"Are you hurt?" she asked, kneeling. 

"I—I was just looking for my mom." The girl said.

"We'll find her," Ciri promised. She sheathed her sword, gently picked the girl up, and in a flash, they were gone.

The sky roared with thunder and fire as chaos reigned above New York. Buildings trembled, streets shattered, and the heavens crackled with power. A Chitauri pod spiraled downward, colliding into the corner of a high-rise, sending a shower of rubble into the street below.

Then, a streak of lightning split the sky.

Thor hurled Mjolnir through one of the pods, shattering its front hull. The weapon circled back to him in a blink, slamming into his waiting palm. With a growl of fury and righteous vengeance, he rocketed upward, blue lightning trailing his body like a comet's tail.

Across the battlefield, another figure soared skyward — clad in obsidian and glowing sapphire, his armor trimmed with gleaming silver veins of Vibranium and laced with magical sigils. The Iron Mage.

Tony's javelin, Storm, pulsed with raw energy. Twin wing-like thrusters extended from his back, glowing with ethereal light, and a trio of energy rings pulsed around his forearms, charged with elemental magic.

"JARVIS," he said, dodging a stream of plasma fire with an elegant barrel roll, "please tell me I'm logging style points."

"Style points are off the charts, sir. However, may I recommend fewer barrel rolls and more Chitauri destruction?"

"Noted," Tony muttered. 

Below, a pod banked left, Chitauri pouring out, raining chaos down on the civilians still trying to flee.

"Thor — six o'clock, we've got a cluster on the lower avenue!" Tony shouted.

"I see them!" Thor bellowed back, hurling Mjolnir. The hammer spun with a shriek of wind and lightning, smashing through one pod, ricocheting off a Leviathan's metallic side, and returning neatly to his hand as he landed atop a building.

Tony dove, wings flaring wide like a comet, and raised his left gauntlet. Runes along the bracer lit up in sequence.

"Storm Barrage — let's try this toy."

A series of energy bolts burst from the gauntlet. The shots exploded mid-air, scattering the Chitauri in glowing arcs of violet energy.

"Oh yeah, that's satisfying."

A pod locked onto him and opened fire.

He banked hard left, ducking below a rooftop, flipped upside down, and fired a blast from his right hand — a focused beam of raw lightning magical energy, charring them instantly. It plummeted, crashing into the side of a parking garage, becoming ashes by the end. 

"You are enjoying yourself too much!" Thor called out.

"I call it trauma therapy," Tony replied. "I've got aliens in the sky, a magic cube tearing holes in space, and half of downtown on fire. Let me have this."

"Then let us enjoy it together!" Thor grinned and flew ahead, hurling Mjolnir.

The two launched forward. Thor went straight for the Leviathan, summoning a stormcloud above it. He rose with the thunder, crackling bolts coiling around him, then descended with an earth-shaking war cry. Mjolnir struck the Leviathan's back, unleashing a surge of lightning so powerful the air exploded in light.

The beast howled, convulsing, its armor splitting from the voltage. It began to fall.

Tony rocketed past it, ascending fast, then braked mid-air and hovered. The sigils on his arms restructured. He rotated in place, arms spreading out.

"Time for the fireworks."

From the twin ports in his shoulders, two high-density energy lances formed — magical repulsors stabilized by Vibranium cores. He locked onto three incoming pods and fired.

The lances split mid-air, becoming dozens of smaller bolts that curved mid-flight like guided arrows, striking each pod with brutal precision. The sky lit up with three successive explosions.

"Incoming projectile wave from above." JARVIS chimed in.

"Engage arc shield." Tony spoke. A transparent dome of air magic flashed into place around him, deflecting a spray of plasma rounds. The shield held long enough for him to recalibrate, then vanished as he spun and dove again.

On the ground, civilians watched in awe as Iron Mage — the sleek, rune-emblazoned warrior — shot overhead like a blazing meteor. Kids pointed upward; parents shielded their children with one hand while recording on phones with the other.

To them, it was like watching two mythic heroes battle for Earth.

And maybe, Tony thought, that's what this was.

Thor landed beside him on a rooftop as the Leviathan's corpse crashed to the street, crushing cars beneath its bulk.

"That one is down. But there are four more," Thor said grimly. "Let us show them what we are made of."

"I'm technically one third magic, one third Vibranium, and the rest is genius." Tony replied.

Thor laughed, then hurled Mjolnir into the sky, launching upward.

Tony followed, using Storm's arcane propulsion to match speed. He tapped his wrist console mid-flight.

"Deploy sub-routines: Arc Nova and Tempest Lance." 

"Ready." JARVIS replied. 

Arc Nova activated first. Tony flew high, then dropped into a steep nosedive. As he fell, his armor lit up like a falling star — energy condensed around him, forming a blazing cone of arcane energy.

At the last second, he pulled up, releasing the built charge.

A wave of energy detonated from him in all directions — obliterating five nearby pods and sending Chitauri flying from the shockwave. The street below shook.

Then came Tempest Lance — a spear of glowing energy that formed in his gauntlet. Tony hurled it like a javelin toward the next Leviathan.

It struck true — piercing through the beast's eye and deep into its brain. The massive creature shrieked and spiraled down, crashing through a building in a rain of fire.

"Stark, we've got another wave near Midtown! Civilians are pinned!" Steve spoke over comms.

"On it," Tony responded. "Thor and I are the air patrol. We'll keep the skies clear." Thor, now hovering beside him, simply nodded. Lightning sparked around him, and together, they shot forward — streaks of thunder and flame crossing the battlefield. 

While this was happening and was witnessed by one section of the citizens of New York and were amazed, the other section of citizens were looking at something more horrifying.