While in a spaceship orbiting Earth, Tony and Alex tried to figure out where to go first.
After scouring the news, they discovered that, except for the ships flying over Washington, everything was quiet. They both wondered why these ships had taken off at the wrong time. Before the flight, they were confident they had enough time to safely return. As the ship approached the planet, Yumiko logged into the system , and her face appeared on one of the monitors.
"Where are you? Where have you been? What took you so long? I've been through so much here..."
The teenage girl launched into a torrent of words at the men, who exchanged glances at the intense encounter.
"I can't hear you very well," Tony said, openly entering commands that began blocking and expelling the enraged electronic ghost from the systems. "We'll talk later."
" Yumiko , don't worry, everything's fine," Alex said, smiling brightly at her for the camera. "Play with Jarvis for now."
- Ahhh you...
When Tony finally kicked her out of the systems, the travelers exchanged glances and realized she wouldn't let it go.
No matter how they felt about her, something else was more important now. Hydra's plan had entered a crucial phase, even though it shouldn't have. It was alarming.
Alex expected to see a lot of fire all around as they entered the atmosphere, but to his surprise, there was practically nothing. Stark merely smiled slyly and remained silent as a fish, which was very surprising to him.
Continuing to approach Earth, the ship's systems reported that anti-aircraft defenses scattered around the American capital were attempting to target them, but, as usual with alien ships, they were unable to do anything because the ship quickly escaped them.
helicarriers could be seen in the distance , several quinjets were discovered that had just begun to take off.
Tony, having hacked the communications system, discovered that Hydra members were attempting to escape and that strange things were happening within S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters itself. Having ascertained everything he needed to know, he shamelessly opened fire on them.
The energy weapon beneath the ship fired, and a blue blob destroyed the nearest target.
Seeing their fellow ship destroyed, two more Quinjets carrying Hydra fugitives attempted to escape, but failed. A few more shots ended their flight.
"They'll be flying again soon. Open the hangar, I'll join the fight."
Alex was about to stand up, but Stark stopped him and smiled contentedly. Ledov was about to protest when he realized the seat beneath him had simply vanished, sending him into free fall.
Stark apparently decided to demonstrate the emergency evacuation system built into the ship on his friend. Fortunately, or according to Tony's calculations, the ship was over a small reservoir of water near the Triskelion , from which the carriers themselves departed.
Mentally cursing and swearing at the inventor, Alex flew downwards and focused on his target. If there were a lot of clashes between groups inside, he could create a demoralizing effect on the opponents inside.
A rapid plunge into the water would have been fatal for an ordinary person. For Alex, it was like being embraced by a warm embrace. Once in the water, he began to gather it around himself, simultaneously recalling and drawing the Asgardian runes in the correct order for maximum effect.
Making small ice figures in the shape of runes, he placed them in what would terrify all his enemies for the next few hours . Ice figures are not very reliable transmitters of runic energy, and they will soon simply fly apart, but in the water, they will calmly fulfill the purposes Alex set for them.
Create a likeness of the animal mind in the figure that he will build.
After all the steps were completed, the figure of a serpentine dragon began to emerge in the water, looking so alive that even Alex began to be a little afraid of it.
Controlling his creation, Alex steered the beast upward just as several Quinjets were flying past .
Everyone could see the dragon snatch one of them from the surface of the water and simply tear it apart, like a dog tearing apart a stuffed animal. Having finished with the first target, Alex directed his creation to hunt down the other pilots, who had finally taken to the air and begun to battle Tony in his ship.
The runes Alex laid couldn't give the dragon flight, but making it more alive was a completely different matter.
Tony informed Alex that another group of pilots was preparing from one of
the helicarriers , which could be hostile. Alex, guiding the dragon, landed it on the carrier's runway, and the runes immediately activated.
- RAAAARRRRHHHH!
Like a monster from legend, it scared everyone off the deck. No one wanted to find out whether it was real or not.
The appearance of such a creature demoralized all the Hydra members, especially after their main plan had failed.
Watching the dogfight nearly cease, Alex realized the easy part was over. Now, in all this chaos, he had to figure out who was friend and who was foe.
