SHIELD Headquarters - Director's Office
"How is the rumor going?" Nick Fury asked, still looking out the window at the city below, his reflection a dark silhouette against the glass.
"Boss, it's really going extraordinarily well," Agent Coulson reported from behind him, tablet in hand with real-time social media analytics. "Several protests have already happened in front of the White House. Thousands of people demanding answers, accountability."
"More demonstrations are scheduled across every major city—London, Paris, Beijing, Moscow, Tokyo," Coulson continued. "The hashtags are trending globally. News networks can't stop covering it."
He paused, then asked carefully, "But do you really think this will work? That public pressure will force them to accept Asgard's terms?"
"Hmm." Fury let out a cold snort, not turning from the window. "What do you think, Coulson? Human nature is predictable, especially when survival is at stake."
"Let the rumor ferment more, build up pressure like a pressure cooker," Fury continued, his voice calculating. "I will soon go in front of the public myself and confirm that the incident is true—that we did attack an Asgardian vessel, and this is what Asgard has demanded in response."
"Boss..." Coulson's voice suddenly became very concerned, carrying genuine worry for his superior. "You might be... they might make you a scapegoat. Execute you to satisfy public anger."
"Don't bother yourself with that, Coulson," Fury said, finally turning to face his agent. "I don't care if I'm executed later, thrown to the wolves to appease the mob. As long as this crisis can pass, as long as humanity survives, that's what matters."
"Anyway, the world is already a fucking mess after this disaster," he added with bitter resignation. "I don't particularly want to stick around and clean it up. Let someone else deal with the aftermath."
"As for whether this plan will work?" A cold smile appeared on Fury's scarred face. "I know human nature too well, Coulson. I've been studying it, manipulating it, for decades."
"When it comes to their own lives, their own survival, what is a president to them? What is loyalty to leadership?" Fury continued. "People will hand over their own families to the devil himself if it means they can survive. They'll sacrifice anyone and anything."
"Anyway, just keep close eyes on the situation. Monitor the—"
He couldn't even finish his sentence.
BOOOOM!
The whole building suddenly started to shake violently, as if an earthquake had struck. The windows rattled in their frames, and somewhere in the distance, car alarms began wailing.
"BOSS!" Coulson shouted over the noise. "The hotel where the Asgardians were staying—someone just dropped a fucking missile on it! Direct hit on the building!"
Fury's face went white. He quickly grabbed a tablet from his desk, pulling up the security camera feeds from the area.
The screen showed what used to be a five-star hotel in downtown Manhattan. Now there was just a ten-meter-wide crater, still smoking, surrounded by rubble and destruction. Emergency sirens wailed in the background.
"These madmen," Fury whispered, watching the feed.
As the smoke slowly cleared, a dome of crackling lightning became visible at the center of the blast radius. The barrier was gradually opening, dissipating, revealing Thor and the other three Asgardian warriors standing completely unharmed within.
Although all the explosive impact had been blocked by the lightning shield, protecting them from harm, dust and debris had still entered through gaps in the barrier. Thor's face was covered in soot and ash, his expression absolutely black with rage.
His eyes were glowing pure white with electrical power, lightning dancing across his entire body.
"EARTH!" Thor's voice thundered across the sky, magically amplified to carry for miles. "YOU HAVE MADE YOUR CHOICE! NOW YOU WILL FACE THE CONSEQUENCES!"
Every person in Manhattan could hear him, the words echoing between skyscrapers.
"HEIMDALL!" Thor shouted, raising Mjolnir toward the sky.
A rainbow beam of the Bifrost directly descended, its light visible across the entire city, pulling Thor and his companions upward and away.
Fury just slumped down in his chair, all strength leaving his body in a rush. His carefully constructed plan, his attempt to force a diplomatic solution through public pressure, had just gone up in literal smoke.
He didn't know who had done this, Fury thought numbly. Maybe it was ordered by one of the Security Council members who didn't want to face Asgardian justice, who preferred war to personal accountability. Or maybe it was done by one of the remaining Skrulls, sabotaging any chance of peace.
It didn't matter anymore. The how and why were irrelevant now.
