The First Waves
Chapter 8: The First Waves
Tony and Evelyn’s attention were drawn to the concentrated beam of frosted blue energy that shot into the sky, fired from the device on the roof of the Tower. A swirling portal slowly opened, and a large number of reptilian-like creatures surged out riding their chariot flyers.
“Right.” Tony breathed. “Army.”
“Forget massage, I am going to need a serious spa day when this is over.” Evelyn muttered, flying up towards the oncoming surge and forming a fireball in each hand.
“Whatever you want.” Tony called through their com system, flying alongside her.
In unison, both siblings fired at the Chitauri while dodging the returning weapons blasts and resulting explosions.
“Heads up.” Tony warned. “Firing mini-missiles.”
He fired the miniature, guided air-to-air missiles that were housed in the compartments on each of his shoulders. Evelyn dropped down several feet as explosions filled the air from the missiles hitting their targets, manipulating the resulting fire to strike the creatures that managed to avoid the miniature weapons.
However, despite their efforts, several of the Chitauri managed to slip past their attacks and made their way down to the city streets below. The creatures fired their weapons at the civilians and the cars that filled the roads, causing chaos and panic to spread. Cars exploded and civilians screamed, running in different directions while avoiding the deadly laser blasts of the alien’s weapons fire.
“I’m headed down!” Evelyn shouted to Tony, seeing the chaos that filled the streets below them. “We need to protect civilians!”
“Be careful!” Tony responded.
“Aren’t I always?” Evelyn asked cheekily.
She flew down towards the streets, catching sight of Thor out of the corner of her eye. The blond-haired God of Thunder, once again in full armor, flew towards the Tower where his brother stood watching the pandemonium below, landing on the veranda and calling out to Loki. Evelyn tuned them both out, focusing on dodging the Chitauri’s weapons blasts while manipulating the plant-life along the streets to shield the civilians as they ran for cover.
A car flipped over beside her and she threw her hand out, using the air to stop it in place while using her other hand to maintain the plant-shields she had formed around a group of civilians that looked to have been the nearby café’s patrons along with a waitress.
“Go!” She shouted to them, lowering the car back to the ground. The small group needed no further encouragement and ran into the café, joined by a dozen other people; they gathered at the windows and watched the fight occurring in the streets and in the skies above them.
Evelyn formed a fireball and threw it at an oncoming Chitauri flyer, blowing it up in the process; the explosion taking out half a dozen surrounding flyers at the same time. She looked around and saw a squadron of flyers coming towards her.
“Yup, definitely going to need spa day.” She muttered, shooting into the air. She formed a large fireball in each hand, increasing their size until they covered her entire arms before firing them at the approaching squadron.
Each flyer exploded in a fiery explosion, setting off another one and another one until there was only a massive burning mass in front of her.
“Oh, shit! I did not think of that!” Evelyn cried, waving her hands at the fire hydrants that lined the sidewalks at regular intervals.
Water gushed out of them like a geyser and she manipulated the waves to pour over the burning remnants of the chariots on the ground. She could hear sirens in the distance getting closer and looked up, not stopping her task of dousing the flames, to see several police squad cars racing into sight. The vehicles skidded to a stop at the end of the road and the officers climbed out, staring at the creatures that flew overhead.
“Officers, get the civilians to safety!” Evelyn ordered firmly, drawing the officers’ attention to the matter at hand.
“Yes, Ma’am.” One of the officers replied, turning and running towards a few civilians that were huddled in the shadow of a building.
With nothing left of the squadron she had been facing except for charred rubble and the civilians being looked after by the on-duty police officers, Evelyn shot into the air and flew off as several Chitauri flyers chased after her. She formed and fired several fireballs in quick succession, feeling the heat of the resulting explosions as her attacks hit their marks.
Just as the air cleared of the smoke from the explosions, she saw Tony heading towards her with yet another squadron of Chitauri flyers chasing after him.
“How’s it going?” Tony asked, his tone almost casual as they met up and began flying alongside each other with the flyers still on their tail.
“These babies haven’t given me a moment’s peace.” Evelyn replied, gesturing to her protruding belly. “They have been kicking almost non-stop for the past several minutes!” It was only her years of compartmentalizing that allowed her to focus on the task at hand and not the rapid flurry of their movements. However, despite her complaints, she was comforted by the kicking as it reassured her of their wellbeing.
“Starks, we’re on your three, headed northeast.” Natasha’s voice filtered through the comms before Tony could reply to the pregnant woman’s complaint.
“What? Did you stop for drive-thru?” Tony asked instead, his voice filled with irritation.
