Chapter Twelve:
Emblym could hardly contain her excitement as she cut through the crowds of aliens, her blade flashing back and forth like a red blur through the crowd, hardly being able to be seen. The aliens that had began to approach her and saw the danger she was capable of squealed and tried to run away ― tried, being a keyword.
When she finally made it to people who had been huddling inside a small store, she ran over. They had barricaded the door, but the aliens were shooting at it, tearing it down. Emblym ran over, her blade cutting the head of the alien off cleanly, and changed her axe to a knife, stabbing the other in the chest, it easily sliced through the thick armour the alien wore.
It squealed in pain, trying to raise it's gun at her, but Emblym was already a step ahead, ducking and dragging the knife down with her. It sliced through its belly, cutting cleanly through the skin.
Emblym turned to the people still inside the small cafe. "This way!" She announced with probably way too much enthusiasm. When nobody moved, Emblym got irritated. "Stay here if you want. I might stay when you, too, get brutally murdered!" Emblym couldn't help her giggle, which only kept the people rooted to where they were, not trusting her at all.
"Be nice!" Captain America scolded her, and Emblym groaned, rolling her eyes.
"How am I supposed to do that?" She demanded, throwing her knife behind her, catching an alien in its neck. It gagged and fell to the ground.
"Tell them you're here to help," he explained.
Emblym inhaled an annoyed sigh and gave her best, sane smile. "'I'm here to help'," She said in a tone of voice that didn't sound helpful at all. Still nobody moved, and Emblym groaned again. "Am I allowed to take fingers?"
"No!" Several voices snapped back, and Emblyn groaned for a third time.
"Repeat after me," Barton said, easily seeing her. . . sedimental predicament.
"'I am with the government'," Emblym repeated the archer's words. "'I can take you to safety, but you have to trust me. Don't say it like that'―oh! Whoops!" Still, nobody moved and Emblym threw her hands in the air. "Okay, you know what?" She picked the gun off the ground and inspected it for a moment. Then, she stepped inside and stop at a part inside the building. Everyone screamed, ducking and covering their heads. "Anyone who doesn't come will be killed! You have ten seconds!" Then, she stepped out of the doorway just as people began pounding past her.
"Emblym. . ." Captain America huffed.
Emblym glanced back in the building, which had been empty. "Nobody's dead! This way!" She waved the people through the streets. "To the subway!" She said, leading the people down the street and to the underground staircase at the end of the street. They hurried down the street and into the underground, stealing fearful glances at the buildings around them.
Emblym glanced down the narrow street were aliens still attacked people and attached themselves into buildings, climbing in through broken glass. Tony zoomed past, shooting the ones off the buildings and they landed on the ground, hissing and growling.
Emblym ran over to one, and shove a knife in its throat. "How are you doing this. . .?" Emblym asked curiously as it squirmed. She grabbed its hand, peering at the sharp claws on the alien. "Like ants, I guess. Or, lizards."
Emblym heard a shrill scream and turned, a young woman was desperately crawling away from a alien who was pointing a gun at her. Tears were mixing with blood on the woman's face and she cowered away.
Emblym yanked the alien back, making its gun shoot at a nearby building instead of at the woman. Her knife sliced his throat in seconds and then she kicked it to the ground, flicking the blood off her hand. "Get up," Emblym ordered the girl, who was still on the ground.
"Be gentle," Captain America said, exasperatedly.
"Get up, please," Emblym said, annoyed. When she still hasn't moved, Emblym huffed. "Seriously, would you―"
"Could you give me a goddamn second!?" The woman hissed. "I was nearly shot by an oversized lizard which was a bit traumatising!" Emblym blinked looking at the woman. She had chestnut brown skin and a huge afro, which was pulled back and a bit dusty. She wore a dirty shirt with some band Emblym didn't have the luxury of recognizing, and ripped jeans. Her voice was accented, maybe British?
"I. . ." Emblym stared, and then looked away, her ears hot. "I need to get back to work, so if you could stop whining and get up that would be absolutely great, thank you!" She really did. Her voices were getting annoyed by the sudden lack of action, and began to complain loudly.
