Closing the portal wasn't too difficult; the Mind Stone was indeed able to penetrate the force field protecting the Tesseract, and while I had no idea how to do it the intended way,
I knew very well that the key to the whole thing was the Tesseract. So I just forced the sceptre in and pushed my will into the Tesseract itself, using the Mind Stone to enhance it, and the blue beam shooting into the sky disappeared very quickly.
The portal, too, started closing and lasted only around four seconds without the support of the Space Stone, almost suspiciously short.
Then again, Earth was special, with the Order of the Mystic Arts protecting it, so there being something stopping just about everyone from opening a portal here wasn't all that surprising.
"Well, I had expected something more… maybe a trap? A secret boss coming out to stop us at the last second." Loki said from behind, sounding honestly disappointed.
"None would be foolish enough to move against the King after seeing all that," Galahad said, a hint of wistfulness in his voice.
Clearly, the feeling of Avalon had made a deep impression on him.
"Thanos's plan was long ruined. There was a small chance he would act before losing everything he invested in this, but maybe he was distracted? I imagine he trusted Maw to do something this simple on his own," I commented as I struck the machine hard with Rhongomyniad.
Instantly it was reduced to metal fragments, with only the Tesseract itself falling to the ground, glowing its usual blue, as if everything that just happened meant nothing at all.
"Ah, Odin's treasure," Loki was quick to speak up, almost afraid I would seek to claim the Tesseract.
"Indeed, I sense from it the same power as the Bifrost, no doubt this was used in its creation," I explained, drawing his attention toward the purpose of the cube.
I didn't want him to start toying with it or try to use it as a weapon. So by linking it with the Bifrost, it would lower its value in his eyes.
After all, why care about something used to create the Bifrost, when he had the Bifrost itself? Wasn't the rainbow bridge of Asgard far superior to something that can just open portals?
Despite how mature he was, I wasn't sure I wanted him to fully understand the Infinity Stones just yet. I had no doubt Odin would soon realize everything that had happened and the cause behind it.
So if he wanted his kids to know, he could tell them. I would rather not risk having Loki try to gather them all.
"Well, then it clearly belongs in Asgard," he said, picking it up and turning it around in his hands.
"Indeed it does, and it would have been you who restored it, you who led this war and ended Maw, a tale worthy of songs I would think—"
"Please do remember a verse about demolishing my tower while you are writing it!" Tony's voice interrupted my attempts to lead Loki on.
"Ah, if anything I think we rather improved it," Loki said arrogantly.
"Please, horn boy, the whole thing is barely standing after you three blew it all up." Tony clearly wasn't happy.
And it was hard to blame him; the fight against Maw might not have been a difficult one, but it had still caused total devastation around us. Only the fact that I had used Rhongomyniad to reinforce the ground prevented the floor from collapsing under us.
Which was likely the only reason the tower hadn't been completely lost.
"Stark, it isn't too late to tear it down, in case you want to remodel." Mordred's voice roared across the sky before she crashed down onto the floor.
Johnny swooped back into the open-air ruin of what used to be Stark's penthouse, leaving a swirl of orange fire in his wake. Mordred dusted ash off her shoulders like she had merely stepped off a city bus.
Tony stared.
"You— You used the Human Torch as a flying Uber?"
Mordred grinned, all teeth. "He offered."
"I did not offer!" Johnny yelled from the air. "She jumped on my back and said 'ride or die, fire boy,' like that was a normal thing to say!"
"I regret nothing," Mordred replied.
Loki blinked, still baffled by the very concept. "You rode a… flaming mortal?"
Mordred shrugged. "Wasn't all that much different from riding a sick wave."
"Sir Mordred, please remember that your actions represent the King," Galahad said in a scolding tone, clearly unhappy with Mordred's actions, as one might expect from the Knight of Heaven.
"Shut up," Mordred fired back angrily.
I sighed. "Mordred, please stop using others as living surfboards."
"Yes, please! You have any idea how heavy you are in all that armor? I thought you were about to snap my spine!" Johnny yelled angrily.
He hovered in place, flames sputtering in indignation.
"I mean seriously! I'm fire, not reinforced steel! You nearly folded me in half!"
Mordred rolled her eyes. "Oh, stop whining. You lived. And you got to show off in front of Father."
"I wasn't—" Johnny blinked. "Wait, that was showing off? You were using me to impress her!?"
Mordred smirked. "It worked, didn't it?"
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Mordred…"
"What? It did look cool."
