Battle of New York (Final)

At the top of Stark Tower, the gale cut like blades.

The Tesseract's energy shield let out a teeth-grating buzz, like an absolute domain that refused all intrusion.

Dr. Eric Selvig lay limp on the ground, muttering hollowly, "It's useless... useless... It's formed a self-sustaining cycle. This is a closed loop of pure energy. It's perfect..."

"Perfect?"

A shrill yet arrogant voice suddenly rang out beside the doctor's ear.

"Doctor, remember this: before absolute intelligence, even divine power is merely an equation waiting to be solved."

The doctor looked up in shock.

A palm-sized alien with grayish-white skin and a black-and-green bodysuit had leaped onto the energy generator's console like an agile tree frog.

"A Galvan—Grey Matter!"

Data surged through Jiang Li's tiny, mung-bean-sized eyes.

Under the calculations of his two super brains, the energy matrix that had left Earth's scientists helpless was rapidly being broken down into its most fundamental mathematical logic.

"Frequency synchronization... phase shift... Found it. A logical infinite loop at Energy Node Forty-Seven."

Jiang Li's tiny fingers struck the keyboard so quickly they left afterimages, every tap landing precisely at a pause in the energy flow.

"Watch closely, Loki."

Without looking back, Jiang Li called out to Loki, who was lying motionless in the distance.

"This is called—knowledge changes destiny."

"Smack!"

With the final press of the Enter key.

The previously unbreakable blue energy shield suddenly seemed to have its soul ripped away. It flickered twice, then vanished into nothing with a soft pop.

"Incredible..." Dr. Selvig stared wide-eyed, as though witnessing a miracle.

"Stop staring, Doctor."

Jiang Li jumped down from the console and struggled to lift the Mind Scepter, which was as heavy to him as a utility pole.

Using leverage, he aimed the scepter's tip at the Tesseract's core.

"Gwen! Tony! Everyone, close your eyes!"

Jiang Li's shrill roar came through the comm channel.

"I'm closing the door!!"

"Pfft!"

The scepter plunged in.

Like a hot knife cutting through butter, like a key sliding into a lock.

The blue beam pouring forth was instantly severed. The enormous black wormhole in the sky began to shudder violently, its edges rapidly collapsing inward.

"NO!!!"

Faintly, desperate howls could be heard from the other side of the wormhole. The Chitauri warships that had yet to emerge were directly shredded into cosmic dust by the raging spatial turbulence.

Just as everyone thought victory was within reach.

"Alert! A nuclear missile has entered the atmosphere!"

Nick Fury's nearly distorted voice exploded over the channel. "The World Security Council has given the order! Detonation in one minute! Target: Manhattan!"

The entire scene fell deathly silent.

They had just defeated the aliens, only to get nuked by their own side?

"Damn bureaucrats!"

Tony Stark cursed from the sky, his thrusters erupting with flames. "I'll intercept it! JARVIS, divert all power to the engines. This might be a one-way trip..."

"Stop, Tony."

A calm voice interrupted Tony's heroic charge.

Jiang Li, who had already transformed back and was weakly leaning against the railing, held a crude device Grey Matter had casually modified earlier—a remote connected to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s satellite signal.

"What are you trying to do? Play the hero?"

Jiang Li looked at Iron Man in the sky, a mocking curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Tony, sacrifice is for people without a Plan B. And I usually have plans all the way to Z."

"What?" Tony froze.

"Watch that nuke."

Jiang Li pressed the red button in his hand.

"When I hacked the Tesseract system earlier, I also slipped a little 'patch' into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s navigation satellites. Now, that nuke answers to me."

Above Manhattan.

The nuclear missile, trailing flames and radiating destruction, suddenly made a ninety-degree right-angle drift in midair one second before entering the city's defensive perimeter—a maneuver that defied inertia itself!

