, but this is your one and only warning. I don't care who you are. I am Loki, and you will not compromise this mission. Do you understand me?" I nodded. Finn's hand slid off my mouth clumsily.

When we descend the white marble staircase, it was at a leisurely pace. I prepared myself to scream again for help as soon as we were in the crowd of people. No one looked at us until a security guard, standing on the outskirts of the party, turned and clocked the three of us approaching from behind. I opened my mouth and filled my lungs, but before I could make a sound, before the guard even had a chance, Loki flipped his cane over and swung it like a baseball bat into the guard's head.

The loud thunk of cane on skull got everyone's attention. The music stopped. People screamed and ran out of Loki's way, retreating to the corners of the room. Loki grabbed one older gentleman and threw him down onto the flat back of the statue of a two-headed bull. He brandished a strange tool and while holding the old man down with his cane, Loki stabbed the tool straight into the old man's face.