Nick Fury initially thought the Tesseract was activating on its own and even considered it a good thing.
Perhaps this was the key to fully mastering the cosmic energy.
But Dr. Selvig's next words made his skin crawl.
"This isn't the Tesseract activating on its own. Someone has opened it from the other end. To be precise, this is likely the Tesseract's true purpose: opening an ultra-long-distance wormhole!"
*Ultra-long-distance wormhole.* This was a new concept.
Nick Fury had been using it to develop new energy weapons, while the Skrulls had previously attempted to use it to build a light-speed engine.
How was it *actually* supposed to be used? And what would come through from the other end?
Nick Fury had dealt with aliens before. This base was in a remote location, so he wasn't worried about collateral damage to civilians.
He immediately ordered all combat personnel in the base to stand by and recalled Hawkeye from his external mission. (In the original movie, Hawkeye was always at the base monitoring Dr. Selvig's research on the Tesseract to prevent him from tampering with it. But here, since Natasha had run off with Qin Xiao, the burden on Hawkeye had naturally increased!)
Strangely, however, after the Tesseract's initial energy surge, it quickly fell silent again, as if it had merely sneezed.
"Sir, the Cosmic Cube's energy fluctuations have completely returned to normal levels. Should I order a reduction in the alert level?"
Nearly three hours had passed since the initial abnormal fluctuations, and the Cosmic Cube remained unresponsive. Agent Hill made the suggestion to Nick Fury.
"No. The calm before the storm is always the most deceptive. Everyone except the combat personnel and the key project leads for the Cosmic Cube is to evacuate the base. I have a feeling this is not as simple as it seems."
Nick Fury's single eye glinted with a look of apprehension.
"Sir, in that case, should we call Agent Romanoff back to help? I mean, Qin Xiao and Stark..."
Nick Fury raised a hand to stop Agent Hill.
"They have no connection to S.H.I.E.L.D. anymore. Unless absolutely necessary, we'll handle this ourselves."
***
An hour and a half later...
In the parking lot, Agent Hill watched helplessly as Loki—controlling Hawkeye, Dr. Selvig, and another S.H.I.E.L.D. agent—sauntered away with the Cosmic Cube.
She urgently asked Nick Fury for instructions over her headset.
"Sir, I couldn't stop them. They've taken the Cosmic Cube. What should we do now?"
"The base is about to explode. Evacuate immediately, then... notify Natasha and the others!"
***
Manhattan, New York.
In this, one of the most expensive commercial districts in the world, a brand-new skyscraper had recently shot up from the ground.
The building, which covered a considerable area, was divided into upper and lower sections.
The lower part housed Stark Industries' various laboratories and its New York offices.
The upper part featured a massive aerial platform, followed by seven floors of vast private space.
Wall Street jokingly said that Tony Stark had built a small aerial manor atop his company's headquarters.
Between the two sections, on the outer edge of the enormous terrace, five giant letter-shaped light boxes spelled out STARK—Tony's surname!
Once Tony connected the building to the undersea cables, it became the only skyscraper in the world with a self-sufficient renewable energy source.
This also signaled that Stark Industries was at the forefront of the global renewable energy field.
True to his nature, Stark certainly wouldn't miss an opportunity to flaunt it!
Qin Xiao, Natasha, Captain America, Banner, Rhodey—and of course, Pepper Potts—along with the dozens of Widows who had remained at the base, were all present.
Tony was hosting an internal party in this aerial manor.
As the neon sign on the terrace lit up, Tony roared into view in his armor. He strode slowly onto the terrace, the robotic arms of the gantry following his every step.
Just as he stepped inside, the armor was completely removed.
"I bet Tony has secretly rehearsed this disarming sequence many times!" Qin Xiao whispered to the others.
"What are you muttering about? Shouldn't you be giving me a round of applause? From now on, a great name will illuminate the New York night sky. You should be proud to have a friend like me."
Tony spread his arms wide, but instead of the applause he expected, he had to settle for sitting down beside Pepper.
"You're all just jealous of me," he muttered under his breath.
"Especially you, Qin!" Tony pointed at Qin Xiao, whose eyes were filled with contempt.
"You're jealous that my name shines in the Manhattan night sky, while yours is only on the Paris Police Department's most wanted list!"
Qin Xiao didn't bother arguing with the arrogant Tony and instead gave him a middle finger.
Just then, Natasha's phone rang. Qin Xiao stepped aside to let her take the call, only to notice the Captain sitting alone in a corner, drinking with a desolate look on his face.
"Hey, Cap! You look like you have something on your mind. This is a party, you should be happy. Maybe you could go out and meet some new people!"
Qin Xiao said, raising his glass to the Captain.
"Those letters!"
The Captain pointed to the massive lightbox partially visible outside the window.
"The first time I saw the name Stark was in a newspaper. It was the night before Bucky left for the front lines. He took me to an expo called the World of Tomorrow!"
"That's where I first met your father, Howard Stark. He was in his prime back then, standing on stage and telling the world what the future would look like."
"Back then, I was frail and sickly. No one would take me into the army. Who would have thought I'd one day fight side-by-side with Howard Stark?"
"It was also that same night at the expo that I met Dr. Abraham Erskine, the creator of the Super-Soldier Serum. That night changed my entire life."
The Captain's eyes were filled with memories.
"Looking back now, most of what Howard showcased back then has already become a reality, exactly as he envisioned. For the world, it was the rapid technological advancement after the war ended."
"For me, I just passed out after the plane crashed, and when I woke up, all those people were gone. There was only the future world Howard had described to me—a strange world!"
It seemed the letters STARK had stirred up many of the Captain's memories.
He continued to speak to everyone in a desolate tone.
"Bucky, my teammates, even my enemies... all gone. Howard is no longer here either. His son looks as old as my uncle... I..."
The Captain spread his hands helplessly and then downed the entire glass of whiskey in one gulp.
"I..."
Tony also gloomily downed the drink in his glass. If he weren't seeing how truly desolate the Captain looked at this moment, he would have wanted to smash the glass directly onto Captain America's head.
Two more chapters coming!
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(End of Chapter)