~ Asgard ~
In a solemn chamber, reserved for matters of great importance, All-Father Odin, his wife Frigga, his son Thor, and the guardian Heimdall were gathered.
"What do you see?"
Odin asked his wife.
Frigga was a master of the magical arts. Her power was indisputable, but what truly made her special was her gift: a nearly prophetic sixth sense. Through vision and intuition, she perceived far more than others, sensing omens where others saw only images.
Upon learning that a painting existed showing their lost son, Frigga did not hesitate to act. She asked Heimdall to focus his gaze upon it, and using her magic, she projected the image before them all.
Silence fell over the room.
The painting depicted a disturbing scene: an invasion on Midgard. Odin frowned, for he knew Loki could not orchestrate something like that on his own; someone was assisting him. That his own son would lead an attack against a world under his protection was an intolerable affront.
Thor, however, did not entirely share his father's anger. He was concerned for a different reason.
"Loki would not do this of his own will"
He declared firmly.
"He must be being forced."
Odin looked at him skeptically, but Thor did not back down.
"I know my brother. He told me he would learn to rule... he would not break his word."
Although those had not been Loki's exact words, it was the interpretation Thor had given to their last conversation.
Thor's words planted a seed of doubt in Odin's heart. Though he knew Loki was volatile and ambitious, he also knew his son's unbreakable pride. It was not like him to abandon a purpose halfway or to stoop to conquering Midgard on a whim.
Even so, Loki's nature—his mastery of magic and illusions—complicated any certainty. Was it possible he was being manipulated? Controlled? Odin doubted... until Frigga, sensing his dilemma, spoke.
"It is possible"
She said.
All turned to her, surprised.
"The scepter he holds"
Frigga continued gravely
"I can feel a dangerous energy emanating from it. An energy I have felt before."
She turned to Odin, her eyes shining with unsettling knowledge.
"The same energy that radiates from the Cosmic Cube."
Thor frowned, confused. Odin, however, allowed a fleeting shadow to cross his face before regaining his composure.
The Cosmic Cube... one of the Infinity Stones. A relic of incalculable power, once entrusted to the care of Midgard. If the scepter was indeed another Stone—the Mind Stone—then even Loki could have fallen under its influence.
But that revelation was not the most disturbing part: someone had given an Infinity Stone to Loki and sent him to Earth. No one would arm another with such a weapon if the objective were trivial. If the scepter was in play, the true goal was likely the Cosmic Cube itself.
Old fears resurfaced in Odin's mind. He had imagined this scenario eons ago: someone gathering the Stones. He could not allow it.
Were it not for the fact that the Ancient One guarded Midgard, he would have descended personally to retrieve the Cube. He had also considered taking the human who could see the future, but the Ancient One, with her cryptic wisdom, had dissuaded him.
Now, however, he could no longer remain passive.
"Thor"
He said solemnly
"when the time comes, you must travel to Midgard. You must bring back your brother... and the scepter he carries."
"Of course, Father"
Thor replied eagerly. Then, turning to his mother, he asked:
"Mother, can you see exactly where the invasion will happen? I'd like to visit some friends while I'm there."
Frigga smiled, amused.
"In fact, my son, you'll be lucky. It will happen right..."
---
~ Stark Mansion ~
"...on my damn rooftop?"
Tony Stark growled.
He wasn't someone easily rattled, but discovering that an alien invasion would begin from the rooftop of his own company would be enough to unsettle anyone.
"JARVIS, analyze everything you can from the painting. I want every detail."
'Affirmative, sir'
replied the AI.
After a few seconds of silence, JARVIS continued:
'First, the surroundings do not appear heavily damaged, and the distant structures remain stable. This suggests that the portal in the sky is the point of entry, that the situation was only just beginning at the time the painting captured it, and that—at least in New York—there is only one portal.'
Tony and Pepper nodded. Having a single front was good news.
'Additionally'
JARVIS went on
'the energy of the portal appears to be linked to the machine installed on the rooftop of Stark Industries.'
Tony, as an engineer, had already suspected as much from the image.
"Yeah... looks like some kind of giant energy converter. But it's not generating its own power; it must be channeling it from some object... probably that bright blue cube at the center."
'Correct, sir. Analysis suggests the machine could not generate a portal autonomously. It merely channels the cube's energy, which has spatial characteristics and abnormally high energy levels.'
Tony let out a wry laugh.
"So now we have objects with elemental attributes like in video games? Perfect."
Pepper rolled her eyes at the comment, but asked:
"Why at Stark Industries, JARVIS?"
'Because of the technology, Miss Potts. Even without extraordinary skills, building such a machine would require access to top-tier facilities.'
Tony smiled proudly.
"So even aliens think my tech is the best on the planet, huh?"
'In New York, sir'
JARVIS corrected without hesitation.
'Or in the United States, if you want to be optimistic.'
Pepper couldn't help but laugh, while Tony frowned. Then he asked, more seriously:
"How do you know that, JARVIS?"
'If they had had access to the cube in space, they would have opened the portal from there. The fact that they did it here indicates they obtained the cube on Earth. Given its energy level, it would have been unlikely to go unnoticed... and the most likely organization to possess something like that would be...'
"S.H.I.E.L.D."
Tony finished.
It was obvious. Only an agency like S.H.I.E.L.D. would have the means to safeguard something of that magnitude... and also the kind of problems that came with it.
"So they stole the cube from S.H.I.E.L.D. and used my rooftop to throw their invasion party"
Tony muttered.
"I guess I should be flattered."
He fell silent for a moment, then asked, more concerned:
"JARVIS, can you estimate when it will happen?"
'Yes, sir. Analyzing the environmental clues, the invasion will occur in...'
---
~ S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier ~
"...May of next year"
Said Maria Hill.
"Five months"
Fury calculated silently.
They had reached similar conclusions to Tony Stark, but with a crucial difference: they knew the "cube" was the Tesseract.
And knowing it was anything but reassuring. The object's power only heightened their awareness of the disaster looming ahead.
However, there was one thing in their favor: whoever stole the Tesseract had not fled the planet. They built a machine here. That meant their purpose was still Earth-bound... and that they needed time.
And time is a double-edged sword.
Fury had always known that one day they would face a threat from beyond the stars. And he had prepared: the Avengers Initiative.
"Hill, how many members do we have confirmed?"
"Currently, Steve Rogers and Gwen Stacy as combatants, Tony Stark and Leonardo Valentino as consultants"
Hill replied.
"We also have Bruce Banner under surveillance and Thor as a potential member... though he hasn't returned since the incident in New Mexico."
Fury frowned. He counted mentally: five potential members.
He knew Tony would answer the call when needed—especially if his technology was involved. Banner owed them a favor since Harlem. And as for Thor... if the figure in the painting was Loki, as his instincts suggested—and Fury trusted his instincts—then Thor would not be far from the action.
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(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)