Across the Universe

She didn’t move a muscle but somehow the young girl in Scarlett’s arms managed to launch Scarlett into the air, flying toward the electrical barrier. Bracing for a fall Scarlett cursed her intuition for continuing to be wrong time and time again (at least lately). The jolt of electricity she expected never came nor did the crash into the ground.

Instead she was caught by Steve who hadn’t allowed the startling revelation to debilitate him and jumped into action. He slid against the ground from the force that Scarlett had been thrown with and slid right into one of the poles that generated the electrical field that was supposedly keeping whatever beast had traveled through the portal at bay. The pole cracked, sparked and then fell uselessly to the side and the barrier was broken.

Attempting to renew the connection between them the remaining poles sparked and crackled, sending shocks of electricity every which way, striking the ground with ferocity. The barrier damaged, an unnatural wind kicked up around the hill in the woods. The thick air from inside the portal, the same terrible, musty air that Scarlett had breathed when she’d stepped through while battling her other self the night before, was making its way out into the world, spreading every which way. Steve set her on her feet almost instantly and they turned defensively to the little girl.

Her eyes were completely black, devoid of color or life or anything. Still she howled, loud and horrible. Shadow crept all around her, emanating from beneath her feet. The light that had disappeared when the girl had appeared grew suddenly in the background. With a cracking sound as loud as an explosion the light changed.

At first the glow faded but then they saw it had changed. There was a pinpoint prick of something floating in the air. As quickly as it came, it began to pull and spread apart. Invisible hands pulled and tore at the air creating a hole between the worlds. The mirror that Scarlett and Steve had seen the night before was there in front of them but it was no longer a mirror, not at all. Instead it was more like a door, a tear between universes and what was behind it was spilling forth rapidly into the Massachusetts night.

Unlike the mirror that had filled Scarlett with wonder what they saw now filled them with terror and dread. The world on the other side was horrific and nightmarish. Buildings were in ruins, burnt to ashes on the ground. There were corpses rotting away for god knows how long but the smell lingered in the air and burned at their senses.

“We cannot allow this to continue!” Thor growled, taking action. He lifted his hammer into the air and just like that the clouds darkened the little light the moon had provided them. Lightning lit up the sky in brilliant sparks and thunder cracked, shaking the ground around them. Rain drizzled from the clouds, making the air even thicker.

The lightning struck Thor’s hammer and those around him stepped away from the display. Thor struck the ground in front of the portal in front of them and sent a shock of lightning blazing in front of him, tearing through the ground and through the portal. But once through the gateway to the other side, the lightning changed and shifted. Darkness surrounded the lightning, it shifted into a marvelous shade of blue and then shot back toward Thor with an earsplitting crack!

It struck him so hard in the chest that he went flying through the air and off of the hillside, down into the trees below. His body slammed into one of the trees and it cracked in half from the force. Finally he came to a stop, slamming into yet another tree and falling to the ground with a thud that shook even the hill where he’d flown from.

“Someone go make sure he’s okay!” Bruce shouted in horror, awestruck that the Asgardian god just had his ass handed to him by some lightning. Mickey instantly got to her feet and started down the hill. Clint wasn’t far behind her, bow in hand in case anything pursued them. The shadow creatures from earlier haunted his memories and he imagined they’d be even more formidable in the darkness of the woods. There was strength in numbers, especially now.

“We have to close it!” Scarlett shouted behind her to those still at the computers. Bruce and Tony were staring at the world on the other side of the portal, in awe of what they were seeing. Both being scientists they were curious as to what it was, wanted to know more and in awe of its existence. It was one thing to discuss traveling between time and space it was another thing to witness it happening before them. Natasha continued to tap away at Bruce’s old computer, wanting to take care of the problem before it got worse but there was nothing that she could do. The electronic interference of Thor’s lightning had thrown the machines for a loop. They were acting independently now, there was no stopping what had already begun.

“I’m doing my best!” Natasha shouted. She didn’t care what was on the other side of the portal. They had a job to do and her one focus was to accomplish the task at hand. “It’s no use! This program is done!”

“Hold on!” Bruce shouted, regaining his senses. He took the computer back from Natasha and was surprised when Tony shoved his phone into Natasha’s hands once more.

The shadow that had built up on the other side of the portal grew stronger and more menacing, like a dust storm. Shadowy haze breached the gateway and made its way toward them and past the visage of the little girl who was no longer the sweet helpless girl they’d met only moments ago.

The wind urged the darkness onward, or at least it appeared to. Quickly it took on a familiar form and they knew at once what was coming. The shadows they’d fought earlier were back and they seemed more solid than before, less frail. This time the woman who looked remarkably like Scarlett could be seen in detail, though there were places where she was still completely black and surrounded by the liquid like darkness. Her eyes were glowing green and soulless but the smirk on her face was unmistakable.

