HIATUS

 

Steve looks at the Phantoms and he said, "Will take all the help we can get. Well, talk to this Zero later."

"We need a game plan. Sta--", Steve wanted to plan a strategy but he suddenly stops himself when he saw Dr. Banner coming towards them.

"So, this all seems...horrible", Banner said to the three people in front of him.

Suddenly a wounded Thor appeared in front of them and said, "The Portal can't be close".

"Where's Loki?", Barton asked.

"He is in the air. He took a ride in one of the Chituari's flying machines", Thor responded.

"What is that creature in your shoulders?", Thor asked the group, he has been in many places and never once did he see such a creature.

"Hello, Prince Thor. I am Catherine", Catherine said as she once again divided herself into two. The divided self climb on the shoulders of Thor and began healing his injury.

Thor was wide-eyed at Catherine's ability and said, "You have my thanks, Catherine".

"Don't mention it", Catherine replied.

"Guys, we need a plan. I'm coming your way and I'm bringing the party", Stark said to them in their communication device.

A few moments later, the Iron Man can be seen flying towards them with Leviathan in his tail.

"I don't see how that's a party", Romanoff said as the leviathan gets closer towards them.

"Dr. Banner now might be a really good time for you to get angry", Steve said to Banner.

"That's my secret cap. I'm always angry", Banner responded as he walks towards the Leviathan with no ounce of fear in his body.

As the Leviathan inches closer towards them, Banner transforms and delivers a powerful punch that causes the creature to flip over towards the rest of the Avengers. Seeing this Tony immediately fire a rocket to destroy the part of the leviathan that was going to flatten the group.

"BANG!!!!!"

With the explosion and death of the Leviathan, every Chitauri roared in anger for the death of their comrade.

"ROAR!!!"

"ROAR!!!!"

Their roars were so loud that it was heard throughout the entire city.

The Avengers stood together and watch the Chitauris coming their way.

"Until we close that portal, our priority is containment. I ne--", Steve was suddenly stopped from giving his command when he saw a man wearing a ripple mask, and cloak having a red cloud design approaching them in a leisure fashion. The man was walking as if he wasn't on a battlefield, he was calm as can be.  Flanking the said man were 2 phantoms, one on each side. Every Chitauri coming his way was easily dispose of by those phantoms.

"Hello, Captain, and Barton. I haven't met the two of you yet. Hi, I'm Zero. I for one had hope that we could have met in far better circumstances, but fate always likes to play its games", Zero said to the group.

"Thank you for helping us anyway", Steve said to the man.

"Your, welcome. Now, I'm going to tell you something important. The only way for you to close the portal is to use Loki's scepter. Once you have that this madness can end", Zero said to them.

"That's what we intend to do", Steve responded.

MEANWHILE IN THE HELLICARRIER.

"Sir the council is on", Agent Hill said to Director Fury. Fury changes the screen that he was watching on, and he answered the call of the council.

"Director Fury, the council has made a decision during this crisis. We want you to use a nuke"

Fury was silent for a while and then he replied, "I recognized that the council has made a decision but given that it is a stupid ass decision, I am electing to ignore it". The stupidity of the council's decision had pissed Fury off beyond belief.

"Director, you are closer than any of our subs. scramble that jet--", Gideon Malick wanted to continue speaking but was stop by Fury.

"That is the island of Manhattan councilman. Until I'm certain my team can't hold it, I will not order a nuclear strike against a civilian population", Fury said with anger in his voice.

"If we don't hold it here, we lose everything", Malick continued.

"I send that bird out, we already have", Fury said as he ended the call. He is a man that values his duty above anything else. To kill the very people that he has sworn to protect is like spitting on that very duty. He rather risks being punished by the people above him in authority than commit such madness.

BACK TO MANHATTAN:

"I found Loki", Romanoff said. Right now she was riding the vehicle from one of the Chitauris that she had killed. She is personally going after Loki. Throughout this entire war, Romanoff hasn't used her lighting powers instead she was using her trusted gun and any weapons that the Chitauris were dropping once they were killed. This was quite dangerous and problematic but she needed to keep her abilities hidden. This wasn't like the Helicarrier where Alfred could just hack any surveillance, this was Manhattan. Where the stores had cameras and people who were crazy enough to remain in the middle of the battlefield just to upload some videos online. Heck, she wasn't even willing to allow the other Avengers to see her powers. So, no, she had decided to keep it hidden and used it only in the most dangerous situation.

On the rooftop of one of the buildings, Zero can be seen watching the battlefield with a calculating look in his eyes. Suddenly someone appears behind him and asked, "Why are you prolonging this?".

Zero looks at Bucky and he replied, "We need Hydra to initiate the nuclear attack", Zero responded plainly.

"Why? People are dying the longer you prolong this invasion", Bucky responded.

"The nuclear attack, will make Fury question the authority and most importantly the integrity of the council. This will lead to him in suspecting that he has moles in his organization", Zero said.

"Hydra? You can handle Hydra. You can kill them all. I for one strongly believe that you already have a list of who are Hydra members but you still haven't killed them...I want to know why?", Bucky demanded.

"Cause Hydra is just more than its members. It is an idealogy and most idealogy can't be destroyed just by killing some of its members. No, an idealogy can only be destroyed if you break the root of their belief", Zero said as he once again looks on the battlefield.

"Besides Bucky, this is a key moment in history. The world will know that we are not alone, and if you are not prepared, then there will be blood"

In the distance he sees Romanoff taking Loki's scepter and running towards the rooftop of Stark Tower.

