"So, what's the story upstairs?" Steve asked as we all gathered together.
"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable," Thor replied.
"In other words, he couldn't break through the barrier surrounding it," I jumped in.
"Thor's right. We gotta deal with these guys," Tony remarked through the ear-coms.
"How do we do this?" Sean asked.
"As a team," Steve answered.
"I have unfinished business with Loki," Thor said staring up at the Chitauri zipping around on their hovercraft blowing up portions of the skyscrapers.
"Yeah, well get in line," Clint frowned.
"Save it," Steve suggested, "Loki's gonna keep the fight focused on us, and that's what,t we need. Otherwise, those things could run wild. We've got Stark on top--."
He was cut off by the sound of a motorcycle approaching and shutting off. I saw that it was Bruce. Relief swam through me seeing that he survived the fall from the Helicarrier.
"So," Bruce spoke noticing the destruction, "This all seems horrible."
"I've seen worse," Natasha nodded.
"Sorry."
"No, we could use a little worse," Peyton jumped in.
"Stark, we got him," Steve spoke through his ear-com.
"Banner?" Tony asked.
"Just like you said."
"Tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you."
About a couple of seconds later, Tony flew around the corner and in our direction. Right behind him was what appeared to be a gargantuan armored centipede in pursuit. Thor let out a low growl and gripped Mjolnir bracing for a fight.
"I don't see how that's a party," Nicole shook her head.
Tony dropped close to street level as the Leviathan followed bashing its way through a few vehicles and street posts heading right for us. Bruce started walking towards it.
"Dr. Banner now might be a good time for you to get angry," I pointed out.
"That's my secret, Casey," Bruce turned to me, "I'm always angry."
As he turned to face the Leviathan, the transformation into the Hulk occurred and then he punched the Leviathan right in the face and a loud booming shook where we all stood. The giant alien's body toppled over.
"Hold on!" Tony called out and flew over to us and blew up the Leviathan as it almost timbered.
Chunks of what had been the creature scattered all over. I telekinetically kept the giant pieces from hitting any of us. That minute, a loud screeching sounded out through the city as the entire Chitauri army stopped in their tracks on seeing how the Leviathan was taken out so easily. The Hulk let out an ear-deafening roar competing with the mass alien horde as the full group of us stood together as a team, ready to take on anything that came our way.
Just then, a low rumbling occurred.
"Um... guys," Peyton pointed up at the sky.
Looking up, more Leviathans and Chitauri came through the portal. I realized at that moment that the fight wasn't over. It was just beginning.
"Call it, Captain," Vince remarked readying his armory.
"All right, listen up," Steve got our attention, "Until we can close that portal, our priority containment." He turned to Clint, "Barton, I want you on that roof. Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays." The Captain looked to Tony, "Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."
"Wanna give me a lift?" Clint asked turning to Tony.
"Right. Better clench up Legolas," Tony lifted him off the ground and shot straight up.
"Thor, you try to bottleneck that portal. Show 'em down," Steve continued, "You got the lightning. Light the bastards up."
Thor swung Mjolnir and flew off towards the Chrysler Building.
"You three and I will keep the fighting here," Steve turned to Natasha, Vince, and Nicole.
Vince mock saluted him, "Aye aye, sir!"
"And, Hulk."
The Hulk turned to the Captain glowering.
"Smash," Steve added and the Hulk grinned and leaped away, "You three try to get to that tower and find a way to close the portal." The Captain turned to Sean, Peyton, and me."
"Right," Sean nodded.
"Ya got it!" I remarked as we started running.
"Aye aye, Capitan!" Peyton smirked with a mock salute.
The three of us ran through the rubble and debris-filled street taking out any Chitauri who crossed us. I end up shooting one off the side of one of the highrises. I was thanking Brett for teaching me how to long-range shoot. That is if we all made it through.
As Sean and Peyton dashed ahead of me, I noticed a blonde girl attempting to run for cover from being fired upon. I swiftly got in front of her and pulled out my laser firearm and shot the armed Chitauri in the head.
"Oh, thank you," the girl sighed in relief.
"Better take shelter," I suggested.
"Just gonna do that."
That minute, another girl with jet-black hair peaked from an alleyway.
"Veronica, over here!" she called out.
"Erin? I thought you were with the others?" Veronica gasped.
"You guys better get underground fast," I suggested, "It's gonna get ugly out here."
