Chapter 50: Battle of New York Pt. 2

Chapter 50: Battle of New York Pt. 2

A/N: The Battle of New York told from Pierce's perspective, for reasons that will become clear by the end of the chapter.

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Watching live along with the rest of the World Security Council as aliens pour out of the portal above New York, Alexander Pierce presses his lips together into a thin line. The enemy is grotesque and their forces are... unsettling. A massive armored space whale flies seemingly unaided through thin air, surrounded on all sides by smaller crafts piloted by these... Chitauri.

But Pierce knows that’s not everything. He knows there are far more alien enemies lurking on the other side of the portal.Vissit novelbin(.)c.om for updates

“Director Fury, status report.”

As one of Pierce’s colleagues on the WSC calls out to Nick, the SHIELD Director finishes giving his current orders before turning to acknowledge them, something that Pierce can tell ruffles a few feathers. He’s not sure what the other Council Members really expect, however. Do they truly expect the man coordinating their forces for this battle to drop everything he’s doing just to speak with them?

“The portal is wide open now, Councilors. We have boots on the ground though. First Responders are working on evacuating the city blocks around Stark Tower, and the Iron Legion has just arrived in New York’s airspace and are prepared to start forming a perimeter and fighting the aliens back. We also have our Asgardian allies, the Prince Thor and Lady Sif flying in with STRIKE Team Delta flying in via quinjet.”

STRIKE Team Delta, of course, consisted of Natasha Romanoff and Clint Barton, code names Black Widow and Hawkeye respectively. Pierce was also aware that that quinjet carried Tony’s new robot personal assistant ‘Penny’ Carter. Having seen the footage of her fighting alongside the Iron Legion on the Helicarrier, Pierce had to admit, he really wanted to hear more about this prototype ‘Life-Model Decoy’ that Tony had invented. The possibilities were... tantalizing.

“What about the Hulk?”

Another Council Member voices that question, with Fury clenching his jaw and shaking his head.

“Stark sent Banner away during the attack in the Helicarrier. I agreed with that decision at the time, but now he’s refusing to recall the man. We’ll be defending New York City without the Hulk.”

Seeing an opportunity to be the voice of reason here, Pierce leans in and speaks.

“Perhaps that’s for the best. The Hulk has never before shown itself to be a weapon that can be pointed in a specific direction. Perhaps with Dr. Banner managing to subdue it, it will be more reasonable the next time it comes out... but just as likely, it might prove to be even more enraged due to its long forced hibernation. I agree with Mr. Stark... leaving Dr. Banner out of this is for the best. The Hulk is a blade without a handle.”

Nick looks a little bit like he’s bitten into something sour at that, while Pierce’s peers all give their own murmuring responses of agreement in the end. Until eventually, one of them clears their throat and asks the next obvious question.

“And what about Stark himself? The portal is being powered by his Tower, isn’t it? Can’t he just... shut it off?”

It’s an excellent opportunity to diminish Stark, but rather than make a jab, Fury just grimaces and shakes his head.

“Stark has been in contact. He’s managed to incapacitate and capture Loki...”

There’s a sudden video feed of the top floor of Stark Tower, where the World Security Council all see Loki bound and gagged, shackled to the wall of Stark’s penthouse. Well done, Tony. Well done.

“... However, upon trying to shut off power to the Tesseract and the portal, he discovered that the damn thing is self-sustaining now. We’ve always known the Tesseract was an energy source. With the iridium acting as a stabilizing agent, it seems all it needed was that first spark and now... it’s perfectly fine on its own. Not only that, but it’s defended by an impenetrable shield that our best and brightest are currently working on breaking through.”

As the World Security Council all consult the data that’s being sent to each of them in real time, Fury continues on.

“Dr. Erik Selvig has been recovered and much like Agent Barton, has been broken out of Loki’s mind control. However, the process of doing so knocked the older man out and we’re currently doing everything we can to resuscitate him. Once he’s awake, he can tell us about the device that Loki forced him to make and give us a way to break through the containment field and shut it off. We just have to hold out until then.”

There’s a brief pause at that. Then, one of the others signals for them to go private, temporarily muting their communications with Fury. Taking it as the dismissal it is, the SHIELD Director turns back to the battle, letting them have their conversation in peace.

“We may not have the time to wait for Selvig to wake up. And even if he does wake up soon, he might not know of a way through this... containment field.”

Pierce smiles as the Council Member he’d been manipulating for the past twenty-four hours speaks up immediately, right out the gate. There’s a brief pause before another tilts their head to the side.

“What other option do we have?”

Rather than answer immediately, the Council Member continues to build his case.

“If we allow the aliens access to our world for too much longer, who knows what might come through the portal? They could establish a beachhead, and even bring in technology that allowed them to create more portals. Or they might bring in spaceships that move outside of our atmosphere, to allow them to set up bases throughout our Solar System.”

There’s a brief pause as those terrifying thoughts permeate the air and fill the minds of the other Council Members. In the fearful atmosphere and unsettled silence that follows, the Council Member in question finally gets to the point.

“We must close the portal at all costs. While nothing that has been tried so far has worked to breach the containment on the Cube, I know of one thing that will almost certainly do the trick. Fellow Council Members, I propose we must act quickly and decisively. I propose we utilize nuclear weaponry to close the portal over New York.”

