The battlefield had shifted.
No longer was it the Chitauri dominating Earth in a one-sided slaughter.
Now, the war was a brutal clash between two inhuman armies, neither of them from this world.
On one side: the endless swarm of Chitauri, pouring from the sky through the constantly expanding portal.
On the other: Gul'dan, the fel warlock, standing tall at the center of his growing army of twisted orcs, fel-corrupted soldiers, and resurrected Chitauri corpses glowing with blue, soul-fueled fire.
It was no longer Chitauri vs. Avengers.
Not even Earth's sorcerers vs. the alien invaders.
This was Gul'dan vs. Chitauri, monster vs. aliens.
…
In the grocery store, Luke sat hunched beside the computer, Wanda and Sharon on either side of him. The three of them leaned in, eyes locked to the screen as scenes of chaos played out before them.
When the Chitauri corpses began to rise, souls burning like ghostly fire in their hollow eyes, the two women gasped.
Their jaws dropped.
Wanda's voice was barely a whisper: "They're... getting up. But they were... they were dead."
Sharon's eyes were wide with disbelief. "That's not possible. That's not, how does that even work? Can science even explain this?"
No one answered.
There was no scientific framework for what they were seeing.
The dead were rising.
Twisted, obedient, fueled by soulfire.
Even in a world of gods and aliens, this broke new ground.
But Luke didn't panic.
He'd seen Gul'dan do things like this before, albeit only in a video game. Though it didn't make it any less terrifying now, seeing it with his own eyes.
The lighting, the screaming wind, the flicker of ghostly souls.
It was all so real.
Still, Luke's composure held.
Because he knew something the others didn't.
His own computer had summoned that monster.
And as terrifying as Gul'dan was, he hadn't harmed anyone from Earth. Not yet.
…
A chime suddenly echoed in Luke's mind.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for deeply participating in the Marvel core plot: Battle of New York. Current participation: 50%. Awarded: 5 plot points. Further involvement will increase rewards.]
Luke's eyes lit up.
Five points already? Just for halfway involvement?
That could only mean that full involvement meant ten points, double the usual.
He tapped his fingers on the table thoughtfully.
Well, that makes sense.
The Battle of New York wasn't just any event. This was the moment Earth stepped onto the universal stage. When the Avengers assembled. When aliens invaded, and Earth stood tall.
If the Marvel world had a heart, this battle was its first deep beat.
Still, Luke was puzzled.
If Gul'dan practically taking over the war single-handedly only counts as 50%... what's the other half?
…
Meanwhile, on the roof of the New York Sanctum, the Ancient One watched everything unfold with narrowed eyes.
From afar, she had sensed Gul'dan's presence instantly.
When he unleashed the storm of fel, she flinched, not from fear, but from instinct.
The evil in that energy was not subtle at all.
It wasn't like Dormammu's chaotic darkness. This was concentrated, deliberate malice. Ancient and refined. Not chaotic... but evil, by design.
The kind of evil that chooses to exist.
She raised her hands, prepared to intervene, ready to confront the warlock before things spiraled out of control.
But then she paused.
In the swirling sky above the battlefield, she saw it:
Souls.
Thousands of them. Human souls, torn from the afterlife and suspended in the sky like sapphire flames.
Her breath caught.
She, too, understood souls. She had separated them from bodies. She had seen the Astral Plane.
But this?
This was something else entirely.
She had never witnessed this kind of mastery.
To retrieve the dead, not just delay their passage, but pull them back, was unheard of.
And not only retrieve them... But also command them with such ease.
The next scene shook even her centuries-old heart.
Gul'dan cast again, and those same souls began to inhabit corpses.
Not human corpses, but Chitauri.
And then, as if that weren't enough, those reanimated aliens began to fight on Gul'dan's behalf.
He had built an army from bones and breath.
The Ancient One lowered her hands.
Her spell faded.
A quiet voice whispered in her mind, a possibility she hadn't dared to consider before.
Maybe he isn't here to harm Earth...
He hadn't attacked humans. He went straight for the invaders.
Could it be… that beneath the grotesque appearance, beneath the unbearable evil stench... there was purpose?
Even she had once drawn from the dark dimension to preserve her life for a greater purpose.
Maybe this creature... was walking the same razor-thin edge.
Maybe he was not the enemy.
Not yet, but she was willing to wait and see before making a move.
…
Back on the streets, the Avengers found themselves... with nothing to do.
Iron Man landed with a soft clank, steam hissing from his armor. His systems scanned for hostiles, none were found.
The Hulk, having no more enemies to smash, began to shrink back into Bruce Banner.
Even Clint Barton, finally free from Loki's mind control, stumbled back into the fold, rubbing his temple.
The team regrouped, standing awkwardly in the middle of a battlefield with no one to fight.
"...So what now?" Clint asked, glancing around.
No one answered at first.
Tony leaned against a wall, arms crossed, helmet off.
Natasha was casually checking her sidearm, more out of habit than need.
"Do we help?" Clint asked again, sheepishly. "Do... we do something?"
Tony looked up. "Sure," he said, pointing. "Go pick a side. I hear the undead need archers."
"Or you could rejoin Loki's army," Natasha added dryly.
Clint frowned. "Hard pass. Last time I picked a side, not by free will mind you… I ended up attacking you guys."
He looked over the battlefield again, then sighed. "Yeah... I'm good for now."
…
Across the battlefield, chaos reigned.
Gul'dan's resurrected Chitauri were relentless.
They fought with no fear, no pain, and no sense of self-preservation. Blasts tore through them, but unless their bodies were utterly destroyed, they simply stood back up again.
On the other side, the portal continued to pour forth fresh Chitauri like ants from a hive.
The sky trembled under their numbers.
And so, the war devolved into a grisly deadlock.
Neither side giving ground.
Neither side capable of ending it.
A perfect stalemate.
…
Back among the Avengers, Clint looked at the glowing portal in the sky and frowned.
"Okay... but shouldn't we, like, shut that thing down?"
Tony raised an eyebrow. "Huh. Now that's an idea, good job Legolas, and are you planning to use your bow for that as well?"
Thor snorted at the side.
…
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