Here's the final part of the Avengers 1.
I own only my original characters, nothing else. Credit for the idea of this story belongs to sketchywolf.
Max continued to fly off towards New York, ahead of the others. He neared Stark Tower as Selvig was now almost all set on readying the portal in the roof.
"Agents Lion and Lioness, do you copy?," Max said, hoping for an answer but received nothing. "Terry, Alice, do either of you copy?"
Suddenly, his quinjet was struck by something and he only had a few seconds to run out and jump towards the building. He landed on the outside balcony as the craft came crashing down to the ground, thankfully not hurting anyone.
He slowly walked inside as he looked for anything suspicious.
"Young Mr. Stark. How good of you to join us," Loki said and Max turned to see him holding a badly beaten Alice by the neck. Then Terry came in, looking equally beaten and he charged at the god of mischief, swords drawn. But Loki merely swatted him away. "These two have been such a nuisance to me."
"Put her down, Loki," Max demanded.
"...Ahh... so they're also your friends. Well... now you can watch them die as well."
Loki then impaled Alice with his scepter before he could even start running.
"ALICE!!!!," Terry yelled and Loki allowed him to crawl over to her body that was now on the floor. He slowly pressed his forehead to hers before he realized something and he glared at Max with rage in his eyes. "...You did this. He killed her to torture you!!!"
"Yes, and now it is your turn."
Loki then blasted him through the window, but this time, Max ran to grab his hand before he could fall.
"Terry!! Hold on!!!"
Even with his advanced strength, Max knew that he couldn't hold on for long and soon, Terry was slipping.
"Quick!!! Give me your other hand!!," Max yelled, but Terry simply looked down at the ground and saw it was a very long way down and then he looked back up at him.
"...No," he said and he pulled out a gun and fired at Max.
The shot bounced off of Max's mask, making a piece of the bullet hit Terry in his right eye and caused Arc to let go of his hand instinctively. Terry began falling and sliding down the side, trying to slow his fall, but it was hardly working. Eventually, he neared the ground and went straight through the glass roof of a bus stop.
"...Damn it!!!"
"It was because of you that I lost the throne of Asgard," Loki stated. "Now you pay the price for it."
"...You'll pay for this."
"Yes, he will," Tony said as he barely landed on the platform. "Peacefully or not is up to him."
He began to walk down and into the building as the machines built into the platform removed his suit for him.
"Please tell me you're going to appeal to my humanity," Loki said as he walked closer to Tony as he walked behind the bar.
"Uh- actually, I'm planning to threaten you."
"Haha... you should have left your armor on for that."
"Yeah, well... it's seen a bit of mileage. You've got the uh- glowstick of destiny. Would you like a drink?"
"Stalling me won't change anything."
"No, no, no- threatening. No drink? You sure? I'm having one. Max, you want one? Might be the last time you could have one?"
"...Maybe later," Max said as he watched the two interact.
The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that," Loki said, looking out at the city. "What have I to fear?"
"The Avengers," Tony answered and Loki just looked confused as he'd never heard of them. "It's what we call ourselves, sort of like a team. 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes' type of thing."
"Yes, I'm met them."
"Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But, let's do a head count here. Your brother, the demi-god;."
Loki turned away for a moment and Tony took this opportunity to slip on a pair of bracelets onto his wrists.
"A super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins; a speedo kid who just loves to keep secrets, so long as they're not kept from him," Tony said, looking at his son, who rolled his eyes. "And you... big fella... you've managed to piss off every single one of them."
"That was the plan," Loki stated and Tony began to walk to the center of the penthouse where Loki was at.
"Not a great plan. When they come... and they will... they'll come for you."
"I have an army."
"We have a Hulk."
"Oh, I thought the beast had wandered off."
"Yeah, you're missing the point," Tony said. "There's no throne, there is no version of this, where you come out on top. Maybe your army comes and maybe it's too much for us, but it's all on you. 'Cause if we can't protect the earth, you can be damned sure we'll avenge it."
"How will your friends have time for me... when they're so busy fighting you?," Loki said and pressed the scepter to Tony's chest... but nothing happened. He tried again, and again, still nothing happened. "This usually works."
"Yeah, it's probably because of the reactor," Max said.
"Also, performance issues. You know? Not uncommon. Like, one out the-."
Loki then blasted Max away a distance and grabs Tony by the throat and throws him across the room.
"JARVIS, anytime now," Tony said and Loki lifted him up again.
"You will all fall before me."
