Thanos' power had grown, as Loki had predicted, with the more stones that he collected, so much that he'd managed to reach out to pick the minds of the sorcerers of Asgard. One of them, a blonde woman that Natasha recognized as Amora, had come forward as soon as the barriers around the palace had been broken. Thanos' connection with her had been severed as well but he'd gotten what he needed to know: the attack, the opportune moment to strike-all he'd had to do was transport his already able army into place and slip through the weak pockets between Yggdrasil to come at Asgard from behind.
"The troops posted there didn't stand a chance to blow their horns to signal oncoming attackers," Amora was gasping, her cheeks stained pink and her eyes enormous as she stared up at Thor. "And their numbers are too vast."
Thor growled deeply in his chest, his eyes narrowing as he hefted Mjolnir tighter in his grip. "Did you see anything else?"
"He sides with Ronan the Accuser, and the other Kree. The Chitauri lead the invasion-."
"I've got them," Stark said. He'd landed beside Thor, and stiffened to leave. Thor's hand around his arm stopped him.
"We need a plan."
"I have a plan. Attack." Stark shook him off before taking off. Nat bit her tongue as she watched him go. The great idiot. He didn't have an eternal battery life for his suit or his reactor-she'd heard him talk about the technology on Asgard and how it was stronger than what they had on Midgard, but the density of the planet also wasn't being taken into account, or how much more it would cost to fly for long periods of time. Not that he'd listen to her. Thor growled as he left, but at least Stark was keeping the fight concentrated in the air, catching the attention of the Chitauri scouts before they could report or attack. Natasha swore she heard a beastial bellow coming from deeper within the city, saw the flash of something green leaping into the air and off a building when a Chitauri got too close, before it was sent crashing into a nearby building, and she smiled to think that at least Banner had found a way to get his anger out while here.
Thor worked to split the remaining fighters into factions, asking that Magneto concentrate on keeping the Chitauri as far back from the city as possible while they worked to take them out. Whatever Thanos was anticipating he doubted it would be for a master of metal to be on their side. With his daughter at his side the two sped away, flanked by Cain, Mystique, and Logan. Clint was to be positioned at the tallest point he could stomach-which was saying something-to signal to the other archers when and where to fire, with Amora to shield him and strengthen his voice so that they could hear him. At least the benefit to the city would be that there were a great deal of places for the archers to gain the vantage point, or else find cover when they needed. It raised Natasha's spirits, if only a little.
Jane stumbled where she'd stood at Natasha's side, catching the redhead's attention immediately, reaching out a hand to steady her companion, and tried to move her to the side and away from the direct line of action. Jane's eyes drooped as Nat wrapped an arm around her. "Hey, take deep breaths," Natasha murmured, feeling the woman's pulse quickening, careening out of control. She needed to keep focused. "We practiced this, remember? It's just the extra energy-." There was an explosion that hit a couple feet off to their right and Thor looked back at the pair of them. Worry flashed on his face, and for the first time Nat took a good look at him. He had spatterings of black blood down the side of his face, but didn't seem to be hurt at all.
"Does she need to go inside with the others?"
"I'm fine," Jane gasped, and when her eyes opened again they were deep, Aether red. A good sign, Natasha supposed. "Just point me in the direction."
That they could do. Those who remained stuck to the ground where they could, and as the Chitauri advanced both on foot and above-Stark and Hulk doing what they could to take them out when the opportunities arose-Natasha didn't think they'd run out of opponents. It wasn't exactly a comfort, but they would make the best of it that they could. Using her blades to deflect what shots she could, she struggled to get another shield in front of her. Jane was having better luck, and as she thrust her arms forward, palms out in front of her, the Aether responded with shooting tentacles of energy in the direction of the attackers flying above. Their chariots careened into buildings as the bodies of their riders fell, dead, to the ground, but there would always be a chance to rebuild.
Those that were on the ground were easier to handle, and Natasha found that their armor was weakest beneath the chins as had been with the Dark Elves. While the elves had been crafty, knowing just where to shoot to bring down an Aesir, the Chitauri kept clumsily attacking the shields, as though hoping that through a rapid succession of shots they might hit something. Their necks were fragile as well, Natasha found, after one had pushed her to the ground and she'd kicked up at it hard enough to snap its neck. Its grey body fell with a heavy thud to the ground, and she grabbed the gun-spear that it had been fighting with, holstering her own weapons.
