Author's Note: I don't own Avengers or its characters. I only own Riley Stark and other OCs that appear in the story.
Take on the World
Chapter 10: Battle of New York Part 2
From her bedroom, Riley was witnessing everything that was happening outside Starks Tower from her laptop.
The Chitauri were trying to destroy New York as well as the innocent people caught in the crossfire.
She silently hoped that Gwen as well as all her other classmates from Midtown West Middle School were safe from this horrific scene.
The brunette snapped out of her thoughts when she the map on her screen had pinpointed Bruce's location and saw he was heading to where the rest of the Avengers were.
"Dad! I got Uncle Bruce's location!"Riley informed, speaking in her headphone."His heading to where Nat, Steve and Clint are!"
"Good job, Rye-Rye!"Tony praised."I'll meet up with them!"
Steve, Natasha and Clint suddenly ducked to the ground, when a bolt of lightning struck down from the sky, targeted the Chitauri soldiers and blasted them in a massive shockwave.
They watched as the Chitauri convulsed and dropped to the ground, moments before Thor landed.
"What's the story upstairs?"Steve asked.
"Lady Riley is doing just fine."Thor stated before his face expression turned grim."But the powers surrounding the cube is impenetrable."
"Thor's right."Tony declared."We gotta deal with these guys."
"How do we do this?"Natasha asked.
"As a team."Steve admitted.
"I have unfinished business with Loki."Thor warned.
"Yeah, get in line."Clint grumbled, looking at his arrows.
"Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need."Steve exclaimed."Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us..."
Suddenly, Bruce drove up to the group on a small motorbike, getting off and looking around the city with a grimace on his face.
"So, this all seems horrible."Bruce stated.
"I've seen worse."Natasha answered.
Bruce winced, understanding that the spy' words, at least, had come from when the Hulk had chased her through the Helicarrier's base earlier.
He'd managed to get in contact with Director Fury moments before he'd seen the portal open.
"Sorry."Bruce apologised.
"No."Natasha replied, shaking her head."We could use a little worse."
"Stark?"Steve said, contacting into the comm."We got him."
"Banner?"Tony assumed.
"Just like you said."Steve answered.
"Then tell him to suit up."Tony ordered."I'm bringing the party to you."
Before the others couldn't even speak those words to Bruce, they saw Tony fly out from behind a building, leading the largest of the Chitauri army, the leviathan creature, right behind him.
Whatever Tony had done to get it to follow him the way it was, clearly only made it angry.
Natasha shook her head in disbelief.
"I...I don't see how that's a party."Natasha replied.
The group watched in horror as Tony seemed to try and both avoid the Leviathan's attacks while also keeping its attention, swooping up and down the street.
However, the leviathan followed every move he made, ending up barreling right into the street and into the buildings with every move.
Steve glanced at Bruce.
"Now might be a really good time for you to get angry."Steve suggested.
Bruce looked over his shoulder and gave his companions a smile.
"That's my secret, Captain."Bruce admitted."I'm always angry."
The group watched as Bruce morphed back into the Hulk before their eyes, letting out a roar before he launched himself at the leviathan.
They watched as the leviathan began to fall to where they stood.
"Hang on!"Tony stated.
Iron Man then proceeded to shoot the Leviathan to try and get smaller bits falling to the earth.
Hawkeye grabbed Black Widow and hid her under him to protect her from the blast while Captain America covered himself with his shield.
Once the Leviathan crashed, the Chitauri stopped and turned towards the group to growl at them.
The Hulk roared angrily at the Chitauri soldiers as he, Iron Man, Hawkeye, Thor, Black Widow and Captain America formed a circle with their backs facing each other.
The Avengers were officially assembled now.
Tony smirked slightly when he heard Riley cheering and clapping at them in the background.
The group then watched in horror as more of the Leviathans came out from the portal.
Iron Man glanced at Captain America.
"Call it, Cap."Iron Man insisted.
Captain America nodded before turning to the group.
"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority's containment."Captain America declared."Hawkeye, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."
Hawkeye nodded as he looked at Iron Man.
"Want to give me a lift?"Hawkeye suggested.
Iron Man nodded. "Right. Better clench up, Legolas."
Thor, Black Widow and Captain America watched as Iron Man and Hawkeye flew up in the air.
Captain America glanced at Thor.
"Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal."Captain America ordered."Slow them down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up."
Thor nodded as he began to swing his hammer causing him to fly off.
Captain America looked at Black Widow.
"You and me? We stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here."Captain America stated and glanced at the Hulk."And Hulk?"
The Hulk turned to Captain America.
"Smash."Captain America ordered.
The Hulk grinned and jumped away from building to building to smash the Chitauri soldiers that he spotted.
Riley's eyes scanned at everything that her father and the Avengers were doing.
Captain America gave them each an order and so far they were doing fine.
Thor used Mjølnir to drew lightning out of the dark clouds that had approached him and threw it at the portal, where a couple of Chitauri and Leviathans that were making their way into the sky creaked and groaned as their bodies were charred by the hammer's energy.
This caused Riley to smirk at the sight she was witnessing from her laptop.
"Awesome."Riley praised.
The laptop's screen went to Clint's location and saw the archer standing above a building, skilfully using his bow and arrows to take out the Chitauri that were zooming by in their chariots.
"Stark, you've got a lot of strays sniffing your tail."Clint warned.
Riley's attention was now set on finding her father and she found Iron Man whipping high above a street from the buildings on one side to the other with a few Chitauri close in pursuit.
"Just trying to keep them off the streets and far from the tower."Tony answered tensely.
"Dad, how about you keep the creeps off you?"Riley suggested.
Clint smirked at the brunette's reply.
"I think the Oracle is right."Clint informed."And they can't bank worth a damn."
Clint swiftly draw an arrow as a chariot flew past him, he shot to his right outside his peripheral to annihilate the following craft as he continued to eye Iron Man.
"Find a tight corner."Clint stated.
Riley's eyes went on Clint and saw him drop to one knee as he held an arrow knocked to track the group of Chitauri through the air with its tip before releasing it.
The brunette grinned in amazement as the arrow struck the center of one of the chariots which caused the metal to impact into molten, spreading upwards to liquefy the entire joint section.
The chariot fell into two pieces that flung the extraterrestrials through the air to crash into the side of a high-rise as Iron Man leaped up to blast the other leading Chitauri with a repulser.
Iron Man veered to avoid the collision with the ground as well as the pursuing Chitauri that fired beams at him from their chariots which actually hit the abandoned vehicles in lines below.
"Your arrows are so cool, Uncle Clint!"Riley remarked.
"Thanks, kid."Clint responded as he shot another arrow that hit an approaching Chitauri on the head."How are you doing?"
"Fantastic!"Riley stated and became concerned."Don't get hurt out there, okay? I wanna meet you after this!"
"Sorry to interrupt the friendly conversation!"Tony interrupted."Barton, what else you got?"
Riley's smile grew at hearing her father was doing fine.
"Well, Thor's taking on a squadron down on sixth!"Clint reported.
"And he didn't invite me?"Tony retorted.
Riley smirked and simply rolled her eyes at her father's respond.
Captain America and Black Widow fought the Chitauri on ground, doing their best to hold off the growing forces.
Though Captain America was holding against the alien soldiers, Black Widow was getting worn out from the fighting.
The young woman was an expert soldier and master assassin, but she was still a human being.
"Captain, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal."Natasha stated.
"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it."Captain America reminded.
"Well, maybe it's not about guns."Black Widow commented.
Captain America notice Black Widow were gesturing to the chariots racing above them.
"You wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride, Nat."Riley informed.
"I got a ride, Riley."Black Widow answered."I could use a boost though."
"Are you sure about this?"Captain America asked.
"Yeah."Black Widow responded."It's gonna be fun."
Captain America held his shield ready as Black Widow ran up to it and jumped up where she grabbed onto a passing Chitauri chariot.
Riley squealed in delight as she watched her father and the rest of the Avengers working together to fight the Chitauri to save New York.
Though she felt a little down that she wasn't participating in the fight as they were.
But then again, she was just a kid.
She would probably just get in the way.
Riley became alarmed when her laptop gave a warning signal and showed her that a bunch of Chitauri soldiers have taken lost of people hostage within a bank.
She immediately contacted the Avenger that was the closest to the location.
"Steve! The bank on 42nd past Madison!"Riley warned."The alien creeps caught a lot of civilians there!"
"I'm on it, Riley!"Captain America replied.
Riley typed a few instructions on her laptop to get a clear view inside the bank while Captain America made his way into the building.
