The Second Battle of New York
The small group stepped out of the Sanctum, making their way down the street, opposite the direction people were running in. Athena was at the forefront, her shield and sword in hand, not even seeming to notice the humans scrambling around her, her attention solely focused on the cause of their mayhem. Tony was quick to follow, Doctor Strange and Wong right behind him, with Dr. Banner bringing up the rear.
Tony frowned when a woman tripped as she was trying to run, looking over her shoulder back at the way she had come, as though to make sure what attacked them wasn't following her. It wasn't that the woman tripped that had alarmed him...it was the fact that she had tripped just a step in front of Athena, yet the goddess didn't seem to pay her any mind. Just continuing on her march towards the enemy. Granted he only had brief contact with her, usually when the Avengers would assemble, and he hadn't seen her in many years. But from what he did know of her, he thought she would have been the sort to help the woman up and check on her before going after the enemy.
He shook his head, crouching over beside the woman and grabbing her arm to help her up, studying her and checking her over quickly, "You ok?" he asked her.
She gave him a nod, opening her mouth as though she were going to say something else, but she flinched when a car crashed into a pole just behind her. He quickly ushered woman on past him, wanting to get her as far away from whatever attack was happening, and behind the defensive line they were going to create.
He called back to the others, "Help him! Wong, Doc," he gestured vaguely at the crashed car while he kept following Athena, guessing that the threat about to come must truly be such a great threat for her to disregard the people around her and focus solely on them. And if it was that bad, she would need all the help she could get.
"Go!" Banner called as he and Wong moved to go help the man stuck in the car in question, "Got it!"
"FRIDAY, what am I looking at?" Tony called into the headset he was wearing just behind his ear, triggering one of his artificial intelligence units to assist.
"Not sure," was the computerized response, "I'm working on it."
"It's the Children of Thanos," Athena shouted back at him, thinking more on the situation, "Thanos wouldn't risk appearing, not with the possibility that Banner and I would land here and tell you what his plan was. He sent his Children to get the stones. They must have tracked the first one here. This is all just an elaborate bait to draw us out."
"Hey!" Tony called back to Doctor Strange, hearing the wisdom in Athena's words. If they really had discovered the Time Stone was there and we're doing all of this to draw them out, the last thing they should do was put it right in front of their faces, "You might wanna put that Time Stone in your back pocket, Doc!"
Doctor Strange crossed his arms, activating his mystical powers in the form of energy around his wrists, "Might wanna use it."
Tony looked ahead once more, just about ready to press himself to the corner of the nearest building and peek around it, not wanting to make himself a target in case these Children of Thanos were down on Earth, but Athena seemed to have no such qualms. For she just continued to march right out into the open, leaving him and Doctor Strange little option but to follow.
He honestly wasn't sure what to make of the sight before him. The ship hovering just above the ground wasn't as terrifying as the Chitauri ships were, they didn't appear as destructive or menacing, but it was large, like a giant ring hovering in the sky, just floating there near Bleecker Street. He had learned enough about spaceships, though, to assume right off the bat that they must have some sort of weapons system if they were here on a mission to obtain the stone. They had to know it wouldn't go without a fight. He couldn't risk allowing the humans to linger there any longer, not knowing when the ship might attack them.
"FRIDAY, evac. anyone south of 43rd Street, notify first responders," Tony called into the communication unit.
"Will do," the computer responded.
"We need to stop them descending," Athena called back to them, "If we can stall it and destroy the teleportation system it may buy us more time."
"On it," Doctor Strange stepped beside her, activating his mystical powers once more, swirling his arms around and gathering the energy before he threw his arms out towards ship, sending a blast of magical energy at it that stalled the engines.
He had only just started together the next blast, intending to take out the teleportation units, as instructed, when they activated. A blue light shown down from the top of the ring, expanding slightly is it reached ground and, within that energy, two figures appeared.
Athena grit her teeth and stiffened at the sight. There had been four Children of Thanos on the sanctuary ship. It made sense though, if there were two stones on Earth and four children: divide and conquer. Two children for the Time Stone, two children for the Mind Stone. A wise strategy. Well, she was sure Thanos meant for it to be a wise strategy. But if he thought she hadn't been paying attention to his children, observing them, and learning how they fought? Then he had another thing coming.
