Chereads / The Weight of Power / Chapter 27 - The Battle of New York

Chapter 27 - The Battle of New York

The Quinjet cuts through the smoke-choked air, dodging fire from Chitauri ships. Stark Tower looms in the distance, its glowing arc reactor powering the massive portal that churns out Chitauri forces. Explosions rock the streets as alien invaders spread chaos. 

NATASHA ROMANOFF 

(urgently) 

They're everywhere! 

TONY STARK 

(over comms) 

I'll clear the skies. Widow, keep those guns hot. 

Iron Man flies ahead, blasting apart waves of Chitauri ships. Natasha expertly maneuvers the Quinjet, firing its cannons and shredding enemy forces. 

Clark stands at the rear hatch, staring at the portal. 

CLARK 

(to the team) 

Keep the ones already here off the streets. I'll stop the rest from coming through. 

He leaps out of the Quinjet with a sonic boom, rocketing toward the portal. 

Clark flies headfirst into the swarm of Chitauri, his heat vision erupting in blazing beams that slice through thousands at once. Ships explode into fireballs, and entire waves of Chitauri soldiers are obliterated in an instant. 

Each of his punches pulverizes hundreds, sending shockwaves that scatter alien forces like debris. His sheer presence slows the invasion as more Chitauri hesitate to emerge. 

CLARK 

(to himself) 

No more. 

He positions himself directly below the portal, unleashing continuous blasts of heat vision that destroy anything attempting to pass through. 

 

Nick Fury stands in front of a monitor showing a live feed of the battle from a nearby surveillance drone. His eyes are fixed on Clark, who obliterates Chitauri forces with an ease that leaves even Fury stunned. 

AGENT MARIA HILL 

(awed) 

He's holding back an army. 

NICK FURY 

(grimly) 

That's why we had to be ready. And thank God he's on our side. 

 

Thor lands with a crack of lightning on the platform where Loki waits, the scepter in hand. 

THOR 

(angrily) 

Loki, this madness ends now! 

LOKI 

(mocking) 

Oh, brother, you lack imagination. 

They clash, Thor swinging Mjolnir with unrelenting force while Loki evades and counters with blasts from the scepter. 

THOR 

(while fighting) 

Close the portal, Loki! 

LOKI 

(laughing) 

Why would I stop when I'm winning? 

Thor shatters part of the control panel with Mjolnir, but the portal remains open. 

 

On the ground, Steve Rogers, Clint Barton, and Bruce Banner work to push back the Chitauri. Clint fires explosive arrows with pinpoint accuracy, Steve's shield ricochets through clusters of aliens, and Banner, still in his human form, uses makeshift weapons to fight. 

The Quinjet swoops overhead, its guns firing. Suddenly, a Chitauri missile strikes the jet, and it spirals out of control. 

Natasha struggles with the controls. 

NATASHA ROMANOFF 

(grimly) 

Brace yourselves! 

The Quinjet crashes into a rooftop, skidding to a stop. Natasha and Clint crawl out, shaken but alive. 

NATASHA ROMANOFF 

(to Clint) 

Stay on them. I'm going to figure out how to close that portal. 

She sprints toward Stark Tower, determination etched on her face. 

 

Clark continues to devastate the Chitauri forces, grabbing a massive Chitauri leviathan and slamming it into the portal, where it explodes in a blinding flash. 

CLARK 

(shouting to Thor) 

Deal with Loki! I'll handle this! 

Clark hovers in front of the swirling portal, his body exuding sheer power. His heat vision cuts a line around the entire perimeter of the portal, turning the air to molten heat. The Chitauri forces, who had been advancing, now stop in their tracks, fear clearly written across their faces. 

CLARK 

(firmly, with calm intensity) 

If you try to come through, you won't leave. 

The Chitauri hesitate, unsure of how to proceed. Below, New York City is quiet, the streets littered with the wreckage of the battle, Chitauri forces on the ground mostly dead. 

 

EXT. NEW YORK CITY – SKIES 

Thor, wielding Mjolnir, is in hot pursuit of Loki, who is speeding away on a Chitauri speeder, dodging debris and firing blasts from his scepter. Thor swings Mjolnir, deflecting the blasts with effortless precision. 

THOR 

(shouting) 

You cannot outrun justice, brother! 

LOKI 

(mocking) 

I'm not outrunning it, Thor—I'm outsmarting it. 

Loki weaves through the collapsed buildings of New York, but before he can escape, a massive roar reverberates through the streets. 

HULK (O.S.) 

LOKI! 

Suddenly, the Hulk leaps out from behind a building, grabs Loki off the speeder, and slams him into the ground. Loki attempts to fight back, but Hulk crushes the scepter in his hand with ease. 

LOKI 

(panicking) 

Unhand me, you beast! 

Hulk gives a savage grin and tosses Loki aside, slamming him into the ground with a crushing force that leaves the god of mischief embedded in the earth. 

HULK 

Puny god. 

Thor, landing beside the wreckage, smirks and looks down at Loki, who is unconscious in the crater. 

