7 Battle of New York 1

{Bruce}

"You want to run that by me again?" Brandon questioned, turning his full attention to Bruce. Banner barely flinched while giving Brandon an uncertain look.

"I don't think I should go, you don't understand", Bruce began to say, "You don't actually care about who lives or dies. I do! I don't want to live with the fact while knowing that i murdered someone without even realizing it. I can't die, I've already tried killing myself. If I head there then I might kill people without meaning to."

To this, Brandon remained quiet, then in the next moment he sped at Bruce and grabbed the man by his throat. He lifted Bruce in the air as he began to speak rather darkly to the man. "Listen here, you little shit..", Brandon addressed, "I know EXACTLY what it feels like to be alone. I know EXACTLY what it feels like to be a monster. And I know EXACTLY what it feels like taking a life, both meaning to and not! I've had to live knowing that I wiped out an entire population without even meaning to! Unlike you, I had no control over myself, I didn't have a second personality where it could tell right from wrong! I had to live with the fact that something controlled me against my will and made me their bitch!"

Bruce felt darkness creep at the corners of his eyes as he was slowly being choked out. That was when Brandon dropped him to the ground, having him cough for fresh air in his lungs.

"When I fought you I thought that you were brave, fearless, strong", Brandon continued, "But no, you're nothing but a coward. You fear to use the power that you've been given. I was born with my powers, and you know what it's brought me?! Nothing but pain! I can't hold a normal person's hands! I can't speak to other people without even feeling like killing them! I'm a real monster! I'm a demon! I'm a freak! And the worst part?! I DON'T EVEN WANT TO BE LIKE THIS! WHAT YOU HAVE IS A PRIVILEGE! A PRIVILEGE TO ACTUALLY FEEL NORMAL!"

Bruce looked up at Brandon a bit confused and shocked rather than angry. Rubbing his throat, he began asking a question as Brandon let out a few pants from his rant. "But...why do you care to save Earth?" Bruce asked, then was even more shocked by Brandon's response.

"Because I live on this shithole, and there are people whose worth it to fight for." Brandon answered, his voice slowly returning back to normal. Bruce was assuming that Brandon had a special someone he cared for. Really Brandon was thinking about his dog Cade, though he didn't need to talk about it. After a few moments of collecting his thoughts, Bruce rose to his feet once more then gave Brandon a resolute gaze.

"Alright...let's go save the planet." Bruce stated, causing Brandon to slowly smirk at him then waved for the man to come over.

"You're gonna have to hold onto me, I don't wanna make the other guy come out prematurely." Brandon instructed, then waited for Bruce to get on his back. When the man did, Brandon skyrocketed into the air, heading for New York City.

Bruce held on tighter and looked around at how fast they were moving. He was getting motion sickness from how much Gs that he was feeling. "If you throw up on me, I will throw you." Brandon warned, hearing the odd sounds coming out of Bruce's body.

Bruce had originally thought that Brandon was nothing more than a psychopath. Then that was when it hit him, he judged Brandon just like everyone judged him. He didn't hurt or kill people, but he rarely had a choice in the matter. Brandon sounded as if he didn't have a choice to begin with. How he describes his powers are not the same as how he describes it. Bruce wanted to cure himself, get rid of the Hulk. But with Brandon, he has to live with his powers until the day that he dies. Bruce with a strained breathe began to speak into Brandon's ears. Causing the man to pause in mid air so suddenly that it was frightening.

"I'm sorry." Bruce said, getting Brandon to glance back at him with widened eyes.

For a moment, Brandon just looked back at Bruce in silence processing those words. Then faced forward and soared off once again, trying to get Bruce's apology out of his head. As they neared New York City, Brandon could make out the shell head himself soaring upwards and attacking a large armada of aliens coming through the hole in the sky.

'Aliens...right', Brandon thought, 'Nobody's gonna be upset with me killing aliens.' With that, Brandon went downwards and landed several blocks away from ground zero of the battle.

