"Your call, Cap," Tony said.
Steve took in the chaotic battlefield, stepping seamlessly into the role of commander. "Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal, containment is priority one. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays."
"Wanna give me a lift?" Clint asked Tony.
"Right. Better clench up, Legolas," Tony said. He grabbed Barton by the harness. His thrusters flared, carrying them both toward a nearby building.
Steve turned to Thor. "You have to try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You have the lightning. Light the bastards up."
Thor spun Mjolnir, thunder cracking the air as he launched himself into the sky.
Steve looked at the massive figure beside him. "You and me, we stay on the ground. Keep the fight here." He met the Hulk's eyes. "And Hulk?"
The Hulk grinned.
"Smash."
With a roar, the Hulk leapt away, tearing into a building to gain height before crashing into a squad of Chitauri mid-air.
Steve sprinted forward, shield up, engaging the advancing ground troops.
I stepped back into the cover of a crushed taxi, isolating myself from the immediate crossfire. Reaching up, I tapped the secure comms unit in my ear, bypassing the SHIELD frequency entirely.
"Natalie."
"It is done, Master," my assistant's voice came through, calm and even.
Hundreds of miles away, she sat comfortably in the center of the World Security Council control room. The most powerful leaders on Earth sat slumped in their chairs around her, their eyes dazed and completely vacant. "The strike order on Manhattan has been erased."
"Good. Maintain the hold until the portal is closed."
"Understood."
I cut the connection. There would be no missile.
Still the mother ship still had to go.
Looking up at Stark Tower, I saw the news helicopters circling the perimeter. Cameras were tracking the fighting, broadcasting the invasion across the globe. There was no hiding this anymore.
Ignoring the dull ache in my muscles, I gathered my aura and launched upward. The city blurred beneath me as I cleared the lower floors and landed hard on the highest section of the tower.
Natasha was already there. Dr. Selvig sat slumped against a low wall, holding his head. The mind control was broken. Natasha stood directly over the generator, gripping Loki's scepter. She plunged the blade straight through the Tesseract's energy barrier.
"I can close it," Natasha called over the open Avengers comm channel. "Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down."
"Do it!" Steve ordered over the radio, the sound of plasma fire echoing behind his voice.
"No, wait," I said.
Natasha turned her head toward me, her brow furrowed. "Adrian? We have to cut them off."
"If you close it now, the Chitauri down there will fight until nothing is left," I told her, walking slowly toward the edge of the roof. "They operate on a hive mind. The mother ship is on the other side. It has to be destroyed."
"With what?" Her grip tightened. "We don't have the firepower to take out a mothership."
I unbuttoned my jacket, slipping it off and letting it fall to the floor. I rolled up my sleeves.
"I do."
"Adrian...?"
I closed my eyes.
A single drop of blood slid from my left eye.
The air behind me tore open.
Crimson wings burst outward sharp and violently. The pressure cracked the rooftop beneath my feet and sent a shockwave across the structure. Natasha raised an arm against the blast.
I didn't explain.
The concrete cracked under my boots as I launched myself into the sky, leaving a blinding trail of crimson light in my wake.
I shot upward, passing Iron Man and Thor as they hovered in mid-air, watching my ascent in stunned silence. I didn't slow down. I hit the blue pillar of the Tesseract and crossed the threshold.
Silence.
The noise of Earth vanished instantly. Cold emptiness surrounded me. Ahead, the Chitauri command ship loomed in the void.
I raised my hands.
The wings shattered.
Blood surged forward, forming a massive winged shape that expanded in the vacuum. It moved without sound, without resistance, and struck the ship.
The impact didn't just break it.
It ignited it.
The vessel tore apart from the inside, erupting in a blinding explosion of red and gold.
Then...
nothing.
The power left me all at once.
No pain. No struggle.
Just emptiness.
My body stopped responding. My limbs went numb. The glow around me faded completely.
Below, through the portal, the entire Chitauri force dropped lifelessly.
The link was gone.
Gravity took me.
I fell back through the portal just as it collapsed behind me, the sky sealing shut above Manhattan.
I was in freefall.
I couldn't move.
The ground rushed up.
A massive green shape caught me.
The Hulk.
He grabbed the side of a building, digging into steel and glass to slow the descent. We hit the street hard, but controlled.
He set me down carefully.
Iron Man landed beside us, faceplate snapping open. Steve and Thor arrived seconds later.
I lay still, staring at the sky.
"Is he breathing?" Steve asked, dropping to his knees.
Tony stepped closer, scanning. "Vitals dropped hard, almost lost him."
The Hulk let out a low rumble and nudged my shoulder gently.
I forced one eye open.
"I'm fine," I whispered.
Tony exhaled, tension draining from his voice. "Good. Because nobody's authorized to die on my watch."
Steve leaned back slightly, wiping sweat from his face. He looked up at the clear sky where the portal had been.
The battle was over.