Chapter 2: Assemble, Part 2
*Tribeca, Manhattan*
14:57 EST May 4, 2012 AD
It was a war zone.
Left and right, the giant blue creatures destroyed and killed and ravaged. The NYPD rushed to respond as best they could, regular units and SWAT divisions taking to the streets, engaging the blue titans as best they could. It was clear, however, that they were outmatched and overpowered. Desperately, they fired their weapons of handguns and combat shotguns and assault rifles in their attempts to battle the creatures that were destroying them. This was the scene across all of the island of Manhattan, not just here in Tribeca. But here, the carnage was just as bad as across the island. The Frost Giants (their names unknown to the humans) sowed destruction in their paths, their power and might seemingly unchallenged. It was chaos.
His sister, however, knew chaos like no other.
As a Jotun made to slam his ice club upon a squadron of police firing at it, it was suddenly bombarded by a flurry of pink-colored spheres of energy. The Jotun roared in pain as it staggered back against the barrage, its weapon falling to the ground and shattering in half. Across the metallic-carnage filled street stood a woman wearing an all scarlet outfit made of a coat-dress fusion attire with a cut down by her legs, revealing legs covered by scarlet pants and scarlet boots. From her gloved hands came the dangerous hex energy that was bombarding the Jotun, which now was collapsing into the side of a nearby building, its body now seared with ugly scorches and marks. The woman's attention was suddenly diverted as all other nearby Jotun roared and began charging at her, weapons in hand.
"Was your brother not enough of an example?" she mused to herself as her hands began glowing again, this time with the powers of arcane arts. With a yell, she fired massive bolts of magical hex energy at her opponents, unleashing a slew of chaotic side effects upon their bodies, enticing more roars of pain and agony. So concentrated on her current batch of enemies was she, however, that she failed to see another group of Jotun charging her from her side.
Luckily, however, she was saved by a sudden blur and gust of wind as punches going at the speed of sound and too fast for the naked eye to see, powered by mighty momentum, bombarded said Jotun, catching them by surprise as they roared in pain and confusion. The woman's attention was suddenly diverted as their bodied crashed into the pavement before her eyes, the blur slowing down to reveal a man that had the same face as the woman, except his eyes were a different shade of blue. He had white hair in contrast to her brunette locks, and he wore an attire consisting of blue & gray Kevlar mesh shirt with streaks of white bolts on the side, along with black pants & footwear. He had a smirk on his face as he stared at her, which she retorted to with a huff and a cross of her arms. The roars of more Jotun returned their focus to more creatures appearing, now making for them.
"Wanda, my sister," the man smirked as he readied himself, his voice coated in an Eastern European accent. "Try to keep up."
"Pietro, my brother," the woman huffed as her hands glowed again, her voice wearing the same accent. "Try not to be such an ass."
*Entering NYC airspace; 2000ft above Times Sqaure*
14:57 EST May 4, 2012 AD
"How bad is it?" Agent Barton asked as he readied his quiver.
"Apocalyptic bad," the Director responded, his voice echoing through their comms. "We're reading multiple portal incursions, and tons of these things are coming out of the portals. What they are, we have no idea; they don't match anything on the SWORD database."
"So, we are basically jumping into a war against an enemy whom we know nothing about, da?" Agent Romanova asked as she flew the jet, her Russian accent thick with agitation of the situation. She hated going into combat against an enemy they knew nothing about that could easily rip her in half, like the images on the screen were showing.
"Sounds fun," Agent Morse smirked, her battle staves at the ready. "Anything on a potential source, a point of origin, anything? That would help a bit."
"Negative, Morse. Our satellites aren't picking up jack on a specific point."
"Ok, so an enemy we know nothing about, who can clearly give pack a punch and are three times our size," Barton mused, pulling his cowl over his face. "How do we play this out?"
"Like we always do, soldier," another voice said with authority. It came from the drop ship's closed launch door, from a man in his early thirties who was heavily muscled thanks to an experimental serum in the 1940s. He wore body armor stylized in the manner of the American Flag, a white star in the middle on his chest, and he wore thick red leather combat gloves & boots. He wore a helmet with a white letter A on its front, and his hand was a large vibranium/adamantium alloy shield, the American Flag styled on it with a white star in the middle. "We go down there, save innocents, and knock these things into next week."
"You know, there is something about your old fashioned speaking that always gets me itching for a fight, old man," Barton smirked.
