Rising of the Avenging Heroes
ESKK: Well let's start the new chapter folks.
(Start Fields)
A week had passed since the Avengers battle in the coal mines and since then they had been going through a great deal of training. James had gained a wide assortment of abilities for his Shield that he nearly lost track of them all. During this Azari and Torunn had helped Raphtalia train so she can catch up to them. So far Azari handled hand to hand combat while Torunn taught Raphtalia to fight as an Asgardian. Of course in that week their Demihuman friend had hit a growth spurt which Pym was the first to notice. It seemed the more she leveled up the more she grew.
Speaking of which Raphtalia and Azari were busy hunting down the monster that had attacked them with Morgan and Hawkeye nearby to monitor and Torunn just seeing how well they were doing. Cody was with James as he yanked out a spine from the monster that had attacked them.
"Jeez James you need to be more careful." Cody scolded as he tended to the injury.
"I could have handled it." Skaar said from within Cody who then sighed in response.
"Yes I know Skaar the monster wouldn't have done much to you but this isn't about you right now." Cody said as he get Skaar feels left out so he tries to include him without transforming into him. Cody and Skaar had been long time friends before the accident that merged them and while healthy their relationship does have its good times and bad times.
"I got it!" Azari called out as he chased the monster but it got passed him. "Nope don't have it!" Azari called out as Raphtalia was close behind.
"Come back here!" The Demihuman girl called out while chasing down the monster.
"I know I should have been more observant." James said as he took the animal spine and added it to his shield unlocking a new skill with it.
"Sir James/James heads up!" Raphtalia and Azari called out and thus James saw the monster coming at him.
Seeing the Monster James acted fast knowing exactly what to do. "SHIELD PRISON!" James invoked and thus the monster was trapped into a prison sphere of iron and steel wrapped in chains. Taking the chance Raphtalia roared out and slashed down upon the monster with her sword just as the prison broke apart. The monster was instantly killed from the attack as Morgan and Torunn rejoined the group.
"Now that's handled." James began until Torunn gained a serious look on her face
"We just need to handle the Wave... it's almost here." Torunn said as she knew well enough that the Month was almost up.
"I say we're do for an upgrade." Morgan added and they were all in agreement on this.
"Sir James!" Raphtalia called out with a smile on her face. "I did it!" She cheered while holding the monster remains in her hands as to James view Raphtalia was a level 18 now.
"Way to go!" Pym cheered as he flew in while in his pixie form.
(Scene Break Erhard's shop)
The Shop had gone through some changes as on the front new equipment were on display via images and thus it showed Morgan had been busy between trips out of town. When they had entered Erhard smiled as he saw the Avengers were back at long last. "Wow I hardly recognized you." Erhard said with a grin on his face seeing how big Raphtalia had become. "You've turned into a pretty little lady." Erhard said happy to see Raphtalia was doing well for herself.
"I haven't seen you guys in a while, what have you been up to?" Erhard asked as he looked to Raphtalia wanting updates. Though this did get the attention of the Avengers in this regard.
"I finally learned correct table manners from the Innkeeper and Azari." Raphtalia said as she smiled to this. "I want to eat my food properly like the other Avengers do." Raphtalia said as she smiled at the thought.
"Hmm is that so huh?" Erhard asked and then went on with the conversation. "You have really grown up nothing like the pipsqueak you used to be." Erhard said as Francis smirked to this.
"She just got promoted from Pipsqueak to rookie... now Pym is the only Pipsqueak with us." James said as Pym flew in and glared.
"Hey knock it off with the short jokes!" Pym defended as all the jokes that involved being called short nonstop was getting on his nerves.
"Um am I the only one concerned about this countries love for little girls?" Torunn decided to voice it to which Morgan nodded.
"You and me both sister." Morgan said as she already had to stop Torunn several times from going Asgardian rage on the people. Morgan then sighed and walked up to the guy and looked to him. "Well Happy I got some new equipment designs and also going to need to use your Forge no offense to you but." Morgan began but Erhard already knew.
"I get it you want something done right you gotta do it yourself." Erhard said as he respected Morgan with her initiative. "Anyway the Forge is all yours kid since I see you got some new materials with you." Erhard said as Morgan smirked in response.
"Don't you know, it." Morgan said and thus she smirked to this. "I can finish by tomorrow you know how I am with detailing." Morgan said as she had a few armor ideas for James, Hawkeye, and Azari's new outfit. In fact she had an idea for Cody and Skaar's new shared outfit she wanted to try. "Better get started on these things after all no time like the present." Morgan said and thus she started heading into the forge to start working on the Avengers new gear.
(Scene Break Pub that same evening)
"Wasn't it nice of them to give us a discount on this sword?" Raphtalia said as she walked in with the remaining Avengers.
"Sure was." Azari agreed as they got to a large table.
"He was so sweet to help us like that don't you think?" Raphtalia said as she sat down with the others.
"Can we eat now I'm hungry?" Pym moaned as he laid his head on the table.
"Be patient Pym." Torunn said as she swore to the Allfathers and beyond that she was like the groups mom sometimes.
"I gotta agree with Pym about being hungry but Torunn is right." James said and as if to answer their stomach's prayer the server came in.
"Are you all ready to order?" He asked and thus James nodded to him.
"Yes we'll take the cheapest Lunch Set you got save for the kid here he'll have the children's lunch set." James said as Raphtalia smiled to this.
"Glad to see you're not treating me as a kid anymore." She said as James smirked a bit.
"Hey just remember if you can't finish it, Torunn or Skaar gets it." Francis said knowing of the shared appetites of their heavy hitters.
"Oh quiet you." Raphtalia scolded as Hawkeye smirked to this.
"Be glad it wasn't Morgan she has a long list of quips, insults, and smart ass nicknames to use." Cody said as he smirked to this. They all agreed on this Morgan was a great member to have but sometimes she is too much like her old man when he was in his prime.
