Chapter 21:
Tag, You're It! Caught You With An Uppercut!
"This is ridiculous!" Hank shouted as he tried his best to hold the door shut. "There's too many of them!"
"Aye, mortal, but we can take them down!" Sif barked back as she lifted her sword above her head posing at the ready for the coming onslaught. Hogun and Volstagg followed suit.
"Their numbers surpass our own at greater feats. We will be overwhelmed in minutes." T'Challa retorted as he helped Hank keep the front door to the building closed. Once the earthquake had stopped mass numbers of slimy creatures had been conjured up and were, as Hank deduced, giving themselves orders to attack at several places. They had taken shelter inside the only building in that island that had not suffered structural damage and barricaded the front door. The creatures were too big to fit through the windows though T'Challa figured they would be able to burst through the front door at any moment.
"Then we will go down fighting! As warriors!"
"Lady, I'd rather not go down at all." Jan quipped rapidly as she planted the middle of her palm on her forehead.
Sif scuffed at Jan's response but before she could say anything at all they all hunched over when they heard a loud screeching roar. They sound was not coming from the creatures as the roar was not the same as they were emitting and it was louder. The group of heroes looked at each other, hoping one would have an answer and as soon as each pair of eyes gave nothing but confusion they feared something bigger was on its way. The creatures even stopped pounding into the door and if these things were showing signs of fear and retreat whatever made that sound must have been huge.
"What was that?" Jan asked.
"I do not know but if it is to attack it would be best to have an advantage point. We must rush to the roof of the building!" T'Challa said as he pointed to the stairs next to the main desk in the lobby.
Hank was hesitant to leave the door but the creatures had stopped crashing into the door so if they were to make a run for it the time was now and quickly. The group ran as fast as they could and headed up the stairs. They were lucky the building only had five floors so they made it to the roof quickly but exhausted. Once at the roof they ran to the edge of the building and stopped while staring. The number of creatures had doubled and while the island they were in was massive the creatures were almost covering every inch of the island. They had stopped moving about violently as they searched for the source of the roar. After a few minutes of aimlessly looking around, the front row of creatures spotted the Avengers and Asgardian warriors on the roof. As they stared back the creatures emitted a series of roars while flailing their arms. Their agitation had doubled. After a display of hostility the beings charged forward and cornering the heroes within the building. The building was tall and the only one who could fly was Jan. Hank motioned forward to increase his stature to carry the rest of the group to safety but before he could manage to do so there were two massive explosions in the field before them. The team leaned forward to get a glimpse of the situation and as they gripped the metal railing on the roof four Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptors circled above them at top speed.
The jets jerked back and dropped more missiles into the mass group of beings instantly destroying a portion of them. As the jets reached the other end of the island they suddenly exploded in midair. The group's hope for assistance or a rescue had diminished but prematurely. Down in the wrecked runway a lone figure casually walked through the sea of bodies and towards the remaining group of creatures. T'Challa squinted his eyes to better see who the figure was and as soon as he identified Clint he jerked his head back and Sif said, "Has that mortal lost all reason?"
On the runway Clint stood quietly about forty feet from the masses and removed a single arrow from his quiver. He had not even bothered to customize it for any particular form of an attack. As he wrapped his fingers around it the arrow began to glow in a neon green light that was visible from the top of the building where Hank and the others stood as they watched. The pressure was still on though Hank, Jan and T'Challa immediately recognized the green aura that enveloped itself around the single arrow. Volstagg, Sif and Hogun remained still with weapons at the ready.
Clint aimed his arrow at the group of beasts and pulled back the bowstring and suddenly aimed the arrow straight up into the sky. As the group of heroes and beasts looked on in confusion the archer released the arrow and it shot straight into the clouds where everyone guessed it disappeared. There was a sly smile on Clint's face as he scowled at the creature. He then turned around only to face the building where his teammates where on and waved his hands in the air. The Asgardians and Avengers looked at each other in confusion and then looked all around them.