"Deploy!!," Tony yelled and Loki threw him out the window.
"DAD!!!!!," Max yelled.
"It is just not your day, is it?," Loki commented, then behind him, the Mark VII suit rocketed out, knocking him down and shot straight down to a still falling Tony.
It scanned the bracelets he wore and slowly suit up and just as he was about to hit the ground, he stopped his fall and flew back up.
"And there's one other person you pissed off!," Iron Man said as he flew back into Loki's view. "His name is Phil."
Iron Man fires a repulsor blast at the god of mischief was knocked down. Meanwhile the device on the roof holding the Tesseract powered up and shoots a stream of blue energy at the sky and opens a portal through which the Chitauri army began to come through. Large, grey, humanoid creatures with golden armor and golden ships. The hordes of aliens soon began to fly through.
"Right... army."
"Go, I'll keep Loki busy," Max said as his claws were ejected.
"We've certainly have a lot to talk about if we live," Tony said and he flew up at the army who slowly began to attack the city.
Loki slowly got back up to see Arc standing in front of him.
"Do you really believe that you can defeat me? With an army at my back, I am an unstoppable force."
"Then that makes me and the Avengers an immovable object."
Loki blasted at him again, but Max dodged it this time and sped towards him. He began to slash at him, using his combat training he received from T'Challa. Loki seemed to be surprised at how much better at combat he'd become, but he quickly adapted and began countering his attacks as best he could. Soon enough, due to his very slightly superior strength, Loki was able to grab Max by the arms. He replied with a repulsor blast from the chest. However, it went straight through him and revealed to be an illusion.
Loki appeared behind him and threw him out the window. Instead of dying however, Max got closer to the building and began to speed down it, safely running down and landing on the ground.
"...Show off," Loki said.
Max quickly speeds off into the city, intent in helping civilians. As he ran, he saw the Chitauri begin to terrorize and kill civilians, blowing up vehicles, streets and buildings.
Back at Stark Tower, Loki walked out onto the pad, his Asgardian armor beginning to materialize as he watched the chaos he had brought about commence. Suddenly, Thor landed on the lower platform, in full armor and ready for battle.
"Loki!!," Thor yelled, causing his brother to look at him. "Turn off the Tesseract or I'll destroy it!!"
"You can't. There is no stopping it," Loki replied. "There is only... the war."
"So be it."
Loki yells as he jumps down and the two begin to battle each other, a blast from Loki's elongated scepter knocking off a letter from the STARK sign on the tower.
As they fought, Max and Tony continued to fend off as much of the Chitauri as they could.
"Dad, is the calvary on its way?," Max asked over coms.
"Yup. They should be here any second now," Tony replied.
Just then, a second quinjet arrived, carrying Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye. They quickly fly towards Stark Tower, which still had the blue beam shooting into the sky from the Tesseract.
"Stark, we're on a three, heading northeast," Natasha said over coms.
"What, did you stop for drive-thru? Swing that park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you."
Iron Man flies around the tower, making sharp turns and causing some Chitauri crafts to crash into the building. Max stopped and watched it all happen from the ground as the quinjet began firing on the army as Tony let out a continuous blast in front of them as well. The quinjet flew through the smoke created and proceeded towards Stark Tower.
"Captain, I might need some help down here soon," Max said.
"Roger. We'll be with you in a moment," Steve said and Max began to speed through the city again.
As they continued to fight, Loki spotted the quinjet and proceeded to blast a wing. This angers Thor greatly and he tackles him to the ground and they then continued to exchange blows. The rest of the team began to plummet to the ground, something Max saw and quickly ran towards them as they crashed.
Inside the quinjet, Natasha and Barton hold on for dear life. Cap grabs hold of the roof as the craft grazes buildings and crashes onto a street.
The two master assassins remove their headsets, open the ramp, and then they and Captain America quickly got out and took a good look around.
Stopping as many Chitauri as he could along the way, he eventually made it to the crash site to find Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye.
"You guys alright?," Max asked.
"We're fine. Why did you leave without us?," Steve asked.
"...Because of Alice and Terry," Natasha concluded and Max nodded slowly. "Max, are they...?"
Max simply looked down and shook his head slowly.
"They're both dead. I couldn't save them."
"It's okay, Max, you tried. But right now, I need you to focus. We need to assess the situation fast and come up with a plan."
Max slowly nodded, though the guilt was still clearly on his face and they all looked back at Stark Tower.
"Alright, we gotta get back up there," Steve said.