The woman inhaled for a few more minutes, and then began to stand, running her hands down her face. "Right ― yes. Of course," She muttered and stood up.
"Go to the subway," Emblym ordered, pointing across the street. She wasted no time in doing so, running as fast as she could, and hurried down the dirty steps. Emblym watched for a few seconds, but then shook her head and summoned her knife again, running back through the street.
• ️ ️ ️ ️•
Emblym gasped for air, clutching her knife tight in her hand. An alien shot at her back, grazing her side, and Emblym hissed, throwing her knife behind her, getting it in the eye. It squealed in agony but shot its gun, hitting Emblym in the shoulder, sending her flying and clutching her shoulder. It was good, but bleeding heavily.
Emblym groaned, stumbling to her feet. She heard a child wailing and a mother desperately trying to shush it several yards away. The aliens attacking her turned towards the noise, a few of them shaving off to go investigate.
"No!" Emblym snapped, struggling to stand. She summoned Hatter's hat in her hand, which was beginning to look a bit shabby from her fighting. She promised Hatter that she'd clean it off later. "I need a distraction," She hissed, and ― to her surprise ― a white grenade appeared in her hand.
One of the voices recognized the grenade and gave her instructions on how to use it. She pulled out the pin and released the casing as the voice instructed. Keeping the pressure constant, she threw it at the largest group of aliens. It landed in the middle of their ranks and they all turned to it, guns pointed.
It exploded, but instead of simply blowing things up, a cloud of dust appeared, obscuring her from view. Emblym ran towards the sound of the crying baby, her knife ready. She cut down the two aliens, using one of their bodies as cover as she turned to the woman cradling her child. "There's. . . a subway down a few blocks from here," Emblym said, the body screeching as its comrades shot at it, still too alive for Emblem's good, but she didn't worry about it now. "I'll take you there, alright?" The woman nodded hurriedly, wrapping the baby in what looked like a dirty hoodie.
"Three. . . two. . . one. . . now!" Emblym threw the body with all her strength at the attackers, then took the woman by the hand, leading her in from of her as she summoned her axe. Utilizing its long width, she skillfully blocked any shots heading her way. Then, she saw a car door hanging open. She ripped it off with strength she didn't even know she had using that as her new cover.
They ducked behind an overturned bus, Emblym gasping madly. She suffered several cuts and bruises, but still carried on. She touched her earpiece, "Any luck?" She breathed.
"Yes," Natasha replied, "I can close it! I can shut the portal down ― can anyone else hear me?" Emblym almost shagged with relief at the news. She turned to the woman, who was staring fearfully at her.
"C'mon," She said and began to run again, turning a sharp corner to where the subway entrance was. Luckily, it was being guarded by policemen. Emblym handed the woman over and turned to run back up the street.
"Do it!" Captain America said, but then Tony interjected.
"No, wait!" Tony said, and Emblym grunted, as a alien nearly shot her in the face. She twisted and hid behind an abandoned car.
"What do you mean wait!?" Emblym snapped, "These things are still coming!" It was true. The pulsing wormhole above them was still leaking aliens nearly an hour after it initially opened.
"I got a nuke coming in and it's going to blow in less than a minute ― and I know just where to put it." Emblym froze, a nuke?
She got up, rushing the alien and threw her knife at it. It landed in its shoulder, and Emblym jumped up, pushing it to the ground and slashing its throat. She was too tired to have fun with these creatures anymore.
The line had went just about quiet, before Captain America said, "Stark, you know that's a one-way trip?" Tony didn't reply.
"Cap, where are you?" Emblym asked, staring at the portal, waiting.
"Times Square," He answered and Emblym nodded, reaching for her back pocket for the map that she stole. This city was annoyingly elaborate. She found the place he mentioned and pivoted, then began to head that direction. It was several blocks away, but Emblym was running, not bothering to play with the aliens following her.
Emblym saw a red blur zoom through the air and turn straight into the portal. "... Shit," She murmured, and everyone seemed to evenly agree with her.
