Danny was stunned by the old woman's words and asked, "Who are you?"
Before she could answer, a few small, frenzied creatures resembling monstrous crows rushed toward them. A soldier shouted urgently, "Ma'am, watch out! Monsters!"
"Monsters?"
The old woman turned, looked at the creatures, and calmly pinched the air. Instantly, the crows exploded, their remains scattering lifelessly to the ground.
The soldiers froze, their jaws slack. Did this old woman have powers?
Danny's eyes narrowed. He could feel it—her qi was incredibly strong, stronger than his own.
The old woman glanced at him. "Danny Rand, take my advice." She turned and addressed the commanding officer. "The Council of Blood authorized me to act. I'll help you defend Manhattan."
The commander's face lit up. "That's incredible news, ma'am. We need all the help we can get!" He grabbed his radio and barked, "Relay to HQ: send every superhero to the front lines. We can't waste them in the back anymore!"
On the other end, Director George replied, "Understood. I'll redirect Spider-Man and the others now."
Danny, still processing the situation, noticed a familiar face—Colleen Wing—standing behind the old woman. His eyes lit up as he approached. "Do you remember me? I saw you handing out admissions flyers on the street once."
Colleen's expression was ice-cold. "I don't. And now isn't the time for reminiscing. Get back to your post."
Danny flinched, stammering for a reply, but stopped when he saw her gaze shift skyward, admiration filling her eyes. Following her line of sight, Danny saw the dragon battling above. His heart sank. She admired someone far beyond him. He was just a worm, staring at a dragon he could never hope to match.
Coulson grabbed Danny's arm, snapping him out of it. "Not the time for small talk, Danny!"
"Got it," Danny muttered, defeated. Maybe he never should have left Kunlun.
Meanwhile, the dragon finished devouring a massive fire raven, its attention locking onto the gate of Hell. Ten skeletal figures adorned its surface. These weren't ordinary skeletons; they were unnaturally square, like distorted sculptures.
"No wonder I've been running in circles," the dragon growled. "Ten labyrinth demons? Mephisto, you're insulting me."
With a snarl, it unleashed a blast of dragon fire. The ten demons tried to flee, but they were too slow. The flames consumed them, leaving only ash.
The air twisted, and Maverick appeared in front of the gate. His voice was ice-cold. "Mephisto, you've gone too far."
He rolled his neck, flames sparking off his body as scarlet armor materialized around him. His crimson cloak billowed like living fire. Wielding a gleaming spear, Maverick lunged at the chain monster battling Damon. In a blur of motion, the chain monster was riddled with holes before disintegrating into ash, its face frozen in disbelief.
Damon grinned. "Hell yeah!" Relief flooded him. With Maverick around, nothing seemed impossible.
Maverick barked, "Damon, go handle the mechanical beast in the sky. It's part-organic, part-machine—you should be able to demonize it. Tony, Ivan, and the rest of you, focus on the Chitauri. I'll handle the big monsters."
"Understood," Tony replied, his tone resolute. If Maverick said he'd handle it, he would.
As the others flew into action, Maverick became a fiery blur, darting across the city. Monsters crumbled to ash wherever he passed, their blood drained in an instant.
A young woman, seconds from being devoured by a beast, froze in shock as it disintegrated before her eyes. She caught sight of the distant flame. "Thank you!" she yelled. "My name is Skye! I owe you one!"
The flames flickered momentarily as if acknowledging her before vanishing into the chaos.
Across the city, the tide of battle turned. Within minutes, Maverick had obliterated the rampaging monsters. Even those emerging from the gate of Hell were incinerated the moment they stepped through.
The hulking Tauren battling Hulk didn't last long either. Maverick dispatched it with ease. Hulk snarled, clearly annoyed, but when Maverick shot him a cold glance, the green giant grumbled and leapt onto a glider to join the aerial fight against the Chitauri.
"Hulk, you and the Tauren would've torn half the city apart," Maverick muttered, turning back to the shrinking gate of Hell.
He planted his spear in the ground, his voice a taunt. "Come on! Show yourselves! I'm not done yet!"
The gate remained eerily silent. The monsters inside weren't eager to meet the same fate as their predecessors.
Maverick laughed darkly. "Mephisto, your pets are just as pathetic as you." His display of power stunned onlookers, who marveled at his ability to hold Hell itself at bay.
Meanwhile, in Washington, Senator Stern hesitated. "So, we're vetoing the nuclear strike?"
