A/N I'm sorry this took so long. The next five or so chapters are really important to the plot, and depend on each other a lot. I changed one scene and that forced me to rewrite a lot of the drafts for the next chapters. The next update will also probably take a while, as not only do I have to fix the rest, but I have exams coming up so I will probably have to put this aside. I will never abandon it, as I've said at the beginning, but I can't promise how long until the next one.
I hope you enjoy this. Things are getting interesting now!
Tony's POV
"You," the Chitauri leader focused its full attention on me.
Even with its menacing yellow eyes a foot away from mine, I couldn't resist irritating it. "Me." I acted completely unconcerned, with a little head tilt and smile.
It growled. "I suspected who you were, but I hardly dared hope that I could be the one to kill you. You are who destroyed a whole ship of our kin! You will die where you stand for that, and we will eat beforewe start our search. Remove its armour," it instructed the Chitauri, without taking its eyes off mine.
They pulled the Iron Man suit apart, piece by piece. I struggled, even though I knew it was useless. There was no getting out of this one.
When the red back of the helmet was off, one of them punched me, hard, in the head. Dazed, I stopped moving as the rest of the suit was removed. The others were also struggling against their bonds, but were unable to slip out of the chains.
The leader grabbed me by the neck, lifting me up. Oh, not again. I thought, remembering when Loki had done the same. Then I realised that I was actually going to die this time, and tried twisting out of its grasp. I stopped when I felt a knife against my neck.
I didn't want to have my alien killer as the last thing I saw, so I looked at the Avengers. All of them, even Nat, were horrified, and started yelling. With my blood rushing in my head, I couldn't determine what exactly they said; it was all just a cacophony of sound that blended together. Thor strained against his chains with all his Asgardian strength, and looked surprised when they didn't break. They must have been much stronger than the chains on the others.
The blade had just pierced my skin when I heard it.
Whump. Whump.
A loud, repeated sound that reverberated unnaturally, like a purposefully-overdramatic microphone playback (I should know). The knife paused.
"They're here," the leader whispered excitedly. No one but me heard. It withdrew the knife and my feet found the ground as it lowered its arm. Blood was trickling down the side of my neck from the small, stinging cut.
Whump. Whump.
The sound was even louder now, echoing around the city, seeming to come from all directions, regardless that we were in Central Park with no buildings. Abruptly, the leader handed me to two other Chitauri, and walked forward to address its army. One of my new handlers unsheathed a knife and held that against my neck in the same place as the leader had. As if I could even try to escape bound and suit-less as I was.
"They are coming. Draw your weapons, and stay close to the prisoners. It will be harder for them to use spells that won't hurt the Protectors of Terra as well." It looked at Vision, then grunted. "Keep the net restraining the Stone. We will not be able to hold it otherwise. Now that we only have one of the nets left, use it on the princeling at my command. The guns will subdue the other for a time, and their chains can do the rest."
Whump. Whump. It was louder still.
"Move, now. They could come from anywhere." The Chitauri army hurried to come closer to us, leaving a much smaller circular clearing. The ones still on flying vehicles hovered just above the rest of the army. All their weapons were ready, though pointed down as they didn't yet have a target.
Whump. Whump.
I couldn't place what it was.
Whump. Whump.
We waited in silence.
The next sounds did not come a few seconds later like the others had. For a minute, the silence continued. The Chitauri then starting chittering nervously, and the helmet the leader wore twisted as it moved its head around. They still expected something to come.
Two large airborne shapes suddenly barreled into view from between the buildings of the city, aiming straight at the ship overhead.
Dragons. I didn't believe what I was seeing, but two dragons, one mainly green, the other mainly red, charged into two of the Leviathans, landing on their target, though keeping their wings open. Although the reptiles were almost the same size as the armoured beasts, I noticed that the Leviathans didn't lose altitude (then again, they shouldn't have been able to fly at all, seeing as they were practically swimming through the air rather than adhering to the small, insignificant matter of physics).
