"Stop babbling and run, you idiot!"
A soldier who had just led his team in eliminating several Chitauri shouted at Axel before continuing to escort the terrified civilians toward a nearby underground parking garage.
The citizens did not spare Axel a second glance. Survival was their only concern. They followed the soldier in a panicked rush, quickly running past Axel and disappearing down the street.
After they left, Axel calmly took another sip of cola.
Then he looked up at the Chitauri chasing after them.
Every Chitauri invading New York shared a collective consciousness. When two of them died earlier, the rest had already registered the threat.
From the sky, several Chitauri airships locked onto Axel.
Blue energy beams rained down toward him.
The moment they recognized him as the same man from the fast food restaurant, their targeting systems adjusted. Axel instantly became a higher priority than the fleeing civilians.
A dozen missiles launched from the airships.
They streaked toward Axel.
Axel grinned.
He took a large gulp of cola.
Then he suddenly bent his knees and jumped.
The ground beneath him cracked as he launched into the sky.
Within seconds he had soared nearly eight hundred meters into the air, high enough to see the burning chaos of the entire city below.
Missiles detonated uselessly far beneath him.
A moment later, Axel fell.
He clutched the cola in one hand as gravity pulled him downward.
Golden light flashed on a nearby rooftop.
Axel crashed down heavily onto it.
Thud.
The rooftop belonged to the New York Sanctum, and standing there was a bald woman casting glowing golden spells.
The Ancient One.
She had been slicing through Chitauri soldiers with spinning magical constructs.
When Axel landed, she paused.
Her calm eyes immediately locked onto him.
For a brief moment the rooftop became silent except for distant explosions.
The Ancient One frowned slightly.
Her right hand rotated in a smooth motion.
Golden rings formed instantly.
Swish. Swish. Swish.
Dozens of Chitauri in the air were sliced cleanly in half by magical blades.
Only after clearing the immediate threats did she step forward to the edge of the roof and look at Axel.
Axel grinned.
"Heh, I'm new around here, so I figured I'd come say hello, Ancient One."
The Ancient One sighed softly.
"This is troublesome."
Before Axel could react, she pushed forward with both hands.
A burst of magical force slammed into him.
Axel was instantly shoved off the rooftop.
While falling, flames burst around his body.
He corrected his position and landed right back on the rooftop again.
"Master..."
He took another long drink of cola.
"Don't be discriminatory, alright? I'm here to have some serious fun."
The Ancient One looked at him calmly.
"I am also seriously telling you that I cannot manage you."
She brought her palms together.
"I hope you enjoy your time."
Clap.
As her hands met, countless magical sigils appeared around the New York Sanctum.
The building vanished behind layers of powerful concealment spells.
Even if the Chitauri searched the entire city, they would not detect it.
Axel, who was being pushed away again by magical force, laughed loudly.
"Since that's the case, I'll take that as my visa getting approved!"
He began falling through the air again.
"So when I get rich in the future, don't come asking for a cut!"
Mid fall, Axel adjusted his posture.
He kicked off the wall of a nearby building to launch himself away.
Then he froze.
"Ah shit."
The wall cracked.
Half his body slammed through it and got stuck inside the building.
"Ah ah ah ah ah!"
Inside the apartment, two women screamed in terror.
Several pillows immediately flew toward Axel's exposed backside.
They bombarded him repeatedly while shouting hysterically.
Axel's face darkened.
He pulled himself out of the broken wall and stuck his head inside the apartment.
"What the hell are you laughing at?"
He glared at them.
"Do you want to die?"
The women screamed even louder.
Axel snorted and pushed off the wall with controlled force.
This time he launched away properly.
Unfortunately the remaining pressure still caused the entire wall to collapse behind him.
Axel shot through the air like a missile.
Two unlucky Chitauri soldiers flying nearby were instantly smashed apart when he crashed through them.
Green alien fluid scattered through the sky.
Axel landed on another rooftop.
Then he jumped again.
Three leaps later he had already crossed several kilometers.
He arrived directly above Stark Tower in Manhattan.
As his figure streaked past the glowing portal in the sky, several people finally noticed him.
High above the New York Stock Exchange, Thor frowned.
"What the hell was that?"
Thor raised Mjolnir and summoned several bolts of lightning toward the portal.
Meanwhile Axel had already landed on a platform attached to Stark Tower.
It was the platform Tony Stark used to land and change armor.
Axel kicked open the door and walked inside.
He immediately spotted the liquor cabinet.
