Battle of New York

"Now, I was here in 2012 when the sky tore open and the Chitauri rained down on us."

- Glenn Talbot

The Battle of New York, also known as the Attack on New York, the Attack on Midtown Manhattan, the Manhattan Crisis and the Incident, was a major battle between the Avengers and Loki with his borrowed Chitauri army in Manhattan, New York City. According to Loki's plan, it was his first battle to subjugate Earth, but the actions of the Avengers neutralized the threat of the Chitauri before they could continue the invasion.

Destruction of Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S.
"This doesn't have to get any messier." "Of course it does. I've come too far for anything else. I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose."

- Nick Fury and Loki

Loki arrived on Earth from a different dimension two days before the battle to take the Tesseract, with help from Thanos and The Other. Loki teleported to the Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. S.H.I.E.L.D. facility and took control of the minds of Clint Barton for his fighting skills and Erik Selvig for his knowledge of the Tesseract. Loki, Barton, and Selvig then escaped as the portal Loki used collapsed and destroyed the facility. Nick Fury told the rest of S.H.I.E.L.D. that a war had just begun. He also thought that it was finally time to initiate the Avengers Initiative, a plan to recruit Earth's mightiest heroes to a response team. Fury approached Captain America, while he sent Natasha Romanoff to approach Bruce Banner and Phil Coulson to Tony Stark.

Capturing Loki
"We got a hit, 62% match. Wait, cross-check 79%." "Location?" "Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Koenigstrasse. He's not exactly hiding."

- Jasper Sitwell and Phil Coulson

Later that day, Loki entered a gallery to create a distraction. He retrieved a scan of an eye for Barton, while Barton stole iridium to stabilize the Tesseract. S.H.I.E.L.D. sent in Steve Rogers to stop Loki, and when the civilians cleared the area, sent in Tony Stark in his Mark VI armor. Loki surrendered and let them take him into custody. On the way back to the Helicarrier, Thor came and took Loki from the Quinjet. Thor told Loki that he traveled from Asgard to get him. While Thor was talking, Iron Man attacked Thor for taking Loki from them. Iron Man and Thor fought, but Captain America stopped them. Thor became an ally and a member of the team.

Attack on the Helicarrier
The next day, the team gathered at the Helicarrier. As Tony Stark and Bruce Banner worked on finding the Tesseract, Loki waited in his glass prison for the team to come into conflict, while Erik Selvig finished the portal machine using the Tesseract and the iridium, and started setting it up on Stark Tower. Stark planted a device on the bridge to hack into all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s secure files. He told Steve Rogers about his suspicions that they were being deceived, and Rogers, suspicious himself, investigated a storeroom. Natasha Romanoff went to Loki's cell to interrogate him, finding out that Loki intended to create chaos on the ship by triggering Banner to become the Hulk. As Rogers, Banner, and Stark all came to the conclusion that S.H.I.E.L.D. was using the Tesseract to create an arsenal, the team began to argue in the lab. Clint Barton and a group of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s enemies attacked the Helicarrier, destroying one of the rotor blades, and causing a now-transformed Banner to chase Romanoff. As Rogers and Stark tried to fix the broken rotor blade, Thor saved Romanoff from the angry Hulk. When Hulk was distracted by an attacking plane, he ripped the F-35 Lightning II apart, the pilot barely surviving. The plane exploded, and Hulk fell away from the Helicarrier. Stark and Rogers barely succeeded at fixing the rotor blade and restarting the engine. Thor went to see if Loki was still in his custom-made prison, but was tricked into the prison by Loki. Phil Coulson came to save Thor with the gun made from the Destroyer's body. Loki tricked Coulson and stabbed him through the back. Romanoff found Barton, with whom she was good friends before Loki controlled him. She fought Barton and knocked him out, which took him out of Loki's control. Loki released the prison with Thor inside, sending Thor hurtling toward the ground hundreds of feet below. Thor barely made it out of the prison before it shattered on sharp rocks, and Thor ended up in an empty field. Hulk landed in an abandoned warehouse. Banner woke up in the warehouse, where only one worker was present. The worker gave Banner some clothes and a motorcycle. Loki escaped while his allies fought the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Coulson died trying to say that the team would never be able to unite without something to motivate them. Nick Fury took this advice to heart and manipulated Rogers and Stark into working together. As he talked to Rogers, Stark worked out Loki's motivation to goad the Avengers into fighting him in New York City in front of the world, so that Loki and his army could be seen defeating Earth's mightiest heroes. Barton regained consciousness and talked to Romanoff about the possibility of going after Loki. Rogers came in and told them to suit up for the battle, and the four of them set a course for Manhattan.

Stark's Distraction
"The Chitauri are coming, nothing will change that. What have I to fear?" "The Avengers."

- Loki and Tony Stark

Iron Man arrived at Stark Tower where Loki was planning to open the portal to unleash his army of Chitauri. Stark fired his repulsor beams at the Tesseract, but it was protected by an impenetrable energy shield. With his armor damaged, Stark removed it and stalled Loki to give J.A.R.V.I.S. enough time to prepare the Mark VII armor. While Stark threatened Loki, he put on a set of Colantotte Bracelets.

