RP log - Visit to Asgard - Part 4/?
Aug. 20th, 2012 10:39 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
withmoremeWhat: RP log - Thor was nervous about going back to Asgard to speak at Loki's trial. Tony made the suggestion that the team go with him, for moral support. Their first team field trip ensues.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4/?: In which Thor's old and new friends attempt to kick each other's asses all in good fun.
Also? Long.
The walk to the arena was brisk and silent, and Bruce was almost grateful that he'd more or less memorized the path they'd taken to get there, just in case. Thor, thankfully, did not lose them and before too long, they were standing out in the middle of the structure, the Warriors and their Lady waiting for them, as promised. Thor glanced between the two assembled groups, inclining his head towards his Asgardian friends, indicating that the others should follow him over to them, presumably for introductions and, perhaps, for the terms of the fight.
Tony smiled faintly when Thor did lead them to the arena, glancing at Bruce briefly. Once they were in the arena, Steve led the team the rest of the way to the others, nodding to them. "Gentlemen," he said to the Warriors with a nod, then turning his attention to Sif, offering her the same nod. "Lady."
Sif returned the nod and focused herself on studying Natasha with no small amount of interest -- likely because it was so rare to see another female warrior. Volstagg, meanwhile, stepped forward grinning. "It is good to finally meet you. We have heard much about you."
"As much as Heimdall would tell us," Hogun corrected.
Volstagg looked vaguely embarrassed. "Ah, well ... yes."
Thor looked briefly, dimly amused, and gestured to each of them in turn. "Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg and, of course, the Lady Sif." He waved a hand in the direction of the Avengers next. "Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, and the Lady Natasha."
Steve couldn't help but grin back, at that, not entirely surprised, considering his own experience with the guard. "It's good to meet all of you, as well."
At the introductions, Steve, Tony, and Clint all offered a nod at their name.
Natasha did likewise; Bruce offered an awkard sort of wave and mumbled something about it being nice to meet them.
Thor glanced between both groups once the introductions were out of the way, finally settling on the Warriors and the Lady. "You are ready?" he asked.
"We are," Fandral said, patting the hilt of a wooden sword attached to his hip. "We, ah, thought practice weapons were prudent. We wouldn't want to damage your friends permanantly, would we?"
"We would not," Thor agreed, "though I think you will find they are more formidable than they appear at first glance."
"You would not fight beside them, were they not," Volstagg put in.
Thor nodded and turned his attentions back to the Avengers -- or, more specifically, to Tony. "I will explain the terms of this contest, and then you and Banner will prepare yourselves. Agreed?"
At the mention of practice weapons, there was a soft click and whir, as Clint changed the tips of his arrows. It was unlikely anyone but Natasha would have noticed the sound, quiet as it was, but he still looked darkly amused.
Tony looked to Bruce for a moment before nodding. "Agreed."
"Agreed," Bruce echoed.
"In the interest of fairness, I will fight with the Warriors Three and the Lady Sif," Thor began, one hand coming to rest on Mjolnir, the hammer clipped to his belt. "We begin when I call for it, and we fight until the whole of one team or the other has called yield or can no longer fight." He imagined Bruce would be unconscious by the end of the battle, hence the latter part of that condition. "Victory will go to whoever has managed to remain standing."
He paused, again looking between both groups, and then, "Is there anything anyone feels it necessary to add?"
Steve looked back at the rest of team before turning to face the others, again. "Good luck," was all he said, nodding to them, again.
"And you," Thor replied, turning to lead his team off to the other side of the arena, presumably so they could all start with a fair amount of space between them.
Steve turned to lead the team back, too, reaching back to unclip his shield and slide his arm through the straps. There was a snap from nearby as Clint unbuckled his bow, unfolding it with a quick motion.
Tony moved away from the others, setting the case down. He reached up to turn on his earpiece, then kicking at the case's latch. It immediately flipped open, revealing red gauntlets, and he bent to reach inside before straightening again. As he stretched his arms out, pulling the bulk of the metal close to his chest, the suit expanded, wrapping around his torso before unfolding down his legs and up his back, light shining from the circular chestpiece. He picked his feet up briefly, the boots snapping closed around his sneakers. The last to unfold was the helmet, closing around his face.
For anyone that had seen the footage of the fight in Monaco, this suit, though similar, had seen some changes from its first model. It was the same red and gold color scheme he preferred and was still lighter than his full suits, though it was clearly more heavily armored than the one he'd worn on the racetrack. It would never be able to take as much damage as the full suits, but he wasn't all that worried about it, here.
Tony couldn't help but let out a breath when the HUD loaded. "Hey, JARVIS," he said simply, working his hands in the gauntlets, watching the system check come up green.
"Hello, sir," came the AI's response, and Tony grinned outright.
"Everyone read me?" Tony said, directed toward the team.
"Got you loud and clear, Stark," Natasha answered, pulling her pistols from their holsters. She looked to Clint, dug her teeth into her lower lip for a moment, thoughtfully, and then turned her attentions to Bruce. "You want to give me a minute, Banner?"
"Uh ... sure?"
"Thanks," she said, already going through the process of removing the clip from one of the guns. She slipped it into a pouch in her belt and produced another, loading that into the gun instead. She repeated the process with the other gun, flashing Clint a vague, knowing look -- likely he knew what she was doing -- pointed her weapons towards the ground, and flicked the safeties off with her thumbs. "Okay. Whenever you're ready."
"Ready," Bruce repeated, shifting from one foot to the other anxiously. "Right."
He took a deep breath and let it out in a harsh, angry huff, letting all the anger he'd been carrying around with him for the last few weeks break through the walls he so carefully maintained and swirl around him. His eyes flashed almost literally, igniting in sharp, incandecent green and his skin followed suit, color creeping up over him as he put on muscle and height. When the process finished, he lurched forward onto his knuckles and snorted, looking between Steve and Thor's team expectantly.
"Call it, Cap," Natasha said, unable to fight a small, grim smile.
Clint shot her a small smile, clicking through his arrows idly as he waited on the others.
Tony couldn't help but watch Bruce change, considering he had been a bit busy on the helicarrier, had only seen it in literal passing in Manhattan, and had caught the tail end in the Tower. When he was finished, the Hulk standing among them, Tony huffed out a breath, too, smiling faintly to himself.
Steve reached behind him to pull his cowl up, settling it over his eyes as he turned to face the team. "Clint, take Hogun. Tony, you're on Fandral. Natasha, Sif." He shot a glance over his shoulder at Thor's team. "I've got Volstagg. And Hulk, stay with Thor," Steve finished, turning back to face him. "We're a team, we've got the comms, help each other out if you see an opportunity." He looked around. "Good?"
Natasha nodded. "Got it."
The Hulk flashed Steve an unsettlingly wicked grin, as if he'd been looking for a chance to beat on Thor for some time now -- and considering the guy had put him out with Mjolnir not too long ago, maybe he had -- and tensed, waiting impatiently. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long, Thor's voice high and clear even with the distance between them, urging them to fight, and the Hulk took off like a shot, leaping practically the length of the arena to engage their teammate. The other Asgardians skated around them, their weapons draw, to join the battle.
Tony immediately took to the air, following the Hulk toward the Asgardians. Clint fanned out, notching his first arrow as Steve moved forward, shield ready.
Natasha mirrored Clint, taking up position on Steve's other side, and raised her pistols, training them on Sif. She waited just long enough for the other woman to get a within a more suitable range, then opened fire on her, taking just enough shots to see how she reacted, to see her raise the shield she carried to deflect the bullets. For what was supposed to be practice weaponry, the shield held up pretty well.
"Right," she muttered, the statement mostly meant for herself, and lowered her pistols ever so slightly, intent on changing tactics. Hand to hand might work better here, and the first order of business was to get that shield away from Sif.
Fandral, in the meantime, broke into a sprint, coiling as the Hulk had, and took a running jump at Tony, sword angled upwards, while Volstagg simply marched up to Steve and took a swing at him, a growl on his lips.
As soon as Hogun was within range, Clint let the arrow fly, another one coming free of the quiver almost as soon as the first left his bow. He was well enough aware he wouldn't have the advantage of distance long, but he also wasn't about to waste arrows.
Tony cut the thrusters and dropped abruptly, bracing automatically as he adjusted his trajectory to impact with Fandral bodily instead of giving him an opening with the sword.
Steve dropped back to dodge the swing, shield automatically coming up as he did, the blow aimed roughly at Volstagg's face. Whether it connected or not, he immediately followed with a lower punch of his own.
Volstagg stumbled backwards, one step from the hit, then another two, both avoid the punch and regain his balance. He laughed, pleased somehow that Steve had actually managed to hit him, and came at him again, this time a little less recklessly, circling, looking for an opening rather than immediately taking another swing. Tony, too, got it a good hit. Fandral twisted, trying to dodge as futile as it was, but it didn't quite work out for him. He hit the ground hard, made a face both at Tony and himself, and reached for his sword where it had landed beside him, getting to his feet quickly.
Clint and Natasha weren't so lucky. As Loki had during the battle for Manhattan, Hogun simply plucked Clint's arrow out of the air with his free hand, and dumped it harmlessly on the ground before he continued to advance on him. Sif, on the other hand, seemed to be keeping Natasha from disarming her for the time being by taking swings at her with her sword every time she tried to get close.
