S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Helicarrier officially took flight, hidden above the clouds as the Avengers' temporary central operations base.
Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes were the first to come aboard.
After so many years, Captain America set foot on the Helicarrier once again. This time, at his side was not an old comrade from an age buried in the past, but Bucky, completely free of his brainwashing, clearheaded and safely back in the ranks. The two brothers stood shoulder to shoulder, gazing at the supercarrier hovering ten thousand meters above the ground, their eyes filled with emotion and gravity.
Then Black Widow, Natasha Romanoff, returned to duty and stood by. Dressed in her signature skintight combat suit, she stood silently at the side of the command deck, poised and coolly alluring, ready for orders at any moment.
Before long, the landing pad opened again, and Tony Stark came aboard at an unhurried pace with Dr. Banner.
Tony glanced around as he walked, taking in the carrier's engine structure, power layout and energy circuits. He offered offhand comments, his tone tinged with pride and familiarity.
"The Helicarrier's not bad."
"But the first-generation framework for that hover engine and its antigravity balance module incorporated design blueprints I submitted years ago."
"It's barely passable, not too embarrassing."
Dr. Banner was gentle and reserved. He followed along in silence, looking a little uneasy, still unaccustomed to gatherings of superheroes like this.
The superheroes and elite agents from every quarter had all arrived, but Rimuru, the strongest outside help specially invited for the occasion, had yet to appear.
Everyone attended to their duties, calibrating equipment and checking intelligence. The atmosphere on the command deck was tense and serious.
No one knew that Rimuru wasn't late because he was slacking off.
Before heading to the battlefield, he had made