At the Triskelion in Washington, DC, Nick Fury received a special guest in his office—another Coulson.
"So, can I see what you really look like?"
Fury rubbed his forehead as he looked at the two Coulsons in front of him. Even though he was the one who requested to et the Skrulls that had arrived on Earth, seeing the information in his hands made his head hurt.
Upon hearing Fury’s words, the Coulson on the right dropped the disguise. In an instant, his form shimred and shifted, revealing the green, ridged visage of a Skrull.
"I'm sorry, Agent Fury," Gravik said. "I wasn’t sure who else to transform into in order to reach you.”
Fury nodded, exhaling slowly. "It's fine. I understand.”
Truthfully, he had no concrete plan on how to manage the Skrulls yet. He simply didn’t want the entire group falling under LexCorp’s control. That was his only imdiate concern. But now, standing face-to-face with one of them, another thought began to take shape.
These beings could beco anyone. With their abilities, weren't Skrulls the perfect spies?
"I can keep your activities hidden while you're on Earth," Fury said. "But in exchange, I may need the Skrulls' help from ti to ti.”
"It would be our honor."
Gravik agreed quickly, and Fury didn’t find it surprising. These Skrulls had already been in contact with LexCorp before coming to him.
Whether it was Reid or Luthor, Fury believed both of them would have already realized how useful the Skrulls could be. They had likely made the sa request, which explained Gravik’s imdiate agreent.
'Damn it. I should’ve known they'd agree this easily. I should’ve pushed to get so of their tech.'
Even though he felt like he had missed a big opportunity, Fury kept a straight face. He arranged new Earth identities for the Skrulls, gave them a way to stay in contact, and sent Gravik on his way.
Once the office was clear, Fury turned to the real Coulson.
"What do you think?" he asked. "If I sent so of these Skrulls into LexCorp as deep-cover agents, would they have a shot?"
Coulson frowned, then shook his head. "Sir, I don’t think that’s realistic. For one, you don’t even have full authority over S.H.I.E.L.D. yet. And even if you beco Director, there’s no guarantee we’ll be in a stronger position than LexCorp."
Fury fell silent.
Everyone in the upper levels of the U.S. governnt knew exactly what Luthor was aiming for, but there was nothing they could do about it.
He had earned everything with his own hands, playing by the rules and gaining control over more and more power and resources. No one could really find fault with it. Along the way, he’d even gained a lot of supporters.
Fury had no right to block his rise.
By the ti he beca Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., Luthor would already be Governor of New York, if not President of the United States.
Sure, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. had the authority to speak directly with the President. But between the world’s richest man and the President, when the richest man was also the Governor of one of the most influential states in the country, every Arican knew who really held more power.
Of course, calling Luthor the world’s richest man now was still a bit premature.
But if things kept going the way they were, once LexCorp gained full control over every major industry in New York and started spreading that influence even further, there’d be no exaggeration left in the claim.
"Yeah," Fury muttered. "You’re right. It’s not realistic. LexCorp is already too deeply embedded in the global economy. S.H.I.E.L.D. can’t challenge that."
He waved his hand to dismiss Coulson and let him get back to work. Then he sat alone in his office, thinking.
Even though he knew there was little he could do about LexCorp, he couldn’t stop himself from keeping a close eye on them.
His gut kept telling him that LexCorp wasn’t as perfect as it appeared to be. At least, not to him.
……
On the other side, Deathstroke was driving a convertible along the long sea bridge leading into Gotham.
The rcenary training program under LexCorp had already begun to show results. Reid had never expected these n to reach superhero levels anyway. He wasn’t trying to build Avengers. And for the next ten years, he wouldn’t be stepping into the field himself much. His focus was now entirely on controlling the Skrulls.
So Deathstroke was cut loose. His first stop was Gotham, where he would help ‘Batman’ and Joker deal with so problems. After that, he’d begin his rcenary life: working independently while feeding intel back to LexCorp.
It had already been three years since the vigilante known as ‘Batman’ first appeared in Gotham, and the changes were greater than anyone had predicted.
Once upon a ti, Gotham would fall silent the mont night ca. The streets would be completely empty of regular people.
But that had changed.
Now, every resident of Gotham had heard of a strange figure who hunted criminals from the shadows.
‘Batman.’
This violent man in a bat suit who glided through Gotham’s night sky struck fear into the hearts of many. His thods were brutal and terrifying, but they worked. He cracked down hard on the gangs that had ruled the city for years.
The Falcone family and the Maroni family had both been forced to pull back their turf wars because of him. Things had gotten more peaceful, and Gotham nights had started to calm down.
And under the daylight, the return of ‘Bruce Wayne,’ heir to the Wayne family, shifted the balance of the entire city.
To the public, ‘Bruce Wayne’ was a playboy. That was the first and only impression most people had.
But to those who rembered the days of Thomas Wayne, they knew better. ‘Bruce Wayne’ was still a Wayne, and that ant trouble.
As soon as he returned, ‘Bruce’ took full control of Gotham Bank using the skyrocketing influence of Wayne Enterprises. He even beca the bank’s president himself.
To the average citizen, it seed like a rich kid playing CEO while partying every night with a different woman.
But the city’s criminal elite understood the truth.
‘Bruce Wayne’ had seized complete control over their money laundering pipeline.
They could still use Gotham Bank to launder their cash, but now it cost ten tis more than before. The increased price was unacceptable. So they started plotting ways to bring down Wayne Enterprises.
That was when they realized sothing terrifying.
They didn’t even have the right to go after Wayne Enterprises. Not yet. At least not until the other three major families made their move. These outsider-founded gangs and organizations couldn’t even lay a hand on Wayne Enterprises.
Even if they stord the lobby of Wayne Tower with machine guns, in the end, they’d still have to go crawling back—because when they needed to buy bullets and weapons, their money would end up right back in Wayne Enterprises’ pockets.
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