Chapter 19 - Battle of New York III

Loki clenched Mirio's fist in his hand, tempted to just crush Mirio's bones but like always, Loki wanted to completely crush his opponent's spirit first "You punch even softer than the soldier…"

"That's not what the bruise on your cheek is telling me…" Mirio shot back…

There was no bruise on Loki's cheek but Mirio needed to distract Loki…

Of course, as a God of Mischief, Loki was not even fooled for a second…

Mirio wiggled and struggled to unclench his fist from Loki's grip but it was like a vice that refused to let him go…

Mirio imagined it was what a normal person would feel when held by his grip… and that's exactly what it was…

Compared to Loki and most other Asgardians, Mirio might as well have been just a slightly stronger mortal than most…

Faster than Mirio could react, Loki grabbed Mirio by the neck, raising the hero into the air like a victory trophy…

---BOOOOOM---

Mirio heard the rumble of thunder and immediately permeated out of Loki's hand…

It was just in time as well… Thor's hammer passed through Mirio's body and impacted Loki in the chest, sending the God of Mischief spiraling into the nearby wall…

Mirio fell to his knees and traced his fingers around his neck, identifying the severity of the bruise he knew would be left behind by Loki's grip…

"Battle injuries will fade young one…" Thor, in a booming voice, comforted Mirio while placing a hand on his shoulder "But now it is time to fight… you are a Warrior!"

Mirio was about to respond but the stale blood in his throat broke free and splattered all over the ground…

It also didn't help that Thor was a towering giant of at least seven feet that intimidated Mirio by his presence alone...

"Are you okay, Young Warrior?" Thor inquired but he didn't lose focus of Loki for an instant…

"W-wha-t is that hammer made of?" Mirio asked between coughs of blood…

Normally, he could permeate unhindered through all forms of matter but the hammer felt like jello where everything else felt like nothingness…

"Ah…" Thor smacked his head as if coming to a realization "It seems you cannot pass through materials that come from other realms…"

Mirio ignored Thor and stepped towards Loki, intent on putting down The God of Mischief before he could recover and become a hindrance once more…

Thor pulled Mirio back before he could take another step…

"Be wiser…" Thor lectured, lightning crackling on Mjolnir "An Asgardian will never go down so easily, and this one especially has the tendency to play dead…"

As if on cue, the Loki that was flat on the ground disappeared like dust in the wind, and what took his place were multiple Loki's popping up all around Mirio and Thor…

There was no way to tell which were real and which were illusions, but as far as Mirio was familiar with Loki, he assumed that all of them were clones of some kind.

"Which one is it?"

Thor shrugged "We use Asgardian Strategy for this battle…"

"Which is?"

"Beat them all!" Thor yelled and dashed forward with a lightning-charged bash…

---BOOOOOOOM---

The ground cracked and shuddered, dispelling most of Loki's illusions, but the real Loki was already positioned behind Thor, ready for a decisive strike…

Mirio shot out of the ground, gripping Loki around the head and kneeing The God of Mischief in the face…

Using his remaining momentum, Mirio leveraged all the strength in his arms to spin and drag Loki to the ground with him…

But the God of Mischief would not lose in a battle of strength, and he certainly wouldn't lose in a battle of wits…

Loki expelled a pulse of blue energy from his scepter, tossing Mirio away even in his intangible state…

One of the things that made a weaker Loki exceptional in Asgardian Society was his wit, and Loki had long guessed that Mirio's ability to permeate did not include pure energy…

Loki aimed his scepter and charged a beam of energy that would disintegrate all in its path, but Thor recovered and swung Mjolnir with strength unrivaled.

---CLANG---

Loki's scepter clashed with Thor's Mjolnir creating a sharp sound that deafened Mirio's ears…

---CLANG---

---CLANG---

---CLANG---

Loki and Thor had several more clashes until they locked weapons…

Loki was trapped in a battle of strength with Thor generating the perfect opportunity for Mirio to attack undetected…

Mirio permeated through the ground while running, appearing just behind Loki with a sweep kick that would force The God of Mischief to fight closer to the ground – Mirio's domain…

Loki pushed Thor away and leaped into the air, avoiding Mirio's surprise attack with ease…

Mirio rolled along with the sweep, using Thor's next attack on Loki to maneuver around them both…

Suddenly, Mirio changed his trajectory mid-spin and rushed from behind Thor, permeating through The God of Thunder and delivering a blow directly to Loki's chest…

The move was so unexpected that both Gods were caught unaware, and that gave Mirio enough time to permeate a bit into the ground while latching onto Loki's heel, dragging him down…

Recovering from his stunned daze, Thor used the fact that Loki couldn't move to grab The God of Mischief's head and toss him into towards the ground mercilessly…

---BAAAAAAANNNNNNGGG---

The ground shook and cracked as Loki's head collided with Stark's marble floor…

Mirio rose from the ground to Loki's left, intent to disarm the God of Mischief from his destructive scepter but Loki also had backup…