(Scene Break the Next Day)
James enjoyed the armor that looked like his father's outfit he won't lie. But sometimes there was something about returning to the basics that had its own unique sense of nostalgia to it. For James he was no wearing new armor similar to the one he had before, but much of the blue was replaced with black as the star on his chest now had a red lining to it with it being white inside. His new armor boots were of course red as he also had blue pants with more armor at the thighs.
Hawkeye's outfit was a mixture of his old one, the one Morgan made for him, a Fantasy Archer, and his Oldman's old outfit. The mask itself was replaced by a hood with a hawk design to it. Hawkeye truly looked like an Archer from the Final Fantasy series but in a suit for more functionality then for aesthetic like how most Final Fantasy games does character designs. He even got a new bow from Morgan which had the added quiver filled with specialty made arrows. Hawkeye would no doubt know which arrow to pull as Morgan was limited on tech and material she had available and she'd rather not cannibalize her armor for it.
Azari though he was looking more like the Black Panther then he ever had before. His armor was sleeker and had a bit of a panther motif to it. It was light but clearly it could take a hit if Morgan had anything to do with it.
"So cool." Raphtalia said as she looked to the group with stars in her eyes. "It's really perfect you all look amazing." She said as James gave his armor a look over.
"You think so?" James asked as he gave himself a look over.
"They should I made the damn things." Morgan said she stretched her neck from a nearby chair while fanning herself a bit. "And you're gonna wear it and you're gonna love it." Morgan said showing if they didn't she'd hunt them down herself.
Just then they heard horses and thus the group looked and saw Knights on horseback riding down the road as the people grew silent in response. "Anyone got a knife the tension is thick enough to cut." Morgan said as they all agreed on this.
"Yeah everyone in town is on edge now." Raphtalia said as she looked to the others.
"Well duh the Wave is nearly here." Azari said to which James scowled a bit.
"If I just had a way to know when and where the damn thing was gonna begin I can come up with some kind of plan." James said but Morgan laughed to this.
"Seriously a plan, dude since when has ANY of our plans survived first contact?" Morgan said as she had the perfect plan to use.
"And I guess you have a plan of attack then?" James asked but Morgan smirked to this.
"Yeah I got a plan, attack." Morgan said and thus the group sighed in this.
"I can't believe it." Erhard said as he looked to the group. "You mean nobody has told you anything about the clock." Erhard said making the group go wide eyed to this.
"Wait what?" Cody asked as he was surprised to hear this.
In turn Erhard began to explain things. "You know that church you can see from town square?" Erhard asked and thus the group nodded having seen it multiple times. "There's a huge hourglass inside. When the last grain inside it falls the heroes and their parties will be sent to wherever the Wave begins... at least that's what I hear." Erhard said and thus James and his friends looked to each other.
"Well time for a field trip." Morgan said showing she was ready to go. "I've been meaning to get a scan of that Hourglass anyway maybe trace it and the Wave back to their sources." Morgan said as James heard her.
"Wait what?" Raphtalia asked but Morgan smirked.
"The waves have to come from somewhere right? We find their origin take it out and the world is saved." Morgan said as she was clearly one to utilize logic to hunt down the Waves source and eliminate it.
"We better go now, maybe we can avoid the Stooges if we're fast enough." Hawkeye said as Cody nodded in response to this. In turn the group of Avengers were off to the Church to check out the Dragon Hourglass.
(Scene Break Three Heroes Church)
The Avengers were being led by a nun through the church to where the Dragon Hourglass was kept. As they walked James took point on this as the others followed. As they walked the group all felt the hairs on their necks stand on end as if something of a sinister sort awaited here. The Nun was quiet during all of it as they walked about the church.
Just then the Nun stopped at a path and looked to the Avengers. "Come this way." She said and thus the group complied with her order. Once they did so a set of steps appeared before them rising from the ground to allow them access to the next chamber in this church. Once the path was cleared the group were wide eyed at what they saw before them.
Towering above them all was a massive intricately designed Hourglass that had spinning gems that almost looked like eyes, and a dragon design on the gold parts. "Is that..." James began but Azari cut him off.
"Has to be how many Hourglasses did you find that's this huge!" Azari asked presenting the hourglass in question.
"Ok good let's see what secrets your hiding." Morgan said as in turn she hit a button on her strap and thus her back opened in response. When it did her face was covered in holographic mask that had her helmets hub on it. Once this was done she began to scan the Hourglass via every known aspect she could ranging from physical aspects down to even spectral analysis. She was going to crack this and when she did, they can all say goodbye to those Waves and hello home sweet home.
"This thing is huge!" Pym called out and thus Hawkeye smirked.
"That's what she said." Hawkeye said and thus Torunn glared at him.
"FRANCIS BARTON!" Torunn scolded as Hawkeye eased up knowing when she said his name like that he was in trouble. Hawkeye hid behind Cody knowing Skaar was the best person to hide behind when Torunn was rightfully angry with him.
"You know he won't come out and save you right?" Cody said to Hawkeye as James said to them, "Knock it off you guys, this is a church and we need to be respectful."
Everyone did calm down after that with Morgan had a frustrated look on her face as she said, "So much data, and its mostly worthless, I can't get a reading on this thing."
"Maybe we need to get closer to it?" Pym said as James was wondering about something he walk a bit closer, with Morgan said, "IT doesn't work like that unless-
Morgan was cut off by a light shining from the dragon hourglass as a send a beam of light to James's shield, and with that he gotten an update as in his view he saw a timer counting down as Morgan said, "Unless it need to connect to the something like James's shield… how did I miss that?"
Morgan quickly try to get a scan on James shield with the hourglass and new data came in for her as James said, "It really counting down."
Morgan pick up on the timer as well as she use her tech to show it as she said, "Yeah, and we got about a little over 20 hours left until the wave hits."
"Can you tell where then?" Cody asked with Morgan double checking and said, "Hard to say, if I acted earlier on scanning James's shield I might have gotten more data on I may come up with an answer, but right now it's like looking at the weather report, and not a lot of time to go through everything before the waves."
