Bab 62: The Avengers ( Part 4 )

Soon, the group arrived back on the Helicarrier in the Quinjet, disembarking in relative silence as Loki was shackled and escorted by S.H.I.E.L.D agents under the watchful gazes of everyone.

Thor's eyes never left his brother as Loki was escorted to his prison cell, while Maxim trailed behind the group, already having changed out of his SuperSuit as he relaxed in casual clothing, scouting the scene.

As they entered the Helicarrier's command deck, Fury was waiting, his one eye scanning the team with a mix of approval and wariness.

"Well, I see everyone's made friends," Fury said dryly, gesturing for Loki to be taken to the secure glass cell.

Soon, the group sat around and Thor told everyone what Loki's plans would be. How he planned to open a portal to unleash the Chitauri force to Earth. Maxim had already known this, so he skipped the meeting, relaxing while the others discussed the implications of Loki's plans.

*****************

~In the Room Loki was imprisoned~

"What will you do if I vow to spare him?" Loki asked as he stood in the cage, looking towards Natasha with a curious glint in his eyes.

Natasha was standing in front of the reinforced glass as she responded without letting her emotions show, "Not letting you out."

"Ah, no." Loki continued, "But I like this. Your world in the balance, and you bargain for one man?"

"Regimes fall every day. I tend not to weep over that. I'm Russian…or was." She laughed a little at her joke as she stared at Loki intently.

"What is it you want?" Loki asked Natasha, and she reluctantly answered, "It's really not that complicated. I've got red in my ledger, and I'd like to wipe it out."

"Can you? Can you wipe out that much red? Drakov's daughter? Sao Paulo? The Hospital fire?" Loki walked closer towards Natasha, his expression growing more ferocious as he spoke, "Barton told me everything. Your ledger is dripping, it's gushing red, and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything?"

"This is the basest sentimentality." He snarled, "This is a child at prayer. Pathetic."

"I won't touch Barton. Not until I make him kill you! Slowly. Intimately." Loki's said viciously as he leaned on the glass, his face almost touching the cold surface, "In every way, he knows you fear! And when he'll wake just long enough to see his good work, and when he screams, I'll split his skull! This is my bargain, you mewling quim!"

"You're a monster," Natasha responded as she turned away from Loki, not daring to into his eyes.

Loki had a wide grin on his face now, admiring his work, "No, you brought the monster."

"So, Banner. That's your play," Romanoff recovered from her facade and faced Loki.

In bewilderment, he muttered, "What?"

Romanoff called into her radio and relayed, "Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the lab, I'm on my way. Send Thor as well. Maxim's presence would help too."

Once she finished speaking, she gave Loki one last look and chuckled as she gave him parting words, "Thank you for your cooperation." She walked quickly out of the room with her task accomplished.

*********************

Meanwhile, in the lab, Tony and Bruce had been working on understanding the Scepter as they waited for the Tesseract's location to be revealed.

As they were working, Nick Fury hurriedly walked into the room and directed towards Tony, "What are you doing, Mr. Stark?"

"Kind of been wondering the same thing about you," Tony mused while staring the man directly into his eyes, not shying away whatsoever/

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract." There was a clear annoyance in Fury's voice. One of his subordinates told him there was a breach in their server and Fury immediately knew who it was.

"We are. The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile." Banner spoke.

"And you'll get your cube back, no muss, no fuss. What is PHASE 2?" Tony asked.

~CLANG~

"PHASE 2 is SHIELD uses the cube to make weapons," Steve answered, the door closing behind him as he walked into the room.

He placed a Hydra weapon he found in SHIELD's storage room when he was snooping around on the table. His head turned to Stark, "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me."

Fury immediately realized he was on the back foot, and tried to spin the story, "Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're…."

"I'm sorry, Nick," Stark cut in before the director could finish. He turned the monitor around so the others could see what was clearly on display, a SHIELD missile blueprint made using energy collected from the Tesseract. Stark grinned, "What were you lying?"

"I was wrong, director. The world hasn't changed a bit." Steve said in clear disappointment.

As this was happening, Natasha and Thor entered the room, hearing the words of Steve, while Maxim spawned from the shadows without most of them noticing, safe for Natasha who was always on top of her senses.

Banner glared at Natasha, an angry expression on his face, "Did you know about this?"

"You might want to think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" Natasha responded calmly.

"I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed," Banner's said, frustrated.

"Loki is manipulating you," She said.

"And you've been doing what exactly? I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction." Bruce had his hands firmly holding onto the table.

"Because of him," Fury said, pointing at Thor.

"Me?" Thor asked, clearly confused at the situation.

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town.We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor added in.

"Really, because I could've sworn that robot that you fought was Asgardian technolgy. Millions in infrastructure, dusted away because of your people. And besides, you're not the only people out there, are you? And, you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched, they can't be controlled."

As Fury spoke, he looked towards Banner, and then Maxim, before his gaze returned to Tony who had folded his arms.

"Like you controlled the cube?" Steve said.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and Loki's allies. It is the signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"A higher form?" Steve asked with worries.

