Chapter 102. Battle of New York!
At the same time, the crowd below noticed the sudden appearance of a wormhole in the sky—and the strange, menacing alien that emerged from it.
In an instant, panic spread like wildfire. People scattered in every direction, desperate to escape. The streets were filled with the shrill wails of whistles and the piercing screams of terrified civilians.
"What is that!?" someone cried.
Most assumed it was an alien invasion and fled for their lives. But amidst the chaos, one person noticed something unusual—a faint, transparent light curtain shimmering high above them, glinting faintly in the sunlight.
An alien dived from the wormhole, aiming to attack the people below. Yet before it could reach the ground, it slammed into the transparent barrier.
Contrary to everyone's fears, the film-like curtain didn't shatter like a soap bubble. Instead, the alien ignited into a burst of flame the moment it touched the shield, erupting with a deafening boom!
"Look! This thing… it's protecting us!" someone shouted.
The realization rippled through the crowd. Many slowed their frantic escape, gazing upward in awe as alien after alien collided with the barrier, each explosion bursting like a firework in the sky.
If it had been night, the spectacle might have been beautiful. Unfortunately, the blazing daylight robbed it of its full brilliance.
"Stark, when did you install this kind of energy shield? Why didn't we know anything about it?" Captain Rogers' voice came over the comms.
By now, he and the others had arrived above New York City, staring in shock at the massive energy dome covering the entire area.
T'Challa compared the sight to Wakanda's own protective shield. It was eerily similar in design—only this one belonged to Stark. The thought that Tony had achieved this level of technology in just a year was impressive, even to him.
Tony smirked at their astonishment.
"I built it in my spare time. Originally, I was going to make a small shield just for the Stark Tower… but then I thought, why not make it bigger? And, well—here we are."
His pride was obvious.
"Alright, enough admiring my genuis," Tony continued. "This thing's tough, but it eats energy like crazy. It's powered by the arc reactor in my building and can only hold for about an hour. We need to come up with a plan to wipe out the enemy fast."
Unlike Wakanda's shield, which ran indefinitely on vibranium's power, Tony's was extremely energy-intensive. Time was short.
"But how are we supposed to get through it?" T'Challa asked. "If we just fly into it, won't we end up like those ugly aliens?"
He knew Wakanda's dome had specific entry points to allow safe passage. Stark hadn't mentioned anything like that—only urging them to come down quickly.
"Relax," Tony replied. "I've already given clearance to your aircraft and all of you individually. You'll pass right through."
T'Challa blinked, caught off guard.
"It can do that?"
"Yes," Steve interjected. "Stark wouldn't lie. We don't have time to waste—let's move."
Without hesitation, the aircraft descended, heading straight for the shield. Instead of exploding like the Chitauri, they passed through unharmed. Stark's word was good.
Watching from a distance, a Chitauri squad leader took note of this. His mind churned—perhaps there was a way to breach the shield safely after all.
The Chitauri soldiers, dim-witted but obedient, had until now simply thrown themselves at the barrier, dying in fiery blasts. Yet they followed orders without hesitation, their loyalty unwavering.
Receiving new commands from above, dozens of Chitauri pilots steered their craft toward the spot they believed was safe.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The air lit up in a chain of simultaneous explosions. A massive fireball blossomed –in the sky as the first wave of attackers was obliterated on impact
When the second wave of Chitauri soldiers came hurtling toward the protective shield, they had no time to slow down—and an unexpected turn of events occurred.
The lead soldier in the formation somehow managed to slip through the barrier. Its body suffered visible damage from the passage, but unlike its companions, it didn't instantly explode into flaming debris.
Those following behind, however, weren't as fortunate. They slammed directly into the shield, erupting into brilliant bursts of fire and metal fragments.
Inside the barrier, the surviving Chitauri soldier roared, glaring down at the humans below like a predator spotting prey. Its eyes gleamed coldly, and it dove toward the ground with lethal intent.
Boom!
From a distance, a beam of energy lanced through the air, striking the alien squarely. Whatever luck had carried it past the shield was spent in that instant—the blast tore it apart, scattering burning fragments across the street.
Watching this unfold, a Chitauri squad leader narrowed his eyes. Unlike the mindless –rank-and-file, he was capable of thought. He realized there might be a way to exploit the shield's weakness.
"You're finally here. We need to make a plan to annihilate them—and fast," Tony said, lowering his arm after firing the shot that ended the intruder. His tone was grim. "It looks like they've figured out a way to get through."
As he spoke, the Chitauri no longer attacked the barrier like mindless drones. Instead, they had formed an organized pattern: teams of three. The first two would slam into the shield, sacrificing themselves and momentarily weakening the energy flow. The third would then slip through during the brief fluctuation.
"Captain, waiting for your orders," Tony said, turning to Steve with full trust, ready to follow his lead.
Steve assessed the situation quickly. "We've got strong fighters here, but only Stark and Thor can handle extended aerial combat. You two will take the fight to them in the sky, focusing on enemies pouring out of the wormhole."
He continued, his voice steady and commanding: "I'll stay inside the shield. My focus will be on intercepting any aliens that slip through. Annie, you'll assist me with long-range attacks–—use your beam to finish off anything I miss."
"T'Challa, Danny Rand—you're on ground duty. Help civilians reach safety and protect them from any stragglers."
Then his gaze turned to Banner.
"No need for Hulk just yet. Stay here with Loki—make sure he doesn't cause trouble. If things go south, you know what to do."
