Across the Universe

“Where’s Stark?” Agent Phil Coulson stood just inside the glass doors leading into the S.H.I.E.L.D. building, apparently waiting for them as Scarlett arrived solo on the scene. Scarlett looked behind her and toward Stark Tower which still stuck out like a sore thumb above the other buildings.

“Oh, nice to see you too, Coulson. How am I doing? Oh just great, arm’s still a bit sore but it could be worse.” The sarcasm oozed from her lips. “Tony’s going to be on his way in a little while.”

“Why’s that? We called you at the same time.”

“Because he’s an ass, why else?” Scarlett walked past Coulson and through the doors. She didn’t think it was exactly wise to be standing in such plain view. Why she felt paranoid that day, she wasn’t sure. Ever since she’d left Stark Tower she’d had the feeling that something was going to go wrong or that someone was following her. Now, Scarlett wasn’t the type to listen to bad feelings, but she wasn’t the type to ignore her instincts either. After all, her instincts were usually right after years of training them to be alert.

“Tony Stark is always an ass. When does it stop being an excuse for tardiness?”

“As right as you are about that he’s going to be late. We have time to kill before he gets here so whatever it is you called me down here for, we should get started. I’m his girlfriend not his wrangler. If you want him here so badly you should’ve gone to get him yourself.” Scarlett shoved her hands in her coat pockets. Her arm felt a bit better today so she could properly ignore the sting she felt. Still, it was weaker than it had been but that was to be expected after all it had endured the evening before. Coulson led her through the now familiar hallways to the desk where Jinx was seated as expected.

The woman looked as cryptic as ever, but Scarlett was sure it was the eyes that gave off that creepy vibe. She smiled upon seeing Scarlett and while Scarlett considered giving her hell for shoving her pockets filled with good luck charms, she figured she’d wait for a better opportunity. After all, at any moment it was likely that Captain Rogers would be joining them and he had been embarrassed enough over his assumptions regarding the evil eye charm. Scarlett was hoping his attitude had improved slightly from the night before or it would be, yet another, frustrating afternoon. They weren’t going to get anything accomplished if they couldn’t find common ground.

“Agent Bennett,” Scarlett nodded in greeting and before Jinx could ask her to read her fortune or offer her more good luck Scarlett held up her hand. “Don’t tell me what fiery doom and gloom is waiting for me yet, I’m not even sure what we’re doing here.”

“I was going to ask how your shoulder was feeling.” Jinx chuckled. She was glad that even if Scarlett didn’t agree with her views on luck and the future she could make light of it without insulting her beliefs.

“Oh, well that’s very nice of you.” Scarlett was partially pleased she wasn’t being hounded about having her palm read or some other voodoo nonsense.

“I thought I sent you to get Captain Rogers.” Coulson’s voice overshadowed any response Jinx would’ve made. They turned to follow his gaze and saw Clint Barton walking down the hall with a smile on his face. Clint, in general, was a very casual and laid back sort of guy. When he was on duty as Hawkeye he wore dark colors with a quiver slung on his back that had been specifically designed for his bow so that the arrowheads and the shafts were separate until he decided which one he would prefer to shoot. There were a number of things Clint’s bow could do that most others could not, the list was quite extensive.

“He’s in a class so I told him it was no big deal.” Clint frowned when he saw Coulson’s disapproval. “Was I wrong?”

“It’s Sunday. Where could he possibly be taking a class?” Jinx chimed in from behind the desk, looking just as confused as her peers.

“It’s this art thing at some church.” Clint shook his head. “Figured it’d be easier if I stood in for him. He seemed to be enjoying himself. He’d insisted a few times that he could come in but I thought it was funnier to let him stay.” Clint’s smile fell as quickly as it had spread across his face. No one else seemed amused, all save for Scarlett.

“Are you sure it wasn’t a senior center?” Scarlett remarked.

“I made that joke, actually. He hated it.” Clint laughed, nudging Scarlett’s good arm and then looking back to Phil Coulson who was staring in disbelief. “Is that okay? I can go get him back if it’s not.”

“Give him a break, Coulson, it is Sunday after all. That’s important to some people.” Scarlett wasn’t sure why she was defending Steve, but considering Coulson hadn’t yet told them why they were there she guessed whatever they’d been called in for wasn’t that big of a deal. S.H.I.E.L.D. operated strangely. Some heroes didn’t have to be involved in the daily occurrences while some were knee deep in the murk and the muck. Wouldn’t it be easier if they all banded together? It would’ve been nice if she’d at least been told why she’d been called in on a Sunday. Not that Scarlett hadn’t been grateful for the excuse not to think about her personal life or anything, but still, it was the principle of the thing.

“I really don’t mind standing in for him today. I like working with Blackbird here anyway. So what’s the deal?” Clint shrugged. Jinx immediately scowled after Clint’s offer then ducked behind the top of her round desk. It sounded like she was shuffling some papers around out of sight.

“I called in Captain Rogers and Tony Stark. Neither one of them is here to do their job! Do none of you take these calls seriously?” Coulson stared at them in disbelief.

