The screen trembled, flickering back to life with the stark image of the aircraft carrier's central control room.
[ "Director Fury, the council has made a decision," a stern voice declared. ]
[ Fury stood firm, hands planted on his hips, his expression carved from stone. "I know the council has made a decision," he said, voice low and edged with iron, "But in light of this stupid decision, I choose to ignore it." ]
[ On the massive screen, four council members stared him down, their faces hardened by bureaucracy and fear, "Commander, you're closer to the front line than any of us," one of them pressed. "You are authorized to launch a fighter jet to-" ]
[ "This is my city, councilor!" Fury snapped, cutting him off. His voice boomed through the control room like a gunshot. "Unless every member of my team is down and out, I will not authorize a nuclear strike in a densely populated area!" ]
[ The councilor's composure cracked. "If we don't stop them here, we'll lose everything!" ]
[ "And if I let that plane take off," Fury shot back, his glare like steel, "we'll still lose everything." ]
[ With that, Fury slammed his hand on the console, severing the connection. The screen went black, the tension in the control room so thick it was suffocating. ]
Across the Terra Federation live broadcast network, viewers sat frozen in shock. A single word, rarely spoken, heavy with terror, had slipped from the lips of a councilman as though it were nothing. A Nuclear Strike.
"???"
"Did I hear that right?"
"What the hell did that senator just say?"
"A nuclear strike?! Nuclear weapons?!"
"Are you kidding me? They're actually going to launch a nuke?!"
"There are still civilians there! People who haven't evacuated yet!"
"They're just going to wipe out a city full of ordinary lives?!"
"This is madness! What are these politicians thinking?!"
"WTF! So the lives of regular people don't matter anymore?"
"Do none of them have family there? Friends? Anyone?"
"In a city this massive, there have to be millions of people. MILLIONS! What's the difference between this and mass suicide?!"
"Grass! I finally get it! The extinction of the Terra Earth Age, it wasn't because of the Chitauri invasion, or Loki, or any of that…"
"It was nuclear weapons! These bastards ruined the Earth Age by abusing nukes!"
"F*ck! That… actually makes too much sense!"
"So you're saying our own people destroyed that great era of history with their own hands?"
"This is insane! Even if they fire that nuke, they should at least evacuate first!"
"Someone call in an expert! I need to know just how dangerous a nuke really is!"
Inside the Administration, silence reigned. Johan's knuckles turned white as he gripped his pen with such force the joints in his hand popped. Tonio's expression was thunderous, his fury barely contained, while Feng Xiaotian's brows knotted deeply.
"Nuclear weapons…" Tonio's voice shook with anger. "Are they insane?!"
"Why aren't they thinking of any other way?"
"Why jump straight to nukes?!"
The experts in the room erupted with outrage.
A grim-faced military industrialist slammed a fist on the table. "Nuclear weapons," he growled, "are devastating devices that unleash unimaginable energy through self-sustaining nuclear fission or fusion reactions. Their destructive potential is beyond comprehension. They come in two forms: fission and fusion. Either way, the devastation is the same."
He leaned forward, voice grim. "One kilogram of uranium fission releases roughly 8 × 10^13 joules of energy, twenty million times more than a single kilogram of TNT, which only releases about 4.19 × 10^6 joules!"
The room was silent except for his voice, which carried the weight of doom. "A nuclear detonation happens in microseconds. In that blink of an eye, unimaginable heat is generated, compressing the atmosphere around it into a massive shockwave. The blast vaporizes everything in its radius. Fireballs form, light radiation sears the air, and every living being in its path is doomed."
Another expert interjected, face pale. "And the radiation…"
"Yes," the first expert confirmed grimly. "That level of radiation would mutate everything it touches. Millions would die in seconds! And those who survive…"
He shook his head, grimacing. "X-rays, beta rays, gamma rays, they'll shred DNA, cause cancer, deform unborn children, warp entire bloodlines. The fallout clings to the world for centuries. No man-made method can clean it. Nature will take hundreds of years to undo it."
The words hung heavy in the air, sucking the warmth out of the room.
"This is madness," someone whispered.
The chief slammed the table, his voice booming. "So what if the portal is destroyed?! What does it matter if all that's left is a barren wasteland?! You're digging your own graves!"
