Tony hovered directly in front of the wormhole, the thrusters' exhaust plumes as thin as stars against the backdrop of the eerie blue energy patterns. A split second before the nuclear missile was about to enter the wormhole, he released his grip. The silver-white missile surged forward steadily, passing through the surging energy barrier at the edge of the void, and completely entered the other end of the wormhole.
At first, all around was deathly silent.
There was no roar, no shockwave; on the other side of the wormhole lay only the silent deep space and a densely packed Chitauri Fleet. The massive metallic outline of the mothership, bathed in starlight, gleamed with a cold, hard luster. The next second, a nuclear missile precisely struck the mothership's core.
The explosion's flames pierced through the wormhole and rushed towards them. In the instant the blinding white light spread, all the rampaging Chitauri forces above Manhattan were paralyzed. The Leviathan, which had rushed into the air, also suddenly froze, and the eerie blue energy core inside its jaws completely extinguished. Its massive body slid forward due to inertia, crashing through several billboards before collapsing heavily to the ground.
The alien threat across the entire battlefield was annihilated in an instant.
Natasha stood before the Tesseract's Cube base, pressing the tip of her scepter firmly against the energy barrier. Seeing the blinding white light emanating from the wormhole, she abruptly pressed down on the scepter.
A blue-white energy barrier suddenly exploded, releasing a shockwave. The energy beam piercing the sky from the top of the Tesseract abruptly contracted, broke, and dissipated. The giant void churning overhead began to collapse inward, and layers of dark blue energy ripples rolled back, like ripples on a counter-current water surface, constantly narrowing from tens of meters in diameter to just a few meters, the size of a needle tip, before finally vanishing completely.
The night sky returned to its clear, deep blue, with only the faint, flickering specks of energy remaining on the surface of the Tesseract's Cube base.
Tony hovered in the clean airspace where the wormhole had vanished, his visor snapping open, his breathing rapid and heavy. He gazed at the night sky where the wormhole had disappeared, then looked down at the ravaged Manhattan, now devoid of monsters, and said in a deep voice, " JARVIS! Remind Lynn to disconnect the magic circle link."
"Reminders are being sent in a loop, sir." JARVIS's mechanical voice echoed through Lynn's glasses-covered earpiece. " Mr. Lynn, the current battlefield threat level has been cleared. Please terminate magic input. Repeat, please terminate magic input. Mr. Lynn..."
In mid-air, Lynn's particle wings remained outstretched, silver particles flowing slowly from his fingertips. The Chitauri Army had just been rendered incapacitated, and all sources of chaos had dissipated. The playful smile on his lips still lingered.
The next second, JARVIS's reminder suddenly popped into his mind.
As if his power had been instantly cut off, his dazzling particle wings silently dissipated, and countless streams of light fell like Stardust. The silver patterns covering his body gradually faded from his shoulder blades; the warm yellow light cluster on his chest, a replica of the Mind Stone, trembled slightly and then went out completely.
His eyes suddenly closed, and his body lost all support, like a puppet with broken strings, he plummeted straight down to the street from a height of hundreds of meters.
" Lynn!"
Tony's visor snapped shut instantly, his thrusters ignited, and a golden-red streak of light ripped through the sky as he plummeted vertically downwards. Thor moved in sync, transforming into a bolt of lightning and launching himself from the top of the building. Hulk, on the ground, looked up at the falling figure, knees bent, gathering his strength for another leap...
Tony is faster.
He caught up precisely halfway down Lynn, applied the emergency brakes with his thrusters, and steadily slipped his arms under Lynn's armpits and knees, firmly embracing the weightless boy in his arms. The sturdy body of his Gold-Titanium Alloy armor supported the boy's slender frame, making the landing extremely gentle.
Tony landed steadily on the gravel floor of the building's top floor and carefully laid Lynn flat on the still-intact Dali floor by the window.
Lynn's face was ashen, his breathing so shallow that his chest barely rose and fell. The residual silver marks from the overload backlash on his collarbone shone faintly on the surface of his skin, but were slowly fading away at a visible rate. The imitation Mind Stone in the groove in his chest had completely dimmed, losing all its luster and turning into a flat, dull, pale yellow crystal.
" JARVIS, check his vital signs." Tony's tone was urgent and tense.
"Scanning, sir." JARVIS paused briefly, then gave a steady report, " Mr. Lynn's vital signs are stable, his temperature is normal, and his heart rate is slightly low but within the safe threshold. His brain waves show a deep sleep state; the overload damage to his nervous system is repairing itself, and there are no organic lesions. He has been diagnosed with overload exhaustion and has entered a deep fatigue sleep. Simply put, he's too tired and has fallen asleep."
Tony relayed the diagnosis to the crowd that had quickly gathered around him.
Everyone who had been tense throughout the battle breathed a sigh of relief, their relaxed smiles spreading in the wind. Rogers lowered his shield, wiped the dust from his face, and finally, the tension on his lips melted away, replaced by a faint smile. Natasha leaned against the pile of rubble, the bandages still on her legs, the cold, agent-like sternness that had lingered in her eyes for years completely gone. Thor, carrying Mjolnir, raised his hand and slapped Tony hard on the back, the force almost making him stumble.
Ivan retrieved the white parrot from beside the wreckage of the Quinjet, shouldered his already folded armor, and slowly walked upstairs, silently watching the crowd.
Banner, still in his Hulk form, stood on the edge of the rooftop, tilting his head back and letting out a triumphant, earth-shattering roar.
The powerful roar caused the remaining shards of glass on the roof to fall in a shower.
The moment the roar subsided, Lynn, who was lying unconscious on the ground, suddenly shuddered and his eyes snapped open.
The emptiness and sickness that had shrouded his eyes for so long completely faded away, and his usual carefree yet alert and clear expression returned.
He weakly and blankly surveyed the crowd surrounding him: Rogers stood to the side, his expression gentle; Natasha was wiping the blood from her hands with a strip of cloth; Thor carried Mjolnir on his shoulder, his posture upright; Hulk's massive green body stood not far away, looking down at him silently.
Finally, his gaze settled on Tony Stark in front of him.
Tony crouched down beside him, his MK7 armor still on his arm guards, one hand supporting him.
A genuine yet exaggerated look of terror suddenly appeared on his deathly pale face.
"Please, Tony... don't tell me you gave me CPR."