A red pod shot out of an elevator in the penthouse, gunning straight for Loki and Sylvie who ducked, watching as it sailed out. The pod fired a laser, connecting with the bracelets Tony had put on and transformed into the new Mark VII Iron Man Suit. The upgrade latched on to Tony, covering him in armor, and the man quickly activated the thrusters, shooting straight into the sky.
Loki and Sylvie glared at the hovering figure who stared back at them.
"I guess it falls on me to send a little message from a few of the injured," Tony said, and before Loki or Sylvie could react, he fired a blast out of each palm, sending them toppling over.
Before he could engage the pair though, a massive explosion rocked the air and his head swiveled to the side. Iron Man stared up at the portal and the incoming horde that was successfully bypassing the lightning. He noticed how the Chitauri on the frontlines eagerly offered themselves to the lightning storm, voluntarily killing themselves so that those who followed behind them could emerge unscathed.
The cycle kept repeating as in mere seconds, thousands of Chitauri soldiers emerged from the portal on their flying chariots with an energy gun in their hands, ready to lay carnage to the city below.
"Right. Army of dipshits," Tony muttered and without any further ado, he shot toward the portal at a furious pace. The compartment on Iron Man's shoulder slid open, revealing a miniature multiple rocket launcher and a collection of Jericho missiles shot out of it, laying waste to dozens of targets. However, it was all to no avail as thousands of Chitauri kept flying out of the portal.
Tony gritted his teeth and flew away toward the city.
Explosions rang out around Manhattan, violently shattering the windows of the massive skyscrapers. Massive chunks of concrete rained down, mercilessly crushing the cars parked along the streets below.
Frantic, people ran about in utter chaos, like headless chickens in their panicked frenzy, aided by the evacuation team who had finally decided to undertake the task.
Spiderman and Spiderwoman kept up their assault, braving the deadly fire of the Chitauri without succumbing to any injuries owing to the armor they had borrowed. They kept killing the otherworldly creatures but no matter how hard they tried, the numbers were replaced within moments.
"What the fuck are these creatures? It feels there's no end to them!" Gwen exclaimed as she shot a string toward one of the Chitauri. The web collided with the creature's face and she pulled it toward her, kneeing it in the face and crushing it.
"We need to close that portal!" Peter replied as he tied up a small horde before quickly decapitating them all.
"Well, we've got reinforcements. Hope they get to it soon, or there'll be no New York left."
"Don't worry, love," Peter chuckled. "We got the insurance."
"Not the time," Gwen rolled her eyes and dispatched another horde. She panted slightly in the aftermath of the exertion. They had been fighting for what felt like hours now, having killed hundreds of creatures already, but it seemed they had done nothing. She glanced up toward the portal where the lightning storm had subsided once again and sighed.
"Get your lovely ass up. No time to rest," Peter said, pulling her to her feet. Gwen nodded.
"You better give me a nice, long massage once we're done here," she replied. Inside the mask covering his face, Peter grinned.
"It's a deal, but only if you return the favor," he replied.
"Get a room once we're done here, lovespideys. I'll even sponsor it."
They looked up and saw none other than Iron Man arrive and fire another round of Jericho missiles straight at the incoming horde, killing them in an instant. He landed right beside them and looked them up and down.
"Wow," Peter said, impressed. "Any chance you could build us a suit like that, big man?"
Inside his helmet, Tony rolled his eyes.
"Impress me enough and I'll consider it," he replied and shot back into the air. Peter and Gwen exchanged a look and with a nod, they followed.
Iron Man soared toward the portal, staring at the mild lightning storm ahead, and fired a massive arsenal of missiles right into the nucleus. A chorus of explosions rang around throughout the entrance as legions of Chitauri were obliterated. Tony had no time to relax though as more chariots emerged from behind the carnage, raining down further destruction below.
He fired another barrage of missiles before shooting toward Thor was held onto the massive building.
"You doing alright?"
"Just give me a minute to catch my breath," Thor muttered.
"Yeah, might wanna speed up on that. They're coming in waves."
