Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
New York.
Three figures zipped through the city's sky.
One of them, clad in a gleaming silver-white robotic armor, continuously fired beams of light at the figures flying ahead.
The figures in front dodged with various acrobatic maneuvers, narrowly avoiding all of the armor's attacks.
This aerial battle was incredibly spectacular and thrilling, completely redefining everyone's understanding of what was possible.
On the highways and inside office buildings, countless people watched in awe, taking photos.
It was fortunate that Iron Man, considering this was a bustling area of New York, tried to avoid flying through densely built areas; otherwise, New York would undoubtedly be engulfed in smoke and chaos by now.
"Stark, base emergency evacuation complete!"
Finally, Nick Fury's voice echoed in Iron Man's comms. He perked up, wasting no more time, and began flying towards the Dark Energy Joint Base.
Not long after.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several figures slammed hard into the base's entrance.
"Captain, Thor, the Destroyer is yours for now. T-1000 will assist you!" Iron Man said to them. "You must hold him off until I succeed!"
"Stark, do what you need to do!" Captain America said to Iron Man, his expression serious.
Iron Man said nothing more and flew into the base.
Thud!
Just then, the Destroyer also descended from the sky, crashing to the ground like a meteor, shaking the entire base.
Captain America, without a word, swung his hammer and charged at the Destroyer, bringing it down hard.
T-1000, now in Iron Man's armor, did the same. He completely took Iron Man's place, working with Captain America to flank the Destroyer.
Thor, having lost his powers, still served as a living target, drawing the Destroyer's attention, just as before.
The three of them managed to temporarily hold off the Destroyer.
Meanwhile, Iron Man himself arrived deep within the Dark Energy Joint Base, entering a highly classified laboratory.
Inside, there were all sorts of incredibly complex, precise, and highly futuristic instruments.
At the very center of the instruments lay a sky-blue, faintly glowing cube—the Tesseract!
That's right, Iron Man's plan this time was to use the Tesseract to open a portal and teleport the Destroyer away!
After the round of questions during the Captain America rescue mission, Iron Man and Nick Fury began some necessary cooperation.
One of these was preliminary research into the Tesseract, as well as upgrading the Dark Energy Joint Base's security system.
By now, it was already showing initial results.
Iron Man was far more capable than Dr. Selvig.
Dr. Selvig had never fully understood the Tesseract, but Iron Man already had a 30% success rate in using it to open a portal!
Upon entering the secret laboratory, Iron Man skillfully performed a series of operations. Buttons were pressed, and energy screens projected into the air.
Lines of data and curves flashed across those screens.
Iron Man "gesticulated wildly," his hands constantly tapping at various points on the screens—a complex and dazzling operation.
Hum!
Approximately fifteen minutes later, the Tesseract, which had been quietly fixed in its claw-like holder, suddenly began to glow brilliantly.
A blue beam of energy shot out.
Clusters of energy began to surge and gather.
Finally, a blue spatial portal appeared.
"I'm the best!" Iron Man nodded with satisfaction, his hands continuing to tap several times on the screen. "Next up, the weapon system."
After another round of operations, everything was complete. Iron Man donned his armor once more and flew out.
"Everyone, I'm all set!" Iron Man declared excitedly into the comms channel as he flew out.
The figures battling the Destroyer all felt a surge of renewed energy.
Soon, Iron Man flew to the battlefield, where the intense battle was still raging. The Dark Energy Base was almost half-destroyed.
"Alright everyone, plan initiated! Let's get rid of this big guy!"
Iron Man declared with high spirits, then gave an order to Jarvis, "Jarvis, release the obscuring smoke."
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Various parts of the base began to spray out large amounts of white smoke, instantly obscuring everyone's vision.
However, Iron Man, in his armor, was completely unaffected.
Not only that, he also delivered pre-prepared helmets to Captain America and Thor. Once they put on the helmets, their vision was also completely unobstructed.
