Part X.

"I tell you, ladies and gentleman, today was a day unlike any other, if we never had to go through another day like this one it would be too soon. It was complete and utter chaos and bedlam, you thought that we went through some tough days before, well bucko you haven't seen anything yet."

The man on the screen, dressed in a blue suit with grey hair and glasses stood over the scene, watching the chaotic scene, the burning rubble that filled the air in New York City and he shook his head with a shudder. He turned around and surveyed the carnage on the streets before him.

"While it's hard to assess the damages today, there are….there are a lot of things that could have gone worse, much worse today. We are trying to see if any of the people on the street have anything to say, even though we can't really figure much of it out ourselves."

The newscaster walked around, to see the men on the street, one of them looking up to the sky and his eyes were widened as he turned his head around.

"So tell me, friend, what did you think of today's events?"

"It was chaos, complete and utter chaos, I thought the end was nigh, nigh!"

The man rocked back and forth and saw that he was on camera. A bright smile snapped over his face before he started to jump up and down like an idiot.

"Hi, Mom!"

The newscaster chuckled as he turned around and walked away from this goofball, climbing over the smoking rubble. The smell of disgust and decay filled the air, but never the less, he pressed himself forward towards the scene, holding the microphone up as he tried to get a few more words from the people on the street.

"There are many people who were wondering what happened, wondering if they could make some kind of different. Wondering if they could see what was going to happen tomorrow. Much like this young lady right here?"

A girl, looking bored out of her skull, sat there, blowing bubble gum as she rocked herself back and forth, eyes widened.

"Tell me, miss, what do you think of the near end?"

"Whatever," the teenager stated as she popped bubbles on her gum and slowly chewed on it, nonplussed with the fact that all of reality could have come crashing down. That did not phase her in any way whatsoever.

The newscaster offered a bright smile.

"That is the buzzword of the day folks, whatever. A word that says so little bit at the same time, it says so much. The word "whatever" could bring forth a new age, new possibilities, a new age from the world. There are just so many things to be said with that word and it will open up many possibilities, challenging us, inspiring our very minds and tapping into our very hearts. It is a word that is only spoken in whispers. The word that will live on in infamy."

The newscaster stopped and paused, giving a shit eating grin as he did so and he whispered the word at his lowest point.

"Whatever."

The newscaster paused before he shrugged his shoulders, smiling wildly.

"Whatever."

The newscaster shrugged his shoulders and his face spread with an ear to ear grin before he drew in his breath. He smelled the decay in the air. His mind went wild with the sensations of the decay that was filling the air. And those sensations were not extremely happy that was for sure.

"It does roll off of the tongue, doesn't it?"

The newscaster edged forward.

"I tell you folks, the scene is chaos, with lots of venom and carnage!"

In the background, a certain pair of symbiote related villains ran by, mugging for the camera before they disappeared into the night. The newscaster shrugged as a hobo pushed himself into the scene, he had a messy beard and oily hair, dressed in white pants with no shoes.

"I tell you man, it's coming, the end is here, the end, we're not going to….we're not going to last much longer. It's like doomsday, man! That's why I got kicked out of Washington, I saw it coming but they can't stop us. Big Brother is always watching! Fight the power, the illuminati is everywhere! You can't hush us!"

The newscaster offered a smile although it was a rather nervous one. "The knowledge being dropped here is amazing, I can hardly believe it, but it's true. We're going to keep going forward with more news as it is being brought us to the hour."

"FIGHT THE POWER!"

"Yes, fight the power, you've got that right true believer," the silver hair newscaster stated as he turned around to watch everything. "Our heroic Avengers saved the world from fire and brimstone but then there was our mysterious emerald eyed wizard that stepped into the ring for the first time ever."

The newscaster paused, a wide smile filling his face before he continued to speak his mind.

"Who is our mysterious emerald eyed wizard? What will he do? Is he the hero we want or a villain masquerading as a do-gooder? Or is he the hero that we might not want but need? There is only one thing to do and that is step forward, keep fighting the good fight, and remember to always believe in yourself and do what is right."

The newscaster paused for a brief second, allowing his words to sink in with the viewing public and he clasped his hands together. He threw his head back with a wide smile and turned around.

"No doubt, we will be trying to pick up the pieces from today's cataclysmic events over the next few days. But we will win the day, every day, because we are survivors."

The newscaster paused and a wide smile filled his face.