Loki and Sylvie, standing side by side, gazed out from the balcony, savoring the chaotic symphony of destruction that unfolded beneath them. The piercing screeches of the Chitauri reverberated through the air as they surveyed what would soon become their kingdom.
Suddenly, Clark and Diana descended gracefully onto the Stark Tower's platform, earning themselves the attention of Loki and Sylvie, who turned toward the newcomers.
Before anyone could react, Clark shot forward at a furious pace toward Loki and tackled him off the platform, the railing of the balcony shattering in their wake. Sylvie stared in shock before she, too, was tackled to the side, crashing through the glass doors of the penthouse and slamming into the bar.
"You don't seem to be wasting any breath, I see," Sylvie snarled, shooting to her feet. "I thought you'd waste my time running your mouth first. Run out of lectures?"
"I know a losing battle when I see one," Diana replied as she walked toward the woman who cocked her head with a smirk.
"Shame. I don't see you sitting this one out," Sylvie taunted, brandishing a pair of enchanted knives.
The two women quickly engaged in a melee, crashing in a blur. Screeches of enchanted metals echoed through the penthouse as their weapons clashed, shooting out showers of sparks. Diana shot a glare at Sylvie, who sneered and landed a swift kick to Diana's abdomen, sending her skidding back a few feet.
"You rusty, Diana?" Sylvie jeered.
Diana did not reply and lurched forward. Sylvie expertly sidestepped her thrust before pivoting around, intent on impaling her in the neck. However, Diana saw the attack coming and ducked under the stab, countering with an elbow to Sylvie's abdomen. It was her adversary who was sent skidding back this time.
Amid all the chaos, Superman and Loki found themselves plummeting to the ground, but in the blink of an eye, Superman altered the course of their trajectory. He grabbed Loki by the face and flew through a building, sending his adversary crashing through, before he flung him against another building, sending him straight through a glass window where he crashed against the wall. Loki gingerly got up and a fierce glare etched across his face. The entire attack had taken place within seconds, giving him barely any time to prepare.
No matter how much Loki tried to brush it off, he had to admit that Kal-El had seriously upped his game since their last face-off. The improvement in his abilities was undeniable.
However, he was not one to admit defeat so readily. He knew the man's weakness and even though he had grown more resilient to the mystics, he was by no means immune.
With a smirk, Loki conjured multiple illusions of himself, creating multiple copies of himself and surrounding Superman. Superman scanned through the illusions, relying on his keen senses, and pinpointed the real Loki in no time.
Loki clicked his tongue in annoyance as Superman shot forward, hand outstretched to grab him by the neck. Right when Superman's hand closed around Loki's neck, the latter disappeared in a puff of smoke, reappearing behind Superman with a conjured dagger.
However, Superman anticipated the move and quickly pivoted, catching Loki's wrist. He squeezed it harshly, making him drop the knife before grabbing him by the neck. Both glared at each other before Superman grunted, launching Loki skyward, and propelling him through the air. He flew upward, eyes narrowed.
Loki regained his composure mid-flight and glared at his adversary. With a snarl, he conjured dozens of illusions of an emerald mineral suspended in the air, intent on weakening Superman's resolve.
Superman was surprised for only a second before he recognized the deceit, and with a fierce glare, he shot through the illusions. Loki could only widen his eyes as Superman closed the distance between them in a mere second and delivered a resounding uppercut, sending his head careening back. He was sent flying through the air at a breakneck pace, crashing through buildings and leaving debris in his wake.
He blinked the spots in his eyes before looking up to see Superman land mere meters away from him. With a snarl, he shot a concentrated blast of yellow energy from his scepter. Superman, who did not see the attack coming, was sent crashing through a bridge before he rolled on the harsh ground and fell in a heap. He groaned, feeling the pain in his torso, and tried to gingerly get up.
Suddenly, mystical chains of glowing emerald energy snapped up from the ground and wrapped around his arms, his legs, and his torso, trapping him in a prone position. He grunted, trying to pull himself free of any bindings. Met with failure, he fired a concentrated beam of red from his eyes straight on the chains. However, he found nothing he tried seemed to work.
