Disclaimer: I don't own MCU, BBC, or anything remotely successful


Around him, all Steve could make out was the potential for carnage. The homeless people had transformed, their flesh tearing as they grew and bulged, hurling noises of pained anguish aloofly into the air…but then silence had fallen.

Steve had watched the three that he could see with caution, unwilling to engage with them before it was necessary. Over the radio, a few breathed expletives had rattled down the line, from Tony, Clint, even Natasha had muttered something incomprehensible, but nobody, it seemed, was willing to give away their positions. The bulbous heads hung low, their chests heaving with spent energy. None of them moved, as if they were thinking hard, becoming accustomed to their new forms, hulking, stronger, more formidable.

So far as he could tell with the alleyways throwing shadows over the creatures, they ranged from a deep purple to a bronze blue, the colours of bruises just as they swelled to completion. Rather than the roughly man-like form that Bruce adopted, with his radioactive shade of green, these looked like twisted caricatures, squeezed and pressed into misshapen imitations of the Hulk.

"Alright team, just like we discussed," Steve muttered into his radio, lowering his voice when the head of one of the creatures twitched imperceptibly in his direction, "We need to push them towards that open square – we don't know what might hurt them, so just try anything that you can."

"What if they run towards us? Bruce did exactly that last time we tussled." Natasha's tempered tone was the only verbal response that Steve received; it was only the time that they had spent together over the past year that allowed him to hear the strained resonance in her voice.

He edged nearer to the creatures, pressing his back against the chilled concrete of the grand building that he had been using for shelter, so that he would appear less of a threat should one of them start paying attention.

"Then you get to the square and lure them in." Steve replied after a moment's thought.

There was no response, not even from Tony, who Steve would have expected to let loose a snarky comment or a wavering attempt at humour, at the very least.

Steve allowed himself a second to close his eyes, to take a deep breath before stepping forward and triggering the frantic movements of the otherwise contained creatures scattered about London. But before he could ready himself, before he could try to take control of the situation, from across the city echoed an ear-splitting roar.

He couldn't be sure, but Steve was certain that the cry, more of anger than of pain, had emanated from the riverside, which meant…Bruce had turned, and they had one more thing to worry about.

"Shit – did you hear that?" Tony hissed down the line.

"It's getting them riled up." Clint added helpfully, cursing under his breath.

True to Clint's word, Steve forced himself to swallow back the rising trepidation that emerged as the three creatures that he could see began inhaling with a newfound ferocity, and reared back their heads to let out cries of their own.

He knew that he couldn't fight even one of them, but he could at least push them towards the square.

Steve lost track of time, the moments punctuated only by the shouts and curses of his team-mates as the creatures surged into action, whirling and writhing, throwing their limbs violently about them, screaming in frustration and rage.

Within the cramped alleys and closely packed brick walls, the creatures' fists crashed and tore through the infrastructure, filling the air with the sound of shattering stone as their feet bare feet pounded on the ground, making it vibrate and jump beneath them.

Their anger escalated, they barrelled into every empty space that they could, continuing in the direction they were pointed, turning at every extraneous noise, taking their fury out on walls, stray vehicles, each other.

Gasping for breath and sweating under his suit, Steve sprinted between them, pushing them back with his shield, tumbling to his knees when a swing met its mark. More time passed, and he discovered by chance that if he flung his shield between two walls, made it whizz back to him as if marking an invisible wall, the creatures would fall back, charge in the opposite direction, as if bitten by the fast moving steel.

So he kept up his efforts, pushing them slowly but surely towards the square, and hoped that they others were having as much success.


From feet above the lowest building, Tony could just about see the rest of the team, struggling to force the creatures towards the open space that they had chosen earlier.

"JARVIS, make sure to keep the locations of the others up on the display." Tony gritted out, sending out another blast of heat across a narrow alley way.

The deformed, twisted puce creature that had been trying to smash its way into the space flinched back, stumbling in the opposite direction before turning on another, smaller of its kind.

