[A/N]: Yeah, I know... I FUCKING forgot to upload this morning, and honestly, I'm kicking myself over it. Only realized when some of you called me out on Discord. Here's the chapter I should've posted earlier. Sorry for dropping the ball on this one.
Stark Tower Rooftop
Steve raised his shield. The pristine vibranium caught the light.
"Avengers..."
Tony's repulsors charged to maximum. Natasha's Spider Bites crackled with electricity. Thor spun Mjolnir, lightning dancing. Hulk cracked his massive knuckles.
"...ASSEMBLE!"
The word hung in the air for a heartbeat, then they moved as one.
Steve charged first, shield raised, Tony took to the air as Natasha flanked right. Thor came from above, and finally Hulk bounded forward with earth-shaking force.
Five warriors V/S One enemy.
Captain America led the charge, shield flying from his hand. The vibranium disc spun through the air with perfect precision and struck Loki's barrier. For the first time, the protective magic cracked against the Avenger's attack. Hairline fractures spread across the shimmering surface. Steve caught the shield on the rebound and followed through with a shield bash that shattered the barrier completely.
Magical energy exploded outward in golden shards.
Iron Man came in from above, repulsors at maximum output. Twin beams of concentrated energy hammered into Loki, driving him back. The god's feet carved furrows in the rooftop as he slid backwards. He tried to create illusions, tried to teleport, but Tony was ready.
"JARVIS, track the energy signature! Find the real one!"
[Target acquired, sir. Marking now.]
A holographic indicator appeared over the real Loki. Tony's micro-missiles launched, all twelve converging on that single point.
Loki's eyes widened. He threw up defensive magic, green energy forming a dome.
The missiles hit. The dome held for exactly one second, then it shattered.
Fire and shrapnel tore at Loki's armor. He screamed, stumbling backwards and smoke rose from a dozen wounds.
Black Widow moved in close, her enhanced agility carrying her around Loki's wild magic blasts. She got inside his guard, Spider Bites crackling, and jabbed both hands into his ribs.
Fifty thousand volts coursed through the God of Mischief.
Loki's body went rigid as his back arched. Electricity danced across his armor, finding every gap.
Natasha didn't let go, held on while electricity cooked him from the inside.
"This is for Clint, you son of a bitch."
Loki collapsed, twitching. She released him just as Thor descended, and for a moment, something flickered across his face.
Grief.
The memory of a brother he'd once loved. Of childhood pranks and shared secrets. Of a time before ambition and jealousy had poisoned everything.
But that brother was gone. Had died the moment Loki chose conquest over family.
Thor's expression hardened as his grip on Mjolnir tightened until his knuckles went white.
"Brother." Thor's voice carried just... sadness. "It ends."
Mjolnir struck.
The hammer connected with Loki's chest, and the sound was thunder made solid.
The impact created a shockwave that shattered windows for three blocks. Loki flew backward, tumbling through the air, crashed into the Stark Tower logo, denting the massive metal letters. He tried to rise, tried to speak, tried to summon more magic.
Hulk landed beside him. The rooftop cracked under his weight.
"NO MORE TRICKS. JUST SMASH."
The green giant grabbed Loki by the leg. Lifted him and swung him. Slammed him into the rooftop as concrete shattered from impact. Lifted him again and slammed him again. Left side, then right side. Alternating impacts. Then one final time, just for venting more anchor.
"PUNY GOD!"
The rooftop cratered. Loki lay in the center, his armor shattered, his face bloody, his breathing labored. One arm bent wrong. Ribs visibly broken and blood seeping from a dozen wounds.
The Avengers circled him. Five warriors who'd been broken, beaten, pushed beyond their limits. Who'd lost a teammate. Who'd fought through hell.
And won.
Steve stood at the circle's head, shield raised. Tony's repulsors hummed, aimed at Loki's skull. Natasha's Spider Bites crackled. Thor held Mjolnir ready. Hulk loomed, fists clenched.
Loki looked up at them through swollen eyes, his theatrical confidence completely gone.
"You... you can't..." He coughed blood, green mixed with red. "Father will... the Allfather will..."
"Let him come," Steve said quietly. "Let Odin himself come. We'll tell him his son is a murderer. A tyrant. Someone who chose conquest over family."
Tony's repulsors stayed charged. "Move, twitch or even think about illusions. I dare you."
"I had a throne waiting," Loki's voice broke, became something small and desperate. "A place. A purpose. I was supposed to matter. To be remembered as more than Odin's mistake. More than Thor's shadow. The Mad Titan promised me..." His good eye focused on nothing, seeing some distant possibility that would never exist. "I was going to be a king."
Despite the warning, Loki's hand subtly twitched, tried to perform a quick spell, but suddenly an arrow flew true.