"Until next time, this is Stan on the street, reminding you true believers to keep your heads up and remember…EXCELSIOR!"

Nick Fury often did not mince words, he was the no nonsense type of man who refused to let his words get the better of him. He stood tall and rather proud, one eye turned towards the assembled group of heroes that stood by them.

"And I thought being sent to the Principal's office was nerve wracking," Clint remarked as he watched Fury, waiting for his reaction.

"Well, I think this is far worse," Carol responded as she also kept her eyes locked onto Fury's.

Fury paced back and forth like a cage animal, he had summoned them all for this briefing and after the battle today, they expected some kind of lecture to be given. That was just the type of person that Fury was, he would rip into them. He just enjoyed building up anticipation and liked to make them sweat out, to squirm and to suffer about it.

The pendulum was about ready to drop, swinging about ready drop on them as the team watched, waiting, rather nervously. He blinked and watched them.

"Today's performance lacked many things."

"Oh boy, here we go," Tony stated as he watched Fury's body language and wondered how much of an ass reaming they were going to get.

"Well, this was bound to happen," Clint offered with a shrug as he watched Fury but the eyes of the Commander of SHIELD fixed on the archer. The archer took a step back and gulped rather prominently. His normal bravado faded as he watched Fury and shook his head. "I'll be good."

"As I was saying, today's performance could have gone better, much better," Fury responded as he paced back and forth, going in a circle practically. Harry in particular wondered if he was going to wear out a hole in the hellicarrier. He was like a caged animal, going in circles, making strides and being unable to go behind a certain area that he boxed himself into. He slowly turned his head towards the assembled group of heroes after looking away for a second.

"Well, I thought that our performance was commendable," Stark offered in a tentative tone of voice as he watched Fury.

Fury's eye snapped towards Stark and he responded in a cool voice. "Do you think you should be commended for doing your business in the bathroom as well, Stark?"

"Told you, I guess," Jessica stated, the spider themed heroine offering a shrug as she watch them nervously but said nothing more.

"I'm telling all of you, we've had mass causalities!" Fury snapped as he watched them all and the team took a step forward, before Clint muttered something out of the side of his mouth.

"Someone didn't get a hug today."

"This is a serious situation, Barton."

"No, my godfather was a serious situation," Harry remarked before he wanted to slap himself at his own bad joke. That was something that was played out for decades before Harry was even born or Sirius for that matter. Weird how something like that turned out but it was true.

Fury's eyes looked up, seeing the sky clear and more importantly, the Hellicarrier back to an optimal performance. That was something that he should quantify as a success although Fury never was one to do cartwheels over anything, that was not in his nature. He watched his Avengers, although they stood on their own.

"We did save the world from Surtur, so surely this would be a cause for much jubilation," Thor inputted as he clutched his hands together, but Fury's eye watched them. The Prince of Thunder stepped back but only for a moment. He stood steadfast and strong; knowing that he perhaps should chose his battles quite wisely with this one.

"That much is true, you did save the world," Fury agreed but everyone waited for it to happen, they sensed it, floating in the air above their heads, like a dangling sword that was ready to chop their heads off. "But in some ways, you got lucky."

Harry decided to bring up one point that he learned throughout the years.

"Luck and skill, there is a fine line between it," Harry remarked in a calm and crisp voice.

Fury stopped, knowing that despite everything, he was fighting what amounted to a losing battle. Harry was not one that was going to go down without a fight, Fury knew it, the entire world knew it, despite everything that happened, despite the fact that the wizard should have been beaten down, he was a survivor and a fighter.

"Well there was the fine line that you were willing to tap dance over, time and time again," Fury fired back as he kept his eye firmly on Harry.

The mage shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not sure I'm getting your basic point."

"Think about it kid, it will come to you," Fury stated as he watched Harry who stared back with determination.

The Avengers waited around, there was a sense of tension filling the room around them. It was a concept that was hard not to understand, it was Nick Fury and it was Harry Potter, standing nose to nose with each other, locked into an intense stare down. Neither backed down during the best of times and most certainly, they were not going to back down now. Not ever, but the two of them watched each other, intensity filling their eyes and their minds.

"Despite the fact that the operation was nearly bungled, and we lost many, the death toll could have been far greater," Fury concluded as he drew in his breath. He analyzed every one of them and each felt like they were being graded. And there was definite room for improvement.

