“Check mate,” pronounced Loki, grinning at the groan of frustration from Ben as he once more won their battle of wits. “I am loving this game.”
“Are you sure you weren’t lying when you said you never played before yesterday?” asked him the man, squinting suspiciously. “Because this is like... supernatural. Are you using magic?”
“I’m simply a genius,” said Loki, with a little pretentious sniff that had him rolling his eyes.
“I kind of want to see a match between you and Tony, at this point,” he said, looking over at where Anthony was on the ground of the living room looking over Peter and Amaya’s ‘homework’. Well, Peter had real homework that he was showing him. Amaya had a piece of paper filled with her name and several others written in different colours, and some drawings.
But Anthony was marking it, so maybe it counted.
Said man looked up from Peter’s math homework, intrigued. “I think I’d win.”
“Want to put money where your mouth is?” asked Ben, wiggling his eyebrows at him.
Sometimes Midgardian phrases deeply confused Loki. Why would one replace their mouth with money? It was so impractical.
“What do you say, buttercup?” asked Anthony, looking over at him. “Want to be defeated by a true master of chess?”
Loki raised an eyebrow at him. “Sure. Where is this master you speak of hiding?”
“Oh burn,” called out Peter, not looking up from his maths book.
“Keep talking like that and you’re out of the will, Parker!”
“I did not know I was in the will to begin with, that’s not fair!” complained the young boy, pulling up his glasses.
Ben and Loki exchanged a look. The two of them, plus Evelyn and James had a bet going on on how long it would take Anthony to realise he basically was parenting four children and not just the one he shared DNA with.
So far, he continued to remain oblivious.
“Moddy look!” called Amaya, shoving her drawing in Loki’s face. “It’s Fenrir!”
Loki still had opinions on Anthony naming the wolf plushie Harley had gotten her for her birthday after the wolf that apparently Midgardians thought Loki had somewhat given birth to, and would be the harbinger of Ragnarok; but Amaya liked the name so there was not much he could do about it.
“Very pretty,” he praised, looking at the patches of colour on the paper that looked pretty good for a child of her age. “Do you want me to hang it with your other drawings?”
“It’s not finished, wait,” she said, returning to colouring her homework.
“Mr Stark, Mr Loki,” called JARVIS a few moments later. “I believe there is something you should see?”
That sounded ominous, coming from JARVIS. The two of them exchanged a quick look with one another, before turning to Ben, who immediately nodded. “I’ll keep an eye, you guys go.”
“Pete, the second problem you’re doing is wrong,” called out Anthony as they left the room.
“But how,” they heard him whine, just before they closed the door between them.
They didn’t even have to ask before a visual feed appeared in front of them.
Loki blinked. “What in the Hel is that?”
“This substance appeared out of nowhere in a small town in Missouri at about 13.07, according to the the reports of the civilians. It stopped for a few minutes after a couple seconds, then started up again at 13.12, for about a minute and 37 seconds. It appears to be of alien origin, and has remained solidified since 13.14. According to reports from the civilians at the site, the goo swallowed individuals, as well as a number of assets. The ones who touched it do not appear to have had any adverse reaction so far, and claim it has the consistency of, and I quote, a ‘very thick piece of jello, the kind you chew and chew and just never ends’.”
Anthony sighed. “Please tell me he did not eat it?”
“I can neither confirm nor deny, as he has not stated it in his tweet.”
“Do you know what it is?” then asked Anthony, turning to Loki.
Loki shook his head, observing the object with interest. “I can confirm that it is of alien origins, but without having a sample of it, I wouldn’t be able to actively figure out what it is, where it came from and what’s it purpose is. I can say for sure that it is not of Midgardian, Aes, Jotun or Vanir origins.”
“So it could be from one of the other five?”
Loki shrugged. “I do not believe so, but I cannot confirm without a sample.”
“What about the people inside?” asked Anthony, looking back at the live feed. “Do we know if they’re alive or if that amoeba like, ate them or something?”
“I do not have the necessary sensors in place to state it.”
“Okay, get in contact with whoever is in charge of the town and tell them to make a perimeter and that I’m coming. How much of a sample do you think you’ll need?” asked Anthony, signalling for JARVIS to get his suit ready.
