Then came the last — a streak of red and black darting along the wall at impossible speed, sticking to stone and steel alike like it was water. He flipped off the wall, spun midair, and web-zipped through the final console. Sparks burst into the air as the bomb control interface shattered.

"Systems offline!" someone shouted from the intercom above. The scientists were neutralized, either webbed or unconscious. Not a single shot had been fired.

In the middle of the now-silent room, the group gathered. A strange silence lingered in the chamber as the masked intruders stood amidst the chaos they'd just orchestrated. The scientists lay bound, unconscious or trapped in sticky webs. The bomb interface was destroyed. 

One of the masked figures took a step forward, cautiously eyeing the cube. Another moved toward a console and tilted their head at the screen.

It blinked once.

Then again.

Warning: Secondary Protocol Engaged.

A sharp tone filled the room — high-pitched, piercing. The pink-black armored youth looked around quickly.

"Uh… guys?"

Before anyone could react, the shield surrounding the Tesseract split apart, revealing an the Cube. Inside, a strange obelisk flicked sideways from the side. No one had noticed it. No sensors had flagged it. It had been cloaked — hidden from view, even from SHIELD's scanners.

A single light turned pure white.

Then the world exploded.

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From the skies above New York, it began with a low rumble.

Liam, still on the street, felt it in his bones before he saw it.

Tears.

Not physical ones. Not cracks in glass or stone.

Tears in space.

The sky rippled like water under pressure, and then, in a burst of multicolored energy, holes appeared — circular and even jagged portals.

One opened directly over Stark Tower, revealing a storm-choked world with twin moons spinning in the distance. Another hovered above Central Park, shimmering with icy wind and a sunless sky beyond it. A third—more terrifying—showed the heart of a dying star, blazing with impossible light. Plasma arcs surged outward, only to be halted inches from the rift's edge, as if some unseen barrier held the lethal radiation at bay.

"Fuck." Geralt who was on the streets killing some Chitauri soldiers. He could sense it and also look at the new portals. 

"Who messed up that thing?" Vesemir asked as he stood side by side Geralt. They had avoided that cursed object and it still ended up cursing them. 

"JARVIS?" Tony asked over comms. JARVIS gave a proper explanation and even showed videos, from different angles. The more he saw, the more confused he was. He didn't know what to make of it. 

Steve meanwhile noticed one difference. 

What's holding them open?"

"No idea," Someone replied. "It's like… the rifts want to stay open. Like something from the other side is pulling our reality toward it, not the other way around."

More portals cracked into existence — above Harlem, above the river, even over Liberty Island. One opened upside down, the gravity from within causing chunks of debris to float skyward into it. From another came soft snowfall, though the rift glowed with golden sand dunes.

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Inside the ruined chamber where the backup device had detonated, the masked web-slingers stood in tense silence, watching the far wall where the bomb had been. Despite the explosion, none of the energy had spread. The walls were scorched, but they were still there. The Tesseract's containment was intact.

And yet the rifts had formed.

It had never been about detonating here. The bomb had been a dimensional key. A trigger, not a weapon.

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While the rifts had opened at multiple places, the main rift had just enlarged and now was working by itself, without taking help from the Tesseract. Liam noticed it too and was dumbfounded. The idea of using an atom bomb just got wiped out. He would have to go and destroy the ship. 

But that was just least of his worries at the moment. 

"We need to regroup." Yennefer spoke over comms. 

The moment Yennefer's voice echoed over the comms, Liam was already on the move.

"Everyone to 45th and Lexington," he called. "Now."

The street was in ruins. Craters lined the pavement, lampposts bent like straws, and shattered glass glistened like snow in the dim light. Liam touched down at the intersection first. The Chitauri were coming — hundreds of them, more than before, and faster.

A teleportation burst of violet-black smoke crackled beside him. Yennefer emerged from it.

"I hate these cursed beings," she muttered. 

"Good to see you too," Liam said.

A red flash followed — a short burst of flames — and Triss landed a few feet away. 

"That's not natural," she said. "Not even by our standards." While looking at the new portals. 

From the far alley came a clank of armor. Geralt and Vesemir strode into view.

"We got separated," Vesemir said. "But we're here now."

"Where's Lambert?" Liam asked.

A crash answered for him.

From the rooftop across the street, Lambert came hurtling down on top of a Chitauri glider, stabbing his sword through its pilot before rolling off the impact. He landed in a crouch beside the others, grinning wildly.

"You called?"

"I thought I felt something rip the heavens open," he said grimly, looking up at the rift. "Now I see why."

"We're still waiting on Tony and Natasha," Liam said. "And—"

"Present," said Steve, sprinting down the sidewalk, shield in hand. Natasha followed a moment later, dual pistols drawn. She looked exhausted. She didn't sign up for this. 

The next was Ciri, who had been silent over comms all the time. She was blinked into existence near them. Just by looking at her face one could see that she suffered emotionally rather than physically. Liam felt sad just by looking at it. Though he had warned her that their world was much dangerous than hers and she might have to get involved, he whole heartedly thought that she wouldn't have to suffer. But it seemed he hoped too much. 

Empathy was a terrible thing at times.

Tony was last to arrive, repulsors flaring as he dropped from the air and landed in a crouch beside Liam. The gold-red armor reflected the burning buildings around them. His faceplate lifted.