Chapter 14: Homeowner's Insurance

The Chitauri have arrived.

The Chitauri have left.

They left behind Loki, the mastermind of this alien invasion, along with many Chitauri soldiers who were unable to evacuate in time, and slunk away, leaving New York City in shambles.

The good news.

Loki has been captured, and even the Chitauri soldiers remaining on Earth have been paralyzed on the spot, as if their power had been cut, due to losing contact with their home base.

The moment the space wormhole closed completely, the Chitauri soldiers still rampaging over New York City lost power in an instant and fell from the sky one after another, like dumplings being dropped into a pot.

Clearly.

This sudden alien invasion and defense of Earth ended in a final victory for Earth.

The bad news.

New York City suffered severe damage, with the five blocks centered around Stark Tower being the worst hit.

After all, that was the main battlefield, and it was almost completely pulverized.

Other parts of Manhattan suffered less damage, though this is only by comparison to the main battlefield; if compared to other parts of New York City, the damage was still quite severe.

Next were the other boroughs of New York City.

But there was one exception.

"In the Jackson Heights area of Queens, one block was almost leveled by the Chitauri."

"What?"

Aboard the Helicarrier, Commander Maria Hill, wearing her combat uniform, pulled up satellite imagery of New York City. Her voice rang out in the earpieces of the original Avengers, who were just celebrating Iron Man's awakening: "It's strange. Jackson Heights was the only block in all of Queens to suffer a carpet bombing by the Chitauri. According to data streams, the Chitauri rampaging through Queens seemed very angry, and then they all gathered toward that area."

The original Avengers, still at the main battlefield, looked at each other upon hearing these words from Commander Maria Hill in their earpieces.

Finally, Captain America spoke up first.

"Why?"

"Unclear. Agents are already on their way."

Maria Hill said this, then changed the subject: "All Chitauri life signs have vanished. Congratulations, Captain, we won."

As soon as these words were spoken.

The original Avengers breathed a collective sigh of relief and looked at one another.

Afterward...

Joyful expressions appeared on all their faces.

That night.

Not just television stations in New York City, but stations across the country and even the entire world were reporting on the news of this Chitauri invasion of Earth.

Without a doubt.

The original Avengers, who were active on the main battlefield and served as the main force in this great battle, were officially exposed.

Captain America, Steve Rogers.

Iron Man, Tony Stark.

Thor, Thor.

Black Widow, Hearing Hearing Natasha Romanoff.

The Hulk, Bruce Banner.

Hawkeye, Clint Barton.

Serious television stations were reporting the details of the great battle.

Meanwhile, the unserious stations were broadcasting gossip and unofficial histories about the various Avengers.

Among them, the most popular was naturally Captain America, Steve Rogers, whose death and resurrection had been confirmed, appearing again after many years with his appearance unchanged.

After all, Captain America is the symbol of America in this world, and his popularity was already high; now that he had staged a return from the dead, his popularity had gone off the charts.

For instance, right now.

Hawk was eating the relief meal distributed by church personnel while watching the unofficial history of Captain America playing on an eighteen-inch old television not far away.

There was no helping it.

The apartment building where he lived had turned into a pile of rubble; not just him, and not just the people in their apartment, but strictly speaking, the residents of the entire block where he lived were now homeless.