Fall of Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility

Time: 2012 May. Location: Joint Dark Energy Mission Facility, Mojave Desert, Nevada, US.

Men and women rushed in waves to evacuate the SHIELD Facility with any pieces of equipment they could carry. Although the facility was in a state of panic, unknown to most assigned to the base, the Tesseract, a source of infinite energy recovered from the carcass of the Valkyrie ship, was emitting never seen levels of energy.

Agent Maria Hill and Director Nick Fury exited the landed helicopter and approached Agent Phil Coulson.

"How bad is it?" Fury quickly asked.

"That's the problem, sir. We don't know." Coulson answered with worries weighing down his shoulders.

With hurried steps, Coulson led Hill, Fury, and some soldiers through the facility towards the underground area of the base. On their way, running staff and technicians swiftly dashed towards the exists, carrying only the essentials with them.

"Dr. Selvig read an energy surge from the Tesseract four hours ago," Phil informed the two.

"NASA didn't authorize Selvig to do any more testing yet," Fury questioned in surprise.

"He wasn't testing it, he wasn't even in the room. Spontaneous advancement." Coulson added.

"It just turned itself on?" Hill asked the two with a frown.

"We've seen something like this once before," Coulson said, silently implying towards the arrival of another alien from months ago.

Nick Fury turned his head to Phil then, with one of his eyebrows raised, "that is not good news, Coulson. How long to get everyone out?"

"Campus should be clear in the next half an hour," Coulson replied.

"Do better. Maria, I need you to make sure that PHASE 2 prototypes are shipped out." Fury's attention went towards the other agent now.

"Sir, is that really a priority right now?" She questioned.

"Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech below. Every piece of PHASE 2 on a truck and gone." Fury ordered aggressively towards his second-in-command.

"Yes, sir. You two, with me." Maria ordered the two nearby guards. Their path diverged away from Fury and Coulson.

The two entered the holding chamber of the Tesseract; complex machinery spaced widely across the flooring of the room. Metal contraptions and wire wares hold the Tesseract in place. Agent Clint Barton, Hawkeye, appeared to their side and guided them towards Dr. Erik Selvig.

"Talk to me, doctor," Fury turned towards Selvig.

"The Tesseract is misbehaving. We've seen the readings, the energy levels are much higher than the previous event." Selvig answered, still looking at a computer screen.

"And what do you see, Barton." Fury changed his questioning towards the agent.

"No one's come or gone. The chamber is clean. No contacts, If there was any tampering, sir, it wasn't at this end." Clint answered.

"At this end?" Fury asked.

"Yea, the cube is a doorway to the other end of space, right? The doors open from both sides." Barton continued. All four men were staring at the Tesseract.

"You think it's an invasion force from Viltrum?" Fury asked again.

"Sir, I highly doubt that's the case. Frei had been in almost constant monitoring for the past months. There are no signs of him contacting any outside forces," Coulson turned down the idea.

"If it's not him, then who?" Barton chimed in.

The Tesseract pulsed with energy as alarms rang loudly across the chamber. The flaring rings and glow of the cube spout out brighter and louder, like a flash of lightning before the thunder. A beam of vortex energy shot out from the Tesseract and opened up a portal to unknown space. A figure holding a spear emerged from the black hole and examined his surroundings.

The man quickly pointed his spear towards the four men, and blue light shot out from his weapon. They dodged out of the way just in time before a sapphire burst exploded onto the equipment. SHIELD agents fired their guns freely onto the figure, but bullets seemed to bounce off him. The man then dashed towards his attackers, dispatching them with ease with his spear.

Barton was recovering from the attack, but before he could react, the figure tapped his spear onto his chest. Clint's eyes grew black along with his mind. No longer under his control, Barton stood up straight in a salute to the foreign entity.

As the strange man continued to convert SHIELD agents to his side, Fury took the Tesseract from its holdings and placed it into a secured case before trying to leave the room.

"Please don't. I still need that." The man abruptly said, which stopped Fury from his movement.

"I am Loki of Asgard, and I am burdened with glorious purpose." He continued.

"Loki? Brother of Thor?" Now recovered from the attack, Selvig, on his feet, spoke up. His word seemed to strike a nerve on Loki, which he, in turn, placed his scepter onto Erik Selvig's chest, controlling the man's mind.

"We have no quarrel with your people." Fury said.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot," Loki responded.

"You plan on stepping on us?" Fury asked back, urging the Asgardian to continue. He needed to stall for time, and the facility was rigged to blow if any major problems were to arise. In his arrogance and self-importance, Loki believed himself to be a savior of humanity from the burden that is freedom.

"Sir, Director Fury is stalling. This place is about to blow. Drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us," before Fury's plan could come to fruition, Barton intersected.

"He's right. The portal is collapsing in on itself. You got maybe a few minutes before this goes critical." Selvig added in agreement.

"Well then…" Loki turned his eyes toward Barton, and without any hesitation, the agent shot Fury in the chest. Loki, Clint, Erik, and the turned SHIELD personnel exit the room, grabbing the case with the Tesseract with them.