“Hey, if you did, did anyone pick up a double latte for me?” Evelyn asked, throwing a fireball at a Chitauri flyer that was getting too close to them. “I have not had coffee in over 5 months!”
“Eves, you’re not allowed caffeine.” Tony reminded her. Evelyn growled at him which he expertly ignored. “Natasha, swing up Park. Eves and I’ll lay them out for you.”
“Understood.” Natasha replied.
Evelyn and Tony flew past Stark Tower where Thor and Loki were still battling on the veranda. Neither sibling stopped their flight due to the Chitauri flyers on their tail, instead flying through the streets several feet in the air. They were met by the Quinjet, Natasha lowered the Gatling Gun that was mounted on the underside of the front of the craft and fired at the creatures, destroying them with the powerful weapon in conjunction with the fireballs Evelyn threw.
“Sir, Ma’am, we have more incoming.” JARVIS informed them.
“Fine.” Tony said determinedly. “Let’s keep them occupied. Eves, help the Agents.”
“Got it.” Evelyn replied, flying beside the Quinjet.
Tony flew off in one direction while Evelyn continuously fired fireballs at the Chitauri while Natasha fired the Gatling Gun at the same time. They flew past Stark Tower once again and saw Thor and Loki still fighting, though this time it seemed that Loki was getting the upper hand.
“Ladies?” Clint called, angling the Quinjet towards the battling Gods.
“I see him.” Natasha said. “Phoenix, get Loki’s attention.”
Evelyn flew towards the tower, staying a safe distance away from the battling Gods, before forming a fireball in her hand. “Heads up!” She shouted, grabbing their attention.
Thor ducked out of the way just as Evelyn threw the fireball at Loki. The Trickster fired a blast from his Scepter, canceling out the fireball and Evelyn was forced to drop several feet as the lethal beam headed towards her. Unfortunately, the blast hit the Quinjet instead and struck the wing, causing it to erupt in flames.
“Guys, I won’t be able to stop it!” Evelyn shouted urgently as Thor drew Loki’s attention with a well-placed punch, the brothers resuming their fight.
“Employing emergency landing maneuvers!” Clint declared. “Hold tight!”
Evelyn flew after the Quinjet as Clint piloted it down towards the street, manipulating the trees that lined the sidewalks to keep people out of the way of the oncoming craft. The jet landed on the road, skidding several feet before stopping at the very edge of one of the skyrise buildings and as Steve, Clint and Natasha ran out through the loading bay doors, Evelyn waved her hand at a fire hydrant. Just like before, water gushed out of it and she manipulated the element to the burning jet, dousing the fire before it could cause any more damage than was already done.
“We gotta get back up there.” Steve said, running back in the direction of the Stark Tower with Natasha and Clint behind him.
Evelyn finished dousing the fire and manipulated the trees back into their previous positions before flying towards Steve, Natasha and Clint. She caught up with them just as they reached Grand Central Station, all four of them stopping in their tracks, Evelyn hovering a few feet above the ground, when a low-pitched hum filled the air.
In unison, all four of them looked up at the portal that filled the sky above Stark Tower. To their horror, hundreds more Chitauri flyers glided through the opening and out into New York followed by a massive Leviathan. They watched as the flyers shot off in different directions and the Leviathan glided down towards the city, passing over Grand Central Station and breaking the marble sculpture on the edge of the roof in the process.
As the Leviathan passed them, several Chitauri warriors were launched from the side ridges and into the nearby buildings where they attacked the civilians inside.
“Tony, are you seeing this?” Steve asked, looking up at the seemingly never-ending surge of Chitauri flyers that filled the air. He wasn’t the only one, Natasha, Clint and Evelyn also looking up at the sky.
“Seeing.” Tony replied. “Still working on believing.”
“Honey, you’re going to need to work a little faster.” Evelyn retorted.
“Where’s Banner?” Tony asked, ignoring the pregnant redhead’s quip. “Has he shown up yet?”
“Not yet.” Evelyn replied.
“Banner?” Steve asked in confusion, wondering how the siblings were so certain that the scientist would show up.
“Just keep me posted.” Tony ordered. “JARVIS, find me a soft spot.”
“Be careful, Tony.” Evelyn said, ducking a weapons blast and firing a fireball at the warrior in retaliation.
“Aren’t I always?” Tony asked cheekily, repeating what she had said only a short time earlier.
“No.” Evelyn said bluntly as Steve protected her from another weapons blast while she leaned around him to throw a series of fireballs.
“Oh, you wound me, Eves.” Tony said playfully.
