Chapter 22 – The War (II)
"Stark, Archangel? Are you guys seeing this?" Captain America asked over com as he and the other ground forces watched the enormous tadpole monster soar overhead and start ramming into buildings.
"Seeing." Iron Man responded.
"But still working on believing." Archangel cut in. Iron Man scanned the area, looking for someone specific.
"Where's Banner?" He asked. "Has he shown up yet?"
"Banner?" The captain said in confusion. Stark huffed in annoyance.
"Just keep me posted." Stark ordered, and cut the com. Returning his attention to the Leviathan, Stark flew alongside it as it rammed its enormous fin through a skyscraper, slicing it in half.
"JARVIS, find me a soft spot."
ooooo
Thordis watched as the Chitauri laid waste to the great foundation of Manhattan. Gritting her teeth, she picked Loki up by the throat, and his eyes wobbled and blood dripped from his nose. He shook his head and settled his gaze on her.
"Look at that, Loki!" She yelled, forcing his head to face the carnage. "They're destroying everything! If this keeps up you'll be the king of nothing!"
But Loki shook his head. "No."
Hissing, Thordis forced Loki to look back at her. "Please, you have to stop this! Try to think about the people out there! Think about your family!"
Loki blinked, and images of his mother started flashing through his head, and he bit his lip.
Darcy sighed. "Do you really think they'd want you to be doing this right now?"
Loki just shook his head. "I'm sorry. It can't be stopped. It's too late."
By Thordis shook her head. "No, it's not! You can help us take these guys down."
Loki looked at Thordis for a few moments, and it looked like he was contemplating on saying yes. But then, his face turned sour again and Thordis looked down to see he was holding a small Asgardian dagger. Before she could react, he plunged the tiny place into her abdomen, and Thordis grunted and backed away. She glared up at the god of lies.
"Sentiment, Darcy Lewis." He sneered.
Yelling in fury, Thordis grabbed Loki's head with both hands and slammed her skull into it, denting his helmet and leaving a large bruise on his head. Loki gripped his head, backing away, but Thordis quickly picked him up and lifted him over her leg.
Then, she brought his body down spine first on her leg, and Loki yelled in pain as a loud popping sound was heard and he lost all feeling in his spine. He released the scepter, which landed near Thordis' feet, but she paid it no mind.
She dropped Loki by the ground, and watched as he hissed in pain and tried to crawl away from her. He looked up at Thordis with a glare, and then smiled as he rolled over off of the ledge. Thordis' eyes widened and she stepped forward to catch him, but he already fell only to be picked up by a passing Chitauri flyer.
His spine already healing itself, Loki slowly pulled himself to the controls and started manning the flyer on his own.
Thordis frowned and silently cursed, and then looked around. Eventually, she looked up towards the portal and followed the blue beam connecting the wormhole to the roof of Stark Tower. Pointing her hammer upwards, Thordis raced upwards and landed on the roof.
She saw a device firing the beam up into the sky, with the Tesseract secured in the center. Then, Darcy noticed the body lying unconscious nearby, and her eyes widened when she realized who it was.
"Erik!" She ran up to the doctor and shook him. "Come on, doc, wake up!"
She got no response. He was out cold.
"Shit." Thordis cursed. She gently laid him back down, and then turned towards the device, studying it. "Okay, how do I do this…"
She saw that the device was hooked up to a high tech computer, which was made up of numerous buttons, keys, and gerfs that she didn't understand. Eventually, Darcy shrugged.
"Well, to quote a friend of mine…" Thordis said, raising her hammer up, "Meow-meow, smash!"
She yelled as she brought Mjolnir down on the device, but she blinked when a pulsing energy field suddenly materialized around the device. The field absorbed the blow from the hammer, and then unleashed a blue blast of energy that sent Darcy flying. Screaming, Darcy plummeted from the building, and landed right on the back of a Chitauri flyer.
The Chitauri pilot held on tightly as the flyer suddenly faltered, and looked back in confusion and saw Thordis standing there, trying to balance herself on the flyer.
Darcy smiled sheepishly at the alien. "Hey."
The Chitauri hissed and pointed its gun at her, when Mjolnir suddenly fell out of the sky and on the Chitauri's arm. Unable to lift the hammer, the Chitauri hissed in surprise as its hand was forced down and stuck on the seat of the flyer. As it tried to wrench its hand free, Thordis realized that the weight from the hammer was causing the flyer to descend rather rapidly.
