Chapter 6:
[Spartan POV]
[New York City, USA]
By the time we reach the city, all hell has broken loose. A squadron of alien creatures is chasing Tony. "We're coming up northeast of you," Nat tells Tony. "What? Did you guys stop for a drive-through? Swing up. I'm going to lay them out for you," Tony says, frustration leaking through his voice. Tony flies across us, followed by the squadron. Nat opens fire on them with the mounted mini-gun, taking multiple targets down. We jet skyward. On the roof of Stark Tower, Thor and Loki are duking it out. Loki cheap shot Thor, doubling him over. Aiming the staff, Loki blasts us. The blast severely damages the quinjet's left-wing. We start to go down. "HOLD ON!" Clint yells. "THIS IS WHY I HATE FLYING!" I exclaimed, holding onto the handle. Both Clint and Nat take the controls and make a hard landing in the middle of the street. Seeing that everyone is okay, we start to exit the quinjet. Scanning the surrounding, saw that we crashed a few blocks out from Stark Tower. "We need to get back up there," Cap says, running off. The team goes after him.
As we enter the open street, we see the gaping portal in the sky. 'The Chitauri.' A large snake-like creature emerges from the gateway. From its body, it ejects various humanoid-like cybernetic creatures to the surrounding area. The creatures are flying over us start to open fire on the civilians on the ground. "We need to get the civilians off the streets. They're in a kill-zone down there," Cap says. Chitauri foot soldiers advance on us. "Contact!" I yell. Both Karai and I fire on them, drop six. Clint shoots a split-arrow, killing three Chitauri soldiers.
"You think you two can hold them off?" Cap asks Hawkeye and Black-widow. "Yeah, we got this," Clint says. Cap glances at Karai and myself, "On me." The three of us spring to action. We leap to the lower street-level, dodging explosions. We get to the police. The NYPD is desperately trying to hold their ground against the Chitauri forces, but they're overwhelmed. We heard one of the officers say it would take an hour for the military to arrive. "Do they know what's going on here?" a second cop says. "Do we?" the first one questions. Cap, Karai, and I vault over the line of destroyed cars and land in front of the police officers. The police point their weapons at us, but we ignore that. "You need men in these buildings. There are people inside, and they're going to be running right into the line of fire. You take them to the basements or through the subway. You keep them off the street. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th," Cap tells the police officers. The sergeant looks at Cap like he escaped the loony bin, "Why the hell should I take orders from you?"
Cap didn't have time to argue because a Chitauri starts to attack. The flyer swoops low and drops ground troops close to the police line. Cap blocks a blast and inaugurates to battle the closest Chitauri. A small squad flanks us. Acting fast, Karai and I shoot. One breaks through and comes at me on my left. Grabbing the alien, I throw it down onto its back, pin it with my foot, and double-tap it. Without another word to Cap, the police sergeant starts calling orders into his radio, saying everything Cap told him. I couldn't help but smile at that. Cap didn't stop to gloat. We link back up with Clint and Nat. The five of us take down as many Chitauri as we could. Even so, we're close to being overwhelmed. Lighting strikes out of a clear sky, decimating the Chitauri in the area. Thor drops down in front of us. He looks wounded and tired. The five of us sigh a breath of relief to see it wasn't another attack force or Loki. "What's the story upstairs?" Cap asks. "The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable," Thor tells him. "Thor's right," Tony says as he zips by overhead. "We got to deal with these clowns first," I say. "How do we do this?" Nat asks. "As a team," Cap says to all of us. "I have unfinished business with Loki," Thor states. "Yeah? Well, get in line. I'm next after Clint," Karai says to the God of thunder. "Save it," Cap orders, "Loki's going to keep this fight focused on us, and that's what we need. Otherwise, those things could run wild. We've got Stark up top-"
