Chapter 24 – The War (IV)
Natasha clambered up to the flyer, and the pilot and the gunman didn't even notice her. Taking out her combat knife, Natasha cut the chain keeping the gunman secured to the flyer. The gunman shrieked as Natasha kicked him off of the flyer, and then took out another knife and leapt up onto the pilot's back, driving the blades into its body.
The pilot hissed in pain as Natasha steered the blades around, directing the pilot. Her eyes widened as they approached a building.
"Okay, turn, turn, turn!" The flyer barely missed the building, and resumed flying in a safe course.
As she flew up towards Stark Tower, three Chitauri flyers dropped down from the skyline and started firing at her. As she narrowly avoided the blasts, Iron Man suddenly swooped in and shot one of them down with a repulsor blast. Archangel soared into view and landed on the rear end of one of the flyers and impaled the pilot through the head with her wrist blade. She forced his head down onto the controls, and twisted it around so that she steered right into the flyer flanking its right. As the two flyers became locked onto each other, Archangel swooped up as Iron Man fired and blew both flyers to hell.
Giving the pair a nod of appreciation, Black Widow continued to steer her way to Stark Tower. While Archangel continued to shoot down other flyers, Iron Man made a rapid descent down the bridge and plowed through a number of Chitauri foot soldiers, who screeched as he either shot them dead or just knocked them off the side of the bridge.
He landed near the land group, blasting away a Chitauri that was advancing towards Carrie. Captain America kicked one away and then brought up his shield as Iron Man pointed a repulsor blast towards him, and the captain reflected the blast sideways so it killed a few advancing drones. The reflected blast eventually came into the path of Sif, who lifted her own shield and reflected it the opposite direction, taking down even more of them.
Iron Man then glanced to his side to see Hikesh forming a large dark energy sphere above his head, and then fired two repulsor blasts into it. The blasts were caught in the sphere and in a static-like zigzag formation before Hikesh shattered it, and the stray repulsor blasts flew in every direction. Captain America and Sif brought up their shields to reflect any incoming blasts, Hikesh put a dark energy field above him and Carrie, and Claire just brought her arm up, only receiving a few minor burns.
Iron Man, on the other hand, just flew away and scaled up the side of a nearby building, blasting several Chitauri trying to climb up the side. He zoomed past Hawkeye, who shot an arrow right in the face of a Chitauri that was just about to reach the top of the building. His keen eyesight seeing a blast incoming, Hawkeye quickly ducked as the plasma blast exploded near him, and he looked in the direction of the blast and fired another arrow. The arrow impaled a Chitauri pilot right through the neck, and its flyer was sent careening off into the streets.
But before it could crash, a Leviathan zoomed by and destroyed the flyer. On the Leviathan's back, Thordis and the Hulk were beating the living crap out of several Chitauri soldiers trying to get them off. The Hulk slapped one away, and growled as two of them leaped onto his back. He pulled one off and slammed it into the Leviathan's shell and crushed it beneath his foot, and quickly pulled the other one off an threw it away.
Thordis blocked a plasma shot coming at her and swung her hammer, knocking a Chitauri's head clean off and then kicked its body off of the Leviathan. She turned to one that had its gun raised at her and beat the weapon out of its hands, and then beat the Chitauri away with her hammer. The Hulk punched and smashed every Chitauri thrown at him, and then grunted as he pulled a large piece of the Leviathan's shell off and then brought it down knifelike on the monster's neck.
The Leviathan shrieked in pain as the piece impaled through its exposed flesh. Seeing an advantage, Thordis brought Mjolnir up, drawing electrical energy into it, and then slammed it down on the piece. Electricity surged through the piece as it was driven further into the Leviathan's body, and the creature howled in agony as it plummeted from the air and crashed right into Grand Central Station.
Getting off of the dead worm, Thordis and the Hulk breathed heavily and they observed their handiwork. Smirking, Darcy gave the Hulk and pat on the shoulder.