"This is your stop." Brandon suddenly said as he let a confused Bruce off.

"What?", Bruce questioned, "I thought that you were taking me in there. What changed? Was it the apology?"

Brandon gave Bruce a look then started to float upwards. "Dude, I just realized that you can get there yourself." Brandon answered then soared off and into battle.

{Steve Moments Ago}

"Excuse me?" Steve questioned, seated across from Fury. The man had both he and Tony sitting together before the attack on the Helicarrier. He told them something that Steve wasn't expecting.

"Thor isn't gonna be our ace against Breyer", Fury stated, "But you two are gonna have to be. He's a loose canon who could rip us apart in seconds. I want a contingency plan against him, and you guys are it."

Tony stared at Fury with an unreadable expression. Steve had a look of disbelief before leaning forward with both hands on the table. "Sir, with all due respect he's been cooperative", Steve pointed out, "The only thing that he's done that could be described as insubordination is threatening Stark."

Fury gave Steve a serious look before replying. "Captain Rogers, Breyer is a genocidal psychopath", Fury stated bluntly, "He is manipulating you to trust him. I don't trust anyone, but I definitely don't trust retired mass murderers."

At this point, Tony was the one to respond. "See now this is why I don't play well with others", Tony quipped, "I've been watching the guy and I've always wondered 'Why the dog?'. Then I started to figure it all out, and you probably thought about it but don't really care. He's got a lot more going on with himself than you care to think about. He's got a dog because of us, the only person that he's talked to for more than a minute is a damn dog. And I can understand why."

At those words, Steve sent a look at Tony and remembered how Brandon's dog seem to calm him down. This made Steve wonder, how long has it been since Brandon has last spoken to a human being? Why did he stay away from human society for more than a decade. With his powers he could have wiped out most of humanity within days. Meaning that there was something else in play here, and Brandon may not be as evil as Fury portrays him to be.

"Welp, if that's all I'm out." Tony said while rising up from his seat and heading back to the lab. Steve watched him leave, before letting out a sigh and facing Fury. The man had an uncertain look, he wasn't one to have agendas against allies. It wasn't something that he was taught nor liked. Brandon so far has been a valuable ally, why make him an enemy? So with great reluctantance, Steve rose from his seat already distrusting Fury. Then with anotber sigh leaving him, he let out a deep breathe.

"I'll have to think about it sir, just give me some time." Steve answered, then walked off. Steve may have said that, but he'd rather see Brandon's actions for himself. The young man in his opinion had changed, in Steve's eyes Brandon was a kid who lost control. Should a child be condemned to death for not knowing what they were doing? That was the dilemma that Steve was in. What really happened in Brightburn, and is Brandon Breyer truly the monster that Shield thinks he is?

{Brandon, Currently in the Midst of Battle}

Brandon sped right into one of the Chitauri fighters, blasting through the vessel with no difficulty. He stopped himself in the air, turned around, then flew back at a small swarm of them heading his way. That was when his scarlet eyes hued with power, then an optic blast came out cutting through most of the ships. The remaining few got a couple shots on him, but it hardly stopped Brandon from speeding at them and punch them out of the sky. With a turn, Brandon flew around a building and saw a woman with a child running away from Chitauri soldiers. Immediately Brandon was getting flashbacks of his time with Tori. Remembering his mother for always being there when he needed her or not. He didn't want to see a child be separated from their mother, it struck a cord with him. With narrowed eyes, he dived down coming in like a speeding bullet. When the Chitauri opened fire on the woman and her child, Brandon landed right in the way and shielded them. The plasma blasts singing his suit but not burning into his skin.

With an optic blast from his eyes, Brandon carved the Chitauri soldiers in half as if they were nothing. Their cybernetic guts spilling out as they fell onto the pavement. Brandon looked back, and saw the woman staring at him. Though he noticed that she had fear in her eyes, she was afraid of him. He knew that she was most likely horrorified by his display of power or just from his eyes. With a frown, he got ready to take off into the air. What stopped him were two simple yet very effective words.

