The Orc Factory

"Lirael."

"Lira… what?"

"No, it's Lirael."

"Li-… Rael?"

"…It's LIRAEL!!"

Almost laughing at the absurdity of it, Lirael once again felt the insurmountable gulf of communication between himself and humanity. "I don't have a surname," he added with a resigned sigh.

"Oh… oh, I'm sorry." Steve looked a little surprised but quickly recovered. "Alright then, Lirael. Do you want to join us inside, or would you rather support from outside?"

"Of course, I'll go with you."

The elf nodded his head toward the Captain, his expression serene.

Perhaps intentionally, or perhaps not, he cast a brief glance toward Clint, his smile as gentle as ever.

"After all, it seems I'm the only competent archer here who still has their wits about them."

"…"

Clint was too angry to form words, nearly choking on his indignation.

Everything proceeded smoothly after that.

Upon entering the building, the Avengers quickly discovered that the Hydra-owned skyscraper bore all the hallmarks of the organization's usual operations.

On the surface, it appeared to be a perfectly ordinary financial company—nothing about it hinted at biological experimentation.

But the basement told an entirely different story.

Just as Tony had predicted, they encountered several recently-awakened orcs during their exploration.

The creatures, still dripping wet from their incubation pods, were dangerously close to the exit.

Had the Avengers arrived even a little later, these beasts might have escaped onto the streets, unleashing a fresh wave of destruction.

"And to think," Tony crowed as his repulsor blast turned an orc's head into fireworks, "this is all thanks to me. I found this place, no arguments, right?"

Tilting his head in smug triumph, he surveyed his teammates, all of whom were efficiently dispatching their own opponents.

"So, post-mission party is on me, and this time everyone is coming. No skipping out."

"I thought it was J.A.R.V.I.S. who found this place." Natasha's voice was calm as she placed her gun squarely against an orc's forehead and pulled the trigger without hesitation. "Where do you get the gall to take credit?"

"Excuse me, J.A.R.V.I.S. is mine. Therefore, his accomplishments are also mine."

Tony rolled his eyes at her through his helmet before turning his attention to the pair still darting between enemies in the distance. "Cap, need a hand?"

"No, thanks."

With a single sweep of his shield, Steve sent an orc crashing into a wall.

He lifted his head, intending to check on Lirael, only to see the elf already smiling at him from a short distance away, standing amidst two corpses—each with an arrow cleanly through its skull.

"I hope I'm not slowing you down," Lirael said, bending to retrieve his arrows from the bodies.

His voice was calm, and his smile remained as warm as a spring breeze.

"Of course not." Steve motioned for the team to proceed and was the first to push open the door leading to the basement. "I've said it before—you're brave, every bit as much as any of us. How could you possibly hold us back?"

"What? Wait… are you saying that taking me along would slow you down?"

Steve's sincerity was undeniable.

Listening to the conversation over the comms, Clint, who had been stewing outside, finally couldn't hold it in anymore.

"He uses my trick arrows? He coordinates better than I do? Is he more charming than I am?!"

"…"

Steve paused mid-step, unsure how to respond.

Lirael and Natasha simply gave up on even acknowledging Clint's outburst.

Meanwhile, Tony nearly doubled over laughing and only managed to stifle himself ten minutes later.

Remembering his role as peacekeeper, Tony piped up through the comms to soothe his fuming teammate.

"No, absolutely not. Nobody could ever be more charming than you, Barton."

Following J.A.R.V.I.S.' scan toward the basement, Tony added with mock sympathy, "Sure, you've rattled your brain a little, but we'd never hold that against you. Even if you tried to quit and go home to cuddle your kids, we wouldn't let you leave. Okay?"

Clint: …Oh.

That's not comforting. Now I'm even angrier. What do I do?

The path to the basement was littered with heavy security doors, their solid structures now reduced to mangled wrecks by claw and bite marks.

While the damage simplified the Avengers' task of navigating to the right location, the closer they got to their destination, the more Lirael's elven senses picked up on something deeply unsettling.

The air was thick with a foul, oppressive aura that made his skin crawl, a sensation that took him back to Middle-earth, face-to-face with legions of orcs.

Although hauntingly familiar, it was a memory he had no wish to revisit.

"We're here."

Standing before the final broken door, Lirael paused.

Though the dim lighting inside the basement couldn't fully illuminate the sprawling space, the overwhelming stench confirmed it beyond a doubt: this was the lair of creatures tied to his own world.

"Life signatures detected inside, sir," J.A.R.V.I.S. reported dutifully.

Hearing this, Steve nodded and signaled for an attack.

Raising his shield, he was the first to step inside, with Tony following close behind, shoving the battered door open with a forceful push.

"Oh my god." Even with mental preparation, Tony couldn't help but grimace as his gaze fell on the scene before him.

The interior was an expansive chamber, now crammed with rows of nutrient pods.

Each pod contained a fully grown orc or goblin scout, some already shattered from within, others intact but ominously humming with latent energy.

It looked like the secret lab of a madman bent on creating biological weapons.

"There's… so many of them."

For a moment, Lirael stood frozen, his wide eyes fixed on the overwhelming sight.

Natasha, on the other hand, kept her composure and inspected a nearby intact pod.

Her expression grew grim as she turned to Steve, whose brow was furrowed deeply.

"The pressure inside these pods is increasing. They'll wake up soon. We don't have much time."