Tony didn't land quite gracefully, either, firing a blast off with one of the repulsors to get his balance and then another aimed at Fandral - or rather, at the sword, to keep him getting a hand back on it. His thrusters fired at the same moment, boosting himself up and forward to put more power behind a punch. He was pretty much assuming anything that Thor could handle, these guys could, too.
Steve backed off to watch for an opening, too, finally tossing the shield by way of distraction as he moved in for another swing.
Clint's jaw clenched as he kept one arrow in hand, clicking once on the bow's grip as he reached for another, letting the second fly, the first right on its fletching. The second was essentially a flash bomb, set to detonate before actual impact, hopefully allowing the second to get through.
Fandral pulled his hand back from his sword, scowling, and didn't bother to go back for it -- not when he saw Tony coming at him. Instead, he straightened, one leg going out behind him to brace himself, his hands coming up to try and catch the other man's hands, to stop him. These guys were able to handle things as well as Thor did, but they were also as strong as he was.
Volstagg batted the shield away with his sword, took Steve's punch with little more than a wince, and then took another swing at him with his sword, this one aimed at his head and with the flat of his blade.
Hogun, meanwhile, reached to catch another of the arrows, his weapon poised to deflect the next one. He wasn't expecting either of them to explode in a flash of light, however, and it was enough to stun him, to let the second arrow through. It caught him in the chest, and he staggered backwards, gasping for breath, and Natasha, after noting this, started leading Sif backwards a sword dodge at a time, hoping Clint would notice. If he could get off another arrow while Hogun was stunned, maybe he could batter him in her direction, and if she could get out of the way fast enough, maybe they could get Sif and Hogun to collide.
Fandrel managed to stop Tony's punch, Tony gritting his teeth as the other man caught his hands. It was a move he should have seen coming, considering Thor had done the same thing during their first fight, and Tony pushed forward, trying to throw Fandrel off balance.
Steve was too slow to duck, this time, the flat of the blade catching him in the head, setting his ears to ringing as he dropped and rolled toward where his shield had fallen, watching the other man for a moment as he tried to clear his head, working out a way to get back to his shield - or to get another blow in.
Clint didn't look in Natasha's direction, but he still seemed aware of what she was doing, and he let off another arrow. This one, he aimed to push Hogun back toward their teammates, whether it impacted and pushed him that way, or whether he had to go that way to avoid it. He wasn't picky.
Fandrel pushed back, fingers tightening around his so that if he tried to stop pushing back in an effort to get him to overbalance so he could throw him, he'd be coming with him. "You'll not win this contest, friend."
Volstagg followed after him, thrusting his sword downwards as he got close. There was no great amount of power behind the motion, though, as if he was suddenly afraid of hurting Steve too badly if he actually hit him.
And Hogun, still stunned, took the hit with a graceless sound, taking another handful of steps backwards in order to keep his balance while he fought for his breath. Sif continued on towards Natasha, too, thankfully, the latter keeping the former distracted from realizing she was being lead by continuing to feign interest in trying to get the sword or shield away from her, and when Natasha felt her back hit Hogun's, she made one more jab at Sif -- just enough to get her to raise her sword for another strike -- before slipping out of the way. The sound as Sif's sword caught Hogun in the head was almost sickening.
It was also clear Tony wasn't going to be able to use the same trick he had to get Thor off him. "Don't need to win," he returned, though, as he did stop pushing back and dropped at the same moment he purposely misfired one of the small missiles in the suit's shoulder, hoping the distraction of the popping sound it caused would be enough to let him get the upperhand as he did try to throw Fandrel. And, well, if not, he was used to getting thrown around in the suit.
Steve dropped and rolled again, moving ever closer to his shield, trying to avoid the other man's blows. He didn't look all that worried about getting hurt, himself, only focused on the fight in front of him.
Only because they were only sparring, Clint flinched faintly as Sif's sword made contact. He had another arrow on the string, but he paused for a moment to judge where it was needed.
Fandrel was distracted, but it wasn't enough to get him to let go; when he stumbled over Tony, he took him with him, and the both of them hit one of the walls. On the plus side, the walls didn't so much as dent from the impact, on the minus side, though, and because of it, knocking into it as hard as they had hurt. Not that that that stopped Fandrel from trying to pin his sparring partner to the ground the second after they had landed.
"This grows somewhat tedious," Volstagg told Steve in the meantime, taking another lunge at him. If he had noticed Sif, crouched next to Hogun, her sword and shield down so she could touch her fingers to the other man's head, mindless of Natasha and Clint standing over them, he might not have bothered.
Sif was back on her feet before he even thought to look in her direction, however, dragging Hogun up with her, one arm under one of his. She scowled long and hard at Natasha and Clint, then turned towards one of the walls, calling over her shoulder as she marched in that direction. "Hogun yields. You will allow me the chance to get him to safety." Hogun made a noise of protest and she silenced him with a sharp sound. "If that had been a real sword, you would be dead." He didn't try to argue again after that.
Tony did actually spare a thought for the glance that the wall didn't seem bothered by the two of them smashing into it. It jarred Tony hard, and he shook his head once, faintly, to clear it, growling faintly. The pause, brief as it was, almost made him too slow, and he fired his thrusters a little desperately, just to try and get away from being pinned.
Steve didn't respond, moving again - and this time, coming up with his shield on his arm, using it to deflect that blow before he swung at Volstagg with it again.
Clint just nodded shortly and relaxed the tension on the bow, regaining his distance from the rest of the field while Sif helped Hogun off.
"Stay still," Fandrel hissed, trying to get a hand on Tony as he managed to skate away from him. It was, he thought, a bit like trying to catch an insect, though he didn't say as much, not wanting to upset Thor's friends or face his temper, if and when he found out.
Volstagg managed to get his sword into a position to parry the shield as Steve swung it at him, and made another swipe of his own a moment later. Still, despite the fact that he was playing at trying to kill the other man and vice versa, he asked, "Tell me something?"
Sif, meanwhile, got Hogun off to the side, told him in no uncertain terms to stay put, and moved back to retrieve her sword from where she had left it when she'd gotten up to carry him off. Natasha glanced at her, then to the sword, and Sif followed her gaze, her expression hardening. Abruptly, both of them broke into a run, trying to get to it before the other, the weapon now fair game apparently, and while Sif was faster, she was further away. Realizing she'd never beat Natasha there, she skidded to a stop, and at the top of her lungs, roared, "Thor!"
For a moment, nothing happened, then there was an ominous, angry rumble of thunder and the Hulk flew past her. It was enough to stop Natasha from getting to the sword, flipping out of the way to avoid getting hit by a big, green cannonball, and Sif smiled, albeit grimly, as she bent down to pick it up. The Hulk got up a second or two later, rearing back, drawing himself up to his full height, and roared terribly as he charged back in Thor's direction. Sif made a face and stalked towards Natasha.
Tony'd been called a lot worse than an insect over the years, anyway. Tony himself would likely have just laughed. "Nah," he drawled in return as he landed again and fired a blast from the repuslors.
"What did you have in mind?" Steve returned in the same tone, blocking the next blow and watching for a chance to get back on the offensive.
Clint brought his bow up again to fire - and then backed hurriedly out of the Hulk's way. By the time he focused again, Sif had the sword in hand, and he grimaced, too, but let an arrow off, hoping either he or Natasha could manage to land something. Not having a vantage point put him at something of a disadvantage, and he turned his head briefly to scan the field.
Fandrel rolled out of the way, scrambling to his feet once he was on his back, and held up his hands, not yielding but with nothing else to do with them without his weapon. "Well, it was worth trying ... "
"You, ah ... " Volstagg paused, bothing searching for his words and to take another stab at Steve, wanting to keep him pinned down. " ... you seem to have forgotten your sword." Okay, not so much a question as an observation, and an almost apologetic one at that.
Sif raised her shield, the arrow bouncing harmlessly off of it, and took a step backwards out of the reach of Natasha's leg as she dropped to a crouch and threw one out, attempting to trip her. After a moment's thought, she took another step away, pivoted, and ran full bore at Clint, shield held out in front of her, both to block arrows and to have a means of knocking him down when she reached him.
Tony brought a hand up again, too, repulsor ready but not actually firing it. "You gonna call it on me?"
"Never had one," Steve returned, sounding vaguely amused under his focus. "The shield does a lot of the work." He blocked the next blow and then struck out with the edge. If Volstagg parried it, the vibranium was designed to take the impact.
Clint hesitated a split-second too long in considering firing a shot to help Steve, which meant Sif caught him off guard. He brought his bow up in preparation for the blow, letting Sif knock him down, using the momentum to roll backwards and coming up on one knee to aim a swing of his bow at Sif's legs.
"Not yet," Fandrel answered. "Though, I don't suppose you'd let me retrieve my sword?"
Volstagg did, in fact, move his sword to parry the shield; had the weapon been metal, he imagined he would have felt the impact in his teeth. " ... so I see."
Sif leapt up over him, landing on a knee behind him, dropping her shield as she did so, and tried to snake an arm around his waist. If she managed, she'd pull him back against him and bring the blade of her sword to her throat. Natasha noted this and drew one of her pistols, hoping for an opening to take a shot at her, if and when it came to that.
