Chapter 21: A Complication

Author's Note: Hey everyone! I'm so terribly sorry I've been gone for a while again! Still settling here in Japan as best I can and learning the new culture that entails being here. The story has constantly been on my mind and I hate myself for letting it go this long without an update. Again, I'm so sorry for the month-long wait... Here's the next chapter!

Phantom and Deadpool suited up and readied themselves for Taskmaster's orders in the darkened control room. Phantom examined his pistols, ensuring that they were clean and not tampered with in any way. Deadpool just played with his swords, new ones that Taskmaster had issued him when he arrived at The Bastion.

Throughout the wait for Taskmaster to arrive, Phantom thought of Maria… and how much he missed her. He felt that perhaps he made a mistake by going to go see her, but he saved her from those muggers. It was as if he was meant to be there to save her, but has he jeopardized her in any way by going to see her? He now felt unsure now of his intentions to help Taskmaster's cause. Maria had calmed his heart down, calmed his rage to take down his foes. But he still felt a form of animosity towards the organization for what they had done to his life. Is it possible he could have it all back? What's his purpose now?

I don't belong here… But I've already offered my aid… I still want to see the end of S.H.I.E.L.D… but at what price? I can't back out of my commitment now; I must see this through… until the terms are met. S.H.I.E.L.D. must fall… Or at least Fury…

The doors behind them opened and a stolid Taskmaster marched in with a few of his men behind him. "It's time for the next task." He spoke haughtily.

He approached the holographic console and pushed a pattern of buttons on the terminal to display yet another detailed picture of the helicarrier flying over Manhattan.

"We've readied everything; all that needs to be done is deliver the virus onto the helicarrier." Taskmaster shined a black flash drive in his hand and handed it over to Phantom. "Once it's installed the virus will remain hidden underneath S.H.I.E.L.D.'s firewall and once we strike, it will activate and disrupt all defensive and offensive systems onboard the ship."

Sounds like a virus only S.H.I.E.L.D. can develop; I am not surprised.

"A four-man team will escort you via one of our stolen aircraft to board the helicarrier. Security has been heightened since our attack and the attack on the bridge, but my contacts on the ship have given me the clearance codes to board the ship, and I've also arranged for a maintenance inspection with credentials from HQ… so they think we are maintenance engineers arriving from HQ…" Taskmaster explained in great detail.

The plan sounds brilliant, if shrewdly put together.

"Once the team depart the aircraft to do their 'inspection duties'; Phantom and Deadpool, you both will proceed to the central computer that's located in the engine core of the ship, the heart of the machine. It runs all the vital mechanical and propulsion systems of the helicarrier." The helicarrier projection pinpointed the location of where the engine core is located, right in the middle of the ship.

A trojan horse it seems. However, my concern is what will the four-man team exactly be doing? They aren't just going to walk around and wait for us to finish the job. But I won't worry about that for now.

"Couldn't we install the virus from any computer that's on the helicarrier? Wouldn't they be already installed in the network?" Phantom asked.

"The ship's network and S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database network are different; they remain separated except for the cleared personnel working on the bridge to keep anybody around the ship from shutting it down." Taskmaster answered, making some sense out of it.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Deadpool laughed as he shined his sword. "Just point us in the right direction, Taskmaster!"

"I ask that you be discreet, we can't afford to have Fury or any of the personnel onboard suspect that their systems have been compromised. A full system shut down is standard protocol to erase any program that's seeped into their network; it will erase our virus and leave us having to contend with the helicarrier when we strike. This operation is to ease that process." Taskmaster stated in a serious tone.

"That means we can't kill anybody, in case that hasn't gone through your head." Phantom told Deadpool, who scowled at him.

"We'll see about that!" Deadpool stated confidently.

"There will be S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms onboard the aircraft, contact me when it is done." Taskmaster instructed them as he turned off the projection. He faced away from the two as he leaned on the terminal, silent and unwavering.

These tasks seem tedious, a little too tedious for Taskmaster. I'm surprised he doesn't accompany us on these missions. He would be directly more involved in the way business is handled.

"Very well, it will be done." Phantom put the flash drive away in one of his pockets and marched out of the control room followed closely by Deadpool.

"Another mission together?" Phantom asked Deadpool in an unenthusiastic tone as they walked through the hallways past the roving sentries.