Unlike earlier this woman had the staff that Scarlett had encountered the night before. It was gold with details of green and sparking from the top just as the one that had been used against Scarlett the night before had been. Where had it been that afternoon? Had the shadow creature not had enough energy to manifest it then? In their attempts to capture the creature had they, in fact, made it more powerful?

With a haunting laugh the shadow woman approached, staff aimed toward Scarlett and Steve who were the closest. There were wounds on her body, the closer she got they could see that something horrible had happened to her and the shadow had made attempts to repair her. What had happened to the woman that Scarlett had encountered the night before? Was this her or still the shadow version they had earlier fought? Maybe she had been killed by the shadow and now was merely its puppet.

Scarlett triggered her Tesla glove and prepared for a fight but was surprised when Tony jumped in front of her and held his arms up to block the blow of the staff. Angered, the shadow woman struck again and this time Tony twisted out of the way and caught the staff before it could strike him. Grabbing it with his other hand he pulled it close and with a heave forced the shadow woman off of her feet, over his head and slammed her onto the ground.

The shadow woman pulled her staff free of his grip, spun it around above her and then hit him in the legs with it hard, knocking Tony off of his feet and onto the ground. Crouched low she swung the staff again at Tony who rolled out of the way just in time.

“What the hell is going on?” Tony shouted, stealing a glance at Scarlett before rolling out of the way of another blow. This time the staff sent out a ray of sparks from the sharpened blade fastened to the decorative top and he scattered to avoid the shock.

“It’s a really long story!” Scarlett shouted, partially disturbed and partially amused at how confused Tony must have been to see the shadow version of her. He’d obviously heard the story since he’d come to her rescue when she’d been accused by Thor but still, seeing the phenomenon was a far different experience than simply hearing about it.

Before Scarlett could come to Tony’s aid another figure emerged from the shadows, this time a man. It was the same man with the horned helmet from earlier but now they could see his startling blue eyes and his black and gold armor. Something flew from his hands and instinctively Scarlett jumped out of the way. Steve held up his shield and the dark blades bounced off of it with a terrible metallic sound.

Turning on her heels Scarlett fired a blast from her Tesla glove at the dark man and he spun out of the way artfully then leaned to throw more of the shadow knives at her. Steve came at him from the side, shield first and threw a punch but the shadow man was skilled and fast. He leapt backwards and spun behind Steve, kicking him forward. Steve stumbled and caught himself quickly before jumping toward the dark stranger and smashing his shield right into him. The dark man slid from the blow and attempted to hit Steve but Steve was much stronger and hit him again.

“Look out!” Scarlett shouted. The black mass of a man was cunning in ways Scarlett never would’ve guessed. Before Scarlett could explain her warning the shadow man deflected Steve’s shield and knocked it above him then hit him hard in the stomach. The way Steve had been forced to swing his shield out of the way had deflected the round metallic star spangled disc against one of the remaining electrified poles stuck into the ground. This one did not go down quietly.

Sparks flew as the electrical current transferred from the shield and straight into the body of the man holding it. Steve grunted in pain and tried to pull himself free but with the shock of the electricity travelling through his every nerve, it was too much, even for the super soldier. He could feel his hand burning as the shield grew red hot from the current. Suddenly it stopped as something hit him hard in the chest. Scarlett had grabbed a long branch from the trees nearby and had swatted him hard in the chest and knocked him away from the metallic pole

Steve fell to the ground in a steaming heap and laid staring at the sky in awe while his body recovered from the electrocution. Scarlett stood in front of him and blocked another blow from the dark shadow man with her glove. Electrifying the glove she smashed into the ground in front of him and it shook beneath him, knocking him away temporarily.

“Rogers! Rogers!” Scarlett nudged him with her foot to try and rouse him. Coulson was going to kill her if she brought the super soldier back burnt to a crisp. He gasped for air behind her and then sat bolt upright. “Finally.” Scarlett could hear him coughing and recovering but his gloves were burned nearly through and he was comically singed.

“Dr. Banner we have got to turn off this machine!” Steve got to his feet, thankful more than ever for the super soldier serum that had granted him rapid healing powers. The tingling was finally going away in his limbs so he got to his feet to aid Scarlett against the shadow that was attacking her.

“We’re doing the best that way can!” Natasha shouted when Bruce didn’t respond. He was looking particularly stressed out and for a brief moment panic flickered through her mind. Dr. Banner never should’ve gone into the field with them; the risks were far too high. “These damn things are getting stronger because of the electrical field. Whose brilliant idea was this again?” Natasha scoffed as she continued to tap at the screen.

“I’ll apologize later.” Bruce chuckled but he was trying to keep his breathing steady and making attempts to ignore the rampant chaos around them. It was much easier said than done. The shadow version of Mitchell had returned and realized what they were trying to do. She was now making attempts to stop them from turning the machine off. It was giving whatever was creating the portal power to break through from the other side!

