Across the Universe

“Any word from the Macy’s side of the mall?” Clint pointed at the security guard standing just a few feet away from him who had turned toward him after guiding a group of teenagers out of harm’s way. The perimeter had been set a few miles down the road in the parking lot of an outlet center nearby and was filling up quickly. Civilians had been told that there was a bomb threat and news media had been strictly prohibited from the scene.

“Still evacuating, no official count on what remains!” The security guard was scared and out of his element. Two of the on duty guards had been somewhat useful to his cause, but still they were in their later years and retired policemen so there was only so much they could do. Thankfully it seemed as though local law enforcement was working on the outside of the mall, leading people to safety and keeping them from returning for personal items or other ridiculous reasons. One woman had insisted she’d left her sweater in the food court and had tried to convince Clint to help her get it. He’d eventually had to shove a twenty dollar bill in her hand to get her to go away.

Clint still wasn’t sure what to tell the security guards at this point. He’d decided to call it a bomb threat rather than universal radioactive interference because it seemed less ridiculous and caused more panic. Between that and his black and maroon get up (it was purple, he used the color maroon to avoid jokes about the color purple), he likely would’ve been called a lunatic.. Everyone seemed to scatter to life upon hearing the words “bomb threat” used in a serious sentence by a man with a fancy ID badge, no matter how purple his uniform was.

“Alright, keep evacuating! You’re doing just fine!” Clint watched the security officer turn on his heels and then stopped him. “Can I have your radio?” The guard handed him the one he had on his hip and then hurried along his way. He turned the volume up on it and heard nothing but static. He was worried about Scarlett, about what had become of her after she’d gone after that bad feeling of hers.

Clint wasn’t superstitious but he didn’t discount the idea that bad luck could be an actual thing. He’d never thought about it too hard, to be honest. There were good days and bad days and all he could do was deal with them as they came and roll with the punches. But ever since Scarlett had walked off, which had been a good ten minutes ago, he’d had a bad feeling and it was becoming more unnerving by the second. Bad feelings were contagious that afternoon it seemed.

“Blackbird? Are you okay? Even an insult would make me feel better.” He called through his earpiece again and this time he was met a sharp horrid electronic squeal from the earpiece which made him jump and nearly fall over. What was that interference he kept getting? Maybe his earpiece was misbehaving and it wasn’t Scarlett ignoring him or having gotten into trouble at all!

“Shit.” Clint stopped in the center of the mall where the pathway led in four different directions all around him. The good news was he couldn’t catch sight of any civilians that had stayed behind. The bad news was he couldn’t tell where Scarlett had gone either and he couldn’t seem to call for help anymore either. He flipped his cell phone out of a pocket on his belt and before he could dial any number it rang, much to his surprise.

“Barton?” The stern voice of Maria Hill met him when he answered it though it was garbled and her dialogue was broken. Even his cell phone signal was messed up. Whatever this phenomenon actually was, it wasn’t doing any favors for the technology he’d brought with him. On top of that the mall itself seemed eerily quiet and safe.

“Hill? You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice.” Clint turned around, half expecting to run into the backup team he’d been provided with.

“I can’t get in touch with Damien, what’s going on in there? Do you still need that backup?”

“Yes, I do, very much so. Those readings Banner took? They’re coming from a shopping mall. Scarlett felt we were being followed and pursued whoever it was. I haven’t heard from her since and every communication device I have is malfunctioning. The radiation readings were off the charts when we got here. Something’s going to happen, I know it. It’s different than the times before this, something very bad is about to happen here. I need all the help I can get!”

“Well it’s good I landed early at Newark, isn’t it?” An unfamiliar voice with a strong British undertone spoke from behind Clint. He hung up his phone upon seeing Maria Hill a few feet behind the newcomer. With Maria was Michelangela Pierce, looking pale in the face but ready for action. Something had changed since the last time he’d seen Mickey, it seemed she was beginning to find her courage even if it was reluctantly.

“Pierce, Hill, thanks for coming. Who’s this guy? James Bond?”

“Oh, funny. I’ve never gotten that joke before.” The man with short cropped blond hair, a hard jaw line with a five o’clock shadow and scars that could be seen peeking from beneath his jacket smiled and showed off a set of dimples. “British and rugged, carrying a weapon, I must be James Bond. All MI-6 Agents are you know. All us Brits look like Daniel Craig, didn’t you know?”

“I like this guy, he has time for sarcasm.” Clint looked around the newcomer and to the women he was more familiar with.

“What’s the situation?” Maria rolled her eyes and ignored the jokes and instead urged the group to focus on the potential disaster at hand.