“You’re lecturing the people who showed up. Very effective.” Scarlett rolled her eyes. This S.H.I.E.L.D. thing was definitely not working out. “I’d rethink that.” Coulson stared at her in surprise for a long moment before nodding his head and exhaling. He wiped the back of his hand against the side of his nose, looked down the hallway to check for any new arrivals then back at the agents who had answered his call.

“You’re right. You’re both right. Let’s get to work.” Coulson’s thin lipped hint of a confident smile returned. “Barton, are you sure you’re okay with standing in for Rogers today?”

“I volunteered, didn’t I? Besides, I haven’t gotten to work with Blackbird in awhile. You don’t let us work together now that she’s actually signed up.” Clint narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Scarlett who batted her eyelashes innocently.

“You mean that you haven’t gotten to throw me into one of your incidents against my will because I finally signed up to join your super hero squad.” Scarlett corrected.

“That’s what I said.”

“I have a really bad feeling about this.” Jinx finally chimed in from behind the desk, her nose popping up from behind it. She was holding a handful of cards that Scarlett didn’t recognize, but she had little to no desire to ask what they were and what they meant either. They looked similar to tarot cards but not like any set Scarlett had ever seen before. Scarlett had enough superstitious nonsense for the week even though she knew this would be something she’d have to adjust to with time. Jinx was nice enough but Scarlett had enough weird out-of-her-comfort-zone things happen in the last week that she wasn’t prepared for another.

“What other choice do we have, Agent Bennett?” Coulson was scowling in disapproval. “It shouldn’t be a serious threat judging by the readings Dr. Banner has received from the USGS. The readings are completely different than the last time…”

“What is it we’re doing exactly? I’m not a fan of this whole… being dragged down to S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters without any explanation as to why thing. It’s not really my style.” Scarlett folded her arms over her chest and looked disapprovingly at the S.H.I.E.L.D. squad leader who rubbed his temples in frustration. She wondered for a moment what kinds of things Coulson did to de-stress. He dealt with high maintenance, powerful people on a daily basis. It had to be an incredibly frustrating job. The mental image of Coulson baking muffins to blow off steam was conjured up and brought a smile to her lips.

“As I was saying Banner picked up more radiation signals in the USGS readings. Not sure if it’s the same kind of issue as the night before but seeing as the signals are not identical but still similar we can’t ignore it. The amount of time passed between incidents doesn’t add up to what we’re used to in this pattern but patterns often change. I was going to send you and Steve for precautionary reasons in civilian uniform but since he’s not here I guess you’re stuck with Barton.”

“Hey.”

“No offense, I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that Captain America is at a church art class instead of reporting for his civil duty.” Coulson shook his head. It was a weird Sunday to say the very least.

“Did he say Banner? Like Bruce Banner? Wait! Is that who that doctor was the other day? Natasha wouldn’t tell me…” Clint whispered to Scarlett who nodded her head to confirm that was indeed who they referred to. “You do know who that is, right?”

“Yes, I do. We’ll talk about it later. More pressing things right now.”

“Is no one listening to me? I have a bad feeling. You shouldn’t send them there. Let it be.” Jinx spoke up, louder and more confident than Scarlett had seen thus far. This was a side of Jinx that Scarlett was a fan of. She was so sure of her bad feeling that she wasn’t going to remain unheard. “Agent Coulson, you know that I’m not the kind to throw that out that sort of warning without being absolutely sure.”

“I know that Agent Bennett, please take your seat. I heard you.” Coulson smiled sympathetically and then looked back to Clint and Scarlett who stood side by side waiting for their orders. “Nonetheless, I’m going to send Barton and Damien to these coordinates to make sure that if something bad does happen, the America people aren’t alone in the struggle.” Jinx turned her gaze away, not liking the answer she received. “Banner requested you take this with you again.” Coulson held the device from the night before out for Scarlett.

“Really? Fancy Geiger counter again? Didn’t we get enough proof or portals last night? What exactly are we trying to prove now?”

“There’s no such thing as too much data particularly when we’re dealing with the unknown.” Banner joined the conversation from down the hall. He peered around the room at those who had arrived and looked mildly disappointed. He’d been looking forward to meeting Tony Stark, but obviously Tony had no idea that he had a fan waiting at S.H.I.E.L.D. Scarlett hadn’t exactly gotten to tell Tony about Bruce Banner or what she’d discovered the day before. For a few moments Scarlett had forgotten about her personal drama. The work given by S.H.I.E.L.D. was both a blessing and a curse in that respect.

“Yeah, there is when it’s wasting time. If Jinx has a bad feeling then I’d consider us pressed for time.” Scarlett didn’t care what kind of an expert Bruce Banner was on gamma radiation. If these portals were going to continue to create the sort of devastation they had witnessed in Manhattan then time was of the essence.

“If this turns out to be nothing then we know to rule out this particular radiation spike. If you get me readings of what exactly is going on there, we can better narrow down the field for the next incident. If it’s the opposite and something does happen, the same applies.” Banner adjusted his stance awkwardly. He could deal with anger better than most, considering his affliction. Scarlett had only heard a little bit about what had happened to him. It wasn’t like she’d had time to look him up in the meantime.