Two children were easier to face down than four and, unlike on the sanctuary ship, where she was fighting in defense, right now she would be on the offense.
"What do we got?" Tony asked as he stepped up on Athena's other side, taking in their two new opponents. A scrawny-looking alien with gray skin that reminded him of a squid and what looked like a gray-skinned mutated version of the Hulk in armor.
"Ebony Maw," Athena murmured, being sure that only the men on either side of her could hear her, "The slim one, telekinetic, keep aware of the objects around you. His preferred means of attack is to thrust objects at his opponent to keep them from getting close enough to deal a blow."
"And the other one?" Doctor Strange asked, watching as they slowly approached.
"Cull Obsidian. He's strong and heavily defended, he relies on brute strength. From what I've seen, he may almost rival the Hulk in strength."
"Speaking of..." Tony glanced back at Banner, "Anytime you want to let the other guy out..."
Before Banner could reply, the squid-like alien began to speak, "Hear me, and rejoice," he called out, standing beside the brute with his hands clasped, far too calm for the situation, "You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. Be thankful, that your meaningless lives are now contributing to..."
"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today," Tony cut in with his typical taunting tone, though his gaze kept drifting to Athena, the woman standing rigidly beside him with her sights locked on the two Children of Thanos, "You better pack it up and get outta here."
The alien seemed to ignore his words, his eyes and attention shifting to Doctor Strange instead, "Stone Keeper...does this chattering animal speak for you?"
Doctor Strange strode forward, his arms raised with the mystical energy swirling around them, preparing for battle, "Certainly not. I speak for myself. There's no trespassing in this city and on this planet."
"It means get lost, Squidward!" Tony shouted.
"You will not be taking Earth as well," Athena warned the two aliens, her sword pointed right at them.
Ebony Maw merely tilted his head to the side, observing her, before he started to lift his mouth in a manner that seemed to resemble a smile, though it looked misplaced on his face, "You could not save one small ship," he taunted her, "Do you truly believe you can save an entire planet?"
"I don't need to save the planet," Athena told him, "I just need to stop you."
While Doctor Strange and Tony had been speaking to the alien, she had no interest in standing there idly. She had used that brief time to examine her surroundings, to take note of every object in the vicinity. Cull Obsidian would rely on his brute strength alone, charging and hitting and punching, but the telepath was far more dangerous. But his resources were limited to the objects around him, he could warp them and twist them and shape them all he desired, but they had to be within his reach. And his reach was limited as well. So she took careful stock of every rock, car, pole, shard of glass, piece of garbage, that littered the streets. And she ran through a number of different battle scenarios in her mind, trying to find the best one to face down this enemy.
It may have taken her longer than normal to observe them for their strengths and weaknesses and come up with a strategy, but now she had one.
Ebony Maw just sighed and rolled his eyes, "They exhaust me," he waved a hand towards them, but spoke to Cull Obsidian beside him, "Bring me the stone."
Athena stiffened and tensed her grip on her sword and shield in preparation as Cull Obsidian began to stride towards them. Doctor Strange as well readied himself for battle, though Tony seemed more at ease, merely turning his head to look at Banner, "Hey, do you want a piece?" he asked the man, recalling Athena's words about Cull Obsidian's strength and how it might rival the Hulk.
"No, not really, but when do I ever get what I want?" Banner mumbled behind him.
"That's right," Tony looked over his shoulder at Banner when he began grunting, to see him curling his hand into fists and tensing his body, as though trying to will the Hulk into existence, but it didn't seem like it was working, "Been a while. Good to have you, buddy."
"I just...I need to concentrate here for one second," Banner grunted once more, struggling and straining to get the Hulk out, the side of his face managing to turn green for just a moment before he lost it, "Come on, come on, man."
"Where's your guy?"
"I don't know. We're currently having a thing."
"There's no time for a thing. That's the thing right there," Tony pointed at the approaching alien, "Let's go!" Banner let out a longer, louder grunt, his face turning green for a brief moment before it was gone again, the Hulk refusing to show, "Dude, you're embarrassing me in front of the wizards."
"I can't...he won't..."
"Stand down Dr. Banner," Athena spoke.
