Because this arc has been somewhat confusing and quite a lot has happened, this is a sort of summary.
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"Alright, you two, we don't have time for more internal fights. Someone is attacking us, and if you keep up with these playground quarrels, the bastard hiding in the shadows with his little skirmishes is going to beat us," said Fury with frustration.
"Don't you think there's a reason why the Avengers are divided?" asked Steve.
"What I think is that this reason was created by someone to separate them, and both of you are smart enough to realize it," replied Fury.
"The problem is that he didn't artificially create conflicts, he simply set the pieces and let us act. If the situation had developed naturally, it would have ended the same way. Knowing that someone manipulated it doesn't change anything," Steve retorted, calmly analyzing the origin of the matter.
"Fine, we can discuss that later. The situation is more urgent than it seems. Both the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. have been attacked by an unknown enemy, which we will codenamed Organization-X.
What they have done so far is impossible for a single individual to carry out, it's almost confirmed to be a well-organized group. It all started months ago, with the public reveal of Wakanda. Rumors spread that it was a terrorist country and that S.H.I.E.L.D. was protecting them. At first, we thought it was just political intrigue to seize Wakanda's resources, but when we tried to take those rumors down from the web, we discovered that the instigators' cyber skills surpassed even those of our best agents.
That was our first contact with Organization-X. But up until then, we considered it just a well-played political game.
Now, let's move on. What do you know about Barton's situation?" asked Fury.
"I investigated it as soon as it happened. The usefulness of those blueprints is basically zero, so the only reason was, as it happened, to cause internal problems among the Avengers. According to Elektra, this was requested directly by Alexandra Reid. And since she's dead, we don't know where she got the idea. We checked her phone and belongings, nothing. Maybe she came up with it on her own, given her strategic talents… or more likely, someone suggested it to her for other purposes. The most logical thing is that it's related to that Organization-X. Wanda confirmed that Elektra told the truth," Steve explained.
"And Rhodes?" asked Fury.
Tony tensed at hearing that name.
"Rhodes worked for Ross from the beginning. We have no proof, but everything indicates he was involved in the experiments with Hulk's blood and the creation of the fake Hulk that appeared. It's obvious someone is manipulating the situation, probably the same Organization-X. But we don't even have evidence linking the fake Hulks to Ross, much less Ross to someone in the shadows," Tony said with frustration.
"And what about The Hand?"
"Even less useful. Elektra claimed it was her idea, and Wanda confirmed she wasn't lying."
"Her idea? Only an idiot would believe that," Fury scoffed.
"I know. That's why I investigated thoroughly, but there are no signs of coercion towards Wanda, she lied of her own accord. Most likely someone gave her the order, and she trusted them."
"And if we're talking about a bastard who enjoys manipulating the pieces and someone Wanda trusts… then it can only be Leonardo," concluded Fury, though he felt they weren't getting anywhere.
"Then the information about the Skrulls leaked. We confirmed it came from physical S.H.I.E.L.D. files, which means there was infiltration. That's the reason this meeting is secret. At first, we thought they also wanted to attack the Skrulls, but in reality, they only used them to further weaken S.H.I.E.L.D. in the eyes of the public.
The strange thing is how, right after that, public perception of the Skrulls improved drastically. Their campaigns were allowed, while ours were blocked by the same hackers who had been harassing us. The method they used was to block all cyber counterattacks from the Skrulls as well as ours, and only allowed the Skrulls' efforts to succeed, the method that 'coincidentally' also portrayed S.H.I.E.L.D. as an organization that had advanced solely by exploiting alien intelligence."
"And I suppose we didn't get anything clear out of that either, huh?" Tony mocked.
"Exactly. Not even the Skrulls themselves managed to identify who interfered with them," Fury admitted.
"Fine, let's go to the last matter."
"Leonardo, right?"
"Of course. They managed to trap someone who sees the future. From that moment on, the threat level of these people rose to a global scale, luckily this also gives us some hope."
"And what are those 'hopes' you're talking about?" asked Steve, intrigued.
Fury placed a file on the table. Tony and Steve looked through it in astonishment.
"Pregnant?" said Tony, surprised.
"That's right. Whoever it is, they chose a key day to catch him. Since the trial, Leonardo hasn't communicated or appeared in public again."
"Do you think he's planning something?" asked Steve.
"Leonardo never intervenes in person unless it's strictly necessary. But this time they messed with his family. The fact that he hasn't shown any signs since then only means two things, either he doesn't plan to attack, or he's already decided the moment to do it. I lean towards the latter," Fury said seriously.
"That's absurd," Steve replied, "it's nothing but waiting for the problem to solve itself."
"Relax, soldier, it's just a hypothesis," Tony joked.
"Alright. I don't want another one of your fights. Settle your issues however you can," Fury cut them off, standing up.
"And do you think I haven't tried? His attitude makes it impossible," Tony replied with annoyance.
"Normally, Stark, the problem tends to come from your attitude," Fury shot back with sarcasm.
'Sir, news' J.A.R.V.I.S. interrupted.
"Show me."
In front of the three of them, an aerial projection appeared. In a snowy forest in Russia, a green giant was leaping furiously. Each impact shook the trees, snow cascaded down, and huge footprints were left marked in the landscape.
Suddenly, a missile was fired at the creature. Hulk caught it with his own hands, crushed it effortlessly, and ignored the explosion. He roared straight at the camera and made a colossal leap toward it.
But before reaching it, his body fell to the ground. The green began to fade, his form slowly returning to human.
Tony smiled.
"Alright, let's see who our impostor is."
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80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)