It was only after a near miss, and a crumpled metal heel, that it had occurred to Tony that he needed to hover above the action, pushing the creatures from afar. He had managed to round up about six of them, which on second thought was probably not the best idea he had had all day. They were literally attempting to tear chunks out of each other, and if that failed, which it did, the surrounding architecture.

He himself was getting more frustrated the longer he was at it. It would be so much easier to just blast them into place, or to put them down…but after spending time with Bruce, Tony was reluctant to even graze them with the heavy grade weaponry. True, the rockets and lasers would have barely scratched the creatures, but Tony still couldn't make himself risk the chance that they might wake up as scarred and burnt humans.

Not that it was a huge issue, Tony thought as he propelled himself into the path of another stray creature, lighting up a wall of flames to force it back to the group, so far it appeared that the new life-forms were wary of anything too hot, like the rippling, pulsating walls of heat that he had lit up across the entrances to the adjoining alleyways.

Ha soared along behind his creatures as they charged into a wide street, littered with abandoned cars and empty market stalls.

"How're the rest of you getting on?" Tony called out, hoping that someone would be able to answer their radio.

"My arrows aren't doing much, but they run away from them as they pass." Clint replied; Tony checked his display and saw that Clint was indeed managing to herd two creatures towards their mutual destination, "I guess they don't like the fast movement."

"I'm not surprised," Tony muttered, "They're practically babies."

"Well they love gunshots." Natasha added as Tony extended his arm and set another alleyway alight, eliciting a hateful screech from the nearest creature, which swiped up at him, following its comrades down the intended path after nearly tripping in the attempt, "I'm leading mine to the centre – one of you needs to cover my perimeter."

Taking advantage of the spare moment as the creatures raged on under their own steam, tony pulled up the holographic display that showed him the positions of his teammates.

"Thor buddy, you're closest; could you be a dear and cover Natasha's line for us?" he inquired sweetly; doubtless the god was probably enjoying the fight more than he should have been. And hell, why not, Tony thought – the guy's brother had abandoned them again, and his home planet was going to be opened up to attack at any moment – he deserved a good punch-up to get the blood pumping.

"I shall not disappoint!" Thor's confident cadence rang down the radio, almost joyful in its boastfulness.

Tony didn't bite back a chuckle as he soared around a taller building, having to dart upwards as one of the creatures took a swipe at him, catching his ankle with the tips of its fingers; at least someone was having fun.


Loki rested lightly on the steel bar of the balcony, choosing to look out over the city, listen to the roars and crashes, watch the vile creatures tear their way through the stone architecture of the city as the heroes battled futilely to herd them towards a mutual point.

He had no particular desire to observe the destruction, took no real joy in the shredding of the city which was far less imposing than the one in which he had staged his own invasion. It did however provide a reason not to lay his eyes on the short psychopath, who was chuckling under his breath, his dead expression trailing manically over the events unravelling beneath them.

The human would have been unremarkable save for the raw insanity that Loki could practically feel, rippling under the erratic but otherwise blank façade. It was disgusting that someone such as himself should stoop to work alongside such a pitiful example of humanity…but in terms of power and destructive force, Moriarty had promise.

The balcony that they were standing on proved as much – it hadn't been taken by force or manipulation. No, the rooms to which it was attached were at the top of a curved, glass building that scraped the skyline; not the tallest location, but the grandest, and most practical for surveying the madness. Moriarty had merely spoken in an undertone and dropped a card, and the two of them were allowed complete access.

Loki may have looked on him with disdain, but the mortal had power.

"Do you like what you see?"

Loki tilted his head, so that from the corner of his eye he could see Moriarty leaning back from the barrier, his own eyes trained on the god, a sadistic smile twisting his lips.

"It lacks the certain finesse with which I tend to execute my own schemes." Loki drawled, making it very clear that he disapproved of the man's joy at the mindlessness below.

The smile vanished from Moriarty's face, and his expression shifted to one of boredom.

"True…it does get boring after a while –all the smashing, and growling – and look, that one just sent the Captain flying!" he drew out the syllables, rolling them on his tongue, "But just wait a while…once this gets really dull, I'll open the portals – then we can get going properly, send some of them to the rest of the planet, and the rest to Asgard."

