"Get back!"
Thor reached back and grabbed Captain America by the back of the neck, tossing him aside like a little chick, sending him crashing heavily into the console.
He was about to press his advantage when he suddenly paused, seemingly receiving a new command from Loki.
Thor stopped tangling with the two of them and instead thrust his right hand toward the tunnel he had smashed earlier.
Whoosh—
The blood-stained Mjolnir flew back at high speed from the depths of the tunnel, landing firmly in Thor's palm.
Then, he swung the hammer violently, and trailing blood and lightning, he crashed straight through the mothership's dome, turning into a bolt of lightning that flew into the night sky and vanished.
Leaving only Tony and the newly risen Captain America gasping for air and staring at each other.
"He's... he's a real monster..."
Tony frowned. He had never believed in gods, but this crazed Big Golden Retriever was indeed no ordinary creature.
"Wait..." Steve suddenly realized something. "Where's Makima?!"
The two immediately realized something was wrong and rushed down the tunnel Thor had just smashed through.
When they reached the deepest part of the tunnel and saw the scene before them, both froze in place.
The cold light from the ceiling hit the steel floor.
Makima was nowhere to be seen.
There was only a shocking, radial pool of blood and the charred remains of a trench coat.
Even electric sparks remained on it, crackling.
Click.
Tony's faceplate flipped up, and his usually cynical face was now filled with disbelief.
Steve also gasped, his hand holding the shield trembling slightly, completely unable to believe his eyes.
Makima...
Dead?
...
Helicarrier, Central Command Bridge.
The once busy and orderly bridge was now filled with a suffocating, oppressive silence.
At the S.H.I.E.L.D. round table, Steve and Tony sat opposite each other.
Not far away, Natasha and Barton, who had just narrowly escaped death, stood in silence.
Everyone's faces were filled with exhaustion, frustration, and deep shock.
That glaring pool of blood and the charred coat seemed to be the final straw that broke the camel's back.
Fury stood by the round table, his single eye slowly scanning everyone present before finally letting out a heavy sigh, breaking the deathly silence.
"We're blind and deaf, at a complete loss."
Fury's voice was low and raspy, carrying an unprecedented weariness.
"The communication systems are down, the mothership is heavily damaged, both the Tesseract and the Scepter are missing, Thor and Banner are under Loki's control and have turned against us, and Reze jumped off the mothership after Hulk and is still missing..."
Having said this, Fury paused, his single eye downcast, as if struggling to suppress some emotion.
"And Makima... has fallen."
As soon as those words were spoken, the air around the round table seemed to freeze instantly.
Steve closed his eyes in pain, his hands clasped together.
That red-haired woman, who not long ago had been chatting and laughing with him, smiling as she handed him a pen, with eyes so gentle they reminded him of his mother, had actually...
Not even a whole body was left behind...
"She was actually still very young."
Fury began to pace slowly around the round table, his tone carrying a rare display of genuine emotion and regret. "Only in her twenties, and she hadn't even been with S.H.I.E.L.D. for a year, but she was the finest Agent I've ever seen."
Natasha and Hawkeye glanced at each other, both seeing the agreement and regret in the other's eyes.
In this past year, who in S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't know the famous Makima?
This woman was intelligent and exceptional, always maintaining her composure and even managing to soothe and care for everyone's emotions.
In S.H.I.E.L.D., simple Agents and assassins were easy to come by, but someone like Makima...
There might never be another like her.
"You saw those blueprints in the lab earlier, yes..."
Fury admitted it candidly and sincerely.
"We wanted to use the Tesseract to create weapons to face danger, but to be honest, I didn't bet everything on that."
Fury stopped walking and looked ahead with a deep gaze.
"Because I had an even bolder plan, a vision... Tony, you know about this."
Fury turned his gaze toward Tony, who sat motionless in his chair like a frozen statue.
"Of course... Makima knew too. She gave me many interesting suggestions. We called it—the Avengers Initiative."
"The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more, to see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we ordinary people never could..."
Fury's voice gradually grew stronger, then he shifted the subject back to that name.
"Makima was an exceptional new recruit. She showed her brilliance as soon as she joined S.H.I.E.L.D. and was recognized by all of us as a rising star. Her abilities, her methods—even I had to marvel at her immeasurable potential..."
"She helped us, and she helped you all a great deal."
Coulson, who had escaped disaster thanks to the "mo die effect," stood in the corner and couldn't help but nod.
He knew this better than anyone.
As Fury spoke, he slowly walked over to Tony's side.
Makima in Tony's memory be like:
He looked down at Tony's slightly trembling back and his white-knuckled hands, then continued, "She was a brilliant woman. So far, everything she did was so right it was almost infuriating."
"Sometimes I didn't even know how she did it, but..."
Fury took a deep breath and delivered the final blow to everyone's hearts.
"She... until the moment she died, believed in this vision... She believed in you..."
Tony's face was as pale as paper. These words seemed to pull him right back to that dark, hopeless cave.
He stared at the empty table in front of him, his expression so dark it looked like it could drip ink.
His mind was filled with images of the red-haired woman smiling and soothing him just a short while ago.
In this room full of calculation and wariness, she was the only woman who could make him feel somewhat relaxed.
It wasn't about base romantic love; it was a sense of kinship, of finding a kindred spirit. And now...
His kindred spirit had been crushed to pieces by an Asgardian god...
A complex mix of regret, anger, and resentment surged wildly in Tony's chest.
It almost tore him apart.
Before Fury could finish his sentimental lines, Tony suddenly pushed back his chair.
Screech—
The legs of the chair screeched harshly against the metal floor.
Tony didn't say a word, didn't even look at Fury. He stood up, his face grim, and walked out of the bridge with long strides.
Watching Tony's angry and determined back disappear out the door, the tight muscles on Fury's grief-stricken black face relaxed for a split second.
Deep within his single eye, an imperceptible smirk flashed briefly.
Plan successful?
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