Avengers Assemble

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At first, Tony didn't think much of the explosion. After all, similar test detonations happened all the time in the United States, and he had long since stopped paying them any mind.

But when he received a call from Kai, he quickly realized this was something else entirely.

"What? You're saying this is an alien invasion?"

Tony shifted the phone from his right hand to his left while his free hand operated a holographic interface, bringing up a projection screen filled with news feeds. Headlines flashed across the display one after another, but there was nothing about an alien attack.

"Kai, you have to be joking, right? If there really was an alien invasion, the news would be blowing up about it!"

Kai's voice remained steady. "Tony, do you remember Thor?"

"Oh, of course. Hard to forget the guy."

"And did I ever tell you about his brother, Loki?"

Tony thought about it briefly—well, not too hard—before answering, "No, I don't think you did."

Kai sighed, then quickly explained. "To put it simply, Loki competed with Thor for their father's favor. Things got out of hand, he ended up in space, and… let's just say he got himself into trouble. If I'm right, that explosion you're seeing? It's Loki returning to Earth."

Hearing this, Tony's skepticism faded. Kai didn't seem like the type to make up stories, so he started taking the situation more seriously. He ran a quick scan of the explosion site and pulled up its location.

"You mean the one that happened in the outskirts of New York?"

"That's the one," Kai confirmed. "Do you know what's there?"

Before Tony could ask, Kai supplied the answer. "That was a S.H.I.E.L.D. research base—where they were studying the Tesseract."

Tony wasn't particularly interested in the S.H.I.E.L.D. base itself, but something about that name caught his attention.

"Hold on—what did you just say? The… Tesseract? Did I hear that right?"

Kai hadn't expected Tony to fixate on that instead of the alien invasion, but he nodded anyway. "Yeah, the Tesseract."

"And what exactly is that?" Tony asked, his curiosity piqued. He'd never heard of it before, but if S.H.I.E.L.D. was studying it—and it had something to do with space—then it had to be interesting.

Kai exhaled. "I'll explain later if you want. But right now, what matters is that we know an alien invasion is coming. We need to prepare."

"Fine," Tony relented, though he clearly wasn't happy about waiting. After a brief pause, he added, "In that case, come to the tower. We can use it as our base to figure out how to fight back."

"Good. But I'm bringing Banner with me. That okay?"

Tony had been about to hang up but stopped when he heard the name. "Oh? You're bringing the big green guy?"

"Of course. There's an old saying: 'There is strength in numbers.'"

After hanging up, Kai headed to the manor's basement, where Banner was working alongside Samuel.

"Hey, Banner, got a moment?"

Banner set down his experiment and turned toward him. "What's up, Kai?"

"It's like this—Tony and I picked up something unusual. From what I can tell, this is the precursor to an alien invasion. I want to bring you to Tony's to figure out a defense strategy. What do you think?"

Banner's face stiffened at the mention of an alien invasion, but after a few moments of thought, he nodded. "Alright. Let's go."

The two of them arrived at the tower, where Tony was busy working in front of a holographic interface. When he heard Kai's voice, he finally stood up, walked over, and called for Yinsen to join them. The four of them sat on the couch, ready to talk.

Kai spoke first. "Alright, Tony. What were you working on just now?"

Tony explained, "I was running an analysis on the energy readings Jarvis picked up last time, trying to track the source and see if it had any noticeable effects."

Hearing this, Banner's eyes lit up with interest. "Oh? In that case, I think I can help."

As soon as he said that, he and Tony started exchanging ideas, quickly getting drawn into a deep discussion. The more they talked, the more excited they became, and soon they were getting up to run experiments together.

Watching them, Kai turned to Tony and said, "Tony, if a battle is inevitable, there's someone else I think we should bring in to lead the fight."

Tony, already halfway to the basement with Banner, pointed at him without looking back. "Whoever you've got in mind, go for it. I trust your judgment."

With Tony's approval, Kai set off to find the person he had in mind.

Meanwhile, at S.H.I.E.L.D…

Nick Fury met with Coulson, discussing the severity of the situation. Then he handed Coulson a thick stack of files.

"Go find these people," Fury ordered. "We need their help—now."

Coulson took the files and flipped through them. The first name on the list stood out immediately: Kai.

"Sir… uh, are we sure we can even get him to agree?"

Fury's tone was firm. "If he refuses, tell him this: The survival of Earth is at stake."

Coulson nodded. "Understood, sir."

After leaving Fury's office, he sat down and reviewed the files. Out of everyone listed, only Natasha was already part of S.H.I.E.L.D.—the others would have to be recruited from the outside.

Deciding to start with Natasha, Coulson picked up the phone. After that, he'd track down the others.

One way or another, the Avengers Initiative was about to begin.

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