PRE-CHAPTER NOTES: TO THE GUEST WHO'S BEEN THEORIZING...NO. NO MEPHISTO IS NOT IN THIS STORY. INPERATIO HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE INFINITY STONES OR COSMIC PART OF THE MCU. ALSO HOW IN THE WORLD WOULD I GET THE SHE-RA CHARACTERS INVOLVED WITH THE GUARDIANS MOVIES?
WITH THAT OUT OF THE WAY, PLEASE ENJOY
Chapter 24: Cut Off One Head…
"A fucking Vending machine?!" Catra hissed under her breath, her and Adora following Steve into the hospital where they had last seen Fury. After fleeing SHIELD, Steve had informed the two of the flash drive Fury gave him, and how he hid it behind a stick of gum...in a vending machine of all places. Due to a nation-wide manhunt being declared for the three, they were all trying to keep a low profile, including Catra being forced to wear shoes and gloves alongside a hoodie to hide her fur. Furthermore, her tail was tucked into a pantleg, so Adora was forced to act as support for the now off-balanced Catgirl. "And do I really have to wear this shit?"
"No offense Wildcat, but you stick out like a sore thumb…" Adora deadpanned quietly.
"Oh and Captain Fucking America doesn't?!" Catra retorted in annoyance. Their bickering was stopped when they noticed Steve was staring at the Vending machine. "Please tell me he didn't lose it…" As she grumbled, Natasha walked up behind Steve, chewing on some gum as if to make a point. Steve quickly shoved Nat into another room, and the girls followed.
Adora had a pretty angry face as they ducked into another room. "Maybe now Nat won't hide anything else…" She growled. Catra gave her a look in surprise, "She knows who killed Fury. I know it."
Steve pinned Nat to the wall. "Where is it…" he asked.
"Safe" Was all she replied.
"Do better." Steve responded, irritation in his voice.
"Where did you get it?"
"Why would I tell you?"
"Jesus are they gonna start making out?" Catra whispered to Adora, who had to work hard to keep her straight face.
"Fury gave it to you. Why?" Natasha asked pointedly.
"What's on it?" Steve inquired.
"I don't know.." She admitted, lowering her head.
Steve was beginning to lose his patience and shook her. "Stop Lying."
"Dad, settle down…" Adora added, grabbing his shoulder.
Natasha looked between the two super-soldiers. "I only act like I know everything Rogers." She explained.
Catra checked out the hallway, and Adora walked beside Nat. Steve, feeling nobody was watching, asked the most important thing on his mind. "I bet you knew Fury hired the pirates, didn't you?"
Natasha had a brief look of shock on her face, one Adora had trouble telling if it was legit or not. "That would make sense. The ship was dirty, we needed a way in, so you-"
Steve shook her again, "I'm not gonna ask you again!" He angrily said. He eased up a bit as Adora squeezed his shoulder again.
"I know who killed Fury." Natasha finally said, looking genuinely worried considering how angry Steve looked, and Adora's glare.
"I fucking knew it…" Adora growled. "Who was it…"
Natasha continued as Steve let go of her arms. "Most of the Intelligence community doesn't even believe he exists." she explained, "The ones who do call him the Winter Soldier."
"That...sounds ominous…" Catra said, shuddering a little.
"He's credited with over two dozen assassinations in the last 50 years." She finished. Steve simply scoffed at the absurdity.
"Two dozen in fifty years? Is it like a team, or just a really old guy?" Adora asked incredulously.
"Yeah, sounds more like a Ghost Story." Catra added.
"Five years ago I was escorting a nuclear engineer out of Iran." Natasha began to explain, and the three listened. "Someone shot out my tires near Odessa, we lost control and went over a cliff." Natasha's voice began to shake as she recalled the events. "I pulled us out, but the Winter Soldier was there. I was covering the Engineer, so he shot him, straight through me." Natasha pulled up her shirt slightly, revealing a bullet wound scar on her midsection. "Soviet slug. No Rifling. Bye-Bye bikinis." Adora's eyes were wide as she calculated the odds of killing a target with a shot like that. This guy was a genuinely amazing, terrifying opponent.
