New York's Clamor and Indifference Beneath the Sun

The sunlight on the Malibu Villa's terrace remained as generous as ever, and the sea breeze as gentle as ever. Xiao Han lounged in a beanbag chair as though embedding Asgard's God of Thunder into a cliff face with one punch had been no more than swatting away a noisy seabird.

He lazily scooped up the mango-coconut ice cream Happy had just bought, savoring the pleasant trickle of power growing within him beneath the sun.

Yet this peace was destined to be short-lived.

Far away in Manhattan, New York, atop Stark Tower—formerly Stark Industries Tower—the Tesseract device Loki had forcibly activated with the Mind Scepter had finally reached its critical point. Eerie blue light pulsed violently like a heart, and space tore open into a massive rift swirling with dim starlight!

Bzzzz—!!!

An invisible energy wave carrying the sensation of space being torn apart swept across the globe like ripples in an instant! It passed through the walls of the Malibu Villa and brushed over the terrace.

Xiao Han's hand paused slightly as he scooped his ice cream. His closed eyes slowly opened to a narrow slit, his gaze seeming to pierce through space and land upon the enormous spatial wormhole above New York.

He could clearly "see" the Chitauri single-pilot craft pouring out from the dark passage in swarms like locusts, along with the menacing Leviathan troop carriers that resembled metallic whales!

The shriek of engines, the hiss of energy weapons, the thunderous collapse of buildings, humanity's terrified screams... all of it flooded into his superhuman hearing like a chaotic symphony.

"Tsk." Xiao Han clicked his tongue softly, sounding mildly annoyed at the interruption. "The party's started? They've got the speakers cranked pretty high."

He closed his eyes again and turned over, letting the sunlight fall more evenly across his back. He even adjusted the ice cream tub so the sweet fragrance of mango and coconut drifted around his nose.

"Hope they don't set off fireworks all the way over here."

In New York, hell had arrived.

The Chitauri army poured down from the enormous spatial wormhole like a metallic flood! Single-pilot craft darted between skyscrapers like locusts, firing energy beams wildly as glass curtain walls shattered and cascaded down like waterfalls!

The Leviathan beasts opened their huge, fang-filled mouths and unleashed destructive energy blasts. Buildings that bore humanity's civilization were reduced to ruins amid explosions and fire!

On the streets, panicked crowds fled like ants, only to be cut down by merciless energy beams or buried beneath collapsing buildings! Sirens, explosions, weeping, screams, the shrieks of alien creatures... intertwined into an apocalyptic symphony!

On the rooftop platform of Stark Tower.

Wearing the upgraded Mark VII armor urgently recalled from the Helicarrier, Tony hovered in midair, his armor covered in scars. Repulsors and shoulder-mounted micro-missiles poured out firepower madly, turning approaching Chitauri craft into fireballs. But against the endless alien horde, his firepower alone was nothing more than a drop in the bucket!

"JARVIS! How much energy do I have left?!" Tony roared inside his helmet, his voice carrying a hint of exhaustion and anxiety.

"Energy reserves at sixty-two percent, Sir. However, enemy numbers are increasing exponentially. I recommend seeking ground support," JARVIS reported calmly.

"Ground?" Tony rolled sharply aside to dodge an energy beam, his eyes sweeping over the chaotic streets beneath his visor. "Captain! How are things on your end?!"

Steve Rogers's heavy breathing and the dull impact of his shield came through the comm channel. "The blockade on 42nd Street has failed! A Leviathan broke through! Civilian evacuation is being obstructed! We need air support, Tony!"

"Damn it!" Tony cursed, soaring skyward again in an attempt to intercept the Leviathan charging toward a crowded district.

Just then!

Rumble—!!!

A blazing pillar of energy crashed down upon the spot where Tony had just been hovering like a spear of judgment! The massive blast wave sent him flying, slamming him into a building's glass curtain wall! Alarms shrieked inside his helmet!

"Sir! Severe damage to the back armor! Power output reduced!"

Tony struggled to steady himself and looked up. A colossal Leviathan, even larger than the others, was slowly emerging from the wormhole like a mobile war fortress. Its armor was covered in dark-blue energy patterns. Its enormous single eye locked onto Tony, and destructive light began gathering in its mouth once more!

"Shit!" Tony's heart sank. This beast's energy level far surpassed the others! His armor alone could never withstand it head-on!

At that critical moment!

A golden-red blur shot out from the side like lightning! It was Thor! Holding Mjolnir high, the clear fist mark on its head glaring under the sun, he roared and summoned thunder. A thick bolt of lightning struck the colossal Leviathan squarely in the head!

Boom!

