Collision Course {Marvel} ||1||

16. Battle Worn

Every realm had its problems. Though, I was sure no one on Earth could have predicted this as one of the realm's problems.

While everyone was doing their own thing, whether building jumping or scouting out from a rooftop, Cap, Natasha, and I were the ground defenders. The Chitauri didn't seem intimidated by my fiery hands. Even after I lit a few on fire the others figured they wouldn't end up the same way. Each time, I proved them wrong. One Chitauri I even punched through his armor and his skin, creating a fiery hole in his chest.

Not even that scared the aliens off.

Since Cap had his shield with him, I mainly stuck by Natasha's side. Whenever she was stuck, I was ready to finish off the Chitauri she was struggling with. She often gave me grateful glances each time. We didn't have much room to maneuver, as the enemy kept coming in waves. It was hard to move around where we were with all the debris, cars, and smoke.

From a distance, I could hear thunder roaring. No doubt Thor was trying to destroy the Chitauri before they even breached the portal. I kept my focus on the aliens on the ground. I didn't wait for them to strike, I dove in head first. I delivered fiery punches, often setting their skins alight.

"Behind you!" Natasha bellowed.

I spun around to prevent a spear-type weapon from piercing my body. Despite being an Asgardian, my strength was waning; I could see it in the shaking of my arms. The Chitauri made some noise, sort of egging me to give up. I kicked it in the stomach, forcing it back, only to be blasted in the back. I hit stomach-first on the concrete.

I was kicked until I was on my back. I snarled as a Chitauri was about ready to finish me off. With an irritated yell, fire shot from my palm, blasting the alien away. I sat up long enough to see Chitauri flocking to me.

I wasn't going to have time to get on my feet and collect myself before I was piled onto by aliens. As they all charged for me, I did something that I didn't realize that I could do. I put my palms out, and a ring of fire shot around me, rising up to create a barrier. The Chitauri halted in their tracks, making confused, outraged noises at each other. Using my wall, I got to my feet.

It was like attracting bugs. One became too interested, and it burst into flames. The phrase "stupid is as stupid does" was really appropriate. Though the Chitauri were strong in numbers, they lacked intelligence.

That's what I thought initially.

The aliens started to find a hole in my protection. Whichever ones had weapons, they blasted at my firewall. The fire would easily patch up the holes, but then others would appear. I growled, realizing that I had to get rid of my wall or the Chitauri would do it for me.

A blast of power managed to slip in through one of the holes in my firewall, hitting me in the side. I yelled, losing all concentration. The fire disappeared, leaving me defenseless.

Like a madhouse, the Chitauri came at me. I ducked, dodged, but sometimes did receive a hit across the face or in the gut. These aliens had their smart moments. Still, it wasn't wise to piss off a fire-wielding Asgardian.

After I struck down a few Chitauri, I realized that Cap had disappeared, leaving Natasha and I to hold our own. I slowly moved towards Natasha, allowing me to help her out once again. Using my fire, I disabled the remainder of the aliens around us. I spun around at hearing a weapon go off.

Natasha had managed to grab a hold of one of the weapons and was now using it to her advantage. She blasted two incoming Chitauri. I lit my palms when I saw something leap into my peripheral, but I settled down once I realized it was Cap. We took a breather while we could.