"Yeah, bet you look terrible in them now…" Steve deadpanned. Cracking the slightest smirk.
Natasha chuckled a bit as well, and then turned the serious voice back on. "Going after him is a dead end." She told the three. Adora went to open her mouth but Natasha cut her off. "I know, I've tried." She held up the Flash drive she'd taken from the vending machine. "Like Catra said, he's a Ghost story."
Steve never broke eye contact with Natasha the whole time, as he took the Flash Drive. "Then let's find out what this ghost wants."
"First rule of going on the run?" Natasha, now disguised with casual clothing informed the three former SHIELD agents. "Don't run. Walk."
"If I run in these shoes they're gonna fall off…" Steve quipped.
Catra on the other hand, wasn't so amused. "What the fuck makes you think I can run in these shoes!?" She hissed. "This is painful on my feet. You guys even realize how it feels having my clawed feet crammed into small shoes?" Quickly, they popped into a computer store to access the flash drive. As Steve and Natasha worked on the drive, Adora and Catra sat down together to let the poor neko rest her feet. Adora leaned on her shoulder as she kicked her feet slightly, trying to get more circulation back into them. "Adora do you have to lean on me?"
"Hey, people won't pay too much attention if we try to blend in right?" Adora pointed out, smiling at Catra.
"Yeah right, you just want an excuse to cuddle with me." Catra quipped, smiling back.
Natasha smirked a bit before she and Steve walked to a laptop to access the USB. "The drive has a Level Six Homing Program. So as soon as we access it, SHIELD will know exactly where we are." She explained, Steve looking around.
"How much time will we have." Steve asked.
"About nine minutes from…" Natasha calmly inserted the flash drive into the laptop. "Now." She began to scroll through the files from the Lemurian Star, Adora trying to pay attention while keeping an eye on the, still whining, Catra. "Fury was right about that ship." Adora remembered hearing that Fury had sent Natasha and Steve to a ship hijacked by pirates. Some French guy, or maybe Algerian? Adora genuinely couldn't remember. "Somebody's trying to hide something. The drive is protected by some sort of AI." She continued, trying to access the various files hidden behind the drive. "It keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands."
"Can you override it?"
"The person who programmed this is slightly smarter than me." Natasha admitted, before quickly trying to cover herself. "Slightly." She turned to thje two girls. "It would be better if we weren't together. You two leave first, we'll meet up outside and get a vehicle."
"Alright Nat." Adora said, helping Catra to her feet. "Come on, let's go."
"Easy for you to say." Catra grumbled, and the two left the store as casually as they could. It isn't long since they left before her nose twitched and she swore under her breath. "I smell Agent Hunter. And Rumlow…. They just entered the mall."
"Are you sure?" Adora asked, incredulously. Catra simply responded by motioning to her nose. "Good point. We've got to move."
"What about your dad and Widow?" Catra asked Adora nervously.
"They're fine, Nat's a master of avoiding detection." She responded, "Taught me a few things. Just follow my lead." Catra was already doubting Adora's ability to bluff her way out of a situation, when the two saw Agent Hunter entering the nearby area. "Quick, put your arm around me, pretend we're laughing about something." Catra did as asked and they, blending in with the crowd, managed to surprisingly walk right on past Hunter without her even batting an eye.
"Huh, how the hell did that work?" Catra asked in astonishment.
Adora smirked, "You'd be amazed how little people pay attention to a couple enjoying themselves." As they continued to make their way out, Adora caught sight of another agent and pulled Catra over to a wall. "People are often uncomfortable around public displays of affection." Before Catra could even react, the next thing she knew, Adora was kissing her. She practically melted as they kissed, and sure enough, the Agent deliberately looked away from them.
"Okay, how much of that was trying to hide, and how much of that was just wanting a make-out session?" Catra asked, giving Adora a smug grin.
