I stood up then, almost happy to see the shell shocked Loki standing there, because Tony was right.

I was pretty pissed.

I threw the bloodied bullet and tweezers onto the counter, and Stark's lips curled in disgust. "Ew- gross- can you not put that on the counter?"

I ignored Stark, leaning forward on the counter and glaring menacingly at Loki.

"So I'm not apart of their ploy, is that right?"

Loki's lips turned up, anger festering there.

"I only wished to protect you." He replied, more angrily than before.

"You've done a remarkable job, then."

"The metal man is right, I'm livid." I seethed, and I know he heard the truth in my words.

"Ummm, it's iron, actu-" I interrupted Tony. "And our team is coming for you," I drawled, giving Stark a sideways grin, he matched my smile with a devilish one of his own.

"I have an army." Loki spat venomously, though something had changed in his tone since I'd appeared, he seemed to be less convinced of himself now. Perhaps I was being too hopeful; or naive, maybe.

"We have a hulk." Tony answered, and I thought of the green beast and my confidence in our team soared.

"I thought the beast wandered off," Loki pondered mockingly, holding his chin up as if pleased with himself. My anger soared, and I couldn't help but feel a little hurt that he continued with this operation power grab: even when I stood before him. Not that my presence had changed much in the past.

Tony groaned irritably, as if tired of putting up with Loki, and frankly, I was tired of this Loki too. I wondered if I hit him hard enough across the face if I could snap him out of it. "You're missing the point. There is no throne," Tony seethed. "There's no version of this where you come out on top. Maybe your army of fucking Cheezits comes, and maybe it's too much for us, but that's all on you." Tony finished, taking confident steps forward, I stayed behind the bar a moment longer, watching Loki's reaction carefully before walking around the other side of the bar to get closer to them.

"Because if we can't defend Earth, then we'll sure as hell avenge it." Tony spat, his usual childish and jesting demeanor flipping to seriousness with his little rant. He stood with a challenging stance toward Loki, who actually was impressed with his speech. I was surprised to sense that emotion in him, but he showed no trait of it on the surface.

Loki raised his scepter, and I placed a hand on Dygö's hilt to prepare myself for what would follow.

"How will your precious team have time for me- when they're too busy fighting you." Loki quipped devilishly, his evil grin curling his lips once again as he tapped the scepter to Tony's chest. When I realized what Loki was trying to do, my worry disappeared. I knew it wouldn't work.

And sure enough, a little glass tink sounded from the scepter, as he couldn't press it against his chest since Tony had the arc reactor.

"This usually works," Loki mumbled, almost embarrassed, and I snorted and covered my mouth with the back of my hand.

"Performance issues. I get it." Tony shrugged, Loki grunted in anger and grabbed Tony's throat forcefully, who yelped in surprise as Loki pushed him across the room. I sprang into action, raising my sword as Loki chucked Tony across the room.

"Loki! Enough!" I snarled, the fury in my voice so vibrant it practically stained the room. Loki halted and stared at me as I pointed Dygö at him and Tony sputtered on the floor, rubbing his neck. "Jarvis- any minute now-" he mumbled.

Loki whipped his head back toward Stark, his eyes blazing with their abnormal blue, and he started toward him but I took confident strides forward and shoved Dygö forward. "You won't take another step! Your fight is with me, Loki." I snapped, and Loki's face went back toward me. But I didn't see a wink of the emerald green in his eyes, he was consumed by whatever force held him, I didn't even see recognition in his expression when he faced me.

He raised the scepter toward me, an orange beam of light blasting toward me, I cried out in surprise, not expecting him to attack me and flinging my arms in front of my so my armor took the brunt of it, but not expecting it I was thrown out until I slammed against the wall and fell to my butt on the floor, shaking the heat out of my arms. I whipped my head up, white hot fury erupting in my eyes.

Oh, how I longed to smack some sense into him.

"You will all fall before me," growled Loki to Stark as he prowled toward him.

Tony stood up abruptly, only to be met with a more powerful blast that sent him crashing through the large glass window, and seconds later a red pod of machinery followed him, most likely his iron man suit.

Moments later, in his yellow and red suit, Tony flies up to the window.

"And someone else you pissed off," Tony's speaker called, and I'm sure there was an angry look on his face.

"His name is Phil."

Tony blasted Loki with a beam from his hand, sending Loki onto his ass. And it was well deserved. Suddenly, the earth seems to begin to shake as a loud, skull shaking boom erupted through the land. I rushed to peak my head through the cracked window, my breath catching when I see the white beam of light shooting into the air from the roof of Stark Tower, puncturing the sky with a shuddering bang. Whatever machinery Loki made from the tesseract opened a circular vortex from the sky, light clashed all around and all the air expelled from my lungs.

"Go," I told Stark, who looked at me and nodded. The unspoken words hung in the air.

I'll handle him.

-

Loki matched my sword with his scepter, fighting with more skill and efficiency than he'd ever had before.

"I did not wish for it to come to this," Loki sputtered as our weapons danced their deadly song, the clang of metal and steel filling my ears. It was not a fight that had the potential to be dangerous, we both aimed to inflict minor wounds and each of us were to skilled to be struck with any weaponry.