He breaks off as a motorcycle approaches. It's Banner. "So… This all seems horrible," he says, walking over to us. "Pretty sure most of us have seen a lot worse," I say. "Sorry," he says guiltily. "No. I think he means we could use a little worse," Nat tells Banner. "Is Banner with you guys?" Tony questions over the comlink. "Yeah. He's with us," Cap says. "Then tell him to go green. I'm bringing the party to you," he says. Iron-Man swoops around a building, and right behind him, the enormous armored Leviathan, shattering the corner building as it pursues Tony. "I- I don't see how that's a party," Nat says in semi-nervousness. Iron-Man drops down low; the Leviathan follows, smashing cars and street-lights out the way as it bore down on us. Banner turns to the creature, walks forward. "Dr. Banner," Cap calls, "Now might be a perfect time to get angry." "That's my secret, Captain," he says over his shoulder, "I'm always angry." At will, Banner starts to transform into the Hulk. As the Leviathan ducks his head toward him, the Hulk brings his fist down on the creature's head with a booming crunch that shakes the bridge. The Leviathan's head digs into the street surface. Another Leviathan quick swings around a building, coming right at us like an unstoppable juggernaut. Suddenly it's blasted apart by a beam of energy. Everyone looks toward the source. An armored man in a black and gray suit lands in front of us, hands smocking. "Anyone called in the Air Force," he says. Cap smiles, "James Rupert Rhodes. Fury said he called you in. Better late than never." All over the city, the Chitauri stops and screeches in sudden shock. We look around. All nine of us are finally together as a unit. 'Coulson would be proud.' Karai looks up into the sky, "Guys?" We all peer skyward. More Chitauri forces pour through the portal. 'The fight was just getting started.'
"Call it, Cap," I say. "Alright, listen up. Until we close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, you're on overwatch, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, Rhodey, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back, or you turn it to ash," Cap says. Hawkeye turns to Iron-Man, "Give me a lift?" "Right. Better clench up," Tony says, wrapping an arm around Clint and rockets up. WM following close behind. Cap goes on, "Thor, you got to bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You got the lighting. Light the bastards up."
Thor swings the hammer in a tight circle and flies off. Cap turns to Black-Widow, Karai, and me, "Us four stay on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hulk?" The Hulk turns to him, growls. Cap gave the green giant a straightforward order that he'll follow, "Smash." The Hulk bares his teeth in a smile and leaps away. We saw Thor fires a massive bolt of lightning at the portal, taking down multiple targets in the process from the ground. It gives us a little breathing time. Spot a pack of Chitauri gathering a group of civilians. They line them up in an execution line. I dash over, knee slide to a firing stance, shoot six shots to the heads. "Run! Head toward the police line!" I yell to the scared civilians. They start to make a break for it.
[Karai POV]
[35th street.] With a squad of ESU, I cover emergency personnel as they evacuate a restaurant full of innocent civilians and move them to the subway. An ESU gets hit. The man's dead before he hits the floor. 'Damn it.' We're losing ground fast. I jump-roll to the side, fire on the Chitauri. Despite how many I put down, more take their place. A beat cop gets tagged in the chest, but her vest manages to save her by some miracle. She's trapped behind a car as it's being peppered with shots. Using my enhanced strength, I flip a car to its side and move to the pinned officer, two ESUs following. Once they grab her, we fall back. At that moment, four military Humvees speed down the street. The lead fires a 50 cal at the advancing Chitauri forces. Marines exit the Humvees, quickly setting up a barricade. Seeing that the situation is now under control, I slip away, heading back to Cap and the others.
Spartan, Cap, Nat are fighting a hard battle against Chitauri forces. A Chitauri ground soldier tackles Spartan, his LVOA-S rifle sliding across the ground. Grabbing the Chitauri, Spartan draws his pistol, unloads rounds into the creature's head, gets to a kneeling position, and clips four more targets dead. Walking over, I toss his weapon back to him. "Thanks," Spartan says. We head to Cap and Nat. Both Avengers are holding their own. Nat looks at Cap, panting, "Steve, none of this is going to mean a thing if we don't close that portal." Cap nods in agreement.
