Young America - Chapter 9
Hey everyone! This chapter practically wrote itself and I finished it waayyy faster than it normally takes me to write a chapter. I hope you all enjoy this and prepare yourself for the feels! ^_^
(Side note: Check out my new story "Don't Wake Me": A story of how Steve is critically injured in an attack by the Chitauri. Now unconscious and in critical condition with his super soldier serum suppressed by an alien toxin, Cap's team pushes him to fight for his life, but fighting for his life means rejecting the dream he's living. If Steve stays asleep he gets to live the life he never had with the woman he loves: Peggy Carter, but to wake up and fight the toxin will tear that dream apart. Will Steve have the strength to choose his team over the woman he loves?)
Loki's hand is raised high with his knife held firmly in his grasp. Steve is kneeling in front of him, facing Tony, with his eyes closed tightly like the man had told him to do. The moment feels like it lasts forever as it plays out before Tony's eyes in slow motion. Loki's knife begins to fall forward toward Steve's heart when Tony closes his eyes tightly before he triggers a blinding flash from his armor. Loki cries out in pain from the flash and raises his arm to shield his eyes, but its too late.
Tony watches everything play out in front of him. Loki stumbles back, swinging the knife wildly in his blind stupor while Steve stays frozen where he sits. Tony gets ready to propel himself into Loki to take him down when a flash of green flies across his vision, grabbing Steve up and everything suddenly snaps back into reality. Tony shoots forward and tackles Loki to the ground and knocks the knife out of his grip. He quickly glances over his shoulder to look for Steve.
The Hulk stands behind Tony with Steve curled up and shaking in his giant green hands. Steve slowly pulls his head out from behind his hands and looks up at Hulk with fear in his eyes. The monster gently puts Steve down on the ground and the small child slowly backs away, but never turning his back or taking his terrified eyes off of him. Hulk frowns and tries to take a step closer to Steve when something hits him in the back. He turns to see Amora standing behind him with Executioner looming by her side. She fires another blast of her magic, but this time she aims for the wall above Steve. Her blast knocks a portion of the wall loose and it starts to tumble down on Steve.
Steve flinches and prepares himself to be buried in the rubble, but nothing happens. He slowly dares to open his eyes and looks up to see Hulk sheltering him from the rock slide and the stones and boulders bounce uselessly off of his back. He stares up at the giant, green beast as he sacrifices himself to save him and suddenly he doesn't seem quite to scary.
Once the rock slide stops Hulk quickly turns to face his attackers. Amora fires her magic at the beast and he roars, clapping his hands together and sending them both reeling back into the ground.
Hulk turns to Steve who is now standing beside him with his hand resting on the side of his huge leg. Steve only comes up to below his knee, but the small child looks up at him and smiles. Hulk kneels down next to Steve and holds out his gigantic fist to him and Steve bumps his tiny fist against Hulks before giggling at him. The monster smiles at the little kid, but his smile is gone when he feels the familiar sting of Amora's magic. Hulk protectively holds Steve in his arms, shielding him from Amora's attacks. Hulk quickly makes his way over to the pile of rocks that had nearly crushed Steve. He grabs a huge boulder in his hand and launches it across the room toward Amora. The two dive out of the way, but the impact of the boulder slamming into the wall behind them throws them forward and covers them in debris.
Steve and Hulk knuckle bump again and Steve gives Hulk's huge arm a big hug as he sets him back down onto the ground.
"Hey, if you guys are done with your 'touchy-feely-bonding moment, I could use some help over here, Hulk!" Tony yells when Loki brings his feet up and kicks Iron Man off of him and Tony flies into a nearby wall.
Hulk growls and charges at the puny god in a full force run when the ground beneath him rises up and pins his arm against the wall. Hulk struggles to break free when he sees Hel walk into the room with a grim smile on her face. She holds up her boney hand and brings up another section of rock to pin his other arm. Hulk roars and breaks his right arm free so he can punch and smash the waves of rocky attacks that Hel is sending toward him.
