"Hello, many of you may not know me. This is the first real use of the global emergency alert system. My name is Alexander Pierce, and I am the U.N. Acting Secretary for SWORD. The duty that falls to me today is to deliver to you the news of dire importance, Today is a dark day for humanity. You may have already heard of the attack on the wedding of my dear friend, Michael Trent." Pierce did not elaborate on Trent's accomplishments - Jane supposed that he was more than famous enough for it. "Two days ago, our first line of defense was breached by an alien going by the name of Loki. He arrived on earth through the use of a long-dormant artifact and promptly took control of the minds of several of Earth's frontline defenders, including Mr. Trent, who was enthralled while he did his best to defend his friends and family."

Loki was on Earth? Jane shuddered a little. Thor had been so powerful and now his brother was here? Mind controlling a famous scientist?

—

"Find Captain America, he said," Pietro said as they walked off the plane. "How are we supposed to find Captain America? Put out an ad in the news paper?"

Wanda grabbed his arm and pointed at a screen, where a man in a suit was standing next to a quartet of pictures, one of them Mike's.

"We now have reason to believe that Loki's quest is nothing less than the conquest of Earth and an apocalyptic culling of half of all human beings upon the planet. He has enthralled at least these three men, Erik Selvig, an expert astrophysicist. Clint Barton, a veteran military operator. Michael Trent, the world's foremost scientific mind. Be advised that all these men are extraordinarily dangerous and make sure to contact the hotline below if you see any of them."

"We have to find him first," Wanda said urgently.

Pietro nodded his head. If they didn't, he'd probably end up dead.

——

"Make no mistake - If Loki succeeds in his goals, it will be the greatest calamity which has ever been visited upon the earth. Even as I give this address, the heads of states of every nation on the Earth are co-ordinating forces for a rapid deployment. This is not the time for panic - It is a time to come together"

Natasha turned off the screen. She didn't need to hear any more about the situation from Pierce and she was still getting used to her new height and strength.

Dr. Banner looked up, his face scrunched up from his analysis of the staff. "Problem with the secretary?"

They'd quarantined the staff once they'd heard that it caused ambient strife from Victor. Fury was frustrated with the information that the PRIDE had and had held back, but he wasn't able to conduct, 'a damn dental exam to this horse' at the moment. Especially with Trent gone rogue, there was really no telling what that guy knew and how. He'd unveiled lots of information to which Albertson had never been privy to.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Pierce and Fury go way back. He trusts him."

"I didn't ask about Fury," Banner said, looking at Natasha carefully. "I asked about you."

"I don't know Pierce but I'm feeling really antsy. Probably just the serum increasing my energy levels." Natasha had been trained from an early age to feel and control her body and now it was all off balance, so she couldn't pin her perceptions where they needed to go. Sensations live in the body, the body that had been disciplined to obey, and now it fairly thrummed with energy.

"You should trust yourself more," Banner said, his voice encouraging.

"Weird coming from a guy who ran two thousand miles from himself."

Banner shook his head and straightened up. He was shorter than her now, which was weird to realize. Not many men were going to for a woman who was taller than them and overpowered them. She'd known that was a tactical loss and it wasn't like her new shape was unattractive, it was just buffer than her traditional look. And taller. Eight inches taller. "I ran a few thousand miles from the other guy. He's a- less nice than you are."

"Don't be so sure," Natasha warned. And she really was warning him. Even at the edge of the world, Dr. Banner had directed his actions towards helping others. She wasn't sure he deserved to have been dragged back into this. Natasha, well, she'd been dragged back from inside the abyss and she was still a black ops specialist. Big green problem or not, she didn't want him to get the wrong idea.

"You know I worked for years on the Super-Soldier Serum and he just has it? No failed tests, no missing subjects, no big green accidents, just the formula, delivered in a shrink wrapped package from nowhere?"

"They're more scared of Trent than Loki. " Natasha said. "But right now, Loki's the mission."

—

"Those who would act against the security and health of the earth, whether from fear or vile ambition, will be opposed with all the might that the governments of the world can manage. We will fight and we will win. By God and under heaven, the earth will endure."

I put down the headset and walked over to Barton. "We have to act now," if we didn't our erstwhile mercenaries would get word we were trying to conquer the world. And the Hand had no desire to endanger the world so long as it contained Kun-Lun. He nodded and strapped on a mask and signaled to the Hand mercenaries to do the same.

I walked over to the console over the portal opener and tuned the Tesseract to its twin in the scepter. Likely the product of the last civilization to unite the Stones, making it easy to use them as targeting tools. I peeled open space and without hesitation Barton launched the gas grenade through the portal. He and the half dozen Hand mercenaries jumped through the stabilized portal and I snapped it shut. They'd signal me when they were ready.