"I've been searching around for any good positions to take. The overpass nearby will work to assess the situation," Max informed them. "We've gotta get things under control down here before we head back up."
"He's right. I'll hold the fort up here until then," Iron Man said.
Steve nodded and they all ran over to the overpass, which had a perfect view of Stark Tower and the portal. Then they saw something come out of the portal that they could never had expected, much less imagine.
A massive, armored leviathan like creature, carrying many more Chitauri warriors on its back. A living warship of sorts. The warriors quickly jumped off the creature and onto the sides of building the monster passes. Many of them land inside the building itself and begin to shoot people inside.
"...Well... that was unexpected," Max commented.
"By the way, just so I know, what's your codename?," Clint asked.
"Arc."
"Okay."
"Stark, are you seeing this?," Steve asked, still bewildered.
"Seeing. Still working on believing...," Tony answered. "Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"
"Banner?"
"Just keep me posted. JARVIS, find me a soft spot."
Iron Man flies over to the creature and begins to circle and find a weakness as it roars loudly and tears up buildings.
Finally, Thor got Loki in a hold and he gestured to the devastation in Manhattan below them.
"Look at this!! Look around you!!," Thor yelled. "You think this madness will end with your rule?!!"
"It's too late. It's too late to stop it," Loki said
"No. We can... together."
Loki paused only for moment, and then sliped a knife into his hand and stabbed Thor and he got down to his knees.
"...Sentiment."
Thor quickly got back up and lifted his brother up into the air and threw him away a distance. Loki replies by rolling himself off the edge of the building, only to land on one of the flying Chitauri crafts. He flew off with a troop of Chitauri as Thor removes the knife and dropped it on the ground and watched the battle commence below.
Barton and Romanoff were now crouching behind a cab as Steve and Max run over to them.
"We've got civilians trapped," Hawkeye said and Loki flew above them. "Loki."
Loki and his army then proceeded to fire on the streets below the heroes, destroying vehicles and civilians and police officers alike ran for their lives.
"They're fish in a barrel down there," Cap said as Natasha gets up and begins firing at an incoming group of Chitauri.
"We've got this. You two, go!!," Nat exclaimed.
"You think you can hold them off?"
"Captain," Hawkeye said as he readied an arrow in his quiver. "It would be my genuine pleasure."
Clint shoots the arrow at one alien, and it then separated into more arrows and killed three more.
"Alright, Max, you watch my back."
"Got it," Max said and they both jumped off the overpass and onto a bus and into the street.
As they fought off the aliens, Hawkeye helped people get off of another bus with Black Widow covering him. Once they were all off, he returned to her side.
"It's like Budapest all over again!!," Natasha yelled over the shooting.
"You and I remember Budapest very differently," Clint said back.
Captain America and Arc began to sweep the streets of Chitauri as they looked for nearby officers of the law. Soon they found a sergeant and several other cops with him, trying to assess the situation and attempting to keep the aliens at bay.
"It's gonna be an hour before they scramble the National Guard," one cop informed his superior officer.
"National Guard?!," he said and they both ducked to avoid a Chitauri blast. "Does the army even know what's happening here?!"
"Do we?"
It was then that Captain America and Arc arrived and got on top of the car they were behind.
"You need men in these buildings," Steve began to order the cops, pointing to some buildings to his right. "There are people inside and they'll be walking right into the line of fire. You take them to the basement or through the subway, you keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th."
"Why the hell should I take orders from you?"
Then a Chitauri jumped onto the car that he was on and Arc sped over to the side of a building and jumped off of it and down on top of the alien and blasted it in the face as another came and Rogers struck it in the head with his shield and then rammed into it and towards Max, who then slashed its face and Steve kicked it of the car and they looked back at the cop.
"That's why," Arc said.
"...I need men in these buildings. We need to keep the people off the streets, get them into the subway," he began ordering his men, then spoke on his radio. "We need to set up a perimeter as far back as 39th."
"I'll go and help them set up the perimeter."
"Head back to Nat and Clint afterwards."
Max nodded and sped off to help the cops as Iron Man began to fire missiles and other such ammunition at the leviathan, which finall turned and began to chase him.
"It noticed me...yay!," Tony said as he flew off, the creature still following him and is hot on his tail as well.
Back on the overpass, Barton and Natasha are fighting Chitauri warriors up close. Hawkeye trips one with his bow as Arc returns and grabs an arrow his and stabs the alien in the heart. Black Widow at the moment, was using her Widow's Bite to electrocute another as she sat on his neck. She gets off and quickly grabbed its weapon and began shooting a several aliens.