"Then I'm expecting some action from you down there," the man smirked. He then placed a finger on his comm. "Fury, what's our back up status?"
"The other Secret Warriors are an hour out, at least, Captain; you five are the closest ones there."
"Brilliant," Agent Drew sighed, her fist beginning to glow with green energy. Before anyone else could say anything, though…
"-anvers to SHIELD-zzzt!- Come in! This is Carol Dan-zzzzttt bzztz jhdbcd!-Back up now! I repeat, New York is under attackbsbbbzzzzt!-Help here now-bzzzt!" A new female voice rang through the comms, a voice unfamiliar to the Captain. Not so for the others, however; the other four SHIELD agents hadn't heard that voice in the comms for a few years now, and never expected to again since the owner of the voice quit the Warriors some years back.
"Carol!" Drew replied into her comm, happy to hear the voice of her best friend. "Oh my God, where are you?! What's going on down there?! Can you hear us?!"
"Barely! There's too-zzzzt—tic, I think it's the interference from the energy! Where are you, Jess?!"
"I'm on a drop ship with Cap, Natasha, Clint & Bobbi, entering New York airspace. We're about to drop into Times Square-!"
"Then redirect to the Upper West Side! I got a lady with magic powers & some huge ass guy with an axe here! They're the ones who opened the portals-AAAARRRGHHH!" The distinctive sounds of battle and impact rang through the comms as a resonating collision sounded out. "And…they pack a punch…I need help with these guys!"
"Ok, boys and girls, you heard Danvers," the Director's voice said. "Divert your path to her location; we stop those guys she's engaging, we may stop this! Danvers, what is your exact position!?"
"34th Street-zztztzt-Avenue-BOOM! AARRGHH! DAMMIT! SCREEAAAAHHHHHOWWW! AAAAAA-! BZZbzzzzzzttt…." Static, and the line went dead.
"Carol!" Agent Drew yelled out, but to no avail, as no response came. "Carol, answer me, dammit!" Her mask began to slowly wet near the eyes. "CAROL!"
"Danvers, respond!" the Director ordered, with no response. "Danvers, respond, do you copy?!" Still nothing. "All five of you, get to her last known location and-!"
BOOM!
"We've been hit!" Romanova yelled out as she struggled to keep the jet airborne. A blast of green energy had hit one of the wings and a chunk of the rear engine, badly damaging the flying mechanisms, the result being the drop ship starting to plummet right to earth. "Brace yourselves for crash landing!"
"Negative, Romanova!" the Captain yelled as he punched the bay door button, opening the launch bay. "Everyone, abandon ship! We're going in hot! Drop, now!" With that, he jumped off the falling jet, straight for the ground.
"He's crazy!" Barton yelled as he ran to the bay and jumped after him.
"Geronimo!" Morse yelled as she did the same.
"Drew?" Romanova asked as she came to the British SHIELD agent. "Are you alright?"
"We're going to kill them," Drew snarled at the Russian. "Every last one of them."
"Spazio, baby," Romanova smirked as she cocked her M27 machine gun. "Let's go." With that, the two former assassins jumped out of the plummeting jet, themselves now plummeting after their teammates. All five of them refused to let fear grip them, allowing only determination and skill guide them as they plummeted down into Manhattan, into the carnage caused by these creatures, ready to engage their enemies.
Agent Clint Barton, codename: Hawkeye.
Agent Bobbi Morse, codename: Mockingbird.
Agent Natalia Romanova, codename: Black Widow.
Agent Jessica Drew, codename: Spider Woman.
All led by Captain Steve Rogers, the legendary Captain America.
*Stark Tower*
14:58 EST May 4, 2012 AD
"Oh god…Oh…Oh, Tony…"
"Mm…so good…"
"OH! Tony, you animal!"
'Sir…'
"Not now, JARVIS-Whoa! I didn't think THAT would feel good…!"
"Oh, Tony, don't stop…oh don't stop…ahh, yes, oh yes-!"
'Sir, your attention is needed…'
"I SAID not now, JARVIS!"
"Ahhh…oh…yes…yesyesyes…don't stop-! AHH!"
"Oh yeah…"
'Sir, there are giant blue creatures attack Stark Tower, along with all of Manhattan.'
"JARVIS, I SAID NOT-wait, what?"
KABOOM!