They could move freely.
But the Destroyer's vision was severely hampered.
"The Destroyer can't see! Stark, it's working! Your plan is working!"
Thor, seeing the Destroyer fumbling through the smoke ahead via his helmet's scanning vision, couldn't help but exclaim excitedly.
"Thor, don't get ahead of yourself. The real show is yet to come." Iron Man said, still full of vigor, then gave an order to T-1000, "T-1000, disengage from the armor, transform into Thor, and lure the Destroyer to Mark Point 3!"
T-1000 immediately carried out Iron Man's order, disengaging from the armor at once. The metal on its body rippled, quickly transforming into another Thor.
It's worth noting that T-1000, being a robot, didn't need a helmet and could see unimpeded through the obscuring smoke.
Deceiving the Destroyer was guaranteed to work every time.
Afterward, T-1000, following Iron Man's command, deliberately began to circle in front of the Destroyer.
Swoosh!
The Destroyer was no pushover. T-1000 was detected as soon as it appeared, and the Destroyer immediately fired a high-energy beam to attack it, but T-1000 agilely dodged.
Bang!
Captain America also seized the opportunity to knock the Destroyer down with a hammer blow.
There was no choice; the act still had to be performed.
"So many tricks, but in the face of absolute power, everything is futile!" Loki watched the vast white smoke, a cold sneer on his face.
He continued to remotely control the Destroyer, fully engaging with the figures around him.
Unbeknownst to him, the Destroyer was being led step by step into Iron Man's pre-arranged trap.
Behind it was the portal that Iron Man had already opened!
However, due to the thick obscuring smoke within the base, the Destroyer, or rather Loki who was remotely controlling it, didn't notice anything amiss.
"Sir, the Destroyer has reached Mark Point 3!"
At that moment, Jarvis's voice echoed in Iron Man's ear, "Weapon 5 is also ready. Shall I fire?"
"Fire, give him a fatal blow!" Iron Man gave the order without hesitation.
Before his words had even finished.
Boom!
A cannon, positioned in a direct line between the portal and the Destroyer, fired a specially designed projectile.
The projectile slammed into the Destroyer.
With a violent energy explosion, the Destroyer's massive body was instantly flipped over and then directly flew into the portal.
"Jarvis, close the portal!"
At that moment, Iron Man decisively gave this command to Jarvis.
Hum!
Energy surged on the portal, and then it completely vanished.
The Destroyer's massive form completely disappeared from everyone's sight, as if it had never appeared.
"It worked! Haha, we succeeded!" Iron Man couldn't help but laugh out loud with joy.
"Stark, well done!"
Thor also couldn't help but praise Iron Man.
"We won! We did it!" Captain America breathed a sigh of relief, his face filled with satisfaction.
"Jarvis, open the exhaust system and absorb the obscuring smoke." Iron Man casually instructed Jarvis.
The base's ventilation system immediately activated, and all the smoke was quickly and thoroughly absorbed, restoring everyone's normal vision.
"What?"
Loki, in Asgard, was utterly bewildered.
What on earth was happening?
What had hit the Destroyer, and how had it been teleported into the vacuum of space?
Loki had no way to pinpoint the exact coordinates of this strange place, which meant he couldn't teleport the Destroyer back!
He would lose the Destroyer!
Thud!
Loki slammed his scepter hard against the ground, his face contorted with intense anger.
"Why is this happening? Why! Even if he's completely lost his powers, I still can't beat him!"
Loki was indignant, Loki was furious!
"Brother, I've lost to you this time, but there won't be a next time!"
"Once I finish what I'm working on, I'll deal with you properly."
Loki then stood up and walked out of the great hall.
He had another grand plan to focus on, to fully gain the approval of his father Odin and mother Frigga, and might not have time to deal with Thor anymore.
Dark Energy Joint Base.
Screech!