"Bit of both." Adora teased, continuing to guide her out of the mall. They ducked around cameras and made their way towards the back exit of the mall. As they neared it though, Adora caught sight of a familiar face. Kira Moon, on her own in the mall, window shopping. The Young girl noticed the two and went to speak up before Adora made a shushing gesture, walking over. "You didn't see us okay?" She whispered.
"What's wrong?" Kira asked, stunned.
"Someone bad is after me and Catra. We're hiding." Adora explained. "You didn't see us okay?"
Kira stared in surprise, before nodding. "Okay, I won't tell anyone. I promise." She replied, nodding.
"Thank you Kira." Catra said, giving the girl a smile, and walking out the back of the mall with Adora. The two breathed a sigh of relief, finally out of the crowded building and quickly ducking into hiding to await Natasha and Steve's arrival. "Think they'll be out soon?"
"Yeah." Adora responded. "And hopefully with news about our mystery enemies." As if on cue, a truck pulled around, with Steve behind the wheel. Natasha rolled her window down and motioned for them to get in. "Where the hell did you get the truck?"
"Uh...I stole it." Steve meekly admitted.
"Captain America Stole a car." Catra said with a chuckle. "Captain freaking America."
"Shut up and get in, we've got our next target." Natasha quickly said, and the two girls listened.
"So, where are we headed?" Adora finally asked.
"A military base in Wheaton, New Jersey. We tracked the AI to it." Steve replied, driving away from the mall and leaving the hunting Agents behind.
The drive to New Jersey was fairly long, and Catra found herself starting to fall asleep. She slowly slumped over in the back seat until she was resting her head on Adora's lap. Adora smiled softly and scratched behind Catra's ears, like she used to when they were kids. They were both drowning out Steve and Natasha's conversation in the front seat as they relaxed. Adora also chuckled as she realized Catra has literally kicked off the shoes she'd been forced into wearing, now that they weren't in public. Catra's eyes began to close so Adora continued with the ear scratching.
Absentmindedly, her hand went down to scratch Catra under the chin, and she noticed Catra's leg moving a bit. She raised an eyebrow and scratched slower, Catra's leg moving a bit with each scratch, only stopped by the seat belt. Adora's eyes lit up and she scratched much faster with both hands, causing Catra to start kicking her foot and purring like a cat, completely derailing the Conversation in the front of the car.
Natasha slowly looked behind her and Steve and could only stifle her laugh. "Wow. She may hate me saying this...but goddamn, Catra is adorable." She said quietly.
"Yes, she is." Adora replied, smiling as she stopped scratching to let Catra sleep.
The four former SHIELD Agents approached their destination, Camp Lehigh. Steve's old training camp. "This is it…" He said, grabbing his Shield and approaching.
"The file came from these exact co-ordinates." Natasha explained to the younger girls.
"And so did I." Steve added, breaking off the lock and allowing them inside. "This camp is where I was trained."
"Before the Super-Serum right?" Adora asked, following them deep into the camp.
Natasha held a device into the air, scanning for any signals. "Change much?"
"A little." Steve admitted.
Catra sniffed at the air, trying to pick up the scent of anyone who may be near, but there was nothing. "Well, this place was abandoned a long time ago, can't even get a trail." She said, tapping her nose when Steve gave her a confused look. "Steve, I'm a cat. My nose never lies."
"That just confirms it.." Natasha sighed in defeat, clicking down the device. "This is a dead end. Zero Heat Signatures, Zero Waves, not even Radio. Whoever set the file up must have used a router to throw people off."
"So, we almost got caught for nothing then? Fantastic…" Adora groaned, face-palming. She went to ask Steve what to do next, and noticed him staring into the distance. "What's up dad?"
"That bunker." Steve commented, leading the three to a large concrete bunker nearby. "Army regulations forbid storing munitions within 500 yards of the barracks." He approached the door to the bunker. "This building is in the wrong place." With a swift motion he smashed the lock off the door."
"Adora, Catra, stay out here. Keep guard and call us if you see anything." Natasha said.
