24. LOKI BROUGHT FRIENDS.

"Are you going to appeal to my humanity?" Loki inquired as he and Stark stepped into the penthouse of Stark Tower.

"Well, I'm actually considering a different approach: a threat," Tony responded.

"You might have kept your armor on for that," Loki remarked, a hint of amusement in his tone.

"True," Tony acknowledged, heading to the bar. "It's been through a lot, and you've got the glowstick of destiny. Drink?"

"Delaying won't alter anything," Loki stated confidently.

"No, no, threatening," Tony corrected. "No drink? Alright, I'll have one." Tony poured himself a drink, continuing the conversation.

"The Chitauri are on their way; nothing can change that," Loki asserted.

"The Avengers will," Tony replied. "That's what we call ourselves. Earth's mightiest heroes, you know?"

"I've had the pleasure," Loki said, wearing a smug expression.

"Yeah, we took a bit to get going, I'll give you that. But let's do a head count: your brother, the god of thunder." Tony said, subtly placing bracelets on his own wrists as he turned away. "a super soldier, a living legend who lives up to it, a man with anger issues, a couple of expert assassins, and an honest-to-goodness wizard. And you, big guy, have annoyed every single one of them."

"I have an army," Loki declared.

"We have a Hulk," Tony instantly retorted.

"I am not alone either."

"You're missing the point," Tony said, moving away from the bar. "There's no throne, no scenario where you come out on top. Maybe your army arrives, maybe it overwhelms us, but it's all on you. If we can't defend Earth, we'll darn well avenge it."

"How will your friends manage..." Loki menacingly approached Tony. "when they're occupied fighting another Hulk, my reinforcements, and you?" As Loki tapped his scepter against Tony's chest, unknowingly contacting his arc reactor, surprise crossed his face when Tony remained unaffected. Trying again, Loki frowned at the repeated failure. "This usually works."

"Performance issues, not uncommon," Tony quipped, but before he could continue, Loki flung him to the floor. "Jarvis, now would be nice," Tony groaned, getting up.

"You will all kneel before me!" Loki grabbed Tony by the jaw.

"Jarvis, deploy! Deploy!" Tony called out.

Loki hurled Stark through the penthouse window, and Stark plummeted towards the ground. As he fell, he noticed someone else descending after him. The person gained speed, and Stark realized it was Harry, rapidly closing the gap. Harry drew nearer when a sound caught his attention from behind.

He glanced back and spotted a crimson machine hurtling toward him. Swiftly dodging, Harry narrowly avoided the oncoming projectile just as Tony turned in mid-air to face downward.

Two laser devices emerged from the machine and scanned the bracelets on Tony's wrists. Once the process was complete, the machine attached itself to Tony and began the transformation. In a matter of moments, Tony stood clad in a fully functional Iron Man suit. Activating it just in time, he avoided a potentially messy landing and soared up to hover alongside Harry in the air.

"Alright... that's brilliant." Harry eventually remarked.

"Nice to know I've impressed the mighty wizard," Stark said, his voice oozing with smugness.

"Oh no, I meant your armour is cool. You're still a prat. Now come on, we've got a Loki to deal with."

"Race ya," Tony teased, darting back up to the penthouse alongside Harry, where they spotted Loki. "And there's one other person you've ticked off," Tony added before unleashing a blast on behalf of Phil Coulson.

"Stark," Harry interrupted, gesturing upward. They both watched as a portal tore open in the sky, releasing a swarm of aliens riding what seemed like flying chariots. "I reckon those are the Chitauri."

"Right... an army," Tony muttered, struggling to make sense of the sight.

"Shall we?" Harry asked.

"After you, Merlin," Tony replied.

Harry and Stark soared into the sky, heading straight for the alien army. Tony discharged repulsor blasts while Harry utilized stunners, an unconventional choice but ensuring the aliens knocked out mid-air would meet their fate on impact, conserving Harry's energy by opting for less lethal spells. Harry also cleverly redirected some of the aliens into each other, creating spectacular mid-air collisions.

