"I wonder where they went now?" Noah muttered, shaking the bell and cleansing the minds of the unconscious people lying on the ground. He pondered the direction Corvus might have taken.
"It feels like New York again." For some reason, he couldn't shake the feeling that New York would once again be at the center of trouble. Perhaps the final battle would take place there. Maybe this was the Sacred Timeline's ability to self-correct?
"Well, I won't dwell on it. Better inform Fury right away." He realized this wasn't just a hunch, but a strong intuitive prediction. But action was needed now. He sent Nick Fury a message and opened a portal, returning to New York.
Meanwhile, Fury, aboard the Quinjet, was resting and preparing for the upcoming battle. He was interrupted by a vibrating device in his coat pocket. He never enabled vibration on his phone, and when it went off, it always meant one thing—someone had been tampering with it again. He took out the phone and read Noah's message:
"The subway station situation is resolved, but the aliens escaped. You need to send a team to retrieve the abducted scientists; they are all at the station, along with the equipment. So you don't need to come here, head back."
Fury carefully examined the photos Noah attached to the message: unconscious people and piles of scientific equipment. He realized that everything Noah said was true.
"Inform the others—the mission is aborted; we're returning to the Helicarrier," he told Coulson.
"What? We were about to go to Paris," Coulson said, confused.
"It's already taken care of. Noah handled it, but the Tesseract is gone again. We need to locate it," Fury replied, simultaneously issuing orders to the French branch of S.H.I.E.L.D. to send a team to the station for a rescue operation.
"What? How is he so fast?" Coulson wondered. Only about ten minutes had passed since Noah left. Had he managed to cross half the world in a matter of minutes?
"The priority now is finding the Tesseract," Fury interrupted his thoughts, ordering the pilot to return to the Helicarrier.
The other Quinjets also received orders to return.
"What happened?" Rogers asked, noticing the change in their Quinjet's course.
"Captain, Fury ordered us to return. The situation in Paris has been resolved," Hawkeye replied, glancing at Coulson's message.
"Resolved? Who did it?" Rogers was surprised.
"The Storm Swordsman," Hawkeye answered, not revealing Noah's true identity, which Rogers didn't know yet.
"Really?" the Captain replied, still puzzled by how quickly Noah had completed the task. "What about the abducted people? Did they find the Tesseract?"
"The Director has already sent a rescue team. The hostages are safe, but the Tesseract is in enemy hands again. We need to return and reassess our plan."
Rogers nodded, not asking any further questions. Thor, upon learning what happened, merely said, "Well, that's Noah for you," and then returned to his own affairs. Specifically, he was diligently asking Agent Romanoff for relationship advice.
...
When Noah opened a portal and returned to New York, he immediately began using his magic to detect the Tesseract's energy fluctuations. Now he hovered above the city, observing the usual urban life. Nothing suspicious: skyscrapers, traffic jams. But one building caught his attention.
"I need to keep a closer eye on Stark Tower," he thought. If the enemy had escaped to New York, this place would surely be their target, as it contained what they needed.
He was about to head towards the Tower when he noticed a figure approaching him. It was Tony Stark.
"Hey, what are you doing here?" Tony asked, flying closer. He was wearing his new battle suit, crafted from the remnants of the Destroyer. The gleaming silver armor with spikes at the joints gave him a formidable appearance.
"Fury said you were supposed to be in Paris. I was planning to change and head there myself. Why are you here?" Stark had recently been busy with work at the Tower and was therefore staying there. He had also brought his new armor with him for easier research and adjustments.
"I just came back from Paris. Everything's resolved, but the Tesseract is gone again," Noah replied.
"How did you get back so fast? Ah, right, magic portal," Tony guessed.
"You just came from Stark Tower, right?"
"Yes. Why do you ask? Wait, you don't mean to say they're there?"
A bad feeling crept into his heart upon hearing Noah's question.
"Jarvis, were there any attempts to infiltrate the Tower?" Tony immediately asked his AI.
"Sir, ne..."
Boom!
Jarvis's response was cut short by a powerful explosion. A bright blue beam of light erupted from Stark Tower, instantly shattering the glass walls.
"What the hell?!" Stark cursed.
"Sir, it appears I've been locked out, sir," Jarvis admitted.
Noah zoomed in on the top of the Tower and saw that there were no enemies there. The beam of light wasn't emanating from the roof, but rising from the base of the building, piercing right through it. The blue beam pierced the sky and opened a giant portal in space, its edges glowing with blue light, the opening expanding with each passing second.