Well everyone except Harry, he just happened to be here when the chaos happened so he was along for the ride. The fact that he thought that Fury lost a few times throughout their time here but Harry was all for giving the Commander of SHIELD a refresher course of the fact that he was not going to allow him to roll over the wizard, no matter what. No matter how stubborn Fury got, Harry was the one that had strength and the one who would stare Fury in the eye.

Once again, there was tension and it was going to be cut with a knife. The wizard kept his eye on the commander of SHIELD, the super-agent stared down the Boy-Who-Lived.

"And this could get ugly in a hurry," Tony whispered in an awed voice as he watched the situation.

"Surtur is gone, is he not?" Thor asked as he broke the silence.

"I believe he might be for the moment,' Harry informed them, rolling his shoulders in a slight shrug, the green eyed wizard was not going to say that someone was gone for long, because he knew better, oh did he ever know better, after all he had been through. "But we should prepare for his return."

Natasha had to say, that was a pragmatic reaction to the situation but never the less, it was a rather smart one, all things considered. She closed her eyes and thought about what Harry was going do and had to agree, that he was on the right track with things.

"There will be other battles."

Captain America stated these words in a crisp manner and as always, his words hung with much wisdom, more wisdom than any of them could have realized. The spirit of many battles flowed through him and he had been around the block a number of times. It was something that he dealt with and now he was ready to go into the next battle. Whether that was, any time, any place, anywhere.

Doctor Stephen Strange was classified as the Sorcerer Supreme for this dimension, and that was not just a title. That was a job that he took rather seriously. It was unfortunate that he had many problems that monopolized his day to day life. In fact, one could state that it made having a social life difficult, actually scratch that, it made having a social life nearly impossible. The Sorcerer Supreme took a moment to put a hand on his chin, reflect and ponder about everything that happened regarding him.

He heard about the dimensional disturbances that rocked the world and knew that there was a problem that he would have to tackle. It was quite unfortunate that interdimensional disturbance brought him out of his realm and brought him to another place. Where he had to deal with another pressing matter that presented itself, and thus he missed the vast majority of the incident.

"So, you're running a bit late, aren't you?" Harry asked in a calm voice.

"It's been a long time," Strange responded as he watched the young wizard before him.

"It has," Harry commented to Strange coolly.

"So, wait, now the Sorcerer Supreme shows up?" Tony asked as he watched him.

"Yes, we could have kind of used you when the world was falling to pieces," Carol remarked in a crisp voice and that allowed Stephen Strange to cringe.

Strange's eyes spun around and fixed on Harry's face but he said nothing, not at for the moment. Of course, Strange did not like the look that was on Harry's face. It was one that was a mixture of being smug and being….well Strange did not want to know what that was. Although he figured that it was something that was not going to be fun times for him.

"So, what were you doing, getting an interdimensional booty call, while the universe was coming undone?" Harry asked as he watched Strange.

"It's a long story."

"Aren't they all?" Clint asked, with a smile crossing his face.

"Whilst you were lollygagging, the world is coming asunder," Thor chimed in, his loud booming voice giving a certain inflection and declaration to it.

"So what are we talking about?" Strange asked as he watched Harry, a smile crossing the young wizard's face.

Strange perhaps did understate how much he hated when Harry Potter smiled at him like that. They had been down the road a couple of times, dealing with insanity that would make the most hardened of men and women hide in a closet and plead for mercy. Often times when he smiled like that, that seldom meant anything good. The Sorcerer Supreme waited for the other shoe to drop, waited for something to happen.

"Oh, not much," Harry remarked as he shrugged his shoulders. "Basic old testament stuff, the world is going to end, no big deal."

Harry casually understating the end of the world was about right, Strange figured. He always had a rather prominent, "been there, done that vibe" as it pertained to mass hysteria. That was something that Strange noticed more and more as he dealt with Harry. It was a particularly frustrating mania regarding to the wizard.

"Yes, the skies rained with fire, the rivers boiled with blood," Stark stated.

"Armageddon is here," Carol added as she watched them.

"Dogs and cats living together, it was mass hysteria!" Clint added.

"Politicians were actually being honest for a change," Harry concluded before he stopped and shook his head. "Actually not even the Apocalypse would bring that."

Strange chuckled for a moment before he stood up and became serious once again. Harry was glad that the Sorcerer Supreme got some level of amusement of this because amusement was not something that the wizard did not have. He lost count of how many times he died during this adventure .No, not almost died, the fact that he did die, and somehow was thrown back into the fray, because, well fate didn't want to lose their favorite punching bag. And they could not have that, no not at all. The young wizard kept his hands on his forehead, waiting and watching for everything.