The green one stabbed its long front claws into the side of the neck of its Leviathan, straight through the armoured plates, and wrenched, tearing grey flesh and making a link of its black blood between the wound and its paw before falling away. It took off as the Leviathan bellowed then careened downwards.
At the same time as this, the red dragon opened its mouth, twisted its long neck sideways, then locked its jaws around its quarry's head. This attack was closer, and I could see blood dripping off its snout when it released the second dead Leviathan.
Red flew closer to us and the army, flapping its wings more rapidly, hovering, making soft whumpsounds each beat. The phalanges of the wings were the same red its hide, but the membrane had a mix of colours that, when moved, glinted in patterns like a raging forest fire. The tip of each finger ended in a black claw, with a larger one at the top where the ridges met. The wing itself branched from the powerful shoulder, and continued to connect to the skin until the joint of its hip.
Gravity drew its hindquarters down a bit so we could see its underbelly. The reptile was not solely red, as I had thought; there were smooth chest plates of large gold scales, overlapping so they pointed towards its rear in open-based triangles. They started from just under its chin and continued downward until the beginning of the tail, becoming smaller to fit, then stopping after a few more feet. These scales weren't as vibrant as the red ones that covered the rest of it, but were so pure it was like they were made of golden ore and not simply an organic pigmentation.
The dragon had four pairs of small spikes following its jaw line at the back of the snout, each larger and longer than the one before. On top of its head, two straight horns extended backwards, as long again as its skull. It had four claws on each paw, with the hind legs also had a small dew-claw higher up on the back of the shin. Each of these protrusions of keratin, as well as a long, flat, teardrop-shaped tip on its tail were pure black, not ivory as on most pictures of dragons.
As I looked on in apprehension of what it would do, it tilted its head and neck, in a manner similar to a dog. It observed us in turn, scanning with gleaming reptilian irises of a startling mix of gold in the middle and red on the outside.
The Chitauri started to fire at it, but missed as it snarled and flew up and away, twisting fluidly until its back was to us.
Red joined Green in the air as two more Leviathans flying side by side headed toward them. They rushed together, and then released white- and blue-hot flames into the beasts' mouths. They flew over the falling Leviathans, and both let out a deafening roar in victory.
The fifth and last Leviathan was bigger yet somehow faster than the others. It thrashed in the air preventing the dragons from getting too close. Green and Red looked at each other, then spouted more jets of flame, herding it between them. When it was where they wanted, both bit into its middle, then tore it apart.
The Leviathan screeched as its armour plates fell away, and its body separated, a gruesome string of entrails joining the pieces together. More black blood spurted, and Green swerved sharply to avoid it, while Red leisurely flapped its wings and flew higher, uncaring of the few splatters that reached its hide. They released the final Leviathan and with a motion of their heads threw it forcefully into the ground.
By this time, the flying Chitauri had approached them in a wave. The dragons used fire on some, but not as many as I suspected. I saw why. The fire didn't do much to the Chitauri, only killing them if it hit straight on. The flyers were still a fair distance away, and even though they were very accurate, the dragons couldn't kill many at once.
When the fleet reached them, however, each vehicle exploded against an unseen force field. I distinctly saw the reptiles smile. The flyers had come in one huge group, and couldn't avoid the wall at their high speeds. Within seconds, there were only the metal pieces falling from the sky. Luckily, none hit us, though branches snapped from trees as they were pelted by the debris.
The dragons glided toward us, and they slowly shrank. Just before they reached the ground at the edge of the clearing, they flapped once and twisted their front halves up, and landed on their back legs, then folded their wings to rest along the length of their sides as they let their forelegs touch down. All of this was done so simultaneously, that the only sounds were from a gentle rustling as a brush of wind picked up some scattered leaves, and those two soft thuds of the dragons' paws hitting grass.