"Everyone's safe. I just came to get you," Erin told Veronica.
"Get going."
Veronica ran over to Erin and both girls suddenly disappeared through the alley. Not wanting to waste any time, I caught up with Sean and Peyton who both were caught in a crossfire as another Chitauri horde shot at them. I telekinetically pulled my friends next to me and then directed the laser beams, making it appear that the aliens were shooting each other like in a scene on some cheesy spaghetti Western movie.
"Man, I wish I brought my camcorder!" Peyton exclaimed as the Chitauri in front of us dropped dead, "It would've made an awesome hit on Youtube!"
"That'd be you just begging for more subscribers," Sean turned to her.
"The Padawan is finally getting the full fluency of sarcasm."
"Guys!" I shook my head at two of my best friends, "Quit foolin' around. We gotta get to the tower and fast!"
"Way to kill the mood," Peyton muttered and the three of us continued running toward Stark Tower.
On reaching the perimeter of the tower, we checked for any sign of any Chitauri, or Loki. Sean, Peyton, and I made sure we were prepped and ready to take on whichever got in our way. Once again, more Chitauri came in through the portal. At the same time, lightning flashed from the roof of the Chrysler Building and struck the entering Leviathan.
"Don't those things ever quit?" Peyton shook her head staring up at it.
"No. The aliens operate on some form of hive mind, kinda like a beehive," Sean spoke up.
"So you're saying that if we cut off the rest of 'em here from the hive, they'd stop functioning?" I turned to him.
"Yeah, I think so."
"That'll happen when we close the portal," Peyton jumped in.
The three of us ran into the main entrance of Stark Tower. Unfortunately, the elevator wasn't operating, unless JARVIS wasn't letting in just anyone besides Tony.
"The dude has gotta give us a pass," Peyton frowned after pressing the button and realizing that it wasn't functioning.
"Looks like our only option is the stairs," Sean pointed out.
"Oh gee, why didn't we think of that?"
"Just chill out, Peyton," I turned to her, "Sean's right. We've got no choice."
We made our way up the stairwell. I started losing count of how many floors Stark Tower had.
"Why couldn't Stark have lesser floors and not have over fifty stories?" Peyton heaved nearly losing her breath, "I think I dropped a lung back there."
"No one can literally drop a lung," Sean corrected her.
"Just shut up, Sean."
"I know you're tired Pey. Everyone's counting on us at this point," I stated.
"Case? Couldn't you telekinetically hoist us up to the roof?" Peyton asked, "It'd save us a ton of time before the world ends up looking like a scene from one of the Resident Evil games."
"I can try."
So I focused and telekinetically lifted Sean and Peyton and raised them several stories.
"This is great!" Peyton called down to me.
"See anything?" I asked trying to concentrate on keeping my friends afloat.
"Nothing yet," Sean replied, "Try lifting us higher and we'll tell you."
I complied and focused on raising them to more stories above.
"We're getting close, Casey," Sean called, "You can drop us now."
"Not yet!" Peyton shouted, "You don't want her to drop us on the stairs and wind us up in a hospital!"
"Be more specific!" I hollered feeling my energy sapping away from me, "Tell me where to drop you guys."
"I meant, drop us slowly near the door to the roof," Sean replied.
"Good."
I released the hold on my friends and seated myself on a step.
"Now you lift yourself next," Peyton called down.
"Gimme a second," I answered and rested for a minute until I was good to go.
I focused and telekinetically hoisted myself up several stories. I felt a small drop of blood coming out of my nose. Despite the over-usage, it was the only option I had. On catching up with my friends, I released the hold on myself and almost lost my balance. Peyton quickly caught me by the hand.
"Have you figured out how to shut down the portal?" Steve asked through our ear-coms.
"We just got to the roof and getting on top of it," I replied still feeling worn out but determined to continue.
"The elevators were shot so we resorted to the stairs," Peyton stated.
The three of us got outside on the roof. As we approached the machine still holding the Tesseract, there was a loud crash. I looked down and saw Loki had lost control of the hovercraft he had been on and landed back on the balcony. Natasha jumped off another intergalactic hovercraft and rolled into a combat stance prepared to take him on even though she didn't stand a chance, she wasn't letting it stop her.
Before a move could be made, the Hulk flew out of nowhere and crashed into Loki and through the balcony window. I waved at Natasha letting her know that Sean, Peyton, and I had arrived and were in the process of trying to figure out the machine. She nodded at me and made her way up towards us.