Pandemonium. The other members of the World Security Council erupt in horror and outrage at the very suggestion. But Pierce’s patsy slams his fist into his desk and shouts over them.

“I don’t see how we have any other choice! Do any of you have a better idea?! The aliens have kept coming even with Loki defeated and in our custody. Do you want to see our world overrun by these Chitauri?”

An unsettled silence falls over the call. Pierce waits patiently, even as finally... everyone begins to fall in line. Even him. After all, this wasn’t his idea. This was the other Council Member’s idea. After all have signaled a willingness to proceed however, someone else brings up a good point.

“Director Fury will never follow this order. Not in a timely manner anyways. He will try to exhaust every other option, and by the time he finally submits to reason, it will be too late. If we are going to act... we must act without his knowledge.”

Pierce leans in again at that, speaking up with a frown in his voice.

“Nick Fury is a close personal friend of mine, and a patriot besides. I don’t like the idea of leaving him in the dark here.”

But of course...

“Respectfully sir? Go fuck yourself.”

Silence falls for a moment before Pierce decides to give his two cents.

“Well said, Agent Romanoff. Well said.”

It’s clear in that moment where Natasha Romanoff’s loyalties lie and it’s not with SHIELD or the WSC. But Pierce doesn’t mind that one bit, because her true loyalty is obviously to Tony Stark... and Tony Stark is HYDRA.

Suddenly, out of nowhere... the last space whale through the portal drops from the sky, falling straight down and smashing its face against the street below. All over New York City, Chitauri begin to fall. And a moment after that... Stark appears back through the portal, flying back onto their screens as his gasping words fill their ears.

“Saw a... fleet on the other... side. Sent the nuke at... the biggest ship. Close the portal, Romanoff! Blast is headed our way!”

“Yes sir!”

The relish in Natasha Romanoff’s voice is shared by everyone watching the feeds as they see her bring Loki’s Scepter to bear on the Cube’s containment field. Gritting her teeth, she pushes through the nigh-impenetrable force field, until finally... the tip of the Scepter touches the Cube.

The containment field drops and it’s like all the energy is suddenly sucked back out of the sky as the massive portal above New York City flickers and dies, closing a moment later. Cheers begin to fill the Helicarrier bridge and Pierce can see even his colleagues beginning to celebrate... until the explosion atop Stark Tower silences everyone.

“... Natasha, do you read me? Nat? NAT!”

Tony’s anguish only grows as he flies down to the top of his tower. The smoke clears after a few moments, revealing to the rest of them what he’s already seeing. Shutting down the Tesseract like they did came with a cost. A massive implosion has ripped apart the device that Erik Selvig built, and created a sphere of empty, completely annihilated space embedded in Stark Tower. The only things left untouched in that space are the Cube and the Scepter.

The Battle of New York will have had many casualties by the time the death tolls are fully understood and calculated, Pierce imagines. But the first recorded casualty is here and now, as absolutely nothing of Agent Romanoff remains. The Black Widow... is no more.

The solemn and respectful silence that ensues lasts right up until the moment where they hear Stark snarl under his breath while staring down at the spot where Romanoff just stood.

“Loki.”

And then...

“LOKI!”

Pierce straightens up in honest alarm with the rest of the World Security Council as their feeds follow Stark’s armored visage down from above the roof of his Tower to the top floor just below it.

“... What is he doing? Someone make sure he doesn’t kill the prisoner! We still need her alive for interrogation and study!”

But before anyone can follow up on that particularly worried statement from one of Pierce’s colleagues, their feeds cut to the penthouse of Stark Tower... where the restraints and gag holding Loki to the wall have been discarded and the alien invader herself is nowhere to be found.

Coming in for a landing, Stark pulls his helmet off and tosses it aside, looking around with wide, disbelieving, altogether manic eyes.

“Loki! JARVIS, where is she?”

A moment later and Stark’s AI speaks up.

“... Apologies Sir. It would appear that her magic disrupted my systems. She was here mere moments ago according to all recordings... and then suddenly, she vanished.”

Pure rage crosses Stark’s features.

“Well find her!”

“Sir-!”

“I don’t care what it takes, just get it done! FIND HER!”

It would seem that the rumors about Tony and Pepper’s three-way relationship with Agent Romanoff were more founded than initially appeared. The heartbreak on Stark’s face makes that abundantly clear if nothing else. Unfortunate that Pierce was only finding out about it after Romanoff’s death, but alas. Frowning, Pierce forces himself to be the bad guy and opens comms with Stark.

“Tony. I’m sorry for your loss, truly I am... but with Loki escaped, make sure you secure the Tesseract and the Scepter. We can’t afford to lose them again.”

Tony pauses at hearing his voice... and then slowly his face goes blank as he nods.

“Right, of course.”

Fortunately, there’s no hiccups there. Both the Tesseract and the Scepter are quickly secured. Still, Loki is in the wind. That... could be a problem, Pierce reflects. So much of one that when word reaches the World Security Council that Thor is already demanding the Tesseract, Pierce realizes they have to give it to him. Not just to placate Asgard... but to make sure that Loki can’t steal it and open another portal to another army, if she happened to have a second tucked away in her back pocket.

The Scepter though... that Pierce fights to keep tooth and nail. The possibilities of such a device in the hands of HYDRA... are endless.

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A/N: Oh no, Natasha is dead and Loki escaped. Oh noooooo...

Anyways, Avengers 1 ends. Now we get into the aftermath.