Hank had looked back to the door where they had burst through when running from the creatures. He knew Clint was not waving at them but he knew backup had arrived. He looked to the end of the roof and saw another building close to the one they were on. It was twice the size of the building they stood on but it was in bad condition. Atop the roof stood two figures and Clint's actions made sense. The rest of the group followed suit and stared up. Half of the group smiled while the other half glared with uncertainty and dislike.
Thick black smoke rose from the floor and soon enveloped Loki and once he was covered by the smoke it slithered in all directions blocking both himself and Natasha who stood next to him. The Asgardians raised their weapons and shields. Just because they were sent to aid both Thor and Loki it did not mean they would lower their guard around the trickster. Once the smoke faded into the wind the group was taken aback by the massive black dragon perched on the roof. The devilish behemoth had massive horns, spikes and spines covering its body, a long snout that housed teeth as long as an arm, sharp golden eyes, massive wings and a hostile look about it. Its golden eyes surveyed the area and while everything on the island seemed to have frozen in time the creature injected more fear by letting out another trumpeting roar that forced the heroes to cover their ears. As the dragon lowered its head slightly the group caught a glimpse of a rider on the dragon's back. It was Natasha.
The dragon flapped its wings and lifted itself into the air. Once it caught a stream of air underneath its scaly wings it dove down the side of the building and over the Avengers and Asgardians. Jan immediately shrunk and took to the air and after the reptilian behemoth.
"Jan, be careful!" Hank cried out as he tried to reach for her but she had managed to get away.
Loki swooped down close to the ground and flew as fast as he could towards Clint. Natasha used the spell Loki had cast to avoid getting blown away by the jet streams to her advantage, she managed to steady herself while standing up and once she was sure to have her feet firmly placed she reached for her two guns and aimed them at the creatures in front of them. Jan had actually managed to catch up, she flew close to Loki and once he had seen her he lowered his head and she stood on it while powering her stingers and taking aim at the beasts.
Clint saw the dragon coming so he ran towards the creatures and once Loki flew up to Clint he jumped and grabbed a hold of the dragon and propelled himself up and took a seat at the base of his neck. As they drew closer Natasha, Jan and Clint opened fire on the group of creatures taking out a few of them. Loki had opened his mouth and a jet stream of fire spat forth destroying more of the fiends. As the dragon swept right through the crowd and obliterated a good number of them it suddenly shot up and flew high into the sky. The creatures and the rest of the team followed them with their eyes.
Once he figured he had enough altitude Loki stopped in the air and kept his eyes on the group of beasts and on Karnilla who hid behind them and looked up at him with fuming glaring eyes to which Loki responded with a loud screeching roar. As he floated in the air he failed to see the control tower only a few feet away from him. The screeching roar had caught Thor's undivided attention; he quickly lifted his head and looked forward only to see a massive black dragon with dark green details and a set of particularly shaped horns. It was too obvious.
"Loki!" Thor gasped as he kept his eyes on the reptile.
Down on the island Karnilla narrowed her eyes as she waited for the next move. She abhorred being thrown into a defensive corner but for the moment the trickster had the upper hand. She kept her hands up to her chest and her pose at the ready for anything. Anything except a glowing green arrow that everyone except for Clint and Loki seemed to have forgotten. A cascade of thousands of glowing arrows shot out of the clouds from behind Loki and fell back down to the island, more specifically, down on Karnilla and the rest of the beasts around her. Upon impact the arrows exploded instantly killing the creatures. Karnilla had powered up a strong force field which sadly held up. As the arrows kept falling Loki swooped down and opened his jaws as wide as he could and actually regurgitated lava.
As the lava fell on the area Karnilla boosted more power into her force field and it managed to hold up but the creatures she had summoned were not as fortunate. After sweeping across the island Loki hooked his wings on the side of a building and looked to the far side of the island. Standing tall and agitated was Karnilla heaving in fury. Loki let out a screeching roar as he stared at Karnilla but she merely narrowed her eyes at the bestial reptile.
"Natasha, come in!" Tony's voice blasted through the communicator on Natasha's ear.
"Tony?"
"Yeah, listen, take out your communicator and hold it up to Loki or give it to him. Just make sure he can hear what I'm about to say."
