The moment Alex Stark manually triggered the launch sequence, the secure sub-level became a tomb behind him. He carried the Model Zero suit's maximum kinetic charge, the Gravimetric Punch humming with stored oblivion on his arm, and, most critically, the Infinity Key locked into its chest harness. His mission was no longer about caution; it was about the Dimensional Sealing Protocol.
The ascent was a blur of pure, silent speed. Alex burst out of the Tower and into an apocalyptic tableau. The sky over Manhattan was not just split by the Tesseract's beam—it was shredded. The beam had coalesced into a massive, swirling vortex of cosmic energy, a churning kaleidoscope of blue and black. The portal was open.
And through it, they came.
The Chitauri invasion fleet poured into the sky, massive armored leviathans flanked by swarms of smaller, aggressive fighters. The air was thick with the scream of alien engines and the booming crash of alien ordnance.
The Avengers on the Front Line
Alex immediately located the primary defense perimeter. The Avengers were already deployed, fighting a losing battle against the sheer volume of the invaders.
* Iron Man (Tony) was a reckless blur of red and gold, fighting with magnificent fury, but his energy blasts were struggling to punch through the thick armor of the Chitauri fliers.
* Captain America was directing traffic and engaging ground troops, a necessary anchor amidst the chaos.
* Thor was battling the armored leviathans, his hammer strikes the only force capable of momentarily disrupting the flow of invaders.
The problem was clear: the Avengers were focused on the army, but the army was endless. The flow of invaders was too high; they needed to close the door.
[System Warning: Portal Stability at Maximum. Dimensional Integrity: Zero. Chitauri Ingress Rate: Exponential.]
The Final, Irreversible Choice
Alex flew high above the chaos, making his final strategic choice. He was not a fighter; he was a sealant. To reach the Tesseract—the anchor point for the portal, likely hidden somewhere high in the chaos—he needed to bypass the enemy, not engage them.
He knew if he used his kinetic thrusters too often, he would drop his meager Nano-Tech reserve and collapse. He needed a clear path, and only one weapon could create it.
Alex locked his target onto the central column of the invasion force—a massive, heavily shielded Chitauri transport that was serving as the primary communications and command node for the fleet, positioned directly between him and the portal's base.
This is the moment, Alex thought, feeling the immense, cold power coiled on his right arm. I use the punch to clear the path, and I sacrifice the firewall.
He charged the Gravimetric Oscillator. The Model Zero's right gauntlet pulsed a deep, ominous violet. The sound was not a repulsor blast, but a deep, subsonic thrum that vibrated through the atmosphere.
With absolute precision, Alex fired the Gravimetric Punch.
The resulting effect was not an explosion, but a hole in physics. The Gravimetric energy created an instantaneous, massive, localized anti-gravity field that enveloped the Chitauri command transport. The massive vehicle, along with a dense swarm of surrounding fliers, was instantly crushed inward, its mass collapsing upon itself before being violently repelled outwards in an explosion of wreckage.
The effect was instantaneous, clearing a temporary, silent lane directly through the invasion force toward the portal's center.
The Cost and Tony's Witness
The cost of the punch was devastating and immediate.
[System Warning: Nano-Tech Reserve: CATASTROPHIC FAILURE. Biological Firewall Integrity: 0%. Host Instability Imminent. RUNE Protocol: Hostile Feedback Initiated.]
Alex felt the raw energy of the RUNE Protocol suddenly unleash its fury against his body. The pain was blinding, a searing systemic overload as the core began to fight the destabilized cellular environment. He was alive, but the timer was now set to zero.
The gravitational shockwave from the Punch hit the Avengers on the ground, a silent, powerful ripple of displaced air and energy. Tony Stark, closest to the impact, was violently thrown sideways.
Tony regained control and looked up, his jaw dropping inside the suit. He saw the massive, impossible wreckage—a localized effect that defied conventional physics—and then saw the black suit flying silently through the temporary void it had created, heading directly for the portal's base.
"J.A.R.V.I.S.! What was that?!" Tony screamed, the sight of the Shadow Man wielding such power overwhelming the chaos of the invasion.
J.A.R.V.I.S.: Analysis incomplete, Sir. The energy discharge was highly controlled Gravimetric force, but the resulting backlash registered an unrecoverable RUNE signature. It's the ultimate, self-destructive power.
Tony finally understood. The Shadow Man wasn't a rival; he was a sacrifice. He was using a weapon designed to kill its wielder to clear the path. Tony abandoned the fight against the Chitauri and rocketed upward, his obsession now turning into desperate pursuit.
Alex, crippled by the physical feedback but focused entirely on the final objective, ignored his brother's pursuit. He had cleared the path. Now, he had to close the door.