Anger no longer seized his eyes, instead, he looked conflicted. His movements would stall every so often but I had no desire to strike him, so I slowed as well.

"You brought this, Loki," I said, not spitefully but honestly.

Loki said nothing, and I pressed my sword against his scepter, dropping my glower and instead looking at him pleadingly. "End this, no more lives need be lost," I told him, trying to demand but instead it came out as a beg. I hated the weakness in my voice, but if anything it helped me in this case. Loki shook his head slowly. "I wish I could, but it is beyond my control." Loki answered, and my face heated with anger.

"You say you cannot, but you are a fool. Call off your army." I seethed, Loki took a step back from me, jerking his scepter behind him, I kept my sword raised. Loki surprised me by hitting his wrist against his forehead suddenly, expelling a guttural groan from his lips in frustration as he squeezed his eyes shut. He took a long breath, and I watched him with my brows drawn together as he opened his eyes again slowly, their glowing cobalt color causing my breath to hitch.

"It's not that simple." Loki muttered, then he charged with his scepter, aiming toward my throat, but I arched my back and made contact with his scepter with my sword.

"I'm afraid it is," I grunted. I pushed against his scepter with my sword, keeping its writhing power of the mind stone from touching me lest it melt my skin right there. "Whatever it is you fear, Loki," I started, and I saw the surprise flash on his face as if I'd guessed something correctly. "we will face it together, but first you must give up this poison." I pleaded with him.

A jade color flashed across his iris, battling the blue for a moment, and I thought that maybe I'd gotten to him, but then a roar of fury sounded from the glass and I shoved Loki away from me, whirling toward the new person.

Thor, with all his fury, stood there with his hammer clutched tightly in his hands.

"Lyra, the others need you." Thor grumbled, his eyes darting pass me and toward Loki.

"I will handle my brother," he seethed.
-
I leaped from the building and left the brothers to their argument, the wind sweeps my breath out of my lungs. My feet land on the ground, leaving cracks in the ground where I land. Chitauri pour out of the wormhole above Stark Tower, bringing havoc to the streets of the New York. The destruction had not waited for me, building had pieces missing and cars were aflame among the streets, rubble and ashes fell the the ground in tribute of what was once an alive city.

Loki's army wouldn't stop this madness, no, they would progress until nothing was left.

From down the street into the heart of the fight, I see Steve dive behind an abandoned car as a Chitauri creature shoots at him from atop a floating motorized vehicle. I leap forward onto the device, driving my sword through its heart and using my sword to crash it into the ground. I jump off of the spiraling machine and land next to Steve. It hits an already vacated building and explodes in a bright burst of orange and red. "Thanks." He says, panting.

"No problem." I huffed in reply. He looked at me for a moment. "It's good to see Loki didn't kill you," Steve said, a small grin tugging at his lips. I forced a smile back and waved him off. "Like he ever could," I quipped,  he looks at my armor then with a confused expression on his face. "I'll explain later," I say.

I jump onto the car and leap forward, taking Chitauri after Chitauri out of the sky. I hear a scream and yank my head to the left. A little boy with blood dribbling down his head and a fallen telephone pole on his leg was crying heavily, trying to no avail to yank his broken appendage from the pole. I teleport to his side quickly and throw the telephone pole off of him with ease. I pick him up and he wraps his arms around my neck, crying and screaming at his pain. "Mi niño!" I hear a woman's voice.

I turn to see a woman on the other side of the street, running toward me and crying as she sees her sons broken leg, I grab her arm and teleport blocks down where less damage is going on. "What happened to him? Can you help him? Please!" She begs, her accent making her words seem a hundred times more urgent as I set her screaming child down. "Yes, I can," I say. I place my hands on his leg and my hands glow a soft gold. His broken leg snaps back into place and his cries soften. I heal the cut on his head and hand him to his mother.
"Get out of here, it's not safe!" I order. The mother grabs my hand. "Gracias señorita." She says. "De nada. Ahora corre!" I say quickly. I teleport on top of Stark Tower, leaping forward on top of another Chitauri and stabbing them through the chest. I land next to Clint and Natasha who were fighting more Chitauri as they pour forth from all angles.

I look at the wormhole in the sky and I curse under my breath, a large creature with armored skin comes out of the portal. "What the heck is that thing!?" Natasha exclaims. "It's called a Leviathan, they're extraterrestrial animal-slaves and warships for these things. They aren't friendly." I say. "Well, I figured as much," Nat grumbles.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Asked Steve's voice from the comm, followed by Stark's reply.

"Seeing, having trouble believing."

I turn and swiftly take out three Chitauri with my sword. "Reminds me of Budapest." Natasha says as she roundhouse kicks one of them. I turn and use my mind to send a couple chitauri flying into the sky and bring my arms down, causing them to hit the concrete and a sickening crack following that, Clint jumped as one of my victims lands near his feet. "You and I remember Budapest very differently." Clints says, firing three arrows at a time.

