Chapter 25 – The War (V)
Natasha stared wide-eyed at the device firing the blue beam up into the sky, forming the portal from which the Chitauri were pouring through. She rushed over to the terminal, trying to find some way to hack it, but all options were blocked.
"Loki's scepter."
Natasha blinked, and looked over to see Dr. Selvig, now conscious, his eyes no longer bright blue, a sign that Loki's control was broken. There was a large cut on his head, left from a piece of shrapnel blown off of the device when Iron Man attempted to destroy it.
"Doctor." Natasha said, and quickly helped Erik to his feet.
"Loki's scepter." He repeated, rubbing his head. "The Tesseract can't fight. You can't protect against yourself."
Natasha put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "It's not your fault. You didn't know what you were doing."
"Actually, I did. For a while, anyway." Erik said. Natasha's brows furrowed in confusion. Seeing this, Erik quickly explained.
"A part of me was still in control, wanting to do what was right." He said. "I built in a safety to cut the power source."
Realization dawned on Natasha. "Loki's scepter."
Erik nodded. "It might be able to close the portal."
Erik leaned over the edge of the building, staring down at the viewing platform on the edge of Stark's lounge area. Sitting there was the scepter.
"And I'm looking right at it."
ooooo
Thordis struggled with the pilot of the flyer she had landed on, and with a grunt, she swung her hammer and sent the Chitauri falling. The flyer started to fly out of control, and before Thordis could fly away, a Leviathan burst out of the building she was flying towards. Her eyes widened as it collided with the flyer, and she screamed as she fell from the skyline.
The Leviathan sailed onwards, not caring about the buildings in collided with. It didn't even notice Iron Man flying alongside it, firing his tri-barreled laser weapons at it. However, it didn't even scratch it.
"Sir," JARVIS said, "we will lose power before we can penetrate that shell."
Cursing, Iron Man quickly raced ahead of the Leviathan, doing a quick turn so that he was racing right towards it.
"JARVIS?" Tony said. "You ever hear the tale of Jonah?"
"I wouldn't consider him a role model." JARVIS responded, realizing Stark's intent. Smirking, Iron Man raced right through the Leviathan's gaping maw. As he barreled through its insides, he unleashed all of his explosive ammunition. The Leviathan spasmed and howled in pain as it was blown apart from the inside, with with a large explosion, Iron Man burst out of its rear.
As the wounded Leviathan plummeted from the sky, Iron Man yelled as he fell and crashed right through a bus stop and skidded across the concrete. Eventually, he stopped himself, but as he got up, his eyes widened as he saw several Chitauri advancing.
He raised his hand to fire a repulsor blast, but one Chitauri shot him twice, knocking him off his feet.
On the rooftop above, the Hulk and Archangel dispatched several foot soldiers, when a plasma blast hit the Hulk's shoulder. Howling in anger, the Hulk looked up to see dozens of Chitauri flyers hovering around them. He roared in defiance at the aliens while Archangel took a quick shot at one of them. The Chitauri responded by bombarding them with plasma blasts. His eyes widening, the Hulk quickly shielded Archangel from the blasts with his body, and howled in pain as he was mercilessly bombarded with searing hot plasma.
ooooo
On the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, a lone pilot stealthily entered a jet, preparing for take-off. The jet was armed with a tactical nuclear missile.
"Director Fury is no longer in command." The voice of the British councilwoman said on the com. "Proceed as ordered."
"Copy." The pilot said.
On the bridge, Agent Hill detected the jet making its leave. "Sir, we have a rogue bird making an unauthorized departure!"
"Damnit!" Fury said. He quickly left the bridge, ignoring the shouts from Agent Hill, and navigated his way to the armory. Grabbing a bazooka, he quickly found his way outside, and spotted the jet racing across the runway.
Aiming the bazooka, Fury shot it right at the jet, blowing its wing off and rendering it immobile.
Fury smirked in satisfaction, but it was quickly replaced with a grimace when he spotted another jet leaving. Taking out his pistol, Fury made several futile shots at the jet, and cursed as it vanished into the distance.
Going back inside, Fury contemplated the situation. Maybe he should call Archangel, have her intercept it. No. Even with her skill Archangel wouldn't be fast enough to catch a nuclear warhead. There was only one person he knew who could do this.
"Stark?" Fury said into the com. "Are you hearing this? There's a missile headed straight for the city!"
ooooo
Tony's eyes widened in shock as he tried to get up. "How long?"
Tony grunted when a Chitauri struck his head with the blunt end of its rifle. He pulled his hand out and shot several of them down with his repulsor blasts, but more just seemed to materialize out of nowhere.
"Three minutes, at best." Fury said.
"Got it." Tony said. "JARVIS, put everything we got into the thrusters!"
"I just did, sir." JARVIS said. Iron Man's thrusters immediately activated and rocketed off into the sky. One Chitauri grabbed onto his leg to stop him, but Iron Man shot it right in the face, sending its dead body falling to the ground.
ooooo
As New York came into view, the pilot put his hand on the trigger. He hesitated briefly, wondering if what he was doing was right. But he couldn't disobey the council.
