MCU New York
Aboard S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier, the conference room's air was thick with tension. Loki's sneering hologram had just faded, leaving silence.
Tony Stark leaned against the table, fingers tapping restlessly, his Mark VI helmet tossed aside, a fresh scratch on his cheek. "So, that jerk's throwing a party at my place?" he sneered. "Great venue choice."
Steve Rogers frowned, studying a tactical tablet showing live feeds from Stark Tower. "Loki's after the Tesseract. He needs a high-energy source to open the portal."
"And Stark Tower's Arc Reactor fits the bill," Natasha Romanoff added, scanning the room. "We're out of time."
Thor gripped Mjölnir tightly. "If Loki's army arrives, Midgard faces doom."
"Army?" Bruce Banner adjusted his glasses, voice shaky. "You mean an alien fleet?"
"Chitauri," Thor nodded. "Bloodthirsty cosmic raiders, loyal to Thanos."
"Thanos? Who's that?" Tony asked.
"This isn't a joke, Stark!" Steve snapped.
"I'm not joking!" Tony grabbed his helmet. "Jarvis, prep Mark VII. We're crashing that alien bash."
"Sir, Mark VII isn't fully calibrated," Jarvis replied.
"No time. Make it work."
…
Above New York, James hovered among clouds, his black armor's golden patterns gleaming. His super vision swept the city.
"System, what's the timeline?" he asked mentally.
[Ding! May 4, 2012, three minutes before the Chitauri invasion.]
James smirked. Plenty of time.
He tuned his super hearing, catching key voices.
"Stark Tower, abnormal energy readings!" Natasha's voice crackled over S.H.I.E.L.D.'s channel.
"Fury, we need an evac plan," Steve said gravely.
"I'm en route. Looks like a portal," Tony quipped, tension in his voice.
James's gaze locked onto Stark Tower. Dr. Erik Selvig tinkered with a bizarre machine on the roof, Loki smirking nearby, scepter in hand.
"Time to watch," James decided, ascending higher, cloaked in clouds.
As minutes ticked by, Selvig activated the device. A blue energy beam pierced the sky, tearing a rift above New York. The Chitauri mothership loomed in the void.
"It's on," James murmured.
Chitauri soldiers poured through like locusts, zipping on skimmers, unleashing chaos. Explosions and screams echoed across Manhattan.
The Avengers assembled: Iron Man intercepted skimmers, Captain America organized evacuations, Black Widow and Hawkeye fought in tandem, and a late Hulk rampaged like a tank.
James observed, noting their teamwork. But the Chitauri's numbers overwhelmed them. A Leviathan beast breached their line, toppling buildings, sparking panic.
"Showtime."
James inhaled, diving from the clouds like a black meteor. He slowed near the ground, his shockwave toppling a dozen Chitauri.
"What's that?" Steve looked up, shield glinting.
James landed atop a ruined building, armor stark against the chaos. He scanned the fiercest battle zones.
"Start with the big one."
He crouched, launching toward the rampaging Leviathan. His eyes blazed red.
ZAP!
Heat vision sliced the beast's head, its metal hide melting like butter. It roared, and James carved down its spine, splitting it in two.
BOOM!
The halves crashed, dust billowing.
"Jarvis, what was that?" Tony hovered, eyes wide behind his visor.
"Unknown entity, sir. Energy readings off the charts."
On the ground, Natasha and Hawkeye, back-to-back, froze at the sudden aid.
"Fury, we've got a new player," Natasha reported via comms.
James ignored them, soaring to the wormhole's base, where Chitauri amassed. Inhaling deeply, he unleashed—
WHOOSH!
Freeze breath swept the area, flash-freezing hundreds of Chitauri into statues that crumbled in the breeze.
"God!" Hawkeye lowered his bow, stunned.
James flew to the wormhole, super vision analyzing its energy. "Tesseract-linked. Can be shut."
Fury's voice crackled over comms: "All units, the Council's launching a nuke."
"What?" Steve roared. "Civilians are still here!"
James frowned. A nuke? Not in my plan.
His super hearing pinpointed the missile's launch. Breaking the sound barrier, he intercepted it mid-air, redirecting it through the wormhole.
"He's carrying a nuke into space," Natasha quipped.
James entered Chitauri space, releasing the missile to detonate on their mothership, then doubled back.
As the Avengers waited anxiously, a black figure burst from the wormhole. James emerged unscathed as the portal wavered.
He landed on Stark Tower's platform, facing Loki.
"Who… are you?" Loki stepped back, scepter raised.
"Kneel!"
James smirked, ignoring the scepter's energy blast, grabbing Loki's throat and lifting him.
"I could snap your neck, but someone might care."
Loki choked, face red. "You… can't…"
James snatched the scepter, tossing Loki aside like trash. His super vision located the Tesseract device.
"Game over."
Gripping the scepter, he approached the device, piercing its energy shield with the scepter's tip. The machine shut down, the wormhole collapsing.
New York stilled, debris littering the streets as the awestruck Avengers gaped.
Tony landed first, visor flipping up. "Alright, whoever you are, that was slick. Care to introduce yourself?"
James faced the assembling Avengers—Steve, Natasha, Clint, Hulk growling nearby, and Thor hauling a battered Loki, eyeing James warily.
"I'm James Holden," he said calmly. "You can call me Superman."