FF: Guys I am overwhelmed by the amount of reviews I had on that last chapter. Thank you so much that was amazing! And Blondie 2000, when you catch up, your comments have been amazing thank you! Sorry I made you all wait so long but was having real trouble writing this chapter and I wanted to get it right. (Nor was I anticipating 20k word chapter, but hey, there you are!)
To my lovely guest reviews and those I can't reply to via DM, Thank you. Some asked me to write more stories about Tony. I very much plan to when this is finished, in the meantime check out my fic buried alive… long term I hope to make this into a series of Tony centric one shots, so give it a follow then you'll get notified when I start adding them. Also taking prompts and requests for anything Tony centric and angsty so feel free to comment or send me a message if you want to see something.
So, I am really excited to get this one out to you. Enjoy!
Previously.
The battle is raging through the city. Having identified Tony as a threat Kairon immediately incapacitates him by infiltrating his mind and causing incredible pain. With the help of Heimdall and Frigga Tony is able to push Kairon from his mind, but not before 1000's of civilians, people who the avengers have saved before, are brought into the city. With the Asgardian shield in place there was no way out for these people other than for Tony to teleport them. The effort of doing so drains Tony badly. With the whole team in trouble under the assault of the Makluhk Tony barely gets to his feet in time to save them and heal Sif, who along with Heimdall and Frigga, were protecting him while he was out of action.
Unable to close the portals until the 5 beings had come to earth, Natasha finally sees them coming in on the edge of the city. Tony switches places with her and Bruce gets ready to use the machine to close the portals… but even though Tony can sense him there was no sign of Kairon. Taken by surprise by the leader of the 5 beings, Tony is in deep trouble, unable to use the CAEB until the portals are closed and the beings are trapped.
'Get the fuck out of there!'Rhodey yelled as Tony fired off a shot at the navy armoured figure which knocked it on to its ass, but not before Tony was thrown into an electricity pylon... and that really hurt. His whole body was now trembling with the shock to add to his rapidly rising list of injuries and all his offense had served to achieve was pissing off the Navy one even more.
'Bruce any time now.'He insisted and now he really was running. He couldn't fight these guys not like this, one of them maybe but 5… he was losing badly.
'It's not working Tony, get out of there.' Bruce begged.
"Fucking Shit!"
Chapter 39- We Must Endure.
"Fucking Shit!"
That was it. After all that time trying to make that machine work and now, NOW it decided to flunk on him. For fuck's sake! The HUD glowed red, he imagined if he hadn't muted it alarms would be blaring out the list of injuries.
He felt something give as he was slammed into another wall and through the other side. He lay in the cloud of dust in someone's front room, gasping for air that wouldn't come and trying to ignore the blinding pain.
He had to get out of there. If they didn't kill him first. There was nothing to hold out for anymore; the machine wasn't working and even if Bruce somehow magically got it started in this state he doubted letting the CAEB off the leash would help him all that much. He had to fix the machine, or this battle was lost.
He closed his eyes as he heard the shifting of rubble as the looming figures hunted what was left of their prey and searched for safety, for help. He barely found it before the world went black and the pain finally stopped.
…..
'Tony needs back up!'Steve yelled.
'I'm fine, you guys do not come over here!'Tony insisted.
Rhodey finally put his feet back on solid ground after flying half way across the city. Tony had told them not to go in, but his friend was in trouble. His best friend needed him, whether he knew it or not and Rhodey wasn't about to stop being there for Tony, not now.
Jarvis, ever Rhodey's ally, gave him Tony's current location and he set down a few miles away trying to formulate a plan of attack. He wasn't stupid enough to rushing in there. He knew Tony was scared of these guys for a reason and he wasn't vain enough to think he'd be able to fight them any better.
'Nope, he's definitely not fine, he's being tossed like a rag doll!'Clint sounded terrified which didn't help Rhodey's nerves.
'Well, 5 on 1 is really not fair.'Tony protested.
"Get the fuck out of there!"Rhodey yelled. He could tell by the tone of Tony's voice or, more accurately, the lack of any emotion in his words that he was in serious trouble. He only ever did that when he was hiding something and Rhodey had no doubt that it was his pain. What the hell was happening?
His heart was hammering at his chest as everything went silent for a few seconds and then suddenly Tony's voice came through again.
'Bruce any time now.'This time the desperation was evident. God they better get that machine going and quickly.
'It's not working Tony, get out of there.' Bruce begged.
"Fucking Shit!" Tony screamed and Rhodey's stomach turned violently.
'Tony! Tony tell me what's happening?' Rhodey begged.
'I've lost sight of him, they blasted him into a building.' Clint informed them.
'Tony, please respond.' Rhodes ordered as calmly as he could muster. He waited 30 seconds, but there was no answer. 'That's it I'm going in.' Rhodey said darkly.
'Rhodes…' Steve started.
'Steve don't you dare tell me not to go in there, this is Tony we're talking about!'
'I know Rhodes, I'm not going to stop you. Go, we're on our way. Please be careful!'
'Thanks Cap.'
Rhodey fired up the thrusters but a sudden, startling flash of blue off to his left made him jump. It was followed by a loud crash as a streak of red and gold armour skidded limply across the street and came to halt hitting a parked car.
"Shit! Tony!" He cried. The repulsors fired, carrying him across the street and to his best friend's side in an instant. The armour was torn and battered, singed and bloodied. An immediate scan told Rhodes that the arc reactor was fine, but the plating round Tony's throat did not look good. It was completely mangled, blood mixed with metal.
"Jarvis?" Rhodey begged as Rhodey released the helmet to see Tony's battered and blood-spattered face, his eyes were closed, skin pale and his head limp.
"Pulse 170, sats 75, crushed trachea, moderate spinal damage, 4 broken ribs, severe throat lacerations, multiple contusions, damage to the spleen, suspected concussion…" The friendly AI rattled off, sounding as frantic as Rhodey felt.
"Shit, Shit, God ok Jarvis…" Rhodey took a breath and tried to steady his shaking hands. He had to stay calm.
'Rhodey, Tony, where are you? The 5 are causing mayhem across town, Asgardians are dropping like flies!' Steve asked frantically.
'We need this machine up and running now!' Fury's voice ordered harshly and Rhodey felt a spike of anger but calmed himself. They didn't know what was happening outside the bubble, in fact he wasn't sure how the comms link was still active with Tony unconscious, but as he turned back to his friend he saw his eyelids start to flutter open.
"Tony stay still. I've got you. Take it easy." Rhodey soothed before Tony could panic and sit up. The man seemed strangely happy to stay put, just staring at the sky as gritted his teeth against the pain.
'Clint can you get eyes on? Rhodey, Steve and I are about 5 minutes out. Sif and Frigga will be with you sooner.' Nat barked out.
'Guys halt the cavalry charge, Tony's with Rhodey. They're out of danger.' Clint informed them, the relief palpable in his voice.
'Rhodey talk to us, is he ok?' Steve asked anxiously.
'Tony's not going anywhere he needs Med evac now!' He replied to Steve and that seemed to jolt Tony a little more awake.
'What, why, Rhodes, what's happening?' The Captain asked.
"Kairon ruffed me up a bit." Tony groaned, both aloud and over the comms.
'Kairon's pretty much torn his damn throat out!' Rhodey countered. 'And that's just the start.'
"Tony, just look at me, breath." Rhodey said aloud to the man beneath him when he saw a brief flash of panic cross his features.
Tony gave his best friend a scowling look which said, 'I'm trying you ass', but he was too tired to argue anymore over the com link. He could hear the others shouting something in the background, but the pain was starting to become his main focus.
"Can you heal yourself?" Rhodey slapped him lightly in the face to regain his attention.
'No. Drained. Need a minute.' Tony relayed, to Rhodey and Rhodey only.
'Med evac is overloaded, it will be 20minutes.' Natasha informed them.
'Shit. Not good enough.' Rhodey said through gritted teeth and Tony put his arm on his best friend's shoulder and gave him a comforting nod, despite the pain it caused him.
'I'll be fine Rhodes. Just need a minute... or ten.'
'Colonel give me your location and I will attempt to assist.' Frigga. Thank God for Frigga.
'Claremont Park as fast as you can.'
'I'll navigate you, listen to my instructions.' Clint offered.
'My thanks Agent Barton.' Frigga replied.
…
"Tony, Tony can you hear me?" Rhodey's voice dragged him back into reluctant consciousness again and Tony had barely more then a groan of annoyance to offer him. It was cold, or at least, he felt cold. He had no idea what temperature it actually was and that was irrelevant, the under-armour and the suit should be helping him thermoregulate, but his body was clearly failing him.
"Yeah Rhodey, like the last 4 times you've asked me." Tony grunted. The pain felt duller now, partly shock he imagined, and of course he'd be pumped full of analgesics. God love Jarvis.
"Well you do keep clocking out on me and you're bleeding all over the floor." Rhodey chuckled bitterly, his face was pale and full of worry. "Can you heal yet?"
"I'm not going to die if that's what your worried about. I am healing, the CAEB is taking care of it, but if you're after a big flashy instant heal you're going to be disappointed." Tony huffed. "I'm too drained."
"Oh, its ok, helps on its way." Rhodey held his shoulder in comfort, but Tony didn't need it. He'd had worse he was just annoyed it was happening now. It was Rhodes that needed the comfort.
"This isn't how today was supposed to go." Tony sighed, resting his head heavily on the floor exhausted.
"Well technically its not even today anymore, its tommorow." Rhodey shrugged.
"You know that makes absolutely no sense, right?"
"Fine, its Thursday 2am." Rhodey chuckled.
"So why is it still light? Hang on, I can see the stars… Am I hallucinating?"
"If you speak of the sky Stark, you are not hallucinating. It is indeed night, but the simulated daylight is an effect of our Asgardian shield technology. Quite disorientating I know, but it is after all much easier to fight when you can see you enemy." Frigga said as she approached them, making Rhodey jump.
"Huh, I like it." Tony smiled.
"How are you Stark?" She asked sincerely, inspecting him for injuries.
"You know, been better." Tony tried to joke but just ended up choking and spluttering, blood leaking from the corner of his mouth and his face growing even paler.
"Tony…"
"Not going to die Rhodes." Tony winced. "I need to get to my machine, figure out why it's not working…"
"We need to get you back to your feet first. I hate to say it after everything, but your work is not yet done." Frigga sighed.
"Yeah don't remind me." Tony scoffed. "But I aint going to heal, not for a few hours at least, I'm spent."
"I can aid. My magic is no cure all like your power, but I should be able to stabilise the worst of our condition."
"Well I'll take anything at this stage. Do your worst." Tony nodded and Frigga laid her hands over the armour. After a minute or two Frigga pulled away and Tony reached out a hand for Rhodey to help him sit up.
"Is he ok?" Rhodey asked Frigga.
"His injuries are no longer grave, but under any other circumstances I would not have him in the field."
"How bad are we talking?"
"You could ask me, I am still here you know." Tony grumbled.
"And if I did ask you, would you tell me the truth?" Rhodey asked sceptically.
"I'm worse than falling out the wormhole… but not as bad as when I got back from Asgard's prison cells."
"Well that's not very comforting." Rhodey grunted.
"I can stand… ish, I can use my hands and most importantly my brain works. You need to get me to that machine, once I've got it fixed I promise I'll take 5. Frigga's magic has helped, the CAEB is on it, I'll be back to normal in about half an hour." Tony sighed and put a comforting hand on his best friend's shoulder. "I'll be fine Rhodes."
"Fine, but I'm taking you." Rhodey said firmly.
"Fine." Tony rolled his eyes.
"I will meet you there, you are a difficult person to protect Stark." Frigga grumbled.
"Yeah, sorry."
…
Bruce hadn't heard anything from Tony or Rhodey for nearly half an hour, but he had heard and seen the chaos that the 5 beings were wreaking on the Allied forces. Tony was right. They made the entire hoard of Makluhk look like mild mannered ants. A nuisance but not a threat. It was carnage in there and it wasn't much better where he was.