"Thanks for the save," Clint said.
"Yup, no problem," Arc said back. "Cap ordered the police to set up a perimeter as far back as 39th. They'll escort people off the streets, into the subway and try to give us help from inside the buildings surrounding us."
They nodded as Barton shoots a warrior behind him and Max blasts another down. Black Widow then grabs another weapon and starts fighting off the aliens. A Chitauri nearly sliced her head off, but she dodged it and stabbed it with the blade on the weapon, and then shot another.
They continued fighting with Arc helping them. Max then zoomed past them all and grabbed a Chitauri and kicked it into another as he blasted two more with his repulsors. He then began to run up and across the sides of buildings, blasting off many of the aliens on them. Cap soon rejoins them and Max quickly grabbed his shield as it was in the air and began ramming the aliens down then threw it at high speed and it went clean through five of them before returning to him and sped back towards the others.
"Thanks for letting me borrow it," Max said, handing the shield back to him.
"Yeah, no problem," Steve said, being slightly sarcastic as Thor landed near them, having just killed several Chitauri with a bolt of lightning. "What's the story upstairs?"
"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable," Thor answered.
"Thor is right, we gotta deal with these guys," Tony said over coms.
"How do we do this?," Natasha asked.
"As a team."
"I have unfinished business with Loki."
"Oh yeah? Get in line," Hawkeye said as he readied more arrows.
"Save it," Captain America said as began to formulate a plan. "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us to-."
He is then interrupted by the rough humming of a motorcycle. They turned to see Banner now back to his old self driving up to them before stopping and walking the rest of the way to them.
"So, this all seems... horrible," he said, judging by the amount of damage done to the city already.
"I've seen worse," Nat said.
"So have I," Max said next.
"...Sorry."
"No, we could- use... a little worse."
"Stark, we got him."
"Banner?"
"Just like you said."
"Then tell him to suit up," Iron Man said. "I'm bringing the party to you."
Iron Man then flew around a corner and then towards the rest of the heroes, with the Leviathan still following him.
"I-I don't see how that's a party," Natasha commented as Iron Man drew the creature down low and it begins to skim the road.
Banner then turned around and began to walk towards the Leviathan.
"Doctor Banner... now might be a really good time for you to get angry," Captain America said as the creature drew closer and closer to killing them all.
"That's my secret, Cap," Banner explained, looking back as he walked, but then stopped. "...I'm always angry."
He then turns around as he quickly transforms into the Hulk at will. The Hulk then punches the Leviathan directly in the face and the sheer force of it being stopped in such a way forced it to flip and it was about to crush the team before Iron man launched missles at its body.
"Hold on!!," he yelled as he launched it and blew up, Barton ditching to avoid it, Max running off to avoid it as well while Thor stood still and took the blast and Captain America shielded himself and Black Widow. As they climbed back on the sides of the buildings, the Chitauri cry out in anger at what had just happened.
The team then stands in a circle with the Hulk roaring, Hawkeye readying an arrow, Black reloading her gun. Captain America and Thor stand ready while Arc makes an 'X' with his arms and ejects his claws at the same time as Iron Man lands next to him.
The Avengers were born.
"...Send the rest," Loki ordered, quite displeased at the team up.
More Leviathans and hundreds more Chitauri warriors then fly through the portal and towards the Avengers.
"...Guys?," Black Widow said, directing everyone's attention to the portal.
"Call it, Captain," Iron Man said.
"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority containment," Captain America began to instruct his fellow team members said. "Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."
"Wanna give me a lift?," Hawkeye asked and Tony grabbed him.
"Right. Better clench up, Legolas."
The two then flew up and Iron Man dropped the archer off on the rooftop and he immediately began to look around as Stark left to do his own job.
"Thor, you gotta try and bottleneck that portal, slow 'em down. You got the lightning... light the bastards up."
Thor then swings Mjolnir and flew off to do so and Steve looked to Arc.
"Max, I need to you to use your speed to take down as many of these as you can. Also look for any civilians you come across. Get them to safety."
Max nodded and sped off and Steve turned to Natasha.
"You and me, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here," Steve said and he looked at the final member of the Avengers. "And Hulk!"
The mean, green, fighting machine then turned to face the star spangled man, who then points to him.
"...Smash."
He grins at this and jumps up, beginning to smash every single Chitauri he cams across. On the sides of buildings, on the ground, and began to jump in the air to smash the crafts in the air as well.
