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.

Cap's shield looked worse than he did, looking a bit battle-worn. Natasha had a bit of blood on her lip, and she had a dribble of blood starting from her hairline down. We were dirty.

"Captain, none of this is going to mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal," Natasha told him.

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it," he reminded her.

"Well, maybe it's not about guns."

I groaned. On the far side of where we were, amidst the wreckage, more Chitauri were eagerly awaiting a fight. Natasha's right, this will never end unless the portal is shut down.

"If you want to get up there, you're going to need a ride," said Cap.

"I got a ride." Natasha tossed the alien weapon to me instead of discarding it. Her eyes went up towards the speeders zooming over our heads. I looked at her questioningly. "I could use a boost, though."

"You sure about this?" Cap asked, pretty much speaking on my behalf even if he didn't know it.

"Yeah. It's going to be fun."

Natasha got a running start, gave herself an extra push off of a car, landed onto Cap's shield nicely, only to be shot up into the air. She grabbed a hold of the nearest speeder and took off, leaving Cap and me on the ground.

"You think you're up for this?" Cap asked me.

I nodded, still catching my breath. "I'd be long gone or dead if I wasn't, Cap."

We didn't need to go to the Chitauri, they came to us. I resisted using the energy from the weapon as much as possible, using it more as a spear than anything. With weapons on our side, Cap and I were holding our own as best as we could against the enemy. Whenever he was in trouble, I had his back. When I was close to being in serious trouble, Cap was there to lend a helping hand.

We were close to fighting back-to-back, with Chitauri for both of us. A roar of engines alerted me that Stark was joining our party. I spun out of the way so Stark didn't hit me. I smacked a few aliens with the weapon, digging through their armor. Stark blasted away at the aliens like he was only doing target practice.

"Get down, Blondie!" Stark shouted.

I dove for the harsh ground, only to feel a flash of heat above. I watched in awe as Stark and Cap used the true definition of teamwork. With Stark's blasts reflecting off of Cap's shield, they were able to wipe out Chitauri with a single beam.

"Nice," I complimented them just before Stark took off into the air.

"Captain," I heard from Cap's earpiece. It was Agent Barton, our bird's eye view, I guess you could say.

I blasted an alien off his feet. He wasn't getting up anytime soon, or ever again.

"The bank on forty-second past Madison. They've cornered a lot of civilians in there."

"I'm on it," Cap responded.

"You need me with you, or do you have it covered?" I asked as I swiped at another alien.

"I won't be long; I'll come back, Kiara."

"You better." I grunted as I forced a Chitauri back with the spear.

Since Cap was gone, I felt a lot more pressure on me to keep these monsters from spreading further into New York. They can't be spawning up in space as we're fighting. They shouldn't have facilities that just create them and make them battle-ready. I could be wrong about either. I didn't know a thing about the species, except that they were pests and their technology—from what I'd seen—looked pretty high up.

Once I—somehow—managed to find a lull in the fighting, I used the spear as a crutch. I was going to cherish this break while I could. The familiar bellow of the Hulk made my attention go up to the skies. The massive green giant flew in the air, landing on Stark Tower. There could be only one reason why the Hulk went for the tower: Loki had to be back there.

I swallowed, feeling a bit afraid for Loki. Just don't kill him, Hulk. He needs to pay for what he's done.

I was about a minute into my break before a loud crash caught my attention. I gasped as Cap flew out of a window, landing roughly on top of a car. Feeling a gust of energy, I trotted to him as he slid off the car. Behind me, I saw firefighters directing citizens out of the bank.

"Oh, Cap," I whispered in horror. His mask was completely gone; his outfit was torn in some places. He looked downright exhausted.

"I'm fine," he said. "We have to keep going."

"I can, you look like you'll pass out."

"If I do, I know you'll protect me."

"I don't know if you should put that much faith into me. I'm tired, too." I heard the all too familiar cries of Chitauri. "I hope Natasha's at the top of Stark Tower by now. Hope nothing's happened to her."

"We've got to focus about what's in front of us right now."

"Right."

In our exhausted states, Cap and I went back to our original battle grounds. I called fire to my hands, but the flames were flickering. It has to be because of the fatigue. I tried to focus harder on maintaining the fire, but I couldn't.

"Malfunction?" Cap asked.

"It would seem so," I sighed. "I'll deal with it."

"You're bleeding, Kiara."

"Where?" I looked down at my body.

"Your nose."

I wiped under my nose only to have my hand smeared with blood. "Huh. This is a first."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm as okay as I can be. I'll be fine, Cap. If I need you badly enough, you'll know. Ready for another round of kicking alien ass?"

The Chitauri challenged us with battles cries. I decided to conserve my energy and use only my body, no fire. I needed every drop of strength; the Gods knew I'd need it.

Cap suddenly gained a new burst of energy, he charged right for the Chitauri, knocking into them with his shield. I trotted after him, sort of lingering in the background. I wasn't fully recovered yet. Then again, Cap wasn't in such great shape either, yet he continued. This man's strength and leadership fascinated me. I think out of all the Avengers, I respected him the most.

Thank goodness for Thor's perfect timing. While I watched Cap, Thor jumped into the fray. To watch them together was like watching a fight scene in a movie. They coordinated so perfectly, never hitting each other. It was like watching Cap and Stark not too long ago. They were a good team, whether they believed it or not.

I guess I could say we were a good team. It was hard to say where I stood with S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers. I felt like I was a part of the group, but at the same time I wasn't.

"Kiara, behind you!" Cap roared.

I screeched as rough skin wrapped around my neck, thrashing wildly. I elbowed the alien in the face, eventually giving me the leg up I needed to wrench myself out of its grip. I cried out as a blast struck my right shoulder, tearing into the S.H.I.E.L.D. outfit Natasha had let me borrow—probably keep at this point. I staggered into a wall, my left hand cradling my new wound. Though I knew it would heal, it still stung.

The Chitauri seemed to forget about me huddled in a corner, they were focusing on Thor and Cap. I couldn't conjure up fire to blast the incoming aliens away; the pain was distracting.

I yelled as Cap was struck with a blast in his abdomen. He fell to the ground on all fours. Without hesitation, I dove into the battle. I regained focus, allowing myself to put up a single wall in front of us. I winced as the Chitauri began to beat up on my wall, which looked weak enough already.

Thor noticed the situation; he swung his hammer at the nearest car, sending it tumbling into and over Chitauri. I let out a strangled yell of pain as I put down the wall. I collapsed to my knees, feeling slightly lightheaded. I'm going to have to start training; I'm not used to this. I've discovered new things, but they drain me.

From the corner of my eye, Thor lent a helping hand to Cap to get him back on his feet. I panted heavily, wishing to close my eyes.

"Are you ready for another bout?" Thor questioned.

"What, are you getting sleepy?" Cap retorted tiredly.

"Can you stand, Kiara?" I felt a warm hand on my shoulder, the shoulder that wasn't blasted and stinging.

I laughed lamely. "I honestly don't know."

"Can you try?"

Without even asking, Thor helped me up. I tottered towards him; he let me use him for support.

"This can't go on forever," I said. "We can't. Something has to give right now."

Just when our trio was experiencing a lull in the fighting, Natasha's voice came over Cap's earpiece. I tuned in on her voice.

What she said had the potential to end this battle once and for all.

"I can close it."