Chapter Thirty-Four: Finally Relenting!

On the ground, the civilians who had been entangled with the police and stubbornly refusing to retreat scattered in terror at the sight of the troops pouring out from the spatial portal.

At that moment, Captain America, accompanied by Natasha and Hawkeye, arrived just in time to meet the first wave of invaders.

“Hawkeye, take the snipers to higher ground and control the battlefield!” the Captain shouted, blocking incoming aerial bombardment with his shield and saving a school bus as he roared at Hawkeye.

Retreating while firing, Hawkeye loosed his special long arrows, each shot bursting into a shower of sparks in the sky, relieving a great deal of pressure from Captain America.

On the ground, Natasha twisted and darted like a whip, her feet striking with deadly precision. Wielding an array of mysterious, ingenious weapons, she took down the Chitauri warriors one after another as they charged. Seemingly effortless, her kill count rivaled Hawkeye’s long-range onslaught.

Once she seized an enemy firearm, a hail of bullets poured forth like a curtain, and for a moment, she fought with the ferocity of an entire army.

Indeed, in the original tale, none of those who joined the Avengers and became heroes were ordinary people. Natasha and Hawkeye, seemingly mere mortals, could inflict the damage of a whole army when sufficiently armed.

But no matter how fierce Natasha and Hawkeye’s gunfire, or how skillfully Captain America wielded his shield, in the end, there were only three of them—plus a few hundred agents they’d brought along.

Their foes, however, were an entire invading cosmic army—the Chitauri, undefeated in their conquests across the universe.

Within just ten minutes, before the Air Force or Army could arrive, the three were forced into a steady retreat, their ammunition spent, utterly powerless in the face of the overwhelming enemy.

“Loki, shut down the Tesseract now, or I’ll destroy it!”

Thor finally arrived, Mjolnir in hand, landing atop the Trident Tower and confronting Loki with fury.

“You can’t!” Loki’s face was wild with fanaticism as he leveled his scepter at Thor. “It’s too late to stop this—there is only war now!”

“Then let’s see you try!”

Loki leapt down with a roar, his form splitting into countless illusions as he struck at Thor with his scepter.

But as fellow gods, how could the trickster measure up to Asgard’s seasoned warlord? Thor didn’t even summon lightning; a simple swing of Mjolnir sent Loki flying, slamming him hard against a wall.

Loki glared at Thor in rage. “Why? Why weren’t you deceived?!”

“Loki, haven’t I told you? A true warrior never relies on sight in battle—but on instinct. All those times I let you stab me, it was only because you were young, and I didn’t want to crush your spirit.”

As Thor spoke, he flung his hammer behind him—suddenly, Loki’s true form appeared in midair, only to be struck in the stomach by Mjolnir. The Loki left behind dissolved into foam, leaving not a trace.

Sure enough, Loki had only tried to ambush Thor.

“I don’t believe it!”

Blood trickled from the corner of Loki’s mouth as he knelt on one knee, howling at the sky. He slammed his scepter down again, and the rooftop filled with countless illusions.

“Thunder, come!”

Thor simply raised his hammer, calling down a flurry of lightning bolts that shattered the illusions, leaving Loki alone, trembling.

“You can’t stop me! Midgard will be mine!”

But Loki was, after all, a god—the paralysis from the lightning didn’t last a second before he regained control, leaping off the balcony to be picked up by a Chitauri single-manned flyer.

Thor moved to pursue, but Nick’s voice came through his earpiece.

“Thor, I need you to control the portal! There are too many of them—we’re barely holding on!”

Panting, Thor spun his hammer and brought it down on the portal—thick, branching lightning exploded outwards, blasting the incoming invaders mid-air and slowing their advance, giving the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents a brief respite.

At that moment, military reinforcements finally arrived—fighter jets and tanks flooded the battlefield, American soldiers and airmen forming a barrage of bullets. Together with S.H.I.E.L.D.’s defenses, they managed to push the Chitauri back to within three or four blocks of the portal.

On the other side of the gateway, Ebony Maw smiled faintly and gestured.

“Deploy the troop carriers. For a single stone, our master has waited long enough.”

“Yes, sir!”

The Chitauri commander knelt on one knee, then relayed the order for their ultimate weapon to enter the fray.

On Earth, Thor was happily electrocuting the enemy foot soldiers when he suddenly noticed his lightning was being entirely absorbed by the portal.

A thunderous roar echoed as a monstrous, metal creature—resembling a colossal catfish—hurtled through the portal. Its vast body dissipated the force of the lightning as it barreled into Earth, spewing out more Chitauri flyers and crashing down upon the ground defenses.

The newly established American defensive line was instantly crushed under the metal leviathan, while the swarming flyers overwhelmed the jets in the sky.

“Nick Fury, you owe me an explanation!”

In the command room of the Helicarrier, the American representative was livid. What a joke—less than half an hour into the battle, three army regiments and five air force squadrons had been wiped out! The compensation alone would be astronomical.

“I warned you from the start—this is a war of cosmic invasion, not some campaign against Middle Eastern terrorists,” Nick replied coldly. “Or would you like to try a nuclear strike instead?”

The American representative nearly choked with rage. What nonsense—nuclear weapons’ true power is radiation; their explosive force isn’t so much greater than conventional arms. Judging by the battlefield, the enemy’s highly mobile flyers could easily escape the blast, assuming the nuke even reached its target. Besides, what if it was intercepted? Did he look foolish enough to bomb New York, or just desperate to vacate his seat?

“Tell us plainly—how do we win this war? The other nations are ready to send forces as well.”

The other UN representatives wore grim expressions. Whatever their usual disputes, no one could stand aside when Earth itself was under attack.

“It’s useless—conventional forces can’t handle cosmic pirates. I need a team—a real team, like Thor—a unit with extraordinary combat capability.”

“You mean the Avengers? But… didn’t you fail to recruit them?” the American representative remarked, puzzled. Nick had proposed the Avengers many times, but why bring it up now, in the midst of battle? If armies couldn’t win, could a handful of superheroes succeed?

“Yes,” Nick replied. “Our only chance for victory now is to assemble the Avengers—fight back with a team, face the enemy head-on. Trust me: give me the authority, and I’ll drive them out!”

He looked intently at the UN delegates. The five exchanged glances, then, seeing humanity’s forces crumbling on the monitors, gave their answer in unison:

“Approved!”