Loki sees his opening and rushes for Steve who is trying to climb back up the stairs. He reaches out and grabs onto Steve's leg and Steve yells while he hangs onto the stairs against the man's hold. Loki's grip is broken when he's hit in the chest with an exploding arrow.
"Damn, that felt good," Clint smiles from the ledge above Steve. "Let's do that again." Clint unleashes another exploding arrow at Loki's feet and the blast sends him flying across the room, crashing into Hel who was keeping the Hulk at bay. The two crash to the ground and Hulk rips his arm free of the stone restraining him.
Natasha jumps down from behind Clint and gathers Steve up off of the ground. Steve buries his face into her shoulder and hugs her tight. Natasha wraps her arm around him and squeezes him back, whispering to him to help calm him. Tony is quickly by their side as he fires a missile at Amora who is running toward them. She ducks and slides under the attack, but Executioner catches it in the chest behind her and is thrown to the ground. Amora glares at Tony and launches herself toward him when Hulk intercepts her and shoulder checks her into the ground.
Tony turns to see Steve clinging to Natasha and the normally cold assassin holding him tightly and trying to calm him. "Mary Poppins!" Tony steps forward and points at the Widow dramatically. Natasha frowns at the inventor and grabs his finger and twists it backwards and he yelps in pain before she releases him. "Mean Mary Poppins," he glares and holds his finger protectively away from her.
Thor lands in front of the two Avengers with his hammer held tightly and ready for battle while the rest of the Avengers regroup around Steve. Loki, Amora, Executioner, and Hel all regroup as well and the two sides stare each other down.
"Brother," Thor frowns. "What hand do you have in this evil?"
"You and your Avengers forced my hand," Loki smiles. "I tried to steal your young Captain peacefully and without confrontation, but that fool, Watermen, failed me."
"You are the one the Man of Water is working for," Thor roars and Loki only laughs.
"Yes, and we could have avoided all of this if your Captain had just come peacefully. So just hand him over to me and we can all put this mess behind us."
"We're not letting any of you take Steve, so you all might as well surrender while you still have a face to talk with," Tony threatens.
"Big talk from someone who is hopelessly outmatched," Amora narrows her eyes at the Iron Avenger.
"Outmatched?" Tony scoffs. "You do realize who you're facing off with right now, right?"
"Do you?" Hel asks with an unnerving smirk.
Tony doesn't like the fact that they're so confident with their threats. They're outnumbered, they don't have Steve, and the sun is going to rise and end the winter solstice in less than an hour. His suspicions are confirmed when the ground beneath them begins to shake.
"Loki," Amora practically spits as she speaks his name. "If you have any hope of walking out of this battle of your own accord, you will fight along side us." Loki stares at the woman in disgust and quickly goes over all of the possible outcomes with his quick mind. He nods in agreement after a moment and turns his attention back to the Avengers.
Hel raises her hands again and the ground starts to bow in the center of the room. The ground pulls away from itself and forms into a rocky arm and claw as it slams into the ground. The arm pushes down on the ground until a large body and head break free. The body is shaped like a bull with large shoulders and a more narrow back half where a long tail swings freely. There are stoney spikes projecting out of its back in a crooked line and its face is just a rough rectangle with jagged rocks lining the opening that looks like a mouth. Dust and rubble rain down as the beast shakes itself free from the ground, leaving a deep pit in the center of the cavern.
The beast climbs out of the pit and stands at it's full height in front of them. Even the Hulk has to look up to see the face of the beast.
"Well, that's not good," Clint quietly states. "Thor, what is this thing?"
"It is a Ragnarok," Thor answers grimly. An ancient being used to bring about the destiny of the gods. Hel has summoned it using a great deal of her magic. She is the only one who can control it and it will only be defeated when either the desire of the god who summoned it is fulfilled or by the sacrifice of a life.