"What's with the sword, Lyra?" Nat called, not even looking at the Chitauri as she unloaded a bullet into its skull. I looked at her and grinned, twirling Dygö in my hand and beaming at its marvelous shape. "This is Dygö, the sword of virtue." I said pridefully, Clint frowned at me. "You named your damn sword?" He laughed, and I shrugged. "Stark, I need you to get that thing's attention and draw it away from those civilians!" Steve's voice comes in on the coms. At that, Tony comes flying by towards the giant Leviathan in the sky and shoots flares in its face, agitating it and gaining its attention.

"Okay, I got's its attention. What the hell is step two?!" Tony's says. Clint next to me stabs an arrow through the skull of a Chitauri, and Natasha electrocutes one with her wrist devices as I drive my sword through its heart.

Natasha picks up a Chitauri spear and starts using it against the things as I kick a Chitauri off of Clint who then fires an arrow through its skull. Just as more charge at us Steve runs over and fights them off, lightning hits the ones surrounding us and Thor lands next to me. I grab Thor's hand and help him up. A chitauri launches itself at Thor's back and Thor barely bats an eye as he ducks and I decapitate it with my sword. We've fought too many wars together for this to be anything other than completely natural. "How badly did you beat him?" I asked Thor, no concern for Loki whatsoever in my voice, Thor turned his head and grinned at me, and I in turn gave him a scolding look.

"What? It's not as if he doesn't deserve it," spat Thor, and I was inclined to agree with him.

An engine whirs through the air and I look up, a chaotic Chitauri launched itself toward us with increasing speed, I conjured a shield on my arm and took a step back as the Chitauri came toward us on its machine. "Thor! Shield!" I yelled, throwing my shield toward him, he wasted no time grabbing it and ducking, holding the shield over his head, I ran toward him and jumped onto the shield and he pushed me forward as I leaped through the air, cutting my sword clean through it and landing in a kneel on the concrete. When I came back to Thor we beamed at each other, knocking our forearms together as he gave my shield back to me. "Still got it," Thor winked, and I laughed as I slid the shield onto my back. As terrible as this was, I missed fighting with Thor so much, and this brought us both back.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asks, jogging up to us. "The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable." Thor says. "Thor's right, we've gotta deal with these guys," Tony yells from the air. "How do we do this?" Natasha asks Steve. "As a team." Steve responds immediately, I quirk an eyebrow at him and refrained from rolling my eyes at the obvious statement. "I have unfinished business with Loki," Thor spats. "Yeah? Well get in line." Clint says, twisting an arrow in his fingers.

"We all do, Thor, it's going to have to wait." I say. "Save it. Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him, these things'll run wild. We got Stark up top!" Steve says. "He's right, the Chitauri need a leader. Without one they're just wandering around killing anything that moves." I add, not taking my eyes off Thor and Steve as I behead another Chitauri.

Steve was about to say something else when an engine revs behind us.

I turn around to see Bruce riding a motorcycle, we make our way over to him as he hops off the Midgardian vehicle. "So, this all seems....horrible," Bruce says, glancing at the fires that littered the street. "I've seen worse," Natasha says, referring to her tangle with the hulk back at the helecarrier. "Sorry," Bruce says. "No, we could use a little worse." She says.

"Stark, we got him. Banner, like you said." Steve says. "Tell him to suit up, I'm bringing the party to you." The com buzzes in our ears. On cue, Tony nears the corner, a Leviathan in pursuit. "I don't see how that's a party," Natasha says, pulling her gun out of her belt. Thor grunts and adjusts his grip on his hammer and I shift my feet in a battle stance, rearing back my sword. The Leviathan starts barrelling down the street and Bruce starts walking toward it, surprisingly calm.

"Dr. Banner!" Steve calls, Bruce turns to look at him. "This might be a really good time for you to get angry." He finishes. Bruce smiles. "That's my secret, Captain, I'm always angry." He says. Immediately, he starts growing. His clothes start ripping apart and shredding to the ground because of his new size. His skin turning green and his biceps enlarging as he punches the front of the Leviathan. The Hulk's bare feet skid to a stop in front of us, the creature's armored skin starts coming off as its body propels in the air. "I got it!" Tony yells, he blasts a vulnerable part of the Leviathan's body with a missile. I take my shield off my back and duck behind it as parts of the Leviathan rain down on us, clattering at the top of my magic enforced shield.

Clint dives behind a car and Steve hides under his own shield as the Leviathan falls onto the ground in a dead heap. I take a deep breath and stand up, brushing the alien blood off of my forearm guards as Tony lands next to me. "Hey, a shield's my thing." Steve said. I smirk at him. "You'll get over it." I say. I look around at the Chitauri that were gathering and I shift into a battle position, readying my shield and my sword for battle. Thor tosses his hammer in the air and catches it again, rearing it back to prepare, Tony's hands turn into guns and Clint arms his bow, Natasha reloads her gun and Steve places his shield onto his forearm as an earsplitting sound screeches overhead.

I widen my eyes as I stare at the sky, three more Leviathans fly out of the wormhole in the sky. "Guys" Natasha mutters. "I see them." I say, groaning to myself.

"You've got to be kidding me." Stark says.