Spy Games Ch. 7

Avengers

(Stark Tower)

I felt good. I felt complete. As I stood at the foot of Stark Tower and prepared to bully my way into the home of one of the world's most powerful men, I smile and it has nothing to do with the conversation I'm about to get to have. Reaching up slowly, I run my hands over my jacket.

It just feels so good to once again be wearing Kemiya. The clothes I'd worn when I left my world and thus had been wearing when I arrived on this world weren't the sort of thing a prospective Agent of SHIELD would wear. So I'd foregone them to avoid any potential mishaps where they were demanded of me. I would hate to have had to kill my way out of SHIELD so early to protect what was mine.

Now though, now was the time. Pieces of this outfit were almost as old as I was, and even the newest piece still had an age of around two thousand years. Enchantment upon enchantment layered on each piece of the ensemble, the entire outfit so steeped in the magic of my universe that even I could feel it now that it was laid against my skin.

SHIELD's leather outfit, the suit so similar to Coulson's, even the costume they'd given me to hide my identity while I ran around playing at mercenary… none could compare to this. I was Tony Stark in his best armor. I was Thor with Mjolnir. I was Steve with his Vibranium Shield. Only now was I ready to stand beside this world's greats… or against them.

With that appealing thought I stepped up to the doors and pressed the call button on the side. A moment later a distinctly British voice spoke, "Agent Masters. How can I be of assistance?"

I smiled at that and spoke in a jovial tone, "Greetings Jarvis. I'm here to speak with Mr. Stark. Is he in?"

There's a slight pause, "Mr. Stark is busy at the moment Agent Masters. Can I schedule a future consultation for SHIELD?"

I shake my head, knowing that Jarvis can see the action from the camera above me, "This cannot wait sadly. I'm a little disappointed though, I thought Tony would be curious enough about me to let me in, if only to conduct an interrogation on the many mysteries that he hasn't been able to crack about me yet."

"… He is currently occupied with something he considers more important."

I chuckle and let my smile take on a knowing angle, "Ah, he's with Ms. Potts is he? Well, if you could be so kind to inform him that Earth has just been the victim of an alien attack that might evolve into a full scale invasion, I would greatly appreciate it. You can confirm using those fancy satellites of yours to watch what just happened in the Mojave Desert a few hours ago. And make sure Ms. Potts hears for me if you could."

A few moments later the doors before me opened and I was ushered to the elevator that took me to the penthouse at the top of the grandiose tower. I kept the smile on my face as the elevator deposited me and I arrived to find Tony looking incredibly petulant and Pepper looking very worried. I direct my attention towards Pepper first, ignoring Tony entirely as I step forward and give a slight bow before holding out the data file containing the information SHIELD wanted Stark to have, "Ms. Potts, a pleasure to finally meet in person. Phil says nothing but good things about you and your capabilities. My name, if Mr. Stark has not already told you everything about me, is Vali Masters. You can call me Vali."

Pepper returns the smile and takes the digital file from me, opening her mouth to reply when Tony rudely interrupts, "You're out of uniform Agent."

Now that he's been forced to initiate the conversation with me I turn towards him with a smile, "Yes, I felt like it was time to shed that uniform and get back to my roots. This is the clothing I wore when I arrived on Earth after all."

Pepper isn't at all surprised by my admission to being not of this world and Tony just scowls at my casual info dump, his curiosity not at all sated as he steps closer to peer at my outfit, "And before you came to our planet, were you some sort of noble? Because that outfit screams money. That's actual gold in the designs in your jacket and those are very large gemstones in your belt"

I look at him with some amusement, "Yes Mr. Stark. The gold conducts very well and the gemstones are designed to store power."

He blinks at that, in full science mode now as he tries to figure my outfit out, "Conduct what? What sort of energy does the belt store?"

Instead of answering, I just bring my hands up and run them down the lines on my chest. A moment later a globe of golden energy bursts out from me and passes through both Tony and Pepper, who jump out of their skins. Tony is wide eyed as he checks himself over and then makes sure Pepper is alright before turning back to me, "What was that supposed to do?"

