Chapter 9 – Fury's Big Week (IV)

Xegh Hikesh watched the recorded image of the incident in Puente Antiguo. With Agent Tremel standing beside him, he observed it with little emotion, but tapped his chin with his finger in curiousity.

"Freeze the image." Hikesh told Tremel, who complied. The image froze on a closeup of the creature that S.H.I.E.L.D. learned was called Gangr.

"I have seen this before…" Hikesh said. Tremel looked at the Prothean curiously.

"Where?"

"It was a test subject in one of our genetic experiments." Hikesh said. "Except this one is different. It has been genetically modified to a different approach."

"So it's not really a Frost Giant… or whatever it is Coulson called them?" Tremel asked.

Hikesh shook his head. "No. It has no biological connection to the Jotuns. It is called a Karumto. It is a creature from my cycle's prehistoric era."

ooooo

"Dr. Selvig?"

Erik was drawn out of his sleep by the voice of Agent Coulson, and woke up groggily.

"Huh… wha…?"

"We're here." Coulson said, pointing.

Erik looked and saw the sign. Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. This was where Coulson's boss had planned a meeting between the two. Apparantly he needed him for some special research. While Erik hated leaving Jane and Darcy, especially after recent events, this was apparently more urgent.

"Alright." Erik said, turning towards Coulson. "What am I up against here?"

ooooo

Now that the New Mexico fiasco was over, Soladat was sure she would return to her vacation in Vegas. But Fury had other intentions. Since Agent Romanoff had no intention of continuing her assignment of monitoring Banner, who was currently in New York City meeting with his mysterious contact, a cellular biologist named Dr. Samuel Sterns. After locking in on Banner's location, Soladat, wearing a civilian disguise consisting of a leather jacket, Hard Rock café t-shirt, and jean shorts, strode through the streets of New York in search of her target. She had a bag thrown over her shoulder, and was currently making her way to Sterns' apartment. She was assigned to bring in Banner, anything to keep him out of General Ross' path.

Soladat's hair was pulled back in a ponytail so as not to get blown about her face in the wind. Eventually, she arrived at her destination, only to find swarms of police cars and military vehicles already surrounding the vicinity. She frowned when she saw some soldiers exiting the building, with an unconscious banner strapped to a stretcher.

"Damnit." Soladat muttered. She instantly dialed Fury's number, and spoke when he picked up. "Ross beat me here. He's already taken Banner into custody. They're taking him out in a helicopter. Should I pursue?"

"No. We don't need you downing another helicopter." Fury ordered. "I need you to get to Dr. Sterns' lab on the third floor and make sure that Banner didn't leave him anything to work with."

"Copy that." Soladat said, and hung up.

She quickly ran up the steps and towards the front entrance, but stopped when the ground suddenly began to shake. The soldiers and cops looked around in confusion. Suddenly, there was a loud roar, and Soladat looked up just in time to see a large bulky creature smash its way out of the third floor. It was similar to the Hulk, but was brown and had a number of bony protrusions in its skin, such as its spine. Soladat quickly leapt out of the way to avoid being crushed by the monster, and the concrete caved in beneath its feat.

With a bewildered expression, Soladat watched the thing plow through soldiers and police cars, and then disappear into the streets.

"Okay, that's definitely not good." Soladat said. She took out her phone, but found that it was now totaled.

"Of course."

Unnoticed by the soldiers, Soladat opened up her bag and took out an Accuracy International L96, all the way from the United Kingdom. Soladat smirked. Fury may have told her to pack light, but it was just a habit of hers.

Moving stealthily into the building, Soladat made her way up the stairs, and eventually came across Sterns' apartment. Finding it unlocked, she found the apartment trashed. Making her way into the room she assumed used to be the laboratory, she found an enormous hole in the wall that the creature had come out of.

"Uuuugghhhh….."

Soladat blinked, and looked around for the source of the noise.

"Uuuuuhghhhh… Help… Me…."

