Laufey's calculation was as precise as it was cruel. By holding millions of lives hostage, he had struck directly at the Avengers' moral foundation. As a subset of S.H.I.E.L.D., and by extension the World Security Council, the team was bound by a chain of command that prioritized public optics and immediate humanitarian preservation. The pressure to capitulate and release Loki was becoming an avalanche.
But Laufey had overlooked one variable: Emrys.
"The Imperium never compromises with the xenos," Emrys declared. His voice was steady, cutting through the frantic chatter of the bridge like a power sword through silk.
"Are you insane?" Steve Rogers snapped, his face flushing with a mixture of disbelief and fury. "Are you just going to stand by and watch him slaughter an entire city? I won't allow it. We release the prisoner."
"Steve is right," Banner added, his voice low and strained. "If we hold Loki, and another city is wiped out... that's millions of lives. We can't carry that. We can't just abandon them."
Emrys remained expressionless. "I will reiterate: zero compromise. That is the baseline of survival."
"What right do you have to decide the fate of those people?" Steve roared, stepping into Emrys's personal space, his eyes bloodshot. "How is your logic any different from the very monsters we fought in the forties?"
"You're right, Captain. I don't have the right to decide who lives in those cities," Emrys said, his voice dropping to a whisper that carried more weight than the shouting. "But you don't have the right to gamble the lives of the remaining eight billion."
He took a step forward, his gaze sweeping over the room, heavy with the authority of a man who had seen worlds die. "Do you honestly believe the enemy will stop if we comply? Don't be naive. Their goal isn't a prisoner exchange; it's conquest. You give them Loki, you give them back their best strategist and a clear sign that Earth is a soft target."
Steve felt the air leave his lungs, the sheer weight of Emrys's presence pressing down on his chest.
"We can fake the exchange," Steve countered, his voice sounding desperate even to his own ears. "We lure them in, strike, and seize the Casket. I believe in this team. We can make it work."
"You believe? You think?" Emrys let out a short, cold laugh. "This is the great Captain America's plan? To entrust the safety of the human race to a vague sense of self-confidence?"
Steve's jaw tightened. "I trust my comrades. You've never stood on a battlefield, Emrys. What right do you have to tell me my tactics won't work?"
"So this is the legendary Captain," Emrys sighed, shaking his head with genuine disappointment. "You don't know the enemy's numbers. You don't know Laufey's capabilities. You're asking everyone to risk everything on a hunch. Tell me, Captain, have you considered the consequences of failure? If you lose the Tesseract and the Casket, there won't be a world left for you to feel guilty about."
He stared directly into Steve's eyes, his gaze icy. "And let's clear up one more thing. You talk about defeating the Nazis as if it were a solo performance. You don't actually believe that you, leading a handful of men on a few raids, were the primary reason Germany fell, do you?"
Steve opened his mouth to argue, but Emrys cut him off.
"Germany was defeated by the collective resolve of millions. It was won by the tens of millions of souls on the Western and Eastern Front who ground the enemy into the dirt with their lives. History isn't written by 'Heroes' in spandex, Rogers. It's written by the common people who bleed in the trenches. You were a symbol, not a strategy."
Steve looked as if he had been struck. The color drained from his face as the weight of the critique landed. The myths he had been told—and the ones he had started to believe—were being dismantled in seconds.
"Does anyone else have a contribution?" Emrys asked, looking at the rest of the team.
"Emrys, there has to be another way," Tony said. As a friend, he wanted to support Emrys, but the thought of the casualties was eating at him.
"One compromise does not bring peace, Tony," Emrys said softly. "A great leader once said, 'Seek peace through struggle, and peace will endure. Seek peace through compromise, and peace will perish.' It is a law of the universe."
"Seek peace through struggle..." Barton repeated the phrase, a dark glint in his eye. "He's right. If we blink now, we're finished. We'll spend the rest of our lives retreating."
Banner sat down, his head in his hands. Logic told him Emrys was right, but the moral cost was a vacuum that threatened to draw the Hulk out.
"This is a racial war," Emrys said, clenching his fist. "A war for the survival of your species. If you retreat one step, you invite annihilation."
Even Fury was silent, his single eye fixed on the deck. Finally, he looked up. "You're right. But if the Council unites to pressure us, S.H.I.E.L.D. will be gutted. We lose our funding, our tech, our authority. We'd be fighting a war with no supply lines."
This was the core of the problem. S.H.I.E.L.D. was a tool of the state, and the state was afraid.
Emrys smiled. It wasn't a kind smile. "That's simple, Director. From this moment on, S.H.I.E.L.D. declares independence. You are no longer subject to the jurisdiction of the Security Council."
The room erupted in a chorus of shocked protests.
"Independent?"
"Without the Council, we have nothing!"
"How do we sustain a global defense on our own?"
Emrys cleared his throat, drawing every eye back to him.
"Allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Merlin Emrys, Lord of the Merlin Fleet and Scion of the Merchant Dynasty. I have... considerable assets."
He watched their expressions shift from shock to realization. "If the Security Council is unwilling to support the defense of this world, then I will. I will fund your war. I will provide your logistics. And in return, you will do what is necessary."
"That's a great idea" said Tony " I can pitch in for the funds as well, I'll be the Bruce Wayne of this operation."
It was a perfect opening. Loki and Laufey had provided the crisis; Emrys provided the solution. By positioning himself as the patron of S.H.I.E.L.D., he could bypass the bureaucracy of Earth and begin the process of integrating the planet into his own sphere of influence.
Fury looked at him, his gaze piercing. He saw the trap. He saw the ambition. But as he looked at the frozen town on the monitor, he knew he had no other choice.
"Fine," Fury said, his voice raspy. "We do it your way."