"Oh, dear." She muttered, and quickly picked Mjolnir up. The Chitauri pulled itself up, rubbing its hand, and glared at Thordis from underneath its mask.
"My hammer!" Thordis said, and then nailed the Chitauri right in the skull, caving in its forehead and killing it. Smirking, Thordis quickly flew from the flyer as it crashed into a building and exploded.
ooooo
Back on the bridge, Captain America, Black Widow, Sif, and Carrie ducked behind a black car as the Chitauri raced through the skyline, firing down on fleeing and terrified civilians. Captain America grunted as a vehicle nearby exploded, and Sif snarled, eager to go and face the aggressors.
Suddenly, Hawkeye jumped over the hood of the car and joined them.
"They've got civilians trapped in the…"
Suddenly Carrie gasped. "Get down!"
Everyone grunted as an invisible force suddenly forced them to duck, and a volley of plasma blasts suddenly struck the ground a few inches away. Carrie looked in the direction of the Chitauri flyer that attempted to shoot them, glaring.
"Loki." She said.
The others looked up and saw Loki piloting the flyer. Grinning madly, Loki fired upon several cars, buildings, and civilians, basking in the carnage and chaos. He even blew up a large Dr. Pepper truck, and the resulting explosion consumed an entire city block.
The captain looked back at his teammates. "We need to get these people to safety. I'll try to rally the police forces."
Suddenly, a group of Chitauri foot soldiers landed nearby, hissing and pointing their guns, eager to find a target. Captain America glared at them, and then looked back at the others.
"You think you can hold them off?" He asked.
"Captain," Hawkeye said, readying his bow, "it would be by genuine pleasure."
"Mine as well." Sif said, smirking. "Asgard will sing battle songs of this one day!"
Nodding, Captain America quickly leapt out from their hiding place and jogged over to the edge of the bridge. The Chitauri screeched when they saw him and started firing, but the others quickly emerged and attacked.
Evading numerous plasma blasts, the captain leapt over the edge of the bridge and onto a vacant bus, doing a summersault as he landed before getting back to his feet. A number of plasma blasts came after him, barely hitting him and blowing up the roof of the bus. Captain America jumped off of the bus and onto the roof of a white van, when the bus suddenly went up in flames and the car was hurled forward by the blast. The captain expertly jumped off, doing a flip in midair and landing safely on the road, and continued to run from the pursuing flyers.
Black Widow shot at the advancing Chitauri with her two Glock 26 handguns, smirking at a few successful hits. Sif gave a warrior's yell and she charged into the advancing group, leaping at a lone Chitauri soldier and driving it into the ground with her sword. Her senses alerted her to a Chitauri coming at her from behind, and lifted her shield up to block a strike from the alien. Wrenching her sword out of the dead Chitauri she killed earlier, Sif swung it at the one who attacked her, taking its head clean off. Dark purple blood seeped from the creature's wound as it slumped over, dead. Sif yelled and swung her shield to the left, hitting another Chitauri righted in the face.
The Chitauri screeched as it fell on its beck, and Sif brought her sword down on it, killing it. Another one rushed at her, preparing to beat her with the blunt end of its rifle. Sif glared and kicked it away, falling on its back. Sif brought her boot down on its neck, breaking it, and then swung around to deliver a fatal slash to another Chitauri. She grunted as a rifle blunt struck her in the back of the head, and she turned around and drove her sword through the idiotic Chitauri's torso, smiling as it gagged in pain. She pulled it free and jabbed it back behind her, not even looking at the Chitauri she impaled.
While Sif and the Widow were dealing with the Chitauri, Carrie and Hawkeye were helping civilians evacuate a bus that was locked in between a number of abandoned cars. Hawkeye lifted a young woman out of the bridge, instructing her to run for safety. Next, he helped a small family, starting with a young boy and then his mother. Carrie, meanwhile, forced the doors open, breaking them off and tossing them to the side, and civilians immediately rushed out and started running for cover.
Taking out his bow, Hawkeye joined the Widow in shooting down Chitauri, firing an arrow right through one's chest.
"Just like Budapest all over again!" Natasha yelled over the noise.
"You and I remember Budapest very differently." Clint said, smirking. Carrie just shook her head.