"Nice job, green bean."
Huffing, the Hulk shot his fist out, and Darcy made an oomf as she was sent flying away into a wall. Falling to the ground, Darcy pulled herself up, her head spinning.
"Ow."
ooooo
Back on the bridge, Sif grunted as she jerked her wrist away from a Chitauri's grip and swiped at it with her sword, slashing open its chest and sending it flying backwards. She turned around quickly to kill another one, and then jerked her head at the captain.
"Captain Rogers," Steve glanced at the Asgardian, "there are too many of them! We need some kind of advantage."
The captain glared as he bashed a Chitauri away with his shield. "You got any…"
Suddenly, they heard a yelp and looked over to see Carrie gripping her arm, having been scathed by a passing plasma blast. Wide eyed, Captain America turned and glared daggers at the soldier who made the shot, and threw his shield, which cut off the Chitauri's head like a blade.
Hikesh quickly ran to Carrie side. "Are you alright?"
Carrie bit her lip, and gripped her arm. "It's not bad."
"Show me." The Prothean ordered. She moved her hand, and Hikesh saw that it was burned and bleeding badly. Carrie cringed and looked away.
"Okay," she said, "maybe it is bad."
"Nothing I can't fix."
Carrie blinked. "What…?"
The Prothean's body was surrounded by the dark energy aura, and he waved his hand over her wound. Carrie blinked in surprise as the pain vanished and the wound healed rapidly.
Hikesh finished, and pulled away, his aura vanishing. "You're welcome."
"Thanks." Carrie said, speechless. Suddenly, she glanced behind him and glared. Reaching her hand out, she telekinetically suspended three Chitauri soldiers in midair. They hissed and thrashed around, but Carrie jerked her hand to the side and the Chitauri were sent flying into the distance.
Hearing a number of hissing sounds, Hikesh turned and glared when he saw dozens of Chitauri marching towards them.
"I think it is time to change."
Carrie backed away when she saw Hikesh getting into a familiar stance. From their positions, Captain America, Sif, and Claire raised their eyebrows as Hikesh's body was surrounded in dark energy and he let out a scream. His body changed, and he suddenly in his super Prothean form again.
Captain America and Claire looked in surprise as Hikesh brought his fist back, charging a sphere of dark energy, and charged into the group of advancing Chitauri.
He plowed through the crowd, the dark energy field blowing and burning them away. Claire gave a smirk.
"Interesting."
"So that's how he does it." Sif said, wide eyed.
"What do you…?" Captain America started to say, but Hawkeye came in on the com.
"Captain, they've got civilians trapped in the bank."
Cursing, Captain America immediately marched towards the bank.
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Beth yelped as the Chitauri pushed her through a door and into the bank. She looked around to see an entire crowd of terrified civilians stuffed into the room, and she looked back to see the Chitauri closing the door. Looking up, Beth paled to three more of those things standing up on the second floor and pointing at them with those weird guns.
People whimpered and panicked as the creatures communicated through some garbled language, still pointing their guns at them.
Beth looked to her right to see the family that she was serving earlier huddled together. The little girl looked up at the Chitauri in fear.
"Mommy, what are they?"
But her mother just shook her head, looking just as scared as she was. "I… I don't know…"
Above, one of the Chitauri pulled out a strange box-shaped device. Flipping a switch, the Chitauri hissed in satisfaction when a blue light suddenly started flashing and the device started beeping. He prepared to throw it down into the crowd, when suddenly, Captain America jumped in through the window and hurled his shield, hitting the Chitauri right in the face and knocking its helmet off.
The other two Chitauri shrieked in surprise and pointed their rifles at the captain, firing a barrage of plasma blasts that the captain jumped away from. Hiding behind a fallen desk, the captain kicked the desk and sent it sliding into the two Chitauri.
