THIS IS BOOK 2 IN THE SERIES. If you haven't already, please check out the first book, Frost Giants (Loki x Reader). I would highly recommend it, as certain things might not make sense if you haven't read it.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT own any of Marvel's The Avengers characters, plot, or world, and am by no mean profiting out of this other than perfecting my writing. All I simply hold the right to is (Y/N) Ísveig's backstory, and personality (as I clearly cannot appease to every single reader's personal traits).

Anyways, that's all I wanted to say. Get your holy water ready, because the foul, rancid garbage writing, plot, romance, and character depictions that you are about to read shall lodge into your throat like that one potato chip, (y'know the one), and remain as such forever. It will compel you to wonder for the rest of you life: "What the hell was that? And what dumbass thought it was a good idea to share it with the world?"

That would be me, ladies, gentlemen and other.

Enjoy
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"The Tesseract has awakened." A deep, eerily, heavy voice called out from the darkness. "It is on a little world. A human world." His disgust held no intention of being disguised by his words. "They would wield its power, but our ally knows it's working as they never will. He is ready to lead. And our force, our Chitauri, will follow."

Loki's fingers curled determinedly around a golden sceptre. Distinct cheers of the alien army boomed around them from the inkiness that was their home.
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"All personnel, the evacuation order has been confirmed." Commanded the agent's voice across the P.A system of the base. "Proceed to your designated vehicles..."

Fury's chopper flew over his establishment, as soldiers quickly began to be directed out of the premises. The helicopter descended down onto the landing pad where Agent Coulson waited most solemnly.

      "How bad is it?" Fury questioned, raising his voice to be heard over the propellers of his vehicle, as he and Agent Hill smoothly paced towards the agent.

       "That's the problem, sir." Coulson answered, taking off his tinted glasses. "We don't know."
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        "Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago." Coulson informed, leading Fury through the underground corridors of their base.

         "NASA didn't authorize Selvig to go to test phase." Fury pointed out.

        "He wasn't testing it. He wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous event."

         "It just turned itself on?" Hill asked behind them.

        Fury grimaced. "What are the energy levels now?"

       "Climbing." Coulson replied grimly. "When Selvig couldn't shut it down, we ordered evac."

         Agents and workers shuffled about around them, organizing papers and equipment to be shipped away.

        Fury glanced around him as he continued walking. "How long to get everyone out?"

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

       "Do better." Fury commanded, as Coulson nodded and turned around to head the other way.

"Sir, evacuation may be futile." Hill confided, following her boss down a set of stairs.

"We should tell them to go back to sleep?" Fury suggested sarcastically.

"If we cant control the Tesseract's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance."

"I need you to make sure the Phase 2 prototypes are shipped out." Fury ordered, ignoring her remark.

"Sir, is that really a priority right now?" The agent probed.

Fury quickly turned around to face her. "Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on." He gripped the railing to the steps beside him. "Clear out the tech below. Every piece of Phase 2 on a truck and gone."

"Yes, sir." Hill snapped monotonously, walking passed him and addressing several agents about. "With me."

      "Talk to me Doctor!" Fury called, ambling leisurely into the vast scientific space where Dr.Selvig and other workers jotted down notes and probed at the glowing blue cube that was the Tesseract, caged inside a metal contraption on top of a levitated area.

      "Director." Erik greeted, stepping down from the platform to greet the man.

       "Is there anything we know for certain?"

       "The Tesseract is misbehaving." The Doctor revealed anxiously, as one of his helpers slowly stuck a small metal rod towards the cube, only for it to be thrusted away with a burst of azure energy.

"Is that supposed to be funny?" Fury questioned.

"No, it's not funny at all." The professor shook his head, spinning back around to guide Nick Fury to a small monitor connected to the Tesseract and its wires. "The Tesseract is not only active. She's... behaving."

        "I assume you pulled the plug."

         "She's an energy source." Selvig explained desperately. "We turn off the power she turns it back on. If she reaches peak level—"

         "We prepared for this, Doctor." Fury assured, trying to placate the situation. "Harnessing energy from space."

         "But we don't have the harness." Selvig added sourly. "My calculations are far from complete." Fury glanced over his shoulder at the glowering cube, as Selvig continued, "And she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of gamma radiation."

       Fury's one eye locked on Selvig's pair, both reminded of a certain someone who was quite experienced himself in the gamma field. "That can be harmful. Where's agent Barton?"