When they straightened, they were only about 15 feet tall, their heads just barely reaching the tops of the trees, as opposed to their previous 50. Green was slightly bigger than Red, though only in height and length. Both were slender in the breadth of their chest, though not to a scale of looking unhealthy, young, or weak; more for a greater aerodynamic shape. A massive chest cavity on both held space for their lungs, and as they breathed in and out steadily, the light caught on their scales, deepening the colour of each iridescent jewel.
The dragons' long necks were held at an angle so they could look down at us, looking particularly menacing. Their snouts were stained black from the blood of the Leviathans, and they used this to disconcert the army of Chitauri. Their mouths opened slightly, showing normally-white teeth as long as a man's arm similarly stained, and a pink tongue that slowly licked some of it away.
The tips of two long tails swished around, showing off the deadly tips. While Red's tailpiece was slightly rounded where it met the flesh, Green had a diamond-shaped blade with sharp angles. Their horns and paws were the same, as well as the sections of colour, though obviously rather than being ruby red it was emerald green, even the fire-like pattern on its wings. Its eyes were slightly darker gems than its scales, with no gold at all.
Wait…red, black, and gold together was reminiscent of fire and ashes, while green, black and gold meant…
It hit me suddenly.
"Flare and Loki. You're Flare and Loki. What is happening. What the f-."
"Silence," one of the Chitauri growled at my back.
Green, no, that would be Loki, huffed. Red, Flare, made a single chuff sound which I took to be a laugh. Loki then opened his maw and spoke.
"Another that hides behind its army." Even as a dragon, Loki's voice was smooth and cultured, though lower and more resonant. His large green eyes meticulously scanned the gathered force. He scoffed before he continued. "Chitauri commanders seem to all be the same, only appearing when there is no danger to themselves."
Flare made an abrupt motion with her head toward us. She then focused on a point just beside and behind me, Loki's gaze snapping to the same place.
I turned my head as much as I dared, and from the corner of my eye saw the leader walk out from its surrounding crowd. It was sneering.
"Look who has come to us without even having to start a search. Thanos' disobedient pets."
"Pets, you call us," Flare showed her sharp teeth again in a smile. "Says the one who has been sent like a dog to tote and fetch. Ooh, what did he say?" Her voice changed to something deeper. Darker. "They must be brought back, no matter the cost, or possibly," her voice reverted back briefly, "I don't care how many of you die, insect, they are more important, and must be captured alive." The new voice disappeared. "Must be belittling, knowing you rank less than two prisoners," she hissed.
The leader's hand was clenching and unclenching in rage. "Enough! Do not disrespect your Master!" It roared (nowhere near as intimidating as the dragons' beforehand). Flare and Loki looked amused more than anything. "He is not pleased with your escape. We have been tasked to retrieve you, so He can mete out your new punishment." It made to continue, but Flare interrupted.
"Aw, and he sent 400 ground High Chitauri, 70 flyers, and 5 Leviathans just for us."She raised a clawed paw to her chest. "I'm flattered, truly." It was said with such blatant mockery, the paw held in such a human way on a mythical beast, that it made me have to hold back a snort. "Or, did he send the whole armada? Perhaps every high soldier available? Actually, he didn't know where we went, did he? So you assigned this little army to Terra, as we would likely be here. Oh, General, you shouldn't have."
Even though he was a literal alien species, I could tell that the leader was flooded with anger at this moment. His face was mostly covered by his helmet, but his jaw was set tight and teeth grinding together. Still, he hid it quite well.
When the leader made to speak, Loki took over. "Flare, I have informed you repeatedly that you do not antagonise the opposition. It often leads to all sorts of disasters, as you know very well." His signature grin from the footage of his first arrival slowly grew on his reptilian face. "No, you leave the antagonising to me.
"Your attempts to apprehend us were, frankly, terrible and doomed to fail. I recognise that this is the first time any of the High Chitauri have been allowed to leave their bases, but really, I expected more from the new so-called 'unbeatable' army. You sent out the whole flying fleet at once, allowing us to kill them all with a method that we have already used previously. Also, as a side-note, I believe it is called, how do you possibly expect to catch an agile flyer if your machines are still unable to bank properly?"