THOR 

(smiling faintly) 

I must admit, Hulk... I didn't expect you to finish so quickly. 

The Hulk growls in response, turning and walking away as Thor kneels beside Loki, preparing to deal with him. 

 

The Chitauri forces have stopped advancing. With their morale shattered, they begin to retreat, completely demoralized by Clark's overwhelming power. The once-threatening alien army now cowers in fear. 

Natasha, determined, moves swiftly through the wreckage of Stark Tower, weaving between fallen beams and shattered glass. Her mind is focused—time is running out, and she knows the portal must be closed before it's too late. 

She reaches the rooftop, scanning for any signs of danger. There, amid the debris, she spots Dr. Erik Selvig, sitting against a broken vent, looking disoriented but conscious. His hands are shaking slightly, and his eyes blink rapidly as if he's coming back to his senses. 

NATASHA ROMANOFF 

(approaching cautiously) 

Dr. Selvig? 

Selvig blinks and looks up, his face a mixture of confusion and realization. When his eyes meet Natasha's, the fog of Loki's control begins to clear. 

SELVIG

(weakly) 

I... I'm not... under his control anymore... I... I don't know what happened. 

He stands up unsteadily, rubbing his forehead as if to clear away the remnants of Loki's influence. 

NATASHA ROMANOFF 

(grabbing his arm to steady him) 

It's okay, Dr. Selvig. You're safe now. 

Selvig looks around, his eyes widening as he takes in the destruction around him. 

SELVIG

(quietly, still disoriented) 

The portal... We need to close it before it's too late. I... I know what we have to do. 

Natasha looks at him, alert, as she listens carefully. 

NATASHA ROMANOFF 

(serious) 

What do we need to do? 

SELVIG

(struggling to focus) 

The scepter. Loki's scepter. It's the key. The only thing that can close the portal. It's not just a weapon—it's the only way to disrupt the energy field that's keeping it open. 

He stumbles slightly as he walks towards the edge of the rooftop, his mind racing to piece together the knowledge Loki had implanted. 

SELVIG

(cont'd) 

I was studying it... I couldn't understand the full extent of it until now. The scepter's power is linked to the Tesseract... and the portal. Without it, the rift can't be closed. 

NATASHA ROMANOFF 

(stepping closer) 

Where is it? 

SELVIG

(grimly) 

Loki has it. But... if we can get our hands on it, we can shut the whole thing down. The scepter's control over the portal is what's keeping it open. 

Natasha's face hardens. She knows what she has to do. If they don't stop the portal soon, the Chitauri invasion will become unstoppable. 

NATASHA ROMANOFF 

(resolutely) 

Then we need to find Loki, and we need to take that scepter from him. 

NATASHA ROMANOFF 

(into comms) 

I found Selvig. He's no longer under Loki's control, and he says the scepter is the key to closing the portal. 

THOR 

(into comms) 

I have Loki. And I have the scepter. I'm heading toward the tower now. 

He lifts his hammer and propels himself into the air, flying toward the tower with speed and power that only a god can achieve. 

THOR 

(cont'd, over comms) 

The portal will be closed, Loki's schemes will end today. 

 

FURY, watching the battle unfold on his monitors, feels a rare moment of awe as he watches Clark single-handedly stop wave after wave of Chitauri. His mind races—this alien from another world is unlike anything he's ever witnessed. The power on display is unprecedented. 

But there's no time to dwell on that. Fury's gaze flickers back to the screen showing Thor heading toward the tower. He knows the scepter is the key to stopping everything. 

FURY 

(under his breath) 

Come on, Thor. Make it there before it's too late. 

 

Natasha and Selvig emerge from the stairwell onto the rooftop, their breath catching as they look toward the portal. The sky above is churning, but Natasha's eyes are already focused elsewhere—on the approaching Thor, who's speeding toward them with Loki's scepter in tow. 

NATASHA ROMANOFF 

(into comms) 

Thor's on his way. He has the scepter. 

Selvig looks up, his expression one of both hope and caution. 

SELVIG

We need to use it quickly, Natasha. The longer the portal stays open, the more unstable it becomes. If we wait too long— 

He doesn't finish the sentence. Natasha already knows. 

NATASHA ROMANOFF 

(firm) 

We don't have time to waste. Let's make sure it works. 

 

Thor zooms through the sky, holding Loki's scepter in one hand and Mjolnir in the other. His eyes are locked on Stark Tower, knowing that the final moments of this battle are fast approaching. Below him, the remains of the Chitauri forces are scattered, barely holding on against Clark's overwhelming power. 

THOR 

(into comms) 

I'm almost there. 

 

As Thor lands on the rooftop, the ground shakes with the force of his landing. His presence is commanding, the thunderous crash echoing across the city. 

THOR 

(holding out the scepter) 

Here. It's time to end this. 

Natasha, standing beside Selvig, doesn't hesitate. She steps forward, taking the scepter from Thor. 

NATASHA ROMANOFF 

(into comms, to the team) 

We've got it. Preparing to close the portal now.