On the other end of the block, Diana grunted as she looked up from her spot on the floor. Like her brother, Sylvie had also conjured multiple illusions of herself before she attacked her simultaneously. Diana quickly dodged another glowing emerald beam by shooting upward and careening toward Sylvie at a furious pace. She had pinpointed her true location already and she fired a golden beam out of her bracelets.
Her eyes widened when the beam phased through what was revealed to be another illusion before she was blasted off the balcony from the side. The blast sent her hurtling toward the ground and she collided with one of the Chitauri chariots.
Diana grunted when the Chitauri soldier fired a point-blank shot straight toward her chest. It was not enough to even injure her but it did hurt. She killed the Chitauri with a swipe of her sword and shot into the sky, hovering in front of the Stark Tower and staring Sylvie down.
Sylvie didn't waste even a second and employed her magic to ensnare Diana in ethereal bonds. Her bracelets glowed brightly as Diana struggled against her bindings, fiercely trying to free herself. With a loud grunt, she broke free and the magical restraints dissolved into a simmer of emerald light.
She had barely a second to prepare herself as Sylvie summoned numerous enchanted daggers and threw them toward her with pinpoint precision. Evading the onslaught, Diana deflected a few of the daggers with her bracelets. The clangs of their strikes were easily dwarfed by the explosions of the battles taking place around them.
"You're not winning, Diana!" Sylvie called out.
Diana ignored the woman and shot toward her, aiming to slash her with her sword but Sylvie, agile and cunning, dodged each strike with skillful ease.
Parrying another strike, Sylvie taunted once more, "Are you holding back? You are, aren't you?"
She deftly dodged another swing, meeting the subsequent attack with her daggers.
Diana maintained her silence, a conflicted storm brewing within her. She could not deny the truth behind Sylvie's words. She was indeed holding back, not unleashing the full force she could. Every blow she traded with Sylvie made her reminisce about the memories they shared—their past filled with camaraderie, battles fought together, happy moments, and disagreements that had forged this bond between them.
Their history held her back. There was a voice within her that urged her to keep faith, making her hope that not all was lost, that there was still a way back for both Sylvie and Loki and that they could still salvage this unfortunate situation.
This emotional connection, she suspected, might be why Thor was directing his efforts toward decimating the Chitauri forces instead of engaging directly with either Sylvie or Loki. After all, she felt so strongly despite being only a former friend. For Thor, this was more personal. They were his siblings.
Diana was forced to abandon her thoughts when Sylvie attacked again.
Meanwhile, soldiers and cops were hard at evacuating the civilians from the battlefield, aided by Peter and Gwen. They took care of any incoming threats with expertise, ensuring the civilians managed to escape without any hassles. All the while, Tony Stark took care of as many Chitauri soldiers in the air as he could. Thor was hard at work, constantly blasting the incoming horde with lightning, leaving the rest for the others.
Suddenly, their earpieces buzzed with static before Natasha's voice rang out.
"Stark, we're heading north-east," she called out as the Quinjet crossed the shoreline, flying toward the island of Manhattan.
"What? You stopped for a drive-thru? Swing up park. I'm gonna lay 'em out for you," Tony replied and shot forward, causing the Chitauri horde to give chase. He flew over toward his tower. He swerved around it before he snooped down the street, causing a few Chitauri to crash. Once he found himself in the perfect spot, he shot up, putting the Chitauri that were hot on his trail in full view of the approaching Quinjet.
A machine gun shot out of the Quinjet, taking out the entire horde in one fell swoop.
"Nicely done," Bruce praised from inside the Quinjet. Maria Hill smiled from her spot in the pilot seat, keeping her eyes peeled on the battlefield. Off to the side, Banner stared at the scene gravely.
"Chin up, Doctor Banner," Steve firmly clasped the man on the shoulder. "This is your time to prove yourself."
"I won't have it any other way," Banner replied firmly.
"I'll have you four land near that Stark Tower," Maria said, gesturing toward a large building with a lot of open space in front. "Doctor Ross and I will remain in the jet keeping an eye on everything from above."
"Got it. Suit up, everyone," Steve nodded. "And Doctor Banner," he added, looking at the man. "Go berserk. The area's been cleared already."
"It'd be a pleasure to do that for the right team for once," Banner remarked with a chuckle as the Quinjet approached their landing spot.
