Chapter 30 - Battle of New York XIV

The moment Mirio was in a position to disrupt the portal, Tony broadcasted the situation to everyone on the coms…

Jervis was the AI that managed communication amongst the Avengers, but Steve was the only person who could approve strategies…

Hence, this was Steve's choice…

Thor had been in charge of mirroring Mirio to ensure that he arrived at Stark's Tower, so with that mission accomplished, Thor's mission was now to ensure that nothing disturbed the tower…

They would only get one chance at this…

The moment Thor noticed an oncoming Chitauri Whale, he swung his hammer and collided with the Whale…

Any Midgardian would be reduced to mush with such a powerful impact, but Thor's muscles were as durable as the metal of the Chitauri, if not a bit more durable…

When his strength was not enough to deter the creature, Thor charged his body with lightning from Mjolnir, and sent a pulse of lightning into the Chitauri Whale, shocking the creature into an abrupt fall…

The Chitauri Whale and Thor smashed into the ground, tearing through buildings, businesses, bridges, and even smashing many unfortunate humans…

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With Jervis as his Primary AI, Tony had both the blessing and curse of witnessing everything happening on the entire battlefield…

More than anyone else, Tony knew what this war cost in both lives and infrastructure…

He could already calculate the billions of dollars it would take to fix the damage done to the city, and that wasn't even considering the compensation for the brave men fighting on the ground…

Even as he flew, shooting down Chitauri Chariots, Tony's mask projected ordinary men and women rushing into buildings to save acquaintances…

Men and women without armor using their bodies to block Chitauri Soldiers attacks so the children could escape…

Men and women threw rocks at Chitauri Soldiers because that was all they could do…

If anyone asked Tony who were the true heroes of this battle, Tony would instantly recognize everyone who saved lives with a near-invincible suit of armor…

Hence, even if he hated the thought, Tony would sacrifice not only Mirio but his own life to save the people who were dying below…

They didn't sign up for this…

Eventually, the pain of watching so many deaths caused Tony's usually rational mind to take certain risks…

"Ever heard of Jonah?" Tony shouted, trying to hype himself up…

"I wouldn't consider him a role model, sir…" Jervis, his loyal AI, responded…

Without any care for the risk, Tony flew straight into the jaws of a Chitauri Whale as the missiles in his suit launched left and right…

There was brief darkness, followed by the soft cushion of flesh, and then Tony felt the blast of numerous explosives…

He was tossed into the ground, smashing through several stalls and walls…

Even with armor to protect his body, Tony sustained numerous injuries…

After all, The Iron Man Suit was not one hundred percent shock-absorbent…

Each collision inside the suit was like a body slam from a Professional Wrestler, so even inside the armor, Tony was badly bruised and battered…

As he finally came to a stop, Tony could see the blaring red showing all the areas of his suit that was damaged…

It was everywhere!

Everywhere was damaged!

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Clint aimed and pulled his bow so many times that killing Chitauri became more like a game than an actual war…

This was one of the many techniques that made his aim so lethal…

Clint would always try to think of shooting his arrows like an antiquated game…

Something like Galaga – it came with thousands of patterns, but there was always a pattern to recognize…

If you knew all the patterns, you could make any shot without question…

Hence, even if it was what others considered an impossible shot, Clint could make it as long as he recognized the pattern…

"Stay in the zone…" Clint murmured, sharpening his concentration further and further, ensuring that he targeted key Chitauri Chariots that could cause a chain effect of destruction…

However, as fast as he picked them off, it was never enough…

Seeing the damage being done to their forces, several Chitauri Chariots converged on Clint's location and his concentration was broken…

---BOOOOOM---BOOOOM---BOOOOM---

A quick burst of speed, two front flips, and a couple of tucks and aerials landed Clint at the edge of the building…

Without any pause, Clint leaped off the building, attaching a thin retractable rope on the building's edge…

As he fell through the air, Clint suddenly pressed a button on his bow, and his body was tugged upwards…