"OH MY GOD!" Pepper yelled out for a whole new reason as the tower suddenly shook violently, causing her to fall off the workshop table that Stark had placed her upon. Getting up, she returned her pencil skirt back to where it belonged as she rushed to the window, buttoning up her blouse back up, her bra completely forgotten on the floor. Her yell of surprised brought a shirtless Stark to the window and he also gasped. Before their eyes, green balls of energy reigned down upon Manhattan, and on the ground they could see massive numbers of blue and very tall creatures with numerous weapons made of ice attacking pretty much everything in sight. Including Stark Tower, Tony realized.
"JARVIS!" he yelled as he dashed for his armor gauntlets and put them on. "Activate the Mark 22, NOW!"
'Sir, "616" hasn't been properly tested-'
"Then this is the test then! Pepper," Tony said as he held her. "Stay in the tower, no matter what, and make sure everyone stays inside and heads to the shelter in the basement!"
"Tony, you can't be seriously going out-!"
"Yes, I am! I love you!" Stark yelled as he ran to an open window. "JARVIS, deploy!" Instantly, black and gold armored pieces flew up and raced to Stark, covering his entire body from head to toe. In just a few seconds, Stark was completely covered up in black and gold armor. With a soft whine, the helmet landed on his head, and with the visor clasping into place, Iron Man Mk 22 "616" was now online.
'Armor power levels at 100% full capacity. Reserves are at 500% capacity. Repulsor weapons fully charged and all other weaponry fully stocked. Shields and tactical trajectories are fully powered. All systems online and connecting to networks now.'
"Alright, JARVIS, let's go!" Stark yelled as he jumped off the Tower, plummeting down right for the Jotun that he didn't know where called Jotun. Instantly, the armor repulsor jets activated, allowing his trajectory to be true and precise as he raced straight for the giant creatures. "JARVIS, initiate warhead launch sequence!"
Instantly, miniscule tactical warheads ejected from Stark's shoulders, all of them firing and racing for the massive bodies of Jotun attacking Stark Tower and the surrounding areas, not to mention the people in the streets. Just seconds before the warheads made contacts, Iron Man veered to his right, unleashing a barrage of repulsor blasts upon the unsuspecting Jotun. At that exact moment, the warheads made contact, and though they were small, they packed quite the wallop as they exploded massively, enticing roars of pain and anger from the Jotun. Some managed to escape any harm, but many were massively burned and marred, while some actually fell dead upon impact, their blue and ice-tinged flesh splattering everywhere.
"Ok, that is disgusting," Stark mused, readying his repulsors for more hits as the Jotun began to come at him. "JARVIS, scan one of these things and analyze."
'Their biology matches nothing on any SHIELD, SWORD or worldwide network database, sir,' JARVIS responded after a few seconds.
"Well…that's not good; anything on SHIELD showing up?"
'The SHIELD Helicarrier is currently 2000 miles away from the United States. It is currently travelling at its top speeds but it will not arrive for another hour at least. However, I have intercepted a transmission from the Helicarrier-five agents of SHIELD's Secret Warriors have deployed just moments ago and are currently engaging these attackers…including Captain Rogers, sir.'
"Capsicle's in town? Nice, we'll drop by to say hello…after we handle these!" Stark yelled as he fired his unibeam at the swarming Jotun.
*Upper West Side, Manhattan*
15:06 EST May 4, 2012 AD
"Oh…my…god…"
They were simply trying to make a quick buck today: break into an electronics store, loot it and sell the merchandise for some quick money. They didn't expect any of this to happen-an invasion of blue giants that were literally tearing all of New York City apart, a hot-ass woman and her buff bodyguard axman starting it all…or one of the most powerful (and sexy) heroes in the city to get her ass handed to her seven different ways and be thrown like a rag doll into the building next to them. They were just four criminals, armed with a crowbar, a ball & chain, some street fighting skills, and an old metal wrestling helmet. Before their eyes, these four thugs were seeing what they thought was the end of the world happening.
Dirk Garthwaite, Eliot Franklin, Henry Camp and Brian Philip Calusky all had no idea what to do.
"Do you see that?!" Camp yelled as he looked at the Enchantress and Executioner in the distance. "That green broad slapped her around like she was nothing-and she's supposed to have fought the Hulk before!"
"Franklin," Calusky yelled as he looked to Franklin. "This wasn't what we signed up for, man! This is the end of the world, dammit!"
"Yeah I can see that, you dumbass!" the former psychologist yelled back, his ball & chain in his left hand as he searched for a way for the four of them to get out of the area and somewhere safe. But everywhere he looked, however, he saw masses of the creatures as they pillaged and destroyed, and the police's attempts to fight back.
