Unmasking Secrets

"Whatever you do, don't just destroy his body. That guy is a program created by Stark using the Mind Stone," Ned explained to Captain Marvel.

"If we let him escape into the internet, even Stark won't be able to handle him. The only way to completely eliminate him is with the Snap."

Captain Marvel nodded solemnly as she listened to Ned's words.

"Alright, I understand," she replied, taking the Infinity Gauntlet from him and putting it on her hand.

"Ahhh!"

As soon as the gauntlet was on, Captain Marvel let out a cry of pain and fell to one knee. The multicolored glow of the Infinity Stones pulsed up her arm, causing everyone watching to flinch.

"Carol!"

Captain America called out in alarm. "Are you alright?"

"I'm... fine."

Captain Marvel's power originated from the Space Stone, which shared a connection with the six Infinity Stones. After a moment of adjustment, she adapted to their overwhelming power. Slowly, she stood up, lifting her right hand with difficulty.

Snap!

The sound of metal striking metal rang out. In an instant, Ultron, who had been locked in a beam struggle with Iron Man just moments before, disintegrated into ash. Even the Mind Stone embedded in his forehead vanished, leaving Ned shaking his head in regret.

Thud!

With Ultron reduced to dust, Captain Marvel collapsed heavily to the ground. Her body was strong, but not invulnerable to the backlash of using the Snap. The Infinity Gauntlet slipped off her hand and clattered to the ground.

"Carol!"

Captain America moved to help her, but Tony Stark flew in from a distance, calling out, "Don't touch her!"

As Stark landed, he used a mist-spraying device from his armor to administer first aid to Captain Marvel. After stabilizing her, he turned to Ned and asked, "There shouldn't be any more surprises now, right?"

"Uh... What do you think, Strange?"

Ned, lacking the ability to predict the future, avoided giving a direct answer. Instead, he looked toward Doctor Strange, who was sitting cross-legged nearby.

The others followed suit, their eyes full of expectation.

Still recovering from his earlier use of the Time Stone, Strange weakly shook his head and said, "We won."

"Phew..."

Tony exhaled deeply and said, "Alright, everyone. I'm hosting a dinner at my farm three days from now. Is anyone planning to stand me up?"

"Of course not," Captain America replied with a relaxed smile.

"Hey! Speaking of which, we still haven't seen your real face. The war's over. Can't you take off that mask?"

Clearly pleased with Cap's response, Tony turned to Ned.

"Alright, I almost forgot about that," Ned said, removing the mask from his face and casually tossing it into the Mirror Dimension.

"It's you?"

Tony Stark exclaimed in surprise when he saw Ned's face.

"If I'm not mistaken, you're Ned Leeds, right?"

"You're from Midtown High, Spider-Man's buddy. I didn't expect you to be hiding so much."

Indeed, despite Ned transforming himself into a muscular man like pre-Endgame Thor with the Reality Stone's help, Tony still recognized him instantly.

"That's right, it's me. But, Mr. Stark, you might be mistaken—maybe the Ned Leeds from your universe doesn't have the same abilities I do. After all, even the Cloak of Levitation is with Strange in this world."

Ned smiled and shrugged off Tony's comments.

"Well..."

Tony shrugged, clearly not planning to argue. Turning to Thor, he asked, "Where did you send everyone else? The fight's over; you can call them back now."

"Okay."

Thor nodded and reached for the Space Stone on the Infinity Gauntlet.

"Let me handle that."

Ned stepped forward to stop him. While he had made removing the Stones look effortless earlier, he had actually used magic to assist him. Without that, even exhausting himself wouldn't have been enough to remove a single Stone.

Besides, the Stones couldn't just be grabbed barehanded. Ned couldn't let Thor resort to breaking the gauntlet with Stormbreaker again.

Picking up the gauntlet, Ned activated a blue magic circle. In the blink of an eye, Earth's defense forces, who had been teleported away, reappeared on the battlefield.

"Mr. Stark."

Ned removed the Mind Stone from the gauntlet and handed it to Tony. "You should keep this. Make sure to return it to its rightful place as soon as possible."

"Don't worry Mystic Sorcerer," Tony replied solemnly, accepting the Stone.

"What about Ultron's five Stones? What should we do with them?" Captain America asked, looking to Strange and Ned.

"They don't belong to this universe. I suggest destroying them. Keeping them here for too long will destabilize the universe's barriers, leading to unforeseen consequences," Strange said.

"What do you think, Ned?"

Cap turned to Ned for confirmation. If he agreed, they would smash the Stones immediately.

"I agree with Strange's point, but I still need them for something. Let's destroy them three days from now, after the dinner," Ned said, carefully withholding his true intentions.

Captain America frowned slightly, but after a moment of thought, he nodded. "Alright, three days then. Ned, you know the Stones' power best. I don't know what you plan to do, but be extremely cautious."

With Cap agreeing, the rest of the Avengers accepted the decision.

At that moment, the recently returned defenders gathered around. Spider-Man, leading the group, leaped over to Stark and called out, "Hey, Mr. Stark!"

"Oh, my God! Ned, is that you?!"

Peter Parker's eyes widened in shock as he noticed Ned standing nearby.

"When did you start working out? And why are you dressed like Strange? Did you learn magic too?"

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