One of them was knocked away, but the other got up and tried shooting at the captain again. Steve luckily jumped at the creature and delivered a punch to its gut. As the Chitauri doubled over in pain, Captain America grabbed its head and twisted it, hard. He through the dead alien down into the crowd, and everyone backed away as the Chitauri's corpse landed right in the center of the room.
Captain America leaned over the railing. "Everyone clear out!"
Suddenly, he gagged as the Chitauri he knocked down with the desk came in behind him and gripped his head, attempting to gouge out his eyes. In the process, his mask was pulled off.
Down below, everyone watched in amazement, when they heard a bamf-like noise. Looking back, they gasped when they saw a blonde woman had appeared in a puff of smoke. She smirked at them.
"Well?" She said, and everyone just backed away, slightly scared. "Are you just going to gawk at me all day, or are you going to get out of here."
Obediantly, the crowd immediately dispersed from the bank. Beth took a quick glance upwards to see Captain America still struggling. The third Chitauri, the one who had its face struck with the shield, shook its head and grabbed its weapon, trying to blast the restrained captain.
Captain America quickly leapt over his attacker's shoulder, forcing the Chitauri to take the fatal blasts.
While the captain dropped the dead alien, the other Chitauri heard the beeping sound, and shrieked in alarm when he saw the bomb was about to blow.
The Chitauri scrambled to grab the bomb, and just as it was about to throw it at Captain America, it exploded. Captain America jumped up and brought his shield up to protect himself, and was blown out the window and onto a taxi. The vehicle was crushed beneath his weight, and the captain pulled himself up, grunting in pain from the impact.
Hearing the sound of vehicles, Steve blinked and looked up to see numerous tanks and Humvees had arrived. The National Guard swarmed in, its soldiers firing up at the Chitauri flyers, managing to shoot several of them down. In retaliation, the flyers shot down at some of the soldiers, taking a few of them out.
As both sides exchanged blows, Beth and numerous other civilians exited the bank. Blinking, Beth saw Captain America, but wasn't able to get a good look at his face as she was forced along with the other civilians.
ooooo
"Director Fury, the council has made a decision."
Fury gave the council a glare. "I recognize that the council has made a decision. But given that it's a stupid ass decision, I've elected to ignore it."
The council blinked in surprise, and then glared back at Fury. The man in the center gave Fury a demanding tone. "Director, you're closer than any of our subs, you scramble that jet…"
"That is the island of Manhattan, councilman!" Fury barked. Nearby, Agent Hill listened on in shock. What the council was suggesting… she never thought they'd actually go that far.
"Until I'm certain my team can't hold it, I will not order a nuclear strike against a civilian population." Fury clarified.
The councilman glared back at the director. "Don't be stupid, director! If we don't hold them in the air, we lose everything!"
"No more than we already have." Fury said, and immediately cut contact. He looked back at Agent Hill, who just looked back with a worried expression.
ooooo
Natasha ducked as she swerved away from several plasma blasts. Looking back, she glared when she saw Loki pursuing her.
Relentless, Loki snarled as he tried to shoot the Widow down. Taking her com, Natasha paged a friend for assistance.
"Hawkeye!"
Blinking, Hawkeye lowered his bow and looked around. He looked surprised to see Natasha piloting a flyer.
"Nat, what are you doing?"
"I'll explain later!" Natasha yelled. "A little help, please?"
"Don't worry, Natasha!" A new voice came in. "I've got him."
Blinking, Natasha looked up to see Archangel swoop in. Pointing her rifle at Loki, she made a few shots, and Loki grunted as they hit the back of his helmet. Looking back, he glared to see Soladat swooping in from above. The flyer jerked as she landed on the rear and continued shooting, but Loki just grunted as he swung his fist at her.
Soladat ducked away from the fist and plunged her wrist blade into an exposed area beneath his robe. Loki yelled as the blade penetrated his flesh, but not very deep considering his superhuman durability. Archangel attempted to beat him with the barrel of her rifle, but Loki grabbed the gun with his other hand, and the two struggled with each other.
