Chapter 20 – Avengers
As for why discussions about mutants had suddenly vanished over the past few years, Blake Thorne himself didn't really know the answer. After all, back then, he hadn't even finished watching all the X-Men movies…
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Outside the gates of Midtown School of Science and Technology, New York.
Inside a black business van parked not far from the school entrance sat a white man with a cold, emotionless expression.
His left shoulder was connected to a gleaming silver mechanical arm, replacing the left arm he had lost long ago.
That man was the Winter Soldier—Bucky Barnes, a Super Soldier controlled and brainwashed by the HYDRA organization.
Before becoming the Winter Soldier, Bucky had already undergone biological enhancement. After falling from a cliff, his body was recovered by the Soviet Union's Division X, where he was modified into a true Winter Soldier. His Physical Strength, Speed, Endurance, Sensory Acuity, and Reflexes were all far beyond those of an ordinary human.
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"Captain Bucky, do we move now?" asked one of the fully armed HYDRA soldiers seated in the back.
Bucky shook his head. His voice was cold and flat as he replied, "Wait until he goes home. We'll act near Tony Stark's villa, ten kilometers from here."
However, Blake—who had already noticed their presence from the very beginning—only gave a faint smile. He briefly said goodbye to Peter Parker, then casually walked straight toward the black van.
Blake lightly knocked on the vehicle's door. After a few seconds, the window slowly slid down just a little.
Through the narrow gap, Bucky could be seen gripping an automatic rifle, ready to fire at any moment.
His face was icy, his sharp eyes locked onto Blake as he asked, "What business do you have here?"
With a relaxed smile, Blake replied, "Didn't you come to capture me? Open the door. I'll go with you."
Those words made Bucky's pupils contract instantly, his grip on the rifle tightening.
Before he could process what Blake meant, Blake had already placed his hand on the van's side door handle… and ripped it open by force.
The moment the door flew open, Blake stepped inside. In one swift motion, he shut the door behind him and delivered a heavy punch to each of the four HYDRA soldiers seated in the middle of the cabin. In the blink of an eye, all of them collapsed unconscious.
Bucky, who was sitting up front with the driver, immediately tried to react, but—
Blake raised his palm toward them and began chanting a spell in a low, rapid voice. The incantation flowed like a sharp current of spiritual power, piercing directly into their consciousness.
Instantly, a golden energy field bloomed in front of Blake's palm. Bucky's and the driver's eyes turned blank and unfocused, as if their minds had been swallowed by a void.
It was a Soul Control Spell—one of Kamar-Taj's secret magics, used to dominate an opponent's mind and will.
This technique was similar to the mind-control magic Loki used in Avengers 1 with his Mind Stone scepter.
As long as Blake didn't cancel the spell, he could control an ordinary human for their entire lifetime. Even the consciousness of an elite soldier like Bucky was nothing more than a slightly larger insect to him.
"I order you… contact Alexander Pierce and tell him the target has been captured."
"And you—start the car. We're leaving now."
After issuing those two commands, Blake calmly took a seat in one of the empty chairs inside the van.
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One hour later, the Winter Soldier brought Blake to HYDRA's main base in New York City.
The base was located in a skyscraper in the western district of the city. On the top floor, Alexander Pierce—one of HYDRA's highest-ranking leaders—was sitting in his office.
Thirty minutes later—Blake, accompanied by hundreds of HYDRA soldiers now completely under his control, appeared before Alexander Pierce.
The elderly man froze in his chair.
HYDRA was finished.
This time, Blake's strike against HYDRA was an attack from an entirely higher dimensional level.
After subduing every HYDRA operative in the New York branch, Blake assigned them a single long-term mission:
Locate all information related to the Infinity Stones.
With that done, Blake left the place behind. Although HYDRA remnants still existed in Europe and Asia, he no longer cared.
As long as they didn't interfere with him, Blake was even willing to let those "villains" continue living. After all, the world couldn't possibly be filled with only good people, right?
As for why Blake wanted to track down the Infinity Stones—it wasn't to use them.
He simply wanted to study the fundamental laws and principles of reality contained within those stones.
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Three days later.
Nick Fury, Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., arrived at Tony Stark's villa along with three of his most trusted agents: Black Widow, Hawkeye, and Agent Coulson—plus Dr. Bruce Banner (the Hulk) and Captain America, Steve Rogers.
Yes.
This was the first official gathering of the new-generation Avengers.
The meeting was organized entirely on Nick Fury's initiative, and he had deliberately chosen Tony Stark's residence as the location.
First, so that Dr. Banner and Captain America could meet Tony Stark in person.
Second… Nick Fury clearly had an ulterior motive.
He knew Tony had a close relationship with Blake Thorne.
So Nick planned to use that connection to recruit Blake into this grand organization—the Avengers.
And by coincidence, Blake just happened to be at Tony's house when they arrived.
He was currently using Magic Circles to perform Enchantment—enhancement—on Tony's armor.
Blake had never hidden his experience training magic at Kamar-Taj from Tony. After learning that magic was real, Tony was, of course, eager to try it himself.
Unfortunately, Tony had absolutely no talent as a sorcerer.
As an experiment—and also to help his friend—Blake created several special magic circles and attached them directly to Tony's Iron Man armor.
The enhancements Blake applied included:
Lightweight Magic: Greatly reduced the armor's physical weight. As a result, the armor's speed tripled, and its battery endurance more than doubled.
Shield Magic & Golden Body: Increased resistance against both physical and energy-based attacks. If Tony ever entered a fatal situation, the magic circle would automatically open a portal and teleport him to a safe location by Blake's side.
Energy Sword Mounted on the Armor's Back: Blake had Tony design a special mixed-metal blade. He then embedded an energy-storage enchantment into it and infused part of his own destructive energy into the sword.
This weapon wasn't just a finishing move—it was also extremely effective against supernatural entities such as ghosts, spirits, vampires, demons, and other incorporeal beings.
After all these upgrades, Blake could confidently say:
"If the Purple Potato—Thanos—shows up right now, Tony can already fight him one-on-one!"
As for who would win?
That would be one hell of a show…
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