Emblym continued to run for several minutes, slicing through whatever got in her way, but she didn't have to for long. The aliens around her shuddered and fell over in unison. She even heard a loud thud as something heavy hit the ground.
Emblym kept glancing up, seeing a massive explosion heading their way, but Tony had not come through the portal yet. "Close it," She heard Captain America order.
"He's not back yet!" Emblym argued, but it was too late. She saw the portal hole beginning to shrink. She was a block away from the others when she finally saw the others. Captain America saw her approach, and his eyes widened. She probably looked bloody, bruised and absolutely furious. "He wasn't back!" Emblym snapped, as the portal closed quickly over head.
"If we didn't close it, we'd risk a nuclear fallout," Barton said from beside him. Emblym was ready to yell at him, but then she heard a loud laugh.
"He's alive!" Emblym looked up and indeed saw the iron suit plummeting to the earth.
"Son of a gun," Captain America laughed and Emblym smiled, relieved. Then realized something important.
"He's not slowing down!" Thor said, swinging his hammer, but Hulk was in the air first. He jumped up on a building, catching the falling man mid air before sliding off one adjacent to where they stood. The green beast tossed Tony on the ground, and Thor came to him, ripping off his mask.
Everyone was quiet. Even her voices baited their breath in anticipation. When Tony still hadn't stirred, Hulk let out a surprising roar, and Emblym jumped. However, it worked and Tony's eyes burst open. "What the hell? What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."
"We won," Captain America said, his voice hinted with exhaustion.
Emblym, too, laughed. She giggled, at the realization of what they managed to accomplish. She knelt down and sat on the ground, surrounded by rubble and debris.
Tony, who seemed to be in such a state of absolute shock, couldn't figure out how to stop talking. "Alright. Hey. Alright. Good job, guys," he rambled. "Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."
"Do you think it's still standing after all this mess?" Emblym asked and Tony pulled a face.
"Might be - I flew past it as I was fighting. It looked fine."
Thor, who did not seem to want go join in their shawarma conversation looked up at Stark's Tower, which looked an absolute wreck. "We're not finished yet," he stated plainly and Tony looked serious again.
"And then shawarma after," he decided and Emblym moved to help the man up. His suit was a bit heavy, but Emblym managed it. When he was standing again, she gripped her shoulder, which had started bleeding again.
Embylm pulled her hand away and made an annoyed face. She reached out a hand Hatter's hat appeared, "Last thing," she promised. "Bandages?" The hat seemed to know she'd need a lot more than she thought because when she reached her hand in, she pulled out at least six.
Tony was staring at Emblym as she frowned, trying to find somewhere to put them. "How... Does that even work?" He asked, curiously. He moved to touch it, but his fingers passed right through as if it were incoporeal.
"Magic," Emblym replied simply, tipping the hat on her head. She handed each person a roll - even the Hulk, who just scoffed. "Are we going to stand here all day?" She asked, and Thor smirked, holding out his arm and Emblym's eyes narrowed as she wrapped up her shoulder.
"That's going to be a no," she said. "I'd rather be carried by the Hulk than by you again." The Hulk heard this and before Emblym could question it, he grabbed her and jumped, climbing freely up the building.
Emblym - who had again screamed the entire time - jumped as far away as she could when he let her go. "Sarcasm!" Emblym snapped as the others joined her and the Hulk. "I was being sarcastic!"
They were all being carried by Thor, who looked less than amused. Together, they walked into the open penthouse where Loki was groaning, trying to help himself stand with a stair.
As if all telepathically relaying the same message, they pointed their weapons at the inferiour asgardian. Loki turned and stared at them. His usual pristine seaweed hair was undone and his cloak and the rest of his outfit in shambles.
"If it's all the same to you," he spoke slowly, trying to right himself and at least collect a small bit of his dignity. "I'll have that drink."
Hulk seemed to relay all of their emotions at the same time and snorted right in his face. Loki closed his eyes and leaned his head back, finally accepting defeat.
