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Steve looked at the arriving Steel Soldiers, a ten-dollar bill suddenly feeling heavy in his pocket. "Fury didn't tell me about these things."
"Because those aren't S.H.I.E.L.D.'s," Natasha replied, a flicker of memory in her eyes. She recalled how these very machines had caused considerable unrest in New York not long ago.
Steve, still processing, called out over the comms, "Stark, did you see that?"
"I saw it—very surprising," Tony's voice crackled back. The Steel Soldiers had just efficiently dispatched the Chitauri swarming him, allowing him to turn his attention back to the massive Chitauri Leviathan he was kiting. "Has Banner arrived yet? Notify me immediately if there's any news."
To deal with a monster that big, Tony figured, you probably needed another monster.
He had Jarvis analyzing the Leviathan's weak points, but that wasn't a quick process.
Just then, a colossal roaring sound ripped through the air.
Tony immediately demanded, "Jarvis, what's that sound?"
"Sir," Jarvis replied, his tone as calm as ever, "something is falling—fast."
"What?"
Tony looked up and saw a huge metal box plummeting rapidly from the sky.
Like a fiery meteor, it slammed heavily into the Chitauri Leviathan.
The whale-like behemoth let out a metallic shriek, its massive body beginning to descend. From above, two crackling electric whips snaked out with impossible speed, wrapped around the Leviathan's maw, and yanked, forcing it to change trajectory mid-air.
The Leviathan crashed heavily onto the ground. On its now-grounded back, a metal armor over two meters tall stood, retracting its electric whips.
In that instant, Tony recognized the figure.
That familiar whip, coupled with the brutally fierce armor design, made Tony's heart skip a beat. A name flashed in his mind.
"Ivan."
Ivan Vanko swaggered up to the weapon box that had just brought down the Leviathan. This container was far larger than his standard Fighter Armor, with a prominent circular hole in its center.
The arm of his Fighter Armor inserted itself into the box's opening, grasped a handle within, and rotated.
The entire weapon box disassembled, its components breaking apart and then reassembling onto Ivan's armor.
In moments, the originally slender Fighter Armor bulked up several times. Three floating cannons, tracking its movements, materialized beside it. A two-meter-long greatsword, glowing with a crimson light, appeared in its right hand.
Ivan gripped the greatsword in a reverse hold and, facing the downed Leviathan at his feet, plunged it deep into the creature's armored hide. The high temperature and intense vibrations of the blade allowed it to slice through the Leviathan like a hot knife through butter.
His left hand launched a missile that shot directly into the gaping gash. The heavily armored Fighter then jetted off just as the Leviathan on the street exploded from within, its body erupting into a rain of metallic debris that filled the sky.
Ivan let out a cruel, triumphant laugh. "Kill them!"
The three floating cannons, following his command, began to continuously fire deadly, precise strikes. Ivan, now in his enhanced "Air Force" mode Fighter Armor, swung his massive greatsword and charged headlong towards the Chitauri soldiers.
Wherever he passed, Chitauri were either bisected or obliterated by the countless weapons integrated into his suit.
The sheer brutality of his assault left even Tony momentarily dumbfounded. Fortunately, Ivan was fighting aliens; if they were humans, his firepower alone would be equivalent to an entire army.
With the Fighter Armor in Air Force mode joining the fray, another Chitauri Leviathan was decisively destroyed.
Meanwhile, the battle between Loki and Thor had also reached a fever pitch.
Seeing the city laid waste around them, Thor was consumed by grief and righteous anger.
"Look at this!" he roared, gesturing at the destruction. "Look around you!"
In their struggle, Thor's voice was thick with fury. "Do you think this—this devastation—will end with your rule?"
Loki was forced to look, and he saw nothing but devastation everywhere. Did he truly desire to rule a kingdom of ashes?
"It's too late," Loki shook his head, a glint of something that might have been tears in his eyes. "It can't be stopped."
"No—we'll stop it together." Thor saw the flicker of regret on his brother's face. His voice lost its previous harshness, and the strength in his grip unconsciously lessened.
But the regret on Loki's face vanished as quickly as it appeared, replaced by a cunning, treacherous smile.
Thor realized his mistake too late—Loki backhanded a sharp blade, plunging it deep into Thor's abdomen.
Looking again, there was no regret, no tearful light on Loki's face—only a contemptuous sneer. "Sentimental."
If one chose invasion, one had to be prepared for destruction. Loki mocked his own brother's fleeting hope.
Thor, betrayed and enraged, erupted with a furious attack, sending Loki flying with his bare hands. The Mind Scepter clattered from Loki's grasp. Lifting Loki and slamming him down heavily, Thor was about to step forward and subdue him.
But Loki suddenly grabbed Thor's ankles with both hands. His eyes turned an icy blue, and a stream of white gas, colder than death, escaped his lips.
Ice rapidly condensed, encasing Thor's legs. Thor's expression changed as Loki, propping himself up with one hand, kicked him away with a malicious smile.
"The Casket of Ancient Winters?!" Thor exclaimed, recognizing the terrifying power.
His legs frozen solid, Thor immediately raised his hand to summon Mjolnir.