Taking in a deep breath, the pilot unleashed the heavy load.
The missile raced towards Manhattan, and the pilot paged his superiors. "Package is sent."
ooooo
Hikesh, his aura flaring, barreled through dozens of Chitauri. He grabbed one by the head, and slammed it into the concrete. Stomping over its body, he swung his arm out, and an energy field surrounded six of the aliens and slammed them into a nearby building. Lifting both hands out, Hikesh unleashed two supercharged dark energy blasts, and sent the Chitauri and every car and piece of rubble in its path flying several hundred meters back.
Captain America and Sif fought side by side, striking out at all the advancing Chitauri. Behind them, Claire Voyant grabbed one by the head and ripped it clean off. She turned to another Chitauri and bashed the severed head right into its skull, knocking it back. Near them, Carrie telekinetically shoved two soldiers away, and then saw several more advancing. Looking to her left, she noticed a car with his fuel spilling. Looking up into the sky, she spotted a lone flyer and quickly jerked it out of the area and sent it crashing into the car. The explosion ignited the gas, and the ensuing blast decimated all the advancing Chitauri.
Captain America bat one away with his shield, but then grunted in pain as a blast hit him right in the lower torso, and he fell down face first. Sif snarled as she glared at the attacker, and prepared to charge, when suddenly, Thordis dropped down from the sky and glared daggers at the Chitauri.
"Earth is not your salad bar!" She yelled, and hit a car with her hammer, sending it barreling into the Chitauri, plowing them down and crushing them into a second car.
Smirking, Darcy quickly turned to Steve, who was being helped up by Sif. Gripping his side, Steve looked at Darcy in appreciation. Claire just stared at Darcy bemusedly.
"'Earth is not your salad bar'?" Claire asked.
Darcy shrugged. "What? I'm not Stark."
Steve just rolled his eyes. Sif smirked at him. "You ready for another bout, Captain?"
Steve smirked. "Why? You ladies gettin' sleepy?"
"Not even remotely." Carrie said from behind.
ooooo
Gripping Loki's scepter, Natasha marched up towards the device, and noticed that the gem's glow started to intensify as it drew closer to the Tesseract. Erik smiled, and then typed in the computer and pointed at the device.
"Right through there!"
Nodding, Natasha slowly pushed the scepter through the barrier, and smiled as it actually went through. Before she could make direct contact with the Tesseract, she paged the others on the com.
"I can close it!" She said. "Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down!"
The other Avengers breathed a sigh of relief, and Captain America immediately responded.
"Do it!"
"No wait!" The voice of Tony Stark said. Captain America blinked in confusion.
"Stark, these things are still coming!"
"I've got a nuke coming in." Stark said. "It's gonna blow in less than a minute!"
The Avengers all looked shocked at this. Surely Fury wouldn't order this? From her position, Archangel glared, realizing the Council must have ordered this. She and the Hulk continued to take down numerous Chitauri, having overcome the brutal bombardment from earlier.
Down on the ground, Darcy looked at Hikesh and Carrie. "Can't you guys stop it?"
Hikesh shook his head. "Neither of us have any knowledge of dismantling a nuclear weapon. Trying to stop it by force would cause it to detonate."
"Well, at least you'll all go down with a bang." Claire said, smirking. Everyone glared at her, when Stark suddenly spoke up.
"Don't worry, kids." Stark said. "I've got it!"
Every blinked, and looked up to see Iron Man race by, holding the missile above his head. "And I know just where to put it."
Captain America's eyes widened in realization. "Stark, you know that's a one way trip."
Inside his suit, Tony sighed. "Save the rest for the return, cap."
"Sir?" JARVIS piped in, sounding worried for his master. "Shall I try Ms. Potts?"
Tony sighed. "Might as well."
JARVIS immediately called for Pepper, but after a few minutes, there was no response. Iron Man grunted as Stark Tower came into view, and he started forcing the missile upwards so as not to hit the building. Putting more power into his thrusters, he scaled up the tower, flying past Natasha and Dr. Selvig, who watched in amazement as Iron Man flew threw the portal with the missile in hand.
ooooo
On the Helicarrier, all S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel cheered as the missile was taken from the city. Agent Hill breathed a sigh of relief, and settled in her chair. Fury smiled in satisfaction, but frowned when Iron Man didn't return immediately.
ooooo
Tony gasped in awe at the spectacle. There were stars and cosmic embodiments everywhere, but the most noticeable thing was the enormous space station in the distance. From what he could see, hundreds of Chitauri flyers and Leviathans were flying from it.
"Sir, power is…" JARVIS' voice was silenced as the Mark VII suddenly lost power, unable to survive in space. Tony gasped as his oxygen supply started to plummet, and he released the missile, which continued to race towards the station.
As Iron Man started to fall back through the portal, he watched as the missile hit the station, which was soon engulfed in an enormous explosion.
As he watched his enemies burn, Tony lost consciousness.
ooooo
Around New York, all of the Chitauri forces suddenly spasmed and dropped dead. The Avengers blinked as their enemies suddenly fell, flyers and Leviathans falling out of the sky and crashing into the streets.