"Now we're talking."
He tossed the empty cola aside and grabbed a bottle of whiskey.
Just as he turned back toward the roof, a calm mechanical voice spoke.
"Sir, I must remind you that you do not have authorization to enter this building."
Axel rolled his eyes.
"Don't be stupid, buddy."
He uncorked the whiskey.
"Loki can enter your tower. The Chitauri can enter your tower. Why the hell can't I?"
Ignoring the AI, Axel walked over to a couch and casually lifted it onto his shoulder.
Then he carried both the couch and the whiskey upstairs.
With one kick he smashed through the roof of Stark Tower and stepped onto the platform where the Tesseract portal device was operating.
The violent entrance knocked Professor Erik Selvig aside.
Selvig crashed onto the rooftop.
His head struck the floor hard.
The dark influence clouding his eyes slowly faded.
When his vision cleared, he stared at the glowing Tesseract device with horror.
"I... what have I done?"
He stumbled toward the edge of the roof.
Below him, Manhattan was drowning in destruction.
Selvig trembled.
"This is a nightmare..."
Axel set the couch down near the edge of the building.
"No."
He sat comfortably and poured himself a drink.
"This is a fantastic reminder."
He gestured toward the battlefield.
"And a damn impressive blockbuster."
Selvig looked at him in disbelief.
Axel patted the empty seat beside him.
"Come watch with me."
He took another drink.
"This view is too good to waste."
Then he added casually,
"Oh right, introductions. I'm Axel."
Selvig swallowed nervously.
"D... Doctor Erik Selvig."
Still trembling, Selvig slowly approached him.
As he walked, he couldn't stop himself from speaking.
"I've never seen you before. Even when Loki controlled me, I never encountered you."
He stared at Axel.
"So who are you?"
His voice grew louder.
"What kind of person watches this tragedy like it's entertainment?"
He gestured at the city.
"This is the greatest disaster humanity has faced since World War II, and you're sitting here enjoying it like it's a movie!"
Axel groaned loudly.
"Oh for fuck's sake."
He stood up and walked toward Selvig.
From the broken roof he picked up a long piece of exposed steel rebar.
With one hand he bent the metal into a loop.
Then he shoved it around Selvig's mouth like a crude gag.
Selvig's words instantly became muffled noises.
Axel grabbed the rebar ring and dragged him to the couch.
Then he sat down again and took another drink.
"Now that's better."
He glanced at the battlefield again.
"Why can't I enjoy the view?"
He looked at Selvig.
"Did I research the Tesseract?"
He pointed at the portal.
"Did I bring the Chitauri here?"
He pointed down at the burning streets.
"Did I personally kill those people?"
Axel shrugged.
"This whole mess has nothing to do with me."
He leaned back comfortably.
"So why the hell can't I enjoy it?"
Selvig trembled silently.
Axel pointed toward the sky.
"Besides, look at that."
Thor was charging across the battlefield, leaping from the New York Stock Exchange building onto the back of a massive Chitauri Leviathan.
Lightning exploded across its body.
"Beautiful."
Axel pointed again.
Far away, Hulk launched himself through the air and slammed onto another Leviathan.
The enormous creature crashed into a skyscraper.
"That one is even better."
Iron Man streaked across the sky next.
Instead of fancy tactics, Tony Stark simply smashed straight through a Leviathan at full speed.
The monster exploded apart.
Axel whistled.
"Not bad for the smartest guy on Earth."
He then glanced toward Hawkeye fighting on the street.
Clint had already run out of arrows and was forced into close combat.
Axel looked for a second.
Then he waved dismissively.
"Forget that guy."
He leaned back again.
"The first three are way better."
He laughed.
"The other ground fighters are just showing their asses down there."
Axel grabbed Selvig by the shoulder and shook him slightly.
"So tell me, old buddy."
He pointed again toward the battlefield.
"What do you see?"
Selvig pointed desperately at the metal gag around his mouth.
Axel laughed.
"Haha, I'm just going to assume you answered wrong."
He raised his whiskey bottle.
"You know what I see?"
His eyes gleamed with excitement.
"I see courage."
He pointed directly at the Chitauri soldiers.
"Look at these idiots."
Chitauri troops were charging endlessly at the Avengers, even as they were slaughtered in large numbers.
"They know they're getting destroyed."
Axel grinned widely.
"And they still keep coming."
He raised his drink toward the battlefield.
"Now that's real courage."
He took another long drink.
"And courage like that is definitely worth watching."
---