"Fuck that, we came this far." Catra replied, scoffing. "I'm seeing this shit through."
"Me too." Adora affirmed, her and Catra following into the bunker. Steve reached the bottom of the steps first, and flicked on the lights, revealing that the bunker was really a SHIELD site. Adora could tell from the logo that this had to have been at least from the 60s, and was long since abandoned. "Guess that explains why its here."
"Subtle enough of a location that nobody without an….encyclopedic knowledge of the military would suspect it." Catra deadpanned, noticing Steve smiling at two framed photos. She peeked over his shoulder to see who they were.
"Howard Stark….and Peggy Carter." Steve said, smiling fondly. "We were pretty close." His eyes fell on a nearby set of shelves and he noticed something off about them. Walking over, he gripped the edges and slid them over to the side, revealing an elevator. "Well, that's different." Using a high tech device, Natasha managed to figure out the code for the elevator, and the four descended into darkness. As the doors reopened, they found themselves in a room with massive computer screens and servers.
Searching around the room, Catra ran her hand across one of the servers, and sneezed at the amount of dust that was kicked up, she quickly wheeled around and pointed at Adora. "Not. A. Word." She growled, as Adora was trying not to laugh.
"Sorry Catra, but that was cute." Adora replied, causing Catra to giver her an angry pout. "On the point though, how old is all this…"
"This can't be the data point…" Natasha commented, looking around. "This technology is ancient."
"That include this USB port over here." Catra deadpanned, pointing out said USB ports to Natasha. She walked over and slotted in the USB drive they'd received from Fury, causing the servers to fire up back to life.
The Computer flared to life as the words 'Initiate system?' flashed across the screen. Natasha wandered over to the absolutely ancient keyboard and typed in YES, and as the system began booting up, she grinned and quipped. "Shall we play a game?" She turned around to face Steve and tried to explain, "Its from a movie, it was really-"
"I know, I saw it." Steve replied deadpan.
"I made him see it." Adora added, reminiscing slightly about how difficult it was to teach Steve about the Cold War.
The four stared silently until the green lines of the computer seemed to form a face, and a voice began to play. "Rogers, Steven. Born 1918." The Camera turned over to Adora and Catra. "Adora, Born 1995. Santos, Catra. Born 1995." It then panned over to Natasha. "Romanoff, Natasha Alianova, Born 1984."
An unnerved Natasha glanced over at Steve. "This must be some kind of recording."
"I am Not a recording Fraulein." The voice replied, startling Catra. "I may not be the man I was when the Captain took me prisoner in 1945. But I am." Steve looked over at another monitor, showing an old archived photo of Arnim Zola, former HYDRA scientist. Someone who should be long dead.
"You know this thing?" Natasha asked.
"Arnim Zola was a German scientist who worked for Red Skull." Steve explained as he walked around the computer.
"Shouldn't he be dead then?" Adora asked before the computer spoke up once more.
"First Correction, I am Swiss." stated Zola, sounding rather offended. "Second, look around you.I have never been more alive." Catra began to pace as well, completely stunned by what she was hearing. Adora on the other hand sighed, yet another thing to add to the 'our world is fucking weird' list. "In 1972 I received a terminal diagnosis. Science could not save my body. My mind however? That was worth saving, on 200,000 feet of databanks. You are standing on my brain."
"Shame I didn't bring a magnet, betcha that would give you a bitch of a headache." Catra deadpanned.
"How did you get here?" Steve questioned, glaring at the monitor.
"Invited." Zola replied.
Natasha knew what he was referring to. "It was Operation: Paperclip after World War II. SHIELD recruited German scientists with Strategic Value." she explained to Steve before Zola continued.
"They thought I could help their cause. I also helped my own."
"HYDRA died with the Red Skull." Steve responded, and Adora's eyes widened, memories of her early childhood flooding back. Catra looked and her and nodded solemnly, also remembering their lives before the Followers.
"Cut off One Head, Two More will take its place." Zola declared, a hint of smugness in his electronic voice.