Minutes later, Fury and Coulson woke up from their unconsciousness. Coulson was recovering from the initial impact of Loki's scepter and Fury from being shot in the chest. He always wore a bulletproof vest under his jack thanks to his paranoid personality. The director informed his people of the enemies leaving the facility with the Tesseract. Then hurried himself, together with Coulson, out of the base before it blew. Despite their best efforts, the attack came too much of a surprise. Loki was able to escape with the cube and Fury's agents.

"What do we do?" Coulson asked, still limping.

"It's time we call in that one favor." Nick Fury stood there and looked up towards the night sky. On his face is a sign of hope.

….

Time: 2012 May. Location: New York City, US.

Another few months passed by in a blink of an eye, Felix had come to truly enjoy the life he had on Earth. With the launch of his books, he was now able to enjoy the luxury that came with it. Being a minor celebrity in the sci-fi community had made his desire for privacy come a little harder to come by but SHIELD proved their resourcefulness in the matter.

Landing on the roof of his apartment complex, he carried the grocery he purchased from his "trip" to France. The flight across the Atlantic Ocean had cost him an hour. He spent much of his free time exploring the known world and learning about the perspectives that other countries could provide for him. His conclusion was "humans are complicated."

May was going to come over for dinner today. She said she was able to find someone to look over Peter for the night so she would come to his apartment. Felix was not an idiot. He knew what this could entail considering his regular passing to hers and Peter's place. He had hoped to take their relationship to the next step but he did not want to overstep their boundaries. Over the months, he had thought about the consistent problem of their lifespans. However, casual relationships were something that humans enjoyed during their free time. A committed relationship was a luxury that neither of them can afford right now.

A ring came from his SHIELD-provided phone then. His deep brown eyes and heavy eyebrows frowned at the caller's name. 'Nick Fury,' Felix read. It was a strange occurrence. Since his meeting with the director in New York Public Library, he had only come in contact with SHIELD through agent Phil Coulson. So Fury must have been desperate if he was to call him now.

He placed the paper bags of cheese, grapes, and wine gently onto the ground. His calloused hand ran through the dark brunette hair with patches of gray and white, signifying his age. He picked up the phone and brought it to his ear with his other free hand.

"Nice of you to finally pick up the phone, Mr. Wright." Furry had an annoyance in his voice. Felix picked up another emotion as well, hope.

"What is it?" He replied monotonously.

"We need your help. The world is at war." Fury answered, too tired to comment on Felix Wright's unenthusiastic mood.

"Can it wait?" Felix continued with no indication of interest.

"Are you asking me if the fate of the world can wait?" The annoyance in Fury's voice was growing.

"I've lived through a few dark ages and some supposed end of days. It can wait." He replied.

(A/N: Thank you Geralt from Witcher TV Show for that beautiful line.)

"You can but humanity can not. I'm sending you the coordinate and a dossier on who you'll be working with. Don't be late." Done with the alien's antics, Fury hang up the phone.

Returning the phone to his side, Felix sighed. A method of showing resign from an unavoidable event that he picked up from May. The Viltrumite then called the woman to inform her about his unavailability for the evening. He already knew that he would get an earful after his return for ditching her.

….

Time: 2012 May. Location: SHIELD Helicarrier.

Inside the meeting room on the Helicarrier, Nick Fury was having a "chat" with the World Security Council, an international council formed of politicians from some of Earth's most powerful countries to function as oversight for SHIELD.

"This is out of line, director," A councilor said. "You're dealing with forces you can't control." The man continued.

"You've ever been in a war, councilman? A firefight? Did you feel an overabundance of control?" Fury refuted. He doubted any of these politicians had ever fought in a war. Ever fought for what they proclaim with pride. Fury knew war like the back of his hand, and he was determined to win this one.

"So the Viltrumites are invading our world?" The counselor asked.

"The enemy is not a Viltrumite. He's Asgardian." The director fixed their misconception. As astonishing as it was, there were now four alien races that humans had contact with, Kree, Skrull, Viltrumite, and Asgardian.

"Are you saying that this Asgard is declaring war on our planet?" The mystery man spoke.

"Not Asgard. Loki." Fury answered.

"He can't be working alone. What about the other one? His brother." A councilwoman added.

"Our intelligence says Thor is not a hostile, but he's worlds away. We can't depend on him for help either. It's up to us." Fury's voice beamed with confidence.

"Which is why you should be focusing on Phase 2. It was designed for exactly thi…." The previous man spoke.

"Phase 2 isn't ready. Our enemy is. We need a response team." Fury interjected with his hands moving behind his back.

"The Avengers Initiative was shut down." The councilman eagerly chimed.

"This isn't about The Avengers." Fury quickly responded.

"We're running the world's greatest covert security network, and you're going to leave the fate of humanity to a handful of freaks." The voice was full of disdain.

"I'm not leaving anything to anyone. We need a response team. These people may be isolated, unbalanced even, but I believe with the right push they can be exactly what we need." Fury's words came from his most profound admiration for Carol Danvers, Captain Marvel.

"War isn't won by sentiment, Director." The other man said once again. His disbelief was clear in the tone of his voice.

"No, it's won by soldiers." Fury finished.