Nick Fury was absolutely furious.
He stood on the bridge of the Helicarrier, glaring at his large communication screens.
The World Security Council appeared before him as glowing, shadowy holograms.
"You fired a nuclear weapon at my city,"
Fury yelled. His single eye was full of cold, burning anger.
"You tried to kill my team, and you tried to wipe out millions of innocent people. That is unforgivable."
"We made the hard choice, Director,"
The head Councilman argued, sounding annoyed.
"The alien army was too big. We thought the Avengers would fail."
"Well, you were wrong,"
A calm, smooth voice echoed through the secure speakers.
Everyone on the bridge froze. It wasn't Fury who spoke.
On the screens, the Council members suddenly looked completely terrified.
They all turned around to look behind their own chairs in their highly secure, secret rooms.
Standing right behind every single Council member, in five different locations around the world at the exact same time, was Sam.
"What is the meaning of this?!"
A Councilwoman shouted at the camera.
"Guards! How did he get in here?"
Fury's eyes widened in pure shock.
"Sam?"
Fury asked the screen.
"How the hell are you in five places at once?"
Sam standing on the screens just smiled.
"They are wooden clone puppets, Fury,"
Sam explained calmly.
"I carved them to look exactly like me. They only hold a tiny fraction of my real power. But against a room full of politicians, a fraction is more than enough."
The clone puppets stepped forward, looking down at the shaking Council members.
"You tried to destroy our home because you were afraid,"
Sam told the Council, his voice turning hard and heavy.
"You are not protectors. You are cowards. You are not needed from here on out. The Avengers will take it from here."
With a simple wave of the puppets' wooden hands, all the communication screens instantly went completely black.
The Council was cut off.
Meanwhile, the real Sam was not in New York, and he was not on the Helicarrier.
He was standing in a very expensive, quiet office in Washington D.C.
Sitting behind the heavy, polished desk was Alexander Pierce.
He was the top boss of S.H.I.E.L.D., a respected leader, and the secret head of Hydra.
Pierce looked at Sam. He tried to hide his panic behind a fake, friendly smile.
"Sam, right?"
Pierce said smoothly, keeping his hands on the desk.
"You did a great job today. You really saved the world."
"Save the lies, Pierce,"
Sam said, walking slowly toward the desk.
"I already know everything. I know what you built in the dark. You are the big shot. You are the head of Hydra."
Pierce's smile vanished. He slowly reached for a secret panic button hidden under his desk.
But before his finger could even touch it, a glowing pink flying sword appeared out of thin air.
It pressed directly against Pierce's throat.
Pierce completely froze. He swallowed hard, feeling the burning heat of the Qi blade against his skin.
"Here is what is going to happen,"
Sam said softly, his deep eyes glowing with terrifying power.
"I am going to push my soul into your mind. I am going to search your memory, and I am going to pull out the name and face of every single Hydra rat hiding in the world."
Sam leaned over the desk, his voice cold as ice.
"And when I have every single name... I am going to give you as a gift to Peggy Carter. I hear she is very, very pissed off right now."
Alexander Pierce's face turned completely pale. His fake, friendly mask shattered.
He knew exactly who Peggy Carter was. She was the legendary founder of S.H.I.E.L.D.
She was a ruthless, brilliant spy who had crushed the original Hydra decades ago.
"Peggy Carter?"
Pierce choked out, his voice shaking.
"She is just a dying old woman."
"Not anymore,"
Sam said, stepping closer.
"She is young, she is strong, and she is very hungry for justice."
Pierce completely panicked. He tried to pull away from the glowing pink sword, but Sam moved faster.
Sam reached out and placed his hand firmly on Pierce's forehead.
A bright pink light flared in the quiet office.
Sam's strong soul easily pushed through Pierce's mental defenses. It was like flipping through the pages of an open book.
Sam saw everything. He saw the secret bases, the hidden weapons, and the face of every single Hydra agent hiding inside S.H.I.E.L.D.
Sam pulled his hand back.
"Got it,"
Sam said coldly.
He sent the entire list of Hydra names straight to her secure phone.
Peggy did not wait for Nick Fury to hold meetings or fill out paperwork.
She worked incredibly fast. With Steve by her side, she immediately began to hunt down every single name on that list. S.H.I.E.L.D. was going to be completely clean by morning.
With the Hydra problem in Peggy's capable hands, Sam flew back to Stark Tower to finish the last piece of the puzzle.
He walked into the penthouse. Thor was standing guard over his brother.
Loki was sitting on the floor, wrapped in heavy, glowing Asgardian chains.
Even though he was captured and defeated, Loki still wore a proud, arrogant smirk.
"Save your breath, mortals,"
Loki sneered, looking up at Thor and Sam.
"I will not say another word to you. You won the battle. Do your worst."
Thor gripped his hammer tightly, looking down at his brother with deep sadness.
"Why did you do this, Loki?"
Thor asked, his voice heavy with pain.
"Why bring such a terrible war to innocent people?"