I chuckle, "It is meant to be a defense against most kinds of magic. Such as the device in your chest that keeps you alive."

Tony actually looks insulted and disappointed at that. He taps his arc reactor, "This? This isn't magic, its science. Guess I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up."

I chuckle, "Come now Mr. Stark, there is a very thin line between magic and science. If you can find it, you will only soar to greater heights. But it is clear you will not believe without a demonstration. I give you permission to test your Repulsor Technology on me."

He perks up at that and a moment later he's grabbing one of his gauntlets and attaching it to his arm. I just stand there as he brings it up and aims it at me. I snap my own hand up as he fires and plant my feet. The continuous beam hits the air right before my palm and a shimmer of energy is the only thing that shows my shield fighting it off.

We hold like that for several moments until I finally begin to feel a slight strain and flash out of the way, letting the repulsor beam hit Tony's wall for a moment before he shuts it off. Raising an eyebrow, I spread my arms wide, "Well now, I'm sure you got plenty of wonderful data from that Mr. Stark."

He's staring at me, clearly trying to reconcile the idea that my simple outfit, even inlaid with gold and studded with gems, is actually capable of standing up to one of his attacks. His musings are cut short by Pepper however, "Tony, you need to see this."

She's opened up the data file I gave her and began to read the information SHIELD wanted Stark given. He moves over to her side and looks over her shoulder for a long moment before grabbing the file and bringing up its contents on his own floating screens, showing the Avengers Initiative and its members in all of their glory, along with the current situation involving Loki and the Tesseract.

I speak up as he gets engrossed in what he's looking at, "SHIELD hopes to see you on the Helicarrier tomorrow morning Mr. Stark."

He nods absently waving dismissively in my direction, "I'll be around eventually. And it seems we're gonna be members of the same superhero team so call me Tony. Mr. Stark was my father."

I chuckle at that, noticing that his eyes have drifted to the video of me fighting the Asgardians and then the Destroyer, "Very well Tony. I'll see you tomorrow."

One more bow to Pepper, "Good evening Ms. Potts." And then I turn and leave. I make sure to look to the ceiling and give a lazy salute as I reach the exit doors, "Jarvis, thank you for your help. Greatly appreciated."

I leave Stark Tower with a wide smile on my face. My mission was complete and I'd given my armor a small test. The best part was the inaccurate readings Stark would probably have after that little display. After all, my outfit had been in storage for months and it was only with constant contact with nature, as vague as that sounds, that it could fully charge. It had not been even close to full power, which would hopefully give Stark an underestimation of its defensive abilities.

Part of me had always enjoyed just how upset it made those witches who chose me as their enemy, that their precious nature was what protected me, an abomination in their eyes. I was a bit of an asshole like that. Given a few days of sunlight and time spent around plant life, I would be completely topped off. I definitely felt like I would need all of the power I could get for the invasion.

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Avengers

(SHIELD Helicarrier)

Arriving back on the Helicarrier drew stares, everyone wondering exactly what I was wearing now. Fury turned when I entered the command deck and did a literal double take, "What the hell are you wearing?"

I chuckle and settle into one of the chairs at the conference table situated behind Fury, "Good to see you too Director. Stark has been briefed and will hopefully be with us soon. As for what I'm wearing… well I didn't exactly show up wearing a SHIELD uniform when I arrived on Earth. This is the last thing I have of home. And it might prove useful in the upcoming days."

Fury scowls, seeming more annoyed by my casual admittance to being an alien in a room full of SHIELD techs than anything else. But I'm sending the message now, at the start of this thing, that SHIELD should consider my employment with them coming to an end. Fury doesn't know how bad it will get, and I'm sure he thinks he'll have to rein me in after this is over. But the Battle for New York will make everything very public.

He eventually nods before turning away from me and continuing the preparations for lifting the Helicarrier out of the water and into the air. More than a few techs have to take a moment to refocus on their stations, as they all turned to stare at me after my announcement.

