The Girl Who Held the Universe in her Hands | marvel [1] ✔

SIX

CHAPTER SIX
' YOU WANT TO CONTROL ME ? '

"So, Ash, tell us about you. From that posh little accent of yours, I'm guessing you moved from England to study at Harvard, right?" 

Her head whipped up as Stark spoke from his spot next to Banner, leaning against the table. "Yeah-yeah, something like that," she replied, straightening from her slouch. "Apart from the fact I don't study at Harvard."

"Sure, but you have to have had some education for Fury to hire you," Banner replied. 

"Well, Fury didn't necessarily hire me. I'm kind of paying off a debt." 

"A debt?" Stark repeated, raising his eyebrow. 

"I may have accidentally broke S.H.I.E.L.D's systems. So I help them instead of spending jail time."

"Accidently?" they both chorused. 

"Yeah, no, it was on purpose." Ash looked away, a wince forming on her features. "But in my defence, it was way too easy."

"I hacked into the Pentagon during college as a dare," Stark reassured. "I know exactly-"

The door smacked against the wall, reverberations rumbling through Ash's stomach. "Give the poor door a bloody break!" Fury looked at her with anger burning in his eyes, which caused her to step backwards. Noah moved to her side with his eyes narrowed as Fury glowered at her.

"What are you doing, Mr Stark?" His gaze moved from Ash to narrow them at Stark.

"Uh... kind of been wondering the same thing about you," he retorted.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract."

"We are. The models locked, and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile," Banner informed.

"And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss," Ash finished, smiling innocently, her voice followed by the sound of beeping. "Oh look, dinner's ready," she commented as a collection of files flickered onto the monitor.

Noah whistled as he read the screen. "He's been lying. He's been lying!" A smirk formed on Ash's face as she stifled laughter.

"What is Phase Two?" Stark asked as he read the files.

Out of nowhere, Steve dropped a Hydra assault rifle on the table. They turned and looked at it with varying degrees of shock. "Phase two is S.H.I.EL.D using the cube to make weapons," Rogers stated angrily. He then turned to Stark. "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow."

Fury tried to explain. "Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're-"

"-I'm sorry," Ash interrupted, and she turned a screen towards him with plans of the weapons. "What were you lying?"

"I was wrong, director. The world hasn't changed a bit." Rogers' voice dropped with disappointment. At that point, Thor and Romanoff walked into the lab.

Banner swept his eyes over her, as angry as Rogers. "Did you know about this?"

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" she shot back in a calm tone.

"I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed."

"Loki's manipulating you."

"And you've been doing what exactly?"

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you."

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy! I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction!"

"Because of them!" Fury declared, pointing at Thor and then jabbing a finger at Ash.

'Me?' they both chorused, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that levelled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned!"

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor defended.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you, and you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, can't be controlled. People like Ash," he announced.

The room went silent as Ash's eyes flickered to Fury. "You want to control me?" Her voice was quiet at first, and a look of regret washed over the director's features. 

"No, Ash-"

Before he could finish, the colour of Ash's eyes turned black like a switch. "I have played along to your stupid games, making up stories, and doing things that I never wanted to do. I wanted to change but you made me do the same things that I wanted to turn away from. I did those things because you assured me that it was for good. Now I've found out that you're manufacturing mass-murdering machines?" She stepped forward, fists clenching at her sides. "Don't look me in the eye and tell me that they're for the greater good. You wouldn't stand a chance against me. I've been holding back. That, you need to remember. I could rip down everything you've made without even lifting a finger-"

She took a sharp breath, eyes flickering over the people staring at her, and the black colour drained away. A breath broke through her throat, and Noah entered her field of vision. "Astra, you need to calm down," he spoke gently. "You need to keep your cool." She unclenched her fists as his hand rested on her shoulders, pushing her back slightly. 

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war!" Thor shouted.

"A higher form?" Rogers repeated.

"You forced our hand. We had to come up with something," Fury defended.

"Nuclear deterrent. 'Cause that always calms everything right down," Stark spoke sarcastically.

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?"

Rogers scoffed, "I'm sure if he still made his weapons, Stark would be neck-deep-"

"-Wait! Wait! Hold on! How is this about me?"

"I'm sorry, isn't everything?"

"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor commented.

"Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?"

Arguments flared in the room, curling to the ceiling like flames erupting from the ground. Ash stepped back as the noise enclosed around her, pressure building in her skull.

"You thought you had control, didn't you?" The voice echoed throughout her mind, and she squeezed her eyes shut, Noah's desperate cries trying to break through the barriers. "You've grown weak, little one. You disappoint me."

Her brain flared with agony as she doubled over, black dots clouding her vision. Her hands found her head and started to claw at it, her eyes turned black, and pure and unfiltered pain filled her head. A gasp escaped her, and she tried to gulp down air, but the molecules seemed to dodge her mouth.

"Astra!" Noah's voice became plagued with desperation. "You're stronger than this!" As soon as it had started, it stopped again. Alarms ricocheted through Ash's head, and she clenched her jaw.

Everything was still for a moment, and Ash turned in a circle, only her heavy breathing filling her ears until something catapulted her against a glass wall. It shattered at the force, and she fell through a gaping hole in the floor. 

She landed face first, a grunt leaving her at the impact. Her eyes stared in a daze, a pitch-black arresting her eyes. Something grew in her chest, a hollow darkness crawling up her throat and wrapping its spindly limbs around her brain.

The Reaper had risen.