Attack on New York (All US teams on deck!)

[ngm_villains]

The Avengers will arrive in Time's Square in short order. They will see Frost Giants moving out quickly. There are a few standing guard over something but there is nice and snow shooting up into the air so it isn't obvious right away that it is the Cask of Winter.

But there are many Frost Giants gathered here. It is an invading army.

Comments

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie whirls in mid-air, ducking a blow from one of the Frost Giants. Vincent's laughter...what the hell is going on?

[asgardian_angel]

Nicky heard it too. He already didn't trust Vincent - the boy was the scion of Doom and Amora, and that was reason enough to be suspicious.

But that shrieking and laughter...

He beheads a Frost Giant with his axe, not even thinking about the life he's just taken.

[the4thblackknight]

Marcus was already struggling to keep Aether on track against the wind created by the Frost Giant magic. The sudden downdraft knocked them aside and he couldn't hold the reins in check and hang onto an already weakened Erin. Choosing between the two, he dropped the reins to clutch at Erin and hope that he could stay in the saddle. Unfortunately, with the way Aether was thrashing in the air, that wasn't going to happen.

The best he could do was try and make sure he landed first and cushioned Erin from as much of the impact as he could. Hopefully, his armor would keep him from too much injury.

The next thing he knew, he was on the ground, Erin on top of him, with stars dancing in front of his eyes. His horse laid nearby, struggling to shake off the stun from the fall and the next thing Marcus saw was Vincent grab the item they'd been heading for and disappear.

Marcus wheezed to catch his breath and fought to get to his feet, dragging Erin with him. "Need some help, here!" He shouted over the comms as best he could.

[wateronthebrain]

"Runecaster," Erin yelps then winces and closes her eyes because oh god they're going to die. She is convinced they're going to die.

But they don't die and she looks up to see enraged Frost Giants. She does the only thing she can think of and throws up a big shield to protect them from oncoming attacks as she lands on her butt next to Marcus.

"Hurry! I can't hold on." She can feel how bad it's getting for her. "I... I'm going to kick his ass for this! I said get it. Not throw us into danger!"

Erin is kind of freaking out. This is her first real major fight and she feels like a total failure.

[ngm_villains]

If anyone wants to save Marcus and Erin they better move fast. Every Frost Giant near them is about to attack them right now. Except for the one casting magic. He is about to go after Vincent.

Nicky ends up with a clear view of what exactly is happening. He and Roxie ended up seriously putting a dent in the horde of Frost Giants.

Bruce gets a volley of arrows from somewhere up above.

[lil_hulk]

There is one sound that cuts through the din of grunting, crashing, and howling around Jay. It's sound of a horse's panicked whinny. The big, green teen looked up from his hunched position with his fingers all over a giant nose.

If Aether was in trouble, that meant Marcus was too. As fun as his own fight was, Jay needed to help others. He grabbed the giant's head and used that grip to throw the giant like a hammer at the cluster of giants near Marcus, Erin, and Aether.

[comic_awareness]

Bruce concentrated his energy into a force field, deflecting the arrows that came near him. He threw out a hand, throwing up another photonic bubble around Marcus, Aether, and Erin.

[vincent_amora]

Vincent reappears not far from the giants, but no longer in their midst, hearing the call for help just as he spots Marcus and--- oh no.

No, there's no time to figure what went wrong with the counterspell. He needs to act right now.

He braces his stance and faces towards the Frost Giants.

"You are not welcome on this world." He opens the Casket and steals the conjured cold back from them, temperatures rising rapidly and becoming much less friendly to the Jotuns.

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie grabbed her mace and whirled in mid-air, hitting the giants in a circle around her. She turned back to look at Nicky and nodded. She was fine on her own for a moment.

[asgardian_angel]

Nicky nodded and darted towards Bruce, working towards deflecting any arrows that were coming towards him.

That way, Bruce was freed up to help the others from their situation.

[the4thblackknight]

Bruce's shield protected them from the suddenly flying giants as Jay's hammer toss bowled them over. Seeing an opening, Marcus started to pull Erin that way, hurrying as much as he could. His sword in hand, he kept it ready to swing at anything that might get through the shield.

"I'll hold him for you. After we get out of this."

