"Loki has escaped with his scepter." Fury reminded everyone in the room, causing the atmosphere to turn deadly. Captain America and Iron man glanced at each other but remained silent.

It was an ultimate defeat. Natasha was still treating the frenzied archer. Bruce had fallen out of the ship, and Thor was still searching for Loki.

"I don't mean to discourage you, but if we don't get together and work as a team now, then our planet will be inhabited by an ordeal of monsters from another world." Fury stated, walking around the table with frustration.

"I guess I could force myself to work with a green monster, an old man, and a God from another world." Tony Stark said jokingly, yet his eyes gleamed with determination.

Steve Rogers nodded. The situation was of extreme threat to civilians; there was no use in holding grudges against each other right now.

"I see." Fury wanted to continue his speech, but a loud thud from the other room disturbed him. Glancing around, Fury saw a huge Asgardian bulging into the room and taking a seat beside the table. Rage was visible in his eyes.

"I presume your pursuit was unsuccessful." Fury sighed.

"Loki tricked me. He had departed before I could even understand that." Thor's hands turned into fists, his face becoming visibly red. "If only that man didn't open the gates, Loki wouldn't have escaped."

"That man?" Steve Rogers asked. "Just how many people does Loki have under his control?"

"No... that man didn't seem as if he was being controlled," Thor said, lost in his thoughts. "If I saw that correctly, they were fighting with each other."

"Fighting?" Tony Stark joined the conversation. All the avengers were busy at that moment, so who would have the courage to fight against an Asgardian God? "Jarvis, open the surveillance cameras."

Immediately, multiple screens popped out from nothing, lingering in the air as if being held. Most of them were pitch black, showing that they were broken during the chaos on the ship.

Some of them, however, showed unbelievable footage. A man with red hair appeared out of thin air and opened the prison's gates. After doing so, he didn't run, nor did he comply with Loki's orders.

That man actually fought and completely obliterated the so-called God. If Thor hadn't thrown a hammer at the stranger, then it's pretty much concluded that Loki wouldn't have lived any longer.

'He beat my brother... could I even do that with such ease?' Thor thought, looking over the footage repeatedly. Not only did this man have unbelievable power, but he also had some strange powers within his control. Was he even a human?

"Well, that's something unexpected. Perhaps that's our ally from the future who granted us with his presence." Tony Stark smiled, yet deep inside he felt an immense sense of dread. They already had enough trouble with Loki, and now another monster appeared. Shit.

"Mister Fury, do you perhaps know this person?" Steve glanced at the dark-skinned man. However, what he saw shocked him. Fury was trembling from the hysteria; his eyes were wide open, veins visible on his forehead.

"Fury?" Thor and Tony also noticed the man's atypical behavior. "Are you alright?"

Fury took a few more seconds to stabilize his breathing, then placed his fists on the table. "I know this man," he said, his nails penetrating his palm's skin.

Hearing that, everyone turned towards Fury, awaiting further explanation. The man's reaction alone made them frown. Not everyone could force Fury into this state.

"Tony... you asked earlier where did Phil disappear to?" Fury sighed, leaning back against the chair. "Well, I lied. I have not assigned him to any missions."

Tony Stark frowned visibly, as did everyone else in the room. "Don't tell me..."

"A few days ago, I sent Phil and Natasha to arrest an unknown mutant." Fury continued, locking his gaze to the ceiling. "The mutant proved more dangerous than expected. Natasha was the only survivor."

"What..." Tony's eyes turned emotionless, his throat growing dry. However, instead of sadness, anger filled his heart. "Why didn't you tell us before? Do you think you could hide that forever?"

"Your mission at hand was more relevant. I didn't want to disturb everyone's attention on something else." Fury murmured, yet earned only a disapproving glance from the avenger.

"Disturb us?" Tony hastily stood up, marching out of the room. "You are unbelievable."

"Tony, enough!" Fury punched the table from the spleen, blood flowing down his fingers. "That's exactly what Loki wants! While we fight against each other, he is going to open that portal!"

"Then I will stop him myself." Tony glanced back one last time. "And I will not force myself to cooperate with a liar."

"Tony!" Fury shouted, regarding the wandering figure. Loki's plan was going far too well! He had to do something - he had to unite everyone and stop him. No matter what! "Steve, please... you have to talk to him."

"Lying about the death of our friend was a mistake, Mister Fury." Steve stood up, walking out of the room to catch up to Tony. Thor, glancing at Fury with disappointment, left as well.

Everything was crumbling in front of Fury's eyes.

-

Nagato never felt so lively. It was like he regained that minor part of his soul, which he missed so much. It was as if he was complete again. Perfect, like a true God.

Nagato stepped out from the cave, wearing a long black coat concealing his entire body. His body had no injuries, no impurities. Now... he was at the state he was never able to achieve, even back in his world.

Pitch black metallic rods zipped out from his sleeve, spreading until penetrating the ground. Not only did he improve his strength, but he has also planned on how to gain the Tesseract with the least effort.

Soon, Nagato was going to be a step closer to his plan.