Natasha shrugged and followed orders. She removed the piece from her inner ear and held it close to where she could guess was Loki's ear. Loki had felt some movement but was unsure of what had Natasha, Jan or Clint been doing so the sound of Tony's voice made him jerk his head. "Loki, I found your brother! I found Thor! He seems to be okay overall. Maybe a little beat up but he's fine. Karnilla's too close to where she's keeping your brother so I need you to listen very carefully. Keep her occupied, the busier the better! Hell, if you can get her far from here it'll be great but keep her on your tail while I get your brother out!"
With a grunt Loki acknowledged the instructions but before he could take off he placed his head on the building so Jan, Natasha and Clint could safely dismount. If Loki was to distract Karnilla he would need to do so without worrying about anyone else, for the moment. He watched as Natasha and Clint ran across the roof to find a way to get to Jan and the rest of the team occupying the island. However Jan kept her seat on his head and patted him as she said, "Nuh-uh, Skyrim, I'm staying with you!"
Knowing full well that there would be no way to talk Jan out of joining the others Loki grunted softly and Jan smiled. Once Natasha and Clint were clear of the roof Loki used his wings to propel himself into the sky. As he felt the wind streaming he spread his wings and raced towards Karnilla. It was a well known fact that Karnilla's temper was as short as her mercy; another direct attack would surely provoke her enough to at least give chase.
As he flew over Karnilla he unleashed a stream of fire upon her once again. She in turn had managed to kick up another protective force field over herself which held as Loki swooped down and set fire to the area once more. Loki flew up high, momentarily removing his eyes from his target. As the flames fanned out because of the wind the fire atop the protective force field around Karnilla extinguished itself and Karnilla looked up to find Loki climbing. Her narrowed eyes carefully trailed his every move; her nostrils flared while her teeth grinded against each other in furious rage. He dared to attack her! As the rage fueled her Karnilla's form began to change and soon an equally massive brown dragon with white details emerged with a challenging roar. If that was the game that Loki was going to subject her to she would gladly play along. Never minding the fact that he was a natural at shape shifting and would obviously have the upper hand but Karnilla was determined to carry this out and arise victorious. She flapped her wings and took off after the trickster, unknowingly falling for Tony's trap.
High above Tony and Hulk had made their way to the control tower of what was once the air force base. After dropping off Steve and Fandral Tony found the Hulk fending off a small group of slimy creatures. Now that everyone had been accounted for it was time to find Thor. In the background, Tony had managed to find his way to every island and once he saw the control tower he found Thor tied down in chains. After explaining the plan to Loki he and Hulk set off to free Thor.
Tony raised his left palm and fired at the window in order to create an entrance for him and Hulk, once inside the tower Hulk and Tony began to work on the chains. Hulk shredded and Tony blasted while Thor thrashed his body to help break the weakened chains. Unfortunately while the trio was occupied with their current task another being had been keeping a close watch on the trespassing duo.
There were plenty of chains left to break before Thor would be able to undo himself without assistance, even if Tony and Hulk had broken a large number of them. As Tony blasted through three chains he turned to the right to blast away at more chains but a metallic object landed over Iron Man's face. Before he could react Tony heard a strange crackling sound and felt the suit power down and right after that two large and coal colored arms crashed into him sending him flying out of a window. Hulk was caught off guard as well. A fireball thrust him with enough force to knock him out of the tower as well. As the green Avenger flew through the air he landed on top of a jet completely wrecking it. His body had still been covered in flames so as soon as the fuel tank had been ruptured the jet along with other jets and a fueling tank in the small island exploded causing the small island to shatter and hundreds of pounds of debris to free fall from 50,000 feet.
"Jarvis!" Tony's panicking shouts fell on deaf ears; so to speak, his mind knew it even before he did. He had been hit with a powerful EMP, powerful enough to have shut down his suit. The only remedy his mind could wrap itself around was to land on one of the islands but as he felt his body still tumbling he knew there was a chance that he was hurdling down to his death. He tried another desperate call, "Jarvis, answer me! Power up, goddamn it!"