He'd moved the machine right up the edge of the shield and he hadn't stopped trying to get it to work, but he had no idea what he was working with. The computer coding, the diagnostics and the circuitry itself… This wasn't his field, and this was arguably Tony's greatest creation. It required an insane level of understanding and innovation to create, and Bruce in all his own genius just did not have the knowledge to understand anything beyond the basic principle. He could make things infinitely worse if he messed about in there with no idea what he was doing. But getting this thing up and running was getting more and more desperate by the second.
Inside the shield, images of horror were showing on the screens. Despite the strict now fly zone a rogue TV reporter had managed to get hold of a helicopter and capture some of the devastating scenes flying above the shield. The whole city was burning, there were bodies everywhere. It was a thousand times worse than the Chitauri attack. The world had never seen anything like it and although a SHIELD Jet escorted the aerial camera crew swiftly out of the area, the damage was done. There was widespread panic. SHIELD agents and the army now had their hands full trying to control the crowd who were desperate to get closer, to see what had happened to their city, their homes.
"Bruce anything?"
"You can hear everything I can Phil." Bruce sighed.
"If the link is still up that has to be a good thing, right?" Coulson offered.
"Well it means Tony's not dead." Bruce shrugged. "Well, I think anyway."
"I can get someone in, an expert, I can have anyone flown in from anywhere…"
"Tony is the expert Phil." Bruce sighed. "He's the only one who can do this."
"I know, I just…" Coulson started sadly.
"I know." Bruce put and hand on the agent's shoulder. "We all feel helpless. I mean look at me, I had one job…"
"And you haven't failed Bruce, you've done everything you can." Coulson insisted.
"Yeah, maybe…"
"Coulson, Banner, anything?" The familiar and un-mistakable voice of director Fury approached from behind.
"Not yet." Coulson relayed.
Fury looked at them hesitantly for a moment and then seemed to put aside his resignations and came to stand with them. "It's hell out there. I've never seen anything like it."
Suddenly there was a shout of amazement from the small gathering of trusted reporters that had been allowed to get close to the action. Camera flashes went off furiously as the Iron Man and war machine armours could be seen in the sky approaching more slowly than Bruce had expected.
Something was wrong, he couldn't place it, but they were flying way too close together for a start.
"Shit." Bruce hissed as he realised Rhodey wasn't just accompanying Tony, he was practically carrying him. There was a murmur of worried and shocked voices from the press as Rhodey touched down, but the moment Tony's feet met the ground his legs gave and Rhodey's grip was the only thing keeping him on his feet.
The helmet of the Iron Man armour was gone and even from this distance Bruce could tell the engineer was a ghastly white and caked in blood. Rhodey soon gave up on trying to drag and coax Tony to walk and picked him up bridal style, running towards the edge of the Asgardian shield and to Bruce.
"God." Coulson breathed.
"We need to get him medical attention now!" Fury growled.
"We need to get this machine running. He knows that. We'll get him sorted once we get this damn bloodbath under control. The medics are all on that side of the shield anyway." Bruce said, closing his eyes and biting back the worry and the growing anger of the Hulk.
'Tony?' Bruce asked through the link as Rhodey lay the Engineer against a tree and crouched down next to him. Tony's body suddenly spasmed violently and Rhodey pulled him to one side as the billionaire coughed and spluttered, blood splattering on the pavement.
The cameras that had been flashing none stop since the two men had first been spotted suddenly stopped as gasps of horror overtook the general murmurings. There were no more camera flashes after that. Huh, maybe the press did have a soul after all, Bruce thought.
The two exchanged a quick word and Rhodey started to reach for the armour release points, slowly and carefully removing panels. One look at the armour told Bruce that it wasn't just a few replacement panels Tony needed, but an entire suit. The damn thing was a mess. But as if on cue, there was a hiss from a nearby hub and three iron legion suits brought down an entirely new suit of armour, placing it nearby before taking to the air and hovering on guard to protect their injured creator.
'Bring her through Bruce.' Tony's voice snapped Bruce's attention away from the iron legion and back towards the man in question, who was looking right at him from across the street.
'This thing only works once, are you sure you want me through right now?' Bruce said waving the remote to illustrate what he was referencing.
Tony made eye contact with Bruce through the SHIELD and looked like he was about to reply when he was distracted by Frigga's arrival. Rhodey and Frigga exchanged a few words whilst she helped the Colonel remove the chest panel and release the armour at his hip, making the whole suit snap open down the centre.
As they took Tony under the arms and lifted him free from the shell of his battered armour Bruce heard Steve come through the comms.
'I don't want to drag you away if you're needed Rhodey, but some air support would be good down here.'
'Go Rhodey, Frigga's got me, get back out there.' Tony nodded, and the war machine armour took off reluctantly.
'Tony are you ok?' Steve asked, shocked and worried at hearing the Engineers voice.
'I'll live, but I'm out of action for a while.'
'Can you fix the machine Stark? We are utterly overwhelmed.' Thor's voice asked anxiously.
'Working on it. Bruce bring the damn thing through.' Tony beckoned the doctor and Bruce nodded his confirmation.
"Right, get me a trolley and help me lift it." Bruce demanded of the agents around him.
'And Bruce, prepare to code green once this is sorted.' Tony added.
About damn time Bruce growled to himself and he could feel the Hulk shift in excitement. He been watching and waiting for too damn long while his friends fought and suffered. It was time for him to get a piece of these alien bastards.
"Are you going in?" Coulson asked, snapping Bruce back to the present.
"Yeah, they need every big green rage monster they can get right now, and Hulk is very ready to do some serious smashing."
"Good luck Doctor Banner." Fury nodded in sincerity.
"Yeah thanks." Bruce acknowledged as he turned around to see a group of agents lifting the machine onto the trolley and then there was a sudden clatter which had them all whip around. One of the Agents had lost his grip on the machine and the corner slammed hard into the ground.
"What the hell are you doing!" Bruce yelled, and the Agent's froze in place.
"Doctor Banner I'm so sorry... I… I… I." The young guard had turned sheet white looking up at Bruce in terror.
"The entire future of our planet relies on this machine and you nearly drop it! Get out of here!"
The Agents quickly finished moving the machine onto the wheeled platform and scarpered sharpish.
"Ok Bruce?" Coulson asked, with a smile of amusement.
"Yeah." Bruce chuckled miserably. "Tough year. Let's go and finish it." He nodded, face set in determination. He pushed the trolley up to the barrier and then inspected the remote. It was simple to operate, but that didn't stop him feel nervous. The sun was just rising outside the shield, but as he pushed the button and stepped into the city, the bright light hit him and made him blink and grimace. Then there was the smell. Smoke and fire and death. And the noise… It all hit him like a wave that took his breath away and left him stood gawping aimlessly at what was left at New York. Now he was sacred, terrified even, but as he looked back at the way he had come the shield had already closed behind him. He was stuck here now, until this was over. And he had a job to do.
Tony was a mess. Once he'd got over being stunned by the state of play Bruce homed in on his friend, pushing the machine to the Engineer's side as Tony's exhausted eyes locked straight on it like lasers. The Engineer grabbed for the computer and started typing, frowning at the screen. He was so focused on what he was doing he barely noticed Frigga reach out and try to heal him some more while he worked and certainly didn't notice Bruce take in all of his injuries, especially the deep purple and angry red rivulets of blood covering his neck.
Tony instantly activated the machine and it started whirring into life, warming up getting ready to fire and then, suddenly it just cut out, shuddering to a halt, just like it had done several times before.
"What the hell is wrong with it!" Tony growled angrily, his voice weak and painfully hoarse.
"I don't know, I don't even understand the goddamn thing… I'm sorry Tony." Bruce looked down at the ground, shoulders slumping.
"Not your fault Bruce. You know the trouble this temperamental brat likes to cause. I should have named it cantankerous mark I."
"What can I do?" Bruce asked, Tony's usual humour not really touching him through the seriousness of the situation. If they didn't get the portals closed thousands more of the allied forces would die, Tony would never be able to openly use the CAEB and ultimately the war would be lost.
"I don't know, just let me think a minute." Tony frantically typed a few lines of code into the operating system and as he started the machine an in-depth diagnostic flashed up on the screen. The Machine shuddered and shut off again and Tony growled as he blinked tiredly, trying to make sense of the numbers on the screen. As Tony raised his hand to rub his face in frustration he winced, his hand ghosting to his side as he blinked away the pain.
"Jesus Tony!" Bruce hissed quietly as he noticed a puncture wound in Tony's side that was still bleeding. He took off his jacket Bundling it up and pressed it against the wound.
"Ow." Tony protested at the unexpected pain and pressure.
"Sorry buddy but I can't have you bleeding out on me." Bruce and Frigga exchanged a look that radiated the depth of Tony's situation.
"CAEB's on it Bruce." Tony said quietly as he returned his attention to the screens.
"Yeah not fast enough for my liking." Bruce growled.
"I'm drained ok, give me a break already!"
Bruce held up one hand to show he was sorry, keeping the other firmly pressed into the wound and Tony sighed looking away guiltily for his own apology. They understood each other. Tensions were high, Bruce was anxious and raring to go, and Tony was exhausted and in pain. The whole situation was a disaster that they and they alone could turn around.
"I'm afraid my magic is not best used for healing. I can only encourage his cells and the CAEB to focus and speed up regeneration where it is needed. It does not work miracles in this way, not like Tony can." Frigga said to Bruce sadly, as if she thought she was letting them down.
"It's ok Frigga, I'd still be a bloody heap on the floor if it wasn't for you." Tony noted. "It's my fault I got into this mess anyway."
"Stark, you still are a bloody heap on the floor." Frigga raised her eyebrows questioningly.
"Yes, maybe, but at least now I'm a talking one with functioning hands." Tony wheezed and coughed.
"Yeah and maybe you should hold back on the talking given the state of your neck." Bruce sighed knowing that Tony wouldn't give in on that point for anything.
There were a few moments of silence a Tony stared intently at the calculations before his frown told them he may have reached some sort of conclusion, but a tentative one.
"I think… I think it's the fail safes kicking in and shutting down the machine before it can fire. I'm going to disable a few levels of security and…"
"Tony, that's a bad idea, if this thing backfires…" Bruce stated. Tony had made it clear on several occasions the consequences of the machine being incorrectly calibrated, and they were on the scale of Armageddon.
"Yes, yes, it's the end of the world as we know it. But look around Bruce, it already is, besides reckless as I am I'm not stupid. I'm not going to disable everything I just can't figure out what's tripping the safety procedures without removing a few of the layers."
"Ok, if you're sure."
"They weren't all strictly necessary anyway, just extra contingencies." He said nonchalantly. Bruce knew how Tony loved his contingencies and he wasn't going to take a chance on the fate of the world, or he hoped he wouldn't anyway.
Tony worked swiftly, regardless of the highly concerned look on Bruce's face and then started the machine again. The diagnostics ran on the screen. The machine whirred into life, the pitch of its whine got higher and higher until… Bruce could hardly believe it, the machine levelled out.
"Tony, have you done it?" Bruce asked excitedly as he saw the charge build to double the levels it had been before, preparing itself ready to fire as Tony's hand hovered over the enter key.
"Don't jinx it!" Tony warned as his eyes watched the screens nervously, then suddenly they widened. "No, No, No. Goddam it!" He growled as red warnings started flashing up on the screen. "Bruce pull the plug quickly!"
Bruce quickly grabbed the power cable and yanked it out of the junction and the machine quickly ground to a halt.
"Tony?"
"Frigga." Tony beckoned for her to help him stand and she pulled him carefully to his feet until he was standing alone on shaky legs, resting his weight on the top of the machine. "Bruce, can you open panel 32B, carefully." He warned.
Bruce nodded and did as he was asked, falling back when the panel came away and he was met with a searing blast of heat.
"Christ!" Bruce exclaimed, wafting the air in front of his face and taking off his no scorched glasses.