One pad opened up from Tony's shoulder, releasing a barrage of small rockets that took out a significant number of soldiers. However, a fair amount managed to evade the attack and were now wreaking havoc on the streets below. Harry swiftly teleported after them, launching cutting curses, banishers, and stunners to fend off the invaders. As he flew, his magic flared, narrowly dodging a purple blast aimed at him, only to find a squadron of Chitauri soldiers hot on his trail. Harry accelerated, firing curses backward as he raced to outmaneuver them.

Spotting Stark also being pursued, an idea struck Harry. He flew toward Tony.

"Stark, go low!" Harry shouted. It took a moment for Stark to catch on, but he flew directly towards Harry. As they closed in, it seemed an imminent collision was unavoidable. At the final instant, Stark dove beneath Harry while Harry swiftly teleported away, causing the pursuing Chitauri to crash into each other.

Reappearing atop a nearby building, Harry unleashed a volley of spells, taking down numerous Chitauri. Moments later, they retaliated, sending blasts his way. Harry shielded against the onslaught, swiftly counterattacking as soon as their assault ceased.

"Stark, we're on your three, heading northeast," Natasha communicated with Tony from the jet.

"What, did you stop for a drive-through? Swing up Park, I'm going to pave the way for you," Stark replied, directing a group of soldiers into position. The jet unleashed an attack, eliminating several enemies before targeting others. Soon, the jet soared near the pinnacle of Stark Tower, where Loki was engaged in a fierce battle with Thor.

Loki hurled Thor to the ground and aimed his scepter at the jet. With a blast, the jet attempted to evade but was struck in the wing, causing it to start descending. Despite its efforts, the jet couldn

't prevent its descent, crashing nearby.

"You guys okay?" Harry asked via the communicator device. He had witnessed the crash but was occupied battling groups of soldiers, unable to check on them immediately.

"We're fine," Natasha responded through the communicator. "What's the situation?"

"You know, bad?" Harry replied before conjuring a couple of arrows and dispatching more soldiers. "Well... it's worse."

Natasha, Bruce, Steve, and Clint disembarked from the jet, heading toward the heart of the battle. They paused as something else emerged from the portal. They stared in astonishment as a colossal armored serpent soared out. Harry, too, was stunned. The creature was massive, dwarfing the basilisk he'd encountered in the Chamber of Secrets. Chitauri soldiers leaped off it, attaching to nearby buildings.

"Stark? Are you seeing this?" Steve spoke into his earpiece.

"Seeing," Stark confirmed. "Still processing. Where's Banner? Has he arrived?"

"Banner? He's here with us," Steve replied. "We're uncertain what we're up against— Stark said Loki mentioned more reinforcements and another Hulk."

"Everyone okay?" Harry teleported next to them.

"We're fine, but civilians need help," Steve said. "They're defenseless down there." As if to underscore his point, a group of Chitauri soldiers began blasting cars, while a red Hulk rampaged through the streets. Adding to the chaos, a ring-shaped spaceship landed in the heart of New York via the portal.

"I don't reckon this'll be a walk in the park; we need that green giant more than ever now." Harry remarked.

"So that's what Loki was hinting at. Reinforcements and another hulk-like entity, though I'm not a fan of the red color," Stark commented.

"Who is this red Hulk?" Bruce inquired.

"Don't know, but we have to figure out how to handle him," Stark replied.

"Can you assist?" Steve turned to Bruce.

"I've got no choice, Captain," Bruce replied, preparing himself. "Do I need some sort of spell to make you angry?" Harry asked.

"You can do that?" Bruce was surprised as he headed in the direction of the soldiers. " Nevermind, I'm always angry."

Bruce's transformation was remarkable, the calm and mild-mannered Bruce Banner turning into an eight-foot-tall, green-skinned, muscular behemoth.

The Hulk roared, hurling a car at a group of Chitauri soldiers, crashing into them with immense force. He trampled and battled fiercely, decimating them with his brute strength. As he approached the last one, he flung the soldier at the flying Chitauri before lunging at the rampaging red Hulk.