[wateronthebrain]

"Right. Also gotta go save that kid," she adds as follows after him. Her head is really killing her at this point. No more doing any aquakentics for a little bit. At least until she gets her bearings.

[ngm_villains]

"Retreat!" The Frost Giants start to move as one. They're getting out of here.

"We lost the Cask. We will retreat to Jotunheim," the leader of the army orders.

[lil_hulk]

Jay came bounding out of the building he had been in. He wanted to check on Aether... and his two teammates. Not that he could do much helping with his hands on fire.

The giants were retreating, but Jay put himself between them and the trio in case any potshots came this way.

[comic_awareness]

Bruce landed next to Marcus and Erin, dropping the force field when he was satisfied that the giants were in full retreat.

"Let 'em go," he said, letting out a breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding.

[the4thblackknight]

With the giants in retreat and Bruce nearby, Marcus felt confident enough to leave Erin there and step over to check on his horse. His own chest ached from the impact of the fall and every breath hurt. Nothing broken, he didn't think, but his ribs weren't happy. For now, he ignored it.

Marcus peeled off his gauntlets and let them fall as he knelt in front of Aether. There were scraped and bleeding forelegs, which concerned him, but not nearly as much as the left wing. While the right was tucked up neatly against the horse's side, the left drooped slightly and seemed unable to bend properly.

He stood and stroked Aether's neck, leaning his forehead against it. "Sorry," he murmured. "This isn't at all what I imagined, coming here."

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie touched down next to her team. A slick sheen of sweat could be seen covering her face from underneath her metallic black helm.

"Well, that was exhilarating," she exclaimed. "Is everyone alright?"

[asgardian_angel]

"I'm not certain exhilarating is the right word," Nicky replied, landing down next to Roxie. He sheathed his axe and, for a moment, watched wistfully as the Frost Giants retreated.

They were closer to Asgard than he would ever be. He looked at Aether, frowning softly. "We may require some medical attention, it seems."

[wateronthebrain]

"I need something to drink," Erin gasps. She ends up sitting on a near by curb trying to not bury her face between her knees.

That took a lot out of her. The whole thing.

"Asgard next, right?"

[vincent_amora]

Vincent hurries over to the others, brandishing the Casket with almost maddened pride. "Yes, absolutely right. I-- oh no..." He sees the injuries to Aether and his comrades.

"I.... I..." His mind reels. "I can heal you." He tucks the Casket under one arm and approaches cautiously.

[lil_hulk]

Once he was certain the giants were in full retreat, Jay started to turn back around. He turned faster and moved between Vincent and the wounded.

"Haven't you done enough?" The young Hulk snarled. His eyes were going a deeper green.

Though he did reach over and rip a hydrant up. One, it gave him something to bean off Vincent's head if he came any closer. Two, it was the best way he could get water for Erin with flaming hands.

[the4thblackknight]

Marcus turned around and steeped to the side to see around Jay to Vincent. "If you cast another spell at my horse, you'll be pulling my sword from your gut, you incompetent twat."

Then he looked over at Bruce. "You may consider this my resignation. After we get the girl back, I'm done with the Avengers. I'll not give him another opportunity to try and kill me."

That said, he turned back to start examining the injured wing. Hopefully it was nothing too serious. He really didn't know any avian-equine specialists.

[asgardian_angel]

"Let's not be hasty," Nicky quickly said. He sheathed his axe and walked up to Marcus, gently petting Aether. "Resignations and the like can be tendered after we're done with the rest of this." Marcus's anger he understood quite well, but it was never good to make a hasty decision. "But, I agree with Jay. Vincent, please try to lay off the magic for a moment while we try to sort things out."

[avengingwarbird]

"We should come up with a game plan for what's next then," Roxie said. The Vincent thing was something she wasn't getting involved in, considering their recent history.

[comic_awareness]

"Vincent, take the flaming spells off Jay. And if you ever cast a spell like that on one of your teammates without asking, they'll need a crowbar to pry my foot out of your ass. And after we rescue Audhild, you're taking a leave of absence from the team."

Bruce was seething, trying to control his anger.

"All right. First things first, we return to the Mansion to regroup and bandage our wounds. Then we work on getting to Asgard."