Chapter 93: At War

["All personnel, the evacuation order has been confirmed. Proceed to your designated vehicles for all campus evacuation. This is not a drill."]

It was the dead of night, and a broad and grandiose base was located down below a steep mountain range. The base glowed in the darkness thanks to several bright lights scattered throughout the SHIELD compound. Scientists, Agents, and other personnel moved quickly as the repeating alert to evacuate filled them with fright and urgency. Dozens upon dozens of cars, trucks, and SUVs were driving along the roads in a fast but controlled manner.

Up above the base and through the mountains flew a helicopter. It was sleek and a dark grey color. The aircraft flew closer to the ground, approached a small helipad, and descended. A few feet from the helipad stood a man with short black hair, dressed in a black and white suit with dark sunglasses over his eyes. This was Agent Phil Coulson—Nick Fury's right-hand man.

Once the helicopter made landfall, its side door slid back, and two figures stepped out. Maria Hill, former commander and deputy of SHIELD, was the first to step outside the helicopter. Maria was a beautiful woman with dark brown hair pulled into a ponytail. She wore a dark blue SHEILD uniform with her service pistol on her right hip.

The following individual to step out of the helicopter was Nick Fury. He walked towards Phil and looked at everyone evacuating from the area.

"How bad is it?" Nick asked loudly as the helicopter's rotor blades spun loudly behind him.

"That's the problem, sir. We don't know." Phil said as he began leading his superiors toward the service elevator to the research lab. "Doctor Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago."

The three stepped inside the elevator, and it began to descend towards the lab. Nick frowned and looked over at Maria. She had a look of unease. "NASA didn't authorize Selvig to go to test B." Nick said as the elevator doors opened.

"He wasn't testing it. He wasn't even in the room. It was a spontaneous event." Phil said as they walked through the large halls of the lower levels of the base.

"It just turned itself on?" Maria asked as they passed by some of the remaining scientists and agents. They packed up whatever vital paperwork and tech they could.

"Where are the energy levels now?" Nick asked.

"Climbing. When Selvig and Ross couldn't shut it down, we ordered the evacuation." Phil said as they turned the corner.

"How long to get everyone out?" Nick asked as he looked over to Phil.

"Campus should be clear in the next half hour." Coulson said quickly, and Nick turned his body to look at him—a severe expression on the director's face.

"Do better." Nick ordered, and Phil nodded. Nick watched as Phil walked off to do just that. He then turned to look at Maria. "Let's hurry."

•••

"Talk to me, Doctors."

Nick walked into a massive room. It was more akin to a chamber due to the fact that thick steel-reinforced cement walls stood firm all around them. Large pieces of expensive and intricate technology could be seen in almost every corner. Several scientists were working urgently as they walked back and forth from work table to work table. In the center of the room was a large open device. In its center was a brightly glowing cube. This was the Tesseract.

A man with short, greying hair turned to look at Nick. He was dressed in a blue striped button-up shirt and khaki pants. This was Erik Selvig, a renowned astrophysicist brought in to work on project PEGASUS.

Beside him was a gorgeous woman with loose, long black hair. She wore a light purple blouse and a long black office pencil skirt. Over her clothes was a long white laboratory coat. This was Elizebeth "Betty" Ross, a leading scientist in the field of Gamma radiation.

"Director." Erik said as he walked up to Nick. A nervous but enthusiastic expression on his weathered face. Betty followed behind him, a clipboard in hand.

"Sir." Betty said respectfully.

Nick began walking to the Tesseract with both doctors in tow. "Is there anything we know for certain?"

"The Tesseract is misbehaving." Erik said, and Nick turned to him with a raised eyebrow.

"Is that supposed to be funny?" Nick asked.

"What Dr. Selvig is trying to say is that the Tesseract is active. It's acting out in ways we can't control or understand why." Betty said as Selvig stopped before a console a few feet from the Tesseract. Nick and herself stood off to the side.

"How soon can you pull the plug?" Nick asked as he looked over at the glowing cube.

Erik began typing away at the Tesseracts central console. "She's an energy source. We turn off the power. She turns it back on. If she reaches peak level-"

"We prepared for this, doctor. Harnessing energy from space." Nick said and stepped closer to Erik. Erik frowned and looked up from the keyboard.

"We don't have the harness. My calculations are far from complete. She's throwing off interference and radiation. Nothing harmful, low levels of Gamma radiation." Erik said and looked at Betty, who nodded and showed Nick the recorded Gamma radiation levels on her chart.

Nick read the data over and nodded. The gamma readings were climbing but hadn't reached dangerous radiation levels, which was good; after all, Gamma radiation can be very destructive.

"Good, where's agent Barton?" Nick asked and scanned the large chamber.