Loki continued in this way, criticising everything that the Chitauri leader had decided to do, with big words, and in great detail. My attention was swiftly taken away from that though when the two Chitauri holding me stiffened, and the air about 8 feet in front of me shimmered like a mirage, until the form of a person was visible.
I stopped myself from flinching back just in time, though I felt my breathing hitch.
"Stark, do you see me?" She said. She, because the form before me was Flare. I glanced to the dragons, and both were still there, but the person in front of me was unmistakable.
She was much healthier than the last time I saw her, despite it only being a few days later. Although she was wearing black form-fitting clothes, quite similar to Nat's cat-suit though two piece and with a modest circle neck, her form was significantly more fleshed out than just the skin and bones from her emaciation. Her wings were visible, but folded, not quite scraping the floor. Her flaming hair was in a neat braid, disappearing behind her head.
I took this in silently, while in my mind, I was panicking. The Chitauri would surely hear her, she had spoken in a normal voice after all, and would kill me. I prepared for the strike.
But they still didn't move.
"Stark, it's alright. They cannot see or hear me, or the real you. You can speak if you wish. No one but you and me are able to be aware of what is happening here, even if they were looking at us. I have set an illusion."
"How are you- why are you here?" I whispered. I accepted the fact that no one knew what was going on, as even the two Chitauri hadn't reacted, but I still didn't feel comfortable talking.
"Part of our plan."
Some of my snarky personality had returned, thankfully. "Suitably vague."
She smiled. "I need to touch you so I can free you. May I come closer? Do not move the chains if you can help it."
"Why?" Petulant, I know, but I didn't trust her.
She sighed in annoyance. "The two Chitauri are frozen, and are not aware. They will not remember this, instead they will believe they were watching Loki like all the others. But when I release them from freezing, they will be able to tell if the chains have moved, as it will be a sudden change for them. Now, hurry up. I don't have too much time. May I come closer?"
I looked into her eyes, and saw apprehension and slight pleading, but she didn't seem to be lying. Then again, she and Loki seemed to be bestof friends, so I probably wouldn't even be able to tell.
Regardless, I didn't have much choice. I nodded agreement, and in less than half a second she had traversed the distance and had a hand at the base of my left shoulder. I barely even saw her move. I managed not to jump. Again.
Her eyes, slightly below mine, had gold specks flickering through the returned deep blue-green hue. She focused on her hand, and it glowed red and gold. She stayed still for a while, doing…something. After a second, I let my mind relax again (as if she hadn't killed me yet, she probably wasn't going to), and picked up on a slight smell of Melaleuca oil. It was pleasant, not overly strong, and emanating from the girl in front of me. Was she wearing perfume? For a battle?
Flare spoke, breaking me out of my observations. "Walk forward," she muttered, still focusing.
"But…" I started, about to mention the chains and knife that prevented me from moving.
"Do it. You are incorporeal and your bonds will not hinder you."
She was right. I felt my arm sink through the chain that held me. It was weird, a sort of tingling, though it wasn't particularly unpleasant. I took a step as insisted. Flare guided me to a clear spot a decent distance away, and made a gesture with her free hand, then released me and moved back, giving me space.
I looked at where the two Chitauri were still motionless, noticing that the chains hadn't dropped to the ground. They were defying gravity, held up by some invisible force.
"Around your feet in a circle, the air will seem to flicker. That is a fixed spell set so you cannot be seen, and will keepyou incorporeal so you can't be hurt either. You canbe heard once I stop this cloaking spell, though, and you must stay inside the circle. Whatever happens. Stay. There. Until you are completely safe." She looked straight into my eyes, and held my gaze. "Please, if there is one time that you follow what I say, make it now."
I didn't say anything, but she seemed to take my silence as acceptance.