The hologram image soon vanish with a voice spoken up saying, "Hey it's the Avengers."
Morgan give a silent groin as she knew who that voice belong too as they turn to the spear hero with Malty standing beside them as Motoyasu said to them, "Don't tell me you guys are gonna fighting with flimsy equipment are you?"
"Hey! Whose work are you calling Flimsy, stick boy?!" Morgan yell out as how dare Motoyasu call her creation flimsy, she may not have the best tools and tech to make works of armor like her iron heart armor, but she put heart and soul into her work and no one will with Raphtalia walk up and she wonder what's going on as she asked, "Do you know who these people are sir James?"
"No one worth mentioning," Hawkeye said as with James didn't say a word to him as he said to his group, "Let's get going everyone."
"Hey, Sir Motoyasu was talking to you Rogers!" Malty said as James just ignore her, as did the rest of the group until suddenly the other two heroes appeared as James look and said in a greeting tone, "Ren, Itsuki."
Suddenly before anyone could say anything, Motoyasu came up to Raphtalia, Morgan, and Torunn as they were standing near each other as he grab Raphtalia's hand and said, "Hi there, I'm Motoyasu Kitamura, The spear Hero, nice to meet you. And good to see you as well lady Torunn, Lady Morgan."
"You a Hero?" Raphtalia question him as Motoyasu lean in closer to her and said, "Wow you're cute."
Just then Morgan decided to deal with this herself while walking torts Motoyasu. Just then as Malty was about to approach Morgan already had her armor activating. "Oh sir-Motoyasu." Morgan began using a tone to attract Motoyasu.
"Oh Morgan how can I..." Motoyasu's voice trailed off only to find himself facing the business end of a mini rocket from Morgan's Iron-Heart armors gauntlet.
"Put your hands up and slowly step away from the girl." Morgan said just as the face plate closed down on her face. Motoyasu did as told and backed off as he looked to Morgan who followed his movement in response.
"Could have warned you... but then we'd be helping you." Azari said as Pym then blew a raspberry at Motoyasu.
"You ok Raphtalia?" Torunn asked as the Asgardian headed over to Raphtalia.
"Yes sorry." She apologized as Morgan made sure Motoyasu kept his distance. "But it's my sworn duty to fight side by side with the Avengers." Raphtalia said to which Motoyasu heard this and was shocked.
"Are you kidding!? That's insane if you stay with them you'll be in danger!" Motoyasu said trying to get Raphtalia to see reason.
"You mean like you are right now?" Morgan said as in turn the rocket began to beep suggesting it was armed and ready.
"Besides James already figured out how to use the Shield as an offensive weapon or weren't you paying attention to that video during the trial." Hawkeye taunted as he spin an arrow in his hand.
"Come on guys." James said as he looked to his group. "He's not worth it." James said and thus they were in agreement on this.
"Yeah no use wasting ammo on a stain." Morgan said and deactivated her armor while walking away.
"Oh come on your not gonna tell me you haven't any of those rumors going around about them." Motoyasu said as James stopped and then sighed.
"That's all they are, rumors." James said showing he wasn't at all bothered by them allowing people to make their own perception then force them to change it.
In turn James began to take his leave as Ren saw Torunn pass by with her sword. Seeing as their weapons were basically attached to them Ren tried to get Torunn's sword for a scan. But when he did something popped onto his own screen that had a warning of sorts.
"See you when the wave hits." Itsuki said still having zero faith that the Shield can do much.
"Just stay out of our way." Ren said as well after his failed attempt to scan Torunn's sword.
"I'm pretty sure we should tell you bozos that." Hawkeye said as he looked to Itsuki while Torunn glared at Ren.
"Jeez with that whole story about your parents I expected more from you guys." Motoyasu said and thus Torunn stopped as did the others.
"Oh crap." Morgan cursed realizing what Motoyasu just did.
Thus Torunn lashed out at the insult by swinging her sword at Motoyasu. He acted fast and blocked it with his spear as the two weapons grinded against each other. The Asgardian Magic lashed out as the spear's own magic responded as the two opposing magic's lashed out around the two.
"Come on open your eyes that guy is bad news!" Motoyasu defended as Torunn glared at him.
"Take back thy words you vile cur!" Torunn yelled as everyone looked worried save for Malty who was grinning to this. "Take them back now!" She demanded as Motoyasu growled to this.
"Your sword doesn't scare me, maybe you should have taken a support role." Motoyasu taunted as Hawkeye knew Motoyasu was digging his own grave.
"Then allow me to put the fear of it into thee!" She called out as when she did the group heard thunder from outside in response to Torunn's rage. Then to everyone's shock Motoyasu was being pushed back by Morgan's sword before she managed to knock him back and slash a wave of lighting at him. She then proceeded to punch his stomach and looked ready to follow it up with more damage.
"Enough!" James called out as he threw his shield between the two splitting them up before the fight can continue. "It's time to go, Torunn he's not worth it." James said as Torunn growled but sheathed her sword none the less and stormed off. James gave Motoyasu a look that showed he wanted to scold him but let it be knowing he got off light in comparison to what Motoyasu could really do. All the while Raphtalia looked to it all with intrigue and also worry as to what Motoyasu had said to strike such a nerve.
(Scene Break that Night Inn)
The Avengers were in the boy's room as James was working on some medicine and Morgan was looking over the data on the Weapons and the Hourglass. "Well what do we have?" Cody asked as he looked to Morgan. When they had left Morgan had scanned the other weapons and was comparing it to the Hourglass and so far she was coming up with blanks in this still.
Sure the weapons filled some holes but not enough to paint a full image for her. "I don't have enough variables." Morgan said as she looked to the data via a holoscreen provided by her armor. "These waves only started recently so they have to have an origin somewhere." Morgan said fully intent on finding the source.
"Did you try running the data through the spectral frame?" Pym asked as he helped Morgan out.
"Tried that and cycled the data through every other scan I can think of it gives a little but the data is still inconclusive." Morgan said as she worked on her task. "There are other variables I'm missing." Morgan said trying to make sense of this data.
