Red Thorn

Chapter 5

July 2012 ~ The battle of New York

Red had lost track of how long she'd been pacing back and forth in her living room, her mind reeling with grief. It could have been hours or only a few minutes, but however long it had been she was brought back to reality by the sound of explosions in the streets below.

She quickly ran to a window and it was safe the say that the scene unfolding in front of her was like nothing she had ever seen before. Aliens were prowling through the city both in the air and on foot, chasing civilians and blowing up anything they could. Stark Tower was only a few blocks over, and Red could see a bright blue beam opening a portal in the sky.

Without a second thought, she slipped on her black suit and mask, picked up every single one of the weapons she'd hidden in her apartment and made her way to the roof. On her way up she redid her hair, making sure to use an extra hair tie so that it wouldn't come undone during the fight, then put on her fingerless, black leather gloves. It felt good to be back in her suit, and though part of her wished it wasn't during an alien invasion, she was angry and rather fancied killing them, and if she got the chance, Loki too.

Red stood on the ledge, taking a deep breath before she took a step off. Her plan worked and she landed on one of the alien crafts. Before the one at the rear even had time to react, she unsheathed a dagger and drove it into his neck, killing him instantly. Using the same blade she stabbed the pilot, killing it too. As the aircraft began to fall from the sky she leapt onto the next one across, repeating the action time and time again, going from ship to ship. Using the throwing stars she had in her belt to take out those in the streets below whenever she could.

*

Clint and Natasha were taking cover behind an abandoned car, trying to kill as many Chitauri as possible. "Just like Budapest all over again!" the redhead teased, firing at the sea of aliens in front of them.

"You and I remember Budapest very differently," the bowman concluded, knocking and firing another arrow.

Tony's voice suddenly rang through the comms. "It seems we have an ally."

"Who?" Natasha asked, it came out as more of a grunt than a word as she used her widow bites to electrocute one of the assailants.

"Not sure," he admitted. "Black and red blur taking down their aircrafts one at a time."

"Shit," Clint cursed under his breath, he didn't want her to be a part of this fight.

The two continued to fight as he pushed his worries for Red aside, now was not the time to be distracted. Not when aliens were surrounding him and Natasha. She had somehow managed to get a hold of one of their weapons, using it to kill them whilst he battled them with his, using both the arrows and the bow to take them down.

Both Hawkeye and the Black Widow were good fighters, SHIELD's best assassins, at least the ones that weren't a ghost story, but the fight was beginning to take its toll, both having been repeatedly thrown into nearby cars amongst other things. Still, they pushed through it not giving up the fight, even when the Chitauri started closing in on them.

Steve had returned and was in the midst of helping them when Thor, the God of Thunder, landed next to the trio surrounded by lightening, electrocuting all the enemies in one go.

"What's the story upstairs?" Cap asked.

Thor was holding onto his side where his brother had stabbed him, the blood staining his Asgardian robes. "The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable."

"Thor is right," Tony agreed through the earpiece. "We've got to deal with these guys."

"How do we do this?" Natasha queried.