…
Boom!
Hawkeye's arrow detonated midair.
Leon flicked a finger again.
The bullets reversed course.
Rifle rounds turned back along their original trajectories, ripping through the soldiers who had fired them. In an instant, the armed guards collapsed, cut down by their own gunfire.
"Gulp." ×2
Only Nick Fury and Hawkeye remained standing.
Loki was still kneeling on one knee. Leon—disguised as Ebony Maw—hovered inches above the ground.
A suffocating pressure, like the coils of a giant python tightening around their throats, crushed down on the two agents.
Fury and Barton swallowed hard. Cold sweat streamed down their temples and slipped beneath their collars.
Leon drifted slowly toward them.
They did not move.
Not because they did not want to—
—but because they could not.
His telekinesis pinned them in place.
Living statues. Able to breathe. Unable to resist.
Despair.
Absolute despair.
"Which of you is in charge?" Leon asked, a fingertip gliding lightly across their throats.
"Him!" ×2
Fury and Barton pointed at each other simultaneously.
"…." ×2
They froze.
Hawkeye's eyes widened: You traitor!
Fury's guilty glance seemed to say: You're the better fighter… naturally you're in charge…
"Which one?" Leon repeated, impatience flickering in his eyes.
"Me!" ×2
This time, they both claimed responsibility.
Leon's expression hardened.
With a subtle tightening of his fingers—
Crack.
Each of them felt one arm snap grotesquely out of place.
"Aaaagh—!" ×2
The sudden pain tore screams from their throats.
"Listen carefully," Leon said calmly. "Whoever is in charge."
"Three days from now, in—"
He paused deliberately.
"New York, Lord Ebony Maw," Loki reminded softly.
Leon inclined his head.
"In three days, in New York, the children of the Great Titan will descend."
"You will all die beneath their claws."
"Only those who kneel to the Great Titan and acknowledge Thanos as the Supreme Father may receive his mercy and protection."
"Consider yourselves warned."
With a graceful wave of his hand, Leon wrapped Loki in telekinetic force and stepped through a newly opened blue portal.
The portal snapped shut.
Only then did Fury and Barton collapse free of the invisible restraint, clutching their broken arms and gritting their teeth.
"Why didn't he just kill us?" Hawkeye muttered through the pain.
"Because," Fury said grimly, "he wants us to struggle. To resist. Then he'll crush us publicly—prove the gap in power, break humanity's will."
He inhaled sharply.
"But he picked the wrong planet."
Fury's good hand slipped toward the old pager he carried close to his body.
He hesitated.
Two and a half seconds.
Then he withdrew his hand.
Calling Captain Marvel—Carol Danvers—was premature. That alien calling himself Ebony Maw was powerful, yes. But not beyond Earth's capacity to respond.
And if Thanos wasn't sending his full force yet—
Then Fury wasn't going to play his strongest card without even seeing the opponent's.
"So what now?" Hawkeye asked.
"Where's Agent Romanoff?" Fury replied immediately. "The Avengers have been in preparation long enough. It's time."
He winced.
"Damn—my arm!"
"Fury, I heard Dr. Helen Cho at Stark Industries recently made a breakthrough with something called the 'Regeneration Cradle.' Supposedly it can repair severe biological damage."
"Go! Go! Go!"
"Get us to Stark Tower. I can't take this pain another minute!"
Fury barked orders, then narrowed his eye suspiciously.
"Since when are you so informed about Stark Industries' R&D?"
Hawkeye gave a dry smile.
"I don't have Leon's invulnerable body. Or the Hulk's. Or Tony's armor. I've got a wife and kids at home. I can't afford to get crippled."
Fury patted his shoulder awkwardly.
He thought of his own… "beloved" waiting at home.
He was about to call for transport when his communicator buzzed first.
Beep—connection established.
"Agent Hill. What is it?"
"Fury—the two intruders took Dr. Selvig."
"What?!"
Fury's face darkened instantly.
He didn't know why Ebony Maw wanted Selvig—
—but it couldn't be good.
Elsewhere
Following coordinates provided by Loki, Leon attempted to open a portal directly to the Chitauri fleet.
He quickly discovered a limitation:
If he had never personally visited the destination, the portal suffered severe spatial deviation. After dozens of attempts, he still couldn't lock onto the correct location.
The Ancient One's usage restrictions had been precise, after all.
So Leon made a detour—abducting Dr. Erik Selvig, the same scientist who would build the spatial portal device in The Avengers.
He even crossed paths briefly with Maria Hill.
It had been a while.
She looked… better than ever.
Once this was over—
Well.
That was for later.
"What do you want from me?!" Selvig demanded, suspended helplessly in midair by telekinetic force.
Leon only smiled.
Loki stepped forward without hesitation and pressed the Mind Stone Scepter to Selvig's chest.
A pulse of blue energy surged.
Selvig's resistance vanished instantly.
Loki turned curiously toward Leon.
"Aren't you supposed to be their hero?"
"You didn't even blink when you killed them."
Leon clasped his hands behind his back and regarded Loki calmly.
"If there is no crisis, how will people remember the greatness of a hero?"
"If I eliminate every threat before they ever see it, they will believe peace is their birthright. They will forget my existence. Forget my sacrifices."
"Some may even lose their fear. They'll try to climb the mountain—seek the view from my summit. Perhaps even attempt to replace me."
He paused.
"Everyone wants to be a hero."
"But I have no need for too many companions."
"What I will do is stand as the absolute peak—"
"Bind their desires to the mountain's base."
"The dangers above, I will handle."
"What they must do…"
"…is kneel below and praise my greatness."
This—
Was Leon's Justice of Avarice.
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