Clint maneuvered his body into an ideal position, and managed to kick a chasing Chitauri off its Chariot, and then using the momentum of the Chariot, Clint rammed the transport into another Chariot…

He departed just before the collision…

The explosion sent Clint spiraling across the air, but he barely managed to fire a final arrow that pulled him through a window into the nearby building…

Fragments of broken glass were embedded into his arm as Clint rolled to disperse the momentum…

Still, an expression of pain never made its way onto his face because he was already familiar with it…

The glass shards would have to wait until the end of the battle to be removed…

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Hulk smashed everything Chitauri-like in his sights…

Even if he disliked the puny Banner, Hulk had to admit that the little intelligence he gained from a sub-conscious connection with Banner, helped him identify friends from foe…

Still, he could not control the anger in his heart, so Hulk decided to remain clear of anywhere containing too many people…

When he was around people, Hulk usually killed them by accident…

Humans were so puny after all…

As he leaped from building to building smashing Chitauri, Hulk caught sight of several Chitauri in a nearby building about to kill two human women…

He wanted to turn a blind eye to the occurrence, but the morals of Banner were also the morals of Hulk, just much angrier…

Hulk smashed into the building, shattering a chunk of the floor as he tossed the Chitauri Soldiers outside the window…

With the Chitauri gone, Hulk directly leaped through the window, not even bothering to look at the women because somewhere deep inside he knew…

He never expected a thanks…

He never wanted to see what his help was worth…

But for some reason, he attached himself to the next building and looked back…

As if to confirm what Hulk feared, the women he had saved were very much alive, but one of them had lost her arm, while the other had a broken leg…

All of that was caused just by his landing – destruction incarnate…

"Puny Humans!" Hulk roared, but it was just the way his heart cried with the anger of being unable to protect something without destroying it…

---BOOOOOM---

A massive beam of blue light shot Hulk from the building to the ground…

Before the angry giant could even respond, Chitauri Beams started raining down from the skies…

The blue beams burned Hulk's green skin mercilessly…

Even if he could tank a couple of missiles, a bombardment of Chitauri Beams was a little more than even Hulk could handle….

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Steve tossed three Chitauri Elites twenty feet away with a single hand…

He had been containing the battle on the ground, but even with his superhuman endurance, Steve was rapidly approaching his limits…

It was not only exhaustion of the body, but also the mind…

It had only been an hour fighting against the Chitauri, but it reminded Steve about the three days of constant war with the Nazis…

A stray beam tore through the air, and Steve was lucky enough to raise his shield in time, but the impact sent him crashing to the ground…

A couple of bones snapped, but Steve still rose to his feet and charged into battle once more…

Broken bones were nothing to him… even before he became a super soldier, broken bones were something he learned to cope with…

After all, he could never stay still when he saw someone being bullied…

Steve looked at the countless Chitauri Soldiers gathering around his location and smiled "And I still hate bullies!"

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Captain America's bellow into the coms was broadcasted throughout the SHIELD Hellicarriers…

Many of the Agents still operating on the damaged vessel began to tear up…

First, Coulson was killed, and Cap was about to share the same fate…

Nick had an imperceptible smile on his face when he noticed the reaction of all the Agents… even Maria's attitude became more solemn…

This was exactly what he wanted from the Avengers…

This was exactly what the world needed from the Avengers…

To fight the battles that the world could not, and especially to inspire the people that a spy like himself could not…

Fury knew that many Agents would take a bullet for him, but for Captain America, these soldiers would not only take a bullet, but they would also get up and take another bullet…

That was the difference between a Commander and someone who truly touched the hearts of those he led…

"Sir, two unauthorized jets are being activated from Hangar Ten…" Maria reported, a frown growing on her face…

Without any pause, Fury dashed to towards the door, bringing his handy Bazooka along for good measure…

The moment he made it outside, Fury managed to cripple the landing gear of one jet, but another jet managed to escape undamaged…

And that jet was carrying a payload made from the Infinity Stone itself…

It was something that Fury never planned to use on Earth, but he had to make empty promises for the project to be approved…

Never would he have thought that his empty promise would become plenty on this day…