"Mr. Barton is up on the rafters." Betty said and looked high behind them. High above, near the yellow railings, was Agent Clint Barton. He was kneeling and keeping a vigilant watch over everyone as if he were a Hawk.

Nick walked away from the doctors and called Clint down from his nest, as Erik put it. Immediately, Clint repelled down and approached Nick. His expression was calm and leveled.

"I gave you this detail so you could closely monitor things." Nick said as they approached the Tesseract. "Anything that might have set this thing off?"

"No one's come and gone—and Selvig's clean. No contacts, no IM. If there's any tampering, sir, it wasn't this end." Clint said as a NASA scientist called out, saying there was another energy spike. Nick frowned and eyed the powerful cube carefully.

"At this end?" Nick asked in confusion.

Clint nodded and pointed over at the Tesseract. "Yeah. The cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? Doors open from both sides."

Suddenly, a bright spark erupted from the Tesseract, gaining everyone's attention. Nick and Clint backed away as the glowing cube continued to radiate power and crack with energy. Sharp and steady tremors began to shake the base around them, causing dust and debris to fall from the cracking roof above.

The Tesseract continued to spark repeatedly, each time bigger than the last; without warning, a beam of energy shot forward from the glowing cube and opened a wide portal at the end of the walkway. Above the portal, a large cloud of energy manifested. Sparks and long energy spikes shot out from the cloud and cracked the walls around it.

Below the cloud of energy stood three standing figures. Blue energy surrounded their frames until they fizzled away. On the right was a large man. His body was thick with powerful muscles.

The man was bald, but on the sides of his head were two sharp arching tattoos that pointed to his eyebrows. He wore a blue and brown suit of armor with a purple insignia that resembled an ace in the center. In his hands was an enormous sharp axe that glinted in the light. The man's name was Skurge, the executioner.

Off on the left stood a blonde woman with unimaginable beauty. She wore a green and black dress that was heavily revealing and accentuated her large breasts. On her forearms were long green gauntlets of armor while a green headpiece that curved sharply rested above her forehead and framed her face. This was Amora, otherwise known as the Enchantress.

In the center stood a man with long black hair. In his hands was a sharp glowing spear, a viscous grin stretched across his face. The man wore a green and black suit with golden armor. On his head was a gold crown with two long, curving horns. He was known as Loki, the god of mischief.

Everyone watched the three individuals in awe and horror as they stood tall and looked at everyone present. Nick looked at the three and turned his body, his hand on his gun.

"Okay, you two put down the spear and the axe." Nick commanded and watched Loki turn to him with an amused smile. A tense silence hung over them as they waited for someone to make the first move.

Amora sighed and rolled her eyes. "How long will you stare into each other's eyes? We have things to do." Amora said and raised her now glowing green hands.

With a wave of her arms, the floor beneath all the SHIELD agents with guns sprang up, sending sharp slabs of concrete through their chests in a bloody act of violence. Skurge grinned, jumped high into the air, and landed with a loud crash between four NASA scientists; with a fast swing, he cut them all in half. Sending blood and goes down to the floor.

Erik watched in horror and grabbed Betty, pulling her down and away from the danger. Nick cursed and began shooting at Loki but saw his bullets bounce off harmlessly. That was until a small ball of fire and smoke exploded as an arrow impacted Loki's face, causing his head to snap back.

As Clint was about to shoot off another arrow, he froze when a hand brushed his face gently. Green magic surrounded his head, his eyes fogged over, and he dropped his bow.

"Good, you serve me now." Amora said sensually and stepped away from Clint. "Skurge, enough. We still need some of these Midgardians."

"Yes, my lady." Skurge nodded and dropped his Axe beside him. Two shacking scientists collapsed in fear in front of him.

Nick looked at Clint in horror but quickly composed himself. He reached behind him and threw down a compact smoke bomb in front of him. Obscuring the lab in its entirety. He used this opportunity to grab a specially made briefcase and placed the Tesseract inside. A wave of green magic dispersed the smoke as he was about to escape.

"Ah, ah, ah. Now, where are you heading off to?" Amora said as she dropped her hands.

"I still need that." Loki said and walked towards Nick. He paused when he saw Erik and Betty hiding behind the Tesseract console and tapped their chests with the spear. Nick watched as their eyes fogged over and glowed blue. "Where are my manners? I am Loki, God of mischief! And I am burdened with glorious purpose!"

Loki waved his arms around, a broad, egotistical smile on his face. Amora smiled at his showmanship, and Skurge walked beside her.

"Loki. Brother of Thor." Nick said slowly. "We have no quarrel with your people."

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot." Loki said and looked at Nick as if he were a bug. Nick glared at the god angrily.

