Chapter 10: Knuckle Down
Natasha had to jump over the bodies of dark elves, Chitauri, Sakaaran, Kronan and a few Frost Giants she had slain to reach the coordinates Jarvis had previously given her. She could feel the slightly annoying electrical impulses emanating from the little, ordinary looking pebble she had in her pocket, a so called Arcadian stone Thor brought back from Asgard and had given to her after he was incapacitated by a Kronan mercenary. With a leg that would certainly need amputated if he would've been human and broken arms that were uncapable of holding anything, never mind Mjolnir, he had to give the responsibility over to the woman Avenger. The other stones were already in place at the cost of thousands of human and Asgardian lives including NATO military forces, Odin and the Warriors Three and they didn't even know if the plan would work or if they could trust Loki. There was only one way to find out, but her route was suddenly blocked by the imposing bulk of Thanos himself, showing himself for the first time in person. Good, it was roundabout where they wanted him to be anyway.
"How many more lives are you willing to sacrifice for the Tessaract?" The Titan's voice boomed in their heads at the same time as he decapiated Sif with telekinetic powers to demonstrate his meaning. Next, it was Natasha dangling in the air, feeling like being suffocated and pounded from all angles. "The Tessaract for this maiden's life, the thick price's life, all of your lives?"
"How about no more?" Loki's impish voice made everyone turn to a few feet away, by the ruins of the Triskelion, leaning on the hilt of a sword.
"You came to deliver?" Thanos span drawn and a little amused.
"Yes," Loki pulled the Tessaract itself out of mid air, "all I ask is to be esteemed as your loyal servant."
"Wise move princeling," Thanos sanctioned, moving towards his prize.
"Miss Romanova," Loki gave her the clue what he wanted her to do at the same time as undoing the spell Thanos had her under, tendrils of green magic not just setting her free, but enabling her to reach extra speed as she rounded the corner to set the final stone of the triangle.
Thanos roared his ire at the feeling of prison walls appearing around him and understood the trick immediately, taking to physically pouncing on Loki as opposed to using his powers like he had usually done. The Tessaract appeared safe out of his reach and outside the triangle next to Thor just as the trickster was tackled to the ground and pounded with a massive, robust fist. It was partly why the mutant preferred to use his powers, his fist could pulverise some adversaries in an instant, leaving him dissatisfied without the chance to play with his prey.
"Loki! Number 24!" Thor shouted, willing a broken arm to work till as long he could swing a hammer just once.
Barely visible under the huge creature, Loki raised a hand, hoping Thor's aim wasn't off as number 24 was one of the many battle configurations they have used for centuries when fighting together, the one where he had to hold his hand out for the leather lanyard attached to mjolnir as it flew past him so the momentum of the weapon he was not able to wield of his own would yank him out of wherever he was.
Thor fell back with a grunt, but his eyes never left the path of his hammer as it slid to a halt on the ground and outside the perimeter of the trap, with Loki hanging on to it, a thick trail of blood behind him. Thanos looked up and pounced once more, the legs of the trickster still inside the large triangle and in their common enemy's reach. The Hulk was faster however, outsized fingers grabbing hold of Loki's cape and pulling him to the safety of his lap as gently as anybody has ever seen the brute act. The beast was already changing back to his human form, fingers at work to clamp exposed arteries in Loki's chest.
Thanos bounded back from the magical forcefield, setting off explosions inside the triangle, but not outside, while powerlines hummed and sparkled everywhere. "Power at 1500%", Tony's A.I. reported, "national energy supplies at 200%."
"My brother. Get me to my brother," the injured blond god appealed to the billionaire arriving at his side.
"I suggest you wait till the paramedics come to move you," Tony advised, looking around. By the state of the streets and wounded people everywhere, they might have to wait a while.
The battle was over.
Tbc