AN: Dedicated to @xdeaddancerkayx for all the votes! Hope you are enjoying it so far. Thank you :D

This battle wasn't like any of the others Steve had encountered.

Multiple super humans, alien beings, and gods? The odds against the heroes were great, but with the X-Men here, they had a chance to win. Or at least...he hoped they would win.

Lilly had raved about these people. Steve didn't doubt her. Not by a long shot. He was sure they were great people, but great fighters? That was yet to be seen. They were mostly in the dark. Mysterious. Not too trusting. He couldn't blame them, since most of the world had seen mutants in a bad light.

Steve curled his free hand into a fist. The world would see all of them in a new light. From vigilantes to this...rebels. They were rebelling against a dictator who ruled with fear. Rebellions are built on hope. Lilly had uttered those words to him earlier during the flight to DC. That sentence was so true that Steve felt it in his bones. His whole life had been built on hope. Hope things would get better. Hope that Hitler would be taken down. Hope that he'd do something right for his country. Hope that after he came back, it would all get better. Now, he was just hoping for a win. To make it out alive. To fix a country that had spiraled out of control.

Now was the time.

The heroes clashed with the villains. Everyone had broken off into groups, fighting their own enemies. Steve, Tony, and Storm took on one of the most difficult fighters. Loki. The so-called King had seen better days. His appearance was ghostly, and the only thing that stood out were his blazing blue eyes. His dark hair was full of sweat and gel, standing out on end like a mad man. His helmet and armor were near pristine, give or take the few blood splotches. Loki shot at Tony, who was flying in the air and avoiding each shot. Storm went in for hand-to-hand combat, since she didn't want to distract or hurt any of the other heroes with her powers.

He stared into the eyes of Ira, who was just a few feet away. They had been fighting for a half hour, but neither of them could get the advantage. They were equally matched, mostly because of Ira's power of self detonation. Steve had become hesitant to stay close to her for too long. With his fight skills, he could have easily taken her. Yet, such a simple power changed the terms of battle.

Sweat trickled down his temple, away from his damp hair. Even in the cold snow, he had worked up a sweat. He held firmly onto his shield and stood readily, awaiting her next move. Come on.

Ira watched him carefully, taking in his every move. He had a combat pattern, but she couldn't figure out what it was. She licked her lips and tightened her grasp on her broad sword. She listened in on her surroundings, but failed to focus because her ears burned with such an intensity. The cold around her started to gnaw at her light purple skin. Anger boiled up inside her. Loki had worked hard making his way up the political ladder. Now, the heroes were here to take what was rightfully Loki's.

This she could not allow.

With a loud war cry, Ira surged forward. Her broad sword clashed with Cap's shield, creating an ear-piercing sound. She swung, and swung again, each time with more force than the last. Cap blocked her moves effortlessly. He backed away after every few moves, just in case she were to get angry enough and self detonate.

The other sounds of the battlefield passed through Steve's ears. The cries of pain. The anger. The fear. The hearts that were about to be broken. Bombs booming along the earth. Guns firing every other second. Different ranges of sounds came from powers that were being used by the X-Men. There was angry spouting from the villains. Quirky jokes and banter between the heroes. None of this distracted Steve from his mission.

Steve threw his shield at the woman and jumped up into the air to catch it when it returned. Ira growled and almost chucked her sword at him with intense strength, but refrained. That would mean she would be weaponless. She wasn't afraid of a shield, but her weapon determined the outcome of the battle. Unless she decided to use her powers, but she would wake up in some random location. She couldn't risk letting Loki down by leaving the battle.

She got close and tried to stab Steve. Cap grabbed her hand, twisted it, and almost made her drop the sword until she yanked her hand out of his grip. Fists were flying at each other, but no one landed a hit. Cap blocked her moves. Ira ducked repeatedly. It was a stalemate; however, Ira found the opportunity to swing her leg underneath Steve's.

He fell to the ground, pain surging up his spine. Steve's blue eyes widened as Ira launched her sword down to hit him in the neck. He pulled his shield up quickly, blocking the sword just in time. The sword bounced backwards, giving Steve enough time to kick Ira in the stomach, sending her backwards.

Iron Man flew in the air, avoiding shots from Loki and other villains. He fired missiles at Omega Red, but he just caught them with his metal tentacles and hurled them right back. Tony dodged them, but Jarvis' voice spoke up inside the suit, "The missiles are still following you."

"You know, I thought I was done with having my own weapons used against me." Tony flew high into the air, spinning in a circle a few times before diving straight back down. The missiles collided with each other, exploding on impact. A mass of smoke lifted into the cold, winter air.

