THE Avengers circled up just as, above them, more Chitauri and Leviathan Chitauri creatures fell through the large black hole above them. Lyra heard clanking of metal and saw her suit flying toward her. Jumping up, she felt the metal wrap itself around her body. She felt the flight boosters start up just as her helmet slid over her face.
"Jarvis?" Tony asked.
"Online," Jarvis responded.
"Good," he muttered, his eyes focusing on Lyra as he gulped. He was worried—more worried than he ever felt before.
She flew next to Tony as the Avengers stared at the large amount of creatures. They knew there was no end to the army.
"Guys," Natasha called anxiously.
"Call it, Cap," Tony demanded.
"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal up there, our focus is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark and Redfield, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or your turn it to ash."
"Wanna give me a lift?" Clint asked to the Iron duo.
Tony flew behind him. "Right. Better clench up, Legolas."
Tony flew up to a building to drop Clint off as Lyra began to fly the perimeter while blasting any creatures in her way.
On the comms, she heard Steve, "Thor, you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You've got the lightning. Light the bastards up. You and me, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hulk. Smash."
Lyra yelped as a Chitauri threw itself from a building onto her. She turned, flying backwards as she blasted the fucking thing from her suit. "Shit!" she yelled as another jumped on her.
A blast threw it off. She turned, seeing Tony blasting two more. "Keep up, Ly," Tony taunted as he flew off. Lyra rolled her eyes as she followed, both blasting together like the perfect duo they were.
"You know, this wasn't in the homework," Tony commented.
"Would've been a good read, yeah?" Lyra called back. She flew up just as her suit glitched. "What kind of model was this suit, Tone?"
"A newer one, but the bugs weren't fixed yet," Tony admitted. "It'll hold."
"It better. Jarvis?"
"Power at 53%."
"It better," Lyra repeated breathlessly as she shot another Chitauri from a building.
"Stark. You both got a lot of strings sticking to your tail," Clint called.
Lyra turned, cursing as she sped up with Tony.
"Just try and keep them off the streets," Tony said.
"Well, they can't bank worth a damn. Find a tight corner," Clint told them.
Tony flew faster. "I will roger that. Lyra, go right!"
The pair split, taking half of the Chitauri with each of them. Lyra went through a tunnel that lead her through a small building. The Chitauri were shooting at her, but she was dodging each one. Finally, she made it to a parking garage, but she saw Tony had the same idea.
"Up!" Lyra called.
Both shot up as the Chitauri beneath them collided into themselves and into the corner they locked them in.
"Nice call. What else you got?" Tony asked.
"Well, Thor's taking on a squadron down on 6th," Clint responded.
"And he didn't invite me?"
Lyra flew up as Tony went to where Thor was. "Cap? Nat?" she asked tiredly as she flew to try and find them, shooting creatures in her path.
"None of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal," Natasha said.
"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it," Steve responded.
"Well, maybe it's not about guns," Natasha said as if she had gotten a thought.
The conversation cut out for a moment. "Jarvis?"
"Suit is at 48%. Communications, flight, and ammunition working at the same time is making it deplete faster, Miss Redfield," Jarvis responded just as she saw Natasha flying on a Chitauri Chariot. Tony sent a blast to some of the creatures next to her, so she joined him.
"Turn it back on! I need to know what's going on," she commanded.
"—the bank on 42nd past Madison, they caught a lot of civilians there," Clint said.
"I'm on it," Steve replied tiredly.
Lyra flew to where Tony was, shooting a large Leviathan Chitauri as he tried to find a weak spot.
"Lyra?"
"I'm fine!"
"Nat, what are you doing?" Clint asked.
"Uh... a little help!" Natasha answered. Lyra tried to find her, but she saw Loki flying close to Stark Tower.
Clint sounded smug as he responded, "I've got him."
Clint sent an arrow to Loki, the God catching it with a manic grin. Suddenly, it blew up causing Loki to be thrown into Stark Tower. Lyra noticed Natasha jump off onto the top as well. Knowing they were taken care of, she flew back to Tony and Thor, both fighting the large creature.