The young brunette saw many citizens crouched together, tense and scared while three Chitauri soldiers aimed their guns at the humans to keep them in line.
Riley's eyes widen in fear when she saw one of the Chitauri was crouching down next to something that looked like a bomb that was making a charging noise.
"Steve-"Riley started.
"I know!"Captain America answered.
Captain America lifted his shield, crashing through the window, immediately throwing his shield at the one working on the bomb.
He then went for the two remaining Chitauri soldiers, who turned their weapons to him.
A sigh of relief escaped Riley's mouth when she saw none of the hostages were hurt.
Some were bruised or had scrapes, but the most important thing was that they were all breathing.
Riley's expression became a surprised one when she saw Peter among the hostages with his Uncle Ben and Aunt May.
"At least they're fine."Riley murmured.
Riley bit her lip in worry when she saw a Chitauri had gotten up and managed to attack Captain America from behind, ripping off his helmet which made his face being revealed.
However, the super soldier released himself from the Chitauri's grip before the alien creature got zapped to death from his comrade's staff.
Riley's eyes widen in terror when the remaining Chitauri scrambled to pick up the ticking bomb and threw it towards Steve.
"STEVE!"Riley yelled out."GET OUT OF THERE!"
Steve held his shield to protect himself from the bomb as it exploded and he was thrown out from one of the building's window.
Riley winced a little as Steve crashed on top of a car instead of the solid ground below.
"Hey, Steve!"Riley shouted."Are you okay?!"
"Yeah."Steve muttered and panted in exhaustion."But this fight is getting a bit overwhelming."
Steve slowly stood up and Riley saw he looked a bit worn out at what just occurred.
"Don't worry. You're doing great."Riley assured, trying to comfort the super soldier."How about some cookies and milk after this?"
A slight chuckle escaped from Steve's mouth.
"A little something sweet would be nice."Steve replied."Thanks."
Riley made her hands type a few things on the laptop before removing her headphones to put on her earpiece again.
She immediately headed out of her bedroom to go to the living room and head out in the balcony to get a clear view of the outside.
Despite the chaos below, the brunette's eyes were on the machine that was releasing the glowing beam in the sky that had unleashed the portal.
Riley then saw Dr Selvig laying on the ground with blood trickling on his forehead and had a confused yet hurt look on his face while leaning back heavily on the wall along the edge of the building.
"Dr Selvig!"Riley gasped.
Dr Selvig looked up at Riley, but immediately recognised her.
"You're-"Dr Sevig started.
"The amazing, spectacular, Riley Stark."Riley finished quickly, more concerned about the doctor's wellbeing."Are you still under the sceptre's influence?"
"The sceptre's influence?"Dr Selvig questioned and then remembered who put him under a spell."Loki!"
"I guess that means you're not."Riley replied in approval and looked at the beam."I guess we'll need the glow stick of destiny to stop this crazy thing."
The brunette suddenly heard firing beams nearby and saw Loki on a chariot, attempting to hit Natasha that was on one of the Chitauri's chariots.
"Hawkeye!"Natasha called out.
''Nat, what are you doing?''Clint questioned.
''Uh...little help?''Natasha requested.
Natasha made her chariot duck down, missing the blasts from Loki.
Clint smirked as he saw Loki while he aimed his bow towards him, ready to shoot his arrow.
"I got him.''Clint murmured smugly.
With his skilled and precise aim, Clint shot an arrow out straight toward Loki.
It was guaranteed to hit him, but Loki was smarter than that and caught the arrow before it even hit him.
Loki smirked at Clint's foolish attempt.
But back over on the building, Clint smirked at what was coming.
Less than a few seconds later, the arrow that was still in Loki's hand blew up in his face, sending him off the chariot and back onto the Stark Tower balcony.
Riley groaned in annoyance at seeing Loki laying not far from where she stood beside the 'T' from the remaining letters labelling Stark Tower being knocked out.
"Dad's not going to like this."Riley muttered.
"Sorry, Riley!"Clint apologised."I didn't mean to send him to you!"
"No problem, Uncle Clint. I'll be fine."Riley assured slightly before greeting Loki."Hola, Señor Lose-A-Lot."
Loki lifted up his head and glared at Riley with a menacing look.
