A few days earlier, at a certain S.H.I.E.L.D. base—
Erik made an urgent report to Nick Fury. The energy cube they were researching seemed to have suddenly been activated, releasing waves of powerful energy fluctuations.
This aroused Nick Fury's curiosity.
Just as Nick Fury personally took command of the cube's research, a violent beam shot out from the cube, forming an energy vortex.
A flash of light passed, and a figure holding a scepter appeared before everyone. It was Loki.
As the highest-ranking commander there, Nick Fury loudly issued a warning, "Put down the weapon, handsome…"
What he got in return was Loki's merciless attack.
Holding the Mind Scepter, Loki turned into a melee mage. He opened with a Q-skill energy wave, then a few basic attacks knocked all the guards present flat on the ground. After all, the tip of the scepter also had a blade.
The archer Hawkeye was hit by crowd control. He had just gotten up when Loki tapped him in the chest with the Mind Scepter.
"This guy looks honest and straightforward. At a glance, he's good subordinate material."
Loki used the Mind Scepter to alter Hawkeye's will, then went on to control the physicist Erik, whose mind he had already infiltrated.
Their eyes briefly turned pitch black. When clarity returned, they had already become Loki's most loyal followers.
Seeing this, Nick Fury's dark face was full of disbelief. His trusted subordinates had just become the enemy's people.
Realizing things were going badly, he immediately removed the cube, put it into a briefcase, and planned to slip out through the back door.
But Hawkeye, Clint Barton, raised his gun and shot him straight to the ground. The massive force of the large-caliber bullet nearly took Nick Fury's life.
With Hawkeye's assistance, Loki and the others left the base smoothly.
They even drove away openly right under Agent Hill's nose.
Inside the laboratory, the energy released by the cube kept expanding, covering the entire ceiling in an instant, looking like it could explode at any second.
At this moment, the severely wounded Fury used all his strength to escape the lab, boarding the last helicopter just before the building collapsed.
As a blinding blue light flashed, the S.H.I.E.L.D. base was blown apart very evenly in the explosion.
Agent Hill reacted quickly, leading a large number of agents in pursuit of Loki's vehicle at the first moment.
However, they still underestimated Loki's combat power. Mage Loki, holding the Mind Scepter, finally stopped using basic attacks. Q, W, E skills came one after another, causing S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to pay a heavy price.
Director Fury's helicopter arrived to provide support. At this moment, he only had a handgun on him, but to show his determination to never give up, the black eggplant on the helicopter raised his pistol and aimed from afar at Loki's vehicle.
Who knew Loki merely waved his "staff," and the helicopter was destroyed, falling to the ground with both man and machine.
Good thing Loki showed mercy. Nick Fury came out unscathed.
Watching Loki's figure disappear into the distance, Nick Fury knew the time to push forward the Avengers Initiative was ripe.
Enduring his injuries, he quickly requested the World Security Council to convene a meeting, laid out everything that had happened, and promptly proposed formally implementing the Avengers Initiative.
With no surprises at all, the Avengers Initiative was approved. The World Security Council authorized Nick Fury to handle the matter with full authority.
Having obtained authorization, Director Fury immediately called Corin.
———
At the same time, Black Widow Natasha arrived at a slum located deep in a tropical jungle in Africa, where she found Bruce Banner.
Banner's whereabouts had always been under close surveillance by S.H.I.E.L.D. Although professional evaluations showed that Hulk, after Banner's transformation, was unsuitable for the Avengers Initiative due to the unpredictability of his anger, from a long-term perspective, S.H.I.E.L.D. had still specially researched and perfected a containment system to restrain certain individuals with special abilities.
Considering the strength of the enemy this time, Director Nick Fury made an exception and brought Dr. Banner into the Avengers lineup, sending Black Widow Natasha to persuade him after the cube was stolen.
Banner knew S.H.I.E.L.D. did not lack scientists. What they wanted was nothing more than the Hulk inside him.
"They just want to lock me in a cage…"
His first reaction was rejection, with a bit of anger mixed in.
But who was Black Widow? Tight, beautiful, great figure, ruthless, and hard to take down.
"When it comes to gamma radiation, no one understands it better than you… we need you…"
After a round of smooth talk, under the gaze of Agent Natasha's watery eyes, Banner's vanity was satisfied.
He got playful and pretended to be angry, roaring loudly, "Don't toy with me!"
The sudden change in attitude made Natasha alert. In 0.1 seconds, the pistol in Black Widow's hand was aimed at Banner.
That deep trace of wariness in her eyes would not fade.
She knew the terror of the Hulk too well.
"I just wanted to see your reaction… Natasha, let's talk alone…"
Banner felt he might have gone a bit too far. The woman in front of him was clearly frightened.
"Don't come in. Hold position."
Seeing that Banner did not seem truly enraged, Agent Natasha gave the order through her earpiece.
———
The scene shifted. Surrounding the tent where Banner and Natasha were, a large number of fully armed S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had them completely encircled.
This seemed to be Natasha's Plan B, but even she had no confidence. What was the difference between this so-called Plan B and delivering food?
Maybe it was just some psychological comfort.
———
Nick Fury continued running around, doing everything he could to assemble the Avengers.
After awakening, Steve Rogers was unable to adapt to this unfamiliar world. He shut himself in his room all day, venting his emotions on a punching bag.
It wasn't that he couldn't adapt to this world, but that he deeply regretted missing that important date.
In the blink of an eye, 70 years had passed.
The important bonds no longer existed.
"When I was unconscious, the world was at war."
"When I woke up, they told me we won. I don't know what the cost of that victory was…"
Steve could not find the meaning of his own existence.
And S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attitude toward Steve was one of understanding and tolerance.
After all, a war hero from a previous era deserved the respect of later generations.
Seeing Captain Rogers depressed day after day, the agents felt very sorry for him.
They tried to help the captain integrate into the new world, even imagining that it might be simpler to have Director Fury give this model soldier an order.
Order him, as a soldier, to adapt to the new world. Maybe that could change the captain's dejected state.
And this idea reached Steve's ears.
The captain felt a bit of warmth in his heart. The experiences were too bizarre. He still did not know where to go next. Whenever memories surfaced, he wanted to cry.
Seeing the always-busy Director Nick Fury appear before him, documents in hand, Steve's soldierly nature compelled him to ask, "Is there a mission, sir?"
"Yes."
"To help me integrate into the world?"
"To save the world."
Nick Fury explained that back when Howard Stark's search team rescued the captain, they had found an energy cube. After discussion, they unanimously believed that this cube might be the key to discovering eternal energy, which was exactly what this world needed most.
Given Captain America's personality, this kind of world-saving mission was usually accepted without a second thought.
"Who took it?"
To this, Nick Fury expressed that there was no one easier to deal with than Steve like this.
"His name is Loki. He's probably not a 'local'."
"If you want to join us, you'll need to catch up on a lot. The world has changed so fast, it's already beyond your imagination."
Nick Fury continued using provocation, proposing a ten-dollar bet with Steve to push him into joining the plan.
"What are your thoughts on retrieving the Tesseract?"
Steve wasn't stupid. He didn't buy Nick Fury's act at all.
Although he didn't agree out loud, he was already complaining in his heart, 'You should have just kept it in the ocean…'
———
["Sir, Agent Coulson from S.H.I.E.L.D. is calling for you."]
Jarvis sent the notification.
Tony, who had just landed on the balcony, stepped down the stairs.
With each step he took, pieces of the Iron Man armor were removed from his body one by one…
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