New in Town [Open]

[Merida]

"Anguuuuuuus!" Merida shouted and grabbed her horse's reigns to slow him down. The bright lights that surrounded them on their journey through "whatever-that-thing-was" had startled her faithful steed, and he was neighing out of sheer terror while bucking. "Angus! Angus it's al'right!" It has happened countless times, but she'd never get used to the pain of being thrown off a horse. With a loud "oof!" she made contact with the hard ground, groaned, and rolled over. Locks of her wild, fiery hair fell into her features--features that were locked in complete shock at the sight before her.

She wasn't in Scotland anymore. That was the only logical conclusion. The homes were different, the roads weren't made of dirt, there weren't lush forests, but her lost arrow was right beside her. With a frustrated sigh, she reached over, grabbed it, got to her knees, and brushed off her dress. Angus' ears lowered, and he cautiously approached Merida with an apologetic look in his big eyes.

"Ya durn oaf. Ye coulda kilt meh," she pursed her lips and glared at him. Angus kept giving her those big eyes. How could she not forgive her friend? Her lips broke into a smile and she stroked his face, "A'ight, a'ight, yer fergiven. C'mon, may'bee tha' thing is still thar." The red head turned around, but to her dismay, the light was gone. Merida's shoulders dropped, she groaned, and snorted, "Mum's gunna kill meh..."

[Loki]

This wasn't the first time Loki found himself in an unknown part of the universe. He was beginning to think he was bad luck for portals. Well, bad luck for others. The God of Mischief found his way out of the forest and onto the main street of what appeared to be a small town occupied by humans. It was similar to earth but unless something happened in his short absence to create a second sun, this wasn't it. He looked over his shoulder every now and again just in case his brother was nearby, his ears staying alert for the sound of thunder which normally announced his arrival. Always the show-off, wasn't he?

As he walked down the road Loki's green eyes fell upon a woman with long, messy red hair and a horse that looked about as foreign to this world as he was. Looks could be deceiving however... He of all people would know about that. Putting a friendly smile on his face, the God of Mischief approached the redheaded child and cleared his throat to garner her attention.

"Pardon me, young lady. I appear to be a little lost..."

That was an understatement.

"Could you by chance tell me where I am exactly?"

[Merida]

Merida gathered Angus' reigns and urged him to follow her down this bizarre street. He was still nervous, eyes shifting constantly, but the princess kept him going regardless of his twitches. This was foreign land and the last thing she wanted was the loss of her horse. Without warning, he bucked again, whinnied, and yanked the reigns from Merida's hands. The red head yelled in surprise, spun around, extended her arms and tried to grab them again. What was spooking him this time? "A'ngus! A'ngus!"

"Pardon me, young lady. I appear to be a little lost..."

Merida looked over her shoulder, and because of that distraction, Angus put some distance between the two. He didn't go far.

""Could you by chance tell me where I am exactly?"

"A' was hopin' ta ask yew tha' same thing," Merida pursed her lips again, turned around, and shouted for her horse to return to her. The animal shook his head, snorted, and kept backing away while his eyes rested on Loki. "A'ngus, get yer 'ide back 'ere! NAU!" Again he shook his head. Merida sighed. "Soree 'bout tha'. A'ngus doesn't like strangers sometimes."

[Loki]

Loki had to hide a look of disgust towards the horse that buckled and whined. Such disgusting creatures. Humans were lowly enough but to actually be even lower than they to serve them. It was enough to make the God of Mischief sick. None of these thoughts ever became more than that though as he kept the kind smile on his face and posed as a friendly stranger to the girl. Unfortunately she was just as lost as he was.

"That's quite all right. Perhaps then you can tell me how you landed here?"

If it weren't just Thor and himself being brought here then that meant there was something else at work here. What was unknown but he intended to find out as he awaited the child's answer. Of course he wouldn't get his hopes up for her information to be worth much. She was only a child after all.