---PPPEEEEWWWWW---

---PPPEEEEWWWWW---

---PPPEEEEWWWWW---

Just as Mirio and Thor had managed to take down the leader of the invasion, several Chitauri Chariots flashed past the balcony of Stark Tower, raining down energy rays of destruction…

Mirio permeated every part of his body except the soles of his feet, but it seemed unnecessary as Thor shielded him from all the blasts, spinning Mjolnir faster than helicopter propellers…

---BOOOM---

---BOOOM---

---BOOOM---

However, for every ally that came to aid Loki, Thor seemed to possess even more…

Stark zoomed past in his Iron Man suit, destroying Chitauri Chariots left and right with flight skills and speed that rivaled the fastest person Mirio knew other than All Might – Hawks…

The grace with which Tony switched directions and maneuvered between the small gaps offered by the Chitauri Chariots amazed Mirio to no end…

There was no way Tony could not have a flight-related quirk…

However, as fast as Iron Man came, he left just as quickly…

---PPPEEEWWWW---

While Thor and Mirio were fighting a battle from the front, Loki used that opportunity to strike a blow from the back…

A beam of blue energy struck Mirio in the back, sending him over the edge of the balcony, but luckily, he managed to clamp his hand into the marble floor at the last possible moment…

Falling from two hundred feet could be timed to coincide with Mirio's permeation quirk, but anything higher than two hundred feet would cause his timing ability to falter...

Mirio's permeation Quirk worked entirely with timing since, during his permeation, all sensations would be rendered inert…

Thor waved Mjolnir down causing a blast of lightning to strike Loki from the skies, but Loki's magic also could not be underestimated…

A green barrier covered Loki from head to toe, blocking most of Thor's lightning attack but a faint paralysis still rippled through Loki's body…

Mirio swung his body into the room below the balcony, and was greeted by the sight of mechanical parts that he could not identify…

This was obviously Stark's workshop, or maybe a backup dump based on the disorder of all equipment…

Without time to try and understand all the equipment below, Mirio once again took the shortcut between floors of the Stark Tower…

He darted at the nearby wall and used it as leverage to shoot himself through the ceiling and onto the floor where Loki and Thor continued the battle…

Loki and Thor were inexhaustible as Asgardians…

Mirio permeated through the ground and knelt at a corner where neither Asgardians could see him…

Unlike Loki and Thor, even with his superhuman physique, Mirio could feel his energy ebbing away with each use of his quirk…

In his original Universe, Permeation was as simple as switching between two natural states for Mirio…

There was never a need to limit his permeation because it took nothing out of him during a battle or exercise…

However, in this Universe, Mirio could feel that permeation was like switching between two states of existence and each switch would be accompanied by a small energy loss…

"Clint!" Thor yelled, finding it difficult to battle Loki and keep an open eye for the Chitauri Chariots that want to catch him off-guard…

---PPEEWWWW---

---PPEEWWWW---

---PPEEWWWW---

---PPEEWWWW---

---PPEEWWWW---

---PPEEWWWW---

---PPEEWWWW---

Responding to the beckon from Thor, a Quinjet swung into sight and laid a rain of high caliber bullets on Stark's balcony…

Chitauri Chariots were ripped to shreds…

The glass windows and doors were reduced to splinters…

Some bullets even ricocheted in Mirio's direction, but his quirk allowed the burning bullets to pass through him without any damage…

However, amidst all the chaos of the bullets, none of the bullets touched Thor, while Loki would only occasionally meet the graze of a bullet and project a green barrier to protect himself…

Mirio was awed by the situation and instantly deduced that whoever was firing the shot had a precision quirk at least…

He had seen much precision and shooting quirks in the past, but this was a step above the rest…

Fed up with the constant distraction and tireless battles, Loki used an illusion to trick Thor into moving away, and send a blast of energy from his scepter at the unsuspecting quinjet…

Loki knew that the mere fact that Thor and Mirio had kept him here for so long meant that The Avengers were winning the battle…

After all, The Chitauri Warriors were not formidable warriors without someone to lead them…

---BOOOOOM---

The quinjet was hit in the wing, causing it to spiral out of control, but Mirio was not willing to go another round with Loki, so he decided that he would take Loki to the fight…

Taking long strides from his corner to Loki's position, Mirio hugged The God of Mischief around the waist and launched them both off the balcony of Stark Tower…

At first, Loki thought that Mirio was attempting suicide while bringing him along, not that an Asgardian Prince would die from such a fall, but Loki was soon proven wrong…

With Mirio's strength, it was not difficult for him to leap ten meters with Loki in tow, just far enough to come head to head with the earlier quinjet that was spiraling out of control…

Of course, with permeation active, both Mirio and Loki passed through the outside of the quinjet and rolled inside, bashing their heads on the metal walls of the machine…

Natasha glanced back at the intruders, and then return to her duties of balancing the damaged aircraft...

Clint already had his arrow aimed at Loki's head and released it without hesitation…

Steve also threw his shield with similar decisiveness…

Another battle had started…