Game in Marvel
200

Liam stepped forward carefully, hands raised, staff lowered to the ground.

"You're scared," he said softly, voice calm and cutting through the tense room. "You're being used. You don't want to die. None of you do."

One of the scientists flinched, his finger twitching dangerously near the trigger.

"I know Loki has twisted your minds," Liam continued. "I know it feels like you have no choice. But you do. Listen to me. Look at yourselves — you are scientists, scholars. Not soldiers. Not killers."

But his words didn't have any affect on them. Any movement would end up killing them and doing that would just unleash something else. Despite Liam's calm voice and steady presence, the scientists remained frozen — puppets strung by invisible wires, sweat trailing down their temples. The grey in their eyes shimmered faintly under the blue light of the Tesseract.

"Damn it," Banner whispered under his breath. "They're too deep under."

"No way to disarm them?" Steve asked. 

"Not without setting one off. And we don't know how the Tesseract will react if it's hit with concussive force," Liam said. He knew about his powers and even though he could slow down time, he wouldn't be fast time to stop trigger of all of them at the same time. 

One's finger would press the button and what would be unleashed wasn't something Liam or anyone else knew for the matter. The Space stone had kept the Red Skull alive, so Liam dare not gamble with such powerful items. He wasn't outside his universe. 

"We need to stall," Natasha murmured. "Find a way to break Loki's control." She looked at Yennefer, Triss and Keira. They were sorcerers. They were supposed to know these kind of things. 

"If I know the source of their control, I can try." Triss said and Liam promptly said no. That was mind stone. None of their powers could handle it. He didn't need another living Ultron. One artificial was wrecking havoc everywhere. 

A low hum began to build in the room — coming not from the scientists, but from the pedestal holding the Tesseract. The glowing cube shuddered violently, its light no longer pulsing in steady intervals, but surging chaotically like a heart under duress.

Then, without warning — a crack split the air like thunder.

A column of blinding blue energy shot skyward through the building's roof, shattering concrete and steel like glass. It tore through clouds above, and within moments, the sky over New York twisted into a swirling vortex.

A hole in space had opened.

"No," Tony breathed. "We were too late."

Everyone rushed to the windows, gazing up. Above them, the sky cracked like a mirror breaking underwater. Through the rift poured streaks of fire — no, ships. Chitauri drop vessels screamed into the atmosphere, one after another, darkening the sky.

Then came the leviathan — serpentine, biomechanical monsters several stories long, their roars reverberating through the city like ancient titans woken from slumber.

The invasion had begun.

"Chitauri forces incoming! Multiple vectors — we're looking at a full-scale incursion!" JARVIS 's voice blared through the comms. 

The threat of the bomb vests was forgotten. They needed to take care of the people around rather than these controlled weak minded scientists. 

"We need to move." Liam spoke and Tony didn't even bother listening to orders. He flew away the moment he saw the forces and ready to engage. 

"Banner, Rogers — get to the streets. Stop the drop ships before they disperse their infantry!" Liam barked orders. "Thor, take care of as many Chitauri as you can when they come out of portal."

Thor launched into the sky without a word, lightning trailing in his wake.

Liam turned to his group — Geralt had already unsheathed his silver sword, Ciri blinking from place to place in rapid teleportations. Yes, Ciri too had left to save people, without listening as many as she could and none of them wore a mask like Liam. 

Liam could only sigh as he knew wearing masks wasn't something Ciri was going to listen. She was still new to this world and didn't know how vicious it would be. But it didn't matter. She was his love and he would protect her. 

"We split up," Liam ordered. "Keira, Vesemir — help with evac. Geralt, Yennefer, Ciri — disrupt enemy clusters. Steve and Natasha , well I don't need to tell you what you need to do." Liam said as he felt embarrassed by the end. It was Steve who was supposed to take the charge but now it was Liam who had taken the charge, which was because he was the most powerful in the group. 

The city below was already erupting into chaos.

Explosions rocked the skyline, fire licking out of broken windows, car alarms blaring in frantic rhythm. The Chitauri had begun their descent, their small alien ships tearing through the air with jagged shrieks. They released clusters of soldiers, armored in grotesque plating, weapons glowing with unnatural energy.

Banner and Steve landed hard on the rooftop of an adjacent building, dropped there by a teleportation portal Keira had opened for them. Without wasting a second, they began moving down through the stairwell, Steve taking the lead, shield in hand.

"How we looking?" Steve asked over the comm.

"Like hell opened up and decided to file a change of address," Tony quipped.

"Focus," Liam's voice cut in.

By the time Steve and Banner made it to the ground level, it was a warzone. Streets were littered with debris. Civilians ran screaming through the sidewalks. Cars collided, windows shattered, and all the while, the Chitauri advanced, merciless and unrelenting.

"There!" Steve pointed across the street where a group of terrified civilians, including a mother clutching her child, were trapped behind an overturned bus. A Chitauri pod swooped overhead, dropping a squad of warriors who landed with bone-shaking force.

Banner gritted his teeth.

"Go. I'll help them evacuate," he said.

Steve nodded and sprinted into the fray. He ducked under a plasma blast, rolled across the ground, and slammed his shield into the nearest Chitauri, sending it flying into a parked SUV. He pivoted, throwing the shield at another, bouncing it off two heads before it returned to his grip.

Banner, meanwhile, ran toward the trapped civilians.

"Come with me! This way!" he shouted, waving them toward a nearby alley. They hesitated only briefly before rushing toward him.

He helped the mother over a fallen traffic light and pushed open a chained gate with sheer force.