“Evacuating currently. Scarlett’s still missing in action but I have to assume she can take care of herself.”

“Any sign of strange activity? Is there anything more to this than just a gut feeling?” The British newcomer seemed skeptical that anything was amiss at all. There was nothing going on inside the mall yet, it was difficult to explain it further than that.

“Nothing yet and we’re hoping it stays that way.” Clint exchanged glances with Mickey who was looking as uneasy as he felt. It seemed as though he wasn’t the only one with a bad feeling.

As if to prove him wrong the ground beneath them shook suddenly and violently! It began to quake, breaking concrete and sending the group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents wobbling left and right, struggling to maintain their balance. It appeared as if there was a wave of something horrible rolling beneath the very foundation of the building. There were screams from the far end of the building and outside in the parking lot, signaling the phenomenon has spread much wider than they’d anticipated. Windows creaked and cracked, skylights fell apart and rained onto the ground below, and light fixtures crashed and shattered.

“Get down!” The newcomer shouted and urged the others around him onto their knees in a crouch, protectively holding his arms over the women next to him in an attempt to keep them from being showered with debris from the ceiling, hiding his face to avoid getting glass in his eyes.

The shaking continued, the sound of distress drowned out by the creaking of steel and the crumbling of stone. As quickly as it had begun the shaking stopped completely. Clint slowly rose from his position on the ground and looked around them cautiously. None of his comrades had been hurt though they were covered in a fine mist of drywall and broken safety glass.

“Status update?” Clint shouted into the radio on his hip while the others got to their feet. Maria was on the radio back to S.H.I.E.L.D. while the newcomer surveyed the area around them with keen eyes, looking for any immediate structural woes that would cause them trouble. The radios screamed back at them in objection. Mickey was on the phone with the local law enforcement, trying to make sure that they didn’t let any of their officers back inside the building if they could help it but she had to yell and repeat herself several times. Suddenly Clint’s radio sprang to life, though speech was barely recognizable.

Each of the security officers slowly responded to Clint with information regarding civilians. Some had taken place in old storm shelters beneath the mall when the shaking had begun, while another group was trapped in a department store but were safe and waiting until help could come and pull them out.

It was lucky that most of the mall had been evacuated before the quake or at least the civilians had found places safe from harm, to keep hidden from the chaos that had suddenly begun to unfold around them. Clint doubted their luck would hold out for much longer given what had happened.

“Banner says the readings from Scarlett’s device aren’t responding anymore. The signal is being interfered with somehow. Even Stark can’t get it back.” Maria picked up the phone again but before she could contact anyone else a horrible shrill screaming of electronic feedback poured through the earpiece so loud that the others held their ears in annoyance.

Mickey dropped her phone as hers did the same while she’d been giving instructions to the police about contacting the National Guard and declaring a state of emergency. The less chaos they caused the better, but now she couldn’t do anything about stopping them in the process.

“It’s no use! Something’s blocking us.” The newcomer grunted in frustration. “Careful, looks like the roof isn’t in excellent condition over here. Years of being over this fountain have led way to rot and disrepair.

“Well, that’s New Jersey in general.” Clint gritted his teeth then turned his attention to Maria. “We have to find Scarlett. We have to get out of here. We can’t fight earthquakes!”

“Like hell we can’t!” Maria wasn’t about to give up. “How can we know if we can fight it when we don’t know what’s causing this?”

“It’ll be much more difficult to fight it if we’re dead.” Clint pointed out.

“I’m inclined to agree with Agent Barton!” Mickey winced, nearly jumping a mile as another piece of debris fell from the doorway to their left.

“We’re staying.” Maria ordered, frustrated. “Until we can’t anymore. This building is still holding its ground and so are we. Coulson’s orders.”

“No offense, Hill, but Coulson isn’t here, is he? He’s not calling the shots.” Hawkeye knew that work on the field was much different than work in the office. Coulson was an excellent agent but he knew the call would’ve been different if he’d been there in person to experience the chaos.

“Go find Damien, see what you can find in the meantime. Pierce and I have this area covered.” Hill grabbed Mickey by the arm and guided her away. Clint nodded toward the newcomer.

“Ready?”

“As ever.” It was surprising that this newcomer didn’t seem at all shaken and Clint wondered what his story was but he didn’t care enough to ask.

“Hill, don’t go far!” Clint shouted to her over his shoulder. “Radios aren’t working, I can’t come to your aid when I can’t hear you.”

“We’re just walking down the hall, not underground.” She shouted back without looking back to him.

“Don’t forget you have my briefcase, love!” The newcomer called but Maria waved him off in annoyance. “Name’s Daniel, by the way. Daniel Harrison.” He didn’t give his hand to shake but Clint nodded his head in greeting anyway.