"You planning to step on us?" Nick said slowly.

Loki chuckled and began walking towards Nick. "I come with glad tidings of a world made free."

"Free from what?" Nick asked.

"Freedom." Loki said with a flourish. He then began walking around and tapping the remaining scientists and agents in the chest, mind-controlling them as well. "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept that, in your heart, you will know peace."

"Yeah, you say peace. I kinda think you mean the other thing." Nick said and continued feeling the tremors below him. Clint watched Nick with his now green eyes with suspicion.

"My lady, Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury you." Clint said and bowed his head towards Amora.

"Is that so?" Amora said with a frown, looking up at the volatile cloud of blue energy above. "Oh my."

"Like the pharaohs of old." Nick said slowly. He had to buy as much time as he could.

"He's right." Betty said and looked up at the raging portal. "The portal is collapsing in on itself. We've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical."

Loki nodded slowly as if he had just been told something inconvenient. He then motioned to Nick. "I see, we'll then. Amora, if you would."

"Of course." Amora said and smiled sweetly at Clint. Clint nodded, pulled out his pistol, and quickly shot Nick in the chest. "Very good, my pet."

Nick flew back and landed on the ground with a pained grunt. The briefcase fell out of his hand. Clint grabbed hold of the briefcase and walked over to Amora. He then kneeled in front of her and presented the briefcase. Amora laughed and motioned to Skurge. Skurge nodded and grabbed the briefcase.

"Let's be on our way." Loki said and looked at Amora. Amora smiled and summoned a sizeable green portal behind them. All three Asgardians and the mind-controlled individuals walked in and disappeared.

"Damn it!" Nick cursed and stood up. He looked down at the bent bullet. If it weren't for his bulletproof vest, he would have died then and there.

Nick looked up as the entire base began to shake violently, and chunks of concrete and large pieces of steel fell near him. Nick spun around and began running out of the lab. He had to escape before the entire campus fell on top of him. After running through several stairs and halls, Nick finally made it outside and saw the helicopter he had arrived in still on the helipad.

"Let's go!" Nick yelled at the pilot as the helipad began to crack and shatter.

The helicopter quickly took off and flew away from the base. Nick looked out the window and saw the vast campus begin to sink into the ground. He could see that some men were still on the campus but had fallen into the crater. A deep frown marred his face as he drew a radio.

"The Tesseract is with the hostile force." Nick said. "I have men down. Hill? Coulson?"

["A lot of men still under. I'm not sure how many survived."] Maria said from the other end. The sound of rubble Fallon and sparks could be heard from her end.

["I was able to get ninety-five percent of the campus evacuated."] Coulson said from far off the campus. He watched in horror at the sheer amount of destruction.

"Sound a general call. I want every living soul not working rescue looking for that briefcase." Nick said into the radio and glared off into the darkness of the night.

["Roger that."] Maria said.

"Coulson, get back to base. This is a level seven. As of right now... we are at war." Nick said as he looked over at the pilot. The pilot nodded and changed directions.

In a vast grassy field stood several parked vehicles. Phil stepped out of a black SUV and had a look of unease.

"What do we do?"

•••

"And last night, my tent ripped. So I had to sleep under a plywood board leaning up against a van."

The Dunphy family and the Miller household were having dinner. Harvey had gone to pick up Alex from the airport after returning early from her humanitarian mission in Honduras. It was safe to say Alex didn't enjoy her time there at all.

"I knew I shouldn't have gone. I could have stayed home and worked on finishing the arc reactor. I'm halfway there, but I just had to go! It would have looked so nice on my college resume, I said! What a joke." Alex ranted as she stabbed her food.

"Well, at least you can say you've been to Honduras. Right?" Luke said but quickly looked away from Alex's quick glare. He scooped up some food and hummed, acting as if he never said anything.

"It couldn't have all been bad?" Harvey asked as he looked at Alex from the far end of the table. "I hear Honduras has some breathtaking sights. Plus, you still did some good; that's more than anyone else could say."

"I suppose…" Alex mumbled and looked down at her plate. "I guess you're right. Still, it doesn't change that I had to sleep under plywood."

"She's not wrong; I'd hate it too after all that." Pietro said, looking up. He was imagining himself in Alex's situation and grimaced.

"Hey, at least you're home now." Wanda smiled and looked over at Alex from the seat beside her. "You have to show the pictures you took while you were there."

"Oh! I know we can have a slideshow later! You all have to try the plums I grew. Trust me, they're amazing. I haven't had a single bad plum since." Phil said excitedly. He looked back at a basket of plums on the kitchen island.

"Did you happen to take any pictures of the latest fashion trends while you were over there?" Haley asked with a smile. "I could use some inspiration for some new designs."