We all look toward the sky-beam. "Our biggest hitters couldn't punch through the barrier," Cap says. "Well, maybe it needs a scalpel rather than a hammer," Nat suggests. I think we know what she's getting at. "If you want to get up there, you're going to need a ride," Cap says. Nat eyes a passing Chitauri flyer, "I can get a ride. I could use a boost, though." "You sure about this?" Cap asks. Nat gauges the distance and speed of an oncoming flyer, "Yeah. It'll be fun." She runs and jumps onto Cap's shield, and Cap flings her into the air. Nat catches the bottom of the Chitauri craft and is gone, riding it out of sight. A shot nearly hits Cap. Going back to back, Spartan and I start returning fire. Cap throws his shield, taking out five Chitauris. Both Iron-Man and WM jets in, doing a sweep run, clearing out a group of enemy tangles.
Getting in close, I push back a Chitauri soldier, place an explosive charge on its persons, push-kick it to a group. The charge detonates, taking six with it. Spartan punches the butt of his rifle across the face of a Chitauri, arm-throws it to the ground, stumps the neck, aims the gun at the approaching squad, guns them down. The team fights with everything we have, but the Chitauri just keeps on coming. The enemy is slowly but surely is gaining the upper hand. There are thousands and thousands against nine AVENGERS and a hundred or so US soldiers. Despite the odds, we fully intend to fight to the last man. Just as hope seems lost, Nat's voice echoes through the comlink, "Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down!" "Do it!" Cap replies immediately. "No, wait!" Stark calls out. "Stark, these things are still coming!" Cap argues. "There's a nuke coming in. It's going to blow in less than a minute, and I know where to put it," Stark says.
From the ground, we all watch as Tony guides the nuke straight to the sky-beam. "Stark, you know it's a one-way trip?" Cap says. "Yeah," he says. "I may not like you, Stark, but you are a hero," I say. "Can I get that in writing," he jokes. Iron-Man disappears into the portal. All of the Chitauri forces suddenly fell to the ground as if they were switched off. Every single one of them. Even the Leviathans. "Close it," Cap says regretfully. At the last second, before the portal winked out of existence, Iron-Man fell out of the gateway. "Son-of-a-gun," Cap says, a smile across his face. But something isn't right; Tony isn't slowing down his fall. From out of no-where, Spartan catches Stark and grapples him safely down to ground-level. My partner lays Tony down onto his back. The team rushes over to the two. "Is he breathing?" Cap asks. Thor rips off the faceplate. Tony didn't move. HUD scan shows his heart stopped. Acting fast, I grab Spartan's shock knuckles. Setting the charge to the max, "Clear!" I say. Jab the shock knuckles over Tony's chest. The man gasps, and his eyes shoot open. "What? What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me," Stark says. "No, no one kissed you," Spartan says, "We leave that honor to Pepper." Even in a moment like this, Tony still makes jokes. "We won," Cap says. "All right. Good job, guys. Have you ever tried Shawarma? There's a Shawarma joint about a few blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I want to try it," Tony says. Thor looks to Stark Tower, "We are not finished yet."
[Loki POV]
[Stark Tower, New York City]
I failed. I failed. But worst, I lost the Tesseract and the Scepter. He will seek me out. Subject me to monstrous torture, I cannot begin to fathom. It is not a question of if; it's a question of when. I quickly piece together a scheme I can use to prolong my survival. I may be a god, but an immortal I am not. Despite the severe pain, I manage to put myself together enough to get out of the hole in the floor. Painfully I drag myself toward the door. Never had a mortal damaged me as much as the green monster did. My wounds would heal; it'll take some time. Once I'm fully recovered, I will have my revenge. I hear a noise behind me, rollover. There they stand. All of them, along with one new face. The AVENGERS all peer down at me, each aiming a weapon. Sigh. I know when I am defeated. Maybe if I let Thor take me back to Asgard, I could put some distance between Thanos and myself.
