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The massive command center of the Helicarrier hummed with the deep, resonant thrum of its huge turbines. The air, smelling faintly of ozone and stale coffee, was thick with tension. Every agent, every superhero, leaned in as Hermione, the small figure now holding the fate of their world's intelligence, spoke.
Fury, his single eye glinting with professional urgency, leaned forward, his elbows resting on the console's edge. "Miss Granger, can you elaborate? How strong are the Chitauri in combat?"
Hermione paused, letting the silence draw taut. She pursed her lips, a dismissive gesture that conveyed volumes. "Compared to the true galactic empires? They are nothing. A nuisance. But to deal with Earth's current technology…" Her eyes swept over the assembled team, lingering on Tony. "…It's more than enough."
A wave of palpable anxiety rippled through the agents. Steve Rogers, standing rigid, felt a knot of dread twist in his stomach. First Nazis, now aliens who can wipe out the world. The pace of threats was dizzying.
"Their method is a combination of bio-technology and armored shell, which gives them raw strength and endurance," Hermione continued, her voice clear and precise, like a lecture. She pointed a casual, apple-holding finger right at Tony. "A bit like… his Iron Suit."
"Hey! Hey, hey, hey!" Tony erupted, his voice cutting through the professional silence. His face instantly flushed with offense, his hands flying up in a gesture of outraged genius. "Don't you dare! My Iron Man suit is the pinnacle of human engineering! It's unique! It's art! It is not the same as some ugly, chitinous alien foot soldier!"
Hermione simply snorted and ignored him, turning back to the group. "The Chitauri's technology is not very advanced, but they are exceptionally fertile and possess a frightening capacity for mass production. They fight like locusts. You will not face a dozen; you will face a million."
"Their most powerful main battle weapon is something called the Leviathan."
"What is that?" Steve asked, his brow furrowing in confusion.
Hermione scratched her head, trying to translate a terrifying alien war machine into a concept the Muggles could grasp. "Uh… you can think of it as an enlarged, flying, thick-skinned, armored… whale?"
A collective, stunned silence followed, only broken by Bruce Banner nervously pushing his glasses up his nose. Even Thor looked bewildered by the imagery.
Tony, however, was still smarting. He muttered under his breath, "How dare she compare my armor to those ugly space-bugs…" He nudged Thor roughly. "Don't worry, big guy, I'm not talking about you. Your armor is, you know, appropriately bulky."
Thor glared at him.
Tony turned, his gaze hardening with true skepticism. "Also, if the Chitauri are truly that powerful, capable of grinding Earth into dust, why has nothing happened here for years? Why now?"
Hermione's expression shifted, a flicker of genuine irritation crossing her face. "Because if the Earth relied solely on these buffoons from S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect it, it would have been destroyed countless times already."
Fury winced, though he didn't argue.
"The strongest force on Earth is actually magic," Hermione declared, looking straight at Steve's wide, confused eyes. "Odin knows this. The powerful entities of the universe know this. It's only you lot—a bunch of local Muggles, and one particularly big idiot"—she glanced pointedly at Thor—"who remain utterly clueless."
Thor and Fury exchanged glances, both looking acutely embarrassed. Steve, hearing the word "magic" used so casually in a high-tech command center, felt a wave of dizzying disorientation.
"But…" Hermione's tone changed, becoming suddenly doubtful, her focus snapping back to the threat. "Tony's question is valid. If the Chitauri's target is the Tesseract, why wait until now?" She looked directly at Fury, her gaze piercing. "Tell me, Lu Dan, precisely what happened when you activated the Tesseract."
Fury began recounting the events, his voice taking on a subdued quality. He described the energy spike, the failed containment, and the subsequent portal opening.
Hermione interrupted, her voice rising to a startling pitch that cut through the carrier's engine noise. "Wait. You said you activated the Cosmic Cube? And… without any protective, magical containment measures?"
Fury felt the heat of shame rising on his neck. His gut twisted. "What's the problem?"
"That is a colossal problem!" Hermione's voice cracked with unbridled fury. "The moment that Tesseract was activated, it released a unique energy wave that broadcast its location to the entire cosmos! That signal is an irresistible beacon! Now the whole universe knows the Tesseract is here! The Chitauri, I suspect, are just the first response wave."
She glared at the Director, her face a mask of disappointment. "Braised Egg, oh, Braised Egg. You could not have done a more dangerous thing. In my world, a mistake like that would land you in Azkaban, locked up until the Dementors drained every ounce of happiness from your black, shriveled soul!"
The entire assembly turned on Fury. Tony whistled low. Banner shrank further. The silent judgment was deafening. You brought the aliens here!
Fury's face was ashen, his regret a physical weight in the pit of his stomach.
"It is too late for regrets," Hermione said, her voice dropping back to its cold, transactional tone. "Bring me Loki's Scepter. Now."
Fury barked the order. Moments later, the Scepter was presented to her. It was a beautiful, dangerous object: a golden staff, topped with a glowing blue gem that pulsed with an icy inner light. As her fingers closed around the familiar, unsettling weight of the Dark artifact, her consciousness connected with the Magic Book.
A holographic analysis box flashed into her mind's eye:
[Wonderful Object]
[Mind Staff (Under Analysis, Can Be Disassembled)]
[Marvel Universe Infinity Stone Carrier - Mind Stone Embedded. Grants Mind Control and Mental Magic Level +1 when held.]
[Remaining Parsing Time: 5999h59min43s]
Six thousand hours?! Hermione's internal monologue screamed in disbelief, but her face remained perfectly impassive. I'll have to find a way to extract the raw stone immediately. This is not realistic.
"What is the origin of this thing?" Fury demanded, his breath catching in his throat as he watched her examine the weapon. "Why could it turn Barton into Loki's loyal servant?"
"The Mind Scepter possesses the ability to bypass mortal will and control minds," Hermione explained, her eyes fixed on the pulsing blue gem. "But that is merely a function of its housing. Its true power is far more fundamental. The Scepter is a carrier for an Infinity Stone."
At the mention of the new term, the entire room seemed to hold its breath. Only Thor, standing by the console, blinked, a flicker of recognition—and fear—crossing his massive features.
Hermione cleared her throat and raised the Scepter. With a silent wave of her other hand, six shimmering, multi-colored spheres of light—each radiating a mysterious, ancient aura—appeared in the air, orbiting slowly above the command center.
"The birth of the universe," she began, her tone now that of a profound historian, "originated from a cosmic explosion. From that cataclysm, six singularities were formed. These six singularities eventually condensed into six stones—the Infinity Stones."
She paused, letting the scope of the revelation sink in. "Every stone contains the most fundamental and powerful force in the cosmos. They represent… Space, Time, Reality, Power, Soul, and…"
She pointed the Scepter at the blue, phantom sphere hovering closest to her.
"…Mind."
Fury and Hill exchanged a look of sick realization. They had witnessed the Mind Stone's power firsthand.
"I presume you've all guessed correctly," Hermione continued, a cold satisfaction in her tone. "The Scepter in Loki's hand is the carrier of the Mind Stone." She pointed to the Tesseract files on the screen. "And the Cosmic Cube that Loki stole, the one S.H.I.E.L.D. has been attempting to weaponize for years… is the Space Stone."
The revelation hit the team like a shockwave. Tony stood utterly still, his brilliant mind processing the new, terrifying physics.
Hermione glanced at Fury one last time, a smirk touching her lips. "I'm telling you, S.H.I.E.L.D., you've been studying that Cube for decades, and you didn't even know what it was. Your research has been in vain."