"So long as you submit to the power of the Mind Stone Scepter, I can spare their lives."
"Otherwise…"
"Otherwise what?"
Leon's voice was cold.
"What makes you think you're qualified to negotiate with me? Do you think I'm someone you can control?"
"Hmph!" the Chitauri strategist sneered.
"Stop posturing. I don't know whether you care about the others—but your dear older brother, Tony Stark? You wouldn't ignore his death."
"His life is in our hands. One gesture from Ebony Maw, and he'll be crushed into pulp."
"Like this?"
Leon lazily raised his hand toward the Chitauri strategist.
The next instant—
Splurt—
The strategist's limbs exploded into a spray of blood and ruined flesh.
He became exactly what he had threatened: a living stump.
"What?!"
"How are you—?!"
Screams tore from his throat as he writhed grotesquely atop a Chitauri chariot.
"Save me!" he shrieked toward Ebony Maw.
Without expression, Maw flicked a finger.
Telekinesis wrapped the mutilated strategist and drew him back.
"Kill Tony Stark!" the strategist shrieked hysterically. "Make him regret—"
He turned—
Only to find empty air where the five Avengers had been suspended.
"Where are they?!"
"Ebony Maw, what are you—"
Pop!
"Silence."
With visible irritation, Maw crushed him completely into a mist of blood.
The surrounding Chitauri soldiers glanced at one another.
Then chose to pretend nothing had happened.
As long as the mothership remained—
The Chitauri endured.
Ground – Stark Tower
Tony and the others reappeared beside Leon, their steel restraints torn apart by Leon's telekinesis.
The entire maneuver had taken less than a heartbeat.
The moment Leon demonstrated telekinetic power comparable to Maw's, Tony caught his eye—
Bent light around the team—
And rendered them invisible for a split second.
That was all Leon needed.
He dragged them free.
"I see," Maw murmured above.
"You've grown stronger, Leon Stark."
Leon glanced deliberately toward the Ancient One's Ring within the portal apparatus—then launched himself upward without another word.
Ebony Maw remained suspended like a nail in the sky, telekinetic barriers forming a seamless defensive field around him.
He would test Leon head-on.
Boom—!!!!!!!!
The collision detonated the air itself.
The shockwave hurled the newly freed Avengers from a height of several hundred meters.
They plummeted.
"Hulk—airplane!"
Freed from telekinetic suppression and the Mind Stone's interference, Hulk roared back to full fury.
He grabbed Natasha mid-fall and slammed his other hand into Stark Tower's exterior, carving a braking path downward.
Captain America—shieldless—fell separately.
Tony matched his descent in powered flight.
"Need a hand, Cap?" he quipped.
"I could just let myself die at this point," Steve muttered dryly.
"Tempting—but no."
Twenty-five meters from impact, Steve seized Tony's hand.
They slowed together and landed cleanly.
Thor hit first—
Body-first—
Cratering the pavement half a meter deep.
One by one, the others regrouped.
A Chitauri chariot roared toward them—
Hawkeye leapt off mid-flight, rolled through the impact, and rose smoothly.
Behind him, the unmanned chariot smashed into an incoming squadron in a chain explosion.
Clint smiled.
"Miss me?"
BOOM—
A figure slammed down beside them in a burst of dust.
Leon emerged from the smoke—
Holding aloft a severed, withered arm still clutching the Mind Stone Scepter.
He raised it high for the world to see—Arcee's livestream zooming in dramatically.
Then his presence exploded outward like a tidal wave.
"Avengers—assemble!"
For the first time—
The original seven stood united.
The moment would echo in history.
Through the livestream, the world watched as the Avengers—centered unmistakably around Leon—stepped fully into the global spotlight.
"Leon," Steve said quickly, "the portal has to be shut down. That scepter is the key."
"Not yet," Tony interjected, staring upward.
"I've got a better idea."
They followed his gaze.
Above Stark Tower, through the swirling aperture in the sky, the silhouette of a colossal Chitauri mothership loomed—vast beyond measure.
Hundreds of times larger than the Leviathans below.
Understanding dawned instantly.
Tony didn't believe in settling for partial victories.
"But first," Natasha said, "we deal with him."
High above—
Ebony Maw hovered, clutching his severed arm, blood trailing into the wind. His eyes were venomous.
"Wow," Tony muttered, resting a hand on Leon's shoulder. "He really hates you."
"Seems that way."
Leon summoned Bastet in her human form and casually tossed her the Mind Stone Scepter.
"Close the portal on my signal."
"Yes, Master."
"Rogers," Leon said, "you and the others who can't fly—protect civilians on the ground. Thor, Tony—you're with me."
"Copy."
"Hulk," Leon added, "smash."
"HULK SMASH!"
Hulk grabbed a nearby car and hurled it skyward.
The vehicle shattered the sound barrier—
And obliterated over a dozen Chitauri riders in a single arc.
And just like that—
The horn of counterattack sounded.
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