Fury pressed on quickly. "Are the Chitauri strong in combat?"
Hermione curled her lip.
"Compared to the real major empires out there in the universe? They're nothing special."
"But against Earth's technology..." She paused. "More than enough."
Everyone's mood dropped.
"They mainly rely on a combination of biotechnology and armor. Kind of like..." Hermione pointed at Tony.
"Iron Man suits?"
Tony bristled immediately.
"Hey, hey, hey — little girl, watch what you're saying! My suit is one of a kind. How dare you compare it to alien grunt gear?"
Hermione scoffed and didn't bother responding.
"Chitauri tech isn't actually that advanced. What they have going for them is sheer numbers. Insane troop output , like locusts, just swarming in wave after wave."
"Their most powerful main battle weapon is the Leviathan."
"What's that?"
Steve couldn't help asking.
"Uh..." Hermione scratched her head. "Think of it as an oversized, flying, thick-skinned, armored... whale?"
That landed. Everyone sat with it for a moment, feeling like they'd genuinely seen something new today.
Steve and Dr. Banner exchanged a look. The surprise in their eyes was impossible to hide. This girl knew things she really shouldn't.
Tony was still quietly fuming about the suit comparison, muttering under his breath. "How can my armor be mentioned in the same breath as ugly aliens..."
He patted Thor on the arm.
"No offense to you, big guy."
Thor shot him a flat look.
Tony turned back, still unconvinced. "And another thing , if the Chitauri are so powerful they could grind Earth into the dirt, why has nothing happened all these years?"
Hermione curled her lip. "If Earth were relying on S.H.I.E.L.D. to protect it, it would've been wiped out ages ago. Multiple times over."
"The strongest force on Earth is actually magic. The important players in the universe — Odin and his kind — all know this. It's just you local Muggles and a certain big dummy who missed the memo."
Fury and Thor both looked like they'd swallowed something unpleasant.
Steve, hearing the words "magical force," went wide-eyed, like he'd just encountered a concept that didn't exist in his vocabulary.
"However..."
Hermione's tone shifted, something genuinely puzzled creeping in.
"There's one thing I can't quite work out."
"Tony actually has a point. If the Chitauri's target is the Cosmic Cube, they should've come long before now. So why the wait?"
She looked at Fury.
"Bald Egg. Tell me exactly what happened. All of it."
Fury didn't dare hold anything back. He laid it out from the beginning.
Hermione listened, then cut him off. "Hold on. You said you activated the Cosmic Cube? With no protective measures whatsoever?"
Fury felt it immediately , that gaze landing on him like a weight. Sweat started prickling at his forehead.
She was looking at him exactly like he was an idiot.
He had a bad feeling. "Is there a problem?"
"A massive one."
Hermione's voice jumped up a register.
"When the Cosmic Cube is activated, it releases a specific signal across the entire universe. The only way to block it is with magic."
"Congratulations. The whole universe now knows the Cosmic Cube is sitting on Earth. Get ready for an endless line of trouble at your door."
"The Chitauri are probably just the first wave."
She fixed Fury with a hard look.
"Bald Egg. You really have a gift for making disasters. I mean it."
"In the wizarding world, someone like you gets thrown into Azkaban and left there until they rot."
The room went quiet. Then every head turned toward Fury.
So it was you who brought the aliens here.
Fury's face had gone grey. He was genuinely regretting it now. If he hadn't been so guarded around Hermione from the start , with her abilities, she could've shielded the Cosmic Cube's signal without breaking a sweat.
Instead, he'd opened the door and invited the wolves in himself.
The regret was physical.
Hermione didn't spare him another glance. "It's too late now. Bring me Loki's scepter."
Fury had someone fetch it immediately.
A moment later, the scepter was placed in Hermione's hands.
[Curio]
[Scepter of the Mind (Analyzing , can be disassembled)]
[Marvel Universe Infinity Stone , Mind Stone Vessel. Embedded with the Mind Stone. Possesses the power to control minds. When held, all mental magic levels +1.]
[Remaining analysis time: 5999h 59min 43s]
Hermione stared at the readout.
The Mind Stone being classified as a Curio , she'd expected that. The effects were roughly what she'd anticipated too.
But that analysis time.
That was insane.
Analyzing a Curio meant keeping it on her person at all times. There was no way she was carrying this thing around for that long. She'd need to find an opportunity to extract the Stone itself.
"What's the story with this thing?" Fury leaned in. "Why could it turn Barton into Loki's loyal soldier?"
"The Scepter of the Mind controls people's minds," Hermione said.
She paused, glancing around. Everyone was listening closely. She continued. "But that's not its true nature. The scepter is just a vessel. What it actually contains is an Infinity Stone."
Infinity Stone?
Another new term. Several people looked like their brains were hitting their limit.
Only Thor's expression shifted , something flickering behind his eyes, like recognition.
"The universe was born from a single explosion." Hermione cleared her throat and raised her hand, drawing it lightly through the air.
Six gemstone illusions materialized in front of them , each a different color, each pulsing with a faint, strange light. They hung there in the air, radiating something ancient.
"After that explosion, six singularities formed. They eventually became the six Infinity Stones."
Her tone went serious.
"Each Stone contains the most fundamental, most powerful force in the universe."
"The six Stones represent space, time, reality, power, soul, and..."
She let the pause stretch. Her gaze moved across the room.
"Mind."
The word landed like a stone dropped in still water.
Every expression in the room changed. Fury and Hill especially , they'd seen firsthand what Loki's scepter could do.
Hermione nodded. She'd expected exactly this.
"I imagine you've already worked it out."
"That scepter Loki was carrying is the vessel for the Mind Stone. Its power can take hold of a person's mind completely , turn them into a puppet."
She added, almost as an afterthought: "And the Cosmic Cube Loki stole? That's also an Infinity Stone."
Fury couldn't stop himself. "Then the Cosmic Cube is..."
"The Space Stone."
That clicked everything into place. No wonder the Cosmic Cube could open spatial portals. Space Stone. Of course.
Hermione glanced at Fury, and the mockery in her voice was unmistakable.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has been studying the Cosmic Cube for years, and you didn't even know what it actually was. All that research, and you learned absolutely nothing."
➤ Next: See You Again, Loki
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