The Helicarrier's medical bay was silent.
Coulson lay on the table, covered with a white sheet. Steve, Tony, Thor, and Natasha stood around him without speaking.
Nick Fury entered, footsteps heavy. He stopped beside the bed, stood there for a long moment, then pulled a stack of trading cards from his coat and tossed them onto the table.
They were stained with dried blood.
"Phil's collection," Fury said hoarsely. "Captain America signature cards. He carried them everywhere. Wanted you to sign one, Steve."
Steve's jaw tightened.
"He believed in heroes," Fury continued quietly. "Believed that when things went bad, you'd stand between the world and the darkness."
His eye swept across them.
"He died believing that. Loki won. He divided us. Turned the Avengers into a joke."
Fury picked up one card. The blood stain ran across the Captain's shield.
"He gave his life buying you time. He bet that you'd come together."
He set the card down.
"So tell me. Was he right?"
Fury turned and left.
Silence hung in the room.
Tony's sarcasm was gone. Steve's fists clenched. Thor stared at Coulson's still face, thinking of fallen warriors in Valhalla.
"He's right," Steve said at last. "We failed him."
"Then we fix it," Tony replied coldly. "Loki touched my tower. My city. He pays."
"He is my brother," Thor said grimly. "His sins are mine to answer for."
"Loki's target is Stark Tower," Steve said, spreading a map. "He'll use the Arc Reactor to power the Tesseract. We stop him before the portal stabilizes."
"Too late," Tony said as the Mark VI sealed around him. "That's my building. I'm going."
He shot out of the carrier in a streak of red and gold.
"I won't wait either," Thor said, spinning Mjölnir. "We meet on the battlefield."
He launched after Tony in a crackle of thunder.
"Hey—!" Steve started.
"Let them go," Levi said. "You take the jet with Natasha. I'll arrive first."
"How?"
"Shortcut."
He considered using Point-to-Point Teleportation.
He closed his eyes and locked onto Stark Tower.
The spatial energy activated—
—and slammed into resistance.
New York's airspace felt like boiling water. The Tesseract's power was already destabilizing local space, scrambling coordinates into chaos.
Forcing a jump could scatter him across the Atlantic.
Or tear him apart in spatial turbulence.
Levi opened his eyes, frowning.
"Space interference?" Fury asked, noticing his expression.
"Portal's already destabilizing the grid. I can't jump safely."
He walked to the hangar edge.
Golden light erupted from his body.
Binary Form.
Cosmic energy enveloped him like a miniature sun.
"I'm going."
A sonic boom cracked the sky as he launched, trailing gold fire—twice as fast as Tony's suit.
---
Stark Tower – Rooftop
Dr. Selvig had finished assembling the device. The Tesseract pulsed blue at its core.
Loki stood before the window, gazing over Manhattan.
"It is time," he said.
He raised the scepter.
A beam struck the Tesseract.
The machine roared to life.
A massive column of blue light tore into the sky.
The heavens fractured like glass.
A dark speck formed—expanded—became a swirling wormhole.
Beyond it: deep space.
And a fleet.
People on the streets stopped, staring upward in confusion and fear.
A red-and-gold streak landed on the balcony.
Iron Man.
He walked in. Loki stood at the bar, casually holding a drink.
"Help yourself," Loki gestured.
"Thanks." Tony poured one. "Subtle entrance. Not worried about attention?"
"I crave it," Loki smiled. "I bring peace. Your freedom is your chain."
"I saw your army," Tony said, nodding toward the portal. "Chitauri, right? Guess they're not here for sightseeing."
"I will be your king."
"Sure," Tony said, setting down the glass. "But first you get through us. We're the Avengers."
As he spoke, he discreetly activated the bracelet on his wrist.
Loki stepped forward and pressed the scepter's tip against Tony's Arc Reactor.
"You cannot stop me."
He triggered it.
Clink.
The energy deflected harmlessly.
Loki blinked.
"Apparently that trick doesn't work on everything," Tony shrugged.
Enraged, Loki grabbed Tony by the throat and hurled him out the window.
Tony plummeted.
The Mark VI armor streaked in pieces from afar, assembling around him mid-fall.
Thrusters ignited.
He flipped and rocketed back toward the tower, repulsors charging—
A figure crashed into him from above.
Thor.
"Do not harm him! He is my brother!" Thor shouted, slamming Tony back into the building.
"I was handling it!" Tony snapped.
The two Avengers brawled briefly inside the shattered penthouse.
Loki watched, amused.
Then he turned to the sky.
The first Chitauri forces poured through.
Massive leviathan carriers—metallic whales—followed by swarms of flying soldiers on chariots.
They screamed downward into Manhattan—
And opened fire.
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