In the midst of his shouting he heard an ominous sound shrilling in the distance and Tony could barely make out a large flash of brown speeding towards him. As his legs flailed above him a set of jaws clamped shut almost taking his legs. Karnilla had ceased battling against Loki and gave chase after Tony. The sorceress tried to catch Tony's legs again but at the speed he was falling and Karnilla failing to properly maneuver her shape caused her to miss. As she flapped her wings she began to fade until she vanished into thin air. Once Karnilla was gone Tony could see he had cleared the floating islands and even in his state of panic he was sure he was a good 5,000 feet from hitting the ground and that was when panic hit him the hardest. His erratic breathing accompanied his persisting sweating and inconsistent thoughts. The only thing in his mind was the ground and Pepper.
While Tony fell Karnilla had teleported down to the ground below him and flew back up. If she could not catch up to him she would fly up from under him. Down below the situation of the air force base had grabbed the attention the authorities. Police, military, paramedics and every news station that got a hold of the situation had camped out near the massive crater that was once the base. Rolling cameras caught the brown dragon materializing in the middle of the crater and followed it as it flew back up. As the cameras stalked the creature they zoomed in on a falling person surrounded by debris. One crew in particular zoomed in enough to identify the person as Iron Man. Concern and panic swept across the crowd as the brown dragon closed in on the falling Iron Man. Unaware of the situation the reporters began to fill in the blanks as best as they could though their guesses only served to spread more panic.
As Karnilla drew closer she parted her jaws revealing rows of sharp teeth. Now Tony was screaming. Hitting the ground would not have been as gruesome. As he flailed and kicked erratically Karnilla drew closer and closer, he could almost make out the strings of saliva connecting the teeth.
Tony's right hand swung in front of him as everything seemed to slow down. He was so close to Karnilla that her roaring was deafening him and yet he swore he heard another screeching roar in the distance but he paid little mind to it. The only thing he could focus on was the massive dragon that was about to swallow him alive. His eyes widened and his own screaming suffocated him. He saw as his flailing arms began to fall into the dragon's mouth. As his shoulders sunk past the front teeth of Karnilla's mouth she began to close her mouth. As Tony's vision was engulfed in darkness he shut his eyes tightly, which made it worse but he dared not to look. The screeching roar sounded closer and louder this time and as it drew closer Tony felt as his body was flung forward rapidly. Loki had managed to snatch Tony by his feet and with the speed he had gained by free falling he was able to pull Tony away seconds before Karnilla clamped her jaws shut.
The masses below erupted in wild cheering, reporters, cops, soldiers, paramedics, all rejoiced in the successful rescue of the iron Avenger seconds before being engulfed by Karnilla. When Tony opened his eyes again he heard the familiar humming of the suit coming back to life. As the holographic screen flashed lively his eyes widened.
"Jarvis?!"
"Correct, sir, the EMP had shut down the suit." Jarvis reassured him and Tony had never been so glad to have heard the snarky butler's voice.
"How much battery left?"
"Unlimited, sir."
"How the hell?" Tony flinched.
"The energy is provided by Mr. Laufeyson."
"Loki?" Tony whispered and as soon as he gathered his bearings he saw Loki had roughly landed at the edge of the crater. As the massive dragon slid across the ground the people that had gathered were pushed back by the military and police department, the cheering and clapping was still strong and loud. As soon as they stopped Loki let go of Tony who hovered as Loki shifted back to his normal shape.
"Hey, look out!" A man screamed as he pointed past the trio. Karnilla had banked to position herself and set her sights back on Tony, Jan and Loki. She let out a shrilled snarl as she flew towards them. Simultaneously Tony fired his unibeam and Loki launched an offensive magical attack that shot out of his trident while Jan stood on Loki's extended arm and fired her stingers, which had been given a deadly boost thanks to Loki's magic. As the four beams hit Karnilla she was flung back and decided to fly back up to keep an eye on the imprisoned Thor.
Loki took a deep breath and shook his head rapidly to clear it. Tony took notice of the action and took a step forward but before he could get a single vowel out Loki said, "I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!" Loki scowled. He looked past Tony and saw that the crowd had fallen silent. They recognized him. The looks of fear, confusion and even scowling gave away that fact but Loki shook his head again and looked up. There were far more important issues at hand.
