"Just recently, the big news was about one of the Avengers' teams having labs where they were conducting experiments on people. The public wasn't too happy about this, so Alexander Ledov decided to give an interview and answer some questions. Fortunately, no one was killed and everyone is safe."
The host of one of the American channels exhaled and continued.
The interview revealed that the information they were providing was distorted and paid for by third parties. Literally within 24 hours of this broadcast, more than 90% of all publications that had published similar information immediately began either deleting the content or recalling print runs of the newspapers, issuing retractions, apologies, and justifications.
"The future is bleak for everyone who had to do this, as they immediately lost a ton of subscribers and advertisers," the presenter concluded with a slight smile.
- And even our channel should apologize for not speaking out in defense of our hero and protector.
He waited a few seconds and then continued the broadcast.
-In other news, Stark Industries has announced a major hiring spree…
The shield director's hand closed the news broadcast on the computer and turned his attention to the agent who stood in front of him.
- And how do you like it?
- Good move, now anyone who uses the media against him will think twice.
Natasha's answer didn't particularly satisfy the shield director, and she was rewarded with a glare.
- And you have nothing to do with this?
- Well , she was caught like a little child, but she didn't even bother to admit her guilt - while Alex was having fun with Stark, I was asked to do something.
The spy explained that a special zone had been created, and she, with the help of a photographer, had taken several photos to make it look like an evil scientist's laboratory, where someone had been able to infiltrate and take a few photos. The props, extras, and Photoshop had done their job, and then these photos had spread across the black market with the help of Natasha's acquaintances, biding their time.
- He created his own problem and solved it himself.
- According to him, this is all to improve his reputation.
"And I must admit, the plan worked. Even the number of negative publicity surrounding the Avengers has decreased."
- Unless he makes some serious mistakes, no media outlet will voluntarily work to destroy his reputation.
- He seemed to keep a lot of secrets from you.
Natasha just shrugged.
"That's normal. If he'd rushed to me with words about love or destiny and started telling me everything, then I'd have been really worried."
Fury was somewhat satisfied with the answer , and then opened the folder and showed it to his subordinate. Natasha carefully perused the file, which contained numerous influential Russian figures who had met with representatives around the world, and even some Shield members. After reviewing the entire folder, she looked questioningly at her boss.
- What you just saw are Hydra agents in the Russian cell - Natasha looked at her boss with distrust
- But the hydra...
- She should be dead, I know, but Ledov provided reliable evidence of her existence.
- Alex?
- Yes. He hid much more from you than you could have thought.
"That's a sly one," a satisfied smile appeared on her face, "he kept distracting me, either with Drake or with information about Asgard . And then he started a war between the organizations."
Fury merely nodded in agreement, as he was receiving reports. And that explained the increased number of terrorist attacks in the country. It was simply a struggle for resources and influence.
- And that's why we have a problem.
- If there is a hydra in a country that hates everything connected with Nazis, then there is one in other places too.
- Yes. That's your task: find the Hydra members, especially if they're inside the shield.
- Will I work alone?
- Besides you, there are several other agents working on this case.
- Would you like to enlighten Rogers? I'm sure this information would be of interest to him.
Fury waved his hand in displeasure.
-Rogers is a soldier, he won't be able to keep this secret, but if something goes wrong, he can be brought in to help.
The Director of Shield took out the flash drive that Stark had given him and handed it to Natasha.
"Here's everything Ledov dug up. Start with those closest to the Shield. I don't care how, but I need all the information I can get."
- The goal is clear. Do you have permission to carry it out?
And he simply nodded and, without waiting, the spy left the office. There was a lot of work to do.
- My prince, was everything like this here?
The captain of the Asgardian guard asked his Thor while he was examining the city in the sands from which he had recently tried to escape with his friends.
- Yes, it is him. Only…
Something was wrong. There was no one in the city. Just emptiness. All of this troubled the thunder god.
Returning to this desolate planet, Thor wasn't aiming to vent his anger on the civilians (of course, that was part of it). His goal was to figure out what mechanism was there that was blocking Heimdall's vision . In the future, such a mechanism could prove useful in concealing Asgard from hostile forces. At least if he could figure out what it was and how it worked.
- My prince, you must see this.
The guard who had summoned Thor wasted no time and led him into the city. When he reached the large square that had once served as a market, he was stunned.
Hundreds of bodies, frozen in a pose of prayer, all looked towards the pedestal on which lay the pharaoh, already familiar to Thor, with a dagger in his chest.
Approaching one of the praying bodies, he shook it, but there was no reaction. The dead man's body simply sagged and fell.
At that moment, Lady Sif arrived from another part of the city in her battle form with another squad.
- Looks like they're all dead.
Thor came to the same conclusion and decided to examine the body, but did not find any signs that could help.
Finding nothing, the two of them went to examine the pharaoh himself.
"It looks very much like some kind of ritual," Sif said, examining the body without touching the dagger.
"Or maybe this is punishment for losing an important object?" he said with a satisfied smile, clearly hinting to the woman next to him whose handiwork this was.
- So they all died because of you.
Realizing this, the smile quickly disappeared from the prince's face.
The pharaoh's body didn't attract much attention either. Even the dagger protruding from his chest was simply a beautiful piece of iron and emitted no energy.
Having inspected the square, the detachment went to the temple itself.
Approaching the temple, Thor stopped and began to look around.
- What's wrong? - Sif looked at her prince suspiciously.
- What's missing?
- And what then?
- I don't know, something was here.