“You can call me Hawkeye.”

“Ah, I’ve heard of you. Best marksmen around.”

“Was the bow a dead giveaway?” Clint hadn’t even realized he was still clutching his primeval weapon in his hand with a white knuckled grip. It had always gotten him out of trouble in the past. He had readied it to do the same just in case they’d had a full collapse of the mall over their heads.

“So where is this coworker of yours? Miss Damien?”

“Don’t know. We were being followed upon arrival. She branched off early on to circle around and turn the tables on whoever it was.” Clint grimaced as he recalled warning her that it could be trouble. Natasha was going to be so mad at him for letting her go on her own after the last few nights she’d had. Though he could hear Natasha in his head assuring him Scarlett was resourceful, so perhaps it was his own worry getting the best of him.

“And how exactly do you propose we find her with all these shops to go in and out of? Hmm?” Daniel looked skeptical of their odds and had, in fact, already worked them out in his head.

“Think about places to hide. Maybe look for pretty dresses? She likes those even if you couldn’t get her to admit it.”

“That was a joke, right?” Daniel laughed and Clint nodded his head, confused that he had to explain whether it was or not. “Good. Beg my pardon, sometimes your American humor doesn’t quite read well to me.”

“Right, more Monty Python jokes, I’m on it.” Clint started down the hall, looking left to right, backtracking toward the food court where they’d entered the mall earlier. There, sure enough, was the collapse that he’d heard about from one of the security officers who had reported to him earlier. Thankfully, beyond the collapse there wasn’t another soul in sight. He turned in placed and made signals to Harrison that there was nowhere worth looking in that area. Before they could regroup something caught their eye.

A brilliant bluish glow appeared from down the corridor, illuminating everything around it and blinding them temporarily to anything else in the mall. The men exchanged glances and then raced toward the light. As they grew close, two figures came crashing past them. The first, Scarlett, flew into one of the benches which she grabbed the top of, preventing her from flying further. The other hand, clutching her blade, shoved it hard into the woodwork on the floor and she managed to twist around and catch herself on her feet.

The other figure was thrown further and higher but as she arced toward to the ground, a blue haze surrounded her, the ground opened up, and she reappeared higher above the ground and landed on the same chair that Scarlett had nearly destroyed upon being thrown nearly through it.

“Blackbird!” Clint shouted, hurrying over to Scarlett and Mitchell. “What’s going on? Are you okay? You wouldn’t respond to me over the radio!”

“No time for that!” Scarlett gestured behind him and Clint turned at once to see the shadow coming from the store and the glow from the inside of it. “It’s interfering with our devices!”

“We’ve got to go! Now!” Mitchell, who seemed to understand more about traveling through portals than Scarlett did in the long run, looked panic stricken but determined. “Not much time left!”

“You don’t have to tell me twice!” Scarlett grabbed Clint by his forearm and pulled him along as she took off at a run. When she turned Daniel stood in her way and she stopped suddenly and nearly lost her balance. “Don’t know who you are, but run!” She shouted and dodged past him, releasing Clint from her grasp when he finally listened to her. They retreated toward the food court but by the time Scarlett realized that the exit out into the parking lot had been destroyed it was too late. The flash of light within the shadow grew and the lightning from the center of it sparked throughout the mall, crumbling more of the structure surrounding them. Everything it struck was destroyed, leaving craters in the ground in some parts.

Fire was spreading from the department store, filling the building with smoke slowly but surely. Thankfully parts of the roof had been broken in the tremor that the shadow creature had created in its attempts to cross between worlds so the smoke had a few places to escape and hadn’t yet become overwhelming. If things kept collapsing it wouldn’t be long before the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents and any civilians who hadn’t yet made it out of the shopping mall became trapped and would likely suffocate before help located them.

“What the hell is that?” Clint shouted, grabbing at Mitchell to try and pull her out of harm’s way but he was surprised when she leapt right over him and onto the table behind him. Lengthy tendrils of shadow reached toward them, attempting to engulf what remained of the food court. Clint turned quickly and shot his bow toward it but watched in dismay as the arrow sailed right through the darkness and somewhere beyond it.

“Get down!” Maria Hill shouted as she ran toward the group. The shadow had spread throughout the mall and the collapse had been worse than they expected. It hadn’t been long at all before Mickey and Maria had been forced to turn on their heels and follow after Clint and Daniel. When they’d spied the lightning and had been forced to dodge it and deal with yet another collapse in their way they realized they needed to get to safety. Whatever was unfolding within the shopping mall was beyond their power and their understanding. Coulson would have to understand that severity of the situation.