"I'm sorry." Loki sighed as he looked back to Tony clearly apologizing for yelling at him. "We must move quickly."
Loki shifted back to the black dragon form and quickly took to the sky as soon as Jan settled on his head. Tony was concerned about how much energy he was using but the most he could do was assume that it was nothing like his suit. Maybe the dive somehow knocked the wind out of him and he needed to catch his breath and Tony was just reading too much into it. At least he hoped. Tony glanced back to the crowd of confused people and shot out into the air following the sorcerer.
Back up on the floating islands Karnilla had perched herself on the top of the control tower. The Avengers and Asgardians had eliminated the crowd of slimy creatures she had summoned. However, she still had a large enough reserve of creatures left and with the help of Amora she sent out bigger and more dangerous creatures. There were now ten floating islands left and the humans and opposing Asgardians had been scattered all over the islands, two were able to fly, one was able to jump between the islands and the trickster was able to shift into a flying dragon but the odds seemed to still remain in her favor. She and Amora summoned the creatures, up to that moment none had noticed but the people in the base along with the hired mercenaries had been used to create the creatures. Underneath the slimy exterior there were bones, some human and some canine from the occupants of the base.
The batch of beasts seemed to emerge from the ground and unlike their previous models these had a more complex shape to them. Some had odd numbers of arms protruding from their bodies, others had multiple eyes, and others had giraffe like necks hosting humanoid heads. No two creatures were identical but it was safe to say they certainly looked like something straight out of a nightmare.
On one of the smaller floating islands Sif ran as fast as her legs could carry her. She had come face to face with a quadruped beast with fifteen arms along its ribs, four clawed paws and a canine skull for a head. The body was covered in a slimy substance which reeked of rot upon closer examination. The hulking mass gave chase after the warrior and once it was close enough it picked up the pace and used its thick skull to slam the woman. Sif was sent flying. She was fortunate enough that the building in front of her had been partly collapsed; however, she had landed hard on her back against a military truck.
"Aaaugh!" Sif exclaimed as the wind had been knocked out of her lungs. She fell over and landed on her knees and hands. While breathing heavily she lifted her head quickly at the sound of the canine creature jumping and landing on the torn down wall of the building. Sif let out a quiet snarl and reached for her Arming sword.
As the creature glared it made a gurgling sound, leapt to the ground and ran towards the woman. As a response Sif let out a yell and ran towards the creature, sword in hand, fingers tightly clamped around the hilt. The creature gurgled as it swung one of its massive clawed paws at Sif. In return Sif lowered her upper body forward as well as her sword, as the paw brushed a few inches from her back she erected her body once more while drawing her sword up managing to slash the canid across its right shoulder. As it shrieked two of the arms balled into fists and slammed them to where Sif was although it missed and hit its knuckles on the ground. Sif kept running and once she could see the back leg she quickly swung her sword and slashed the tendons of the hind right leg. That action did not go unanswered. Three of the arms on the creature swatted Sif right into the crumbled wall of the building.
Sif let out a groan but she gathered herself quickly. She pushed herself towards the rampaging abomination and swung her sword and was able to cut off one of the arms on the creature and quickly followed by a slash to the chest though it was not deep enough. The creature reacted by grabbing Sif and throwing her into the air. As she fell one of the paws made contact with her body and sent her flying into the second floor of the building. Sif hit the concrete wall and the canine monster ran to catch up to her.
Being too big for the stairs it resorted to slamming its body on the wall and when that did not bring down the wall or the floor of the second floor it stood on its hind legs and swatted its front paws and arms to try and reach Sif. Sif quickly came to and saw the hands and paws trying to reach for her. She narrowed her eyes, wiped a trickle of blood that had oozed from the corner of her mouth and grabbed her sword with both hands. Sif stood up and ran towards the edge of the floor and jumped. In midair she twisted her body around and sunk her sword into the back of the neck of the beast and as she dropped she pulled on the hilt of her sword and carved the creature's back wide open.