"Ooooh yes! It's going to be so much fun, Phanty! It'll be just like when we busted out of the helicarrier, except we'll be back on it, doing bad things, hee hee!" Deadpool excitedly said.

"Just don't get in my way." Phantom threatened him.

"You gotta calm down there, señor Phantom!" Deadpool snapped back. "This is OUR mission, our cute little mission… you and I…together… its almost romantic don'tcha think?"

Phantom took a deep sigh of grief. Deadpool laughed at the insanity of his joke.

It was one thing having to tolerate him when we escaped from the helicarrier… but now this guy is going to be the one driving it once we take over? Give me a break.

They walked outside where a S.H.I.E.L.D. marked transport waited for them. Taskmaster's disguised men were waiting for both Phantom and Deadpool to arrive. They wore the distinctive blue S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform that most of the personnel onboard the helicarrier wear, with a small sidearm on their hip.

"Are the both of you ready?" One of Taskmaster's unmasked men grunted as the two of them approached.

Phantom looked at Deadpool to make sure he's ready, and then he nodded at the man. Deadpool walked up the ramp to get seated inside. Phantom took another look at The Bastion to see Taskmaster standing on the doorway they walked from, he didn't bother to walk to the landing pad. Without making a gesture, Phantom walked up the ramp and strapped himself into one of the seats as the transport departed The Bastion.

"You feeling better, Pete?" Fury asked Peter as he got up from his bed and shook his head to wake himself up.

"I feel a little bit better, much better than earlier." Peter looked on his bedside and saw his costume had been brought to him on the table.

Good to know my costume is still good, I was afraid they might've cut it up when I got processed here.

"I'm glad to hear that." Fury looked down at his phone for a minute then back to Pete. "Coulson mentioned that your team wants to begin searching for Taskmaster's whereabouts in the city."

"I mean, we'd like to help. I don't know if you guys have started searching or anything."

"I'll think about it. We've been trying to triangulate all possible locations that Taskmaster could've ran off to, but he covered his footprints well. One disadvantage we have is that he knows the ins and outs to the way S.H.I.E.L.D. does things, especially when searching for people." Fury took a deep sigh. "We'll take care of him yet."

Peter sat on his bed and thought on it for a minute.

"Phantom once mentioned that Taskmaster used to work for S.H.I.E.L.D., I remember when Tiger and I first encountered him at the school when he was looking for me, and he spoke about you like he knew you on a personal level." Peter told Fury.

"He was never an agent or anything, but he helped us on various missions, back when he wasn't so much of a villain as he is now."

Fury sat down on the chair next to Pete. "But don't worry about that for now. Peter, I spoke with Cruz's former wife not too long ago."

Oh boy, this should be good.

"Really? What did she tell you?" Peter tried to act like he was surprised but he knew Ava and Luke had already spoken to her not too long ago.

"She claims to believe that I told her that Cruz was dead, about fifteen years ago, a year after we took him from her." Fury sounded confused. "I never told her that."

"You sure, Nick? I mean you kind of have a knack of bringing bad news to people around you; maybe you forgot you mentioned it to her?" Peter jokingly asked. Fury shot him an evil look.

"I wouldn't have lied to her if Cruz was still alive, kid. That's not me." Fury defended himself. "I think someone else told her, disguised as me... but why would they tell her this?"

Good point, why? It could've been to piss Phantom off more once he got out of his cage but… Seems like a long shot, unless this has been pre-meditated for sixteen years.

"I don't know, Nick… This is all too confusing for me." Peter couldn't think it through his major headache.

Fury took another look at his phone, and then quickly shot up from his seat as if something came up. "This can't be right."

Suddenly, the door to Peter's room slid open and a group of armored agents marched in with their weapons. A S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in a black uniform walked in, Coulson ran in behind him.

"You can't do this!" Coulson tried telling the black uniformed agent, but the agent ignored him as the armored agents kept Coulson out of the door.

The agent was an older fellow, with green eyes and no hair; he switched his gaze from Peter to Fury. "Director Fury." He spoke in a thick British accent. "I am with S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters, I've been ordered to take you to The Triskelion in Washington D.C."

I'm sorry, the what?

"Base of operations? What is this about, agent?" Fury asked sternly.

"I am not in the liberty to discuss that." The agent coldly replied.

"Agent, I am ordering you to discuss it with me." Fury aggressively stated.

"Mr. Fury, your position has been temporarily revoked by headquarters. Agent Hill will resume your duties on the helicarrier until further notice." The agent informed him.