Tony closed his eyes and sighed defeatedly. "Ok Bruce, I know what it is." He nodded, and Bruce looked up at him suspiciously. Tony's face was void of emotion. His mask was back on.
"Tony what's going on, can you fix it?" Bruce asked worriedly. "Don't shut down on me, tell me the truth."
"The truth is, its bad. Can I fix it? I'm me I'll come up with something, but there's nothing you can do to help me, so go and help them." Tony flicked his head over to the battle. "Time to suit up big green."
"Are you sure? What if you need help with something manual? You're in no state to lift or…"
"I'm positive Bruce and I've got the Queen of Asgard here so go break some shit." Tony nodded with a weak smile.
"Good luck Tony."
"You too."
Bruce didn't need to do much more than turn and point himself towards the battle before the Hulk was roaring and leaping off towards the explosions and the flames, leaving Tony and Frigga to get the portals closed.
…..
'Tony why is the Hulk in the field?' Steve asked as he saw the green monster lunch itself straight into a hoard of Makluhk and start tearing them apart. 'Have you go the machine sorted?' He asked hopefully.
'I know what's wrong with it. You need Hulk more than I need Bruce.'
'What is that supposed to mean?' Natasha asked.
'It means…' Tony started but cut off ominously.
'Can you fix it? Please tell me you can fix it!' Clint begged.
'I'm Tony Stark, of course I can.' But even through the link Tony didn't sound sure, but Steve hadn't seemed to catch that.
'Tony whatever you need to do to it, please hurry, I don't know how much longer we can hold.'
'I know Cap. Noted.'
Steve took a rare opportunity to take a breath as he felled a stray Makluhk that was trying to sneak behind one of the Asgardian legions. The city of New York was now looking all too familiar to him. It was a scene that he'd thought would never be possible after he'd woken up, nearly a century after he'd fallen asleep.
It was like what he'd seen back there, before the ice, long ago in his childhood. The photos of his father's generations in the trenches, the Great War as it was known back then. It had happened before even he was born, yet just like them he was crawling over bodies now, just to move from street to street. But a century on, the buildings were their trench wall, and there may have been no mud, but the death and destruction was vast.
He'd almost got used to the way the ground shook with explosions several times a minute. Every muscle ached and despite the under armour he had several scrapes and burns from near misses. The paintwork on his shield was torn apart by claws. It seemed even Vibranium struggled against the Makluhk.
He felt a burning sensation in his arm and he looked at in surprise when he saw an angry bite through his suit. Every inch of his body was burning regardless of the venom, it was no surprise he hadn't noticed the injury until now. He barely had a chance to look up before he heard the approach of a vial of anti-venom. Bless Tony and these hubs.
With the injection administered, he quickly ducked into an archway to get out of sight of an approaching Makluhk while the medicine took effect. He noticed another pack incoming from the other side. Damn, there was too many. The Asgardians had some serious trouble if they didn't see them in time.
'Hulk, there's some Makluhk a few miles east that really need smashing.' Steve hoped calling in the Hulk would solve their problem for now. Not having Tony in the field was hurting them almost as much as the overwhelming number of enemy forces that were pouring into the city. But now Bruce was in the field in his big green form was an absolute Godsend. He was taking chunks out of the Makluhk, throwing them around like toys and crushing them with ease, but as before, he was not much help with the fast and agile craft.
'But Hulk no finish smashing here.' The Hulk whined.
'Thor needs your help Hulk.' Steve pleaded.
'Puny God help himself.' Hulk scoffed.
Great. Now they had to deal with the Hulk being a child on top of everything else.
'Hulk Buddy, please listen to Cap.' Tony chipped in and thankfully Big green seemed to listen to the Iron Avenger.
'Hulk help puny God.'
'Thank you.' Tony said briefly.
Steve smiled and shook his head. He would never understand the relationship the Hulk and the tin can had, but boy was he glad of it right now.
…..
Tony stared at the machine and tried to take a deep breath. There had to be a way, there just had to be. He'd worked too long and too hard to fail now. But he just couldn't think of a way round this. He felt his breathing start to get out of control as the panic overwhelmed him. Frigga's hands were quickly on him, guiding him back to rest on the floor against the tree while she gave him the space to calm himself. But there were too many eyes on him. So close to the edge of the shield he could feel the concerned looks of the press and the agents, of Fury and Coulson and a few army generals to boot. The people he had convinced he could do this, that he had a plan, that they would win this.
"Tony, Tony stop look at me." Frigga demanded, and his brown eyes fixed on her calming blues. "Are you with me?" She asked as his breathing started to even out.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine."
"How is the pain?"
"I'm healing."
"That's not what I asked." She said sternly.
"Shit but manageable. I've had worse." He grunted.
"Ok, Stark." She nodded. "You said you had found the issue. I believe that is half of the battle. Talk me through it."
"The machine works."
"Ok?" Frigga sounded hopeful but confused.
"Everything is right, the calibration, the calculations… but one component, the damn accelerator coil that I need to generate the pulse, it can't withstand the heat."
"Had you not planned for this?"
"Of course, I had. I had to create a new alloy to get the desired properties. I needed a conductor, so a metal, but although Tungsten had a high enough melting point the conductivity was too low, so I did some experimenting and came up with a nickel ferro-tungsten alloy which had good enough properties…
"Stark I believe this is not strictly relevant…"
"Right, yeah, my point is I used second hand physics in calculating the amount of heat energy the coil would have to withstand and their model was wrong, very, very wrong and the estimates were way off. Sue me for thinking that the greatest physicists of all time would have got their equations right, but apparently not. I'll have to fix it if we ever win this thing…
"Stark!"
"Yeah sorry." Tony sighed. "The point is, it wouldn't have mattered anyway… No material on earth, metal or not, can withstand this heat and I'm not sure even I could design a cooling system powerful and effect enough to deal with it."
"What about a material not from this earth?"
"There isn't time to pop to an intergalactic materials shop and test every combination of elemental compositions to fix this. I need to find another way…."
"You know machines Stark, you know how they work, if you were one with this device you could solve its problems."
Tony frowned at Frigga, what the hell was she getting at?
"Be the machine Stark." She said. "You say this coil reaches too high a temperature and it cannot be cooled mechanically... heat is energy, energy you can extract, use and harness."
"It's a nice idea Frigga, but we are talking about the energy of a small star running through a piece of metal coil. I'm not strong enough to hold that energy, we both know it would kill me and there is nowhere for me to release it without vaporising the city."
Frigga closed her eyes in realisation. "We'll think of something." She offered. "There is always a way."
They had a moment of silence while Tony contemplated just kicking the shit of his infernal machine and letting Kairon vaporise the lot of them before something Frigga said triggered him.
Frigga glanced over at Stark, watching the emotions wash over his face until suddenly his shoulders relaxed and a look of revelation crossed his features.
"Be the machine…" He said softly as dark and wry smile pulled at his features.
"Stark?" Frigga questioned. "What are you thinking of doing?"
"You said be the machine." He stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
"Yes, I… I, what are you intending?"
Tony flicked on the machine with a wave of his hand, letting it run and level out but didn't activate it.
"Tony what are you doing?" Frigga asked again. "You should save your strength…"
"It's ok Frigga." Tony said softly. "You said it yourself. I made this machine, I understand it, I know the math, I can do the calculations… I don't need the machine, not with the CAEB. With the CAEB I am the machine."
"But you are talking about closing hundreds of interdimensional breeches simultaneously, the power it would take…" Frigga said frantically.
"I need lot of energy, yes and it just so happens I know where I can find the power of a small star." He smiled gesturing at the open panel containing the accelerator coil.
"Stark No! You said it yourself it will kill you." She protested. Had the man finally lost his mind? This was suicide.
"Only if I try to contain the power, I won't try to contain it, I'll channel it… If I can use it as fast as I absorb it, then I should be ok, or just about ok…. It might leave me out of action for a while though."
"Stark this is too dangerous. If it goes wrong and you die this battle is lost. You are the only one who can defeat the 5, you must think of the bigger picture."
"If I can't close the portals we cannot win this battle anyway. And who else can do this Frigga… no one else even has a hope of channelling this much power."
Frigga looked at him distraught. He was right. Of course, he was right.
'Stark have you any sort of solution. At this rate my forces will have been decimated within the hour.'
'Tony, thousands of these things are pouring through! They just won't stop. We're outnumbered 10 to 1!' Clint yelled and Tony's head pounded with the despair and desperation of the others.
'Tony, the craft, there's too many, the iron legion are being decimated, I can't deal with this many, they are slaughtering Asgardians.' Rhodey said. 'I'm sorry Buddy, we really need you to get a move on with this.'
'I think I might have something, but its risky.' Tony replied.
'Stark we need those portals closed now! The 5 are targeting the Asgardian barrier, they are trying to get out of the city!' Steve ordered.
'How risky Stark?' Fury asked.
'Has anyone got eyes on Natasha?' Rhodey asked suddenly.
'I can't see her.' Clint answered after a second
'Nat can you hear us…' Steve asked.
'Tony where is Nat?' Clint cried frantically when after a minute there was no reply.
Tony's stomach dropped as he searched for the red head in fear of what he might find. He could feel her, but the connection was weak. Shit. Nat was down.
'She's alive.'
'Is she hurt?' Clint asked but Tony didn't answer straight away, he was too busy reaching out to her and teleporting her straight to the medical. 'Tony is she hurt!' Clint demanded
'She's down, I don't know how badly, but I teleported her straight to medical, she's safe.'
'Stark, answer me, what are the risks?' Fury demanded.
'They don't matter they are minimal. I'll close the portals I just need a minute.'
'If they are minimal, why did you mention them at all?' Steve asked knowingly.
'The risk is only to himself.' Frigga jumped in and answered for him. "There is no point trying to protect them Stark." Tony just glared at her for the betrayal.
'What are we talking?' Steve asked, needing all the facts.
''I could be out of action for a while longer, so you'll have to cope without double air support or the CAEB for a while.'
'We can cope if the portals are closed.' Thor said definitively. 'Do it Stark!'
'Or he could die.' Frigga growled angrily.
'Die? Tony No, have you lost your mind.' Rhodey yelled.
'It won't kill me, I can do this.' Tony insisted, his eyes glowed blue as the machine started to come to life.
'Are you 100% certain Tony, because if you aren't…' Steve said.
'Stark, do not sacrifice yourself for this!' Thor warned.
'It'll be fine guys. Besides, it's the only way.'
'Really? You putting yourself in danger again is the only way?' Rhodey asked in disbelief.
'I am afraid I believe so Colonel.' Frigga agreed. But Tony wasn't listening anymore.
The man pulled himself to his feet arduously, holding briefly onto the tree for balance until the dizziness and the nausea faded. He took two steps toward the machine and closed his eyes. He scanned over each component, ran the calculations through his head and tried to visualise the energy he would be manipulating. He took a breath. He could do this.
'Screw this! Tony there are too many craft, whatever you are going to do, you need to do it now!'
The words registered briefly in Tony's head, but he didn't waste energy putting a name to the voice which had spoken them. Channelling a little power from the grid he reached out with his energy to one of the portals and there it was, the tenuous but tangible web of energy and antimatter that linked them all, the outline of the dimensional walls. That was what he had to rebuild.
With a final calming breath to focus him he started the machine and felt the power grow. As the machine reached the point of overload he latched onto the energy flowing through the coil. It started as a tingle in his secondary nervous system as the power slowly flooded into him, the power of a small star soon built into throbbing sensation and he knew he couldn't hold much more. Holding out a shaking hand to the invisible boundary surrounding him he connected with the dimensional walls and started to channel the power.
The pain rose slowly like water up a damn, the tremble in his hand like a crack propagating across the surface of the concrete. But the damn had to hold. The power roared through his system, pulsing through his head and pouring into the fabric that separated the worlds. The rest of the world faded away as his vision focused onto the part of reality only he could see and the slowly knitting tears that were the portals began to shrink. It was agonisingly slow. He knew he was close to capacity with the energy he could channel, but if the blood dripping down his face and the burning of the exoskeleton against his skin was anything to go by, he wouldn't last long enough to complete the job unless… Unless he tried to channel more.
