Threat Overhead

San Francisco, California-

-May 5, 2010, 1000h local-

As soon as they arrived at the place Naruto gave Bill to work in, Ava noticed something familiar but peculiar. The room they arrived in is divided into two parts. One covers a tenth of the room, while the other is reserve for the rest. The small room has nothing special about it. The small room has one purpose from what Ava could see: to connect it to the hallway. However, the big room is something special.

The big rooms covered on all sides by a special glass Ava was familiar with. This is the same glass that covers the Quantum Energy Chamber that provides her some sort of comfort. The only difference is the chamber in SHIELD has the size of a small room that only has room for a bed. The room Ava is looking at right now is at least twenty times bigger. There's a cabinet, a bed, and even a private full bath.

"Bill! You in here!?" Naruto shouted. This

caused Ava to snapped out of her stupor.

A few seconds later, they could hear someone running down the steps. Not a moment later, Bill barged through the door. He could see three people in the room, but there's only one person he cares about.

"Ava!" Bill called out while rushing towards Ava. He hugged her tightly, which was reciprocated by Ava, although a little slower. "How have you been?" He asked while looking at her face, checking for visible signs of injury.

Natasha and Naruto decided to give the two some space.

"I'm fine. They didn't have much for me to do while you were gone..." Ava answered in a subdued tone. "They mostly tested how long I can stay out of the chamber without a visible decrease in performance."

"They're basically torturing you." Bill stated. It's not that far from the truth too. Ava's unique condition causes her to have at least a seven on the pain scale.

"No. It's ok." Ava placated, but it was obviously a lie.

Naruto decided to step in before the pair's conversation could spiral off into a different topic.

"Alright. As much as I want for you guys to catch up, I have an appointment in four, maybe five hours." Naruto stated.

Tony decided to do a final check for the Stark Expo that would open in two days. This time, most of the board of directors are present, as well as Pepper and Morgan. That's why he asked for Naruto, the ultimate bodyguard. It would also be the first time Naruto would show up in any Stark industries executive events. The board directors have all been speculating on who's the guy with the third most number of shares with the company. So, Naruto decided to satiate their curiosity using one of his aliases.

"I also have something planned to, remember?" Natasha added.

"Oh, right! What time is that again?"

"Five pm in LA."

"That's not that far. You want to drive?"

Naruto's statement put on an immediate smile on Natasha's face, as expected of a car lover. And Naruto's car mods satisfy classists, speedfreaks, tech, and engineering inclined car enthusiasts alike.

"What do you suggest?"

"The Bugatti Veyron Super Sport."

"Ooooh. That will do." Natasha commented with obvious interest.

Naruto then turned towards Bill and Ava.

"Here's what I want Ava to do. She's going to stay inside the chamber until she reaches maximum quantum stability." Naruto said.

Ava followed the instruction almost immediately. Even without the possibility of losing her chronic pain after the 'procedure,' she would still get into that chamber just to relieve the pain temporarily.

"You still haven't told me what you're going to do. No details on the procedure or anything. I still don't know how you were able to come up with this so-called procedure." Bill told Naruto with no small amount of doubt.

In the past two months that Bill has been working with Naruto, they have been quite amicable to each other, even after the admittedly rough first meeting. However, there's just one hold out, Naruto not telling Bill about the procedure. It's understandable, really. Who in the right mind would believe that Naruto will use chakra to deal with a quantum problem. At least Bill would finally know how Naruto would do it.

Naruto pulled out a few meals and gave everyone inside the room one. He gave Ava her meal before she enters the chamber. He ignored the questioning look from Ava and Bill before pushing a button on the consoled just outside the chamber. This activated the chamber, releasing orange waves. These are concentrated impure quantum energy harvested from the environment.

Naruto gestured for everyone to sat down on a chair and signaled everyone to sit down too. He took a bite of his Hainanese chicken rice meal before starting his 'lecture.'

"Tell me, Bill, what can you tell me about dark energy. Just a short explanation would do." Naruto said.

Bill decided to humor Naruto's inquiry.

"Dark energy is an undetectable energy that has only been theorized due to its influence on everything in the observable universe."

"So, there's an energy, an invisible, undetectable energy, that influence the universe, am I correct?" Naruto asked. Bill nodded since it's basically what he just said. "Now, what's your opinion on chakra."

