The Avengers' First Assembly

-2012 Manhattan Battle-

From the Stark tower and after getting stabbed by Loki in the stomach, Thor came down to the ground to meet up with Steve, Natasha and Clint. The enemies don't stop coming in and now they need to save their energy and plan first before taking another step and facing the incoming threat.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked as he fixed his shield.

"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable," Thor answered.

"Thor is right, we gotta deal with these guys," Tony said from their earpiece.

From behind the two boys, Natasha looked up at the sky where they were looking at as well. "How do we do this?"

"As a team," Steve answered.

Thor looked at Steve. "I have unfinished business with Loki."

"Yeah? Well, get in the line," Clint commented while screwing some of his arrows that he retrieved from the dead enemies' bodies.

"Save it, Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild," Steve countered them as he walked forward to start making a plan and discussing it to them. He faced them as he continued to walk back. "We got Stark up top, he's gonna lead us to-"

At that moment, Bruce came riding an old motorcycle. The loud, rusty noise that it's emitting caught the attention of the 4 other members of the Avengers. As he went down the vehicle, the 4 walked closer to him to talk.

"So... this all seems. Horrible," Bruce commented at the situation they are currently in.

Natasha stared at him with a face that showed a hint of fear, probably from the previous encounter that she had with the Hulk. "I've seen worse."

"Sorry." Bruce smiled a little at her but the regret couldn't be completely hidden.

"No we could, use... a little worse."

"Stark, we got him," Steve spoke as he stared at the other guy.

"Banner?" Tony asked from the earpiece again.

"Just like you said."

"Then tell him to suit up, I'm bringing the party to you."

After saying that, Tony took a turn from behind a building and he flew straight towards the position where the other Avengers were, with a Leviathan following close behind him. The big flying monster was too big for the sudden turn that it hit the side of the building, destroying it to pieces and debris.

While from the perspective of the 5 on the ground, Natasha got a little confused. "I-I don't see how that's a party."

Seeing that it's his time to do something and contribute to the group, Bruce turned around and started walking towards the enemy following Tony. He knew he didn't have to wait for Steve to say anything.

"Dr. Banner," Steve called before taking a step forward. "Now may be a really good time for you to get angry."

Although he didn't stop walking or completely turned around, Bruce looked at Steve before replying to his statement. "That's my secret cap."

Upon reaching the right range from the incoming enemy, Bruce stopped and looked back at the other 4 behind him.

"I'm always angry," he said before transitioning to his Hulk form. With the enemy at close range, he put his closed fist out to meet with the nose of the Leviathan to stop it from continuing forward.

The force of the huge monster was enough to push Hulk back, however it was also stopped by his weight and size but because it was a sudden halt, the rest of the body of the monster was lifted up as a result from the law of force. It will happen to flip backwards and fall on the others.

"Hold on." Tony went to fire a small missile towards the body of the monster to make it explode in pieces.

As the chunks of alien flesh exploded in the sky, Steve turned around and used his shield to cover both him and Natasha. While Thor, who wasn't very bothered, only turned around to avoid getting his face hit. As for Clint, he saw a car that was flipped over and decided to crouch down beside it and use its height to cover him from the falling debris.

Due to the death of one of the Leviathan, the Chitauris on the sides of the building took their eye shields off and roared at the Avengers as a sign that they were not backing down and they are challenging them even more. However, as the 6 heroes of Earth went in their circular formation, Hulk roared back at the enemies as well.

From up in the sky sitting in one of the Chitauri's chariots, Loki saw what happened as the Avengers united to fight the Leviathan. But knowing that he has more than just that, Loki gives an order to no one in particular.

"Send the rest," he said.

From outside of the Earth's atmosphere, two more Leviathans and a few more Chitauris riding their chariots came down.

Natasha looked up at the opening in the atmosphere and called the attention of the others. "Guys."

The Avengers saw this and as expected, they relied on Steve's plan for a more united fight.

"Call it captain," Tony said.

"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment," Steve replied as he continued looking up and watching the enemies come. Then he started giving out instructions. "Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything call out patterns and strays."

He then turned to Tony.

"Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than 3 blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash," he continued.

Knowing that he has no shortcut going up to the location he was placed in, Clint looked at Tony. "Can you give me a lift?"

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas," Tony answered after walking towards Clint and holding him on his quiver before flying up with him.

Then it was back to Steve as he continued to give out the rest of the group his instructions.

"Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal," Steve said, referring to Thor. "Slow them down, you got the lightning. Light the bastards up."

After noting the instructions, Thor started to swing his hammer before flying up to his target location with it.

"You and me, we stay here on the ground, we keep the fight here," Steve said, looking at Natasha.

Then he turned to his back as he remembered the last guy.

"And Hulk," he called. Before pointing his index finger at him. "Smash."

Hulk smirked at Steve before he jumped up high and landed towards the closest building. He hit one Chitauri, and then another as he jumped at the parallel building. Then he continued to attack them before he jumped up again and got hit by a chariot flying on his way.