Lightning shot across the food court again every which way. Scarlett jumped onto the carousel and dove behind the pole in the middle while Mitch took refuge beneath the mock circus tent above her. Clint ducked under a table and Daniel had managed to, just in time, hide behind the counters of one of the fast food shops. Daniel seemed to have unusually good timing for someone who had just been thrust upon the scene.

When the lightning subsided Scarlett climbed from behind the carousel and started toward the shadow once again. Even if her blows didn’t do much damage it was better than nothing. She charged up the Tesla glove and fired another blast at it. The darkness that was threatening to surround them in the food court subsided a few feet and groaned in annoyance. The voice seemed distant, muffled, almost under water.

Clint readied another arrow and this time set the head of it so that it would release a powerful blast upon impact. He aimed at the ground beneath the shadow and created a huge puff of smoke. Mitchell jumped away from the carousel, flipped to the ground and when she saw Scarlett charging up her electronic glove again, she leapt in front of the woman.

“Trust me! Don’t shoot!”

“What did I tell you about trust?” Scarlett aimed her weapon and when she fired, Mitch summoned that same blue light portal that she’d been using to travel around in. The blast from Scarlett’s weapon disappeared and so did Mitchell. In a flash she reappeared behind the shadow and the blast from the Tesla weapon had made contact with the shadow that now fell closer to the ground.

Mickey pulled her gun from its holster and aimed a shot at the ground as Clint had done, hoping to at least help to keep the beast in place even if bullets didn’t do much of anything against such a monstrosity.

“It’s working!” Clint shouted and aimed another arrow, this time with an arrowhead that would release a strong bolt of electricity that when it made contact should work as an electronic net to hold the creature hostage.

At first the shadow creature fell and the encroaching shadows ceased. Mitchell teleported back to where Scarlett was standing. Daniel was closest now to the creature and approached the hunched over, wheezing, miserable creature. It had no form, no face, no specific shape and at first he was confused, unsure if it was really trapped at not. But then the form changed and molded itself into the shape of a woman. Soon the woman took on features, Scarlett’s features. It was the woman from the night before, the one that had leapt out of the portal and had attacked Scarlett and that Mitchell claimed had dragged her between universes.

Yet, she was not the same woman.

Shadows, unnatural, fell over her skin which changed color from black to white and black again, almost like something horrible was swirling around within her form trying to escape. She didn’t smile, she didn’t attack at all the way she had before and instead looked up at Daniel with menacing and yet somehow pleading green eyes.

“What the hell?” Daniel muttered. While he had only just met Scarlett, albeit in passing, he knew that it was a spitting image of her, minus the few details here and there that were different and the terrible shadow dwelling within her.

Clint fired an arrow without hesitating and the illusion the shadow had taken on was broken. But it didn’t stop there, it changed again, shifting once more into the form of another woman and this time, it was Mitchell with her brown jacket. The blue light that she summoned beneath her feet to transport herself was there, growing but the same unnatural blue lightning crackled all around her and threatened them all, destroying the wooden floor beneath her.

“It’s mimicking people who pass through its portals.” Mitchell gasped in realization as she watched the others fall prey to its trick. It wasn’t that they truly believed this shadow creature was turning into one of their allies but rather they were so astonished by what they were seeing that action seemed almost impossible. No matter what they had witnessed in the past, this phenomenon was far more spectacular than anything any of them had witnessed. Then it changed again, to the silhouette of a dark man, with sallow cheeks, slicked back dark hair and a helmet with two long strange horns, unfamiliar to them all.

“I didn’t touch the portal.” Scarlett muttered, even though she had stepped through it the night before for just a second. “Not until after there was that weird mirror-version of me.” The air in the mall grew thicker, the roof crumbled across the food court and the others ducked instinctively out of the way.

“We can throw around Star Trek theories later. Right now this is becoming a problem!” Clint saw the darkness creeping further, blocking the view of the hallway, making everything appear hazy the further away it was. He aimed his bow at the shadow creature and it changed form back into the shadowed version of Scarlett. Not at all falling for the trick the creature was playing on him Clint fired the arrow and in a brilliant display of electrical sparks it engulfed the shadow creature. Within the darkness that was very quickly and eagerly spreading throughout the food court, a small ball of blue sparks formed within it.

“That’s not good.” Mitchell was quickly forming theories in her head.

“I’m tired of this.” Scarlett flicked the Tesla glove on and fired at the creature which finally fell back. As it hit the ground it disappeared in a puff of smoke and spread around the room.

“This is definitely not good!” Mitchell grabbed Scarlett’s wrist to prevent her from blasting at the smoke a second time.