Mitchell knew better than to try and use her magic here, it would do her no good and only drain her further. But she was fast and strong and could more than take care of herself. Still wary not to get near the electrical chaos that was occurring only feet in front of them she took to defending Natasha and Bruce who were still working at the computers. Clint and Mickey had disappeared into the tree line in search of Thor and had not yet returned.

The dark half-demon launched herself at Mitchell but Mitchell ducked low then leapt out the way. She turned on the offensive and used an overhead branch of a tree to swing herself at the shadow, kicking her to the ground. As she made to punch her hard in the face the shadow disappeared and reappeared with a familiar glow behind her. Mitchell turned just in time, grabbed at the shadow and spun it away.

Blow after blow, Mitchell dodged and retaliated, trying to lead the shadow away from Natasha and Bruce. However the creature was too smart and kept luring her back. The shadow leapt over Mitchell and into the trees and Mitchell grabbed onto the branches and swung herself up, kicking the shadow off and back onto the ground.

She jumped from the branch, feet together in hopes of smashing into the shadow itself. But instead the shadow latched onto her and with a tremendous screech, horrible shadowy tendrils overwhelmed Mitchell. The shadow was trying to force her into using her powers to get away from her but she wasn’t going to let it get what it wanted.

Natasha saw the shadow engulfing her and snuck away from the computers. Quickly she grabbed onto Mitchell through the shadow and pulled her free. The shadow rematerialized and Natasha slid between Mitchell’s legs and kicked the shadow to the ground, then spun on her heels and got to her feet. With a sideways glance at Mitchell, Natasha continued toward the shadow version of her. Mitchell got the hint and ran back to Bruce. She would pick up where Natasha left off. Maybe there was something she could see that Natasha couldn’t. There had to be a way to disable the machine.

If anyone else had gotten electrocuted besides Captain America then there would have been no coming back from it. If they didn’t disable them soon then someone was going to get seriously hurt. They’d be no use against the shadow coming from the other portal if they were dead.

Thunder rumbled overhead as Thor burst out of the trees, bruised up and worse for wear but more determined than ever to put a stop to this madness. The little girl that had caused all of this chaos in the first place was enveloped in a swirling shadowy vortex growing taller and taller toward the heavens in hopes of absorbing energy through the storm Thor had created. Holding his hammer aloft he spun it over his head, slow at first but then faster until it was a whir of steel and lightning.

He dove toward the shadow where the little girl was cackling inside of it with her otherworldly voice. Blue shocks of lightning and energy torched the grass around her and extinguished as quickly as they were created. Hammer first, he slammed into the shadow, expecting the creature to lose some momentum but much to his surprise he crashed against the shadow protecting her and bounced backwards straight through the portal.

Gasping for breath, Thor found it a struggle to breathe on the other side of the gateway. Around him he could see the corpses of the creature’s victims lying uselessly, decaying as if they had been there for weeks already. The air was so thick that he choked on it and every attempt to open his mouth made him nearly sick to his stomach with the stench of the same corpses.

Around him the ground was decaying, just like the bodies that lay around him. Something grabbed his arm and he recoiled at once, seeing it was the hand of one of those same corpses. Slowly they all came to life, moving toward him. Each opened their mouths, whether or not they had the defined features remaining of one or not and inhaled as if trying to breathe in the life and energy that he emitted.

The more the corpses moved the more the air became unbearable. Thor scrambled to his feet but was pushed down by the immense weight of the atmosphere around him. It seemed that whatever the corpses were doing with their mouths was making the effect on him worse. They made no attempts to move toward the other side of the portal and it struck Thor that perhaps it was because they wouldn’t be able to pass to the other side. Maybe they were trying to steal his energy in order to gather strength to do so.

Thor knew he had to get away from them and so with a mighty yell got to his feet and started slowly toward the gateway that would bring him back to Midgard.

Tony had managed to get the staff out of the hand of the shadow woman attacking him but it hadn’t made her any less of a threat. For some reason he was having a hard time hurting her and one could only guess why.

“This is really weird!” Tony shouted again, hoping to lighten the tension on the hill. Maybe hearing Scarlett’s voice would lessen his fear of hitting the shadow. What if it had some weird mirrored effect on her? He’d never forgive himself!

“Imagine how it feels for me!” She shouted in response but he didn’t get a chance to check on her because the shadow version of her jumped on top of him and hit him hard in the jaw.

Tony stared up at her in awe and tried to grab her arms to keep her from hitting him again. She struggled against him and then pulled free and pinned down his wrists. Tony stole a glance at Scarlett again, he just couldn’t help himself.

“This is giving me a really confusing fear-boner!” With that he twisted his arms free and kicked the shadow off of him and to the side. He rolled onto his stomach and pushed off of the ground. Somewhere he could hear Scarlett laughing, or at least he thought she was laughing off to the side and it gave him the confidence he needed. In her rage, the shadow version of Scarlett came at him and attacked, throwing punches, twisting and turning, even kneeing at him a few times. He did everything he could to block her and tried to remember the little he’d managed to learn from his Scarlett when they’d practiced together. Tony could fight if he needed to, but he’d always depended on his suit in these situations.

