Chapter 624: Post-War

With the portal's closure, the Battle of New York officially ended. Seeing the enemy incapacitated and the portal sealed, Charles Doyle's ninjas began to regroup at his location.

Although the battle was over, the aftermath had only just begun. Charles Doyle and the Avengers gathered at Stark Tower.

Beside Charles stood many ninjas, their numbers far exceeding those of the Avengers. Loki was restrained in a wooden prison created by Yamato.

The presence of Loki presented a challenge for the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. alike. As the second prince of Asgard and Thor's brother, his fate was a delicate matter.

Everyone looked to Charles Doyle, the most powerful individual present in terms of both strength and influence.

Charles spoke up, "Loki wasn't defeated by me, so he isn't my spoils of war."

With one sentence, Charles defined Loki as a spoil of war.

Bruce Banner, now back to his human form, said, "While it was the Hulk who defeated him, the Hulk doesn't make decisions."

Thor stepped forward, addressing Charles and the others. "Charles and everyone, Loki is an Asgardian. He will face Asgardian justice for his crimes. I will take him back to be punished."

This declaration was met with dissatisfaction from the likes of Hawkeye, Black Widow, and Captain America.

Loki had turned Manhattan into a war zone, causing immense damage and loss of life. The idea of him being taken back to Asgard without facing earthly consequences was infuriating. However, the fear of Asgard's might kept them in check.

All eyes returned to Charles Doyle. Even Thor watched him closely, despite Charles having already stated that Loki wasn't his spoil of war.

Charles, seeing the anticipation in their eyes, spoke again, "Thor, since you want to take Loki back to Asgard for trial, you may do so."

"I'm confident that after this, Loki won't have another chance to cause trouble."

Thor smiled and said, "Rest assured, Loki will be judged in Asgard. He will spend at least several centuries in prison for his crimes."

Charles cast a sidelong glance at Thor. Unlike others, he knew that a few centuries meant little to Loki and that Odin's word alone could release him.

Besides, if the timeline remained unaltered, Loki wouldn't survive long enough to serve his full sentence, dying in a future conflict.

Yet, with Charles's presence, Thanos might not get the chance to defeat Thor and kill Loki. Regardless, Charles wasn't particularly concerned about Loki.

Thor, sensing Charles's understanding, smiled awkwardly. "By the way, Charles, I need you to return the Tesseract. It belongs to my father and was placed on Earth by him. We also need it to return to Asgard."

Before Charles could respond, Natasha interjected, "The Tesseract is S.H.I.E.L.D.'s property. Mr. Charles, could you return it to us?"

Natasha had already reported everything to Nick Fury, including Kabuto's defection to Charles Doyle and the fact that both the scepter and the Tesseract were in Charles's possession. Fury's orders were clear: try to retrieve the Tesseract, but don't force the issue. Kabuto's defection wasn't even mentioned.

Standing beside Natasha were Barton, Rumlow, and Chen Haoran.

Steve Rogers spoke up before Charles could respond, "What does S.H.I.E.L.D. intend to do? Use it to build weapons and start another war?"

Banner added, "This thing shouldn't go back to S.H.I.E.L.D. Thor said studying the Tesseract's energy signals a declaration of war to other planets."

Tony nodded in agreement but remained silent, knowing Charles wouldn't hand over the Tesseract.

Charles finally spoke, "I think there's a misunderstanding here. The Tesseract and Loki's scepter are my spoils of war. Their ownership is mine, not anyone else's."

"S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't protect it; that's your problem. These items no longer belong to you."

Natasha paused, then said, "Charles, if you won't return the Tesseract to S.H.I.E.L.D., you should at least give it to Asgard."

Her goal was clear: if S.H.I.E.L.D. couldn't have it, it should at least leave Earth.

Thor, however, said, "With Charles Doyle's strength, there's no problem with him keeping the Tesseract. It's his spoil of war."

"But, Charles, I do need to use the Tesseract to return Loki and me to Asgard. Unless you can send us back yourself."

