The broken glaciers roared as they collapsed, mixing with torrents of snow that thundered down the mountainside.
The North Pole, once silent except for the whisper of the wind, now howled with a world-ending roar.
Blizzards screamed. Shards of ice exploded into the air.
The avalanche surged forward like a furious beast ready to devour everything in its path.
Wanda and Pietro froze, stunned.
They couldn't believe this cataclysm came from a single strike—from Kai.
"Oh, it's never good to get distracted during a fight…"
With a flash of golden light, Borsalino appeared beside Pietro, his leg swinging out like a blade.
Before the kick could land, Wanda's crimson energy wrapped around Pietro, yanking him back to safety.
Truth be told, Wanda was starting to feel a little desperate about Kai.
In speed, he was faster than Pietro.
In power, her Scarlet Magic couldn't restrain his photon form.
And in raw strength—he'd just shattered mountains with one hit.
Listening to the avalanche rumble like distant thunder, Wanda glanced toward Coulson's Quinjet not far away.
An idea hit her. She shot Pietro a quick look, signaling him to distract Kai and buy time.
Then she pressed both hands to the ground, scarlet light flaring through her palms.
Crack… crack…
Red fissures spread outward like veins of molten fire, converging toward the Quinjet—then erupted with a violent explosion.
At the same time, Wanda lifted her hands again, using her magic to control the avalanche and send it crashing straight toward Kai.
"Pietro—now!"
Hearing her call, Pietro took a hard punch from Kai, then blurred away in a silver streak, grabbing Wanda and vanishing from the scene.
Kai stood amidst the chaos, raising his hand.
The Reality Stone's crimson energy pulsed, freezing the massive avalanche mid-collapse.
Just as he prepared to pursue them, Coulson's urgent voice came through his earpiece.
"Kai, the Quinjet's been destroyed! S.H.I.E.L.D. will launch a full-scale strike in three minutes! We have to leave now!"
Gunfire crackled in the background.
Kai sighed, raised his finger, and fired a blinding Finger Flash toward the direction Pietro fled.
It missed, splitting a glacier in half.
"Oh, what a shame. Missed."
[Borsalino's Portrayal +0.8%]
Hearing the system notification for "missing," Kai nodded with satisfaction.
The Reality Stone's new carrier was definitely paying off.
Later — S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters
"It's time to honor our deal, Coulson."
Robert Gonzales placed a black cube on the table. "You said if I helped you rescue your people, you'd unlock this box."
Coulson gave him a thin smile. "Of course. You can check what's inside—but when Fury comes back, he'll want it returned."
As Gonzales opened it, Coulson's phone buzzed. Hill.
He answered quickly, then looked up with a grin.
"All right, Robert. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s yours now. Just make sure it's standing again before Fury returns."
Then, turning to Kai, Coulson smiled.
"How about some barbecue? There's a 24-hour place nearby."
Kai tossed an orange peel into the trash. "You're paying?"
Coulson laughed. "Wouldn't dream otherwise."
Half an Hour Later — Barbecue Restaurant
Sitting across from Coulson, Kai leaned back lazily.
"It's not just barbecue, right? No one else from your team's here. What do you really want?"
"Ha. You always see through me."
Coulson slid a tablet across the table. On the screen glowed Loki's scepter, the same one from the Battle of New York.
"After New York, Sitwell took it. We didn't know back then that he—and Pierce—were HYDRA. But I've been tracking it ever since. My lead points to Strucker's base in Sokovia."
"So the scepter's there."
Kai raised an eyebrow. "Why not send S.H.I.E.L.D.? You've got Gonzales and his shiny new council."
"Sure," Coulson said dryly. "Except the new S.H.I.E.L.D. votes on everything. By the time they agree, HYDRA will have turned the scepter into a coffee mug."
Kai smirked. "So you want the Avengers."
"Exactly."
Next Morning — Stark Industries
Kai brewed himself tea and opened a newspaper, Coulson's tablet sitting on the desk.
No matter how big the problem—slacking off came first.
[Borsalino's Portrayal +0.2%]
A few minutes later, Tony Stark burst through the door, exasperated.
"You little rascal. I'm your boss, not your assistant! When something important comes up, you make me come to your office?"
Tony poured himself a cup of tea without asking.