From his spot on the ground, Loki spotted the bypassing jet and quickly aimed his scepter. A powerful blast of yellow energy shot out of it just as a powerful red beam struck his arm, sending the scepter crashing on the destroyed street. Loki cried out in pain and turned to glare at Superman before his eyes widened when a powerful beam of the same energy struck him in the chest, sending him flying against one of the buildings where he crashed harshly, falling on the ground in a heap.
Superman quickly shot toward the scepter, knowing its significance in closing the portal, but suddenly, he tripped. A mysterious green gas erupted from the ground, surrounding his face, and suddenly, he felt as if all strength had been sapped from his body. He feebly glanced toward where Loki had fallen, only to find him smirking.
"You can't win, Kal-El," he rasped before his body was wracked with coughs. Their fight had taken a lot out of both. Loki had not expected such resistance from the man who used to be so weak to the mystic arts, nor had he received such a pummeling before in his long life.
His body felt as if it was on fire and that last attack had taken him entirely by surprise. As a result, he had not been able to create a clone or even brace himself for the impact.
Kal-El's laser beams packed a wallop, and they had strengthened considerably since their last encounter.
Loki observed him wheezing on the ground, his face turning an ugly shade of green for a moment before it returned to its usual pale complexion.
Meanwhile, Maria Hill's eyes widened as she spotted the incoming blast in the distance and swerved the Quinjet expertly. To their immense fortune, the blast whizzed harmlessly past the aircraft. Steve peered out of the window and watched it strike a Chitauri chariot, violently exploding it.
"Phew, that was close," Selina remarked with a chuckle as Maria slowly lowered the jet, landing it near Stark Tower.
Everyone quickly unfastened their seatbelts as Maria opened the ramp. Bruce rushed forward with Steve, followed by Natasha and Selina.
"You'll be fine," Betty whispered, squeezing Banner's shoulders in support. The man nodded with a smile and leaned forward, pressing his lips against his girlfriend's. Maria watched them in silence.
With a soft sigh, Betty pulled back and smiled.
"Go and prove that you've got this power under control and everything that happened until now doesn't matter," she said encouragingly. Banner nodded, and with a glance toward Maria who smiled with a nod, he turned around and rushed out of the Quinjet.
As he emerged from the jet, the ramp closed and it took flight, leaving them standing together and staring at the carnage around them.
"Well, the others seem to have done a fairly good job so far," Natasha remarked, seeing the lack of Chitauri soldiers around them.
Suddenly, a deep primal roar bellowed out, lurching the city to an absolute stop. Everyone turned, shocked, toward the portal to see a massive Chitauri leviathan emerge from the portal. The leviathan cast a terrifying shadow over the buildings and everyone fighting below. All they could do was stare in absolute shock.
Thor thought the worm-like creature that had emerged from the portal some time ago had been massive, but this one dwarfed it massively. He could only stare from his spot atop the building as the leviathan passed through his lightning storm unbothered and fully emerged from the portal.
Thousands of Chitauri soldiers clang off and attacked themselves to the sides of the buildings, sliding down and descending into the city below, resolved to cause even more carnage. A few crashed through the windows and opened fire without any second thoughts, destroying everything in sight.
"Holy shit," Selina muttered.
"Stark, you seeing this?" Steve's voice had a note of anxiousness to it.
"I'm seeing, still working on believing," Tony replied. "Is Banner with you?"
"Yes, he is," Steve replied.
"Well, tell him no one's gonna give him an invitation to change," Tony remarked as he blasted another small horde of Chitauri. "Damn, I must've killed at least a few thousand of these and they keep respawning like NPCs."
"NP-what?"
"Nothing," Tony rolled his eyes. "Remind me to introduce you to video games. JARVIS, find me a soft spot for the big ugly."
Off to the other end of the Stark Tower, Diana tackled Sylvie as she shot up into the air, slamming her against the penthouse. Glaring, she grabbed her hair and pulled her over toward the balcony, forcing her to watch the carnage unfolding below.
"Look at this, Sylvie! Look at it all! You truly think this madness will end if you and Loki get power?"