Tony paused for a moment before the light from the repulsor dimmed and he closed his hand, gesturing toward the weapon with a nod. It was entirely possible he'd regret the decision, but he also felt like this had barely begun.
Steve pressed on, alternating slashes and blocks with the shield, clearly turning it up, now.
Clint used his own momentum now to roll onto his back, arrow coming to the string as he aimed up at Sif and let fly nearly at the same moment. At the very least, he was trying to get out of Natasha's way and not end up stalemating the three of them, even if it would be brief, or getting shot himself.
Tony's sparring partner looked surprised, but didn't waste the opportunity, trotting off to get his weapon. He returned before too long, pausing only briefly, to watch Sif, Clint and Natasha with some amusement, and took up a fighting stance. "Now, where were we, then? Ah, yes. I remember." And that said, he took another leap at Tony, swordpoint level with his chest, ready to duck, to curl into a ball, to roll as he hit the ground and, hopefully, come up behind Tony, if only for a moment, the jump itself a rather elaborate feint.
Volstagg, now on the defensive, parried each of the blows. He couldn't quite take any offensive action, not without getting hit, not without it being worth taking one, but he was keeping up with Steve easily enough and showed no signs of tiring.
Sif arched her back as Clint fell back on her, trying to keep from ending up winded -- it seemed to work, too, for the most part -- and jabbed sharply at his elbow, throwing his aim and making sure the arrow didn't catch her in the chin. That accomplished, she grabbed at the riser and pulled sharply, trying to tear the bow out of his hands and throw it as far away as possible. Natasha continued to hover over them, looking for an opening, which was harder than it seemed with the struggle.
Tony fell for it, spinning out of the way but also not wasting time once he realized what he had just fallen for, and he turned, firing the repulsor again.
Volstagg had all of Steve's focus, now, as their blows fell into a rhythm. Steve didn't seem to be tiring, either, though in the end, he wasn't entirely sure whether he would be able to outlast the Asgardian if the pace kept up.
The arrow went wild, Sif managing to jerk his bow out of his hands. It took all Clint's self-control to not immediately go for one of his knives, considering he had worn them into the battle and considering they were live steel, but he made up for it by driving his elbow back as hard as he could, aiming to drive it into Sif's ribs at the same moment he threw his head back and tried to twist away from her.
Fandrel slid to one side, out of the way of the repulsor, and frowned. Nearby, Volstagg continued blocking Steve's strikes, hoping to outlast him when it seemed there would be no opening, and Fandrel chanced them a brief glance before he returned his attentions to Tony. "Why do I have a feeling this will all end in stalemate?"
Sif grunted, but otherwise seemed unbothered, and tightened her arm around Clint's waist, jerking him back against her. "Yield," she demanded, putting her sword to his throat.
"For some of us," Tony agreed dryly, aware of what was going on with Clint, Natasha, and Sif thanks to the earpieces, and he fired again as he also pushed off, using the thrusters for extra speed as he closed the distance.
At the press of the sword into his neck, Clint went still. For a moment, there was something almost wild in his eyes as he looked up at Natasha - but it was only there for a moment, and he schooled it away quickly enough that only she was likely to have seen it. Then, he huffed out a sigh, the tension falling out of him. "I yield," he agreed unhappily.
Huffing out a sigh, Fandrel moved to meet him, lashing out with his sword as he got close. He figured it would be futile, that Thor's friend would stop him -- it was a shame they didn't have a magician of their own anymore, or that they weren't using real weapons and he had a set of throwing knives on him -- but it was better than doing nothing, he supposed.
Sif let him go and Natasha reached out to offer him a hand up, her eyebrows raised, a instant of concern passing over her face, there and then gone as quickly as the look on Clint's had been.
Tony did reach out to stop the blow, armor taking the impact easily, aiming another punch with his other hand.
Vibranium or not, the shield was still heavy. Using it like this for this long also wasn't Steve's usual style, since he usually had people at his back for support, and it was wearing him down more quickly than usual. The grimace as one of the blows did manage to jar him was slight, but it was still there.
Clint tilted his head almost imperceptively as he took her hand and pulled himself up, eyes on Natasha's. "Make me proud," was all he said, moving to retrieve his bow from where it had landed before heading to where Sif had taken Hogun. He'd pick up arrows later.
"Working on it," Natasha promised, turning back to face Sif once he had moved off. She glanced past her, briefly, to where Steve was working at keeping Volstagg at bay, and drew her other pistol. He was obviously tiring and she was suddenly struck with inspiration. "Cap, when I say now, I need you to back off. Stark, I could use a distraction here, if you have a minute."
If not -- and that was looking to be the case, as Fandral took the punch and then took another swipe at Tony with his sword -- well, she'd think of something, she supposed.
Steve turned his head just slightly in acknowledgement that he had heard her, keeping most of his attention on Volstagg. Tony didn't acknowledge her, but he dodged back, firing his thrusters for an extra boost - and then dropped, firing them again to take off, this time. It would have been easy enough to just fire a projectile, but most of his were either full power or nothing at all, not like the wooden swords and rubber bullets. If he could manage to mimic Thor and ram Fandral hard enough to throw him in Sif's direction, more the better. If that didn't work, he could always wheel around and fire the flares set in the suit's legs next to the thrusters.
And if neither of those worked, well... They were all creative enough, really.
Natasha had almost been expecting Tony to take a shot at Sif -- just enough to throw the other woman off balance long enough for her to stake around her. She wasn't expecting Fandral to come flying at her, sending them both into a sprawling heap a few feet away. Either way, though, it worked, and she popped one shoulder in a shrug as she marched in Steve and Volstagg's direction, flanking the both of them.
She allowed herself the time to set up a shot, pointedly ignoring Sif and Fandral as they struggled to their feet, leading Volstagg as he continued to back up as Steve kept at him, and wet her tongue with her lips. "Now, Cap."
Tony paused a moment in midair to head for Sif and Fandral, to make sure they were delayed long enough for Natasha to do whatever she was doing.
At her word, Steve immediately fell back, admittedly a little glad for the opportunity.
The second her teammate was out of the way, Natasha fired, a bullet to the knee, rubber as it might have been, enough to send Volstagg to the ground with a sharp cry. She figured she didn't need to tell Steve now was the time to go in for the kill, and wheeled on her heels, stalking back towards Sif, Fandral and Tony, her guns raised as she looked for another opening.
She didn't, and Steve immediately stepped back in, bringing the shield up under Volstagg's chin, knocking him backwards and then moving in to get his swordarm pinned, shield raised for another blow that he didn't let fall without saying first, "Yield?"
Tony aimed straight for Fandral and Sif, bracing for impact with either of them, hoping at the least to make them have to move to avoid him and give Natasha an opening for a shot.
"I yield," Volstagg agreed.
Fandral darted out of the way; Sif, on the other hand, stood her ground and let Tony hit her. Rather than go down without a fight, though, she pulled a trick out of Thor's playbook, arms and legs pinwheeling as she tried to hook them around her attacker to take him down with her, or at very least, keeping him from getting away with any sort of ease.
Steve immediately backed off, but he stepped back in a moment later to offer Volstagg a hand getting up.
"Get the pretty boy!" Tony said to Natasha over the comms and immediately rolled, hoping to throw Sif before she could get a grip - though he also let her weight pull him around as he cut the thrusters and aimed them down, trying for the same thing he had used against Thor.
Volstagg took the offered hand and flashed Steve a smile. "Well fought," he said before heading off to join the others who had tapped out.
"Actually, I was planning on standing around and watching them clobber you," Natasha shot back, replacing her pistols in their holsters rather than wasting time loading a new clip into at least one of them. She could do this hand to hand, if she stayed on her toes, and it would be much easier to get one weapon away from Fandral than it had been trying to get sword and shield off of Sif.
Sif, who was currently falling for the same trick Thor had. She hit the ground hard, Tony on top of her, though despite the fact that she had lost at least an instant or two of breath, didn't let that stop her, immediately trying to roll them so she could gain the upper hand.
It might have also made it easier for Natasha that as soon as Volstagg was clear, Steve turned to throw the shield in Fandral's direction.
"Thought so," he bit out just before impact. It winded Tony, as well, and the same moment it took him to recover gave Sif enough time to roll them - but in the next moment, he fired one thruster and one repulsor, trying to keep them rolling, to keep Sif from actually getting him pinned.
Natasha didn't bother to glance back at Steve -- she just made a small noise at the back of her throat and aimed a kick at Fandral's hand while he was still wondering what the hell just hit him. The swordsman dropped his weapon, hissing, and ducked down, trying to pick it back up. It took Natasha more than a few jabs to the head with the heel of her foot to get him to stop, and when he straightened, she had the Widow's Bite focused on him. She didn't plan on using it, of course, even if she was fairly certain he could take it, but he didn't need to know that. "You want to rethink your options?"
He said nothing, glancing between her and Steve, apparently doing as he was told.
Sif, on the other hand, was not so easy to give up. When Tony ended up on top again, she didn't bother trying to keep the roll going. Instead, she twisted her wrist sharply, blade of her sword pointing outwards, and hit him as hard as she could -- or, well, as hard as she could while still pulling punches to a certain degree, to avoid permanantly damaging Thor's friends -- in the head with the pommel of the thing.
