The Infamous Hacker (Natasha Romanoff x OC)

Chapter 10

The pulsing in her ears grew stronger as Bryce approached the bottom of the stairwell.

"Hello?" she asked, only to get her name in response. 

Someone was calling for her. 

She stepped out of the stairwell to find herself in a slightly ruined lounge/bar area. She paid no attention to that, though. Her main and only goal was to find the person talking to her. 

She stepped off of the last stair and froze, listening. The pounding in her ears was becoming more rhythmic, more like a heartbeat. The longer she listened to the person saying her name, the more they sounded like Natasha Romanoff. 

"Natasha?" she asked, taking a cautious step forward. "Natasha, is that you?" 

"BRYCE!"

Natasha screamed her name, as though she were in pain.

"Natasha!" Bryce started moving cautiously toward the sound. It sounded so close, but she couldn't see her friend/crush anywhere.

"BRYCE!"

"Hold on, Natasha!" Bryce shouted, moving a bit quicker as the sound shifted. It was now coming from a glass door, leading on to a large, once-pretty balcony. Bryce wasted no type pulling the door open and cautiously stepping outside.

"Bryce..."

"Natasha?!" Bryce called as the voice became weaker. "Natasha, where are you?"

"B-Byrce..."

"Hang on, Natasha, please!" Bryce said worriedly. 

That's when she saw it, lying on the ground, vulnerable. 

The scepter.

How she wanted it so badly. 

The scepter could give you control. Control of anyone or anything. It could give her recognition. It could give her meaning. It could give her a purpose.

It could give her everything.

"B-Bryce..."

Natasha Romanoff's voice was becoming closer to a whisper as Bryce bent down to lift the scepter. She wanted the scepter. She needed it.

"Pick it up, and she'll never accept you," stated an alien-like voice. 

Bryce stopped, standing and spinning around, searching for the source of the voice.

"Pick it up, and you'll get everything you want," added the voice. 

"That's all I want," Bryce told it, then quickly bent down again, curling her fingers around the cold metal of the scepter. Just touching it made her feel powerful.

Slowly and cautiously, she lifted it from the ground. The pounding and ringing in her ears immediately stopped as she straightened, holding it in her hand proudly. 

"Then it is yours,"

The voice's last words were quiet and approving. Bryce smiled. This was what she'd always wanted- control. Control over her life. And most of all, control over others' lives.

Bryce looked out to the city with a pair of fresh eyes. It was hers. The Chitauri were fighting for her, now. They would win her the Earth, and she would grant them the Tesseract in return. 

Because, as she'd said- she wasn't a monster.

Loki had already failed. He'd failed to keep the scepter in his hands, so naturally, a new owner had been chosen- Bryce. 

With a sudden thought, Bryce realized that he'd been right- she would be the cause of the new world. 

But it would be her new world, not his.

Also, speak of the devil.

Loki came flying onto the balcony, only to get punched through the glass and into the building that Bryce had come out of by the Hulk. Bryce watched, amused, as he rolled across the floor, pushing himself to his feet.

"ENOUGH!" he shouted. The Hulk stopped, peering at him.

"You are, all of you, beneath me!" Loki declared. "I am a God, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by-"

Hulk seemed to grow tired of his monologue and grabbed him by the leg, smashing him around into the floor as though he were a toddler's toy. When he was finished, he slammed him into the ground one last time, leaving him to whimper in pain.

"Puny god," the Hulk claimed as it walked out of the room.

Bryce chuckled to herself and began pacing on the balcony. 

"Indeed," she muttered to herself. "That's why he allowed a regular mortal to take over his position,"

With an afterthought, she added, "Well, a once-regular mortal. I am beyond exception. There is a reason I was infamous. Because I always got away,"

With this, she turned to face the ruined city that was soon to become hers.