Chapter 35 - Battle of New York Final

CNN NEWS

ONE WEEK LATER

"Despite the devastation of what has been confirmed as an extra-terrestrial attack, the extraordinary heroics of the group known as The Avengers has been, to many, not only a cause for comfort but also an awakening of what the world will become…"

...

Fans cheered in the background of the Newscast.

"I love you, Thor!"

"Iron Man is the best!"

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NEWS FRONT

ONE WEEK LATER

"And even though the battle was hard and we lost many lives along the way, including the Avenger known as Lemillion, the world has found new hope in their heroes…"

......…

"I saw Black Widow up close during the battle, and I am sure she wasn't wearing any panties under that tight suit…"

"I think I saw a Magician at some point!"

"Stop lying!"

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HEROIC NEWS AGENCY

ONE WEEK LATER

"And while we are saddened by the loss of Mirio Togata, also known as Lemillion, we find ourselves at the precipice of something great. There have also been rumors circulating that Mr. Togata was about to publish the first in a series of novels written by child author Alisa, inspired by the concept of what a hero should be. Tony Stark had since stated that a large fraction of the proceedings will go to rebuilding New York City and…"

........

"I am definitely going to buy this book, I am a super fan of Lemillion – God bless his soul!"

"Not 'God' bless his soul, Thor blesses his soul!"

"ODIN bless his soul!"

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ABOARD HELICARRIER

Fury stood in a room surrounded by screens, dimmed just enough to hide the faces of those who didn't wish to be seen.

The atmosphere was tense, and the lights unsteady, and though Nicholas Fury was the one being watched, he still intimidated everyone present on the large screens around him.

One eye scanned each face on the screen.

"It's strange seeing people become legends when they are still alive –" Fury opened the conversation, knowing he could never wait on politicians to begin.

Especially when the Politicians were The World Security Council.

"Unless you count the young Avenger designated – Lemillion –" Councilman Malick pointed out, being one of the few brave members of the World Council that wasn't afraid to stare down at Fury.

Fury shrugged "I will deal with that particular problem when it comes around."

"Isn't there a protocol for fallen Avengers?" Councilman Rockwell questioned, and Fury did not confirm or deny the Councilman's suspicions, simply removing his phone from his pocket to send a message.

Nobody was bothered by Fury's suspicious actions, he was a spymaster after all.

"And what is the status on building a legitimized Avengers Network?"

"I have my best men on it," Fury replied, quirking his brow suspiciously, typing the next message on his phone even faster.

"By your best men, do you mean Tony Stark?" Councilman Pierce snorted in disdain, and his reaction was mirrored by many of the figures on the screen.

Apparently, Tony Stark was not very liked.\

'Wealthy men with shallow hearts,' Fury mused internally.

Fury's typing fingers hesitated for a moment, but quickly resumed and sent the name of the final person for Clint to look into – Alexander Pierce.

There was one thing Clint reported after recovering from Loki's influence.

And the information startled Fury into action – 'SHIELD's enemies were too easy to find – it was almost as if they had a network already.'

As a man who spent half his life chasing ghosts, aliens, and experiments gone wrong, Fury didn't need much information to start suspecting everyone around him – it was his job after all.

SHIELD was probably the peak power in the world, and hence, their enemies should have been hidden deep enough to avoid detection, but Clint found them too easily.

Something wasn't right.

While the Councilmen and Councilwomen kept debating the costs of repairing New York City, and what would become of the Chitauri Weaponry, Fury compiled a list of Agents at his disposal and selected two trusted agents out of the hundreds.

Two Agents he knew would never betray him.

With a flick of his fingers, the details of these Agents were deleted from all databases and transferred under the authority of a covert unit operated by Clint Barton aka Hawkeye.

Henceforth, those Agents no longer existed as far as the world knew.

'Code Name: Ghost --- Code Name: Ms. Marvel – CONFIRM?'

'Confirm,' Fury flicked, and returned the now-friend phone to his pockets.

"Where are the Avengers?" Councilman Malick inquired.

"I am not currently tracking their whereabouts –" Fury replied, relaxedly "I'd say they've earned a leave of absence."

"And the tesseract?"

"The Tesseract is where it belongs – out of our reach."

"That's not your call to make."

"I didn't make it –" Fury shrugged "I just didn't argue with the God that did."

"So, you let him take it, and the war criminal Loki that should be answering for his crimes?" Councilman Malick inquired frustratingly.

"I am a simple man, I believe in an eye for an eye –" Fury mused, glancing at screens around. "A girl named Jessica Jones ensured we got two eyes instead of one."

"I don't think you understand what you have started –" Councilwoman Hawley explained, "They're very dangerous – able to tip the scales of power as we know it."

"And we should be glad that we know it –" Fury loosened up, smiling slightly. "Now the whole world knows it – every world knows it!"

"Was that the point of all this?" Councilman Malick sighed. "A statement?"

"A promise –" Fury whispered, and waved his hands to sever the connection.

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SECRET SHIELD FACILITY

Maria waited for the familiar ding of the elevator, and walked into the Observation Room.

Immediately after the battle of New York concluded, Fury assigned her a list of tasks that were carried out as covertly as possible.

Maria had been on a dozen flights all across the world before coming to this facility.

Maria followed the orders perfectly and hired minor contractors that would no doubt mysteriously disappear after the job was finished.

A bit messy, but that was the job.

Maria didn't know why, but Fury wanted her to move below the radar of SHIELD and the Government, which was usually a task designated for Natasha, but Maria could adapt.

Natasha deserved a break.