[Spartan POV]
[2 days later, SHIELD HQ, New York City]
[Room.] The media have been recovering the story for the last two days. They dubbed the event 'The Battle Of New York.' The US government wanted to keep it under wrap, but that wasn't going to happen. Primarily due to every civilian who had a smartphone caught it on video. The world finally knows two critical pieces of information. We're not alone in the universe, and things got a lot weirder. 'Hell, of a coming-out party.' A few politicians were already pointing blame to the AVENGERS. The election is only a few months away; most of these shit-flakes are trying to win some early points with the voters. On the other side, a vast majority of people calling the AVENGERS heroes. The savers of New York. News outlets interviewed people we saved. All of them showed their support and appreciation. Karai walks in, "We're about to hand-off Loki to Thor. Want to join?" "Don't even need to ask," I say.
[Cellblock.] Karai and I stand side by side in front of Loki's temporary cell. Not a single word is shared between us. This time around, all the confidence and bravado Loki had before is gone. The God of mischief is scared. Genuinely fearful. It's not an act whatsoever. But he wasn't afraid of us. "You think I am a monster?" Loki says, abrupt. "No. You're a murderer and a traitor," Karai hisses. Surprisingly, he didn't smile, "I am. But trust me when I say this, mortal, I am nothing compared to the true horror that lies beyond your realm." We didn't get the chance to question him on what he meant as SHIELD commandos come in to collect him.
[New York City]
The team meets up in Central Park to make sure Loki, Thor, and the Tesseract get off-world and back to Asgard. What Loki said earlier keeps playing on repeat in the back of my head. 'I am nothing compared to the true horror that lies beyond your realm.' Thor looks to each of us and nods in thanks, "Until we meet again." Thor takes hold of Loki, and they both disappear in a ray of light. We chat for a short while until it's time to go. Karai and I stride to Steve. "Really need to work on your fashion sense, Boss," Karai jokes, see how he dressed. We're so used to seeing him in his SHIELD uniform; it was hard to see in anything else. He smiles, "Yeah. I've been told I dress like an old man. Granted, I'm in my 90s." We laugh. "So, what are you going to do?" I ask. Steve glances around, "Travel. I've been asleep for 70 years. I missed a lot. I guess I want to find myself. See where I fit in all this." Karai and I nod in understanding. "You?" he asks. "The crusade goes on," I say simply. "Hey, if you need us, call us," Karai tells Steve, "See you around, Boss." Everyone goes their own way, for now.
[Nick Fury POV]
[SHIELD Helicarrier]
As long as I could, I held off the World Security Council, not wanting them to feed me bullshit about me disobeying their orders. But eventually, I was going to have to answer their call, and they were not going to be happy. Plus, I wanted to give the AVENGERS a head start. Enraged, the Council had demanded the AVENGERS to be placed directly under their command. 'No way in hell that's going to happen.' I'm an old dog that knew a lot of tricks. One of them is knowing better to trust a group like the World Security Council. After all, they went behind my back and tried to nuke New York City. Wolves in sheep's clothing. "I'm afraid I can't do that," I tell council members. I can feel Malick's rageful glare burning at me.
'Really don't like that guy.' "Where are the AVENGERS now?" another Councilperson asks. "I'm not currently tracking their whereabouts," I say. A lie. "And the Tesseract?" the councilman presses. "It's where it belongs: out of our reach," I say. "That was not your call to make," Malick says ominously. "I didn't make it," I say, "I didn't argue with the God that did." The only thing I did take back was the scepter. It's too much of a risk to have two artifacts of immense power close together. So I made the call to store it in a highly secure vault. Completely off the grid. "So, you let him take it and the war criminal, Loki, who should be answering for his crimes?" the councilwoman says. "Oh, I think he will be," I tell her confidently. "I don't think you understand what you started, letting the AVENGERS loose on the world. They're dangerous," she tells me. "They surely are. And the whole world knows it. Every world knows it," I say. "That's the point of all this? A statement?" the councilman asks. I lean in a little closer to the video monitors, eye each of the World Security Council members, "A promise." I break off the call and return to the bridge. There's a lot to do before this ship is combat-ready again. "Sir, how does it work now?" Maria Hill asks from her station, "They all went their separate ways, some pretty far." I beam a small smile, "They'll be back together." "How can you be so sure?" she asks. "Because they're AVENGERS. It's what they do," I say, getting back to work.