It was the only way, but as he drew more power from the machine he couldn't stop the scream that tore from his lips. He could feel every atom of his being threatening to tear apart as he threw everything he had into closing the portals as quickly as he could.
He never knew if he'd succeeded, the world went black long before them. But the pain never stopped.
….
Kairon felt something strange. Something powerful. Something…. Surprisingly familiar. His black eyes flicked white and then began to glow with an orange light as he searched for the source of this peculiar energy. It was coming from the edge of the city, near to the infuriating Asgardian bubble that was preventing them from furthering their conquest.
It was that exasperating human. The clever one that paraded round in a suit of metal that they had only minutes ago had in their grasp. He chuckled to himself as he remembered nearly crushing his fragile spine in his hands. The humans time would come. But what was he doing now?
There was some machine whirring into life, he could sense its outstanding technology, but the energy it was producing was not being used directly but being channelled into the human. What was the Earth child doing?
He felt the man's pain, heard his cry as he absorbed the energy and then it exploded from him, the energy pulsed through the city and conglomerated. The Human was manipulating it, targeting it… controlling it. How was this possible? No human could do such a thing. No normal human at any rate.
Then Kairon felt it. The shudder in the space-time fabric as the city grew a little colder. The portals slowly but surely starting to close.
"Impossible!" He hissed quietly. But his words were meaningless as the gateways warped and shrunk into nothingness. The air vibrated with cheers of elation from their enemy. The howling, caterwauling cries of the Asgardians, regarding their misplaced sense of victory made Kairon's blood boil and seethe beneath his skin. Had the human not been laying, bloody on the floor, the Asgardian Queen desperately doting over his feeble collapsed form he would have that instant gone and torn out his weak and beating heart along with that strange light from his chest. The strange circle of light must be the source of his power Kairon concluded. There was no other explanation. The human after all was a Master of Technology and the light was a source of energy, though he sensed it also had a part in keeping him alive. Fragile humans. Feeble weaklings. It must be how he was able to manipulate the energy around him, perhaps even how he was able to teleport so well.
Kairon was snapped from his thoughts by the words of one of his disciples.
"The human has power!" The figure clad in navy armour exclaimed in fear.
"We knew of his intelligence Ethusa." Edraskil growled in annoyance. It was clear by his tone that he thought of this Ethusa as an idiot, then again, Edraskil liked to think everyone was beneath him.
"No, I mean real power Edraskil! He concealed it from us. He just closed the portals I saw it!" Ethusa insisted.
"That will have killed him. No human could withstand that." Another voice from the figure in black, more feminine, slicker Tony couldn't understand why he hadn't seen it before. She was a woman. "My lord Kairon, can you sense him, does he still live?"
"The human lives. Just. But that does not mean he will not recover." Kairon said calmly, wiping a smear of red from the pale blue of his otherwise unmarked armour.
"We are trapped here, the portals have closed, our forces are trapped on the other side!" Ethusa ranted, panic still clouding his tone.
"Calm yourself Ethusa. It is no matter. Even if they defeat our forces, between us we have the power to obliterate this world. The Makluhk and the other creatures of that planet we spent an eternity trapped on were nothing more than a distraction." Edraskil declared proudly.
"I think after all we have seen of humans, of this 'Stark' in particular, it would be very dangerous to underestimate them!" The female in black growled at Edraskil.
"Vinam is right Edraskil." The figure in green said calmly. "Their tenacity knows no equal, outmatched or not they will not give in."
"How will we leave this world?" Ethusa yelled, still in panic.
"Gather the machine the mortal created. Perhaps we can use it to reopen the breeches." Kairon said calmly.
"That energy lord Kairon, why is it so familiar?" The figure in green asked.
"I do not know Urus." Kairon growled, he did not like not knowing. "Vinam," he addressed the one in black. "Take Urus, observe but do not engage, I wish to know the extent of the human's power."
"His power is intriguing." Edraskil mused. "I cannot place it, it is powerful indeed, but trapped in a human body, we are far stronger than it. Nothing can stop us, the CAEB is imprisoned on Asgard at it has been for centuries. They have no idea how to defeat us."
"Stay here Edraskil and do not act without my orders." Kairon sighed in annoyance at the silver clad figure, while the rest of them departed in their missions.
…..
When the vision of the 5 faded from him it was like he was lost at sea… If that sea was composed of pure pain and misery. Tony of course knew that feelings could not comprise matter, but as a metaphor, he felt it was rather apt. He wasn't sure if he had truly succeeded or if the vision was some sort of dream, but he could feel himself being dragged back to consciousness in the most unwelcome manner and knew he was about to find out. As his head cleared it also ached and he groaned in frustration as the light that met his eyes felt like he was being stabbed in the temples.
"I haven't had a hangover this bad since the 90's." He groaned again as he opened his eyes and then suddenly realised he was laying on a bed. He sat up sharply in alarm and quickly realised where he was.
"Mr. Stark, please do not do anything sudden. You were very badly injured." A young medic, from Vanaheim by the look of his robes quickly rushed to his side.
"Where am I?" He asked by default, but it was a pointless question. He was in one of the medical tents obviously… on the east side he realised as the CAEB kicked into action and he began to assess his surroundings. "How long have I been out?" He groaned, swinging his legs over the side so his feet were on solid ground.
"You're in Medical tent 46a, Her Majesty Frigga of Asgard dropped you here 3 and a half hours ago by your Earth time measurement."
"Shit!" He exclaimed ripping out an IV line which seemed to be attached to a number of different drips and blood bag. He surveyed himself for internal damage, but it appeared the CAEB had used his unconsciousness to patch him up pretty well.
"Mr. Stark I must protest!"
"I'm fine Kiddo." Tony brushed off the medic, who was now drawing the attention of others in the packed makeshift ward. Some of the injuries he could see… Tony couldn't think about them right now, he had to get back out there. There others needed them… If they were still alive.
"Mr. Stark you had severe internal haemorrhaging. I am no expert on humans, but I believe your species does not just 'walk away' from such injuries."
"I'm not like most of my species." Tony rolled his eyes as a second medic waved some sort of scanner in his face and regarded it in confusion when it bleeped and buzzed.
Tony took the time the medic spent puzzled to do a quick check on the team, Rhodey… Check, Hulk, Check, Thor, check, Steve, check, Clint…
"His injuries are minimal and healed. I have never seen anything like it." The medic said, cutting off Tony's scan.
"There, told you, can I go now?" He said, standing up and staggering momentarily. Clint, Check.
"Of course…"
"Where the hell is my suit?" Tony realised.
"One of the Iron legion soldiers brought it in with you, it is over here."
Tony nodded and followed the medic to the corner stepping into the armour and relishing in the feeling of it closing around him. He was back in the game. Frigga, Check.
'Guy's whats happening?' Tony asked.
'Tony? You're still alive thank God?' Rhodey was first to reply.
'Sorry about that, not sure what happened…'
'You nearly died!' Rhodey hissed.
"Yeah, thanks buddy I'd already gathered that.'
'The energy overwhelmed you. I am sorry I left, but there was little I could do for you, I assumed the CAEB would heal you if it was capable.' Frigga answered.
'Well you assumed correctly.'
'Are you back to full strength?' Steve asked.
'Firing on all cylinders. So, what's the situation, did it work? Did the portals close?'
'Yeah man! You did awesome. Its still a bit of a slaughterhouse down here though, could sure use some air support.'
'I can give you better than that. No more holding back.' Tony chuckled.
'Before you leave can you check on Nat Tony? We haven't heard anything since you teleported her to medical.'
Crap, Nat, of course….
He didn't even have to use the CAEB to find her. As he turned to the door of the medical tent he saw the red hair, lying on a bed further down the way, alien medics tending to her with some strange device that Tony would definitely have to get his hands on when this was all over.
As Tony approached the bed the two medics backed off a little, letting him get to her side. She was deathly pale, blood staining the side of her head and mottled into her hair. She looked half dead and Tony felt his heart hammering on his chest in worry as he reached out a hand to gently brush back her hair.
"We are doing everything we can." The sad voice of the medic told Tony all he needed to know. Natasha was dying. The headwound was severe.
He'd failed. He had failed to protect her and now she was dying. But that didn't mean he was helpless.
He took a deep breath and put a hand on either side of her face, closing his eyes. He let the CAEB extend, reaching out to assess the state of his friend. Brain activity was low, blood pressure and heart rate low, organs shutting down... And there was one simple cause. A severe bleed in her temporal lobe, pressure building on the brain way past the point of return by earth medicine. But it wasn't beyond him.
"Mr. Stark what are you doing?"
"Fixing her."
"Sir, she is beyond all help we can give her."
"Yeah, well she isn't beyond my help so stay out of the way." Tony growled, and the medics reluctantly backed off. "Come on, Nat, don't give up on me."
Tony's eyes glowed blue and he focused all his strength on knitting together the damage, repairing tissue reliving the pressure. But there was so much damage…
Before he knew it, he woke up on the floor, worried hands grabbing at him the strange machine they had been using on Natasha was now buzzing in his face.
"Mr Stark..."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine back off." Tony grunted as he batted away the medics, getting to his feet and
"Mr. Stark what happened?"
"Just let me see her, I need to see her." Tony blinked away a short bout of dizziness, searching for some power source to offset how he'd drained himself healing Natasha. Of all his powers channelling was the hardest. It wasn't hard to do, but it was instinctual like the rest, he had to consciously remind himself to make sure he had something to channel before he attempted to us the CAEB, or he would forget and drain himself.
As he placed his hands either side of her head he breathed a sigh of relief. She was ok. Well… ok was relative, but she wasn't going to die and there was no permanent damage. He could heal her further he supposed, but he was needed out there and he was already drained and beat up enough. The pounding in his skull a reminder of everything his body had been through in the last day. Besides, she was safer here.
The little spider was done for the day. And he had work to do.
'The spider is ok. Nothing permanent or life threatening. But she won't be back in the fight.'
'Thanks Stark now get your ass out here. You have some assholes to smite.' Clint cheered.
'Smite? Seriously?' Rhodey chuckled.
'No, I like it.' Tony countered.
"Of course you do, it makes you sound like a God.' Steve scoffed.
'Well, not to brag, but I kind of am.'
'Well in that case, less talk more smiting Stark, we've been getting slaughtered down here while you were napping.'
'I hear you Cap. Let's do this.'
Tony stopped at the door of the medical tent and took a moment, leaning heavily on the door, but it didn't matter how tired he was, how much he hurt. He had a job to do. With a final exhale he stepped out into the blinding light of the down, stumbling a little as the ground was rocked with another explosion and then took to the sky.
It was time.
….
"That human, Stark… he has just re-entered the field. He has not perished." Vinam reported to her leader.
"Impossible!" Edraskil cried in disgust. "No human could wield that power without burning!" He spat.
"I think we have long since established that this human is far from typical Edraskil, does your ignorance know no bounds?" Urus sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Fight me brother and then we will be reminded why I am of greater rank than you!" Edraskil challenged.
"Yes Edraskil, we are all well aware that you are as strong as you are stupid." Urus scoffed.
"And his power?" Kairon asked, his sharp voice cutting through the squabbling of his lesser, who looked ready to tear out each other's throats.
"Still very much present My lord. He is laying waste to the Makluhk as we speak. The Asgardians are now making headway." Vinam reported, emotionless.
"Then we must turn the tables back in our favour." Kairon growled.
Kairon crouched down and stroked a hand over the warm metal surface of the human's machine. If he had used this contraption to close the portals, in theory it could be used to reopen them.
"Ethusa?" Kairon asked as his wisest follower as the navy clad figure inspected the technology and the primitive computer device to which it was attached.
"This technology… It is impossible!" Ethusa exclaimed.
"Ethusa…" Vinam sighed.
"No, you don't understand my lord… It is like making the Retroreflectives on one of my craft out of stone. How he has achieved this, with the technology and materials of Earth I do not understand… I do not think I could have achieved this even with all the resources of Asgard and the wider Galaxy."