Loki tried to use his Scepter to take control of Stark, but the Arc Reactor in Stark's chest stopped the effect. Frustrated, Loki threw Stark out the window, but Stark's Mark VII armor deployed and formed on Stark via the bracelets just before he hit the ground. Flying back up, Stark blasted Loki in the name of Phil Coulson, but the Tesseract, in conjunction with the device Erik Selvig built, opened a portal to bring his army of Chitauri and Leviathans.

The Arrival of the Other Avengers
"Stark, we're on your three heading north-east." "What, did you stop for drive-thru? Swing up Park, I'm gonna lay them out for you."

- Black Widow and Iron Man

Stark flew toward the invading Chitauri and opened fire, destroying several of them. While he flew, he tried to call War Machine to join the battle, but Rhodes said he was busy fighting soldiers working for the Ten Rings at the Battle of Hong Kong. Thor arrived at Stark Tower and threatened Loki to turn off the Tesseract. Loki stated that it could not be turned off, and the two fought on the tower as more Chitauri arrived. In a Quinjet, Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Captain America fired on several Chitauri before being shot down by Loki, who then jabbed Thor with a small dagger before fleeing on a Chitauri Chariot. On the streets, the NYPD fired on the invading army to no effect, as Rogers, Barton, and Romanoff fought the army on the streets while protecting as many civilians as they could. Rogers took command of the NYPD and told them to set up a perimeter down to 39th Street. The NYPD was later supported by the United States Army. When Thor was flying around in New York, Stark asked him if he had ever seen , saying that he reminded him of the show. In response, Thor asked how could Stark joke when they were in the middle of a war. Before he could finish his sentence, Thor was eaten by a Leviathan but used Mjølnir to escape the creature.

Meanwhile, the Ancient One was defending the New York Sanctum from Chitauri troops, in order to protect the Time Stone. Using her magic and fighting skills, the Ancient One successfully took down all Chitauri across the Sanctum.

Arrival of Hulk
"Dr. Banner, now might be a good time for you to get angry." "That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry."

- Captain America and Bruce Banner

Eventually, Bruce Banner arrived, and Stark led a Leviathan towards him. Banner transformed into the Hulk and destroyed it with Stark's help. For the first time, the Avengers stood united, ready to defend New York City. Loki ordered the Chitauri to arrive in full force. Rogers assumed command: He ordered Hawkeye to take a high vantage point and call out attack patterns and strays; Stark would maintain air superiority against the Chitauri; Thor could use his lightning to bottleneck the portal; Rogers and Romanoff would keep the fighting on the ground, and Hulk was given a single order: "Smash." With that, Hulk attacked any and all targets of opportunity.

Taking Out Loki
"Enough! You are all of you beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by-" "Puny god."

- Loki and Hulk

Though they were more than capable of fighting the invasion, Romanoff knew they needed to close the portal in order to win. With Roger's help, she jumped onto a Chariot to make her way to the portal, only to be pursued by Loki. Hawkeye targeted Loki with an arrow, which he caught, but it exploded, causing him to crash at the top of Stark Tower. Hulk arrived shortly after and, ignoring Loki's threats, beat the god into submission, calling him puny. Unfortunately, even with Loki subdued, the Chitauri continued to invade and began to wear the Avengers down.

Now free of Loki's control, Selvig told Romanoff that he had had enough control to build a fail-safe into the portal device which could shut it down using energy just like it, which meant they could use Loki's spear to close the portal.

The Nuclear Missile
"Stark, do you hear me? You have a missile headed straight for the city." "How long?" "Three minutes, max."

- Nick Fury and Iron Man

Meanwhile, Nick Fury's superiors, the World Security Council, ordered Fury to launch a nuclear missile at New York City to end the invasion, but Fury refused the order. The Council ordered a jet to launch anyway, so Fury ordered Stark to intercept the missile and guide it through the portal toward the Chitauri fleet. Tony Stark followed Fury's command and tried to call Pepper Potts, realizing that he might not survive.

Potts failed to answer because she was watching the battle on television, wondering if Stark was still alive. Stark then went through the Wormhole to the Sanctuary, where the missile detonated, destroying the Chitauri Command Center and leaving their forces disabled on Earth. Stark's suit ran out of power and he fell back through the portal just before Romanoff closed it. Hulk caught Stark in mid-fall, saving his life.

S.H.I.E.L.D./Avengers Reaction
"The battle of New York was the end of the world. This, now, is the new world. People are different. They have access to tech, to formulas, secrets they're not ready for."

- Maria Hill

The Avengers went to Stark Tower to capture the injured Loki and had him taken back to Asgard to serve time for his crimes. As Loki was apprehended by the Avengers at the Stark Tower, STRIKE agents led by Jasper Sitwell (which were, in fact, HYDRA operatives) handed the Scepter from the Avengers, and contacted List who was interested in researching it. Alexander Pierce confronted the Avengers before they could leave the building, demanding them to turn Loki and the Tesseract to S.H.I.E.L.D. However, despite Pierce's best efforts, Thor and Tony Stark avoided his orders and left the building with Loki and the Tesseract.

