"The power of God is really weak."

Blaine walked slowly toward Loki, looking down at him with dull eyes.

Loki didn't look like much.

But in truth, his inner defenses had been shattered by just a few blows from Hulk.

A little embarrassed, Loki said nothing.

Blaine glanced at him once more, then stepped aside to pick up Loki's scepter from the ground.

There was only one minute left before the Thunder Field expired.

He intended to close the space wormhole at the very last moment.

However, Blaine knew he couldn't stop the Tesseract from functioning.

After all, the Tesseract was the Space Stone. One of the oldest relics in the universe—if Blaine wanted to harm it, he was far from being able to.

Still, according to the movie events he remembered, this shouldn't be a major problem.

Blaine carried the scepter over to the device.

Nearby, Dr. Selvig had just regained consciousness.

Freed from Loki's control and back to his senses, Selvig stared in disbelief at the wreckage of Manhattan and at the corpses of Chitauri still falling from the sky.

Some memories remained.

He remembered helping Loki build the device before him.

In other words, he had played a part in this battle—though certainly not to his credit.

Blaine approached with the scepter in hand.

Selvig, breathing heavily, said, "His scepter—Loki's scepter—can close the wormhole."

Blaine met his gaze. "Doctor, I need your help. This battle may not be your fault, but you were involved. Now's your chance to make up for it."

Selig slowly got to his feet, moving toward the nearby computer as he spoke.

"The power of the scepter can counter the Tesseract, because it's essentially using one energy of similar nature against another."

"I remember building a safety function into the design."

"The scepter can close the portal. It's in your hands now."

Selvig activated the console and pointed to the Tesseract's energy conduit. "Aim for the top."

Blaine followed the instruction.

If it were anything else, he might have acted on his own.

But with two Infinity Stones involved—the Tesseract and the Mind Stone—he didn't dare take chances.

Only Selvig had the necessary expertise, and in the original events, he'd even guided Romanoff to close the portal.

So Blaine decided to follow Selvig's lead exactly.

Slowly, he brought the scepter toward the device's perimeter.

A transparent energy shield rose into place.

It was the same pure-energy barrier that had blocked Stark's repulsors earlier. It could repel massive energy attacks, even reflect them—and it had been this very barrier that had knocked Hillwig unconscious before.

But under Loki's scepter, the shield wasn't as resilient.

Blaine pressed the scepter into it.

Tiny arcs of energy splintered off, like sparks from a saw.

Bit by bit, he pushed forward until the scepter's tip was almost touching the beam of light.

With a final thrust, the scepter's power cut directly through the beam.

Deprived of its power source, the portal began to shrink.

The Chitauri ships and warriors still pouring through wailed and scrambled to retreat.

But the force of space itself was not theirs to command.

One Chitauri attempted to pass through, only to be torn apart instantly by the collapsing portal—like debris drawn into a black hole.

Dust and debris covered Captain America, who was bruised and exhausted, and Thor, who was gasping for breath. Nearby, Spider-Man stood still, eyes fixed on the sky.

All three watched as the beam faded and the portal closed.

Steve let out a long breath and collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

"We… we won."

"The portal's closed."

Spider-Man slumped against a wall, too drained to speak. Considering how much of a chatterbox he normally was, his silence spoke volumes.

Barton and Natasha emerged from cover, having dodged falling debris and flames.

There was no denying it—everyone who had fought was battered and worn down.

Steve's uniform was in tatters, bruises dark across his skin, blood seeping from cuts. Natasha and Barton didn't look much better.

"It's over… finally over," Natasha said, leaning forward, hands braced on her knees as she caught her breath.

"Thanks to that bounty hunter," she added. "Fury made the right call."

Even though Steve had his reservations about Blaine, he couldn't deny the truth—Blaine had been crucial.

Rescuing Natasha, dismantling the magic array, closing the portal—it wasn't an exaggeration to say he'd contributed the most.

At S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, Nick Fury's fists clenched as he stared at the satellite feed. The instant the portal sealed, the entire command center erupted in cheers.

"It worked!"

"It's over! This damned battle is finally over!"

"Hahaha!"

Listening to their shouts, Fury allowed himself a small smile.

Even though the victory came at a cost—4.4 billion dollars in mercenary fees to Blaine—he didn't feel cheated.

It was money well spent.

Even if the Council condemned him, it was worth it.

*************************************

You can get access to early chapters on patr*on

If you like my work and you want to support me then you can become my patron on patre*n.

My patr*on account is Lord_Immortal_0170