Chapter 63: Key Figures 

Nick Fury 

New York City, New York

While Cole and his team were handling the outbreak of the proto-goblins and watching the clash between Peter Parker and The Green Goblin in Times Square on the other side of the City, the world's leading Spymaster held a scowl that deepened by the second.

Colonel Nick Fury grumbled in a way that only he was capable of. He picked through various reports, his groaning growing louder. He had held off this part of his job, hating the paperwork the most, one of the reasons he fought to create a new position in the organization, an Assistant Director job whom he had the sole power to pick. He chose Phil Coulson, not a military man, but an intelligent man who knew the public and had the know-how to navigate around civilians, an ability that core and a hard life carved out of him alongside his eye. 

He reached for the eye, recalling how he had lost and the impact the moment had on his life and the entirety of the earth. He had hoped the loss of his eye and his decision to help them wouldn't come back and bite him in the ass. At the moment, the Skrulls had been model citizens worldwide; their particular plight allowed them to blend in almost anywhere and, at times, be extremely helpful to the world and S.H.I.E.L.D. operations. 

Nick Fury picked up reports about various missions his agents were performing around the globe. Briefly, surprise traced across his face at the deployment of the Howling Commandos. The Spymaster leaned back, hands together as he thought about the team being deployed. He scanned through more documents before he read a glaring report. 

"Goblins." He said dispassionately. Reading the report. He tapped a button on his desk. A TV appeared from the wall, and he turned to the station that was covering the news. Fury grumbled as the news played across the screen, his lone eye twitching. He hit another button requesting updates on the commandos, and another message was sent to Colonel Rhodes. 

"Sergeant Adam Torchia, codenamed Sidewinder, the U.S. Army Delta Force C Squadron F Team unit leader known as the Howling Commandos." For this reason, he had created the commandos to fight against the supernatural world that hadn't gone with time, as some would think. 

He signed the report, his mind whirring with the notion of super soldiers who were genetically engineered to be stronger, faster, and sometimes, depending on the serum, smarter than their base counterparts. 

He recalled the war between Red Skull and Hydra; Captain America had paid the price but had stopped the organization from conquering more territories and possibly the world. 

He placed the file on his approval pile, his mind remembering Steve Rogers. Those in the opposite pile would find themselves under an audit and rearrangement. He hated failure. Especially in himself, and he despises incompetence.

Reaching for another file, he nodded his head sagely. "Tony Stark, it seems I've misjudged you." He had just seen the clip of Stark battling another in a hulking facsimile of Tony's original suit of armor. 

"Maybe you're the suit, not just the man wearing it." His technical and psychological specialists had denied Tony's recruitment. He had fully supported them, but the video feed had shown him to be an admirable hero. 

After reading through the reports and watching the public and secured feeds, he began circling areas for review; he finished the report by signing off at the bottom and adding a security level to the file. Putting the report aside, Nick Fury turned to grab another file stacked atop his desk, opened it, and paused. 

"You again." Fury said, "Red Hood, Identity unknown, suspected mutant, potential Omega variant." Fury's eye rose a bit at the estimation; omegas were forces of nature, but seldom did they appear, and usually mutant kind took care of them, jealously." 

He flipped the paper, continuing his reading on the subject. "potential Avenger." He hesitated. Fury knew the teens alongside Spiderman, who operated in his City. Now, he knew the spider's identity and also that Red Hood went to Midtown High, a school that took in the potential Avenger recruit; it wasn't the only one, but what made this one unique was major corporations that manufactured gear and products for S.H.I.E.L.D. sponsored the school. 

He finished the file and placed it in the file other than rejected; mutants were a case that he couldn't touch, their reception being a hot topic since the attack on the president almost thirty-odd years ago. 

"I need to see Xavier. He should get a handle on his people if he hopes to be the bridge to reconciliation." 

Suddenly, his door was flung open. He growled, about to explode, but stopped once he saw who it was. She hurriedly explained herself, and at the end of it, he, too, was standing up. 

Nick Fury stared at the report, his mouth agape. He looked at Maria, his facial features a mask of confusion, his lone eye dull into the subordinate.

"Captain America, Sir, it's him; he is being thawed out as we speak."." 

Agent Marie Hills was excited. He put the folder onto his desk, forgetting about the Red Hood. He grabbed his trench coat from his chair before throwing it on. Moving quickly, he grabbed the already prepared glass of bourbon. He turned his body so he leaned against the office wall, looking through the full-body window behind his desk; a sleek black helicopter could barely be seen in the distance.

"This changes everything, Maria." He said, draining the glass. "I would offer you a glass, but no drinking on the job." 

Maria chuckled, her back still straight as she stood at attention. 

"Helicopter is waiting on you, Sir." 

Cole Stephens 

He assumed but was glad his estimation of the situation was spot on. This version of Spiderman was lacking a lot. For some reason, Peter Parker hadn't come in contact with the Venom symbiote. The Green Goblin was the apparent winner in this fight, and without Angelica's timely arrival, he would have died. 

He hadn't wanted Spiderman to perish, and with his assistance, the scene had played itself out as he remembered from the movie. Norman and Parker talked. Cole Boas had broadcasted the conversation to him, and he was astonished at Parker. 

'Idiot still,' he thought, shaking his head. Norman's glider had exploded through the wall, and as he expected, Parker dodged. 

"It begins." He said, his voice traveling through the night, his shadow stretching out unnaturally. He turned, staring off into another direction, his eyes squinting as if he could barely make something out. 

