Devil of Menace

17 - Battle

The four of us find ourselves on a busy four-way street when a shadow looms over us and everyone stops moving. A deep, primal roar bellows from the portal as something flies out. "When the fuck did cyborg turtle, centipede hybrids become a thing?" I screech as the creature glides through the city. A hundreds of Chitauri soldiers exit the beast, it must be a ship or some form of transport, I think. "Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve asks through the comms system. "I'm seeing, still working on believing. Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?" Tony asks. "Banner?" Steve questions. "I'll keep you updated, scan that thing for a soft spot." I order. "On it." Comes Tony's reply. As the Chitauri begin firing from all sides the four of us take cover behind an abandoned taxi. We look up helplessly and see Loki riding on a chariot, followed by more soldiers. He fires at the street causing a series of explosions. Cars smash, hurling people in all sorts of directions as the shots culminate in a final inferno. 

Steve and I look at the bridge below us and nod in assent of our unspoken plan. "Those people need help down there." I voice. Nat pulls out two pistols and fire at Chitauris that land near us. "We got this, it's good. Go!" She encourages. "You think you can hold them off?" Steve asks Clint. Clint crouches behind another car, "Captain," he pulls a trigger on his quiver and an arrow is mechanically selected, "It would be my genuine pleasure." I smirk at the man as he fires an arrow into a creature's head with perfect precision. Steve and I race over to the plaza, dodging a series of exploding cars within millimetres. We land in front of a young cop and a Sergeant. They look up at Steve's outfit judgingly and I see them skim their eyes over my body, I clear my throat. "I need men in these buildings. There are people inside that can run into the line of fire. You take them through the basement or through the subway. You keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th." Steve orders. "Why the hell should I take orders from you?" The sergeant demands. An explosion from behind us stops Steve from answering. Steve blocks the brunt of the energy blast with his shield as I redirect it towards the two Chitauri charging for us. "I need men in those buildings, lead the people down and away from the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th." We hear the sergeant demand as we continue to fight off the aliens.

The two of us run back to Clint and Natasha and get there just as they appear to become overwhelmed. Steve knocks back the Chitauri zeroing in on Clint as I draw power from the alien energy flowing through a number of the aliens. Pulling the power causes them to drop and I use it to blast approaching creatures. It almost becomes too much until a strike of lightning creates a shockwave, causing the Chitauri soldiers to convulse and drop dead. Thor kneels in the middle of the aftermath. "What's the story upstairs?" Steve asks Thor. "The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable." He explains. Tony's voice fills our ears, "Thor is right. We gotta deal with these guys." He clarifies. "How do we do that?" Natasha asks. "As a team." I reply. "I have unfinished business with Loki." Thor says, "Get in line." Clint grumbles. "Save it. 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 up top, he's gonna need us-" Steve's voice is drowned out by the rumble of a motorcycle engine. "So all this seems horrible." Banner observes.

"I've seen worse." Natasha says. "Sorry." Banner apologizes. I smile, "No. We could use a little worse." Natasha jokes. "Stark? We got him." I update. "Banner?" He asks. "Just like you said." Steve says. "Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you." Tony warns. He appears around the corner of a building, the Leviathan following him. "I... I don't see how that's a party..." Natasha murmurs. The Leviathan copies Stark as he dips down into the street. "Dr Banner." Steve says, grabbing Bruce's attention. "Now might be a really good time for you to get angry." Bruce smiles, "That's my secret Cap. I'm always angry." He says as green shoots through his body. "Again with the cheesy clichés." I grumble, firing at a Chitauri without turning my focus from Banner. The now transformed Hulk punches the Leviathan in the nose causing it to flip in a full 360. Tony blasts a soft spot on the creature with a rocket and chunks of the creature are blown away. The pieces sizzle as Steve pulls me under his shield to deflect them from us. Thousands more creatures suddenly fly out of the portal. "Guys." Nat says, drawing our attention to the impending army.

"Call it Cap." Tony says.