"Apparition..."
Natasha's eyes flew wide as she stared in disbelief at the black-robed figure who had appeared without a sound.
A wizard?!
Meanwhile, in the Helicarrier's main control room.
Steve knocked the last Hydra soldier away with his shield and rushed to the main console.
Panting hard, he plugged the flash drive into the port.
"Done!"
He growled into his comm.
High above.
Tony piloted his Iron Man Armor, deftly dodging the crisscrossing barrage.
"JARVIS, report on the other two!"
"Sir, the virus has been uploaded, but for some reason..."
Before JARVIS could finish, Tony saw the Helicarrier's guns turn toward him again and understood what he was about to say.
"Damn it! They're still operational!"
The comm channel erupted into chaos.
"Stark! Rogers! Answer me! Why are the targets still operational?!" Fury shouted.
"It didn't work! The virus was blocked!" Steve's voice was fraught with urgency.
"What the hell? That makes no scientific sense!" Tony couldn't help complaining. "What firewall could possibly stop my..."
"It's not a firewall!"
Natasha's hurried voice cut in, distinctly panicked.
"It's a wizard! There's a wizard with Pierce!"
"A wizard is working with Hydra!"
Dead silence fell over the comm channel.
Tony was the first to break it, his voice incredulous.
"A wizard?"
"Natasha, are you sure you saw that right?"
"I thought their Ministry of Magic forbade contact with ordinary people? If even contact is forbidden, how could a wizard go off and work with Hydra? An evil organization like that, no less?"
"Could it be another delinquent magical girl who ran away from home, like Hermione?"
Tony sounded as though he were joking, but no one could laugh.
By now, they knew how unusual Hermione was. Anyone else would have been hauled back by the Ministry of Magic long ago. She