"Prove it." Steve demanded,
"Accessing Archive." Zola replied, bringing up old footage of Schmidt. "Hydra was founded on the belief that humanity could not be trusted with its own freedom. What we did not realize is that if you try to take that freedom, they will resist." Footage of the Normandy landings and Red Skull flashed across the screen. "The War taught us much. Humanity needed to surrender its freedom willingly. After the war, SHIELD was founded, and I was recruited." More images of SHIELD officials and Zola's file. "The new HYDRA grew. A beautiful parasite inside SHIELD."
Adora found herself feeling sick to her stomach as he spoke. She had sworn complete loyalty to SHIELD, to the people she thought saved her from Tyrants. In the end, she'd been working for something so deeply infected by her creators. Catra could instantly tell how she felt and silently reached over to grip her hand tightly.
Images began to flash of many wars and crises that had occurred over the years as Zola continued. "For 70 years, HYDRA has been secretly feeding crisis, reaping war, and when history did not co-operate…" An image of the Winter Soldier's arm flashed briefly. "History was changed." More images were shown to the group, in all of them, the Winter Soldier was found. "We'd intended, in fact, to further secure ourselves with newer assets to aid or replace the Soldier but...those were stolen from us." Catra and Adora's files briefly flashed across the screen as well.
"That's impossible, SHIELD would have stopped you.." Natasha tried to argue.
Zola almost sounded like he was chuckling. "Well, Accidents will happen…" he ominously stated, images of Howard and Maria Stark, as well as Nick Fury appeared on the monitor, marked by DECEASED. "HYDRA created a world so chaotic that Humanity is finally ready to sacrifice its freedom to gain its security." Adora then took note of the images beginning to show and went pale. Project Insight. Her fears were soon compounded by Zola's next words. "Once a purification process is complete, HYDRA's new world order will arise. We have won captain. Your death amounts to the same as your life….a Zero Sum." Steve finally lost it and punched the monitor, shattering it and seeming to shut Zola up. That unfortunately wasn't the case, as another computer flickered to life. "As I was saying."
"What's on this drive!" Steve yelled, finally fed up with the games.
"Project Insight requires insight, so I wrote an algorithm." Zola replied, and Adora began to tear up. She was absolutely horrified she had been unknowingly backing HYDRA, and as far as she was concerned was aiding in their horrific scheme, however indirectly. Catra pulled her into a hug and glared at the screen in burning fury.
"What kind of algorithm, what does it do?" Natasha asked, walking up beside Steve.
"The answer to your question is fascinating." Zola explained. "Unfortunately you shall be too dead to hear it." The doors soon began to shut, and even Steve wasn't fast enough to wedge his shield into the doors.
Natasha's phone then beeped and she checked it. "Steve, we got a bogey. Short ranged ballistics, 30 seconds tops."
"Who fired it?" Steve asked.
"SHIELD…" Natasha replied.
"I'm afraid I have been stalling captain." Zola gloated, Natasha quickly grabbing the drive and Syeve looking for a way out. Adora managed to settle herelf enough to help. "Admit it, it's better this way. We are, both of us, out of time." Steve ingored him and ripped off a floor grate, the four quickly leaping down it just in time for the building to explode. They thankfully were in enough cover to be unaffected, especially with Steve using his SHIELD to hold up the falling Debris. HE and Adora managed to dig themselves and the other two women free, and quickly flee before SHIELD could send someone in to confirm their deaths.
To Be Continued…
Been a while for this one. What's that, a month? I feel bad for fans of some of my other stories considering how slowly I've been updated the "She-Ra Fits in Every Universe" series. My bad ^^; But yeah, I'm back at least for this chapter. The Conspiracy has a face at least, and Adora's entire world has basically been shaken. I mean, you had to have expected this if you watched the MCU. Poor girl is gonna have a lot to sort through when this is done.
I do not own She-Ra or the MCU. Leave some feedback if you enjoy!
NEXT TIME: Facing a Phantom