"Wait, so the only way to destroy this thing is for someone to die?" Tony yells.
"Aye," Thor answers.
"Who made that stupid rule?" Tony throws his hands up in frustration before he lowers it to silence Thor before he answers. "You know what? Never mind. Not important because none of us are dying today. We're going to take this thing down. Avengers! Assemble!"
The Avengers focus their attacks on the Ragnarok. Repulser blasts, lightning, and giant green fists come raining down upon the monster while Clint and Natasha guard Steve against the three remaining demi-gods.
"Steve, I need you to stay here behind the stairs, okay?" Natasha looks Steve in the eye and the small child nods and does as he's told. Clint and Natasha run out to cut off the three gods before they make it to Steve. Clint takes on Executioner when the man charges after him with his axe swinging. The archer skillfully drops to his knees and slides across the ground and limbos under the axe as it skims over his face. He spins around with lightning quick reflexes and fires an arrow into his back that sends a powerful jolt of electricity through him. The man drops to the ground, but Clint knows he won't stay down for long.
Natasha takes on Amora and Loki on her own while Clint is dealing with Executioner. She fires her guns at Amora while the witch ducks behind a pile of debris that has fallen sometime during the chaos. Natasha keeps her pinned when a repulser blast flies over her head, so close that Natasha can feel the heat as it flies by, and hits Loki square in the chest before he is able to attack Natasha. Loki is sent reeling back into the wall by the blast. Natasha nods to Tony and he gives her a mock salute before he flies over head back toward the Ragnarok.
Hel stands under the Ragnarok laughing as she wills the beast to destroy the Avengers. Hulk is hitting the monster as hard as he can, but he isn't rewarded with even so much as a dent in the stone. Tony and Thor are not faring any better as they fires blast after blast and bolt after bolt at it. Nothing is slowing it down and the Avengers are running out of options.
When they thought that the situation couldn't get much worse, the beast rears up onto its back legs, breaking through the ceiling of the cavern to reveal the night sky. The ceiling breaks into pieces that rain down onto the Avengers. Thor and Tony are pinned under the rubble on the floor of the cave while Hulk is thrown off of the beast's back and into the ground. Clint and Natasha have been backed into a corner and are surrounded by the Loki and Executioner while Hel stands under the beast who is straddling the pit he rose out of and roars in victory.
Amora grabs Steve out from his hiding spot behind the stairs and carries him forward in her tight grip.
"Leave him alone!" Clint orders when Executioner shoves the edge of his axe in his face, silently ordering him to keep quiet.
"It is over, Avengers," Hel cackles. "Do you have anything to say before you die?"
"You won't get away with this," Tony yells as he and Thor start to break free from under the rocks.
"Oh, but I will," Hel smiles and with once glance, she orders the Ragnarok to pin the two Avengers under it's giant claw. "Destroy them."
"No!" Steve yells and he kicks Amora in the leg like he had before and she drops him as she screams in anger and pain. Without hesitation, Steve runs forward.
"Steve!" Tony yells from under the monster's claw when he sees what Steve is doing. "Stop! Don't do it!"
Steve doesn't listen. He launches himself into Hel sending them both tumbling over the edge of the pit. It all happens in a split second and the Avengers all watch in complete shock.
"Steve!" Tony screams from under the claw. Thor and Tony fight with all of their strength, fueled by anger and sorrow as they watch Steve tumble over the edge. Clint and Natasha charge the two demi-gods with reckless abandon, tackling them to the ground. Hulk roars, but this time there is sadness woven into the anger as he charges at the Ragnarok. He breaks through the arm that is pinning Tony and Thor and the beast cries out and starts to crumble all around them. The green beast lands on the ground and yells once more as the Hulks angry roar turns into Bruce's as he changes back. Bruce leans heavily against the wall, overwhelmed with grief.
"The beast is defeated. Hel has been destroyed and a sacrifice has been made,' Thor announces grimly and watches the beast fall into a pile of stone as though it was never alive to begin with. He turns to find his brother, but the sly god has slipped away unnoticed yet again.