“Then what do you propose we do if not that?” Scarlett twisted her wrist free and turned her back to Mitchell as the shadows surrounded them. One by one, the figures that had flashed before them grew from the smoke, taking solid form. Maria aimed her gun at the shadowy man with the horns who was holding a long spear aimed toward her.

The shadows were hostile, but Scarlett seemed to think that the light was of some significance. The shadows even seemed to be drawing them away from it. As she turned to slip past the shadowy version of Mitchell she was blocked by the woman who looked remarkably like her. The staff in her hand was glowing and sparking with the same lightning that the shadow creature, or demon apparently, had been creating. Scarlett leapt backwards and flipped out of the way as the staff met the ground in front of her time and time again.

Unable to dodge another blow, Scarlett held up her glove and[a name="here"][/a] heard the clang and clatter of the shadowy staff as it crashed against it repeatedly. Twisting her wrist she grabbed onto the staff and released a shock from the Tesla glove. The shadow twitched and trembled then fell to the ground, the lightning radiating from the staff exploding in an array of sparks! Scarlett leapt over the shadow mirror-Scarlett and raced toward the light. As she got closer she felt something pull her to a stop. She spun instinctively, ducked as the shadow version of her swung wildly. The shadow growled in frustration but it didn’t sound at all like the woman she’d come face to face with the night before instead it sounded like the horrible howling she’d heard in the department store; the sound that she had mistaken for crying.

“Damnit,” Scarlett gritted her teeth and swung low, releasing a charge from her Tesla glove which sent the shadow version of her buckling forward. But instead the shadow retaliated and kneed her in the stomach. The same intrusive feeling of the shadow wrapping around her overwhelmed her and instinctively Scarlett swatted at the shadow and tried to get it off of her like a pesky bug. The other her took this moment to grab her wrist and threw her over a few of the remaining upright tables. Scarlett braced herself and slid on her back, holding her head so it wouldn’t smack against the ground when she landed.

Scarlett grabbed the chair behind her and swung it hard against the shadow then ran past it. They were trying to keep them from the light, buying time for it to grow. For some reason Scarlett knew she had to get there. It seemed as though the others were too preoccupied by the beasts fighting them to see that.

At first the shadow followed her but it wasn’t long before she was able to lose it in the chaos. Pieces of the building were collapsing left and right, darkness was surrounding them, trying to confuse them but in the process it seemed as though the agents of the shadow were confused as well. The creature behind the attack had spread itself too thin. An arrow flew by her head and the shadow howled again. She waved her thanks to Clint and raced through the shadow, holding her arms in front of her in hopes to cut some of the awful feeling that it created away. Much to her surprise she leapt right through it.

The shadow was only creating a vale to obscure their vision, not actually encompassing the entirety of the mall. Maybe it didn’t have enough power yet, at least that’s what she theorized. Scarlett managed to make it behind the light that was growing into a larger orb, each minuet that passed. Every breath she took felt as though it were being drained, as though her life force was being consumed by the orb.

Within it she swore she could see a figure, but whether it was human, monster, or something else entirely, even a machine, Scarlett couldn’t make it out. Charging her Tesla glove, Scarlett aimed at the light fixture overhead. It was too dangerous to touch the orb, she wouldn’t know what would happen and Scarlett had done enough reckless things over the past few days.

As she fired a shot off toward the ceiling she was tackled to the ground by Mitchell who was shouting at her and waving for her not to fire. The blast missed the intended target and blew a chunk of the ceiling into pieces, revealing light from the New Jersey afternoon outside, forcing some of the shadow to fade.

Scarlett and Mitchell slid onto the floor from the force of the charge accompanied by Mitchell’s weight. They smacked into the wall of the nearby row of restaurants that lined. Scarlett rubbed her head in frustration and then smacked her Tesla glove against the ground, making it spark for effect.

“What the hell is your problem, Mitchell?” She took the hand that was offered to her to help her off of the ground but an arrow flew between them through the shadow and they were forced to separate.

Clint had tried to shoot at the orb that was gaining energy. One second it had been nothing but a small orb and now it was nearly three feet in diameter. When he saw Scarlett going after it he’d hoped that she’d get it but it seemed whatever she’d done had only made the situation worse.

“Hill, do you see that?”

“Hard to miss, mate!” Daniel shouted for Maria who was currently preoccupied helping Mickey fight against the shadowy version of Mitchell. Clint shot another arrow toward the light but was thrown off balance and tackled from behind by the shadow of the man with the spear. His eyes were glowing a vicious yellow and his horns were menacingly large. Clint flipped his bow around in hopes of using it as leverage but the man held the spear against his throat.