- You were wounded, it might have seemed that way to you.
"Perhaps," although Thor agreed, he still tried to find something by looking around.
The group entered the temple without relaxing their vigilance.
- Look at everything here.
Having given the order, Thor himself, along with his battle companion, set off to explore the pyramid. Several Asgardian specialists headed to the control panel, hoping to find something of interest. Meanwhile, Thor decided to join his men. Considering he hadn't been inside the pyramid, exploring it was interesting.
The first half hour.
The corridors and drawings couldn't hold his attention for long. Fortunately, when he went downstairs, he found something interesting.
- This can be considered a good catch.
Sif looked at her prince doubtfully.
- How long have you been a gold lover?
Now they looked at a huge hall filled with various golden objects, from coins to statues, among which could be found many other valuables.
"I live in the Golden City," Thor replied, as if not understanding the question, "and I've long been accustomed to working with it."
Walking up to the nearest pile, he picked up a few coins and examined them.
- Good gold. With such loot, you could throw a fine feast.
- You only want to throw feasts.
But this did not stop her from trying on a small gold bracelet.
Now all this gold needed to be delivered to Asgard while the specialists figured out the technology.
When he went outside, Thor noticed something strange.
It became much colder, although it was still light. Remembering what kind of days there were here, this was unusual. The colder weather was offset by the absence of light from all but one sun. That sun was also obscured by the planet's other satellite.
- Eclipse.
A beautiful sight. But the longer everyone looked at it, the stranger the situation around it became.
The sand around the city turned blacker than black and began to rise , forming figures of black dogs walking on their hind legs and wielding various types of melee weapons.
"Exactly," Thor suddenly remembered, "there were two statues here that looked just like them."
He pointed to a dozen towering dog warriors.
- Couldn't you have told me about this earlier?
- I told you that I forgot.
- Damn. Looks like this is some god's domain.
- So this sacrifice is most likely the last tribute to their god.
- Most likely to punish the villains.
"It 'll be easy," the thunder god wasn't worried at all. "Take some men and guard the pyramid. I'll deal with them."
-Thor them...
"This is Sif's order ," the voice that spoke the order made Sif tremble, but not from fear.
- Yes, my king.
As he began to swing his hammer, he merely gave her a 'everything will be fine' smile.
Thor spun his hammer and flew into the sky, which was completely covered by clouds, and like the wrath of God, to the sounds of heavenly thunder, he descended upon his enemies.
Like a meteorite, he crashed into the ground and a multitude of lightning bolts flew around him, turning many of God's soldiers back into sand.
With each blow, several dogs turned to sand, and each throw of the hammer reduced the army by several dozen.
Even after throwing a hammer at one of the giant statues , he continued to throw lightning bolts in all directions, and anyone who decided to approach received a charge that instantly turned them into sand.
Never before had Thor felt such immense power. It was as if he had been asleep and was just waking up.
With clear blue eyes from which lightning flashed, Odin's son, with a satisfied smile, simply did not notice his enemies.
Considering that these were simple infantry without any magic, it was more of a stroll than a battle.
He didn't follow the battle. Hundreds, thousands, minutes, hours. None of it mattered; there was only the battle and the number of his enemies.
Already under pouring rain, the likes of which this planet had probably never seen, Thor stopped this beating for a very good reason.
His enemies were gone.
Having examined his hands, through which lightning bolts were running, the satisfied Asgardian went to his people.
The glances directed at him pleased the prince. They held both fear and pride. After all, with such strength, he could confidently defend his home without relying solely on the hammer, which served him faithfully.
Upon learning that there were no casualties and only a few dozen enemies had infiltrated, the tall, blond man became sad. The researchers reported that a lot of work would be needed on the mechanism if they were to extract anything valuable from it.
- Well, let's go check our gold.
Returning to Asgard with a vast amount of loot was a joy. Many who had lived through the days of conquest began reminiscing about the past and sharing stories during the feast. But even Thor, who hadn't been particularly attentive to the conversations of others at the feast, noticed that some facts were beginning to clash, as if the old warriors remembered the same things differently. But all this was attributed to old age and poor memory.
Most of the squad with the researchers remained on the planet and dealt with the unknown mechanism, so after making sure of their safety when the eclipse ended, Thor went back because there were things to do here too.
Approaching the room he hated, Thor stopped , hearing nothing. The guards stood silently, guarding his brother.
A smile spread across his face as he stepped inside. Cabinets were broken, tables were destroyed, and in the midst of all this chaos, Loki lay on the floor, almost completely buried in various scrolls.
- So, brother, how do you like the current government?
- It's impossible. Lost cattle. Broken roof. They didn't share the woman. They didn't share the man.
Loki was now still lying down, reading the scrolls that simply caught his eye.
How is this possible? Why should the king of Asgard be doing this ?
The Jotun's wrath was unmatched. Even Thor knew that if his magic hadn't been blocked, the room would have been burned long ago.
"Well, you know," the blond man said, slightly modestly , "my father doesn't do that. Special people handle all that, and this is one of their rooms."
-But why are you doing this?
"Because my father admitted his mistake in raising me, and now I'm suffering for it," a tall, blond man sat down near his brother.
- Hahaha . Great Thor couldn't handle a pile of paperwork.
- You too, actually.
And then they laughed together only at the situation when the princes who were raised to rule were unable to cope with the work of their subjects.
But after laughing a little, the crown prince looked sadly at his younger brother.
-Loki. I talked to my father and he told me what will happen to you.