"Thank you!" Called the child, watching Brandon with amazed and widening eyes. Brandon looked back at the child, noticing it was a brown haired boy who had a beaming smile on nis face. For a moment, Brandon just floated there and stared at the boy before slowly giving the boy a slight smile.

"No problem." He replied then soared off, leaving the woman with the child. At that moment was when he saw a Quinnjet flying towards Stark Tower. With his x-ray vision, Brandon could see the occupants inside. Steve, Natasha and someone with a bow and arrow for whatever reason. Just as they were banking up, opening fire on the Chitauri heading their way. A plasma beam hit the Quinnjet, sending it downwards.

Brandon sped towards it, and within a few seconds had caught the Quinnjet just like last time. Natasha and her friend stared at him, though Natasha was smiling at him as it she were expecting him to be there. "Can you stop falling out of the sky?" Brandon asked, before setting the damaged Quinnjet down.

Out came Steve, Natasha, and the new guy who Brandon had yet to meet. "Name's Clint, thanks for the save." Clint thanked then held his hand out for Brandon to shake it. Just like with Natasha and Steve, Brandon stared at Clint's hand and kept his hands to himself.

"Nice to meet you", Brandon greeted then looked to Steve, "Any ideas?"

Steve gave Brandon a look before looking up at Stark Tower. "I was planning on sending you up there to try and remove the Tesseract from whatever is powering that hole." Steve proposed, then frowned as Stark spoke through his earpiece.

"Can't it's impenetrable, already tried to blow it up and nothing happened." Tony warned then the group saw Thor arriving, stumbling over with a stab wound. Brandon ran over and helped Thor up and patted his shoulder.

"Fight ain't over yet." Brandon commented, getting a smile from the God of Thunder.

"Aye, I would have words with Loki." Thor replied, then got a reply out of Clint.

"Oh yeah?", He said with annoyance as he readied his bow and arrows, "Get in line."

Steve took command not long after, as he was about to tell everyone what to do, a honk was heard behind them. They watched as Bruce finally arrived on a scooter still looking the same as how Brandon left him.

"Took you long enough, what were you doing?" Brandon asmed getting a look directed at him from Bruce.

"I was trying to find another pair of clothes.." He replied sheepishlu, before getting off the scooter. Bruce looked to Natasha and began to speak to her a little awkwardly.

"This looks pretty bad, huh?" Bruce commented, getting Natasha to send a knowing look at him.

"I've seen worse." She said, remarking on how he almost killed her. Bruce nodded grimly then turned to see Tony coming around a building with a Chtauri Leviathan following him.

"I'm bringing the party to you." Tony reported, getting Natasha to stuttered out.

"I-i'm sorry I don't see how that's a party." She stuttered with bewilderment.

Brandon walked forward, holding no fear after having fought Hulk. Beside him walked Bruce, the two looking worse for wear but walked side by side. "Banner, we could really use you getting angry right about now." Steve said with a little urgency, to which Bruce looked back and spoke.

"That's my secret Cap, I'm always angry." Bruce replied, then rather quickly he started to transform into the Hulk. Both Hulk and Brandon cocked their fists back and sent them right into the Leviathan's face, stopping the beast right then and there. Tony came around and fired a missile into the Leviathan's exposed hide, blowing it up from the inside. The explosion and debris came down on the group. It was ether being tanked or pushed to the side. Brandon turned, and heard over a thousand Chitauri yelling a battle cry at them. His eyes hued with power as Hulk let out his iconic inhuman roar. The Avengers stood in a circle, looking at the Chitauri who now were focusing on them.

