An alien intruder snarled before a flaming chain wrapped around it, turning it into a pile of ash just seconds later

Nearby, a figure lunged from the shadows and stabbed another enemy in the back. Her sais dug into its skin time and time again until it fell on the ground, lifeless

You turned around and punched one of the bigger creatures and forced it to retreat. When it swung its giant cleaver-like blades at you, you caught it and melted it before releasing a blaze of hellfire into it

One of these aliens tried to sneak up on you from behind, only to get a sai nailed into its eye from afar. You turned to the girl and nodded, then swung your chain at the nearby enemies

However, a small squad of drones rushed your way and deployed bombs in the area. You immediately got ahold of Elektra and shielded her from the blasts as best you could

As soon as she was safe, Elektra nodded as thanks and then used you as a platform to jump high in the air and stab her weapon into one of these drones

You were blasted into a schoolbus with a powerful energy weapon courtesy of one of these "decapitator" units, as they were being called by many, but before it could even act, it was tackled by a larger figure

A green figure

???: HULK SMASH!!

This larger being got ahold of the alien's arms and tore them apart before sending it flying with a powerful punch, then looking back at you. You pushed yourself out of the bus and locked eyes with him, then nodded

Having fought together as part of the Defenders, Hulk and you had grown to like each other. For starters, he didn't immediately lash out at you as soon as he saw you

But then, you were once again met with fire from above as another squad of bombers appeared. The green giant roared at them and began throwing chunks of concrete at his enemies. Elektra landed on a car soon after, and you joined forces to take care of the enemies on land while Hulk decimated the others

But he wasn't the only one in the scene. Soon, the drones were blasted out of the sky before a figure landed in front of you making a loud metallic noise as it did

Slowly, it got up and turned to you

You: Stark

Stark: ꜰɪʀᴇᴄʀᴀᴄᴋᴇʀ

Elektra retrieved her sai from the neck of a fallen enemy before she approached the scene

Elektra: What's the news? What's going on?

Stark: ɪ'ᴍ ʜᴇʀᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴘɪᴄᴋ ʏᴏᴜ ᴜᴘ. ᴡᴇ'ʀᴇ ʀᴇɢʀᴏᴜᴘɪɴɢ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀxᴛᴇʀ ʙᴜɪʟᴅɪɴɢ

You: The Baxter building? What happened to Avengers mansion?

Stark: ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ ɪꜱ ɴᴏ ᴀᴠᴇɴɢᴇʀꜱ ᴍᴀɴꜱɪᴏɴ ᴀɴʏᴍᴏʀᴇ

An invader lunged at him, only for Tony to sidestep and Elektra to stab through the eye

Stark: ɴᴏᴡ ᴄᴏᴍᴇ ᴏɴ. ᴡᴇ ɴᴇᴇᴅ ᴀꜱ ᴍᴀɴʏ ʜᴇʀᴏᴇꜱ ᴀꜱ ᴡᴇ ᴄᴀɴ ɢᴇᴛ

He began to hover in place as he gestured to follow. While you nodded, Elektra stayed behind

You turned to her to ask what was wrong, but it was then that you took notice of the gash in her right arm

You: You're wounded

The warrior, being as stubborn as she was, however, just hid it

Elektra: I'm fine

But of course, you didn't believe it

You: We can treat you back at the Baxter Building

She scoffed at you and tightened her grip on her weapons

Elektra: What I need is to get rid of these alien bastards. The sooner the better

The woman was about to leave and try to find more enemies to kill, only to be stopped by you. You put your hands on her shoulders.

She tensed up at first, knowing that if a Rider did something like this, a Penance stare wasn't far behind, but you were her friend

And you knew when she was getting lost in revenge

You: If a flaming skeleton tells you to rest, you rest

She stared at you, unamused but your attention, however, was on her wound. You knew she would fight to the death, but maybe you could help her last a bit longer before she threw herself at the enemy again

You: Just a few bandages and then we can go back to kicking ass. How's that sound?

Elektra: ...

Her blank stare shifted between you and Stark. After a few seconds, she sighed

"Fine"

...

