It turned out Locke's guess had been exactly right. The Chitauri invasion really did happen, and the moment it began, a massive portal tore open above Stark Tower. That choice left Locke feeling oddly irritated. He couldn't help wondering whether the building had some kind of cursed cosmic attraction. For some reason, every world-ending disaster seemed to love Tony Stark's property.
Eight thousand kilometers away, Stark saw the emergency reports on live television and completely lost it. "What the hell? What the hell?!" he shouted, staring at the screen in disbelief. "Aliens, I'll kill every last one of you. Why did you pick my building? The Avengers base is right across the damn river. That's the headquarters of the strongest organization on Earth. No matter how you look at it, they should've gone there first, you idiots!"
The second he stepped out of the venue, he called in the Mark VI and sealed himself inside it. Then he shot into the sky at full speed, pushing the armor straight to Mach 3. Even so, the distance was brutal. At that velocity, it would still take him nearly two full hours to reach New York. Flying through the upper atmosphere, Stark felt pure despair settle into his chest. By the time he got there, his tower would probably already be rubble.
On the rooftop of Stark Tower, Ebony Maw stood beside the Cube machine with perfect composure. The beams of energy converging above him climbed into the sky and forced the portal wider and wider, tearing reality open over Manhattan. Several broken robot bodies lay scattered behind him, leftovers from Stark's automated building defenses. Those machines had lasted less than a round against him before being reduced to useless scrap.
New York, the largest city in America, had once again become the center of disaster. Reporters rushed into the streets without hesitation, pointing cameras up at Stark Tower while shouting updates into their microphones. Through their lenses, the whole world watched the crisis unfold in real time.
What shocked people even more than the portal was the reaction of New Yorkers. There was no screaming stampede, no mass panic, and no total collapse. The moment danger appeared, people evacuated in orderly streams and moved quietly toward civil defense shelters, subway stations, and reinforced basements. They did it with a level of routine competence that was almost disturbing.
Some people were even still chatting as they moved. "Hey, Jack, where are you hiding this time?" one man asked while jogging toward a subway entrance. The other guy scratched his head and replied, "Probably the station near Precinct 23. There'll definitely be cops there to keep order. Last time I went down to Fourteenth Street, there were way too many freaks packed in there. Red demon on one side, black demon on the other. My ass still hurts thinking about it."
The first man blinked, then slowly turned his head. "Wait… isn't that the direction of Fourteenth Street?"
Through those broadcasts, people across the globe saw the calm and practiced withdrawal of New York's civilians. Public commentators in many countries immediately started praising the spirit and quality of the American people. This, they said, was what the greatest developed nation in the world looked like—free, disciplined, powerful, and unbreakable. But a lot more people had the exact same darker thought. New Yorkers were way too experienced at this.
At the Avengers base, Locke stood beneath the open sky and stared at the portal high above the city. Behind him were Wolverine, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Professor Charles, and the newly joined Angel. He smacked his lips and shook his head regretfully. "Cyclops, Storm, and Phoenix aren't here. That's a real shame, because their powers would be perfect for a mess like this."
Then his expression sharpened, and he looked over the others with a bright, dangerous grin. "Still, the rest of us can't act scared. Aliens came knocking, so we're going to stop them and save New York."
Professor Charles interjected at exactly the right moment, his voice calm and firm. "But I should remind everyone that protecting yourselves comes first." Locke nodded immediately and raised a finger in agreement. "The professor's right. First protect yourselves, then protect civilians, and everything else comes after that."
His eyes returned to the sky. "Let's move. Clear out the enemies on the ground. The professor and I are going to the roof of Stark Tower to see if we can shut that portal down."
With that, he grabbed the handles of Charles's wheelchair and launched straight upward.
The two of them landed on Stark Tower's roof only moments later. The space was strangely empty. There were no defenders waiting for them, no Maw, no obvious sabotage team, just the still-operating machine humming beneath the Cosmic Cube's power. Locke already knew the Cube had a kind of self-protection and that brute-force destruction probably wouldn't work, but he tested it anyway.
He drew his gun and fired several shots. The bullets struck the machine and detonated harmlessly. Then he pulled out Mjolnir and called down multiple bolts of lightning, each hit exploding against the device without doing anything meaningful.
Locke clicked his tongue and shrugged at Charles. "Yeah. Not happening."
The professor didn't look any happier. He had just run his own test and found the same wall in a different form. He couldn't control the alien soldiers dropping from the sky at all. They didn't feel like normal living minds. If anything, they felt closer to mass-produced drones than actual biological beings. His mouth tightened. "I can't control these alien soldiers."
For a moment, the two of them stood there in awkward silence, looking oddly useless while an extraterrestrial army poured into the city overhead. It was not a heroic image. It was two very dangerous men discovering they'd shown up to the wrong phase of the problem.
After a while, Charles looked at the aliens flooding through the portal like a living storm and exhaled heavily. "Locke, there are too many of them. Right now, only you can destroy them in large numbers."
"No problem," Locke said immediately.
He gripped Mjolnir and was just about to launch skyward when several Chitauri soldiers dropped onto the rooftop around them. Their rifles came up in unison, and Charles's face went pale. In that instant, he was brutally reminded that on a battlefield like this, he was still just an old man in a wheelchair.
Then lightning flashed.
Several sharp arcs ripped through the rooftop, and every Chitauri soldier collapsed in smoking pieces before a shot could be fired. Locke let out a helpless sigh and looked at Charles from the corner of his eye. "Professor, what kind of gun can you use? Pistol? Rifle? Submachine gun?"
