𝐀𝐍𝐓𝐈-𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐎, avengers¹

𝐱𝐥𝐯. the great war

.ೃ࿔*:･𝐱𝐥𝐯. the great war

𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐑𝐈𝐃'𝐒 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐎𝐁𝐁𝐄𝐃, 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐂 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐎𝐓𝐈𝐂 𝐁𝐄𝐀𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐇𝐄𝐑. Dust clung to her skin, and the acrid smell of smoke and burnt earth filled her lungs. She forced her eyes open, squinting through the haze to where Ebony Maw was pointing. She followed its direction and saw Clint, his figure weaving through the battlefield, the Gauntlet clutched tightly in his hands, desperation in every step.

Her heart surged with the instinct to help, but when she tried to push herself up, her arms gave out beneath her, weak and trembling from exhaustion and injury. She collapsed back onto the ground, a sharp grunt escaping her lips as the impact sent a shock of pain through her battered body.

The sound was small, almost insignificant in the grand chaos surrounding them, but it was enough. Enough to make both Thanos and Ebony Maw halt, their eyes snapping towards her as if only now remembering she was there, left in the dirt and rubble.

"Finish the job," Thanos growled, his voice deep and resonant. His eyes, hard as stone, held no mercy, no flicker of doubt. The command was absolute.

Ebony Maw’s lips curled into a sinister smile as he floated forward, his every movement precise and deliberate. His eyes, cold and calculating, bore into her, stripping away any hope she might have had. "With pleasure," he replied, his voice eerily calm, as though the slaughter of an injured girl was nothing more than a mundane task.

Ingrid's heart pounded in her chest, a frantic rhythm that drowned out the sounds of the battle around her. Panic clawed at her, but she forced herself to turn her head.

Through the dust and debris, she spotted the gleam of the Gauntlet— now held firmly in T’Challa’s grasp. Relief washed over her like a cool breeze when she saw Wanda standing between Thanos and T’Challa, her hands glowing with a furious red light. It was a momentary reprieve, knowing that her friends were still fighting, still standing against the overwhelming force of Thanos.

But the relief was short-lived. As she turned back, she saw Ebony Maw’s attention shift, his focus torn between the gauntlet and her. The alien sorcerer was now wielding his telekinetic powers to snatch the gauntlet from T’Challa, surrounding it with a whirlwind of bricks and debris, trying to wrench it from his grasp. The same force now encased T’Challa, holding him in place.

Ingrid’s breaths came in ragged gasps, her chest heaving as she struggled to hold on. The pain in her wrist was a sharp, incessant throb, sending waves of agony up her arm with every heartbeat. She could taste the metallic tang of blood in her mouth, which she spat onto the ground, the red droplets stark against the dusty earth. The flames that once surged through her veins now flickered weakly, barely more than embers as she fought to stay upright, her body trembling from the effort.

She knew she didn’t have much time. Maw was distracted, his back to her as he focused on his telekinetic hold. Summoning every last bit of strength she had, Ingrid forced herself to stand. Her legs shook beneath her, threatening to give out, but she refused to fall.

With a determined glare, she raised her uninjured hand, the last remnants of her power coalescing into a ball of flame. Her vision swam, and the world tilted dangerously, but she pushed through it, hurling the flames towards Maw with all her might.

The fire hit him square in the back, and he let out a strangled cry as the flames seared through his robes, licking at his skin. His telekinetic grip faltered, and the bricks that held the gauntlet clattered to the ground. T’Challa staggered forward, momentarily freed from Maw’s grasp.

“I got it!” Peter’s voice rang out, cutting through the din of the battlefield. Ingrid’s heart leaped as she saw him swoop in, his web-shooters latching onto the gauntlet and pulling it to safety. A wide grin spread across her face, her earlier exhaustion momentarily forgotten as Peter waved at her in triumph.

But the victory was fleeting. As Peter landed, his triumphant moment was cut short by the sudden arrival of a swarm of Chitauri, surrounding him from all sides. Ingrid’s instincts screamed at her to go to him, to help him fight them off, but she could barely move, her body ready to collapse.

Before she could even take a step, Peter shouted, “Activate Instant Kill!” In an instant, the robotic spider legs burst from his suit, moving with lethal precision. The Chitauri didn’t stand a chance as the legs struck, stabbing through the alien soldiers.

Ingrid spun around, her eyes narrowing as she saw the wave of Chitauri charging toward her. Anger flared within her, igniting the flames that danced along her arms. She unleashed a burst of fire, the scorching heat tearing through the first wave of Chitauri, sending them sprawling back in charred heaps. But no matter how many she incinerated, more kept coming, relentless and unyielding.

The ground beneath her shook with the force of the battle, and before she could gather her strength for another attack, a low rumble echoed from above. Her eyes widened as she saw the massive cannons of Thanos’ spaceship emerging from the clouds, their barrels shifting to aim directly at the battlefield.

In an instant, the sky was alight with the blaze of the cannons' barrage. The ground exploded around Ingrid, sending up plumes of dirt and debris as she struggled to maintain her footing. Panic clawed at her as the barrage grew more intense, the Chitauri closing in. With no other choice, she dropped to her knees, crossing her arms above her head and summoning every ounce of power she had left. A sphere of flames erupted around her, forming a protective barrier that flickered and roared, shielding her from the deadly rain of projectiles and the advancing Chitauri.

The sound was deafening— explosions, the screech of the Chitauri, and the roar of her own flames. Ingrid gritted her teeth, her muscles straining to keep the shield intact as the pressure mounted, her body trembling from the exertion.

Then, without warning, one of the cannon blasts slammed into a distant structure. The ground shuddered beneath her, and Ingrid looked up just in time to see the dam in the distance crack and split, the force of the explosion too much for it to withstand. Water poured through the breach, a relentless wave surging toward the battlefield, threatening to swallow everything in its path.

“Uh, is anyone else seeing this?” Pepper’s voice crackled through the comms, laced with concern.

Ingrid's heart raced as she watched the water rush closer, too fast and too powerful to stop. But then, Ingrid turned to see Doctor Strange standing firm, his hands weaving intricate patterns in the air. The torrent of water froze in place, suspended by the mystic energy that radiated from his hands, stopping it just short of overwhelming them all.

The cannons had suddenly ceased their bombardment of the battlefield, and Ingrid felt a chill run down her spine as she let her shield dissipate. The air around them grew eerily quiet as the guns pivoted in unison, their barrels now trained on something high in the sky.

“What the hell is this?” Sam’s voice broke the silence, his tone a mix of confusion and urgency.

“F.R.I.D.A.Y., what are they firing at?” Tony demanded, his voice strained with the tension of the moment.

“Something just entered the upper atmosphere,” F.R.I.D.A.Y. responded.

Ingrid squinted upward, trying to pierce the darkness above. The air grew thick with anticipation, the battlefield frozen as every eye turned to the sky.

A blinding surge of light and energy thundered down from the sky, cutting through the clouds. Carol, her form glowing with power, streaked down from the sky. The cannons of Thanos’ ship fired desperately, but it was too late. Carol tore through the vessel, her energy blasting through its core.

Ingrid watched as the ship erupted into a fiery explosion, its massive form breaking apart as it plummeted from the sky. The ground trembled as the ship crash-landed in the lake, sending a shockwave through the battlefield.