As the aerial battle finally ended, two new space travelers appeared before Fury , who, along with the Council and Natasha, was guarding a chained Hydra leader.
Almost everyone in the room looked at the two new people with great caution, although everyone had their own reasons for doing so.
— So this is how you meet your heroes?
Tony looked right at home, dressed in one of his suits of armor, while Alex stood there languidly in a T-shirt and pants, completely dry.
- Thank you, Stark, for finally deigning to show up.
The verbal altercation that could have erupted between Fury and Stark was quickly stopped by the advisors, who were in a slight panic and looking for a solution to the situation.
While a meeting began in one part of the room, Alex was interested in another question.
He hadn't seen Natasha in too long. He wanted to approach and kiss the spy passionately, but decided she wouldn't appreciate the gesture in the current situation. So, feigning interest in what she was doing, he walked behind her and ran his fingertips through her straightened hair, which brought a small smile to her face.
Meeting his gaze, she gave him a bright smile and winked. Under the circumstances, that was more than enough to tell him she was also glad to see him.
With a slight sense of relief, Alex joined in the discussion of the plan to seize the S.H.I.E.L.D. base.
*****
Sharon Carter didn't fully understand what was going on.
After two messages blared throughout headquarters, she followed the advice and barricaded herself and a small group of agents in one of the offices. All she could do was sit and wait, unsure what would happen next.
Just a few days ago, without any further information, S.H.I.E.L.D. leadership announced the need to capture Steve Rogers. What was even stranger was that this happened immediately after the "death" of Director Fury .
Shock. That's what the niece of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s founder experienced, along with many agents.
For a couple of days, operatives hunted Captain America and the other Avengers who were with him, who were also wanted.
Then, videos went viral on social media showing two suits created by Stark neutralizing an entire S.H.I.E.L.D. squad and taking back the Avengers, who were about to be captured. Given that Sharon herself wasn't involved in these operations, the debriefing of the failed mission didn't concern her, so she knew little about it.
For a whole day after that, everything was quiet, and then the madness began. Three aircraft carriers, unknown to many at S.H.I.E.L.D. due to their security clearance, began to rise above the ground.
The Captain and the living Director Fury found Sharon in the control center, where the staff was being interrogated about the cause of the aircraft carrier malfunction, which no one knew about.
The only clue that S.H.I.E.L.D. had been hacked was an image of a white rabbit that appeared for a few seconds on all the monitors.
After the messages, arguments began between employees about what the living legend of World War II had said, and everything could have ended in arguments, but someone fired the first shot.
Sharon didn't see who it was, but in just thirty seconds, there were a multitude of corpses of her acquaintances all around her, who began to shoot everyone against everyone.
While trying to escape, she ended up in a group that decided to follow the director's plan: hide and wait until reinforcements arrived.
That's how she ended up in a room that was barricaded with a wardrobe.
For a while, only isolated shots could be heard in the distance, until a loud scream from the monster drew the agents' attention to the window.
The flying water dragon, which hunted Quinjets and tore them apart like paper, forced everyone in the room to move away from the window, just in case.
"Is this the reinforcement Fury was talking about ?" Sharon wondered.
Occasionally glancing at the monster, who had made himself comfortable on one of the aircraft carrier's runways, Sharon realized that the avengers were already here.
The monster's roar seemed to have attracted a lot of attention, because Agent Carter no longer heard gunshots in the corridors. The fighting had likely moved to other levels, but she hoped the monster had forced everyone to stop shooting.
A moment of silence and timid discussions about what was going on was interrupted by a cartoon that began to appear on all the screens.
The cartoon showed the organization's symbolic bird being torn apart and devoured by a multi-headed monster. Hydra, already planning to savor its victory, was interrupted by the appearance of the Avengers, who, in their cartoon forms, began beating the mythical creature with large hammers, striking it in the head, and ultimately defeated it.
After which the cartoon, which lasted no more than half a minute, began to play again.
Now it dawned on Sharon, as it did on everyone else in the locked room, that whatever was happening here involved all the Avengers, not just Captain America.