"That's impressive!" Harry exclaimed, blasting a car at more flying Chitauri, taking down several of them. "Steve, I'll teleport the citizens away; you handle the Chitauri."

"On it," Steve confirmed.

Harry teleported citizens to safety, reappearing each time to repeat the process while Steve engaged the Chitauri soldiers. After a few minutes, he finished relocating all nearby civilians to secure locations. Teleporting back out, he found Steve locked in combat with several soldiers. Harry joined the fray, using his powers to subdue the enemy. Once they dealt with the nearby threats, Harry noticed several police officers firing at the Chitauri chariots.

"Steve," Harry addressed Captain America, "Head over and lend a hand to the NYPD, help with the evacuation of the civilians. They're putting themselves at risk here when they could be engaged in more productive efforts.""Got it," Steve acknowledged before rushing toward the police.

"Damn it," Harry muttered after dodging a blast from a Chitauri soldier. He was about to counterattack when he noticed Hulk battling not one but two formidable adversaries. Seeing Hulk being mercilessly pummeled, Harry decided he needed to aid the powerhouse of their team.

Harry dodged another blast, swiftly casting a wandless killing curse at the Chitauri soldier, ending its threat. He hadn't used the killing curse since becoming the master of death; its impact had left a mark on his consciousness. Dark spells, especially unforgivable curses, were known to corrupt souls, leading to instability and malevolence. But Harry had no soul left; becoming the master of death had cost him certain things, soul included. His energy far surpassed any wizard, and the killing curse had no discernible effect on him. The kiddie gloves were off, and he grinned.

He initiated large-scale transfiguration, converting nearby objects like cars and trucks into trolls that charged toward the area where Hulk battled. When the immediate threats were dealt with, he teleported back to his allies. Cap was deflecting soldiers with his shield, Natasha using Chitauri weapons against them, Barton inserting arrows into their ranks, and Hulk hurling adversaries at buildings.

"Nice moves," Harry complimented as he joined them in the fray.

As Harry prepared to neutralize the remaining enemies, bolts of lightning suddenly streaked down, taking out the adversaries. Thor descended, landing in front of them.

"You okay?" Harry asked Thor, who nodded in affirmation.

"What's happening upstairs?" Cap inquired.

"The energy surrounding the cube is impenetrable," Thor informed them.

"Thor's right. We've got to deal with these guys," Stark's voice came through the communication devices.

"How do we do this?" Natasha asked.

"As a team," Steve affirmed.

"I was gonna suggest using our hands, weapons, and feet, but that works too." Harry quipped with a small shrug.

"Not your best joke," Natasha wrinkled her nose.

"Yeah, that was rather dreadful." Harry admitted in a slightly disappointed tone. "I'm usually better than that. Blame the aliens... Now, that sounded unintentionally xenophobic."

"I have unfinished business with Loki," Thor asserted.

"Get in line, and you should help Hulk. Who knows how long he can hold out, especially with Harry's reinforcements not making much of a difference?" Barton inspected his arrows, taking note of the chaos. The transfigured trolls Harry had sent were being flung like cannon fodder by the three rampaging monsters. Even Hulk seemed displeased with the assistance, mercilessly pummeling the transfigured trolls alongside the other creatures.

"We all have unfinished business with Loki, but that'll have to wait until we're comfortably not under attack," Harry interjected, his tone shifting as the gravity of the situation took over. "Loki's at the helm, zeroing in on us. And now we've got that new alien behemoth giving Hulk a run for his money, and Red Hulk posing another threat. We desperately need to lend a hand. It's crucial for the civilians. Two straightforward objectives: safeguard and endure. Keep at it until we can close that portal. Barton's spot on; Hulk requires assistance, and Thor, that responsibility falls to you."

"Uh, guys," Tony's voice cut in. "I hate to interrupt, but everyone's accounted for, Banner included."

"Why now?" Harry questioned, glancing at flying armour.

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(edited chapter.)

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