The Tesseract—S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most prized artifact. They'd spent years securing it, pouring in manpower, money, and genius scientists.
And now, this smug bastard—Ryuuto—just said he was taking it.
Nick Fury's one good eye twitched. The man wasn't used to feeling powerless, but with Ryuuto standing there, casual as a god in street clothes, he didn't even dare breathe wrong. Even if every agent and Avenger on the Helicarrier teamed up, they wouldn't last a minute against him.
Ryuuto's tone was calm, almost lazy. "You're trying to extract the Tesseract's energy, right? Infinite energy turned into a weapon. Self-sustaining, no reloads needed. Based on the same principles as a laser cannon, just... you know, actually worth something. Red Skull's scientists were already messing with this tech back in World War II."
Nick's expression stiffened. "How the hell do you know all that?"
Ryuuto shrugged. "Because I know more than you think. Point is—whether you like it or not, I'm taking it."
"And what do you plan to do with it?"
Ryuuto grinned. "Do you even know what the Tesseract really is?"
"An unlimited energy source."
"Wrong." His voice lowered, dangerous and confident. "You don't even know its essence. Let's just say this: both the Tesseract and the Scepter are going to be fought over soon—by more than just humans. Out there, beyond this little blue planet, there are civilizations with tech and sorcery that'd make your science look like caveman scribbles."
Nick crossed his arms, jaw tight. "I'm aware."
"Then you get it. I'll ask once: are you giving it to me, or not?"
Fury sighed. "Even if I said no, you'd still take it."
"Exactly."
A bitter smirk tugged at Nick's lips. "Fine. Take it. But keep it safe. Don't let it fall into the wrong hands. Because when you lost that Scepter, my whole damn crew got mind-controlled."
"Not my problem."
Ryuuto gestured for someone in the back. Ant-Man nervously shuffled forward, looking like a kid caught stealing candy.
"Director... I, uh, stole the Scepter. It was a direct order from the Secretary of Defense. Said if we didn't retrieve it, you'd go on a killing spree. I was gonna hand it to S.H.I.E.L.D., but—turns out Abomination was the puppet master behind everything. And, uh, Deadpool helped them."
Nick's brow furrowed. "Deadpool? With them?"
Ryuuto sighed. "He's not 'with' anyone. The guy's a freelance maniac. Works for whoever pays, or amuses him. I told him once—if he causes chaos again, I'll slice him into pieces, store each part separately, and see how long it takes him to grow back."
Nick snorted. "Can't say I'd mind watching that."
Ryuuto smirked, walking over to where the Tesseract floated in containment. Professor Erik Selvig stood nearby, staring at it like it was a god.
"The coordinates locked?" Ryuuto asked.
"Yes," Erik said. "Once input, the transmission activates instantly."
"Like the teleport portals in old RPGs," Ryuuto mused. "You just enter coordinates in chat, and boom—your character's gone."
Erik chuckled nervously. "That's... not wrong. But you're really planning to take it?"
"I'm hiding it somewhere no one can find."
"There's no such place in this world."
"That's because you're thinking too small."
Erik frowned. "I still can't wrap my head around your energy—this... Chakra. Steve mentioned it, but I can't comprehend how it exists within a human. I read the reports from the Australian rainforest explosion—you leveled miles of jungle like it was paper. How does one person wield that?"
"If we meet again," Ryuuto said quietly, "maybe I'll tell you."
He turned to face the Tesseract, eyes narrowing.
"Summoning World... open."
A vast summoning circle flared into existence above him, threads of blue and gold spinning like galaxies. The energy made the whole deck hum. Ryuuto linked the coordinate machine to the cube, then casually tossed both upward. They vanished into the light.
Gasps erupted across the room. And before anyone could even react—he hurled the Scepter into the circle too.
"Summoning World... seal."
The array collapsed, fading into nothing. Ryuuto let out a slow breath, feeling that strange satisfaction that came when Shion's system finally worked as intended.
When Shion first told him the weapon system couldn't store items from parallel worlds, he'd nearly flipped the damn system core out of annoyance. But the last upgrade changed that—it could now hold and secure any weapon, no matter the dimension.
Only he could open that gateway. Meaning even if he dropped dead or overslept through the apocalypse, no one could ever steal the Tesseract or Scepter.
A perfect vault.
As he was silently gloating, Maria Hill approached, still pale but resolute. She stopped before him and bowed slightly. "I... owe you an apology. I acted recklessly before. I shouldn't have treated you that way."
Ryuuto smirked faintly. "You shouldn't have. But apology accepted. Just... don't point another gun at me, Maria-san. Some people only get one warning."