"Um... James." Raphtalia asked as all eyes went to her when she started talking to James.
"What's up Raphtalia?" James asked as he kept working.
"Did... something happen between you and the other heroes?" Raphtalia asked as she looked to James.
"Yeah but it's in the past." James said as he kept working. "Right now we need to focus on the here and now. Right now we need to be ready for the Wave." James said as Raphtalia understood what James meant.
"He's right." Morgan said shutting off the screen and stretching. "Best we head to bed." Morgan said and thus headed out. "Come on kid." Morgan said and thus Raphtalia nodded and followed after Morgan.
"Good night." Torunn said showing was tired after her little outburst against Motoyasu.
(Scene Break the Next Morning)
As the early morning sun raises everyone had awaken up, woke up James in their normal way, gather their gear and waited outside near the blacksmith shop, just in case of any last moment fixing or work which Morgan had prepared a new set of normal arrow order ready for Hawkeyes to use and save his special arrows if needed, and darts, and dart launcher for Azari to fix on either gauntlet to use for a bit of mid-range combat with his normal abilities.
"You think these will be enough?" Hawkeye asked as he saw the amount of arrows he has, it wasn't too much to carried for him at least with Azari check out his new weapon as well with Morgan said, "Who knows how long this wave is gonna be, so it better be overly prepared than under, but this is all I can at the last moment."
"You done more than already Morgan, but now our attention need to be on the wave," James started to say as he look to his friends and family, as they have come this far and grew stronger too as James saw each of their level being in the high 20 ranges, while Raphtalia being close behind, he was confident she will do well as James went on saying, "Whatever will happen today we need to stick together as best we can, defend the people of this world and stop this wave before it could get out of hand, this is the Avengers first cataclysm level mission, we may not be able to save everyone, but we need to make sure to save as many as we can, and those who has fallen… then let show why we are call the avengers and fight as one!"
"Yeah!" Pym cheer out as Hawkeye just smirk, as he held his bow ready, Torunn grip her sword as lightning spark off of it, Azari smirk as he flex his hands showing the claws, Cody give a nod with Skaar give a huff in Cody's mind to show he ready for anything, with Morgan soon suit up becoming iron heart but didn't place the helmet on just yet, and Raphtalia smile to this as she give a nod as well.
To James's view the countdown was reaching its end as all the other heroes were getting ready with their groups as they saw the timer nearing Zero as James said to the time did hit it, "The mission starts now."
When the timer hit Zero, the color of the sky change from a blue to a violet red, with everyone surprise by this as they all suddenly glow brightly before they vanish in a flash of light.
(Unknown location)
Everyone had their eyes cover as they were just teleported to a different area as James turn to the group as he said, "Is everyone alright?"
"We're fine," Hawkeye said as he didn't feel anything wrong with Torrun was alright herself as she didn't seem as effected or bother by the sudden teleportation, with everyone else rubbing at their eyes or keeping steady a bit as they suddenly move from place to another suddenly as Pym gain back his footing as he said, "You think they would have given warning about that?"
"Hey look!" Morgan said as she already recover and look up into the sky as they notice many swirling portals of sort connected by a great dark energy that was moving as the name suggest a wave, that surrounds them with something coming out of those portals too as James said, "The wave of catastrophe."
Morgan has already sent up drones up near a portal and get a scan on it if she can while, as suddenly they heard many footsteps running to the area as they Avengers check it out and saw the other 3 heroes and their party were rushing out as James said, "They are here as well."
"I guess all the heroes and their parties would teleported together and near the same place as the other heroes," Morgan theories as Azari said, "let's go catch up to them."
"Sir James! Look over there, the village of Lute," Raphtalia called out as James turn his attention and saw the village of lute in the distant and it was already under attack by the monsters, as he knew the knights won't arrive in time to save it, and if no one does anything everyone there would be killed and everything will be destroy as James knew they have to save it as he said, "Alright change of plan, we're going to lute village and hold off the monsters of this wave there."
"Right behind you Private America," Hawkeye said as Morgan put on her helmet and said, "Its go time."
(Village of Lute)
A lone Villager was on the ground as an undead soldier glared down upon him. The monster was about to slash down on the scared man only for his blade to hit James shield. Following it up was Raphtalia slashing through it as Morgan flew in. "Morgan Beam refraction!" James called out and thus Morgan fired her repulse beam to hit more monsters before they can get close.
"Hey you ok?" James asked as he looked to the downed man. The man nodded a bit winded from this but James knew they needed a plan.
"We can't do much with civilians in the way." Azari said as he jumped in and fired darts at the monsters.
James had an idea and thus looked to Cody, Raphtalia, Azari, and Pym. "Raphtalia, Pym, Azari; Cody get the villagers to safety!" James ordered as he looked to the trio. "The rest of us will remain to handle the Wave." James said and thus Pym understood the order. "Make sure they're secured before trying to rejoin us." James ordered and thus they went for it.
(Nearby)
A group of villagers were seen as they were all surrounded by monsters. They looked ready to fight with nothing but pitchforks as they would defend their home. Just then lightning struck down and from it Torunn appeared slashing through the monsters. Following it up was James and Hawkeye as the first was ramming through the foes while Hawkeye fired off his arrows at the monsters. Next up Morgan flew in and fired off her armors weapons making sure to conserve any ballistics she had for later.
Once the four arrived the four Avengers made a wall between the monsters and the people. "We'll cover for you guys get to safety!" James ordered as he looked to them.
"Hurry this way!" Azari called out as he and Cody helped guide the people to safety to which they happily complied.
A nearby merchant was on the ground as Morgan then fired a repulser blast at the monster before it could harm the man. The Monster was knocked back giving Torunn the chance to slash through it with her sword.
A mother was defending her child using her body as a living shield as the child cried out in terror. James acted fast and got in there. "Shield prison!" James invoked and thus the mother and child were protected by the shield prison. Hawkeye then jumped up using James as a spring board and fired off his arrows at the monsters hitting them all at once.