Finally he managed to grab her wrist when she attacked him. Much to his surprise she twisted around and then launched him off of her and over her head. He slammed into the ground with a thud and immediately rolled over as she made an attempt to stomp on him in a very sensitive place.

“Okay, less of a turn on now!” Tony kicked her feet out from under her and got up again. Before he could attempt to flip her over and subdue her arms behind her back, she grabbed onto the staff that he had kicked away and swung it at him. The blade on the top sliced at his cheek and he recoiled. She swung at him again and he blocked her but she kicked him hard in the stomach and he stumbled backwards.

Twisting the staff artfully, she smirked and then jabbed hard at him. The metal pierced his flesh, tore through his shirt and right against his side just below his chest. He had tried to pull away but she’d been too fast and the wound instantly began to bleed. Spinning her staff again she knocked Tony off of his feet and he fell onto his back, holding his bloodied side. Before he could get back up, the shadow woman had straddled him and with a laugh spun her staff again and pointed it threateningly at his throat.

“Well, this is awkward.” Tony barely breathed as he stared up at the shadow version of his girlfriend. Maybe he should have apologized earlier or something.

“Get off of him, bitch!” Scarlett clenched the fist of her Tesla glove and shot it toward the shadow on top of Tony. The staff clattered to the ground and then Scarlett ran toward the shadow and knocked her off of Tony. Scarlett grabbed at the staff to use it against her doppelganger but it burned her hand to grab. She picked it up with the Tesla glove much to the shadow’s surprise and swung it toward the woman’s face.

“Yikes.” Tony watched both women go flying off of him and continue to fight each other and then sat up and held his hand over his side. One glance at him told him he needed stitches and a new shirt. Damn, he thought.

“No time to lie around, Stark.” Steve approached him at a run and offered him a hand to help him get to his feet. Tony took it gratefully and winced. Steve grimaced.

“You alright? That looks nasty.”

“I’m fine… what the hell happened to you? Lose a fight with a toaster oven?” Tony hadn’t noticed the scorched marks on Captain America until then.

“Long story, no time! We have to get this under control!”

“Right.” Tony turned away from Steve. “Cover me.” Steve nodded and twisted his shield around in his hand before hooking it back to the brace on his arm. Tony touched the watch on his wrist and rolled up his sleeves. Red lights emerged from the watch, circled around it and then glowed blue. The same glow scanned his figure and the suit that he’d left by the computers sprang to life. Each piece of the suit came apart individually and started toward the programmed location on their owner.

“Incoming!” Steve shouted as the shadowed man with the horned helmet came toward them again at a run. Steve knocked him back but he twisted, leapt and threw the same shadowy knives toward them. Before Steve could lift his shield to block the blow the pieces of Tony’s suit came together and at Tony’s command blocked each of the knives.

Once out of the way, Steve gave the shadowy monster a hard kick and knocked him off of his feet. This gave Tony the time he needed for his suit to surround him and piece by piece fall into place until he was completely enveloped inside the red and gold machine.

“All systems are online, sir.” The world around Tony lit up through his helmet, providing him with targets, statistics and additionally his own heart rate and an alert on the side that warned him he was bleeding on his side.

“Let’s rock and roll, Jarvis.” The suit flew into the air and out of the way as lightning rocketed from the gateway to the portal. Thor emerged, holding his hammer in front of him and grateful to breathe in the fresh air from Midgard. Behind him the creatures that had attempted to subdue him and suck away his life force smashed against an invisible barrier in an attempt to come after him. Their faces contorted in agony as they screeched and slammed against the barrier, unable to cross over.

“I tire of this!” Thor growled and leapt into the air. He came crashing down on top of the shadow Scarlett, smashing her hard into the ground with his hammer. Her entire form collapsed in a painful looking heap and then melted into a puddle of darkness. The scream that came from her pierced the night air and startled everyone around them. Successful, Thor smirked and turned to ask Scarlett if she was okay but she merely charged her glove again and fired another shot as the shadow moved around Thor’s hammer and rematerialized. “What magic is this?”

“I was hoping you’d know.” Scarlett charged up the glove again. “Want to give me a hand with her?”

“With pleasure, milady.” Thor swung his hammer and aimed at the shadow that was launching full speed at them both. Oddly she seemed to be dripping and oozing, unable to keep her form together any longer. She screamed and Scarlett aimed another shot right at her face, hoping that her power combined with Thor’s could stop her in her tracks at long last. “That is a delightful weapon you have!” He shouted over the sound of crackling lightning. Scarlett noticed that he was dripping blood down the side of his head, over his jaw and down the side of his neck. What on earth could have possibly wounded a god?