Jarvis would laugh if he could. "You did make them heat seeking missiles, sir."

Juggernaut launched a chunk of the earth into the air. Tony saw it last second and jerked to the side. The land hit the White House and caved in a part of the wall. Tony was about to call out something to him, until Hulk tackled Juggernaut to the ground.

"Of course. Everyone else has managed to steal my fun." Tony huffed to himself. The Iron Man boots met the ground, allowing Tony to get his balance. He fired rays of light from his hands across the battlefield at different villains. It distracted them long enough for his friends to make critical hits.

In secret, Tony didn't want this conflict to end.

Here he was, fighting alongside some of the most heroic people on the planet, in a battle that would go down in history. This was the story he'd tell Peter's children, if he had any. After this, everything was going to change.

The Avengers would take a break from fighting crime. The X-Men would go back to the school. He'd be left with his own thoughts and late nights with alcohol. Pepper would be ecstatic to have him back, but what then? Would he continue to make his suits? Would she leave him? Would he finally get a good night's sleep without the flashbacks?

More thoughts piled into his mind, and all of them caused chills to run up Tony's spine.

"Tony, I need some help over here!" I cried out from across the field.

Ororo strayed away from using her powers to ensure everyone else's safety. Taking on Loki one-on-one would be a piece of cake. She knew that for a fact.

Storm's cape followed her as she jolted forward towards Loki. He aimed at her with the scepter, but she flew to the side before he got the chance to shoot her. She kicked his arm, causing him to grimace. He went to block her next attack by shielding himself with the scepter's staff, but failed to realize she went in for a punch. Loki stumbled backwards, a twisted smile on his face.

Duplicates of Loki emerged all around her. A few changed into a dozen, then into a few dozen. Ororo furrowed her brow. This was growing to be more difficult. After half an hour of fighting the guy, she mentally applauded his persistence.

She aimed to punch the Loki that was in front of her. The real one. Or at least, that's what she thought until her hand dove clean through his image. He must've moved when she glanced at the other duplicates.

"Having a bit of trouble, Storm?" The Loki duplicates asked with a taunting tone.

Storm kicked one. Wrong. She twirled around and punched another. Wrong. Two, three more punches on other duplicates. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. They all laughed at her failure. Anger stirred inside of her, along with the exhaustion coursing through her muscles.

"You're going to have to try better than that," the Loki's voices echoed in unison. "If not, I'll kill you first. Then I'll go find that lover of yours. What's his name again? The prince of Wakanda..."

He was pushing her buttons, trying to make her angry. If she lost control of her emotions, the weather conditions around them would match what she felt. Confusion would bring roaring thunder and rain. Sadness brought rain. Anger...anger would give her the upper hand. It ranged from many things. Hurricanes. Tornadoes. Hard rains with lightning. Hail.

Loki didn't know what he was getting into.

Storm fought harder and faster than before. Her leg swung around as she spun in a full circle, taking out a set of copies. She grit her teeth and remembered what she was fighting for. The safety of the world. The frightened children back at the school. The survival of her tribe back at home, her real home. For T'Challa. They had only been seeing each other for a while, but nothing official. Not yet, at least.

The duplicates aimed the scepter at her and fired, causing her to panic and fly up into the air. A bolt barely grazed her leg; Storm cried out in pain. She sucked in a breath through her gritted teeth. Her body was so warm against the cold weather, and fighting only made it worse. She swallowed the pain and dove back down into the fight.

Loki thought he could win.

Oh, how wrong he was.

Drastic measures were needed. There were too many duplicates, and there was an easy way to narrow it down. Finding the real one was going to inflict pain, but for what he's done to everyone in the world, it would be worth it. Storm focused in on the molecules that composed the oxygen in the air. Her eyes turned white as she honed in on one area of oxygen in particular.

The air in Loki's lungs.

The molecules tore themselves apart, releasing his lungs of oxygen. She manipulated his airways to not allow oxygen to enter. Her head started to pound at how much power she was using, but she forced the pain away as much as she could. Loki fell to the ground, clawing at his throat. He attempted to utter words, but nothing could make its way passed his throat. The duplicates of him disappeared, leaving only his real self on the cold, snowy ground. He punched the ground and attempted to shoot her with the scepter, but couldn't muster the energy to do it.

"Having a bit of trouble, Loki?" Storm smiled slily, using his words from earlier.

Storm's focus broke when she heard a loud cry coming from the other side of the battlefield.