All Hail The King // Loki - Book 2 ✓

Chapter 33

"FOCUS! This is important!" Darcy chides Ian, "We have to hammer them in all around the site, and then Jane and Erik will activate them from the tower."

The pair of interns are unloading equipment from the back of Jane's beat-up red car, sorting through the jumbled heap in a rush. Darcy shrugs on her jacket, supervising Ian's work.

"They're taped together," he tells her, incredulously.

Darcy's voice drops, her face serious, "Do you even know what these things do?"

"....no," Ian admits, holding the still-beeping device.

She shrugs, "Neither do I."

Once they've gathered everything necessary, they rush onto the lawn and head to the first spot where Jane instructed them to place the devices. Ian spikes one into the ground, pulling out a large mallet, while he hammers it into the cold ground.

"C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Darcy urges him along.

Ian groans, "All right!"

The waters of the Thames splash behind them, a massive disturbance in the otherwise peaceful river running through Greenwich causing a panic in the onlookers. Several screams erupt from the crowd, while many begin running away from the riverbank as the cause of the disturbance is revealed. A massive alien ship ripple into view, and panic ensues as it moves closer and closer toward the ground.

Darcy turns, finally checking out the source of the noise, and her jaw drops, "Holy..."

"...shit!" Ian completes, finishing his work on the device and running out of the ship's path.

It cuts into the grass like a knife, sliding easily through the dirt and grass while people run to escape the oncoming ship. Thundering loudly toward the buildings, it rips through the ground mercilessly before sliding to a stop in the center of the previously pristine lawn. Rising tall above the surrounding buildings, the ship's core glows red as an elevator-like pod slides from the top of the ship down to the base.

Unfurling a ramp to the ground, the door opens to reveal Malekith and his troops. In the sky above them, a portal ripples through the cloud as the Convergence comes into effect. From a distance, however, the sound of a rapidly moving object draws Malekith's attention as Thor flies down from the sky and slams into the earth in front of the Dark Elf with a resounding thud.

"You needn't have come so far, Asgardian," Malekith tells him, taking a confident step forward. "Death would've come to you soon enough."

"Not by your hand," Thor counters, gripping Mjölnir tightly as he strides out to meet him.

Malekith ignores him, "Your universe was never meant to be. Your world and your family will be extinguished!"

Calling a swarm of the blood-red Aether, Malekith draws a cloud and hurtles it toward Thor as he shouts out the words. Slamming into him like a million daggers, the Aether throws the blonde Asgardian backward as if he is a ragdoll. Thor calls his lightning to him as a counterstrike, but it does little to lessen the powerful blow.

Inside Jane, Anna, and Erik Selvig rush through the building. The astrophysicists' shoes squeak loudly against the tiled floor, and Anna grimaces at the attention the noise is drawing toward them. Erik is carrying the largest piece of equipment, while Jane is focused on getting to the tower as fast as possible, but neither of them is well-equipped for stealth. Ignoring the glares and shushes from the library patrons, they climb to the top of the tower without wasting any more time. By the time they've reached the top, the Dark Elves' ship has smashed into the earth.