Loki made a face at him, before promptly sky walking out of the house to this ‘Missouri’ place. He knew the enchantment that kept him hidden from Heimdall’s gaze would hold, but Loki had learnt from Anthony that ‘it was not paranoia if they were really out to get you’, so he also cast an invisibility spell on himself.
Then he turned his attention to the strange blue goo, using his seidr to get a feel to it.
As JARVIS had observed it had indeed solidified completely. It was not, as he had first assumed, a sentient object, but he could feel powerful and ancient magic woven into it.
It was... like a parasite of sorts. It had been put on Midgard by something ancient, much older than the magic Loki was used to deal with. From what he could see of it, it appeared as if it swallowed everything around it and then proceeded to suck the energy out of whatever it was that it was swallowed.
Which meant that the Midgardians inside of it were still alive from the time being. It had started draining them, but whoever was controlling it must have been somehow stopped as he did this and had left the people within it in a state of stasis.
Getting a sample of whatever it was was not particularly hard, with the dwarven blades he still carried (there was little that could stop a weapon forged by the Dwarves of Nidavellir) and the test tubes he summoned from Anthony’s lab.
It was when he had to return to the Mansion that Loki hesitated.
The Midgardian police had clearly received Anthony’s signal and had started to push the people back from the goo. However the people were resisting, more than one of them crying out and trying to break through the goo with their bare hands.
A heavily pregnant woman was being dragged back, as she screamed for someone called ‘Ilda’ inside of the alien goo.
Loki swore under his breath, blaming Anthony fully as he used his seidr to locate the life signals within the goo. They were asleep, and probably in need of a good meal once they woke up, but they were all alive.
He could leave them for Anthony to pull out.
But...
“That Midgardian turned me soft,” he muttered under his breath, before taking a deep breath and combining his teleportation and summoning spell into one. Then he casted it, and promptly left the place.
Anthony was grinning when Loki re-appeared in the room. “At first I was going to call you an asshole, but look at that! You saved those people. You’re a he-”
“Would you like to sleep on the couch, tonight, after you’re done freeing an entire town from goo?” he asked him, eyes narrowed. “Because that’s how you achieve that.”
Anthony’s smug expression did not disappear, but he made a motion of zipping his mouth shut.
“Good. Now go and do your own job.”
Loki was not a hero. He had tried the hero thing, and nearly died twice. He was not a fan of that thing, and if he fought anything, he did it for his family and himself. The hero gig was not for him.
He had just felt bad for the woman, mother to mother.
That was it.
The silence continued.
“Oh, shut up, JARVIS!” He huffed, before walking out of the room.
“I did not say a word, Mr Loki.”
“You thought it!”
If there was one good thing that came out of the whole alien goo parasite amoeba thingy in Missouri, is that it finally put the big wigs in gear, decided Tony.
Tony had been preaching about starting an interplanetary protection system since the alien invasion, and nothing had been done. Not that they did not agree with him that something was needed.
The UN and the US military had read the reports, had seen the footage and agreed with him: whoever sent the Chitauri, would most likely be back for round two.
So it was not a problem of not believing.
It was a problem of lazy paper pushers taking way too long to decide on things and spending time arguing with one another about oil rather than focusing on the big picture.
But apparently, after the third year in a row where a strange alien phenomena they had not been ready for had appeared and Tony Stark once more finding out a way to stop it (in their eyes. In truth, it was Loki who had developed a witchy potion to destroy the goo) they finally started thinking.
“So what do you suggest, Dr Stark?” finally asked him a Representative of the UK. Tony liked that one, he had been the first one to listen to him after the whole Convergence thing.
“I suggest a panel. I suggest a recruitment program for the smartest and most capable minds of the 21st Century everywhere we can, where ideas for interplanetary protection can be suggested.”
Because while Tony already had a bunch of bright minds around him, it was the world in danger, not just the US. And who knew where a real good idea could originate from?
That’s why Tony had bullied his way into a UN meeting, instead of just speaking to Ellis and the US Military.
“We don't know where the right idea will come from, and the more people/scientists/geniuses we put on the job, the more likely we are to find a solution. Hell, multiple solutions, if we're lucky. But we need to get the science community working together. Push for it. At the end of the day, I'm just one man, and while I have a good team around me already settled, think of how much more we could do if we get more people involved."
