Chapter 117: Battle of New York (Part 1)

"Damn Loki." The terrifying alien army descending made Fury and the others immediately stand up, their faces pale. They never imagined Loki's plan would be like this. Despite all the predictions Fury had made, he hadn't anticipated a full-scale alien invasion.

Even during the Kree-Skrull war, only a small contingent had come to Earth.

"These bastards." Stark shouted, watching his beloved Stark Tower being ravaged by monsters, despite how ugly the building was to the Captain and others.

"Get there immediately." Fury ordered.

"Director, we have an issue with the propulsion system; we can't move forward," Hill quickly relayed the report.

Though Stark had repaired the anti-gravity turbine system, allowing the helicarrier to remain airborne, it could now only move up and down, not forward. If it weren't for the anti-gravity devices, the helicarrier might have already crashed.

"What?" Fury angrily slammed his fist on a nearby table upon hearing Hill's report.

"We'll go ahead," the Captain said, heading outside. Despite his dissatisfaction with Fury, now wasn't the time to dwell on it.

"Right," Carter said, following the Captain outside.

"Damn it, what is Thanos up to?" Daniel wondered, following the Captain. Stark soon caught up.

"Get me the military," Fury commanded as Daniel and the others left. Given the situation, military intervention was necessary.

"Can you contact other sorcerers?" Carter asked Daniel with a serious expression aboard the Quinjet piloted by the Captain.

"I can't control their decisions unless they're willing to help themselves," Daniel replied, shaking his head. He was also wondering if the Ancient One would intervene. In the original timeline, the Ancient One only protected the New York Sanctum and didn't combat the alien attack directly. This time, the invasion was much larger, but if the Ancient One intervened, the problem would be minor. With her power, she could cover all of New York in the Mirror Dimension, trapping the invaders there.

"Regardless, we appreciate your help. Do you have any intel on these aliens?" Carter recovered quickly from her disappointment.

"I know a bit. There's not much I can do about those ground monsters, but those flying aliens are the Chitauri, a notorious race of cannon fodder in the universe. They are incredibly weak in combat. Their main weakness is their mothership; destroy it, and all Chitauri soldiers will die."

Daniel explained the Chitauri's weakness. This race was so despised that even Rocket Raccoon looked down on them. In interstellar wars, the Chitauri contributed little and were only effective against non-spacefaring civilizations. Thanos used them primarily to conquer planets that hadn't yet achieved space travel.

"These are cannon fodder?" Stark exclaimed, watching the Chitauri easily destroy a building with their weapons on the video feed.

"In the context of the universe," Daniel clarified. The key to fighting the Chitauri was not engaging the soldiers but destroying the mothership, a common knowledge in the universe. Thanos didn't bother strengthening this Chitauri weakness, viewing his forces as expendable.

"Tony, can you take out that mothership?" Carter asked, turning to Stark.

"I'm not sure," Stark admitted, not in the mood for bravado given the circumstances.

"I'll try my best." As he spoke, the Quinjet reached Manhattan. Seeing the chaos below, the Captain grabbed his shield, handed the controls to Carter, and jumped out.

"Jarvis, initiate operation."

"Understood, sir."

As Jarvis's voice fell, a huge robot, the Hulkbuster armor, descended from the sky, smashing a Chitauri troop carrier. These large fish-like monsters were Chitauri troop transports.

"Fortunately, I finished this earlier," Stark muttered. The Hulkbuster armor had been sent into orbit to be deployed in emergencies like this.

Besides the Hulkbuster, fifteen different-colored Iron Man suits flew out from Stark Tower, controlled remotely by Jarvis. Thanks to Daniel's warning, Stark had built many remote-controlled suits, even if he preferred to don one himself for show.

Stark Tower, being the site of the Tesseract portal, was less damaged by the Chitauri and their monsters.

Stark soon donned a new suit via remote control, replacing the damaged one from the helicarrier battle.

"Fiendfyre!" Riding a broomstick, dressed in a black magician's outfit with a matching mask, Daniel used fire spells to clear the monsters around the Captain below.

"You," the Captain looked up, puzzled by Daniel's outfit after cutting an attacking creature in half with his shield.