"How deliciously barbaric of you." Was all that Loki could say, hoping that the bitterness wasn't too apparent; it wouldn't do to upset his ally when so much was being offered.

Ignoring whatever sardonic reply that the mortal provided, Loki turned his attention back to the city. It was monotonous, and lacked any kind of intellectual stimulus…but…if he wasn't mistaken, then edging onto the scene was a break from the endless herding.

This should be funny, if nothing else.


Another hefty swing of Mjolnir, letting it soar in an arc, knocking the creatures back on course, and Thor was able to regain his footing. Any other day, and he might have been growling with anticipation at the fight; true, he couldn't help the familiar thrill as he capably pushed the eight or nine creatures that he was tackling in the right direction, but it was marred slightly by the myriad of other worries that were filling his mind and distracting him from his task.

First and foremost, the fact that despite all his instructions, and later orders, Donna Noble was stubbornly following at a distance. Each time the god would cover ground, moving further and further into the city, herding the horrific creatures and their bellowing cries to the location that Rogers had allocated, the red haired woman would sprint along in his wake, dodging behind upturned cars and toppled piles of stonework.

Not moments ago Thor had been forced to hurl his hammer at the group of furiously nearing creatures and perform a precarious almost twirl on the tips of his toes on order to shove Donna out of the path of a motorised bike that had been thrown, and into the relative shelter of a shop front.

"I told you to remain behind!" Thor yelled, as Mjolnir thudded back into his grasp; the creatures were roaring, screeching on all sides, clawing at him and the surrounding shop fronts, like the destructive force of a tsunami forcing its way through the city's walls, making it difficult to stay still for more than a few seconds, and even harder to keep Donna in his sights, "You are of no use to me in the midst of battle! Retreat now!"

"I don't think so!" Donna shouted, managing to make herself heard over the sound of the glass front of the nearest café shattering under the fists of a particularly frantic creature; Thor kicked him after the others, and turned to glance fleetingly at the woman, who had ventured out of her shelter, now wielding one of the shop's parasols like a sword, "I've got your back, I can lure them in!"

It took all of Thor's residual energy to refrain from snapping at the woman, and instead he edged further down the street, letting his frustrations free in an echoing cry and another throw of Mjolnir. The creatures, perhaps startled by the force of the hammer hurtling past them, perhaps choosing to finally huddle for security, all turned and crashed into the wider main road, heading thankfully towards their intended destination.

The god took advantage of the moment that this distraction allowed, and rotated to address Donna, who was following studiously behind, as if oblivious to the dangers all around her. He opened his mouth, but before he could call forth words to scold her, the ground began to thud out of time with the creatures' footfalls, making Donna stumble, and a booming, more refined scream of rage filled the air, emanating from behind the line that he had already cleared.

Thor ground to a halt, hand still extended as Mjolnir flew into his grasp; Donna too froze, turning away from him to stare into the distance.

Trepidation began to emerge like a mole into the light, as in the distance, growing larger by the second, sprinting through the slim streets between the red brick buildings, was a toxic green mass, far too familiar for Thor to feel anything other than resignation.

"Bruce!" Donna screamed, and the parasol slipped through her fingers and clattered to the ground. To Thor's dismay, it was the Hulk, thundering towards them, with no apparent intent to stop. He leapt into action, moments before Donna could be ploughed over, grabbing her by the waist and lifting her haphazardly from his path as the Hulk stormed past, seemingly heading after the other creatures.

Even as Donna was pushing him away roughly, Thor's chest was heaving with the failure of their so carefully crafted plan; no actions could be taken against the creatures while Banner was there…he just had to comfort himself with the fact that the portals had yet to make an appearance.

"Get off! Get off me!" Donna was repeating waspishly, yanking her arms from Thor's grasp, "Bruce! Bruce, come back!" she was trying to race after him, but Thor took a-hold of her arm again, tightening his grip to an unbreakable hold.

"Donna you cannot follow him, you will be torn apart in the midst of battle." He insisted, even as she continued to fight him.

"Then what is the point of me being here at all?" she demanded, her eyes burning with a mixture of fury and misery.