The Fantastic Four opened their doors to those looking for shelter during this dreadful time, but on the upper floors, it was the heroes that congregated

However, as soon as you entered, your priority was to find the infirmary wing. Sue guided you to it while everyone else arrived

Reluctantly, Elektra allowed herself to be treated by the robot in charge of the area

Elektra: This is pointless, you know

You grabbed a chair and sat in front of her

You: It ain't

Elektra: We're wasting time here

You: We need to think about this better before going out again. At this point, they'll tear through us within a day

Your friend didn't say anything, she saw no point in arguing about it

You: What's with you and these things anyway?

The assassin froze at this question. She looked to the side as something crossed her mind, something dark

Elektra: I...

Suddenly, the door opened, revealing none other than Storm and Wolverine. They spotted you immediately

You got up at the sight of them, only to be immediately greeted by a hug from the Storm herself

Storm: Thank god you're okay

You returned the embrace without hesitation, a relieved sigh leaving your lips

You: You too, 'ro

Elektra just watched. She knew the X-Men and you shared a close bond. For the time being, she chose not to say anything and instead, focus on her healing

Once the embrace ended, you turned to Logan, who had the slightest smile on his face as he leaned against the wall with crossed arms

You: Hey, Logan

Logan: Hiya, kid

You took a step back to look at them

You: Where were you guys? I heard you went missing

Logan: Summers sent us back to help the institute when news of an invasion came up

Storm: Unfortunately, we were shot down before we could arrive

Then, she placed a hand on your shoulder with a softer gaze

Storm: We heard your message. We were hoping you could tell us what became of our home

Your expression turned grim as you looked to the side. There hadn't been much time to think about it with everything going on

You: I wasn't there for all of it. Kitty called me asking for help

Your heart turned heavy as you prepared yourself to tell them about it

You: Things went south really quick. There was this...ship that shrugged off everything we threw at it, hurt like a motherfucker too

Then, you lifted your shirt a bit to reveal a bruise on your left side. They were surprised at the sight of it

Storm: What did you do?

Emma: He had Magik send everyone to Limbo

You all turned to the sight of Emma Frost herself. Bandages were covering parts of her body, and she was limping a bit, but that didn't stop her

Logan: Frost. You're here too?

She nodded

Emma: I...I didn't make it to the portal in time

Then, she turned to you

Emma: Y/N saved me. He pulled me from under the rubble when they...

The blonde's voice cracked ever so slightly at the end, something everyone took notice of. However, she was quick to clear her throat and get rid of any tears that might have been forming

Emma: Excuse me

However, she was et with an embrace from Ororo too. It was an invitation to lower her guard just for this time, to allow herself to feel for once. Frost buried her head in her friend's shoulder

Emma: They destroyed our home...

The hug became tighter as a result. Logan then turned to you

Logan: You said Illy sent everyone to Limbo?

You: As many as they could, yes

Logan: Any names?

You: Jean, Laura, and the professor, to name a few

The man hummed, then he placed a hand on your shoulder

Logan: Thank you for helping us, kid. It... means a lot

You: You're my family too

He smiled at you, but then another sound caught your attention. The door to the infirmary wing slid open, and shortly after, Sue walked in

...

The Fantastic Four had issued a call for all available heroes in the city to get here while the aliens temporarily ceased their attack, maybe they too were rethinking their approach, maybe they needed a bit to replenish their numbers

Whatever it was, it was valuable time that would not go to waste

Along with Elektra and the three X-Men, you walked into the repurposed room. Now promptly referred to as a war room. Behind a table were Reed Richards, Hank Pym, Tony Stark, and Vision

As for the heroes that answered the call, you spotted Falcon, Spider-Man, War Machine, She-Hulk, the Winter Soldier, Black Cat, Bruce Banner, Luke Cage, and of course, the rest of the Fantastic Four

Richards: Thank you everyone for answering the call. It's safe to say that these are dire circumstances, and I...