"I'm not even gonna ask." Then, Carrie grunted and forced her hand out, unleashing a large telekinetic blast that sent the remaining Chitauri flying in every direction. Sif blinked as the Chitauri she were fighting were suddenly forced away, and shrieked as they fell from the bridge.
Carrie sensed several flyers approaching from above, and glared up as they zoomed in their direction. Reaching out with her mind, she lifted seven cars up into the air and then fumbled with the gas tanks. Then, just like that, the cars exploded in midair and the Widow, Hawkeye, and Sif shielded their eyes from the blast. The Chitauri flyers were caught in the great explosion and destroyed. One fell onto the bridge and skidded across the concrete until the pilot jerked off and slid in front of the group. Getting up and shaking its head, the Chitauri hissed and pointed its gun at them, but before the Widow or Hawkeye to shoot it down, Carrie glared and gripped the Chitauri's skull with her mind.
The Chitauri dropped its gun and screeched as its helmet suddenly caved in around it, and its head was crushed with a sickening crunch.
Sif came up to the trio, looking on in surprise.
"Wow." Hawkeye said, looking at Carrie in surprise. "Remind me never to piss you off."
Carrie just smiled.
ooooo
A swarm of police cars were parked around in the city streets, with the cops ducking behind them and coming out every now and then to try and take a few shots at the Chitauri flyers. So far, no successful shots had been made. What do you expect?
The sergeant shot up at the flyers, but blinked when he felt a lieutenant tap his shoulder, and looked over.
"It'll be an hour before they can scramble the National Guard!" The lieutenant said, panicking.
"The National Guard?!" The sergeant said, incredulously. A plasma blast struck the hood of the car right behind them, and the sergeant and lieutenant jumped. The sergeant looked back at the lieutenant. "Does the army know what's happening here?!"
"Do we?" The lieutenant hissed.
Suddenly, a man in a blue spangly outfit jumped out of nowhere and landed on the roof of the sergeant's car. The cops raised their guns apprehensively, but when they saw the man, they blinked in confusion.
"I need men in those buildings." Captain America said, pointing at several buildings lined up around the streets. "There are people inside that can run into the line of fire. You take them through the basement or through the subway, but keep them off the streets! I need a perimeter as far back as 39th."
The sergeant looked at the captain bemusedly. "Why the hell should I take orders from you?"
Just then, a large truck exploded nearby, and two Chitauri foot soldiers leaped out and attempted to attack the group. The cops backed up in fear, but the captain bashed one of them away with his shield. The other attempted to shoot him, but the captain quickly blocked the blast with his shield and delivered a punch that forced the alien away. The other one rushed at him from behind, but he swung his shield around, smacking it right in the face and breaking its neck. As it fell to the ground dead, Captain America grabbed the arm of the other one as it was preparing to shoot him, and then brought his shield down blade-like and cut off the Chitauri's arm. The Chitauri screeched in pain, and fell over onto the ground as the captain bashed him in the face with the shield.
Looking down, the captain smirked at the stupefied expressions from the cops. The sergeant immediately turned towards the cops and began spouting the same exact orders Captain America gave him. Satisfied, the captain turned towards the lieutenant and tossed the Chitauri rifle at him.
"See what you can do with this."
The lieutenant hastily caught it, and watched as the captain ran off to rejoin his teammates. The cop studied the weapon, and jumped when the Chitauri's severed arm fell from the socket. He looked at the empty holster in curiosity and put his arm inside. He felt around and felt a switch-like handle inside, but winced slightly at the tight grip it had around his wrist.
Suddenly, he heard a hiss and looked to see a Chitauri pointing its rifle at him. The lieutenant quickly lifted the rifle and jerked his hand, and blinked in surprise when plasma blast shot out and blew the Chitauri's face off. He looked down at the weapon in amazement, and quickly paged his fellow officers.
"If you find enemies down, get the guns. The guns are very good!"
ooooo
Beth and the other terrified civilians continued to watch from inside the diner, when a Chitauri flyer swooped by and shot at the window. The window shattered and the diner occupants all screamed in fear and backed away. They all quickly scrambled out of the diner, running in different directions. Beth ran through the streets, and screamed when a man in front of her was suddenly gunned down by a plasma blast.