       Selvig scoffed, looking up from the monitor screen in front of him. "The Hawk? Up in his nest as usual." He jabbed a thumb behind him in the direction of a man's silhouette up on the upper platform of the area.

        "Agent Barton, report." Fury asserted through his ear piece.

         "I gave you this detail so you could keep a close eye on things." Fury recalled once Barton had joined him in pacing about the scientific space.

         "Well, I see better from a distance." The agent replied instantly, not bothering move his narrowed gaze onto his boss.

"Have you seen anything that might set this thing off?" Fury asked, pointing a finger towards the Tesseract.

"Doctor," A woman scientist poked her head out from around her monitor. "It's spiking again."

"No ones come or gone, and Selvig's clean." Barton informed, keeping his voice low, and following Fury up onto the space cube's raised platform. "No contacts, no IMs." He glanced over his shoulder as the Doctor quickly approached the readings on the female scientist's monitor. "If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't from this end."

Fury's eyebrows knitted together as he fixed Barton with a hard stare. "'At this end'?" He quoted.

       "Yeah," Barton answered nonchalantly. "The Cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right?" The agent turned to set his gaze onto his boss. "Doors open from both sides."

"Not yet." Selvig mumbled, typing away at a monitor, before the building around them rumbled and the electricity pulsing from the Tesseract crackled.

Everyone glanced around nervously and stopped to gawk at the swirling blue dust that the Cube let off. It seemed mere moments later when it shot a burst of energy a few metres in front on it, opening a large circular arch. The portal, which displayed a vast abyss of darkness and twinkles of stars, seemed only to grow and grow, until it exploded, releasing charges of cobalt radiation in all directions.

Fury, the other agents, and the scientists shielded their eyes as what remained of the atomic catalyst swam up to meet together at the top of the ceiling, threatening to bury the entire base six feet underground.

And there, kneeling on the makeshift platform build for only what one might assume was a portal pad made if circumstances actually allowed Selvig to figure out how to use the cube, was the figure of a man. Sapphire flames clung to his clothes, but he showed no indication of being in pain.

Four S.H.I.E.L.D agents with rifles slowly approached him, two on either of his sides. He stood, a wide smirk dancing on his lips as he exhaled deeply. His skin was drenched in a light layer of sweat, and his raven hair seemed longer than it had been the last time our protagonist had seen him.

"Sir, please put down the spear!" Fury boomed, as the smile vanished from the god of mischief's face.

He glanced at the weapon in his hand, a long golden rod with a steaming, glowering cerulean stone latched to the curvature of its pointed tip, before he looked back up at the mortals surrounding him. He took aim, and shot a surge of energy forward with the sceptre.

Barton grunted, ducking down to the ground, before Fury was blasted into nearby equipment. Sounds of bullets flying were heard, before the god of mischief stabbed an agent in the chest with his weapon, and spun around to face the new wave of attackers, swiftly throwing two of his shurikens into the double soldiers on the other side.

He fired another burst of power into the female scientist by her monitor, and slashed at another agent's arm. Flinching slightly as more soldiers rushed in and aimed at his head, he zapped the agent behind Barton as the bowman rolled away.

An agent moaned in pain as his ribs shattered once Loki had kicked him into the nearby wall.

Breathing heavily, the god of mischief looked around at the destruction. Broken wires crackled with sparks, corpses lay dead around the floor, and equipment and paper were scattered around the area.

Barton attempted to get back onto his feet, handgun in his grip, only for Loki to grab his arm.

The agent fought against the god's strong grasp, without much succession.

"You have heart." Loki admitted, pressing the end of his sceptre to Barton's chest. Blue veins ran up the agent's skin, before it disappeared, and his eyes wilting into inky pools, then faded back to normal.

The god of mischief chuckled removing his weapon back to his side, as Barton returned his gun to its holster.

Fury frowned, sneakily taking the Tesseract from it place in the mechanism, and setting in into his secure briefcase, as Loki continued to change the agents around him into his minions.

The director of S.H.I.E.L.D stood to leave, when the voice of the attacker stopped him.

"Please don't. I still need that."

       "This doesn't have to get any messier." Fury suggested, glancing over his shoulder at the god.

       "Of course it does." Loki revealed, grimly. "I've come too far for anything else." Fury turned around slowly to face the enemy, as he continued, "I am Loki, of Asgard, and I'm burdened with glorious purpose."

      Selvig glanced up from where he kneeled to check the female scientist's pulse. "Loki," He rose up onto his feet. "Brother of Thor... and (Y/N)'s close friend. Or at least... you were."

