Family System: Chapter 51

Natasha rushed to the rooftop helipad, boarding the Quinjet to head towards Gwen's house.

She tried calling repeatedly,

but neither Vex nor Gwen had any signal.

As she neared her destination…

she was stopped by Float in its floating cannon form.

Natasha activated the speaker system.

“Float, there’s an emergency! I need to contact the boss immediately!”

“No way!” Little Float said coldly, “My king has ordered that no one, and I mean no one, disturbs him! Anyone who tries gets blasted!”

Natasha: “...”

She didn’t even bother trying to argue.

Transformers never disobey Vex’s orders.

And she knew from experience how powerful the Telekinetic Floating Cannon was from when she had helped Darcy test it.

Forget the Quinjet—

Even a Helicarrier couldn’t withstand a full round of its bombardment!

She had no choice but to report the situation to Fury.

“Well then… go straight to Banner, we…”

“Sorry, Director Fury,” Natasha interrupted. “I’m an employee of the boss now. Contacting him is my responsibility, but beyond that… I’m afraid I can’t help.”

Fury wasn’t angry upon hearing this.

The crisis at hand was as important as whatever was happening on Vex’s side.

Natasha had come here today under the guise of a secretary, but if she just left now...

She could forget about ever returning to Vex’s side.

“I’ll have someone else handle it. Let me know as soon as Vex makes contact.”

“Understood!”

“Oh, and… Barton’s been controlled by Loki. Some kind of mind-control ability.”

Natasha set the Quinjet on autopilot, letting it fly back to Dawn Tower.

She then walked into the building, standing with Float by the door.

Even though the door was right in front of her, she couldn’t bring herself to knock.

She felt… powerless.

That night,

in the world hidden from the public, unseen forces surged.

The heroes from the last war were once again urgently summoned by SHIELD.

When Clark and Kara arrived on the Helicarrier that had taken off again,

they didn’t see that familiar figure.

“Where’s Vex? Why didn’t he come?” Kara asked.

Coulson, responsible for greeting them, could only offer a polite smile.

What could he say?

That Vex was… busy?

He could only vaguely reply, “Mr. Vex is attending to something more important and will arrive later.”

Kara didn’t think much of it and nodded.

“So, what’s the reason for this gathering?” Clark frowned. “With all this fanfare, is it another alien invasion?”

Coulson’s smile became strained.

If nothing unexpected happened…

Yes!

...

Gwen lived up to her reputation as Spider-Woman. Though perhaps slightly lacking in strength compared to Fiora, her flexibility was unmatched!

Vex was thoroughly enchanted.

It wasn’t until well into the day that they reluctantly ended their… session.

After a quick wash with the Horse Talisman, Vex headed to the bathroom to clean up.

“Master, Natasha’s been waiting by the door all night.”

Oh?

He wasn’t surprised that Natasha knew where he was.

But standing guard all night? Something serious must have happened.

Perhaps…

Loki had delivered his “package”?

Whatever it was, there was no rush. He didn’t even know where Loki was hiding.

After leisurely finishing his wash,

Vex told Float to let Natasha in.

As soon as she entered,

Natasha pulled out a small orb— a portable projector.

It displayed Loki holding the Mind Stone scepter.

“Boss, something big has happened!”

“Last night…”

Natasha explained the events, which Vex already knew.

But then…

“In another secret base, a portal like the one from the wormhole opened, and they stole a research item!”

The projection shifted, showing Steppenwolf.

Now Vex was surprised!

What was this?

The Avengers and The Justice League together?

He sat up straight and said, “Explain in detail.”

This made Natasha tense up!

If it made Vex take it seriously…

Could this be the real big boss?

...

“This research was overseen by Secretary Pierce, using Abomination as a base and infused with Kryptonian genes.”

“They originally intended to use the Tesseract’s energy, but Fury took it. So they switched to using Object 6-1-9-8-2.”

Natasha explained as

a cube with mechanical engravings resembling the AllSpark appeared next to Steppenwolf.

“It’s a Mother Box,” Vex chuckled, “You guys really outdid yourselves this time. Picking fights with two massive threats at once. Are you in a hurry to die?”

Natasha’s expression turned grim!

From the sound of it, these two were serious trouble!

“Where’s Fury? Give me the coordinates.” Vex stood up. “You head to Dawn Tower and move Darcy and the others to Megatron.”

“Yes, boss!” Natasha glanced inside the room. “And… her?”

“No need to worry about her.” Vex nodded to Float. “Stay here and explain everything to Gwen.”

“Yes, my king!”

After making arrangements,

Vex had Alpha navigate him. A few teleports later, he was back on the Helicarrier.

The war room was

even more lively than before, with people arguing back and forth.

It was starting to get on his nerves.

“Quiet!”

The war room fell into complete silence. Even those with the loudest mouths couldn’t make a sound.

“What are you all arguing about?” Vex said, digging in his ear and rolling his eyes. “Your world is about to be destroyed, and you’re still bickering?”

Most people in the room knew Vex, and upon hearing his words, their hearts skipped a beat.

Fury quickly stepped forward, opening his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

“Pop!”

The silence was lifted.

“What do you mean by ‘destroyed’?” Fury asked urgently. “It’s just two aliens. It can’t be that bad, right?”

Vex looked at Fury as if he were an idiot.

“Fury, don’t forget,” Stark interjected. “Both of them arrived through wormhole-like portals! Do you think those can’t be used to summon an army?”

Vex shot Stark an approving look.

“The Tesseract is likely the Space Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones that control space.”

“And since there are six Infinity Stones, by activating the Space Stone, you’ve essentially broadcast your coordinates to the entire universe. The other five stones can now lock onto and transport to your location.”

“But Loki’s probably not in Asgard right now. If he were, they wouldn’t need to go through all this trouble with portals.”

“Whoever controls an Infinity Stone isn’t a small-time player.”

“And!”

Vex turned to Fury, clearly amused.

“That other item, the Mother Box, is something Darkseid uses to conquer worlds.”

“Word is, after he was defeated on a certain planet, the Mother Box disappeared. Who would’ve thought it ended up here on Earth?”

Wayne stepped forward.

“This Darkseid—if he’s been beaten by Earth before, does that mean he’s not that strong?”

Vex glanced at Wayne, his smile unreadable.

“Whether or not Darkseid is strong, I don’t know. But as of now, he’s conquered over tens of thousands of planets.”