[Merida]

"Well, a' was huntin' in tha' forest, saw a bright la'ight, went in ta find ma a'rrow I shot, an' here I wuz. An' when a' turned around, tha' light was gone." Merida replied and gave him an apologetic smile, "A'hm sor-ee. A' know it's not much, but it's tha' best I've got." Angus whinnied again, but this time, for a different reason. Water was spraying from small, cylinder shaped devices onto a mass of green grass. The spooked animal runs to another portion of the street to avoid it, all the while, Merida stared at it in shock. What on earth were those things?

There were other bizarre sounds. She heard what sounded like an angry, hungry animal behind some of those houses. Unsure of what's going on, she grabs her bow from her back, slips an arrow from the quiver hanging from her waist, and nocks it against the string. "Ah' dun like this." That comment was more so to herself than Loki.

[Loki]

A bright light. No, that wasn't a whole lot to go on at all. But her reactions to her surroundings were another story. The horse had been scared off by something as simple as a sprinkler and Merida herself was taken aback by it. Observing the style of clothes Loki deducted that they were stripped from another point in time. Whatever had brought them here could reach out through time and space. Intriguing. Loki didn't care too much for her weapon though. Being reminded of one of the humans he had faced back on earth. Hawkeye. The God of Mischief doubted she was quite that skilled with it however. With her back turned to the man, Loki took up her staff. A child like her was limited in their uses but when it came to manipulating others nothing pulled on the heartstrings like an innocent, defenseless child. Quietly he snuck up on the girl and slowly moved the tip of the staff forward. Looking to claim the mind of his first victim in this new world.

[Merida]

Angus' ears perked up when Loki was starting to approach Merida with his staff. He neighed loudly, snorted, and charged! The redhead tilted her head, surprised by his sudden one-eighty in behavior, and looked behind her to see what had angered him. Surely that stranger wasn't trying to do anything to her just after trying to help him! Looks like that assumption was incorrect. Her bright blue eyes widened in surprise. He had a weapon in his hand, and he had this...look in his eyes. Merida drew back the string, aimed for the arm that held the staff, and let the arrow fly. Quickly after that, she drew another arrow while backing away, and fired at his right leg. The princess wouldn't shoot to kill. Not yet.

[Loki]

Foiled by a blasted horse! There was no words to describe the God of Mischief's enrage as he turned and fired a destructive blue beam of energy at the hideous animal from the staff. Using his superior speed and agility to evade the trajectory of the arrow and kept the Chitauri Scepter in his hands. The child would notice one notable difference in his appearance now. Instead of green eyes staring towards her they had became a crystal blue color. Loki produced a shield through his sorcery to block the second arrow released before charging up another wave of energy from his staff.

"Yield!"

And fired at her chest.

"I am a god! I will not tolerate insubordination from the likes of you!"

[Ayen]

Tori was walking down the road, hands in her pockets and wooden staff strapped to her back as she was thinking about several things. The disappearance of her friend June and of course, the return of her best friend Kara. Two times the woman had cheated death but this time she had neither the power of gods nor the power of steel on her side. Tori wished she could have done something about that, Moon Valley needed its Woman of Steel now more than ever. But she was just as powerless as Kara was. The only thing she could do now was help Kara cope with her new life as a mortal, just as vulnerable as the rest.

The redhead would be pulled out of her thoughts at the sight further on down the road. A horse, a girl in a dress and a tall man with a strange looking staff firing blue energy. Good to see that after losing the Netherrealm attraction that the strange and supernatural still flocked here like bees to honey. With no time to lose, Tori ran onto the scene. Making it just in time to push Merida out of the way of the energy beam. Falling with her on the grass before getting up.

“Are you okay?”

Tori turned her attention back to Loki. Standing up straight and drawing her staff. Of course it was nothing compared to his but at the very least Tori wasn't unarmed and defenseless. She tightened her grip on the staff and prepared herself for whatever this man planned to do next.

“What the hell is your problem!?”