"Oh, and quick warning. The spell I'm going to use next might be a little…shocking?" She shrugged slightly. "Just to let you know."
She closed her eyes, while I felt a bit uneasy at her words.
I watched her, but didn't notice anything for a few seconds. Then, her body started to change. It became taller, and wider in the shoulders. Her wings disappeared. Her hair became short and brown, and her skin more tanned. Her clothing changed to a looser black shirt and pants, though the left shoulder had a bloodstain on it.
I was stunned. My brain stopped working until the person in front of me opened their now-brown eyes. I was looking at me.
All I could say was, "do I really look that bad right now?"
Fony (Flare-Tony, Fake-Tony, and Phony all at once?! I was even better at making puns than I already knew) had blood not only on the shoulder, but also matted in his hair. The cut on his neck was still bleeding, though it was red blood, like a normal human. It was deeper than I had thought. The clothes were in disarray from my previous twisting, and torn in some places, threads weaving through the holes.
He smiled. (Even my usual beard had grown! How did that work?) "Yes, if not worse." The words were spoken in my voice so exactly that it sent a shiver down my spine. "You'd judge an image of yourself less harshly than another. Now, stay." He pointed, somehow copying my posture and action as well, even though I knew Flare had never seen much of me.
"Alright. Whatever you're gonna do, I'll leave you to it." To myself I muttered, "this is a dream, no, nightmare, with Chitauri, dragons, magic, and Loki for God's sake. Definitely a nightmare."
Fony just smiled one of my smiles. "Loki being here is nightmare-worthy?" He glanced at the man…dragon…mentioned, who was still insulting the Chitauri, and taking great pleasure in it as well. I didn't know how he was still going, he didn't have much to work with, but the soldiers were visibly shaking in fury, chattering in clicks and hisses. "He'll love that. But anyway, he'll stop soon, so better play my part."
At the conclusion of his sentence, he walked to where the chains and Chitauri were still held frozen, whistling an unidentifiable tune, and then, to my shock, turned and stepped backwards through the knife and chains. He arranged the floating metal so it was in the same position as it had been on me, not letting himself go through them again, until he had completely taken my place.
I stared. He even put the knife back into its position, completely unconcerned about the fact that the Chitauri could kill him with hardly a movement of their hand.
"Don't look so concerned. As I said, it's part of our plan. I'll be fine," he directed to me. He grimaced suddenly, and licked around his mouth without opening it then swallowed. "Ugh. Not that they're ever nice anyway, but Chitauri taste absolutely dis-gus-tingas a human," he muttered, to himself I guessed, before taking the wary expression I held before, as well as a bit of humour. It would have been my reaction exactly if I had been listening to Loki the whole time; suppressing my amusement as much as possible, as I shouldn't be finding someone who tried to kill me funny.
The Chitauri unfroze and started to shake and growl like all the others around us just as Loki began to finish his speech. "The only action you took that was actually intelligent was holding hostages." He paused, then seemed to reconsider. "Though I wouldn't be surprised if we interrupted before you ate them, ravenous beasts as you are. You were evidently about to kill the Man of Iron."
And suddenly all eyes were on me, or rather, Fony, who flinched minutely, then resolutely stood as tall and confident as possible, despite the chains. The acting was superb. He locked eyes with Loki, and gave a barely perceptible nod. I would have missed it if I hadn't been watching for it.
The Flare dragon illusion was about to speak when the leader started to walk closer to Fony. It took away the knife and held it to Fony's throat itself. Fony turned his head as far as he could to eye the arm and the blade.
"The Protectors of Terra may be our hostages, but there are terms that if you both follow, I will be willing not to kill them. If you ignore the offer, or break the terms, the Man of Iron will be the first to die."
A/N I know the description for Flare and Loki as dragons is really long, but I had a specific image in my mind that I wanted to get across. I feel like it drags a bit, but everything mentioned is important to their overall appearance. I hope it wasn't too boring.