"I'm just trying to keep a low profile," Daniel explained. Unlike Stark and the others who didn't mind revealing their identities, he preferred to remain anonymous.

"How's it going, Tony?"

"Not good. Although the police are out, the casualties are high," Stark replied, fighting and gathering intel simultaneously.

Carter also engaged the Chitauri from the Quinjet until they targeted her as well, recognizing her as a threat. The Chitauri might be weak, but they weren't stupid and had a leader directing them.

Boom.

Soon, Carter's Quinjet was shot down, but her enhanced physique from the biovirus kept her from perishing with the jet.

Black Widow Natasha, Shuri, and the recovered Hawkeye quickly arrived in another Quinjet.

"Seems the Ancient One isn't interested in this invasion," Daniel observed, flying to the New York Sanctum. The Ancient One stood atop the Sanctum, only retaliating when attacked, effortlessly killing Chitauri with her fan-like weapon from any distance.

With the Ancient One abstaining, Daniel decided not to bother her.

"Daniel, get to Stark Tower and see if you can shut down that portal. Stark can't get through." The Captain's voice came through Daniel's earpiece.

"Got it." Seeing Stark overwhelmed, Daniel flew towards Stark Tower. He had indeed forgotten the method to close the portal.

"Watch out, Loki's there," Stark warned through the earpiece.

"I'll be careful." Daniel evaded pursuing Chitauri using his broomstick and Apparition, quickly reaching the top of Stark Tower, where he found Dr. Selvig and the portal device.

Selvig tried to stop him but was easily subdued. Daniel forced a vial of awakening potion into his mouth. Physical means could break Loki's mind control, so could the potion. Daniel preferred not to use brute force on the elderly scientist.

"Where am I?" Selvig quickly regained his senses and understood the situation.

"How do we stop this?" Daniel asked immediately.

"We need that scepter, Loki's scepter. I left a failsafe," Selvig explained. Although under Loki's control, his scientific rigor had compelled him to create a backdoor.

"Got it. Stay here," Daniel said, noting that the area around the Tesseract was safe from attacks.

"An energy barrier, huh? The Ope Ope no Mi can't cut it," Daniel thought after using his powers to inspect the barrier. He spotted Loki, looking smug, and considered his options when a thunderous sound heralded Thor's arrival.

Seeing Thor, Daniel Apparated behind him. "Thor, we need Loki's scepter to close the portal."

"Loki, hand over the scepter," Thor demanded, surprised but not alarmed by Daniel's sudden appearance.

"You want this?" Loki began, but his expression changed, glancing to the right as a massive beam of light descended—the Bifrost.

"Damn old man," Loki muttered, seeing Thor's four companions arriving from Asgard. He hadn't expected Asgard to send reinforcements.

Loki's invasion was meant to prove to Odin that he could be a king, that he had what it took.

"Thor, we can't waste time. We need the scepter now," Daniel urged, seeing Thor distracted by his arriving friends.

"Shut up, you wretched mortal," Loki's voice came from behind Daniel, and the scepter thrust towards his back.

Clang.

Loki was stunned to find the scepter hadn't pierced Daniel but hit something hard instead.

Bam.

Daniel kicked Loki off the building. "Idiot, did you think I wouldn't be prepared?" Knowing Loki's penchant for backstabbing, Daniel had cast a protective spell before the confrontation. Even though his body could heal, he wasn't masochistic enough to endure unnecessary pain.

Loki's underestimation of Daniel was his downfall. Despite being a powerful sorcerer, Loki didn't see Daniel as a threat, unaware of the Earth's Supreme Sorcerer.

Just as Doctor Strange negotiated with Dormammu, the Ancient One had once discussed Earth's independence with Odin, which is why Earth remained autonomous despite Asgard's dominance. Odin never shared this with his sons to avoid embarrassment.

The Ancient One didn't intervene in their antics unless they threatened Earth's existence, evident in her passive stance during the invasion. Though many New Yorkers died, the toll was less than in the World Wars, and the Ancient One, planning to retire, wasn't concerned.

"Loki!" Thor leapt after his fallen brother. Despite everything, their bond was strong.

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