What?! Why is Fury getting 'taken away'? Something's not right. And why did they take away his position?!

"I see. Fine then." Fury turned to Peter and glanced back at the agents. "Give us a moment."

"Very well." The agent walked outside the room followed by the armored agents, they closed the door but waited right outside the door.

"Nick, what's going on?!" Peter loudly asked, but Fury placed his hand over Peter's mouth.

"Quiet, kid." He whispered. He looked around the room, as if looking for anybody that might be peeping in. He reached into his black coat and pulled out a silver flash-drive and handed it to Peter.

"What's this, Nick?"

"Peter, this is all the classified information we had on Phantom, Project Vitruvian, everything. Don't give it to anybody and don't let anyone else read it." Fury whispered as he kept looking around.

This is awfully convenient for him to be carrying around with him.

"Why do you have this with you?"

"I was just able to decrypt the information from sixteen years of lost documentation yesterday, kid. I was going to bring this up today but this came up." Fury answered with haste. "This is what Phantom was looking for inside the Archive. I kept the information classified so that he wouldn't find it. That should give you an idea of how important this is."

It all makes sense now…

"Well what do you want me to do with it?"

"Don't let it fall into anyone else's hands! We can't afford to have any of that information compromised!" Fury told him as the door slid open and the agent walked back in.

"We need to go now, Mr. Fury." He calmly told him.

"All right." Fury looked back at Peter and extended his hand for a handshake. Peter shook it but Nick leaned in and whispered into Peter's ear. "Contact Stark."

"Take care of yourself, kid." Fury told Peter one last time and followed the agent out of the medical room, leaving Peter alone.

I need to get the team together… along with Iron Man, this just got serious.

"…And then we'll rise as kings of the world! Sing it with me Phantom, baby!" Deadpool sang.

"Oh my god, will you just shut up?!" Phantom scolded Deadpool on the transport.

"What?!" Deadpool asked as he was juggling grenades around the transport. "I'm starting to think you don't like my singing!"

"Gee, what made you think that?!" Phantom sighed as he put his head down in grief.

"Hee hee." Deadpool stopped juggling then concentrated on Phantom for a minute.

"Stop staring at me." Phantom said to him.

"What were you doing poking around the streets by yourself?" Deadpool curiously asked.

He followed me?!

"What, did you follow me?" Phantom aggressively asked.

"Noooo…" Deadpool giggled. "I was just wondering!"

Liar.

"Hmph… Just keep your thoughts to yourself." Phantom looked over to the two disguised men; they kept quiet the entire time while watching the two mutants talk. Phantom's gaze became affixed on the black bags that were underneath their seats, they seemed to be carrying something big.

Now would be a good time to ask them what they are going to do while all of this goes down.

"What will you men be doing while Deadpool and I infiltrate the helicarrier's core?" Phantom curiously asked the two men. They both glanced at each other before the one on the right spoke.

"We were given specific instructions from Taskmaster, I'm afraid we can't discuss that." He grumbled to Phantom.

Of course you can't… Great, I'm flying blind into something I don't know all the variables about.

"Don'tchu worry about a thing, ol Phanty, ol pal! They're going to distract everyone else while we move in!" Deadpool cheerfully stated.

"I see…" Phantom shrugged it off.

"Soooooo do you have any clue how we're going to get into the central computer undetected!?" Deadpool curiously asked.

"We can use the access corridors on the lower levels of the helicarrier, but you're going to need a disguise too if this is going to work any which way." Phantom answered him.

"Why?!"

"Well because S.H.I.E.L.D. is already actively looking for you, I'm pretty sure we don't want them to know we snuck onto the ship and cause another situation where they're scouring the ship all over again. I hated doing that." Phantom told him.

"But it was fun!" Deadpool argued.

No… It was not, but I'm not going to argue about that with him.

"Nevermind all that… Men, do you have any extra S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms?" Phantom asked Taskmaster's men. They looked at each other and one reached for something in the back of the transport and pulled out a fresh S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform and handed it to Phantom. Phantom looked at Deadpool and gave him the uniform.

"Nuh-uh, I'm not wearing that!" Deadpool aggressively told him.

"Unless you want to jeopardize this mission by going like that, I suggest you wear it!" Phantom raised his tone. Deadpool looked at the uniform disapprovingly, but eventually took it and put it on over his costume.

