"Everyone, I need a higher vantage point."
Barton's voice sounded through the team's earpieces.
"I've got you," Stark replied immediately.
He changed direction, located Barton, and carried him straight to the rooftop of a nearby building before turning back at once to reengage the Chitauri.
At the same time, another Leviathan beast emerged from the rift. Its enormous body smashed straight through a building, reducing it to rubble.
Seeing this, Lucas acted without hesitation. He slashed several times in rapid succession, countless wind blades tearing through the Leviathan's armor. Thick green blood sprayed everywhere.
"ROOOAR—!!"
The Leviathan let out a furious howl and charged straight at Lucas. Its massive jaws opened wide—and in a single bite, it swallowed him whole.
"Lucas!!"
In the chaos, only Tony saw Lucas being devoured. He rushed toward the Leviathan at full speed, laser emitters deploying from his arms.
Just as Tony was about to fire, the Leviathan's abdomen suddenly exploded.
Boom—!!
Countless wind blades burst outward from within, instantly dismembering the creature. Its massive body was torn apart into chunks of flesh that rained down from the sky.
Lucas hovered calmly in midair, his cloak wrapping around him protectively. He was completely uninjured.
"You scared the hell out of me," Tony muttered. "I thought I'd have to wait until that thing digested you before seeing you again."
Lucas smirked slightly. Seeing him unharmed, Tony finally relaxed.
"Where's Hulk?" Lucas asked. "That guy should be smashing Leviathans by now. Why hasn't he shown up?"
Bruce was still aboard the Quinjet. He had Natasha fly them directly above a Leviathan's head.
"Is now good, Bruce?" Natasha asked.
"It is," Bruce replied.
"Then smash away," Natasha said calmly.
Bruce shrugged. "Honestly, I've been wanting to do this for a while."
"ROOOAR—!!!"
A thunderous roar echoed across New York as a green figure dropped from the sky like a meteor, slamming straight onto the Leviathan's head. The impact knocked the massive creature sideways, sending it crashing into a building.
What followed was the sickening sound of tearing flesh. Pieces of armor were hurled out of the collapsing structure one after another. With a final boom, a gigantic severed head flew out—then Hulk emerged, charging headlong into the Chitauri without a second thought.
All the pent-up rage he had been holding back exploded at that moment.
An enraged Hulk was unstoppable—especially against enemies who relied solely on numbers.
At the top of Stark Tower, Thor and Loki were still locked in battle, but Loki was clearly losing ground. After knocking him down with a hammer strike, Thor grabbed Loki by the collar and lifted him off the ground.
"Open your eyes, Loki!" Thor shouted. "Look at what you've done! Do you really think starting a war will let you conquer this world? All you're doing is drowning it in blood—and in the end, you'll gain nothing!"
Thor demanded that Loki face reality. Having lived through war himself, Thor now understood that it brought only suffering—something Loki had yet to realize.
"It's too late, brother," Loki said weakly, his body trembling. "There's no stopping it now."
"It's not too late!" Thor insisted. "Tell me how to shut down the Tesseract, and we can still end this!"
Thor stared into Loki's eyes and saw fear there.
Then Loki suddenly smiled.
A dagger flashed, stabbing straight into Thor.
Everything before that had been an act. The God of Mischief was still the God of Mischief.
"My brother," Loki sneered, "you've always been naïve. I can't believe you still are."
Thor looked at Loki with burning fury—not just anger, but heartbreak. Even now, Loki showed no remorse.
"Loki!!"
Thor kicked him away, then closed the distance in a blur and slammed him violently into the ground.
Loki screamed. The scepter flew from his grasp and skidded across the platform. Taking advantage of the moment, Loki rolled away and landed atop a Chitauri skimmer.
"LOKI!!" Thor roared, watching him retreat.
At that moment, Barton spotted Loki in the distance. He drew his bow and released an arrow without hesitation.
Loki sensed it coming and casually caught the arrow midair.
"Hmph. How tri—"
The arrow exploded.
Caught completely off guard, Loki was blasted off the skimmer and sent flying—crashing hard onto one of Stark Tower's platforms.
On the ground, Steve continued fighting desperately against the Chitauri. Beside him, Peter, Gwen, and Felicia were visibly exhausted as well.
"This can't go on," Steve said grimly. "There are too many of them. On the ground, we're completely outmatched."
He turned to Wanda.
"I'm counting on you, Wanda. I need large-scale firepower. Skye will support you. You need to unleash your power—no holding back."
After days of working together, Steve understood Wanda's abilities. This was a risk they had to take.
"I understand, Captain," Wanda replied. "But I need the civilians cleared out first. I won't risk hurting them."
She was ready to go all out. The Chitauri were endless. With Lucas, Tony, and Natasha dominating the skies, the ground battle fell to them.
"Skye," Steve said, "use your shockwaves to form a defensive line. Don't let them advance another step."
Behind them was a subway entrance. Steve intended to move all civilians underground, but that meant they had to hold this position at all costs—no Chitauri could be allowed into the station.
"No problem, Captain."
Skye slammed her foot down. Shockwaves rippled through the ground as countless spikes erupted, forming a massive barrier within a ten-meter radius.
"Peter, Gwen, Felicia," Steve continued, "I need you to destroy the other subway entrances nearby. Make sure those aliens can't access the tunnels from anywhere else."
"Got it, Captain!"
The three immediately split off toward the other entrances.
Steve climbed onto a vehicle in front of the police and National Guard, shouting orders.
"Send teams into the surrounding buildings! Get everyone into basements or the subway—keep them off the streets! Then lock down every road in this area!"
Before he even finished speaking, several Chitauri rushed in. Steve raised his shield, blocked their attacks, and took them down with a flurry of punches and kicks. The sight left the officers staring in stunned silence.
"What are you waiting for? Move!!"
Steve barked. The police snapped out of it and immediately relayed the orders.
"Wanda, it's up to you now!"
With that, Steve joined the evacuation efforts, leaving only Wanda and Skye behind.
"Skye," Wanda said quietly, "if I lose control… knock me out with your shockwaves."
The two exchanged a knowing look.
They both understood—Skye wasn't there just to maintain the defense line.
She was there to stop Wanda if things went wrong.
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