Kai calmly pushed the tablet across the desk, ignoring the rant, and went back to reading.
No gossip about Tony in the entertainment section—probably because he'd paid good money to bury it.
Tony rolled his eyes, then glanced at the screen.
The sight of Loki's scepter wiped the smirk from his face.
"This is why Coulson met you last night?"
"Yeah. Total hassle."
"HYDRA's got the scepter? You sure?"
"Pretty much. Sokovia. Strucker's running experiments with it."
Tony stood up immediately. "Meeting room. Assemble the Avengers."
Stark Tower — Avengers Briefing Room
As Kai munched on a sandwich Natasha had made, Tony stood before the team.
"Ever since New York, Loki's scepter's been in HYDRA's hands. Strucker's using it for god knows what. We're taking it back."
Steve Rogers nodded. "HYDRA or not, taking down a base isn't the hard part. But if Strucker's been experimenting with the scepter's power, we should expect something new."
"Agreed," Natasha added, tapping her tablet.
A hologram of Wanda and Pietro Maximoff appeared. "These two showed up in Sokovia. Both enhanced—possibly through the scepter."
Thor leaned back in his chair, twirling Mjolnir.
"Then we'll crush them along with HYDRA. I doubt they're worse than the demon from Hell we faced."
"Everyone ready?" Steve said. "We move out in thirty."
Sokovia — HYDRA Base
Missiles launched from the treeline.
Natasha piloted the Quinjet, shouting, "Kai! Those missiles are yours!"
"No problem."
He set down his PSP, vanished, and the next moment was riding one of the missiles back toward its launch site.
A massive explosion lit up the forest.
Tony whistled over comms. "Show-off."
Steve grinned, revving a stolen motorcycle. "Let's not fall behind!"
The forest erupted in chaos—explosions, shrapnel, gunfire.
Kai's Eight-span Curved Jewel (Yasakani no Magatama) rained destruction, turning half the battlefield into molten light.
[Borsalino's Portrayal +0.8%]
Thor chuckled. "You keep stealing my thunder, Kai!"
"Then move faster," Kai shot back.
Inside the Castle
HYDRA's alarms blared.
"Alert! The Avengers are here!"
Baron Strucker shouted, "Deploy everything! Tanks, robots, the works!"
In the forest, Steve was tearing through soldiers while Natasha and Barton provided cover fire.
Thor smashed through armor, while Hulk was gleefully using tanks as baseballs.
Tony flew overhead, blasting turrets and bunkers to ash.
But when he approached the castle, his repulsors bounced off an invisible barrier.
"Jarvis, talk to me."
"Energy shield detected, sir. Highly advanced—origin unknown."
Thor landed nearby. "It must be powered by the Mind Stone."
"Then let's go get it."
Inside the Castle — Underground Lab
Tony fought his way in, knocking out guards and disabling defenses.
He found Strucker's data room, plugged in a USB, and began downloading.
"Sir, airflow detected behind the left wall," Jarvis said.
Tony pushed. The wall retracted, revealing a secret passage. He descended, finding a hidden lab—filled with Chitauri tech and weapons from New York.
"Holy hell. That's how Strucker built his cannons…"
Then he saw it—the Mind Stone, glowing atop a scepter.
He reached for it and Wanda's Scarlet Magic flared behind him.
Tony's Nightmare
A flash of red.
Tony turned—and saw the corpses of every Avenger.
Hulk's body lay still. Thor's hammer shattered. Natasha's eyes stared blankly. Steve's shield split in two.
At the top of the steps, even Kai's light had gone dark.
Tony stumbled forward, hands shaking, until Steve's corpse suddenly grabbed him.
"You could have saved us."
The words echoed again and again as giant Iron Dragons descended through portals above.
Then everything went black.
Tony gasped awake, drenched in sweat, the illusion gone.
The Mind Stone glowed before him—silent, innocent.
He grabbed it.
"Tony, status?" Steve's voice crackled in his ear.
"I've got the scepter," Tony said, voice steady—but the tremor in his hands betrayed him.
Natasha's tone sharpened. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Tony forced a laugh. "I'm fine. Just worried about Barton. Maybe I'll call Helen Cho. She's good with missing body parts."
He glanced at the Mind Stone again—its reflection glinting in his eyes.
But deep down, something inside Tony Stark had already begun to fracture.