"Why the rush, Tony?"
Sitting on the plane to Sokovia, Steve looked at Tony with some confusion as he asked.
Dealing with HYDRA was something Steve had always seen as his responsibility. He had received notice earlier and was already prepared.
But he hadn't expected Tony to be even more impatient than him. The departure time had been pushed forward significantly.
More importantly, before leaving, Steve had planned to take Bucky out for a walk. He wanted to help him adapt to this era more quickly.
Bucky's return had made Steve genuinely happy.
Although Bucky had lost his memories from his time as a HYDRA assassin, Steve didn't care at all. In his view, those were painful memories. Since they were gone, it was better to never recall them.
Bucky was his friend.
Whatever he had done as a HYDRA assassin wasn't by his own will.
Because of that, Steve had always protected Bucky. No matter how many times Fury wanted to look into the matter, Steve refused.
As for investigating?
Steve would never do that.
He stubbornly believed those actions weren't done by "Bucky," so what was the point of investigating?
Because of this, Steve had no idea about Bucky's connection to Tony.
And even less about what Bucky had done.
"Because someone even more impatient than us has already left."
Tony didn't know any of this. He didn't even know Bucky existed. He answered casually while looking at his phone.
This departure was indeed rushed.
He hadn't even contacted Fury before notifying the Avengers to mobilize.
Even though the Avengers had left S.H.I.E.L.D., Hawkeye Barton and Black Widow Natasha-two of Fury's loyalists-were still part of the team.
And now they were affiliated with S.W.O.R.D., meaning they were still, more or less, under Fury's jurisdiction.
Tony really should have informed Fury about this operation. Even a simple heads-up would have been enough.
But he forgot.
So now he had to send an update to Fury and write the action report himself.
"More impatient than us?"
Banner also looked at Tony curiously. After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Thor? Does he want his brother's scepter back?"
"Not him."
Tony shook his head.
"You all know this guy. Oh-no, you all know that group of guys."
He put away his phone.
With J.A.R.V.I.S.'s help, the action report was finally completed. Tony felt quite satisfied, and continued cheerfully.
"In New York, they almost sank all of Manhattan."
That sentence alone made everyone understand who he meant.
The Battle of New York was deeply etched into every American's memory.
Those mages who fought the aliens-more accurately, crushed them-had become a hot topic among the public.
Who didn't have a magic dream?
Who didn't want to become Gandalf?
Although those mages floating above New York didn't look much like Gandalf, their actions perfectly matched how ordinary people imagined mages to be.
Because of that, from the moment mages appeared during the Battle of New York until now-three years later-the topic of "mages" remained near the top of popularity rankings.
Some fanatics even started their own so-called magic academies.
Of course, they were eventually proven to be scams.
Even so, they still attracted huge numbers of people.
The appeal was obvious.
Tony also knew that Noah had plans to bring the "Noah Finnell" trilogy to the big screen.
"Of course it's them."
Tony smiled.
"To be precise, they've probably already arrived. We're the ones who just set off."
"So if we don't move faster, we might end up as the cleanup crew."
"They're really terrifying."
Hawkeye shook his head. Natasha sighed as well.
Compared to Tony and Steve, these two were closer to ordinary humans.
Their abilities could, in theory, be developed through training.
Combined with their backgrounds in intelligence and enforcement, they instinctively felt uneasy toward mages who wielded overwhelming power.
In their eyes, those mages were completely lawless.
And because of that power, they were a headache.
To them, mages were basically monsters.
Terrifying monsters.
"Are they going too?"
Banner, on the other hand, felt some fondness toward them.
He was a monster himself. Just like mutants.
He knew mutants had integrated into the magical world. Sometimes, he wondered whether he should seek out those mages to see if they could solve his problem.
Unfortunately, he couldn't find them.
Tony kept tight-lipped about it.
Even Fury was the same.
Banner had no way to make contact.
This time, being able to meet them, he couldn't help but feel curious.
"Of course they are."
Tony nodded.
"So we just need to be faster."
"Oh, right. Their target is Loki's scepter. Just give it to them."
"If they're that terrifying," Steve hesitated, then asked, "why do they stay on Earth? I heard they can leave and go into space."
"They can."
Tony nodded. He had complained about this more than once. Noah had never taken him to space.
"Then why don't they leave?"
Banner asked as well.
"For people like them who can destroy a city-or a country-so easily, isn't Earth too small?"
"It is too small."
Tony sighed.
After thinking for a moment, he smiled again.
"As for why they stay..."
"Earth is their home."
"Is this the place?"
Erik and Charles hovered beside Noah in mid-air, calmly watching the battle below.
They had arrived yesterday.
They hadn't rushed in. Instead, they walked around Sokovia for a while.
Partly to help Erik recall old memories.
To be honest, none of them were pleasant.
His daughter died here.
His wife left him here.
This godforsaken place held nothing good for him.
After one day, Erik left without hesitation.
They found a random place to spend the night. The next day, they followed Noah back.
By coincidence, they arrived just as the Avengers launched their attack.
"They seem to be enjoying themselves."
Charles smiled faintly, indifferent.
"Not bad."
Noah nodded.
"But the weather here is terrible. And the place is too underdeveloped."
"It is."
Erik sighed.
"It hasn't changed much in over ten years. These defenses are as useless as their archaic appearance."
Noah didn't respond.
He glanced at the Avengers below and opened a portal.
The battle held no interest for him.
He was simply too strong now.
Even if he stood still and let them attack for a day, he wouldn't be hurt.
To put it more bluntly, even if he cast a defensive spell and let them hit it for a lifetime, it wouldn't break.
And Tony wasn't even fighting seriously.
In Noah's eyes, Tony was wearing an outdated suit. He wasn't using magic at all.
He was just going through the motions.
Stepping through the portal, they entered the factory interior.
Chaos reigned inside.
The Avengers' sudden arrival had clearly caught them off guard. The displayed combat power was overwhelming.
Noah smiled faintly.
Standing in the Mirror Dimension, no one could sense them. Not even ordinary mages.
He led Erik and Charles straight to the room where the Mind Stone-Loki's scepter-was stored.
"This is it."
Noah pointed at the scepter.
"Can you feel it?"
At the same time, he lifted the Mirror Dimension.
"Oh, damn it!"
The guards noticed something was wrong.
They didn't even have time to react.
Their expressions went blank.
One by one, they froze, then resumed their tasks mechanically.
Everyone was the same.
Noah glanced at Charles.
That smile never faded.
His mental magic was becoming terrifying.
In less than a second, everyone present-including Erik's children-had fallen.
It was hard to imagine how dangerous this old man truly was.
Shaking his head, Noah walked over and took Loki's scepter.
He casually extracted the gem.
"Feel it carefully."
"This is the Mind Stone."
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