Manhattan nightlife had always been synonymous with glittering excess. Before Rockefeller donated that parcel of land to the United Nations, he had already bought up the surrounding properties. Once United Nations Headquarters was built, this stretch of eastern Manhattan near the East River became worth every inch of its weight in gold. The Hilton Millennium Hotel and the New York River Club drew countless political and business elites, celebrities, and entertainers every night. But tonight was different. The entire city seemed to have been placed beneath an enormous flashbulb, and the night sky, stained by the city lights, suddenly blazed with painful brightness. The flash vanished in an instant. Then, from within the thick clouds came a whistle that shook the entire city, as if dragging people back to the wild era of Western expansion, when steam trains were still in use. Memories of steel and steam slammed brutally into their minds.
The roar of jet engines replaced the train whistle. The sound drew nearer and grew denser, and countless people stepped into the streets, staring in terror at the dense shadows beneath the clouds, faintly illuminated by lightning. More than a dozen aircraft Americans had never seen before streaked toward Manhattan with flaming trails, hovering above United Nations Headquarters like fireflies over summer bushes. Countless drones surged into the night sky, encircling the airspace over Manhattan's eastern shore. On the concrete plaza before United Nations Headquarters, two gigantic bipedal war machines that had appeared at some unknown time, each half as tall as a building, raised the enormous weapons mounted on their arms and once again unleashed a train whistle powerful enough to shatter steel.
Ignoring his exhaustion, Tony Stark put on the Iron Man Armor again and flew out of Avengers Tower. He had spent several hours crossing