Soladat followed the direction of the voice, and saw a foot sticking out from behind a large piece of rubble. Using strength a normal person wouldn't possess, Soladat pulled the rubble off of the body, and her head reared back in surprise when she saw the man's face.

The man's face had turned a sickly yellowish color, and his left eye was now green, in contrast with the blue in his other one. The left side of his head was swelling and pulsating, and there was a trickle of blood running down from a cut in his forehead. Upon seeing Soladat, the man smiled sickly.

"My goodness, aren't you pretty…"

"Dr. Sterns?" Soladat guessed.

The man tilted his head, and slowly pulled himself up. "I think perhaps I once was…"

He turned towards Soladat, and grinned. "But now I shall become much more."

The man stood up, glowering at Soladat, who instantly raised her gun. "Don't move. I'm going to get you medical attention."

Sterns lifted his hands up to stop her. "Oh no, my dear. I am the only doctor that I will require. But I will be requiring your assistance."

"Excuse me?"

"I am changed now. I see my future unfolding. It is an illustrious future defined by power and influence. A future that begins this very instant."

"Right…" Soladat said. This man was totally fucked, both physically and mentally. Fury needed to see this. "Look, why don't you just come with me. I know a guy who can…"

"I assure you, I'm quite fine, my little angel darling."

Soladat blinked, and then glared, her gun still pointed towards him. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"I can sense faint traces of vibranium from you. Bent in a certain shape. Like wings, as beautiful and divine as an angel. It suggests a little genetic tampering." Sterns said with a sick grin. "But you were hurt while being given this gift, yes? Whatever the evil men did to you, whatever your heart desires, I can help you get it. All you have to do for me is… AAAGH!"

Soladat shot the man square in the kneecap, and Sterns instantly fell over in pain, gripping his leg. Looking royally pissed, Soladat put the gun over her shoulder and turned towards an active computer that was fortunate enough to survive the chaos. Taking a data slate given to her by Fury, Soladat plugged it into the computer and waited for it to siphon the necessary data.

"You will suffer for this!" Sterns hissed from behind.

Soladat didn't even turn to look at him as she started to dial her phone. "Oh, shut up."

She held the phone up to her face. "This is Archangel calling in a cleanup team. I'll mark the location with flares on the roof."

Taking the data slate from the computer, Soladat removed her jacket and turned towards the enormous hole in the wall. She jumped, and her metal wings instantly unfolded behind her. Rising high above the air, she flew up to the roof and landed, folding her wings slightly as she reached into her bag. She pulled out a flare and lit it up. As she waved it in the air, her attention was suddenly directed by a large explosion in the distance.

"What the hell?"

It was then she noticed a form being hurled from the blaze, and she jumped back when it landed only a few feet from her, and the ground shook. She saw that it was the same creature from before, and her face paled when it noticed her. It snarled, and looked ready to pounce on her, when something else fell from the sky and plowed it into the concrete. It was the Hulk.

The Hulk bashed his opponent several times, and then plucked it out of the ground, swung it around by its foot, and then let go, sending it careening off into the distance. The Hulk then noticed the winged woman standing a few feet away, nervously holding a sniper rifle. They stared at each other for a few moments, before Soladat smiled and waved awkwardly.

"Uh… hi?"

The Hulk grunted as if acknowledging her greeting and then leapt off in persuit of the other creature. Soladat just looked in awe, not even noticing the S.H.I.E.L.D. helicopter landing nearby.

ooooo

Fury sat alone in his office as usual, and was finally able to enjoy some peace and quiet. He sat motionless, his hands folded as he thought over the week's events. He looked up when he heard someone enter, and saw that it was Agent Wrekk.

"Nick." She greeted.

Fury nodded. "Agent Wrekk. I hear that Banner escaped."

"Yeah." Soladat nodded. "But General Ross took that other… thing. It looked like a deformed dinosaur."

"And Dr. Sterns?"

"He's being taken to the Mojave facility. Just another thing to add to their little science fair." Soladat said sarcastically.

Fury sighed. "Well at least one thing went right."

"Nick…" Soladat started, sighing. "This is too much. Too much for all of us to handle."

