NOVEL WEB Chapter 133: Furious Problems (2)
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"Human strength lies in the ability to change yourself."
– Saitama, (One-Punch Man)
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<(Omniscient pov)>
"Director Fury, so kind of you to join us." Alexander Pierce threw a small 'friendly' quip toward Fury as the one-eyed master spy stood in front of the multiple screens occupied by the members of the council responsible for overseeing the entirety of Shield.
"I came the moment I was notified. After all, it is my responsibility to do so as the current director of Shield." Fury replied without showing any reaction on his face.
"I think we should start our meeting now if everybody is done greeting each other. The main purpose of our meeting today is to discuss the recent growth of mutant unrest, especially in America. We have been successful in keeping the peace among humans ever since the Second World War and have single-handedly managed to do so but recent events have begun to threaten all that we have stood for." A middle-aged woman with her face blurred on the screen spoke quite seriously.
"Yes, I have been wondering the same thing director. Why is it that a floating island comes from space itself joining an island and you do not even inform us? Why is it that Shield despite being one of the best premier secret organizations in the world cannot even keep one single country in check? If we were to go by the recent events, one can almost deduce that you are incompetent." An old man with a slight Japanese accent said as the sound of a slight smirk was heard at the end.
"And what would you have me do? I would be glad to take care of this 'mutant unrest' and 'alien island' as you call it if you can provide me with an efficient way to counter it. Mutants or metahumans as they now like to call themselves have united under a single banner for the first time ever and they have a lot of support behind them. From wealthy companies to influential personalities, the media and even half of the current government are supporting their movement and have recognized them as a branch of the human species with the same rights as ordinary humans. Trying to antagonize them openly is the same as trying to antagonize human rights which we all know won't end so well for us." Fury informed them.
"What about the island? It has the largest population of metahumans all over the world right? Maybe we can try to take over the country to take control of the movement?" A new voice questioned from one of the screens.
"As much as I appreciate your recent membership into the council General Ross, I still have to remind you that this is not the army. We cannot just barge in and take whatever we want. You may ignore human rights in the experiments that you conduct secretly in the army but the general people won't. Also, even if we were to let's say try to 'free' the island from its 'dictatorship', we would still have no way actually winning in the resulting battle that ensues without suffering immensely ourselves." Fury said as he frowned at the General who was one of the very few people who did not have his face blurred on the screen.
"So you are saying that our arsenal of nukes is useless against one single island?" The General bit back with a sarcastic smirk.
"Nukes? You are telling me to nuke an island full of people who could make explosions as strong as our strongest nukes or create black holes that can destroy the world faster than you can trim your beard, General? A fight that took place on the island a couple of months back resulted in an explosion that measured seven point five on the Richter scale and was approximately as powerful as twenty-seven kilotons of TNT which was bigger than the atom bomb we dropped at Nagasaki and yet the island suffered NO recorded civilian casualties or deaths for some reason, NO landmass lost.
The only deaths recorded were those of the very famous metahuman terrorist Magneto and some other members of his Brotherhood. In fact, the country not only recovered from this but went on to improve itself and rapidly climb the rankings of the most developed countries in the world. Currently, it is said to be doing better than even Latveria. And you want me to nuke it in the hopes that its citizens would just sit back and quietly take it?" Fury questioned with a straight face like he was genuinely asking General Ross what he thought.
"Well if the country is truly that impregnable for none of our spies to be able to enter it and none of our current weapons or cyber attacks to work on it then, what if we remove the most important part of its foundation? What if we remove its so-called patron god?" A man with a slight Spanish accent spoke up with an expression on his face that seemed to say that he was a genius for figuring out an amazing plan like that.
"Normally that would have been the most intelligent approach..." Fury started at which the man's face brightened up with pride but that was only for a moment since it became dull again as Fury continued.
"But unfortunately we have no idea how strong this god truly is. Atem as he calls himself is stronger than any metahuman we have ever seen. From his powers to his physical abilities, everything is off the charts. Recently he was even seen stopping an omega-level threat that endangered the entire city of New York and even potentially the world without taking any significant damage at all. The only person who can even come close to defeating him would be Blue Marvel but as we all know he is retired and nobody knows where he currently is. So the only chance of stopping him if he ever decides to just conquer the world is the Avengers Initiative." Fury said trying to push the project and get permission for it.
"The Avengers Initiative is a children's dream." Alexander interrupted him.
"Not really. Not when we are so close. Not when it's our only chance at beating threats like ATEM." Fury couldn't stop himself but yelled in annoyance at the stupidity of the council.
"So you are telling me that your little dream band can stop threats like Atem?" Alexander asked with one of his brows raised.
"If it truly comes to that, then yes. They definitely will." Nick answered confidently.
"Fine, then we will be having an official vote next month on whether to approve it or not. But we cannot depend on only that. We have to increase our rate of research on the Teserract weaponry as well as complete Project Skycastle as soon as possible. We also need better and more loyal soldiers. So the supersoldier project should also be reinstated." Alexander Pierce said with a small smile on his lips.
"That sounds plausible. I can accept that." Nick accepted, content with getting what he wanted.
"Do you have anyone in mind for the Avengers Initiative?" The old man with the Japanese accent asked once again.
"Not yet, but I am sure that I will definitely find someone," Nick said not giving a clear answer.
"Is there a chance that you might be considering Atem for the Avengers Initiative?" General Ross asked once again as he frowned at the one-eyed spymaster.
"Does that even matter? He won't join the team even if I invite him to it. He has no reason to. The 'meta god' going by the name Atem according to my observations is a very ambitious person. The type that can do anything to achieve what he wants. The type that doesn't really work for free out of the goodness of his heart." He joked as he told the council of his thoughts on the god of metahumans.
"Director Fury, I cannot help but feel that you almost sound like you are impressed by this Atem." The general's frown got deeper as he continued looking at Fury.
"Maybe. But don't for even one minute think that being impressed by someone is gonna make me weak-willed to destroy that person. I will do whatever is necessary to absolutely destroy any mother fucking son of a bitch that ever threatens to destroy the planet or mankind. It doesn't matter if he is the devil or God Almighty himself." Fury said in a strict tone making it clear among all of the council members his stand on Atem.
"Good. That's the kind of director we need at Shield." Alexander said with a nod of his head.
***
"Oh my god that was so boring." A man in his thirties said as he stretched his arms and legs in front of his computer in his office after the video conference ended.
"So many things happening, so much to do. You truly do work hard, don't you, Mr. Douglas Rockwell?" He said to an unconscious figure lying on the floor with his hands tied behind his back looking exactly like him.
"Well, they are paid very well to do exactly that Vanessa. At least not all of our taxpayers' money is wasted on bigger bombs. Although, they should have invested more in security especially since they call themselves the security council." Psylocke said with a smirk as she played with her sword.
"Yep. Anyways, let's go, I have been sitting on this damn chair the entire morning. I cannot be in this goddamn room even a single second more. So quickly work your little magic on him. We need to report all this to the master after this. He would probably even reward us if he is pleased with our mission." The man sitting on the chair said as his figure rapidly changed to that of a blue-skinned woman.
"Huh? Reward us? You must be dreaming my friend. It is my time to get rewarded. I have the highest points in missions currently. I get the date tonight. Maybe you should try your luck sometime else." Vanessa humphed as she used her psionic energy to infiltrate the unconscious man's mind slowly making him their spy inside the security council from now on.
"We will see Bettsy. We will see. The game is on. Oh, it is SO on." Vanessa said, confident in her points and current ranking in the system to beat Elizabeth and get the date with her beloved master.
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