Revamped!

[I'm back, everyone!

This chapter is short mostly because it's more of a prelude to this arc].

Copyright - Avengers Assemble (Marvel Animation)


Chapter 81: The Contingency Plan Part One

SHIELD Headquarters - 16:38 PM

All the SHIELD agents on this floor are so extremely busy with their work that they don't notice or acknowledge Princess Iqadi as she walks right past them. They might be sending agents on missions, but Iqadi is looking for something on her own, which is why she finds it helpful that nobody is stopping her along the way. That, and if every agent stopped to bow for her, she would accomplish nothing and it would just waste time. Thankful for her, Emily already deactivated the SHIELD parole bracelet that she had to wear. Iqadi didn't even have to ask Emily to do that since her friend just offered to do that willingly … which is why she has to do this quickly since she's running out of time.

Iqadi walks through SHIELD's headquarters, passing through work desks inconspicuously. Having no guard bracelet made Iqadi able to sneak a couple of minutes on various agents' computers as they stepped away from their desks. Still, after that extensive search, she couldn't find what she was looking for which was making her more nervous and antsy than usual.

Seeing a database room with its door slightly ajar, Iqadi decides to head over there next. She slips her slender fingers into the gap of light that separates the door from its frame and inches it open. In one stride, she enters the empty room, narrowly closing the door behind her. The lights automatically turn on and Iqadi sees endless rows of SHIELD's databases, each computer assigned to a different one. Iqadi puts her hands on her hips and huffs, knowing that this will take her forever to decrypt and sift through. Before she approaches a keyboard, she hears someone come in and her head turns around towards the door.

Iqadi sees an older SHIELD agent, a man with lightly tanned skin, salt and pepper hair, and brown almond-shaped eyes. She stares at him for a while, worried that she may get questioned about what she's doing here but to her benefit, the agent bows respectively.

"Your Majesty," the agent greets, "I'm Agent Mike Tapper, Director of Agent Debriefings It's an honour to get to meet you."

"Please," Iqadi replies modestly, "the pleasure is mine."

Agent Tapper smiles a little. Iqadi stands firmly where she is, hoping that he doesn't start questioning her about why she's in this room and such. She's heard stories from her friends about being debriefed by him after missions and they're not entirely flattering.

"SHIELD has received information about what happened in Wakanda with the extreme thunderstorms and how you got trapped on our SHIELD prison island when you were on your way here," he says. Iqadi nods, just to see where he's going with that thought. "I heard about how you handled those situations and let me say that after working with many agencies over the years, I'm impressed by your abilities. You stand out compared to any other agent here."

"Oh…" Iqadi mutters, not having seen that coming at all. "Thank you."

"I envy your courage for having to have dealt with all that on your own, Princess."

"I wasn't born with it or my skill for that matter."

"I met your husband, Prince Consort Imanu when he was here a while back. He's quite the gentleman. You're incredibly lucky to have him."

Iqadi smiles a little. "I know. That's why he's mine."

Agent Tapper senses her hostility but doesn't comment on it for his reasons out of respect for her. It could've been unintentional and he wouldn't want to offend her whatsoever. Before the conversation could continue for longer, an agent knocks before opening the door. Both Iqadi and Agent Tapper turn to face her. At the sight of the Princess and a superior agent, the agent bows her head (mostly for Iqadi though) and clears her throat.

"Princess Iqadi," the agent starts, "your friends request your presence. There's a mission for you."

"Thank you," Iqadi replies. "I'll be there shortly."

Iqadi gives Agent Tapper a last look before thanking him and walking out. Agent Tapper keeps his eyes on Iqadi and watches her exit the door and turn down the hallway.

She'll have to continue her search later.

-o-

Xavier stands in front of a hologram that shows a warehouse just along the outskirts of the city. Everyone else circles around to get a good view of what they'll do next. Xavier swipes the building and shows the floor plan.

"SHIELD has been picking up some strange readings from this building," Xavier says. "They have sent agents in before but nothing came out, so they're sending us."

"They're sending the entire team for something a magnifying glass can do?" Merida questions, unamused.

"Apparently."

Merida rolls her eyes. "Is that how incompetent they think we are?"

Xavier shrugs.

"Take a shot every time the Council thinks we're stupid children," James says unenthusiastically.

"It could be worse," Angela says optimistically.

"How so?" Daniel asks.

Angela has no answer. She looks at Xavier for help but he's purposely avoiding eye contact. Clearly, this is the worst it could be in terms of missions, and to think that Project: New Generation was held high on some pedestal. Their pedestal was more like a stepping stool that barely let them see over the kitchen countertop.

"I don't want to be stuck here doing office work so let's just go," Xavier says. "Suit up and be at our quinjet in an hour. I'll relay a plan when we see what we're dealing with."

-o-

Outskirts of Town - 18:57 PM

Just like every movie on the planet, their coordinates led them to a building that just happened to be abandoned and far from the main town. They stepped out of the quinjet and took a look at the silence and structural debris all around them, surprised at the fact that this building is still standing straight and rigid.

"Don't you guys ever get fun missions?" Apollo asks, looking unimpressed at the building.

"We went to SHIELD Island," James states. "That wasn't good enough for you?"

Apollo shrugs.

"Stark," Xavier commands. "My readings aren't picking up anything. You?"

Emily looks around the building, the scanners in her suit examine every corner inside and out of the building. Nothing seems unusual but that doesn't stop them from pulling out their weapons. There was something off about this place but they couldn't pick out what it is.

"Xavier, what's the plan?" Angela asks.

"Hold on," Emily says, "why do we all just assume that Xavier has a plan? Someone else might."

Merida scoffs. "Do you have a plan?"

Emily looks down. "...no."

They all look at Xavier. He laughs at Emily a little before clearing his throat and discussing their plan for the mission.


[If you want to be ahead of the game, check out Iqadi's story and you'll find out what it is that she's looking for].