Charles said nothing.
Locke rubbed his chin and sighed even harder. "Yeah, somebody definitely has to protect you. What a shame. The Thunder Armor's out getting upgraded, or I could've just left it with you."
Charles felt his scalp prickle. For the first time in several minutes, a terrible thought hit him. Had he accidentally become a burden in the middle of the battle for New York?
Down on the ground, Logan, Colossus, and the others were already in trouble. A towering brute had suddenly entered the battlefield, carrying a massive axe and radiating physical menace from every step. One charge from the monster sent Colossus flying, and Logan's attempt to rush in ended with him getting slapped away like a toy.
Nightcrawler and Angel exchanged one quick look and made the same immediate decision. Neither of them had the raw strength to meet that thing head-on. One flew down to snatch Logan out of the wreckage while the other teleported in to help steady Colossus. They didn't say it out loud, but the message was obvious. Bosses, go ahead and die heroically. We'll be support.
It didn't matter how many times Logan and Colossus tried to reengage. The result stayed the same. Colossus got hammered back, and Logan couldn't even get his adamantium claws into a useful angle. The brute was too fast, too solid, too monstrously powerful.
Then, just as the giant prepared to move on the tanks, a roar came from behind the line. "RPG, now!"
An armor-piercing rocket screamed through the air and hit the monster dead center. A second later, tanks joined in, and the whole street erupted in a chain of explosions. Wolverine and the others stared at the soldiers and armored vehicles arriving from behind them, momentarily stunned by how clean the timing was.
The sky wasn't quiet either. Missile trails began cutting through the air over New York, and the explosions rocked building after building as Chitauri riders were blasted from the sky. Fighter jets and helicopters started appearing from the distance, pushing toward the city in force.
On Stark Tower, Locke saw it all and smiled faintly. "Professor, looks like we're not alone."
Charles visibly relaxed. Just a moment earlier, he had almost said something noble and idiotic like, Don't worry about me. Go save New York. Thankfully, reality had spared him from making that speech.
Locke, however, remained clear-eyed. America's cool heroic entrance wasn't going to last. The Chitauri had simply been caught off guard. Once their heavier assets entered the fight—flying tanks, command units, and Leviathans—the jets and helicopters would start dropping. In the end, the real threats would still have to be dealt with by people like him and Charles.
He had already noticed the giant on the ground. Turning back to the professor, he smiled. "Looks like Logan and the others need a hand. Let's go."
…
At first, the giant brute had been pounded by repeated RPG strikes and tank shells until the entire street disappeared under smoke and dust. For a few hopeful seconds, everyone thought that might actually be enough. Then the haze thinned, and the monster walked out completely unharmed.
Logan's face darkened instantly. You've got to be kidding me.
Before anyone could reset, the brute lunged toward a tank. Wolverine had no choice but to throw himself in the way again. This time, the thing didn't knock him aside casually. It brought a fist down on him like a falling building and smashed him into the pavement hard enough to shatter every bone in his body.
Then it raised the giant axe.
Colossus, Nightcrawler, and Angel all shouted at once. "Logan!"
Flat on the ground, looking up at the descending blade, Logan cursed viciously in his head. Bastard. That's going to hurt like hell.
Right before the axe fell, a laughing voice drifted in from behind the brute. "I really wouldn't do that if I were you. The recoil might hurt your hand."
The giant turned and saw a handsome young man floating in the air while casually pushing a disabled old man in a wheelchair. Instinct told him immediately that the real threat had arrived.
With a kick, he sent Logan skidding away and focused all his attention on the newcomers. Locke patted Charles lightly on the shoulder and asked with a grin, "Well? Got your confidence back yet?"
The professor smiled calmly. "Of course. It's back."
The brute didn't understand a word they were saying, but their complete lack of concern enraged him instantly. He bent his knees, launched himself more than ten meters into the air, and brought the giant axe down at them with terrifying force.
Looking at the weapon, Locke couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. If only it had been a hammer.
The moment the axe entered striking distance, the brute froze.
Locke simply floated aside with the professor, as if taking a slow walk through a park. The giant body crashed into the ground, kicking up a heavy cloud of dust. Charles narrowed his eyes. "His soul is very strong."
Locke dropped to the street with him and nodded. "Then he can sit in jail."
The Absolute Zero Domain opened and closed in a blink, swallowing the brute whole.
Then both Locke and Charles sensed it at the same time and turned toward Stark Tower. Two tall, thin figures descended from the sky together. One carried the Mind Scepter. The other held a warblade that housed his soul, a weapon that ensured he could continue resurrecting as long as it remained intact.
They landed before Locke and Charles with noble, icy expressions, as if they were monarchs descending to address insects.
Corvus Glaive spoke first, his tone flat and superior. "Earthlings. Kneel, and I may allow you to live."
Locke's mouth curled into a bright smile. "Aliens. Kneel, and I may allow you to live."
Corvus's face tightened. "You court death."
Locke tilted his head. "You court death."
Corvus's expression shifted again, colder this time. "Are you mocking me?"
Locke's smile widened. "Are you mocking me?"
The alien general's eyes went completely dead. He lowered into a combat stance, warblade angled across his body. Locke, meanwhile, turned his head toward Charles and said in a conversational tone, "Professor, freeze them."
Charles's expression hardened. "I… I can't."
Locke blinked and turned to look at him, pure confusion flashing across his face. "Huh?"
....
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