“A little help would be nice!” He shouted but didn’t take his eyes off of the shadowy blade. Though at first he thought the shadows were intangible he could feel it cutting just into his neck, enough to drip blood. From the blade of the shadow spear he could feel the shadow creeping across his flesh, feeling almost slimy and invasive, clamping around his neck and nearly choking him.

Then something metallic shot through the shadow man, straight through his chest and pinned him to the kiosk nearby. Daniel had fired the only weapon he’d had on his person which had been a grappling hook but it had at least done the trick.

“Thanks!” Clint quickly jumped to his feet and checked his neck to make sure the shadow had left him and that he wasn’t bleeding too severely. But he didn’t have much time to think. The shadow man, though at first stunned by the attack, morphed and changed into a puff of darkness before regrouping and reappearing in the same shape. On the ground beneath him dripped something horrible and green, almost as though the shadow itself was bleeding from the wound.

“Miss Hill, if you would be so kind as to tell me where my briefcase is, I would be quite delighted!” Daniel called to Maria who was pulling Mickey out of the way of another attack from the shadowy half-demon. Daniel flipped a knife from his belt and swung it artfully and meticulously as he approached Clint and helped him ward off the man who was swinging his spear now wildly at him as though fueled by rage! There was no chance for Clint to shoot an arrow as good an archer as he was, the creature was far too fast. The shadow threw something small and sharp, daggers perhaps, but they disappeared as quickly as they hit the ground, narrowly missing those they were thrown toward.

Maria looked toward Daniel and then rolled out of the way of another blow from the shadow woman. Blue light circled her feet and she disappeared with a brilliant dazzling burst of energy before reappearing behind Maria and leaping for her. Maria jumped narrowly aside just in time. Mickey grabbed the arms of the shadow woman and tried to subdue her and shove her to the ground but the woman was stronger. She lifted Mickey right off of the ground and threw her through the very portal she’d created beneath her feet.

Mickey squealed in surprise and flew from the ceiling out of the portal and crashed onto the ground. Much to her surprise when she opened her eyes from the fall she hadn’t died or even broken any bones. Instead the ground had cracked beneath her and she was just fine!

“Pierce! Pierce, are you alright?” Maria ducked low as the shadow Mitchell threw a large piece of debris at her. “Watch out!” The debris flew right over her head and toward Mickey. Much to everyone’s surprise, Mickey grabbed the debris and slid backwards on the ground with it in front of her. Maria blinked her eyes in surprise as she saw the debris break into smaller pieces and stood with her mouth agape before running toward her fellow agent.

“It’s okay!” Mickey was surprised as anyone else. It must have been the adrenaline of the situation and she had to have fallen just right from the ceiling, it was the only explanation! The air was heavier inside of the mall thanks to the shadow after all, it could change the way physics worked. Right? She picked up one of the smaller pieces of debris and launched it at the shadow approaching her. It disappeared again through the dazzling blue light but this time Mickey anticipated the move and turned just in time to duck as the shadow woman came leaping at her from the portal she’d created from behind her. “Go help Agent Harrison! I’ve got her!”

“Right.” Maria turned on her heels, leaving Mickey to her own devices, a thousand questions on her mind and no time for answers. The entrance to the parking lot outside of the mall was nearby and she’d left Daniel’s briefcase and her other supplies there when she’d run into the building as backup. At the time the supplies had been too heavy to carry with them. The fountain near the doorway was still working, amazingly untouched by any of the debris that was falling only feet away thanks to the destruction caused by the creature.

The orb of light was no longer just an orb, it was the size of a small vehicle and flares of light were sparking out of it every so often, licking the ceiling, the floor around it and growing with every second. As she ran around the edge of the fountain and toward the door something leapt in front of her and a blast rang off from the shadow version of Scarlett that made the ceiling in front of her collapse.

“Get down!” Scarlett’s voice rang from behind Maria and she dropped into the fountain, soaking herself but just in time as Scarlett shot a blow from her Tesla glove right into the shadow version of herself, then swung the blade which met the staff of her foe. Artfully she swung it but each swing was met with a block until finally she parried and managed to kick the shadow in the stomach. Scarlett then clenched the fist of her glove, let off a shot of sparks and tackled the shadow version of her to the ground, grabbing her face and releasing the electricity with a yell.

The shadow creature howled and tried to grab at her, tendrils of shadow shifting and trying to surround Scarlett’s ankles but she refused to give in just because if felt repulsive against her flesh, seemingly reaching through the clothing she wore.

But then she was grabbed by the back of her jacket and thrown behind the fountain by the shadow man with the demon horns who had come to aid its comrade.

