102- Avengers (8)

With the Avengers formally created, they finally came to discuss the next steps of the plan. However, there was still one thing left to address.

Mason leaned back in his chair. "Concerning the Tesseract, once we get it back, I don’t think SHIELD should be the ones to protect it."

Fury said nothing. Fortunately, he knew Mason well enough to understand that he would not make such an offer without an alternative in mind. So he simply waited.

Mason turned his attention to Thor. "The Tesseract was once protected by Odin, and I think that is where it should return. We’ve already seen that if it is kept here on Earth, there will inevitably come people who seek to use its power for nefarious means. I would offer to keep it myself, but I’d rather not get hounded by the World Security Council. I might not recognize their authority, I do recognize they can be a pain in the ass if they want to."

Thor nodded before anyone else could put a word in, "Aye, this is another reason for my visit. It cost the All-Father to send me here after the destruction of the Bifrost. That is also why Asgard was unable to send aid to Midgard in the past few months. The Tesseract is required to rebuild it, but since it was in your custody, we left it alone."

Fury’s good eye narrowed slightly. "I doubt it was restraint alone."

Thor raised an eyebrow. He did not seem particularly offended, although there was a hint of princely, or maybe even godly, pride in the way he straightened. "We are not thieves, Director Fury. We placed the Tesseract on Midgard for safekeeping, so we only came to you once you failed."

Tony snorted, "Do I need to remind you it was your brother who stole it?"

Thor froze, his expression of royal certainty vanishing for a moment. "He’s only my half-brother."

Mason rolled his eyes at the familiar answer and picked up where Thor left off. "It doesn’t matter why he came to get it now, I still believe it would be safer up there than down here. But everyone gets a say, so I think we should put this to a vote. I think I’ve made my argument clear enough, so before we vote on it, does anyone wish to make an argument?"

He glanced around the room, and sure enough, Tony’s hand immediately shot into the air. "Hum, over here, oh great leader of ours?"

Mason smiled despite himself. "Why am I not surprised you would be the one who wants to keep it?"

Tony leaned forward, looking entirely too pleased with himself. "I’m just that awesome. Too much exposure transformed you into a fan, don’t worry about it."

He swiveled to Fury and said, "Now, I definitely do agree that SHIELD is absolutely not safe enough to keep the Tesseract. And they were being naughty hiding their little weapons away. However, I do believe they were on the right track."

He gestured around the room. "Look at us, there’s only six of us. How do you expect us to truly protect the entire world by ourselves? For now, it’s all we have, but if we could make a weapon- no, a shield, armor for the world, from the Tesseract, only then would we truly be safe."

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Tony then looked towards Thor, "Because I read Doctor Foster’s reports on the Bifrost too. SHIELD really sucks at security. And this Bifrost is not just a means of transportation, it is also Asgard’s most powerful weapon, one capable of destroying entire worlds. So don’t even start taking the upper ground with me on this."

While Fury watched on patiently, showing no intention of getting on either side, Banner looked interested, while Steve sighed, "Weapons, weapons, it’s all you people have on your minds. Yes, they are important. But are they everything? Are they the best solution? If everything goes according to plan, alright, maybe. But nothing ever does. We barely know anything about the Tesseract. I watched Red Skull being disintegrated by it after using it for years. Who’s to say it does not have fail-safes within that would destroy our world if used improperly? Who’s to say Loki won’t add new ones in case he loses?"

Natasha shook her head at that last point. "We’ve established a pretty good psychological evaluation of Loki. He is too arrogant to plan for his defeat. He looks down on us and would not think we stand any chance against him."

Thor looked perplexed. "Then you underestimate my brother’s cunning."

Mason hesitated for a moment before revealing, "I intended to speak of this later on, but I felt something special about that spear of his. About that jewel I broke. I am positive it was what he used to turn those Agents and Selvig to serve him. However, I think it was also subtly influencing him. Now that I broke it, any of the people who were being controlled by it should be able to awaken, either through sufficient will or trauma. For Loki, I think he broke out of it the moment I destroyed it. You guys did see how fast he switched up the moment I did, right?"

Tony nodded, "I was thinking something similar. Loki clearly wanted to be found in Germany, he was not being subtle about it. His men did steal Iridium, but he could have left the moment we arrived. He decided to stay instead, even when we clearly had the upper hand. I think his first plan was to get arrested by us, and with hindsight, probably control us through that staff. It was only when it was broken that he started seriously fighting and eventually escaped."

While everyone considered what he said, Mason said, "Again, very important, but we still have another debate to settle. Tony, I do think you make a compelling argument, even if we had ten times the numbers, we could not possibly stop every single threat. But Steve is also right. Blindly tinkering with the Tesseract would be more likely to bring ruin than safety. So, unless someone still has something they want to say, I think we should proceed to a vote. Considering there are six of us, I believe Director Fury should also get a vote. Both as a tiebreaker, and because he is the Director of SHIELD."

Tony snorted, "And also because he is in the same room, staring us down with that one good eye."

Fury remained unmoved, so Mason called, "Then let’s vote. I am for sending the Tesseract to Asgard."

Fury, who was directly to Mason’s left, finally spoke, "I abstain from voting."

He got a few surprised glances, the spy remaining ever so mysterious.

Natasha was next. "I vote for Asgard."

Banner looked a little guilty as he spoke, "I vote for keeping it here, among the Avengers."

Tony sighed, "It’s useless now, but I vote for keeping it among the Avengers too."

Thor grinned, "Asgard will take good care of it, metal man."

Tony gave him a side glance and snarked, "Hold on. We’re letting the guy who wants the Tesseract take the Tesseract vote on whether we give him the Tesseract?"

Thor blinked. "You’re confusing me, metal man."

"You know my name is Iron Man, Barbie."

Steve sighed, putting a stop to it. "Asgard it is."

Mason nodded, "That makes one abstention, two votes for keeping it here, and four votes for sending it to Asgard."

Tony looked around before saying, "I don’t mean to be a sore loser, we’re sending it to Asgard, I get it. But before we do, I do want to raise at least one important question. Are we sure that Asgard are truly allies, and more importantly, that they will remain allies?"

Had this been a year ago, Thor would have flown into a rage, not only because he was hot-tempered, but because his faith in Asgard was unshakable. But the events of the last few months had allowed him to grow and reconsider some things.

So he said calmly, "I may not speak for Asgard yet, but I am to be its king, and I shall always be a friend of Midgard."