May 4, 2012. The day the sky tore open above Manhattan.
Alex had been awake for thirty-six hours straight. Aether's final alert had come at 3:17 a.m.: *Tesseract energy spike confirmed. Portal initiation in progress. Chitauri deployment imminent.*
He was already moving.
Dressed in dark cargo pants, black hoodie, lightweight tactical vest hidden underneath, and a baseball cap pulled low, he blended into the early-morning commuters. A compact backpack held the essentials: trauma kit, water, protein bars, folding knife, and a small EMP device he'd built using Stark-derived schematics—single-use, short-range, meant to disrupt Chitauri tech in a pinch. No mask. No cape. Just preparation.
His drones—fifteen stealth units—were already aloft, loitering in holding patterns over key Manhattan zones. Aether coordinated them from the storage-unit server farm, feeding him real-time overlays through a single earpiece and a burner phone screen.
The first explosions hit just after 2 p.m.
Alex was on the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge when the portal bloomed, a swirling blue wound in the sky. Chitauri skimmers screamed through. The city's pulse shifted from normal chaos to raw panic.
His first priority: the bridge.
Traffic had frozen. People abandoned cars, ran on foot, screamed. A Leviathan crashed into the suspension cables two hundred yards ahead, shaking the entire structure. Metal groaned. A minivan teetered on the edge.
Alex sprinted.
He reached the van as it tipped. Super-soldier strength let him brace the rear bumper; reflexes let him yank the rear door open before it locked. A mother and two kids inside, frozen in terror.
"Out—now!" he barked, calm but commanding.
They scrambled. He lifted the younger child under one arm, grabbed the mother's hand, and hauled them toward the Brooklyn side. Behind him, a Chitauri skimmer strafed the bridge deck. Alex shoved the family behind an abandoned SUV, rolled, and fired a quick burst from a scavenged police pistol he'd picked up from a fallen officer. The shots were precise—center mass on the skimmer's energy core. It spiraled and crashed into the river.
He didn't stop to celebrate. He just kept moving.
Aether's voice crackled: "Leviathan trajectory corrected. Times Square cluster forming. Civilian density: 4,800 per block. Projected casualties without intervention: 1,900."
Alex gritted his teeth. "Redirect swarm to Times Square. Drop med-kits at 7th and 45th. I'm heading to Grand Central."
He ran.
The streets were a warzone: overturned taxis, burning storefronts, civilians fleeing in every direction. Chitauri soldiers marched in loose squads, firing indiscriminately. Alex moved like a ghost—using alleys, ducked behind cars, only engaging when he had no choice.
At Grand Central, the concourse was packed—people trapped inside when the fighting started. A Leviathan had crashed through the roof; debris blocked the main exits. Screams echoed off marble.
Alex slipped in through a side maintenance door. Inside: chaos. Smoke. Blood. A young woman pinned under a fallen beam, leg crushed. A man trying to lift it alone, failing.
Alex didn't hesitate. He braced the beam—peak-human strength plus gamma resilience making it possible—and lifted. "Pull her out!"
The man dragged the woman free. Alex lowered the beam gently, then knelt to apply a tourniquet from his kit. "Keep pressure here. Help's coming."
He moved on, directing people toward the lower-level emergency exits he'd scouted weeks earlier. "Stay low, move fast, don't bunch up!"
Aether pinged: "Opportunity detected. Fallen Asgardian warrior, 47th Street. Blood trace viable."
Alex cursed under his breath but altered course. He found the warrior—a burly man in cracked armor—slumped against a wall, bleeding from multiple wounds. Chitauri corpses littered the street around him. He was still breathing.
Alex knelt, pretending to check for a pulse. His fingers brushed the man's gauntlet. Skin contact. Blood on his sleeve.
*[DNA Sample: Asgardian (Einherjar caste). Analysis: Enhanced physiology – Superhuman strength (+4.8σ), Extreme durability (+5.1σ), Accelerated healing (+4.9σ), Extended longevity (millennia baseline). Energy resistance (minor). Risks: Metabolic mismatch, potential density incompatibility.]*
*[Selective Copy Recommendations: Stamina & Durability +1.2σ, Longevity markers +0.8σ (partial). Defer full strength suite. Copy?]*
*Yes. Stamina and longevity only.*
The transfer felt like liquid sunlight pouring into his veins. Fatigue vanished. His heartbeat steadied. Cuts he'd taken in the last hour closed mid-stride. He felt… deeper. Like he could run for days.
He left the warrior with a pressure bandage and moved on.
Next: a Chitauri skimmer downed near Bryant Park. Alex scavenged a piece of its armor plating—still warm, etched with alien circuitry. Aether would love it later.
*[DNA Trace: Chitauri soldier (via armor residue). Analysis: Alien physiology – Enhanced reflexes, Energy weapon compatibility, Minor hive-mind resistance.]*
*[Selective Copy: Reflex boost +0.7σ, Energy resistance (partial). Copy?]*
Taken.
By late afternoon, the Avengers had arrived. Thor's lightning cracked across the sky. Hulk roared. Iron Man streaked overhead. Alex stayed low, feeding Aether data: Chitauri numbers, weak points, civilian clusters. Anonymous tips went to SHIELD channels through encrypted proxies.
When the nuke came—Stark carrying it toward the portal—Alex was on a rooftop near 42nd Street. He watched the arc of white light disappear into the sky.
Then silence.
The portal closed. The Chitauri collapsed.
The city exhaled.
Alex didn't cheer. He spent the next four hours moving from block to block: helping paramedics, directing dazed civilians to triage points, distributing the last of his supplies. Only when the last drone battery died did he finally stop.
He found a quiet alley, sat against a wall, and let the exhaustion crash in. His body was fine—Asgardian stamina kept him upright—but his mind was heavy. The interface tallied the day:
*[Civilian Casualty Mitigation: Estimated 62–78% reduction in Manhattan grid. Personal contribution: 1,400–2,100 lives indirectly saved.]*
*[New Acquisitions: Asgardian Stamina & Longevity (partial), Chitauri Energy Resistance (partial). Cumulative lifespan projection: +80–120 years. Familial transfer pending.]*
*[Aether Status: 9/15 drones recoverable. Data haul: 3.7 TB of battlefield telemetry.]*
Alex closed his eyes. Somewhere nearby, the Avengers were gathering, probably arguing about shawarma.
He pulled out his phone, sent a single encrypted text to Elena:
*Safe. Coming home soon. Love you.*
Then he stood, dusted off his hoodie, and started the long walk back to Brooklyn.
The battle was over.
But the grind never stopped.
(Word count: 1007)