Beyla ~ (Loki)

11.

Sat upon the rock, I reach out to her again as she rests. The only time where the link is weak between our two realms. "Beyla." She tosses her body in discomfort. I can only hope she is being kept satisfied in Asgard.

The Other walks upon me, staring at me under its hood. I am handed the Chitauri scepter, a long golden handle, fitted with a blue gem encircled with silver blades. "Our ally knows its workings as they never will. He is ready to lead. And our force, our Chitauri, will follow. The world will be his. The universe yours. And the humans, what can they do but burn?"

~

"How bad is it?" "That's the problem, sir. We don't know." Agent Coulson leads Hill and Fury through the radiation section of the facility. "Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago."

"NASA didn't authorize Selvig to test phase."

"He wasn't testing it, he wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous advancement."

Hill narrows her eyes in confusion. "It just turned itself on?"

"What are the energy levels now?" "Climbing. When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered the evac."

"How long to get everyone out?"

"Campus should be clear in the next half hour."

"Do better." Fury says as he continues to go down to the radiation floor. Fury enters the lab facility where the Tesseract is being held.

"Talk to me, doctor."

Dr. Erik Selvig emerges from behind the CMS machine, concerned. The Tesseract is glowing unusually brighter and flare rings shoot out at random.

"Director."

"Is there anything we know for certain?"

"Tesseract is misbehaving."

"Is that supposed to be funny?"

"No, it's not funny at all. The Tesseract is not only active, she's...misbehaving." The Dr looks onward at the cube.

"How soon until you pull the plug?"

"She's an energy source. If we turn off

the power, she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level..." he draws off indicating the worst.

"Where's Barton?"

"The Hawk? Up in his nest, as usual."

Clint Barton is up on the railings watching them below, Fury calls Barton on his earpiece demanding his presence.

"I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things."

"Well, I see better from a distance."

"Are you seeing anything that might set this thing off?"

"No one's come or gone. It's oven is clean. No contacts, no I.M.'s. If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end."

Nick Fury asks, "At this end?" "Doors open from both sides."

Suddenly the Tesseract shakes the entire facility. The flaring rings and glow of the cube spout out brighter and louder, like a boiling pot of water. The Tesseract's energy builds up into a beam much like the Bifrost Bridge, which strikes at the end of a platform. A Vortex forms, opening a portal.

The swirling winds of the black hole opening from space gust a blue energy cloud. It fills the room, blinding everyone.

As their eyes clear they see a man perched upon the opposite side of the platform. Guards slowly approach him, weapons in hands.