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Fury stood at the perimeter, watching millions of dollars and decades of research disappear into the earth. His jaw clenched so hard Coulson heard teeth grinding.
"Sir." Hill's voice was quiet. Respectful of the moment but waiting. "Orders?"
Fury pulled out his phone. His contact list glowed in the darkness.
Tony Stark. Steve Rogers. Bruce Banner. Reed Richards. Charles Xavier.
Names that represented humanity's best chance.
"Time to see if this Avengers idea was worth a damn."
Hill's eyes widened fractionally. The most emotion she'd shown all night. "Sir, that program was never approved for—"
"I don't give a damn about approval, Hill." Fury's single eye reflected the burning facility. "A hostile alien force just kicked our asses, stole our most powerful weapon, and walked out with some of my best people. I need every goddamn hero with a pulse."
Coulson was already on his phone. "I'll contact Rogers. He's been training. Adapting well, actually."
"Stark?"
Coulson's lips twitched. "He'll complain. Make several inappropriate comments. But he'll come. His ego won't let him sit this one out."
"Banner?"
"That one's trickier. He's in Kolkata, keeping his head down. Working in a clinic, ironically. Might take some convincing to bring out the other guy."
"Then convince him. Tell him we need the big guy. Tell him it's bigger than his anger management issues." Fury turned to Hill with something dangerous in his voice. "Richards?"
Hill checked her tablet. Her voice carried a hint of sympathy. "Unlikely. I spoke with him personally. He won't leave his wife's side. Sue's past due date, that could lead to potential complications, and he made it very clear that SHIELD calling didn't change his priorities."
"X-Men?"
"Professor Xavier sent a formal response." Hill pulled up the message. Her jaw tightened as she read. "Full denial of any support and zero cooperation. He cited multiple failures on our part, specifically our inability to provide adequate security during the U-Men attack on his school. While Jean Grey was in active labor. His exact words were: 'When SHIELD demonstrates basic competence in protecting mutants, we'll consider cooperation. Until then, we handle our own security and recommend you do the same.'"
Fury absorbed that with a scowl that could melt steel. "What about Jay?"
Coulson and Hill exchanged glances.
"Sir." Coulson's tone carried regret. "After four months of silence, it's evident he doesn't want us to reach him."
Fury looked at the burning facility. Then at the star-filled sky.
"So let me get this straight. A Norse god with a magic stick just stole the most dangerous object on Earth, mind-controlled Barton and half my science team, and is planning some kind of world domination bullshit. Our super team consists of a billionaire with a god complex who doesn't play well with others, a scientist who might Hulk out and kill us all if someone looks at him wrong, and a man from the 1940s who's still figuring out what the internet is. Richards won't help because his wife's about to pop. The X-Men told us to fuck off because we keep dropping the ball. And our most powerful asset is somewhere in the Arctic playing house."
"That's... remarkably accurate, sir."
"Motherfucker." Fury was silent for a long moment. His hand clenched and unclenched at his side. An old nervous habit from his Marine days. "We're screwed."
"The statistical probability does suggest significant challenges, yes sir."
Fury straightened. Squared his shoulders. Something shifted in his expression. The look of a man who'd faced impossible odds before and decided to flip them off anyway.
"Get Stark on the phone and tell him I don't care if he's drunk, high, or balls-deep in a supermodel; he needs to suit up. Get Rogers, it's time to earn that government paycheck. Hill track down Banner and tell him the world needs saving, and his conscience won't let him sit this one out. And get Romanoff back from Russia."
"What about backup?" Coulson asked, already knowing the answer but asking anyway because protocols existed for a reason.
"Backup?" Fury's laugh was bitter. Sharp. "Son, we ARE the backup. This is it. This is all we've got. Hill, mobilize every team we have. Coulson, call in every favor we're owed. And somebody pray that these misfits can work together long enough to save the goddamn world." He stared at the ruined facility. At the column of smoke rising like a funeral pyre. "Because if we don't stop Loki, there won't be an Earth left to argue about who's in charge of it."
He turned away from the destruction.
Behind them, something in the wreckage detonated.
But nobody bothered to flinch.
Stark Tower, 3:47 AM
Tony Stark stood in his workshop, the holographic displays casting blue light across his face, and the new suit hung on its rack. Outside, Manhattan slept, unaware that gods and monsters had declared war.
[Sir,] JARVIS interrupted. [Director Fury is calling. Again. This marks his seventh attempt in the last three hours.]
"Tell him I'm busy."
[He's threatened to break down your door. Given his emotional state and the fact that he just lost a major facility to a hostile alien force, I calculate a seventy-three percent probability he's serious.]
Tony sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Put him through."
Fury's face appeared on the main screen. He looked like he'd aged ten years in the last few hours. New lines around his eye and jaw tight with suppressed fury.
"Stark. We need to talk. Now."
"About your alien invasion problem? Yeah, I saw the footage. Norse god, mind control scepter, stolen infinite energy cube." Tony gestured at his screens, where simulations ran through worst-case scenarios. "Fun times. I'm assuming you want me to join your superhero boy band. The Avengers Initiative. Earth's Mightiest Heroes or whatever marketing name you focus-grouped."
"The world's about to get its ass kicked, Stark. You worried about branding?"
"The world's always about to end. I fought the Abomination and Doom with Cap and the Fantastic Four. Remember? One-time team-up, clear objective, we all went home after." Tony shook his head. His voice hardened. "This is different. You're talking permanent team with oversight, bureaucracy and me playing nice with others on a regular basis."
"I'm talking about survival. Human extinction versus your ego. Pick one."
"And I'm talking about reality." Tony's hands moved through the holographic displays. Not looking at Fury. "You want me working with a living legend who's still processing that disco is dead, a scientist who turns into a rage monster when stressed, and whatever other misfits you've collected. We have no shared tactics and no training. You just want to throw us together and hope we don't kill each other before the aliens show up."
"Do you have a better idea? Because I'm all ears, genius."
Tony was quiet.
Then he turned to face Fury directly. Something in his expression shifted.
"Fine. I'm in. But on my terms. I consult and I don't take orders. And if this goes sideways, when it goes sideways, I'm blaming you."
"Blame me all you want. Just suit up."
The call ended.
Tony stared at the empty screen, at his reflection in the dark glass.
"JARVIS, what are our odds?"
[Of successful team cohesion? Twelve percent. Of stopping an alien invasion led by a Norse god with mind-control capabilities? Insufficient data for accurate calculation.]
"So we're doomed."
[I prefer the term 'statistically challenged,' sir.]
Tony laughed despite himself. "Prep the Mark VI. If we're going to die, might as well look good doing it."
He turned back to his workbench, fired up AC/DC instead of Metallica, and went to work.
Savage Land
Jay stood on the balcony of their base. Watching pterodactyls wheel against an impossible sky.
Behind him, Domino slept. Exhausted from training. Below, the jungle thrived in humid riot with prehistoric ferns, cycads, and conifers that predated human civilization.
His phone buzzed. Another message from Bobby.
Major situation developing. Fury's calling everyone. Your prediction was true. Initiating the Plan.
Jay ok'd the message.
"You're not going to help them." Domino stood in the doorway, still sleep-rumpled but alert.
"The Avengers need to form properly. Without me taking over." Jay didn't turn around. "Without me being the solution every time something goes wrong, otherwise I'll just be always babysitting."
"You mean they need to fail first. So they learn how to work together."
"Something like that."
Domino moved to stand beside him. "Sometimes I forget you're not from here. That you've seen all this before."
They stood there as the sun rose over impossible geography. A prehistoric jungle existing in a world of smartphones and satellites.
The wheels were finally in motion.
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