Tony flies over to the edge of the pit before he falls to his hands and knees and yells out in anger, his heart breaking at the loss of his friend. The first rays of light start to shine, chasing away the darkness and the stars and replacing them with the soft pinks and purples that mark the start to a new day.
"Come, Executioner," Amora hisses. "There is nothing here for us any longer."
"No!" Clint yells through tears. "You don't get to leave after what you just did!" He dives after them, but only passes through their bodies as they fade away. "No! Cowards!" He screams as he stands. Natasha is by his side and holds him tightly, grounding him as she looks at him with tears streaking her face.
Tony looks over the edge of the pit to stare down into the darkness that has taken his best friend from him. His heart skips a beat when looks down and he sees Steve's body laying a ways down on a ledge. He immediately jumps down and scoops up the still child and flies back up to the surface. The Avengers all rush over to Tony and Bruce kneels down to look Steve over.
"Steve?" Bruce calls. "Can you hear me?"
"JARVIS, what's Steve's status?"
"His injuries are extensive, Sir." The AI answers.
"How extensive," Tony pushes.
"Sir, I…"
"JARVIS!" Tony yells.
"He has been mortally wounded, Sir," the AI finally reports and the Avengers all feel their hearts sink.
Steve is so still. His breaths are coming in quick, shallow breaths. They all know it's only a matter of time now.
"I'm so sorry, Steve," Tony lifts the faceplate on his helmet to look down at Steve.
Steve stirs slightly. "Tony?"
"Hey, Steve," he answers gently. "I'm here. I've got you."
"Did we win?" Steve whispers as his eyes open just enough for Tony to see blue peeking out. "Is everyone okay?"
"Yeah, kid. We won. We won and we're all okay because of you," Tony whispers back.
"Good," Steve sighs and he closes his eyes. "Can we go home now?" His question is so quiet, Tony can hardly hear him.
"Yeah, we can go home," Tony answers back just as quietly. The rapid rise and fall of his little chest stops and Tony pulls him closer against his chest and bows his head as the tears flow freely down his face.
Thor falls to his knees in grief and disbelief while Bruce can only sit on the ground as holds his face in his hand. Natasha buries her face into Clint's shoulder and Clint turns his head away to hide his tears.
The light of the new morning begins to shine brightly through the ceiling and the sun warms the cold, dark cavern where so much evil and heartache has happened.
In their sadness the Avengers almost don't notice the light starting to shine around Steve's body. Tony pulls away, startled by the light. He gently lays Steve on the ground and backs away, unsure of what's happening. The other Avengers turn to Steve, but quickly have to shield their eyes as the light grows more and more blinding. Just as it was before, the light is gone as fast as it had appeared. Tony blinks and looks down to where he had laid little Steve down. He can hardly believe his eyes when he sees adult Steve laying there instead.
"Steve!" Tony cries. He and Bruce are at his side instantly while Thor removes his cape and lays it over Steve's body. Bruce lays his finger on his neck and dares to hope.
"He's got a pulse. It's weak, but it's there," He announces and tears fall from his eyes, this time from joy instead of heartache.
"How is that possible?" Clint asks, completely overwhelmed at the whirlwind of events.
"Love," Thor smiles and glances at Tony who just stares at him incredulously "Steven's love for his team was shown by his actions this day. There is no greater act of love than for one to lay his life down for the sake of his friends. Steven was willing to give his life for us and us for him. It is that great love that has defeated the curse."
Tony stares at the demi-god for a moment in complete shock. "Well I'll be damned," Tony finally answers. "Disney was right."
"We need to get him back to the helicarrier to stabilize him," Bruce finally brings a voice of reason to the shocked team and Tony gently lifts Steve off of the ground.
"Heimdall!" Thor calls and the Avengers all gather around him. "Open the Bifrost. We are bringing our Captain home."