A black Lexus pulled up to the base entrance, which was littered with debris. Nick Fury and Black Widow stepped out of the car.
"It seems the war is over, sir."
Black Widow, noticing the silence, couldn't help but say to Nick Fury.
Nick Fury nodded, but his usual caution made him draw his gun and remain vigilant.
Then he began to ask through the comms channel, "Stark, Captain, I've arrived. Please tell me some good news."
"Nick Fury, Stark's plan succeeded. We've teleported the Destroyer away." Captain America's voice immediately echoed in the comms channel.
Nick Fury and Black Widow both breathed a long sigh of relief.
They wasted no more time and went straight to the laboratory deep within the base, where they saw Tony Stark and Thor chatting idly, the atmosphere relaxed.
"Stark, do you still object to researching the Tesseract now?" Nick Fury sat down in front of them, his single eye gleaming with wisdom as he looked at Stark.
If he hadn't insisted on researching the Tesseract back then, they wouldn't have been able to deal with the Destroyer today.
"Nick Fury, this is still a dangerous thing. I still believe the Cube should have been left in the ocean."
Captain America, as always, disagreed with such matters.
"Alright everyone, you've just won a battle, shouldn't you relax a bit? No need to be so serious!" Black Widow said from the side.
"Nick Fury, Stark said all of this is to prepare for Loki in the future?" Thor walked up to Nick Fury, looking a bit exasperated.
The obscuring smoke, and the high-powered weapon that blasted the Destroyer, were indeed part of Stark's upgraded security system.
It was all to deal with Loki when he eventually arrived.
However, they had just practiced on the Destroyer, and it had to be said, the experimental results were quite good.
"Thor, you've just fought a battle with the Destroyer, so I think you'll understand all of this better." Nick Fury said calmly.
"Thor, we also don't wish to use these weapons. The best solution is to ensure your brother doesn't come to Earth." Captain America said to Thor, his expression serious.
Thor nodded helplessly, "If I can return to Asgard, I will."
"Sir, we've found those four people from Asgard!" Coulson contacted Nick Fury at that moment.
"Place them in the reception room. I'll notify Thor now." Nick Fury responded and ended the communication.
"Thor, your best friends have arrived. Come on, I'll take you to see them." Nick Fury then said to Thor.
Thor immediately brightened with excitement.
Nick Fury temporarily handed over the base to Black Widow, instructed Coulson to come and wrap things up immediately, and briefly debriefed Captain America and Tony Stark, then left the base with Thor.
In the S.H.I.E.L.D. reception room, Nick Fury saw the four armored individuals Coulson had mentioned.
If he hadn't known their identities beforehand, Nick Fury might have truly, like Coulson, mistaken them for actors.
Especially the big bearded man, who was so fat.
How could a warrior get so fat?
"Thor!"
As soon as the group saw Thor, they immediately rushed over with excitement, giving Thor a big bear hug.
"My friends!" Thor was also very happy, a sincere smile on his face.
"Allow me to introduce, Lady Sif and the Warriors Three!" After the big bearded man greeted Thor, he briefly introduced himself to Nick Fury.
"Welcome to Earth!" Nick Fury nodded to them.
Then, very tactfully, he didn't disturb the old friends as they caught up, and left the reception room.
Thor and the warrior Sif began to chat.
"Thor, we've come to take you back." Sif said to Thor, her expression serious.
"Really? That's great!" Thor's face lit up with joy.
However, he immediately shook his head, "No, Sif, I need to stay for a while. I will go back, but not now."
"Why, Thor? Do you know what's happened in Asgard? Loki, he..."
"I know, Loki has taken the throne, but I haven't recovered my powers yet, so even if I went back, it would be useless. Do you understand, Sif? I still can't lift my hammer. I can't go back like this."
Thor shook his head repeatedly.
Would he go back alone and choose to leave his hammer on Earth?
How could such a thing be possible?
Wouldn't that mean he was abandoning his hammer forever?