Chapter 95 The Battle of New York

*Author's Note*

Ok, I may have written myself into a teeny bit of a corner, so please forgive the plot shenanigans required in order to prevent the battle of New York from ending in two or three paragraphs. I really do try my best to remove plot holes but Common Sense is the bane of Comic Book movie plots. Like I am 99% certain that if someone really did snap Loki's scepter, the control over Hawkeye and Selvig would have been undone. Without Clint to bust him out and without Selvig to make the portal, that would have ended the movie then and there.

In this chapter, you're also going to find out that a lot of the 'useless filler' I have in a bunch of other chapters turns out to not be so useless after all. Should make re-reading some things more interesting.

Chapter 95 The Battle of New York

Harry didn't go to sleep that night nor did the girls. Each was well enough beyond human to be fine without one night of sleep and they wanted to be ready.

Harry asked, "You really think he's going to attack New York?"

Jean answered, "It was up in the air, but with how much you antagonized him, it's about as certain as the sun rising from the east at this point."

Jade asked, "Shouldn't we, I don't know, stop it or something?"

Jean said, "We can try. But I have no confidence. Precognition and infinity stones do not mix well together."

Wanda asked, "What if you use the Mind stone for a boost?"

Jean replied, "Oh hell no. I do not want to touch that thing. It would definitely strengthen my abilities, but it would also supercharge the Phoenix within. I'm barely keeping up with it as it is, I don't want to supercharge the damn thing."

Rogue asked, "So there's no stopping it?"

Harry answered, "Maybe. But it could certainly be worse. It's not like we're getting caught with our pants down."

MJ chuckled, "There's no way Loki would use that portal here if he knew how powerful everyone actually is."

Harry nodded. They confirmed that since Shield could easily guess the identity of the Reds, that Barton knew, which meant Loki knew. Should Harry get turned, he could've assisted Loki with turning the others. However, Barton and Shield only knew what the Reds showed off, which was barely a fraction of their abilities. Working together they could bring down governments and countries and worlds.

Defending one world was not going to be that much of a challenge. The trick was keeping damage to a minimum. Especially since Harry's insurance company would have to pay for any of the damages.

Thankfully the stone was now safely tucked away in Harry's inventory and couldn't be used by anyone against his family.

Jade asked, "He needs a big power source right? How many of those could there be in New York? Couldn't we just protect or turn them off until tomorrow?"

Harry considered it. In fact, the only ones in New York that were feasible were in Harry's basement, the Goblin filled server rooms of Brilliance Inc's underground site, the one that Oscorp has tucked away, and the one in Stark's tower. Of those, only one of them was public knowledge. Stark's arc reactor, the one he plugged into his tower and turned on yesterday. There were a few others but none of them were always online and could afford to divert enough power without failing.

Harry stated, "Loki will probably use the arc reactor Stark plugged into his building."

Jade got up and excitedly exclaimed, "Great! We go there, wait for him, and throw him in a sack when he shows up."

Harry nodded and said, "Works for me."

*Ping*

[New Quest: Birth of the Avengers

Ensure the Avengers gather together and openly fight against the Chitauri.

-Bonus: Battle must last longer than 20 minutes.]

Harry sighed and said, "Wait, I got a Quest."

Rogue asked first, "To stop Loki? About time. Shouldn't you have gotten that a few days ago?"

Harry shook his head, "Actually, the Quest implies not stopping Loki and instead assisting Fury's Boy Band in protecting New York from the invasion."

Jean sighed and said, "This is why I don't like precognition. It makes choices so much harder. The Ancient One said the Quests make a better long term future right?"

Wanda asked, "Couldn't we just call the Ancient One and ask her?"

Harry figured he might as well and picked up the phone, dialed the number and put it on speaker.

After a few rings, the other end spoke up, [Let me guess, you want to know how to stop the Chitauri invasion?]

Harry answered, "Nope. We already figured that one out. Loki will use Stark Tower's arc reactor to power the cube to open the portal. We were calling to ask if we should stop him beforehand. I got a Quest to help the Avengers stop it, right before I was going to stop it myself, implying I should not prevent aliens from descending onto my city."

Harry had no doubt that in a timeline without Harry, Loki succeeded, so he wanted to know if the Ancient One had an opinion on the matter.

[Ah, an understandable quandary. Indeed, in a future without you, the Chitauri did indeed invade, many lives were lost, but in the end, the portal was closed and the world was saved by the Avengers. This changed the world forever. In a world where this does not happen, there cannot be Avengers and the little problems the people of the world have with each other will only continue to grow.]