That was when Steve quickly issued orders to the others. Brandon wasn't paying attention until he was addressed by Steve. Before that however, Hulk growled looking at Brandon now. The caped male looked at the green goliath and eyed him. The two stood there in silence. A tense silence that didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the Avengers. Brandon smirked, then rather slowly held a fist out at the Hulk. The Hulk returned the smirk and did a fist bump with Brandon. An audible sigh of relief left the lips of the Avengers before Steve addressed Brandon. "Breyer, you're our airforce and crowd control", Steve stated, "I want you to help us out whenever you can and get as many people far from the city. Whatever gets in your way you show'em no mercy."

Brandon began to smile at Steve with a hint of bloodlust behind his eyes. He was practically being told to spill blood with nothing to worry about. He hadn't realized it until now, but he had been hoping to spill someone else's blood for years. Now was his chance, to be the monster to something other than humans.

"Sir yes sir!" Brandon mocked overjoyed, then soared into the air.

As Brandon flew into the air, he looked at the hole in the sky. There were more Leviathans coming through, so he gritted his teeth and let out an optic blast into the mass coming through. A powerful bolt of lightning came from Thor as well, the two firing into the masses and bottling the Chitauri in. Brandon turned, seeing that Steve and Natasha were about to be overrun. So he dove downwards, speeding faster than a speeding bullet. He came to a skidding halt before sending a punch right into a nearby Chitauri's face. He turned that Chitauri's face to paste before looking at Steve. The two shared a nod, before Brandon fired his optic blast right at Steve's shield. Steve used his shield to reflect Brandon's optic blast, taking out the whole group of Chitauri surrounding them. With a wave, Brandon flew off once again into the air, chasing after a squadron of Chitauri.

Right as he bounded a corner, a Leviathan's mouth came at him, intending on eating him. Brandon scowled then held his hands out and stopped the mouth from chomping on him. He let out a yell before firing a powerful bolt of optic beams from his eyes. Skewering the Leviathan and ending it's life. He then released it's corpse and watched it fall before looking over at Hulk. The green goliath was rampaging through Chitauri as if he were an enraged bull. Brandon flew over and joined in on the fun, doing a fly by while using his optic beams to cut the Chitauri surrounding Hulk in two. He them came to a stomping landing, and sent a hammer fist right into a Chitauri's chest. The blow sent the soldier into the group behind it. Hulk spun around and did a Thunderclap at the Chitauri coming Brandon's way. Brandon spun and fired an even bigger optic blast at the Chitauri coming from behind Hulk. The two fist bumped again, before separating once more.

Brandon flew upwards, and found Tony being chased by a squadron of Chitauri fighters. So he decided to intercept them. Flying around, he intended to meet Tony in the next block over. Brandon came rocketing in, eyes hueing with crimson power before unleashing an optic blast at the Chitauri behind Stark. The two got back to back and began firing at the surrounding Chitauri fighters that flew around them or were trying to get away. "Thanks Kiteman." Tony quipped then flew off heading to take on more Chitauri.

Brandon watched Tony fly away as a beaming smile was plastered on his face. He was having too much fun, enjoying the blood that he was spilling. He had almost forgotten what it was like to take a life. Now he was enjoying it since he had been told to just let lose. Brandon turned to fly away but stopped once he saw a reflection of himself in a building's window. He saw how he looked, suit a tattered mess, his eyes as red as blood, and most importantly, his mask was gone. He hadn't even realized it, but there he was without a mask.

For a moment he thought to use his cape as a makeshift mask to hide his identity but stopped himself. He was scared of showing his face because the world would shun him and cry out in fear. Yet here he was with a group of people like himself. People who trusted him to help, people who trusted....him. That got Brandon to feel his heart thump a bit faster, knowing now that he wasn't truly alone anymore.

'What are you doing?' Brandon's reflection demanded with a scowl on their face, 'You shouldn't be just focusing on one of them! You should be taking out all of them. They are beneath you, they are prey. You are the predator, you are the apex species!'

