"Was he married?"
In the S.H.I.E.L.D. base, Steve asked quietly.
"No," Tony replied, sounding distracted. "He had a girlfriend… played the cello."
As the Avenger Coulson was most familiar with, and the one who had reintroduced him to Pepper, Tony obviously had the closest bond with Coulson outside of Nick Fury.
"I'm really upset," Steve muttered, arms crossed, eyes fixed on the floor. "He seemed like a good man."
"He was an idiot," Tony said with a shrug.
"Why? Just for believing in something?"
Steve looked at him, confused.
"He tried to face Loki alone," Tony muttered. His words were biting, but the bitterness in his voice betrayed how much he hated what had happened.
"He was doing his job," Steve replied firmly.
Though their perspectives differed, both Steve and Tony respected Coulson. Steve, as a soldier, understood his sacrifice. Tony didn't—couldn't.
"He was in way over his head. He should've waited for backup. He should've…" Tony trailed off, at a loss for words, his hands falling uselessly to his sides. "Sometimes, you just don't get the chance."
"I've heard that before," Steve replied. "Is this the first time you've seen someone die in action?"
Tony's jaw tensed. His voice was heavy when he finally answered, "We're not soldiers."
Steve didn't argue.
Tony continued, quieter now, "I'm not going to be Fury's pawn."
"Me neither," Steve said. "Fury and Loki both played a part in Coulson's death. But whatever happens now, we know Loki needs an energy source."
Tony nodded slowly. "We're actually agreeing? That's a little scary."
"He wants to be seen," Steve noted.
"That's the point," Tony agreed. "He wants a show. He's all ego. He knows everything about us—our backgrounds, our buttons. Why?"
"To divide us," Steve said.
"Exactly. Classic divide and conquer. But he also wants an audience."
"Like in Stuttgart," Steve said, catching on.
"That was just a teaser. Today's the main event."
Tony's mind was racing. "Loki's a textbook narcissist. He wants flowers, applause, a stage—and a landmark. Somewhere his name will be remembered forever…"
Then he stopped suddenly.
"That bastard."
New York had plenty of landmarks—but only one building with a clean, self-sustaining energy source.
'Stark Tower.'
---
Meanwhile...
Blaine was deep into his magic replication training.
"Frozen Thousand Miles, Meteorite Flames…" he muttered to himself.
Large-scale attack magic wasn't easy to master, but thanks to the Copy Eye, he didn't need to practice. The ability directly analyzed a spell's composition, structure, and power. Once scanned, it became second nature.
Blaine estimated that at full strength, either Meteorite Flames or Frozen Thousand Miles could cover all of Queens. That kind of power rivaled major battlefield weapons.
The downside? These magics didn't distinguish between enemy and ally. This wasn't a video game—there were no "friendly fire off" toggles. Collateral damage was guaranteed.
But Gali helped. Patiently, she demonstrated all kinds of magic: black magic, white magic, offensive, defensive, and even healing spells.
Gali possesses nearly limitless energy. Her mana pool didn't diminish no matter how many spells she cast.
Blaine couldn't help but marvel—both at the Copy Eye and at Gali herself.
"If the Copy Eye is this strong… what would the Jianjigu Eye be like?"
He couldn't even imagine it.
Could it copy Thanos's Titan-level physiology?
Could it replicate Odin's divine magic?
Dormammu's dimensional sorcery?
The power of the Infinity Stones?
"Insane," he muttered. "These powers are ridiculous even by Marvel standards."
---
Later, around noon...
Blaine was still obsessively experimenting with small-scale magic spells.
He didn't notice Gali's troubled expression.
"I need to use the bathroom," Gali said suddenly.
"Go ahead," Blaine replied distractedly, barely looking up.
He was so absorbed in his magic that her words barely registered.
In truth, Gali didn't need to go to bathroom. As a cosmic-level being, her physiology no longer required such functions. The excuse was flimsy—if Blaine hadn't been so distracted, he might have caught it.
But he wasn't paying attention. Magic was still too new, too exciting—like a child with a new toy.
And Gali, while powerful, rarely displayed the full scope of her abilities. Most of the time, she seemed just like an unusually strong and unusually hungry girl. Blaine assumed she was just quirky—not a multiversal threat.
He didn't know better.
Yet.
---
(AN: Yes, Gali has to leave now—because if she were around when the Chitauri invade, she'd just one-shot the entire fleet. She's multiversal-tier. It'd be game over in one spell.)
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