In Washington, D.C., the protest crowd stretched from the forr S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, the Triskelion, all the way to the gates of the White House.
The reason was simple.
LexCorp had started the wave, and naturally, more people jumped on it for various reasons. So craved fa. Others wanted to crush their rivals. And many simply saw a chance to profit from the chaos.
But no matter their reasons, after the President publicly announced the termination of funding for S.H.I.E.L.D. and reclaid the Triskelion building, another hacker group broke into Congress’s information database. They revealed that the U.S. governnt was still secretly sending money to the agency behind the scenes.
When this news got out, the crowd that had mostly been cald flared up again. The unrest exploded into the scene Fury was now watching.
"Sir, we need to leave. If we stay here any longer, our personal information might be leaked next," Coulson said, standing beside Fury with a worried look on his face as he glanced toward the front.
He didn’t feel any resentnt over their current situation, because in truth, the outco wasn’t too far off from what they had expected.
After Richard showed clear signs of trying to flee or resist, even if S.H.I.E.L.D. had been completely free from Hydra's influence, they still couldn’t allow soone like him to roam free. Killing him might not have been necessary, but restricting his freedom was inevitable.
So, even though they knew that their operation against Richard had already been sabotaged by LexCorp, and the man wasn’t actually dead, there was no explanation they could offer. From the very beginning, they had taken the position of the villains.
Still, Coulson didn’t regret following orders. He couldn’t speak for others, but at least for himself, every mission he carried out had been in line with what he believed in.
"Yeah. We should leave," Fury answered. "But S.H.I.E.L.D. will probably beco an underground organization now."
With the U.S. governnt no longer backing them, the agency had no choice but to pull out of the country.
But now, so deeply tied to Arican identity, it was unlikely to be accepted by any other nation. Becoming a shadow organization was the sole remaining option.
* * *
And so, Fury and Coulson relocated to Los Angeles. It was one of the few major U.S. cities where LexCorp’s influence hadn’t fully reached.
Only there could what remained of S.H.I.E.L.D. find a temporary foothold.
Inside a quiet laboratory, Reed had already resud his research, completely unaware of Fury and Coulson’s arrival.
After going through a round of security checks, Fury finally stepped up to the scientist’s side.
"Dr. Richards, how’s the research coming along? Sorry, everything happened too fast. We couldn’t guarantee the integrity of your work."
"It’s going well."
Reed wasn’t completely unaware of what had happened over the past few days. He had seen the reports on the news exposing S.H.I.E.L.D.’s actions, and judging by how the organization had reacted, what had been said about Richard’s situation was most likely true.
As such, Reed no longer felt as close to the agency that claid to stand for peace.
Fury noticed this. He could see the distance growing between them.
Realizing Reed might leave as soon as his research was complete, he tried to offer an explanation.
"Actually, Richard Parker isn’t dead. It’s just that—"
"But you still sent agents after him, didn’t you?"
Reed’s response left Fury speechless.
There was no way to deny it. The order had been real. They had indeed authorized the use of force to pressure Richard into handing over the cosmic storm samples. Even if the man had survived, the intent behind the command had been crystal clear.
Seeing Fury’s expression, Reed understood everything.
And in that mont, he made up his mind. Once his research on the cosmic storm was finished, he would take the results and leave. Whether or not he’d hand the findings over to this so-called S.H.I.E.L.D., that would be his decision to make.
Putting those matters aside, Reed turned around and looked at the massive device built specifically to study the cosmic storm.
"After all this research, I finally understand just how mysterious the universe really is. This unique form of energy can almost be extended to encompass every type of energy that exists in the cosmos. Maybe, back when technology hadn’t advanced, those people we called sorcerers throughout history were simply born with the ability to manipulate this thing. As for so-called gods, perhaps they’re just special races that naturally possess the power to control this cosmic energy."
As he spoke, Reed glanced back at Fury, who still stood beside him.
"Creating superhumans using this thing isn’t particularly difficult. But the sample you brought, after subtracting what I used in testing, is only enough to give one person powers. As for a safe thod of application, I’m still working on it. I should have results soon."
"That would be ideal," Fury replied.
Compared to what LexCorp had, S.H.I.E.L.D.’s cosmic storm sample was significantly weaker. It made sense that they couldn’t produce superpowered individuals on the sa scale.
Just as Fury was about to continue the conversation and try to persuade Reed to stay after the experint was over, a nearby agent walked over.
"Sir, Director Pierce has requested your presence in his office."
Ever since LexCorp had gone after them, it had only taken a few days for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s entire communication system to collapse. They had to switch from radio transmissions to in-person ssages. With nearly no defense left against hackers, this was the only way to make sure sensitive information wasn’t leaked to cyber groups.
Even their original databases hadn’t been turned on in a while.
* * *
When Fury entered Pierce’s office, he saw soone unexpected, though not entirely surprising.
"Co in, Nick. Let introduce you to soone. This is Tony Stark, son of Howard Stark, one of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s original founder."
Pierce spoke casually, gesturing toward the man seated across from him.
"Director," Fury greeted, his tone calm. "I’m a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Of course I know the na Tony Stark."
He then sat down beside Pierce, ready to silently observe the conversation.
Tony showing up, or more accurately, Pierce reaching out to the man, wasn’t sothing completely out of the blue.
After all, the fallout between Stark Industries and LexCorp had made as much noise as S.H.I.E.L.D.’s own public exposure.
With LexCorp standing at the center of both disasters, it made perfect sense for Pierce to consider a partnership with Stark Industries as a way to stabilize the agency’s future.
What Fury hadn’t expected, however, was that the main subject of today’s discussion would be him.
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