"Okay, I'll wait here for you to come back," Wanda said, looking the picture of an obedient and docile girl.
Closing the portal leading to the Waldorf Hotel, Harvey moved swiftly, mounting his flying sword and taking to the sky to chase after Hermione.
But the Firebolt's speed was too fast; after chasing for just a few kilometers, he realized he had completely lost track of Hermione in the sky.
Although he could cast the Tracking Charm to continue the pursuit, considering he still had the Mind Scepter to grab, and that letting Hermione cool off for a while might be better...
Harvey, unable to catch up to her, changed direction in mid-air and flew toward Stark Tower in the center of Manhattan.
Two minutes later.
Harvey arrived at the central battlefield of the Battle of New York.
The blue beam of energy connecting Stark Tower to the heavens was just slowly fading away.
At the exact same time.
The Chitauri swarming the sky over Manhattan suddenly lost consciousness and plummeted down like dumplings dropping into a pot.
The Chitauri army was a semi-biological, semi-mechanical humanoid race with a lower level of intelligence, commanded by the main ship's central AI.
Therefore, when Iron Man risked his life to carry the nuclear missile into the wormhole and successfully blew up the Chitauri mothership.
All the Chitauri were instantly disconnected from the hive mind, creating this spectacular scene of bodies raining from the sky.
Harvey also saw a gold-and-red figure continuously falling from the shrinking spatial wormhole.
On the roof of Stark Tower, Black Widow Natasha and Dr. Erik Selvig were looking up at the sky.
On the ground battlefield, the Hulk, Thor, and Hawkeye Clint were all looking up as well.
It seemed they had also spotted Tony's figure.
"Thank God, it looks like Stark made it," Clint said, his expression softening and his tone turning light.
Thor, wearing his dark Uru metal armor and a flamboyant red cape, looking as handsome and dashing as ever, stared at the sky with a solemn expression and said:
"He's not slowing down!"
Thor began spinning Mjolnir like a windmill, "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh," preparing to fly up and catch the falling Stark.
But the Hulk moved even faster than him.
The massive, burly green giant bent his thighs, which were as thick as tree trunks, and pushed off the ground fiercely.
"Boom—"
Leaving a deep crater in the hard concrete pavement.
And then.
The green giant leaped up over a hundred meters with a "swoosh!" and steadily caught the falling gold-and-red figure.
He continuously stomped and crashed against the walls of the surrounding skyscrapers all the way down to absorb the impact.
Finally, clutching the gold-and-red Iron Man armor, he smashed heavily onto the ground.
Thor quickly stepped forward, ripping the metal faceplate off the Iron Man armor and tossing it aside.
Seeing Tony Stark with his eyes closed, his face peaceful and serene as if he had already passed away.
Clint's smile vanished.
The atmosphere gradually grew sorrowful.
Seeing that he had actually brought back a dead man, the green giant angrily opened his mouth wide at the "corpse."
"ROAR—"
The deafening roar suddenly startled the unconscious Tony Stark awake.
"Whoa... oh my god, what happened?"
"Please tell me nobody kissed me?"
...
On the roof of Stark Tower, Natasha relaxed completely upon hearing the news of Stark's safe return through her earpiece.
Just as she was walking toward Dr. Selvig, who had collapsed on the floor, preparing to help the unconscious doctor leave the roof.
Harvey dropped the Disillusionment Charm and suddenly appeared in front of Natasha.
"Who are you?"
"Obliviate!"
Harvey was extremely decisive, directly casting the Memory Charm on Natasha. While her consciousness was interrupted, he snatched the Mind Scepter right out of her hands.
At the same time, he cast a Transfiguration spell on a piece of rubble on the ground nearby.
After conjuring a golden scepter with the exact same unique appearance and design.
Harvey looked at his Transfiguration masterpiece with satisfaction.
"Although the energy signature is totally fake, it's enough to fool those Muggles at S.H.I.E.L.D. who don't understand magic."
He shoved this "scepter" back into Natasha's hands.
"Disillusionment!"
He cast the Disillusionment Charm once again.
As Harvey's figure gradually faded and disappeared.
Natasha, who had been frozen in place, regained her consciousness.
She rubbed her forehead, her face looking somewhat bewildered.
"Mnn... weird, I feel like I've forgotten something important."
Right at that moment, Tony Stark flew up to her in his heavily damaged armor.
"What's up? Agent Romanoff, you alright?"
Natasha shook her head. "I'm fine, just a mild concussion, but it's not a big deal."
Glancing at the messy, ruined roof, Tony Stark said, "The war is over, but we still have a main culprit to deal with!"
He then walked toward the floor right below the roof, which was the Chairman's penthouse office area of Stark Tower.
Natasha helped Dr. Selvig up and followed closely behind.
On the other side, Thor, Clint, and the Hulk from the ground battlefield also took the elevator and arrived at the top floor of Stark Tower.
The five Avengers gathered together, glaring menacingly at Loki, who was half-lying on the steps.
Completely unaware that five people had appeared behind him, Loki wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, struggled to crawl to the top of the steps, and turned around.
"Uh... if it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now."
Tony Stark flipped open the metal faceplate of his armor, looking down at Loki from a commanding height.
"Now who is the ant, and who is the boot?"
Loki smiled disdainfully.
"A temporary defeat means nothing. Furthermore, you don't even realize you've been played, you foolish Midgardians!"
Thor thought his brother was lying again, trying to find an opportunity to escape. He stepped forward, grabbed him by the collar of his armor, and looked him straight in the eye:
"You won't escape this time, Loki. I am taking you back to Asgard immediately to face Father's judgment."
Tony Stark sneered, "I'd actually love to hear what interesting story little Bambi can spin this time."
Loki let out a soft hmph, saying in a mocking tone, "The scepter in your hands is a fake. Just moments ago, a wizard stole the real scepter right in front of your eyes!"
"This is a fake?" Natasha raised the scepter in her hand and examined it closely. "Impossible, it never left my sight!"
Clint took a careful look at the scepter and said with absolute certainty, "This scepter looks exactly the same as the one I saw before. How could it be fake?"
Tony Stark went straight to the point and had Jarvis scan and analyze the scepter's properties.
[Sir, the tip of the scepter possesses an unknown energy source that cannot be analyzed.]
Hearing Jarvis's analysis, Tony Stark was even more convinced that Loki was just lying.
But Thor stared at the scepter in Natasha's hand, thought for a few seconds, and slowly spoke, "This scepter seems to have had some kind of magic cast upon it?"
Hearing this, everyone turned their eyes to Thor.
Out of trust in Thor, Natasha handed the scepter directly to him.
"Why don't you properly appraise whether this scepter is real or fake?"
Taking it into his own hands, Thor carefully examined the distinctively designed golden scepter.