"It's ok," Tony reassured him, before glancing over at Wong, "Can I leave him with you? Thank you."
Wong nodded, "I have him."
Tony turned back to Cull Obsidian as it approached, slowly making his way towards it as he pulled off of his sunglasses and activated his Iron Man suit, puffing out his chest and straightening his shoulders as he walked. It was clear he was intending to make dramatic and heroic entrance as Iron Man...
When Athena launched herself at Cull Obsidian instead, slamming into him with her shield and knocking the creature back towards Ebony Maw. The squid-like alien stood in place, merely waving a single hand to the side to cast the oncoming alien in a different direction, sending it crashing into a car.
Iron Man, who had only just activated some extra boost to his armor, what looked like curved pieces of metal that hovered in the air on either side of his suit radiating a light and pulsing energy, retracted them, staring at the Olympian as she held her ground and stared down Ebony Maw, completely tearing apart his entrance with her own show of brute strength. Despite how human she looked, it was a stark reminder that she was, in fact, a goddess of battle in her own right and every bit as strong as the Hulk. If they couldn't have the Hulk, he would definitely want her on his team.
...if only she and Thor had been around when he had been facing down Rogers. But, then again, what he knew about her family from the legends and the myths, she probably would have taken Rogers side, having ample experience with people backstabbing each other constantly and seeing nothing wrong with it. And if she sided with Rogers so would Thor, he couldn't see either of them facing off against the other as enemies.
He swallowed hard, reminding himself that, for now, she was on his side, "I'll allow that, too."
"What are those?" Banner asked, gesturing at the extra pieces of armor that had faded back into Tony's suit.
"It's nano-tech," Iron Man responded, "You like it? A little..."
Whatever he was about to say was lost, when he was suddenly hurled up into the air with no one attacking him, clearly Ebony Maw was using his power to throw him away. The alien continued his assault, by launching numerous other objects at the rest of the team. Athena raised her shield to defend herself, Doctor Strange and Wong both summoning shields to protect them and Banner.
"Dr. Banner, if the rest of your green friend won't be joining us..." Doctor Strange began, before turning to the man and opening a portal behind him, pulling it forward past Banner to send him to the park, far enough away to be safe, but near enough to rejoin them if he was able to bring the Hulk out.
They looked up just as Iron Man flew back to them, stealing a little of Athena's thunder. Ebony Maw had sent a car flying right at them, she had her sword raised as though she were about to cut right through it, but Iron Man managed to get a blast in of his own, sending it flying back at Ebony Maw, who raised a hand and cut it in half so it wouldn't hit him again.
Now they were even.
"You gotta get that stone outta here, now!" Iron Man shouted down at them.
But Doctor Strange shook his head, "It stays with me."
"Exactly," Iron Man spoke pointedly, clearly telling the man to get out of there with the stone, "Bye!"
Iron Man took off, flying straight for Ebony Maw, ready to attack. But just as he reached the creature, Cull Obsidian was back on its feet and had hurled some sort of metallic claw on a wire at him, sending him flying into the air and away from them.
Athena didn't hesitate to use the distraction of the attack on Iron Man to her advantage, grabbing a piece of metal that had broken off of a pole of some sort and throwing it with deadly aim at Ebony Maw. The creature let out a howl of pain as the metal managed to embed itself and its left shoulder, the telepath unaware it has been coming and too distracted to stop it. But it seemed that the pain and the attack had jerked his attention back and before Athena knew it, she was being sent flying into the air in the same direction as Iron Man had been. She landed with a crash in the middle of a park that was nearby, seeing Iron Man had landed there as well only a few feet away, having skid right into the base of a tree. Banner had been rushing over to check on Iron Man, looking between the two of them to make sure they were alright.
"Tony, you ok?" the man asked, "How we doing? Good? Bad?"
Athena drove the point of her sword into the ground, using it to push herself to her feet.
Iron Man just kept laying there even as he looked up at Banner, "Really, really good. Really good. Do you plan on helping out?"
"I'm trying. He won't come out!"
Athena dove forward suddenly, her shield up and deflecting a blast as Cull Obsidian arrived in the park and tried to strike at Iron Man while he was distracted. She shoved the shield aside and swung her sword at the brute, managing to slice off a finger that sent him crying out in pain and stumbling back only a few paces.