Clint, however, was looking at Bruce Banner with mild curiosity tinged with a mixture of something else. Scarlett wondered if it could be fear that she thought she saw. She’d never seen Clint scared of anything before, other than when he’d crossed Natasha. Even then, the fear hadn’t been very genuine. “It will help us narrow down which spikes specifically are causing this phenomenon. If we can figure that out then we can perhaps figure out what could cause that particular spike and predict events so they can be stopped before they happen. It’s all very complex science stuff.”

“I’ve heard more complex than that, Dr. Banner.” Scarlett sighed, but then looked to Clint. “Alright, give me coordinates or whatever you need to get this show on the road. We’ll head out and get this sorted for you. Hopefully it’ll be a scouting mission and nothing more. Tony wouldn’t have been much help in this situation anyway, Coulson. He’s not exactly what I would call stealthy.”

“I thought you would’ve been in his corner for that issue.” Coulson had just a hint of a smile on his face.

“Are you kidding? We can’t even go get groceries without him signing an autograph and posing for a picture.” Scarlett scoffed.

“No one’s listening to me! I have a very bad feeling. I see fire and… death! It’s all very bad.” Jinx sighed softly, wishing that her feelings wouldn’t go unchecked. Scarlett would have to address it at some point. If Jinx was going to be her handler and expected her to back down at every bad feeling she had, and considering how many she had already she assumed there would be many, they were going to have a problem.

“That’s exactly why we’re sending them out there Agent Bennett. I have a bad feeling too.” Coulson got to it before Scarlett could get the chance. It was probably for the best since Scarlett’s thoughts kept humorously returning to the mental image of Steve finger painting happy little trees with a bunch of old ladies at a church class. “If something nasty is going to happen it’s better that our men are there on the scene to provide help.”

“In my experience walking into the fire is always a bad idea no matter how noble the intentions.” Jinx grimaced, leaning back in her chair. She knew there was no convincing them that something bad was going to happen but she couldn’t shake the feeling either. It wasn’t just these radiation spikes that scared her. There was something more sinister going on, something beyond the portals, something beyond visitors from other dimensions. She didn’t know what it was but she knew it had to do with Scarlett and she knew it had to do with Clint, particularly since the bad feeling had made her feel sick to her stomach the moment she knew that Hawkeye would be replacing Captain America temporarily.

“Sometimes the only way to put a stop to the fire is to walk through it and find the source” Scarlett chimed in. “Trust me, I’ve been the cause of the fire enough times to know that sometimes you have to get burned.”

“Well, be careful.” Jinx smiled just enough to let Scarlett know that she wouldn’t object any further. There was something haunting behind Jinx’s eyes, Scarlett thought, something beyond the odd mismatched irises. Maybe precognition was something she’d have to give more thought after this was all said and done. It was probably going to be forgotten by the end of their assignment, but for the time being Scarlett wanted to know more about what Jinx knew exactly. If there was any validity to her bad feelings, Scarlett wanted to know.

“I don’t know the meaning of the word.” Clint joked. Coulson rolled his eyes and then turned to Scarlett.

“There’s a company care you can…”

“I’ll take mine. There’s nothing more suspicious than those S.H.I.E.L.D. cars. Black SUVs scream government agency.”

“It’s not a Maserati or something is it? Because that’s not exactly inconspicuous, either.”

“Why is it everyone thinks I’m going to be as ridiculous as Tony with my money? Despite how alike we are, we are often very different. It’s an Audi, okay? Expensive but well built and not so out of place. They’re all over the road in… oh god, really, New Jersey?” She pouted. Clint stifled a laugh and then averted his eyes when Coulson looked at him judgingly.

“Enjoy your trip to the Garden State, Damien, Barton.” Coulson looked back to Banner before leading him down the hall. Scarlett nodded curtly at Jinx before heading back toward the entrance with Clint.

“I wish you would’ve brought the Maserati.”

“Yeah, that would’ve gone over well. Didn’t you hear my speech about responsible financial decisions?”

“Coulson doesn’t seem as concerned about this call anyway. It wouldn’t have been that big a deal to drive a nice car. We’re probably going to drive to some factory off of the Parkway and stare at nothing until the spike subsides and then return to headquarters. Maybe we could grab an early dinner after.” Clint continued to argue, ignoring her objections.

“Sure, see if Romanoff wants to meet up with us. There’s this curry joint I really like.” Scarlett nodded as she got into the car and pulled onto the busy streets. As they drove toward the coordinates, Scarlett had the distinct feeling they would not be catching a late lunch or an early dinner at all. Something wasn’t sitting right with her in regards to their mission for the day. Why was S.H.I.E.L.D. so casual about the whole damn thing? Maybe she was letting Jinx get into her head, despite her best efforts to keep an unbiased opinion toward her predictions. This was just a job. Scarlett wasn’t supposed to get emotionally involved. It had never been a problem in the past, but apparently when she’d decided to be one of the good guys she had to throw her cold and callous demeanor out the window.

So far, Scarlett was still not a fan of the life of a hero.

If only there were a way for her to still operate the way she was used to while still playing for the good team. She wanted to be in the shadows, leading things, doing things her way. S.H.I.E.L.D. wasn’t going to let her do that.

