There's a war we're fighting, on the front line for our King, it's a battle for our souls, against a heartless enemy, let us rise soldiers, united by the call, we give nothing less than all, we might stumble, we might fall - Fight Forever, Anthem Lights

Chapter Twenty Two

Final Battle

The city was swarming with people. Not a good thing as far as Mira was concerned. But thankfully they were already making a break for it once the Avengers arrived. The small plane landed near the surrounding buildings of Los Angeles.

Mira took a deep breath as she thought of what awaited them. According to the files more than twenty soldiers had followed Pavel through the Portal. She wondered how they had kept quiet for the amount of time they were in the User world.

"'Kay guys, we're gonna need to make this quick and as painless as possible," Tony said after meeting them in his Iron Man suit. "We've got hostiles all over the place. Same energy readings as Cyrus."

"Tony, you keep an eye on the sky. Make sure these hostiles don't have any means of escape," Steve, suited up as Captain America, said over the earpiece. "Mira, Beck, you stay down here with me."

She tried not to roll her eyes in annoyance. Natasha and Clint looked more than ready for the fight of their lives. Mira only hoped that it didn't come to that. If her assumptions were right, than Clu would have created more weapon upgrades. And that meant the soldiers that had followed Pavel were more dangerous than ever.

"My, my, isn't this is an unpleasant surprise." Mira rolled her eyes when Pavel finally stepped out of the shadows. She was surprised he wasn't wearing the usual program suit that Cyrus had. "I was hoping to find you two again. Which of you would like to die first?"

Captain America threw his shield towards Pavel, who moved at an impossible speed. The shield was caught by a soldier standing behind Pavel. Pavel's eyes were narrowed in disgust as the soldier leaped backward and threw the shield back at full force.

"Why are you doing this?" Beck was fighting three soldiers at once as they tried pinning him down. Natasha and Clint fought alongside each other as the soldiers rushed forward. Captain America reached Pavel, who seemed more intent on watching the fight than joining.

"I was given direct orders under Clu to bring these two to justice," Pavel sneered. "They committed crimes throughout the Grid, and they need to be punished."

Mira kicked aside a soldier that had aimed his fist dangerously close to her cheek. They didn't have disks, but the weapons they did carry were dangerous enough. Pavel had armed them with knives and guns, leaving Mira to wonder how he knew exactly what to look for.

"Pavel, haven't you heard that Clu is dead?" Mira threw back another soldier that managed to swing his knife across her cheek. She ignored the stinging pain and glared at Pavel, whose grin quickly faded.

"Lies!" Pavel threw out his legs and knocked Captain America aside. Mira flinched when he landed on the ground with a sickening thud.

Pain seared down her back when a soldier managed to aim a knife at her, only to be shot at by a well-aimed arrow. The soldier was only down for an instant before lashing out again. Mira dodged from side to side, avoiding the dagger just as Beck threw his disk.

"Thanks," she gasped when the soldier blacked out.

"Are you alright?" Beck demanded after reaching her.

She punched the soldier approaching her from behind and grinned. "I think I'll live," she replied.

Beck grabbed a soldier that was getting a little too close for comfort. He wrapped his arms around the soldier's neck and flipped him. Mira ducked to avoid a throwing dagger. Almost at once the soldier was shot down by an arrow.

"Why do I get the feeling that these guys are just a distraction?" Clint asked after knocking down what felt like the hundredth soldier.

"Hang on guys, I'm picking up something on my sensor," Tony announced through the earpiece. "Yep, thought I recognized that reading." Mira felt her blood run cold when he landed nearby, scaring the few bystanders away. "We've got a major problem on our hands."

"No duh genius." Mira threw her disk at another soldier that was running at them at full speed.

"No, like, SHIELD dangerous," Tony scoffed. He aimed his thrusters towards a group of soldiers that were less than intimidated by his suit's appearance. The soldiers let out cries of pain before running off to who knew where. "The Portals that you closed somehow opened up, and their causing a rift throughout the city."

"English please," Clint muttered. He shot an explosive arrow towards the remaining soldiers scattered throughout the streets. In a matter of seconds they fell over, one by one.

"Pavel has the warship." Mira's eyes widened when she realized that Beck was right.

How in the Users did he get that thing here? Mira wondered as she gazed up at the massive ship. It dwarfed the hellicarrier. Glass shattered as it flew through the narrow streets towards the team. Shudders ran down Mira's arms as she remembered how often she and Beck had almost gotten trapped inside.

"Now than, you can either give yourselves up, or I'll destroy this entire city!" Pavel's voice boomed over the intercom.

Mira frowned as she thought of what to do next. Pavel was serious. He enjoyed killing programs as much as Cyrus had. But there was one thing he didn't count on. This was exactly what this team was trained for.

"Hawkeye, think you can aim your arrows at those thrusters?" Tony was flying around the ship, trying to find any weak points it might have.

"Easily," Clint replied with the slightest of grins.

He grabbed an arrow and aimed it towards one of the two thrusters. Mira reached for her disk and activated it. The arrow flew towards one of the thrusters. Mira threw her disk after it landed. The explosion that followed shook the city.

"That should do it." Mira flinched as the smoke cleared. She had a feeling that Natasha was far from right.

Her assumptions were right. Pavel stood among the debris, grinning as he held up a pair of weapons Mira guessed were made on the Grid.

"I won't be taken down that easily," he sneered. He fired the weapons. Mira cringed when she realized that the weapon was a combination of upgrades programs had created. From Tesler's arms, to Dyson's disk that held on to the end of a strap. "Now I was told to bring you back to the Grid, and I'm going to die trying!"

Teeth grinding together, Mira jumped out of the way as an arm extension reached for the startled group. Captain America raised his shield to protect Clint and Natasha from the attack, while Beck staggered to the side, narrowly avoiding the attack.

"Pavel, this is crazy!" Beck sliced the arm off with his disk. It landed on the ground in a pile of pixels, but the disk extension flew right towards him. "Since when has Clu ever cared about anyone but himself?" Mira finally caught her breath, but Pavel was far from finished.

The former commander suddenly charged forward, throwing down the weapons and raising his own fists. He was after Beck. Mira bit the bottom of her lip and threw out her leg, hoping to trip Pavel before he could reach Beck. His eyes narrowed with rage as he leaped into the air.

"This is getting old, fast," Natasha muttered as she caught Pavel by the collar of his suit. She pulled his arms back just as he struggled to free himself from her firm grip. "Now Clint!"

Mira flinched when he aimed an arrow at Pavel. A chilling silence filled the air as the arrow landed. Pavel finally let out a scream of pain as it sent jolts of electricity through him. Moments later and he slumped to the ground.

"What was that?" Beck asked after realizing what just happened.

"He won't be fighting again." Mira felt her blood run cold when Clint said that. "Not if we have any say in it."

"Damage Control's gonna have their hands full," Tony said after joining them. "We need to gather these soldiers and make sure there aren't any hiding," he added.

And make sure that Pavel wasn't hiding anymore weapons, Mira added silently. She knew all too well that Pavel wouldn't let them forget this. But at least now that he was dead, he wouldn't be causing any pain on the Grid once it was Sam and Quorra's project was finished.

Their fight was over. And now Mira had to decide whether or not she should join SHIELD.

I think I'd rather fight Pavel all over again, she thought.

AN: So... yeah. Like I said, this feels more rushed than ever. But it was an important chapter, and the climax of the story. There's only a few more chapters left before the end, so enjoy it while you can ;) Big thanks to 2theSky and PrincessKai317 for reviewing! You guys are awesome!

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