Tony stepped forward, armor sparking occasionally as the recall suit finished fusing to him. "Okay, I need everyone to stop riding, throwing, blasting, or otherwise violating the structural integrity of my teammates and my tower."
Loki crossed his arms, leaning lightly on Gungnir with a smug tilt of his chin. "Truly, Stark, I don't see the issue. A little damage is the price of war."
"You blew up my penthouse."
"Any damage is the responsibility of the defeated, any honor the prize of the victor," Loki said.
"And today's victory belongs to Asgard, to Albion, and to those who fought here today," I stepped in and interrupted them before they really got going. "And the blame, all blame, lies with those who attacked here.
As I spoke, I slowly walked across the floor towards the edge of the open platform that was once a room of his tower.
"Some, such as the Chitauri and their leader, have paid in blood and death. There are still those who need to bear blame, those who attacked this city, attacked all of us." My words were as clear as they were heavy.
There was none who didn't know who I spoke of.
And that was the reason for their silence.
Well, most of them.
"Let's kick their fucking asses!" Mordred was quick to say, as she alone had no idea what and who I was talking about.
"Sir Mordred, violence isn't always the answer," Galahad quickly said.
But Mordred didn't care about him or his words one bit. "Shut up, if Father wants to punish someone, I will cut them all down!"
"Whoa there, let's not start cutting down those heads, or it will start a war," Stark quickly interjected.
"They started the war when they attacked, daring to try and attack the forces of Asgard," Loki was quick to join Mordred's side.
"Had either of us acted first, I would agree, but it was Stark who responded, so we shall at least hear them out before cutting off heads. Stark, please arrange a meeting, and if they won't show up… I shall ride the Ehangwen to visit them," I said.
I wasn't willing to just sweep this under the rug; the nuclear bomb had always been something that annoyed me about the original story, the fact that it was swept away, ignored. I wouldn't allow that.
Those in power had condemned their own people to death, had tried to destroy their own city, and later, had used the deaths and destruction that happened when the Avengers fought to try and chain them after the Ultron events.
They cried about a few tens of millions in damages and a handful of deaths when countless more would have been the result of the military's own actions, even without taking the Chitauri into account.
There was no doubt that the actions of the Avengers had saved tens of thousands of lives, and that was just by Tony flying the bomb into outer space.
And I wouldn't allow that to go forgotten.
Heroes needed to be recognized.
…
With the might of Asgard here, the Avengers could end their fight as soon as the portal closed. They simply didn't have the energy left to spare for hunting down any stragglers. Because, despite the portal closing, the Chitauri were still very much active.
I could only assume that, despite being a hivemind, there were currently enough of them here on Earth that they could form a local network.
So the fighting wasn't over, but for the tired Avengers, this was the end.
"Thank you, your Highness, for your help. If not for you, we wouldn't have survived," Steve said as he entered the large conference hall within Stark's tower, which we had commandeered.
"And you, Loki of Asgard, your men fought bravely; if not for them, countless people would have lost their lives," he added once more and bowed his head.
Their first meeting was so very different from what it would have been if not for my arriving in this world.
It was amusing to see the difference.
"Despite them being far from Albion, I still couldn't sit back and ignore something like this," I nodded to the man.
"Indeed, this was an affront to Asgard, so naturally we would step in, though the folly of mortals for playing with the Tesseract can't be ignored as having played a role in starting all this," Loki replied, and was quick to establish blame.
Smart of him.
Had he not, it would be likely that others would try to blame Asgard for failing to stop the invasion before it happened. After all, Loki had been all too happy to explain what Asgard did for Earth during his last round trip.
"Yes," Steve said as he looked towards a small table in a corner, on which the Tesseract and Maw's sceptre lay, protected both by one of Loki's bodyguards and Gawain. "That thing should have been left at the bottom of the sea."
"Well, I rather think that—"
"Food's here!" Ben yelled and cut off Loki.
"Finally!" Mordred jumped up from her seat. "I can't believe that there isn't any takeout open, and here I thought this was supposed to be one of the biggest cities in the world," she complained as she moved over to the massive pile of microwaved junk food Ben had dumped onto the table.
"Sir Mordred, please be mindful, the city just survived a war," Susan Storm tried to reason with Mordred.
"HA! I'm sure Camelot would be serving feasts at every street corner right now if this had happened there," Thor said with a booming voice as he reached over to grab a Hot Pocket.
"Damn right, right after a battle is the best time to feast!" Mordred agreed without missing a beat as she tore into a microwaved pizza.
Ahh… those two seemed to get along even better now that Thor wasn't just a fragile mortal.
(End of chapter)
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