Fury looked at her, his seriousness never fading. "Never thought I'd hear you say that."

Soladat frowned. "You took me in even after everything I had been through, and I'm grateful. But this is different. These are gods and monsters and machines of war we're mixed up with. I'm supposed to go up against the Hulk with thirty pounds of armor piercing bullets? I don't think so."

Fury closed his eye and sighed, but Soladat wasn't finished. "You know that I would follow you anywhere, Nick, but we're outmatched here. The sooner we accept it, the sooner we can stop wasting our time pretending that we can make a difference."

Fury sat back, rubbing his chin as he took in everything Soladat said. Soladat just looked at him, her arms crossed, waiting for a response. Eventually, she got one.

"You're right." He looked up at her. "And I'd like you to see something."

Soladat frowned in confusion, and walked up behind Fury, who turned on his computer and dialed for the World Security Council.

After a few moments, the images of all the council members appeared on the screen. The man in the center spoke.

"Director Fury. I take it that you have an important matter you'd like to discuss?"

Fury nodded. "Yes I do."

Soladat watched as Fury started typing. "I'm sending you a prospectus for S.H.I.E.L.D.'s new budgetary allocations. You'll see that it substantially increases funding for the agency, expands jurisdiction for my agents, and augments my strategic authority."

"You ask for quite a lot, Director Fury." The British woman in the council said.

"The whole world, some might say." Fury said, smirking.

Another councilman spoke. "Tell us, has there been any significant progress with the Tesseract recently?"

Fury smirked. "Nope."

The British woman spoke again, not sounding pleased. "Reigniting the Tesseract was and will remain your primary objective as director S.H.I.E.L.D., yet you have made no headway."

The Indian man on the far end spoke. "Please, enlighten us. What have you accomplished as of late that would justify compensation of this magnitude?"

"Hmm. Let me think…" Fury said, smirking. "It's been such a busy week."

Soladat smiled slightly. She liked it when Fury went against the Council.

"I not only saved Tony Stark's life, but I also provided the guidance he needed to finish his father's work." Fury explained. "The result of that being the creation of a new element, which might be extremely useful in reigniting the Tesseract."

"After that, I discovered evidence of an advanced extraterrestrial civilization that, if I'm not mistaken, was responsible for creating the Tesseract. Maybe Ms. Darcy Lewis, another recent ally, can learn more about the Tesseract from its people, considering she now wields a piece of their technology. Just a thought."

"After that, I ran interference to keep that halfwit goon General Ross from destroying New York City with his enhanced psycho-soldier." Fury said with a chuckle. "I'd hate to speculate on how a man like Ross got his hands on the classified intelligence that led to that horrifying incident."

"Director Fury…" One of the councilors began, but was cut off.

"Oh! And meanwhile, I've kept a small team on the hunt for Steve Rogers, which I know might be perceived as disobeying orders. I just thought it might be handy to have access to the only human being on this planet that has had any direct experience with the Tesseract."

Fury sat back in his seat, resting his feet up on the desk. "Anyway, that's what I've been up to. I've also done some thinking, and in doing so I've realized that the world is changing. Getting more dangerous." Fury's face turned serious again. "One thing I know for sure: nobody is better suited to protect this world than me and my people. All we need are the means to do what we do best."

The room was silent as Fury looked at the council expectantly. Soladat looked wide eyed, impressed by Fury's big speech. She too was eager to hear what they had to say. She jumped when the voice of the British woman spoke out of the blue.

"We have reviewed your prospectus."

The councilor depicted in the center of the screen spoke. You will have all that you require by the month's end. Good day, Director Fury."

And with that, the conversation ended.

Fury looked up at Soladat and smiled. "You must be my lucky charm, Archangel."

Soladat smirked. "You think?"

"I've made half a dozen calls of that nature, and this is the first time they've really listened."

Soladat rested her hand on Fury's shoulder. "You did good, Nick."

Fury sighed. "I just hope it's enough."