Thor didn't care much about the Tesseract. If it wasn't for Charles, he would have taken it back to Asgard, but now it was better in Charles's hands.

Charles nodded, "No problem. I'll use the Merlin Array to send you and Loki back to Asgard."

Thor looked at Charles, astonished. "You've grown so powerful? You can now transport three people at once?"

Charles smiled, "I've been lucky. My strength has improved significantly in the recent time."

Thor opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. Just a few months ago, Charles Doyle had struggled with even a two-person teleportation. Now, he could handle three people at once using his array. The improvement was astounding. Thor himself had grown stronger in that time, but his progress seemed insignificant compared to Charles's.

Giving Charles a thumbs-up, Thor said, "You're amazing!"

Natasha, Barton, and the others silently took note of Thor's words. This was significant information.

Tony, meanwhile, blinked in surprise. Did the teleportation array really limit the number of people? He remembered that when they visited the wizarding world, Charles had transported quite a few people at once. Perhaps it was a matter of distance?

Talking about spoils of war, Tony then asked, "Speaking of spoils, what about the Chitauri weapons, beasts, and corpses left behind? How should we divide them?"

Charles responded, "I'm not interested in those things. Anyone who wants them can take a share. After all, everyone contributed to the fight."

Charles had already touched those items during the battle and received no system prompts, so he wasn't concerned about them.

Captain America, Banner, and others shook their heads. "I'm not interested in those things either," said Steve Rogers.

Thor didn't need them, and the others, being either lone operators or S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, had little use for them.

Tony said, "I'll take a share. I want to study the alien technology and see what's different."

Natasha nodded. "Besides Tony's share, S.H.I.E.L.D. will recover the rest. It's too dangerous for ordinary people to have access to these items."

"If used for nefarious purposes, regular police wouldn't stand a chance."

Everyone nodded in agreement and said no more.

Orochimaru, seeing Charles give up on those items, wasn't bothered. He had already sealed many samples using a sealing scroll during the battle. He had some interest in researching them.

With the discussion mostly settled, Thor said, "Charles, when are you planning to send Loki and me back to Asgard? If there are no other matters, I'd prefer to go as soon as possible."

Charles smiled. "Thor, since you're here on Earth, don't you want to see your girlfriend?"

Hearing this, Thor murmured, "Jane..."

"Charles, is there enough time?"

Charles chuckled. "Thor, don't worry. Your girlfriend has been under my protection. If you want to see her, you can meet her at my place later."

Thor smiled. "Thank you, Charles."

With that, Charles led Thor and the ninjas away from the battlefield, while the S.H.I.E.L.D. team returned to their New York base for rest.

…

The next day-

Charles Doyle was in the dining area of the base, eating and watching the news. All channels were covering the confirmed alien invasion.

"In this alien invasion, two teams stood out."

"One was the Avengers, consisting of Iron Man Tony Stark, Black Widow Natasha Romanoff, Hawkeye Clint Barton, Flame Warrior Chen Haoran, Crossbones Brock Rumlow, the Hulk, Thor, and Captain America Steve Rogers."

"The other was led by the Ninja Immortal Charles Doyle, and his ninjas."

"Together, they achieved a heroic feat, defeating the invading enemies."

"This is a great comfort to many and something worth celebrating."

Reporters interviewed surviving New Yorkers, who praised both teams. However, some voices of dissent emerged, questioning the role of superheroes and suggesting the government was hiding something. Some even called for these heroes to compensate for the city's destruction.

Watching the dissenters, Charles smiled, unconcerned. He wondered how the survivors would feel about their homes and cars being destroyed. Manhattan real estate wasn't cheap, and the U.S. government wouldn't fully compensate them. At best, they might provide temporary housing and some relief funds.

Insurance wouldn't cover alien invasions or wars, as those were considered acts of God and thus excluded from policies. Insurers would go bankrupt if they had to cover all the damaged buildings. Ironically, Stark Tower, the epicenter of the battle, remained the most intact building.

