Frostbite

Eight

Clint was able to maneuver and slow the jet down. We barely missed numerous buildings as he tried to angle our fall so that we wouldn't hit too hard. Peering out of the window, I could see the ground quickly approaching, and I involuntarily sucked in a breath.

The jet slammed into the street and slid to a halt only feet away from a building. Nat and Clint began unbuckling themselves, and Rogers jogged down the ramp. I followed him and could hear the other two following closely behind.

"We gotta get back up there," Rogers called back as we weaved around cars and debris. People were screaming and running in every direction trying to escape. We were passing through an intersection when we were all stopped in our tracks by a deep, monstrous roar coming from above.

I stared upward, and a wave of dread swept through me. Coming out of the hole in sky was a huge mechanical looking alien, a leviathan, casting its enormous shadow over us. There were hundreds of Chitauri clinging to the beast. I groaned aloud involuntary, causing Clint to glance back at me. He looked just as lost as I felt.

They began jumping onto the sides of buildings and structures, even breaking through windows and slipping inside the buildings. They attacked anyone they could. The weapons they were using had the same energy as the tesseract.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Rogers asked, finally breaking the silence in our group.

"I'm seeing, still working on believing," he replied, his voice dripping with awe, "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"

"Banner?" Rogers questioned in surprise.

"Just keep me updated," he instructed, flying after the leviathan. The four of us ran and ducked behind overturned vehicles, trying to avoid being pulverized by Chitauri. I looked up and tossed my hand to the sky, freezing several of their chariots that passed overhead. They froze over and dropped out of the sky, crashing onto the pavement.

A dozen more flew by with Loki leading them. They were destroying everything in their path, sending frightened civilians running under the bridge beneath us, looking for anywhere to hide. Rogers looked down at them and turned back to the three of us.

"Those people need assistance down there," he said. Chitauri soldiers dropped onto the bridge a beat later. Natasha pulled her pistols out and began firing; Clint dashed behind a taxi.

"We got this. You two go," Nat called, still firing at the aliens. I gave a single nod, ready, but Rogers glanced between the two.

"You think you can hold them off?" he asked.

"Captain, it would be my genuine pleasure," Clint assured him with a wry glance while jumping up and notching an arrow. He shot without even looking, hitting a Chitauri in the head and giving us a few seconds to get away.

I took off with Rogers following closely. I launched myself over the railing and heard the Chitauri shooting at us from behind. I landed on an abandoned bus and rolled to break the fall. Once upright again, I jumped off the bus and hit the pavement running. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rogers land on a small car, but it was flipped forward by a blast, causing him to be thrown forward.

I threw my arms over my head to shield myself from the debris. Rogers landed several yards in front of me and tore off down the street so fast that I struggled to keep up. The Chitauri were relentless, barely missing us as we weaved through the littered street. Groaning internally, I stopped and turned to face them, letting Rogers continue down the road.

The three chariots quickly closed the distance between us. Before they could fire again, I shot an array of thin, sharp ice shards at them. Only one of them was smart enough to dodge and jump to the ground. The other two were pierced by the shards and swerved, wrecking into the side of a building. The Chitauri that had survived approached and pointed its weapon at me.