Harry replied, "So the invasion was basically a long needed wake up call."

[Precisely. I can assure you there were many versions of the future where Loki won or versions were the damage to the world is far beyond what most can envision. I and many others capable of seeing into the future had the choice to stop the invasion or minimize the damage, and all of us have chosen the latter. Still, there is only so much we can do to minimize the damage.]

Jean asked, "So for the future, it is better to let Loki open the portal but save as many as possible?"

Jade replied, "I don't like it. We shouldn't have to choose between who dies and who doesn't. Shouldn't we try to save everyone?"

[This is the burden of knowing the future. Each timeline you chose means sacrificing another. Every choice requires sacrifice. As long as it is contained, this invasion will act as a flu shot for the planet Earth, something to strengthen it. Without that strength, many more lives will be lost when that strength is needed in the future.]

Jade sighed. She didn't like it, but no one did. She was quite glad she wasn't a Seer. They always got screwed in the end.

Harry looked around the others who all seemed to agree. He said, "Alright, we'll prepare and minimize damage. Anything to make note of?"

[Yes. The Tesseract contains the Space stone. When activated, space itself will stabilize over the city. Not even you will be able to make a portal.]

"Wait, there are three infinity stones on Earth right now?"

[If you have what I think you have in your inventory, then yes. Yes there are.]

Harry shook his head in disbelief. He always knew some force would come to Earth for some reason. Either for him, for the Time Stone, or for one of the many other valuables on the planet. It was why he already put so much effort into making a defense system. Still, the idea that there were three Infinity stones on Earth would make it tricky to sleep at night.

After that they ended the call to discuss their plans.

Wanda sighed, "No portals huh? Bummer. I know how much you like playing with those."

Jade laid back and said, "I still can't believe Sorcerers can make portals anywhere in the universe so easily. This Loki guy needs the Tesseract which your teacher said contains the Space Infinity stone to make a portal yet the Ancient One and any of the Masters can make one whenever and wherever they want."

Harry replied, "It isn't that easy. The main thing is the Sling Rings. I don't need one thanks to my Perk, but Sorcerers do. From what I understand, they are made using a technique created by the founders of Kamar-Taj. Even I can't figure out how to make one. Also, only Kamar-Taj teaches dimensional Sorcery. When I checked out Vanaheim, they too had Sorcerers, but none of them trained in Dimensional energy. So it really is not that common."

Wanda asked, "What about Odin? Didn't he send Thor here without the Bifrost?"

Harry replied, "I know the spell he used. It didn't use dimensional energy, but Dark energy."

Jade asked, "Like Dormammu Dark energy?"

"Not from his dimension. There are a number of ways to acquire dark energy that don't require that guy, they are just more taxing and inefficient. Odin would not be able to use such a spell easily."

MJ asked, "How do you wanna defend the city? Should we stay together or stay apart?"

Harry answered, "Well, if Loki opens the portal using Stark Tower, it will probably open over Stark tower." Harry used the house's Hard-Light system to make a holographic Map of New York with Stark Tower at the center. "Let's make a plan."

A few hours later, an exhausted, battered, and chicken scratched Loki made his way to the top of Stark Tower and over to Selvig to give him a few orders.

When he re-entered the tower, he noticed Harry Potter sitting at the bar pouring himself some scotch from Tony's stash. It wasn't tea, but Tony did have the good stuff.

Loki had to do a double take and asked almost offensively, "What do you think you are doing here?"

"Pouring a glass of scotch. Did you want some? Tony has the good stuff you know."

Loki took a moment to compose himself. After another moment he asked, "Aren't you supposed to stop me or something?"

Harry took out and poured a glass for Loki anyway and answered, "I considered it. As I watched those mercenaries disable Stark Tower's security, as I watched the brainwashed Selvig assemble the portal device and install the Tesseract, and as I watched them drag the cable from the arc reactor to the portal device, I considered it. But after much consideration, I decided not to."

Loki sneered at the implication. He wanted to call Harry a liar, call him out on such a large bluff clearly stated to throw Loki off balance that his plans were in the hands of what amounted to a child. He wanted to, but he could not. Loki was confident in his ability to see through the lies of mortals, and Harry wasn't lying.

Harry slid the glass down the bar table in Loki's direction where it stopped just before hitting the edge. Harry looked around and said, "You know, you and Stark have a lot in common, more than even he knows."

