Chapter 186: We will watch you with great interest. 2012 CE

Kojirou was standing motionlessly in front of a destroyed road and buildings. There were corpses in front of him, covered with a thin cloth. The corpses were all bloodied, died by the rubble caused by him.

Cleo then appeared behind him, looking at the scene in front of her.

"What have you done?" she questioned in shock.

Kojirou shook his head. "You should… chain me Cleo," he said calmly. "I am dangerous right now."

"Is it–"

"It's my fault." he cut her off. "I did this…"

Cleo looked at his glowing crimson ring. "It's not your fault Kojirou."

"But it is." Kojirou refuted. "Just chain me. Take me to Grodd. Let him deal with me, he probably knows what's happening to me the most."

Cleo shook her head as she hugged Kojirou from the back. "I'm not going to do that, brother…"

Kojirou just held her hand tightly as his eyes stared emptily at the corpses in front of him. "Please. I've jeopardised the mission Cleo, you should know this."

"It's collateral damage."

"These are human beings, not collateral damage." continued Kojirou. "Just like us once."

"You are still as human as the rest of them, as the rest of us Kojirou."

"I can kill those space worms easily, Cleo." said Kojirou, releasing Cleo's hug. "I doubt that's human-like."

Jeanne then suddenly landed in front of the two, all battered up. "Kojirou…"

Kojirou raised his hands, signalling Jeanne to tie him up. "Do it Jeanne, it'll make me feel safer."

Jeanne looked at the back of her, the devastation of Manhattan, of Hell's Kitchen. She sighed, and Kojirou's hands were suddenly covered in light, restricting it.

"Let's go back." said Jeanne to the two of them.

"What about Loki?" asked Michel, who landed besides Jeanne as he just jumped from the top of the building, his sniper strapped on his back.

"Let him be." said Cleo. "He'll be dealt with the Asgardian way by Thor."

"And the Sceptre? The Tesseract?"

"I want to say that it's not our problem… but…" Cleo's gaze lingered on the sky, where the mothership was still there. "Fine, let's go there, see what they are planning."

—

The Avengers have just dealt with Loki, they have cuffed and secured him, along with the Tesseract and the Sceptre.

Suddenly, the Unseen Ones remaining Thopter hovered in front of the Stark Tower, and it attracted the attention of the Agents inside. Tony walked towards him, and opened his visor as the ramp of the Thopter opened, revealing Cleo and Bradley standing side to side, with their hood still on.

"Can I help you with something?" said Tony sarcastically. "You want some wine? Whiskey? What is the Queen of Egypt drinking anyway?"

"The blood of newborns." answered Cleo, not amused. "Where is the Tesseract and the Sceptre?"

"It's safe with us." Thor walked towards them. "I will bring the Tesseract to Asgard, it will be used to fix the Bifrost, and it will be stored in Odin's treasure room."

Cleo nodded, trusting Odin. "And the sceptre?"

"We'll be storing it safely." answered Steve. "You can trust us."

"But that's the thing, captain." refuted Bradley. "We can't trust you, them, nor the government."

Steve frowned. "Bradley… I don't know what made you like this, but—"

"He's got a point, Rogers." Cleo cut him off. "Who do you think caused this? Us? You? Loki? No, it's SHIELD, they're playing with fire."

"I can assure you Miss Egypt, the sceptre's safe with us." said Tony.

"We can't trust you Stark." Cleo shook her head. "Please, give the sceptre to us."

"Cleo, we should stop." Grodd suddenly spoke at the commss. "It's USA's jurisdiction, you can't force them to give it up or you'll risk becoming a criminal."

"We already are, you should know that." said Cleo to the comms.

"I know, but please, if you force yourself, there'll be more casualties."

"If we don't take it, there'll be more."

"I'm trying to stop a conflict Cleo, please cooperate." Grodd spoke. "Don't force it now, we will do it later."

Cleo looked at the destroyed city, and sighed. "Fine, I'll trust you in this."

"Thank you Cleo." Grodd hummed. "I know it's dangerous, but the sceptre is easily trackable, if they found out that we've taken it and tracked it to Zimera, war will come."

"Very well."

"Done talking to your boss?" Tony snorted. "Who is that anyway? Uncle?" he said, opening his device, trying to see who it was, but he spectacularly failed as a picture of a man giving a middle finger appeared on his device. "Huh…"

"You're not the smartest man alive, Stark." Bradley chuckled in amusement.

Cleo also laughed, and she suddenly summoned a chain, and she dragged Tony and she made him fall towards the ground below.

"Hey! What was that for!?" Steve protested.

"Just a bit of payback Rogers." said Cleo. "I guess this is goodbye. I'll see you all if there's any trouble."

"Wait!" Rogers shouted, looking at Bradley. "Can we have a chat some time?"

Bradley smiled as he shook his head. "Maybe later Captain, for now, maybe you should ask Fury about me, he might know something."

Rogers frowned, and nodded. "I'll be waiting for you to contact me."

"Then you will wait for a long time." said Bradley before the ramp closed, and it disappeared instantly using quantum teleportation. Stark suddenly appeared, wearing his iron man suit, landing on his tower.

"What the hell was that?!" Stark protested, but he saw that the Thopter was gone. "Where are they?"

Thor and Steve looked at him, but they just scoured along, ignoring him entirely, making Tony confused.