The group were guiding the bugs there way as Iron-Heart then came in and fired off her repulsers at them while Morgan slashed through the others. "Really wish Pym could talk to bugs like these." Morgan said as she looked to the group while she fought.
"Well we know he can grow and shrink but we never had much of a chance to test to see if he had that power." James said as he fought off the monsters.
Torunn spun around and slashed multiple monsters at once creating a wave of thunder with her sword. "Can we all focus on the task at hand!?" Torunn called out as she then stabbed another zombie and sliced it in two. Just then the group heard a cry of panic as clearly people were still here right now.
"Hawkeye!" James called out as he looked to Francis. "We need you up top!" James added and thus Hawkeye nodded.
"Got it!" Hawkeye said and charged at James who had his shield at the read. Francis then jumped off James's shield and allowed Torunn to catch him where she then deposited him onto a roof. Francis rolled onto said roof and thus had his arrow ready. He ran across the rooftop and then proceeded to fire down upon the monsters surrounding the villagers who were wielding swords.
"Hey if you wanna live to see your loved ones get out!" Hawkeye called out as he looked to the people he just rescued.
Nearby Morgan was flying about and firing at the fliers and in turn got their attention. Morgan then proceeded to fly off and let them give chase to her. As she flew she contacted Hawkeye thankful for some of their stuff being with them when they got here. "Hawkeye I'm gonna lay these guys out for you get ready to fire!" Morgan said as she flew to where Hawkeye was.
In turn Hawkeye saw Morgan and thus took three special Arrows and notched them up. When Morgan flew Hawkeye opened fire and thus the Arrows flew. When they did the broke apart at the tips and released multiple smaller pellets that hit the monsters killing or severely injuring them.
As the battle progressed it was clear the Avengers were doing major damages to the monsters as they began to take note of this. After all every animal natural of otherwise always take notes if the Prey it targets was stronger than one is lead to believe.
(Meanwhile with Raphtalia, Pym, Cody and Azari)
The group saw the battle going off as the flashes of thunder from Torunn's sword, beams of arc energy from Morgan's armor, and the explosions from Hawkeye's arrows could be seen. "Is this everyone?" Azari asked as he was doing a head count.
"Yes it should be." One of the villagers said and thus he nodded.
"Ok we'll send the Knights over, Cody you stay here until they arrive." Azari said and thus Cody nodded in response.
"Got it!" Cody nodded seeing as now was NOT the time for Skaar YET. In turn Azari, Pym, and Raphtalia all ran back to the village to provide aid to them.
(Back at the village)
James and Hawkeye were on the ground as they had taken cover from the monsters who seem to be growing stronger the more they killed. "Jeez where are those knights when you actually need them?" Hawkeye asked as he got out of cover to fire off the arrows as the duo were in a warzone.
"Sir James!" Raphtalia was heard as the duo looked and saw Azari, Pym, and Raphtalia had returned.
"How are the Civilians?" James asked as he looked to the trio.
"Cody and Skaar have them covered." Pym said as he looked to James.
"Ok but we have a problem." James said as Morgan then flew by and spoke via communications she provided for everyone.
"Yeah they're numbers aren't going down." Morgan said as she flew by.
"I know but still we need to hold the line." James said taking a battle stance ready for more.
"Yeah this actually reminds me of the battle of New York Tony talked about when the Chittauri invaded." Azari said as he remembered that story.
"Yeah portal in the sky and bad guys coming through said portal." Pym added as he flew by the group.
"Fear not!" Torunn called out as she rejoined the others. "They hath yet to make a monster here strong enough to best an Asgardian." Torunn boasted as she smirked to the group.
Just then from around the village beams of light flew up and met at the center of the sky. "Take cover! ENERGY SHIELD!" James called out and thus made a shield above his team as just then the arrows came down and bounced off said shield. The Monsters and village weren't so lucky though it did help with their numbers it didn't help for the people who may very well be homeless for this.
Just then the Knight leader laughed as he saw his victory. "We burned them all with a single strike." The man said as the Knights arrived. He then noticed James as he looked to the group of Avengers. "Huh the Shield Hero and the Avengers you're pretty tough." The Knight said as a way to insult the group.
James then walked over to the Knight and glared at him as it was clear James was angry and if James was angry that is NEVER a good sign. "Did you know my team and I were here or did you just not give a damn?!" James demanded as he glared at the Knight.
"What?!" Raphtalia cried out as she then charged in with sword drawn only for James to stop her.
"So you're the new girl with the Shield Hero?" The mustache Knight said as he looked to James and Raphtalia. "Damn Demi-Human how dare you point your sword at the royal Knights?!" He demanded only for Hawkeye to appear and punch the guy in the face.
"Yeah some Knight if you're gonna do that arrow thing make sure the village is cleared of civilians!" Francis said as he glared down at the Knight whom he grabbed by the scuff of his shirt.
"How dare you?! Men draw your swords!" The Knight ordered but instead James threw his shield and thus the Knight saw a monster had come up behind them. James then jumped over them and caught his shield.
"Blade Shield!" James called out as the edges of his shield sharpened into a blade before he sliced the Monster in two with it. James wasn't done as he then spun his body. "Boomerang Shield!" James called out and thus threw his shield like a Frisbee where it proceeded to hit the flying Monsters. "Ok we can point fingers or we can get to work." James said as he looked to the Knights. "We have civilians up by that mountain detach a small legion to defend them and get a perimeter made at the very least we can try to contain the damage as much as possible." James said as the leading Knight then glared at James for this one.
"Who died and made you Captain?" The leading Knight said as he glared at James just before a roar was heard from the sky above a very loud one. All eyes went wide as they looked up to the source of where it came from.
(Three Heroes)
"What was that?" Itsuki asked as he, Motoyasu, and even Ren heard it as well and it didn't sound like something they would expect.
"Look!" Came a member of Motoyasu's party and thus all of them saw it and were wide eyed. Even Malty was wide eyed in pure horror as to what she saw.