Loki approached cautiously and stated, "I highly doubt that."

Harry continued, "One of the times I hacked Shield, I found all the data they had on Howard Stark, Tony's father. One of the files was heavily redacted and what remained was meaningless gibberish to those unfamiliar with genetics, but I could tell what it was, and I am probably the only person on Earth who knows this secret. You see, Howard Stark was a perfectionist who never stopped seeking something better. When he decided to have a kid, he wanted a perfect kid. So he actually hired some geneticists to take his DNA and his wife's and create a genetically perfect super baby. What do you think happened?"

Loki answered, "Tony Stark?"

Harry shook his head, "Nope, super baby died some months after birth due to the problems they apparently encountered trying to make a super baby and a baby Tony was adopted from an orphanage. Howard deleted or redacted all records of this, so no one alive, not even Tony, knows he is not Howard's biological son."

Loki raised an eyebrow and picked up the glass on the table.

Harry continued, "So, Tony grew up with a father that knew Tony wasn't his son yet pressured him into being the son he always wanted while Tony had no idea why anything he did was never good enough. Still think you two have nothing in common?"

Loki examined the glass for poison in an attempt to ignore the question.

Harry then gestured to the tower and said, "Sorta makes this more impressive, you think? A lot of people think Tony inherited his father's genius, but they are wrong. He has long since surpassed it. Maybe it was because he wasn't Howard's son that he isn't bound by the same limitations. Food for thought huh?"

Loki seemed to consider it and said, "Surpassing fathers, I think I can drink to that," and brought up the glass.

Harry smiled, lifted the drink towards Loki, and downed his own as Loki appeared to do the same.

The Hard-Light barrier stopped the blade going for his back for just an instant, long enough for Harry to spin to the side as he had of course been expecting the literal back stab. The Loki illusion he'd been speaking with did have some glitter, but it didn't contain Harry's Magic. The glitter was actually a distraction from the magic on the glitter which Harry could keep track of.

The real Loki's blade was only stopped for a moment before his strength enabled him to pierce through the Hard-Light barrier, but that moment was enough for Harry to dodge the blade.

Loki realized that since Harry really had been there for a while, he had apparently taken the time to install a Hard-Light system within the room. Of course, Loki knew the weakness of Hard-Light, it only worked within enclosed spaces.

Several barriers were erected to stop Loki as Harry moved away but Loki shattered them with his blades and then got to the large window the room had and destroyed it.

Loki then turned invisible.

Harry sighed. He didn't feel like playing with Loki anymore. Harry sensed where his magic was and lifted it with telekinesis. Loki could shapeshift, use illusions, and throw projectiles, but with the exception of the latter which could be blocked with a shield, Loki had no means of long distance combat. Harry would estimate Loki's level to be about 390, but his combat skills were lacking anything that could make use of his outrageous stats. His illusions could perfectly fool Harry's senses, but when countered, his over-reliance on them revealed his true weakness.

Loki's illusion broke as he rose into the air and shouted, "What is this? What are you doing? Put me down!"

Of course that was just a cover, he had already recast his illusion over himself to look as if he was complaining and several invisible knives bounced off the psionic shield Harry already placed between them thrown by the illusion shrouded Loki.

Loki seemed to realize that things were not as they appeared. He revealed several grenades and pulled their pins and tossed them around the room. Harry rapidly pulled them to himself, grabbed each, and put them into his inventory before each could explode. All but one ended up being an illusion.

Harry was now getting annoyed. He wanted to pull a Darth Vader, but frost giants and Asgardians don't need to breathe so that wouldn't work. Thankfully he could at least disarm him. Harry used some basic electromagnetic sorcery to remove all the hidden weapons on Loki and let them form a pile next to the Trickster god. Some of there were strapped down, but Harry was still able to remove each piece. He wasn't at the level of Magneto, but Technomancy was a branch of electromagnetic sorcery, so he was certainly skilled enough not to miss anything.

Loki responded by shouting and updating Harry's knowledge of Norse and Asgardian curse words, so Harry cast a silencing spell on the noisy trickster god just as Tony landed on the outside platform and took off his Iron Man suit.

He walked in and noticed Harry and a floating Loki. He then asked, "Did you drink from my stash?" while pointing at the two empty glasses.

Harry shrugged, "Even if he is invading the Earth, Loki is still my favorite god. Haven't you ever wanted to share a drink with your idol?"

