With a single hammer strike, Thor sent Loki flying to the opposite end of the battlefield. Their position now formed a perfect equilateral triangle with Tony and the others—Stark Tower standing at its center.
Above them, the massive portal continued to vomit out Chitauri forces without end. The situation was growing dire.
Thor stopped holding back.
With two rapid swings, he knocked the Lion's Fangs aside, grabbed Loki by the collar, and hoisted him into the air.
"Loki! Snap out of it!"
"Heh… the Great Titan will—"
"Will your ass!"
Thor hurled Loki like a cannonball, smashing him into a passing Leviathan and sending the massive creature crashing down. It wasn't dead—but it was stunned.
"HULK SMASH FLYING THING!"
BOOM!!!
Hulk, roaming freely across the battlefield, seized the opportunity and body-slammed the Leviathan's head into pulp. He landed right beside Loki, who was clutching his skull in agony.
They locked eyes.
Loki's heart sank.
"Oh no…"
Hulk grinned.
Then grabbed Loki by the ankle.
"AHHH—!"
What followed was something Loki was deeply, traumatically familiar with.
SMASH. SMASH. SMASH. SMASH.
"Hel—help—"
He couldn't even finish a sentence before being pounded into the pavement repeatedly.
When Hulk finally stopped, Loki lay in a crater, gasping for air.
"I… am a god… how dare you… cough…"
"Hmph. Puny god."
Hulk delivered the classic line and leapt away to resume smashing Leviathans.
Thor's "Brotherly Love"
Thor recalled Mjolnir and strode forward.
Unsure whether Loki was truly lucid, he decided on a simple solution:
Hit him again.
Seeing the hammer raised, Loki instantly recoiled.
"Brother! I'm awake! I'm completely awake!"
"Are you?"
Thor looked deeply unconvinced.
"I swear!"
Loki forced a painfully awkward smile and raised both hands in surrender.
BAM.
Thor swung anyway.
Past experience dictated one rule: if Loki was talking, he was probably lying.
BAM. BAM. BAM.
"Stop! Stop! T T"
"I'm really awake! T T"
Loki's face had swollen into something resembling modern art.
Thor finally paused.
"If you're truly yourself again, then tell me how to close that thing."
He pointed toward the still-gushing portal.
"Selvig knows," Loki answered immediately.
"Selvig?"
Thor glanced toward Stark Tower. The Chitauri had deliberately avoided attacking it, protecting the portal device's base.
Selvig should still be inside—but the building was surrounded by Chitauri chariots.
Thor thought quickly.
Then grabbed Loki again and rocketed toward the Freedom Tower, the tallest nearby structure.
In seconds, they stood atop its spire, overlooking half of New York.
"Brother… what are you doing?" Loki asked nervously.
"Charging something big."
Thor raised Mjolnir to the heavens.
Dark clouds churned violently.
Loki tried to slip away—
Thor caught him by the back of the collar.
"Going somewhere?"
"I know what you're planning! Don't you dare use me for it!"
Thor grinned.
"Loki. After this… we're still family."
He summoned a colossal, Yggdrasil-shaped bolt of lightning that struck both of them directly, channeling immense energy into Mjolnir.
Loki screamed obscenities loud enough to shame sailors—but his voice drowned in thunder.
Unlike Thor, he did not possess lightning resistance.
He tanked it purely with flesh and bone.
Two and a half seconds later—
Mjolnir fully charged.
Thor swung it toward Stark Tower.
CRACK—!!!!!
Lightning erupted outward in a vast, web-like storm.
Thor intentionally widened the area of effect to lower the lethal intensity.
In an instant—
Every Chitauri soldier in the skies above Manhattan was wiped clean.
A clear aerial corridor opened straight to Stark Tower.
"Let's go!"
Thor hurled the hammer again, dragging Loki with him as they blasted toward the tower.
Inside Stark Tower
CRASH!
They smashed through a window and landed.
"Selvig! I need your help!"
"Thor?"
Dr. Erik Selvig peeked out from under a desk. The earlier energy shockwave had seemingly broken the Mind Stone's influence over him.
"You're back to yourself!" Thor beamed.
Freed from Thor's grip, Loki slowly stepped backward, a sly smile creeping onto his face.
"Tell me—how do we shut down the portal?"
Selvig pressed a hand to his forehead, struggling through fragmented memories.
"The scepter…"
"Ebony Maw made me build a failsafe. Loki's scepter is the key."
"The scepter is the key?" Thor nodded firmly.
"Good. Loki, we're—"
He turned.
"Loki?"
Meanwhile – The Main Battlefield
Below, Tony was on one knee.
Exhausted.
The metal storm had died down.
Leon floated before him, composed as ever.
"You see?" Leon said calmly. "Resistance only hastens the inevitable."
The portal above roared louder.
The Chitauri fleet continued pressing forward.
Tony forced himself upright.
Breathing ragged.
Mind burning.
He looked at the portal.
Then at the invasion.
Then at the city.
Something was changing in his eyes.
If one suit wasn't enough—
Then he would build something bigger.
Not just for himself.
But for the entire planet.
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