The team later ate at a shawarma restaurant. James Rhodes, who was busy fighting against the Ten Rings on the other side of the world, soon joined them, too late to have any effect in the battle. Later, the Avengers met in Central Park to send Loki, Thor, and the Tesseract back to Asgard, while the rest of the team went their separate ways. Later, The Other told Thanos that the Chitauri failed, and tried to excuse himself by saying that to challenge the humans is "to court death", to which Thanos simply smiled.

S.H.I.E.L.D. decided to organize a special tactical team that would deal with other supernatural threats. Phil Coulson, who was killed by Loki before the battle, became the leader of the team after his revival days later. On a personal level, Tony Stark was affected adversely by his experience in the Sanctuary and falling back to Earth, suffering. When he returned to Malibu, the very mention of New York caused a severe panic attack; in one instance, when a child asked for his autograph on his drawing, Stark wrote "Help me" on the paper instead. The battle caused Stark to decide to create the Iron Legion to help him to protect the world.

World's Reaction
"Everything's changing. A little while ago, most people went to bed thinking that the craziest thing in the world was a billionaire in a flying metal suit. Then aliens invaded New York and were beaten back by, among others, a giant green monster, a costumed hero from the 40s, and a god."

- Maria Hill to Grant Ward

The consequences of the battle were numerous. The nations of Earth finally realized that humanity was not alone in the universe. There was a widespread feeling of gratitude toward the superhero team. Many toy manufacturers felt that the Avengers would make great toys to distribute around America, which led to the "Heroes of New York" toy line.

Various news sources reported the Chitauri invasion and the Avengers' victory, one of the reporters who wrote about the battle was Ben Urich for the New York Bulletin.

On the other hand, there were also people less positive. For example, there was Senator Boynton, who publicly called for the regulation of people with superpowers. Another example was Audrey Eastman, who in 2015 attempted to kill Jessica Jones to get revenge on "gifted people" for the death of her mother who was crushed under rubble during the Chitauri invasion, saying that the Avengers was the cause of the attack on the city, not its saviors.

Another example was Ellen Nadeer, whose mother was killed at the beginning of the battle. Nadeer grew to hate aliens, causing her to publicly state her hate for all non-humans. Also, Kevin Michener had been orphaned during the battle, so Colleen Wing helped him to recover by joining him to Chikara Dojo.

Big global organizations also responded to the situation. NASA canceled Project Valhalla, an initiative where alien assets would be identified and deemed useful or hostile before they entered Earth's atmosphere. One of the project members, Jane Thompson, would seek work elsewhere in another government organization. Meanwhile, Luther Banks was assigned to an elite anti-alien task force. In a speech to the United Nations, Glenn Talbot told an assembly of representatives, that he was a witness to the Chitauri invasion of New York City. He went further in saying that this was when S.H.I.E.L.D. first revealed itself to the world, began accumulating super-powered individuals, and started to abuse the public's trust.

Footage from "The Incident," was sold in the streets of Harlem by Dave Griffith.

Following the battle, HYDRA members in the United States Air Force used the Chitauri technology to contact an alien alliance called the Confederacy, which warned them about a galactic war which was approaching Earth.

The Battle of New York would be the first in a series of high-profile incidents involving the Avengers, followed by the Battle at the Triskelion in Washington, D.C., the Battle of Sokovia, and the Attack on the IFID Headquarters in Lagos, ultimately culminating with the passing of the Sokovia Accords which would lead to the Avengers Civil War.

Chitauri Weapons
Soon after the battle, Adrian Toomes and his salvage company gained a contract to clean up the leftovers after the battles. However, the Damage Control had secured the contract, leaving Toomes and his workers unemployed. With the Chitauri weapons they had recovered, Toomes and his workers turned to a life of crime. Many Chitauri weapons and metals were picked up by ordinary people and found their way to the black market. Among the pieces of Chitauri technology that found its way to the general population after the battle included a Chitauri Gun that was used in several bank robberies, a Chitauri Neural Link that found its way into the hands of Vanchat and a Chitauri Helmet that carried an alien virus that caused three deaths in Wrigley, Pennsylvania. Substances retrieved after the battle were used by Hammer Industries to create Judas Bullets.

Rebuilding New York City
"Heroes and their consequences are why we have our current opportunities."

- Leland Owlsley

The extensive repairs cost New York $160 billion dollars. Six months after the battle, WHiH World News held a 10-kilometer race to help support the reconstruction of other buildings that had been destroyed during the battle. The station successfully raised millions of dollars for the cause. The area of the city known as Hell's Kitchen was reconstructed by Union Allied Construction.

Alternate Scenario
In the future of the current timeline, Ant-Man, Hulk, Tony Stark, and Captain America arrived at the corner area where the 2012 Avengers assembled. The group began to plan where to retrieved the Tesseract and the Scepter at Stark Tower while Hulk went over to the New York Sanctum to get the Time Stone from the Ancient One.