"Sir, the nuke is on its way", Alfred said to Zero.

"Bucky, gather all the members. We will be having a face-off with the Avengers soon", Zero order Bucky.

Bucky reluctantly nodded and left soon after. He understood what Zero was saying but letting people be placed in danger just so you can prove a point has left a bad taste on his mouth.

MEANWHILE:

"I can close it! Can anybody hear me? I can shut the portal down!", Romanoff said through her communication device. With Loki's scepter in her hand, she would be able to close the portal and stop the war.

"Do it!", Captain America replied.

"No, wait!", Tony responded.

"Stark, these things are still coming!"

"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it", Tony said as he activated the full power of the thruster of his suit. Tony plans to personally guide the nuke inside the portal.

The SHIELD Agents in the Hellicarier watch in anticipation as they hoped that Tony's plan would work. They could not stop the launch of the nuke but all of them hope that Tony would do the impossible and stop a nuclear explosion.

And relief soon after, for they saw Tony going inside the portal to save millions of people.

"Close it", Captain America said. He has waited long enough for Tony to exit the portal, and since he could not allow the fallout of a nuclear explosion to occur in Manhattan right after they save it. He decided to give the order to close the portal.

Romanoff obliged the order and she closed the portal. She looks in the sky hoping that Tony would somehow make it. And in the last moment, seconds before the portal totally close, Tony's suit could be seen falling in the sky. They quickly realized that he was unconscious and it was only thanks to the Hulk that Tony didn't free fall to the ground and live.

A FEW MINUTES LATER:

After closing the portal, the Avengers gathered on STARK Tower. Romanoff can be seen carrying a briefcase, with the Tesseract inside of it in one of her hands and Loki's scepter in the other.

Thor had place Asgardian handcuffs on his brother to prevent him from escaping.

The team was in a celebratory mood when suddenly a blue sphere appeared out of nowhere. A man then run out of the sphere and ran towards Romanoff.

He tackled her off STARK TOWER.

"What the?", Captain America said, shock at what happened. He readied his shield, his instincts were telling him that this was not over yet.

When Romanoff was kidnaped she drop the briefcase and Loki's scepter on the floor. Thor went directly towards the briefcase., he knew it contained the Tesseract. He could not return to Asgard without it. But before he could get it someone was much quicker than him. Out of nowhere a whip that seems to be made of bone took the briefcase away from Thor's grasp.

While Barton was able to secure Loki's scepter.

The Avengers looks at the group of unwanted people who seems to appear out of thin air.

All of them hand masked covering their faces and they were all wearing a cloak that had a red cloud design on it.

With anger in his voice and thunder rumbling outside Thor said, "Give me the Tessaract".

"Zero, what is the meaning of this? I thought we were on the same side", Tony said to Zero.

"My side is the side of humanity", Zero responded as he took the briefcase from his colleague and opened it. He held the Tesseract in his hand and he said, "And in order to protect humanity, I will be needing the Tesseract".

"Protect humanity?... If that is what you are worried about, then Asgard will continue its protection of earth", Thor negotiated.

With an amused tone in his voice, Zero replied, "Remind me who caused this war. Oh wait nevermind, I remember, it was an Asgardian. You and I have a different view of the word 'protection' Prince Thor".

Tony looks at Thor and said, "He's got you there bud".

"Tony this is no joking matter", Steve said to Tony.

Barton took out an arrow from his quiver and pointed it at Zero and asked, "Where is Natasha?".

Zero looks at Barton and snaps his finger. Suddenly a blue sphere appeared and out of it came a handcuffed Romanoff and the man that took her a few moments ago.

Zero then looks at Thor and said, "Beside Prince Thor, allying with Asgard is an offer that is no longer an enticing idea".

"What do you mean by that?", Thor responded.

"If it was a thousand years ago, heck even if it was 100 years ago, I would consider the offer. But now, that offer is meaningless to me", Zero said.

"Meaningless? You are considering the protection of Asgard, meaningless? Multiple races had profited from the protection that Asgard brings. How can you say that is meaningless", Thor responded with anger in his voice.

"I like this guy", Loki said still in handcuffs.

"It is meaningless because of one simple fact Thor. King Odin is dying and when he is gone, Asgards held to supremacy will be questioned",

"What? My father is not dying. He-"

Before he could continue talking Zero cuts him off, "Your father nearly died last year cause he deprived himself of Odin sleep for too long. Plus, without the Bifrost, I believe he needed to do something drastic to ensure you are sent on earth. And perhaps that drastic measure once again damage the health of the elderly king"

"It doesn't matter if what you say is true. I will have the Tesseract with me", Thor said as threw his hammer directly at Zero.

Seeing the battle in front of him, The Hulk also charges at the intruder.

"ROAR!"

Seeing Mjolnir and The Hulk charging at him, Zero activated the Tesseract. Before anyone could know what Zero was planning both Mjolnir and The Hulk were flung out of STARK Tower. (Hulk or Dr. Banner was later found unconscious a few blocks away)

"What the!?", Thor said with shock in his voice.

"You cannot defeat me, Thor. But I will help you in one of your problems", Zero said as his body seems to glow with the same glow of the Tesseract. Then suddenly in front of him, a smaller Tesseract begins to take form. He then threw the smaller Tesseract at Thor, and said, "That will be just enough to teleport you to Asgard and fix the Bifrost".

After saying this, the entire entourage of Zero teleported themselves out of STARK Tower.