Chapter 34

Four smashed straight into the aliens, destroying them before the others were aware of the danger. Three more veered straight into each other, sending them spinning away behind the nearby buildings where Harry heard the fantastic sound of explosions. The remaining five were forced to pull up and away.

And that, as Harry expected, was all that the green guy needed. In one massive bound, he'd leapt from the ground half-way up the nearest building. From there, a second leap took him in range to swing a massively powerful arm to catch a hold of one of the chariots, pulling it down with him as he landed on the nearby smaller building. The remaining three retreated.

Harry grinned and waved at the big guy. Instead of a returning wave, though, the great green monster flung the chariot towards him. Instinctively, Harry ducked, only to realise that it was going nowhere near him.

Instead, the wreckage of the chariot slammed head on into a chariot that was attempting to sneak up behind Harry. An instant or two later, and he suspected that he would have been shot in the back and from that distance, he had to wonder if the dragonhide would have saved him.

"Thanks!" he called.

The other guy gave a menacing grin in return before bounding off to find something else to smash.

ooo00ooo

The instant that Thor noticed the cloak of blue-grey in the midst of a group of Chitauri, he changed direction. Steve had mentioned one such as this, one who was an ally, fighting for Midgard, just as they were.

The man was bobbing and weaving, ducking and spinning about in a poetry of motion as he mixed attack with defence. But Thor could easily see that he was close to being overwhelmed. The battle had been going for some time now and those of Midgard were bound to be getting tired.

Thor dropped to the ground amongst the battle, instantly swinging his hammer up to block a blow before twisting about to dodge a shot. Throwing his hammer caught two, knocking them out and away from the battle; recalling it, dispatched another.

The Midgardian hadn't wasted the opportunity his arrival and distraction had provided. Energy blasts erupted from a tiny stick in his hand, something that jogged a memory deep in Thor's brain. But this was not the time for such thoughts; this was battle and only the battle mattered. To dwell on such things could easily lead one to being caught unprepared and being defeated.

When all of their opponents were down, Thor took one last look down at the small man and nodded, swung his hammer in a circle and took off, rocketing into the sky once more.

ooo00ooo

Harry was getting tired. He couldn't remember ever having performed so many spells in such a short time. He didn't think that he'd even done it during the Battle of Hogwarts. Still, it'd been worth it. He'd helped dozens and dozens of people to safety, not to mention battling and taking down a whole bunch of aliens.

The problem was, they simply kept coming. That hole in the sky was the problem and the key. Something had to be done to close it, not that Harry even had a clue what would be needed for that. No, he'd leave that sort of thing to those others – Iron Man and the rest of them who seemed to know what was going on.

He'd done his part and he'd keep doing it until he dropped. Currently, he was taking a short breather before he'd have to start again. Just so long as they could keep the fighting here.

A sudden roaring sound rocketed by overhead snapping Harry's head up. He frowned in confusion as Iron Man sped past, a large white rocket of some kind on his back.

He watched as Iron Man sped towards Stark Tower before taking a sudden sharp upturn and vanishing into the hole in the sky.

Harry stood there, watching, waiting for him to return. When the chariots and aliens suddenly dropped as though their power or strings had been cut, Harry started, taking a couple of steps back.

Suddenly, the bright blue beam of energy emanating from the top of Stark Tower and disappearing into the hole in the sky cut off. The hole stuttered once before collapsing in on itself, leaving only a single speck in the sky, a speck that resolved itself into Iron Man plummeting towards the ground.

If Harry'd had his broom with him, he would have considered racing off in an effort to catch him. Fortunately, though, the great green guy came flying out of nowhere to catch the falling figure and using the side of the nearby building to slow its descent before being lost to Harry's view.

With a soft smile, Harry dropped his head. The battle, it seemed was over. Everywhere that he could see was a disaster. Buildings were either toppled or smashed beyond repair. Alien carcasses and chariots littered the streets. The wrecks of cars dotted the streets, some in more than one piece, others still with flames licking from them. Debris littered the roads – chunks of buildings and glass and what have you.

Knowing that he was in no condition to apparate home without possibly splinching himself, Harry took a look around, orientating himself before beginning to pick his way deeper into the zone of destruction.

ooo00ooo

"Director Fury," Maria Hill called.

Fury turned, instantly noting the look of confusion on the face of his second in command and quick-stepped across the deck of the helicarrier.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I've been monitoring civilian coverage of the battle and we have a potential problem," she said. "News reports and coverage are stating that there were seven members of the team of heroes working against the alien invasion."

"Did I hear that right?" Fury asked. "Seven, not six?"

"That's correct, Director," Agent Hill confirmed.

Playing her monitor like a piano, she brought up an image of a hooded figure, a blast of red energy leaping from his hand towards the nearby Chitarui warrior.

"So far, this is the best image we have of him," she said.

"Scour the news reports and any other footage available. I want a file on this individual created yesterday," Fury ordered.

"Yes, Sir," Agent Hill replied.

Fury stared at the image on the monitor. Something about it seemed familiar, perhaps from a briefing he'd once had a long time ago. He'd check his own records, by then, Hill should have compiled a report that would go a long way to unravelling this mystery man.

ooo00ooo

"I do not think that we are going to find this shawarma that you speak of here," Thor stated.

There was no denying Thor's conclusion. The restaurant that Tony had led the group to had a Chitauri chariot lodged in its front door.

"You promised us food, Stark," Natasha reminded him.

"But I feel like shawarma. How was I to know it'd been shish kababbed?' he whined.

"Really, anything's good," Bruce commented.

Of the six, he appeared the most tired, but how much of that was because of his Hulk-ing out and how much was because of the wrong-sized clothes that Tony had lent him was anyone's guess.

"There's a small café just around the corner," Steve suggested. "It serves good food."

"Let's do that," Clint said, before turning and beginning to trudge off in the direction that the Captain had indicated, forcing the others to follow.

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