She aimed and shot, glad to see that their armor didn't make them impervious to their own weapons, as she took down a couple that way, forced to give up where she was standing in order to duck and dodge a shot coming back her way. It took her a couple feet closer, allowing her to land a kick to the nearest Chitauri's gut, and bury her sword into its throat, but another shot very nearly missed her leg. She cursed inwardly and returned fire.
Still, it didn't matter how many she took out. Wave after wave continued to come at them, the leviathans screaming as they cut through buildings, their armored wings knocking through the stone and metal as though it was wet paper. What was more, she'd heard of the Kree, heard of their fighting prowess. Thanos was wearing them down with the pawns, with the sheer number of them, before he'd send in the real fighters. It made sense. Odin had done the same thing, she remembered, and the memory burned hard in her chest. She'd been pulled from one home, watched it destroyed, and now she would face the same-if not worse-if they didn't win. It made things simple when she thought about it from that perspective, and she pushed on.
The elves had moved to side with Thanos as well, not wishing to be caught on what they considered to be the losing end, but their numbers had significantly dwindled. Natasha, Jane, and Thor caught a few of them as they ran towards the Titan's forces, but even that wasn't necessarily enough to save them. Whether caught in the crossfire between the Chitauri, who didn't seem to recognize them as ally, or obliterated in the crumbling city, they hardly added a significant presence to the fighting forces. More of a distraction, really, though it had the potential to turn deadly.
The first of the Kree were beginning to show up as well. Gamora, who'd fought at their side, snarled to see a pair of blue figures making their way towards the inner city that they were trying to keep protected. One of the figures was tall, wielding an enormous, long-staffed black hammer that Natasha wouldn't have been amazed if it could've cracked the pavement open beneath them. The other was shorter, lithe, a thick purple stripe running down the center of her face as she stared with black eyes that seemed to stare into Natasha's very soul. She suppressed a shudder as Gamora took off running for the woman, shouting: "NEBULA!" as her green skin rocketed past them all, blades out and at the ready.
Which left Ronan, as Natasha had come to recognize him, for the rest of them. He grinned, leaving the two women to fight it out, before turning his hammer to the others.
"There's no need for this further bloodshed." His voice resounded through the small clearing they'd found themselves occupying, stepping over the dead Chitauri, Einherjar, and Dark Elves that littered the ground. "Lay down your weapons, surrender to Thanos, and you may still be granted your lives."
Thor had come to stand at Natasha's side, Jane with the rest of the company. and he grew stiff at the demands. Teeth bared, and eyes narrowed, he looked over to Natasha for the quickest of seconds. She shook her head as subtly as she could manage, and with a shout that echoed, Thor was the first to lead the charge towards Ronan, Natasha hot on his heels. The Chitauri surged forward as well, guns forgotten, fists meeting with armor and weapons. More than once Natasha caught sight of Thor taking on Ronan by himself, and her heart jumped to choke her, before a close call with a blade or fist would capture her attention once more.
Her muscles ached, she was bleeding from somewhere near her temples where a fist had caught her unaware, and there was a wound in her left leg from a stray shot that hurt when she put too much pressure onto it. It would heal, quickly too she hoped, soldiering on and trying to make her way closer to the fighting pair.
There came a crashing cry from behind that took her off guard, resulting in the blade at the tip of the nearest Chitauri's spear slicing her right thigh. She swore and grabbed it by the helmet, pulling it downwards as she forced the blade in her right hand into his face until the hilt met its skin. As she shoved it away from her she turned, catching sight of a flash of green, gold, and black, followed closely behind by a mass of shouting, enormous blue giants. The Jotnar crashed through the city with little regard, but with one fell swoop of the nearest's arm, covered in barbed ice, half a dozen Chitauri went with it. Natasha's heart leapt as, hot on their heels, she heard the sound of hooves and the shouts of the Disir joined the air, their spears drawn, faces gaunt and mouths pulled into wide snarls. They swept through on the outskirts of the city, cutting off the other side of the Chitauri to keep them from getting any closer.