"Got anything?" I asked Peyton who was examining the machine and threw a fireball at it. The barrier put it out.
"I got nada," she shook her head, "There's no button or wiring that'll shut it off. And not to mention it ate a fireball!"
"It must have something to do with the Tesseract," Sean pointed out, "It's acting like a battery to the contraption."
"No way none of us are touching it," I shook my head knowing that the cube had dangerous waves of gamma radiation.
"I'm not saying to pry it out with our hands. There's bound to be a safety tool around that would help."
Natasha arrived on the roof.
"You guys find anything?" she asked.
"Not a single off button or switch," Peyton remarked, "And not even an outlet plug in sight."
"Just that the Tesseract acting like a battery," Sean added.
"What he said," I shrugged, "Right now we gotta find something that will shut it down."
Natasha nodded at me.
"The scepter," a weakened voice spoke up.
All of us turned and saw Selvig. He appeared to be recovering from the mind control. I remembered Tony's attempt at destroying the machine with his repulsor beams. The shock had knocked Selvig out freeing him from the spell and back to his senses.
"What about it?" Peyton wondered.
"The energy. The Tesseract can't fight it. You can't protect against yourself," Selvig had a guilty expression from what he had done while under Loki's control. I didn't blame the astrophysicist for any of his actions.
"It's not your fault," Natasha assured Selvig, "You didn't know what you were doing."
"Actually, I think I did. I built in a safety to cut the power source."
I recalled Sean's theory of the Tesseract being a battery for the machine. Then I got what Selvig had mentioned about the scepter. It had a similar power source as the cube.
"Loki's scepter," I nodded finally putting the two and two together.
"Maybe it will close the portal," Selvig said and looked down at the edge of the balcony, "And I'm looking right at it."
All of us peered down to find the scepter discarded.
"It should work," Sean nodded.
I telekinetically pulled the scepter up towards us and held it with both hands. Natasha helped me lift it towards the machine and push it against the energy barrier protecting the Tesseract.
"We can close it," Natasha hollered through her ear-com, "Can anybody copy? We can shut down the portal down!"
"Do it!" Steve replied.
Just as Natasha and I were set to push the scepter through the Tesseract, Tony interrupted us.
"No, wait!" he remarked.
"Stark, these things are still coming," Steve argued.
"I got a nuke coming in. It's gonna blow in less than a minute, and I know just where to put it."
"They gotta be frakin' jokin'!" Peyton facepalmed her forehead talking about the World Security Council.
"What were they thinking?" I shook my head at the thought of the egotistic a-holes and knowing full well Fury wouldn't have agreed with them.
"Those bastards," Sean frowned already aware of who we were talking about as we waited.
In rapid seconds, Tony passed by us guiding the nuke up towards the portal and disappearing through it. Another minute, the Chitauri dropped like flies and the remaining Leviathans crashed into the ground like the Hindenburg blimp.
"Come on, Stark," Natasha muttered still staring up at the portal.
The explosion had gone off which was easily heard through the gaping hole in the sky. No one would've survived that.
"Close it," Steve ordered through the ear-com.
Knowing there was no other option, Natasha and I leaned and pushed the scepter further through the barrier, piercing the Tesseract, and causing the portal to collapse. Just as it close up, a human figure had fallen through. I saw that it was Tony.
"Son of a gun!" Steve remarked.
My friends and I sighed in relief. However, I could tell Tony wasn't moving and was falling fast. The Hulk leaped into view and caught him.
Soon, all of us came together. Tony had been unconscious from the fall and the Hulk's roaring woke him up. Vince and Nicole were worn out from the battle, from scrapes to bruises. A Chitauri nearly jabbed Nicole and thankfully Steve interfered giving the intergalactic freak a whack with his shield. Vince ran low on ammo and swiped a Chitauri weapon and used it for the remainder of the battle. Tony suggested trying shawarma afterward. I recalled that it was a Middle Eastern dish. The thought of it made my mouth salivate.
All of us silently snuck behind Loki as he attempted to drag himself towards the exit. Clint insisted on getting in front of us which we let him do so. One of us made a noise and Loki turned himself around to see our group.
"If it's all the same to you," he turned to Tony and raised his arms as if surrendering, "I'll have that drink now."