“Blackbird, you alright?” Clint blocked several of the daggers that had been thrown at them from the shadow creature. He stood guard in front of her until he was sure it was safe to help her up.

“You know that song is about racism right?” Scarlett got to her feet with Clint’s help and dusted off her jacket. Clint smiled with relief then they turned their attention toward the shadowy man with the horns who had helped the other version of Scarlett to her feet. The two swung their staff and spear, which clashed together and the lightning that it created would have been beautiful had it not been meant to harm them. Instantly the air felt heavier and breathing became something burdensome.

“Is this really the time?”

“Stop calling me that then. My shoulder’s killing me.” Scarlett grunted, surprised when Clint stood guard in front of her.

“Suck it up, Damien. You can deal with it later.” Clint teased with a small smile, aiming another arrow toward the woman who looked so much like his friend. She deflected the arrow but was surprised when the tip of it separated and shot out several wires that then surrounded her and threw her off balance.

“Clint, look out!” Scarlett was surprised yet again when he shoved her out of the way as the flash of light flew from the spear that the man held crashed toward her. Clint took the blow and fell to the ground twitching from the shock. The shadow that he had trapped disappeared into a puff of smoke as did the man and the two clouds joined as one and then like a swarm of bees targeted Hawkeye and overwhelmed him, hiding him within the shadow. They hoped to suffocate him!

At first he fought against it and swung his bow around frantically in hopes of knocking it off; the tips of it were sharpened and serrated so anything in its path would be knocked aside but there was nothing there to hit but shadow. It pressed into him, pushing him hard to the ground, trying to choke the life out of him as it had done to Scarlett earlier in the department store.

Getting to her feet, Scarlett charged her glove and ran toward the shadow. Holding her breath she jumped within it and released the same sparks that had offered her hope when she’d been trapped in it herself. The shadow was weaker, its energy seemingly separated with the effort of keeping three pawns in action along with whatever the orb was doing in the center of the food court. Everything was happening so fast it was difficult to focus on one aspect of the chaos at once.

The shadow dissipated as she released a second charge but when it finally did she could see Clint gritting his teeth and twitching beneath the glove, just as electrocuted as the shadow she’d attacked.

“Sorry!” Scarlett winced, instantly pulling her glove away. Clint blinked his eyes a few times in disbelief, his hair standing on end from the shock that had gone through him twice but nodded his head. Scarlett couldn’t help but imagine smoke coming from his ears.

“I’m fine, invigorated really.” Clint got to his feet and stumbled in place, clenching his fists to try and regain feeling in his fingers.

“I hope that’s true.” Scarlett stood in front of him protectively as he had done to her only moments ago as the shadow creatures rematerialized in front of them. Both were disfigured and dripping, as though there wasn’t enough energy or shadow left to keep them properly formed. Maybe it wasn’t shadow after all, Scarlett theorized. It hadn’t felt like shadow. What else could it possibly be?

Maria was thankful for the distraction created by Scarlett and Clint and had begun instantly pulling at the debris that had gotten in her way thanks to the shadow creatures. Finally she managed to break her way through it, with the assistance of her weapon, and reach the supplies. She pulled several weapons of her own out of it, including a few electronic nets that would protect them from anything that would collapse on them for a period of time.

Then she grabbed the suspiciously light briefcase Daniel had requested and took off at a run past the debris and toward the agent.

“Harrison!” She shouted and threw the briefcase and just in time as the strange half demon woman was thrown right at her through a glowing blue portal thanks to the shadow version of herself. Maria felt the wind knocked right out of her, several of her possessions scattering on the ground below. Mitchell got back to her feet in an instant but it took a second for Maria to recover, her forehead scraped and dripping with blood.

Daniel had been keeping an eye on that corner of the food court while helping Mitchell and Mickey keep the shadow half-demon at bay. He was particularly skilled at spotting the smallest of details, his senses heightened far more than the average human being. The shadow version of Mitchell saw him eyeing the briefcase and he dodged behind Mickey, warned her that he needed a distraction and then leapt over a piece of debris.

Mickey fired her gun several times at the shadow version of the half demon. The shadow demon leapt backwards, bounced off the wall and slid toward Mickey but then fell and slid across the ground onto her stomach as one of the bullets slipped through her shadow form right in the chest. It seemed wounded temporarily before it rematerialized and came at her again, the same strange ooze that came from the other shadows dripping from where the wound would have been.

Daniel, after he was sure that Mickey was okay, rushed to where his briefcase had fallen on its side and clicked it open at once. Inside were several metal pieces, lightweight in construction. He snapped them together artfully until they formed the large gun he carried with him nearly everywhere. He was an expert marksman, thanks to his heightened senses.