Thor then lands on the top of the Chrysler Building and summons up some lightning. He then sends it shooting at the portal, killing Leviathans and Chitauri warriors alike.
Fury continued to look at the footage for a moment before nodding.
Back in New York, Barton was relentlessly shooting at Chitauri while keeping a close eye out for more for the team, namely Iron Man and Arc to take out. As Tony dealt with all the ones that were on his tail and then helping Thor deal wit a squadron 6th, Max continued to sweep the streets of aliens.
"Clint, got anything for me?," Max asked.
"Seems they've gotten tired of you, kid," Hawkeye answered. "A huge number are gathering around in all directions."
"Oh... wonderful."
He looked around to see it was true and then he was grabbed from behind as another starred shooting at him. The blasts however just bounced off his suit and Max blasted his chest repulsor, killing one shooting him and the pushed the one behind him into the building behind him. The force made the alien rip off Max's mask, but that did matter to him at the time. He then cracks his neck and gets out his claws. Then Arc shoots straight through the large number of Chitauri. He grabbed one and rammed many of them and then began to phase through them and killing them from behind. Arc then began to blast them with his repulsors relentlessly, killing most of those left as a Leviathan crash landed and killed any that he missed and crashed through Grand Central. Max then saw that it was Hulk and Thor that took it down, the former then punched the latter away for some reason.
"Okay...," Max said then sped back towards Cap and Nat.
He saw Natasha being pushed onto a car by a Chitauri warrior and he then blasted another one and took his gun and tossed it to Nat and she killed the one she was facing. They heard something behind them and turned to kill it... only to see that it was just Captain America.
"...Captain, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal," Natasha said and they all looked up at it.
"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it," he said.
"Well, maybe it's not about guns."
"...You wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride."
"I don't need a ride when I got him."
"Sorry, but I don't think that I can get you up there. Takes a lot of effort to run up the side of a building."
"Okay then... luckily I've got a spare ride. I could use a boost though."
"You sure about this?," Steve asked as he readied his shield.
"Yeah... it's gonna be fun," she said, unsure as well.
She then jumped onto his shield and he gives her a boost. She is sent up into the air and grabs hold of a ship as it flys over her. Black Widow then climbed up and killed the Chitauri on it, trying to fly the craft herself using the alien.
"Okay, turn! Turn! Ah!!," she yelled as she tried to figure out how to fly it.
As she did so, two crafts flew up behind her and began to fire at her. She struggles to avoid them, that is until Iron Man knocked them both out of the sky. He then began to blast at a fleet that was chasing him when he saw his son running across left of him.
"Son, I've got an idea, put your hand out!!," Tony yelled and Max quickly figured out what he was thinking.
"...This is not gonna end well," Max said and they both fired their repulsors and a massive energy surge occurred and it wiped out the fleet behind them. "For them, that is."
Iron Man then flew down to aid Captain America in fending off the aliens on the ground. He then blasted his repulsors at the captain's shield, which reflected it and took down several Chitauri warriors. He flew back up and began taking down more of them.
Arc then was running on a building in Greenwich Village and then jumped down onto a craft. He killed the alien and began shooting down other crafts. But then the Chitauri began firing on him and shit the craft and he landed on the rooftop of a building with a strange looking symbol on it. The Chitauri then were about to fire on him again when all of a sudden, some sort of energy appeared and they were pushed away and into another craft or simply ripped apart. Max followed the energy flow to see a woman in yellow robes standing to his right, looking at him. On her hands were two red orange mandalas made from the same energy that seemed to act like shields or weapons of some sort.
"Are you alright, young Mr. Stark?," she asked, the shields disappearing.
"Uh... yeah. Thanks for the save," Max said and she nodded to him. "Who are you?"
"I am known as the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme. To learn more about myself and what is known as Kamar-Taj, you must have reason. When you find it... find me in Kathmandu."
"What makes you think I'll even go? Can you see the future?," Max asked and she simply smirked at the question.
"I have only ever seen one true future of you, Maxwell Stark," she said. "Now it is up to you whether or not you make it so. Go now. Help your teammates and save the world."
He looked at her for a little while longer before nodding and speeding off back into the fight.
As this happened, Hawkeye continued to shoot arrows at the crafts, dodging blasts and then returning fire.
Max then took notice that the Army had arrived and he quickly sped over to them and directed them where to fire at and where they could begin to evacuate civilians.
"I'll help as many civilians as I can, just keep your focus the aliens and don't shoot my team?" Max ordered and they nodded and proceeded.