When Scarlett approached the coordinates she took one glance at the map on her inboard GPS and knew that they were in trouble.

“Uh oh.” Clint spoke for them both when he saw the massive parking lot ahead of them. “This isn’t good.”

Scarlett found a parking spot far enough from the building that if anything went wrong the car should hopefully be out of harm’s way. As much as money was of no object to her at the moment, she didn’t exactly like wasting it either if she could help it. After seeing Tony’s finances when she’d dug into his system files when they’d first met she had seen how much it had cost to replace pieces of his home and the various cars that he’d lost in battles as Iron Man and she’d been making a conscious effort not to be as costly as her boyfriend.

“You mean: this is a disaster.” Scarlett locked her car after she was sure Clint was out and ready. She checked if she had her gun, then adjusted the Tesla glove on her wrist. The bad feeling she had in her gut since she’d left Stark Tower had only gotten worse. Something told her it wasn’t going to be an easy afternoon. The two stood next to the busy shopping mall in Northern New Jersey and grimaced.

“If something’s going to happen here people are going to die. It’s unavoidable.” Clint kept saying what Scarlett was thinking and she wasn’t sure how necessary it was, but it certainly wasn’t wrong either.

“We have bigger problems than that.” Scarlett muttered under her breath. It wasn’t the first time she’d felt followed, felt wrong. Someone had followed her out of Stark Tower that morning and someone had followed them to this place in New Jersey after they’d left S.H.I.E.L.D. Scarlett felt unsettled and she had decided that was why her stomach had felt off all day long. But how could she deal with that and a possible disaster in a very populated area?

“Oh, really?” Clint scoffed but then started in a hurry toward the mall entrance. “Why’d you park so far away? This is a disaster.”

“That car isn’t cheap.”

“I guess it’s good you didn’t bring the Maserati.”

“Yeah, isn’t it? Small favors.” Scarlett grunted, walking through the mall entrance. The device in her pocket beeped and she pulled it out with a wince. The spikes of radiation were off the charts. It was nothing like the spikes from the night before. Whatever this was it was far more severe. So what was it that was happening in the crowded mall? Would it be like the nightmare that had destroyed the building in Manhattan? “Clint, this is really bad.”

“I know. We’ve got to try to evacuate the area.” Clint eyed a small group of children in the food court nearby, waiting in line for their turn to ride on a merry go round set up in the far corner.

“There’s something else.”

“What?” Clint had nearly forgotten she’d tried to warn him earlier.

“We’re being followed.” Scarlett couldn’t explain how she knew that, but she did. The feeling of being watched had been constant since she left Stark Tower and had only worsened when she’d left the city.

“What?” Clint repeated, stopping immediately and withdrawing his bow. Several people nearby stopped to look at him in alarm.

“Yeah, that’s helping.” Scarlett shook her head and pointed to the metallic weapon in his hand. “Archaic weapon, middle of a crowded mall, sends great signals.”

“You have a gun under your jacket and metal claw thing.”

“And you look like Robin Hood.” Scarlett looked over her shoulder.

“Then I steal from the rich and give to the poor, remember which one of those you are.” He teased but he was still seriously looking around, though people had made it a point to avoid them. “How are we going to manage this? If something bad happens here we can’t save everybody by ourselves.”

“Call S.H.I.E.L.D. You’re right. We can’t do it alone. Too many people, too many variables. People are going to die if something happens.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.” Clint instantly threw her a foreboding look.

“We have to buy time. Someone’s following us. I’m going to find out who it is.”

“What if it’s not involved? What if it’s from the other night and someone’s come to finish the job. Am I supposed to let you walk into harm’s way? Natasha would never forgive me. There’s a lot of stupid things I can do that she would forgive but letting you die isn’t one of them.”

“Will you just trust me? You’re worse than Captain Picasso! I can handle myself. If there were a large group of people following us we would’ve seen the tail. Someone is following us. Just one.”

“Fine, I’ll gather security guards and call S.H.I.E.L.D. but you better not screw anything up.”

“Oh ye of little faith.” Scarlett turned away without another word and slipped her earpiece from her pocket and into her ear. She could hear Jinx and Bruce communicating with each other about the crazy readings they were getting from the device in Scarlett’s pocket. Her heart was pounding in her ears as she continued through the mall, trying to find a place she could corner whatever was stalking them. Clint was likely right. It was probably whoever had come for her the other night at the restaurant in the Hamptons. This was a crowded shopping mall; it would be much harder for her to protect everyone around her.

Soon she heard Clint calling for and then heard Jinx responding that there would be back up on the scene as soon as possible. She was relieved to hear that there were agents in the area that would be arriving to help soon and that local law enforcement would begin the evacuation. Then the intercom came to life overhead, announcing that due to unforeseen circumstances and extreme weather they would be closing down the mall early that afternoon and they had precious few minutes to leave. Firemen and Policemen would be at the exits to help guide them to a safe area.

There were too many people for even that idea to work, Scarlett knew it and she knew that Clint was aware of it too. Even with the help of all the security on staff in the mall there was no way they would manage an evacuation of this size in such a short amount of time. Someone was going to get hurt, it was inevitable.