Loki stopped at Natasha's side, lip split, but grinning all the same.
"King Katrik regrets to inform you that he won't be joining us, but I did get this." He held out his hand, a green shaped gem in the shape of a crescent in his gloved palm. An infinity stone. It seemed to be eating at the leather of his glove, but he didn't seem worried about it. She would've kissed him if she hadn't heard Thor's familiar shout, both of their heads snapping, in unison, towards where he'd disappeared within the confusion.
Ronan had him by the throat and was tightening his grip as they watched, Mjolnir nowhere in sight as Thor's hands clawed at the Kree's hands. The man was grinning, his black teeth displayed between thick black lips, and before Natasha could think-could breathe-Loki had left her side. She shouted, but the noise was lost in the thick of the battle, only able to chase after him, catching sight of gold and black as it whipped through the legs of the fighting giants and drew closer to his brother. As she pushed her way past one of the passing warriors she watched as Thor was dropped to the ground, gasping, back arching as his lungs struggled to work, and Loki's scepter crashed as it came into contact with Ronan's hammer. There was the grating of metal against metal as they shoved apart, then collided once more. Loki's hands were empty, she saw, and swore that as she saw the scepter part the air she caught sight of something green glinting in the space just between the two blades.
She thought of picking up one of the fallen Chitauri weapons, of trying to fire and hit Ronan while he was unsuspecting, but there was too high of a possibility of striking Loki as well that she didn't dare risk it. There wasn't much else she could do besides watch, and even then that was only done in between avoiding blows herself, ducking under the fist of one of the brigands that Thanos had brought with him-a man with tusks as thick as her wrist sprouting from just under his helmet, a sellsword who found Thanos' price to be far more agreeable to whatever else his life had to offer, she guessed. He was far better at combat than she was pleased to find out, a fist landing a blow in her abdomen that she was certain cracked a rib or two. Air was difficult to come by, and she let out a shout as she shoved back against him with her magic. There was a crack as his neck snapped backwards with the force of her blow. In the corner of her eyes she caught sight of one of the Disir catching another vagabond by the throat and lifting him towards her mouth, sucking the soul from its very lips before dumping the discarded body to the ground and wheeling her horse around to carry on towards the next one. Whatever Loki had promised them, Natasha hoped that he'd clearly defined who it was they were allowed to do that to.
There came a bolt of light that caught Natasha's attention, as well as those who were close enough, blinding any who looked directly into it as the entire earth pulsed, shoving those nearest back to the ground. Natasha included. She landed with a shout of pain, her arm twisted wrong beneath her, but couldn't stop herself from sitting up and blinking to remove the stars from her eyes.
Where Ronan had stood now remained a husk, the armor of the enormous man collapsing without its owner to keep it upright. Loki and Thor were both blown back by the force, and Thor gaped at the painfully bright gem still glowing from its place within the center of the weapon.
Scrambling to get upright once more, Natasha hurried towards the pair of them, sinking to her knees to figure out just what had happened, when Clint's voice filled the shocked silence.
"Hey, everyone, we've got movement coming in just behind Thanos' armies. Not sure what the hell it might be, but you might want to get someone out there to check it out for sure. We're not expecting more company, are we? Because they're coming out of the mountains-."
"Hreidmar is honoring his oath," Thor said, his face flashing with hope, attention drawn from the scepter as he stood slowly, Loki following suit as he aided Natasha up. "Brother, did I not tell you that they would come through in the end?"
"Don't you dare curse the campaign, we're far from done, yet." Loki spat, his eyes narrowed. But the howl that came from the other side of the city perked him up, his eyes alight as he turned to watch an enormous wolf bound towards them. As it grew closer it transformed smoothly, cleanly, into Fenrir, the man grinning and decked in the same armor that Natasha had seen him in. In his wake came the remnants of Vanaheim's armies, armed to the teeth and fury burning in their eyes.
"Hope we didn't miss all the fun," Fenrir said, stopping beside the three of them. "You saved some for the rest of us, didn't you? Already made short work of Jerome's paltry forces."
Nat could've kissed him, nodding swiftly. "We've still got Thanos, and the Other that keeps his company."
"Then what in the Nine are we doing standing around waiting for him to come to us?"