Tony considered it and nodded. If it went towards a good cause, he didn't mind too much. "What are you doing with Reindeer games?"

"Holding him in place so he doesn't run off. The portal machine is with Selvig outside. You might wanna take a look at that."

Tony first went over to the bar and poured himself a glass of scotch while grabbing some bands on the counter and putting them on and saying, "Jarvis, Deploy the Mark Nine and reboot the home systems."

Some of the lights in the building started going off and on again and a voice came over the speakers, [Backup systems restored.] Stark then walked back up to the floating Loki and asked, "Hey, did you really tell Selvig to open the portal to some nightmare world if you didn't return? I got a ten dollar bet on this so I'd appreciate an honest answer."

Harry removed the silencing spell as Loki answered, "How did you know about that?"

Tony laughed and said, "Yes!" and walked over to a wall that was opening up.

Harry answered for him, "I asked Fury to make sure you got away to avoid any backup plans you might have had."

Harry then turned to Tony and asked, "Did you get Barton?"

Tony was in the middle of the suit assembling around him as he answered, "Yeah, Romanoff snuck up on him and bashed him in the head. He was coming around when Loki and the mercs were chased out of the building by a swarm of angry chickens."

As the armor finished assembling around him, he asked, "Can I have one of those for Stark Tower?"

Harry shook his head and answered, "No can do." The Chicken was similar to the Rabbit of Caerbannog in that it was a singular artifact which replicated itself, though they were vastly different in function and purpose.

Stark didn't ask more and lifted off and flew over to Selvig and the portal machine. He tried talking to Selvig who seemed completely out of it. He fired a repulsor at the portal device which bounced off a shield around it. Jarvis said from the speakers, "The shield is impenetrable."

Tony flew over and grabbed Selvig before tossing him away from the portal device and fired an intense beam at the floor the portal device was set on. The ground collapsed causing the device to momentarily fall, but the shield erected around it glowed and it stopped moving, simply floating in place.

Tony's comm was broadcast through the speakers so Harry and Loki both heard him swear, causing Loki to look amused.

In the next instant, the portal device shot a beam into the sky which stopped and became a purple cloud. The cloud expanded into a massive portal and an army of aliens on flying vehicles passed through it in a massive swarm.

Tony swore again and flew up, launching missiles and lasers into the descending army to pick off as many as he could.

Tony asked through the speakers, "Got any ideas Professor?"

"Yeah, but I need twenty minutes."

Sounds of combat came through the speaker along with Tony's voice, "Yeah, about that. I don't think New York is going to survive twenty minutes."

Harry answered back, "Remember the girlfriends I told you could kick your ass?"

[Sir, it does not appear you are alone up there.]

Along with Jarvis's observation, Stark's system pointed out to him four locations a number of blocks North, South, East, and West of the Tower where there were four additional figures.

When the swarm of aliens went North, they faced Phoenix who psionically crushed or telekinetically smashed their cruisers. Most of them however she pushed back, only destroying the ones which strayed too far from Stark Tower. She was doing her best to fight cost efficiently.

The alien cruisers who flew south were met with Crimson X who stood atop one of the higher roofs and, similarly to Jean, crushed and slammed every alien which came at her. Like all her powers, she could only use Magneto's power in a situation Magneto would not disapprove of. This meant she could never use her gift against Magneto himself or the Brotherhood, but alien invaders were fair game, allowing her access to the Master of Magnetism's full power.

The cruisers going East met Dragonheart. The power of the Pig and Dragon Talismans had been altered to give her a vast range of powerful magical attacks. Her flight speed, super strength, and immortality also allowed her to simply use herself as a battering ram and since the source of her magic was the chi of her thousand past lifetimes, she could actually fight at a high intensity for a long duration without difficulties.

And those aliens unfortunate enough to go West, all encountered the Scarlet Witch. She was feeling creative today as only an artist could and struck each cruiser that tried to pass her with a Hex bolt or transfiguration spell. The former cruisers died and the latter either changed into something else or worse. Many of the cruisers fell apart as if they had been turned into puzzle pieces which had been shaken loose.