Dirk, however, was bold enough to approach the heroine's unconscious form. He would be lying to himself if he said that he never had any fantasies about her; hell, any sane and straight male criminal in the city must've, more so when she used to have her old costumes. Damn, she was hot as hell…and here she was, unconscious, her costume torn a bit…
"Dirk!" Camp said as he and the other three ran up to him. "We need to get outta here, c'mon!"
"Let's have some fun with the lady, first," Dirk replied with a sneer.
"Man, are you crazy!?"Calusky yelled back. "The world is ending and you wanna have some fun?!"
"Have you not seen her-?!"
"Calusky's right, Dirk, we need to-!"
"Going somewhere, mortals?"
All four of them gasped as they turned to see the green-clad woman, the Enchantress, standing behind them, her hands glowing dangerously with green magical energy and a sinister sneer on her face; behind her stood her faithful servant, the Executioner.
"OH SHIT!" Calusky yelled in fear and horror, thinking instantly that the end had come for them all. Immediately, he turned and ran, and the other three followed in less than two seconds, dashing after their companion, not stopping until Executioner's ax flew past them and landed mere inches in front of where they could've been. They barely had made it to the block corner before the two powerful invaders stopped them. With horror, Calusky, Dirk, Camp & Franklin shrunk back in fear, utterly terrified of whatever was now about to happen to them.
"Please…please," Calusky begged. "Don't hurt us!"
"Hurt you?" Enchantress smirked. "On the contrary…I think I can find some use of you mortals."
"What?!" Dirk said with surprise. "Whaddaya mean?"
"As you can see, mortals," Enchantress continued, her hand motioning to the devastation occurring at the moment across Manhattan at the hands of the Frost Giants, "a new era is beginning, and your pathetic world is going to be extinguished. All shall be remade for the glory of the one I serve, Loki of Asgard. However, my lord is always on the lookout for new followers, those who are willing to support his cause and fight for him. I offer you the chance to have power in this new world order-authority and prestige, power beyond imagination, and the strength to do what you wish. All I and my lord ask," she continued as she stretched her hand to the four of them, "is that you pledge you loyalty to him and his cause, and help us take this world."
"We do this, and we live, basically?" Franklin asked.
"Exactly."
"So…we get to be on top, strong, in charge, and no one will be able to stop us," Dirk said. The next moment, he was sneering. "Lady, where were you three years ago when I needed that! Guys, with that kind of power, no one will be able to ever stop us! And if we win and help them take over, we'll be in charge! All those assholes that made our lives miserable…"
"All the money we can ever want!" added Calusky.
"No one will be able to stop us!" Camp shouted with glee, fists in the air.
"That sounds like a sweet deal to me!" Franklin sneered, gripping his ball & chain.
"Lady," Dirk said as he held his crowbar. "You got yourself a deal."
"Perfect," Amora cackled, her hands now alive & glowing with energy. "Then prepare yourselves, for now, your decisions shall be rewarded as you are granted the power and abilities to serve Loki as he sees fit!" Suddenly, her green energy shot into the skies, but instantly returned a few seconds later, and the burst landed directly on the four thugs. The energy burst into a blinding explosion, and Amora could hear the men's screams of agony and pain, but soon they disappeared and were replaced by the sounds of cackles and laughter and shouts of joy. In the energy, she could see the shapes of their bodies as they grew and got more muscular and brolic. She sneered to herself as she said, "And new followers for Loki are born."
Meanwhile, on the other side of the street, the heroine that Enchantress had disposed of moments ago was now regaining conscious and was witnessing just what was happening. Her mouth fell in shock at the sight before her. "Oh, my god…" she gasped in horror. She didn't know was going on, but she knew one thing: those two, the guy with the ax and the witch, they were strong, like her kind of strong, and she knew she couldn't handle this alone. Seeing her comm was trashed, she flew into the skies and headed to Times Square, hoping her former teammates had actually gotten there.
*Columbia University Campus, Upper Manhattan*
15:10 EST May 4, 2012 AD
Left and right, students were panicking and running around in terror and fear. There were only a few dozen cops and SWAT units around, and despite their best efforts to protect the students and professors of the college, they were out of their league. The Frost Giants were going through them like nothing, wreaking havoc as they destroyed the various campus buildings and slaughtered humans by the dozens. With their inhuman cries of war and destruction, they continued to lay waste to the area. Outside the Columbia campus, more Jotun were doing just the same. Everyone was rushing as desperately as they could to head to the nearby subway stations to seek shelter and protection from the invaders trying to kill them. This was difficult for the students on campus, being they had to go through all the destruction and the Jotuns themselves. Luckily, they had some help on their side.
