The god's eyes widened as he realized what he had just done, and I smiled ruefully. "Now, I don't think that's a way to greet a friend, Loki."
Pushing myself off the ground, I spared a glance at him to see if he would kick me again. He didn't, and I was able to stand upright properly, if not for feeling of my blood rushing through the wound on my leg and an agonizing sharp pain on my side. I didn't bend down and heal it though. Gripping the wand that was still in my hand, I plucked up my courage and asked him, "So you finally opened the portal, did you?" He turned away and looked down at the city crumbling before him. All I wanted to do at that moment was to push him and watch him fall. But I couldn't. Something inside me knew that I couldn't be the one to kill him. Don't forget, Silvia, I thought. You desperately wanted to be in love with him once.
"There is not stopping it," he said, barely over a whisper. "There is only the war."
The cold claw of hurt gripped my heart as I heard these words, and I had to restrain myself from crying. I wouldn't give him the final pleasure of seeing me weep because of him. He won't even look at me. "I had a feeling you would say that." As his head swivelled around to face me, I brandished my wand and muttered, "Stupefy!" His form suspended as soon as the red light hit him, and I managed a faint smile at his facial reaction. I looked down and saw that his sceptre was pointing at me as well, and that the stone at the end was glowing. Preparing myself to conjure up a Shield Charm, for I wasn't sure that my wards would protect me from his magic, I steeled my stomach, for I found that every time I protected myself using this particular spell that it would give a little somersault in my belly.
Before Loki's magic was able to come out of the sceptre, however, someone came flying in from behind me and pushed Loki down. I saw that it was Thor and turned away, saying, "Take care of him, will you?" I shook myself from the red haze that had covered my field of vision and climbed the steps up to the roof. Even if we stall this invasion, they'll still keep coming. I have to close that portal.
Yells of malice broke out behind me, and I knew that Thor and Loki had engaged in battle. I quickened my pace, taking it two steps at a time. I eventually broke out of the trapdoor that led to the roof and found a grey-haired man lying on the ground, unconscious. Plan A is gone.
Just then, static came from my (stolen) earpiece and I heard Natasha Romanoff's voice coming in: "Stark, we're on your three, headed northeast."
My head swivelled to the right and I saw their jet pass by as Stark's impatient voice replied, "What, did you stop for drive-thru? Swing up Park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you."
Though I couldn't see where Park was, I could definitely hear the gunshots coming from my allies, and uneasiness crept up my throat. I finally decided to reveal that I was with them. "Guys! Hey! I'm here, I followed you. Don't ask questions, tell me what I can do." Before anyone could answer, I saw, from the corner of my eye, a S.H.I.E.L.D. jet pulling up by the building I was standing on. "Nat! Come on, help me up!" I wasn't going anywhere fast without my broom, and I knew it.
"Hold on," she said in her usual steady voice. She was just turning the jet around when a flash of energy came from beneath me. It hit the entrance flap that was just opening and the jet lost control. As it lost altitude, my feet were flying down the stairs like a mad dog looking for a house's intruder. "For the love of…!"
I ran down the street, eyes looking up to the smoke that was floating to the sky. I found the crashed jet landed and in pieces on the sidewalk beside a now-empty building. Steve, Natasha, and the grey-eyed man streamed out of it, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
"God, I thought you weren't going to make it," I told them, gasping for air from the long distance I just covered.
"Silvia, we told you to stay on the Helicarrier!" Rogers said, staring at the blood-soaked, bandaged leg I was trying so hard not to put weight on. I shook my head, and the blonde man suppressed an exasperated breath. "You're here anyway. Fine." He ran past me, and I followed him, the other two Avengers tailing me. As civilians rushed past us, Steve pointed at Stark Tower. "We need to get back up there." A monstrous creaking sound stopped us, though in present surroundings I would think that it was more of the growling of a large beast.
I was somewhat right.
After a steady stream of aliens coming from the portal in the sky, something bigger than all of them followed them out, and it was enough to send a shiver up my spine. It was huge. Huge. It was about as wide as two Stark Towers put together, and as long as only one. It had four fins on its side, and by the looks of the texture, I would think that it wasn't metal; it looked harder. Rough spikes protruded from its shell on its back, though I thought spikes wasn't the exact term for it. Narrowing my eyes, I saw compartments hidden beneath its seemingly impenetrable shell. My suspicions were confirmed when it flew overhead, Chitauri being ejected from the compartments and latching onto the buildings beside us.
Steve and the others were still gaping up at the leviathan hovering over us, and I had to cast a rather difficult spell to keep us from being overwhelmed. "Expulso!" The terrestrials that had begun to flank us flew backward, torn apart by the explosive cast. The sight was rather gory, but I dealt with it. I held my ground while the others staggered backward by the force of the blow, and I looked at them annoyingly. "Have you decided to have a picnic?" The stranger among them took a step forward, but was stopped by Natasha's outstretched arm. She shook her head at him, and he backed away. I gave him a curious look before turning to Steve.
"Stark, are you seeing this?" he was asking, following the massive monster with his eyes.
Tony's answer came seconds after. "Seeing, still working on believing. Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?" he asked.
"Banner?"
"Just keep me posted." He turned off his earpiece.
"Steve, come on! What's the plan?" I asked peevishly, keeping an eye out for more of the Chitauri that would be daring enough to attack us. My leg was still throbbing, but the bleeding seemed to have stopped already; my side still hurt from Loki's kick, but newly-found energy buzzed me up and kept me from fainting in pain. As Rogers shook himself, dazed, streaks of blue energy were shot at us, and we were pressed to take cover behind an overturned taxi cab.
"We need to get the civilians out of the buildings and streets," Steve said, looking down the boulevard that was being swarmed by Chitauri.
I gripped my wand tighter and replied, "I've got the buildings. You get those people off the roads." I nodded to the Captain.
"We got this," Natasha pointed out, loading her gun. "It's good. Go."
Rogers still didn't go, but instead questioned the man with the bow who had retreated to another means of protection. It was rather the same, though: the backside of a taxi. "Do you think you can hold them off?" Steve asked.
"Captain," he nocked an arrow, "it would be my genuine pleasure." He stood up and shot a Chitauri in the head, and Natasha started letting the bullets out. Steve ran off, and I followed suit.