After waiting a little longer, a loud but calm knock on the door caught everyone's attention, and the voice they heard from behind the door said:
"Good afternoon. My name is Alexander Ledov. For those who don't know, I'm one of the Avengers. Please open the door, we're here to help."
For a few seconds, everyone looked at each other. One person was about to open the door, but two tried to stop him, saying it was stupid.
Apparently tired of waiting, Ledov used his water tentacles to simply yank the door off its hinges, then used them to push aside the partitioning cabinet.
Sharon, seeing all this, drew her weapon and aimed it at the hero. Those who also had weapons did the same.
"I know you're worried," Ledov began calmly, completely unfazed by the gun pointed at him, "but I don't have much time. We'll scan you, and anyone who fails will be arrested."
Hearing this last, one of those trying to stop the door from opening fired at the hero.
Sharon watched in shock as, after a direct hit, Ledov's head began to glow blue, regenerating the damage.
There was no second shot. Water bracelets formed around the shooter's limbs, holding him aloft. These same bonds sent him crashing into the floor, knocking him out cold.
While everyone's attention was focused on the shooter, a high-tech suit, designed by Stark and painted pink, followed the water lord. After examining everyone, the suit fired three small darts, one of which hit the shooter lying on the floor.
"Thank you for your time. The agents will explain everything to you now and determine your next steps."
Sharon watched all this in mild shock. And as soon as the hero left, a dozen agents took his place, some of whom immediately began handcuffing and searching the sleeping bodies.
Seeing Ledov's potential, Agent Carter glanced out the window again. She saw again the enormous beast, now perched atop the carrier, gnawing on one of the Quinjets like a toy.
She shook her head wearily at everything that was happening.
*****
The plan to capture Hydra agents was simple and complex at the same time.
Sending the army to clear the building was out of the question. It would have caused even more chaos and death, which the heroes were trying to prevent.
After the meeting, it was decided that Rhodey , Tony, and Alex, being powerful combat units, would lead three groups of fighters from those currently surrounding the headquarters and, based on the information leaked by Yumiko, would arrest Hydra agents. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agents would either join or evacuate, depending on their rank and skills. Natasha and Fury would lead the fighters to seal off the secret exits from the complex to prevent anyone from escaping. The advisors would collect Pierce and report the incident to the appropriate authorities, as well as organize the arrests of anyone associated with Hydra but not currently at the headquarters.
Things were difficult at first. Alex wanted to take the closest unit near the entrance he needed, but the CIA, which was in charge of that area, was reluctant to go under Russian command. Fortunately, one phone call solved the problem, but it didn't cause future headaches for the agent who had previously refused to do anything.
The first groups the squad encountered in the complex turned out to be hostile. They weren't deterred by the sight of Alex, who was protecting himself with a water shield surrounded by swarming ice needles, or by the sight of Iron Man standing nearby in pink paint. They decided to test their luck. And fate rewarded these "heroes" with numerous holes all over their bodies.
Things got a little easier from there. They began encountering barricaded S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, who were eager to leave the danger zone, and some joined—either as part of the cleanup team or as security for the detainees.
The smarter Hydra groups began to surrender, realizing they couldn't win. Stark reported meeting Steve and Sam and adding them to his group, as they didn't have Hydra lists. Clint went to help Fury and Natasha.
There were also agents pretending to be "their own"—on both sides. This was largely due to the fact that they were surrounded by a faction different from theirs and had superior numbers. Consequently, many threats arose, which Alex easily suppressed with his actions. And Yumiko allowed them to identify who was who.
A particularly suspicious moment was the escape of the Winter Soldier, who avoided confrontation with Rhodey's squad and evaded pursuit. Steve , sent in pursuit of the mercenary, was unable to find him.
The entire operation began around midday, and the first signs that the mission was nearing completion appeared at sunset. The helicarriers themselves were the last to be cleared , as the crew, under the dragon's constant watchful eye, were reluctant to do anything with their broken control system.
Hundreds of people arrested and thousands rescued—it was clearly a good day for the avengers. Conducting the cleanup and making arrests wasn't difficult. The hardest part was surviving the numerous investigations and, most importantly, resolving the issue of the aircraft carriers still hovering over the city.