Alex looked at her, "That's true, Agent Romanoff. But maybe you don't know, you got it from Loki in the first place."
He looked at Loki again, "And I believe this little thing didn't belong to Loki either. It was given to him by whoever is behind him."
"So in that sense, it doesn't belong to you. It doesn't belong to any of you."
"As far as I'm concerned, unless its real owner comes to claim it, there's no need to 'return' it to you. Don't you agree?"
Captain America said in a low voice, "Sir, if we don't close the portal, we don't know what will happen next."
"You're human too. For this planet, for all humanity, for yourself, shouldn't you close it?"
Alex looked at him and smiled, "Mr. Rogers, I admire your courage, your dedication, and your willingness to sacrifice."
"People like that are rare these days."
"But let me ask you a question. Suppose you have two friends, A and B."
"A kills B's parents. B wants revenge. What would you do?"
Steve thought for a moment, then said, "I would stop B, and bring A before a judge."
"Good answer. I hope you remember what you said today."
Alex then looked at Iron Man, "Tony Stark. A genius, playboy, billionaire, philanthropist, and a soldier."
"Have you ever wondered if your parents didn't simply die in a car accident?"
Inside the helmet, Iron Man's body stiffened. Then he said in a low voice, "What are you trying to say?"
"Hydra. Winter Soldier," Alex smiled, "Those are the only two hints I'll give you."
Black Widow looked around at the other heroes, "What are we waiting for? Are we going to watch him walk away again?"
"I've seen the Helicarrier surveillance footage stored on the network. The explosion of the Helicarrier… that was you, wasn't it?"
"You're a monster. Do you know how many people died because of that?"
"Cap, Tony, how long are we going to negotiate with this monster?"
Alex burst out laughing, "Casualties happen in battle. Isn't that normal? Don't tell me SHIELD has never caused innocent deaths during its operations?"
"Besides, if you hadn't stopped me back then, I would've left already. So by that logic, who's really responsible? Hm?"
He pointed the scepter at Black Widow, "And Agent Romanoff…"
"If I'm a monster, what are you?"
"Saints?"
"No. Don't tell me you've forgotten your past, or how much blood is on your hands."
"Do you really think SHIELD represents justice?"
"Didn't Mr. Rogers discover on the Helicarrier that SHIELD was using the Tesseract to develop weapons of mass destruction?"
Everyone immediately looked at Captain America. Steve nodded heavily.
Alex then pointed at Banner, "Dr. Banner, can you say you've never killed anyone when you turned into the Hulk?"
Banner gave a bitter smile, "I've tried my best not to hurt anyone."
Alex spread his hands, "See? You're no different from me. None of you are saints, so stop pretending to be."
"But as for the portal, I will close it."
With that, he decisively used Loki's scepter to touch the device. Moments later, the device stopped. The blue beam that had been shooting into the sky gradually faded, and the "gate" to outer space closed along with it.
Seeing this, Captain America and the others finally let out a sigh of relief.
But then they saw Alex extend his hand toward the Tesseract.
"Stop!"
Thor roared, "You are not allowed to touch it!"
"That belongs to Asgard!"
Alex glanced back at him.
Thor shouted, "This is different from Loki's scepter. Long ago, the Frost Giants invaded Earth."
"My father, the great Odin, brought the Tesseract to Earth and fought them."
"After the battle, he left it here. So this is not ownerless."
Alex shrugged, "So what?"
Thor instantly moved to block the device, his voice low, "If you dare touch it, I won't hold back!"
The others also took combat stances. Iron Man turned his head and said, "Dr. Banner, it's time to let the other guy out."
Surrounded by everyone, Alex shook his head with a faint smile, "First, you're not my opponents."
"Second…"
The corner of his mouth lifted, "I have Hulk."
At the same time, Banner's body expanded, tearing apart his shirt as he transformed into the Hulk.
But in that instant, Alex vanished with a bang and appeared beside Hulk, tapping Loki's scepter against the green giant's forehead.
Hulk froze for a moment, then his eyes turned blue.
Alex said softly, "Take them down."
Hulk immediately roared and swung his arm, sending the nearest and unprepared Iron Man flying in one hit.
Iron Man was blasted out of Stark Tower, flying across a thousand meters before stopping.
Inside the helmet, Tony said quietly, "This just got bad."
Yes. None of them had expected Alex to brainwash Hulk and turn the green giant against them.
That was the STRONGEST Avenger.
Tony immediately flew back toward the tower and saw Hulk charging at Black Widow. Just as he was about to hit her, Captain America dove in and pushed her out of the way.
Thor then moved in to block Hulk, but even the Asgardian was forced backward, his feet carving two deep grooves into the ground.
"Stop, Hulk!"
"Calm down!"
Thor shouted, trying to snap him out of it.
But Hulk grabbed Thor, spun him around, and hurled him away. Thor was thrown out of the tower, flying past Iron Man before crashing into a skyscraper, shattering the windows of more than ten floors.
While Hulk fought the other Avengers, Alex held the scepter and walked toward the device with a smile, reaching out for the Tesseract.
But just as his hand was about to touch it, the space in front of him suddenly turned into a mirror.
In that mirror, Alex saw himself, and behind him, a figure in a yellow robe with a matching hood standing on the rooftop.
The Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One.
Alex turned around and looked across the rooftop. Hulk and the others were gone.
It felt as if the entire world only contained him and the Ancient One.
Of course, that was impossible.
Alex knew he was now inside the Ancient One's Mirror Dimension.
"We meet again."
After saying that, Alex paused, "Why did I say 'again'?"
He narrowed his eyes and began searching his memories. After being enhanced by the Mind Stone, his control over his own mind and memories had far surpassed before.
This allowed him to review his memories.
Very quickly, Alex realized that when he first entered the Marvel universe, he had already met the Ancient One and even fought her inside the Mirror Dimension.
In the end, she had used the Time Stone to rewind time, resetting everything to before the battle.
"No wonder. Yesterday when I saw Iron Man flying overhead, it felt strangely familiar. So that's why."
Alex looked up and smiled, "It's lively today. Are you here to stop me from retrieving the Tesseract too?"
"Or are you going to call me evil again?"
"If that's the case, then I don't think someone who draws power from the Dark Dimension is really in a position to say that."
The Ancient One pulled down her hood, revealing a completely bald head, and spoke calmly, "I'm stopping you from taking the Tesseract because I've already seen the future. I've seen what happens after you take it… or rather, after you possess two Infinity Stones at the same time."
"That future is something I absolutely cannot allow to happen."
Alex couldn't help but feel curious, "What kind of future is it?"
The Ancient One said lightly, "I can't tell you."
Alex laughed, "Fair enough."
He suddenly flashed to her side, not using "mind transfer," but his "first cosmic velocity."
It was so fast that even the Ancient One couldn't react in time. Alex seized the opportunity and pressed the scepter against the Sorcerer Supreme's forehead.
Unexpectedly, the Ancient One raised her head and gave him a smile.
Then she struck his chest with a palm, knocking Alex's spiritual body out of his physical body.
This was the first time Alex had experienced his spirit separating from his body, but even so, he wasn't the least bit flustered.
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