He took a moment to look around the room. He saw tired heroes, some were still bruised, and Ben was still missing, yet he decided to continue

Richards: We can't mourn just yet. Not until this is resolved

Vision: ɪᴛ ɪꜱ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴀ ᴍᴀᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴏꜰ ᴛɪᴍᴇ ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇxᴛ ᴡᴀᴠᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ɪɴᴠᴀꜱɪᴏɴ ᴀʀʀɪᴠᴇꜱ

Stark: Due to the Avengers Mansion being destroyed, the Fantastic Four have offered their home as headquarters for the time being

Pym: Has anyone been able to find any useful information so far?

Wolverine was the first one to step up

Logan: I managed to interrogate one of 'em before the mansion blew up. She mentioned looking for "Paragon". Ring any bells?

The geniuses looked at each other for an answer, but it soon became clear that none of them had it. A small digital panel appeared underneath Reed's hand as he wrote it down

Richards: We'll look through the archives for it. Maybe there's something we overlook

Stark: In the meantime, we gotta coordinate ourselves if we hope to stand a chance. They're counting on us, people

Then, Black Cat spoke

Cat: Wait, what about S.H.I.E.L.D? Aren't they usually amongst the first to respond?

Stark: They're handling the global response. New York is on its own for this one

The billionaire patted Vision on the back, encouraging the synthezoid to continue

Vision: ɪᴛ ɪꜱ ᴀᴅᴠɪᴄᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴡᴇ ꜰᴏᴄᴜꜱ ᴏᴜʀ ᴇꜰꜰᴏʀᴛꜱ ɪɴᴛᴏ ᴀ ᴅᴇꜰᴇɴꜱɪᴠᴇ ꜰʀᴏɴᴛ, ᴏꜰꜰᴇɴꜱɪᴠᴇ, ᴀɴᴅ ᴄɪᴠɪʟɪᴀɴ ꜱᴀꜰᴇᴛʏ

Stark: Which is exactly why we've divided you into three teams, so listen up

The hologram projected on the war table shifted into a list of names that found itself divided

Vision: ʏᴏᴜʀ ᴘʀᴏꜰɪʟᴇꜱ ᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴋɪʟʟꜱ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʙᴇᴇɴ ᴀɴᴀʟʏᴢᴇᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴄʟᴀꜱꜱɪꜰɪᴇᴅ ᴀᴄᴄᴏʀᴅɪɴɢʟʏ

Spider-Man, Elektra, Human Torch, She-Hulk, Invisible Woman, Falcon, and Black Cat were highlighted first

Stark: You'll be in charge to help civilians get to the shelters, and if needed, defend those shelters. Nobody else dies today

This earned some nods from the crowd. Johny cracked his knuckles while Spidey reloaded his web cartridges

Then, another set of names was highlighted. Wolverine, Hulk, Winter Soldier, Storm, War Machine, Ghost Rider

Richards: You will be in charge of dealing as much damage to the invading force as possible, including dealing with the areas with the most concentration

Stark: As for the rest of us, we'll try to keep a stable communication link between all of us. Both teams have a special frequency already adapted to your earpieces, but they're very likely to jam it, which leads me to...

Slowly, he turned to Emma

Stark: Emma, do you think you can set up a telepathic link should comms fail? I know you're still recovering, but we could really use a backup if technology fails

Richards: We could use your help with the overall coordination as well

Normally, she would've been delighted by the smartest men on Earth coming to her for help like this, but this was different, far worse

The superhero everyone looked up to, was gone. Only his shield remained

The mutants had lost their home and couldn't get back until this was solved

They were losing

So Emma Frost did her best to stand her ground, and lifted her head, with a serious expression on her face

Emma: Yes. Of course

They thanked her and then Hank turned to Luke

Pym: Luke, could you help the security staff should they get here?

