"Loki was right; parking the Mothership near the Portal is dangerous."
In the starry sky, the Chitauri King exclaimed with extreme relief.
"Had we left it outside the Portal just for easier control, the war would already be lost!"
"Earth is far tougher than we expected!"
"Thank goodness we listened to Loki."
Just then a subordinate came to report: Loki wanted the Mothership's coordinates to guard against Earth's next strike. Without a second thought the Chitauri King gave them up.
Loki—one of our own!
"Don't shoot—friendly!"
Loki landed on Stark Tower, raising his hands hastily as Thor, Tony and the others arrived.
He wasn't afraid of his brother or Iron Man, but the green giant Hulk made him nervous.
"Friendly?" Tony's palm-cannon glowed. "Think you've already conquered us?"
"I've switched sides!" Loki pointed at Fang Yuan. "Ask him if you don't believe me."
He looked at Fang Yuan deliberately. "I'm accepting your invitation—now."
Sure enough, everyone's gaze swung to Fang Yuan; they wouldn't trust a comma from Loki, but they trusted Fang Yuan completely.
"True—I invited Loki to join Earth's side," Fang Yuan said, and the tension on the rooftop eased at once.
But the Avengers were puzzled.
"Invite Loki? Isn't he the mastermind?" Tony sounded hostile. "A downright super-villain."
Rhodes added, "Over two hundred thousand New Yorkers are dead because of him—better to die than let him join."
"Hey!" Loki quickly defended himself. "The Chitauri did the killing, not me!"
Steve couldn't stay silent: "Weren't you the one who planned it?"
If not for Fang Yuan, the Avengers would already be throwing punches.
Even Thor wouldn't be able to protect his brother.
"He isn't the mastermind."
Fortunately Fang Yuan spoke up.
"Loki is only a pawn of the real culprit; the Chitauri would invade Earth even without him. Knowing that, I invited him to abandon the dark side."
"What?"
"Seriously?"
Tony, Steve and the others were stunned—there was an even bigger villain behind the war.
"Who?" Seeing a chance to clear Loki's name, Thor urged, "Who orchestrated all this?"
Loki drew a deep breath. "Thanos."
"Gods…it's him!" Thor hissed.
Tony pressed, "Who's Thanos? That powerful?"
"The most terrifying butcher in the Universe, master of the Black Order. He massacres living Planets," Thor explained.
The Avengers were shocked—Earth had attracted something that monstrous.
"Why attack Earth?" Steve asked.
"Likely for the Tesseract; invading Earth was just a bonus," Loki replied, making Thanos sound even more dreadful.
Conquering a civilized Planet was only "a bonus"? What sort of horror was this?
"Now you see why I had to obey him?" Loki grumbled. "Next to Thanos I'm an ant."
Though he hated admitting it, Fang Yuan had told him this would whitewash him and let him return to his parents, so he played along.
"So why switch sides now?" Tony narrowed his eyes. "The Chitauri still have the upper hand."
Loki inhaled. "Too many have died."
"Hmm?"
The Avengers were taken aback; the cold-blooded villain seemed to have a conscience?
Loki flushed under their stares. "What? I told you—I haven't killed a single Earthling!"
"I… only wanted everyone to respect me."
Mostly he felt ashamed; Fang Yuan's script demanded he show his sentimental side, something Loki wasn't used to.
If he could say "Father, hug me" to Odin, their relationship wouldn't be so strained.
But thinking back, the Avengers realized he was right—from the Frost Giant incident onward, Loki had never personally killed anyone on Earth.
Except Fang Yuan, who was later revived by the Sorcerer Supreme.
"Gasp…"
The Avengers collectively inhaled, stunned.
"My god, Loki's actually like this?"
"A love-starved little nobody?" Tony blurted, earning Loki's Death glare.
Old-timer Steve recovered faster and steered the topic back.
"So you're going to help us now?"
"Hand over your Scepter; we'll shut down the Tesseract."
Everyone nodded—this was priority one.
"Hold on!" Fang Yuan suddenly stopped them.
All eyes turned to him.
Even if we close the Portal, it only stops more Chitauri forces from coming through. The Chitauri soldiers already on Earth are still a threat and could bring great disaster to the Planet.