From this moment on, it was all-out war. No more negotiations, no more diplomatic solutions.
Hopefully the Asgardians would be merciful enough not to destroy the whole planet, he thought with dark humor. Hopefully they'd be satisfied with just killing most of humanity instead of all of it.
Asgard - Royal Palace Throne Room
"Sister!" Thor's voice carried barely controlled fury as he strode into the throne room, still covered in dust from the explosion. "Not only did they kill our soldier, murder him in cold blood, but when we offered them mercy, when we gave them a chance for peaceful resolution, they attacked us!"
"They dropped explosives on us while we were their guests!" Thor continued, his voice rising. "Sister, they don't deserve our mercy at all! They've shown us what they truly are—treacherous, dishonorable, unworthy of clemency!"
"Let's attack them," Thor demanded. "Let's bring the full might of Asgard down on their heads. Let them understand the price of striking the Nine Realms!"
Hela sat on the throne, her expression carefully composed, listening to her brother's righteous anger.
Internally, she was satisfied. Everything was proceeding according to Elric's plan. But she needed to play her part convincingly.
"Assemble the Einherjar," she commanded, her voice cold and final. "Prepare for war."
Sokovia - Elric's Residence
"Elric, we're ready," Hela's voice came through the communication crystal. "We can invade at any moment. Just give the word and Asgard's armies will descend on every major city."
"Wait for two days," Elric instructed. "Let them prepare a bit, let them organize their defenses. It'll make the 'war' more convincing, more dramatic."
While he was talking to Hela, planning the orchestrated conflict, suddenly the door of his house was knocked on.
"Storm, can you get that?" Elric called out.
"Hela, I'll inform you if anything needs to be adjusted," he said into the crystal. "Otherwise, just proceed according to the plan we discussed. Make it look good."
The new arrival was Anastasia, looking slightly flustered, a formal envelope in her hands.
"Elric, look at this," Anastasia said while handing over the letter, the paper bearing multiple official seals.
Elric opened it, scanning the contents quickly.
"It's from the Earth Defense Institution," he said, noting the name. "A newly formed organization representing all the countries on Earth. Unified command structure."
"It seems they don't want to just wait for their deaths quietly," Elric mused. "They want to fight back, organize some kind of resistance."
"They're also requesting that we attend a meeting tonight," Anastasia added. "Emergency session. All world leaders and representatives invited."
"Boss, should I go in your place?" she offered.
"No, let me go," Elric decided. "I want to see for myself what they're cooking up. Is it going to be a five-star Michelin dish or just burnt charcoal?"
Italy - Emergency Global Summit Hall
The meeting was being held in Rome, in one of Italy's most luxurious conference centers.
Looking at the opulent hall—marble floors, crystal chandeliers, Renaissance artwork adorning the walls—Elric let out an internal chuckle.
Even if humanity will be destroyed tomorrow, obliterated by cosmic forces, they still need to maintain pretenses of civilization and dignity until the very end, he thought with dark amusement.
After showing his letter and confirming his credentials as the ambassador for Sokovia, he was quickly ushered inside.
Although he'd arrived quite late, only about half the massive hall was filled with delegates. It couldn't be helped—this institution had been created only 24 hours ago, the invitations distributed in desperate haste. There should be many more people who would attend the meeting remotely via video conference, calling in from their home countries.
And without waiting for everyone's arrival, without bothering with full attendance, the meeting was quickly started. Time was a luxury they no longer possessed.
A man in an expensive suit took the podium, tapping the microphone. The crowd quieted.
"Ladies and gentlemen, representatives of Earth," he began, his voice carrying practiced authority. "Thank you for coming on such short notice, during such a dark time for our species."
"Three days ago, an unknown alien race came to Earth," he continued, his tone shifting to something more ominous. "They landed their vessel in our territory and made an outrageous declaration."
"They told us that Earth belongs to them. That we are under their rule, subject to their laws. That we are, in effect, their slaves—property to be governed and controlled as they see fit."
His voice rose with manufactured outrage. "How could we accept that? How could any free people accept such terms?"
"So our brave soldiers, our defenders, directly fought with these invaders!" His fist came down on the podium for emphasis. "They engaged the alien forces and forced them to retreat! But no—we did not win. No, the battle is not over yet."