Vision: ꜱɪɴᴄᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴠᴇɴɢᴇʀꜱ ᴍᴀɴꜱɪᴏɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ xᴀᴠɪᴇʀ ɪɴꜱᴛɪᴛᴜᴛᴇ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴄᴏᴍᴘʀᴏᴍɪꜱᴇᴅ, ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀxᴛᴇʀ ʙᴜɪʟᴅɪɴɢ ɪꜱ ʟɪᴋᴇʟʏ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴛᴀʀɢᴇᴛᴇᴅ ʙʏ ᴛʜᴇꜱᴇ ɪɴᴠᴀᴅᴇʀꜱ.

The man crossed his arms, with a nod following suit

Cage: You can count me in

After letting out a heavy sigh, Tony stepped up once more, gathering the strength he needed to fill in the shoes of his comrade. He still wasn't used to being the one that led these things, but for the time being, he had to

Stark: Okay everyone, you got your roles. Let's get to it and save this planet, alright? For Cap, for everyone

Then, he raised his fist

Stark: AVENGERS, ASSEMBLE!

Everyone followed suit, raising their fists and yelling back their war cry. The one they had screamed so many times before, the one that they did before saving the world

Hopefully, this would be no different

...

Under this new leadership, the heroes returned to the streets, just in time to intercept another wave of these ruthless invaders

The army had shown up to provide as much assistance as they could, and the police and firefighters focused their efforts on helping the civilians evacuate the areas under heavier fire

Shelters established before were now under attack, but they were able to hold the line long enough. The Sanctum Sanctorum had disappeared, but it was just an illusion by Wong to keep everyone safe

More battles were being won, more invaders were being repelled or destroyed

The heroes were finally winning

...until they weren't

...

You ran over a small squad of these creatures with your bike, swinging your chain at those furthest away to burn them into ashes when you heard something in your earpiece

"Uhh, hello? Spider-Man here. We uh, we got a problem"

Once the area was cleared, you stopped your bike to pay close attention to this call

Spider-Man: I came across an alien structure of some sort in Times Square. I think they're trying to establish some sort of outpost. Can anyone help me take care of it?

You: On my way, Spidey

However, you were not the only one to answer the call

Logan: Count me in

You changed the course and headed towards Times Square as fast as you could thanks to your demonic vehicle, and it was only about a minute later that you came across a larger concentration of enemies, both regular, and the "Decapitator" variant, and not only that, but you found a quadrupedal tank

It set its sights on you, only for something huge to land on it and blow it so smithereens. Hulk emerged from the wreckage and looked back at you

Hulk: Is Rider okay?

You: I am. Thanks, Hulk

He nodded and you both quickly shifted your attention to the structure in the distance. It was a large tower of some kind.

You saw Spider-Man quickly disposing of some enemy when he spotted you two

Spider-Man: Oh, you're here. Thank God

But then, a growl could be heard, akin to a feral animal. From above, Logan (now in a spare costume) appeared and dug his claws into an enemy before making his way towards you

Logan: Alright kid, here we are

You: What do we have here?

He gestured you to follow him towards an open area, where a large metal tower could be seen, yellowish energy flowed from its sides and there were two minor structures supplying power to it

Surrounding it was a multitude of these tanks, as well as plenty of land forces

You all watched from the ruins of a nearby building, getting a better look at the area

Spider-Man: I think they might be using this tower as a transporter of sorts

Then, he pointed at the two minor towers, with a myriad of cables all around

Spider-Man: They might be draining the energy here to get it working

You: We can't let that happen. There's too many of them as it is

Hulk: HULK SMASH THEM ALL, THEN!!

He leaped into action without thinking it twice. Logan just smirked

Logan: You heard the big guy

The X-Man joined the fight, with the rest of you following suit

You dodged a shot from one of the tanks before you wrapped your chains around its legs and forced it to fall right before shooting again, making it destroy itself

A drone spotted Spider-Man and charged right at him, only for your chain to go through it and hurl it away at another troop

Once he was free, the hero got ahold of a chunk of concrete and threw it at the smaller towers in an attempt to take them out, but a shield blocked the impact

Wolverine parried the cleaver from this large foe before stabbing into its arm and then its head. He noticed the shield flickering and just seconds later, he got an idea

Logan: Hulk!

The giant smashed a tank into pieces and turned at the sound of his voice. Logan pointed at the ground near the towers

Logan: Bet you can't lift that!