Sylvie gritted her teeth and tried to look away.
"You don't understand," she replied. "We have to do this. We have no choice."
Diana's brows furrowed in confusion.
"Someone's forcing you to do this? Who? Tell me, Sylvie. I'll help you. We can stop this and whoever this person is. Together. Just like old times," she said softly, relaxing her hold on her hair and gently cupping her cheek.
Sylvie's eyes teared up as she looked hopefully at her friend. Suddenly, Diana felt a piercing sensationin her abdomen, and shocked, she looked down at the dagger sticking out of her belly.
"Sentiment," Sylvie spat as she pushed her off.
Diana gritted her teeth in rage and pulled off the dagger. Throwing it away, she backhanded Sylvie right across the face, who cupped her cheek and stared at her in shock.
"You are a belligerent girl, Sylvie," Diana snarled as she grabbed her by the throat and slammed her on the floor, cracking the surface. Sylvie grunted at the impact before she was sent flying across the penthouse. Coughing up blood, she glared at Diana and rolled over the edge of the balcony, falling off.
Diana rushed forward and as she looked down, she saw Sylvie landing on a Chitauri chariot where she quickly took command, leading an entire horde forward. She quickly spotted the gathered group on the ground and led the Chitauri toward them.
Bruce immediately spotted the incoming horde and with pinpoint precision, brandished a gun and fired. The bullet shot toward the incoming chariot and stuck to the metal. Instantly, blue static enveloped the chariot and it pummeled to the ground. Sylvie's eyes widened and she quickly jumped off, acrobatically leaping off one of the traffic poles as she watched the chariot explode on impact.
The horde of Chitauri immediately opened fire, forcing Steve to shield himself while Selina and Natasha dashed to the side, dodging the energy bullets easily. Bruce's armor absorbed most of the impact as he took cover with Banner hiding behind him.
"Ready, Doctor Banner?" He asked in a deep voice.
Banner looked at the man's face and he had to admit that he looked intimidating with those glowing blue lights where the holes in the mask for his eyes were and the entire black ensemble he was sporting. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Yeah, I am," he nodded, his face set into one of determination.
"Stark, Banner's ready to transform," Bruce spoke into the earpiece.
"Attaboy. I'm bringing the party to you then," Tony responded as he shot forward.
He swerved around another building and spotted the leviathan. The creature was massive and it kept dropping legion after legion of Chitauri soldiers around the city. Tony pulled out the miniature multiple rocket launcher and fired, striking the leviathan right in the face.
The creature roared in annoyance and turned toward him as Tony clicked his tongue.
"Yeah, didn't think that'd take you down but I'd surely hoped it'd do some damage, at least," he muttered. "Well, got his attention, for sure. What was the step two again? Ah right. C'mon, chase me!"
Off to the side, Sylvie stared at the two women approaching her from either side of her and smirked.
"A creature, and my dear friend's daughter," she remarked. "Come to greet your dear aunt, oh Black Widow?"
"There are only a few I consider family," Natasha called out. "And you're not among them."
"Pity," Sylvie chuckled before she conjured a pair of daggers and threw them toward the redhead with pinpoint precision. Natasha quickly brought her electric batons up and swatted them away.
"You need to do better than that," she remarked, staring Sylvie down.
Suddenly, Sylvie ducked as Selina's furious swipes missed her head by mere inches and pivoted. Both Natasha and Selina pressed forward, attacking the woman who seemed to enjoy herself as she detected their incoming strikes and dodged them expertly.
The two lovers quickly understood they were out of their depth with Sylvie here, and for good reason. They might have training and quick reflexes, but Sylvie was akin to a demi-god.
"Come on, you can do better. Surely your mother taught her a bit of what she knows? Or is she keeping everything to herself?" Sylvie taunted.
"You should shut your mouth," Natasha retorted, smacking the batons that released a crackle of electricity before leaping forward. Sylvie chuckled and pivoted to the side before she delivered a powerful kick to her midsection, sending her flying.
She had to duck once again under a slash from Selina before she jumped over a sweep of the leg. Grabbing the woman by the neck, she pulled her close.