With a thunderous boom, an abnormally large man crashed through the Columbia Library building, a Frost Giant on him, intent on killing him. The man was clothed in a black Kevlar body armor with lines of yellow running along and the arms, complete with yellow gauntlets and boots, topped off with red goggles that served many purposes; an outfit fashioned by his wife when he decided to forego his former identity. At the moment, he was 15ft tall, roughly the size of the Jotun, but he was able to change that size in a whim if need be. With a swift movement of his arm, he grabbed the ice club the Jotun made to bash into his head.
"How the hell did I get you to talk me into this?!" Dr. Henry "Hank" Pym yelled as he landed a swift right hook at the Jotun's face, sending him flying back into the Library building. As Pym got back up, he saw a whole gang of Jotun racing at him, weapons in hand. They were instantly surprised as their opponent's size grew, into twice as tall as them. Nonetheless they attacked, only to be instantly bombarded with a vicious array of bio-stings from seemingly out of nowhere. Distracted, Pym then lay waste to the Jotun, sending them flying and slamming into the ground.
As he shrunk down to normal human size, the source of the distraction revealed herself as she grew back into normal size. It was a woman, a brunette with short hair and a slender petite figure. She wore a dark purple outfit that completely covered her body, including hands, legs and feet. Her front torso part of her costume had a large yellow insignia on it, somewhat in the shape of a wasp sting. As she grew, a pair of insect like wings became visible as they shrunk back onto her back.
"Oh, c'mon Hank," Janet van Dyne-Pym replied, her smirk turning into a frown. "Look around you-this place is like a war zone. We need to help these people. Most of them are your students after all. Besides, what's the use of superpowers if you don't use them to save people?"
"We fight supervillians, not alien invaders," Hank sighed, firing an energy blast at a nearby Jotun trying to destroy the Science building, sending it crashing into the ground upon impact. "Where's SWORD or SHIELD-?"
"Not here-but WE are, so let's make the best of it," Jan replied with a smile as she quickly kissed his cheek. Suddenly, they found themselves surrounded by a full battalion of Frost Giants, each roaring and brandishing their weapons. Hank & Jan went back to back, the smirk back on Jan's lips. "C'mon, honey, let's show them what Yellowjacket and Wasp can do!"
*Times Square *
15:17 EST May 4, 2012 AD
SWAT units and police were rapidly shooting and firing at any and all Jotun in the area. Squad cars were coming in and officers were doing their best. But it seemed like a lost cause. Hand guns and combat shotguns didn't pack the punch they needed, and they didn't have enough assault rifles to hand out. But they refused to falter or fall back. People were counting on them, and while people were going around running away in terror, they stood their ground, but they were suffering for it. They couldn't bring down the Jotun, and it seemed they were wasting away their bullets. They needed military back-up now. The NYC Police Commissioner had requested military assistance, but…
An explosion to the right signaled another SWAT car crushed, and two nearby officers were consumed by the flames. Another officer rushed up to the position of the sergeant on the scene, where he and a few other cops and SWAT units were crouched behind two cruisers. Arriving, he yelled out, "It's going to be another hour before the National Guard can get here! Air Force and Marines are scrambling right now, but there's no ETA yet!"
"National Guard-?!" the sergeant began to yell, only for an ice spear to impale a nearby squad car, tearing it in half directly in the middle. "Does the army even know what's happening here?!"
"Do WE?!"
There was a sudden thump on the squad car in front of them. They all instantly aimed their weapons up in reflex, ready to shoot at whatever it was…only to be surprised by the sight of a man in blue and white combat body armor, an "A" on his helmet, red gloves & boots and a red & white shield with a star. "You need to get men onto those rooftops," he ordered, pointing towards some of the buildings. "These things can't get up there so it gives some good sniper positions. You'll need to aim for their joints; that's where their weak points are. Get these people off the streets, and into the subways, or basements of buildings but they can't be above ground or they'll get slaughtered. These things are all across Manhattan, so a perimeter isn't an option, but we'll need positions of rally and regrouping. We can start one over on 42nd St, near the Port Authority Bus Terminal."
The cops were stunned. "Why the hell should we take orders from you?!" the sergeant demanded.