"Ethusa enough. Can you fix it?"
"I'm sorry my lord, but based on these readings, it was never functional. As I said, the materials on earth are primitive, only one metal I know could withstand the heat produced by the accelerator coil and it is not available in this dimension."
"So, we can't reopen the portals?" Kairon asked for clarification.
"Not without summoning dark energy like we did for this assault."
"But that took us millennia." Vinam's eyes widened.
"So, we are trapped here. Here! On this godforsaken rock!" Edraskil roared. "And we are losing the battle!"
"Its time to change that." Kairon said calmly. "Edraskil, use you anger productively. I release you. Go, lay waste to this pitiful city."
"Thank you, my Lord." Edraskil growled in delight, eyes scanning the city hungrily, thirsting for blood. "Thank you."
…..
Ok… ok. God this was a mess. Where to start…. Everywhere he looked was chaos. Thor's legion was still struggling under the Makluhk on 10th, though now they seemed to be making some sort of headway. Clint was currently evading craft on a roof over on 34th, Rhodey was tied up keeping craft away from the Asgardian forces around central park. Sif, Frigga and Heimdall had joined forces and seemed to be doing ok and Hulk was having a royal time smashing everything in sight. Unfortunately, Steve had got separated from the group and was now struggling.
'Tony could use an assist down here!'
'Tony, fancy help thinning out the herd here, I have about a dozen craft on my tail, I'm out of exploding discs and Jarvis can't get me any replacements while they are so close.'
'Stark, we are surrounded and the legions in quadrant 4 are suffering under heavy fire from the craft.'
Great, so the other side of the city to everyone else…
'Stark, we are in trouble!'
'Tony could use a teleport out of this kill box any time now!'
"Stop!" Tony yelled. And it did.
The world around him fell silent as he realised what was happening. Every fibre had tightened up, the air was gone, and his legs felt weak. Panic Attack. Just breathe. He closed his eyes and talked himself through it until he felt the anxiety slowly slip away until he was left with nothing but a remnant tremor in his hand and a slight uneasy feeling.
Right. Now he could stop and think. He looked up and realised it was still quiet. The city was silent and still. Everyone had stopped mid motion, explosions caught in the air, Rhodey and the craft hovering.
Shit.
He'd asked for things to stop and they literally had. He'd stopped time. But the burning exoskeleton told him he'd not channelled his power, again. He took a moment and took hold on an energy source, so it wouldn't drain him again.
Now he had time to make a plan.
A glance over at Clint showed he was the one in most imminent danger, both he and Steve could be teleported to safety easily, Clint to a building a few blocks down and Steve back to Heimdall, Frigga and Sif. And Thor was right. The legion over the other side of the city was being slaughtered by craft, Makluhk and a pack of Megawolves. He had to go and help them, or they would lose control of that part of the city. But Rhodey… Rhodey just needed some support and some ammo. Looking around the eerily still city below him he saw that he had very few remaining iron legion soldiers left, but one could definitely be spared to back up his best friend.
Ok. Plan in place… Now, to start time again. How did he do that exactly? It had been an unconscious decision, one he was not in complete control of, but he could feel the way holding back the flow of time was straining him and he simply relaxed. The strain disappeared like a weight lifted and the world burst back into life. Tony was suddenly assaulted by the sounds of clashing swords, screams, engine, explosions and weapons fire. The smell of brunt flesh, blood, death and dust washed over him, but he remained focus.
In a flash Clint and Steve were out of danger.
'Thank you, Tony.' Steve acknowledge while Clint just whopped in his ear.
'Man, that was close.'
'Thor, I am going to help the legion in quadrant 4, hang in there once I've dealt with that I'm coming to you.'
'Thank you Stark.'
'Not to be selfish here Tones, but what about me?' Rhodey asked, voice strained.
'Iron legion suit is Inbound.'
"Just one."
'We're a bit thin on the ground Buddy, one will be enough.'
In the blink of an eye Tony appeared across the city, hovering in mid air above the legion of Asgardians who were being pelted with laser blasts like they were stuck in a hailstorm. Recognising a new threat Tony had to dodge as several of those laser blasts were swiftly aimed at him. He chuckled lowly at the feeble attempts to knock him out of the sky.
He quickly scanned for a strong power source and a wide grin. The Bayswater energy centre was just a few miles away. That would do nicely.
….
Steve slammed the Asgardian sword up to its hilt in the chest of the Makluhk, withdrawing it with a grunt of effort as the beast slumped to the floor. The last of the hoard were being taken care of by Heimdall as he took in his surroundings. Sif was climbing up the outside of a nearby building to get a better view and to track their next target, while Frigga attempted to clean her sword of blood on the side of a crumpled car, before deciding the endeavour was pointless and resorting to magic to cleanse the Asgardian steel.
As he crushed one of those infernal poisonous centipedes beneath his foot Steve realised where he was in the city. Steve would have said it was good to be back in his hometown, in Brooklyn, but he would have hardly recognised it even without the carnage that surrounded him. Tony had offered to buy Steve a place here many months ago. At the time Steve had turned him down. As much as he wanted to return to the only place he had ever called home, Steve hated taking charity. He had always preferred to earn his way in the world and at the time he'd just thought Tony was throwing his money around in an attempt to buy friends. But he knew better now. Tony had a huge heart and he always wanted to help. Maybe when the clean-up was finished he would take up the offer. Brooklyn was his home, but it wasn't his only home anymore. The tower was as well now, the Avengers were his family and as much as he loved them, it would be nice to have a place to get away every now and then.
Steve was snapped out of his thoughts when a strange prickle in the air made all the hairs on his neck stand up. For some reason his eyes were drawn skyward just in time to see an explosion of blue light engulf the sky a few miles east of here.
He stumbled back as a shockwave rippled through the air and took his breath away.
'Guys are you seeing this?' Clint asked in awe.
'What was that?' Steve asked, still a little in shock.
'Seeing what, what's happening?'
'Was that…?' Rhodey started and Clint finished.
'Tony yeah, he just… that energy blast was him. He just took out about 40 craft.'
'Jesus.' Rhodey gasped.
'It wasn't just a take-out, he vaporised them.'
'I have never seen anything like it in all the nine realms.' Sif said, now stood atop a low-rise, looking out to the east shocked and in awe.
Heimdall's eyes glowed a brighter orange than usual and a small smile crossed his face.
"I have often seen the destruction the CAEB can bring." He spoke aloud. "Never have I seen it used for good. You taught the boy well Frigga."
"He taught himself mostly. I had very little to do with this." She smiled back.
Sif dropped down to the ground next to them. "There is a Makluhk hoard in the area you call Queens." She informed them. "It seems to be causing problems for the soldiers of Vanaheim. I suggest we assist there next."
Steve nodded. "Let's move out."
…..
Tony grinned ear to ear. This was goddamn fun.
A craft whizzed around a building not far from a small and overwhelmed Asgardian squadron and prepared to rain down fire. It never got the chance.
"Nope not today." Tony grinned as it exploded with a snap of his finger. Oh man that felt good. That felt very good.
"And you ugly bastards can fuck off." He said, raising his hand to channel the power, causing the foundations of a building to crack and groan. He grunted as the skyscraper heaved itself onto its side in the street, crushing a heard of Makluhk underneath it. Tony landed on an adjacent building as admired his handiwork, searching for his next target when the roar and searing heat of several craft drew his attention.
A dozen or so of those infernal flying, laser blasting, mirrored monstrosities had encircled him, and in a second, laser blasts were raining down on the roof like a deadly hailstorm. The shimmering blue light of a shield materialised above him without so much as a thought and the blasts hit into it. They pinged off it like raindrops hitting concrete as Tony braced against the onslaught.
"If you've quite finished." Tony growled. With a flick of his wrist, the shield blasted outwards obliterating each of the craft it came into contact with, until the only sign they'd ever existed was a cascade of falling, seared metal and the smoke that hung in the air.
"Enjoying yourself Sir?" Jarvis asked amused.
"You know what J, maybe this 'powers' lark aint all that bad after all." Tony mused.
"I believe Thor may require your assistance shortly." Jarvis advised.
"Anything for Goldilocks." Tony nodded and blinked across the city in a flash. The sky burned blue as the amassing craft above Thor's legion disintegrated, the rubble of the destroyed enemy nothing but a cloud of fine dust, dissipating in the wind.
The entire legion looked up in shock, marvelling at the rippling blue energy above them as Tony landed next to Thor, drawing his attention.
"Stark…" Thor started, in shock. "That was… Thank you!"
"No worries pointbreak, anything else?"
"Ermmm, no I don't believe so." Thor stuttered.
A growl from behind them was silence immediately as Tony, without moving, snapped the neck of the approaching Megawolf and it fell to the floor limp and unmoving.
"Shout if you need anything." Tony said, taking to the air.
Right… what needed blowing up next?
….
"Director Fury, what is that blue energy?"
"Is a new weapon of Stark's?"
"Was it the aliens?"
"Are we winning this battle?"
"Are we safe behind this SHIELD?"
"How did Stark close those portals?"
"Can we trust the Asgardians?"
"What are our chances?"
"How many are dead?"
Nick took a deep breath and resisted the urge to throttle the reporters who had somehow found out who he was and had taken to following the person who they thought was in charge like a pack of hyenas. The truth was, he had very little idea of what was going on, whether it was to conserve energy or a deliberate lack of communication, he and Coulson were hearing very little of the conversation on the battlefield and were limited only to the crucial updates from the other side. And he was worried. But he knew there was very little he could do. Outside the shield they acted as a last, but rather futile defence against anything that might breech the Asgardian defences, but they all knew that if the forces on the other side of that couldn't hold back the threat, they didn't stand a chance.
"I'm afraid at this time I know about as much as you. This shield is keeping the rest of the planet safe from the incursion and battle going on in the city. Thanks to technology developed by Stark, we have been able to close the portals meaning the enemy is isolated and cannot grow further in numbers. We have to be very thankful to Asgard and Vanaheim along with a number of other planets for giving their assistance, without them and the preparations made by The Avengers team, this battle would have been over before it had begun."
"Mr Stark looked badly injured, do we know his status, or that of any The Avengers?" A reporter who looked generally concerned asked and Fury took sympathy with that.
"We are hugely outmatched in this fight, that much is evident. The death count will be… is already, high. I don't know the status of any of the Avenger's I'm afraid and yes, we all saw that Stark was injured, but he is back in the air and employing some powerful weapons which could well win us the battle."
"And will we director? Win this battle?"
Nick took a moment. He knew everything Stark had seen, he knew the odds, he could see the death and destruction. But he also knew Stark. Tony wouldn't stop till he won this. Whatever the cost.
"I believe we will."
"How can you say that? You can see what we see, it's nothing but death in there!" One of the reporters protested.
"Because I know my people." Fury said simply and turned his back on the reporters and walked away.
….
'Tony, I know you're a bit busy frying Megawolves, but some assistance wouldn't go unwanted right now.'
Tony was busy. It seemed like closing the portals had indeed panicked the 5. Many of the craft had stopped targeting the soldiers on the ground but were now to be targeting the shield with a ferocity that had Tony concerned. As he drew power from a nearby substation as obliterated 3 offending craft and a pack of Makluhk he took stock of the various groups that were organising. A lot now seemed to be targeting the shield. Apparently the 5 were desperate to escape and Tony couldn't be 100% sure that the shield could take an infinite amount of attack.
'Thor, how much can this shield withstand?'
'A fair amount. But It has not seen many battles on Asgard.'
'That's not particularly helpful. Frigga?'
'It will not withstand localised sustained fire of great power. I would conservatively estimate 40 or so craft focusing on a small area would be enough to breach it.' She informed him. Thankfully, at the moment, they didn't seem to be teaming up but spreading themselves around the circumference of the shield and attacking it.
'And if its breached in one place?' Tony asked, worry lacing his tone.
'I'm afraid it would result in catastrophic failure.'
