The sky was broken.
Through the portal above Manhattan, leviathans screamed down from the heavens, dragging death in their wake. Buildings cracked. Fire bloomed like flowers in concrete soil. The world was ending, and it was happening fast.
But then... something shifted.
Golden ripples spread across the battlefield, like light warping through water. At first it was subtle — unnoticed among the blasts and chaos — but then came the silence.
A glider shot toward Iron Man, plasma cannon primed.
A whisper of air shimmered, and suddenly a glowing ankh sigil tore through the air, slicing the vehicle in two before it could fire. Tony Stark halted mid-flight, hovering, scanning for the source.
Another flash. This time a golden barrier flared into existence in front of Captain America, absorbing a Chitauri bolt meant for his back. Cap whirled around just in time to see a cloaked figure descend from the sky, suspended in a vortex of runes and starlight.
"...Who the hell—?"
He wasn't alone in asking.
The cloaked man hovered above the battlefield, arms spread slightly at his sides. His armor shimmered with golden filigree, pulsing with arcane energy. The helm — sleek, symmetrical, ancient — concealed his face, but power radiated from him like heat from the sun.
He didn't yell.
He didn't charge.
He simply moved his hand.
With a gesture, the street below folded open — not physically, but mystically — revealing glowing sigils across the pavement. Golden chains burst from the glyphs and wrapped around a Chitauri ground unit, yanking them screaming into a pocket dimension before it sealed like a trapdoor.
A moment later, the cloaked man touched down gently beside Captain America, feet never fully meeting the ground.
Cap raised his shield defensively, breathing hard. "You with us?"
The man's voice echoed softly through the helm — calm, ancient, layered with something not entirely human.
"I am with Balance. For now, that aligns with you."
Cap blinked. "Right... I'll take it."
He tossed his shield at a glider. The man raised his hand, and time slowed — visibly. The shield hung mid-air, then gently curved its path through an altered gravitational flow, striking three enemies before returning to Steve.
Cap caught it with a stunned look.
"I don't usually say this, but — I've got questions."
"Later," the man replied. "They come."
High above, the Leviathan screamed.
Its enormous metallic body tore through buildings, wings extended like blades. It dived toward a cluster of civilians running across Broadway.
The cloaked figure vanished in a blink — teleportation — and reappeared mid-air, standing calmly above the panicking crowd.
He raised both hands slowly.
Golden symbols spun around him in concentric rings, accelerating.
A single word escaped his mouth.
"Halt."
Time shattered.
To the Avengers, it was as if reality skipped a frame. The Leviathan froze mid-air, hanging like a statue. Debris stopped mid-fall. Fire lost motion. Sound itself bent.
Doctor Fate — or the one becoming him — hovered into the beast's frozen face. With a serene gesture, he summoned a massive construct: an ankh the size of a billboard, glowing with searing light.
Then he moved.
In a single motion, he sliced the symbol through the Leviathan's head, cleaving it with elegant precision. The monster fell — or rather, unraveled — as time resumed. Metal rained down in harmless sparks, gently slowed by mystical barriers around the civilians.
Down below, Black Widow skidded to a stop beside Hawkeye. Both looked up, breathless.
"Did he just—"
"Cut it. In half," Clint said. "With a letter from ancient Egypt."
The man landed beside them, eyes glowing faintly beneath the helm. Natasha raised her brows.
"And who are you supposed to be?"
"Fate."
She tilted her head. "That's not ominous at all."
He gave a soft hum. "Names hold meaning. But we are in no time for introductions."
Around them, the battle continued — Chitauri soldiers regrouping, flanking.
Suddenly, three portals bloomed in the air behind him, each linked to another part of the battlefield. His voice echoed to the others.
"Captain — corridor open on 45th. Iron Man — cut across Fifth, north sector clear. Thor — above you."
Just as Thor swung Mjolnir to launch himself upward, he paused mid-motion, noticing the cloaked stranger who had just addressed him without turning.
"Who is this mortal who commands so freely?" Thor asked with a smile. "And speaks in riddles?"
"I speak only truth," the man said without looking. "And I am no mortal. Not anymore."
Above it all, Nick Fury watched from the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier bridge, lips tight as he leaned forward. "Get me visual confirmation. Who the hell is that?"
Maria Hill tapped the screen, pulling up satellite footage.
"It's not one of ours."
"Clearly," Fury muttered.
"And sir—" she added slowly, "—he just stopped time."
Fury said nothing for a long beat.
Then: "I want everything. Now."
Back in the battlefield, Fate hovered again, sensing more than just enemies.
He sensed threads — cosmic ones. A great divergence. Something fractured in the balance of this world. The portal above was just the beginning.
This universe was not stable.
He raised his hand and began drawing symbols in the air, whispering spells that bent the edges of reality. And all the while, the Avengers fought — now flanked by a being they didn't understand but couldn't deny.
A force of magic. Of order.
Of destiny.
And though they didn't know his name… the world would soon remember it.