The Battle of New York Begins! Avengers Assemble!

Boom!

A dazzling fireball exploded above Manhattan.

A strangely shaped Chitauri one-man craft blew apart, trailing a long plume of black smoke as it fell toward the street below.

The flames cleared.

A red-and-gold Iron Man Armor hovered in midair.

Its palms and chest reactor fired blinding white energy blasts, swatting down Chitauri soldiers who tried to approach.

At its center was the Avengers' greatest asset: Iron Man.

But beneath the heavy armor, Tony Stark's face was grim.

"JARVIS, give me a damage assessment."

"Sir, thirty-four minutes have passed since the alien invaders arrived."

JARVIS's voice was as calm as ever, but the figures he reported were chilling.

"Direct economic losses in New York City are estimated to exceed three hundred billion dollars."

"Civilian casualties have passed 248,942, and that number is rising by thousands every minute."

"System projections indicate that unless the enemy's source of reinforcements is cut off, Manhattan will become a dead city within three hours."

Tony felt as though an invisible hand had seized his heart.

New York.

A metropolis of nearly nine million people, a shining jewel of human civilization.

In less than an hour, these alien bastards had slaughtered almost three hundred thousand people!

Explosions everywhere. Fire everywhere. Desperate screams everywhere.

"Tony, we're at your two o'clock."

Natasha's brisk voice came over the comms.

"About time. I thought you'd stopped to line up for shawarma."

Tony forced out a joke, and his frayed nerves eased a little.

No matter how strong one person was, he could do little against a regular alien army tens of thousands strong.

"Get to Park Avenue! I'll bring some of these bastards over. Be ready to take them out!"

Tony finished speaking, and the armor's rear thrusters roared to full power.

He swerved through the air, then plunged into the steel canyons of Park Avenue with dozens of Chitauri craft on his tail.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A string of violent explosions erupted as Hawkeye and Black Widow sprang their ambush and wiped out the pursuers.

But.

It barely made a difference.

The enormous wormhole overhead was like a bottomless pit.

The Chitauri Army poured out without end, as thick as a swarm of locusts.

"Captain, look up!"

Hawkeye's alarmed voice rang over the comms.

Steve Rogers snapped his head up.

A vast shadow slowly emerged from the center of the wormhole.

Then a biomechanical armored beast over a hundred meters long, shaped like a deep-sea whale, burst through with a deafening roar!

Thick alien armor covered its body. Skyscrapers on either side crumbled like rotten plaster as it passed.

Worse still.

Armor plates along the Leviathan's sides opened, and Chitauri soldiers spilled out in droves, dropping straight into the streets.

"Tony, see the big guy?" Captain America asked grimly.

"I see him. Still trying to take it in. Is Dr. Banner here yet?"

Tony darted around the Leviathan while JARVIS scanned it for weaknesses.

"I'm here."

A battered little electric scooter rolled to a stop at the intersection. Dr. Banner pushed his glasses up his nose, looking a little uneasy.

"Tony, bring him in!" Captain America shouted.

"One special delivery coming up!"

The words had barely left his mouth.

Tony led the massive Leviathan straight toward Captain America and the others, skimming just above the ground!

"I really don't think this is a good idea." Black Widow gripped her pistols, her skin prickling.

"Banner, now would be a great time to get angry!" Captain America turned to Banner.

"Captain, that's my secret."

Banner looked back, a bitter smile touching his lips.

"I'm... always angry."

The moment he finished speaking.

Banner's body swelled violently, and his skin turned a terrifying green.

Roar!

With an earthshaking roar, a three-meter-tall green monster covered in bulging muscle slammed down in the middle of the road!

Hulk had joined the fight!

As the hundred-meter beast charged toward him, Hulk advanced instead of retreating and drove a fist into it with a roar!

Boom!

The two wildly mismatched monsters collided head-on!

A tremendous burst of force stopped the charging Leviathan dead in its tracks!

Its tail reared high from the momentum.

Tony seized his chance from above.

A miniature missile bay snapped open on his shoulder.

Whoosh!

A high-explosive anti-tank missile struck the beast's soft, unarmored belly.

Boom!

The seemingly unstoppable Leviathan blew apart in two pieces.

The Avengers finally breathed a sigh of relief.

But.

Before they could celebrate.

Chitauri soldiers swarmed across the surrounding buildings, countless energy weapons already trained on them.

Worse still.

Two more bloodcurdling roars came from the wormhole above!

Two even larger Leviathans passed through it, accompanied by an even bigger alien fleet.

"Oh God..." Black Widow stared at the suffocating number of enemies in the sky. Despair flashed in her eyes.

"Give the orders, Captain."

Tony landed beside the others. His faceplate lifted, revealing an equally grave expression.

Against numbers like these, the handful of them could do far too little.

Captain America took a deep breath and quickly began setting up a defensive line.

He tried to contain the alien army's destruction within a few blocks of Manhattan.

But.

New York City covered nearly twelve hundred square kilometers!

How could the six Avengers possibly stop an alien army pouring in from every direction?

In the dark corners beyond the Avengers' reach.

Countless unarmed civilians could only huddle among the ruins, trembling.

They waited in despair for death to come.