The city continued to burned.
People screamed through the smoke-choked air and the sky once a clear blue was now churning with streaks of unnatural green light pouring from the massive portal in the clouds. Insectoid monstrosities rained down like a living plague, tearing through buildings, dragging citizens from their cars, and filling the air with shrieks that could curdle blood.
Spider-Man swung through. His suit was scuffed, torn and burnt in places, his breathing ragged through the mask as he landed against the glass of a half-collapsed office building. "Note to self," he muttered, webbing a desk and flinging it across the room. "Next time aliens invade just stay in bed."
The desk crashed into one of the insectoids bursting through the shattered window, slamming it against the wall with a crunch. Peter ducked just as another swooped overhead, chittering and firing a beam of green energy that scorched the wall beside him. He fired a line of web, snagged the bug's back, and yanked it down hard. The creature hit the floor only to meet Peter's boot as he smashed it through the opposite wall and down the building.
He exhaled shakily, leaning against the crumbling frame. His costume was shredded, small cuts lining his arms and face beneath the mask. Smoke and dust filled the room. "No end to these guys…" he panted, wiping blood from his lip.
Turning his head, he noticed a group of terrified civilians huddled in a corner with two women, an elderly lady, a young man, and a couple of office workers in dust-covered suits.
"Hey," Peter said, raising his hand reassuringly. "Good news and bad news! The good news is Spider-Man's here. The bad news yeah, you're stuck with me. So, you know, let's move it before one of those giant bugs decides we look like a snack!"
He moved to the door, pulling aside chunks of rubble with his webbing. "C'mon, folks Spider-Man's express, no charge! Just, uh, keep your arms and legs inside the apocalypse at all times!"
The elderly woman he helped down gave a shaky nod. "Thank you, dear."
"Hey, don't thank me yet," he replied. "I've been thrown through four walls today and at this point I'm thinking about charging rent."
Outside, smoke plumed from toppled skyscrapers. Peter guided the group through the chaos, helping them climb over a fallen streetlight. Explosions echoed nearby as Iron Man streaked across the sky, unleashing micro-missiles that detonated among the swarming insectoids that was flying towards the edge of the city.
Peter pointed upward. "See? There's the guy with the billion-dollar fireworks show! At least the construction crew's getting job security out of this!"
He barely finished the quip before an emerald blast slammed into him. The explosion hurled him through the side of a building with a loud crash. His body hit concrete hard, the material of his suit smoking, his chest burning.
He groaned, clutching his ribs. "Ow… okay, that's definitely not covered by superhero insurance."
As he staggered up, another insectoid descended, clicking and screeching. Peter tried to move but pain shot through his ankle. He looked down to see a jagged metal rod piercing through it. "Oh, come on!"
The bug lunged. Before Peter could react, a massive metal pole came crashing down, crushing the insectoid in a single strike.
"What the—?!" Peter blinked in shock, then looked up to see the elderly woman standing there, hand still outstretched.
She smiled pleasantly. "Hiya, Pete. What are you doing down there?"
He froze. "What…?"
The man beside her grinned. "You okay, buddy? You look like you just saw a ghost."
A younger woman in a torn blouse smirked. "Oh, you're adorable when you're confused."
Peter stared. "Okay, nope. Creepy vibes. Who are you people?"
The old woman chuckled. "Oh, my dear boy is that any way to talk to a completely harmless, innocent granny?"
Peter tilted his head, still crouched. "You threw a steel pole through a five-foot bug."
"Details," she waved him off.
The man snorted. "Relax, Spider. Just get the rest out of here."
Peter frowned. "Yeah, how about no until you explain who the hell you are—"
The woman sighed, almost wistful. "Who me? Just a bored traveler. Wanted nothing more than a quiet day in China… but no, I'm here again."
"Again?" Peter echoed, eyes narrowing.
The old woman leaned closer, whispering, "Oh, and get ready."
"For what?"
Thunder cracked—BOOM!—rattling the windows.
One of the civilians looked up nervously. "Thunder? Is it about to rain?"
Peter's eyes went wide. "Ohhh, shit."
The man smirked. "Yeah. Do well to catch her, would you?"
Before Peter could question it, the three of them suddenly went limp, fainting at once. "What the hell—?!" He rushed forward, catching the old woman in his arms as lightning rippled across the sky.
The secretary gasped awake moments later, eyes fluttering. "Ugh… what was that? What's happening?"
Peter didn't even look at her. His mask's lenses narrowed. "He's here…"
"What?"
"We've gotta move!" he shouted, webbing the woman's arm and pulling her toward cover.
An insectoid dove from the sky only to be obliterated mid-air by a lightning bolt that left nothing but smoke and ash. Peter yelled, "NOW!"
The clouds above roared, thunder cascading across the skyline.
———————-
Across the city, Natasha Romanoff flipped mid-roll, sliding beneath the talons of an insectoid. It hissed, diving again but an arrow screamed past her shoulder, detonating its head in a burst of purple light.
"Nice shot!" she shouted over the chaos. Then she glanced up as another thunderclap shook the air. "Since when did we schedule this weather? Is that Thor?"
Up above, Iron Man twisted through a formation of insectoids, firing repulsors and micro-lasers in every direction. "Jarvis," he barked, "tell me that's Thor!"
"No Bifrost signature detected, sir," Jarvis replied evenly. "And… there are additional readings. Approximately one hundred new entities emerging from the portal."
Cap raised his shield, blocking debris from a nearby explosion. "Tony, please tell me that's Thor."
"I wish I could, Cap."
The sky split open again as hundreds of insectoids poured from the rift. Ravenous hovered near the center, arms crossed, eyes narrowed at the storm brewing above.
"Annoying," he muttered.
Natasha grit her teeth. "New wave incoming!"
"Brace yourselves!" Cap shouted.
The swarm descended upon them and just when they were about to make contact, the world went white.
Lightning branched across the sky in a violent network, each strike finding its target. One by one, the insectoids vaporized into glowing ash, their shrieks cut short by the endless rumble of thunder. When the light faded, smoke drifted across a wasteland of charred corpses and broken concrete.
"Immediate threat neutralized," Jarvis reported, his tone almost awed.
Clint lowered his bow slowly. "What the fuck was that?"
Ravenous turned his head toward the storm clouds, sensing something, then a final bolt crashed down, striking the ground so close that it shattered the pavement in a shockwave.
And from the fading light, a figure stood.
Gojo.
White hair brushed by the wind. He held a pair of chopsticks with a strip of sizzling meat, chewing idly as if he'd just stepped out of a restaurant rather than a battlefield. One hand in his pocket, he looked down at the Avengers with an almost amused smirk.
"Yo," he said, voice calm, casual. "Tony… you always look this rough, or is it like a new thing?"
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