"A sneaky creature, aren't you?" She smirked, throwing her toward Natasha. The two women collided together and let out painful grunts as they went tumbling over, falling in a heap.
Sylvie had to suddenly jump back as a glowing golden beam struck right where she had been moments ago and she clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"You took your lovely time," she jeered, turning toward Diana who was hovering in the air. Diana glanced toward her daughter before she turned back to Sylvie and glared.
Sylvie merely sneered when subjected to the glare and she braced herself as Diana tackled her once again. They soared toward the nearby building and she grunted as she was pushed through, emerging in the opposite street with Diana still intent on crushing her against as many buildings as she could. Sylvie quickly conjured a clone of herself and switched positions, only for Diana to swerve immediately and shoot toward her.
"You're relentless," she shouted and conjured a massive spear, throwing it straight at Diana who swerved to the side, plucking it mid-flight, and hurled it back toward her. Sylvie's eyes widened before she conjured another clone and switched her position.
Again, Diana was on her in an instant. No matter what she tried, Diana easily saw through her deception, and in no time, they were engaged in another melee. Her daggers were repelled by her glowing bracelets. None of her spells hit the target, but none of Diana's energy beams made contact with her either.
All around them, hundreds of Chitauri soldiers fell as they either came in the line of fire or were the victims or dodged or deflected strikes.
Natasha and Selina quickly understood their roles and joined Bruce and Steve who had engaged the Chitauri around them. Steve threw his shield toward one, decapitating it, before it struck the wall right opposite him and flew back toward where he was. He grabbed it expertly and fastened it back over his arm.
"Want one?" Natasha said, holding up a Chitauri rifle as she looked at Steve.
"Aren't their armors immune?"
"Their heads aren't," she replied instantly.
"Guns are not my type," Steve said as he took it from her.
"Well, don't think we've got room to be picky here," Natasha responded, taking cover beside Selina. With a nod, the two women started to lay waste to any Chitauri that caught their sight, blowing their heads off with perfect accuracy.
"You're a good shot. I thought you could only crawl," Natasha remarked with a chuckle. Selina grinned.
"You've seen nothing yet, love," she replied.
"Oh I've seen a lot," Natasha chuckled as they fired another round. A few missed but most hit their targets. The Chitauri, seeing the resistance, intensified their numbers in their area.
"Behind you!" Steve shouted and their eyes widened as they caught sight of a few Chitauri soldiers approaching from behind them. Suddenly, their heads were blown apart as a pair dressed in red and black spandex outfits with a black spider emblazoned over their chests shot forward. Their kicks took their heads off and they quickly joined them.
"Parker and Stacy, right?" Natasha asked.
"Peter and Gwen will do," Gwen replied. "Boy it's been a hectic day."
"Tell me about it," Selina chuckled.
"Mr. Stark is bringing the party this way," Peter remarked, staring ahead. "Where's Bruce?"
They looked over and their eyes widened at the sight of Banner behind a mounted machine gun as he rained fire on the horde of Chitauri with Batman standing right beside him. Both the men named 'Bruce' worked together, whittling down the Chitauri army the best they could while waiting for Iron Man to bring the big bastard to them.
"Wow, he can shoot," Peter whistled softly.
High up in the air inside the Quinjet, Maria Hill and Betty Ross kept a keen eye on everything unfolding in their vicinity. They stared at the group fighting the Chitauri while Diana and Sylvie were engaged in a duel of their own.
Maria could not help but be impressed with the level of skill Doctor Banner was displaying with the weapon. Most of his shots were on target and he was perfectly taking down the targets that were either beyond the reach of Batman or were creeping toward them from blind spots. Although the range in which he could shoot was limited, he was doing his best.
"Stark's leading it toward them. You think he can control it?" She asked.
Betty frowned as she replied, "Bruce and I worked for months on this remedy, and he successfully transformed into the Hulk, controlled his powers, and reversed the transformation even when I was not there. These two unfortunate incidents happened because Loki warped his mind and forced the Hulk to get full control. Without any influence, Bruce is more than capable of controlling his powers."
"Well then," Maria sighed. "I hope we won't need to use you for the purpose you're here for. The last thing we want is for you to go into the battlefield to calm down a rampaging Hulk."