As for Thor, he arrived at the top of the Empire State building. He held on the side as he leaned back on the building. Then he raised his hammer up in order to command and control thunder and lightning. As the hammer gets hit by a lightning blast, the power and electricity come travelling down on the building.

After having enough power yielded, Thor directed his hit, bringing the lightning along with it towards the opening in the sky. Several Chitauris were hit and the other Leviathans which were just entering the portal also got in contact with the lightning which pushed them back in the portal. One of them even exploded due to the high intensity electricity from the lightning.

Meanwhile, Clint who is knelt down on the top of the building ledge just casually looks out for his other allies most especially those who are fighting in the air. He would fire some shots every now and then whenever he knew that those shots were needed. One of those he looks after is Tony.

"Stark, you got a lot of strays sniffing on your tail," he said as he trailed an enemy with his bow and arrow before he let go to hit it.

"Just tryna... keep them off the streets," Tony answered him.

"Well, they can't bank with a damn," Clint said, before swiftly taking an arrow from his quiver and releasing it to hit an enemy coming from the direction opposite to where he's looking. "Find a tight corner."

"I will roger that." Tony immediately swerved to bring the enemies following him close to somewhere Clint said was tight.

And as they pass by his eyesight, Clint lets out an arrow to hit the enemy that is approaching Tony. Known for having different kinds of arrows, this one in particular dissolved the metal of the chariot making it break into two parts. Tony saw it and he immediately flew over it before blasting it off. Then he continued to lead the strays behind him around the city.

He flew underneath the front of a building and went through the other end. He flew straight towards a building right in front of the one he just came out from and at the last minute before he hit the sides of the building he swerved and turned to get away from it. The closest enemy behind him did hit the building causing a little explosion but the two others were able to follow Tony.

"Oh boy," Tony commented before flying down once again under a tunnel-like way.

The enemies tailing him got the advantage of that place because they were able to shoot Tony who on the other hand is trying his best to avoid getting fried by the enemies' alien guns. It caused him to hit the wall but he was able to get out and through the tunnel and because of the smaller area, the chariot behind him was caught and dragged along the ceiling and ground.

That made it ignite and eventually explode as well. Tony, who was able to escape, felt a lot more relieved than earlier. "Nice call... what else you got?"

"Well, Thor's taking on a squadron down in 6," Clint answered from the earpiece.

"And he didn't invite me," Tony said in a disappointed way.

Meanwhile, in another part of the city, a Leviathan headed straight for a building full of people, endangering their life and all those clueless people felt fear for their lives as the monster closed in. However, just as they thought they're going to die, Hulk came running from behind them inside of the building.

He jumped out of the building to collide with the enemy wherein he was able to hold onto its teeth and maneuver it sidewards away from the building. Although it didn't collide with the building, its fins still protruded and caused damage to the pillars and glass windows as it got dragged away by Hulk.

As the fighting got busier in the mid-air, the fighting on the ground is somehow getting out of hand since it's only two of them fighting. And by means of out of hand, Natasha was thrown over a car hood. The Chitauri tried to stab her while she lay down there but her fast reflex helped her dodge it.

Soon, she found the opportunity to lock her legs around the neck of the enemy and using the small taser-like device on her gloves, she went straight for the nape of the enemy and electrocuted it to shut it down. But because it wasn't enough, she kicked it away as she stole its big alien gun and blasted it off, killing it instantly. Then she turned around as she felt someone behind her.

Hopefully, it was just Steve who landed on his feet with his shield ready to protect himself. Natasha breathed heavily as she put down the gun and leaned on the same car hood where she was just minutes ago. Steve on the same hand walked over to her.

"And captain, none of this is gonna be in a damn thing if we don't close that portal," she said while both she and Steve looked at the opening in the sky.

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it," Steve replied.

Without taking her eyes off of the topic, Natasha voiced out her opinion. "Well maybe it's not about guns."

Steve turned to her as she said those words. He doesn't know what she's thinking but at this moment, any possible solution would be welcome. More Chitauris from the flying chariots came down a few meters away from them, Steve saw this but they still had time to think before those things could get to their location.

"You wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride," he said.

Natasha also looked at him before she threw away the alien gun she'd been holding earlier. "I got a ride."

Hearing that from her, Steve looked up at the passing chariots above their heads. He now knew what she had in mind. Because of this, he started walking back towards the wall without taking his eyes away from her.

"I could use a boost though," she continued as she walked back and stood far enough from Steve to give her space to run.

Steve steadied his shield as he braced himself as well. "You sure about this?"

"Yeah," Natasha said. She took a few minutes to look at the enemies passing by. She also wanted to find the right timing because they are all flying so fast. Once she was able to eye a particular chariot she planned to catch, she looked back down at Steve. "It's gonna be fun."

Natasha ran from her spot towards the car on the side. She used the hood as a levitation before she jumped onto Steve's shield and with his strength to push her up, Natasha was able to grasp a part of the end of a chariot that passed by.

Seeing her successfully do it, Steve smiled to himself before a Chitauri shot its gun at him but missed hitting him. Instead, it hit the half wall beside him and his reflex worked just fast enough to cover him from the flying small pieces of the concrete wall.

*** Authored by: Alaysa_Deyan ***