Something caught Scarlett’s eye from her left in the window of a department store. It was a shadow of some kind, human in form but it was small, almost childlike. She rejected that idea immediately, it was someone crouching down and trying to hide from her. Whoever was following them had hidden inside one of the stores to try and get the slip on her. That wasn’t going to happen, not today.

Before she could walk through the open entrance of the store one of the security guards who was ushering other people out of the doorway stopped her. Scarlett ignored his words and flashed her S.H.I.E.L.D. identification and then was allowed to walk past him into the store.

“Keep the door open, but don’t let anyone in after me.” She shouted without looking back at him. If nothing else working for S.H.I.E.L.D. was allowing her some authority when it came to dangerous situations. She had never been allowed to walk into a crowded building and tell other people what to do before, at least not without forging documents.

“Blackbird, don’t fly too far.” Clint spoke through the earpiece but Scarlett ignored him. She was too close to the person who was after her now. It was a mistake for them to have come after her alone. If they had been there the night before when it had taken more than a handful of skilled men to cause her any sort of pain they would’ve known better. Maybe it wasn’t them after all.

So if it wasn’t the men from the night before then who was it? Jinx’s words echoed in her mind and as the woman’s voice spoke over her earpiece, warning Clint about three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents joining him soon and to be on the lookout for them, she wondered if perhaps there was some validity to the woman’s bad feelings.

“Freeze!” Scarlett shouted as she spotted the same shadowy figure at the end of a rack of jackets in the store. She pulled her gun out of its holster beneath her jacket and aimed steadily but the shadow moved unnaturally quickly and disappeared from sight. Gritting her teeth in frustration, Scarlett bolted through the racks, dodging left and right and sometimes even beneath the racks in order to try and catch up with it. The shadow seemed to catch her eye every turn it made, never actually getting in her proper line of sight. Scarlett was fast, so what on earth could’ve been faster?

There was a scream from somewhere behind Scarlett and she directed her attention toward it and continued at a run. The shadow was there and there were three women and a small child hiding behind the wall next to the escalator that led down from the second floor. Before Scarlett could ask what had happened several posts holding signage for various sales rose from the floor on their own accord and flew toward her. Instinctively Scarlett holstered her gun and flipped out of the way as the signs clattered on the ground where she’d been standing in a crash. Crouching, she ducked another throw, this time various hair care products that had been on display.

“What the hell?” Scarlett rolled to the side to avoid another blow and then leapt to her feet quickly. All the training she’d done in the last few months after her return from Russia had done her worlds of good. She never wanted to feel helpless and out of shape in a chase or altercation again, she’d made a point to work damn hard to get to where she was now.

“It went up there!” The little boy shouted while the three adults with him stood in terror. Whatever they’d seen had shaken them to the core.

“Get him out of here!” Scarlett stopped to pat the little boy on the head and to whisper his praises before jumping onto the escalator that wasn’t closed. Unfortunately it was going the opposite direction she wished to be going, so she jumped on the moving railing then onto the metal next to it and guiding her hand along the wall to keep her balance she jumped from side to side of the railing enclosed on either side to make her way to the second floor.

“Scarlett, what’s going on in there?” She could hear Clint on the other end of the line but she didn’t have time to respond to him, not when she had to dive out of the elevator entryway because another sign had been thrown at her. The stench of perfume hit her nose and she gagged, getting to her feet and running across the hall.

“Where are you? Come out and fight me!” Scarlett wasn’t going to mess around with whatever this was. She couldn’t explain how those objects had suddenly flown into the air without someone there to lift them. Unless whoever she was fighting was invisible, of course. Weirder things had happened, right? Scarlett had seen zombies, she’d seen horrible monsters beyond imagining, and now she was seeing shadows, portals, and spontaneous levitation.

Maybe Jinx’s precognition wasn’t such a stretch of the imagination after all. No matter how many times she considered it, it still sounded like lunacy. But there she was, in trouble, just as Jinx had predicted.

With a flick of her wrist she triggered the Tesla glove and it hissed to life. It at least gave her a long range weapon. The lights overhead flickered and went out for a moment before coming back to life. The sound of all the lights fading at once was a horrible warble of bass, almost like the bending of metal. Instinctively she ducked and when she sensed something behind her she didn’t hesitate, instead she turned and clenched the fist of the glove, triggering a beam of energy to fly from the top of it.

It made contact with something behind Scarlett, but the thing that really got her was that she couldn’t figure out what the hell it was that she’d made contact with. It was a shadow, completely black, the form kept shifting around, first it looked human-like, then small and hunched like an animal and then again into the shape of a human with terrible horns on its head.

“What the hell?” Whatever it was, Scarlett had hurt it because it stumbled and twitched. She approached it cautiously. “Don’t move! Stay on your… knees if you have knees! Hands where I can see them!” The Tesla glove recharged almost instantly and she aimed it still at the shadow. But as she grew closer the lights around them flickered again. A terrible grumbling echoed throughout the store, seemingly swirling in every direction, making Scarlett dizzy. As much as she wanted to cover her ears to hide from the sound she kept the Tesla gun aimed at the shadow that changed and shifted before her eyes.