"Down!" Iron Man shouted, and Athena dropped to the ground, Iron Man firing a laser blast at the Cull Obsidian. But he had underestimated the armor that the brute was wearing and it reflected the laser off of it, heading right back at Iron Man who drove to the side. The blast managed to cut the tree he had fallen against at the base. Athena rolled to the side to avoid the falling trunk, though Banner hadn't been as lucky and got caught partially under it. He seemed to still be alive, just trapped.
She could hear him muttering to himself, "Come on, Hulk. What are you doing? Come on. Come on! Come on!" all the while slapping at his own face as though to force the Hulk into being with the pain of it.
It almost seemed to be working as the Hulk let out a roaring, "No!"
Before it disappeared and Banner was speaking again, "What do you mean, no?"
Athena looked back over at where Iron Man was facing down Cull Obsidian, the man flying in circles around the creature and firing a laser at it. She jumped over the tree trunk and ran for them, maneuvering herself behind Cull Obsidian and attacking it from behind while Iron Man had it distracted. She managed to land quite a few blows, slicing at his legs and his back, but he seemed aware of her and she wasn't able to make any more fatal wounds. But it wasn't all for nothing though, with every move she made, with every defense he gave, she learned more and more about his fighting style and his habits. She just needed a few more strikes on the offense and she was sure she'd be able to land that fatal blow.
"Swap!" she shouted at Iron Man, wanting to be on the offense instead of behind Cull Obsidian, but it seemed Iron Man wasn't as great a warrior as he made himself out to be, for instead of maneuvering himself to allow the swap, he seemed to get distracted by her command and looked over.
It was enough of a distraction for Cull Obsidian to swing at Iron Man and bring his rather large warhammer down on the fallen hero.
Iron Man looked up, about to create a shield using his armor to block the blow, his head turning to look for Athena, expecting that she would be trying to do something to get in the way, to block the blow, to defend him. But it seemed the woman was truly in the mindset of battle and was more positioning herself to get a better attack against Cull Obsidian. But suddenly the hammer stopped, and he looked up to see Spider Man was standing in front of him, grabbing the hammer and holding it back from hitting him.
Out of the corner of his eye he could see Athena having to change the direction of her next attack, clearly she had been intending to use the attack's momentum in her own blow, but with Spider Man's appearance halting that her tactic wasn't going to work.
"Hey, man!" Spider Man chastised Cull Obsidian, before looking over his shoulder at Iron Man, "What's up, Mr. Stark?"
"Kid, where'd you come from?"
"The field trip."
Athena let out a war cry and threw herself at Cull Obsidian, unfortunately for Spider Man it drew the attention of the brute and the creature spun, lifting his warhammer to attack her in return, the movement sending Spider Man flying off of the hammer in another direction.
"What is this guy's problem, Mr. Stark?" Spider Man called out.
"He's from space. He came here to steal a necklace from a wizard."
Athena only vaguely heard his words, locked into her battle with the brute, "Get back and guard the Time Stone!" she shouted a command at Iron Man, "I can handle this one."
"Are you sure?" Iron Man called over to her, "He's a big, mean, fighting machine!"
In response, Athena merely knocked Cull Obsidian's next attack away and punched him under the chin in a swift uppercut that sent him flying into the air and all the way across the other end of the park. She spun on her heel to give him a look.
"I take that back," Iron Man remarked, "You got chutzpah, Goldilocks."
"Go!" she ordered, though it came out more of a roaring screech.
As soon as she gave the command, a blur of red went streaking across the sky: Doctor Strange, wrapped in his cloak, speeding in the opposite direction of where the battle with Ebony Maw was taking place.
"Kid, that's the wizard!" Iron Man shouted to Spider Man, "Get on it."
"On it!" Spider Man shouted back, immediately going after Doctor Strange.
"Go!" Athena repeated to Iron Man when she saw Ebony Maw following after Doctor Strange, standing on a piece of concrete he was using his powers to levitate and fly on.
"I'm not leaving you here alone!" Iron Man argued.
Athena, irritated, grabbed what looked like a broken shard of a tree branch from the ground and hurled it after Ebony Maw. They watched as it managed to embed itself in the back of the creature's leg as he passed, driving him down on his right knee though the alien didn't stop in his chase.