Eventually, Loki grunted as he pulled his head back and bashed his helmet right into Archangel's head. Grunting Soladat stumbled back, keeping her balance so not to fall of the flyer. Loki prepared to strike her again, when his senses flared up.
Jerking his hand out, he grabbed an arrow that was aimed for his head. Loki smirked in Hawkeye's direction. Foolish mortal. Did he really think a mere arrow could stop…
Loki blinked when the arrow suddenly started beeping, and Archangel's eyes widened in realization as she brought her wings up around her body.
The arrow exploded, and Loki and Archangel were sent flying into the air, eventually plummeting down and landing right on the back of a passing Leviathan. Above, Natasha smirked at the sight and quickly leapt off of her flyer and landed safely on the roof of Stark Tower.
Loki, who's helmet had fallen off his head and into the streets below after the explosion, landed hard on the Leviathan's shell, rolling back as the wind pushed him. Gripping a ridge on the creature's shell, Loki slowly pulled himself up to his feet, whipping his head around to glare at Soladat, who raced at him and landed before him, aiming her rifle.
With a snarl, Loki took out one of his last throwing knives, but Archangel quickly leapt over it and dove at Loki, driving her foot into his face. Loki grunted as he stumbled back, and then gave a yell as he rushed forward, attempting to deliver a swift punch to Soladat's face, but Soladat swerved to the side to avoid it, and drove her own fist into Loki's stomach, causing him to double over slightly. She lifted up her rifle, and bashed the blunt end right onto the back of his head, forcing him down, and then kicked him in the side, sending him falling off the side of the Leviathan.
Loki yelled as he started to fall, but quickly grabbed the edge of the Leviathan's fin. Not even realizing the presence of its two passengers, the Leviathan gave a roar as it whipped its tail at a nearby building, reducing it to rubble. With a grunt, Loki pulled himself up, balancing himself on the beast's fin. Suddenly, a volley of gunshots caused him to stumble, and he glared up at the approaching Archangel.
Archangel landed face to face with Loki, attempting a punch, but Loki caught it. Quickly, he grabbed hold of her other wrist before she could lift her rifle up to shoot him, and the two struggled to fight against each other and keep balance on the Leviathan's wobbling fin. Suddenly, Loki looked over Soladat's shoulder and his eyes grew wide. Quickly, he shoved Soladat away and leapt up off the Leviathan's fin, climbing up back onto its back. Blinking in confusion, Archangel turned around and screamed as she saw that the Leviathan was about to drive its fin through another building.
Above, Loki grinned in satisfaction as he saw the fin that Archangel had been standing on slice through a skyscraper, which then crumbled and fell over, smashing into the streets below.
Suddenly, Loki's senses alerted him to approaching gunfire, and he leapt back. Looking up, he scowled in annoyance when he saw Archangel, still alive and unharmed, soaring overhead. He was just about to turn and flee, but Soladat folded her wings back and dove straight at him, slamming her feet ring into his spine.
Loki yelled as he was forced face first onto the Leviathan's shell, and grunted as Archangel grabbed him by the hair and pulled him up to his feet. Snarling, Loki drove his elbow back and tried to jam into into Archangel's fast, but she moved her head away to dodge it. With a grunt, Soladat took her rifle with both hands and brought it against Loki's throat, getting him into a headlock. Grunting in discomfort, Loki reached back, trying to grab at Soladat, and eventually took a handful of her hair and yanked.
Hissing in pain, Soladat was forced to release her grip on Loki to grab his hand, but this allowed Loki to grab hold of her wrist. Loki then flipped Soladat over his head, slamming her into the shell below him. She groaned as she attempted to stand, but Loki jumped forward and nailed the foot of his boot right into her chin, causing her to fall back and grip his face in pain.
Looking around, Loki spotted his throwing knife lying nearby, and grabbed it. Moving back, he grabbed Soladat by the throat, and the two glared at each other momentarily before Loki lifted up the knife to impale her.