"Well, I guess that there was an instant where I was asleep at the switch," Strange remarked as he watched Harry. The amusement never left the eyes of the green eyed wizard. He placed his hands on his face and rocked back a little bit. "I believe that I owe you and your associates a drink."

The various Avengers who had been standing around turned towards each other and locked eyes. True to form, it was Stark who responded.

"Hey, far be it for me to turn town a free drink," the armored avenger added before he added. "Better make it of the non-alcoholic variety."

The Avengers watched Stark, their eyes on him.

"Trying to cut back, this time, I'm serious about it, no really I'm serious, stop looking at me like that!"

Clint offered him a raised eyebrow, chuckling, before he turned his head around for a moment. "I wasn't saying anything, please me, I wasn't saying a word."

"But you were thinking something," Stark responded but Carol was the one who responded.

"A guilty conscience isn't something that becomes you, Tony."

Tony threw his hands up and back into the air, as always it did seem to be like he was fighting a losing battle. Then again, that was one of those things that caused him to grow strong and be part of the top super hero team of the world.

The Avengers would have many other battles and the day would be seized. Even if the events of this day could have ended for the worse, they ended up rather better.

Harry reflected what happened, although in his day, he was completely one hundred percent certain that it was the aftermath of the battle and not the battle itself that was the real test of a character. It measured the heart and soul of a person and allowed them to figure out what needed to be done. He thought about the battle that happened but there was one more important thing to think about and that was the battle that was yet to come. It reflected in the back of his mind.

Thor walked up, looking reflective as he stared out the window. The God of Thunder watched as he clutched his hands to his hammer. He rubbed his hands together, picking up the friction before his head turned towards Harry.

"Do you think we've seen the last of that menace?"

Harry sighed before he gave the honest answer to the Prince of Thunder. "I don't know, I really don't know."

That was an answer that was more than honest but he tried to think that he was gone. He blasted Surtur with everything that he could, which knocked him backwards. The shot could have killed many beings and it very nearly killed Harry to deliver it. Therefore, many people would have thought that that creature met his final resting place.

No, Harry was not many people; he was far from many people. His eyebrow raised a fraction of an inch as he offered a rather labored sigh. He was not going to count out the enemy, even with the proof of a corpse that rotted at his feet.

"I've been down this road before and I know what's happened," Harry admitted to Thor and Thor inclined his head.

"Aye, I hear you," Thor responded, crisp and calm, clutching his hammer. "Do we dare…."

"I don't know," Harry admitted, as he turned around and reflected on everything that happened during this adventure.

"Well then if you don't know, then I don't know."

Iron Man responded as he walked forward, crossing his arms and stepped forward. The battle ended today and now the armored avenger reflected the event in his mind. It was quite the adventure to say the very least and he looked forward to what the next one would bring, whatever that would bring. He stood firmly on the ground.

"So, do you think that…."

"I don't know, we should assume that he could come back," Harry added, keeping his hands on his face and throwing his head back with a labored sigh.

"That assumption is one that I will not try and disagree with you about," Thor remarked, he had fought too many battles to foolishly assume that an enemy was gone just because there was no conceivable way that they could survive.

Humans had a statement about assumptions that Thor thought fit rather well.

"The end, or a new beginning," Captain America chimed in as he walked into the room.

"Maybe both," Harry offered after a second of thought.

That was the issue; one person's end was another person's new beginning. Harry was not about to really allow himself to get taken down the path where he thought that the door slammed shut. That door remained wide open for the next adventure, whatever that next adventure would be. There was one thing that vexed him.

Harry Potter allowed a lot to go in his time, in his life, but there was one thing that he hated. A mystery that went unsolved annoyed him to a degree that many might not be able to fathom. It was there in front of him, taunting him with the wicked misery and that was where a certain person ended up. He shifted his head and thought.

Amora was there and then she was not, disappeared into the night as quickly as someone like her might have appeared.

"You notice that there was someone who slipped through the cracks," Natasha remarked as she brought them back to life. "Our Enchantress is missing in action."

"She is but she cannot hide forever," Harry responded with confidence. It was true, the Enchantress was someone who had slipped through the cracks, she was completely crafty to that extent.

"And I don't suppose we've seen the last of her as well," Captain America remarked as he leaned forward, holding his shield.