At that moment, a Jotun attack their position, its axe coming down upon them. They would've died-if the man hadn't blocked it with his shield. As the Jotun brought his weapon back up, the man with the shield attacked, heading straight for the creature's knee and bashing it with his shield; the Jotun roared as he got on one knee, and then man then swung his shield right at its face, spilling blue blood as he did, causing another roar of pain. Jumping up, the man again rammed his shield into the giant's face, enticing a sickening crack, and then kicked it right in the neck, right where a human's jugular would be. The Jotun collapsed onto the ground, clutching its open and broken jaw.
At that moment, another man appeared, this one wearing what appeared to be some type of dark purple medieval costume, but it was in reality a light body armor combat uniform customized to look as such. He wore a dark blue and purple cowl with an "H" on the forehead, and he was armed with a bow and a quiver on his back. Taking an arrow, he shot it into the Frost Giant's mouth and walked away. About three seconds later, the arrow exploded, killing the Jotun instantly.
Arriving at the cops, he looked at the sergeant, pointed at the man with the shield and simply said, "Because that's Captain America, wise ass."
It didn't take long for that to sink in, and soon the radio chatter across the city was alive with the plans.
"Well, that was easy," Hawkeye stated with a smirk as he looked at the dead Jotun.
"Yeah, I'm sure, especially with all that work you did to bring it down," Captain America smirked in reply.
At that moment, three women came up next to the two men. One was a red head and wore an all-black Kevlar combat outfit, with fingerless gloves, stinger gauntlets on her wrists, side arms on her thighs and ankles, a belt with ammo and a knife and a red hourglass insignia, and an M27 machine gun in her hands. The second was a full blond, wearing a blue and white Kevlar suit that gave a view of her cleavage, metallic gauntlets on her lower arms, dark blue combat boots that went up to her knees, a white combat belt, yellow goggles on her eyes and two twin metallic bo staffs in her gloved hands. The third woman was a raven haired British femme fatale, wearing a Kevlar material costume that was completely red except for her yellow gloves and boots. She also had a yellow insignia on her front torso beginning from above her sizeable bust and ending just were her belly button would be. An upside down triangle was on her red mask, which covered half her face and covered her eyes with white lenses. Her hands glowed dangerously with green energy. Each of them was rather attractive and would've turned heads if not for the current situation.
"These things are all over the place," Mockingbird said as she connected her staves into one, a bit of thick blue liquid noticeable on the tips. "They don't go down easily, Cap."
"Unless you throw Jessica at them," Widow remarked with a smirk, reloading her firearm. "They sure did like her…or it could be her pheromones."
"That was just creepy," Spider Woman muttered. "Ok, so what's the plan, Steve?"
There was a sudden roar as they turned their attention to the rest of the Jotun in the area, and they saw that they were all just trashing the Square, killing people and fighting off the cops trying to stop them. "I'm going to say we start with stopping these things," Captain America said, and with that, he charged at a group of Jotun. "Pick some and take them down, team!"
With those words, the five of them joined with the human forces and attacked, all their SHIELD and military training coming out as they struck with precision and dangerous grace, each of them unrelenting against the opponents three times their size. Hawkeye rapidly fired explosive, smoke bomb, incendiary, impact and sonic arrows at the creatures, gaining their attention and while he managed to land good hits, even sending a number of them down for the count. It was all he could do to avoid their hits and continue firing at them. Black Widow had slid under some Jotun and began firing upwards, right were a male human's crotch would be, and apparently, shooting a Jotun there is just as painful as kicking a man there. As they fell to their knees in pain, she dodged the cascading ice weapons trying to hit her and jumping up, she fired her Widow stingers at them, making sure to hit their joints and eyes. Her Red Room enhanced abilities allowed her to keep up her agility and dodge the hits they kept throwing at her.
Meanwhile, Mockingbird, with her slender and somewhat petite form, easily and gracefully dodged all the Jotuns' hits, and with her adamantium coated staffs, she began to relentlessly attack their joints and faces, using the destroyed cars and the bodies of Jotun as jumping points and managing to land a few fatal blows. Captain America used his almost-superhuman agility to easily evade all hits heading for him and continued to throw his shield around, hitting Jotun left and right and landing powerful kicks at their joints behind their legs.
Spider Woman went for the more direct approach, actually landing punches backed by her superhuman strength and landing powerful venom blasts also utilizing her pheromone manipulation to get the Jotun in a daze and unbalancing them. The efforts of the SHIELD agents were paying off.
For a while.