Back on the ground, the group stared up at the sky as Iron Man emerged from behind a building, with an impatient Chitauri leviathan following at a furious pace.
"You're up, Doctor Banner," Bruce said and stepped aside. Banner nodded and walked forward while Betty and Maria watched from the Quinjet.
Iron Man swooped down toward the street, with the leviathan hot on his heels, like a barreling freight train that kept building its intensity with every second that passed. The moment Iron Man passed Banner, he closed his eyes firmly.
His muscles tensed as his skin flushed with a green hue. The ground beneath him trembled slightly as his body started to swell. A primal force surged through him as his eyes, once calm, now blazed with righteous fury, pulsating with boundless strength.
A massive roar echoed through the air as the Hulk stood towering over everyone, his muscles rippling with untamed energy. Eyes gleaming, the Hulk launched a vicious fist, socking the Chitauri leviathan right where its mouth must be.
A loud SMASH! rang through the air as the creature flipped over in a 360, its metallic joints groaning under the strain. Without wasting a moment, Iron Man extended his arm and aimed, launching a missile that hit the leviathan right in the underbelly. The creature toppled over, its flesh exploding, and chunks of meat rained down around the group, sizzling as they hit the ground.
Diana and Sylvie, whose duel had been interrupted when the massive roar rang out, could only stare in shock at the sight while the hundreds of Chitauri soldiers still raining down terror on the city screeched from their positions.
The latter gritted her teeth before she snarled, "Send out everything!"
She grunted when Diana kneed her in the ribs before throwing her off the building where she fell on the street where Loki and Clark had been fighting some time ago.
Diana took one look at her husband and her eyes widened at the sight of him.
"Clark!" She shouted as Sylvie rolled over, coming to a stop near Loki. Her eyes widened at his battered and bruised sight. Both looked unable to move.
Diana looked her husband over and grimaced. Although not fatally injured, a light exposure to Kryptonite was still enough to severely weaken him.
"The scepter," he rasped. Diana's eyes widened in understanding and she looked around, spotting the scepter immediately. She slung her husband on one shoulder and shot forward, grabbing the scepter and quickly flying away, leaving a battered and bruised Sylvie furiously trying to heal both Loki and herself. She knew this was not over, but right now, she needed to take Clark where he could get direct sunlight as well as work on closing the portal.
"Thor, more are coming. I don't know how many. I've got the scepter and until I close the portal, I need you to give it all you have!" She said loudly, landing on the balcony of Stark Tower.
The group on the ground and Thor all looked up toward the portal as Diana quickly shot off the balcony and through the ground floor of Stark Tower.
A massive horde emerged from the portal, easily in the thousands, and not even Thor's massive lightning storm could whittle down the numbers. He managed to destroy a few hundred but there was nothing he could do when leviathans after leviathans emerged from the portal, pushing through the lightning and providing refuge to the Chitauri army.
They could only stare at the portal, feeling out of their fucking element.
"Well then," Tony coughed. "Cap? Wanna call?"
"Alright, listen up," Steve took charge immediately, the instincts of a man having led in a war kicking in. "Diana's off to close the portal but too many have already made it through. We're going to have to keep them contained. Five blocks is the maximum we can afford. Stark, you got the perimeter. Agent Hill, I'll need you to assist with the Quinjet as much as you can. Miss Kyle, I need your keen eyes up top. Keep us posted. With your agility, you can parkour from building to building."
"Got it," Selina nodded. "Give me a lift, Stark?"
"Savvy," Tony nodded. "Better hold tight, Meowy."
"Call me that again and your dear Miss Potts will be sucking on a tool with permanent claw marks," Selina growled. Tony shivered and went silent as Natasha chuckled. Bruce merely rolled his eyes in amusement.
"Right then," Steve said with slight awkwardness. "Thor, you gotta bottleneck that portal just like you've been doing so far. You must've killed thousands of these creatures already. I need you to kill a few thousand more if you can. And if the portal is closed, get down and fry them up from the ground."
He turned toward Bruce, Natasha, Peter, and Gwen.
