#shield starter

{ @fallingfrozenprince }

Katiya could only stare in shock at Loki. She had to have been imagining things. Was… Was he actually protecting her…? She had always thought he’d be the kind to leave her on her own, or something. Yet, here he was… Protecting her from the danger before them.

"It's been awhile..."

The Roboticist sat on an unconscious black-furred cat, the size of a fully-grown bengal tiger, with tentacles sprouting from his shoulders, and ears that trailed off into long, thin antennae. They and the cat were on the edge of a crater that held the wreckage of what appeared the right size to be an escape pod, and the pieces of a tractor that had been brutally chopped up by something that had torn through the metal the way an ax tears through cardboard. The crater was in the middle of a field of potatoes, near a river in northern Maine.

No! Tabitha, this is insane!

But look at him! I thought that species was fictional, yet here he is!

And look at the damage he caused before we could bring him down. There is no way ...

... that anyone on this planet has the technology to hold him. They'll just end up killing him, you know that. And it's not his fault!

We're not even sure of that. For all we know, he could have been a raving psychopath who was ejected by his people.

And the only way we'll know for sure is to keep him tranquilized long enough to get a brain scanner on him. Unless you happen to know a telepath on this world that I don't.

The alien stirred, and The Roboticist fired her sonic stunner point-blank into the back of his skull. He returned to his previous limp state.

I'm pretty sure Professor Xavier is real. I think I saw his name on one of the forms that crossed our desk.

And you know what he'll do if we call him. No! I know we can build a collar that'll keep him tranquil as long as he wears it!

How many cats do you know that like to wear their collars?

That's not the point! It's a sign from the gods! You're the one who believes in that stuff! My parents were more scientific about the magic! Remember? My parents were Midnighters. Your mom is the one who's part of a Circle. Can't you see this is exactly the kind of thing that would be a sign from the gods?

Tabitha, look at our ID card. It says Stark Industries, not Worlds Welfare Work Association. You do understand the difference, right?

The feline's antennae twitched, and a piece of wreckage lifted into the air. The Roboticist stunned him again, and the wreckage fell.

Look, we have to make up our minds fast. He's adapting to the stunner.

You're not going to give up on this, are you?

It's Mugi! We can't just let them kill him, which is exactly what will happen when they discover that the only thing that'll stop his claws is adamantium!

Instead, you want to build a collar that'll keep him stoned enough to not use his claws.

It's not like there are any tranquilizers on Earth that are strong enough to do the job.

I can't believe I'm agreeing to this. All right, let's drag him back to the lab. I hope I don't regret this.

You know those upgrades we were working on for the tank? We may just want to lay a new keel and apply them to the new ship.

I think I have a migraine. <sigh> Come on. Let's see if we can stuff him into the jump seat. Gods, the ride back to the lab is going to be cramped.

Elsie skipped down the street, whistling and singing as she went, completely unconcerned about the trail of confused and disturbed people she left in her wake. She'd overheard rumors of a new electronics supply shop near Central Park, and wanted to get there bright and early in the morning, in case other people thought it was as good as she'd imagined, based on the rumors.

She'd taken a turn off Columbus Circle and stopped, looked down at her personal secretary, then back down the street. "OK, that's weird. That looks like one of those human government buildings that's trying to masquerade as an office building, not like an electronics supermarket. Well, only one way to find out."

She started down the street, toward the "not really a secret government agency office building, nosirree, you didn't see anything like that here", and did her best to ignore the government-issue security goons milling around outside like they were expecting trouble.

When the security goons looked as if they weren't going away for a long time, if ever, Elsie considered the situation, then grinned maniacally. Oh, this should be fun!

She whistled at the security goons, then raised her right hand. A beam of golden light struck her, shrinking into the form of a spear of brilliant golden metal, held firmly in her hand. Meanwhile, she grew over a foot in height, with a corresponding increase in build, and her clothing vanished in a swirl of white feathers, which left behind chain armor of the same gleaming golden metal as her spear. Before the light vanished, a gleaming golden shield appeared in her left hand, with the image of Elsie the Cow covering its face.

"Hi, boys!" Geirahod called to the security goons. "Since you're obviously not the electronics supermarket I was led to believe, you want to tell your boss, you've got an ..." she checked the back of her shield, then nodded. "Tell your bosses you have an 0-8-4 out front?"