Running away from the body, Beth looked around, terrified, and yelped when a building nearby exploded. She ducked behind a taxi, and huddled behind it, whimpering. Getting up and looking around, she saw the coast was clear and quickly ran through the rubble and wrecked streets. She came across a downed Chitauri flyer, and looked at it in shock. She ran her hand against the metal, and was flinched when she felt how hot it was.
Hearing a noise from above, Beth looked up in surprise to see a blonde woman in a strange armor and red cape, wielding a silver mallet. The woman soared past her, and Beth looked on in astonishment.
"Hey! Hey miss!"
Beth blinked and looked over to see the lieutenant wielding the rifle. He motioned for her to come over to him. Smiling in relief, Beth started to jog over to him, when a blast of plasma suddenly shot down from the sky and struck his head. Beth yelped when his head exploded into a bloody mess, and tried to run away.
Her eyes widened when she saw a Chitauri foot soldier standing right behind her, and screamed as it grabbed her by the hair and dragged her away.
ooooo
Iron Man raced around several buildings, eventually coming face to face with the Leviathan. Stopping short in front of it, Iron Man shot out several flares that flashed in front of the monster's face. The beast howled in anger, and turned as Iron Man flew past it. Its fin slashed through the side of a building, sending pieces of rubble crashing down to the streets below.
"Well, we got its attention." Stark said, eyes wide as the monster soared after him. "Now what the hell is step two?"
Archangel raced after several flyers, expertly gunning the pilots and sending them crashing to the ground. She blinked through, when Iron Man raced past her, and she looked back and nearly screamed when she saw the Leviathan racing towards them, and quickly flew after Stark.
ooooo
Hawkeye bashed the Chitauri over the head with his bow, knocking it off its feet, and as it tried to get up, he took an arrow from his pack and impaled the alien through the chest. Sif expertly took down five of them, not even breaking a sweat.
Carrie had her hands lifted up, having created an invisible kinetic barrier that was protecting them from the Chitauri flyers. The Black Widow provided protection for her by taking down any advancing foot soldiers. She leapt onto one's back, wrapping her legs around its neck, and jammed her wrist mounted Widow Bites into its throat. Electrical shocks surged through the Chitauri's body, and it spasmed before dropping dead. The Widow picked up the plasma rifle it was carrying, and saw how similar it was to an Earth weapon. Pulling the trigger, Natasha shot down several advancing Chitauri, blowing them open with plasma blasts.
Hawkeye drove another arrow into a Chitauri's chest, and Sif decapitated one that was trying to attack him from behind. She beat one away with her shield, and prepared to slash at another one, only for Natasha to blast it with her rifle. Sif nodded at the Widow, who nodded back and then beat two Chitauri away with the rifle. Suddenly, one grabbed her from behind, and the Widow kicked, trying to escape from his grasp.
There was a small blast of fire, though, and the Chitauri released Natasha and dropped dead. Natasha looked back and saw a familiar blonde succubus standing there, smirking.
"Voyant?" She said.
Claire smirked. "You were expecting maybe Batman?"
Claire's was quickly replaced with a glare and she spun around, catching a Chitauri's fist. The alien hissed, attempting to bring its other fist down on her head, but Claire gripped that one as well and twisted it in her hand, causing the Chitauri to hiss in pain. Then, she lifted her leg up and drove the heal of her boot right into the Chitauri's throat, spurting purple blood everywhere. The Chitauri gagged as Claire shoved it away from her and onto the ground, dead. Another rushed towards her, swinging its bladed rifle in an attempt to decapitate her, but Claire ducked in avoidance. Standing up quick, Claire grabbed the Chitauri by the shoulder and brought her foot down on its leg, snapping it like a twig. The Chitauri screeched as it fell down gripping its leg, but Claire grabbed its head and twisted its neck, breaking it.
Captain America suddenly leapt into the fray, and bashed three Chitauri away with his shield. The captain, the Widow, Hawkeye, Sif, Claire, and Carrie all backed into each other as several soldiers surrounded them, but before they could attack, bolts of lightning shot down from the sky and struck the creatures. They shrieked in agony as electricity surged through their bodies, frying them.
Thordis fell down from the sky and landed next to the group with a loud thud, and breathed heavily as they approached.
"What's the story upstairs?" Captain America asked.
"The cube is being protected by some kind of barrier." Thordis said. "I can't break it."