"We all stay on the ground and keep the fighting here. And Hulk," he said, turning toward Banner who listened with perfect composure. "You can go wild."
"With pleasure," Banner rasped in a scratchy voice as he leaped, soaring high in the air and landing into the nearest building. He ran up the wall and smashed several Chitauri soldiers, snapping them in half. He jumped off the building and onto the one across the street, throwing the dead Chitauri remains toward other soldiers clinging onto the buildings. A few fell off to their deaths while the remaining opened fire. The Hulk merely growled in rage and employed the sheer raw power at his disposal to tear them up.
Spotting a flying chariot, the Hulk made a powerful leap, landing right on the chariot before crushing all four soldiers riding on it. The chariot began to freefall and the Hulk leaped yet again, landing on the side of another building.
Meanwhile, Diana followed the source of the blue beam of light and flew toward the room where the CMS device had been set up. As she flew inside the room, she found Erik Selvig hard at work. The old man looked up, and Diana was surprised to see his eyes no longer looked black.
"Doctor," she said cautiously.
"Loki's scepter… the energy in it… the Tesseract can't fight. You can't fight against yourself."
"It's not your fault. You didn't know what you were doing," Diana said, walking toward the CMS device with the scepter poised to strike.
"Wait!" Erik interrupted. Diana stopped, turning to face him.
"You can't do it right now! It's not ready."
Curious, Diana asked, "What do you mean?"
"I think I did know what I was doing," Erik replied as he went back to work. "I built in a safety to cut the power source."
"And the scepter can do it once you're done there," Diana nodded in understanding. It seemed Sylvie only knew of the possibility of using an Infinity Stone to close the portal, not knowing for certain that they could indeed do so. It was pure luck that Doctor Selvig had enough presence of mind while under their control to give them a chance.
She was one cunning woman, alright. There was no surprise Thor and even she had been fooled by her.
Diana stood patiently, holding the scepter, as the man worked on his laptop, focused. She hoped he'd be done soon. The sooner they closed the portal, the easier their task would be. They had no idea how many more Chitauri soldiers and those behemoths they had at their disposal, and they were in no hurry to find out.
XXXXX
Off the coast of Bermuda, the Helicarrier slowly gained elevation. Nick Fury stared at the screen. He had eyes on the entire battlefield and even though there had been loss of life and property, it had been significantly contained by Thor's relentless barrage. He had stopped a massive portion of the Chitauri from arriving to cause much destruction, and the team on the ground had done a remarkable job in both evacuating the civilians as well as killing the horde.
He stared at the portal, waiting for it to close at any moment. Her Grace was waiting for Doctor Selvig to finish his work so that she could proceed, and time seemed to stretch on forever.
"Director," a voice called out from behind him.
"Hm?"
"You have to see this," the same voice replied. Fury did not miss the apprehension in the young woman's voice and curious, he turned around.
His eyes widened as he gazed at the screen.
"What is that?"
"That ship just appeared in the geosynchronous orbit," the woman replied, her voice shaky.
Fury merely stared at the menacing spaceship on the screen in absolute silence. He could not help but feel things were going to go from bad to worse very soon.
Meanwhile, thousands of miles beyond the Earth's atmosphere, a tall and imposing man with a goatee and clad in an armored outfit stood in his ship, staring at the massive blue sphere called Earth.
"We got the distress signal from here?"
"Yes, General."
"And the portal?"
"The banished prince and princess of Asgard struck a deal with the mad titan, General."
"A deal with the mad titan, you say?"
"Yes, General. In return for the Tesseract, the mad titan agreed to aid them in their conquest of this realm."
The man merely curled his lips in amusement.
"A deal with the mad titan benefits none other than the mad titan himself," he remarked, a stoic confidence in his demeanor that demanded attention from everyone. "I have no quarrel with the mad titan, but the resurgence of Krypton cannot stop only because a couple of disillusioned children gained delusions of grandeur."
Everyone assembled around him let out amused chuckles.
"What are your orders, General?"
"Do nothing for now," he replied. "I want to see how this unfolds."
"As you command, General."
The man nodded.
It was almost time for Krypton to be reborn from the ashes of Earth.
To be continued…
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