"I promised to save your life, not your cool factor!"
So, almost everyone watching the scene saw the golden carriage, which had just shot up into the sky and entered the portal, return—this time dragging a massive red weight behind it. Their backdrop was the Chitauri mothership, which was lighting up the Earth's skies like a giant firework.
At that moment, countless people were cheering and celebrating, but only Black Widow remembered her mission. She forcefully jabbed Loki's scepter into the device controlling the portal.
This was the backdoor that Dr. Selvig had secretly left behind.
The moment the scepter touched the Tesseract (the Space Stone), the portal in the sky swiftly began to close.
"Oh oh oh oh—"
"Long live!"
New Yorkers who survived, along with the police and soldiers of the National Guard, all cheered in celebration.
But Thor and Captain America felt something was off.
"Wait! Could Tony be... dead?" Cap looked at the red Iron Man being dragged behind the carriage and had a sudden bad feeling.
"Should I go check?" Thor could fly, but he first needed to spin his hammer like a fan. The scene looked suspiciously like a hand-cranked tractor starting up.
Thor quickly stopped, though, because the golden carriage was already slowing down and descending toward them.
Slowing down, but not fully stopping.
Right in front of everyone, Tony, like a piece of trash, was tossed from 50 meters high, crashing down.
For a split second, Cap almost thought Kratos had killed their teammate, and his neck flushed red in anger.
Before Tony could hit the ground, a web shot out, catching the battered Iron Man safely in mid-air just before the Hulk could leap up.
The Hulk still jumped, peeling back Tony's faceplate with his massive hands to check if he was alive.
To everyone's surprise, Tony's voice boomed across the street: "Kratos, you son of a b***h! You better remember this—"
Great! He was full of spirit!
He could probably pilot a battleship, too!
The other Avengers immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
Except a talkative guy in a mask popped out.
"Mr. Stark! Hi! I'm your biggest fan! You were so cool just now!" Spider-Man's eyes sparkled under the mask, and his mouth ran like a machine gun, leaving Tony speechless.
Tony, of course, knew that joining the Avengers now was like putting on a suit of armor.
Tony was sharp—he knew Atreus was just messing with him to keep his distance. Dangling him mid-air was nothing compared to being saved twice.
His cursing was just for show, an act to keep the higher-ups like Nick Fury off his back.
But still...
Why did Spider-Man have to throw himself into this?
Tony was exhausted.
He could tell from the voice that Spider-Man was really young, and it gave him a guilty feeling, like forcing a kid onto the battlefield.
But, for now, it was over. At least temporarily.
After being rescued, Tony was still talking smack: "I'm exhausted. How about we all take the day off tomorrow? I know a great shawarma place two streets over..."
Just then, the green-clad villain who was the root of all the chaos finally woke up, struggling to crawl out of a large, human-shaped crater.
Loki opened his titanium-alloy eyes and saw the Chitauri corpses strewn across the street, and the Leviathan beast lying dead atop a building in the distance.
Before he could react, his vision went dark.
Six Avengers, plus a nosy Spider-Man, were all pointing their weapons at him...
In the sky, Batman, having seen the fight end, slipped away first.
Catwoman flew the Batplane back, picking up the badly injured Huntress and Katana. After checking the display screen and zooming in the camera, she saw Atreus picking up the Canary Sisters on a rooftop a street away.
Black Canary looked nervously at Atreus divine chariot: "Are you sure there's room for us?"
"No worries! My ride's pretty big." Atreus boasted, even though the divine chariot, pulled by immortal horses, was designed for Greek wars, not luxury. It didn't even have shock absorbers, and the space was only 1.5 square meters.
Atreus unceremoniously pulled the Canary Sisters into the chariot.
Wonder Woman blinked and teased him, "So why didn't you give Mr. Stark a ride earlier?"
"Don't ask! The answer is—ladies and chariots are not for loan!"
Wonder Woman smiled, "And if I ask again?"
"Ask again, and the answer is—I'm as opposed to gambling and drugs as I am to anything that makes women cry over someone sacrificing themselves. Such people don't deserve a ride in my chariot." Atreus sighed, thinking of Tony in the future wearing the Infinity Gauntlet and snapping his fingers. He really didn't want to see Tony end up like that.
"Pfft!" The Canary Sisters laughed in unison, "We think you're the real jerk here!"
With a whip of the reins, the divine chariot sped away from New York's skies.
As the city faded into the distance, Atreus sighed and said, "That's why Iron Man is the true hero. I'm just a guy with a bit of strength, saving the world when it's convenient."
The aftermath of the Battle of New York had only just begun to unfold.
For many kids and young people, these superheroes sparked admiration. They imitated their moves, wearing their signature masks like die-hard fans.
Atreus even saw a kid on TV cosplaying as Kratos, which looked ridiculous with the wild, barbarian-style mask on such skinny arms and legs.
Atreus chuckled knowingly.
Of course, the so-called gentlemen, those in positions of power, were the ones who lost money. Insurance companies weren't covering these "war" damages.
So they incited politicians to speak out in anger.
"These so-called superheroes are nothing but selfish egotists! They brought terrifying aliens to our doorstep, destroyed our homes, and then just left. They're the ones who should be paying for all the damages!"
In short, the councilman was the type who wouldn't dare hold aliens accountable, only looking for someone local to blame.
But more New Yorkers told reporters that Captain America, Hawkeye, the Hulk, Kratos, and Spider-Man were their saviors.
Meanwhile, Ang's worst fears were unfolding on the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicarrier.
In a video conference, a female official spoke up: "So you just handed over the Tesseract to Thor?"
"Whether from myth or biological structure, we should call them gods. I believe Thor will handle the Tesseract, and the war criminal Loki, appropriately."
"And what about monitoring the Avengers and those other so-called superheroes who jumped into the fray? They're highly dangerous."
Facing his superior's doubts, Director Nick Fury responded boldly:
"The Avengers need a break. Our carrier took serious damage, and we couldn't track the Batplane. As for the flying Greek chariot, it's made of some material we can't analyze. Its metal reflection is as small as an aluminum balloon. We lost track of Kratos and the others."
"..." read remoreinpatreon
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