It has been 6 months since Cortana died, and the Master Chief has felt more alone now than ever. The war with the Covenant was over, the UNSC was back to enforcing planets such as Reach. With the Covenant, Prometheans, and Didact gone, the Master Chief felt expended, as though he had no purpose any more. He walked along the UNSC Infinity, and sat down on a bench quietly.

"Something seems to be bothering you," A calm female voice to his right said. It was SPARTAN commander Sarah Palmer, wearing her GEN2 Scout armor. "and I think I know what it is."

"You wouldn't understand... Nobody does. Have you ever lost your A.I to the enemy that you and your A.I worked together so hard to beat?" John said in his husky voice.

"No, but I know that you and her were close, so I understand fully what this is like for you." the Commander stated.

"Yeah, right."

"Look, Chief. I know that this is a hard experience right now and it's gonna take a while to get over. But for now, look on the bright side of things. The war's over, and there are no more worries anymore. You need an oppurtunity to get out of your bed and stop moping long enough to enjoy yourself."

"Like what?"

"Ummmmmmm..." Palmer looked around and saw a poster on the wall next to the bench. "How about this?" She pulled the poster down and showed it to John, "There are Ricochet and Grifball playoffs this Saturday. Go out there and join the rest of the SPARTANS in some sports."

"Ungh... I dunno. Sounds boring. I'm gonna kick everybody's ass, you know me."

"I know, but..."

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" A marine shouted from the command bridge.

"I better check that out..." John said.

"Lemme come with you," Palmer requested. "It might not be the end of the war after all."

"Let's hope that it still is, I cannot stand another Covie invasion."

John and Sarah sprinted to the command bridge as fast as possible, the marines they passed looking like blurs of tan-and-green camo standing out from the silvery-gray of the vessel's interior.

Once they reached the bridge, they couldn't believe what they were seeing. Even John was amazed.

"WHY ARE WE GETTING SUCKED INTO A PORTAL THAT SUDDENLY APPEARED IN THE MIDDLE OF SPACE?!" The commander of the vessel shouted.

===NEW YORK CITY, USA===

Tony Stark flew over the hordes of robotic soldiers that came from the portal behind the city, firing missile after missile. Below him, The Hulk was picking them up and throwing, smashing, and ripping them in half. Hawkeye was sitting at the top of a Starbuck's Coffee and shooting arrows into the hearts of the destructive minions. Captain America jammed his shield into the neck of another one, Thor made lightning bolts fall upon the waves of mechs, and the agent, known as Black Widow, was shooting at the bots as though she had nothing better to do.

Then another portal opened.

This one was 3 times as big as the other one, and for a few seconds, everything and everyone was silent. Then, a massive, needle-shaped metal object with the word Infinity painted in bold white letters on the side came floating out. It kept floating until it crashed into the Empire State Building and shattered the top half of the iconic tower into thousands upon thousands of pieces that came raining down on the Avengers and robots.

Everyone, even Loki's army, fled the scene before they got coated in schrapnel.

"What... IS that thing?" Captain America asked in horror.