Numbers started turning against their favor-they were still only five agents and a dwindling number of cops against dozens upon dozens of these creatures. It was only a matter of type until one of them got a lucky hit, and that was the case with Bobbi as she was slammed right into the window of the Toys-R-US megastore, and it hurt like hell.
"BOBBI!" Barton yelled as he raced for her position, firing arrow after arrow, hitting and killing each one of his marks.
"Babe, I'm ok," she muttered as she struggled to get up. "Ow…damn, that hurt…"
"Watch your flanks!" Cap yelled out as he picked up a dead SWAT officer's assault rifle, helping some officers with cover fire. "We have incoming, people!" A new group of Jotun had just arrived from a nearby portal, fresh and ready to bring some hurt, and the agents were right there. Rogers and the cops tried to keep them back with gunfire, but it wasn't doing much; as the fresh new Jotun forces struck, it wasn't long before almost all the cops the Warriors were helping were either slaughtered or retreating. "Hold the line! Brace yourselves-!"
"AHHH!"
"Spider Woman!" Widow yelled out as she found herself being overwhelmed by the Jotun, desperately trying to keep them back with gunfire and stinger blasts. Jessica meanwhile, had been hit by a Jotun and it had slammed her into the ground, keeping her there with its hand, the other hand holding a spear. Hawkeye made to fire an explosive arrow at the Jotun, but five more crashed into the Toys-R-US store, looking to kill him and Bobbi. Jessica desperately tried to get its hand off her, but to no avail, and she wouldn't charge up a Venom blast in time.
She nevertheless stared defiantly at the Jotun making to kill her, snarling, "C'mon, do your bloody worst!"
SNIKT! SNIKT!
The giant then roared in vicious pain as it pulled it's hand back, allowing the heroine to escape. The five agents and the cops soon could see why: the giant collapsed onto the ground dead, with a man with metallic claws sticking to the back of the neck, where blue blood was gushing out. His black body armor/leather uniform was slightly tattered and partially covered in blue blood already, and he had the look of murder in his eyes. Seeing the heroine, he sheathed his claws and helped her up.
"Jessica," he greeted. "Good to see ya again."
"Likewise, Logan," Spider Woman smirked. "Thank you for that, by the way."
"Don' mention it," he replied, now turning to the rest of the Jotun, unleashing his claws again. "Guessing this is happening all across Manhattan? I've been hackin' through these things since over on the Lower East Side. "Where are they comin' from?!"
"No idea," Rogers said as threw his shield again at another group of Jotun. "Good to see you again, by the way."
"Pleasure's all mine, Steve!" Logan yelled as he jumped up and slashed five Jotun across the throats. Another Jotun made to kick him into the nearby McDonalds super restaurant, only to be instantly killed by both an incendiary arrow and an explosive arrow to the head.
"Hawkeye," Logan stated.
"Wolverine," Hawkeye replied as he and Bobbi walked over.
"Um, we still have a problem, comrades!" Widow yelled out, getting everyone's attention, where multiple Jotun were coming together to kill them all. "There's too many of them!" she continued as she aimed her M27, the others readying for a heavy battle. "We need to-!" She never finished her sentence as suddenly, a surge of yellow energy blasted right into the incoming Jotun, sending them all flying back.
A figure the descended from the skies and rammed right into the body of creatures. Powerful echoing punches and mighty blasts of energy were heard as the Jotuns were quickly taken care of. Soon, the figure had handled every single one of them, finishing off by flinging three of the remaining Jotun out to see, towards the East River. The figure descended to the ground, revealing a very beautiful woman in her late 20s, wearing a slightly tattered blue skin tight Kevlar material costume with a red with gold striped top near the neck and shoulders, with an 8-pointed star on her chest. She wore red gloves & boots, and had a red sash around her waist. Her thick & long blond hair billowed in the wind, flowing in the form of a ponytail courtesy of the red cowl she had on her face. Her hand was encased in a sphere of energy and the whites that covered her eyes seemed to glow.
"Someone needed help?"
"CAROL!" Jessica yelled in joy as she hugged her best friend. "I thought-the radio-!"
"They just knocked me out," Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel, grinned as she hugged her best friend before going over to the others. "Clint, Tasha, Bobbi...I don't think I've met you in person, Captain," she added as she shook Rogers' hand. "Carol Danvers; former Secret Warrior under moniker of Ms. Marvel, now going by Captain Marvel."
"Pleasure," he replied. "Air Force, I'm assuming?"