“Thanks, it comes in pretty handy these days.” Scarlett clenched her fist when the glove ran out of energy and began the recharging process. It was in serious need of an upgrade, but now was not the time for brainstorming. Thor pulled his hammer back and much to their surprise the shadow was gone a dark scorch on the earth where she had once stood. “About time!”

“Look out!”

Scarlett was nearly knocked off of her feet when she was pulled backwards and just in time. A shock from the poles nearby struck the ground where she had been standing. Behind her Mickey was gasping for breath, a scratch on her face. The poles that remained in the ground were sending shocks of energy every which way with far less control. It seemed that weakening the shadow was sending the energy flying freely every which way and making the machine unstable.

“We can no longer wait for your doctors to fix these machines!” Thor growled and with his hammer smashed the nearest pole so hard it went flying into the woods and landed far away with a crash. The current of energy lessened but still the remaining three poles were as dangerous as ever.

“I’m inclined to agree.” Scarlett turned and nodded her thanks to Mickey who was shaken to say the least. This was definitely not normal field work.

Mitchell slammed hard into the ground as her shadow self grabbed her and forced her through the dark portals she created and slammed her hard into the ground afterward. Mitchell slid through the dirt and grass and smacked her head against one of the roots of a tree nearby. Her vision blurred and faded momentarily and she blinked in an attempt to regain it.

“Sorry but I have to go help her. This is a lost cause.” Natasha got up from the computer. She’d taken turns with Mitchell manning the keyboard and fighting off the shadow while the other one had grown weary. It had been a pretty good system until she’d watched Mitchell go slamming into the ground.

“I can’t…” Bruce spoke through gritted teeth. His face was red and his eyes were unnatural and glowing green. Natasha went pale as she realized what could be happening. Bruce was losing control and if he did they would have a much bigger, greener problem. His affliction was a serious one and she had hoped that calling him in to consult their case would keep them from ever having to witness his darker side.

“Dr. Banner?” Natasha, against her better judgment rushed to his side and pulled the computer away from his grasp. He was looking at her but at the same time looking through her. He was whispering to himself some kind of mantra to calm himself down in another language. “Dr. Banner, I need you to look at me.”

“I can’t. I can’t!” Bruce whispered frantically, nearly out of breath. Even as she comforted him his eyes continued to flash, his muscles began to twitch.

“You can! You can. You have to!” Natasha opened her mouth to speak but in her moment of distraction she was left vulnerable. The shadow Mitchell gripped her arm, twisted it behind her and then grabbed her by her neck and launched her backwards. With a grunt Natasha tried to twist herself around to properly catch herself.

Unfortunately it all happened too fast and she rolled down the hill and smashed her head against a rock and hard at that. The shadow version of Mitchell rushed toward Natasha who lay limp on the ground nearby. Mitchell, however, had managed to regain her senses and was angry that she’d been attacked so brutally. She kicked the shadow version of her away and while she was in the air jumped up to tackle her to the ground throwing her hard into the tree nearby. Bruce watched the display and felt his heart nearly stop. Natasha had left herself vulnerable to try and help him. Somehow this eased his mind and he felt the racing in his heart finally ease, the pumping of adrenaline within him slowed. The beast inside of him was kept at bay, but just barely.

He abandoned the computer and ran down the hill, stumbling as he did in order to get to Natasha. By the time he got to her she was on her feet but looked dazed and blood dripped over the back of her neck.

“Are you alright?” He panted, out of breath.

“Are you?” The Black Widow countered. He nodded toward the chaos on top of the hill and Natasha nodded in understanding and they set off.

The Iron Man suit blasted at the shadow of Mitchell, hoping to give her an advantage and then looped around and flipped onto the ground in front of Steve as the shadowed man came barreling toward him. The knives he threw scratched at the armor and then bounced off of him. Tony grabbed the horns of the man’s helmet and lifted the shadow straight off of the ground. The shadow howled and Tony gripped harder at the shadowed horns, crushing them before swinging him around and throwing him back toward Steve.

Steve braced himself and held the shield in front of him. When the shadowed man hit the shield with a clang Steve swung hard and sent him flying back again toward Tony who flexed parts of his armor. Sections of the chest plate separated and opened up at his command. The reactor in his chest glowed brighter and a large beam of light exploded toward the shadow man. Each of the sections that had opened in his chest plate released a small missile that followed the beam. Several small explosions cascaded into the shadowed man on the ground who was stumbling to his feet. Fire caught onto the shadow but was quickly engulfed by the darkness and smothered.

As the shadow turned around, parts of him dripping and fading he was met with Steve who smashed him hard in the face with the shield and then his fist. At last the shadow fell to the ground and laid still but didn’t fade from existence.

“Did we stop him?” Steve shouted up to Tony who flew a little closer but kept his repulsors aimed toward the mass on the ground. The form of the man disappeared and melted into a puddle on the ground, the shadow spreading and licking at Captain America’s boots.