The hit was more than enough to rattle Tony, and he let go of Sif, rolling to the side, putting a repulsor down to boost himself up and back, to get some distance between them before he brought both hands up to fire blasts at her.
Steve caught the shield, nodding to her and turning to shoot a glance to the other end of the arena, toward Thor and the Hulk.
Sif started to raise her own shield, then seemed to think better of it, not sure how it would hold up to repulsor fire, and darted out of the way, instead. She frowned up at him for a moment afterwards, considering her options, and then tossed the shield at Tony, the thing aimed for his chest, in a fair immitation of Steve. She didn't seem to be waiting around to see if it bounced back or took him down, however, instead already on the move, going for the sword Volstagg had left behind when Steve had helped him off. If she needed to, she could and would throw it, too, and see if she couldn't get her hands on Fandral's. He wasn't using it anymore, after all, already moving off the field, having yielded.
Natasha, meanwhile, followed Steve's gaze to Thor and the Hulk, their battle still going, though both looked like they were wearing out even at this distance, before returing her attentions to Tony and Sif. "What do you think?" She didn't particularly want to go help the Hulk fight Thor, but if that was what Steve wanted her to do, she supposed she really had no choice.
Steve seemed to realize that, though. "Give Stark a hand. Looks like he needs it more."
"I hate you both," Tony returned dryly, dodging the thrown shield and spinning back to pepper the field around Volstagg's sword, trying to deter Sif from getting to it.
"It's not nice to lie, Stark," Natasha replied just as dryly, circling Sif as the other woman gave up on the sword and ran full bore towards the sheild, instead.
Steve just looked amused and turned toward the other fight, throwing the shield again, this time in Thor's direction.
"Seriously?" Tony said, this one through the helmet's speaker, to Sif, and dropped out of the air, landing in her way.
Sif skidded to a halt, kicking up dust as she did so, and raised her chin defiantly. "And what would you have done? Not all of us can attack without ever truly engaging an enemy."
Thor, meanwhile, had been poised to strike, Mjolnir raised to over his head, his back to the rest of the fight, and so the sheild throw caught him completely unaware. He staggered forward, into the Hulk's chest, and the Hulk glared down at him for a moment before wrapping a hand around his head and lifting him up off the ground. Thor took a swing at his wrist, bringing his legs up to push off the Hulk's chest when he dropped him, and rolled away, coming up on one knee. He twisted at the waist, pitching Mjolnir at Tony's back rather than at Steve, as one might have expected, and then called his weapon back to him, not bothering to look to see if he'd actually hit him.
Whatever retort had been on Tony's lips died as JARVIS said "Incoming" shortly, Mjolnir barely a ping on Tony's radar before the hammer was hitting him, knocking him forward. "Shit," Tony muttered, twisting as he fell to keep from landing flat on his face. Either way, the impact wasn't going to be fun.
Steve caught his shield as it rebounded back to him, running for the other end of the arena. He knew the Hulk could stalemate Thor, but that wouldn't win this.
Sif slid to one side, then back again, coming to stand over Tony as he landed, her sword pointed at the arc reactor. From the look on her face, she had no real idea what she was doing other than trying to keep Stark from getting up. "Yield."
Natasha was at her side in an instant, though, one of her pistols pointed at her temple. "Mexican standoff. Great."
Tony let out an "oof" at the impact - and then went still. Sif might not have known what she was doing, and, in a real fight, he could likely have gotten out of it, though not without more damage than he was strictly comfortable with, and so, he let his head drop back.
The smirk was obvious in his voice once he spoke, though. "Hey, I'm comfortable down here, just take your time."
Steve really wasn't sure how much he could help the Hulk, but he threw the shield again as he got close to the other end of the arena, aiming it to hit Thor and knock him into the Hulk's way, again.
"If this were a real fight, you would be dead now, as Hogun would have been." Sif's eyes slid in Natasha's direction, her mouth pressing into a thin line, and when she looked back to Tony, she repeated, "Yield."
"If this were a real fight, you'd be dead, too," Natasha pointed out, nudging her temple with the gun. Maybe she was bluffing -- she really hadn't spent enough time watching Thor fight in Manhattan to know whether or not Asgardians were bulletproof, otherwise occupied doing her own part at the time, nor did his file have much to say on the matter -- but it didn't matter. The point was the thing. "If he bows out, so do you."
Thor, meanwhile, was caught off guard and had the Hulk's hand fisted around his face again. Rather than wait for him to try the same trick twice, though, the Hulk turned, pitching Thor into one of the walls. He tensed, as if he was considering following, then thought better of it, glancing down at Steve as if he was waiting to see what he would do.
"You'd have to get through the armor and into the one set into my chest to actually kill me," Tony offered more seriously, smirk gone, "and that would still take some time. And be really, really painful, so I'd rather you didn't. But you would shut down the armor, which would leave me having to dump it, which would mean you could probably actually kill me. But there's the matter of the lady with the gun at your head to deal with, too." He paused briefly before echoing Natasha. "If you yield, I do."
For a moment, Steve paused, and then gestured. "Go ahead." By which he more or less meant "smash", of course.
Sif lowered her sword slowly, looking just a touch disappointed, and nodded once. "I yield," she said, and only then did Natasha lower her gun. Sif spared her another, brief glance and reached to offer Tony her hand.
The Hulk grunted and whipped back around to face Thor, kicking up off the ground as he did so, and letting the momentum carry him. His fist came down where Thor's head would have been, had the demigod not rolled out of the way, and the impact left both an indent in the ground and made it roll briefly.
"Me, too," Tony returned, starting to push himself up - and then taking Sif's hand. "Thanks," he told her, flipping the faceplate up.
At the rumble, Tony looked down the arena. "We're gonna be here a while."
Steve stumbled slightly, putting a hand out to balance himself.
"You think it will take that long for Thor to best your berserker?" Sif asked, following Tony's gaze down the length of the arena. She paused, watching as Natasha stilled when the ground shook, then continued on the path to join them, and amended, "Or vice versa?"
Thor could take on three people and still come out on top, if it was a fight to the death; a spar was potentially a different matter. Still, he got to his feet quickly, looking between Steve and the Hulk, then Natasha as she came up behind the former, weighing his options. He grit his teeth after a moment and wound Mjolnir over his head, letting her fly in Natasha's direction and pulling down at the last second, when she ducked, to come down on top of her.
"Not a good plan," Natasha hissed, able to see the Hulk coming up behind them.
"It's pretty even," he said with a nod. Which... the fight in the Tower hadn't gone on that long, but that had been different. And there had been the fighter pilot in the way, on the helicarrier. All that was to say Tony wasn't entirely sure who he would have put money on, if someone had asked.
Thor rolled out of the way, taking Natasha with him, as the Hulk came down on where they'd once been. "Then yield. Leave this to me and Banner." He paused, raising his voice. "And you as well, Rogers!"
Sif only nodded, leaning back against the wall beside Fandral as they reached the others, and focused herself on watching.
"Natasha?" Steve said simply but quickly, the question obvious. He could probably be enough of a distraction to help the Hulk, but there was the very real possibility he would only end up in the way, with it down to the four of them.
Tony copied her, closing the faceplate for a moment before the helmet opened, and he lifted it off, settling back to watch.
Natasha hated the idea of giving up now, when she'd taken out or helped to take out the majority of the rest of Thor's team, but she had no great desire to be collateral damage for either side, either. That in mind, she nodded and when Thor let her up, slipped out from under him and back to a stand hurriedly. "Let the boys have their pissing contest."
Steve nodded. "Down to you guys, then." He reached up to push the cowl back, heading back down the arena.
For what it was worth, the fight only lasted for a few more minutes, both of them visibly tiring, and ended with a flash of lightning and the smell of burning flesh. The Hulk sagged back against one of the walls in the moments that followed, his breathing labored, the black spiderweb pattern the electricty had left on his chest slowly fading as he tried to catch his breath, much, perhaps, to everyone's surprise, and Thor raised Mjolnir over his head as he moved in to corner him, though he did not strike. "Do you yield?"
The Hulk's lips curled back, baring teeth, anger rekindling itself in his eyes, but he didn't come at Thor again. Instead, lowly, he rumbled, "Yield."
Thor lowered his weapon immediately and the Hulk slid down the wall into a sit, looking exhausted.
"Huh," Tony said simply as Clint offered, "And that's the game", pushing himself off the wall where he'd been leaning.
"I would have bet on your berserker," Fandral said, getting up off the ground.
Natasha would have, too, honestly -- she didn't figure that Banner would know when to quit, like this -- but she kept her opinion to herself.
"He'll appreciate that," Tony offered lightly, because he thought Bruce actually would.
Steve headed back down the arena, stopping short of them. "You guys good?" he called.
"Worn, but we endure," Thor answered, clipping Mjolnir back to his belt. He reached up, pressing two fingers to a cut Banner had left over his eyebrow, and glanced back over his shoulder at the Hulk, grinning genuinely and openly. "And you?"
"I'm gonna feel this one in the morning," he returned, smiling a little himself, dropping the shield off his arm and returning it to his back, now that he was sure everyone was settled.
"As will we all," Volstagg said, having followed Steve down to where Thor stood, though he sounded almost as pleased as the other Asgardian looked.
Steve looked back at the warrior, turning to offer him a hand, again. "It was great, though." And it had been.