Max then began speeding through the buildings, one floor at a time, finding trapped civilians sometimes, and phased them out from the rubble they were under and sped them down to the subway.
"Captain, the bank on 42nd, past Madison. They cornered a lot of civilians in there," Hawkeye said over the coms.
"I'm on it," Captain America replied. "Max, meet me there. I'll hold off the Chitauri, you get the civilians out."
"On it," he said and sped towards the location.
In the bank, the large group of civilians were surrounded and being held hostage by three armed Chitauri, who then ready a bomb. But then Captain America appeared by bursting through the window and snapped one of the warrior's necks and threw him into the pit.
"Everybody, follow Arc out!!!," he yelled as a warrior grabbed him from behind.
He was able to get out of its grip, though it ripped off his mask while doing so. Max then saw the bomb and he quickly got everyone out with his speed and sped towards the Captain and tackled him out through a window just as the bomb went off.
They both then landed on a car and took a moment to rest.
"...We have to finish this soon, Cap," Max said, some injuries on his face. "Eventually, we're all gonna get tired and then we'll die."
"You're right. But until then, we have to keep fighting," he said and they continued to do so.
As this happened, Natasha was still aboard the Chitauri craft she had commandeered. She was being chased by other crafts still. She turned to see none other than Loki himself.
"Oh... you," she said as she past the building Barton was at. "Hawkeye!!"
"Nat, what are you doing?," Clint asked as she drew closer.
"Uh... a little help!!"
He then nocked an arrow and smirked when he saw that it was Loki chasing her.
"I got him."
He looses the arrow and it was heading straight for Loki's head. Suddenly, Loki caught the arrow before it hit him, and he looked back at the archer and smirked... and then the arrow blew up in his face and he landed back in the room in Stark Tower. Nat then jumped down from the ship and landed on the roof, with the Tesseract to her right.
Loki looked up to see her, but before he could do anything about her being on the roof, the Hulk jumped up and pushed him inside. The green giant moved to attack him again, but Loki got up and began to yell.
"ENOUGH!!!!!," Loki yelled angrily. "You are, all of you, beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature!! And I will not be bullied by-!!"
Loki was then interrupted by the Hulk grabbing his leg and begins to smash him into the floor repeatedly. He then throws him aside in a state of shock and pain, as he did not expect that at all.
"Puny god," Hulk said as he walked away.
Loki then let out a long pain whimper as he had been beaten into submission.
"...The scepter," a now freed Selvig said and Natasha walked over to him.
"Doctor?," she said, kneeling down to his level.
"Loki's scepter, the energy- the Tesseract can't fight it. You can't protect against yourself."
"It's not your fault. You didn't know what you were doing."
"...Well, actually I think I did. I built in a safety to cut the power source."
"...Loki's scepter."
"It may be able to close the portal," he concluded and he looked down at the scepter on the floor below. "And I'm looking right at it."
Meanwhile, Max was running around, helping more civilians get to safety until he came across a woman trying to get a boy out from under a pile of rubble.
"Please, my nephew is trapped!!," she said.
"Move, I can help!!," he said and she did so and he grabbed the kid's hand. "Hey, what's your name?"
"P-Peter Parker," the kid said.
"Well, Peter... don't you worry, I'm gonna get you out of here. Just keep still."
Peter nodded and Max sped away for a moment and as he ran it was almost as if he had turned into mist and went through the rubble. When he came out, he was carrying the eleven year old boy in his arms.
"Peter!!," the woman yelled and quickly hugged the boy. "Thank you. Who are you?"
"I am Arc," Arc said. "You take care of your aunt, okay Peter?"
"Yes, sir," he said and the hero smiled at this.
"Alright, let's get you both down into the subway."
He grabs them both and speeds them all down to the subway and quickly returned to the fight. Then suddenly, Fury was on the coms.
"Stark, you hear me? You have a missile headed straight for the city," Fury said.
"How long?," Tony asked as he fought off some crafts behind him.
"Three minutes. Max. Payload can wipe out midtown."
"JARVIS, put everything we got into the thrusters!!," Iron Man said.
'I just did,' JARVIS said and they began to fly out of the city and soon enough, intercepted the missile and began to try to change its direction.
All the while, Captain America and Thor caught their weapons at the same time and continued to fend off the aliens. Suddenly, Cap was shot in the ribs and Arc then arrived and both he and Thor fend the Chitauri off, the latter sending a car towards some of them. Max slashes and blast the rest of them down as Thor gets Steve back up.
