Fury sat alone in his private office. The video feed on his screen had been knocked out by the electromagnetic pulse from the nuke, but he didn't flinch.
Instead, he leaned back and shut his eyes, weary—not just from the day, but from the weight of everything that had just happened.
A sudden flash of red light lit the room.
When it faded, Ethan, Professor X, and Nightcrawler stood in the center.
"Knew you'd come visit," Fury said, opening his eyes without surprise.
"I expected more of a reaction. You've avoided me for a while," Professor X said with a light smile, as Ethan calmly wheeled him across the room to face Fury.
Fury gave a tight nod. "This office is rigged to detect tampering with my mind. If anything feels off, every explosive hidden in this room goes off instantly."
He glanced toward Nightcrawler. "And I don't think even your teleporting friend could get you all out in time."
"No need to be so defensive," the Professor replied evenly. "We're not here to start a fight. We came to talk—just like we've done before. We need you, Director Fury, just like you need us."
Fury's jaw tightened as he tapped his fingers against the desk.
"If we were really partners, then why did you keep all this from me? This whole operation went down behind my back. I was busy juggling sorcerers, alien gods, and Hydra, and just when I thought I had it under control, my supposed allies went and lit a bigger fire. Now I've gone to war with the damn World Security Council—over your mess. Some partnership."
"We all have secrets, Director," Professor X said calmly.
He knew Fury wasn't truly furious—if he were, they wouldn't still be talking. Fury played a deep game.
And right now, he was looking for leverage.
Ethan didn't wait.
He pulled out a USB drive and tossed it lightly onto Fury's desk.
"What's this?" Fury asked, picking it up with a suspicious look.
"Everything related to the X Crystal. Research, development—every scrap of data we've got. With this, you can mass-produce them in a month," Ethan said plainly.
Fury's eyes narrowed.
It was like sitting at a negotiation table and suddenly having someone toss you the deed to their headquarters.
It was absurd—too generous to be real.
"You're giving me this?" he asked, still not fully trusting it.
"Director Fury, we're offering real cooperation," the Professor said with a smile. "That's our sincerity. Is it enough?"
Fury pocketed the drive, his expression unreadable. "And what do you want in return?"
"The same thing you do," Professor X replied. His gaze was sharp.
"You were there. 1995." Ethan said,
Fury asked widened for a microsecond before turning into a frown.
Ethan continued, "The first human to stand in an interstellar war. You've seen it yourself—how far behind Earth is. Our tech isn't just outdated, it's ancient compared to what's out there. We're centuries behind. And in that gap, if they come back, what chance do we have?"
Fury didn't answer, but his grip on the USB tightened.
He knew the truth.
Earth was vulnerable.
Whether it was the Chitauri, Kree, Skrull, Asgardians, or something even worse alien motherfuckers out there, humans were fragile in comparison.
But luck was finally on humanity's side. They had the X gene. And once awakened, even the average person could stand toe-to-toe with an Asgardian.
This wasn't just evolution—this was the next leap for all of mankind.
With Earth's population far outnumbering the Asgardians, the potential for progress was staggering.
And right now, all that potential sat in Fury's hands.
Ethan and Professor X both understood what was racing through Fury's mind. Globalizing enhanced individuals wasn't just their hope—it was their strategy.
People feared mutants only because they were the few.
But if everyone could become one, then there would be no more "us and them."
'And when everyone's a mutant, no one will be...
Mutants would no longer be the outcasts.
They would be the majority.
And no one was more qualified to push this plan forward than Director Nick Fury.
This was a man who had sacrificed nearly everything to protect humanity.
He was a realist, a strategist, someone who wasn't afraid to blur moral lines if it meant keeping Earth safe.
Turning the Tesseract into a weapon?
That was Fury's idea.
So how could he ignore this far more practical plan to empower humanity on a global scale?
"So this is the gamble you're putting on the table," Fury finally said with a thin smile, his eyes sharp.
"Exactly," Professor X replied, his tone calm but firm. "And we'll be right behind you every step of the way, Director Fury."
Fury leaned back slightly, absorbing the weight of it all.
He knew Xavier was right—no one could lie to the professor's face and expect to get away with it. But that didn't matter.
The professor wasn't here to manipulate him. He was here because he knew Fury would see the opportunity for what it was.
"And when it comes to execution," Xavier added, "I think we both know you're more experienced than any of us."
Fury didn't respond immediately, but the sly, calculating grin that followed said everything.
Stage one was clear: distribute limited X crystal data and finished samples to the five major global powers.
After the Chitauri war, the role of enhanced individuals, mutants, mutates, inhuman, their role in saving the planet will be too impossible to ignore.
This would naturally spark an arms race.
Other countries wouldn't want to be left behind.
Soon, every nation would begin producing their own mutants.
Stage two: offer X crystals to secondary powers through carefully structured trades.
With each deal, S.H.I.E.L.D. would gain political leverage and vital resources, further consolidating its influence.
Internally, Fury would begin awakening latent abilities among S.H.I.E.L.D.'s agents.
But before any of that, one thing had to be addressed—Hydra.
He knew Hydra would go after the X crystal like wolves after fresh meat. That made it the perfect bait. Fury was already planning cleaning houses.
Then there was the alien tech left behind by the Chitauri.
Useless in the hands of mutants for now, but in Fury's hands?
It could change everything.
Fury had no interest in open warfare with the rest of the world. That would be suicide.
What he wanted was quiet, unstoppable reform.
Revolution only burned everything down.
But reform? That rebuilt the world on new terms.
No plan would go perfectly.
He knew that.
But one thing was absolutely certain—the rise of superpowered humanity could not be stopped.
Who in their right mind would pass up the chance to become something more than human?
Not the average citizen. Not the politicians. Not even the world leaders.
And as the number of powered individuals grew, the current world order would begin to crumble under its own weight.
A New Brave World will follow. Humanity that doesn't fear what's out there up in the sky, but instead gets ready to face it.
Fury knew what was coming.
When Earth finally stepped into the interstellar age, it couldn't afford to be divided into two hundred bickering nations.
Humanity would need unity.
Not the hollow kind from the current United Nations, but a real, powerful Interstellar Federation.