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Meanwhile, Nick Fury issued the Avengers rally order.
Yet few answered the call.
Inside the video call.
"Tony, the Avengers need to reassemble." Fury's single eye looked exhausted.
"This is a global crisis."
"Reassemble?" Tony, suited up, was calibrating gear on Vought's tarmac while cadets formed up behind him.
"Nick, I've got my own team. Look at these kids—they're humanity's hope."
"Besides," Tony sneered, "do you even know where the aliens are? Follow you? Wait till humanity's wiped out and then avenge it?"
"Tony…"
"Call ended—busy saving the World." Tony cut the line.
Fury turned to another screen.
"Steve?"
Steve Rogers was helping a nervous cadet check her shield straps.
"Sorry, Director Fury." Steve's voice stayed calm yet carried disappointment.
"During the Battle of New York, you only noticed the nuke when it was overhead. This time… you don't even know who the enemy is. I won't put my back to an organization I can't trust."
"I'm staying with these cadets—they need me."
"The Avengers… are obsolete."
That feed went dark too.
Silence filled Fury's office.
Finally, Clint Barton quietly polished his arrows.
"Boss, I'm still here."
Natasha Romanoff sighed, propping her feet on the desk.
"Me as well. Though that blond egomaniac is kinda convincing, I still prefer working with familiar faces."
Just then the door opened.
Dr. Bruce Banner walked in, looking uneasy.
"Er… I saw the news. Figured I should help. After all… last time I smashed up New York pretty badly."
Fury stared at the last "man, woman, and beast" trio, feeling a loneliness he'd never known.
The once-invincible Avengers had fallen this far…
Vought Mobilization Center.
"You chose this path." Anthony flicked his wrist; several bodyguards carried forward black metal cases and opened them.
Cold vapor dispersed, revealing rows of neat green syringes.
T-VEX.
"What's this?" Tony Stark leaned in; his helmet scanned the vials.
"Gamma radiation? No… these energy readings are weird."
"This is our ace."
Anthony lifted one into the air.
"It's Vought Life Sciences' latest fruit—T-VEX, a Hulk experience card."
For twenty minutes it boosts strength at least twenty-fold, makes you bullet-proof… even enhances superpowers."
Gasps swept the room.
"Cost?" Steve Rogers asked sharply.
"Yes." Anthony was frank.
"After it wears off you'll be weak as a drowned pup. And… max two per day."
He tossed the injector to Steve.
"Insurance. If you're facing certain death—jam it in; it'll save your life."
Of course, it's also your weapon."
Anthony looked at the cadets.
"Ordinary Dark Elves are ten times stronger than humans. With this, for twenty minutes you're the hunters."
Two each. Remember—don't get greedy."
Distribution went swiftly.
Everyone treasured the green vials, slotting them into their suits.
Even Tony Stark pocketed two, stowing them in his armor… Vanaheim, the Dark World.
No color here—only endless ash and a dead wind.
The sky is a filthy rag draped over this cursed wasteland.
"This is your plan?"
Loki sneered at the huge black cross-shaped mothership.
"I thought after New York some new folds might have grown in your brain."
"Shut up, Loki." Thor, cradling pale Jane Foster, said steely, "Stick to the plan."
They stood atop a dune.
Malekith, lord of the Dark Elves, descended from the ship with suffocating pressure.
Half his corpse-pale face was intact; the other bore lightning burns Thor had gifted him on Asgard.
Behind him loomed the mountainous monster—Algrim the Cursed Warrior.
"Asgardians," Malekith hissed, "you dare enter my realm."
"I'm here to end this!" Thor roared.
Suddenly Loki struck, driving a dagger into Thor's side; Thor screamed and fell, Jane shrieked.
As Thor reached for Mjolnir, Loki severed his arm.
It was a show for Malekith.
To make him lower his guard and draw the Aether from Jane.
Malekith took the bait.
He gazed greedily at Jane Foster—the power he craved.
He raised his hand; dark magical fields enveloped Jane.
"Aaaaah—!"
Jane hung in agony as red silk-like fluid was ripped from her eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.
The red particles gathered, forming a restless crimson sphere.
"Now!!"
Thor sprang up from the ground!
"Loki!!"
"No need to shout, oaf!"
Loki dispelled the illusion; mjolnir in Thor's hand summoned the fiercest lightning.
"Boom—!!"
At the instant the Aether left its host and before Malekith could absorb it, Mjolnir, wrapped in overwhelming thunder, smashed into the red sphere!
Explosion.
A violent energy wave scoured the wasteland.
When the smoke cleared,
Thor panted, staring ahead in hope.
Yet as the dust settled,
the red mass had not dispersed.
It broke into countless tiny crystals, hung suspended, then—as if summoned—reassembled.
But the Aether… looked somehow 'thin'.
Malekith raised his hand; the red energy obediently merged into him.
Power surged.
"What?!" Malekith's eyes snapped open, Fury and confusion swirling in their black depths.
"Only half?!"
He felt a ravenous incompleteness within.
"Where is the other half?!" Malekith's roar shattered surrounding rock.
"The other half is gone, you black-skinned bastard!" Thor grinned triumphantly.
"Kill them!!" With the Convergence nearing—once every five thousand years—Malekith had no time for games.
"Kill—!!"
The Cursed Warrior Algrim moved.
Like a massive heavy tank, he charged Thor.
Thor hurled Mjolnir.
Bang!
A horrifying sight met Thor's eyes.
The unstoppable mjolnir was swatted aside by the Cursed Warrior with one hand!