Thor wished that he could answer her adequately, but he never got the chance, as in the Hulk's wake came the pattering of lighter footsteps.

He looked away from the woman's anguished expression, and was simultaneously pleased and shocked to see the tweed clad, gangly limbed Timelord scrambling over the stony wreckage, screwdriver held aloft as he called out to anyone that would listen.

"Hold on, hold on! Everyone clear the way – I've got complete control of this situation!"

Thor began speaking, asking the Doctor what was going on, but the Timelord just ran straight past them, barely even acknowledging the two of them.

"Where the Hell's he think he's going?" Donna snapped, watching the Doctor's form disappear around a corner.

This was enough to remind Thor that he actually had a job to be doing, though the Hulk seemed to have prevented the creatures from making a retreat. Whether they were nearing the intended location was another matter entirely.

Before he could make a move however, Sherlock and John appeared, panting and gasping for breath as they chased after the Doctor. Thor was ready to catch one of them by the scruff if they ignored him, desperate as he was to know how things had gone so awry, but to his relief, Sherlock, dark coat flapping around his legs, staggered to a halt beside Donna.

As John slowed down by his side, the detective doubled over, leaning his hands on his knees and ducking his head to catch his breath.

"Donna," John acknowledged, nodding respectfully; Donna didn't reply, but made an expectant gesture with her hand, "I take it things aren't going quite to plan?"

"No, they're not!" Donna retorted, regaining some of her fiery posture, "What d'you two think you're doing?"

"We…ah…"

"Why is it that Banner turned?" Thor inquired urgently, "I thought you were supposed to be guiding him to a safe location."

"Moriarty…" Sherlock gasped, straightening out, still inhaling deeply in an attempt to steady his breathing, "Moriarty set a trap to set him off."

"I need to get after him." Donna muttered, stumbling away from the group and down the street after the Hulk, until Thor caught the collar of her coat, yanking her back and eliciting a disgruntled huff.

"Not on you own, I can't allow-" Thor was cut off by a sharp buzzing in his ear, as his radio tuned itself in response to the message being sent.

"Thor buddy, your herd seems to be straying." Tony's voice filtered through, and Thor cursed inwardly, turning his ears towards the sound of stone walls being crushed beneath hefty fists.

"I must return to the fray." He informed John and Sherlock, who rolled his eyes almost disdainfully as he too glanced towards the noise.

"We can keep an eye on Donna." John offered, rolling his shoulders back and straightening into a stance that Thor recognised as a universal sign of a soldier preparing for battle, "How can we help?"

"The creatures are drawn by gunshots – you could lure them into the square that we have chosen." Thor explained, pointing his hammer towards the area where even from his location within the city, he could see his teammates on the rooftops closing in, the dust kicked up by the creatures moving inwards, "take the side roads so as not to be trampled…and guide Donna to Banner's side, we need him to be gone or our antidote will kill him."

"Oh god, do we have to?" Sherlock drawled desperately, narrowing is eyes at John.

"Yes, yes we do." John said firmly, glaring up at his friend in a way that allowed no argument, "Come on, you don't have to fight these beasts, but you can stand on a street corner and fire your gun a bit." He instructed, earning a snide but defeated pinching of Sherlock's features, before he looked up at Thor, "You go deal with them, we're fine."

"Thank you." Thor responded solemnly; he wasn't pleased about allowing three weak and barely armed mortals travel to the middle of the battle, but he could appreciate the show of bravery.

John merely nodded, and pushing a hand at the base of Sherlock's back, which was petulantly shrugged away, and using the other arm to hurry Donna along, the soldier led the two of them away into the dusty, sheltered side-street at the end of the road.

Inhaling deeply, Thor tensed and stretched his muscles; after a moment's hesitation, he charged down the cobbled London street, in the path created by the pounding feet of the creatures and the Hulk, Mjolnir swinging in preparation.


I apologise greatly for the wait between chapters, I'm havign real issues finding the energy to write (I'd much rather be reading my story than writing it)

As you can see, action is not something that I'm very good at writing, but I tried, and the next chapter should be full of surprises