Faster than a blink the shadow expanded and spread around the room, but Scarlett kept her Tesla glove aimed at the mass that was at the center of it. The grumbling changed and sounded like laughter, echoing around her traveling left to right.

The creature moved around through the shadows, shifting, as though hidden behind a veil that Scarlett couldn’t see through. It suddenly struck her what it was, or at least what was happening. The shadow was exactly that, a shadow! Appearing through a veil but instead of being behind a curtain or something it was in the other universe. Scarlett’s head was beginning to hurt. Whatever this thing was on the other side of the universe was trying to break free and from what she understood now it was not the woman that had attacked Scarlett the day before. If that woman could have changed form she would’ve done so to hurt her.

No, this creature seemed unsure of its shape, unsure of what it would appear as. Scarlett had heard of shape shifters but only in science fiction movies. Zombies, shape shifters? What was going to be next? Godzilla? Maybe it was time to learn Japanese. Yeah, because she had that kind of free time. Really? This was not the time to be thinking about ridiculous gags and yet she couldn’t help herself!

“Oh no.” Scarlett muttered under her breath as the shadow grew more menacing. The form in the center grew larger and larger, seemingly spreading all around her. In front of it appeared the same sparks of lightning that Scarlett had witnessed from the portal the night before, blue and unnatural.

She leapt out of the way and dove behind the support wall near the escalator as the same strange electricity cracked around the shadow. The air, the thick, horrid, heavy air that had been on the other side of that portal began to fill the entire floor of the store. Pots and dishware nearby clattered and then flew across the open area. She ducked out of the way, jumping and leaping as the pots and plates shattered against the wall or smashed right through the plaster and were left sticking out of it comically.

Where would she even begin with this creature? It was then that Scarlett realized that something was interfering with her headset. Was it electrical interference caused by the lightning? The air was so thick for whatever reason, it was no wonder that this thing seemed to be able to throw sparks at her left and right. Maybe that’s what it was doing with the darkness. Perhaps it was thickening the air and trying to give itself a weapon other than the levitation.

Triggering the Tesla glove, Scarlett searched through the shadows and found the movement within it. On top of thickening the air, the darkness was working as camouflage. Whatever it was, Scarlett had injured it and it was obviously trying to prevent her from doing so again. It would take more than some darkness to get to the best of Scarlett and it would take more than some ethereal shadow to make her back down from a fight in fear. However, it did occur to her that perhaps because this creature was stuck in the other universe, she may not be able to harm it very much until it crossed sides. Portals and alternate universes were complex things she didn’t have all the data on yet.

Spotting movement to her left she, again, on instinct shot the beam of energy from the glove and the shadows subsided just enough for her to see that she’d gotten a hit. With her right hand Scarlett removed the blade she’d replaced the night before that had been folded up within the glove, swung it open and dove at the shadow which sliced easily beneath her sword. It dissipated from the blade, as though she’d simply sliced at a cloth. The shadow hit the ground and then began to fade, floating into the air as though evaporating.

“What the hell?” Scarlett didn’t have anything to say other than that, no other words were coming to her. Of all the things she had expected to meet them in that shopping mall that afternoon, what had actually met her was far weirder. Feeling something coming up behind her as the shadow faded in front of her eyes, Scarlett turned on her heels and swung the blade but felt something grab at her wrist but all she could see was shadow.

She twisted the blade away with ease and swung it and the shadow released her only to grab her from behind and push her hard into the ground, knocking her off of her feet with ease. The air was thick and as the shadow smothered her she found it harder and harder to breathe. Her lungs ached as she tried to gasp, and as she inhaled she found there was nothing there to take in. It was as though the shadow was covering her in a bubble to try and knock her unconscious. Would it take over her form and use it to aid its escape from this other world?

Slowly she managed to push from the shadow but it followed her and she managed to catch herself on her knees. Thinking on the fly while her brain was deprived of oxygen wasn’t the easiest task, but this was the kind of thing she trained for. Sort of. She wasn’t sure anyone really trained for this particular scenario and if they did they needed therapy more than she did.

She had to get the focus off of her for a moment so she could put some distance between her and the shadow. Physical attacks seemed to work but she wasn’t sure how well they really worked. Time was what she needed. The Tesla glove seemed to do some damage before, so why wouldn’t it assist her now? She thought back to Jinx’s words, her talk of fire, and thought that at least there wasn’t any fire yet, so maybe she’d had it wrong.

Aiming her Tesla glove toward the flickering lights overhead, Scarlett charged the blow, curling her fingers and then clenched her fist and triggered the energy to fly. It was such a strong blow that her arm was kicked back by the recoil and she fell into the ground with the shadow nearby. But the thick air and the already weakened electrical system took the blow and much to Scarlett’s surprise the light overhead exploded, then the lights around that one exploded, and the lights around those exploded too until every light on that floor of the department store had burst into a brilliant ray of sparks and shattered filament.