As we get into the air three of my fellows enter the command deck. My eyes feast upon Natasha in tight jeans and a black jacket, before moving onto a twitchy Banner and an awed Rogers. Fury activates the Helicarrier's stealth systems and turns towards our guests. Steve hands him a ten and walks past him and I'm reminded of the little bet they'd have made earlier. Fury makes a bee line for Banner and they chat for a bit on how to best find the Tesseract.

I'm already moving towards Steve, coming to a stop beside him and smiling once I've caught his attention. I hold out my hand and he takes it with a firm shake as I introduce myself, "Mr. Rogers, a pleasure to meet you. My name is Vali and it is quite exciting to meet the original Superhero."

That gets a tentative smile as he shakes back, "Pleasure to meet you too Vali. Call me Steve. I gotta say, even for the future, you look a bit out of place."

I chuckle slightly at that as the handshake ends and I place my hands behind my back, "That would probably be because I am out of place. I'm an alien Steve. You can call Earth my adopted home, but myself and my clothing are not exactly from around here."

He doesn't really look like he knows what to say to that, but Coulson is more than happy to interrupt and begin monopolizing Steve's time. The awkward bumbling is almost adorable, but it's hard to reconcile the badass SHIELD agent with his current behavior, so I gladly fade into the background, content to spend my time observing the flight deck while subtly checking out Maria Hill's leather clad ass.

Coulson had just gotten around to asking Steve to sign his vintage Captain America trading cards when a tech spoke up and said they had a match for Loki. I rose from my feet even as Fury nodded to both Steve and me, "You're up. The Captain is in charge for this mission."

That last part was obviously directed at me, and I nod amicably as I follow Steve out, smiling on the inside at Fury's attempt at reasserting the control he thought he should have over me.

XxScenebreakxX

Avengers

(Stuttgart, Germany)

Natasha couldn't resist speaking up on the way to Germany, "So who are you supposed to be?"

I smile at that, "Vali. I suppose I'm supposed to be a member of your Avengers Initiative."

Steve is listening with interest, but Natasha just lets out a small hmm as she keeps her eyes forward, "Kinda strange how you came out of nowhere. Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk… if you're supposed to be on par with them, you'd think you'd have made more of an impact before now."

It's clear that she's needling me intentionally, pushing my buttons in an attempt to fish for information. Luckily for her, I have no problem giving her exactly what she wants. Chuckling, I respond with, "That hurts Agent Romanoff. I'd like to think I've made at least a personal impact on you."

That makes her confused but I'm clearly going somewhere with this so she pushes me for more, "What sort of impact would that be? We've never met before today."

"Oh how quickly you forget! I pulled you out of freezing cold water in Russia once. Healed you of hypothermia and saved your life."

That causes her to stiffen up and her face to pale, but she remains the consummate professional and keeps her eyes forward, speaking more shortly now, "Not possible. He's dead."

I grin and move from my spot across from Steve to right behind Natasha in a moment. She reacts as fast as she can, her hand immediately moving to the gun holstered on her waist, but I am of course faster and my hand closes around her wrist before she can get halfway there. Slowly I bring her arm back up to the controls and she clasps them once more with both hands.

She's almost hyperventilating now and Steve is tensing up behind me so I ease off and release her before stepping back to leave both of them in my field of vision, smile still on my face, "Sorry, sorry. No need to worry Natasha. I'm on your side after all. I've always been on SHIELD's side. Maybe don't mention I let you know the whole secret though. I'm pretty sure it's above your clearance level."

I give a wink to Steve, who is looking upset with me at this point, and settle down into my seat once more. The rest of the ride to Germany passes in absolute awkward silence. I think we even arrive a bit faster with the speeds Natasha begins pushing.

When we arrived, it was to find Loki terrorizing a crowd of civilians. I'm pretty sure Steve wanted to make some sort of attack plan, but Loki was about to blast an old man who was standing up to him. Steve ended up jumping out early and I followed as he blasted Loki back with his own energy shot and then made some comparisons between Loki and Hitler.