"Watch out!" Iron Man gave warning as Cull Obsidian rushed for Athena, ready to attack her while she was somewhat distracted.
Athena appeared one step ahead, anticipating his move before she turned and skid right under his attacking arm, to thrust her sword out, stabbing the brute right in the knee.
Iron Man whistled and hissed at the sight of it, "That's gotta hurt..." he murmured, and indeed it did sound like Cull Obsidian was in a great deal of pain with the roar he let out.
Cull Obsidian grabbed his warhammer tightly in his hand and turned to Athena, murder in his eyes, the woman already lifting her shield against the coming blow...when a portal opened right in front of her and Cull Obsidian fell through it into an icy tundra. The brute got his bearings back very quickly and looked over his shoulder at the portal still in the air. He turned and ran for it, ready to jump back through and continue to fight, when the portal closed itself just as his arm reached through, severing it and letting it flop onto the grass.
Athena stared at it a moment as it stilled before she looked up to see Wong standing before them, having rushed after Doctor Strange, he had opened a portal to help stop at least one of the Children of Thanos.
There was a sudden flash of light behind them and they turned to see a beam coming out from the sky, seeming to catch Doctor Strange in its hold, pulling him upwards towards the ship, Spider Man seeming to struggle with keeping the man on the ground.
"Hang on, kid!" Iron Man shouted into a communication device to Spider Man, before pointing over at Wong, "Wong, you're invited to my wedding," he called, taking off into the air, using the rockets in his boots to rush after the two.
Athena raced after him, trying to run in the direction the beam was, seeing Spider Man had lost his grip on whatever was keeping him to the ground, taking him and Doctor Strange up within it, disappearing into the ship. She saw Iron Man flying after them at the ship began to leave the Earth and skid to a halt when it disappeared, too out of reach for her to be able to do anything or jump to help. She let out a fearsome cry and turned to punch a nearby traffic pole, actually sending her fist through the metal and causing the pole to fall down to the ground.
A portal opened behind her and she turned to see the outside of the lair that she and Thor had visited a short while ago. She stepped through it, to find herself in front of the door, Banner and Wong having gone through their own portal and reaching there as well.
"Can you open a portal to that ship?" Banner turned to Wong as a man went up the steps towards the door.
"No," Athena answered instead, putting her sword and shield away. While she was sure the man could open a portal onto the ship, there was just one problem with that. One stone was on its way to Thanos, and another still resided on Earth, with the person holding it unaware of what was awaiting him, "Iron Man and that other one..."
"Spider Man," Wong told her.
"They're both going after Doctor Strange, to protect him and the Time Stone. I don't believe there's anyone else aboard save Ebony Maw or they would have come to assist on the ground. The two of them should be able to take him down, keep the wizard safe, and return him to Earth. But right now we have a bigger problem."
"I don't know..." Banner began, "The Time Stone being anywhere near a Child of Thanos sounds like a big problem to me."
"Yes the Time Stone is near A Child of Thanos," she emphasized, "But there were four Children of Thanos that attacked our ship, and only TWO appeared here for the Time Stone. There is still another Infinity Stone on this Earth..."
"And the other two Children are heading right for it," Banner realized. He scrambled to pull something out of his pocket, the flip phone that Tony had had but dropped earlier, their only means of contacting Steve Rogers and getting in touch with Vision.
Banner stepped aside, lifting the phone to his ear as he tried to contact the man, when Athena noticed Wong heading through the door and into the lair, "Where are you going?" she demanded, following after him into the building.
"The Time Stone's been taken," Wong stated, "The Sanctum remains unguarded. I cannot help you any longer, I must stay here and protect the Sanctum."
"You can still do something!" Athena argued, striding after him and grabbing his arm to keep him from leaving, spinning him to face her once more, "Do you not understand that there's still an Infinity Stone on this planet, and it is in danger of being taken by Thanos? He may have gotten up to three by now, do not let it be four!"
"I gave my oath to the Sanctum, not your Infinity Stone. I can do no more for you."
"You can send me to the next stone," Athena kept her grip on his arm even as he tried to turn away from her, she would not release it.