"You forced our hand! We had to come up with some…." Fury turned his ire to Thor.

"Nuclear deterrent! Cause that will calm everything right down." Stark interjected with his sarcasm.

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?" Fury said.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this." Thor scoffed as he looked around, spotting Maxim and slowly shifting away nervously, remembering the beating he took from him.

"Excuse me? Did we come to yo planet and blow stuff up?" Fury said as he turned around to face Thor.

The group devolved into a senseless argument, with Maxim remaining out of it, blocking the Mind Stone's influence from affecting him too. He was just leaning on the wall, watching the situation and silently laughing at the jokes, especially the "Genius Billionaire Playboy Philanthropist."

Time ticked by as he waited when suddenly, an almost imperceptible shift occurred, and Maxim's posture straightened, recognizing it as the attack on the helicarrier. His perception flared like a warning bell, and only Natasha realized his change.

"What's wrong?" She asked, drawing the other's attention to Maxim.

Maxim's voice cut through the silence like a blade.,"Everyone, get down!"

Before anyone could fully process his command, Maxim raised a hand, his fingertips crackling with astral energy. With a sharp motion, he summoned a translucent, shimmering barrier of cosmic energy, its surface swirling with constellations and faintly glowing glyphs.

~BOOM!~

The explosion erupted just outside the command deck. Fire and shrapnel slammed into Maxim's barrier, the force of the blast rippling through the astral shield but stopping short of harming those inside. The windows shattered into harmless fragments, but the structure of the Helicarrier held firm.

Tony stumbled but caught himself, "What the hell was that?"

Bruce Banner, who had been gripping the table in mounting frustration, froze. His breathing was heavy, but he hadn't transformed. The barrier had absorbed the shockwave, sparing him the trigger he feared most.

Natasha was already on her feet, her pistol drawn, "An attack, gotta be Loki," she muttered, her voice low and grim.

Maxim's barrier shimmered and dissipated as he turned to Thor, his expression cold and commanding. "Thor, check on Loki. Now."

Thor hesitated for a moment, still rattled by the sudden attack, but Maxim's tone left no room for argument. The Asgardian nodded and sprinted out of the room, Mjolnir in hand.

Maxim turned to the rest of the group, "Assess the damage and secure the perimeter. This isn't over."

Steve Rogers recovered quickly, his military instincts kicking in. "Natasha, with me. Stark, get eyes on the situation outside. Fury, coordinate with your agents. Banner…" Steve paused, glancing at the still-tense scientist,

"Stay here and focus on keeping yourself calm."

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Bab 63: The Avengers ( Part 5 )

Smoke poured into the hallways of the Helicarrier as the alarm flared all over, the red glow of emergency lighting illuminating the environment. Maxim could sense hundreds of S.H.I.E.L.D agents scurrying around the ship for weapons to defend against the attack.

Tony immediately went off, slipping through the hallways as he headed to a room where his Suit was located, immediately putting it on. Has his suit clicked into place, he tapped into the team's communication line and spoke, "I'll take care of the damage; just make sure no one else decides to drop in uninvited."

"Natasha, head with Maxim, I can handle helping Stark." Steve said as they were moving through the ship, and Natasha nodded, following Maxim while Steve took a detour towards the main area of the damages.

At the damaged thruster, Tony arrived to find sparks flying from ruptured conduits and the faint glow of the damaged thrusters struggling to keep the Helicarrier aloft. "J.A.R.V.I.S., prioritize stabilization protocols. I need a full assessment now."

"Structural integrity of the Helicarrier is at 62%, sir. This thruster is compromised. Manual adjustments required." J.A.R.V.I.S' mechanical voice echoed out into Tony's ear.

Tony cursed under his breath, hovering closer to the damage, "Of course it is. Why make it easy?" He began welding the ruptured panels, his repulsors doubling as tools while the chaos of battle raged above.

At this moment, Steve arrived, spotting some agents being carried out. He scanned the area, immediately noting Tony Stark hovering near the thruster's damaged components, his suit's arc reactor glowing faintly through the haze of smoke and sparks.

"Stark!" Steve shouted, raising his voice to cut through the noise, "What's the situation?"

Tony didn't look back, his focus locked on a jagged panel he was welding back into place, "Oh, you know, just trying to stop a flying fortress from becoming an unintentional submarine. No big deal."

Steve approached cautiously, gripping a nearby railing to steady himself against the vibration of the failing thruster, "What do you need me to do?"

Tony sighed, his exasperation crackling over the comms, "I can't stabilize the thruster from here; it's shot to hell. You're going to have to manually override the turbine. There's a control panel on the other side of this platform. Tell me which relays are in overload position."

Steve nodded, already moving as he leapt across a pit, carefully landing as he moved towards the control panel, spotting it, "It seems to run on some form of electricity."

"Well, you're not wrong. Here's what to do..."

********************

As all of that was occurring, Maxim and Natasha moved through the debris littered halls of the Helicarrier, working in sync.

The groans of injured agents echoed faintly through the cacophony of alarms. Natasha immediately spotted a group of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents slumped against a wall, one clutching a bleeding leg. "Over here," she called, motioning for Maxim to follow.

