The Tragedy of Living

14

WAKANDA

Shuri was working steadily to complete the Mind Stone's removal; Wanda stood by tensely.

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The Kingsguard, Borderers and Jabari had little success going against Obsidian's chained hammer -- he either sent them flying or punched them into the ground. Black Panther got free of his other sorties, leapt and used all of his collected kinetic energy behind a punch that laid Obsidian flat.

Rocket, having found a clear spot, yelled, "Come and get some, space dogs!" Another wave of Outriders headed right for the raccoon. The Winter Soldier, having come up behind Rocket, grabbed him with his arm, held him at arm's length and spun 540 degrees, firing his own M-249 at the same time. "Come on, get some, get some! Come on, get some!" The Winter Soldier dropped Rocket, who looked up at him with an impressed gleam. "How much for the gun?"

Bucky, snapping off another burst, retorted, "Not for sale."

"Okay, how much for the arm?" The Winter Soldier gave him a look and moved off. "Oh, I'll get that arm."

The tides of the battle caused Thor, using Stormbreaker to great effect, and Captain America together. They took a breather.

Steve, panting, asked, "New haircut?"

Thor grinned and replied, "Notice you've copied my beard."

Captain America nodded, wearily gesturing at his own face with a shield-covered hand. Groot skewered three Outriders with his right arm.

"By the way, this is a friend of mine. Tree." He gestured towards Groot with Stormbreaker.

Groot, in full battle snarl, yelled, "I am Groot!"

(You gonna help me or what?)

Steve, formally, but bemused, replied, "I am Steve Rogers."

Elsie, who was fighting nearby, smiled and laughed softly at Steve's response.

In Shuri's lab, a deep rumbling could be heard. Wanda looked down on the battlefield and saw movement through the blazing forest between the troopships and the dome. When the disturbance reached the edge of the trees, it turned into vast moving mounds of earth that easily bypassed the force field and emerge -- Threshers, sets of massive, motorized spiked wheels, intended for nothing more than shredding everything in their paths.

"Fall back!" T'Challa ordered. "Fall back now!"

Wanda watched as at least one set of Threshers separated into individual wheels and started veering all over the battlefield, then looked anxiously back at Vision.

"Focus that fire on the left flank, Sam," Rhodey instructed.

"I'm doing it," Sam said and the two fliers used their firepower to crack a Thresher, but couldn't find a weak spot.

Black Widow, with her escrima sticks, Elsie, with her gun, and Okoye with her augmented spear, had drifted together when they were suddenly in the path of a Thresher. Each of them cringed at their seemingly inevitable shredding when Scarlet Witch landed in front of each of them, eyes glowing red, lifting the whole Thresher well clear of the ground. Looking behind her, the friendly forces had scattered and replaced by a charging mob of Outriders -- the perfect place to throw a Thresher. Black Widow and Elsie straightened with a pleased smile, Okoye with an amazed look.

Okoye in a slightly indignant tone, asked, "Why was she up there all this time?"

The Children of Thanos helped answer the question.

"She's on the field," Proxima said. "Take it."

Glaive killed one of the guards just outside the lab, alerting Shuri to the problem. She started hastily disconnecting her equipment from Vision's systems; he gasped at the sensations. The Dora Milaje engaged Glaive but was sent skidding across the floor. Shuri finished her shutdown, grabbed one of her sonic panther-paws and fired at Glaive. The Dora attacked again, and Glaive sent both her and Shuri through the balcony railing and onto the main lab floor.