Marvel Disassembler

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Arthur picked up his glass and swallowed the whole drink. Then he silently looked at Natasha.

Natasha calmly looked back at Arthur. After a moment she smiled slightly. "You don't trust me."

"No." 

Arthur shook his head. "Do not misunderstand. My trust in you goes beyond what you can imagine."

"..." 

Although the statement seemed baseless, Natasha inexplicably believed it. After all, this guy seemed to have known about her long before she was even born. It was like seeing a ghost.

Arthur looked at her for a moment and then said, "I just think I should give you a chance.

"What kind of chance?"

"A chance to choose."

Arthur activated the Eye of Horus fully, making sure that no surveillance or monitoring equipment could escape its detection. He placed his phone on the table and gestured to the two sitting across from him.

Steve and Natasha exchanged glances, then took out their phones and placed them on the table. When all three phones were thrown into the Disassembler Space, Arthur finally spoke.

"There are some secrets that can't be told, some things that can't be known. Because they could force a person to change their stance, or worse, be forced to change their stance. Are you sure you want to hear this? It could end up implicating you."

Steve looked surprised by Arthur's words. "What's at stake?"

"The lives of millions, if not more," Arthur shrugged. "But really, this is just the beginning."

"I don't understand," Steve shook his head.

"It's okay," Natasha interjected. She didn't seem to be struggling much with the decision. Instead, she looked straight at Arthur and said, "Since you reappeared last year, my orders have already been revised. First of all, my loyalty..." 

She paused and looked at Steve before continuing, "...has never been to SHIELD."

Steve thought for a moment and then said to Arthur, "I think I understand the meaning behind your words. Right now I feel like I'm already in over my head."

Natasha wasn't done yet as she continued to speak. "And from this day forward, I will unconditionally support your every action, with one condition... that it be for world peace."

She said this with great solemnity. 

Arthur almost choked on his drink. He wanted to explain that the whole "world peace" thing was just a joke he used to make. But somehow everyone seemed to take it so seriously!

"Frankly, even when you were nearly assassinated, I was more concerned about your safety than I was fully committed to my mission," Natasha continued. "If Agent Carter dies, I will be completely free to follow my own convictions. But if you're telling me that the lives of millions are at stake, then I can infer that you still haven't changed your original goal. If your path diverges from SHIELD's, I will choose to follow you, not SHIELD."

As she said this, it seemed as if a heavy burden had been lifted from her shoulders. She picked up her glass and took a hearty swig. "So you can tell me everything."

Arthur shook his head, raised his glass and clinked it against Natasha's. Then they both turned to look at Steve.

"The situation has taken a turn I didn't expect," Steve muttered before adding, "I trust the Instructor."

"Good." 

Arthur let out a small sigh of relief and put his glass back on the table. "Then we need to start at the beginning...from the time I was sent into space by the Tesseract and what happened after..."

"Space?"

Steve was stunned. "You went into... space?"

"When you look up at the stars, you realize that man has never really been alone," Arthur smiled. "Fury once mentioned the 084 item that landed in New Mexico - that was actually Thor's hammer. It's the weapon of Thor, son of Odin of Asgard."

The conversation suddenly shifted from reality to something straight out of a fantasy novel, leaving Steve and Natasha completely stunned.

"There's a group of... gods there," Arthur continued, pointing towards the location of Kamar-Taj. "Over there, there's a Sorcerer Supreme who constantly watches over the multiverse to prevent otherworldly beings from invading Earth. I have just returned from training there."

He then pointed upward. "Beyond the Asgard and the Nine Realms is an infinite universe filled with countless dangers and wonders. The place I was sent to was the planet Xandar, specifically a maximum security prison in the Nova Empire called Kyln Prison."

"I saw many different races and witnessed interstellar wars," Arthur said, touching his lips and then smiling. "They have immense power, far more advanced technology and weapons. Some are power hungry, ruling entire planets as their playgrounds... countless things you can't even begin to imagine exist out there."

Natasha opened her mouth, glanced at Steve, only to find his expression equally dazed.

After a long pause, she finally asked, "But... what does any of this have to do with the person who is trying to kill you?"

"Let's bring the conversation back to Earth," Arthur chuckled. "Every race has its share of ambitious individuals, and humanity is no exception. The battlefield on which Steve and I fought is the most direct proof of that... and the enemies we faced then were never truly defeated."

Steve's expression changed instantly as he spoke. "Schmidt?"

"Schmidt was just a man," Arthur replied with a smile. "But that phrase... 'Cut off one head and two more will take its place' - surely you haven't forgotten? Compared to that, Schmidt was just one head. So, as much as we hate to admit it, this world has never been at peace."

"Is Hydra trying to kill you?" Steve's expression went completely dark.

Arthur nodded. "Yes, they are."

"Where are they?"

"They're hiding a lot deeper than you think," Arthur tapped the small round table lightly and smiled. "But don't worry, that was just a test. And I suspect they won't make any more bold moves for a while."

"SHIELD!" 

Natasha, who had been silent, suddenly spoke up. "Hydra is hiding within SHIELD!"

Arthur and Steve both turned to look at her, and she continued, "From what I know, the information about the Instructor is highly classified. Even within SHIELD, only a select few know about it. No matter how far-reaching Hydra's influence is, they shouldn't have been able to gather such detailed information so quickly… which means there's only one explanation. They're inside SHIELD."

(End of Chapter)