Chapter 95: Nuclear Peace Settlement

"Boom!" Hulk slammed a car into a swarm of Chitauri soldiers like a game of whack-a-mole, sending them scattering. The stunned crowd behind him looked on, awestruck. They had never imagined aliens were real, nor that a massive green "monster" would be their protector.

"Oh, this is bad." Tony Stark, who had just dispatched a group of Chitauri, looked up to see a Leviathan—a massive, armor-plated creature—swooping down toward him. He launched a wave of missiles at it, but the creature emerged unscathed.

He turned and opened his comm. "Requesting backup! There's a giant space shrimp here, and my attacks are useless!"

"Lead it to the lower city!" Steve's voice crackled in his ear. "Hulk's nearby and can handle it!"

"Roger that!" Stark boosted forward, firing missiles to lure the Leviathan toward the Hulk's location.

Hulk, who had been tearing through Chitauri soldiers with ease, roared as he spotted the Leviathan closing in. Stark shouted over the comm, "Hulk, get mad!"

With a thunderous roar, Hulk charged forward, smashing his fist into the Leviathan's face. The force caved in part of its head armor, loosening several plates. Stark followed up with a salvo of missiles that slipped through the cracked armor, detonating inside. With a final, massive explosion, the Leviathan crashed to the ground.

Stark sighed in relief, but as he looked up, his heart sank—two more Leviathans had appeared, heading straight for them.

Elsewhere, Thor clapped his hands in satisfaction after dispatching his own Leviathan and moved on to the next. He left the ordinary Chitauri soldiers to the others, focusing instead on taking down the larger threats.

Meanwhile, Loki, perched in a Chitauri flight cart, was patrolling the battlefield, adding to the chaos wherever possible. Suddenly, a hammer flew from afar, destroying his flight cart in a fiery explosion. Loki tumbled through the air, landing hard on the balcony of Stark Tower.

"Surrender and close the portal!" Jane Foster demanded, landing nearby, her armor and Mjolnir at the ready.

Loki picked himself up, gripping his scepter tightly. "I refuse to believe I can't beat you!" He launched himself at her.

Though Loki's Frost Giant heritage gave him impressive strength, Jane's recent training with Thor had strengthened her, and for a moment, they appeared evenly matched.

On the Helicarrier, Nick Fury watched the endless Chitauri forces streaming through the portal on the monitor, his face grim.

"Sir, the council is calling," Hill reported.

Fury's expression darkened. He knew they rarely intervened in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s affairs, and when they did, it was usually bad news. He recalled Thor's words: The ones who can really destroy New York aren't the aliens—it's the politicians.

Fury reluctantly opened the video call.

"Director Fury," a congresswoman began, "after unanimous council deliberation, we have decided to deploy a nuclear missile on New York City."

"I refuse to carry out such a reckless order!" Fury shot back.

"Your Helicarrier is the closest to the target," another councilman continued, ignoring him. "Dispatch the fighter jet immediately."

Fury cut them off. "Once again, I'm not nuking our own civilians! Not unless my team is entirely defeated!"

"If you fail, the whole world is at risk!" another council member pressed.

"If you drop a nuke, it'll be truly irreparable!" Fury snapped, ending the call in frustration. He knew that to these politicians, civilian lives were mere numbers. If New York were obliterated, they'd just find someone to take the blame.

Down below, Hulk fought Loki, pushing him back with a powerful punch that sent him crashing into the Stark Tower building.

Loki stood, fuming. "Enough! You insignificant mortals! I am a god, and you will no longer—"

Before he could finish, Hulk grabbed him by the leg, slamming him into the ground repeatedly. Left, right, left, right—Loki's defiant screams turned to groans as Hulk mercilessly battered him. Finally, Hulk dropped him, muttering, "Puny god."

Loki lay dazed on the floor, the glow fading from his eyes as the Mind Stone's hold weakened.

But the Chitauri continued pouring through the portal in even greater numbers. Their fighters swarmed the skies, firing at everything in sight. Even Hulk was forced to retreat under the relentless assault.

"Natasha, you need to touch the Tesseract with the scepter to close the portal!" Thor shouted, blasting nearby Chitauri with a lightning bolt. "I'll clear a path!"

Thor summoned a massive bolt of lightning, scattering Chitauri fighters and creating a temporary reprieve. Natasha grabbed the scepter and raced to the roof.

Focusing his energy, Thor summoned his most powerful lightning strike, concentrating it into a single, razor-thin beam. The blast struck the Tesseract's barrier, creating a small crack.

"Go, Natasha!" Thor called.

Natasha rolled through the gap in the barrier, raising the scepter toward the Tesseract. Just as she was about to make contact, Stark's voice rang out over the comm.

"Wait!" he shouted desperately.

"Tony, the longer we keep the portal open, the worse this gets!" Steve argued.

"I know! But there's a nuke coming straight for New York! If it detonates here, we're all finished!"

Without a second thought, Stark veered toward the incoming missile, redirecting its path.

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