A/N: Short chapter today. Just wanted to prove to you guys that I haven't given up on this story yet. The latest Marvel origin story helped to free up my writer's block just enough that I think I now have everything I need to bring AoM to a satisfying conclusion. If you're jumping back in at this chapter, please note that I've had to rewrite the end of Ch. 43 to fix a major continuity problem, so you might want to click back and re-read that chapter before continuing on.

On with the show!

#

The group found themselves transfixed by the sight before them. "It's like a giant black tornado," Bucky exclaimed. "But it's standing still..."

"In the middle of Manhattan," agreed May.

Coulson was the first to get over his shock and take control of the situation. "Master Sìfāng, head up to the roof of that building at the other end of the block. Take Arthur and Merlin with you. See if you can do anything to fight that...thing." He then watched as Trip out his pistol, unclicked the safety and chambered a round. "We'll go after HYDRA."

Blair, Jim and Castle disappeared. The rest of the group pulled out their weapons of choice and waited for the signal.

Coulson knelt down until he was face to face with the spirit animal who was a now-constant presence at his side. "Distract them," he ordered the tiger. "Make sure they don't see us coming."

As you command, the tiger replied.

Fallon let out a low whistle as he watched the tiger turn the corner and sprint down the street. "Never thought of doin' that before," he commented, impressed. "You and I are gonna have to compare notes when this is all said and done."

"Looking forward to it," Coulson agreed. "Ready?"

Fallon nodded, holding his hand up in a hold signal. He and Coulson both peeked around the corner, watching as the tiger spirit roared behind the HYDRA agents. The agents jumped, startled by the roar they all heard clearly...even over the near-deafening roar of the tornado in front of them. A few agents started picking fights with each other over what they heard. A few more even shot each other.

None of them saw their attackers until the group was almost on top of them.

And it was only then that the group realized exactly what they were dealing with.

Bodies flew as the unprepared warriors were tossed away from their targets with superhuman strength. The feeling of cold metal against warm skin helped Beckett put the pieces together. "They're cyborgs! All of them!"

Volstagg jumped up, gleefully hoisting his sword. "Finally!" he declared with a roar. "A worthy adversary!"

#

Castle fell to his knees within seconds of their arrival on the roof. "It's that same frequency from the castle," he told Jim and Blair. "I can't get any closer."

Alexis, Banner, Stark, Fitz and Simmons then appeared on the roof. "This...this is that black fog stuff you told me about, dad?" Alexis gawked even as she winced in obvious discomfort. "I thought it was..."

"Smaller?" asked Castle. "It was. At the time."

"Fan out," Stark ordered Fitz and Simmons. "Get every reading you can take from a distance." The two younger scientists went their separate ways, as ordered. It was only then that Stark noticed the Guardian at his feet. "Same frequency?" Stark asked Castle.

"Close enough," Castle replied through gritted teeth.

Stark patted Castle on the shoulder sympathetically. "Arthur and Merlin are working on it?" Castle nodded.

"Guess it's time for me to get that sample, then," Banner declared nervously. He pushed a button on the canister he was carrying, then sprinted right into the path of the 'tornado'...just as Blair and Jim brought the outer shield down.

Castle pushed against his knees to stagger back up to a standing position. He reached out his hand toward the swirling black clouds, closed his eyes, and drew up every ounce of energy that his weakened body could muster. "PARASITE!" he screamed. "BE GONE FROM MY SIGHT!"

The fog instantly disappeared...before everyone's vision was consumed in a flash of brilliant light.

#

Cap finally knocked out the cyborg that he was fighting with one last powerful blow to the being's half-metal jaw. It was then that he noticed the only two people in the battle zone that were standing still: a female wizard that he didn't recognize...and a man whose face was annoyingly familiar. "WHITEHALL!" Cap yelled, fighting to be heard over the roaring winds. "I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN THAT THIS WOULD BE YOUR WORK!"

Whitehall tore his attention away from the building to focus on the man who had just called out his name. "ROGERS!" he called back with clear annoyance.

Cap was in no mood for games or words. He tackled Whitehall to the ground, expecting to quickly subdue and restrain the older man. He pulled his hand back for the knockout blow...and was stopped when he realized that his target had no eyes.

That momentary shock gave Whitehall the upper hand. He shoved Cap off away and scrambled back up to a standing position. When Whitehall opened his mouth a second time, no words came out. Instead, wild tendrils of black smoke flew out of the older man's mouth. The tendrils started to curl around Cap's arms and legs, then stretched out, covering the soldier in a coat of black fog that reached almost to his neck...

...until it, and Cap, were consumed in a flash of brilliant light.

#

Dawn's first rays were streaming in the windows as the group awakened from their state of collective unconsciousness. Bucky was the first one to recognize the change in their surroundings. "Are we...are we *inside* the house, now?"

"I think so, bro," Esposito agreed.

Cap blinked a few times to let his eyes adjust to the light of the new day. His first conscious thoughts were for the unconscious redhead at his side. "Lex!" he exclaimed without thinking. "Are you okay?"

Alexis woke up with a groan. Cap helped her get to a seated position. "I'm fine...I think," Alexis replied. "Anyone know what happened? Or how we got in here?"

"We've got an idea," Jim volunteered. "I think." He turned to his Guide, who nodded in wordless agreement. "That 'tornado' was trying to tighten around the building and eventually get it to implode..."

"And it would have succeeded, too," continued Blair, "if it hadn't been for that other energy field."

Alexis' eyes went wide. "Other energy field?!"

Blair nodded. "Something was pushing out against the tornado. Hard. From inside this house. If whoever or whatever created that force didn't know we were on the other side of it..."

"Then when I chased the fog off, it was like opening the door to a charging rhino," declared Castle.

"That's our theory," agreed Blair.

Coulson had finally regained the strength to get himself to a seated position. "That still doesn't answer the other question. If we were all knocked out cold by that energy blast then how the hell did we get here?"

"I brought you here."

The conscious members of the group looked up, watching the tall, thin man descended the house's grand staircase. "And you are...?" asked Jim.

"Strange," the thin man declared. "Doctor Stephen Strange."

Castle's eyes widened as the new man's name filtered through his awakening mind. "Braniac? Is that you?"

Strange's brow furrowed as he tried to connect the old nickname within his current reality. "I haven't heard that name since..." It was then that Strange recognized who had spoken to him. "Ricky? Ricky Rodgers, is that really you?"

Castle let Strange pull him up to a standing position before accepting the younger man's friendly embrace. "So what are you doing here, Stephen? After the accident I thought I had heard that you'd..."

"I think he's a wizard," Jim exclaimed, his words cutting Castle off as the Sentinel's mental puzzle pieces fell into place. "And I might be way off base here, but I think he's the source of that energy blast that knocked us all on our asses last night."

Castle stared at his old friend, studying him with a mix of disbelief and wary suspicion. "Is this true, Stephen?"

Strange, for his part, was far more suspicious than stunned. "Why would all of you know about wizards?"