Steve stepped away from the puddle and readied himself for a fight. The puddle spread further and split into two, staying close together still. From the shadows two figures emerged, the man with the horns and the woman who looked remarkably like Scarlett. She held her staff but now both of them were completely encompassed in darkness. There were very few features that could be made out between the two of them. The shadow Scarlett swung her staff and the blue lightning that had been coming from the portal flew from the end of it and toward Tony.

The armored plates on Tony’s suits shifted and reflected the blow back toward the two shadow creatures on the ground. Much to his surprise the horned shadow grabbed his teammate and pulled her out of the way of the blow and then swung her toward Steve. She held the staff in her hands and swung it around as she spun toward Captain America.

“Great, now they’re working together!” Tony shouted in frustration. He searched around for Scarlett and found her closer to the computers.

“Thor?” Scarlett nodded toward the pole closest to her and he smashed it and left it sparking, not ruined but damaged. “Thank you.” She pulled it from the ground with her Tesla glove and tossed it to Clint who had emerged from the woods, having gotten into some trouble on his own. At first Clint was unsure what to do and nearly jumped out of the way but instinct forced him to catch it.

The shadow version of Mitchell was still sparring with the real one and they were evenly matched and as fast as lightning. Scarlett had tried to interfere and assist her but it had only caused more trouble so she’d chosen instead to put a stop to it. Now that she knew the shadows could at least be delayed for a time, she was done wasting energy fighting. They would kill the shadows. Too much time had been wasted making attempts to subdue something that could regenerate and escape far too easily.

Clint swung his bow off of his shoulder and instead of using an arrow used the pole in its stead. It didn’t quite fit the way an arrow should but it would do the job well enough at such a short distance. He shot it toward the shadow Mitchell with remarkable aim. Having seen what he was doing, Mitchell kicked the shadow away from her and used the momentum to flip backwards and landed on the ground. The pole smashed through the shadow’s chest and pinned her to the nearest tree. The wound that it’d created dripped and glowed blue as though she was making a last ditch attempt at creating a portal to escape.

But the shadowed limbs began to fade and melt, drip and rot into the ground until finally she faded into nothingness, only the shadow of the tree and the pole impaled in the bark remained.

“What is that?” Scarlett could feel something was off again, and that was saying something considering the chaos that had exploded on the hill. She turned toward the shadowy vortex behind her and just in time as a wave of darkness crashed over them. The same shadow that had overwhelmed her in the shopping mall surrounded them all, suffocating them. Something from outside the shadow screamed. Then more screaming joined in, young women, men, babies, hundreds of voices overshadowing the other creating a horrible cacophony of nightmare fuel.

Steve leapt in front of Scarlett and held his shield up in front of them both in an attempt to keep the shadow from overwhelming her. While it wouldn’t matter the gesture was kind. Thor crashed into the ground in the shadow and swung his hammer, standing guard in front of Mickey to keep her safe. Natasha ran headlong into the shadow, her taser sparking and clearing some of the darkness around her.

Scarlett grabbed Natasha to stop her from running any further and tilted her head to the side, watching as the shadow tried to grab at her, much like slimy tentacles would. Her head was bleeding but she seemed okay. Scarlett held up her glove and triggered it again. The light from the sparks seemed to clear the darkness away, just as it had in the mall earlier but not by much.

Tony lit up his arc reactor and his repulsors as brightly as he could though the shadow forced his armor to the ground. It didn’t cut through the darkness the same way that the others did but it was enough to provide visibility.

Thor noticed what they were doing and held his hammer high above his head. Thunder cracked and at first they saw nothing but then a brilliant shower of lightning struck all around them, hitting the ground, slicing through the darkness that had overwhelmed them. The crying sounds died away and soon the shadow faded, slowly at first like a fog lifting and then all at once.

Laughter was all that remained and the whirring of the machine that had been built by Bruce and Tony. Each member of the S.H.I.E.L.D. team stared toward the hill where the little girl had once stood. The portal was still open behind her though parts of it seemed to have deteriorated. She was laughing, but the darkness had surrounded her and soon the image of the little girl had gone completely.

Instead she was changed, still bathed in shadow and a hulking slimy shadowy creature stood in her place, two large arms in front of it, braced like a giant dragon with huge horns coming from its head. The face beneath the horns kept changing, trying to mimic human features, showing at first Scarlett, then Mitchell, then the horned man but each face was filled with terror. Atop the shifting face out of the shadow spun a strange web and soon it formed its shape into a terrible jagged crown that dripped the same weird shadowy ooze that flowed from the rest of the creature. It seemed to be attempting to make its way through, to show its true self but was unable to.

“At long last…” A deep voice spoke unnatural English, as though it had learned it recently and on the fly. “I am free…” He grew in size and the huge arms reached forward and smashed the shadowy version of Scarlett that stood in front of him holding her staff. She disappeared, the shadow that had formed her returning to her master. One by one he absorbed the others, Mitchell, who had returned only moments ago, and the horned man.