Volstagg took his hand at the wrist, shaking it solemnly. "It was. You fight well."
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4/?: In which Thor's old and new friends attempt to kick each other's asses all in good fun.
Also? Long.
The walk to the arena was brisk and silent, and Bruce was almost grateful that he'd more or less memorized the path they'd taken to get there, just in case. Thor, thankfully, did not lose them and before too long, they were standing out in the middle of the structure, the Warriors and their Lady waiting for them, as promised. Thor glanced between the two assembled groups, inclining his head towards his Asgardian friends, indicating that the others should follow him over to them, presumably for introductions and, perhaps, for the terms of the fight.
Tony smiled faintly when Thor did lead them to the arena, glancing at Bruce briefly. Once they were in the arena, Steve led the team the rest of the way to the others, nodding to them. "Gentlemen," he said to the Warriors with a nod, then turning his attention to Sif, offering her the same nod. "Lady."
Sif returned the nod and focused herself on studying Natasha with no small amount of interest -- likely because it was so rare to see another female warrior. Volstagg, meanwhile, stepped forward grinning. "It is good to finally meet you. We have heard much about you."
"As much as Heimdall would tell us," Hogun corrected.
Volstagg looked vaguely embarrassed. "Ah, well ... yes."
Thor looked briefly, dimly amused, and gestured to each of them in turn. "Fandral, Hogun, Volstagg and, of course, the Lady Sif." He waved a hand in the direction of the Avengers next. "Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, and the Lady Natasha."
Steve couldn't help but grin back, at that, not entirely surprised, considering his own experience with the guard. "It's good to meet all of you, as well."
At the introductions, Steve, Tony, and Clint all offered a nod at their name.
Natasha did likewise; Bruce offered an awkard sort of wave and mumbled something about it being nice to meet them.
Thor glanced between both groups once the introductions were out of the way, finally settling on the Warriors and the Lady. "You are ready?" he asked.
"We are," Fandral said, patting the hilt of a wooden sword attached to his hip. "We, ah, thought practice weapons were prudent. We wouldn't want to damage your friends permanantly, would we?"
"We would not," Thor agreed, "though I think you will find they are more formidable than they appear at first glance."
"You would not fight beside them, were they not," Volstagg put in.
Thor nodded and turned his attentions back to the Avengers -- or, more specifically, to Tony. "I will explain the terms of this contest, and then you and Banner will prepare yourselves. Agreed?"
At the mention of practice weapons, there was a soft click and whir, as Clint changed the tips of his arrows. It was unlikely anyone but Natasha would have noticed the sound, quiet as it was, but he still looked darkly amused.
Tony looked to Bruce for a moment before nodding. "Agreed."
"Agreed," Bruce echoed.
"In the interest of fairness, I will fight with the Warriors Three and the Lady Sif," Thor began, one hand coming to rest on Mjolnir, the hammer clipped to his belt. "We begin when I call for it, and we fight until the whole of one team or the other has called yield or can no longer fight." He imagined Bruce would be unconscious by the end of the battle, hence the latter part of that condition. "Victory will go to whoever has managed to remain standing."
He paused, again looking between both groups, and then, "Is there anything anyone feels it necessary to add?"
Steve looked back at the rest of team before turning to face the others, again. "Good luck," was all he said, nodding to them, again.
"And you," Thor replied, turning to lead his team off to the other side of the arena, presumably so they could all start with a fair amount of space between them.
Steve turned to lead the team back, too, reaching back to unclip his shield and slide his arm through the straps. There was a snap from nearby as Clint unbuckled his bow, unfolding it with a quick motion.
Tony moved away from the others, setting the case down. He reached up to turn on his earpiece, then kicking at the case's latch. It immediately flipped open, revealing red gauntlets, and he bent to reach inside before straightening again. As he stretched his arms out, pulling the bulk of the metal close to his chest, the suit expanded, wrapping around his torso before unfolding down his legs and up his back, light shining from the circular chestpiece. He picked his feet up briefly, the boots snapping closed around his sneakers. The last to unfold was the helmet, closing around his face.
For anyone that had seen the footage of the fight in Monaco, this suit, though similar, had seen some changes from its first model. It was the same red and gold color scheme he preferred and was still lighter than his full suits, though it was clearly more heavily armored than the one he'd worn on the racetrack. It would never be able to take as much damage as the full suits, but he wasn't all that worried about it, here.
Tony couldn't help but let out a breath when the HUD loaded. "Hey, JARVIS," he said simply, working his hands in the gauntlets, watching the system check come up green.
"Hello, sir," came the AI's response, and Tony grinned outright.
"Everyone read me?" Tony said, directed toward the team.
"Got you loud and clear, Stark," Natasha answered, pulling her pistols from their holsters. She looked to Clint, dug her teeth into her lower lip for a moment, thoughtfully, and then turned her attentions to Bruce. "You want to give me a minute, Banner?"
"Uh ... sure?"
"Thanks," she said, already going through the process of removing the clip from one of the guns. She slipped it into a pouch in her belt and produced another, loading that into the gun instead. She repeated the process with the other gun, flashing Clint a vague, knowing look -- likely he knew what she was doing -- pointed her weapons towards the ground, and flicked the safeties off with her thumbs. "Okay. Whenever you're ready."
"Ready," Bruce repeated, shifting from one foot to the other anxiously. "Right."
He took a deep breath and let it out in a harsh, angry huff, letting all the anger he'd been carrying around with him for the last few weeks break through the walls he so carefully maintained and swirl around him. His eyes flashed almost literally, igniting in sharp, incandecent green and his skin followed suit, color creeping up over him as he put on muscle and height. When the process finished, he lurched forward onto his knuckles and snorted, looking between Steve and Thor's team expectantly.
"Call it, Cap," Natasha said, unable to fight a small, grim smile.
Clint shot her a small smile, clicking through his arrows idly as he waited on the others.
Tony couldn't help but watch Bruce change, considering he had been a bit busy on the helicarrier, had only seen it in literal passing in Manhattan, and had caught the tail end in the Tower. When he was finished, the Hulk standing among them, Tony huffed out a breath, too, smiling faintly to himself.
Steve reached behind him to pull his cowl up, settling it over his eyes as he turned to face the team. "Clint, take Hogun. Tony, you're on Fandral. Natasha, Sif." He shot a glance over his shoulder at Thor's team. "I've got Volstagg. And Hulk, stay with Thor," Steve finished, turning back to face him. "We're a team, we've got the comms, help each other out if you see an opportunity." He looked around. "Good?"
Natasha nodded. "Got it."
The Hulk flashed Steve an unsettlingly wicked grin, as if he'd been looking for a chance to beat on Thor for some time now -- and considering the guy had put him out with Mjolnir not too long ago, maybe he had -- and tensed, waiting impatiently. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long, Thor's voice high and clear even with the distance between them, urging them to fight, and the Hulk took off like a shot, leaping practically the length of the arena to engage their teammate. The other Asgardians skated around them, their weapons draw, to join the battle.
Tony immediately took to the air, following the Hulk toward the Asgardians. Clint fanned out, notching his first arrow as Steve moved forward, shield ready.
Natasha mirrored Clint, taking up position on Steve's other side, and raised her pistols, training them on Sif. She waited just long enough for the other woman to get a within a more suitable range, then opened fire on her, taking just enough shots to see how she reacted, to see her raise the shield she carried to deflect the bullets. For what was supposed to be practice weaponry, the shield held up pretty well.
"Right," she muttered, the statement mostly meant for herself, and lowered her pistols ever so slightly, intent on changing tactics. Hand to hand might work better here, and the first order of business was to get that shield away from Sif.
Fandral, in the meantime, broke into a sprint, coiling as the Hulk had, and took a running jump at Tony, sword angled upwards, while Volstagg simply marched up to Steve and took a swing at him, a growl on his lips.
As soon as Hogun was within range, Clint let the arrow fly, another one coming free of the quiver almost as soon as the first left his bow. He was well enough aware he wouldn't have the advantage of distance long, but he also wasn't about to waste arrows.
Tony cut the thrusters and dropped abruptly, bracing automatically as he adjusted his trajectory to impact with Fandral bodily instead of giving him an opening with the sword.
Steve dropped back to dodge the swing, shield automatically coming up as he did, the blow aimed roughly at Volstagg's face. Whether it connected or not, he immediately followed with a lower punch of his own.
Volstagg stumbled backwards, one step from the hit, then another two, both avoid the punch and regain his balance. He laughed, pleased somehow that Steve had actually managed to hit him, and came at him again, this time a little less recklessly, circling, looking for an opening rather than immediately taking another swing. Tony, too, got it a good hit. Fandral twisted, trying to dodge as futile as it was, but it didn't quite work out for him. He hit the ground hard, made a face both at Tony and himself, and reached for his sword where it had landed beside him, getting to his feet quickly.
Clint and Natasha weren't so lucky. As Loki had during the battle for Manhattan, Hogun simply plucked Clint's arrow out of the air with his free hand, and dumped it harmlessly on the ground before he continued to advance on him. Sif, on the other hand, seemed to be keeping Natasha from disarming her for the time being by taking swings at her with her sword every time she tried to get close.
