"And you too, my friends."
Tony glanced at the civilians still filming and taking selfies, speechless.
"Go home. Hide in your mom's arms or something."
"This place is about to become a battlefield."
Click. Click. Click.
No one paid him any attention. If anything, they snapped even more photos. It wasn't every day you got this close to Iron Man.
Tony's eye twitched.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., hack every nearby speaker. Max volume."
"Done, sir."
A piercing tone split the air. The crowd winced, covering their ears.
"Attention. This is Tony Stark."
"Breaking news: New York City is about to receive a saturated nuclear strike."
"All civilians, evacuate the city center immediately."
He repeated it three times.
Silence fell for half a second—
Then chaos erupted like boiling water.
Cars screeched. People ran.
Tony smirked.
"See, J.A.R.V.I.S.? Forget aliens. Nothing motivates people like the word 'nuke.'"
"Sir, this qualifies as spreading false information and inciting panic."
"J.A.R.V.I.S., loosen up. It's for their safety. Worst case, Fury fires a dummy missile and I pay humanitarian compensation."
"Nothing matters more than staying alive."
A pause.
"You are correct, sir."
"Cap, you guys there yet?"
"Almost!" Steve's voice crackled over comms. "Barton's pushing the jet to the limit!"
Tony looked up at Ebony Maw–Leon, still hovering calmly above Stark Tower, unmoved.
With a sonic boom, Tony shot skyward.
Thor secured the unconscious Selvig in an office mid-level of Stark Tower before smashing through a window and rejoining Tony on the rooftop.
Beside the active portal device, Loki stood ready for battle. The Mind Scepter glowed in his grasp. Two silver daggers—Lion's Fangs—orbited him like sentinels.
Leon drifted forward.
"Why resist, humans?" he asked evenly.
"You should rejoice. The Great Titan offers you glory."
"You may suffer a little pain… but it is redemption. Through balance, your world will be saved."
"Redemption?" Tony blinked. "Excuse me?"
"Thor, I didn't mishear that, right?"
Thor shook his head. "I don't know what he's rambling about. I just know one hammer to the skull ends this!"
He launched himself forward in a thunderous arc, Mjolnir blazing.
"Foolish Asgardian," Leon said calmly. "You could have been a child of the Great Titan… like him."
He nodded toward Loki.
Then—
A devastating surge of telekinetic force erupted outward, rippling the air visibly.
Thor was crushed mid-charge and hurled into the ground. A massive telekinetic hammer slammed him deep beneath the surface.
Tony tried to move—
But invisible pressure locked him in midair. Even his lips were sealed.
"Shh."
Leon raised a finger.
"Tony Stark. Like the Great Titan, you are cursed with knowledge."
"You should understand. Your world must burn in brilliance to achieve balance."
"Smile. Even in death, you will belong to the Titan."
Tony strained.
"Okay, that was almost convincing… but I'm out of patience!"
"For the glory of the North—hit it, Thor!"
Leon's eyes narrowed.
The sky darkened.
Tony unleashed full magnetic output, stacking it with his enhanced physical strength—shattering the telekinetic hold.
Lightning split the clouds—
One bolt struck Tony. Another struck the crater where Thor had fallen.
Tony fired instantly—no charge-up, 500% output.
A chest-mounted Pulse Beam Cannon blasted Leon from the sky.
"Thunderstorm!!!"
Thor erupted upward, wrapped in lightning, and hammered Leon back the way he came—flinging him toward the sun itself.
"Again!" Tony shouted—
But at that moment—
A massive blue beam erupted from the rooftop device, punching through the storm clouds into the heavens.
The portal activated.
Tony froze.
The sky tore open.
Beyond it—
A vast, shadowed expanse.
And an army.
Endless Chitauri bio-mechanical soldiers.
Dozens of colossal Leviathans—dwarfing even Fury's Helicarrier—writhed in the void. Living warships of flesh and armor. One alone could level a city.
"Okay, Stark," Tony muttered to himself. "You've got this."
He glanced at Leon, then at the civilians below who hadn't fully evacuated.
Decision made.
Repulsors flared.
He accelerated upward—alone—charging straight into the invasion.
Above the Portal
Boom. Boom. Boom.
One Chitauri soldier per blast.
Tony attempted to push through the portal and block the invasion at its source—but the opening was too wide.
Switching tactics, he used magnetic manipulation to crush incoming Chitauri chariots, fusing their debris into a makeshift metal barricade across the portal.
A growing shield.
At first, it worked.
The more he destroyed, the stronger the barrier became.
Then—
Pressure.
From the other side.
Massive weight.
The Leviathans began ramming in unison under hive command.
Each impact forced Tony downward a little more.
Chitauri slipped through gaps, firing lasers at him.
Clang. Clang. Clang.
The Mark VI shrugged off the attacks.
Tony switched to one-handed support, blasting exposed enemies with the other.
He couldn't afford divided focus. His mind was stretched to the limit.
"Thor!"
"Anytime now!"
Sweat soaked Tony's faceplate interior.
But Thor was locked in combat with Loki.
Tony swore internally.
He had believed one suit was enough.
Today it was the Chitauri.
Tomorrow—who knew?
One shield wasn't enough to protect a planet.
A new thought took root.
What if Earth itself had armor?
Not Leon's bone-based alloys.
Something bigger.
Better.
Rooftop
Loki watched the relentless tide press against Tony's defense.
"You can block them for a moment," he smirked. "But can you block eternity?"
"Shut it down, Loki!" Thor shouted. "Or I'll destroy it!"
"You can't."
"It cannot be stopped."
"There is only—"
"War."
Thor hurled Mjolnir—
CLANG!!!
One of Loki's Lion's Fangs intercepted it, deflecting the blow just enough to spare him.
The dagger returned to orbit. Mjolnir flew back to Thor.
"Brother," Loki said quietly. "I am not who I once was."
Daggers for defense. Scepter for offense.
For a time, he held his own.
Reinforcements Arrive… and Immediately Crash
A smoking S.H.I.E.L.D. jet streaked toward Stark Tower.
Natasha's face appeared in Tony's HUD.
"Tony, we're here—"
SCREEEEEE—
Signal distortion.
"Sir… their aircraft has been downed."
"Are you kidding me?!"
Leon had simply reached out and yanked the jet from the sky.
Inside—
Steve, Natasha, Clint, and Banner locked eyes.
Banner scratched his head.
"Guess it's time for the big guy."
Before he finished—
"HULK HATE PLANES!"
Hulk erupted forth, smashing through the fuselage mid-fall.
Grabbing Steve and Clint in one hand, Natasha in the other—
He leapt.
CRASH!!!
Hulk landed, legs sinking half a meter into asphalt, skidding dozens of meters to cancel the momentum.
The Shield Breaks
"Damn it—I can't hold—!"
With a final unified charge from dozens of Leviathans—
Leon clenched his fist.
Tony's magnetic shield shattered.
Tony himself was swatted from the sky by overwhelming force—
SLAM.
He landed beside the crashed Avengers.
Above—
The portal stood fully open.
The Chitauri poured through like a locust swarm.
A passing soldier blasted Thor and Loki apart mid-grapple.
Both brothers crashed onto the wreckage below—bruised, but far from broken.
In this chaotic moment—
The original six Avengers stood united.
And Loki.
Perhaps the seventh.
Around them—
Chitauri chariots strafed relentlessly.
Leviathans slithered between skyscrapers, flattening buildings by sheer mass.
Bio-mechanical troops clung to their hulls, leaping into offices to spread destruction.
New York had become a warzone.
The end had begun.
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