"You ready for another bout?," Thor asked.
"What, you gettin' sleepy?," Steve teased.
Natasha now had the scepter ready and Selvig got everything ready.
"Right at the crown!!," he yelled and she slowly began to push the spear through the barrier surrounding the cube, but it was very difficult.
"I can close it," Natasha said into coms. "Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down!"
"Do it!!!," Steve yelled.
"No, wait," Tony said.
"Dad, these things are still coming!!," Max said into the coms.
"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it."
"Dad... that's a one way trip."
"I know. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I forgive you, son. Thank you for everything, and I want you to know that I love you. I love you and your mother so much."
"Dad... don't even think about it."
"...Goodbye, son," Tony said and he flew the missile and himself through the portal.
"...Damn you..."
Tony's armor soon began to fail and he let go of the missile and it headed toward the Chitauri mothership as he slowly falls back towards the portal. Tony soon passed out due to there being no air in space.
Then the nuke finally reached the mothership, and it exploded in a spectacular fashion. All around the Avengers, the Chitauri warriors collapsed and died, then the Leviathans fell to the ground, but Tony did not come through.
"Come on, Stark," Natasha said, still waiting.
Max then sped off towards Stark Tower and eventually found himself with Nat and Selvig.
"Selvig, long time, no see."
He simply nodded and looked back at the portal. Eventually, Cap had to make the call.
"...Close it," Steve said and Max closed his eyes.
Natasha plunged the scepter into the device more and pushed the cube out of position and the device exploded, leaving the cube on the ground. Max walked over and held the Tesseract in his hand, gazing into it deeply as the portal closed. He looked back up and saw that just before it closed, Iron Man fell through.
"Son of a gun."
"...He's not slowing down," Thor said when they saw he was falling faster and he began to swing Mjolnir.
Then suddenly, the Hulk jumped up and grabbed Tony in midair and landed on the overpass as Captain America and Thor ran over. Thor pulled off his faceplate as Steve tried to check for a heartbeat. But there was nothing and Tony wasn't breathing. Then the Hulk roared and he woke up instantly.
"What the hell? What just happened?," Tony asked. "Please tell me nobody kissed me."
"...We won," Steve answered.
"...Alright, Hey. Alright. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. You ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."
"We're not finished yet," Thor said.
"...And then shawarma after?"
"I hate you sometimes, Dad," Max said over coms.
They all made their way to the penthouse of Stark Tower as Loki began to get up from being pummeled by the Hulk. Then he sensed a large presence behind him and he turned around to see the Avengers surrounding him, Hawkeye pointing an arrow aimed at his face, Max still holding the Tesseract and Natasha held the scepter. None of them had very displeased looks on their faces, some more than others.
"If it's all the same to you... I'll have that drink now," Loki said, knowing that he had been defeated.
Later on, in a distant park overlooking Manhattan, Thor stood with Loki and the Tesseract with the Avengers surrounding them.
"Farewell, Avengers. Farewell, brother," Thor said and Max nodded slowly. "Should you ever require my assistance, I will come."
Then he handed the device carrying the Tesseract to Loki and he grabbed the other handle reluctantly and with a turn of the handle Thor held, the two then vanished in a blue light.
Without saying much, everyone said their temporary goodbyes and hugs were exchanged.
"Thank you for saving my life," Natasha said, hugging her little brother, who hugged her back.
"No problem," he said back before she and Clint Barton headed out in his car.
The archer nodded a goodbye to the fifteen year old, who then nodded back, and they then drove off.
Tony then looked to Max, who wasn't walking towards the car, but the opposite direction of it. He turned to look at his father and his face said it all. Tony slowly nodded and he and Banner drove off.
"...Something on your mind, soldier?," Steve asked, having seen his face as well and stood next to him.
"...There was this kid I saved," Max began. "Said his name was Peter, looked to be eleven. Stuck under rubble and I phased through it to save him. Then I got him and his aunt to safety. Second person I ever officially saved."
"What's wrong with that?"
"There's nothing wrong!! What I want to know is how I was fast enough to save him but not Alice!! Or Terry!! ...Or Coulson..."
"...You can't save everyone, Max. Try as you might," Steve said. "Harsh as it may be to hear, but sometimes, you just don't have the power or the strength to save those you care about. Believe me when I tell you, I know."
"...Bucky?"
"...Yeah...," he answered very quietly. "We're the same, Max. In more ways than you realize. We're both willing to sacrifice everything to save those we love. As for those we couldn't save... best thing to do is to keep on living. Remember them and continue to save as many as you can to honor those you couldn't."