"You've been at this game far longer than most of us have been alive," Harry responded as he turned towards the First Avenger. "What do you think?"

"A good point," Captain America agreed, knowing that they would be fools if they thought the Enchantress was going to run into the night without a trace.

"She'll be back, she always comes back," Thor concluded.

"Isn't that the case with all women?" Stark asked as Carol and Natasha looked at him. "Well, present company….yeah I'm going to shut up before I dig my own grave."

"Wise choice."

Fury walked by, not really contributing much more than that. He had some cleaning up to do.

"So after all that, you're leaving."

Harry was about ready to head out after the events of today but Natasha stopped him, watching him, an eyebrow raised as she stood in front of him.

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked, putting his hands on his hips and throwing his head back with a long sigh, as he closed his eyes. "I'm not going to stick around just for the fact that people think that I should stick around. For the past several years, I've always been on the move. I've just stood there for a very long time."

"I'm sure you've stood there for longer then you wanted to but perhaps the Avengers could use you for a little while longer," Natasha remarked as Harry smiled.

"Fury thought that the sale's pitch would be easier for me to swallow coming from a pretty face, than his ugly mug," Harry dead panned in a joking manner.

Natasha remained calm and cool; she never allowed her emotions to betray her. That was one of the things that made her a quality spy. She was not about to crack under the pressure and she was most not certainly about to crack just because he said a few words towards her. The redhead watched him carefully.

"You did do well out there," Natasha offered him in a quiet voice.

"I could say that, but I could do better," Harry responded as he turned around and faced from the window. She watched him for a moment, keeping her eyes locked firmly onto him.

He was an enigma and a frustrating one yet one she was interested in trying to puzzle together. Then again, she did not doubt that many people tried to piece together the puzzle that was Harry Potter and failed big time. He was the type to leave frustrated people in his wake and that actually caused a grimace to cross her face.

"So, you don't have to open up, no one's making you."

Harry smiled back, it was a smile that was equal parts endearing and frustration. Natasha held her hands together, keeping her eyes locked onto Harry's.

"I know no one is making me, which is good, because there isn't a snowball's chance in hell that I'm opening up after everything that happened," Harry added as he turned around, not looking at her for a brief moment.

"Well, no one can say that you aren't blunt and honest," Natasha replied as she watched him.

"Well, I would hope so, because they'd be a liar," Harry stated as he watched them. "The criminals are about ready to be rounded up, I'm sure."

"Yes," Natasha offered. "Zemo….well his body got destroyed in the fire."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"But we both know that he's likely still out there, plotting," Natasha added as she turned around. "The Fantastic Four rounded a few people up, Spider-Man left Rhino and Shocker gift-wrapped for the police, and that's really about it."

"Fascinating," Harry offered with a smile as he watched the young spy, who watched him back.

"You're one for conversation are you," Natasha answered back and Harry offered her a brief smile, tapping his foot.

"Not really."

"I figured as much," Natasha stated as the awkwardness hung between them like a swinging pendulum. "So we have to talk about something."

"We do, don't we."

"Yes we do."

The elephant in the room, something that neither of them wanted to bring up but yet both of them longed to bring it up. The kiss that they shared in the heat of the moment, both of them avoided the subject with the tact of a couple of politicians.

"Okay, fine, I kissed you, two sets of lips, meeting in passion, remember that?" Harry asked as he watched her and Natasha inclined her head with a nod.

"Yes, I remember that,' Natasha fired back.

"Good to see that I'm unforgettable," Harry responded, offering her a smile.

"You're worse than Stark," Natasha stated as she sighed.

"I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment or an insult."

"Take it any way that you wish," Natasha remarked to him as she looked at him, a smile crossing her face.

"Sure, you don't want me to take you anyway you wish," Harry added and Natasha looked at him, placing a hand on her hip. "Too soon."

"Yes, too soon," Natasha agreed, but she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a kiss. Harry returned the kiss, the two of them exchanging this intense lip locking, arms wrapped tightly around each other.

"And now we're even," Harry responded as Natasha waited.

"It's a shame that you have to leave," she offered him, a smile crossing her face.

"Not just yet," Harry responded but there was an alarm that went off.

"Avengers ,there is a crisis!"

"So, another day at the office?" Harry asked.

"You should know," Natasha told him as she shrugged her shoulders before they moved forward.

Another day.

End.

There will be no sequel.