"Alright, how about we finish our dinner first, and then we can look through Alex's pictures." Claire said and motioned to everyone to keep eating. She and Wanda didn't work hard on tonight's dinner for nothing. "Thanks again for helping me cook tonight, Wanda."

"Of course, I didn't mind. I just wanted to help make something to welcome Alex back." Wanda said and looked down at the maple mustard glazed chicken they cooked.

"Awe, thanks." Alex said softly and continued eating her meal.

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

"Who could that be?" Phil said and wiped his mouth. He stood up and walked over to the front door. "Hi there, how can I help you?"

"Is Harvey Miller here?" A voice said from outside. A strong sense of urgency could be heard from her voice.

"Sharon?" Harvey asked as he stood up and walked around the table. "What's the matter?"

"Excuse me." Sharon said and walked inside. She had a black folder in her hand. Phil blinked in confusion and looked over to Harvey questioningly.

"We need you to come in." Sharon said and looked over at the three super-powered individuals. Sharon's voice was laced with a hint of dread. "We're facing a potential global catastrophe."

The Dunphy family all remained silent. Their eyes grew in surprise, and slight fear as an oppressive weight descended on their shoulders. They looked back and forth from Sharon to Harvey, Wanda, and Pietro. Alex stood up and stood behind Harvey.

"Harvey? What's going on?" Alex asked softly. Everyone else stood up at attention. Wanda and Pietro walked forward to stand next to Harvey.

"Is this about the Avengers?" Wanda asked seriously. "I thought that was put on hold?"

Sharon looked over at Harvey and frowned. Harvey, however, didn't care about her disapproval. Sharon sighed and handed him the folder she had in her hands. Harvey began looking through its contents, and slowly, his eyes grew wide as he read them. "When and where."

"Today, we have to go right now. There's a car waiting for us to take us to a plane. Get your affairs in order and meet me outside." Sharon said and walked outside towards a black SUV.

Harvey walked up to the door and closed it softly. He looked over at everyone and frowned. They all had nervous looks; Pietro and Wanda looked anxious.

"I'm sorry, everyone, but this is something important." Harvey said and looked over to Wanda and Pietro. "This isn't about who was originally considered for the team; they're gonna need all the help they can get."

Wanda and Pietro nodded; Harvey then handed them the folder. The twins then turned around and looked over the Dunphy family. Wanda walked over to the Dunphy siblings and hugged them each. "We'll wrap this up quick and be back before you know it."

"Wait, what's going on?" Haley asked in slight fear. "You guys can't just leave without telling us. Don't do this again, Harvey."

"You're right." Harvey nodded. "Three extraterrestrial forces have invaded Earth and stolen a cube called the Tesseract. It holds unimaginable power; If we don't get that back, the Earth could be at risk."

"Holy shit, it is a world-ending threat." Luke whispered. Claire and Phil looked at each other in concern, fear on their faces.

"No way." Haley whispered and grabbed the table to steady herself slightly. "You're serious?"

"Yes." Pietro said as he read the folder's contents within half a second. "This isn't a joke."

"Hold on! You three are just-just kids! Powers or not, how can they expect you to take part in this?" Claire said quickly. She walked in front of the door and stood in front of it. "You three can just refuse, right? Let the rest of whoever these people are take care of it?"

"Go." Alex said suddenly, surprising her family. "They need you, right? If you have the power to help, then you should. So go."

"Alex." Haley said, stunned.

"I think we all need to have some faith in them, don't you think?" Alex asked with a smile, but fear could be seen in her eyes. "There's a lot at stake, and if they're there to help, they'll surely succeed."

Harvey, Wanda, and Pietro smiled at Alex and nodded. Phil smiled, walked over to Claire, and grabbed her shoulders. He gently moved her aside.

"It's okay, Claire. They'll be back. Safe and sound." Phil said calmly and looked back at the three. "Isn't that right?"

"That's right, Mr. Dunphy." Pietro nodded and puffed his chest. "We'll be back in time for breakfast."

"It'll be okay, Claire." Wanda said and grabbed the blonde woman's hands. Claire frowned and nodded. She let out a croaked "Okay."

Harvey looked at Alex, Haley, and Luke and brought them into a hug. "We'll be back soon, guys." Harvey said and looked at Wanda and Pietro. Smiling, and motioned for them to join. They grinned and did so.

After a few more minutes, they disbanded, and the super-powered trio walked over to the front door. Wanda and Pietro walked out towards the SUV and spoke to Sharon. Harvey paused halfway through the door frame and turned to the Dunphy family. They still had concerned looks.

"I won't let them get what they want, So don't worry." Harvey said confidently.

"Everything will be alright."