The Valiant (The Seventh Avenger)

Chapter 23

I took the Northern quadrant of the city and Wanda took the Southern. People give me and Wanda strange looks as we enter the town center, they all disperse from around me when yellow flames appear on my arms and the red appears on her fingertips. One line, five words, twenty characters is all that fills my head. 'Get out of the city.' echoes as I make the flames spread apart around me. Making contact with every brain cell, forcing each and every one of them to follow my order. The flames continue to spread as whispers of the people's thoughts fill my head, telling them to head in different directions in different ways. The spell continues to expand as I echo those five words in my mind more loudly to block out the whispers. Men, women, and children pass me, each with a speck of unnatural yellow in their eyes as they lead them away from the danger that will arrive in less than an hour. Farther and farther my flames spread as people begin to clear the city.

"Going in to meet with Ultron, is the city almost clear?" Tony asks through the comms.

"Yes," I quickly respond as I make my way towards the edge of the city once I felt the resistance in my abilities because they can't expand any further. "Wanda and I are making our way to the edges to get any stragglers."

I am not technically breaking my promise, I am doing this to save human life, it is not for my favor nor is it for power. Cars zip past me towards the bridge that is just a few hundred feet away, crowds cluster around it as they sprint to the other side. The ground shakes beneath me, forcing me to take a few steps back. Glowing blue eyes emerge along with rest of its metallic body, people scream in the distance. Realization hits me when I don't feel my connection. People begin to sprint to the edge as bots soar above us, firing blasters left and right, aiming for the bridge. I take off and leap over the people coming back towards me and scream, "Get off the bridge!" and land between the bots and the people before creating a shield with my flames to ricochet the blasts.

A loud bang sounds in the valley, echoing between mountains. The ground shakes and screams erupt around me as cracks pave their way through the streets. I feel the ground begin to elevate, people try to run past me towards the edge but I stop them and order them to go back. The bridge breaks in front of us and the other side can't be seen as we lift off the earth. I bring the flames to my hands and direct them to the bots, causing them to explode in a ball of purple light.

"Get out of the street" I scream as I fight the robots. People begin to run into the buildings, shouts erupt to my left and I look over to see a woman fall and land on a piece of the land sticking out. "Get out of the way!" I shout before running towards the cluster trying to help the woman back up. They all look at me before dispersing and following my orders. I grab a grappling hook from my utility belt and I shoot it at a pole before jumping over the ledge and swing toward the woman who is laying down and sobbing.

"Hey, are you in any pain?" I ask so I can know how to carry her. She shakes her head and looks up at me with wide eyes, I offer her my hand and she takes it. "Ok, lock your hands over my shoulders, and hold on tight."

I push a button on the grappling hook and we begin to get pulled up. The woman begins to hyperventilate so I tell her that we are only a few feet away from the top and to take a few breaths. People reach down and take the woman from my arms so I can pull myself up over the edge. My eyes catch movement behind them and without thinking I scream, "Duck!."

I jump over the group and hit the robot with the purple flames surrounding my arm. The world around me is in chaos. Robots fly and run around me, firing blasters at the people. I turn and tell the group to go find cover before taking. People run past me and into the buildings. Bots circle around us. People are in a frenzy.

A loud crack echoes in the air and I look over to see a building begin to topple over. I run towards them and slow down the time, my heart beats pounds in my chest and the slow beeping every thirty seconds telling me that my heart is in overload but I keep running. I pull and push people out of the way as fast as can. Twenty more people. The beeping on my wrist begins to quicken to one every twenty seconds. Fifteen more. The beeping goes to every fifteen seconds. Ten more people. Ten seconds. Seven more people. Five seconds. Four more people. The building comes crashing down onto us and I throw my hands up to create a dome with purple around us. The structure falls over and breaks apart around us. Beams and pieces of drywall surround us as my heart begins to bang in my chest.  Two men, a woman, and a child wide-eyed stare at me. I cry out when my chest begins to pinch every heartbeat, my bpm up to 383.