Is there a problem?
There's been no feedback, and the data is dropping drastically.
Everything went wrong from the moment I lost the outline...
So annoying.
Tony stepped out of the portal and landed steadily in the living room on the top floor of Stark Tower. The Manhattan skyline outside the window remained intact. Above the rooftop, the Tesseract's energy core hummed incessantly, its blue-white beam slowly accumulating energy, and tense energy fluctuations surged in the air. Knowing that time was running out, he strode to the center of the living room, raising his hand to signal JARVIS to activate the MK7 armor and stand by.
Just then, he saw Loki standing in front of the French windows. The God of Mischief was dressed exceptionally formally today, his long robe, interwoven with deep green and gilded gold, neat and solemn, the base of his scepter firmly resting on the Dali floor. His posture was tall and straight, as if he had already rehearsed this scene countless times in his mind.
"Are you here to beg me for mercy?" Loki's voice was laced with contempt.
Tony paused beside the liquor cabinet, retracting his hand that had been raised to summon his armor, and turned to face Loki. He casually picked up a bottle of whiskey and two glasses from the table. "To be honest, I'm here to blackmail you."
"Then you should at least be wearing armor." Loki's gaze swept over his entire body, a hint of mockery flashing in his eyes, before settling on his simple dark gray casual coat.
"The armor is a bit worn, but you're still holding this 'Fate Glow Stick' in your hand."
Tony gently pushed a glass of whiskey toward Loki. "Would you like some?"
"Delaying time is pointless." Loki didn't take the cup, his expression cold.
"I'm not stalling, I'm threatening you."
Tony picked up his glass and took a sip. "Not drinking? Are you sure? Then I'll drink it myself."
He gently placed his glass on the bar, took two steps forward, and stood firmly in front of Loki. Without armor or weapons, he was just a human genius in casual clothes, silently confronting the God Realm clad in divine robes. His previously casual and teasing tone suddenly turned serious, his voice neither cold nor harsh, yet each word was steady and carried an unshakeable weight.
"Have you figured it out? There is no throne here. You cannot rule here. If you cannot save the world, you will face our endless revenge."
Loki's expression changed slightly; his soft spot had been hit. A look of surprise flashed in his eyes, and then he raised his scepter, the tip of which suddenly glowed with a pale blue light, precisely pressing against the center of Tony's chest reactor. The metal and the gem collided, producing a crisp, light sound.
Nothing happened.
Loki looked down at the scepter in his hand, then looked up at the calm Tony, his eyes filled with confusion. The arrogant smile on his face froze instantly, as if it had been paused. He pressed the tip of the scepter against the reactor again, but there was still no reaction. This trick always worked. His doubts quickly turned into raging anger.
"It's normal for the equipment to malfunction occasionally; one out of five will always have a problem..." Before Tony could finish speaking, Loki suddenly grabbed him by the neck and threw him away violently.
Tony's body swept across the living room, his back slamming heavily against the wall opposite the French windows. He slid down the wall, knocking over the holographic projection pedestal in the process. Loki strode forward, grabbed Tony's neck again, lifted him up, and slammed him against the wall. The force of the impact cracked several lines on the plasterboard where Tony's head rested. "All of you will eventually submit to me!"
Tony was forced to tilt his head back, his breath coming in ragged gasps, but a defiant smile still lingered on his lips as he managed to say with difficulty, "Start! Start it now!"
Loki dismissed it as a bluff, not even turning around, and threw Tony violently out of the French windows. The entire glass curtain wall shattered the moment his body passed through, and tiny shards of glass flew everywhere, like a silent firework blooming and fading under the blue and white light emanating from the core of the Tesseract's Cube.
Loki walked slowly to the edge of the broken French window and looked down. The dazzling lights of Manhattan stretched out beneath him, Tony's dark gray casual jacket billowing wildly in the night wind as he plummeted at the speed of freefall.
The next instant, a golden-red streak of light shot out from the side of the building. The MK7 armor precisely caught up with the falling figure, its mechanical parts instantly engaging and locking onto the wrist, the armor fully deployed and in position. The thrusters ignited immediately, steadily halting the descent.
Iron Man hovered in mid-air above Manhattan, the roar of his thrusters echoing among the towering skyscrapers. He flipped over, accelerated, and soared to the top floor, hovering at the gap in the floor-to-ceiling window, his thruster cannons aimed at Loki, who hadn't yet put away his scepter in the living room. Before Loki could react, his palm cannons suddenly burst into flames, the powerful impact sending Loki tumbling to the ground. Tony landed beside the device, grabbing Selvig's shoulder.
How do I turn it off?
Selvig, just awakened from forced control, blinked blankly, staring at the ever-expanding wormhole above him and the countless Chitauri spacecraft crisscrossing and wreaking havoc in the sky. His lips moved several times before he finally managed to squeeze out a dry voice, "Too late... It's already out of control. It can't stop."
"There must be a way." Tony didn't let go, his tone firm.
These words instantly awakened memories buried deep within Selvig's mind. His clouded eyes cleared abruptly, and he regained the rigor and rationality of an astrophysicist. "I... I set up a safety device to cut off the energy... Loki's Scepter! The scepter should be able to shut it off!"
He abruptly looked up at the sky, his voice rising sharply, carrying the fear, guilt, and panic of a scientist facing the loss of control over his creation. "I created a safety switch! It's to prevent this from happening! His scepter... the scepter's energy is the same as the Tesseract's! It should be able to penetrate that barrier! Turn it off!"
Tony released his shoulder and straightened up. The HUD inside the visor quickly scanned the entire Manhattan skyline. A continuous stream of Chitauri aircraft poured out of the wormhole, and the MK5 squadron was locked in fierce aerial combat to intercept them. On the ground, Rogers, Natasha, and Ivan were desperately covering the evacuation of civilians. In the shadows of distant buildings, a figure lay motionless, the one who had remained hidden until now— Lynn, who had not yet appeared.
The situation was extremely urgent, and there was no time to waste. Tony immediately pressed the communication button on his wrist.
"Captain, where are Thor and Banner? Why aren't they here yet? That wizard, Ivan's whip is practically smoking. We were prepared, but it's clearly insufficient. If you don't plan to forget something, we won't be able to hold on."