[Merida]

"A'NGUUUUUUUUUUUUUS!" Merida screamed in terror as her horse, her friend, was blasted by the blue light and skidded to a stop on the road. Teeth gritted, consumed by rage, she turned to face the one who dared to harm her companion. He was a terrible sight to behold, but in the face of this man, she refused to give in to her fear. If death finally comes for her, she'll go down fighting!

Before she could so much as fire, someone tackled her before that blue light could strike her down. Soon as she was off, she rolled away, got down on one knee, and resumed taking aim like nothing happened. Angus was hurt. Angus was barely moving. He was going to pay!

"I a'hm Merida! Firstborn descendant o' Clan DunBroch and future queen o' ma kingdum!" She pulled the string harder, "And yer gonna tolerate ma' 'insubordination', ya bampot!" The arrow soared for his head. Even if she were to fail repeatedly, she won't give up. It was not in her blood nor that of her ancestors.

[Loki]

A small smirk crossed the god's face as he saw the horse fall into the road. That was one, now there were one more left remaining. But before he could claim her another person stepped in, pushing the girl out of the way of the beam and then aiming her own staff at him. He could sense nothing 'special' about it so as far as he was concerned, it was a piece of wood. Did she really think that was going to do anything? Humans. Always so willing to put their life at risk and for what? Why? It was so much more natural for them to just kneel before their superiors. The redhead did remind him of someone else though. That made two members of the Avengers the people here had made him think of. And that was one too many. As for Tori's question...

"A lot."

Loki ducked beneath the arrow and lowered his own staff towards the ground. Firing another energy wave this time meant to take the ground out from underneath them. Sending chunks of the road up into their path, followed by debris that concealed his location. You couldn't hit what you can't see.

[Ayen]

"A lot."

Tori watched the man lower his staff and it didn't take a genius to figure out what his next move was.

“Get back!”

Yelled Tori to the other redhead as the ground was blasted. Covering her face from the debris as she tried desperately to see where Loki was but to no prevail. Expecting an ambush at any moment Tori stayed alert, keeping track of Merida out of the corner of her eye.

“What is that thing he's using?”

[Merida]

"Oh that's puttin' it mildly." She mumbled in response to Loki, but unlike Tori, she did not see this attack coming. In a world that had some basic witchcraft and Will o' the Wisps, Merida didn't grow up knowing of anything more powerful than that. Rocks and other debris flew. The princess covered her face as well, but not before a few shards nicked her face. It mattered little.

“What is that thing he's using?”

"A'h dun know! One moment 'e was friendly, an' tha' next, 'e was gunna stick meh like an animal with that...staff! Maybe 'es some powerful warlock!" She had an ally in this fight and they had to watch each other's backs. Merida backed against Tori, and prepared to shoot at Loki should he reappear. "A'h would liek ta know yer name since we're nau in this together."

[Loki]

The pair would feel a chill go up and down their spines as the air around them grew cold. The debris had offered the God of Mischief time to charge the specter and fire off a longer, and more powerful surge of energy that cut through the debris and headed towards them just as the debris cleared revealing his location but by this point it mattered little to the god. The staff was charged and would now allow for much longer bursts of energy.

[Ayen]

"A'h dun know! One moment 'e was friendly, an' tha' next, 'e was gunna stick meh like an animal with that...staff! Maybe 'es some powerful warlock!"

“We need to get that thing away from him if we want to stand a chance.”

A sudden chill caused Tori to shudder but it was just subtle enough for her to dismiss it as the weather, plus she was already more focused on the task ahead than the air around her.

"A'h would liek ta know yer name since we're nau in this together."

“Tori. I'm going to attempt to get up close. You hit him with your bow when he's distracted.”

The energy came for them again and Tori rolled out of the way. The debris clearing up making things much easier as Tori got up to her feet and charged forward, staying at the side of the energy blast as she closed the distance between them and swung her staff towards the god's main body.