The ceiling creaked and some of the light fixtures hidden beneath the glass creaked and groaned then fell one by one from the ceiling with a terrible crash. Shaking below her, parts of the floor gave out and collapsed to the level below. The shadow screeched and howled, almost sounding as though it were in horrible wailing tears, like a banshee screeching in misery. It dove away from Scarlett to take refuge and for a second she thought she saw something like eyes on a horrible looking face, squinting and recoiling from the light overhead. Maybe it wasn’t the electrical shock that was affecting it after all, maybe it was the light. After all, the thing was made of shadow and seemed to be only half in their world. No wonder reality fell apart where this thing was trying to push through! It had too much energy!

Usually these events took place so quickly there was no time for this kind of a fight. This creature, whatever it was that was making its way through to their universe, was getting stronger and smarter. The fact that it had progressed this much in a single night was terrifying.

Scarlett could figure it out later when she wasn’t alone in a department store being attacked by something beyond the realm of imagination. She scrambled to her feet and gasped for breath. Spots flashed in front of her vision from lack of oxygen but she didn’t let the dizziness that swept over her put a stop to her escape. The escalator that had been shut down earlier was in sight and she would make her way down it. If Clint had received backup by now she could sure as hell use it.

“Hawkeye?” Scarlett pressed the button on her earpiece to communicate but received a shrill screech of feedback that nearly knocked her off of her balance and threw off her equilibrium. There was too much electricity in the air for her to get a connection. The shadow that seemed to be feeding off of the energy was blocking her from making contact with anyone. She wondered if Clint was having the same problem or if it was just because she was so close to the damn thing.

Daring to take a glance behind her Scarlett raced toward the just out of reach escalator. The sparks of lightning that she’d seen the night before in the portal were crackling down from broken light fixtures, off of windows to the outside world, and stopping just before the creature. Darkness seemingly pulled the lightning toward it, making it glow a strange violent blue color.

“That’s not good.” She gritted her teeth and before she could jump toward the escalator the shadow hurled the energy toward her. The force of the energy smashing into the foundation near the escalator threw Scarlett off of her feet and down the stairwell! She kicked her feet off of the wall so she wouldn’t go crashing into it, slid on her back down the handrail, then jumped to her feet and allowed momentum to do the rest. She slipped down the railing and diving past the out of order sign at the bottom that had earlier blocked her way.

The lights in the stairwell above the escalator were going out one by one, near the top and ever closer to the bottom. There was a horrible crackling, then a sizzling and she could suddenly smell something burning.

“And there’s the fire.” Scarlett groaned. It was definitely getting weird now. This would be the third fire that she’d had to deal with since she’d met Jinx. Once or twice could’ve been coincidence but this was getting out of control. How long would she ignore the pattern before she finally considered that her new “handler” actually had an idea of what she was talking about? “Maybe I’ll let her read my damn palm.” Through gritted teeth, Scarlett got to her feet, leapt over the nearest table, and then dodged through the racks hurrying around toward the doorway. She assumed if she kept the creature inside then things would remain safe. If people were being evacuated then the parking lot would be a nightmare filled with civilians.

No, it would make more sense to lead it further into the mall where people had likely already bailed. The darkness, however, seemed to have gotten faster. Maybe the energy had given it strength. Maybe she’d been wrong about light causing it pain. Had she confused pain for strength? It was possible, it’s not like she’d dealt with something like this before. But, the Tesla weapon was keeping her safe and for the time being it was all she had. Somehow, a gun didn’t seem like a very effective weapon against something that literally was shadow.

When she knew she couldn’t outrun the darkness consuming nearly the entire store behind her, Scarlett grabbed the nearest signage, threw it behind her and ducked low to the ground. As she did the shadow overwhelmed her, consumed her and surrounded her despite her attempts to block it. She triggered a secondary weapon on her Tesla that set off sparks all around the glove and it dissipated the shadow temporarily, turning pieces of it to ash. It rained down in a beautiful gray tinged with red in front of her before the shadow overtook her again.

In the shadows, Scarlett could swear she heard screaming all around her. She glanced forward and through the shadow she could see more shadows through the glass of the store windows. People who were being ushered out were stopping to scream and point out what was going on inside the store. She hoped they had the common sense not to try and interrupt what was happening within it. Before she could yell back or do anything they were gone, hidden by the shadow that felt like a swarm of angry locust suffocating her.

She fired the secondary weapon again and swung the sword in her other hand but it was only another temporary relief. Rolling out of the way she attempted to crawl forward but it was more powerful than any torrential storm she’d been in before in her life. Every attempt she made to push forward was stalled and she was thrown back by an unnatural force.

Finally the shadow knocked her off of her feet and she fell back to her knees. When she made an attempt to cut at it again with the blade she couldn’t find a physical being to make contact with. Blue lightning cracked through the darkness surrounding her, making her dizzy, sending a shock through her sword.

Shadowy tendrils, much like the furry legs of horrible spiders felt as though they were brushing against Scarlett’s face. She swatted at them but there was nothing to pull away, only shadow that dissipated and reappeared after she attempted to ride herself of it.

It felt almost violating, invisible bug-like hands touching her, grabbing at her, trying to figure out what she was, how she worked, how to stop her. Like tongues from some horrid beast leaving a terrible humid touch on her flesh and yet she could do very little to stop it. Each tongue, each tendril, pulled at her, pressed her closer to the ground, trying to smother the life out of her but she fought it and managed to stay, at the very least, on her knees and conscious.