They watched in horror as the shadow surrounding the creature melted away. He had a skeletal like face with a gaping mouth filled with horrible jagged teeth. His crown remained, partially bathed in shadow but what was visible to them was made from the bones of something or other and there were bits of flesh still clinging to them. The shadow pulled away from the starved looking monster and gave way to a robe made of something sickly and pink in color. It took them only seconds to realize that the robe was actually skin and not cloth at all. Even worse, they could see the impression of facial features in each patch of that same flesh; each wore the same horrified expression.

The same smell that had nearly choked Thor within the portal filled the nighttime air in Massachusetts.

“What the hell is that?” Tony scanned the creature through the eyes of his suit but even Jarvis couldn’t seem to identify what exactly they were seeing. He was reading something familiar from deep within the creature but the energy in the air was making it too hard to decipher anything definitively.

“You have plagued the nine realms for long enough, foul creature!” Thor spun his hammer and leapt at the beast, seeing that his comrades were struck by his grotesque appearance. There were many terrible monsters in the universe, Thor wasn’t going to be phased by a new one. As he went to smash his hammer into the creature he was surprised when one massive arm grabbed him around his waist and held him at bay.

“Asgardian filth.” The creature spat and squeezed Thor hard around the middle. Thor went to swing his hammer but the monster threw him into the forest before he could land a blow. He hit the ground with such force that dirt sprang up around him where he crash landed. “You have no power here.”

A rush of laughter and horrible sound filled the air again, screaming, crying, surely designed to scare his enemies. Shadow emerged from beneath his robes and spread across the land, consuming everything in its wake.

“Do you hear that?” Scarlett couldn’t get it out of her head that she heard that girl crying again. Yes, there was a lot of noise but she’d heard it now on several occasions. There was something about that girl. She hadn’t been fooled, there actually something about her. Her instincts were never that wrong that many times in a row. “What happened to the girl?” No one had a chance to answer her as she stepped forward and confronted the beast that had finally shown himself to them. “Where is she?” The shadow didn’t scare her. Yes, earlier it had left her with the distinct feeling of violation, but it was easy enough for her to shake off. She’d felt worse before in the past.

The shadow cocked his head to the side and laughed, curiously gazing upon her even though there were no eyes within the sockets of his skull. He held out his hand and a rush of wind and shadow shot toward her. She deflected them with the aid of her glove and pulled free the sword that she had repaired earlier with Mitchell.

“Saw them now as bright as stars in the sky. One of them fell down, forming a long line of fire.” The voice coming from the beast was unnatural and strange, distorted and feminine. The English he spoke now was far clearer as though it was a recording of someone else speaking altogether. Shadow emerged from within his hands once again and he made a grab for Scarlett “Now someone is dying, thought the little girl.” Steve ran in front of Scarlett as she leapt out of the way of his grasp. The creature tried to grab him but he rammed the monster’s hand into the ground.

“Where is she, you asshole?” Scarlett shouted.

Tony led his armor back into the sky and aimed a blast toward the monster who stumbled backwards but then swatted at Iron Man like he was an annoying little bug.

“Rogers!” Tony shouted through the suit. The reactor in his chest shone bright and then a brilliant beam of energy exploded toward Steve who held up his shield, reflecting it toward the creature who howled at first with pain and stumbled several feet toward the portal.

With a horrible suctioning sound the energy from the chest repulsor was absorbed and encompassed within the darkness. Again the creature cackled.

“Leaning against the wall sat the little girl with red cheeks and an upturned mouth, frozen to death.” Laughter echoed around them, like sound bouncing from speaker to speaker. Was it reciting some kind of nursery rhyme? Or children’s book? A really messed up children’s book? Then like a shot, the energy Tony had reflected off of Steve’s shield returned. It knocked the shield from Steve’s hand and sent him spinning. It tore through his flesh, between his arm and his side and sent him falling to the ground.

“Captain Rogers!” Natasha shouted. Mickey screamed in horror and covered her mouth. Clint readied an arrow but Scarlett had already stood in front of Steve to protect him from any further harm that may come from the shadow. Clint joined her at her side and soon Mitchell joined her on the other.

Crashing into the ground in front of them, Thor reappeared, bloodied and dirty but more than ready for a fight. The creature laughed and gnashed his teeth together, bone scraping horribly against bone. He held his long arms on either side of him and leaned his head back toward the sky. The sound of bugs buzzing filled the air and shadows, like a swarm of locust, flew from within him and throughout the air. Tentacle like shadows came from his back, each tentacle decorated with sharpened bones, tainted and stained with blood.

“Fall back.” Steve was back on his feet and holding his bloodied side. “Fall back!”