Finally something we agreed with…

Time grew closer as they flew high above the city now, higher and higher until they entered the helicarrier's airspace. An operator from the helicarrier radioed into the transport's frequency and patched through.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. transport, transmit your clearance codes to land on the helicarrier now or risk being shot down." The operator's stern voice spoke over the radio. The pilots knew exactly what to do, they used the codes that Taskmaster had obtained and transmitted them back to the helicarrier.

I remember having done several covert missions where these obtained codes have failed… Hopefully that won't be the case this time around.

About a minute passed as they now came within visual range of the helicarrier above the clouds, the suspense of waiting for the operator's reply was slowly rising, until finally…

"You are cleared to land maintenance transport." The operator replied and directed them to a landing pad on the flight deck. A feeling of relief rushed into Phantom.

Looks like Taskmaster's codes worked.

As they flew over the flight deck, Phantom began scanning the deck for anything of note. It was bright day, so he could see all he needed to see. The helicarrier's flight deck held several troop transports as well as jet fighters who were ready to launch at a moment's notice.

He didn't see anything he didn't expect until he saw him. Nick Fury was being escorted out of the helicarrier by armored agents and what appeared to be a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent into a high-profile transport.

…Looks like S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ finally found that incriminating evidence, enough to take the cat out of the house… Things have gotten interesting.

Phantom looked over to see that Deadpool hadn't noticed that at all, he was too busy toying with the uniform he disgusted so much.

Best if I keep this new information to myself.

The transport slowly lowered itself onto the landing pad and secured itself. They had landed, and now their plan was in motion. The pilots stayed put in the cockpit of the transport while the other two grabbed the black bags and promptly left the transport. From the looks of it, the S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel hadn't taken notice of them and so the plan started off smoothly.

"You two have an hour." The pilots informed them. "Regular inspections don't take that long to perform, so anything longer will raise a red flag."

Noted.

Phantom looked at Deadpool and disappeared into thin air, opening the transport and walking out with Deadpool close behind.

Following what happened with Nick, everyone had assembled in Peter's room waiting on word from Coulson as to what to do next. Nova paced around angrily, Iron Fist lost in thought, Powerman trying to figure things out as well, and Tiger at Peter's bedside.

Nova's fist slammed hard into the wall of Peter's medical room. "They can't do this damn it! Fury would never do anything against S.H.I.E.L.D.! This is wrong!"

"Calm down, Nova… Exerting anger will not fix what has happened." Iron Fist tried to console him.

"No! Fury has done nothing but stick his neck out for us, maybe screw us over a couple times, but never enough to where we question who he is! He's done more than enough for S.H.I.E.L.D." Nova argued. "We should go out and prove it to HQ!"

As much of a good idea as I think that would be, I kind of highly doubt that the highest ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. leaders would listen to a bunch of teenagers who worked underneath Fury… I mean I'm just saying… it might not work.

"We got to think this through… why would HQ revoke his directorship? I mean are we sure that it was something that could've incriminated him?" Tiger asked the group.

"It's the only thing that would make them take him away like this." Powerman answered the question. "They wouldn't have done it otherwise… Pfft… I blame Phantom."

"Guys… look let's just wait on Coulson, maybe it's a huge misunderstanding." Peter tried to tell the team, but they weren't convinced on that alone.

Just then, the door opened and Coulson walked in with a grave expression about his face.

Oh no… that doesn't look good.

"Coulson! Please tell us you have something!" Nova worriedly asked him. Coulson took a deep sigh.

"I've just been briefed by Agent Hill, who is acting director for now of the helicarrier… it appears that the rumors you've all heard are true. The reports HQ retrieved from the dead investigation team found incriminating evidence that leads to believe that Nick Fury had a hand in both the attack on the helicarrier and the attack on the agents. They're holding him at The Triskelion until a hearing can be put in order where he can be potentially be put away for a long time." Coulson sighed.

Crap… Well that's just great! The only guy who can help us out is locked up now… Isn't this convenient?

"Peter." Coulson looked at him. "Did Director Fury tell you anything before he left?"

Peter nodded. "He handed me this flash drive… and told me to contact Stark."

"Then there isn't any time to lose…" Coulson spoke.

Hope you guys enjoyed this small chapter, I'll be typing up another one this week and continue along with the story! As always, feedback is greatly appreciated guys and any comment as to what you guys expect might happen next is appreciated. Thanks guys, and enjoy!:)