Shine Again (An Avengers: Infinity War/Endgame Story)

Chapter 53: Really Gross

This was- by far- the worst battle Layla had ever been a part of. Worse than Ultron, worse than the Avengers' Civil War. There was chaos no matter where she looked, as their various allies had seemingly mixed success against Thanos' army. Some of their forces were being absolutely overpowered, while others were having ridiculously good luck. Ultimately, Layla just hoped in the end they would be able to survive this invasion, even if at this moment it looked pretty bleak.

In the distance, she could see some of the Wakandan forces trying to fight off a large guy with some sort of fancy chained hammer- which he used to send them flying or to crush them into the ground. She averted her attention when the Black Panther sprung up and punched the monster hard enough to lay him flat. It seemed like he had a pretty good handle on the situation.

She glanced off to her left and saw that Rocket found a clear spot as another wave of the Outriders charged towards him. He was heavily outnumbered, but that didn't matter to the raccoon. If Layla had learned one thing about him from their travels, it was that the raccoon was absolutely fearless and was probably loving this. Moments later, that was confirmed.

"Come and get some, space dogs!" he shouted.

He didn't stay alone for very long though, as Bucky strode up behind him, and grabbed him with his mechanical arm, holding him at arm's length and spun as he fired his own gun at the Outriders. Layla couldn't help but laugh at the sight.

"The hills are alive, but bitch you ain't," she joked to herself.

She looked away from them and looked back to her right, where Thor was easily slaughtering the enemy forces with Stormbreaker, with Steve and Groot both not too far away. She jogged over to them, feeling like she was probably safer near them than standing alone in the field. The two of them had momentarily paused for a breather just as Layla reached them.

"Meant to ask the other day, but... new haircut?" Steve asked between pants.

Thor grinned. "Noticed you've copied my beard too," he replied, running his hand over his chin.

Steve merely nodded and wearily gestured at his own face with a shield-covered hand just as Groot skewered three Outriders with his right arm. Honestly, Layla was a bit impressed with the ease at which the sentient tree took out their enemies.

"You remember my friend, Tree?" Thor asked, gesturing at Groot with Stormbreaker.

"I am Groot!" Groot retorted in full battle snarl.

Steve took this moment to formally reintroduce himself. "I... I am Steve Rogers."

Before anyone could respond, a deep rumbling shook the battlefield. Layla looked out to the distance to see movement blazing through the forest in the distance on the other side of the dome. When the disturbance reached the edge of the trees, it appeared as vast, moving mounds of earth. They easily bypassed the forcefield from underneath, and emerged as massive, motorized spiked wheels- and it was obvious their sole purpose was nothing more than shredding literally everything in their paths.

Layla's heart sank at the thought.

"Fall back! Fall back now!" T'Challa's voice demanded loudly.

As everyone started moving, Layla noticed one of the wheels separate into several individual wheels, veering all over the battlefield. She watched as Rhodes and Sam Wilson both fired at it from above, but their efforts were futile and the wheel kept on going. It didn't look good for anyone in their paths.

She looked back at Thor. Against her better judgment, she knew what she had to do. The two of them made eye contact for a moment, before he spoke. "Go."