As they squared off, everyone began to run away and I moved through the crowd to stand beside Captain America, playing needlessly with my cuff links as I did so. My appearance immediately caught Loki's attention and he sneered as he pointed his scepter in my direction, "You!"

I just smile in response, "Hello again Loki of Asgard. Once more, I find you trespassing. Is this going to become a common occurrence?"

Steve glances between us, "You two have met?"

I chuckle and shake my head, "Not in person. There was this whole thing in New Mexico, SHIELD has some recordings if you want to see them. Let's focus on this first though."

Loki is clearly feeling ignored, as he launches a blast of blue energy towards us. I'm already gone and Steve rolls out of the way before throwing his shield into Loki's midsection. As Steve closes in on the godling and they begin to duke it out, I provide support instead of taking the main role that would see Loki most likely defeated in seconds.

Still, I remember the original fight seeming to go more in Loki's favor, as even with his shield Steve had a hard time gaining an upper hand. Here and now with me helping, Loki is on the backfoot… and as I hear Iron Man blasting Shoot to Thrill from his speakers I find myself launching a kick at the back of Loki's head that he can't react to in time, my boot slamming into his skull and propelling him forward into the ground, his scepter flying from his hands as the wind is knocked out of him.

He comes to a stop and lays there as Tony comes flying up to land right in between Loki and his scepter, engaging all of his weapons and aiming them down at Loki just as the godling is raising his head to look up at this newest enemy, "Your move Reindeer games."

Loki's armor fades away as he surrenders and Tony disengages his weapons, "Good move."

I make a point of grabbing the staff even as Steve secures Loki, taking it in my hands and settling into the seat opposite of Loki as Tony and Steve move to the front of the ship and we take off. I can feel the Mind Stone reaching out to me even now, but I can also feel the connection between it and Loki, the power it gives him.

I can also feel it trying to affect me, attempting to incite negative emotion and affect my very thoughts. It's good to know that at the very least the enchantments on my Kemiya armor keep the mind stone from working on me as its even now working on Stark and Rogers. I push back and I can actually feel the stone's surprise at that, at my acknowledgment of it. Its next move is more tentative as it brushes against my presence and gets a better read of me. I brush back and share with it a greatest hits collection so to speak of my own playing with minds.

It's not overly impressed, not that I expected it to be given the difference between our capabilities. Stroking the blade that houses the stone itself one last time, I secure the Staff just as the thunderstorm outside starts. Until that moment Loki had been staring at me as I played with his weapon, but now we both look to the ceiling, both anticipating what is to come.

A moment later Thor lands on the top of our plane, rocking it, and I stand and open the rear doors before Tony can get to them. Thor lands on the boarding ramp and is stopped short at the sight of me, blinking. I smile and spread my arms, being as welcoming as I can be, "Thor of Asgard, how wonderful. Come in, it's gotten a bit violent out there."

My words throw Thor off balance, that much is clear. He narrows his eyes after a moment though, "I am here for Loki. Stand aside Vali."

I let the smile on my face turn frosty and stare Thor down, "How easily you forget your oath to SHIELD, your debt to them. You would attack those who gave you shelter, gave you a home in your exile?"

My words hit him hard and a moment later he deflates visibly, "… No." before stepping past me and settling into the seat I had occupied before, across from Loki. He pays no attention to Stark or Steve, but that's probably fine with them given that they're staring at me as I close the rear doors and turn back to them.

The entire plane is silent for the moment as we continue on our course to the Helicarrier but Tony does speak up as I walk past Thor and Loki, leaving them to their quiet conversation to join Tony and Steve at the front of the plane, "What the hell was that Goldie?"

I just chuckle at Tony's incessant need to come up with insulting nicknames and wave my hand dismissively, "There was this thing in New Mexico. All you need to know is Thor is on our side. No picking fights with our allies Tony, don't think I didn't notice you using me as cover to charge your repulsors."

He just gives me one of those looks, like he's not at all sorry. After that, it's smooth sailing back to base.

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