Chapter 24:
Thirty minutes later, a Quinjet touched down in the crater.
"Welcome back. When did you get here?" Nick Fury stepped out, his coat flapping in the wind from the engines. "You know, disappearing without a word last time caused a lot of headaches. Technical advisors don't get paid vacations..."
"About that shield..." Mark cut him off.
"Captain America and his ship went down decades ago. Nobody's been able to find him," Fury said. "So, the shield..."
Mark waved his hand, and Steve placed a solid gold block on the ground.
"...?"
Fury stared at the gold in stunned silence.
"Pure 24 karat," Mark said with a grin, patting the gleaming block. "About 19.32 tons. I was worried about how to get it to you, but I guess that's not a problem anymore."
"Coulson."
Fury turned to Coulson with a scowl. "Go get Cap's shield."
"Yes, sir."
Coulson nodded reluctantly. He was a huge Captain America fanboy and really didn't want anyone else touching that shield. But he knew how Fury operated. This was too good an offer to pass up.
Who could say no to a giant block of gold?
Soon, the star-spangled shield was in Mark's hands.
"Now, if you don't mind..." Fury eyed Mark, who was practically petting the shield. "What exactly are you planning to do with that? Does it have something to do with that hammer over there?"
Fury had noticed the hammer in the crater the moment he stepped off the Quinjet.
No meteor, just a mysterious hammer. Combined with Mark's sudden appearance and his request for Captain America's shield, Fury put two and two together. He had a feeling Mark was behind all of this.
"I'm doing some advanced alchemy research. Need some rare metals," Mark said, figuring there was no point in trying to explain about the mod. Nobody would believe him anyway. He stroked the shield. "I'm practically a master alchemist now."
A system prompt sounded in his mind.
[System prompt: You have achieved mastery over the internal structure of 'Vibranium and Adamantium,' granting you 50% download permission for new mods.]
Mark let go of the shield.
Right on track. Vibranium, adamantium, and uru added up to 80%. He needed another 20% to complete the download. He figured palladium and some meteorite iron would do the trick.
"Know where I can find some meteorite iron?" he asked Fury. "If you have any tiberium, Valyrian steel, lava crystals, abyssal metal, or Zero Element lying around, that would be helpful too..."
"Never heard of any of that," Fury said. "You going to explain what's going on here? That crater, that hammer...did you do this? Are you back just to cause trouble?"
"You call this trouble?" Mark tapped the gold. "Look at this beautiful gold and tell me that's trouble."
"..."
Fury was speechless.
"Sir, if that's really gold, we might not be able to transport it," Coulson said. "It's too heavy. Exceeds the Quinjet's weight limit."
"...Then figure out a way to cut it into smaller pieces."
Fury gritted his teeth. "Call in more jets. Get this taken care of now!"
"Yes, sir," Coulson said, heading back to the Quinjet to find some tools.
"You still owe me an explanation." Fury turned back to Mark after Coulson left. "Where did you go?"
"Didn't I leave you a note?" Mark asked. "It was pretty clear. I had to go back to my world for a bit, but I wouldn't be gone long."
"That note had two sentences."
Fury glared at him. "The first one said you were going back to your world. The second one said to give the Golden Apple to Tony Stark, not to eat it myself, or there would be consequences."
"See? Perfectly clear," Mark shrugged.
"You're a dangerous person, Mark," Fury said. "Do you know what those people in Congress said after you disappeared? They think I can't control you. And when they're faced with something they can't control, those idiots usually have one solution..."
"Nuke me?"
Mark burst out laughing. "They think nukes would work on me? Trust me, if those guys tick me off, I can destroy this world."
He wasn't kidding.
There were tons of world-destroying things in Minecraft mods.
The Mysterious Island, bacteria mods, those disaster buckets, the dragon from the fire and ice mod, or just summoning some giant boss...it would be child's play.
"I won't let that happen."
Fury made his stance clear.
He was the master of reading people, and he could tell Mark wasn't bluffing. That was the scary part.
Unlike those politicians, Fury didn't want to make enemies of superheroes.
If Captain Marvel, Hulk, Captain America, Tony Stark, and Mark were all pushed too far and decided to team up and destroy the world...that would be a nightmare scenario. Even Fury couldn't imagine how to stop that.
He knew how powerful these people were, and that was exactly why he wanted to form an alliance, to bring them together to protect Earth.
He was a smart man, and that was why Mark was willing to work with him.
"Okay, okay, let's not talk about this."
Mark saw the worry in Fury's eyes and knew what he was thinking. He changed the subject. "I've been waiting here for half an hour. Suddenly, I'm craving some late-night snacks... Oh, by the way, what day is it?"
"Thursday."
Fury was happy to drop the dangerous topic. "Why? Need something?"
"Quick, Venmo me $50. I want to have a Crazy Thursday with KFC."
Mark said.