President Ellis nodded firmly. "With Maverick on the ground, Manhattan doesn't need a nuke. Make the call."
Stern grumbled but complied. Across town, Congressman Malik's lips curled into a sly smile. He had no intention of jeopardizing his plans. "A nuke would ruin everything," he muttered to himself.
Back in Wakanda, King T'Chaka and his advisors watched the battle unfold on their screens. T'Challa's eyes gleamed with admiration. "This is how a man should fight," he murmured.
In the mirror dimension, the Ancient One faced Mephisto with an amused smile. "Running out of tricks, are we? If this keeps up, your forces will crumble."
Mephisto's fiery gaze burned with frustration. "What's that dragon Maverick summoned? I didn't account for that!"
The Ancient One smirked. "Maverick is the Blood God. Why wouldn't he have a dragon?"
Mephisto snarled. "When this is over, I'll still have the Mind Stone. And with it, I'll crush him… and you."
"You're not even here in person," the Ancient One replied calmly. "Your cowardice will be your undoing."
Enraged, Mephisto lashed out with the scepter, and their battle intensified.
Outside, Maverick scowled as the gate of Hell continued to shrink. His Vibranium spear couldn't damage it. "I hate this door."
The dragon's form dissipated behind him as he conserved its energy. Still, many felt a sense of loss, as though their shield had vanished.
From the sky, Tony's voice crackled through the comms. "Maverick, where's the scepter? We need it to close the portal!"
"Mephisto's holding it," Maverick replied. "He's not Loki… this won't be easy."
A circle of golden sparks suddenly spun open in front of Maverick, and Wong stepped through, urgency in every movement.
"Maverick, the Ancient One says she'll get you the Mind Scepter as soon as possible," Wong said quickly. "You need to keep guarding the Gate of Hell. Do not leave."
"Why?" Maverick asked, narrowing his eyes.
"She believes Mephisto planted a trap. You have to hold your position until the gate's completely sealed."
Maverick gave a sharp nod. "If the Ancient One says there's a trap, then there's a trap."
He could still feel the power from the monsters he'd devoured earlier coursing through him, slowly settling. The blood of thousands of hellspawn had already boosted his life count exponentially—something he hadn't expected, but wasn't about to question.
As Wong turned to leave, Maverick stopped him. "Wait. Open a portal—I need you to pick up three people for me. It'll take less than a minute."
Wong frowned. "There's no time. The defense networks around the Sanctums are full of holes thanks to the Tesseract. We've got hellspawn and alien creatures breaking through all over the planet. We're barely holding it together."
Maverick stepped closer. "This isn't just some local skirmish. We're fighting an interdimensional invasion here. One minute, Wong."
Wong sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Fine. One minute."
Maverick motioned to Frank, who sent over a live video feed. Wong looked at the footage and created a portal using the location.
Frank stared at the swirling aperture. Maverick appeared inside it, his voice booming through. "Frank! No time to talk. Move, now!"
"Got it!" Frank didn't hesitate. He charged through with War Abomination and War Machine right behind him.
"I'm heading out!" Wong called, disappearing back into his own portal. Both rings snapped shut behind him.
Frank looked around at the chaos now surrounding them in New York. "Maverick… what the hell was that? One second we're in the middle of the Atlantic—"
"It's called magic," Maverick cut in. He pointed to the sky. "Enough chatter. Get up there. We've been waiting."
"We've been waiting too," Frank muttered, then took off into the sky with War Abomination and War Machine, heading straight into the heart of the battle.
"This makes no damn sense!" Tony barked over comms. "Ivan, what just happened? Frank and the others were in the middle of the ocean!"
Ivan sneered. "Magic, you tin can." He spurred his Leviathan forward. "Abomination—tear it apart!"
War Abomination roared, bringing his vibranium axe down hard on the Leviathan's neck. The blade cleaved clean through, and the beast plummeted into the city below, smashing through several buildings.
"Nice hit!" Ivan called—but his grin vanished as three more Leviathans emerged from the clouds. He growled and flew off to intercept them.
"HULK! SMASH!" the green giant bellowed as he launched himself onto another Leviathan, raining fists on its armored back until it shrieked and spiraled downward.
Frank fired his Vulcan cannon mid-air. "Never thought being a bodyguard would involve fighting aliens in Manhattan. Ladies, let's see how your airships handle this!"
"Frank, that's sexist," Natasha snapped. She sliced through two Chitauri mid-jump, then spun the airship she'd hijacked and rammed it into a cluster of enemy craft, tearing through them like paper.