On the ground was Red Sonja, attacking anything she could run up to. To the immense disappointment of many a New Yorker, she had changed her outfit from a Goddess enchanted chainmail bikini into a set of armor forged by Harry. Her shoes allowed her to walk or run on air. Her armor deflected most energy attacks and was completely bulletproof, and she had a helmet that prevented people from shooting her in the head. She also had a space expanded pouch of goodies that took full advantage of her Plot Armor to ensure the unlikelihood of encountering an unwinnable situation. Harry also made some modifications to the Goddess blessed sword she used, granting it a monomolecular edge, indestructibility, and near weightlessness.

Stark took a moment to observe each of them and said, "Well, they have the sky covered, but the ground not so much. Okay, I can work with this. Jarvis, what is Romanoff's ETA?"

From the speakers Harry heard the Russian's voice, "We're already here Stark."

A Shield Jet flew up to the tower a moment later.

Stark said, "Alright, we've got the sky taken care of, you guys head to the ground and help evacuate everyone outside the perimeter."

Harry said, "I'll help with that."

Stark asked, "How?"

"Almost everyone in New York has one of my cell phones right?"

The moment the portal opened, Harry told Link to launch the evacuation plan. Since he knew it would be used today he spent a few hours streamlining the details for use today before launching it.

Everyone in New York got an alert on their phones asking them to evacuate. The alert gave them a few buttons to press. Leaving Now, Need Help Leaving, I don't believe this, and I don't care.

If 'Leaving Now' was pressed, a route from their position to a safe zone appeared on their phone and they were told to safely follow the route and not to take anything with them. If people on the same family plan clicked Leaving Now, everyone on the same plan could see who was leaving and who had not yet clicked Leaving Now.

If someone clicked, 'Need help leaving,' the people near them would get a message asking if they could help someone. If they clicked yes, several people would be directed to that person. If no one was available or if no one agreed to help, their situation would be assessed and they would either be told to sit tight or wait and others such as law enforcement would be directed to them.

If someone actually clicked 'I don't believe this,' a live stream of the portal and the aliens descending on it would appear on their screen until they exited out of the screen.

And of course because Darwinism existed, people could in fact click 'I don't care,' and the Alert would go away and not bother them again.

Some of the people who were too close to the epicenter were not directed to the perimeter, but directed to other buildings which had basements. Only certain amounts were directed to each basement to prevent unreasonable overcrowding.

The only reason Link could even make the plan work was because Link had been tracking each person in the area for the last few hours and had spent that time calculating the most efficient responses and routes for each.

The funny part was that the ability to do all of this was actually included in the Terms and Conditions of use of service for the Phones. The fact that not a single person ever mentioned it implied a great deal about how New Yorkers felt about reading the Ts and Cs.

Everything seemed to be going okay for about three minutes. The girls stayed in the air to prevent anyone from leaving their encirclement, but that meant they had trouble hitting the ground forces that stayed under the roof level without destroying the streets and buildings. The attacking forces noticed this and landed, attacking the citizens, but this made it easier for the Avengers and Red Sonja to kill them. Bruce had already turned Hulk and was using a street lamp to swipe and smack anything within reach. Each lamp ended up mangled after a few swings, but there were plenty of extras for Hulk to restock from when he needed another. Thor similarly attacked groups of Chitauri with lightning. He had inquired as to Loki's position and was already informed that Potter found him and had him contained. If there was one person they had some confidence could handle Loki, it was Harry, so Thor didn't ask again.

Then the massive alien leviathan came in and the amount of cruisers that came behind it had doubled.

Some of the aliens were getting past the girls in the air and some were getting past them on the ground.

Tony asked over the speakers, "Has it been twenty minutes yet? We're running out of time here."

Harry said, "No, we're fine. This just means I have to use a few more contingency plans."

Loki, who Harry had unmuted, said, "You cannot stop a war with a dozen individuals. Surrender now and I may grant mercy."

Over the speaker Thor said, "I feel you may be underestimating Harry Potter my brother."

Harry replied back, "Indeed."

Harry took out a few devices which opened up a dozen holographic screens and control panels. Harry said, "Initiate, the Last Olympian." He really hoped he would not get sued for this one.

All throughout the city, Harry's company had repaired and restored and maintained hundreds upon hundreds of statues. According to the contract Harry signed when he acquired the rights to maintain them, they could be moved if something destructive happened in the city. What the contract did not stipulate, was the distance from the destructive something and how the move was going to occur.

All at once, hundreds of statues all over the city began to move. Harry had planted crystal seeds within each of them which grew beneath the stone and steel into a crystalline muscle structure, the same kind he showed Dr. Doom for the extra credit science project. A small amount of magic was used in their growth, but none was required for their upkeep and movement, thus the animation of almost a thousand statues throughout the city could be done without, technically, breaking the Statute of Secrecy for magic.