'Great. So, the whole thing would come down?' Tony asked growling as he noticed a squadron of craft starting to organise. Were they reading his damn mind? Any relief he'd had that the craft had spread their attack was quickly being eaten alive as he watched 5 or 6 begin firing on the same section of shield.
'Sorry Steve not forgotten you, just need minute. The dogs want out of the cage. Rhodey, if you could focus on stopping them please that would be appreciated.'
'Can't you just blast them out of the sky?' Rhodey asked. 'I'm covering the ground soldiers.'
'I'll do that, you take these guys… I'm a little concerned at this point that I might breech the shield myself with the CAEB if I keep attacking so close to it.'
'Understood.'
…..
Kairon gave a wry smile. It made sense now. Unlike his disciples Kairon was not quick to act. One could learn so much through careful observation which prevented rash actions. Of course, Edraskil for one, would never understand this and so Kairon had kept him occupied by letting the dog off its leash to cause terror to the Asgardians whilst he focused upon the real threat.
The Earth Man had powers, ones which as Urus had pointed out where familiar, but also completely disproportionate to a human's strength and capabilities. There was of course a human with the strength to harness such power more effectively, an enhanced man who ran around in a uniform bearing the flag of this country… yet Stark had no such enhancements. So how did he have this power? The suit of armour he wore was the first point of investigation and although Kairon deemed the technology remarkable, it again was not responsible for this power.
It took a while before he felt it, but when he did, he realised how easy this would be. The human hadn't the power at all, he was simply manipulating the energy around him, drawing largely from the power grid of the city. If the human were limited to his own intrinsic power, he would not be capable of half the things he was now, and it gave a simple solution.
All it took was a wave of his hand for sparks to fly and transformers to hum to an abrupt halt. Now they would triumph. Now the earth would fall.
….
"J how many of the legion do we have left."
"45 Sir."
Tony sighed. Not many then, things were getting a little thin on the ground… or should he say in the sky. "Bring in 30 and let's blow these things to shit." He made the decision.
'Fucking Megawolves are on me!' The hawk swore and Tony could feel the concealed panic from across the city.
'Iron legion suit is Inbound Clint.'
'Just one?'
'I don't have many left Clint, it will be enough trust me.'
There was a beat of silence as Tony zapped himself to the next location, laying in to a hoard of craft organising at the shield's border at the opposite end off the city to his best friend.
'Tony.'
'Nat?' Tony's heart nearly stopped. The little spider was supposed to be out for the count. 'Nat how the hell are you awake?'
'I'm pretty sure you know the answer.'
'I saw your injuries I healed your injuries…'
'Yeah, apparently I was dying thanks for changing that.'
'Yeah, no worries and all, but how are you in a state to fight?'
'Oh, I'm not and I'm not stupid, I'm still kind of seeing double. But I'm stuck in this war zone and I'm sure as hell not going to sit in medical when I can be useful.'
'No… Nat, come on see sense.' Tony's distraction earnt him a laser blast to the chest from one of the craft, which he absorbed with a grunt, using the energy to knock the offending alien out of the sky with extreme prejudice.
'I am seeing sense.' She protested. 'I'm not marching into battle Tony, I'm a spy I'm going to do what I'm good at… I'm staying out of sight and helping coordinate…'
'Why am I sensing a but?' Tony growled.
'Because… and you're not going to like it…'
'Spit it out Romanov!' Tony yelled, saving some energy and using a repulsor blast to take out a stray Makluhk.
'I found that 'big silver fucker' again.'
Tony's stomach lurched like he'd just been pushed off a cliff.
'Tell me you're not there.' He said darkly.
'No, I'm safe. Just watching from afar. He's tearing up the city Tony, looks like he's been let off the leash.'
Tony brought himself to land on the roof of a building, sighing at the first moment of reprieve he'd had since waking up in the medical tent. With this section of the city cleared, he let himself be vulnerable for a second while looked for Edraskil with the CAEB's energy. It didn't take him long to find the creature… tearing through a platoon of Vanaheimian soldiers like a knife through butter, the pain of their deaths running through him as he closed his eyes.
Natasha was right. She hadn't said it but the only reason she would have ever brought it up was because she knew it needed dealing with. He needed to deal with it. Everything else was under control, the enemy forces were on the back foot and the longer he avoided facing the true threat here… the longer he tried to keep himself out of harms way, the more people were going to die. It was time to face them.
'Ok Natasha, thanks."
'Tony be careful.'
He smiled fondly at the concern in the Widow's voice. 'Careful is my middle name.'
'Bullshit. It's Edward.'
'Shut up.' He chuckled as he felt Thor reach out through the link.
'Stark… One of the 5 is laying waste to my forces.'
'I'm on it Pointbreak.' He acknowledged.
'Stark you do not have to face them alone.' Frigga warned.
'If you're offering, I don't intend to.'
'We will assist you Stark.' Came Heimdall's voice, knowing he reoffered to himself, the Asgardian Queen and the warrior Sif. They were the most kick ass baby sitters he'd ever had after all.
'If you could take out the Makluhk hoard on 64th and Broadway as you pass I think Steve would appreciate it.' Natasha informed him and in the blink of an eye Tony was across the city.
Taking power from the grid he took out the first row of the Makluhk hoard in a glow of blue light which vaporised them at the touch. It was the kindest thing… Yes, they were trying to kill him and the rest of the allied forces, but he could feel their hive mind as a constant buzz in the back of his head as he continued to block out the noise. They may be the enemy, but they were an unwilling one, enslaved by their own telepathic means of communicating within their species, controlled by the 5 and sent into this war… they didn't deserve to suffer and die, so he tried to show them any mercy he could.
As he flew close past a church he jumped in alarm. For a second, he had thought a gargoyle, carved into the stonework, was a Makluhk ready to pounce on him from above… and that gave him an idea.
'Tony as nice as the architecture of that Church is, maybe you could finish the job with the Makluhk?' Natasha asked half intrigued.
'They have their monsters, it's about time we had some.'
Focusing on the stonework and drawing power suddenly there was the sound of cracking as the gargoyles shuddered and pulled themselves from the stonework with a growl.
Oh, this was going to be fun.
…..
Steve had seen the blast of blue energy. He knew Tony was close and help was on its way, but there were more Makluhk than he could handle. He'd seen Tony take out craft on mass just half an hour earlier… so why was he waiting around to blast these monsters into oblivion?
His answer came in a raw and flash of grey as a giant rock monster came tearing through the Makluhk, tossing them aside and tearing them limb from limb.
What the actual…
Steve was stunned to the spot for a moment as he watched the impossible events unfold in front of him. Where the hell had the new monsters come from? The portals were closed… He was snapped out of it suddenly when the rock monster turned to him and started approaching.
Steve didn't hesitate. Not knowing whether this thing was friend or foe and unwilling to take the chance, he flung his shield at the creature which whined sadly and backed away and that was the last thing he was expecting.
'Hey, Hey, Hey! Be nice to Rocky, Steve!" Tony grumbled, coming in to land near the first avenger, soothing the chipped rock monster.
"Rocky?" Steve exclaimed. "Rocky? You made these things?"
"Yeah."
"And then you named them?" Steve said in disbelief.
"Yes. Meet Rocky." Tony patted the gargoyle on the head. "Chew-Barka." He pointed to one which was ravaging Makluhk half way up a skyscraper nearby. "And where's Jeff?" Tony huffed looking around for a third.
"Jeff?" Steve scoffed. "Rocky, Chew-Barka and Jeff?"
"Hey, don't diss. I can name monsters, or I can make them, take a pick… Oh, look there's Jeff." Tony pointed to the roof of a building three blocks down.
'Tony, there's a weird rock monster trying to eat me!' Clint's panicked voice came through the link.
'Don't worry Clint, that's just Jeff, he's on our team.'
'Jeff? What the hell is going on?'
'Tony brought the gargoyles to life and named them.' Natasha said simply.
'This isn't real, I'm dreaming. It's all just a really weird dream… I smoked too much weed and I'm dreaming.' Clint chuntered to himself.
'Boys can we have some focus please, you're kind of supposed to be fighting a war.' Natasha grumbled.
When Steve looked back Tony was gone, back in the air with blue energy flickering around him as the Makluhk in the street below were vaporised. A shiver wracked down Steve's spine as he watched Tony work. The sheer power was palpable in the air and left a chill behind, it was frightening and awe inspiring at the same time. A year ago, the thought of Tony Stark being in charge of something so potentially devastating would have chilled him to the core, now he knew he was the only one of them that could be truly trusted with it.
But suddenly the onslaught for Tony stopped. The billionaire clutched his head and went into a dive, staggering into the street not far from Steve's position. He started running towards his friend. What was going on? He was nearly stopped in his tracks as sparks started flying; from transformers, from buildings and from electric boxes in the streets. The chaos didn't stop the solider on his path until he was by the Engineer's side.
"Tony, Tony are you ok?"
"Fine." Tony growled, putting a thankful hand on Steve's shoulder.
'Tony, what's happening.' Came Rhodey's concerned voice. 'I'm getting some really weird readings…'
'Shit, Shit, Shit!' Tony hissed. Steve cringed at the disorientating feeling of hearing Tony's words both out loud and in his head simultaneously.
'What!' Natasha asked concernedly.
"Guys the powers out." Tony clasped a hand over his face in dread.
'And?' Steve asked, solely in his head. 'What does that mean Tony?'
"That's what I'm drawing on, I have nothing to channel! I need the energy."
'Find something else! You were killing it, we nearly had them!' Clint encouraged, but it had the opposite response.
'What do you suggest I 'find' Agent Barton.' Tony hissed. 'There is no power in the city and ergo nothing electrical has any energy running through it for me to harness.'
'The shield has a tonne of power right?' Clint said tentatively. 'That's still working?'
'Oh yes, lets drain the power from the only thing keeping these beasts from devouring the rest of the planet!'
'Ok, so that's not a good idea then.' Clint conceded.
'Tony, what are you going to do?' Rhodey asked.
'The only thing I can. Keep trying regardless.' Tony sighed. 'Fitzsimmons? You copy?' He asked, reaching through the shield to the safety zone.
'Mr. Stark, we're reading power out in the city.' Gemma's voice was a breath of fresh air and of course they were already aware of the situation.
'Yeah, was hoping you could maybe do something about that.'
'Fitz and the team are working on it.' She promised.
'Thank you, keep me updated.'
He had to pray that they could get the power back on, and soon. Without it Tony felt useless. Yes, he could stood absorb energy blasts from the craft and explosions, but it was like fighting in a straight-jacket. Without the power, he was greatly limited in what he could do and he also risked drawing too much power from himself. The exoskeleton would only protect him so much.
'Stark, you can't face one of the 5 without power to draw from.' Frigga warned. 'You'll kill yourself.'
'I know, I don't intend to, but I need to keep him busy.'
'I understand, I will assist.'
…
Kairon almost felt sorry for the humans. They were after all just collateral damage in this war. Kairon had no qualm with the Earth, with humanity, but conquest was conquest. The Asgardians had to pay for what they had done, Earth was a point of strategic advantage after the Chitauri invasion had thinned the walls between worlds, it was also a perfect place to settle; it was vast, green, with plentiful resources and well enough out of the way of most advanced civilisations to be safe from immediate attack.
Yes, the Earth would burn; Edraskil and the others would find glee in it, Kairon would not. He was indifferent. What he would find glee in, however, was burning Asgard to the ground and ridding the universe of this one wretched human that had spoiled their plans so many times.
Even now, with his intense hatred of the one who called himself a man of iron, he had great respect for the human. He watched on in amusement as he continued to try and fight without the full use of his power, side by side with the Asgardian Queen as Edraskil threw them around mercilessly. The human would not last much longer at this rate, Kairon could sense the damage to his fragile body as he was slammed into a wall for the third time in the past few minutes.