Fang Yuan laid out his plan.
This time Loki is our undercover agent—it's a perfect chance. If we can destroy their Mothership by going through the Portal, every Chitauri soldier will shut down instantly!
Fang Yuan's logic was sound, but Tony's old problem remained.
"Problem is, we can't fight in space," Tony said with a grimace. "How about the Military launches missiles and bombs the hell out of the Mothership?"
"Too obvious—the Chitauri would catch on fast." Fang Yuan shook his head and stepped forward. "I'll go."
"I can use magic to sneak aboard their ship."
"Give me five minutes. If the Chitauri still haven't reacted by then, shut down the Tesseract!"
Fang Yuan declared righteously, as though a halo of justice blazed behind him.
"What?"
"That's way too dangerous!"
Steve and Howard objected at once.
"Hulk smash!" The Hulk hopped anxiously, not wanting Fang Yuan to take the risk.
But who was Fang Yuan?
Father of the Avengers, Chief Sorcerer of Kamar-Taj, future Sorcerer Supreme—an existence so radiant that even holy light paled beside him. Why would he listen to anyone else?
So everyone could only admire him and urge him to stay safe.
Natasha walked up and gave him a deep kiss.
"Come back to us," Natasha said.
Fang Yuan smiled. "Of course!"
Time was short; they set off at once. Tony produced his fastest armor, the Mark 40 Shotgun, and authorized Fang Yuan to use it. The suit was purpose-built for extreme speed, topping five Mach.
Nick Fury soon learned of Fang Yuan's plan and was stunned.
What was going on?
Fang Yuan willing to sacrifice himself—had Fury misjudged him all along?
Whatever the case, Fang Yuan's intent commanded respect, so Fury promptly ordered the army to cover his operation.
The rest of the Avengers weren't idle; they returned to the city to fight.
Especially on the outbound roads of New York, civilians were under attack by Chitauri soldiers.
Although the Military had set up a perimeter, many people still couldn't find safety and remained in peril.
Howard escorted Natasha and Loki to the Tesseract to shut it down, while Tony used his high mobility to rescue trapped civilians.
"Peter!"
Tony spotted a lone child at once—the boy's Iron Man mask and gauntlet made him stand out.
He had apparently been trying to help an injured puppy and ended up in danger.
Typical kid heroics, Tony muttered.
Still, an Iron Man fan was worth saving—even if he weren't a kid.
Seeing a Chitauri soldier charge, the boy mimicked Iron Man from TV and raised his gauntlet.
Bang!
Tony dropped in front of the boy and blasted the Chitauri to pieces with a repulsor.
"Kids, don't copy everything you see on TV," Tony sighed.
The boy was a bit dense—enemy in his face and he still didn't run.
"Peter!"
A disheveled woman rushed in and hugged the boy, nearly crying at the close call.
"I told you not to run off!" she sobbed, then thanked Tony frantically, "Iron Man, thank you—thank you!"
The boy named Peter stared up at his idol, too stunned to speak.
Tony had no time for kids, though—Howard's voice crackled over comms: "Fang's inside!"
The Tesseract's Portal opened mid-air, so Fang Yuan slipped through in moments.
On the far side was deep space; Fang Yuan opened a Portal straight into a starship and tossed the Iron Man armor inside.
He didn't actually need the suit—he could teleport—but no one knew that except the Ancient One, so he accepted Tony's gift.
Better to keep a few aces hidden.
Following Loki's coordinates, Fang Yuan promptly teleported in and surprised the Chitauri Commander.
Sorcerer Supreme's Bolts of Balthakk—Black King charged edition!
It was the red lightning Doctor Strange had used against Thanos in Infinity War: potent single-target damage, but it needed a conduit and was easy to dodge.
Useless on Thanos, but perfect against a huge target like the Chitauri Mothership.
Fang Yuan combined the Ancient One Template and the Black King Template; the result far outclassed Strange's version.
Crimson lightning tore unchecked across the massive ship and finally detonated its power core.
Once again, the Chitauri paid the price for not having energy shields.
You will get 90 chapter ahead for this fanfiction.
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