As Charles pondered these thoughts, Thor and Jane Foster entered the dining area. Thor, with Jane on his arm, approached Charles.

Thor, smiling brightly, saying, "Charles, thank you for protecting Jane all this time."

Jane also spoke up, "Thank you, Charles."

Charles waved his hand and said, "Thor, you're too polite. We're friends."

Thor then said, "Charles, there are many matters to attend to in Asgard. I can't stay here long. Could you send Loki and me back to Asgard today?"

Jane looked reluctant to see Thor leave, but she didn't say much. He had already told her about this last night and promised to find a way to visit Earth again.

Charles, seeing Thor's urgency, nodded. "Alright, this afternoon. It's no problem for me."

"Thank you!"

After expressing his gratitude, Thor and Jane Foster left the dining area and returned to their room.

Not long after they left, Ginny came in holding some documents.

Seeing Ginny, Charles asked, "What were our losses from yesterday's battle?"

Ginny opened the file and said, "Because of your prior arrangements, our core industries sustained no damage, and there were no casualties. In fact, our agency, orphanage, and base sheltered many citizens, earning us widespread praise."

"However, some of the underground forces in Manhattan under the High Table suffered significant losses, with some unlucky gangs being hit hard by the Chitauri soldiers."

"But these are non-core forces. Once one batch falls, another will replace them."

Charles nodded and said, "It's good that there were no major losses."

"By the way, I saw Orochimaru leaving Loki's area earlier."

Hearing that Orochimaru had been with Loki, Charles nodded. "I see."

"Don't worry, Orochimaru won't do anything excessive."

Orochimaru had a keen interest in beings like the Asgardians, who were considered gods.

While Loki was in custody, Orochimaru, along with Kabuto, had taken quite a bit of Loki's blood. Initially, ordinary needles couldn't pierce Loki's skin and broke, but he succeeded using vibranium needles, extracting a significant amount of blood. Orochimaru hadn't gone overboard, but Loki did look a bit pale.

…

Elsewhere, on the helicarrier-

Natasha was reporting to Nick Fury. Early that morning, Natasha and the others had returned to the helicarrier on a Quinjet.

Natasha placed Kabuto's forehead protector on the table.

"Director, this is Kabuto's forehead protector. He has left S.H.I.E.L.D. and joined Charles Doyle."

"He was likely a spy Charles placed in S.H.I.E.L.D. to locate the Tesseract. Now that the objective is complete, Kabuto has been recalled."

Natasha then detailed the events she witnessed to Nick Fury.

Fury looked at the eagle-marked forehead protector on the table, not showing anger, but calmly said, "I understand."

"What other intel do you have?"

Natasha continued, "Loki's scepter and the Tesseract are now in Charles Doyle's possession."

"And Thor holds Charles Doyle in high regard. According to Thor, Charles has the ability to travel between Earth and Asgard using something called the Merlin Array."

"Charles agreed to use his ability to take Thor and Loki to Asgard."

"Based on intel from Tony and Thor, Charles is Supreme Merlin, the leader of the magical world."

"Charles commands an entire magical world, with all its mages following his orders."

"However, no mages appeared in the New York battle, only Charles's ninjas and summoned beasts."

"This puzzles me. It might be because Tony notified Charles last minute, and there wasn't time to call the mages."

Natasha then explained what summoned beasts were, mentioning that the dog with a forehead protector seen with Tony before was one of them.

After listening to Natasha's report, Fury nodded and said, "The bond formed from this battle has strengthened your relationship with Tony and the others."

"Natasha, maintain this camaraderie."

"Yes, sir!"

"But Captain and Dr. Banner have already left New York this morning, and Thor will be leaving Earth with Loki."

Fury nodded. "It's alright. It's good for them to leave for now."

"If danger arises, they'll return."

"Alright, I have all the intel I need. You may go."

"Yes, sir."