Loki just looked away, refusing to answer. He kept his lips completely sealed.
Sam walked slowly across the room and stood right in front of the chained god.
He looked down into Loki's eyes.
Sam didn't look angry. He just looked like a man who understood a very dark secret.
"He isn't going to tell you, Thor,"
Sam said quietly.
"Because he is terrified."
Loki glared at Sam.
"I am a god. I fear nothing."
"You are lying,"
Sam said smoothly, his voice dropping to a serious whisper.
"You didn't come here just to rule us. You came here because you made a deal. You are trying to protect your mother, aren't you?"
Loki's smirk vanished. His eyes widened slightly.
Sam leaned in closer.
"I know who gave you that scepter, Loki. I know who is waiting in the dark space behind that portal."
Sam paused for a second, letting the silence fill the room.
"I know about the Mad Titan."
The moment Sam said that name, Loki completely lost his composure.
True, raw panic flashed in Loki's green eyes.
He started pulling desperately against his heavy chains.
His breathing became fast and shallow.
The arrogant god was suddenly gone, replaced by a completely terrified man.
"You... you cannot say his name!"
Loki panicked, his voice shaking with pure fear.
"You have absolutely no idea what you are dealing with! He will kill us all! He will wipe out the entire universe!"
Thor frowned, stepping closer to Sam.
The God of Thunder looked completely confused.
He had traveled across the Nine Realms, but he had never seen his clever, fearless brother look so incredibly scared.
"Sam,"
Thor asked, his deep voice full of worry.
"What is he talking about? Who is the Mad Titan?"
Sam looked at Thor's confused face, and then down at the terrified Loki.
He knew this was not a secret he should keep to himself.
If they were going to protect the Earth, everyone needed to know exactly what was coming in advance. Ignorance would only get them killed.
"His name is Thanos,"
Sam explained quietly, his voice steady.
"And he is the most dangerous being in the universe."
Sam turned away from the two gods and tapped his earpiece.
"Tony, call everyone into the living room,"
Sam ordered.
"We need an Avengers meeting right now."
A few minutes later, the entire team gathered around the large couches in Stark Tower.
Steve and Peggy sat close together. Natasha stood next to Sam.
Tony and Bruce listened carefully, and Thor stood near the window, his arms crossed.
Nick Fury was also there, standing in the corner with a very unhappy look on his face.
Sam stood in the center of the room. He told them everything.
"The universe was created with six powerful gems,"
Sam began, keeping his words simple so everyone could understand the massive scale of the threat.
"They are called the Infinity Stones. The Tesseract is one of them. It is the Space Stone."
Sam looked at their serious faces.
"Thanos is an alien warlord. He believes the universe has too many people and not enough food. His grand plan is to collect all six Infinity Stones. If he gets them all, he can wipe out half of all life in the entire universe with just a simple snap of his fingers."
The room went completely silent.
Tony took a deep breath, rubbing his forehead.
Steve tightened his grip on Peggy's hand.
Wiping out half the universe was an unimaginable level of evil.
"We are not going to let him do that,"
Sam said firmly, his eyes glowing with determination.
"I will not let him even have a chance to snap his fingers. We are going to prepare, we are going to grow stronger, and when he finally comes, we are going to stop him."
Nick Fury stepped forward from the shadows.
His single eye was locked on the glowing blue Tesseract sitting on the glass table.
"That is a very nice speech, Sam,"
Fury said, his voice hard.
"But that cube is S.H.I.E.L.D. property. We need to lock it up in our most secure vault immediately."
Sam didn't even blink. He reached out and smoothly picked up the Tesseract.
"No, Fury,"
Sam answered flatly.
"You are not taking it."
"Excuse me?"
Fury demanded, taking another step forward.
"We need to study it to build weapons to protect ourselves."
Sam shook his head.
"S.H.I.E.L.D. is too weak to protect this, Fury. You didn't even know Hydra was living inside your own house for seventy years. If I give this back to you, someone will just steal it again."
Fury opened his mouth to argue, but the fierce looks from Steve, Peggy, and Natasha made him close it again.
The Avengers were standing with Sam.
"Then what are you going to do with it?"
Thor asked gently.
"It is too dangerous for a mortal to hold for long."
"I am going to keep it safe,"
Sam promised.
But deep inside his mind, Sam had another reason. He could feel the massive, endless ocean of pure space energy humming inside the blue cube.
As a Cultivator, his entire path was about absorbing energy from the universe to grow stronger and defy the heavens.
Sam looked down at the bright blue stone.
He wanted to test it. He wanted to know if a human body could absorb the cosmic power of an Infinity Stone to cultivate.
If he could merge the Space Stone's energy with his Golden Core, his strength would reach a level no one had ever seen before.
"I am going to keep it,"
Sam said quietly to himself, a small, confident smile appearing on his lips.
"And I am going to put it to very good use."
Sam then looked at the scepter. No one knew it was mind stone. He would keep it to himself as well.
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