From behind broken windows and fractured rooftops, the people of New York watched their city's defenders with wide, disbelieving eyes.
They didn't know who all these strangers were—these sword-wielding monsters, spell-slinging women, armored titans, well they could recognize two of them, one was Iron Mage and the other was Captain America as his identity couldn't be mistaken, and wild teenagers, no sorry, two wild teenagers and other in spider suits.
But they knew one thing:
They were being saved.
And that, in the face of overwhelming terror, was enough.
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While this was happening in New York, something else was happening in far off the Atlantic. High above the clouds, hidden by retroactive panels which made the Hellicarrier hidden. And inside, the agents were running and were in a frenzy because they were trying to stop the military from doing more harm in all of this operation.
Inside, a squad of loyal S.H.I.E.L.D. agents patrolled the halls, keeping a watchful eye on every corridor. Deep within the lower containment wing, there was Loki, shoved inside a container, made to stop Hulk.
He sat cross-legged in his cell, fingers tapping against the bench in rhythm.
"They're late," he muttered, "But they are here now."
After about half an hour three quinjets—S.H.I.E.L.D. marked approached the invisible hellicarrier. And before the hellicarrier could react, the ship was shot by multiple missiles. The first impact sent a tremor through the invisible carrier. Lights flickered. Sirens blared. Agents stumbled as the floating fortress reeled in the sky.
"Quinjets approaching on vector Delta-Five!" one agent shouted. "They're not responding to hails! They're—wait, they just fired again!"
Another pair of explosions rippled across the rear stabilizers. Damage containment units scrambled.
"Status report!" Maria Hill demanded as she stormed into the command room.
"We've been boarded," another agent called out. "They hit our outer hangar bay. Unauthorized agents entering through breach points now."
"Who?"
The answer came from security footage already flickering onto the main screen. Dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D. operatives, were flooding into the lower levels. Their eyes glowed faintly white. Mind-controlled.
"Shit," Hill muttered. "They're after the prisoner."
----
In the detention wing, two S.H.I.E.L.D. guards were already down—stunned and unconscious. The white-eyed traitors moved with eerie precision, descending level by level. Their leader, a tall operative with a jaw clenched tight, held a small Asgardian device pulsing with dark light—clearly enchanted. A gift from their master.
"Get the cell open. Quickly," he barked. They reached Loki's holding chamber. The God of Mischief looked up, that knowing smirk already curling at his lips.
"Ah, finally. I was beginning to worry."
But before the lead agent could place the device on the door, the overhead lights snapped off—and the air turned cold. A low growl echoed through the corridor.
The agents froze.
Then came the sound—thud, thud, thud—of heavy, four-legged footsteps. A blur of gray muscle slammed into the first intruder, sending him flying into the wall hard enough to dent the reinforced metal. Before the others could react, Fenrir, bared his fangs and leapt again, his jaws clamping down on another agent's shoulder, flinging him aside like a ragdoll.
"Open fire!" one shouted.
Bullets tore through the air, but Fenrir was already gone, vanished into shadow. Screams echoed.
From the opposite side of the corridor, a Witcher strode forward.
Eskel.
Not as famous as Geralt, not as loud as Vesemir—but a killer of monsters nonetheless, and these mind-controlled soldiers? They counted.
Silver sword in one hand, Yrden spell glowing faintly around his feet, Eskel moved like a wraith. The first soldier lunged—Eskel sidestepped, elbowed the man in the jaw, and swept his legs out from under him in one seamless movement.
Another raised a stun baton.
Clang.
Eskel's blade met it in a quick parry, and in a fluid arc, he disarmed and incapacitated the attacker. He never aimed to kill—not humans, not if he could help it. But he was fast, brutal, and precise. A one-man wall.
"Loki stays," Eskel said. "My boss said if I can't keep him down, I will be, uh.. what they call it here? Ah yes. Fired. I don't want to get fired from my new cosy and amazing job. So be a good dog and don't come."
The remaining attackers regrouped, clearly rattled. One pulled the Asgardian device again, reaching for the lock. And they were able to even open the door from the other side with Loki stepping out only for Loki to see him standing in front of him.
Out of sheer fear, Loki made multiple copies of himself and wanted to run, but Fenrir used his nose and chomped down at Loki and then flung him around a couple of times like a bartender with a mocktail drink and throw him at the wall.
At the end Loki could only groan in immense pain as blood poured out from his abdomen. He was alive but was hurt very gravely. Meanwhile, when the soldiers saw Loki in such a tough situation they wanted to help only to be thrown back by a blast of raw Witcher Aard magic from Eskel, who advanced in tandem with his beastly ally.
"You're fighting the wrong war," Eskel growled, slamming a foot into one soldier's chest as he tried to rise. Fury was watching all of this from the camera, and couldn't help but smirk. All the meat that he had hoarded before the whole situation came down, finally came in handy.
He had asked Liam to keep Fenrir in the aircraft along with Eskel and it actually helped him save from a major incident. Thankfully the missiles weren't that lethal and didn't hurt the major working in the hellicarrier and only the fighter jets were taken out. The shield technology of Marvel showed it prowess.
Though maintaining the shield took too much power, it was all worth it for Fury.
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Read 100 chapters ahead on my [email protected]/thelightedghost