Because he was not far from New York, Bruce Banner could already see the massive blue energy beam shooting into the sky from Stark Tower, along with the enormous portal opening above the city.
Alien forces were pouring through the portal.
Banner immediately accelerated his old motorcycle and headed toward Manhattan.
At the same time—
The containment pod carrying Thor was rapidly falling toward the ground.
Just before it smashed into the earth—
Thor broke through the metal shell with brute force and flew out.
He raised Mjolnir.
Lightning surged across the sky.
Thunder roared.
Thor summoned his armor back onto his body, then spun Mjolnir and launched himself toward New York.
BOOM—!
BANG—!
Meanwhile, Tony Stark was fighting alone in the sky.
Chitauri soldiers continued pouring out of the portal.
Even though Tony destroyed many of them, countless others still slipped past him and flew into the city.
They immediately began attacking civilians, vehicles, and buildings.
To the Chitauri army, anything alive was a target.
Soon, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton arrived in the Quinjet.
Natasha opened fire on the Chitauri with the jet's weapons.
But the alien army was overwhelming.
Her attacks were barely making a dent.
Soon the Quinjet itself was hit and began spiraling downward.
BOOM—!
The aircraft crashed into the street.
Before it hit the ground, Steve, Natasha, and Hawkeye jumped out.
They immediately joined the battle.
Hawkeye took a high vantage point and began firing arrows rapidly.
Almost every arrow he shot hit a target.
One by one, Chitauri soldiers fell from the sky.
From the Mirror Dimension, Karl watched the battlefield calmly.
What interested him most was not the battle itself.
He was curious whether anyone would travel back to this point in time again.
After all, he had already changed many events.
If the timeline had shifted enough, perhaps no one would travel back at all.
On the battlefield, Steve and the others were stunned by what they saw.
Tony was wearing a massive armored suit and tearing through the Chitauri army.
The armor had not even been damaged.
Tony was unleashing his full firepower.
Tony's original armor already contained four new-element arc reactors.
Now this massive armor had six more installed.
That meant Tony had a total of ten arc reactors supplying energy.
Combined with the vibranium construction, the armor's durability and power were terrifying.
Tony was essentially rampaging across the battlefield.
BOOM—!
A massive Chitauri Leviathan emerged from the portal.
In the original timeline, Tony had guided the creature toward Hulk.
But now things were different.
Tony charged forward alone.
His armor shifted.
Several vibranium blades extended from the suit.
Tony accelerated at full speed and flew straight into the Leviathan's mouth.
Moments later—
He burst out through the creature's back.
The gigantic alien beast collapsed and crashed into the streets below.
Steve and the others stared in disbelief.
ROAR—!
Just then, Banner finally arrived on his motorcycle.
He stopped beside Steve.
Steve looked at him.
"Now might be a good time for you to get angry."
Banner calmly stepped forward.
"That's my secret, Captain."
"I'm always angry."
His skin turned green.
His body rapidly expanded.
Within seconds—
The Hulk appeared.
Hulk immediately leapt forward and began smashing every Chitauri soldier in sight.
The battle escalated instantly.
Steve, Natasha, and Hawkeye began clearing the alien soldiers scattered across the streets.
Meanwhile, Tony and Hulk focused on fighting the enormous Leviathans in the sky.
The World Security Council watched everything through satellite feeds.
At that moment—
Thunder suddenly exploded across the battlefield.
CRACK—!
Thor descended from the sky.
Lightning surged around him.
Mjolnir released a devastating bolt of lightning that wiped out dozens of Chitauri soldiers in the air.
Thor then positioned himself near the portal.
He continuously unleashed lightning attacks upward, slowing the alien invasion.
This greatly reduced the pressure on Tony and the others below.
Steve and his team began rescuing trapped civilians throughout the city.
At that moment—
Hawkeye spotted Loki.
Without hesitation, he fired an arrow.
Loki caught the arrow easily.
He smirked.
After all, Hawkeye had been under his control for hours earlier.
He believed he understood Hawkeye's tricks.
But Loki forgot one thing.
Many of Hawkeye's arrows explode.
BOOM—!
The arrow detonated instantly.
Loki and his flying vehicle were blasted away.
He crashed onto the roof of Stark Tower.
Seeing this, Thor descended from the sky and landed beside Loki.
"Enough!"
"Close the portal!"
Thor demanded.
But Loki tricked him once again.
Suddenly—
Loki stabbed Thor in the abdomen with a hidden dagger.
From the Mirror Dimension, Karl watched the familiar scene unfold.
He shook his head slightly.
Either Thor was incredibly foolish—
Or he truly loved his brother.
Thor had been deceived by Loki countless times.
Yet he still trusted him.
Perhaps that was what family meant.
At the same time, Karl continued observing the battlefield carefully.
He was looking for something very specific.
He wanted to know whether future versions of Tony might appear.
In the original timeline, Tony and the others believed no one noticed their time travel.
But in reality, two entities had discovered them.
The first was the Ancient One, the Sorcerer Supreme.
She had knocked Banner's soul out of Hulk's body with a single strike.
The second was J.A.R.V.I.S. himself.
When future Tony entered Stark Tower, JARVIS had noticed immediately.
After all, two identical bosses suddenly appearing in the tower was impossible to ignore.
The future Tony was older.
His posture was slightly different.
JARVIS could easily deduce that he was a version of Tony from the future.
Yet JARVIS chose not to say anything.
He did not question him.
He did not inform the present Tony either.
Later, when Tony left Stark Tower, JARVIS quietly spoke a sentence.
But Tony never heard it.
As for whether anyone else in the shadows noticed—
That remained unknown.
The Marvel universe was full of powerful beings.
Entities such as the Watchers might have been observing everything.
Karl himself could not be certain.
Meanwhile—
While Tony and the others fought desperately in New York—
Nick Fury received a transmission from the World Security Council.
They had decided to launch a nuclear missile.
Fury immediately refused.
But the council bypassed him and issued the launch order directly to the pilots.
Realizing what was happening, Fury rushed onto the Helicarrier's deck.
He grabbed a rocket launcher.
Then he fired at the fighter jet that was preparing to launch.
BOOM—!
The rocket hit the aircraft's tail.
The jet was damaged and could not take off.
"Damn it!"
Fury cursed.
Because another fighter had already launched.
That aircraft was carrying the nuclear warhead.
It was flying directly toward New York.
No one knew whether the council intended to destroy the Chitauri—
Or simply eliminate everyone involved in the battle.
Tony.
Hulk.
Thor.
Everyone.
But Fury understood the consequences perfectly.
Setting aside Tony and the others—
New York itself was his home.
If a nuclear bomb detonated in the city, the destruction would be unimaginable.
And if Thor, the Prince of Asgard, were killed by a nuclear weapon—
The consequences would be catastrophic.
Even Karl might completely lose control.
Tony was Karl's closest friend.
Fury immediately opened a communication channel.
"Tony!"
"Tony, listen to me!"
"A fighter carrying a nuclear missile is heading toward your location!"
"You need to stop it!"
"If you can't…"
"Call him immediately!"
"Otherwise we're all finished!"
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