Ducking as Mickey went flying past him thanks to the shadow demon, Daniel was forced to duck near a piece of debris as the real Mitchell followed suit and freed Mickey from its clutches.

He ran forward, taking cover behind pieces of debris, tables, overturned kiosks, anything that would hide him from plain sight and provide him shelter just in case the shadow creatures spotted him and planned to stop him. He hunkered down once in the line of sight of the large orb that grew ever more menacing in front of them.

He cocked the gun, made sure it was properly loaded and then aimed at the orb.

“No! Scarlett! Stop him!” Mitchell realized a little too late what Daniel had been up to but was too preoccupied to stop him. The shadow version of herself was just as strong as she was and they’d been in a wrestling match on the floor when she’d finally realized it.

Scarlett ducked past the shadow man, pulling Clint along with her. He turned, aimed his bow, shot at the shadows that were chasing them and watched them fall prey to the electronic net that he’d loaded into the arrowhead.

“Go!” He shouted to Scarlett, grabbed her by the arm, helped her spin around and gave her a boost as she jumped past the fountain and closer to Daniel. She slid against the ground on her bad shoulder, withdrew her gun from its holster beneath her jacket and aimed it at the one Daniel held in his hand once she was past the debris he was hiding behind.

She fired a shot just as he had but it was too late for her to stop what had already been done. The rocket Daniel had shot went straight into the orb of light just as the shot from Scarlett’s gun had hit the weapon he was holding and knocked it out of his hand and onto the ground.

“What the hell? Daniel looked behind him in surprise as he saw Scarlett sliding on the ground and then leaning her head back on the ground in an attempt to swallow the pain that spread through her shoulder and through her chest.

Clint ran over to help Scarlett to her feet but his attention was turned toward the ball of light in the center of the food court, as was everyone’s. The fighting seemed at a standstill, the shadow creatures completely disappeared from view. The light grew a foot in diameter then with a resounding boom and a rapid, high pitched, suction sound shrank until it was nothing but a small pinpoint of light remained. Clint cheered, the air becoming less tense and thick throughout the food court and held out his hand in hopes of a high five from Scarlett. His hands were tingling but they weren’t so numb that he wouldn’t feel her reciprocation but it never came. Instead Scarlett was returning to her feet on her own and staring at the tiny speck of light with worry.

“That was bad, wasn’t it?”

“Whatever was in there was trying to cross over. I tried to warn Scarlett earlier that any amount of energy could disrupt it. Now it’s become unstable.” Mitchell was staring in awe, approaching with a limp but still remaining at the ready. Whatever happened next, they needed to be prepared.

“What do you mean unstable? It would’ve been nice to have been clued in earlier.” Daniel was examining the damage done to his weapon before turning his attention to the stranger. Mitchell opened her mouth to explain but the tiny pinpoint of light exploded in a brilliant flash of lightning then a wave of energy sprang forth knocking nearly everyone off of their feet.

Scarlett crouched low and gripped at the broken ground in front of her so she wouldn’t fall over but when she turned to see the others, the only one who hadn’t fallen was Mickey who was standing there on her guard. Scarlett had anticipated something bad happening, Mickey must have been doing the same.

“Run!” Scarlett leapt to her feet and ran toward Mickey, grabbing her arm and racing toward the carousel.

“It’s too late!” Mitchell shouted and was about to duck behind the nearby fountain but Clint grabbed her wrist and then ran toward Maria Hill and took refuge within the fountain itself, hoping that the structure would protect them from any blow that may come next.

Daniel ditched his gun but grabbed his briefcase and ran toward Scarlett and Mickey, urging them to crouch down, holding the case in front of him protectively. The wave of energy had spread past them, hitting the walls of the mall and presumably anything outside of it. The walls groaned, creaked and cracked. Visible distress lines appeared throughout the building. As the foundation and load bearing walls gave way the ceiling caved in first from the center of the food court, spreading across the top levels of the mall, knocking stores down into collapse on top of other stores below.

“Everything’s coming down!” Scarlett shouted, warning the others to take refuge the best they could. If they didn’t hide properly they were all likely going to be crushed.

Before she could make a move toward one of the stores the ground beneath them began to shake and a wild wind spun like a cyclone beneath where the light had once been and spread outward, destroying the ground in a circular pattern just as it had done the night before. Instead of disappearing into the void like it had then the debris flew around, knocking them over, breaking any remaining glass in store windows, only assisting in the inevitable collapse of the building.

There was little they could do now but get lucky. The ceiling that remained fell all at once, threatening to crush them.