Tony didn't land quite gracefully, either, firing a blast off with one of the repulsors to get his balance and then another aimed at Fandral - or rather, at the sword, to keep him getting a hand back on it. His thrusters fired at the same moment, boosting himself up and forward to put more power behind a punch. He was pretty much assuming anything that Thor could handle, these guys could, too.
Steve backed off to watch for an opening, too, finally tossing the shield by way of distraction as he moved in for another swing.
Clint's jaw clenched as he kept one arrow in hand, clicking once on the bow's grip as he reached for another, letting the second fly, the first right on its fletching. The second was essentially a flash bomb, set to detonate before actual impact, hopefully allowing the second to get through.
Fandral pulled his hand back from his sword, scowling, and didn't bother to go back for it -- not when he saw Tony coming at him. Instead, he straightened, one leg going out behind him to brace himself, his hands coming up to try and catch the other man's hands, to stop him. These guys were able to handle things as well as Thor did, but they were also as strong as he was.
Volstagg batted the shield away with his sword, took Steve's punch with little more than a wince, and then took another swing at him with his sword, this one aimed at his head and with the flat of his blade.
Hogun, meanwhile, reached to catch another of the arrows, his weapon poised to deflect the next one. He wasn't expecting either of them to explode in a flash of light, however, and it was enough to stun him, to let the second arrow through. It caught him in the chest, and he staggered backwards, gasping for breath, and Natasha, after noting this, started leading Sif backwards a sword dodge at a time, hoping Clint would notice. If he could get off another arrow while Hogun was stunned, maybe he could batter him in her direction, and if she could get out of the way fast enough, maybe they could get Sif and Hogun to collide.
Fandrel managed to stop Tony's punch, Tony gritting his teeth as the other man caught his hands. It was a move he should have seen coming, considering Thor had done the same thing during their first fight, and Tony pushed forward, trying to throw Fandrel off balance.
Steve was too slow to duck, this time, the flat of the blade catching him in the head, setting his ears to ringing as he dropped and rolled toward where his shield had fallen, watching the other man for a moment as he tried to clear his head, working out a way to get back to his shield - or to get another blow in.
Clint didn't look in Natasha's direction, but he still seemed aware of what she was doing, and he let off another arrow. This one, he aimed to push Hogun back toward their teammates, whether it impacted and pushed him that way, or whether he had to go that way to avoid it. He wasn't picky.
Fandrel pushed back, fingers tightening around his so that if he tried to stop pushing back in an effort to get him to overbalance so he could throw him, he'd be coming with him. "You'll not win this contest, friend."
Volstagg followed after him, thrusting his sword downwards as he got close. There was no great amount of power behind the motion, though, as if he was suddenly afraid of hurting Steve too badly if he actually hit him.
And Hogun, still stunned, took the hit with a graceless sound, taking another handful of steps backwards in order to keep his balance while he fought for his breath. Sif continued on towards Natasha, too, thankfully, the latter keeping the former distracted from realizing she was being lead by continuing to feign interest in trying to get the sword or shield away from her, and when Natasha felt her back hit Hogun's, she made one more jab at Sif -- just enough to get her to raise her sword for another strike -- before slipping out of the way. The sound as Sif's sword caught Hogun in the head was almost sickening.
It was also clear Tony wasn't going to be able to use the same trick he had to get Thor off him. "Don't need to win," he returned, though, as he did stop pushing back and dropped at the same moment he purposely misfired one of the small missiles in the suit's shoulder, hoping the distraction of the popping sound it caused would be enough to let him get the upperhand as he did try to throw Fandrel. And, well, if not, he was used to getting thrown around in the suit.
Steve dropped and rolled again, moving ever closer to his shield, trying to avoid the other man's blows. He didn't look all that worried about getting hurt, himself, only focused on the fight in front of him.
Only because they were only sparring, Clint flinched faintly as Sif's sword made contact. He had another arrow on the string, but he paused for a moment to judge where it was needed.
Fandrel was distracted, but it wasn't enough to get him to let go; when he stumbled over Tony, he took him with him, and the both of them hit one of the walls. On the plus side, the walls didn't so much as dent from the impact, on the minus side, though, and because of it, knocking into it as hard as they had hurt. Not that that that stopped Fandrel from trying to pin his sparring partner to the ground the second after they had landed.
"This grows somewhat tedious," Volstagg told Steve in the meantime, taking another lunge at him. If he had noticed Sif, crouched next to Hogun, her sword and shield down so she could touch her fingers to the other man's head, mindless of Natasha and Clint standing over them, he might not have bothered.
Sif was back on her feet before he even thought to look in her direction, however, dragging Hogun up with her, one arm under one of his. She scowled long and hard at Natasha and Clint, then turned towards one of the walls, calling over her shoulder as she marched in that direction. "Hogun yields. You will allow me the chance to get him to safety." Hogun made a noise of protest and she silenced him with a sharp sound. "If that had been a real sword, you would be dead." He didn't try to argue again after that.
Tony did actually spare a thought for the glance that the wall didn't seem bothered by the two of them smashing into it. It jarred Tony hard, and he shook his head once, faintly, to clear it, growling faintly. The pause, brief as it was, almost made him too slow, and he fired his thrusters a little desperately, just to try and get away from being pinned.
Steve didn't respond, moving again - and this time, coming up with his shield on his arm, using it to deflect that blow before he swung at Volstagg with it again.
Clint just nodded shortly and relaxed the tension on the bow, regaining his distance from the rest of the field while Sif helped Hogun off.
"Stay still," Fandrel hissed, trying to get a hand on Tony as he managed to skate away from him. It was, he thought, a bit like trying to catch an insect, though he didn't say as much, not wanting to upset Thor's friends or face his temper, if and when he found out.
Volstagg managed to get his sword into a position to parry the shield as Steve swung it at him, and made another swipe of his own a moment later. Still, despite the fact that he was playing at trying to kill the other man and vice versa, he asked, "Tell me something?"
Sif, meanwhile, got Hogun off to the side, told him in no uncertain terms to stay put, and moved back to retrieve her sword from where she had left it when she'd gotten up to carry him off. Natasha glanced at her, then to the sword, and Sif followed her gaze, her expression hardening. Abruptly, both of them broke into a run, trying to get to it before the other, the weapon now fair game apparently, and while Sif was faster, she was further away. Realizing she'd never beat Natasha there, she skidded to a stop, and at the top of her lungs, roared, "Thor!"
For a moment, nothing happened, then there was an ominous, angry rumble of thunder and the Hulk flew past her. It was enough to stop Natasha from getting to the sword, flipping out of the way to avoid getting hit by a big, green cannonball, and Sif smiled, albeit grimly, as she bent down to pick it up. The Hulk got up a second or two later, rearing back, drawing himself up to his full height, and roared terribly as he charged back in Thor's direction. Sif made a face and stalked towards Natasha.
Tony'd been called a lot worse than an insect over the years, anyway. Tony himself would likely have just laughed. "Nah," he drawled in return as he landed again and fired a blast from the repuslors.
"What did you have in mind?" Steve returned in the same tone, blocking the next blow and watching for a chance to get back on the offensive.
Clint brought his bow up again to fire - and then backed hurriedly out of the Hulk's way. By the time he focused again, Sif had the sword in hand, and he grimaced, too, but let an arrow off, hoping either he or Natasha could manage to land something. Not having a vantage point put him at something of a disadvantage, and he turned his head briefly to scan the field.
Fandrel rolled out of the way, scrambling to his feet once he was on his back, and held up his hands, not yielding but with nothing else to do with them without his weapon. "Well, it was worth trying ... "
"You, ah ... " Volstagg paused, bothing searching for his words and to take another stab at Steve, wanting to keep him pinned down. " ... you seem to have forgotten your sword." Okay, not so much a question as an observation, and an almost apologetic one at that.
Sif raised her shield, the arrow bouncing harmlessly off of it, and took a step backwards out of the reach of Natasha's leg as she dropped to a crouch and threw one out, attempting to trip her. After a moment's thought, she took another step away, pivoted, and ran full bore at Clint, shield held out in front of her, both to block arrows and to have a means of knocking him down when she reached him.
Tony brought a hand up again, too, repulsor ready but not actually firing it. "You gonna call it on me?"
"Never had one," Steve returned, sounding vaguely amused under his focus. "The shield does a lot of the work." He blocked the next blow and then struck out with the edge. If Volstagg parried it, the vibranium was designed to take the impact.
Clint hesitated a split-second too long in considering firing a shot to help Steve, which meant Sif caught him off guard. He brought his bow up in preparation for the blow, letting Sif knock him down, using the momentum to roll backwards and coming up on one knee to aim a swing of his bow at Sif's legs.
"Not yet," Fandrel answered. "Though, I don't suppose you'd let me retrieve my sword?"
Volstagg did, in fact, move his sword to parry the shield; had the weapon been metal, he imagined he would have felt the impact in his teeth. " ... so I see."
Sif leapt up over him, landing on a knee behind him, dropping her shield as she did so, and tried to snake an arm around his waist. If she managed, she'd pull him back against him and bring the blade of her sword to her throat. Natasha noted this and drew one of her pistols, hoping for an opening to take a shot at her, if and when it came to that.
Tony paused for a moment before the light from the repulsor dimmed and he closed his hand, gesturing toward the weapon with a nod. It was entirely possible he'd regret the decision, but he also felt like this had barely begun.