"...You're one hell of a therapist," Max joked and they both chuckled. "...In all seriousness, that actually helps a lot. Thank you, Steve."
"Anytime."
"One other thing."
"Yeah?," he said.
"Peggy Carter is still alive," he informed and Steve's eyes widened greatly. "She's in a nursing home in DC. Bedridden and suffers from dementia... but she's still Peggy. I've visited her a few times, wonderful woman."
"...That she is, kid. That she is."
"...Well... I have to go face my mother's wrath," Max said and Steve chuckled again. "See ya later."
He then sped off back through Manhattan and up Stark Tower and back to the damaged penthouse, and a now shocked Pepper with Tony.
"Um... WHAT?!!!," Pepper yelled.
"So... yeah... I have superpowers. ...Surprise!!"
"Why didn't you tell us?!!"
"Yes, I'd actually like to know as well," Tony said.
"Wait, you knew?," Pepper said.
"I recently found out."
"Are you going to let me answer the question?," Max asked and they stopped talking. "I didn't say anything for somewhat the same reason Dad tried to keep being Iron Man a secret. I was afraid that you'd try to stop me from using them. From being a hero."
"...I'll say it again, you boys will be the death of me," Pepper said calmly. "Alright... I'll accept that answer. Just promise to not keep anything from us again."
'A promise I cannot keep,' Max thought to himself.
"...I promise."
Some time past and Max explained just how he got his powers and almost everything else that has happened to him in the past four years.
That night, he received a message.
"I saw what happened on the tv!!! Are you alright?!!," Shuri messaged.
"I'm not dead nor injured, but alright... I will be, given time."
"What do you mean?"
"...I failed to save some friends."
"...I'm so sorry, Max. But they wouldn't want you to wallow in shame and guilt. They'd want you to save as many others as you can."
"Funny... Steve said the same thing," Max said. "Steve is Captain America. But anyway, I'm now part of a superhero team. Jealous?"
"Uhh... yeah!!," she exclaimed. "That woman on the team... is that Natasha?"
"Yup and the archer is Clint."
"Okay then. Well, I'll let you be now. You must be completely exhausted."
"Understatement of the next three years," Max joked. "Goodnight, Shuri."
"Goodnight, Max. I'm glad you're alright."
"...Me too."
Later on, he walked back to the main penthouse room after his parents went to sleep, and he began to do research on the Tesseract.
'What exactly are you looking for, Max?,' JARVIS asked.
"It's the Tesseract, JARVIS," he explained, not stopping from doing his little house project. "There's is most definitely something far more to it than even SHIELD knows about it. I beginning to develop a theory on it, and on whether there are any other powers like it. Could you please see if any of my old colleges, preferably Oxford, would be able to receive me? I'd like to give a lecture on my theory at some point?"
'Of course, sir. When would you like this to be?'
"Oh... let's say about a year from now. That way they have plenty of time to schedule it in. And I have plenty of time to do research."
'Very well, sir,' JARVIS said and Max went to work on researching his theory.
SHIELD Headquarters
Terry slowly awoke to have vision in only one eye. He blinked a few times as he began to fully awaken, and looked at his surroundings.
"Ah... I see you've awoken," a voice said and revealed to be none other than Secretary Alexander Pierce himself. "My sympathies for the loss of your sister, Agent Scott."
"...W-Where am I?," he asked.
"You're at SHIELD. No one knows that you're alive, bar a few. I've come to offer you a second chance. What would you give for revenge?"
"...Everything I am. Everything I was... and will be."
"Good. Hail HYDRA."
"...Hail HYDRA," Terry said and then unexpectedly grabbed Pierce by the tie and pulled him down to his face. "But I will only serve if you give me the means to kill Maxwell Stark!!"
"...Easily done," Pierce said, smirking.
Space
Meanwhile, in farthest reaches of the universe, a small hooded figure kneels before a throne with the one sitting in it facing away from him.
"Humans... they are not the cowering wretches we were promised. They stand," the person said. "They are unruly, and therefore cannot be ruled."
The person in the chair then stands up and the first person bows his head back down and grunts as if in pain. Then after a moment, he looks back up slightly.
"To challenge them... is to court... Death."
The larger figure slowly turned his head to reveal a massive purple face, and he simply smiled.
Hope you liked this. Next chapter will be Iron Man 3, afterwards will be Thor: The Dark World. Until the next chapter is up, see ya later.