Many of the gargoyle statues on the rooftops jumped off their various roofs. Their targeted landing spots were the tops of nearby covered bus stops, but before each landed, their speed of descent dropped and they eventually floated in the air for a moment before they began accelerating up.

The bus stops Harry installed and updated throughout the city had powerful electromagnets built into their ceilings which interacted with the magnets built into many of the statues, allowing them to simulate flight or long distance jumping to navigate the city without impeding traffic.

A terrifying swarm of giant, jumping statues and gargoyles of various shapes and sizes started moving through New York into the encirclement. Though there were more aliens than statues at first, the alien's energy weapons didn't have much effect on the statues since Harry had modified more than just the interior.

Harry's holographic display gave him all the information Link had and he used it to direct the statues to where they needed to be and draw attention from the officers who were still trying to evacuate the citizens unable to leave on their own.

As for the aliens who got out of the encirclement, they each fell to either Harry's Magic Powered Drone, or Obscurus who Harry had already arranged to be the last line of defense.

Stark, finally noticing Obscurus on his speeder bike zipping around and shooting everything that got past the girls, asked, "I see your friend showed up. Not sure how that works but I can leave that for later. Guess I'll take on the big guy, but be honest, do you really need us? You seem to have this covered."

Harry answered, "Please keep the damage to a minimum. A lot of New York has my insurance which actually does cover Alien invasion, so more damage equals more money out of my pocket. So yes, I do need you to keep costs to a minimum."

Stark replied, "Wow, that was the most capitalist thing I've ever heard in my life. It seems I need to up my game."

According to the video cameras Harry had on display, Stark created a massive two story tall Hard-Light blade and cut the leviathan in half, the long way, while flying under it. Two more leviathans flew through the portal after a few more minutes, but Thor and Hulk took them down. Although the enemies were getting more reinforcements, more statues were arriving with every minute as well, supporting the ground fighters, drawing fire, and acting as usable cover for those who were not bulletproof.

A minute later Peter showed up in costume. He'd put it on a few minutes ago and the built-in connection to Link asked if he wanted to help which he agreed to of course. Link had access to Harry's data on Peter and concluded thanks to Peter's Spider-Sense he would not be in danger and would be of great assistance. Unfortunately Reed and the rest of the Fantastic Four were in Hong Kong. Apparently, the Science expo they were at was attacked and they were also currently in the middle of combat, fighting alongside War Machine against unknown forces.

Harry had screens of each of the girls and some of the Avengers up at all times.

Scarlet Witch created a massive amount of floating red orbs which automatically sent Hex Bolts at nearby cruisers and filled her area with them, forming a crude magical barrier that prevented enemies from passing through.

Phoenix and Crimson X had done something similar and were both surrounded by wreckage which circled around them and were used as both projectiles and shields, though both had their own form of shield even if a blast did get through.

Dragonheart was having a bit of fun. A massive, animated water dragon and a terrifying fire dragon, composed of water and fire respectively, flew around her zone at anything that tried to pass her. If the water dragon passed through a cruiser, the riders were always thrown off and it wasn't hard to guess the smoldering fate of those unlucky enough to attract the attention of the fire dragon. The power of the rat talisman allowed Jade to grant life to the lifeless, animating the inanimate. She had worked hard at combining this aspect with her Yin Yang Dragon Chi Magic to create this formation of water and fire. Of course, Jade herself would still fly into and ram through anything she felt like at super speed.

Red Sonja fought alongside Black Widow and Captain America in the most crowded area. Although her sword could not kill dozens in a single attack like some of the other Reds, she made up for that with her speed and moved like a blur to effortlessly slice through anything and everything in her path like a beautiful goddess of war.

According to Link's data at about the ten minute mark, more than four fifths of the New Yorkers in the danger zone had either been successfully evacuated outside the perimeter or into a basement. Link created some prediction models for the most likely to be destroyed buildings and the New Yorkers within who had clicked 'Need Help Leaving.' Harry added a function to them asking them if they needed to be carried gently away or if they were okay with being rushed out. To those who clicked they could be rushed out, they next got a message asking if they were okay with a statue coming into their house and carrying them out. For those who clicked yes, Harry directed the lighter statues into their floors through the stairs or windows and had them directed towards whoever had the phone and lift and princess carry them out. For those who clicked no to the Statues in high danger buildings, Link directed Spider Man to them.