Destroying the city's electrical infrastructure had been a stroke of genius even by his standards. Now the human was nearly powerless, their greatest threat all but neutralised and Earth was there for the taking. He might not even have to raise a fist in this battle, and it made a nice change. To be able to sit back and watch while his many millennia of planning came to fruition was almost a disappointment, but he wasn't going to complain. They were winning after all.
…
This was bad. There was no doubt about it. Kairon and these MOFO's were as smart and dangerous as Tony had given them credit for. Without power in the city he felt helpless, reduced to small energy blasts using the arc reactor's power and the Exoskeleton's protection alongside the arsenal of the Iron Man armour. It wasn't nothing by any means and was enough to keep the raging Edraskil well occupied and away from the larger battle, but it wasn't nearly enough to kill him and while he and Frigga fought to distract the creature, his friends were struggling once again.
As he landed on his back for the umpteenth time, pain exploding through his back and chest, skidding across the dusty concrete he came to a realisation. As he watched another Iron legion suit torn from the sky he quickly gathered himself to his feet, only to be thrown back down. These guys were powerful, so powerful it was almost beyond belief. Maybe, just maybe, in this state with help from the others and if they didn't have to worry about all the other creatures in this city, they could take down one of these guys, but 5?
Without the CAEB they were finished.
But that wasn't an acceptable outcome. There had to be a way; something else for him to draw power from. If only he had a second to think. Another blast seared into his side as he narrowly dodged the explosion. He was on the floor, again, but thankfully Frigga had recovered to take the attention off him for a moment. The other 4 were just happy to watch, surrounded by a guarding hoard of Makluhk they seemed content to remain bystanders. He didn't blame them, after all, the tables were turning again in their favour. He staggered, vision hazing in and out. No, this really wasn't good.
'Tony you need to get out of there.' Rhodey begged. All he could do was watch as Tony was getting battered about on the ground alongside Frigga. Sif and Heimdall were trying to reach them but, just like Rhodes himself, they were well and truly overwhelmed. Worst of all was the cloud of Craft that were streaking across the sky, heading straight for the struggling Engineer on the ground. Kairon had cut power to the city, but apparently that wasn't enough for the ugly alien bastard, Tony was their biggest threat and they intended to take him out for good.
He watched as Tony managed to collapse one wall of a low rise onto the silver clad figure, giving them a moment of respite, only for a group of Makluhk to appear out of nowhere and set upon the pair of them.
'Think they're pissed with me for trapping them here?' Tony scoffed as he finally threw off the remaining Makluhk and Rhodes sighed in relief.
'Maybe just a little.' Rhodey grunted as he broke free himself and headed straight to help his best friend from the incoming threat, but as soon as he started moving, he was nearly knocked clean out the sky by the next group of craft. He wasn't going to get there in time. 'Tony fighters on your 6. Watch your back!'
'Got them, thanks Rhodey.'
Missiles launched and craft fell, one took the rest of the building with it just as Edraskil reared his head from the debris. The additional rubble made the silver clad figure disappear once again.
'Is he dead?' Rhodes asked.
'No.' Tony scoffed with an exhausted sigh, sensing the anger and annoyance of the all-powerful being as he fought to free himself. 'But we've bought ourselves some time.'
'Great, get out of there.'
For once Tony wasn't going to argue. He was exhausted, everything hurt. He tried to find a quiet spot to hide for a moment, just for some respite, but the moment he landed he felt them all getting closer. Makluhk were on him in seconds, he could sense craft inbound… he couldn't hold them all off, it was too much. The hive mind of the Makluhk was screaming in his head, they spoke no words, had no language as such, but their order had clearly changed; now they were targeting him.
'Guys they are focusing the fight on me, I have nothing left. I'm in trouble.' Tony begged.
'We've noticed Tony, a small Asgardian platoon is inbound…' Natasha communicated, still organising troops on his behalf.
'Tony we are coming.' Steve confirmed. Who the 'we' was, Tony wasn't sure and was too tired to check, but it didn't matter regardless.
'Not you, send some Asgardians.'
'Tony…' Steve protested.
'Please!' Tony begged. 'It's a killbox down here Steve, you'll never make it.' He begged as he let off a large blast wiping out the front rows of the creatures surrounding him.
Help was coming, Tony told himself as he fought to hang on. Taking off wasn't an option, craft were just above him though thankfully their shitty aim was actually helping him seeing as every other missed shot hit a Makluhk. Help was coming, he told himself as Makluhk claws tore another hole in his armour. Help was coming. But they weren't going to get there in time.
If he relied on strength and skill alone, he wasn't getting out of here alive. He had a calculated 30 seconds before they tore him apart. He had to find another way.
The hive mind… he'd tried to manipulate it the first time they'd encountered one of these creatures, if he could just get them to lay off. He put up a shield, buying him time and space to work, knowing that without a substantial power source to draw from he wouldn't be able to hold this for long.
With his strength already failing and the Makluhk tearing at the shield he took a breath and focused. First it was just one, he found the frequency and tried to make sense of it, to speak to the creature but in the end, he found an easy way. The part of the hive mind sending orders to the hoards was buzzing and angry, seemingly primitive in comparison to the magnificence of the Makluhk's natural connection. He isolated it in the creature's head and with a snap of energy cut it off, severing the connection. That particular Makluhk stopped attacking, looking around, confused as to the actions of its kin. It howled, backing away slowly. Tony grinned to himself, but felt his strength fading, his body began to tremble. He had to act fast. One by one he severed the links of the Makluhk to 5's control, one by one they backed up and ceased their attack. The hoard finally retreated. Tony let down the shield and was instantly reminded of the onslaught from above. Shit.
"We need to get you out of here."
Tony turned sharply. How had Steve gotten here? He thought as he staggered for balance.
"No Steve." When he blinked again, he'd moved, they were under shelter, the noise of battle was duller here, or maybe it was just Tony's ears ringing.
"Tony you are wiped. Just take 20minutes, get your strength back then come and show these motherfuckers who is boss."
"If I wasn't so wiped, I'd be scolding you on your language."
Steve chuckled. "So, take a break?"
"I've just had three hours lying on my back in a damn bed, we've lost enough time.'
"And in the last few hours you've managed to take out more of these a-holes than the rest of combined did for the whole time you were out. We're winning Tony, it only a matter of time now. You need to focus on getting strong for the end fight."
"We're not winning. You don't get it Steve, there is no getting strong… not without power to draw from. I'm useless!"
"No, you're not. Think Tony; you're a genius, there's always another way." Steve implored.
Tony sighed. Why did everyone always think that being a genius was the answer to everything? Maybe they'd found a solution on the outside, maybe the power would come back on and he'd be back in the game.
'Fitzsimmons?'
'I'm sorry Mr. Stark, the damage is too great, we can't fix anything from out here.'
So, the power couldn't be restored. He had to think of something else or they were royally fucked.
'We're so sorry Tony, if there was anything…'
'I know Fitz, thanks for trying. Not your fault.'
"Tony? Something up?" Steve asked, not privy to the conversation that Tony had just had. Tony released the helmet from his armour, breathing in relief as the cool air reached his skin.
"The electrical infrastructure is too damaged to fix. The power is not coming back on. You're right, I need to think of something else."
"We're safe here for now, just take 5, relax a moment."
"Thanks Steve." Tony sighed thankfully, eyes slipping closed.
Steve kept watch as Tony sat, propped against a marble pillar inside what Steve guessed was an abandoned corporate building of some sort. Maybe a law firm, it was hard to tell with all the chaos and destruction. He sighed with relief when he saw the Asgardian platoon arrive and take up guard outside, but Tony was oblivious lost in thought. Every joint, every muscle, every inch f his body ached. He felt battered and bruised. He was hungry and thirsty. He had no idea how the purely human humans in this fight we're still going. If it wasn't for adrenaline Steve was sure he'd have passed out hours ago. This battle was unlike anything he'd ever been involved in, it was utterly relentless and quite frankly he'd nearly been killed more times than he could count. Luck was the only reason any of them were still alive. Luck and Tony Stark.
It was minutes later than Tony opened his eyes with a deep inhalation. "I've got it." He announced.
"Got what?"
"The power issue."
"Yeah?" Steve asked hopefully, a tired smile pulling at his lips. "How can we help?"
"You don't need to." Tony grunted and got to his feet, a determined and focused look in his eye. Steve smiled. They were back on.
…
Clint was on a roof. He liked the roof. It had fresh air (if you discount the burning city), a great view (of the battle at least), and lots of targets to take his anger out on (even more now that those bastards had taken the CAEB out of the running). This was the best position he'd found all day, with a view over nearly the entirety of Manhattan. So, when he saw a group of craft assemble over a city block and Clint got ready to fire the arrows Tony made him, the last thing he expected was for them to suddenly drop out of the sky in a blaze of blue light.
'Ermmm...' Clint started in confusion.
'Thor, was that you?' Natasha asked, more coherently.
'Was what me?' Thor said, sounding strained.
'Bunch of craft just got knocked out over on west 45th.' Clint chipped in.
'Not I.' Thor confirmed.
'Anyone?' Clint asked.
'Tony?' Natasha asked.
'Ding, ding, ding, 50 points to Nat.' Tony's voice brought a smile to everyone's faces.
'Tony, have they got the power back on?'
'No, found another way.'
'Care to share?'
'Busy.'
'He was mumbling something about energy being everywhere, in everyone and that he could use that.' Steve chipped in.
'And what's that supposed to mean?' Clint asked, none the wiser.
'I can sense it.' Frigga's voice broke into the conversation. 'He's drawing power from them, from the enemy, using their own energy against them.'
'Nice.' Clint smirked.
'Tony, how effective is this going to be?' Rhodey asked, as another explosion shook the ground and craft rained down like hail stones over the docks.
'That sounded pretty effective.' Steve chuckled
'It's a case of building up reserves.' Tony started. 'Drawing from the grid, that much power I couldn't hold only channel it straight into a use. Drawing from individual organisms and from the craft themselves, the amount of energy is smaller so I can hold it with help from the exoskeleton and then use it when I need it.'
'It's great that your back in the game Tony, because we have a problem.' Clint barked, fear suddenly bleeding into his tone.
'Clint, what?'
'Silver fucker is out, he's right in the street below me.'
Tony quickly scanned the city and what he found chilled him to the core…
He was in the square. Edraskil was in the Goddamn square! The same square he'd watched his friends die 100's of times. And the truly terrifying thing was that it just like he had envisioned for all these months. As the sun bore down, he took in the position of his friends and they were all here, all nearby… this was a deliberate, targeted attack. Kairon was trying to rile him by sending Edraskil, trying to get him to make a mistake. Tony wasn't going to let that happen.
Edraskil's silver armour glinted dazzlingly in the sun as Tony turned in flight, annihilating the string of craft that were on his tail in a blast of blue energy. That big ugly fucker was trying to hurt him by hurting his friends. He wasn't going to let that happen. Thrusters on full, Tony barrelled towards the figure in the silver. The creature turned to him, his smile a dreadful grimace of amusement as Tony flew at him head on. The engineer's face, invisible to the outside world, was pinched in anger and determination as he planned his assault. He was going to destroy this piece of shit, obliterate him to dust. This was his chance; his chance to change the things he'd seen and save his friends. And he had to save them.
Tony hadn't even seen the petrol tanker coming at him. Blinded by his rage and laser focused on his target he'd forgotten that vital piece of information from his visions. The force hit him hard from the side and he barely had chance to shield himself before the tanker exploded in a ball of flame and searing heat. As Tony smashed into the building, he felt the structure crush beneath his weight and the force of the explosion. Then he remembered… Clint! In his visions Clint was on that roof. It took him mere moments to locate the archer as he engulfed the explosion in a shield of blue light, preventing any further damage and then absorbed it.
Energy, pure energy. His eyes glowed blue with the power as Clint was teleported swiftly out of harm's way.
Natasha… she came next in his visions, attacking in anger at Clint's death, but the archer was now unharmed, and the little injured spider seemed to be sensibly staying out of harm's way. Tony breathed a sigh of relief as the building creaked and groaned behind him, eyes focused on Edraskil as he tried to remember what came next.