Steve pressed on, alternating slashes and blocks with the shield, clearly turning it up, now.
Clint used his own momentum now to roll onto his back, arrow coming to the string as he aimed up at Sif and let fly nearly at the same moment. At the very least, he was trying to get out of Natasha's way and not end up stalemating the three of them, even if it would be brief, or getting shot himself.
Tony's sparring partner looked surprised, but didn't waste the opportunity, trotting off to get his weapon. He returned before too long, pausing only briefly, to watch Sif, Clint and Natasha with some amusement, and took up a fighting stance. "Now, where were we, then? Ah, yes. I remember." And that said, he took another leap at Tony, swordpoint level with his chest, ready to duck, to curl into a ball, to roll as he hit the ground and, hopefully, come up behind Tony, if only for a moment, the jump itself a rather elaborate feint.
Volstagg, now on the defensive, parried each of the blows. He couldn't quite take any offensive action, not without getting hit, not without it being worth taking one, but he was keeping up with Steve easily enough and showed no signs of tiring.
Sif arched her back as Clint fell back on her, trying to keep from ending up winded -- it seemed to work, too, for the most part -- and jabbed sharply at his elbow, throwing his aim and making sure the arrow didn't catch her in the chin. That accomplished, she grabbed at the riser and pulled sharply, trying to tear the bow out of his hands and throw it as far away as possible. Natasha continued to hover over them, looking for an opening, which was harder than it seemed with the struggle.
Tony fell for it, spinning out of the way but also not wasting time once he realized what he had just fallen for, and he turned, firing the repulsor again.
Volstagg had all of Steve's focus, now, as their blows fell into a rhythm. Steve didn't seem to be tiring, either, though in the end, he wasn't entirely sure whether he would be able to outlast the Asgardian if the pace kept up.
The arrow went wild, Sif managing to jerk his bow out of his hands. It took all Clint's self-control to not immediately go for one of his knives, considering he had worn them into the battle and considering they were live steel, but he made up for it by driving his elbow back as hard as he could, aiming to drive it into Sif's ribs at the same moment he threw his head back and tried to twist away from her.
Fandrel slid to one side, out of the way of the repulsor, and frowned. Nearby, Volstagg continued blocking Steve's strikes, hoping to outlast him when it seemed there would be no opening, and Fandrel chanced them a brief glance before he returned his attentions to Tony. "Why do I have a feeling this will all end in stalemate?"
Sif grunted, but otherwise seemed unbothered, and tightened her arm around Clint's waist, jerking him back against her. "Yield," she demanded, putting her sword to his throat.
"For some of us," Tony agreed dryly, aware of what was going on with Clint, Natasha, and Sif thanks to the earpieces, and he fired again as he also pushed off, using the thrusters for extra speed as he closed the distance.
At the press of the sword into his neck, Clint went still. For a moment, there was something almost wild in his eyes as he looked up at Natasha - but it was only there for a moment, and he schooled it away quickly enough that only she was likely to have seen it. Then, he huffed out a sigh, the tension falling out of him. "I yield," he agreed unhappily.
Huffing out a sigh, Fandrel moved to meet him, lashing out with his sword as he got close. He figured it would be futile, that Thor's friend would stop him -- it was a shame they didn't have a magician of their own anymore, or that they weren't using real weapons and he had a set of throwing knives on him -- but it was better than doing nothing, he supposed.
Sif let him go and Natasha reached out to offer him a hand up, her eyebrows raised, a instant of concern passing over her face, there and then gone as quickly as the look on Clint's had been.
Tony did reach out to stop the blow, armor taking the impact easily, aiming another punch with his other hand.
Vibranium or not, the shield was still heavy. Using it like this for this long also wasn't Steve's usual style, since he usually had people at his back for support, and it was wearing him down more quickly than usual. The grimace as one of the blows did manage to jar him was slight, but it was still there.
Clint tilted his head almost imperceptively as he took her hand and pulled himself up, eyes on Natasha's. "Make me proud," was all he said, moving to retrieve his bow from where it had landed before heading to where Sif had taken Hogun. He'd pick up arrows later.
"Working on it," Natasha promised, turning back to face Sif once he had moved off. She glanced past her, briefly, to where Steve was working at keeping Volstagg at bay, and drew her other pistol. He was obviously tiring and she was suddenly struck with inspiration. "Cap, when I say now, I need you to back off. Stark, I could use a distraction here, if you have a minute."
If not -- and that was looking to be the case, as Fandral took the punch and then took another swipe at Tony with his sword -- well, she'd think of something, she supposed.
Steve turned his head just slightly in acknowledgement that he had heard her, keeping most of his attention on Volstagg. Tony didn't acknowledge her, but he dodged back, firing his thrusters for an extra boost - and then dropped, firing them again to take off, this time. It would have been easy enough to just fire a projectile, but most of his were either full power or nothing at all, not like the wooden swords and rubber bullets. If he could manage to mimic Thor and ram Fandral hard enough to throw him in Sif's direction, more the better. If that didn't work, he could always wheel around and fire the flares set in the suit's legs next to the thrusters.
And if neither of those worked, well... They were all creative enough, really.
Natasha had almost been expecting Tony to take a shot at Sif -- just enough to throw the other woman off balance long enough for her to stake around her. She wasn't expecting Fandral to come flying at her, sending them both into a sprawling heap a few feet away. Either way, though, it worked, and she popped one shoulder in a shrug as she marched in Steve and Volstagg's direction, flanking the both of them.
She allowed herself the time to set up a shot, pointedly ignoring Sif and Fandral as they struggled to their feet, leading Volstagg as he continued to back up as Steve kept at him, and wet her tongue with her lips. "Now, Cap."
Tony paused a moment in midair to head for Sif and Fandral, to make sure they were delayed long enough for Natasha to do whatever she was doing.
At her word, Steve immediately fell back, admittedly a little glad for the opportunity.
The second her teammate was out of the way, Natasha fired, a bullet to the knee, rubber as it might have been, enough to send Volstagg to the ground with a sharp cry. She figured she didn't need to tell Steve now was the time to go in for the kill, and wheeled on her heels, stalking back towards Sif, Fandral and Tony, her guns raised as she looked for another opening.
She didn't, and Steve immediately stepped back in, bringing the shield up under Volstagg's chin, knocking him backwards and then moving in to get his swordarm pinned, shield raised for another blow that he didn't let fall without saying first, "Yield?"
Tony aimed straight for Fandral and Sif, bracing for impact with either of them, hoping at the least to make them have to move to avoid him and give Natasha an opening for a shot.
"I yield," Volstagg agreed.
Fandral darted out of the way; Sif, on the other hand, stood her ground and let Tony hit her. Rather than go down without a fight, though, she pulled a trick out of Thor's playbook, arms and legs pinwheeling as she tried to hook them around her attacker to take him down with her, or at very least, keeping him from getting away with any sort of ease.
Steve immediately backed off, but he stepped back in a moment later to offer Volstagg a hand getting up.
"Get the pretty boy!" Tony said to Natasha over the comms and immediately rolled, hoping to throw Sif before she could get a grip - though he also let her weight pull him around as he cut the thrusters and aimed them down, trying for the same thing he had used against Thor.
Volstagg took the offered hand and flashed Steve a smile. "Well fought," he said before heading off to join the others who had tapped out.
"Actually, I was planning on standing around and watching them clobber you," Natasha shot back, replacing her pistols in their holsters rather than wasting time loading a new clip into at least one of them. She could do this hand to hand, if she stayed on her toes, and it would be much easier to get one weapon away from Fandral than it had been trying to get sword and shield off of Sif.
Sif, who was currently falling for the same trick Thor had. She hit the ground hard, Tony on top of her, though despite the fact that she had lost at least an instant or two of breath, didn't let that stop her, immediately trying to roll them so she could gain the upper hand.
It might have also made it easier for Natasha that as soon as Volstagg was clear, Steve turned to throw the shield in Fandral's direction.
"Thought so," he bit out just before impact. It winded Tony, as well, and the same moment it took him to recover gave Sif enough time to roll them - but in the next moment, he fired one thruster and one repulsor, trying to keep them rolling, to keep Sif from actually getting him pinned.
Natasha didn't bother to glance back at Steve -- she just made a small noise at the back of her throat and aimed a kick at Fandral's hand while he was still wondering what the hell just hit him. The swordsman dropped his weapon, hissing, and ducked down, trying to pick it back up. It took Natasha more than a few jabs to the head with the heel of her foot to get him to stop, and when he straightened, she had the Widow's Bite focused on him. She didn't plan on using it, of course, even if she was fairly certain he could take it, but he didn't need to know that. "You want to rethink your options?"
He said nothing, glancing between her and Steve, apparently doing as he was told.
Sif, on the other hand, was not so easy to give up. When Tony ended up on top again, she didn't bother trying to keep the roll going. Instead, she twisted her wrist sharply, blade of her sword pointing outwards, and hit him as hard as she could -- or, well, as hard as she could while still pulling punches to a certain degree, to avoid permanantly damaging Thor's friends -- in the head with the pommel of the thing.
The hit was more than enough to rattle Tony, and he let go of Sif, rolling to the side, putting a repulsor down to boost himself up and back, to get some distance between them before he brought both hands up to fire blasts at her.