It threaded between falling Chitauri bodies, past debris and smoke, as it followed a perfect trajectory and lodged itself directly in his left eye.
The God of Mischief screamed as his hands scrabbled at the arrow embedded in his eye socket. Blood poured down his face, mixing with the gore already there.
Clint's voice carried across the distance, with surprised calm.
"Shouldn't have used my corpse as a propaganda piece, you theatrical piece of shit."
The Avengers stared in surprise.
Tony's head snapped around. "What?"
Steve's shield dropped an inch. "Clint?"
Thor's eyes widened. "The archer lives?"
Hulk's rage flickered, replaced by confusion. "Bird man not dead?"
Natasha's Spider Bites powered down as her hands fell to her sides.
Clint stood on a lower rooftop, forty feet away. A new bow in hand with a full quiver on his back.
Alive.
"CLINT!"
Natasha jumped, straight off the edge of Stark Tower, sixty stories up, diving toward the lower rooftop, with no hesitation and just the absolute need to reach him.
She hit the rooftop hard, rolled and came up running. Clint barely had time to lower his bow before she crashed into him. They went down in a tangle of limbs with Natasha on top, her hands grabbing his face, then his shoulders and finally his chest. Checking, confirming and making sure he was real.
"How? I saw Loki kill you. How are you..." She couldn't finish, through the tears that were streaming down her face now that all her control was gone.
Clint's arms came up, wrapping around her tight. "I don't know. I was with my parents, and then there was this light, and someone was giving me a choice to come back. So, I came back." He held her tighter, his own voice rough. "I wasn't going to miss the end of the world. Not when you guys need a sharpshooter."
Natasha pulled back just far enough to look at him.
There was nothing. Just clean skin.
"You died."
"My death was… greatly exaggerated." Clint joked.
Natasha's expression shifted. The relief vanished, and he hit him hard. Right on the shoulder.
"DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT AGAIN!"
"Wasn't planning on it, Nat. Dying sucks. Zero out of ten. Would not recommend."
She hit him again. Then a third time. Each impact harder than the last. Then pulled him into another hug, her body shaking. Her professional mask completely shattered now. The tears came freely. Months of partnership, years of trust, the bond between them too deep for words.
She'd lost him.. And now he was back.
"You're such an asshole," she whispered against his shoulder.
"Yeah." Clint's voice was thick. "Yeah, I know."
They stayed like that for a long moment while the world burned around them. Aliens dying in the streets. The mothership still looming overhead. And two assassins holding each other like lifelines.
Then Tony's voice came through their comms, gentler than his usual snark. "As touching as this reunion is, we've still got a giant alien mothership and approximately hundred thousand Chitauri soldiers between us and victory. Maybe save the rest of the hugging for after we win?"
Natasha helped Clint up, wiped her eyes, got her professional face back on.
"Let's go finish this."
Clint grinned. "After you, partner."
----------------------------------------------------------
Across Manhattan
Steve's voice cut through every comm channel, every commandeered radio and every borrowed phone.
"All enhanced individuals, this is Captain America. I know some of you just woke up with powers you don't understand. I know most of you are scared. But right now, Earth needs you, and I need you to listen carefully."
On a rooftop in Midtown, Surge froze mid-lightning charge.
"Form up into groups of three to five. Find the nearest police officer or soldier. They'll tell you where to go. If you can shoot energy, hit the flyers. If you're strong, protect the civilians. If you can make shields, guard the evacuation routes. Stay together and watch each other's backs."
In the Financial District, Nagozi phased through another Chitauri squad, then stopped. Looked around. Found two other enhanced individuals nearby.
"You two! With me! We protect this block!"
Robert Decosta from São Paulo landed next to a National Guard unit, breathing hard.
The sergeant stared at the flying kid for exactly two seconds, then pointed. "Leviathan, three blocks east. Keep it away from the hospital."
"On it!" The kid shot into the air.
Across Manhattan, chaos began organizing itself. Not smoothly, as people were still confused, scared and making mistakes. But they were listening, following orders and working together because Captain America asked them to.
Chitauri forces that had been pushing forward found themselves facing organized resistance as the humans' scattered defenders became a coordinated army.
Leviathans fell from the sky, brought down by concentrated fire. Chitauri chariots exploded as heroes with energy kited them from far away, while those with super strength threw cars, debris, anything they could lift on the ground forces as they found themselves boxed in, trapped and eliminated.
The Chitauri communication network was filled with panic, retreat orders, confusion and fear.
For the first time since the invasion began, the aliens were losing visibly.
Steve stood on a rooftop, watching the battlefield shift. His tactical mind processed everything.
"Tony, status on the mothership?"
"Johnny's doing his best impression of a star up there. The hull's compromised, but it's still operational. We need to destroy that ship."
"Then we destroy the ship first." Steve's voice was absolute. "Avengers, form up. We end this. Now."
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