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“That is... huge,” Bruce comments, eyes fixed onto the horrific creature emerging from the rip in the sky.
Tony snorts. “That's what she said.”
Bruce ignores him, still entranced by the creature. “Holy shit. Are we gonna fight that thing?”
Stephen stares for a moment, and he wouldn't admit it, but the sheer size of the thing is making him quite nervous. “Regrettably yes, Dr. Banner. I think we may be about to do that.”
“It’s pretty big,” Tony, very helpfully, points out.
”I've seen bigger.” God, he's breathless already.
“Really?”
“Are you joking?” He turns to Tony, ”It's massive!” He extends his hand towards the eldritch horror, still making its way out of the rip steadily. He's seen illustrations of it in various books, but seeing it with his own eyes puts into perspective how absolutely massive it is. He can't believe there's more coming out of the rip. Maybe Wong is right about bringing the Avengers into this.
“Alright, team,” Rogers steps up, drawing all the attention as everyone turns to him. He looks straight ahead with his shield held up protectively, watching as more tentacles spew out of the rip. “So what’s the plan?”
*.~ ◇ ~.*
To say it’s a difficult battle would be a little bit of an understatement. Well, it isn’t a battle per se, at least initially.
Despite its size, Stephen recognises that its intentions aren't to purposefully harm them, but are fully for self-defense. He wouldn’t blame it – if he was a lost creature who accidentally wandered into a foreign plane of existence, he would've done the same.
He had explained to everyone that the plan was to incapacitate it and then send it back to where it belongs, and the sorcerers will deal with sealing the rip. Simple as that.
He should’ve expected that things wouldn’t go exactly as planned.
Somewhere in the ‘decapacitation’ phase, Tony blasted the thing and, obviously, it only served to make it more defensive. And angry. Very angry.
He tries to reel himself back from shouting at the man – not before letting out a very loud, very frustrated growl that very obviously went through everyone’s comms – and instead directs the anger festering inside him towards the, now officially a battle, at hand.
“Stick to the plan!” he shouts, floating back to dodge a tentacle, “Don’t hi–”
Tony blasts his repulsor over it again. The creature turns its bulbous, blinking eyes to Iron Man.
“Oh,” Tony’s static voice comes through, “Oops.”
But before any of them can make a move, the creature suddenly turns its full body sideways, dragging itself in a clockwise direction, and the movement makes the ground shake slightly. It lets out a horrible, unsettling, ear-piercing screech that rings through Stephen’s ears and into his head, makes his flesh crawl and his trembling hands to raise up and quickly cover his ears almost on its own accord. He barely suppresses the flinch that follows, eyes shutting tightly as if it would help drown out the sound.
It leaves him lightheaded and a little dazed, barely registering the cloak tightening itself around his sides protectively as he sways unsteadily in the air. When the incessant ringing rattling into his skull finally – and very deliberately – fades into remnants of muffled, soft humming noises he can easily brush off, he risks opening his eyes. They widen immediately upon the blurry sight of a large, unclear object hurtling towards his direction.
And then suddenly, with a blur of red and gold, there's an immediate impact that hits him by the side and sends him falling to the ground.
He vaguely registers a static voice, a blue glow, and the feeling of metal digging into his stomach before his head hits onto the rough ground and knocks him out cold.
*.~ ◇ ~.*
The first thing Stephen registers when he comes to is the beating of the heart monitor by his side, quickly followed by a groan that he realises comes from deep in his own chest. It takes a moment for his vision to clear when he opens his eyes, squinting against the overhead lights. He’s on a hospital cot, it seems. And a look around confirms that he is, in fact, in a hospital room.
There’s some chatter from outside the door at his left, and he can see shadows of feet moving in the crack under it. Next thing he knows, the door clicks open and a certain engineer enters.
“Oh, you're awake,” Tony says, hastily making his way to his side and slowing down as he draws nearer. He pulls a chair, sits on it, and shuffles in his seat awkwardly. Stephen eyes the movement. “Er, hey.”
“Hi,” Stephen croaks out. His throat feels parched, and speaking leaves a sort of deep itch inside. “What... happened?”
Tony snorts softly. “You uh, nearly got hit. I sort of flew in last minute, and caught you. But then your head hit the ground a bit too hard and– well, you were knocked out for a good while.”
“No, no, that's not what I meant.” Stephen tries to sit up, and that makes Tony instinctively move forward; brows creased in worry. “I mean what happened? Did they manage to–”
“We dealt with it,” Tony interjects, “Got it... what's the word you guys use again? Banished? Whatever.”
Stephen breathes out a sigh of relief at that, nodding his head slightly. He slumps back. “Alright.”
That would explain why Wong isn't here. He's probably dealing with the aftermath.
Tony stares at him. “Jesus, doc. You ever just... think for yourself for a moment? You're nothing like the people say you are.”
Stephen's brow raises curiously, eyes squinting. “What do you mean?”
Tony chuckles, but it comes out as two, short huffs of breath. “Nothing. Here's some water.” He reaches for the filled glass on the bedside table, insisting on helping Stephen when he takes notice of the man's trembling hands.
“Thanks,” Stephen says, after taking a few gulps of water. He wipes the water dripping down the side of his lips. “For uh, that. And for what you did. In the battle earlier.”
Tony looks a little lost as to what to say. “Yeah. I mean, yes. You're welcome. Any time,” he says as he places the glass back, hands immediately clasping together; a nervous gesture. “Wouldn't want my favourite wizard harmed. Who's gonna perform tricks for me if he does?” He smiles, and Stephen can’t help but laugh at that.
“Sorcerer. And they aren't just magic tricks.”
Stephen expects another quippy retort, but instead Tony just smiles. He's a little startled by the genuineness of it. He decides to return it with a smile of his own, albeit a little more awkward.