He stopped though, when a loud roar caused him and Soladat to look over to the side in confusion.
The Hulk had leapt into the sky to intercept the Leviathan, which wailed in surprise as the green monster drove its fists into its side and sent it flying right into Stark Tower. Above, Natasha stumbled and fell as the great structure shook from the impact. Moments before the Leviathan had slammed into the building, Soladat and Loki stumbled from the Hulk's impact, allowing Soladat to kick Loki away and fly off of the falling creature. Loki, on the other hand, found himself squashed between the Leviathan and the tower, and after struggling for a few moments, he pulled himself out to safety. He quickly climbed up the side of the tower, eventually gripping onto the viewing platform outside of Stark's bar/living room.
Once he was safe, he looked down to see the Leviathan fall from the tower and crash into the streets below.
Loki looked up in rage, and surveyed what was happening to his army. The Avengers were picking them all off with ease, and Earth's forces, this National Guard, were actually faring well against them. There was only one Leviathan left in the city, and even it was being overwhelmed by Earth's forces. Loki shook his head. This wasn't right! This wasn't how it was supposed to go!
Suddenly, he heard a noise and looked to see Archangel swoop down safely and land a few meters away from him. She pointed her rifle at him.
"I know this won't kill you." She said. "But frankly I don't care. Look around you. We're beating you. Your army is lost and scattered. You've lost!"
"No." Loki hissed. "I am a god! I never lose! Especially to mortals like…"
Suddenly, a loud roar was heard and Archangel and Loki looked over to see the Hulk jumping up towards Loki. Archangel blinked as the Hulk zoomed right past her, the wind making her curly hair flutter around wildly, and grabbed Loki. The Hulk smashed through the window and into Stark's happy home, and Loki was sent flying into the wall, slamming right into it. The wall crumbled from the impact, and Loki grunted as he fell face first onto the floor.
Immediately getting up, Loki snarled as the Hulk beat his fists together and approached him.
"ENOUGH!" Loki yelled. The Hulk grunted in confusion and stopped.
"You are all of you beneath me!" Loki hissed defiantly. "I am a god, you dull creature! And I will not be bullied by-Ack!"
The Hulk grabbed Loki by the legs and started smashing him against the floor repeatedly. From outside, Archangel smiled as she pulled out her phone.
"Well, I guess someone should get this on video."
She cringed as the Hulk continued to smash Loki around, eventually slamming him into the ground with great force. Loki looked up in shock as the Hulk growled down at him, and then left the room. Moving past Archangel, he glanced at her and then back at Loki.
"Puny god."
Archangel chuckled at the comment, closed her phone, and flew off with the Hulk. Behind them, Loki whimpered in pain, now more wounded physically than he had ever been.
ooooo
Elsewhere across the world, Jane Foster watched the battle from the news in her observatory in Traunsee. After Darcy had been pulled off to help with their little Asgardian problem, Jane was asked to consult the Traunsee observatory very suddenly the next day. Handsome fee, private plane, very remote.
She watched in awe as the Avengers battled the Chitauri, and looked as her friend displayed particular strength in the battle.
She jumped however, when the phone started ringing. Not taking her eyes off the TV, Jane picked up the phone and answered.
"Hello?"
"Jane?"
Jane blinked. "Mrs. Lewis?"
"Yes it's me." Darcy's mother said. "Are you seeing what's happening?"
"You mean New York?" Jane said. "Yeah, I am."
"Jane, I need to ask you something." Mrs. Lewis said, sounding serious. "I've tried calling Darcy, but she hasn't answered. But that woman, that girl with the hammer. I saw her face. Jane is Darcy…"
Jane paled, and didn't answer. On the other line, Mrs. Lewis paled as well. "Jane, what's happening? Tell me what's really going on here."
Jane sighed. "Okay, just listen…"
And there's part four. Loki's seeing stars, lol. Review pleaz.