Tony tried to cut through it, but Jarvis broke through, "Sir, we will lose power before you cut through that shell."
"Jarvis. You ever hear the tale of Jonah?"
"I wouldn't consider him a role model, sir."
Tony flew right at the Leviathan, unleashing every arsenal of the suit as he went through the creature's mouth. Lyra flew around the creature, breathing out a sigh of relief when the man flew out the other end as the creature screamed in pain. She flew down as Tony fell onto the street. He stood and stared at her.
"Jarvis, what's she at?" Tony asked just as a small band of Chitauri walked closer to them with their energy rifles.
"31%."
Tony sighed, firing up his boosters as Lyra followed him. They stood back to back as they fought off the small herd until the herd grew.
"Jarvis, put everything we got into the thrusters!" Tony called.
"I just did."
Lyra felt hers boot up as well as she took off after Tony. Lyra could hear crackling in Tony's comms as someone spoke to him. Lyra shot blasts at Chitauri as she followed Tony higher.
Suddenly, Natasha shouted, "I can close it! Can anybody hear me? I can shut the portal down!"
"Do it!" Steve yelled.
"No, wait!" Tony countered.
"Stark, these things are still coming!" Steve shouted.
Tony took a breath, flying west. "I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it."
"Tony—"
"Come help me get a grip," Tony demanded.
Both Lyra and Tony made it to the missile, grabbing it from behind. Both grunt in pain as they wrenched it off its course. Tony sent his thrusters into full capacity.
"All right, let it go!" he yelled to Lyra.
Steve yelled, "Stark, you know that's a one-way trip?"
"I'm not letting go!" Lyra screamed back.
"Lyra, let it go!" Tony demanded as they started to go toward the portal.
"I'm not letting you do this alone!"
"Lyra!"
"No!"
"Jarvis?" Tony called.
"6%. 5%. 4%."
"Shut her down," Tony demanded, throat heavy. "Thor!?"
Lyra's suit went completely black as she lost the grip on the missile. She could see the world spinning as she fell, and all she could do was scream Tony's name. Her screams made her throat raw, as she should not have let him go alone.
She felt someone grab her, and she was flying again. Once they landed on the ground, she screamed, "JARVIS! LET ME OUT!"
The suit immediately opened, and her red eyes searched for Tony in the sky. She could see Thor standing close to her since he pulled her from the sky as her eyes desperately searched. Around them, the army began to fall. Chitauri and Leviathan Chitauri began to die and drop from buildings.
Thor's eyes painfully met Steve's as he nodded once. They could see the explosion nearing the portal.
"Close it," Steve said.
"DON'T YOU DARE!" she screamed, and she felt Steve wrap his arms around her to keep her still as she screamed for Tony.
The portal began to close slowly, and then, all at once. Before the hole could close completely, a small figure began to fall from the sky.
"Son of a gun!" Steve said with a laugh as he kept his tight hold on Lyra.
Lyra watched in fear as Tony continued to fall, no lights or brakes.
"He's not slowing down," Thor said as he began to wind up his hammer. Before he could get far in the air, the Hulk jumped and snagged him from the sky, sliding down buildings until he landed right in front of them. Lyra broke free from Steve's grasp as she ran for him.
Thor crushed Tony's mask as he ripped it from Tony's face. They all stared as Tony's eyes remained shut.
"Tony," Lyra called, tears mixing with blood as they poured down her face.
All of a sudden, Hulk yelled out angrily.
Tony was startled awake, his breathing heavy as his eyes focused and unfocused around him. "What the hell? What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me?" His eyes met Lyra's. "Did you kiss me?"
"We won," Steve said softly, touching Lyra's shoulder as she cried.
"All right. Hey. All right. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it," Tony rambled, still shaken.
Thor glanced at Stark Towers. "We're not finished yet."
Tony nodded. "And then shawarma after."