Darcy smiled. "He did it!"
He comrades looked around, smiling at their victory, but then looked back up at the portal to see no sign of Stark.
"But what about Stark?" Hikesh asked.
On the roof of Stark Tower, Natasha hesitated at closing the portal, glaring up and waiting for Stark to return.
"Come on, Stark." She said.
A few more moments passed, and still no sign of Iron Man. The Avengers could see the explosion from the missile drawing close. Sighing, Captain America paged Black Widow.
"Close it."
Grunting, Natasha forced the scepter to make contact with the Tesseract, and there was a spark of blue energy, and the device suddenly shut down. The blue beam disappeared, and the portal started to close.
But moments before it did, Iron Man fell through, and started plummeting towards the city.
Below, Soladat, Darcy, and Carrie sighed in relief, and Natasha, Hikesh, and Sif smirked.
"Well what do you know." Claire said, surprised.
"Son of a gun." Captain America said, smiling. However, Iron Man didn't appear to be trying to slow his descent.
Sif's eyes widened. "He's not slowing down!"
"I'll catch him." Darcy said, and started twirling Mjolnir. Before she could race off though, the Hulk suddenly jumped in, catching Iron Man, and scaled alongside a building as the momentum of Stark's descent continued to push down on them. Then, the two slammed into a taxi, the Hulk unharmed and tossing Iron Man's motionless form to the side.
The Avengers, minus Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Archangel, immediately crowded around him, and Darcy pulled his helmet off and threw it aside. They all looked at him, waiting for some witty response, but he was out. He appeared dead.
"Oh my god…" Carrie said, turning away and covering her mouth. Everyone else just sighed at him.
"He was a great warrior." Hikesh said.
But the Hulk just shook his head, not believing it, and let out a loud roar. Tony immediately woke with a start, yelping from the howl. Everyone blinked, and smiled.
"What the hell?" Tony said, panting. "What happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me!"
Suddenly, Darcy grabbed him by the shoulders, looking pissed.
"What the hell? Why didn't you just let the missile go before you flew into the portal?" She started shaking him, hard. "Seriously, what is the matter with you!"
"Darcy!" Carrie said, and Sif tried to pull the thunder goddess off of Stark, but she didn't budge.
"Darcy, stop it, you're gonna kill him!" Sif yelled. Darcy blinked, and immediately let the inventor go. He fell on his back, hard, and groaned, rubbing his head.
"Sorry." Darcy said, smiling sheepishly.
Tony frowned. "Whatever. So what happened?"
Captain America sighed, and looked around at the ruined cityscape. "We won."
"Whoo." Tony said. "Okay, great. Yay. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma?"
The group just looked at him, shaking their heads and smiling. Even after all that he still had his inane sense of humor.
"There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here." Tony said. "I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."
Suddenly, everyone turned as Archangel landed nearby, smiling. "We did it! We kicked alien ass, people!"
Hikesh smiled. "Indeed we did, Soladat."
Soladat, seeing Hikesh's new form for the first time, blinked. "Xegh? How did… why are… Damn what did I miss?"
Hikesh smirked. "Yes, it's been quite a day. If my form scares you I can change back."
"No, its fine." Soladat said, looking him up and down. She smirked. "It's actually a good look."
Hikesh smirked at her. Everyone listened in in confusion, while Claire just rolled her eyes.
"Oh, for god's sake, just kiss and get it over with." She mumbled. Soladat and Hikesh glared at the demoness.
Sif suddenly remembered something. "We're not finished yet."
Everyone looked up, and followed the Asgardian's gaze to the top of Stark Tower. Below, Tony just looked around at the group.
"Then shawarma after?"
ooooo
Hissing in pain, Loki pulled himself out of the floor, and gathered enough strength to crawl. He blinked. The noise of the Chitauri outside had stopped. That would mean…
His eyes wide, Loki turned, and saw all of the Avengers standing around him. They all glared down at the prince of lies, Hawkeye and Archangel pointing their weapons at him. He saw Black Widow holding his scepter, and Thordis and Sif just smirked at their longtime enemy, enjoying his predicament. The Hulk growled, eager to pound the god into the dirt.
Blinking, Loki looked down, sighing in surrender. "If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."
Tony just chuckled. "You won't be getting it, now."
"Right." Darcy said, twirling her hammer. "Your daddy's gonna give you quite the pattling when you get home."
"It's a shame none of you will be able to see it." Sif added.
Loki glared, and then jumped when Claire Voyant suddenly appeared next to him, smirking at him.
"I'm so sorry things didn't work out the way you planned, Loki." She said, feigning hospitality. But then she smiled seductively. "But if it makes you feel any better, I think your absolutely delicious."
Loki blinked, and then sighed, falling back and staring at the ceiling.
Women.
And so, the battle of New York is now over. Poor Loki, beaten to a pulp by Earth's Mightiest Heroes. But you got to admit. He was pretty outmatched to begin with. Fight was still awesome anyway.
Next chapter, the Avengers take a shawarma break, and chat amongst themselves.