Steve caught the shield, nodding to her and turning to shoot a glance to the other end of the arena, toward Thor and the Hulk.
Sif started to raise her own shield, then seemed to think better of it, not sure how it would hold up to repulsor fire, and darted out of the way, instead. She frowned up at him for a moment afterwards, considering her options, and then tossed the shield at Tony, the thing aimed for his chest, in a fair immitation of Steve. She didn't seem to be waiting around to see if it bounced back or took him down, however, instead already on the move, going for the sword Volstagg had left behind when Steve had helped him off. If she needed to, she could and would throw it, too, and see if she couldn't get her hands on Fandral's. He wasn't using it anymore, after all, already moving off the field, having yielded.
Natasha, meanwhile, followed Steve's gaze to Thor and the Hulk, their battle still going, though both looked like they were wearing out even at this distance, before returing her attentions to Tony and Sif. "What do you think?" She didn't particularly want to go help the Hulk fight Thor, but if that was what Steve wanted her to do, she supposed she really had no choice.
Steve seemed to realize that, though. "Give Stark a hand. Looks like he needs it more."
"I hate you both," Tony returned dryly, dodging the thrown shield and spinning back to pepper the field around Volstagg's sword, trying to deter Sif from getting to it.
"It's not nice to lie, Stark," Natasha replied just as dryly, circling Sif as the other woman gave up on the sword and ran full bore towards the sheild, instead.
Steve just looked amused and turned toward the other fight, throwing the shield again, this time in Thor's direction.
"Seriously?" Tony said, this one through the helmet's speaker, to Sif, and dropped out of the air, landing in her way.
Sif skidded to a halt, kicking up dust as she did so, and raised her chin defiantly. "And what would you have done? Not all of us can attack without ever truly engaging an enemy."
Thor, meanwhile, had been poised to strike, Mjolnir raised to over his head, his back to the rest of the fight, and so the sheild throw caught him completely unaware. He staggered forward, into the Hulk's chest, and the Hulk glared down at him for a moment before wrapping a hand around his head and lifting him up off the ground. Thor took a swing at his wrist, bringing his legs up to push off the Hulk's chest when he dropped him, and rolled away, coming up on one knee. He twisted at the waist, pitching Mjolnir at Tony's back rather than at Steve, as one might have expected, and then called his weapon back to him, not bothering to look to see if he'd actually hit him.
Whatever retort had been on Tony's lips died as JARVIS said "Incoming" shortly, Mjolnir barely a ping on Tony's radar before the hammer was hitting him, knocking him forward. "Shit," Tony muttered, twisting as he fell to keep from landing flat on his face. Either way, the impact wasn't going to be fun.
Steve caught his shield as it rebounded back to him, running for the other end of the arena. He knew the Hulk could stalemate Thor, but that wouldn't win this.
Sif slid to one side, then back again, coming to stand over Tony as he landed, her sword pointed at the arc reactor. From the look on her face, she had no real idea what she was doing other than trying to keep Stark from getting up. "Yield."
Natasha was at her side in an instant, though, one of her pistols pointed at her temple. "Mexican standoff. Great."
Tony let out an "oof" at the impact - and then went still. Sif might not have known what she was doing, and, in a real fight, he could likely have gotten out of it, though not without more damage than he was strictly comfortable with, and so, he let his head drop back.
The smirk was obvious in his voice once he spoke, though. "Hey, I'm comfortable down here, just take your time."
Steve really wasn't sure how much he could help the Hulk, but he threw the shield again as he got close to the other end of the arena, aiming it to hit Thor and knock him into the Hulk's way, again.
"If this were a real fight, you would be dead now, as Hogun would have been." Sif's eyes slid in Natasha's direction, her mouth pressing into a thin line, and when she looked back to Tony, she repeated, "Yield."
"If this were a real fight, you'd be dead, too," Natasha pointed out, nudging her temple with the gun. Maybe she was bluffing -- she really hadn't spent enough time watching Thor fight in Manhattan to know whether or not Asgardians were bulletproof, otherwise occupied doing her own part at the time, nor did his file have much to say on the matter -- but it didn't matter. The point was the thing. "If he bows out, so do you."
Thor, meanwhile, was caught off guard and had the Hulk's hand fisted around his face again. Rather than wait for him to try the same trick twice, though, the Hulk turned, pitching Thor into one of the walls. He tensed, as if he was considering following, then thought better of it, glancing down at Steve as if he was waiting to see what he would do.
"You'd have to get through the armor and into the one set into my chest to actually kill me," Tony offered more seriously, smirk gone, "and that would still take some time. And be really, really painful, so I'd rather you didn't. But you would shut down the armor, which would leave me having to dump it, which would mean you could probably actually kill me. But there's the matter of the lady with the gun at your head to deal with, too." He paused briefly before echoing Natasha. "If you yield, I do."
For a moment, Steve paused, and then gestured. "Go ahead." By which he more or less meant "smash", of course.
Sif lowered her sword slowly, looking just a touch disappointed, and nodded once. "I yield," she said, and only then did Natasha lower her gun. Sif spared her another, brief glance and reached to offer Tony her hand.
The Hulk grunted and whipped back around to face Thor, kicking up off the ground as he did so, and letting the momentum carry him. His fist came down where Thor's head would have been, had the demigod not rolled out of the way, and the impact left both an indent in the ground and made it roll briefly.
"Me, too," Tony returned, starting to push himself up - and then taking Sif's hand. "Thanks," he told her, flipping the faceplate up.
At the rumble, Tony looked down the arena. "We're gonna be here a while."
Steve stumbled slightly, putting a hand out to balance himself.
"You think it will take that long for Thor to best your berserker?" Sif asked, following Tony's gaze down the length of the arena. She paused, watching as Natasha stilled when the ground shook, then continued on the path to join them, and amended, "Or vice versa?"
Thor could take on three people and still come out on top, if it was a fight to the death; a spar was potentially a different matter. Still, he got to his feet quickly, looking between Steve and the Hulk, then Natasha as she came up behind the former, weighing his options. He grit his teeth after a moment and wound Mjolnir over his head, letting her fly in Natasha's direction and pulling down at the last second, when she ducked, to come down on top of her.
"Not a good plan," Natasha hissed, able to see the Hulk coming up behind them.
"It's pretty even," he said with a nod. Which... the fight in the Tower hadn't gone on that long, but that had been different. And there had been the fighter pilot in the way, on the helicarrier. All that was to say Tony wasn't entirely sure who he would have put money on, if someone had asked.
Thor rolled out of the way, taking Natasha with him, as the Hulk came down on where they'd once been. "Then yield. Leave this to me and Banner." He paused, raising his voice. "And you as well, Rogers!"
Sif only nodded, leaning back against the wall beside Fandral as they reached the others, and focused herself on watching.
"Natasha?" Steve said simply but quickly, the question obvious. He could probably be enough of a distraction to help the Hulk, but there was the very real possibility he would only end up in the way, with it down to the four of them.
Tony copied her, closing the faceplate for a moment before the helmet opened, and he lifted it off, settling back to watch.
Natasha hated the idea of giving up now, when she'd taken out or helped to take out the majority of the rest of Thor's team, but she had no great desire to be collateral damage for either side, either. That in mind, she nodded and when Thor let her up, slipped out from under him and back to a stand hurriedly. "Let the boys have their pissing contest."
Steve nodded. "Down to you guys, then." He reached up to push the cowl back, heading back down the arena.
For what it was worth, the fight only lasted for a few more minutes, both of them visibly tiring, and ended with a flash of lightning and the smell of burning flesh. The Hulk sagged back against one of the walls in the moments that followed, his breathing labored, the black spiderweb pattern the electricty had left on his chest slowly fading as he tried to catch his breath, much, perhaps, to everyone's surprise, and Thor raised Mjolnir over his head as he moved in to corner him, though he did not strike. "Do you yield?"
The Hulk's lips curled back, baring teeth, anger rekindling itself in his eyes, but he didn't come at Thor again. Instead, lowly, he rumbled, "Yield."
Thor lowered his weapon immediately and the Hulk slid down the wall into a sit, looking exhausted.
"Huh," Tony said simply as Clint offered, "And that's the game", pushing himself off the wall where he'd been leaning.
"I would have bet on your berserker," Fandral said, getting up off the ground.
Natasha would have, too, honestly -- she didn't figure that Banner would know when to quit, like this -- but she kept her opinion to herself.
"He'll appreciate that," Tony offered lightly, because he thought Bruce actually would.
Steve headed back down the arena, stopping short of them. "You guys good?" he called.
"Worn, but we endure," Thor answered, clipping Mjolnir back to his belt. He reached up, pressing two fingers to a cut Banner had left over his eyebrow, and glanced back over his shoulder at the Hulk, grinning genuinely and openly. "And you?"
"I'm gonna feel this one in the morning," he returned, smiling a little himself, dropping the shield off his arm and returning it to his back, now that he was sure everyone was settled.
"As will we all," Volstagg said, having followed Steve down to where Thor stood, though he sounded almost as pleased as the other Asgardian looked.
Steve looked back at the warrior, turning to offer him a hand, again. "It was great, though." And it had been.
Volstagg took his hand at the wrist, shaking it solemnly. "It was. You fight well."