To the ones who could not be princess carried out by a statue or Spider Man, law enforcement officers were directed to them as efficiently as possible. Each subway entrance had a dozen statues surrounding it, allowing humans to get in but stopping the aliens who tried to chase them.

At the fifteen minute mark, officers from the rest of the city had been directed through their phones to set up roadblocks on every street beneath the Reds to block any of the Chitauri from getting past them.

Over the comms, Stark said, "Not bad overall. Are you done yet?"

Harry answered, "That drone flying around? In addition to picking up the slack, it is charging itself for a massive boom. Give it another five minutes and I'll have it fly through the portal to blow up everything on the other side."

"Copy that. How's everyone else holding up?"

Steve answered first, "Not terrible. The officers are getting people out and the statues are helping."

Natasha followed with, "These creatures hit hard and are pretty good shots, but they are pretty stupid. They keep trying to destroy the statues which takes a lot of time for each one."

Harry replied, "They seem to be biological androids. Test Tube soldiers. There is a signal I can't block coming from a big ship on the other side of the portal which is directing them. Once my drone blows that ship up, they will probably drop like the power has been cut."

Thor commented through a comm he'd asked for to speak with Loki earlier, "They lack wisdom in battle, but they also lack fear. Do hurry, Harry Potter."

Hulk apparently had a comm unit and said, "Too bad. Never had this much fun before."

Thor remarked, "Then I must invite you to Jotunheim one day. These leviathans have nothing on the Jotuns. A Mountain Giant could crush one of these beasts like a worm."

Hulk replied, "I'll think about it. Banner could use a change of scenery too."

It was at this point a new voice rose on the comms. "Stark you there?" Fury continued, "The World Security Council just launched a Nuke at Midtown!"

Stark shouted, "What?! Why?! We're not doing too badly here, I told you Potter said five more minutes!"

Fury stated, "And the missile will be there in under three. They over-ruled me and said it was too high of a risk." Everyone could hear him mumble a curse through the comms.

Harry considered it and said, "They are probably targeting the Reds. Now that they have shown off a bit, the council feels nervous." Harry looked over at Loki who was frowning. Harry didn't know what he was thinking. Would Loki survive a nuke? Maybe. Would the shielded portal device survive a nuke? Probably. Would the army? No. But the army on the other end of the portal could send more. The thing was, did the army have more forces than the U.S. did nukes? Harry doubted it. Harry wondered if Loki thought they wouldn't use nukes on their own people.

Over the comms, the distinct voice of Obscurus said, "I've got it. Stark, hold the line for a minute."

Though he couldn't use portals, the Speeder Obscurus rode was the second fastest thing on the planet, just behind the drone also flying through the city killing everything that got past the Reds.

The speeder quickly got him to the nuke in flight and Obscurus lazily used Technomancy to completely disassemble it. Harry could not put large things or things controlled by others in his inventory, so remote controlled things could not be placed within. But Harry could easily use Technomancy to disarm the nuke, disable every component, and block the signal, thus rendering it inert. Once taken apart using electromagnetism, he could put every piece into his inventory.

From flying up to the nuke to putting the last piece inside his inventory, the process took six seconds. Obscurus said into the comms, "It's done. And Fury, tell the World Security Council the return of the nuke they fired is contingent on the resignation of every member."

In the Quest box, the 20 min mark Bonus got checked off. Harry figured he didn't have to wait any more.

Harry said into the comms, "Okay, I'm finished, I need to make one change on the drone before I'm sending it through, two minutes top guys, keep it up."

The drone quickly flew into the room and Harry took out a Reality Bomb from his inventory. Since the portal could not be closed from this side, he would just collapse the space on the other side. No matter how good the Space stone is, nothing can make a portal into a space with the wrong laws of reality.

Loki of course asked, "What is that and where did you get it?"

Harry ensured Jarvis could not hear him and answered, "Reality bomb, I invented it when I was eleven. It makes a good plan Z for almost any situation."

Harry armed the bomb and hooked it to the drone which flew out, avoiding the descending army and leviathans and passed through the portal. Navi the AI accelerated right up to the massive ship while Harry counted the remaining forces through the Drone's camera feed. There were about a dozen more leviathans and probably three thousand more troops total. A lot, but not even close enough to take a world without a plan that prevents nukes. The drone even confirmed that the mother ship didn't have any form of energy shielding. Not too surprising since they may not have accounted for the humans attacking them through the portal, but still.