He then opened a small file on the computer, and instantly the screen was filled up with news articles of the Hulk incident, the incident in New Mexico, and so forth. Soladat whistled in exasperation, while Fury just sighed.

"Because I never want to get caught off-guard like that ever again."

ooooo

One year later…

"Come on, Nana! Hurry up!"

A young eskimo boy clad in a blue parka waved for his sister, who was clad in a pink parka, to come here. Popo and Nana, twin natives of the arctic island of Bouvetøya, were busy exploring the frozen landscape. Their father had recently set their fishing ship here so they could rest for the night, and the adventurous twins snuck out in the dead of night to explore. Nana, however, was growing tired.

"Popo, it's late, and papa's probably wondering where we are. We should go back."

Popo made a face. "Come on, sis, we've been stuck on that boat for days! I want to stay and explore!"

Nana sighed. "Popo…"

"Come on, Nana. Please?"

Nana sighed. "Your such a dork."

Popo smiled, and pulled his sister along. After walking a few meters, they stopped when they heard a loud clank underneath Popo's foot. Looking down, Popo tapped his foot against the ground and the clanking sound was heard again. The twins looked at each other curiously, and then bent down to get a closer look. Popo felt the area where he had stepped on, and was surprised when it felt smooth. He wiped the snow away, and was surprised to see a metal surface.

"What is it?" Popo asked.

Nana shook her head. "I don't know. Popo, we should seriously go back now…"

Popo frowned. "Cool it, Nana."

He felt around a bit more, and felt a small opening, like a handle. "It's like a hatch. Must be an opening to something."

"That's great. Can we head back now?"

But Popo didn't listen, and instead started to pull on the hatch, grunting as he put all of his strength into it. Nana tried to tell him to stop, but he didn't listen. After a few more tugs, Popo fell back as the hatch suddenly flew open. He rolled backwards down a small hill.

"Popo!" Nana yelled, and went over to help her brother up. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Popo said, wiping the snow from his parka. "Did I get it open?"

"Yeah."

"Cool! Let's see whats inside." Popo said.

"Are you crazy?" Nana said. "I'm not going in there!"

Popo huffed. "Fine, I'll go."

Nana nodded. "Yeah, you do that."

Popo entered through the hatch feet first, and then looked back at his sister, smiling evilly. "Yeah, I'll go in and look, while you stay out here and… watch for polar bears."

Nana just nodded plainly as Popo entered through the hatch. "Yeah, I'll just… wait… What?!"

She looked around, suddenly scared, and immediately crawled in through the hatch. "Popo wait for me!"

Popo smirked as his sister came up beside him, but couldn't make out anything because it was so dark. "Nana, do you have your flashlight?"

"Uh… yes!" Nana said, and the room was instantly illuminated when Nana switched it on. It looked like the interior of a plane. The twins blinked.

"Woah." Popo said, looking around. Nana looked astonished too.

"What is this place?" She asked

"I don't know."

Nana shined the flashlight around some more, and stopped when she noticed something. Getting a closer look, she rubbed some ice off of it, and saw that it was some kind of plate. It had a red and blue striped design with a big white star in the center.

"Hey, Popo, come look at this."

Popo came up next to her, and looked at it. "What is it?"

"I don't know. Looks kind of like the American flag…"

"The American flag isn't shaped like that, sis."

"I know!" Nana spat. "But the stripes and the star do…"

Popo got up. "Come on, we should get papa! He's gotta see this."

Nana nodded. "Okay."

The two got up and made their way towards the hatch, but as they climbed up towards it, Nana slipped and slid down a small layer of ice, screaming.

"Nana!" Popo shouted. Nana landed with an oomf. She noticed her flashlight and rached out to grab it, but felt her face hit something. Blinking, Nana grabbed the flashlight and shined it at the object in front of her, and screamed bloody murder. She instantly jumped to her feet, and Popo came up next to her.

"What?! What's wrong?"

Nana pointed the flashlight towards the thing, and Popo blinked when he saw it. It was a hand, and it was attached to something obscured by the ice. It was covered in a red glove, and was frozen solid.