But then the ground beneath her disappeared and she was floating, being held, taken by the same unseen force that had earlier projected the signs and cookware at her. Scarlett couldn’t let whatever this thing was win. She knew it had a physical form but finding it in the darkness wasn’t an easy task, particularly when she could barely breathe amongst the inky shadow.

Something was silhouetted in the blue lightning and Scarlett lunged at it with the blade and at last it made contact with something there. The shadow howled and the lightning cracked all around her sending shocks up her arm. Fire rained from the ceiling near the elevator that was further away than Scarlett had thought it was. She must have gotten much closer to the doors of the store than she had thought.

Finally she rolled away, gasping for breath. She was sweating. The humidity in the store was so overwhelming she barely felt relieved by the air she was finally able to inhale. The shadow reached for her again, howling, parts of it dripping through the hot air and she wondered if that was how shadows bled. She sliced again with her blade and this time it recoiled to avoid the blow. Perhaps she had done damage after all. She just had to aim her blows carefully and try to find that corporeal form hidden beneath it.

It wouldn’t give up so easily and when Scarlett made a dash toward the door it jumped in front of her. She spun around out of the way, holding the sword still, adjusting her grip on it and standing defensively. The shadowy tendrils grabbed at her again, twisting her around and she dodged and pulled away. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck in that horrible violating shadow again unable to breathe or think clearly.

When it kept grabbing at her jacket she twisted out of it, tossing the sword from hand to hand as the sleeves pulled away. It discarded the jacket and came for her again, wanting to keep a grip on her but Scarlett wasn’t going to let that happen, not a second time.

As she charged the Tesla weapon up again and fired another bolt of energy the shadow disappeared entirely from in front of her revealing the fire that was spreading through the back part of the department store. The energy crashed into the elevator and it burst into flames. Sirens went off in the store and the sprinklers came to life above the fire further away from her. But something stalled them and they failed, the water ceasing as quickly as it had begun. Before she could turn around she was lifted into the air and thrown in a rush of sparks and wind against the wall of the store, further away from the door.

“How is this fair?” Scarlett shouted in frustration as she was pressed against the wall. She blocked her face from the horrible sounds that came from the shadow. She could see the creature within it, but still there was no definite form. It was as though it wanted her to see it, wanted to show itself to her in its entirety but was still caught between darkness and light. The horrid sound turned into haunting laughter, again making Scarlett dizzy as it swirled around her head.

Beneath the laughter she thought she heard that wailing again, that horrible cry of despair from deep within the form of the shadow that was trying to kill her. Maybe it wanted to steal her form to walk on their world. It hadn’t been the first time she’d thought that. Hell, it wouldn’t be the weirdest thing that had happened today. How many times would she have to remind herself that weirder things had, indeed, happened? Then again, this had gotten very strange and was ranking itself pretty high on the list of weird shit that had happened to her in the last year.

Managing to pull her arm away from the wall Scarlett aimed it in front of her and before she triggered the glove turned it sharply toward where she thought the store entrance was. Glass shattered beyond the shadow. A blue light burst in front of Scarlett, between her and the darkness that had nearly encompassed her.

The woman from the night before who had come out of the portal, Mitchell, appeared. She seemed strained at first but then regained herself quickly. She landed on the ground with a crash, then twisted around toward the shadowy form and raced toward it. With a great leap she managed to catch onto the shadowy creature before it could twist away. Though it slid through her hands and began to dissipate as it had done each time that Scarlett had attacked it, Mitchell had done so fast enough that she was able to swing the creature around and throw it as hard as she could toward the fiery end of the store.

With the creature went the shadow and finally Scarlett was able to breathe. Unfortunately, the force that had also been holding her in the air was gone and she fell to the ground. Thankfully she managed to keep from smashing her face or her bad shoulder and landed as gracefully as she could. From the fire there was a horrid roar of anger and screaming that echoed throughout the store.

“It’s just a demon. Don’t hesitate.” Mitch looked to Scarlett expectantly as she adjusted her tan jacket. Scarlett coughed and gasped for air, her lungs aching from the lack of it. She stood up, dusted herself off the best she could then tried to check if any damage had been done. The shadow that had grabbed her and pulled at her had left shadowy dark bruises on her skin. But even as she noticed them she saw them fading.

“Oh, a demon, no big deal or anything. That happens every day.” Scarlett scoffed comically, finding her jacket nearby on the floor. She pulled it back on her shoulders, swung the blade again in front of her and then turned back toward the shadow. “If only I’d brought my holy water.”

“Does that work on demons in your world?” Mitch looked puzzled but didn’t take her eyes off of where she’d sent the demon flying into the fire.

“It was a joke.”

“It wasn’t very funny.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m oxygen deprived, give me a break.” Scarlett nodded her head and braced herself. At least now she knew why she’d felt followed all the way from the city. As predicted, Mitchell had kept an eye on her. What Scarlett hadn’t expected was for the woman to intervene when she’d gotten in over her head.