["So what happens now, sir? They've all gone their separate ways! Some pretty extremely separate ways! If we get into a situation like this again, what happens then?"]
[Agent Hill walked alongside Nick Fury as they moved through the helicarrier's corridors.]
[Fury's expression carried a hint of confidence: "They'll come back."]
["You really sure about that?"]
["I am."]
["And why?"]
[Nick Fury pressed his lips together thoughtfully: "Because we'll need them to."]
[Hill didn't pursue the topic further, simply nodded her understanding and returned to her duties.]
[This left Nick Fury standing alone on the bridge, gazing out through the reinforced windows at the blue sky and white clouds stretching endlessly beyond.]
[The scene transitioned to show a pair of hands pushing aside architectural blueprints. Tony selected one of the designs while Pepper reached over to examine it more closely.]
[It was the new renovation plan for Stark Tower. The couple huddled together studying the intricate details as the camera gradually pulled back to reveal the full scope of Stark Tower's reconstruction.]
"And that's it! The war is over, and everyone returns to their normal lives until they're needed to assemble once again!"
"When the Avengers do assemble, it means Earth is facing serious trouble!"
"Like the Ultron crisis?"
"Ultron will definitely be a major threat!"
"Based on my understanding of how these sky screen presentations work, there will definitely be a short supplemental video to reveal additional information."
After the main presentation concluded, Tony began carefully analyzing and reviewing every detail about the Chitauri forces they had observed.
Although he had been analyzing the footage as they watched, he would always conduct a thorough secondary review after each complete viewing to identify anything he might have missed initially.
This was especially important since this Chitauri invasion was directly connected to Thanos, the mastermind orchestrating events from behind the scenes, so he needed to be extraordinarily careful in his preparations!
Tony analyzed the situation with intense focus while Banner and the others seated nearby also examined the data carefully. Time passed quickly, and soon the sky screen illuminated once again.
[In the cold, silent depths of space, a voice reported: "The humans... they are not as weak as we were led to believe."]
["They are unruly, untamed. To challenge them is to court Death."]
[Thanos rose from his throne, and the Chitauri commander who had been speaking immediately bowed his head in fearful submission.]
["He seeks to court Death itself!"]
[Upon hearing this assessment, the Mad Titan turned around, revealing his profile and the hint of a disdainful smile playing at the corner of his mouth.]
Tony's eyes widened as he stared at Thanos' revealed features: "That has to be Thanos! I'm finally seeing his actual face!"
"Our ultimate adversary! If we can defeat him, we can end the future wars, right?" Captain America clenched his fists with determination.
"That's difficult to predict! We've revealed extensive information about our capabilities. We're making preparations, but so is the enemy. It comes down to who will be better prepared when the time comes!"
Banner was not particularly optimistic about future developments. After all, they were operating in the light while their enemies remained hidden in darkness.
Fortunately, Carol had informed them that Thanos's Black Order was being actively hunted by various galactic civilizations and wouldn't be able to reach Earth for some time, which meant they didn't need to worry about Thanos's immediate threat.
However, besides Thanos, there were other alien civilizations that had identified Earth as a target of interest, but now they had to focus on preparing for the more existential threat posed by Thanos.
Inside the Sanctuary II
Thanos sat upon his throne, narrowing his eyes as he observed himself revealing his face on the sky screen for the first time.
Gamora approached and said: "Father, your exposure will surely cause our enemies to launch even more aggressive attacks against us."
Nebula, standing nearby, responded with contempt: "Then we kill them all!"
Gamora glanced at her adoptive sister: "The Nova Corps of Xandar is pursuing us relentlessly, and the Kree Empire continues deploying military forces against us. Can you eliminate all of them?"
Thanos spoke slowly and deliberately: "Ronan has always harbored his own ambitions, but he is not our primary concern. I've heard that the Asgardians visited the Void some time ago! Some reports suggest Thor was seen there as well!"
"It appears the Asgardians lack the courage to keep all the Infinity Stones in their possession. Hmm. Let us pay a visit to the Collector and discover what Thor entrusted to him!"
Ebony Maw produced a sound of disdain, and both Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight immediately requested permission to undertake the mission, but Thanos intended to handle this personally.
He took a select crew aboard a separate vessel to depart from the main fleet, while Sanctuary II continued attracting attention as a decoy. He also left Ebony Maw, Corvus Glaive, and the others behind to ensure that enemies wouldn't notice his absence.
[At the Shawarma Restaurant]
[The Avengers sat around a table eating sandwiches and shawarma with obvious lack of enthusiasm. Their expressions clearly showed complete exhaustion and disappointment with the meal.]
[Captain America kept his head propped up on his hand, obviously uninterested in the food before him.]
[Banner picked up small pieces with his fingers and placed them in his mouth, but he derived no pleasure from eating.]
[Tony chewed the meat wrap mechanically, but it tasted like cardboard, and he couldn't help but wipe his mouth with a napkin in disgust.]
[Hawkeye was also staring at his food lost in contemplation.]
[Natasha supported her head with her hands and sat motionless for a long time before picking up a fresh sandwich and sighing slightly.]
[Only Thor seemed unaffected by the quality and continued eating with hearty appetite.]
[The kitchen staff and servers behind them remained completely calm, each focused on their own work as if superhero customers were entirely routine.]
"Hmm... it looks like the food tastes pretty mediocre!"
"Thanks for the warning - I'll definitely never go to that restaurant now."
"I thought a shawarma place that even Tony Stark wanted to try would be amazing! This is what we get? The Avengers look absolutely miserable!"
"The staff is so nonchalant! Superheroes visit their establishment and they don't even react?"
"They all look like the food is genuinely awful. Does it really taste that terrible?"
As soon as this post-credits scene appeared, Tony immediately realized this restaurant was about to face serious problems.
Sure enough, when he checked various food review websites, he could already see numerous citizen complaints about this particular shawarma establishment.
Tony swore he genuinely hadn't intended for this to happen - he had simply been curious about what the food would taste like, but he hadn't expected even that moment to be broadcast on the sky screen.
Now he didn't need to try it himself. Based on his own expression and everyone else's reactions, he could tell it would taste absolutely terrible.
Even Captain America, who typically never liked wasting food, had completely lost his appetite. He kept holding his head up with his hand, lost in thought about something entirely different.
The viewing Captain America was somewhat confused about why his screen counterpart seemed to have barely eaten anything.
Only the older Captain America understood that his younger self was probably wondering about the mysterious person who looked exactly like him, had fought alongside him, and had told him that Bucky was still alive.
"You can see that I'm completely exhausted - I look like I'm about to fall asleep at the table."
Rhodes observed Natasha and smiled: "Not just you - Cap looks absolutely drained too. You both appear ready to collapse."
Scott shrugged his shoulders: "It seems like everyone is too tired to even talk. They're all eating in complete silence."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Support me at [email protected]/goldengaruda and check out more chapter of this or more early access chapter of my other fanfic translation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~