Hulk snarled before he jumped over and dug his hands into the concrete, lifting the ground underneath the towers with little to no effort at all

Just seconds later, the shields began to fail

Spider-Man: There we go, good job, pal!

But just then, Hulk was blasted away by the combined power of multiple tanks. The troops quickly swarmed your friend, but he got his hands free and produced a powerful clap that threw them all away with ease

You wrapped your chains around a tank's cannon and tore it apart, while Spidey forced its legs to spread beyond what was capable and held them in place for Logan to slice

A truck was hurled into another tank while you took care of this one. Their numbers were growing thin, and quickly

This is something that could be observed through the flickering eye of a dead alien, who transmitted this information to one particular being

One who sat on his chair, surrounded by screens and troops

His eyes narrowed at the screen showing the emerald giant, the clawed mutant, the wall-crawler, and the spirit of vengeance tearing apart his attempts at setting up a base

So he pressed a button and slowly turned around just in time for a green light to teleport someone to him

???: It is time

The soldier was handed a syringe, which blended in with the cybernetics in his massive arms

???: You know your objective

He nodded and before he knew it, the green light engulfed him once again

...

Suddenly, a squad of bombers appeared and dropped the payload in the area. Hulk immediately got ahold of Spider-Man and held him

Hulk: SPIDER SAFE WITH HULK

Spider-Man: Thanks, bud

The rest of you were stunned at best by these explosions, but they were merely a distraction

From the tower, energy began to gather, and it flashed green for a second before a single figure stepped through this new transporter

He took only one step into this world before Wolverine screamed at him and cut his chest with his claws

This enemy groaned before he punched the mutant with his cybernetic fist and tossed him into a bus. However, he would never crash, as webbing cushioned it

At the same time, however, he would be unexpectedly run over by a bike, one that burned into his massive arms with its hellfire

You jumped off and by the time this enemy pushed the vehicle away, he was met with the spiked brass knuckles you wore

As if you didn't punch hard enough already

This knocked a tooth out of this man, who growled at you and lifted you in an attempt to crush you, only for you to release hellfire from your mouth to distract him

???: IT HURT, SARGE, IT HURTS!!

???: BEAR THROUGH IT, SOLDIER

This being seemed to be having a conversation with himself, almost as if there were more than one soul in there. Regardless, he was forced to let go of you due to the pain

But this wasn't the time to think, as Hulk tackled "Brigade" with all his might, sending him crashing into the tower and damaging them both in the process

But just a moment later, Hulk was sent flying back. From the wreckage, your enemy emerged. His cybernetic arms sparked a menacing blue before he aimed his cannons at the lot of you

Logan: Oh no you don't!

???: LOCK AND LOAD, PEOPLE

???: SIR, YES SIR

He unloaded a barrage of energy projectiles upon you, much stronger than the bombs the drones had

Wolverine, being the closest one, suffered the most damage, having a hole blown through his chest as he was thrown back

You were pushed back into a destroyed vehicle, and Spider-Man was forced to take cover

The only one who didn't was Hulk, who charged right at this man and clashed with him

They growled and snarled at each other as they tried to push each other back. You wrapped a chain around his arm and pulled with all your might, crushing this arm with unbearable heat and giving Hulk a chance to pummel him to the ground

However, the moment he went for another strike, Hulk was injected with this syringe. Which immediately caused him to stagger

Spider-Man: Hulk!

You rushed to catch on with him, already swinging your chain at the enemy who started glowing once again

Brigade quickly got ahold of the weakened Hulk and before you knew it, there was a flash of light that engulfed the entire scene

You heard your chains hitting something, destroying it but once you were able to see, you saw it was the tower from before

You had melted it but...but something wasn't right

Things were oddly silent now

When you looked around, you saw nothing but the bodies of the enemies you all had left behind. Logan was recovering and Spidey leaped into the scene

Spider-Man: What the hell was that?

You: I...

You looked over to the small crater where Hulk was fighting, finding no one there anymore

"I don't know"