"They will come again," he said, his voice dropping to something more serious. "They will return with more soldiers, more ships, more weapons. They are stronger than us in many ways. They are more technologically advanced than us. Their power is vast."
"But we are humanity!" His voice suddenly surged with passion. "How could we become someone's slaves? How could we surrender our freedom, our dignity, everything that makes us human?"
"No! We will fight!" The crowd was starting to respond now, murmurs of agreement rippling through the hall. "We will fight with them until our last breath, until our last heartbeat!"
"But we cannot do this alone," he continued, spreading his arms to encompass the entire assembly. "We need everyone's help. We need the whole of humanity to gather together, to unite as we never have before!"
"We need to stand together to protect our race, to protect our dignity as free beings!" His voice was reaching a crescendo now, emotion pouring through every word. "We need to fight—fight until our last breath! Fight for our children's future! Fight for the right to call ourselves free!"
"This is not about borders or nations anymore!" he declared. "This is not about politics or old grievances! This is about the survival of humanity itself!"
"Will you stand with us?" he demanded. "Will you fight for Earth? Will you fight for freedom?"
"FOR EARTH!" someone shouted from the crowd.
"FOR HUMANITY!" another voice joined.
The chant began to spread, growing in volume and intensity.
Although the speech was filled with manufactured passion, calculated to inspire and manipulate, even Elric himself had to admit it was effective. He could feel the pull of it, the emotional manipulation designed to make people willing to fight and die for abstract principles.
But in the end, it was just a speech. Just words dressed up in passion and patriotism.
"Sir!" A voice cut through the chanting, demanding attention. "But I heard that you—your government specifically—was the one who first intercepted one of their ships. And after they came to negotiate peacefully, you blew them up with explosives!"
The hall went quiet, all eyes turning to the speaker—a younger delegate, perhaps less willing to go along with the narrative.
"No! That is absolutely false!" The speaker at the podium quickly interrupted, his face showing practiced outrage. "This is a completely false rumor, propaganda spread by our enemies! We were attacked unprovoked! We only fought back in self-defense!"
"And this is not the time to question each other!" He quickly changed topics, redirecting before the challenge could gain traction. "This is not the time for doubt or division! We need to come together! We have to fight!"
"So today I am standing here," he concluded, "hoping that in this fight for humanity's survival, you will join us. That you will pledge your nations, your resources, your soldiers to our common defense."
"For Earth! For humanity!" he raised his fist.
Although most of the countries present knew at least some version of the truth—that Earth had struck first, that the situation was more complex than presented—what the speaker had said was absolutely true in one sense: it didn't matter anymore.
Whatever the truth of how this started, whatever mistakes had been made, only one thing mattered now: a powerful alien race would attack them soon. They needed to defend themselves or be destroyed.
So everyone quickly agreed to join the alliance, to pledge support to the unified Earth Defense Institution.
One by one, representatives stood and voiced their nations' commitments.
Only leaving Sokovia, whose representative sat quietly without voting to join.
And when the final vote results were displayed on the screens, when it showed unanimous support except for one notable absence, everyone was astonished. All eyes turned toward Elric.
Finally, one of the representatives from France spoke, an elderly man with decades of diplomatic experience in his voice.
"Young man," he said, his tone attempting to be understanding but carrying an edge of frustration. "I know your country hasn't had very good experiences in recent years. The civil war, the instability. But now is not the time for grievances."
"We are close to extinction as a species!" His voice rose slightly. "Why are you still holding on to petty national arguments? Why won't you join us in defending our world?"
"No," Elric said simply, standing up from his seat. "Sokovia is capable of defending itself. We don't need anyone's help, and we don't particularly want to help anyone else either."
And with that blunt declaration, he directly turned and left the hall, his footsteps echoing in the stunned silence.
"Capable of protecting yourself?" The old French representative finally broke his carefully maintained diplomatic composure, his voice cracking. "CAPABLE OF PROTECTING YOURSELF?!"
His laugh was bitter, disbelieving, tinged with something like pity or contempt.
"Hahaha! Capable!