The lightning exploded, blasting apart part of the beast's head armor and interrupting its energy charge. It let out a pained howl!

"Tony! Aim for its joints!" Thor's grave voice came through the communicator.

"Got it!" Tony's spirits lifted as his repulsors and micro-missiles instantly locked onto the beast's exposed joints!

Meanwhile, on the streets below.

Hulk rampaged through the Chitauri infantry like a furious green hurricane! Wherever he passed, alien soldiers were flung away and torn apart like bowling pins! He grabbed abandoned cars and hurled them into the sky at the flying craft!

Natasha piloted a stolen Chitauri craft, weaving nimbly through the air and using alien weapons to precisely pick off targets threatening the ground.

Clint Barton, Hawkeye, occupied high ground. Every arrow found its mark, each specially made shaft like an invitation from Death, piercing precisely into the engines of flying craft or the weak points of Leviathans.

Steve Rogers stood firm before a civilian evacuation route like a rock, his Vibranium Shield blocking deadly energy beams time and again, buying precious time for the people behind him to escape.

"Hold the line! Push them back!" Steve's voice carried unyielding resolve across the chaotic battlefield through the loudspeakers.

But there were simply too many enemies! The wormhole was like an inexhaustible spring, endlessly spewing forth new killing machines. Though the colossal Leviathan that Thor and Tony had focused on was wounded, it remained incomparably fierce. Its enormous body crushed through streets while its energy cannons fired relentlessly, tying down a great deal of firepower.

"This won't work!" Tony shouted over the comms. "We have to find a way to close that damned wormhole! The source! The source is on top of Stark Tower! Loki and that Tesseract device!"

"I'll go!" Natasha said decisively. "Barton, cover me!"

"Understood!" Hawkeye replied steadily.

Natasha drove the craft toward Stark Tower like a nimble swallow! Dense energy beams wove a net of death behind her!

"Be careful! Loki's there!" Thor warned, summoning lightning again to strike the colossal Leviathan and relieve some of Natasha's pressure.

The battle reached its fiercest stage! The Avengers fought with everything they had, but faced with the endless swarm and that terrifying colossal Leviathan, their defensive line continued to fall back! Casualties mounted, and despair spread.

Helicarrier command center.

Nick Fury's single eye stared fixedly at the hellish scenes unfolding in New York on the screens, especially the rampaging colossal Leviathan and the unending alien army. His fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

"Director! The third and fifth districts have fallen completely! Civilian casualties are severe! The Avengers' energy and stamina are being depleted rapidly! They can't hold out much longer!" Hill's voice carried an urgency unlike anything before.

Fury's gaze swept to another screen—the terrace of the Malibu Villa. That gray figure still lay peacefully under the sun, as though the world-ending disaster outside had nothing to do with him. An overwhelming sense of helplessness and fury surged through Fury.

"Contact Stark!" Fury's voice was low and hoarse, carrying the resolve of someone burning his bridges. "Tell him his 'tenant'... needs to pay some 'rent'! If he keeps sunbathing, he can get ready to collect the bodies of all New York!"

New York battlefield.

Tony had just barely dodged another sweeping energy blast from the colossal Leviathan, while armor warnings blared without pause. Fury's order reached his helmet through the encrypted channel.

Tony froze abruptly. He looked toward Stark Tower, then seemed to look through space itself, seeing that leisurely figure on the Malibu terrace.

A tangled flood of emotions rose within him—humiliation, anger, unwillingness—but they were ultimately crushed beneath the immense crisis and his sense of responsibility toward this city, Pepper, and his comrades.

He abruptly changed direction, engines at full power, and sent out a hoarse transmission toward Malibu, filled with desperation and the last shred of hope:

"Xiao Han!!!"

Tony's voice pierced through the battlefield's clamor and the barriers of space, ringing clearly in Xiao Han's superhuman hearing with unprecedented urgency and pleading:

"New York is finished! We need you! Now!!!"

On the terrace.

Xiao Han finally stopped scooping his ice cream. He slowly opened his eyes. Within those deep black pupils was reflected the massive dark wormhole above New York, like the eye of a demon, along with the billowing smoke and flames rising from the city.

He fell silent for several seconds, as though weighing something.

Then he slowly sat up and placed the tub of mango-coconut ice cream, still nearly half full, on the small table.

"Tsk, what a hassle." He sighed softly, his tone carrying the helplessness of someone interrupted. Yet deep within his eyes flashed a cold edge.

He rose to his feet and looked toward distant Manhattan, New York.

"Bearded Uncle..."

Xiao Han's voice was calm, yet it carried an unquestionable force as he clearly answered Tony's call:

"Get ready..."

"...to clean up the battlefield."