Neither Scientific Nor Magical!

Nick Fury felt like an idiot for asking the wrong person. He had carefully analyzed Thor's profile, but he had found the Thunder God to be dumber than he had ever imagined.

"He was in possession of the Tesseract, allowing him to teleport away at any time," Fanny joined in on the fun, "So we are considering a way to kill him in one blow to prevent him from escaping."

"No, you can't do this!" Thor protested in disbelief. Loki had mistreated him thousands of times, but the God of Mischief was still his half-brother.

"That is only in the worst-case scenario. We will not be discussing that plan for now." Nick Fury shot a glare at Fanny. Fanny might be joking, but the bald director really did consider that option. It was just not the time to bring that up yet.

Despite Nick Fury being the leader of the group, Thor obviously trusted Fanny more since the mage had defeated him. Worry had not disappeared from his face as he said, "Loki is a citizen of Asgard. His punishment must be decided by Asgard."

"We will talk about that after catching him," Nick Fury evaded the topic. "I have a plan, so please listen to it."

Nick Fury then explained his plan. Fanny thought that it should be alright.

The plan mainly consisted of separating Loki from the Tesseract by using bait to lure Loki out. A separate team would then sneak in to steal the Cube.

Captain America found the term of the operation acceptable, so he nodded. He then asked, "Who will be the bait?"

Everyone's eyes turned to Thor, the newcomer. If Thor hadn't arrived, they would have to discuss the best bait, but Thor would be the best for that role.

Thor understood that as well. He turned to Nick Fury. "What am I to do?"

"Use the best method you know to lure him out!" Nick Fury replied.

"Wait, how can we be sure that Loki wouldn't take the Cube with him to go against Thor?" Banner raised his hand and asked.

"Well, we will just have to wait!" Nick Fury said while looking around, "Act only after confirming that he had started studying the Cube."

Nobody had alternative plans, so they could only follow Nick Fury's operation. Fanny wanted to extract his seventh skill before finding Loki. Defeating Thor had left him with a sliver of experience left before the next extraction. Perhaps he needed just one more battle.

Everyone had stayed aboard the helicarrier, uncertain of when the operation would start.

In addition to the Avengers, the helicarrier was occupied by a multitude of SHIELD agents—and Hydra operatives among them. Fanny equipped his 'Demon Armor Incursio' again to hide his identity, attracting attention wherever he went.

However, the ones who attracted the most attention were not Fanny. It was instead Captain America and Thor.

Tony had debuted as Iron Man too long ago, so the sense of novelty had faded. Fanny, on the other hand, had maintained a mysterious and unapproachable atmosphere. Not to mention Banner, a greasy middle-aged man. Other than Natasha's inexplicable attention, few people paid him any mind.

The two fierce men, Thor and Captain America didn't know much about modern society, so they were glad to talk with anyone they met. Their kind and approachable attitude, as well as their toned body, attracted the affection of both men and women.

So much so that on Fanny's way to Captain America's quarter, he noticed a lot of young female agents wandering around, stealing glances every so often.

Captain America was a little surprised by Fanny's visit, but he did not turn Fanny away.

"What's the matter?"

Although his impression of Fanny had changed a little, Fanny was still his benefactor, so Captain America's attitude wasn't as stiff as when he faced Tony.

Talking to people while wearing 'Demon Armor Incursio' wasn't exactly polite, but it was necessary considering what Fanny had to say. "Would you be interested in sparring with me?"

"Sparring?!" The request surprised Captain America. He frowned. "Why?"

"To understand the strength of your teammates!" Fanny explained the reason he had prepared, "This way, you can make a better judgment in an emergency situation."

Although what Fanny said seemed a little far-fetched, it was reasonable. Still, Captain America shook his head. "I am not the commander!"

"It doesn't matter!" Fanny waved his hand dismissively. "Are you going to rest already? Your body might not be young, but you probably hadn't even started to age!"

"..."

Captain America frowned again. "Why are you asking me? I'm no match for you!"

The battle between Fanny and Thor was etched deep in Captain America's heart.

Although Captain America was invincible back in the day, to the point that he dared to single-handedly charge into Hydra Bases left and right, he was now incomparable to an existence beyond common sense like Fanny.

Fanny couldn't say that Captain America, Black Widow, and Hawkeye were the only ones he hadn't fought among the Avengers. And the other two were 'ordinary' people that wouldn't net much experience, so Captain America was the only option left.

In fact, Fanny really can't turn to anyone else.

Tony's armor had been smashed by Thor, so Tony was in a hurry to repair and improve it. Nick Fury had asked to use Banner's gamma ray expertise to track the Cube and its activation status. And in the current situation, calling Hulk out would not be a good idea anyway.

Thor was a better choice, but Mjolnir would've made him nigh-unbeatable. Moreover, Nick Fury was currently interrogating him about Asgard, so he didn't have any free time.

Hawkeye and Black Widow, the two 'ordinary' people, would be Fanny's last resort.

Fanny could also open a portal to Kamar-Taj and find Mordo, but it would be too embarrassing to suddenly pick a fight as soon as he returned, especially after the long time he had spent without any contact.

"It's just a spar; winning or losing doesn't matter. It's simply to deepen our understanding." Fanny feigned a carefree attitude. Captain America might just believe him if Fanny hadn't just intimidated Thor into admitting defeat in front of everyone.

"Well, where are we fighting?" Captain America ultimately relented to Fanny's persistence. He stood up and cracked his neck.

"Put on your combat suit and get your equipment first." Fanny glanced at the shield in the corner. The shield seemed to be made of Vibranium alloy instead of pure Vibranium, so it couldn't be replicated.

Captain America had agreed to the spar, so he didn't hesitate. He closed the door to his quarters and put on an old-fashioned battle suit, picking the shield on the way. He opened the door again and asked, "We aren't fighting here, do we?"

"Of course not. Speaking of which, you were still in ice when you experienced this last time!" Fanny opened a sparking portal as he spoke. The destination was the place where he had fought with Thor.

"This world is changing way too fast!" Captain America sighed at the sight of the portal. He then stepped through it, followed closely by Fanny.

Fanny closed the portal after they had both arrived. It was nighttime, but the bright moonlight flooded the Earth. Visibility wasn't a problem.

The two of them didn't waste any more time with words and clashed immediately.

The result of the battle was beyond Fanny's expectations. He had wanted to end the fight quickly by using a few skills, but he still couldn't defeat Captain America even after the ten minutes mark.

Captain America was supposed to be around the same level as Red Skull, but his perseverance was on a whole other level.

Fanny might have held his fist back, but it was still surprising. Fanny's current strength wasn't that far below Thor's; he only took a few steps back when their fist clashed.

"This is unscientific!" Fanny exclaimed when he saw Captain America holding the round shield up, slightly panting but still far from going down. "Not even magical either!"

Fanny felt that he could win the battle if he had discarded everything and unleashed his full strength at Captain America, but that would erase all meaning of this battle.