"It's complete hogwash." Bill automatically answered.

"See, why is that? Can't it be considered just like Dark Energy?"

"No, since there is no evidence of it whatsoever..." Bill replied. He turned towards Natasha when he heard a snort from her. "And who are you?"

"Agent Natasha Romanoff, SHIELD..." Bill and Ava immediately went on high alert when they heard Nat's answer. "My personal life and work-life are different. They don't know everything that's happening when I'm not on active duty. I'm just a girlfriend visiting my boyfriend's work."

"And I'm just supposed to believe that."

"Believe it or not, I don't care..." Natasha stated with a blank look. "Besides, you should hear about what Naruto is going to say."

"Anyway..." Naruto interjected while forming a Rasengan in his hand, pulling everyone's attention. "This is chakra or at least an unmodified version of it. At 10% power, this 'chakra ball' can punch through ten inches of steel no problem. How's that for affecting the universe."

Bill involuntarily gulped. Working for SHIELD has involuntarily given him enough knowledge on weaponry, and ten-inch of steel is pretty hard to get through. At ten percent power, he could only imagine the damage at full power.

"Let's say for a moment that chakra is true..." Bill started. "What can it do to help Ava?"

"Chakra can do almost everything, from healing a cut to dropping a moon on earth..."

"You can drop the moon?" Naruto raised an eyebrow when Natasha interrupted with her question. "Right, I shouldn't even ask."

"What I'm going to do is force open up Ava's atrophied chakra network by dosing her with my own. I can only dose her safely if there are no interruptions with her chakra network, and I don't want to do it inside the chamber since it might cause some unknown reaction..." Naruto explained. "It would be a long process. It would take ten years before we could move on to the next step with the old chamber, but with the upgraded chamber and 45 minutes of molecular stability, that exponentially decreased the time frame to two months at most. If it were only 30 minutes, then it would take five months."

"What would that do exactly?" Bill let out.

"Increased physical attributes, including pain tolerance, but that is just a stepping stone..." Naruto answered. "The next thing is mixing nature chakra to her system in small amounts. This can only be done while if there are sufficient amounts of normal chakra in her system. If there's an imbalance, Ava would slowly turn into stone..." He noticed Natasha took a deep breath, but he continued anyway. He would talk to her later. "Nature Chakra should anchor her somewhat to one reality. The effect would be somewhat similar to the chamber, although a little less effective."

Ava is listening in on the conversation. Although she doesn't understand a lot of the mechanics, they're talking about, but there's one thing she could understand, less pain. It's more than enough to work through the procedure.

"We're going to begin the first session after the chamber has run its cycle. In the meantime, Nat and I are going to be upstairs. You two catch up." Naruto said before pulling Nat with him out of the room.

-Q-Ship -

-April 20, 2010-

A few jump points away from the Nova Empire's border in a peculiar ship, two figures are looking over one bound man. The two figures are members of one of the most feared warmonger groups in the known universe, the Black Order.

Cull Obsidian is a massive reptilian humanoid. At least 12 feet in height with brownish-black skin. He usually carries an eight-foot-tall, seven-foot-long, two-headed pickaxe connected to his hand by a chain. His expertise in using his unique pickaxe, an enormous amount of strength, and an unusually high amount of agility enable him to mow down battalions of soldiers. This 'tank' of the Black Order would be the perfect soldier if not for his admittedly low IQ.

To fix this problem, Cull Obsidian is partnered with the second sharpest mind of the Black Order, Ebony Maw. Maw is a seven-foot-tall humanoid with white hair and pale grey skin. One of his distinguishing figures is the lack of a nose protrusion. Just like any member of the Black Order, he has one specialty, his overwhelming ability in telekinesis and magic makes him a very formidable long-range fighter and moving battery.

Ebony Maw's usual job is to announce the 'culling' but he does other things too, and this task is something special. In his hand is a special staff that holds one of the most powerful objects in the universe, the mind stone. Just like the other Infinity Stones, the mind stone controls one aspect of reality.