Tonio snarled, "And don't forget, the Avengers are still fighting, risking everything to hold back that Chitauri army!"
The words struck like a whip, snapping everyone's attention back to reality. Yes. The heroes were still there. Fighting. Bleeding. Refusing to back down even when hope seemed impossible. And now, their own leaders were planning to bomb them too.
The news sent shockwaves across the Terra Federation. Outrage erupted online, boiling into a storm of condemnation.
"Black Widow's just a normal woman, a human agent! She's out there battling those monsters with her bare hands!"
"Hawkeye might be a sniper god, but one hit from those creatures and he's done!"
"Rogers is bleeding out! That shield is tough, but it can't block everything!"
"Tony's armor looks like it's about to fall apart! That's the Mark 7, brand new, barely holding up!"
"And Thor, Hulk, they're gods and monsters themselves, but even they can't stop this army alone!"
"They're all out there giving everything they've got!"
"They're bleeding for us!"
"They're fighting for the Terra Earth Age, burning their blood, their will, their very future! And the council's answer is to nuke them?!"
"What kind of logic is that?! Think of another way!"
"Damn your predecessors! How dare you pull this shit!"
Rage spread like wildfire. They weren't the only ones angry now; the entire planet was.
The live feed flickered again, showing chaos and destruction as the battle raged on. Millions of viewers clenched their fists, hearts pounding with fury and fear. A nuclear strike was still just a proposal. But if it became reality… no one would ever forgive them.
[ On the battlefield, chaos intensified. Black Widow darted through the sky on a stolen alien craft, Loki hot on her tail. He lunged forward, staff poised to strike her down. ]
[ "Clint!" she screamed over the comms. ]
[ "What is it, Natasha?" Hawkeye's voice was tense but calm, eyes locked on his target. ]
[ "Do me a favor!" she shouted. ]
[ Hawkeye's fingers tightened on his bowstring. "I've got you." ]
[ He loosed an arrow glowing with red light. Loki, arrogant and smug, snatched it effortlessly from the air. ]
[ Too easy. The smirk on his face vanished an instant later when the arrow's tip exploded in a fiery blast, hurling him backward. ]
[ Black Widow's ship spun out of control, but she managed to crash-land near the glowing Tesseract device. ]
"Perfect shot!"
"Nice one!"
"Look at that, council! That's what heroism looks like!"
"See? We don't need nukes!"
The cheers from the live broadcast were deafening.
[ Suddenly, Hulk appeared in a green blur, leaping high into the air and slamming his massive foot into Loki. The god of mischief crashed through a window and tumbled into the building's hall. ]
[ "ENOUGH!" Loki roared, dragging himself upright. "You all will kneel before me!" ]
[ He barely finished his declaration before Hulk grabbed him by the leg. The massive green titan swung him like a rag doll, smashing him into the ground over and over. ]
[ BANG! BANG! BANG! The sound of impact echoed through the hall as Loki's body became a blur of motion, slamming into walls, floor, ceiling, anything within reach. ]
[ "Puny god," Hulk grunted, tossing him aside like trash. ]
The chat feed exploded.
"F**k! That was incredible!"
"HULK SMASH! Hahaha!"
"Loki's ego just got flattened!"
"Hulk: I don't give a damn if you're a god!"
"Loki: Dignified prince of Asgard, beaten like a chicken. I'm dead. I'm dead!"
"Best. Scene. Ever."
Even the Administration experts fell silent, stunned. Tonio broke the tension with a squeaky laugh. "I… uh… I don't even know what to say anymore. Hulk is terrifying."
Johan sighed, shaking his head. "I couldn't even write a scene like this."
On the training grounds, the superhumans watched wide-eyed. Ren swallowed hard, "If he swung me like that… I'd be dead before I even hit the ground," he muttered, pale-faced.
Inside the Human Potential Division, Ashton and his colleagues stared, thoughts drifting to Hulk's genetics and the terrifying power he wielded. None of them spoke.
"If the Terra Federation had a Hulk," one finally murmured, "we wouldn't be worried about anything."
The feed rolled on. Another scene appeared, and the audience roared.
"Holy shit! She's found a way!"
"We don't need nukes!"
"Sister Widow, you're a legend!"
"I knew the Avengers could handle this!"
"Come on, Widow! We believe in you!"