Navi dropped the bomb off in front of the mother ship and immediately used the Star Driver to get to the closest star. It was told to map out the nearby region and later activate its built-in intergalactic portkey to take it home. The drone was too powerful, so if people thought it wasn't destroyed, they'd be worried.

A moment later the reality bomb went off. A bubble rapidly spread out from the ship and a moment later, the Chitauri ground troops all dropped dead. The bubble continued to spread until it reached the portal itself and then the portal popped like it had been a bubble itself. The beam being sent by the portal device sputtered and died. The shield around the device flickered and a moment later, it dropped onto the floor below it.

*Ping*

[Quest Complete: Birth of the Avengers

Reward: Infinity Stone Perk]

Harry suddenly realized that the Mind Stone he shouldn't have been able to use inside his inventory was now slightly usable. That was weird. Something to figure out later.

The invasion alert on every cell phone changed to a Caution Alert and asked that people remain patient and not return home before the buildings were confirmed structurally sound. Officers were directed to the remainder of people who needed assistance getting out until the buildings could be confirmed stable.

Over the comms, Stark said, "Yay. We did it. Does anyone want shawarma? I flew by this shawarma place like ten times and I can't get it out of my head now."

Harry shook his head. "You guys go ahead. I need to set up an online press conference and start damage control. Stark, if you have some titanium shackles or something to bind Loki with, please get them and the cube. Thor will be taking them both back to Asgard."

Tony did in fact have some unbreakable manacles Harry secretly enchanted with tracking spells, portkey spells, and unbreakable spells to prevent accidents.

The first thing Harry did after leaving the tower was use the Time Turner to go back and redo the invasion as Obscurus, allowing him to be in two places at once. If Stark asked, he'd tell him it was just another drone.

Once caught back up, Harry then set up a camera and made a video explaining what had happened. An artifact of unknown origin previously used by the Axis in WWII was discovered and attempts to weaponize it were made. This attracted the attention of aliens who wanted it. The invasion was to acquire the artifact. To prevent another, the artifact will be given to Thor of Asgard who will be taking it off the planet. Harry also went over the plans he'd made, how they were technically legal, and how his company would be taking care to rebuild the destroyed midtown area.

He made plans and arrangements for every building in the affected area to be checked thoroughly within 48 hours and asked for people to be patient and not go home until the locations were confirmed secure. Those who had his insurance were also covered for relocation, so up to a certain amount, they could be recouped for hotel fees for the duration they could not return home.

When Harry heard a knock on his door, he had been expecting many things. What he had not been expecting was Jane Foster.

"Umm, how can I help you Miss Foster?"

Jane sighed and said, "I want to see Thor. He already left and you are the only one I think can help." She had been taken to a safe place once Loki arrived and kept there until now, preventing her from getting there before Thor left.

Harry considered it and decided might as well. Besides, there was something wrong he couldn't quite place with the invasion. Something he was missing. A trip to Asgard might give him some ideas.

"Okay, follow me."

Jane, not expecting that answer of all things, followed Harry into his basement. Harry created a Hard-Light image of a really advanced looking machine and threw a silver portal at it with a bit of sleight of hand, making it look like the machine created the portal.

"Asgard is through... here."

Harry took one step through and realized what he had been missing. The army Loki was given was not enough to conquer Earth. Maybe Loki could use his smarts and get lucky, but it was not a guarantee. So why give him an army at all? Well, Odin and Heimdall would definitely be watching the whole time. And once the Tesseract was revealed and Loki showed up, Odin would definitely use up a great amount of power to send Thor to Midgard.

Thus leaving Odin weak and Asgard without its strongest warrior. Odin and Heimdall's attention was entirely on Midgard. That would explain the battle torn look of the Asgard in front of him. Considering the Asgardians walking around, they had certainly emerged victorious, but the cost must've been high, far higher than it should have been.

Loki was never a conqueror. He was a distraction.

*Author's Note*

And thus ends MCU canon. This is the only logical reason I can imagine for Thanos to give Loki an army so disposable and pathetic, it can be wiped out by a half dozen people and one tiny nuke. A distraction so Thanos can attack Asgard himself with his true forces. Feel free to try and guess why Thanos wants to attack Asgard.

PSS. Once again, I have finished and posted this chapter at like 3am. Yes, it has typos, yes, I will edit and fix them later.