"A signal to start a war?" Nick Fury scoffed. "That's easy for you to say. You people forced our hand. We had to come up with countermeasures."
Fury remained stubborn. In his eyes, people like Lucas and Thor were threats that had to be restrained with even greater weapons.
"What about nuclear weapons?" Tony interjected. "Those things are pretty good at preventing wars."
"Oh, I almost forgot—we've got a war profiteer right here," Fury replied mockingly. "After all, the Stark fortune was built on weapons manufacturing, wasn't it, Mr. Stark?"
He wasn't wrong. Of everyone present, Tony arguably had the least moral standing to talk about weapons. Stark Industries had risen on the back of war.
"So now you're pointing the finger at me again?" Tony snapped. "What does that have to do with me? I don't even sell weapons anymore."
"I thought the people of Midgard had entered an age of true civilization," Thor said coldly. "Turns out you're still just short-sighted."
At that moment, Lucas stepped forward. He picked up the laser rifle and casually crushed it in his hand.
"Nick Fury," Lucas said calmly, "I told you before—if S.H.I.E.L.D. ever set its sights on me, I wouldn't hesitate to wipe you out. Right now feels like a pretty good opportunity. Loki alone is more than enough to keep busy. You can all go on your way in peace."
Purple lightning flickered in Lucas's eyes. With a thunderous roar, Mjolnir smashed through the wall and flew straight into his hand.
"I honestly don't know which one of you is supposed to be the God of Thunder," Tony muttered, glancing at Thor. "That hammer seems to like him more than you."
Thor's face darkened. His beloved hammer was completely unresponsive in Lucas's presence, and there was nothing he could do about it.
Fury immediately drew his gun and aimed it at Lucas. Steve also raised his guard instinctively. Lucas's words were no exaggeration—everyone present knew he truly had the power to annihilate S.H.I.E.L.D.
At the same time, behind them, Loki's scepter began to emit invisible waves, silently influencing everyone in the room.
Suddenly, Lucas hurled Mjolnir.
Before anyone could react, the hammer slammed directly into Loki's scepter.
Boom!
An invisible shockwave erupted. The scepter clattered to the floor, while Mjolnir was blasted away and embedded deep into the wall.
"Well?" Lucas said with a smile, folding his arms. "Feeling a bit calmer now?"
A wave of clarity washed over everyone. Only then did they realize that moments ago, their anger had been inexplicably amplified, their emotions spiraling out of control with just a few provocative words.
"What… just happened to us?" Natasha asked first, looking at Lucas in shock.
Lucas hopped up onto the table and finally explained.
"You were all affected by Loki's scepter," he said, pointing at it. "Didn't you notice how impulsive and irritable you suddenly became? How easily your emotions ran out of control? That's mind manipulation."
Everyone turned toward the fallen scepter. It was still emitting faint waves, but now that they were aware of it, the influence was far weaker.
"Damn it… Loki again," Tony cursed.
"Even so," Lucas continued coolly, his gaze locking onto Fury, "I still need to ask—Nick Fury, are you prepared to face my anger?"
Fury stiffened. He knew better than anyone that, even with Thor and the Hulk combined, they still wouldn't stand a chance against Lucas.
Slowly, Fury reached into his pocket and touched an old-fashioned pager—his final trump card.
Lucas raised an eyebrow. "You really think that ace of yours can handle me?"
He knew exactly what Fury was relying on. Truth be told, Lucas wasn't entirely certain himself. If he awakened Bahamut or Odin, Captain Marvel would be nothing more than a warm-up. But at his current level… even Lucas wasn't fully confident.
"So you really do know about her," Fury said gravely.
Before anything else could happen, alarms suddenly blared throughout the ship.
"Unidentified Quinjet detected on the port side! All hands on alert! All hands on alert!"
Maria Hill's voice echoed through the Helicarrier.
"Skye," Lucas said into the comms, "take control of the entire Helicarrier immediately. Evade that aircraft."
"Roger."
"Everyone," Lucas said, turning back to the group, "Barton's here. Let's go greet him."
The Helicarrier suddenly began to climb at extreme speed.
"Motherf—!" Fury cursed as he scrambled for support. "Lucas, you hacked the Helicarrier?!"
"You'll thank me later," Lucas replied flatly. "You owe me one, Nick Fury."
"Wanda, begin," Lucas added over the comms. "Intercept all incoming arrows. I'm on my way."
Then he looked at Tony. "Suit up and come with me. The rest of you who can't fly—go watch Loki."
Just as he reached the door, Lucas suddenly paused and glanced back at Bruce.
"Bruce, keep your emotions steady," he said seriously. "I've got a bad feeling—you're about to become the Hulk."
With that, Lucas left. Tony immediately followed, fully aware of how serious the situation had become.
"Director," Natasha said quickly, "we should listen to Lucas and secure Loki. Barton is obviously here to extract him."
---
Outside the Helicarrier, Barton stood in the open hatch of the Quinjet, bow drawn tight. After calculating the angle, he released the string without hesitation.
The explosive arrow arced toward the Helicarrier in a dramatic curve. Even though the massive vessel attempted evasive maneuvers, its sheer size made it sluggish—something Barton had fully accounted for.
Just as the arrow was about to strike, a surge of crimson energy appeared out of nowhere, freezing it midair. The explosive countdown halted as if time itself had stopped.
Barton froze, reaching for another arrow—
—but a gold-and-red figure suddenly descended from above, landing directly in front of him.
"Surprise."
Tony raised his hand and fired a repulsor blast straight through the cockpit. The two pilots didn't even have time to scream before they were killed instantly.
The remaining passengers opened fire immediately.
Tony didn't bother dodging.
Bullets bounced harmlessly off his vibranium armor, completely incapable of penetrating it.
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