Chapter 156: Malekith, the Dark Elf

Nick Fury descended in a helicopter.

His helicopter had also been through a fierce battle; its body was pockmarked with bullet holes, and the pilot was nowhere to be seen.

"Did you catch that baron?"

"He resisted arrest, so I executed him."

Nick Fury looked at the completely flattened Hydra base and fell into a brief silence.

After a moment, he looked at Wanda and Pietro and asked, "Who are these two? Your newly recruited sidekicks?"

"Yes, their names are Wanda and Pietro. They are Hydra experiments. They developed a serum capable of creating superhumans."

"Superhumans?"

Nick Fury looked at the two with a complicated gaze and continued, "There are getting to be more and more bizarre things around."

Michael took out the scavenged serum, handed it to Nick Fury, and said, "This serum was created using the blood of Chitauri soldiers and gamma rays. It is extremely unstable. It might grant someone superpowers, or it might cause them to develop cancer, or die from cellular collapse."

Nick Fury examined the serum and said, "It doesn't sound like a finished product."

Michael shook his head and replied, "This is the finished product, and there is no optimization protocol. For the vast majority of people in the world, this stuff is poison, but when it meets the right people, it's a different story."

"Like this brother and sister?"

"Yes."

Michael nodded, agreeing with his assessment.

"As for Hydra's research on Chitauri weapons, I'll transfer it to you."

"You don't need it?"

"No, I've already finished reading their research."

Michael already possessed a certain foundation in research, so everything was connected, allowing him to achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Nick Fury finally understood the situation: Michael had once again taken the lion's share, leaving him only the trivial scraps that Michael disdained.

"Their future code names are Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch."

Nick Fury nodded, then asked, "Are you planning to recommend them to the Avengers?"

"No."

"I'm going to build my own superhero faction. I'll call it the Justice League."

The Justice League?

Thinking that Michael was getting too full of himself, Nick Fury immediately said, "Watch out or DC will sue you."

That reminded Michael that DC Comics existed in this world.

"Oh, I suppose so. Let's call it the Vanguard Vanguard instead—no, the Watchguard."

"That's a decent name."

"By the way, how are the preparations for S.W.O.R.D. going? Are you under pressure? Do you need any help?"

Nick Fury looked at Michael, and a motherfucker slipped right past his lips.

"Why the hell do you know everything? Did Hill flip to your side?"

"Don't go around swearing all the time, Fury."

Nick Fury looked at him with suspicion, hesitating for a moment. He still trusted Hill's integrity; what he didn't trust was this guy's integrity. What if he used some shady trick to control Hill?

"Don't look at me like that, Fury. One of your people didn't tell me about this."

Without waiting to see whether Nick Fury believed him or not, Michael directly opened a portal and brought everyone away.

They returned straight to New York, arriving at Michael's Twilight Island.

Looking into the distance, Michael asked with a puzzled expression, "Fury, do you guys have a program to launch alien spacecraft?"

Nick Fury hesitated and said, "No, we don't. Why?"

"Take a look over there."

Nick Fury looked in the direction Michael was pointing. From their vantage point, he could see it clearly: a massive alien spacecraft stood squarely in the middle of New York City Hall.

"Oh, my god."

Michael turned his head and said, "You should be saying, 'Motherfucker.'"

Nick Fury looked at Michael and said, "Didn't you just tell me not to swear?"

"If you ever turned over a new leaf, *that* would be a real motherfucker."

Instead of arguing, Nick Fury looked into the distance and said, "Take me to see what's actually going on."

Michael shook his head helplessly, scooped up Nick Fury, and flew straight toward it.

Nick Fury enjoyed the full experience of being buffeted by the wind. Right now, he was very grateful that he didn't have any hair on his head, otherwise, his hairstyle would have been completely ruined.

Arriving at the roof of City Hall, Michael unceremoniously dropped Nick Fury inside.

Professor Selvig and Jane Foster happened to be right there. Seeing Nick Fury, Selvig said in surprise, "Director Fury, how did you end up in such a state?"

"Some son of a bitch chose not to ride a glider and instead hauled me through the air by the scruff of my neck, completely messing up my hair."

With that, Nick Fury straightened his heavy trench coat.

He was tempted to take off his outer layer; the outfit was designed to withstand the harsh winters of the KGB, and New York was currently blazing hot.

Selvig glanced at Nick Fury's smooth, cue-ball head. Not a single hair was in sight, so there was certainly no hairstyle to speak of.

"Director Fury, aren't you hot?"

Nick Fury: "..."

I am not hot, because agents are always cool and composed.

It was just a tiny bit of sweltering heat; it wasn't unbearable. Nick Fury looked out toward the center of the room, where Thor was locking eyes with Malekith.

"Who is this guy?"

Jane answered, "He's the leader of the Dark Elves. His goal is to conquer the universe."

Malekith said to Thor, "Why come all this way, Asgardian? Death is about to find you."

Thor immediately retorted, "It won't be coming by your hand."

Malekith said angrily, "Your universe has no right to exist. Your kingdom and your family deserve to be destroyed."

Nick Fury looked around outside but couldn't find any trace of Michael. Where on earth had that guy gone? Don't drop the ball at a critical moment!

Invisible in the high altitude, Michael changed into his Nightstalker suit and dropped straight down from the sky.

When dealing with this kind of villain, it was better not to use the mechanical bat-suit; that outfit carried way too much murderous intent.

Seeing Michael, Thor grinned foolishly and said, "Hey, brother, long time no see."

Michael nodded as well. "Long time no see."

Tony descended from the sky clad in the Mark XL armor.

This armor was called Shotgun, currently Tony's fastest suit, equipped with an extra booster on the back identical to the chest reactor.

During the Avengers era, Tony had only been up to the Mark VII, and now, less than a year later, he had already built the Mark XL.

One had to admit that the fear of insufficient firepower was the greatest driving force behind human progress.

"Hey, talk about rare company."

Suddenly feeling ignored, Malekith waved a large hand, sending a massive barrage of dark particles shooting at the three of them at extreme speed.

Michael instantly teleported away, and Tony soared into the air, leaving only poor, honest Thor behind to take the full brunt of the attack on his own.

"Hey, you two—"

Struck by the Aether particles, Thor was knocked flat onto his back.

Tony asked with curiosity, "What is that thing?"

"The Aether. They say it's the ultimate weapon of the Dark Elves."

After observing it for a moment, Tony remarked, "Why do I feel like this thing isn't all that powerful?"

"Probably because the Dark Elves come from some backwater place and lack exposure."

Thor raised Mjolnir high, summoning lightning to clash head-on with the Aether particles.

However, due to the special properties of the Aether, it directly overpowered Thor's lightning and knocked him flying once again.

"Will you two hurry up and come down to help?"

Thor felt as though the two of them were just spectators. Not only had they both tossed out a few taunts at Malekith, but they were even standing up there chatting. He was convinced they were sabotaging him, and doing it right out in the open.