Without hesitation, Maxim conjured his shadow tendrils to gently lift the injured agents. "We'll get them to the med bay," he said, his voice calm despite the urgency of their mission.

They moved quickly, Natasha guiding them through the winding corridors while Maxim's shadows shielded them from falling debris and stray sparks.

As they reached the med bay doors, Natasha helped guide the injured inside while Maxim's shadows gently laid them on available stretchers. Medics hurried to work, offering the pair a brief nod of thanks before they disappeared deeper into the chaos.

"We need to get to the Command Center," Natasha said, checking her comms and hearing Fury shouting out orders to various agents across the building.

Maxim nodded, his glowing, ominous presence standing out against the crimson glow of the emergency lighting, "Lead the way. I'll keep us covered."

~SHING~

As they neared the Command Center, Maxim's enhanced perception picked up a faint sound, something slicing through the air at an unnatural speed.

In an instant, he vanished from his current standing, reappearing near Fury and forming a protective barrier of Astral Energy just as an explosive arrow struck it, detonating harmlessly in a burst of light, much to the shock of everyone.

Natasha spun around, her pistols aimed at the source. Maxim's sharp eyes caught movement through a nearby window, Clint Barton, perched on an upper platform, his bow drawn and aimed directly at them.

"It's him," Maxim muttered, narrowing his eyes.

"Clint…" Natasha's voice softened for a moment before steeling.

Maxim turned to her. "I'll handle him. You check on Loki and keep Fury alive."

Natasha hesitated for only a second before nodding, "Don't kill him."

"I'm no savage," Maxim replied, vanishing into the shadows.

Clint drew another arrow, his body moving with mechanical precision under Loki's control. But before he could fire, Maxim materialized behind him, his form a dark silhouette wreathed in smoke-like shadows.

"Sorry, Clint. Not today."

Clint spun, loosing the arrow, but Maxim effortlessly dodged, phasing through the projectile before closing the distance in a heartbeat. Clint tried to punch, but Maxim just let it fly through his incorporeal form, before grabbing Clint's arm and flipping him over onto the ground, pinning him down.

Clint struggled, but Maxim's grip was unrelenting as he spoke, "You're not yourself," Maxim said, his voice low and commanding. With a pulse of energy, he reached into Clint's mind, severing the connection to Loki's control. Clint gasped as his body slackened, and Maxim released him, watching as the archer fell unconscious.

Natasha's voice crackled through the comms, "How's Clint?"

"He'll be fine," Maxim replied. "Want me to bring him to you?"

"No. I'll take care of him. You focus on the rest of Loki's puppets."

Maxim nodded to himself, shadows curling around his body as he moved deeper into the ship. Brainwashed agents emerged from the smoke, their weapons aimed and ready, but Maxim was faster.

He swept through them like a living storm, disarming and incapacitating them with ease. None of them stood a chance as he methodically cleared the way.

"Everything going as expected." He muttered, looking up and spotting another brainwashed agent ready to take fire.

****************

Meanwhile, in the detention area, Thor confronted Loki, his voice heavy with both anger and sadness. "Enough, Loki. You've caused enough chaos. End this madness and come home."

Loki smirked, leaning lazily against the railing of the detention cell. "Come home? To what, Thor? A world that never saw me as anything more than a shadow to your light?"

Thor stepped closer, his grip tightening on Mjolnir, "I will not let you destroy this realm, brother."

Loki's smirk widened. "Then by all means, try to stop me."

As Loki's words ended, the door to the containment pod opened, and Loki started to walk outside of it with an arrogant smirk on his lips.

"NOOO!" Thor roared, and flung himself forward, but instead of colliding with his brother, he phased through him, finding himself falling on his feet in the pod as the door closed behind him.

"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" Loki taunted.

~BANG~

Thor angrily smashed Mjolnir against the glass walls of the pod, only causing a slight crack on the glass as the entire room shook due to the sheer amount of force put into the attack.

"Humans think us immortal." Loki said with a chuckle as he headed to the control panel of the pod, "Should we test that?" he taunted.

~BANG~

However, before he could send the pod tumbling down, a gunshot rang out. Before the Asgardian could react, two bullets tore through the air and struck him. One hit him in the shoulder, sending him stumbling back while another struck him right to the side of his eye.

"ARGGG!" Loki staggered back, clutching his face painfully as he looked up, spotting Natasha, flanked by dozens of S.H.I.E.L.D agents, all of whom had their guns trained at Loki, anc Coulson.

"Looks like you're outnumbered," Natasha said coldly, holding a HeadHunter Maxim had given her and aiming it directly at Loki.

Loki's expression darkened, but he quickly composed himself. "I see I've overstayed my welcome." With a flourish, his form flickered and vanished, leaving only an echo of his laughter behind.

The room fell silent save for the faint hum of the containment pod. Natasha holstered her weapon, motioning for the agents to secure the area.

Coulson approached, his face grim. "We need to regroup. Loki's still out there."

Natasha nodded, her mind already racing with their next move. "Let's not give him the chance to strike again."

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