      The god of mischief shot the Doctor a hard glare.

      "We have no quarrel with you people." Fury reminded, calmly, lifting his free hand.

        "An ant has no quarrel with a boot." Loki shot back.

        Fury narrowed his eyes. "Are you planning to step on us?"

       "I come with glad tidings." Loki objected, pacing over to Selvig, before he turned to gaze upon Fury once more. "Of a world made free."

        "Free from what?"

         "Freedom." The god of mischief snapped immediately. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart," Selvig gasped as Loki briskly spun to place his sceptre on the man's chest. "You will know peace."

        Barton glanced up at the blue swirling mass up on the ceiling, as Fury replied, "Yeah, you say 'peace'. I kind of think you mean the other thing."

       "Sir, Director Fury is stalling." Barton announced, ambling up a set of steps to stand by Loki's side. "This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us."

      "Like the pharaohs of old." Fury agreed darkly.

        "He's right! The portal is collapsing in on itself." Selvig said, gazing over a nearby monitor screen. "We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

        "Well, then." Loki smirked, glanced at Barton.

        The agent rapidly took out his gun and shot at Fury. They marched out, grabbing the Tesseract's suitcase as the director stumbled onto the ground.

       "I need these vehicles." Barton pointed to a set of cars, as Hill frowned, and took out her static-y radio com.

        "Who's that?" She asked, referring to the god of mischief.

        "They didn't tell me." Barton answered, without bothering to look at her, as Loki positioned him onto the back trunk of the heavy vehicle.

       The female agent began to turn away, as her walkie-talkie activated.

        "Hill!" Fury yelled. "Do you copy? Barton just turned."

        Hill's eyes widened for a moment, before she swiftly rolled for cover, narrowly missing Barton's bullet as he pulled the trigger. Her chest rose heavy as she clutched her own gun, and the sound of tires skidding on pavement was heard.

       The agent leaped from her safe spot and fired at the vehicles, only for her bullets to hit the metal of the car uselessly.

        "They have the Tesseract. Shut them down!" Fury commanded, limping out of the scientific space.

        Agent Hill slid into her own vehicle, and hurriedly started the engine.

        Cars chased after Loki and Barton in the dark rock tunnels of the base, only for them to be blasted to splinters by the god of mischief's sceptre.

        Hill charged in front of Barton's vehicle, before she changed gears and turned her car around so that she was facing the ex-agent, before proceeding to shoot a round of bullets into them.

       "We're clear upstairs, sir. You need to go." Coulson informed, settling himself into his own transport.

       Fury stumbled onto the roof of the base and flung himself into his chopper. It took off just as cracks formed over the concrete floor under them, and the ceiling began to collapse.

      Barton hit the gas pedal, causing Hill and her car to spin about, losing speed, and stop behind them as they continued on.

       Finally, as if the storm of energy and radiation took a deep breath in and then exhaled, a tsunami of power coursed through the S.H.I.E.L.D base.

      Fury stared grumpily as the ground collapsed on itself, swallowing all they had achieved whole. Coulson gawked from the back of his vehicle, and Hill narrowed her eyes as rock rained down on the open top of her car.

      Loki's car managed to make it out of the tunnels, but not before the other vehicle filled with their accomplices had been smashed by a shower of boulders.

      Barton abruptly turned the steering wheel, scarily missing Fury's helicopter.

      The director of S.H.I.E.L.D  slid open the door of his transport, and took aim at the enemy with his handgun. Barton and Selvig, whom were seated at the front of the car, shielded their faces with their arms as bullets hit the window.

      Loki's lips pursed into a tight line as he released another surge of azure energy into the tail of the chopper, bringing it down to the ground behind them as they drove on.

      Fury grunted, leaping for the flaming vehicle, landing on his knees, and sending two more bullets towards Loki.

      "Director." Coulson said from the radio. "Director Fury, do you copy?"

        "The Tesseract is with a hostile force." Fury answered, easing onto his feet through heavy breaths. "I have men down. Hill?"

        "A lot of men still under." She replied, carefully slipping out of her car, as to not disturb the rocks over her. "I don't know how many survivors."

         "Sound a general call. I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase." The director ordered.

         Hill sighed tiredly. "Roger that."

        "Coulson, get back to base. This is a Level Seven. As of right now, we are at war."

       "What do we do?" Coulson questioned.

        Fury hesitated, looking off in the distance. He knew what needed to be done, and who were going to do it.

         He just didn't know if they were ready to work together.