New York, Manhattan's Upper East Side, near Stark Tower.
Even the notoriously calm citizens of New York were thrown into a frenzy of panic and disbelief.
Although only a small number of Chitauri soldiers had leaked out of the portal and hadn't survived long, it was enough to cause chaos. When Finney first appeared, New York reporters had sprung up from nowhere, arriving faster than S.H.I.E.L.D. agents.
After the Chitauri descended, they risked their lives to report the scene to the world. Therefore, when Finney flew into the portal, a torrent of conspiracy theories swept over him.
"I knew he wasn't human! He's wearing armor to hide his ugly appearance!"
This was the confident 'revelation' of a reporter hiding in a corner while Finney was chanting magic.
"We can see a large hole in the sky above Stark Tower. Aliens seem to have come out from inside. Who opened it? Why did the Silver Knight ride that giant beast inside? To find out more, please stay tuned. I am..."
This was a fairly objective and factual account.
"After a long time, the Silver Knight reappeared. This time, we finally saw his mount, a very large silver dragon. Perhaps we should call him the Dragon Knight. This time, he appeared to save us and resist the alien invasion!"
This seemed to be a fan of Finney, but the report was the closest to the truth, except for the title.
In the short time Finney went to the portal, the whole world was shocked. People finally began to truly understand this universe, breaking free from the cover of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Most people's views on Finney fell into the third category: not because they were all fans, but because since Finney's appearance, he had always been with Tony to save them from crisis.
Moreover, Tony's team, while promoting Iron Man, would often wait for Finney as well. Therefore, only a small minority harbored ill will; most people preferred to believe he was an Earthling who entered the portal to fight off aliens.
Especially when reporters risked their lives to cover the events in Manhattan, broadcasting footage of the Chitauri soldiers collapsing and paralyzed after the mothership's destruction, even more people believed Finney had gone to stop the aliens.
"We can see they're not moving, so I'm going to check on them. If anything happens to me, please tell my child that his father sacrificed himself to save Earth. Oh, and by the way, I don't think I have a girlfriend yet!"
A young reporter, while reporting to the camera, actually planned to approach the Chitauri to check on them.
"Hey, what are you doing? Stop right there! Get out of here!"
Besides the reporters, S.H.I.E.L.D. and New York police were also on the scene. S.H.I.E.L.D. was alright; after all, they were an organization trained for such events.
But the police weren't so resilient. Those who escaped mostly maintained order and ensured evacuation.
Just when they finally saw the aliens stop moving, before they could even breathe a sigh of relief, someone tried to join the commotion, and they immediately shouted in alarm.
A reporter in New York was no ordinary person. Ignoring the police warnings, he strode up to a fallen Zeta Swiss soldier, grabbed his baseball bat, and smashed it down on the soldier's head.
Seeing this, not only those watching the report on their screens but even the police were startled. But seeing that the alien remained unresponsive, as if dead, they all breathed a sigh of relief.
"They're dead! I knew it! The Divine Punishment Knight was definitely going to destroy the aliens, hahaha!"
The young reporter exclaimed excitedly in front of the camera. Just then, his cameraman spotted Finney flying out of the portal. As he moved the camera over, he immediately shouted, "Look! The Divine Punishment Knight, and his dragon! They're out!"
"The Divine Punishment Knight!"
The young reporter also looked up immediately. Although he was too far away to see clearly, he could only vaguely make out a figure on the massive Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but that didn't stop him from waving and shouting excitedly.
Not only him, but also some injured and hiding New Yorkers around him, seeing that the aliens seemed truly dead, came out one by one, shouting gratefully, "Knight of Divine Punishment!"
Unfortunately, they didn't know that Finney, hearing their shouts from the air, felt no joy, but rather a sense of melancholy.
"Not a knight, but a sorcerer!"
Finney considered going down to talk to them. Witnessing the power of the Explosion Magic just now, he was clearly even more determined to walk the path of a sorcerer.
Charging into a warship like Captain Marvel was nothing compared to the elegance of vanishing into thin air with a laugh. However, he was in a hurry to retrieve the Tesseract and the Mind Stone, so he didn't specifically fly down to explain.
Back on the roof of Stark Tower, Eric Selvig sat exhausted on the ground. Being controlled by Loki for the past few days, he had been running around and working tirelessly; it was no easy feat for his ordinary, elderly body to endure it.
"What did you do to them?"
Eric Selvig couldn't help but ask, watching Finney struggle to dismount from the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. He had just noticed that these aliens seemed to be dead, and clearly, only Finney, who had entered the portal, could have caused this.
"I treated them to a spectacular fireworks display!"
Finney replied casually, picking up the Mind Staff beside Eric Selvig and slowly walking towards the Tesseract. Too weak to retrieve the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, he remained bewildered. He was too far away to see what had happened inside the portal.
Arriving about a meter from the Tesseract, Finney, holding the scepter, didn't immediately approach it. Instead, he said calmly, "I haven't settled the score with you for what happened last time."
"So I'm warning you, if you dare to teleport me again, I'll do everything in my power to destroy all of you broken rocks!"
The Tesseract remained motionless, like a dead object. If Finney hadn't been tricked by it last time, he might have believed it.
Just as Finney took the Tesseract into his hand, Thor and Tony finally returned, both looking disheveled. Tony's Hulkbuster armor was gone, and his new Mark 7 was tattered again.
But Banner and the Hulk were nowhere to be seen.
"Where's my brother!?"
Upon returning and seeing Finney holding the Mind Control Scepter and the Tesseract, Thor immediately inquired about Loki's whereabouts.
"Ahem, over here."
Finney walked towards Loki's location, and Thor quickly followed. Upon seeing Loki on the ground, Thor didn't immediately recognize him, but instead said with some sympathy, "Who is this guy? You beat him up so badly."
However, after saying that, he felt something was off. The man's build and clothes seemed increasingly familiar. Turning his head, he saw Finney looking embarrassed.
"He's Loki!?"
"Sorry, I hit him a little too hard."
"Loki!!!"
Thor cried out in anguish and rushed over to check on his condition.
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