“No!” Scarlett turned to him and could see that even though he was bleeding he had already begun to recover. That kind of wound would take time, even for a super soldier. Breaking through the horrible sound of buzzing was the crying that had started this fiasco altogether. The wailing of a terrified little girl broke through the darkness and the demon in front of them seemed irritated by it.

“Silence! Sleep!” He howled to someone they couldn’t see. “I am almighty! I am strength! I am death...” He tilted his head and his voice growled in a deeper tone as he struggled with something inside of him.

“Maybe we should fall back.” Clint whispered but Natasha shook her head no and readied herself for the fight to come. They weren’t going to let this thing kill anyone else, since it had obviously done enough killing in its time.

“Step back, everyone! Hurry!” Bruce shouted from behind them. He’d made his way back to the computers and had begun typing away at them. He was pale and looked sick to his stomach but in control of his faculties once again. “I mean it!” There was something so severe in his voice that they listened to him, Scarlett and Natasha both helping Steve take a few steps backward and away from the shadow creature.

The central piece of the trap whirred louder and louder, sparking dangerously and drawing energy from the two poles that remained stuck in the ground nearby. Angered that he was being ignored the demon lurched forward and smashed his big fists into the ground, cracking the earth beneath them. But as he moved forward he collapsed onto his big hulking arms. Shadow returned to where he had once had form and he began to fade again.

“No!” He screamed in frustration but his voice was overshadowed by the sound of the girl crying again. Within the shadow that was overpowering the demon they could just make out the form of her curled up on the ground, holding her knees close to her chest and sobbing. The wind picked up and the air grew thicker and changed. Behind them parts of the portal began to float away on the wind, like bits of ash in a fire.

The machine continued to whir and the progression of power loss that had at first been slow became quicker and grew more dangerous. Pieces of the portal fell apart and collapsed. Electricity flew through the air every which way. The girl’s cries grew louder and louder and the demon argued with her, telling her to shut up and stay strong.

“This can’t happen again! Not again! No! No!” The demon cried out in misery, trying to cling to the world but the portal was sucking him in, pulling him back to where he belonged.

“I want to go home!” The voice of the girl was finally just as clear as the monster she was fighting with. What remained of the portal collapsed in on itself and in a rush of wind and a burst of light everything nearby was pulled into it. Thor, who had been standing guard nearby, was nearly pulled off of his feet and into the portal with it. Scarlett leapt forward and grabbed onto his big arm but she wasn’t enough to stop the force on her own.

Mitchell grabbed him to help and soon Tony joined them. This was enough to pull Thor away from the suction of the portal and just in time. The rush of wind stopped, the light exploded and knocked them off of their feet, except for the Iron Man armor which simply slid backwards a foot or two. The ground beneath them cracked and a few feet of it completely disappeared from existence.

Just like that the whole thing was over.

The wind blew the chilly November air around them, leaving only the normal east coast humidity behind and the memory of the stench of death. Each rose to their feet, Scarlett helping Steve get up. He assured her that he was fine and they surveyed the damage around them. It was the same circular pattern that had been left behind at the other sites but it was also different.

The damage and devastation was nowhere near as bad as it had been, even the trees remained standing. The machine that had once been whirring in the center of the hill began to wobble like an off balance top and then fell onto the ground with a crash. Sparks no longer emitted from the remaining poles. It seemed as though Bruce had finally managed to turn the trap off. Smoke billowed from the machine as it crackled and sparked where the portal had been.

It seemed that their trap had some effect but now that it had been tested it could be tweaked and altered. At first it seemed like an unmitigated disaster but now that they could tell by the destruction that remained that it had partially done its job.

They stood in silence, unsure of what they had experienced or what to make of it. Visions of monsters in front of them had scared them to no end. What they had been dealing with before had been nothing in comparison. If this creature made it into their world unchecked the devastation would be immeasurable.

“That little girl,” Scarlett broke the silence at last, walking toward the broken machine that was still emitting the occasional spark on top of the hill. “If we can figure out who she is maybe we’ll get some answers.” The others seemed to agree and exchanged wary glances. Clint was staring with his mouth agape, it hadn’t closed since the creature had appeared. “At least we have something to work with now.”

“That creature has to be incredibly strong to have wounded me. There are very few things in this world and the next that could do harm to my kind and so viciously.” Thor wiped the blood from his forehead but only succeeded in smearing it over his dirt covered skin.

“We need to get back to S.H.I.E.L.D. We need to start planning for what comes next.” Natasha nodded and walked over to where Bruce had closed his old laptop. He leaned against it heavily and exhaled deeply. “Are you alright, Dr. Banner?” He didn’t respond but looked up at her and offered a weak smile. There were few words that could express his gratitude for her in that moment.

“We can figure it out from there.” Clint was still trying to wrap his mind around what had happened.

“Boris and Natasha are right.” Tony opened the helmet of his suit and allowed it to retract. “We’ve got some serious work to do.”