“And who do you suggest finance this ideas?” asked General Ross, and seriously, how had this man made his way inside the room? Who invited him?
“Obviously not all ideas would be monetarily efficient or easily rendered, I know that already. SI is more than willing to invest and help support whatever idea the scientific community settles on, but this is a matter of worldwide security. This is a matter that will affect the world.” Then he went straight for the jugular. “Does the UN and the rest of the world really want to say, when - not if, when - we succeed that they owe their lives to the US? Again?”
As he predicted, the statement ruffled some feathers, while the Americans looked a little pleased with themselves. As half Italian half American, Tony could only think: typical.
“I’m not asking that you raise taxes everywhere so that you can help support this. That's not a viable option. I’m saying ask the people of the world for help, and they will help. Give the people a chance, give them a choice. Announce the plans for global protection. Support your science divisions around the world so that they can offer their ideas.
"Non profits will start up. Your average joes will chime in. People are already scared. First it was New York. Then London. Now a small town nobody even knows in Missouri. If they hear that finally the governments all around the world are trying to do something about it, the donations will start pouring in, as will the support. Of course, we'll have the crowd who'll immediately say we're crying wolf and state that we are fear mongering, but I believe that with the support from SI and myself - both as Tony Stark and as Iron Man - we can drown them out.
"And not to brag, but SI has always been a trendsetter. If we stand and support this, many other companies will too, I can assure you of that." He smiled after the few chuckles dried off. "Earth was put on the spot when we defeated that faction of the Chitauri in 2012. Let's make sure round that the next time hostile aliens come after us, that it will also be their last. We might be divided in nations but in the end, we are all people of Earth. Let's protect our home."
+++
“Good job, Boss,” said Maria, once the meeting was over and they were getting ready to leave the meeting.
“Thanks, Hill,” he said, offering the ex-SHIELD agent a smile. "What do you think?"
Tony still did not trust the woman 100%, but he could say she had been working very hard so far to gain said trust. And her people who had joined her footsteps and gotten jobs at SI were just as loyal as she had claimed they would be. Hopefully, they'd remain that way. Sharon had ended up joining the CIA, which Tony had mostly expected. She was, after all, a Carter.
"They are likely to vote in favour of your proposal, from what I could tell of your proposal," she informed him. "You should definitely keep an eye on Ross, though. He claims that the nuke worked, so all we needed to do was get you to make some real special guns and that would do the trick."
Tony scoffed, sending an acerbic looking smile when said General glared in his direction. He had the read the man's files in the data dump, especially in regards to Bruce. And he had heard the whispers of him being considered for Secretary of Defence.
Tony was a little busy at this moment, but the second he was not, he'd get him out for sure. The Global Protection Plan had absolutely no place for a man with such a blatant disregard for human rights. This was the last meeting this loser would be sitting in.
“Dr Stark?” called a voice, and Tony looked up in confusion.
There was a woman standing in front of him, her posture alone giving off ‘military’ vibes, though she was dressed as a businesswoman. “Yes?”
She smiled, offering him her hand. “My name is Captain Maria Rambeau,” she said as he tentatively shook her hand. “I am the Director of the Sentient Weapon Observation and Response Department.”
Tony felt both his eyebrows raise as he looked over an equally confused Maria Hill. “Where there is a SHIELD, there is always a SWORD.”
The woman - other Maria - quirked her lips in a small smile. “I’ll admit I had the idea for the name from SHIELD. Fury, may his soul rest in peace, was an Agent at the time, and he tried to recruit me to work for them; which gave me the idea for the name.”
She shook her head, and then pulled out a card, which she handed to Hill instead of him. “Our agency deals with the extra-terrestrial and how to defend the world from the foes and foster a good relationship with the friends. My number is on that card. Please give us a call so that we can set up an appointment; I believe we can offer some help.”
She already got points in Tony’s head for not expecting him to drop everything and have a meeting with her immediately and clearly having researched him enough to know that he didn’t like being handed things.
He gave her a nod. “Very well. A pleasure to meet you, Captain.”
“Likewise, Doctor.”