Now, it burned.

Y/N swung between crumbling skyscrapers, web lines stretching across streets patrolled by HYDRA soldiers below. Smoke hung heavy in the air, stinging the lungs with the scent of fire and ash.

Entire buildings had been reduced to hollow shells, some nothing more than piles of rubble. In the distance, gunfire echoed through the city—sharp cracks followed by distant explosions that had long since become part of everyday life.

Another day in occupied New York.

Y/N launched off the side of a damaged apartment building—

And reality tore open.

There was no warning. No sound. Just a jagged rip in the air itself, glowing with impossible colors that Y/N couldn't begin to describe. One second it wasn't there. The next, it was everywhere.

Y/N hit it before they could react.

For a single horrifying moment, it felt as though every bone in their body was being pulled apart in different directions.

Then it was over.

Y/N was violently spat back out, slamming onto rough concrete. Momentum carried them across the rooftop, their suit tearing against the unforgiving surface as they skidded helplessly across it. They finally came to a jarring stop after crashing hard into the wheel of some kind of jet.

Y/N barely had time to lift their head before red warning lights suddenly flooded the rooftop.

Alarms blared.