The Makluhk. They were supposed to enter the square and tear Steve apart… As if on cue he heard the growls from behind him and felt the presence of Thor and Steve getting closer.
Then Tony unleashed hell.
Letting the building crumble in his wake Tony threw all the power of the explosion into a blast which wiped Edraskil off his feet and then he swept his hand towards the Makluhk. Their howling screams echoed through the square as he burnt them alive.
'Holy shit! That was awesome!' Clint whopped in Tony's ear, but Tony didn't turn his back on the gaping hole Edraskil had disappeared through. He wasn't stupid, he knew all too well that even a blast that powerful would have barely left a scratch on that fucker.
'Do you need aid Stark? I am close.' Thor asked.
'I know, and no… Get out of here!' Tony yelled. He needed them away from here, as far away as possible. He needed them safe.
"Stark?' Thor asked. 'Surely two is better than one?'
'No, he's mine.' Tony growled as the figure started to rise with a hissing groan from the rubble at the other side of the square. Edraskil lit up in red as a target in his HUD.
'Tony are you sure, that…' Steve started, but Tony never let him finish.
"Get out of here now! All of you! I mean it!"
'Is this your vision?' Rhodey asked astutely, momentarily breaking Tony's concentration as more horrible images flashed though his head.
'Yes.' He said softly. 'Now leave before I teleport you all to goddamn Timbuktu!'
Tony's attention was snapped back as Edraskil launched another vehicle at him, this time a classic Corvette stingray, in a ball of orange energy. Tony deflected it easily, wincing at the damage to the poor car's bodywork as it rolled across the square. Goddamn aliens had no appreciation for a beautiful piece of a design!
"You think you can defeat me, human!" Edraskil roared and Tony just chuckled back as the silver figure marched towards him in a rage.
"I know I can." He scoffed and that was somewhat a lie.
"You may have power, human, but you are nothing! I will show you real power!"
Tony braced as three balls of orange energy hit him in quick succession. His heels were pushed back through the concrete as the energy battered his shield and the gauntlets started to burn with the heat. He barely had chance to regain his balance when more blasts came his way. He raised his hands again but this time the blasts were too much, the force of it pushed him to his knees as he struggled to brace against the onslaught and the searing heat.
Crap this burned! He just needed a let up, one moment of relief so he could get a shot in and then they'd be back on even terms. But he wasn't going to get one, Edraskil was too strong. He had to find another way.
He growled under the effort as he fired a shot back causing Edraskil to stagger backwards and let him back to his feet.
'Stark use the energy! Don't deflect it use it!' Thank Fuck for Frigga. Why hadn't he thought of that?
As the next blasts hit, he let the energy absorb into his shield, strengthening both it and his power reserves. And now he was walking forward. While Edraskil looked ragged, Tony advanced, smirking as the silver monster stopped attacking and took a moment.
"Is that all you have?" Tony chuckled. "Because if it is, well, then this is going to be a walk in the park."
"You insolent…" Edraskil raised his arm to throw another blast but with a quick snap of his hand Tony fired his own knocking the creature to the floor. Tony couldn't help but chuckle. This was kind of fun, but it was no time for complacency. He knew this wasn't enough. Tony had thrown the full force of Edraskil's own power back at him and all that had given him was a scratch. He needed to stop playing around and finish this.
But a sudden snarl from behind him had him spinning on his heels. He barely had time to dodge the Makluhk that had crept up behind him and then send it flying, hitting three others that had also taken the chance to sneak up on him before blasting them all into oblivion. But as quickly as the Makluhk were dispatched Tony was once again thrown across the square by Edraskil, who was now seeming to favour hand to hand combat. Before Tony could get to his feet, he was hauled to them, grabbed by the throat, struggling against the monsters supreme strength. He didn't waste time blasting the beast back, they both landed on their backs at opposite ends of the square. Tony groaned as he pulled himself back to his feet, to see that the silver clad alien was still on the ground. Was Edraskil was starting to tire? He hoped to whatever God there was or wasn't, that he was. He couldn't keep this up much longer.
"Your friends will pay for your insolence Stark!" Edraskil growled and Tony rolled his eyes. He thought he had a big ego, but this guy's was the size of a goddamn planet and very easily bruised. But Tony knew all this talk was Edraskil just trying to buy himself time. Tony would let him have it, after all he was using the time himself to drain energy from a nearby Makluhk pack and gather strength.
But then his entire world was turned upside down in a flash of blue energy.
Edraskil had Nat, in his hand, holding her high above the ground by her neck. He had brought her here, teleported her from wherever she had been and now he very literally had her life in his hands.
"Natasha NO!" Steve yelled and Tony almost crumbled. It was happening, he hadn't stopped anything, it was happening! Panic rushed through him as Edraskil just stood there smirking.
There was a resounding snap.
Her neck was broken.
"Let her Go!" Tony begged as the image from his vision flashed through his mind. Thankfully Natasha was still alive, her delicate spine still intact, for now, but Tony knew Edraskil had all the power. Any move he made couldn't possibly be fast enough to prevent him crushing the spider in his hand.
"Why would I do that?" Edraskil chuckled, shaking Natasha a little who growled at him weakly.
"I swear to God if you hurt her…"
There was a flash of blue and Edraskil cried out, dropping the spider to the floor. Widow's bites! Natasha had deployed her modified widow's bites right in Edraskil's face. It had barely hurt the creature, but it was enough of a shock for him to drop her. Tony wasted no time, smiling broadly at Natasha's cleverness and teleported well out of harm's way.
But in that moment, he'd let his guard down. He was swept from his feet and thrown across the square, smashing through the stone statue and ripping through the fountain. He cried out as pain burst through his back. Spinal fracture… T6 vertebrae and both shoulder blades were broken. He could feel the CAEB getting on it, it would be healed in minutes, but before he could try to get out of harm's way or return Edraskil's attack, something heavy pounded him into the ground. The world must have gone dark for a minute, because the next thing he saw was Sif, pulling the wreckage of a large van off him and suddenly he could breathe again.
"Stark, are you ok?" Sif asked, offering a hand, but he wasn't ready to take it.
"Need a minute… You need to get out of here." He gasped as his left lung re-inflated and hell that was a weird feeling!
"We are not useless Stark, we can help, you don't have to face this alone." She grumbled and Tony heard the whipping of air a few feet away. Thor was here, going head to head with the silver figure. Mjolnir knocked the creature back a few steps, but a blast of energy had Thor flying backwards, smashing into a building and rolling thought the concrete. Thor wasn't getting up, the God was out cold, but before Tony do anything to stop it, Edraskil was going in for the kill.
"No!" Tony cried, but thankfully Edraskil's aim was altered dramatically as something big and green and very, very angry crashed into him from the side with tremendous force. Tony could only watch as the two dueled, his legs still wouldn't take his weight and he was leaning entirely on Sif. The power he drained from the Makluhk was being rapidly used to heal his battered body, but it was still taking too long.
In a roar of pain and a flash of orange light, the Hulk disappeared through several layers of concrete as another building fell. Tony knew he wouldn't be getting up for a while, but at least he and the God of thunder were still alive. He could still feel them.
"You have to go Sif!" Tony pleaded as Edraskil turned his attention to them.
'Steve! Don't even think about it!' Tony screamed in his head, so loudly, he saw Steve cover his ears. The solider was directly behind Edraskil, sheltered down the side one of the few remaining buildings. Of course, the Captain was ready to throw himself into the fire. But if Edraskil had felled both Thor and the Hulk, Steve didn't stand a chance and he knew it. Steve backed down, but Sif wasn't going anywhere. She was about to draw her sword when Edraskil suddenly fired a blast into the sky.
Tony hadn't seen him… But the orange blast was aimed straight at the War machine armor that was heading towards the battle on full thrust. Horror ripped through Tony's chest. A blast like that would be deadly. Tony turned quickly, legs now able to take his weight, aiming and firing his own blast to try and deflect Edraskil's.
It didn't get there in time.
Tony watched in horror as Rhodey was wrenched out of the sky, hitting the ground with a thud. Tony hadn't even had time to react. Time seemed to stop as he stood and stared at the spot his best friend used to be in.
Rhodey… Rhodey was gone. He wasn't even supposed to be here. In his vision, Rhodey hadn't been in the battle and now… Now he was dead. There was no way he could have survived that fall and he could feel it… the link he had with each of them was no missing one person. The link with Rhodes had been severed, leaving a gaping empty hole behind it. And it was all Tony's fault.
He had failed. He'd saved the others for now, but he had failed to save his best friend.
Slowly the shock melted into despair. Emotion ripped through Tony's insides as reality sunk in. This couldn't be real. Rhodey had been there for him, through everything, always at his side even when he hadn't deserved it. Especially when he hadn't deserved it. And like that it was over. Why hadn't he just listened, why did he have to insist on fighting? Then came the anger. Anger so strong Tony was practically vibrating with it, it seared at his veins, the CAEB boiling under his skin like a nuke primed to blow.
As he turned to Edraskil eyes glowing blue, the smirk on the silver creature's face suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a look of dread.
"You're going to pay for that." Tony growled.
Tony's hand snapped out, but no energy flew from it. For a moment Edraskil looked confused, but then it dawned on him in horror. Edraskil let out a choked sound as he fell to his knees, but Tony didn't relent, not even when the creature began to scream. Every living creature was a hive of energy and Edraskil was powerful, he had command of so much power and Tony was draining it from him. Soon enough, Edraskil didn't have the strength to scream out and Tony broke the connection. He wanted the creature to have just enough life left in him to feel what he was about to do.
A blue shockwave burst through the square. The figure that had been Edraskil obliterated under its power. There was nothing left, not even dust. It was poetic in a way, Tony mused as he felt the anger and shock of the remaining four radiate from the other side of the city, to use Edraskil's own life force against him as a weapon that would end his existence so completely. It was no less than the creature deserved, but it did nothing to fill the void that Tony now had inside him.
"Tony?" Steve's voice was choked with emotion. "Is he?"
"Rhodey's gone. Edraskil is dust." Tony said. His voice was void of emotion. He had to lock it down, Steve understood that, if he let himself feel now, they would never get the job done, but he also knew Tony. He could see the defeat in his frame and he'd just lost his best friend…
"Tony… we have to keep fighting." Steve said gently. Tony knew Steve meant well, he could feel the Captain's own pain at the loss of their friend, but how could he keep fighting? The whole planet was at stake, but it already felt like his own world had crumbled.
"I know." He said levelly. He had to keep fighting for Pepper, so she wouldn't be next, for all his friend's still standing. He'd come this far. One down, four to go.
But as he turned to head back into battle, he quickly realized something was wrong. The exoskeleton burned into his flesh through the undershirt, he let out a pained keen as his entire body started to prickle.
"What's happening?" He grunted, falling to his knees as his legs gave out.
"Tony!" Steve was at his side in an instant, but the second his hands touched the armor he was blasted back by a powerful shock of static. Frigga was running, he could feel her footsteps getting closer… feel, not see, not hear, everything else was blurred. The world was losing focus, being taken over by the senses he'd almost forgotten he had to block out.
"Woah. Woah… Woah this is weird." Tony grunted, but he couldn't hear the sound of his own voice. The world was falling away.
"The energy is too much to hold Stark you need to get rid of it now, quickly." Frigga's voice somehow cut through the noise of a thousand voices screaming all at once. And yes, Right! The energy he'd drained from Edraskil… he'd not used all of it in his obliteration and now it was burning through his fragile human vessel. But how was he supposed to get rid of it?
As the agony kicked in and reality twisted into a complex web of light and colour, Tony felt like he must be screaming, but quite honestly, he had no idea anymore. The earth was gone, he wasn't there.
….
Well, I don't know what to comment about that chapter really. It was a rollercoaster to write it, so I imagine it was a rollercoaster to read.
He's closed the portals, saved Nat, Steve and Thor. Edraskil is dead, but so is Rhodey... He's already changed the future he saw, but can he rewrite the rest? Can they win this battle, and can they do it without losing anyone else?
