บท 29: Discussions
After a lesson on the infinity gems from Dr. Strange himself, the room was quiet for a second. The kind of powers those stones had was enough to stun anyone. Until Tony opened his mouth, "Wait, so the kid means that Strange and SHIELD each have one of these infinity stones?"
I answered, "Yeah, old man. The doctor even wears it as a necklace every day in front of you." Dr. Strange didn't deny it but just stared at me. And I continued.
"As for SHIELD, like any true-blooded American secret organization, they are probably trying to use whatever means possible to make weapons out of the stone they have. "I stared at Fury while saying that and so did everyone.
Fury didn't explain, but instead questioned me, "You seem to have many problems with America?"
Everyone could hear the subtext behind those words. It was a perfect attack on me while diffusing some of the questions that might be aimed at SHIELD. He must still be salty because I went ahead and cooperated with the Indians instead of him. I wonder what he will think when my cooperation reaches China.
"I was kidnapped and experimented on for years by Hydra, the same organization that SHIELD was created to end by the way. So, I have a problem with SHIELD." As I played the sympathy card, I felt a hand patting my shoulder. I turned to see it was Captain America.
"It's fine Cap. For what it's worth, I don't blame you. It's a whole new world for you after being frozen in ice for so long. Anyway, you can stop attacking me with patriotic bullshit Fury. I only identify as a human and an Earthling. Your countries and borders don't mean shit to me other than as annoying rules.
The important issue here is that you have one of the infinity stones and a very powerful being is coming to get it. And he will annihilate anything to get it."
Tony stood up, "The kid is right. We need to figure out what we should do to prepare for the incoming threat."
Scott Lang, the ant-man who had just recently joined the Avengers gave his suggestion, "Why don't we just throw those stones into outer space or other dimensions?"
Reed shook his head, "We can't do that. He can always search for them again and when he finds them, half of us here might be gone. We have no choice but to fight."
"And not just him, you'll have to fight his army too. An army of technologically advanced aliens I might add. For a planet which doesn't even have a proper battleship, we will be facing entire fleets." I contributed my inputs to the meeting only to be glared at by Fury.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Fury probably has some battleships that can still operate within the atmosphere." I corrected myself much to Fury's annoyance.
I didn't dislike Fury. If anything, I respected the man. He has lived all his life without ever trusting a single person, always lonely, only for the sake of humanity. It is praiseworthy. But it doesn't mean I have to agree to all his decisions or work with him.
Captain America asked Dr. Strange, "What are our chances of winning against Thanos with his four infinity gems if we went all out?"
Dr. Strange didn't even answer. He just sighed and shook his head. Only after a moment did he speak, "I don't think we have much of a chance in direct confrontation. This fight might become tragic."
Suddenly a golden light appeared in the room and as the light receded, a golden man came out of it. It was Adam Warlock. "We might still have some chance if Thanos hasn't completely gotten all the stones in his hands. We can work together like the last time."
"Adam Warlock! I didn't expect you to arrive as well." Dr. Strange greeted Adam in surprise.
"Defeating Thanos is my duty. And he also has the soul stone in his possession, so it is inevitable that I have to fight him. Don't worry, we will win." Adam's words gave confidence to the group.
They had seen Adam Warlock's strength when he fought alongside them during Thanos' earlier attack. He was probably the strongest of everyone in the room. With Adam's addition, the group started discussing plans to defeat Thanos again.
Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Doctor Strange, Spiderman, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Ant-Man, and Captain America were from the Avengers. Reed Richards had his Fantastic Four. Adam Warlock had brought Silver Surfer who had been defeated and thrown into the soul world by Thanos.
Vaman and I were not involved too much in their discussions and just listened in from the side. Adam was going to take the lead on this one.
After listening in for a while, I couldn't help it, "It's great that you can fight Thanos. But what about his army? What will you do about his army that will attack Earth?"
Fury agreed with me on this one, "Yes, if you all go fight Thanos then Earth will be open to attacks from his army."
Adam answered right away, "If I have the two infinity stones that exist on Earth, I can use them to fight against Thanos while you guys stop the invasion."
Then another argument began with Fury about handing over such a powerful artifact to someone who is not human. But due to the emergency situation, it was resolved soon and two teams were formed. Adam with two infinity stones along with Silver Surfer against Thanos. And the rest against Thanos' army while providing support to the first group when possible.
They planned to take the fight to Thanos instead of waiting for him to arrive on Earth and cause destruction. But I raised other issues, "You don't even know the size of his army. Can you guys really stop the fleet by yourself?"
Bruce Banner spoke at this point, "We don't have a choice. We can't take the soldiers to fight with us into outer space when even people like us can't guarantee our own survival."
"Why do you all forget the mutants? They have the power and the numbers to defend this planet in the face of this invasion. Earth might lose in technology against the aliens but we don't lose in firepower if you include the mutants." My answer made the heroes thoughtful.
But Fury weighed in with his distrust and pessimism, "Will they even help the humans with all that has been going on? I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to hide away with all their people in one place and fend off the attacks."
"It would be justified with the way they are treated. But there is a slim chance that they will help. After all, this planet is their home too. It's just that they probably have some conditions." At this point in time, Professor X should still be thinking about how to get along with humans.
"They want to talk conditions when we are in a state of emergency? Do they want to exploit the situation?" An old and gruff voice came from the door of the room. Everyone turned around while Bruce Banner stiffened up.
"General Ross, you shouldn't be here." Fury wanted to send Ross away. He didn't want the military in his operations either.
"I am here on behalf of the American government today, so I have every right to be here. So, you were saying?" Ross shut Fury up and stared at me.
He probably wanted to scare me with his army general stare and authoritative voice. I looked young so it was a good tactic. Sadly for him, a being who could fight on equal footing with everyone in this room was currently thrashing about trapped in my mind.
"You should be familiar with this tactic, general. Wait until the other party is in a desperate situation and then send in your 'help' with conditions. America has perfected this. You guys in the military and CIA even manufacture the desperate situations." I mocked the general who was glaring at me.
Ross continued glaring and said menacingly, "I could arrest you right now for treason. You better learn to respect your country, boy."
I rolled my eyes and Fury came forward to confront Ross, "Why are you here General Ross?"
"We want an assessment of this supposed incoming threat. The military and the white house also want to know why you had to be told by an organization from another country to identify the said threat. What is the use of all your budget if you can't identify threats yourself?" Ross used the military's favorite card against SHIELD, the budget.
"This is why I don't have much faith in the countries and their governments. A hostile alien fleet is approaching the planet and they bicker about budgets and authority. This planet is fucked at this rate. Should I just get on a spaceship and run away?" I mumbled in a not-so-quiet voice again.
Tony and Vaman laughed at that while a few quiet chuckles were heard in the room. That shut up Ross too and Fury went on to brief Ross about the situation.
"Try to stop the threats on your own and call the mutants only if there is no other way. We can't give in to their demands. I'm sure they will ask for their own country given a chance." Ross gave his orders as the representative of the military and the government.
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Author here. Life is hard, I've been feeling a bit down lately because of all the work. This world would be much better if the capitalist overlords all grew conscience someday and distributed some of the resources they've been hogging. Since you guys don't know me but you are in a way a part of my life, it feels easier to just put my sad rants out here.
Anyway, feel free to vent your emotions in the comments or some other outlet. You will get through it and come out strong.
Doesn't feel right to ask for Patreon or stones after that. Anyway, be safe and enjoy the stories I will continue to write.
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