Peter Parker fell into silence.
Peter Parker ceased all thought.
With mechanical detachment, Peter reported over the public channel that Namor had knocked Pym unconscious. He then swore he heard Captain America exhale five F-words in a single breath.
Shortly after, Peter heard the Captain's weary voice in his earpiece, addressing Thor: "Thor, intercept Namor. Use force if necessary. Acting recklessly without knowing the enemy's specifics will only lead to disaster."
Another long silence followed on the comms, until Wasp asked tentatively, "Does Thor... actually know how to use this thing?"
"He's used it before, so he's likely just not replying," Tony answered, sounding equally drained. Thor's fury was understandable. Whether it was Loki or Odin intending to unleash the Casket of Ancient Winters on Earth, Thor was trapped in a lose-lose dilemma, leaving him with nothing but rage to confront the situation.
Unfortunately, this didn't bode well for the Avengers' cohesion.
"I've discussed this with Strange. Direct magical opposition to the Casket of Ancient Winters is difficult," Peter said, reporting his side of things first. "But I mentioned Iceman from the X-Men to him. He thinks Iceman might be able to seal the Casket."
"Excellent. Janet, contact Emma Frost. We need to borrow someone."
Tony issued the instruction to Wasp, but the team quickly lapsed back into silence. They were trying to figure out how to close the thing once it was opened—and more importantly, how to seize it before that happened. This was exactly what Tony wanted Peter to do: find proof substantial enough for the Avengers to stage a formal intervention.
Peter immediately activated his satellite communications, pinpointing the coordinates near Atlantis. He commanded his nanites to shift into the Iron Spider configuration, flying at top speed toward the location before switching to stealth mode to slip aboard the Roxxon Energy Corporation cruise ship.
Throughout the journey, however, he saw no sign of Thor or Namor. He had no idea if they had already come to blows.
"This city is over a thousand meters under the sea..."
Both Namor and Thor were currently focused on the deep ocean, leaving the Roxxon Energy ship—which was busy setting up an extraction platform—virtually unmonitored.
As Peter crept through the cruise ship, he continued to analyze the data he had previously recovered from Roxxon's headquarters. Aside from the makeshift seabed analysis reports, the various survey data from this expedition were bizarre; it felt like they had shot an arrow and then painted the bullseye around it.
"It's like they assumed there was oil beneath the seabed here and then fabricated evidence to support it. If these arguments were even slightly plausible, it wouldn't be so ridiculous, but they're entirely made up."
Even so, for a corporation, this wasn't exactly a capital offense—not enough to justify an Avengers strike.
The fact that they were in such a hurry suggested their goal wasn't merely a rival Atlantean or the conquest of the kingdom, but something far more clandestine.
Lost in thought, Peter searched the ship for other players. First were Namor and Thor, who remained... missing.
Then, he found the ship's residents.
A blonde woman appeared in the corridor. Her appearance was stunningly ethereal. Peter stared for a brief moment before instantly realizing she was Amora the Enchantress. He moved to follow her at once.
"Ms. Amora, I expect a sufficient commitment. Roxxon has already sunk considerable resources into Niflheim with zero return. We cannot continue to invest blindly."
Niflheim? That was one of the Nine Realms, the home of the Dark Elves. Come to think of it, while the Casket of Ancient Winters was a weapon of the Frost Giants, it was Malekith who used it most frequently in the comics. If that held true here, was Malekith one of the masterminds?
Peter hid in the corner of the meeting room, eavesdropping on the conversation. He quickly pieced together what was happening.
Roxxon Energy and Amora had reached an agreement: if Roxxon could locate a specific item Malekith required, Malekith would grant Roxxon employees access to Niflheim. This would allow them to freely extract the oil that had sat ignored in Niflheim for millions of years.
And then?
Peter waited for more explosive revelations, only to find out that Roxxon's grand motivation was... actually just digging for oil?
For a moment, Peter found it hard to keep a straight face. He had no idea how to process or resolve this situation. Fortunately, he didn't have to think about it for long.
He heard Thor's roar.
The God of Thunder descended from the heavens, bringing infinite fury with him. Thor slammed heavily onto the deck. Soon, everyone—including Dario Agger—rushed out to negotiate with him.
Amora, however, slipped away early.
"You have stolen the Casket of Ancient Winters, which belongs to Asgard, criminals! I demand you surrender it at once and face judgment in Asgard!"
Whether Thor's interrogation was sincere or just a distraction, it drew the attention of the Roxxon group, allowing Peter to investigate other parts of the ship.
He found what he was looking for: a computer receiving data from an active sensor array.
"Sensor receiver. Perfect. Let's see what Roxxon is really scanning for."
Using his nanobots, Peter quickly breached the computer and began aggregating the data, searching for anomalies.
Right then, the sensors indicated a violent shift in the environment. At first, Peter didn't realize what was happening—until the entire ship began to lurch.
What was going on?
Peter quickly recalibrated the sensors and finally got his answer. Namor, trident in hand, had begun tearing the cruise ship apart. He was attacking with total disregard for the lives of the hundreds of people on board.
And then came the even more troublesome part—something that left Peter speechless.
Agger, who had been bickering with Thor about the Casket, remained exceptionally calm in the face of the destruction. He turned his gaze directly toward Thor.
"Thor! Whatever misunderstandings exist between us, these ordinary workers are innocent. I beseech you, great God of Thunder—save us!"