"No. Every moment the Sanctum remains open leaves in vulnerable for attack. I must seal it away..."
"To Hades with your Sanctum! The fate of this Universe rests in our hands, and you are refusing to help!"
"I cannot forsake my oath!"
Athena grabbed him by the front of the shirt and turned to slam him against the nearest wall. Wong let out a breath as he was winded, his hands coming up to try and pry hers off of him, but she wouldn't be moved. However he managed to grab hold of the wrapping around her left hand and rip it off of her, his eyes growing wide when he saw her entire hand up to her wrist was gray in skin.
He looked back at her, a deep frown on his face when he saw something flash in her eyes, "This is a dangerous path you walk," he warned, genuinely sounding concerned for her.
Athena just tightened her grip on his shirt, "If it leads me to Thanos, I don't care."
Wong swallowed hard and gave a short nod, signaling for Athena to let him go, which she did, hastily rewrapping her left hand so Banner wouldn't see. Wong reached up to rub the top of his chest, just under his neck, feeling as though the skin there would start to bruise with how much force Athena had used to hold him down. He took a deep breath, "I will send you to the holder of the next stone," he offered, "But that is all I can do."
Athena's jaw clenched, but she gave him a firm nod of acceptance. She looked over her shoulder when Banner hesitantly entered the room, clutching the phone in his hand.
He looked between the two of them, noting the very obvious tension, "Everything alright in here?" he asked cautiously.
"He is going to send me to Vision," Athena told him, "Have you been able to locate him?"
Banner glanced between them one more time, before nodding, "According to the Cap, Scotland," he stepped closer to Wong, holding up the phone to the last known location Steve had had contact with Vision in, giving him the coordinates to make his portal.
A moment later the swirling vortex appeared against the wall, revealing a street already dark in the night and undisturbed. Athena looked at Banner, "Get to the Avenger's base," she instructed him, "I will meet you there with Vision."
She waited till he nodded before stepping through, ready to find the stone.
A/N: Hmmm...Athena does NOT seem happy that the Time Stone was taken, that means Vision's is the only one left that she can protect. She's failed once on earth...I think we all know she won't let herself fail again. I wonder how she'll handle two more Children of Thanos? };) We'll also get a little more Thor in the next chapter too. Athena thinks he's dead, he at least has hope she's alive, but how will he handle the separation and what choices will he make? ;)
I agonized in this chapter too if Athena should go with Strange or Banner, but since Thor was the one with flying abilities, Athena was a little more 'grounded' in this battle. Iron Man didn't think to grab her to go with him in the heat of the moment and, as fast as she is, she couldn't catch up to them in time :( I figure she would focus on the other Child who was grounded and leave the one who could fly to the other Avenger who could fly, it just didn't work out the way she hoped :(
Some notes on reviews...
The Children will certainly experience a side of Athena they'll wish they'd never let out };)
I'm glad you liked the Hulk-Bucky parallel, that was something I couldn't help but think about after Ragnarok, how Bruce had no idea what Hulk had done those two years on the planet, how it was possible he didn't remember other things Hulk could have done too, how he sometimes wakes up asking if he hurt anyone because he can't remember :( And there was also the part with Clint too, like he was mind controlled, almost like the brainwashing Bucky went through, but Tony still let him into his home. It's on a different scale, in how personal the attack was, but I felt like Tony needed a real friend, someone he truly considered a partner, to bring that up to him :(
I can't say if Athena will contact her family or not, she may be a bit too focused on Thanos and his children than to think of it. But there will be a part where some aspect of her family is brought into the story ;) As for Proxima Midnight in the final battle...we'll have to see how the first fight with Proxima goes first };)
I think Athena would have been a little proud of Loki too :')
I was sad in this chapter, because Athena only really gets a glimpse of Spidey and he's adorable :( But we'll definitely get to see her interact with Cap, Natasha, and Sam next ;) As for the gray, it's not a dot anymore, we'll find out exactly what it is though yup ;)
It's definitely going to be hard for Athena to find a balance with the constant battles :( She tried to here, with taking time to assess her enemies and try to come up with a strategy, but it all fell apart when Strange was taken :( Now that Thanos may have another Stone, she's going to be in battle mode to keep Vision safe :(