"Darcy's right." Iron Man said through the com. "We gotta deal with these guys."
"What do we do?" Carrie said, looking up worriedly.
"We work as a team." Captain America said.
"What about Loki?" Sif said. "We must capture him as well."
"I don't know about capture." Claire said. "I still have some unfinished business with him."
"Yeah? Get in line." Hawkeye told the hellspawn, who frowned at him.
"Save it." Captain America said, frowning. "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark and Wrekk up top, they're gonna need us..."
Suddenly, the group turned to the sound a motorbike, and blinked in surprise when they saw Bruce Banner driving a motorcycle with Xegh Hikesh crammed in a sidecar. The Prothean grunted as he pulled himself free from the tight seat, and stumbled out. He glared at Bruce.
"That is the last time I ride in one of your primitive transports." He said. Bruce just rolled his eyes and got up from the bike. The rest of the Avengers looked at each other in confusion, and then walked over to the two.
"Where the hell have you guys been?" Thordis said. Bruce shrugged.
"We got sidetracked."
Hikesh looked around at the chaos, and then at Bruce. "Stark Tower. Good call."
"Says you." Bruce said, then looked at the group.
So," he said, smirking, "this all seems horrible."
"I've seen worse." Natasha said, looking at Bruce apprehensively. Bruce looked back apologetically.
"Sorry."
But Natasha just smiled. "No, it's okay. We could use a little worse."
"Stark," Captain America said into the com, "we got him."
"Banner?" Stark asked.
Steve nodded. "Just like you said."
"Then tell him to suit up." Stark instructed. "I'm bringing the party to you."
Suddenly, Archangel landed near them, running past them with a scared expression on her face, and she was panting.
"Soladat?" Hikesh said, eyebrows raised.
Soladat stopped and looked at Hikesh. "Oh, hey Xegh! Glad you could make it."
"Where's Stark?" Hawkeye asked. Soladat blinked.
"Stark? Oh, he's uh…"
Suddenly, everyone turned at the sound of a loud roar and gawked as Iron Man turned the corner, with the Leviathan chasing after him and shredding the side of a building with its fins.
"Woah." Thordis said, eyes widened. Sif hissed, readying her weapon.
"I don't see how that's party…" Natasha said, frowning. Iron Man flew in low along the bridge, and the Leviathan descended as well and started gliding along the surface, plowing through cars and rubble. Bruce looked at the rest of the group, and then took a deep breath as he turned and started walking towards the Leviathan.
"Dr. Banner!" Captain America said, stopping the scientist. "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."
"That's my secret, Captain." Bruce turned around to face the group, and they all saw that his eyes were now glowing green. "I'm always angry."
Bruce turned back to the Leviathan, who was now only a few meters away. Everyone gasped as Bruce suddenly transformed into the Hulk on his own, and he drove his fist forward, striking the Leviathan right in the nose. The beast's face caved in, and the Hulk snarled as it kept pushing him forward. Everyone backed away as the Leviathan's backside flew up in the air, and its armored shell cracked from the shockwave of the Hulk's punch.
"Hold on!" Iron Man said, and he flew up and pointed his wrist at the Leviathan. A small rocket shout out of his wrist and attached to an exposed fleshy area beneath the monster's shell, and exploded. Captain America shielded himself and Black Widow with his shield while Sif and Thordis merely put their hands up to block the heat from the explosion. Hikesh, Hawkeye, and Carrie ducked behind a taxi, while Claire just stood amongst the flames, smiling as she took it the warm heat.
Purple blood and flesh exploded from the Leviathan's wound, and it tumbled off the side of the bridge and landed face first into the streets. It was dead before it hit the ground.
Around the cityscape, the Chitauri all saw their attack dog go down, and started howling in outrage. Their cries echoed throughout the city, and the Avengers all huddled together, glaring up at the aliens. Iron Man landed by them, and Hikesh's dark energy aura flared up around him. Claire's eyes flashed as she smirked, looking forward to the incoming fight. Archangel, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Thordis, and Sif readied their weapons, while the Hulk just snarled and beat his fists together.
At long last, the Avengers had assembled.
Well, things have finally hit top gear now that the Hulk has showed up, quoting the words of HTKWolfe777. I almost feel bad for Loki.
Review pleaz and have a nice day.