The mind stone holds the power to control and connect every aspect of the mind. From the most primitive all the way to the most complex minds, singular to hive. The mind stone itself is the cornerstone for upgrading two of their armies; One was transformed into a hive-minded conquering army while the other is an instinctual berserker like army. However, this task is a lot easier than changing the mind of an entire species. They just need to flip the mind of one person.

Loki Odinson, or what he just recently found out, Laufeyson, is a 6'2", thousand-year-old magically modified frost giant who originally has blue skin with white markings and red eyes. However, a simple concealment changed his appearance to caucasian colored skin and black eyes. The Norse God of Trickery and Mischief is a Master of Asgardian Magic, Illusions, Shapeshifting, and short blade combat. His main strategy in active combat is to use misdirection to cause chaos and confusion before striking at a critical moment. However, his ability lies in infiltration and dissent missions. Jobs that don't require him to dirty his hands, just cause a collapse of an organized system.

"Asgardian, such proud people..." Ebony Maw started while floating on top of Loki. "So easy to predict."

Loki mumbled something but his mouth is covered by a mouth cover. Maw waved his hand causing the cover to come off.

"Oh, you've made a big mistake coming after me. The Asgardian Army would come down on you mongrels like waves on a beach." Loki stated in a tightly controlled rage.

"Ah yes, The All Seeing Gatekeeper of Asgard and the Bifrost. Just imagine what a device like the Bifrost can do for our cause. The ability to travel in and out almost everywhere near instaneously is just something we could never hope to replicate..." Maw replied, brushing off the threat. "But, you're All Seeing Gatekeeper can't see everything can he and you know it. Otherwise, you won't be able to sneak out of Asgard anytime you want. I figured out how to place a veil over the All Seeing Eye of Asgard."

Loki gulped involuntarily when he heard Maw's statement. Not many are capable of hiding from the Gatekeeper's eyes. The only reason he could do it was due to the 'shadows' formed by Ygdrassil to the primitive portals of Asgard. Without any support, he could only think of a way to get out of his predicament. His strength comes from his mind and his magic and with him being completely tied up with magic negating binds. The only thing he could do is talk his way out of his situation, which he's pretty good at doing.

"Alright. Let's take this slowly and talk it out..." Loki said slowly after he focused himself again. "What do you need from me? Money? Information?"

"Nothing as crude as that. No. No. No..." Maw replied like he's talking to a child. "We want your mind."

"My mind? So it's information? You know, even if you know everything about Asgard, you can't take it down." Loki answered.

"We can take down Asgard... although with considerable damage to our forces..." Maw said through gritted teeth. "But we don't have to do anything if we got you."

"You don't expect me to betray my family, do you?"

"We don't expect you do. We know you do."

Maw slowly moved the staff he's holding towards Loki's chest. Loki tried to free himself from his bind to no avail. The moment the staff made contact, Loki could feel a an overwhelming amount of energy trying to invade his brain. He placed as much energy to protecting his mind but it was all for naught. The power of the stone is just too much for anyone.

Loki's eyes turned into a weird light blue shade before it returned back to black, probably due to the passive concealment. With another wave of Maw's hand, Loki suddenly lost his consciousness and his binding removed. Maw turned towards Obsidian.

"Bring him back to where we found him. Just drop him there." Maw ordered.

Obsidian grabbed hold onto Loki's leg and dragged him out of the room. Maw waited for the door to be locked before pushing a button on the dashboard.

"Father, we have just released the Asgardian." Maw stated with absolute reverence.

"Good..." A deep voice replied. "We can finally remove a thorn on our side. There are only two armies that could ever hope to hold us back and one to deafeat us. As long as we acquire a second Infinity Stone, we can defeat both Kree and Nova Empire..." The voice continued. "The Asgardian Army is a whole different breed entirely, and I respect them for that. However, nothing can stop us from achieving our goal. If a little underhanded methods are required, then we shall use it."

"Of course, Father..." Maw said with a bow. "How would this humble servant be of your service?"

"Gather Intelligence on Terra."

"Yes, Father. However, if I may ask, why the sudden interest on a backwater planet?"

"Proxima had detected an Infinity Stone."

"This confirms the reading seventy years ago. We should send the Chitauri, father."

"Not until Asgard is dealt with. They are still under their protection..." The voice countered. "Just prepare them. The moment Asgard falls, we'll take the Infinity Stone and Cull them at the same time."