Location: The ruins of Avengers Tower.
It was now the morning of the next day.
Rescue teams had arrived and were swarming the area.
Miraculously, most of the employees who had been trapped under the debris of the collapsed tower were pulled out alive. Tony Stark, despite his reputation, hadn't skimped on the structural integrity of the underground bunkers. His accidental foresight had saved countless lives.
The area around the crashed Dark Elf flagship had been cordoned off by SHIELD agents and military personnel, the same units that had been fighting Frost Giants in Brooklyn.
In a quiet corner of the chaos, the Avengers were gathered.
This time, Nick Fury had joined them, having flown in on a Quinjet.
He glanced at Thor, who was sitting alone, staring blankly at the ground, lost in grief. Fury knew better than to poke the bear right now.
Instead, he turned to the rest of the team, his voice grave.
"The damage to New York is catastrophic."
The heavy atmosphere, which had lightened slightly after Malekith's death, plummeted again.
Fury didn't sugarcoat it.
"Midtown and Uptown are flattened. The Harrow ships strafed the city before the crash, causing massive structural damage and civilian casualties."
"Brooklyn is even worse. Between the Frost Beast and the Frost Giants running rampant, half the borough is a war zone."
He paused, gauging their reactions.
"And it's not over. We have reports of Frost Giants and Dark Elves who broke through the containment zones. They're scattered, hiding in the city. We don't know how much more damage they'll cause."
"We're going to need your help cleaning up the stragglers."
At the mention of hunting down the remaining aliens, Thor's head snapped up.
Loki had been killed by a Dark Elf remnant. Even if Thor believed Loki deserved to answer for his crimes, being assassinated by a cowardly grunt was different from facing Asgardian justice.
If there were more of them out there... Thor wanted them.
The Avengers nodded in agreement. They had been fighting for nearly 24 hours, but the job wasn't done.
Unlike the Chitauri, who all deactivated when the mothership blew up, the Dark Elves and Frost Giants didn't have a hive mind kill-switch. They were still dangerous.
Most of the Frost Giants had been wiped out in Brooklyn—they were big, blue, and angry, making them easy targets. Plus, without the magically induced cold, they would weaken over time.
But the Dark Elves? They were humanoid, intelligent, and possessed cloaking tech. If they went to ground, rooting them out would be a nightmare.
"We're in," Steve Rogers said, speaking for the team.
Everyone nodded.
Well, almost everyone.
One person—or rather, one machine—raised a hand.
"Uh, Director... whatever-your-name-is? I'm gonna have to take a pass on the cleanup duty."
Everyone turned to look at the Haro Mech.
Nick Fury stared at the sleek, futuristic robot that had been tearing up the battlefield, then glanced at Tony, who was pretending to examine his fingernails.
"Stark," Fury said. "You haven't introduced your friend."
Steve, Natasha, and Clint were also curious. They had fought alongside the Boxer and the Haro Mech, but with everything going on, no one had asked who was inside.
Before Tony could come up with a deflection, the Haro Mech's cockpit popped open.
Inside sat... an orange ball.
A toy-like, spherical robot with flapping "ear" panels.
"Huh??"
"What is that?"
"A robot piloting a robot?"
Even the unflappable Black Widow looked stunned. They had been fighting back-to-back with a... ball?
Luca decided to drop the mystery.
The Boxer's external speakers crackled to life, syncing with the Haro Mech's audio.
"Uh, actually, both of these are me. It just felt weird talking to you guys from inside the giant junk-bot."
The Boxer raised a massive, rusty arm in a wave.
The Avengers looked between the two machines.
On one side, the Boxer: a fifty-foot-tall monstrosity of welded scrap metal and industrial refuse, looking like it rolled out of a Mad Max nightmare.
On the other side, the Haro Mech: a sleek, pristine, high-tech marvel that looked like it came from the year 3000.
It was hard to believe the same person built both.
Tony, however, was looking at the Boxer thoughtfully.
Luca said he was using the Haro to talk because it was "convenient." But he notably hadn't opened the Boxer's cockpit.
He was sending a message: You can know who I am, SHIELD can investigate me, but I'm not stepping out. I'm not joining your club.
Fury, being the spy that he was, picked up on it immediately.
He didn't push for an identity reveal. Instead, he addressed the Haro Mech as if it were a person.
"You said you can't join the cleanup. Is there a problem? SHIELD has resources. We can help."
Fury's tone was calm, reasonable, and laced with guilt-tripping.
"Every able body counts right now. Your tech could save the lives of a lot of good soldiers out there."
Ah, the classic 'With great power comes great responsibility' pitch, Luca thought. He's trying to moral high-ground me.
Luca decided to play dumb.
"Uh, it's not really a resource problem. It's just... well, school starts soon. My mom gets really mad if I miss the bus."
Fury blinked.
The Avengers blinked.
"School?" Steve repeated.
"Yeah. I mean, I'm still a minor. Gotta keep those grades up, right? Saving the world is cool and all, but have you seen the homework load these days?"