(Morgan)
Morgan just got through taking down a few more fliers when she went wide eyed at what she saw above. "Holy Shit." Morgan said as she saw what came through.
From the waves portals a large serpents like creature began to fly down roaring out as its very weight and power defied the laws of physics. "Um Morgan are you seeing this?" Cody was heard from the communications.
"I'm seeing it just having trouble believing it." Morgan said as she then flew at it. "I'm gonna find something soft to hit!" Morgan said as she flew after the colossal monster. "Cody get to the village and do what you do best." Morgan said as NOW was the time to bring in the big guns.
(Back at Lute)
"So..." James began as he looked to the terrified Knights. "Wanna try your hand against hat?" James asked and thus the Knight with the Scar to command.
"Well you heard him men head to the mountain and protect the people!" He ordered but the Mustache man had other plans.
"Screw this you're on your own against that!" HE called out as he then ran to find the other Heroes while only two of his subordinates followed after him. As the Knights headed out the Avengers continued to fight knowing full well they had to take out that massive monster before another like it shows up.
(Back with Morgan)
Morgan flew at the monster's face and fired off her flares at point blank range and thus got its attention on her. "Ok Step 1 get the ugly bastard's attention. Now what the Hell was Step 2 again?" Morgan asked before she flew off with the monster on her tail now.
(Back at Lute)
Raphtalia was slicing through the monsters as she stood back to back with Azari. James provided cover as Pym flew in and stung the monsters before flipping them over and killing some of them. He then flew upward and turned into his giant form and stomped on them. He even kicked the larger zombies and crushing their skulls before returning to his pixie form. Hawkeye fired off his arrows at them as he then took one out to stab a downed zombie with it killing it.
As the monsters all began to move in on them they were all struck by lighting and from nearby Torunn had once more regrouped with them. "Any news on the other three?" James asked as he looked to Torunn.
"I didn't see them come this way, we won't be able to count on them." Torunn said as she looked to James.
"Torunn's right we gotta deal with these guys on our own." Morgan said as she flew by with monsters chasing after her.
"So how are we going to do this?" Azari asked as he looked to James with worry.
"As a team." James said as he looked to the group. "We hold the line and we take as many of these guys down as we can." James said and just then a familiar face arrived.
"Good what can I do?" Cody asked as he had at last arrived once more.
"Do what you both do best Cody." James said referring to Skaar and Cody together. "Morgan Cody is here." James said and thus Morgan heard him.
"Then tell him to get ready I'm leading the parade." Morgan said and in turn the group looked to the sky and saw the massive monster once more had Morgan in its sights.
"How is that a parade?" Raphtalia asked a bit worried for Morgan's sanity.
"Well let's do this." Cody said as Morgan go the monster to start slithering on the ground as it gave chase to her showing that despite its size it wasn't very bright. Cody began to walk to the monster cracking his neck while removing his vest and tossing it over to Raphtalia who caught it leaving the young man shirtless.
"Um Cody shouldn't you get angry first?" Raphtalia asked as she looked to Cody with concern.
"Come on Raphtalia that's the secret of how I can deal with this team... this family so well... I'm always angry." Cody said as his eyes then turned green as his body began to grow in mass and muscle. His skin gained a green/grey tone while he turned to face the massive monster that was all but upon him.
And soon Skaar was here reeling back his fist for what came next. "SKAAR SMASH!" Skaar roared out and thus punched the monster so hard its shell broke and cracked while its entire body proceeded to flip over where more of its shell came off.
"I got it!" Morgan called out and fired a rocket at the exposed flesh of the monster. The Monster died and fell apart thanks to this as every Monster of the Wave sensed or saw this and instantly knew that they were facing a powerful threat now. They looked to where Lute was or if they were already there to the Avengers and roared out in fury against the Avengers.
Skaar returned the favor and roared back in challenge to them as the Avengers all gathered together ready to fight till the battle was won.
(Three Heroes)
The Three Heroes had gotten a vantage point to what happened and were shocked to see what had occurred just then. The Monsters they were fighting in turn proceeded to disregard them and go to Lute knowing the greater foes were waiting for them there.
"Hey get back here!" Motoyasu called out but it was clear they were after a bigger prey now.
"Whoever did that, just attracted every monster in the Wave to them." Ren said as they in turn started heading to Lute to find out who did it.
(Lute)
"Another one will show, so what's the play James." Morgan said as she looked to their leader.
"Ok listen up until the Wave ends priority is containment. Hawkeye I want you in that tower over their eyes on everything call out pattern and strays. Morgan you have perimeter let the monsters in but don't let them back out if anything gets more than a mile out you turn it back or turn it to ash." James said as he looked to Morgan who nodded.
"Need a ride, Legolas?" Morgan asked and Hawkeye nodded.
"Yeah." Hawkeye said and thus Morgan grabbed Hawkeye before flying him to the tower nearby to set up a snipers nest.
"Torunn you need to bottleneck these monsters slow them down, you got the lighting so light these bastards up." James said and Torunn nodded to this before flying off to carry out her part of the plan.
"Raphtalia, Azari, and Pym we're on the ground and keep the fighting here." James said before looking to Skaar. "And Skaar!" James called out as Skaar then looked to James ready for his job. "Smash." James said and thus Skaar responded with a grin.
"You got it." Skaar said knowing what to do next. Skaar in turn responded by jumping high to the sky and smashing into a monster on a roof. When he did he grabbed another monster and proceeded to smash it into another monster. He continued to jump between homes and rooves while smashing through monsters, and slashing them with his broad sword.
(Meanwhile over with Torunn)
Torunn was high up in the sky as she then held her sword in both hands channeling her power through it. Once she did so clouds gathered followed by thunder to which she focused it all on herself and through her sword. She then held her sword upward before bringing it down and when she did blasts of thunder came forth from the storm she summoned hitting the monsters and doing as James asked thinning them out as they came through from wherever they came from.