However, Riley simply smirked at the God of Mischief as she rushed back inside the living room to see if her hidden camera was still where she left it.
"Riley, stay hidden."Natasha ordered."I'm already on the roof with Selvig."
"Not a problem, Nat."Riley sneered and pressed the recording button on her hidden camera before carefully slipping away from it."I'm well hidden."
Riley was barely even at the window's edge when she had to dive backwards out of the way, just in time as none other than the Hulk smashed through the only un-broken window on the tower, carrying Loki with him.
The enormous green beast fell to the ground, sending Loki crashing against the wall above the mini-bar and then hit on the floor.
Riley grinned at the Hulk as he got to his feet, snarling, ready to attack again.
"Good job, Uncle Bru—I mean...Hulk!"Riley praised in amusement.
"ENOUGH!"
Riley turned in Loki's direction to see him back on his feet again, glaring menacingly at the Hulk with fuming icy blue eyes.
"You are all of you beneath me!"Loki snarled arrogantly."I am a God, you dull creature! And I will not be bullied by—"
The Hulk unhesitatingly seized Loki by the legs and began to smash him violently against the floor repeatedly, back and forth, then threw him aside to the ground, hard.
The impact crushed the ground beneath Loki, leaving him buried into it.
Riley covered her mouth, trying her best not to laugh at what she just witnessed.
The Hulk snorted as he turned away from the overall shocked and utterly beaten up God of Mischief.
"Puny god."the Hulk muttered.
The Hulk's eyes went on Riley, who simply clapped at what he just did.
"Uh...thanks, Uncle Hulk."Riley thanked in delight."That was…brilliant."
The Hulk merely grunted at the brunette in reply, then proceeded to move to the window, running back into the fight.
Riley went to her hidden camera before picking it up to stop its recording.
The brunette glanced over her shoulder at Loki, who was still lying in the pile of rubble, making a strange whimpering/strained breathing sort of sound.
Although Riley would have most likely done the same exact thing if she was the Hulk, she still couldn't help but feel Loki's pain.
Riley smirked as she bent down a bit to look at Loki.
"So, what exactly were you saying before, Horn Head?"Riley asked, grinning down at Loki, glad to be taller than him, for once."I seem to have forgotten."
Loki's eyes moved to look at Riley, filled with a combination of annoyance and pain, but he either was too shocked to say anything or just couldn't.
"Now, the question is, do I need to sit here and babysit you or are you going to stay down there like a good little pussy cat, so that my dad and his team can go beat up more of your friends?"Riley remarked smugly.
Loki glared at Riley.
He opened his bleeding lips to say something, but Riley's earpiece buzzed.
The young Stark heiress turned away from him and switched it back to 'on.'
It was Natasha.
"I can close it! Can anybody hear me?"Natasha declared."I can shut the portal down!"
"Do it!"Steve ordered.
Riley went towards the damaged windows to see more Chitauri arriving from the portal.
"And I'd advise fairly quickly."Riley added.
"No, wait!"Tony demanded.
Even as far away from each other as they were, Riley could hear the panic in Tony's voice.
"Stark, these things are still coming!"Steve informed.
"What's the matter?"Riley asked.
"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute."Tony exclaimed."And I know just where to put it."
Riley frowned. "Wait, dad. What do you mean?"
Tony, however, didn't answer his daughter.
Riley gave Loki one last look and saw he was still lying in the same position still wincing before she fled to the window and jumped out onto the balcony-ledge where Natasha stood, next to the portal.
Natasha was holding the sceptre up, pointing it at the power source, but not using it just yet.
"Riley."Natasha responded, glancing at the young brunette."Weren't you supposed to be hiding?"
"Mr Horn Head didn't touch or hurt me. So, I got no scratches."Riley replied before changing the subject."What's dad up to?"
Natasha became silent and didn't answer Riley's question.
In that second, Iron Man rocketed past them, gripping a large white missile in his hands.
Riley's eyes widen as she watched her father flew up and head toward the portal.
"Oh no."Riley murmured in fear, bringing one hand up to cover her mouth."He isn't doing what I think he's doing. Is he?"
"I don't know what you're thinking, Riley."Natasha answered."But it's possible that-"
This caused Riley to panic.
"No! No! No!"Riley panicked."I don't want to lose my dad!"
"Stark, you know that's a one way trip."Steve informed.