Nearly twenty methods of transportation and many decoys later, Maria made it to the pre-assigned facility – a facility she would have to destroy as soon as the task was completed.

The observation room had screens on all corners, showing the latest news concerning The Avengers.

Maria watched for a couple of minutes before flicking off the displays.

Not long after, Philip Coulson's – Agent of SHIELD – body was escorted through the elevator doors within a crystalline structure, preserving his state at the moment of his passing.

The science was beyond Maria, but Fury once mentioned it wasn't science at all, it was magic.

Yeah, right!

"Are you sure you want to do this?" A Doctor inquired, hesitation all over his face.

"At least ask me that question with your real face," Maria replied coldly.

The Doctor's body morphed until she became a male Skrull.

"The procedure is experimental at best, and the woman in question is… Ancient," The Skrull explained, but with Maria's go-ahead, there was nothing else to say.

The Skrull handed Maria a pad with two highly experimental projects available.

Maria examined the pad for nearly thirty minutes, going over the advantages and disadvantages of both procedures until…

She flicked the second option as fury instructed.

Honestly, Maria wanted to choose the First Experimental Project, but she was given specific instructions by Fury to seek information about Magic – a research SHIELD was not very well-versed in.

Project Tahiti –

Project Summary: Crystallized remains of Kree treated with mutagenic properties to unlock the regenerative potential in the unused portion of the human brain's ganglia…

Project Mephisto ×

Project Summary: A sacred ritual established by the collaborator of SHIELD – Agatha Harkness. This ritual resurrects the target and grants a limited magic potential, but erratic behavior is to be expected. This deals with forces that have yet to be fully understood.

Condition for Project Completion: Recovery of Darkhold stored within SHIELD's vault.

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SOMEWHERE IN NEW YORK CITY

Thor had his hand wrapped around the shackles that bound Loki.

Steve, Clint, Natasha, Jessica, Bruce, and Tony came to see Thor off.

Actually, they came to see Loki's eyeless face.

It took an entire week for Bruce and Tony to design an insulation chamber that could harness the power of the Tesseract to transport Thor and Loki to Asgard.

Honestly, it could have taken less than a week if Tony and Bruce weren't focusing on all facets of Asgardian Knowledge, instead of only what was necessary to build the insulation device.

Needless to say, Tony and Bruce were now not only the smartest persons on Earth but also somewhat skilled in Dimensional Sciences and Wormhole generation.

Still, despite the closest between Thor and the Midgardians, things were very tense simply because Loki's eyes were entirely white.

Basically, The God of Mischief was blind.

Jessica smiled shallowly from beside Natasha since she could sense Loki's gaze in her direction even if he couldn't 'see' in conventional ways.

When Jessica forced her fingers into Loki's eye sockets, everyone expected The God of Mischief to recover eventually, since Asgardians had amazing regeneration capabilities.

But Loki never recovered.

Tony surmised that it was because there was something unique about Jessica's power that allowed her to be invulnerable for brief instants, exponentially increasing her physical prowess in the process….

Luckily, Thor didn't take a serious offense to his brother's blindness at the hands of a mortal girl.

If anything, it was embarrassing.

"It is time for me to depart, my friends," Thor said, completing his duty on Earth.

He wasn't sure if he would be able to return during an average human lifespan due to chaos in the nine realms, but at least, he could spare Jane the misery of war on her planet.

Steve and everyone else nodded in acceptance, somewhat eager to see Thor leave alongside Loki.

It was hard restraining themselves from attacking Loki, especially when everything on television showed the thousands dead, and amongst them was Mirio's photo.

"But first –" Thor released Loki and pulled Tony aside. "Hear me well, Man of Metal - Heimdall saw the final moments of Son of Amillion's demise – he says Amillion's soul may have drifted along the branches of Yggdrasil."

"You're saying the kid could be alive?" Tony frowned since Asgardian accents and terminologies were difficult to follow, but he could manage.

"Ay…" Thor nodded "In Midgardian terms – he may have been displaced across space-time."

Tony nodded and Thor walked back to Loki.

"I will have Heimdall look for him across the nine realms!" Thor shouted, and with a quick jerk of his and Loki's hands, they turned into blue specs of energy and departed for Asgard.

"Keep an eye out for the girl –" Steve warned, turning to Jessica and Natasha "Loki didn't strike me as the type to take things lying down, and we don't know what Asgard is like – he could be free by tomorrow or in a decade."

Natasha nodded in understanding and Jessica took a deep breath to push the memories of Mirio from her mind.

Natasha and Jessica departed, hopping into a nearby car, waving everyone goodbye.

Steve left next, planning to report for duty with SHIELD, hoping to do some good in the world once more.

After Steve, Bruce departed – his plans were to use the Asgardian Knowledge gained from Thor to try and tackle his 'condition' once more.

After countless failures, Bruce had initially given up, but with Asgardian Knowledge under his belt, Bruce was sure that even if he couldn't cure his condition, he could exert some control.

Clint glanced at the notification on his phone – a mission to meet the new members of his covert team to investigate the inconsistencies during his brainwashing.

A mission personally assigned by Director Fury.

Tony was the last to depart, simply walking into his suit nearby.

The suit opened for him, and then wrapped tightly around his body.

A couple of seconds later, Tony was soaring through the skies, only landing when he arrived on the balcony of Stark Tower.

The moment he was out of the suit, Pepper's darted onto the balcony, wrapping her legs around Tony's waist, not even giving him time to process what was happening.

Tony accidentally tapped on the display to project the blueprint for the first Avenger's Tower.

Tony and Pepper made love for the rest of the day.

The amazing sex that night was the true reason Tony stuck to the hero gig.