It seems some more of those larger monsters were there as well but Torunn managed to stop them as they came through. But as she did this it was clear that it was taking a toll on her due to how much power she was channeling right now. Still she held on for as long as she could to help stem the tide of battle.
(With the Three Heroes)
Itsuki, Ren, and Motoyasu as well as their parties were shocked at what they arrived to. The Monsters were throwing everything they had at the Avengers as they fought their way through the foes left and right. Even their parties were shocked to see this as they never seen such combat unity before in their lives. Itsuki and Ren were starting to believe James a bit when mentioning the power of the Shield in battle.
Malty meanwhile was now worried as the Avengers were taking on hordes of monsters by themselves. It dumbed down to which bested which first, the monsters besting the Avengers or the Avengers standing their ground until the Waves end. If they make it out of this she was worried she wouldn't be able to bury them like she hoped she could.
"Come on!" Itsuki called out as he led his party with Ren and Motoyasu to provide whatever aid they could. Motoyasu was the last to go before he and his party followed suit.
(With Hawkeye)
"Morgan!" Hawkeye spoke as he fired arrows at the monsters who flew by when he noticed something. "You got a lot of strays sniffing your ass. Better check for candy." Hawkeye said as he fired off another arrow at the foes.
(Morgan)
"Just trying to keep them off the ground." Morgan said as she flew by with said monsters chasing after her.
(Hawkeye)
"Well then can't bank worth a damn think you can use that?" Hawkeye asked as he didn't even have to look when he stabbed a monster with an arrow as it tried to ram him. "If you do find a tight corner." Hawkeye added as he then fired off another arrow showing he was an expert marksman.
(Morgan)
"I will roger that." Morgan said as she flew across the sky with the monsters on her tail and thus saw the forest getting an idea. Morgan then flew to the forest and let the monsters chase after her into said forest. When she did so it was all computer from here on as she avoided trees left and right while trying to take them out.
She then pulled the brakes and appeared in the middle of the group before firing her repulsers off at them taking a few out before the chase continued. But it was getting harder for her to maneuver as she tried to keep the monsters on her tail. "Oh boy." Morgan growled as things were starting to get tight where she was.
Morgan then had an idea and slammed into a tree breaking it before grabbing the tree itself. She then spun and struck the monsters with them killing them with ease. "Nice call Hawkeye what else you got?" Morgan asked as she was ready for more actions.
"Well Torunn started taking on a group near the village walls." Hawkeye was heard and thus Morgan rolled her eyes.
"And she didn't invite me." She said with faux offense before going to join up with Torunn.
(With the Heroes)
As Motoyasu, Ren, Itsuki, and their parties got to the battle they were facing any monster they came across but it was evident they were getting stronger. But it was then they came across another one of those massive monsters causing the group to get ready for a long fight. But they then heard another roar and went wide eyed as Skaar, who they saw as a troll of some sort, came running at them. They got ready to attack until Skaar completely ignored them and went straight for the big monster.
"What?!" Motoyasu asked in shock to this as Skaar began to pull the massive monster away from the stooges.
"SKAAR SLASH!" Skaar yelled and stabbed the monster with his sword causing it pain as he did so.
"Did that monster just?" Itsuki asked shocked to see that a troll just helped them as he was at a lost on this.
(Back with the Lute Group)
Azari roared as he used his claws to do damage to the Monsters on the ground. With him Pym stomped the ones on the ground, kicked the larger ones, and smacked the fliers near him down. James was showing his hand to hand combat in this while Raphtalia helped with her sword play. The Avengers were gaining a LOT of EXP as they continued to do battle but that was beside the point.
"There's no end to these things." Azari said as James looked to Azari.
"I know but we have to hold out for as long as possible." James said knowing it may be difficult but which choice did they have right now.
"Sir James!" Raphtalia called out as James then saw some monsters and then to the Demihuman. "Give me a boost!" She called out and thus James saw where she was going.
"Think you can handle it?" He asked to which she smiled to James.
"It will be fun." Raphtalia said showing she was ready for this as James was ready with his shield. Once James was set Raphtalia charged at James and thus he boosted her up where she was now on the back of a flyer. As Raphtalia held on she took out her sword and stabbed into it's back causing it a great deal of pain in response. As Raphtalia held on this her sword the monster went numb and began to fall only for Pym to catch her and set her down.
Following this up Pym slapped another monster away and in turn Morgan flew by firing her Repulsers at the monsters chasing her and around her. She then landed on the ground with James who was fighting off the foes left and right. James held his shield up and Morgan responded by firing her beams at it reflecting it and slicing through multiple monsters with it.
Morgan then ducked as Azari jumped over and turned his belt into a bow staff which he proceeded to smack around the monsters with. Once he did this he let his powers flow before taking out multiple at once. Following it up was Morgan again who flew up the tower killing off the monsters who were climbing up it to show Hawkeye was firing his arrows like crazy taking the monsters out with them to defend this village and its people. Hawkeye then dodged another attack to which he fired another arrow in response at the flier in question.
The Monster it hit fell down where it ended up splattered in the face of a massive one which had Skaar doing damage up top on it slashing the monsters and smashing them with his weapon and fists. Soon Torunn joined him as the two heavy hitters began to fight side by side with each other slashing and smashing the foes as they came at them. Skaar then roared and took out a large piece of steel to which he stabbed it into the monster. Seeing this Morgan responded by slamming the pommel of her sword upon the new stab wound causing a chain reaction that killed the monster instantly. The monster died and crashed to the ground where it laid there newly among the lifeless.
As Torunn and Morgan left the Monster remains the two smiled and Torunn punched Skaar's arm. "Good job I'm still in the lead though." Torunn said and thus Skaar glared at her.
"Same to you but." He began before punching Torunn sending her flying and feigning a bro punch. "Skaar is in the lead." Skaar said showing the contest between them was still going on.
Torunn began to climb out of the ruble while dusting herself off a bit. "Jerk." Torunn scowled refusing to admit defeat to Skaar.