"Yeah… let's get papa."

ooooo

The Project P.E.G.A.S.U.S. facility was quite active today. Coulson walked through the building, a happy smile on his face. Progress was going along a lot smoothly than usual. Passing by a familiar room, he was greeted by , surprisingly, Carrie White. The girl had improved over the past year. Her hair was now cut short, showing more of her pretty young face, and her bright blue eyes were now a lot more noticeable. Months of therapy had made her much more stable, and she now used her powers only for harmless deeds. She had come to grown used to these sessions with the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and was more friendlier towards others. But she was still haunted by the ordeal in Chamberlain…

"Hi, Mr. Coulson." The girl greeted kindly.

Coulson nodded. "Ms. White. How are you feeling today?"

"Alright." She said shyly. Coulson gave her a friendly smile and let her return to her room. Continueing down the hall, he passed by Agent Tremel.

"Ah, Agent Coulson." Tremel said. "I need to talk to you."

"What do you need?"

"I looked up everything I could on this Claire Voyant person, but there was no data at all regarding such a person."

Coulson frowned. "Okay… so no good news?"

"I wasn't finished." Tremel said. "While I wasn't able to find record of anyone with that name, I did find records regarding a rumor regarding a Claire Voyant. The rumors have concerned a number of murders that have occurred for the past ninety years."

"Murders?" Coulson said. "What kind of murders?"

"Not normal ones." Tremel said. "The bodies show no signs of injury. They're just… dead. And each of the bodies have some kind of marking engraved in their heads, like a celtic mark."

Coulson watched as Tremel took out a file, and read it. "It says here that the mark is the symbol of Mephisto."

"Mephisto?" Coulson said, confused. "What's Mephisto?"

Tremel cleared her throat. "Well according to some of my research, Mephisto was a demon worshipped by the Canaanites and the Sumerians. Sort of an angel of death. In some interpretations, it's been depicted as the Devil."

"Okay…" Coulson said. "That's very interesting, but what does this have to do with Claire Voyant?"

"I was getting to that." Tremel said. "At every one of these murders, this woman here…"

Tremel showed him a picture of a snapshot taken during one of the murders. It showed a blonde woman black lips, and black eyes. "She matches the exact description that Fury gave of this Voyant person. I have other snapshots of her present during each of the crime scenes, except the weird thing is, some of the murders are over fifty years away from each other, and she still appears in the same shape and form. Like no signs of aging at all."

Coulson frowned. "Hm… Why don't you give me those files? I'll try looking over more of the information."

Tremel nodded and then gave the file to Coulson. She saluted him, and then left. Coulson walked down a few more halls until he reached his office. When he entered, he was surprised to find Fury already seated at his desk.

"Wasn't expecting to see you here." Coulson said. Fury smirked.

"I was woken up by a call this morning. A call from up north with big news." Fury said. "We found Steve Rogers."

Coulson blinked, and looked like he was about to pass out. Fury got up from his seat and grabbed Coulson's shoulder, shaking it, and put a folder in Coulson's hand. "Take a deep breath. I need you to gas up the jet and set a flight path for these coordinates."

Coulson nodded. "Yes, sir."

He started to leave, but then remembered. "Oh, yeah. Agent Tremel did her research on this Voyant character. Here are her findings."

He handed Tremel's file to Fury, who took it and nodded. With that, Coulson left the room.

ooooo

Elsewhere, in the furthest regions of space, a certain god of mischief observed the planet Earth. After a whole year of planning, he was ready. He turned towards the purple skinned beast seated in the throne. The being looked at him expectantly.

"It is time."

And that is the end of Fury's Big Week. And yes, Popo and Nana found Captain America. For those of you that don't know who they are, they are the Ice Climbers from Nintendo's Super Smash Bros. fighting games. The idea was given to me by my little brother, whose a big fan of the game. But it was just a cameo here. They probably won't appear again.

Now to those who were wondering, yes, the past few chapters were sort of a prologue to this fic. But next chapter, the real action starts. Thank you all for reading, and I can't wait to read your reviews.