"My dear brother," Loki said, his smile widening, "I won't continue playing these games with you."
He took a step back, his body stepping into the air and falling rapidly.
Summoning Mjolnir to blast away the ice encasing his feet, Thor stood and gave chase, only to find that Loki had already commandeered a Chitauri flier and was speeding away.
Clutching his injured abdomen, Thor pulled out the sharp blade and threw it to the ground. He wanted to pursue Loki, but looking up, he saw a new, even larger Leviathan emerging from the opened spatial portal.
The top priority now was to close that portal.
Loki, seated on the flier, glanced back at the Taran Industries building, a chillingly satisfied look in his eyes.
Inside the top-floor office of the Taran Industries building.
John was covered by a thick layer of ice, his pupils beginning to contract.
Hiss—
Whoosh—
The faint sounds of breathing began.
Looking closely, the ice layer on his body was gradually—impossibly—shrinking. Not a single drop of water pooled on the ground. The ice simply became weaker and weaker until finally, it seemed to melt into John's skin, bit by bit.
All the cold that had bound him, the power of the Casket itself, completely disappeared.
John let out a deep, shuddering breath. The white vapor that escaped his lips passed over a cactus in the office, instantly turning it into brittle ice shards that shattered on the floor.
John moved his arms, his gaze sweeping over the damaged office. He shook his head. "I was actually tricked."
He didn't remember Loki possessing such a direct, overwhelming ice power—or the Casket of Ancient Winters itself.
"It seems the Ancient One was right," he murmured. "The plot has indeed changed."
John raised his right hand. A shattered mirror in the corner of the room rapidly reassembled itself. He pulled open his collar and looked at the distinct, square mark on his chest.
Frowning tightly, John wondered aloud, "Is there another Casket of Ancient Winters in this world?"
His thoughts flashed back to his school days—a sealed gate encountered in an ancient graveyard where Dragons were once buried. Inside, a terrifying magic box constantly radiating an unnatural, consuming cold. He had eventually used complex alchemical methods to transport it elsewhere, a problem that remained, in some ways, unsolved to this day. He had been almost frozen forever in that Dragon's tomb because of that artifact. Only thanks to his teacher had he overcome that ordeal.
And this mark on his chest—it was a gift his teacher had left him, a consequence of dealing with that very thing.
John dispelled the magic, letting the mirror shatter again. He turned and looked out the floor-to-ceiling window.
The sky was a chaotic canvas of Chitauri soldiers bombing New York. Giant Leviathans collided with buildings, causing them to collapse in plumes of dust and fire. Perhaps this was what a true doomsday scene looked like.
"People think this is the greatest suffering," John mused, his voice soft, "not knowing it's just the prelude to suffering."
He watched the unfolding collapse of New York—the people running for their lives, those who survived this catastrophe likely thinking it was a divine blessing. They wouldn't know that years later, another alien from a world beyond their own would come here and, with a snap of his fingers, bring a different kind of silence. Perhaps some lucky few would survive that too, but they would also have to endure the agonizing pain of losing their loved ones.
"Am I destiny?" John lowered his gaze, looking down at the disaster unfolding below. "Destiny?"
He paused. "It's certainly lively."
John waved his wand and disappeared from within the building.
It was time for him to find some help.
Tony was luring a massive Leviathan in a wide, circling pattern.
The rest of the Avengers had gathered on the ground, dealing with the Chitauri soldiers swarming the streets.
They watched as Bruce Banner approached on a sputtering motorcycle.
Banner had changed clothes; presumably, his previous pants had been thoroughly ruined by the Hulk.
Stopping the motorcycle, Banner asked, his voice surprisingly calm, "So, the situation is pretty bad now?"
Natasha looked at him, a fleeting image of the Hulk's punch flashing through her mind. "I've seen worse."
Banner looked genuinely guilty. "I'm sorry."
Natasha knew it wasn't the time to dwell on it. "It's okay," she said, a grim determination in her eyes. "We need 'worse' now."
They needed the Hulk.
Banner understood. That was why he had come.
"Stark, we found him," Steve notified Tony over the comms.
"Tell him to get ready," Tony's voice came back, strained but resolute. "The party is about to start."
Upon receiving the news, Tony immediately began to pull the giant Leviathan towards their location.
The next second, they saw Iron Man flying towards them—with a colossal, enraged Leviathan hot on his tail.
Banner knew it was his turn to act. He turned to face the oncoming threat.
"Dr. Banner," Steve called out to him, "now is a good time for you to get angry."
"Let me tell you a secret, Captain," Banner said, walking towards the approaching Leviathan, a strange calm settling over him. "I'm always angry."
His clothes burst open. His body began to inflate.
Swelling.
Swelling…
Rrrrip.
Clearly, even these extra-large pants were no match for a rapidly expanding green giant. Just as a rather unfortunate green posterior was about to be displayed for all the Avengers—and any surviving Chitauri—to see, a brand-new pair of super-stretch pants materialized, snapping into place and saving the Hulk's dignity.
It also successfully prevented Thor's future traumatic viewing experience on Sakaar from occurring prematurely, thereby preserving the collective physical and mental health of the Avengers.
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