When her feet touched the ground she removed her sword and took two steps to the right. The dog like beast let out a slow groan as its body fell to the ground. Sif kept her eyes on the creature as it twitched and slowly stopped moving. As she laid eyes on her downed prey she could not help but smirk.
As Sif took in her victory she failed to notice another large creature had moved in on her position. A blast of energy hit Sif and sent her flying against the wall and as soon as the energy died out her body fell forward as some concrete landed on her and her sword. At the front of the building stood another four legged creature, this one had three humanoid looking heads supported on long thin necks. As the creature opened its three mouths to fire off another direct shot Sif groaned softly as she slowly opened her eyes. As her vision focused she saw a stream of fire and energy rushing towards her and as it drew closer a flash of green and black ran past her and she felt her body being dragged away.
As she looked forward she could see the beams of fire and energy catching up to her legs and as a reaction she pulled her legs up and looked back to see what or who was pulling her away. A flash of green fabric and red hair was all she could make out. Before she could react further she felt as she was tossed across the air and the two figures that had dragged her away kept running behind her. Seconds later she felt two massive hands wrap themselves around her body.
"Got you, lass!"
It was Volstagg's voice. He had caught her in midair and carried her away over his right shoulder. It was then that she could see Loki and a mortal woman running after them. As Volstagg and Fandral ran towards the only opening in the building, which was also where the three headed monster was standing, Sif saw the woman draw out two MP7s and Loki had materialized a long silver trident in one hand and with the other draw a short sword.
As the Asgardian warriors drew closer to the opening one of the creature's head turned its attention to the escaping warriors. As the head rushed towards them Volstagg and Fandral kept running in the hopes of making it out before the head could reach them. As the creature's head neared them Loki flung his short sword at the creature's head and pierced it, sending the creature's head flying back.
Once near the creature Natasha began to fire both MP7s at one of the beast's head while still running towards it. Loki's sharp end of the trident emitted a sickly green glow as he continued to run. The creature slightly lifted its body but both Loki and Natasha continued to carry out their assault. Both of them jumped at the same time and while Natasha continued fire Loki buried the trident into the base of the throat of the beast and ripped its throat open until he removed the trident and quickly inserted it into the creature's mouth and as the creature fell back a burst of green energy was blasted from the trident. As the body of the abomination fell back and hit the ground, the remaining heads had been shredded and burst open and Loki and Natasha walked off of the creature and forward. Natasha looked at Loki and he at her, a sly smile adorned their faces as Natasha reloaded her weapons and Loki twirled the trident in his hand as it vanished.
"Show off." Jan playfully teased when she landed on his left shoulder and Loki responded by chuckling loudly. Once he reached the third head of the creature he stomped his boot on its skull and pulled out the short sword. Loki then turned to Sif, who was standing on her own again, and tossed her his sword since hers had been left behind. Sif caught the sword and merely nodded.
The canine beast that Sif had fought landed several feet away from the group after leaping out of the building and let out a gurgling roar. Natasha's natural reaction was to aim her guns at the creature but Loki placed his hand on the gun and lowered it as he stared at the snarling beast.
"Yes, sir." Natasha acknowledged with a smile as she lowered the MP7s and stood next to Volstagg, Fandral and Sif.
Loki stepped away from the group while staring down at the animal. In turn the animal opened its mouth and sent a stream of fire forward which landed directly on Loki and Jan. As the stream of fire hit them the fire formed a sphere around the Asgardian sorcerer and as quickly as it appeared the fire vanished to reveal an unscathed Loki standing perfectly still. The canid monster roared once more and charged towards Loki. He simply crouched down and placed all ten fingertips on the cold ground and lowered his head while Jan charged her stingers. As the beast drew closer it leapt and while in the air its remaining hands and clawed paws extended forward. About a foot away from reaching Loki the ground underneath him began to glow in a bright red light and as the creature entered the designated area a volcanic stream of fire blasted from the ground and engulfed both Loki and the creature.
The group's natural reaction was to run to help and as they took several steps forward the stream stopped and dozens of bones fell around Loki and Jan, including the skull of the beast. Loki, who was still crouched opened his eyes and stood back up, taking deep breaths through his mouth.