It did not fly toward Stark Tower. Instead, like a precisely guided cruise missile, it shot straight... toward the rapidly closing wormhole, where only a narrow crack remained!

"Off you go!"

Jiang Li made a baseball-swinging motion at the sky, his gaze wild with arrogance.

"Take this 'gift' back home, you bastards!"

"Whoosh—!"

In the final microsecond before the wormhole closed, the nuke shot precisely through it.

One second later.

Although the wormhole had completely sealed shut, everyone present clearly saw the pitch-black night sky flash with an eerie burst of light.

That radiance passed through the barriers of space, as though a supernova had been ignited in the depths of the universe.

It was the fireworks of the Chitauri mothership exploding.

At the same time, every Chitauri soldier and Leviathan on Earth collapsed to the ground like puppets with their strings cut the instant the mothership's signal was severed.

Everything was over.

"This... this fucking worked?"

Gwen crouched nearby and took off her mask, her delicate face filled with shock. "You hacked a nuclear missile... with a busted remote?"

"That's what you call a technical build, girl."

Jiang Li casually tossed away the remote, then slid down the wall to sit on the ground, gasping for breath.

The unbroken stretch of high-intensity combat, transformations, and mental calculations had completely drained him.

"Phew..."

Tony slowly descended onto the terrace. His faceplate opened, revealing the face of a man who had narrowly escaped death. He looked at Jiang Li, his expression impossibly complicated.

"You robbed me of my chance to be a hero, Jiang." Tony was complaining, but his voice trembled slightly. "If your hand had slipped even once, we'd all be dead."

"But it didn't slip, did it?"

Jiang Li weakly waved a hand. "Rather than becoming a black-and-white photo hanging on a wall, I'd rather stay alive and eat that French dinner of yours. Don't forget—you're paying."

At that moment, Hulk leaped up, followed by the panting Steve, Thor, and Black Widow.

The Avengers had all assembled.

They looked at the wreckage strewn everywhere, then at the pale-faced young man sitting on the ground and smiling more happily than anyone else. An indescribable respect welled up in their hearts.

Jiang Li pointed at Loki, who was still lying on the ground in the distance.

"Hey, reindeer baby over there."

Loki turned his head with difficulty. Looking at the circle of burly men surrounding him—along with an alien creature and a spider girl—he awkwardly forced out a smile.

"If you don't mind... can I still have that drink now?"

"Drink my ass!"

Hulk roared, making Loki shrink his neck in fright.

As the sun set, golden afterglow spilled across New York's devastated streets.

The Avengers escorted Loki into a Turkish shawarma restaurant that was still somehow standing.

The owner tremblingly brought out plate after plate of shawarma wraps.

Everyone ate in silence. No one spoke; only the sound of chewing remained.

It was the tranquility of survivors, and the unspoken understanding between warriors.

Gwen sat beside Jiang Li, curiously fiddling with the shawarma wrap in her hands.

"So..." she asked softly, "that hole's closed. Does that mean I can't go home?"

Jiang Li swallowed the meat in his mouth and glanced at the Omnitrix on his wrist.

Though its energy had recovered, he could sense that a new "spacetime anchor point" had appeared inside the system.

"Don't worry."

Jiang Li pushed his cola toward Gwen, his gaze firm yet gentle.

"Since I'm the one who brought you here, I'll definitely send you back. I have a feeling... the Omnitrix's next major update is being prepared for you."

"And besides..."

Jiang Li swept his gaze across everyone seated at the table: Tony, Steve, Thor, Banner, Natasha, and Barton.

This was not merely the Avengers. They were his foundation in this world.

"Staying in this universe for a while longer is pretty interesting too, isn't it?"

Gwen looked into Jiang Li's deep black eyes, then at Thor beside them, who was fighting Tony for the last piece of meat. A radiant smile curved across her lips.

"All right. As long as you don't charge me rent, and you feed me."

Jiang Li smiled and raised his bottle of cola.

"Deal."