"Pride of the military, sir," she beamed. She then turned to Wolverine. "Hey, Logan; good to see you again."
"Danvers," Logan said with a small smirk.
"So, what's going on your end of things?" Bobbi asked.
"Well, I was tussling with the two who started all this; they're the ones who knocked me out. They're pretty strong…like my kind of strong. When I came to, they were doing something to four random guys, but I couldn't save them…Anyways, the leader of these things is out there somewhere, but I say we take out the two I met. We stop them, we can probably stop this," Carol replied.
"A very good plan, mortal," a sultry voice rang out. All seven of them turned to see the Enchantress and the Executioner standing atop of a pile of Jotun carcasses, both with smirks on their lips. "Unfortunately, you are in no position to carry it out," Amora added, a lazy sneer on her face.
"Them?" Logan said as he and the others got ready for battle.
"Yep," Carol snarled, her fists glowing with energy. "How about you come here and say that to my face, bitch?! I'll show you just what kind of position I'm in to hand you your ass!"
"Oh please, spare me the feeble attempts," Enchantress yawned. "Besides, it is not I you should be concerned about. I can't have you ruining the fun of the Jotun Frost Giants, now can I?
At that, the building to the right of the seven heroes exploded, and from the smoke and dust, four figures emerged. One held a crowbar, another held a ball-&-chain, the third had over sized hands, and the four had some kind of metal helmet on his head. They were huge and had a lot of muscle, and the clothes they had were ripped and tattered, as if they had rapidly grown out of them. They immediately looked to the heroes and sneered.
"Time for some fun, boys!" Dirk Garthwaite yelled out, and Eliot Franklin, Henry Camp and Brian Philip Calusky did the same in joy. "Let's get 'em!"
*The Raft*
15:20 EST May 4, 2012 AD
"What the hell was that?!" Coulson yelled into his comm, his gun at the ready as he helped Betty off the floor.
"Not sure, Agent," came the response. "We register the three projectiles only seconds before the impact-oh my…Sir, we're getting information of some kind of invasion in Manhattan. I repeat, there is an extraterrestrial invasion occurring in Manhattan!"
"Dammit!" Coulson yelled. "All Raft personnel, we are now in Protocol R5, I repeat, R5! All superhuman prisoners are to be moved to the entrance to 42 for temporary placement! This is not a drill!"
The transport dock had taken quite the hit. There was dust and debris everywhere as SHIELD agents and Hulkbusters started getting back up. A large gaping hole was in the roof and wall, where three projectiles had come in a collision course with the Raft. It had caused immediate chaos, and all cells in the prison went into Max Containment mode. Agents were now rushing to the scene, to the transport dock.
General Ross, gun in hand, looked to where the gaping hole was, only to see green light above Manhattan. "What the hell is going on?!" he asked himself.
"Manhattan is under attack," Coulson replied as he and Betty came over to him. "I'm assuming whatever hit us came from debris from the attack." He reached for his comm, ready to call his boss, but before he could…
"Wait, where's Bruce?!" Betty yelled.
"Oh shit!" Ross yelled. "All Hulkbusters, secure the prisoner, now before-!" He was interrupted by a vicious roar, not one like the Hulk gave. Three figures stood up from the debris, shocking everyone in the room. They were blue skinned and 15ft tall, and they were pissed off. These where the projectiles.
Captain Marvel had thrown the Jotun towards the Raft.
"OPEN FIRE!" Ross and Coulson yelled out as they themselves fired. Unfortunately, the bullets and heavy caliber energy lasers did nothing against the three Jotun. In retaliation, they attacked and charged at the agents and soldiers, killing three and sending most flying into the walls. Ross and Coulson had managed to dodge just in time, but Betty had barely avoided, and she had crashed onto the floor. One of the Jotun made to grab her, a sneer on its face and its disgusting teeth showing.
"BETTY!" Ross yelled in horror.
"AHHHH!" she screamed, thinking her fate was sealed.
RRRRAAAAAAAAUUUURRRHHHHH!
Only then did Ross realize Banner's mobile cell was half destroyed. The Jotun, Betty, Ross, Coulson and the agents & soldiers turned to see a giant green behemoth, standing atop the remains of the cell. Its muscles were thick and powerful, and popping veins were visible, and it wore orange pants that were torn. Its expression was one of pure rage, however. It let out another bestial roar, looking directly at the Jotun.
All Betty could say was, "Bruce..?"
XXXXX
TO BE CONTINUED…