Odin had a massive headache, but Tony's was even worse.
Having spotted the nuclear missile streaking across the ocean, Tony was already pushing his suit to the limit, attempting to intercept and nudge its trajectory.
He didn't dare make any sudden, jerky movements; one wrong jar and the whole thing might detonate prematurely.
"Where are you taking it?" Rogers barked over the comms the moment he heard Tony had intercepted the payload.
"I'm thinking... the most suitable spot is right over there."
Tony cast a glance toward the portal, which remained a jagged, glowing tear in the sky, clearly visible even from this distance.
The implication wasn't lost on the rest of the team.
"Sounds like a plan, but what about you?" Natasha's voice turned grim. She had just commandeered a Chitauri flier and was currently touching down on the roof of Stark Tower.
Glancing at Asta and Arlan, who were standing near Loki's scepter and preparing to shut down the portal, she continued, "We're about to close the gateway."
"Better hold off for a second. This thing can't go off on Earth," Tony said, his voice tight with a mix of exhaustion and rising fury.
He was simmering with rage at the powers-that-be, but that was a reckoning for later. Right now, survival took priority.
Natasha's expression darkened.
Easy for you to say, she thought.
How am I supposed to negotiate with these two aliens of unknown origin?
Am I just supposed to say, 'Hey, we just launched a weapon capable of rewriting the local geography and environment, and we think the best solution is to toss it through your front door'?
The sheer weight of the diplomatic nightmare that sentence would trigger made her skin crawl. Why did she have to be the one standing here?
Despite her trepidation, Natasha knew she had to speak, and she had to be honest.
Who knew what kind of advanced information-gathering tech these civilizations possessed? If they found out the truth later, the fallout would be catastrophic.
Steeling herself, Natasha walked toward the pair with a stiff expression. "Miss Asta, could we delay closing the portal for a moment?"
"Delay it?" Asta blinked, her confusion mirrored by Arlan.
In a situation like this, such a baseless request was naturally going to be met with suspicion. Keeping her face neutral, Natasha pressed on.
"The World Security Council voted to launch a nuclear missile at the city... We don't want it exploding on Earth, so we want to send it through the portal."
She tried to frame it as delicately as possible.
"Oh..."
A look of realization dawned on Asta's face.
"I was wondering why a planet's security was left to fewer than ten individuals with zero military support. So, you were planning to use a weapon of mass destruction all along."
Then, a flicker of confusion crossed her features. "But... those two things shouldn't be mutually exclusive, right?"
Lacking a deep background in military strategy, the pink-haired girl turned to Arlan for clarification.
Unlike Asta, Arlan was openly skeptical. "If that's the case, why didn't you use your 'nuke' to attack the portal from the start? Why wait until the exact moment we're about to close it?"
"If you'll pardon my bluntness, this feels less like a plan and more like... a sudden, convenient accident."
"..." Natasha remained silent. It wasn't just like that; it was exactly that.
"The decision was made because the tide of battle was turning against us. Nuclear weapons aren't something we use lightly," Natasha explained, trying to maintain her composure.
"The Council didn't know we had two extraterrestrial... guests?"
Now, even Asta's brow furrowed.
"I step offline for one second and you lot go and invite this much trouble?" Just as the silence began to grow heavy, a young, haughty voice rang out.
The Herta puppet appeared on the rooftop as if from thin air.
"Ma—Madam Herta!" Asta jumped, startled.
Arlan immediately straightened her posture and gave a stiff, formal bow. "Madam Herta..."
Madam Herta?
Natasha stared at the newcomer.
It was a girl who looked quite young—delicate, exquisite, and strikingly beautiful. Even though Natasha had seen her share of lovely children, there was something breathtaking about this girl's appearance.
However, her professional gaze was quickly drawn to the obvious ball-jointed hinges on the girl's limbs.
This girl... is a doll?
And they called her "Madam." Was she their superior?
"I'm heading up now," Tony's voice crackled through the comms before Natasha could process further.
Arlan and Herta turned their gaze toward the horizon.
Following their lead, Natasha saw Tony flying at breakneck speed toward the tower, holding a massive nuclear warhead over his head. The sight nearly made her heart stop.
"What kind of welcome ceremony is this supposed to be?" Herta's face twisted into an expression of pure distaste.
As the words left her lips, a shimmering mirror with a purple frame—reflecting what looked like a swirling galaxy of stars—materialized directly in Tony's flight path.
Before even Jarvis's processing speed could catch up, Tony and the missile slammed into the mirror and... passed right through.
Instantly, the Chitauri leviathans in the sky, the fliers, and the endless waves of soldiers on the ground went silent. It was as if their collective power cord had been ripped from the wall.
"What happened?!"
Tony was just as bewildered as Natasha, but they both realized the same thing a second later: the nuke was gone.
Herta didn't pause to explain. Ignoring everyone's stunned reactions, she walked straight toward the device using the Tesseract as a power source.
"Wait! It's dangerous!"
Dr. Erik Selvig, who had been drowning in a sea of guilt and self-reproach, couldn't stay silent any longer. He scrambled forward to stop her.
Tony didn't know how his roof had suddenly become a crowded party for strangers, but his own brush with the Tesseract's energy told him how terrifying it was. He moved to intervene as well.
But to their utter shock, Herta didn't slow down.
She reached directly into the Tesseract's shimmering energy field with one hand and plucked the cube out of the machine as if she were picking an apple off a tree.
"This... how are you...?"
Dr. Selvig stared, mouth agape.
He was arguably the world's leading expert on the Tesseract at that moment; he had spent days studying its volatile power. He knew exactly how lethal that energy field should have been.
This sight was more world-shaking to him than finding out Thor was an actual alien prince.
"So this is the Space Stone? It's got a bit of 'oomph' to it, I suppose, but not much." Herta turned the cube over in her hand, looking mildly interested.
"What's going on? Tony? Natasha? The portal is closed—what's the status? Where's the nuke?"
Rogers' voice came through the comms, his urgent questions creating a sharp contrast with the eerie silence of the ruined battlefield.
Watching Herta inspect the glowing relic while Asta and Arlan crowded around her, Tony slowly keyed his mic.
"The war has ended... but Earth might have a few new challenges to deal with."
--+--
T/N: I have a Patreon! Webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
It may not seem worth it now, but maybe in the future. Who knows!
[email protected]/AspenTL
If you guys wanna check it out.