"Skaar what did I say about playing nice?" Cody said scolding his longtime friend and thus Skaar pouted at being scolded. "Come on lets go meet up with the others." Cody said from within and thus Skaar got the memo.
"Come on Avengers need us." Skaar said and thus he jumped off to meet up with the others while Torunn followed after him via flying.
(Meanwhile back with the Avengers)
As the Avengers were all gathering back up they could be seen fighting off the remaining Monsters. Azari used his blades to attack while Pym shrunk down and stung their eyes before Hawkeye hit them with his arrows. Following it up was Morgan as she fired her weapons off at their foes just before Skaar and Torunn joined in with the group. The battle progressed a bit long as soon Raphtalia and James were seen standing back to back.
"Hey guys look the sky!" Hawkeye said as he had taken note to something as did Raphtalia.
"He's right it's changing." Raphtalia said as the sky much to their shock and joy cleared up and thus returned to being the clear blue sky it once was.
"Finally!" Pym called out happy that it was all finally over for them. "It's been a long morning." Pym said as he returned to his normal size and sat down.
"No kidding." Azari said as he could use a nice fluffy bed about now.
"Sorry guys but we aren't done yet." James said as he looked to his friends knowing they were still needed.
"Yeah we still need to find any stragglers and also help the people try to recover from the damages." Morgan said as she stood with the Avengers and thus they knew it was time to get to work.
"Skaar happy to help." Skaar said wanting to stretched his legs here.
"You sure you did do most of the work between you and Cody big guy." Morgan said knowing at least ONE of them must be tired now.
(With the Three Heroes)
"Well I feel left out." Motoyasu said as he, Itsuki, Ren, and their Parties had saw the entire battle play out
"I have to agree it seems the monsters all decided to focus on the bigger threat which so happened to be the Avengers." Itsuki said as he saw what this meant that compared to James and his party they were all weak.
"But did you see how he used the Shield?" Ren said as he had saw how James fight using the Shield as both a defensive and offensive weapon.
"That doesn't mean crap." Motoyasu growled to which Myne then rubbed up to the spear wielder.
"Do we have to talk about them they would have held us back and the fun would have been ruined." Myne said to which Motoyasu changed gears and laughed with Myne.
"By the way did anyone see where that Troll ran off to?" Ren asked as he remembered how it went for the larger monster instead.
"HEROES!" Came the leading Knight as he and his two remaining subordinates ran over to the three heroes. "A job well done." He praised while catching his breath.
"The Knights huh?" Ren said as he glared at them. "If your here to help the Avengers had most of it covered." Ren said as he saw how that battle played out.
"Why were we even needed? The minute they started to fight the Monsters went for them instead." Itsuki said as it was clear he felt inferior to the Avengers.
"They got in the way that's all that happened." Motoyasu said refusing to believe what the others were saying.
"Now, now let's all keep cool heads. His highness has rewards for each and everyone one of you." the Knight said as he gestured behind him to where the rewards would await them.
(Back at Lute with the Avengers)
While the rest of his team were doing initial surveys on the damages to repair James walked around for a bit to clear his head. Skaar had reverted to Cody to help heal the injured while Azari and Francis were keeping an eye out for any more monsters. Pym and Torunn were watching out for any kids in the village while Morgan was working on blueprints to help rebuild Lute and guiding the people to what was needed to rebuild.
James looked to the Knights and saw their leader look to him before silently showing respect and leaving. "Sir James." Raphtalia began as she looked to James who looked back.
"Are you ok, Raphtalia?" James asked with concern for her.
"Yes... there aren't any more monsters here their all dead." Raphtalia said as nearby the villages were using the two Leviathan's remains via mining them for materials and the like before they start decomposing.
"That's good." James said as Raphtalia nodded to this.
"I guess it is but did we win?" Raphtalia asked with some concern.
Before James could answer the village chief spoke up. "Sir Hero!" The chief called as the Avengers leader looked to the old man and his people. "Thank you very much." He began before standing up tall. "Please accept our gratitude there's no way we could have survived without the help and courage of you and the Avengers." HE said as James nodded.
"No need we're just doing our job." James said as like his father before him humble to a fault. "But you all stood against them don't think I didn't see you all willing to defend your homes." James said as he looked to them all. "As far as I see you all had the makings of heroes in you." James said before getting to the important part. "For now we can only rest, recover, and repair a lot of work is ahead of you all but for now rest and know you all lived to see another sunrise." James said as the Villages all heard this and felt inspired by his words before bowing to him and taking their leave.
"How do you do it?" Raphtalia asked as she looked to James. "How do you remain so uncorrupted and humble despite everything?" Raphtalia asked as she looked to James with concern.
"I don't really know I just don't like bullies or seeing others suffer I guess." James said as he didn't really know why he did what he did only that he did it.
"Still we saved a bunch of kids from going what we all went through." Raphtalia said as James nodded to her.
"You were great today Raphtalia." James praised as he smiled to her.
"I... I killed so many monsters." She began to tear up only for James to hug her on this making her go wide eyed.
"I know." James said as he comforted Raphtalia. "But your one of us now and you have a family in us if you'll let us." James said as for him the Avengers weren't just a team... they were a family. They lost their families or never even had one so they came together thanks to Tony and became a family. Being reminded of Tony James felt bad because Morgan wasn't able to live or be raised by her father unlike the rest of them. It was why he always tried to include Morgan she may not show it but she was envious of them for that. Because she didn't have the chance to know her father for so long their first meeting had been a rough one.
Still James cared for Morgan deeply and he was glad to have her by his side through it all. He promised he would get everyone home and if able save the Demi-Humans of this world. After all Freedom was the right for everyone regardless of skin, race, or culture. His father would agree on this as well despite his notions of heroics and justice being seen as outdated. Still James was an Avenger and he will continue to defend this world from the Waves, and if he can't save this world then he shall avenge it with his team... With his family. When that time comes then it will once more be time for the Avengers to Assemble.
(TBC)
ESKK: Well another chapter off the docket. I hope you all enjoyed it and will leave me a review so until then I will say ja-ne.