“Would you like a list chronologically or alphabetically?” Evelyn asked dryly as she, Natasha and Clint ducked behind an abandoned taxi, the pregnant woman in more of a squat to accommodate her rounded belly.
“This is not the time, you two.” Natasha said, breaking through the siblings’ banter and firing her guns at any of the warriors she could see before ducking back behind the cab.
Steve, who had gone ahead to scout their surroundings, returned and joined them behind the taxi. “These things go as far as the eye can see.” He reported.
“We also have civilians still trapped up here.” Clint added, gesturing to the buildings that surrounded them as well as the public transport vehicles that were idling in place among the abandoned cars.
Above them, several flyers flew passed with Loki in the lead.
“Loki.” Steve hissed, watching the Trickster fly out of sight.
Explosions filled the streets as the Chitauri flyers fired at the idling cars below. Civilians screamed in panic as they all ran for cover.
All around them, chaos reigned, unchecked and unchallenged.
“They’re fish in a barrel down there.” Steve said, looking down at the street below them where on-duty officers struggled to stay ahead of the explosions while sending people to safety.
Several warriors dropped down in front of them. Natasha and Clint worked in unison, firing their weapons at the creatures.
“We got this.” Natasha told Evelyn and Steve, ducking back down. “It’s good. You two, go.”
“Do you think you can hold them off?” Steve asked.
Clint looked at them. “Captain, Phoenix.” He said with a grin, notching his bow. “It would be my genuine pleasure.” In one swift move, he shot to his feet, spun around and fired the arrow at one of the warriors, hitting the dead center of its forehead.
The warrior fell over dead. Natasha shot to her feet and fired her dual pistols while Steve jumped onto the hood of the taxi with Evelyn flying above him. As the Captain performed a series of death-defying acrobatics while crossing the distance between the bridge and the group of officers several feet away, Evelyn threw one fireball after another at each of the Chitauri warriors they passed, each blast hitting their mark.
“This is like the raids in ’44 all over again!” Steve called, swinging his shield as a frisbee without breaking his stride and knocking out several Chitauri warriors that approached them.
“I don’t know which raids you’re remembering, but this isn’t anything like those!” Evelyn exclaimed, throwing a series of fireballs in quick succession.
Working in unison to protect each other and fight their opponents just as they had so long ago, Evelyn and Steve reached the barricade formed by the squad cars at the end of the road; most of the officers were firing their service weapons at any of the Chitauri warriors and flyers they could see while the remaining few herded the civilians to safety, struggling to remain calm under the onslaught so as not to incite even further panic.
Steve landed on a squad car near the front of the barricade. “You need men in these buildings.” He said briskly to a pair of officers in front of him that weren’t busy actively shooting. He pointed to the buildings in question while the officers looked at him incredulously, their gaze shifting between the Captain to Evelyn hovering behind him and tossing fireballs. “There are people inside who’ll be running right into the line of fire. You take them to the basements or through the subway. You keep them off the streets.”
“We also need a perimeter as far back as 39th Street.” Evelyn added over her shoulder. Temporarily free of Chitauri warriors, she had turned her attention to the civilians and was manipulating the trees that dotted the sidewalks to form protective shields around the civilians as they ran for cover.
“Yes, Ma’am.” The older officer said, nodding to Evelyn before turning to Steve. “Why the hell should I take orders from you?”
A beam of weapons fire erupted from a nearby building followed by a group of Chitauri warriors leaping out and landing in front of them.
“These things are seriously starting to tick me off!” Evelyn growled angrily, manipulating the trees to form a shield around the officers and the civilians, maintaining it with one hand while creating and tossing fireballs in rapid succession with her other one.
Steve used his shield and the combat skills he had learned during the war to fight against them while blocking the lethal blasts at the same time.
“They hadn’t before now?” Steve asked in mild surprise, knocking the last warrior out with his shield and grabbing its gun from its hand in one swift move.
“Up until now, they were more of a mild irritation.” Evelyn said, rolling her eyes and landing daintily next to Steve on the squad car roof. She turned to the pair of officers who were gaping at them. “Officer?”
The officer spun around and called back to his colleagues and to the other emergency service personnel that had arrived on scene. “I need men in those buildings!” He ordered, gesturing to the buildings in question just as Steve had. “Lead the people down and away from the streets.”
“You got it.” A firefighter said, running off with a small group of firefighters and police officers behind him.
“We’re going to set up a perimeter all the way down to 39th Street.” The officer continued, this time speaking into his radio.
Steve and Evelyn exchanged looks and turned, heading back towards Natasha and Clint, battling the warriors that came across them in the process.