Banner nodded firmly. "Understood, Captain."
"Alright, everyone—move!" Steve ordered.
With that, Thor erupted into a storm of lightning, leaping skyward with Stormbreaker in hand. Tony's nano-armor sealed over him as he took off after the God of Thunder. They shot through the shield effortlessly and charged straight at the Chitauri fleet.
"Haha! Thor, you take the left, I'll take the right," Tony called over the comms, unleashing twin energy beams that vaporized two enemy soldiers.
"Let's see who can rack up the higher kill count!"
"You'll definitely lose, Stark," Thor replied with unshakable confidence, clearly accepting the challenge.
Not to be outdone, he hurled a massive lightning sphere into a cluster of enemies. It detonated with devastating force, wiping out dozens in a blinding flash.
"Hey, that's overkill!" Tony shouted, though his grin betrayed no real protest. He kept up his assault, firing beams, missiles, and using his suit's gravitic tech to hurl Chitauri into one another before finishing them with blasts—each explosion lighting the sky.
Thor, meanwhile, was a whirlwind of destruction. He cleaved through enemies with Stormbreaker, scattering bodies like dry leaves, and periodically lobbed more lightning spheres that burst like plasma grenades, frying entire formations at once.
The two fought like titans, their combined assault shredding the once-overwhelming swarm. In minutes, tens of thousands of Chitauri had been obliterated. The sky, once thick with enemy craft and soldiers, grew sparse. The rate of reinforcements from the wormhole couldn't match the pace of destruction
The Captain, wreathed in flames, didn't join Tony and Thor's skyward rampage. Instead, he remained beneath the protective dome, intercepting any Chitauri soldiers who managed to slip through. When one particularly "lucky" alien breached the barrier, Steve hurled a blazing fireball, incinerating it instantly.
At first, his hands were full—the enemy seemed to be breaking through at a steady pace. Several aliens managed to slip past him entirely, heading toward the civilians below. But Anne was waiting.
From her position on the ground, her searing light beams tore through many of the intruders before they could reach their targets.
A handful still got close. One bared its jagged teeth, ready to rip into the terrified crowd, but was stopped cold—a pair of glowing, red-hot fists punched straight through its chest.
Another was sliced in half with surgical precision by a black-clad figure, moving like a panther, his claws shredding alien flesh as though it were paper.
Over time, the Chitauri stopped breaching the shield entirely, their focus shifting entirely to Thor and Tony. The two showed no fear, no hesitation. Any alien foolish enough to enter their range was reduced to burning fragments in seconds.
Even the distant barrage of energy blasts couldn't faze them. The beams struck their armor and skin without leaving so much as a scratch.
Thor glanced around at the swarming enemy, realizing the battle might drag on if they kept this pace. Without warning, he summoned every ounce of his divine power. The sky darkened as rolling thunderclouds gathered above, and lightning poured down in torrents, striking like a celestial rainstorm. Chitauri soldiers vaporized in blinding flashes, obliterated instantly.
Even Tony's foes weren't spared—the storm consumed them too.
"Seriously, Thor? That's cheating!" Tony shouted, half in protest, half in awe.
Thor smirked. "What's the matter, Stark? Can't keep up?"
The God of Thunder pulled the lightning back into himself, his presence blazing like a deity descending from the heavens. Then he turned his gaze upward and roared into the dark heart of the wormhole.
"Can… humans even do that?"
On the streets below, the civilians had long since stopped running. Minutes ago, they'd been convinced the alien invasion meant certain death. Now, they stared upward, some frozen in awe, others holding up their phones to record or stream the battle.
They recognized Iron Man, but the other figures in the sky were strangers—unknown warriors with godlike power, fighting for their city.
At first, the sheer size and ugliness of the Chitauri force made everyone fear for the heroes' survival. But after witnessing Thor's apocalyptic lightning strike, their fear turned to stunned disbelief.
Could such beings really be human? Or were they gods walking the Earth?
Even Nick Fury, watching remotely, couldn't hide his relief. "Hill, stand by. Looks like we won't even need to get involved."
Still, a twinge of frustration tightened his voice.
"Shame they're not under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s command… they'd have made a hell of an Avengers lineup."
"Mm, now this is entertainment. Way better live than in a theater."
In stark contrast to the chaos, Felix lounged atop the attic of the New York Sanctum, sipping tea as if the alien invasion were just a passing show. Beside him, a small barbecue grill sizzled, skewers of meat slowly turning over the flames, filling the air with savory aromas.
He had sensed the wormhole's appearance the moment it opened, yet made no move to seize the Tesseract. Instead, he enjoyed the fight from afar, utterly relaxed.
If Tony knew Felix was sitting here eating barbecue while they fought tooth and nail, he might just abandon the battlefield to come throttle him personally.
"Well," Felix mused, biting into a skewer, "at this rate, they'll finish soon enough. Once they do, I'll step in and claim the Tesseract."
Meanwhile, in a secluded street, a sudden flash of white light revealed four figures clad in crisp white uniforms. They appeared out of nowhere, materializing in the empty space as if by magic.
Fortunately, no civilians were nearby to witness their arrival.
"Split up," ordered the one carrying a round shield. "Two targets are in the suburbs, one in the city center. Be cautious—time is limited, and we can't be discovered in this world."
One of them frowned.
"Wait a minute… something's wrong. Wasn't this place supposed to be in ruins? Why does it look perfectly intact?"
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