Brandon narrowed his eyes, not knowing if he was actually seeing himself say that or not. But with determination and will, he glared at his own reflection.

"Twelve years ago, you probably would have been right.", Brandon started to say, "But I didn't get to choose that life. You made that choice for me. So I'll do what you took away from me. Living my life the way that I want to live it."

'You think that just because you did some good deeds that they're just going to trust you?'

"Maybe not...but it's better having to deal with you everyday of my life. You're not even the real me, you're just that brainwashing that the ship put me through. So from now on, stay at the darkest parts of my mind, I'm not your bitch to command. I'm Brandon Breyer...not Brightburn."

With a turn, he soared off going back into the fray. He could hear terrified screams nearby in a building below him. He bolted downwards and punched through floor after floor to the bottom floor. When he landed on the floor, the Chitauri holding the people hostage stared at Brandon before turning to open fire. Brandon was faster however, moving with inhuman speed as he sent a fist into one Chitauri's chest. He ripped out said Chitauri's organs then clotheslined another, pulling their head off. The next was hit with an optic blast that carved them in half.

Brandon turned to see one Chitauri holding a little girl hostage. She cried as the Chitauri holding it's weapon at her tear stricken face. With a cold glare, Brandon rushed forward, moving as fast as he could. He watched as the Chitauri fired it's weapon, the blue plasma beam intending to blow off the girl's head. Luckily Brandon put his hand in the way, saving the girls life. Though unfortunately it singed parts of her cheek. Brandon grabbed the Chitauri by the head, then fired directly into their eyes with an optic blast, blowing their brains out. Brandon looked at the girl and felt his blood run cold.

Parts of her right cheek were scorched, she was out cold but still living. He lifted the girl gently in his arms, then looked at the people who stood back after his scarlet gaze landed on them. They had assumed that he was about to send a laser beam right into them. Brandon frowned, thinking that he was still a monster to them. That was when a hand touched his chest, he looked down to find the little girl smiling up at him. "Thanks mister.." She croaked, getting Brandon to slowly smile at her, thankful for the gesture.

When he looked at the people now, his eyes had changed. They were now their normal color, pine green irises landed on them. "If there's a basement, head down there, if not then get to the subway and stay there." Brandon ordered, then turned and began to fly off.

As he flew out of the building, the girl he was carrying was out cold once again. Brandon didn't know why but this little girl was weird. She woke up in one moment, then thanked him in the next? That said, he didn't let that get to him, he was heading out of the city to get her help. With incalculable speed, Brandon soared out and landed right at a large host of ambulances. "I need help here!" Brandon called, and watched as a nurse rushed over to take the girl from him.

He watched as the little girl was being tended to, then a woman and a man rushed over with tears in their eyes. "Oh my baby!" The woman cried, placing a hand on the girl's head while the man looked over at Brandon.

He walked up to Brandon, and for a moment he expected that the man was about to hit him. That was when he was proven wrong, the man hugged him while sobbing quietly into his shoulder. "Thank you...." He slowly uttered, making Brandon freeze.

He hadn't been hugged in over tweleve years. The last person who did was his mother, now here he stood being thanked by a stranger. When the man released him, Brandon had to find the words to say. He was speechless, he was sure that he looked terrifying with his scarlet irises. Though he wasn't aware that his eyes were their normal color now. His super-hearing went off, alerting him that the Chitauri had sent their next wave to attack the city. He glanced back, noticing the incoming invaders, then looked back at the man standing before him.

He stared at the man for a moment, before giving him a slight smile. "It's what my mom wanted me to do." Brandon slowly said, then began to fly up into the air. His eyes still on the family, before turning and heading back into the battle. His eyes began to return to their blood red hue, his fists balling up with determination now. He wasn't what was sent to Earth. He wasn't the monster that goes bump in the night. He didn't have to be that. He could always be different. So now, he chooses to be who he was now. Brandon Breyer, son of Tori and Kyle Breyer, the child who would change the world.