With all of his speed and the strength he got, Iron Man flew up, past Stark Towers and into the black hole of the portal into space.
Iron Man let go of the missile and watched as he began to float away from it.
He was getting weak as the missile continued to fly through the air, but he was going to stay awake for as long as he could.
Riley felt her heart thump louder as she held back the tears that were trying to come out.
When the missile finally reached the Chitauri's space station, all of the Chitauri on Earth shut down instantly, just leaving their lifeless bodies lying all through the streets.
The rest of the Avengers were looking up at the portal anxiously, but Iron Man was nowhere to be seen.
"Please, come back, daddy."Riley begged with a pleading look.
"Come on, Stark."Natasha whispered.
"Close it."Steve ordered.
Natasha moved forward, shutting the thing with Loki's sceptre.
Loud noises from the explosion within the portal sounded even down on Earth and just as it began to close out, the suit of Iron Man began to fall out.
"Son of a gun!"Steve said with a smile.
Riley stood at Stark Tower, glancing at the sight above her head while Natasha puts her arm around her with her free hand.
Her face brightened up when she saw her father heading back down, only her smile to vanish when she notice he was falling quickly.
"His not slowing down!"Thor informed.
"CATCH HIM!"Riley cried out.
Thor began to spin his hammer, ready to fly up to catch Tony.
Suddenly, the Hulk hurled himself across the space between the buildings and caught Tony with an arm around his torso.
Steve and Thor all ran to where the Hulk had landed just as he threw Tony off of him, having him land on his back.
Thor rolled over the armour then ripped the mask from Tony's face only to see his eyes shut in peace.
The glowing light on his chest from his arc reactor was gone which meant Tony had sacrificed himself to save the world.
Riley rushed to take a few steps forward on the balcony as she held her earpiece, desperately waiting for one of the Avengers to say her father was alright.
"Steve! Thor! Is my dad okay?!"Riley demanded, trying not to cry."Please say his okay!"
The Hulk suddenly let out a loud roar causing Tony to wake up and the arc reactor to kick back in again.
Tony screamed and let out gasps while Steve and Thor all sighed with relief.
"What the hell?"Tony muttered.
Riley gasped in relief and her tears of joy appeared on her eyes upon hearing that her father was still alive.
The Hulk let out another roar, but this time it was one of victory.
Tony looked back and forth at the Hulk, Steve and Thor while taking deep breaths.
"What just happened?"Tony questioned before looking at Steve and Thor."Please tell me nobody kissed me."
"We won."Steve chuckled.
Tony winced a bit when he heard Riley's angry voice yelling at him.
"Daddy! You scared me so badly!"Riley scowled."I thought I was going to lose you!"
"Sorry, Rye-Rye."Tony apologised, feeling guilty to have made his daughter scared."It won't happen again."
"It better not!"Riley retorted sharply."Otherwise, you'll find me in the next flight back to Seville!"
Once Riley ended her contact with him, Tony let out a relieved sigh as his head fell back.
"Alright, hey!"Tony said happily as he opened his eyes again, trying to forget what just happened."Alright! Good job, guys!"
The group looked to each other with wide smiles.
"Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day."Tony suggested."Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it.''
"We're not finished yet."Thor reminded.
This caused Thor, Steve, Tony and the Hulk to all to look up at Stark Tower.
They had almost forgotten about the war criminal behind this event.
Tony looked back at Thor.
"Then shawarma after?"Tony suggested.
A groan of pain escaped from Loki's mouth as he struggled to get up from where he was currently stuck in the ground.
His whole body ached from the Hulk having thrown him around like a rag doll, but he tried not to let it show as he pulled himself up some stairs and into a sitting position.
Loki was just about to push himself up off the ground, when he sensed people behind him.
"Going somewhere, Señor Lose-A-Lot?"
The God of Mischief winced slightly at hearing a familiar yet irritating female voice before turning, his eyes landing on the people before him.
There was Tony with Riley next to him while his hand rested on his daughter's shoulder.
Next to them was the Hulk, Steve, Thor and Natasha, who was holding the sceptre.
Finally, there was Clint, who was in a crouching down pose while he had an arrow pointing at Loki's face using his bow.
Riley glared at Loki as her father and friends did, silently telling the God of Mischief that he was done for, but he already knew that.
Loki sighed and looked over at Tony.
"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now?"Loki requested.