Liam had already heard of what had gone down in the hellicarrier and Fury actually sent footage of Loki being thrashed around by Fenrir to Tony and Liam, and his only put a smile on their faces. Thankfully, what Hulk was supposed to do was done by Fenrir, so no net loss in this.
The streets of New York shook with each passing minute as the battle raged on. Chitauri Leviathans writhed through the sky, their metal hides glinting in the light of fire and chaos. Amid the flashes of magic, webs, and explosions, the defenders of Earth fought like gods—and in some cases, they were.
But while Liam and the others held the front line, something darker stirred far from the battlefield.
At the Pentagon, in a secure war room lit by cold, clinical lights and a dozen live feeds of New York, the President of the United States stood silently.
"This is escalating beyond containment," General Bones muttered. "They've deployed... magic. Sword-wielding soldiers. We've lost half our air support. The city is a war zone."
"They're still holding the line," someone else argued, pointing at a monitor showing Captain America directing evacuees behind a collapsed bus. "Civilians are being saved. If we strike now—"
"There's no telling how far the Chitauri will spread if we don't end it," Bones interrupted. "We strike now. A tactical nuclear missile—air-detonated—should minimize fallout. The city's already lost. But the rest of the country doesn't have to be."
The President didn't speak at first. Then, with a breath like swallowing glass, he nodded once. He knew that this was make and break political career at this time. If his action proved to be helpful, then his party and his next nomination to President is almost guaranteed if he played his cards right, but if it still failed, then it would be over for his political career and may even face jail time. But there was nothing that he could do now. Many portals had opened, and he couldn't risk it.
"Authorization code: Indigo-Priority-One-One-Alpha-Zero. Confirm it."
Eyes around the room widened. Hands moved reluctantly. The order was confirmed.
----
On the battlefield, Iron Mage hovered high in the sky, storm fire trailing from his javelin's shoulders as he rotated to scan the perimeter. As everyone was busy taking down the Chitauri, JARVIS spoke over comms to everyone.
"I've intercepted military channels. A nuclear missile has been launched. It's en route. Target: Manhattan."
"What?!" Gwen shouted, landing beside Peter B. with a thud.
"You've gotta be kidding me," Peter groaned.
"ETA?" he asked.
"Three minutes, thirty-seven seconds," Jarvis replied.
"Enough time," Liam muttered.
"What are you planning?" Tony asked, though his tone already sounded grim.
"I'm going to ride it."
"Ride the missile?" Miles asked.
"Yes," Liam replied. "I'll redirect it toward the mothership. That is their weak point."
"That's insane," Yennefer said. "You'll die."
"Not necessarily," Liam replied, his voice steady. "I've got the javelin. It's got enough shielding and Bifrost energy is made for space travel itself. If I time it right, I'll portal out just before impact."
"'If' being the key word," Natasha growled.
"I'm not asking for permission," Liam said, already angling his flight path toward the missile's approach vector. Liam actually felt excited thinking about it. He could still remember the time when he had watched the scene where Tony took the missile away. Now it was his time to shine.
----
Up in the sky, the missile tore through the atmosphere. Civilians below didn't notice it yet—too busy hiding, running, hoping. But those with enhanced vision, magic, or suits of iron were already tracking its deadly arc.
"Jarvis, link me with its guidance system," Liam said.
"I have control—transferring to your suit now."
The javelin's HUD synced instantly. Liam exhaled, surged upward, and met the missile head-on. His gauntlets latched onto the missile's surface with a magnetic clamp.
He roared forward, redirecting the missile with everything he had.
Behind him, the others watched in stunned silence.
"Come on, Liam…" Tony whispered. Liam redirected the missile through the hole again and in order to make sure that Liam didn't face any problems, Yennefer and Thor cleared a path for him. One moment, the missile was over New York. The next, it was outside Earth's atmosphere—hurtling toward the massive, grotesque Chitauri mothership orbiting above. And before Liam could be hit with the impact, he had already vanished and was back at Earth using a portal.
The missile collided with the mothership's core.
There was no sound in space, but Earth saw it.
A great light filled the heavens as the Chitauri ship exploded like a dying star. A wave of golden energy surged outward, crackling and distorting the skies. On Earth, every Chitauri—beast, soldier, Leviathan—froze mid-motion.
Then dropped.
Silence fell over New York.
---
Two Days Later – Washington D.C.
Camera flashes exploded like lightning as a sea of reporters crowded the steps of the White House. Protesters packed the streets, wielding signs that read "You Tried to Kill Us," "New York is Not Disposable," and "Resign." The fury was as palpable as the humidity.
Inside the Oval Office, the atmosphere was even tenser. The President stood at the far end of the room.
"Public trust is collapsing," one staffer said. "There are riots in Brooklyn. The footage is everywhere. Everyone's seen it."
"The authorization was legal," snapped General Bones. "You gave the order under wartime emergency protocol—"
"But the attack never happened. The missile never hit," the President muttered. "It was intercepted. Redirected. By… a man in a magic suit and a group of off-worlders."
"That's beside the point—"
"No, that is the point," interjected another aide. "They saved the city. Your missile would've annihilated millions. And now the public knows you knew that, and you did it anyway."
On a nearby TV, the footage looped again—Liam's javelin soaring through the sky, catching the nuke mid-flight, steering it away from Manhattan, and into the Chitauri mothership in space. Slow-motion replays showed the explosion above Earth, the glorious disintegration of the alien fleet.
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