Inescapable

Ch. 39

Steve pushed himself off the ground, shaking his head and the ringing sound from his ears. A blast had sent him flying for feet, a blow even a super soldier would take a second to right himself from. His nostrils were full of the smell of dirt and blood. When he finally righted himself and was able to see the field in front of him, the ringing in his ears started to clear and the sounds of war returned. With the arrival of Thanos, his beasts and "children" attacked with a new fervor. All the while Thanos himself walked down the battlefield calmly like the picture of pure evil. Steve knew what he had to do next. Tightening the shield in his hand Steve lunged forward, breaking into a run. Straight towards the Mad Titan.

-.-

Loki fought with expert skill, the dirt and grime of the fight did not slow him down. He kept a wary eye on the giant once he arrived in the distance, making sure they would not cross paths. Loki intended to keep the stone safe, a promise he had made to Y/N, a promise he had to keep since he could not protect her in the fight in New York. But when he saw the Captain, the man out of time, clash with the Titan, something in Loki changed. These Midgardians had become more than he could have ever imagined to him. From foes to measly incompetent animals, to a band of friends. The fact that he considered them friends had surprised him, thinking only Y/N would achieve that status in his heart. But watching the Captain struggle with Thanos, Loki had to act. In a plume of green he teleported to their location, intent on making the Titan pay for all his actions.

-.-

Steve struggled against the power the Titan had behind his punches. Steve, for the first time in a long time, was fighting something vastly stronger than him. With the capacity to gravely injure him. Steve caught the mad man's fist as it was about to come down for another blow, when he saw Loki appear behind him, dagger in hand.

It happened so quickly. Loki plunged the dagger into the giant's back, who immediately pulled back from Steve, but turned so quickly that Loki could not get a safe distance away from him. Thanos grabbed Loki by the neck. "You. You insignificant pest." Thanos muttered, tightening the grip on Loki's neck. Steve launched forward but was thrown back by a blow from Thanos' free hand. Steve could hear him speak as he picked himself up off the floor.

"I can feel the Space Stone on you Asgardian. Hand it over and I might let you keep your worthless existence. Let you see when the sun rises on my new world."

Steve saw fear in Loki's eyes. Immediately he called over the comms. "Thanos has a hold of Loki! I need backup!" Immediately after Steve could hear thunder rolling and lightning crashing at what he said. Thor was obviously not going to let the Titan hurt his brother. He landed in the space between Steve and Thanos, hammer in hand and determination in his step. "Unhand my brother!" Thor's voice boomed as he lifted his hammer, slamming it and pure lightning down onto Thanos. The whole area went white from the impact, the hair on Steve's body rising from the static electricity. When the white cleared, Thanos had in fact released Loki, who was taking deep breaths further down the field. Thanos was stumbling, the clothes around his right shoulder singed. When he finally righted himself, the look on the madman's face was that of a stone-cold killer. "You will pay for that." Thanos cold voice rang out.

Loki immediately reacted, causing multiple projections of himself to appear surrounding Thanos, Thor and Steve in a circle. "You'll be the one to pay." Loki's voice echoed, as all the multiple projections spoke the same words at the same time. A second's glace between Loki, Thor and Steve was all it took for them to synchronize and lurch forward in unison to attack. Thor, who was the closest to the Titan, was the first to strike. Bringing his hammer down on the madman with extreme force. But the giant, with the agility of a Black Widow, sidestepped at the last second, avoiding the blow rather easily. One of Loki's projections stepped right in, trying to slash Thanos across the midsection. But once again Thanos evaded the attack, causing the projection to crash through another, both dissipating in a plume of green. Steve came crashing in, using his shield to crash into the giant, successfully throwing him off his balance, teetering to fall towards the floor.