"So, who's in charge here?"
The Chitauri commander didn't dodge the question. He stood up, "I am."
"What do you want, human?"
Alex crossed his arms, "I know you're being ordered around, so don't waste my time. I want to talk to your boss."
The commander froze, then shouted, "You are not qualified to meet that great being!"
"Your Earth is just a primitive planet. In the scale of cosmic civilization, you're only a Level Three civilization, barely better than lifeless worlds."
"To that lord, you're nothing more than a monkey. No, a rat. Maybe slightly better than an ant. What right do you have to meet him!"
Alex's lips curled upward, "Is that so?"
"Then tell me, if I wipe out all of you Chitauri, would I be qualified to meet him?"
"Don't worry, I'll spare your life so you can go back and ask him that question."
"I just hope that when the time comes, you won't be punished for losing an entire army because of your own decisions."
"I've heard that when he punishes his subordinates, he doesn't show mercy."
The Chitauri commander's eyes shifted, clearly hesitating.
Alex took out Loki's scepter and smiled, "Look what I picked up."
"If your boss finds out you lost his property, I think you'll suffer worse than death."
At last, fear appeared on the commander's face. He nodded, "Please wait a moment."
As Alex watched him contact Thanos, he thought to himself that although he had awakened many abilities in the domain of the mind, he hadn't gained anything like "brainwashing."
Otherwise, he could have brainwashed the commander into obeying him and saved himself all this talking.
'Wait!'
It suddenly occurred to him that Loki's scepter could brainwash people. Loki had used it to control Hawkeye and the doctor.
And here he was holding the scepter, yet he'd forgotten about it.
This was probably what they called being blind to something obvious. It also had to do with his habit of relying on his own strength to solve problems.
Because he was so powerful, he had overlooked the tools around him.
'I need to pay more attention to that in the future.'
At that moment, an image appeared on the holographic screen in the command center.
It showed a vast expanse of dark space, with barren land stretching endlessly.
In the middle of that desolate hall floated a majestic throne. Light shone from beneath it, allowing it to hover in midair.
The throne slowly turned, revealing the figure seated upon it.
It was Thanos, clad in armor, resting his head on one hand.
Thanos didn't look at Alex right away. Instead, he stared at the Chitauri commander, ["What, have you already conquered Earth so quickly?"]
The commander dropped to one knee in panic, "Great Thanos, supreme overlord of the universe, a human wishes to meet you."
Before Thanos could respond, Alex walked up to the screen himself and casually tossed the commander aside.
He raised his head and looked at the great villain of the Marvel universe, Thanos.
"You speak Earth's language too, right?"
Alex asked casually, then didn't wait for an answer, "Want to make a deal?"
Thanos smiled faintly, ["Human, the fact that you can stand before me… very well, for that alone, I'll hear this so-called deal of yours."]
Alex smiled and held up Loki's scepter, giving it a small shake, "I know there's an Infinity Stone inside this."
"The Mind Stone."
Then he pointed the scepter downward, "And on Earth, there's the Tesseract. Inside it is the Space Stone."
"I'm right, aren't I?"
Thanos was silent for a few seconds, then the corners of his mouth lifted, ["Human, it seems you know quite a lot."]
["Go on."]
Alex spun the scepter lightly, "You disguised such an important Mind Stone as a mere scepter and handed it to Loki to lead the charge."
"I'm guessing there's someone on Earth you're wary of. Otherwise, you would have come here yourself instead of sending these small fry for a probing attack."
"Are you worried the Sorcerer Supreme on Earth might interfere with your plans?"
Thanos didn't respond.
Alex shrugged, "Doesn't matter. Whoever you're afraid of has nothing to do with me."
"The deal I want to make is this."
"I help you get the Tesseract, and return the Mind Stone to you."
"In exchange, I want the Power Stone. I'm sure you can find it. You might even already have it."
After a couple of seconds, Thanos spoke, ["That's your deal?"]
Alex raised an eyebrow.
["Trading the Mind Stone and the Space Stone for the Power Stone. Two for one. Sounds like I'd be getting the better deal,"] Thanos smiled.
Alex nodded, "It's your lucky day."
Thanos leaned forward slightly, his head nearly filling the entire screen.
["But I refuse."]
["A rat has no right to bargain with me."]
Alex smiled, "Is that so? That's a shame. I thought you seemed like a decent guy. Looks like we can't be friends after all."
"Well then, goodbye."
———
Far away, on the other side of the universe, Thanos sat on his throne, watching as the human on the screen waved before the signal cut off.
Not long after, his advisor Ebony Maw said in a low voice, "My lord, we've lost contact with the Chitauri flagship. I'm afraid…"
Thanos narrowed his eyes slightly, "Let's go. We're heading to Xandar."
———
[Earth]
In Manhattan, Iron Man flew past Stark Tower with a group of Chitauri trailing behind him, spotting Thor and Loki fighting.
At that moment, a voice sounded in his helmet.
["Tony, where are you?"]
"Cap."
Tony glanced back, "I'm hosting a party. If you've made it to Manhattan, you should be able to see our guests."
["Yes, we see them. We're on our way."]
Iron Man led the group of Chitauri weaving through the streets, using obstacles to whittle down their numbers.
In the middle of it, he spared a glance upward and saw that the portal had widened enough for the Chitauri Leviathan warships to pass through.
"Has anyone seen Banner?"
No sooner had Tony spoken than he saw one of the Leviathan warships, like a giant shark, suddenly lose power like a toy that had been switched off. It froze midair and then dropped straight down.
Behind him, the Chitauri soldiers did the same. One by one, they lost all response, like robots with their power cut, falling along with their flying crafts.
Above Stark Tower, Thor pressed Loki down and shouted, "Open your eyes and look around you!"
"Do you think these armies are under your control?"
"My dear brother, you're being used!"
"Wake up!"
Loki let out a soft laugh, "It's mutual exploitation, my dear brother. Do you have any idea how many Chitauri are waiting beyond that portal?"
"That's not something you can stop."
"My Chitauri army will take this planet. And when that happens, all of you will bow before me!"
Just as he finished speaking, a Leviathan warship crashed down beside Stark Tower, slamming into a building before hitting the ground.
Loki froze, then looked up.
From within the portal, a blazing golden light erupted. In that light, Chitauri soldiers were falling out, their bodies engulfed in flames.
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