Avenger's Last Hope

Chapter Two

Scar's POV

"What are you doing, Mr. Stark?" Fury asks as he walks in.

"Uh, kind of been wondering the same thing about you," Tony says.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract," Fury says.

"We are," Bruce says. "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile."

"Yeah, then you get your Cube back," Tony says. "No muss, no fuss. What is "Phase 2"?"

Steve walks in holding a gun. "Phase 2 is S.H.I.E.L.D. uses the Cube to make weapons," Steve says putting the weapon on a table. "Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me."

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract," Fury says. "This does not mean that we're making..."

Tony turns the screen with a model of the weapon to us. "I'm sorry, Nick," Tony says. "What were you lying?"

"I was wrong, Director," Steve says. "The world hasn't changed a bit."

Nat and Thor walk in. "Did you know about this?" Bruce asks Nat.

"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" Nat asks.

"I was in Calcutta," Bruce says. "I was pretty well removed."

"Loki is manipulating you," Nat says.

"And you're doing what, exactly?" Bruce says.

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you," Nat says.

"Yes, and I'm not leaving," Bruce says. "Because suddenly you get a little twitchy. I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D. is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

"Because of him," he says pointing toward Thor.

"Me?" Thor says.

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town," Fury says. "The year before we had a visitor fall to Earth. We learned that not only are we not alone but we are hopelessly, hilarious, outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor says.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury asks and looks at me. "And you're not the only threat. The world's filled up with people who can't be matched, that can't be controlled."

"Like you controlled the Cube?" Steve says.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies," Thor says. "It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for higher form of war."

"Higher form?" Steve asks.

"You forced our hand," Fury says. "We had to come up with something."

"A nuclear deterrent," Tony says. "Because that always calms everything right down."

"Guys I don't think it's a good time to argue," I say but they just ignore me.

"Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark," Fury says.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons," Steve says. "Stark would be neck-deep..."

"Hold on," Tony says. "How is this about me?"

"I'm sorry, isn't everything," Steve says.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this," Thor says.

"Excuse me," Fury says. "Did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?"

"You treat your champions with such mistrust," Thor says.