"Sir, the commandos have destroyed the nest of the prototype goblins." Cole nodded, understanding what he felt in that direction before turning around. 

Cole tapped his comm badge and relayed his commands. Everyone in the field had acknowledged his words and closed the channel. 

He had notifications, a lot of them. He scanned through them, humming and guffawing at the rewards he was awarded.

System message: Spiderman Rescued... Spiderman relationship- Strained. Sinister Six relationship- Hated. Rewards: $89,5000. Deadshot Wrist Magnums. 

…… 

……….

System message: Proto-Goblins defeated. Proto-Goblins Relationship-Enemies —>Voided. Rewards: +++ Heroic alignment. $180,000. Cloak Of Destiny 

……………

System message: Human-mutate Infected Captured. Howling Commanders relationship- Respected. Spiderman relationship- Strained. N.Y.P.D.N.Y.P.D. relationship- Angered. Rewards: $67,800. Transportation Rings. 

……..

Cole's wait to be informed had been short, but the nature of his acquisitions had ruled something inside of him that he needed to figure out who it originated from. 

His nature was unique amongst the universe's locals or at least the mortals. His personality was fluid, never focused in one way nor restricted to one set of patterns. 

He was unique. But he also discovered something else tonight: greed, not the usual kind. His greed was for progress and his growth. By extension, those he deemed valuable, worthy, and necessary to his cause were also part of that. 

His eyes betrayed the calm, featureless face he wore. Like Anne, his eyes pulsated white as excitement grew inside of him. He closed the final screen and stood taller. He hadn't recalled a time he was awarded many valuable things. 

Deadshot weapons would be greatly appreciated; at least his Personas, especially Todd, were giddy to have them. 

He scanned his memories and garnered an understanding of his newest grand acquisition. A scary piece of tech that he had glimpsed in the shop at almost a billion dollars now his for a simple

mission. 

He and his team could deploy almost anywhere now. Admittedly, he did have his portal ability, but it had his caveats, and he should start progressing with that ability sooner rather than later. He wondered if anyone but the leading technologically advanced organization could keep him out of their bases. 

Transportation rings, also called ring transporters, transport rings, or simply rings, are a form of transport used by a number of species but were initially designed and built by the Ancients before they invented beam transporters.

Transportation rings function similarly to Stargates but only transport matter across planetary distances, either on the planet itself or ships in orbit. When activated, several rings rise from the floor or drop from the ceiling, surrounding the object and converting it to energy.

A glance in the shop had made his brows rise to the top of his head. He didn't even want to read the zeroes behind the beam transporter. 

Alfred had chosen the moment to speak. "Sir, I've been scanning the shop and applying the data with your memories, as I'm a part of this system, as are all of your acquisitions. I'm aware that the tech and items in the shop have the potential to change, alter, and even decrease what you can purchase."

Cole listened to the artificial intelligence words and understood what he was getting around to. 

"I think I understand," he hedged. "I've noticed Angelica and mine advancement of the tech and items earned would sometimes cause prices and parameters to decrease or change. Your assessment only confirms and makes what I was hoping to accomplish even more necessary. Alfred extend any means to the scientists and thinkers, emphasizing on those that perishes soon. We need them."

"As you command, Sir." 

Cole nodded, turning over every detail he could pull together, determining his next best course of action.

Anne

Manhattan, New York 

The horrible sound these creatures made when they died will haunt her. She thought briefly about Jeremy. Did he have a hard time with this, too? She laughed as her hand lashed out; she clamped on the skull of the goblin, and its scream intensified as she used the torture function of the rings.

Gunshots rang out in the warehouse, and the citizens who didn't evacuate and the remaining officers who were stuck behind cordoned off inner regions of Manhatten. She stared at her palms, the suspiciously advanced technology she thought was magic. Still, Angelica had told her it was the highly advanced tech of the rings encapsulating her open palms, the larger and more potent of the runs cascading down her right forearm. 

Anne still was unaware of the infusion of Naaqudah. Jeremy hadn't told her about the injection, banking on monitoring her evolution with the hopes of potentially abusing the rings and system to create Super-Soldiers. 

Mutants were ideal, but he knew if he could create a superior serum equivalent to the one that made the sentry, he could field a force that could stop almost anyone. 

Anne closed her palms, feeling the newfound strength she held. She would train even harder, especially now that Kevin had progressed to a leve, even Jeremy was in the dark about. 

A shout came her from her musing, and she expertly waved her hand—a large dumpster in the alley propelled across the ground under the power of the Kara'Kesh. 

As expected, the proto-goblins clambered over the unexpected obstacle. Anne danced back, practically sliding across the ground as her guns barked into the night, goblins dropping under her administration. 

"Firebug, thank you." An officer said, haunched over, breathing heavily. 

Anne grumbled loudly in displeasure as the horde had stopped emerging. The shouting and screaming had stopped, so that was at least wonderful to her ears, though she preferred the horrid screams of the dying goblins as she peppered them with bullets.

An alert grabbed her attention, and she welcomed in on her head's up display with a thought. She almost couldn't believe that days ago, she was a mere orphan, thief, and arsonist; that latter brought a smile to her face; she enjoyed a good fire; speaking of fire, she had realized that her fetish had made her and Anjelica friendship blossom, she doubt the latter would have leaped to befriend her alone. 

The scientist Bolivar Trask will come to the White House to pitch a new security item for identifying Mutants. 

Anne smiled at the excellent news; Jermey was some form of mystic. He had alerted her to potential names, and lo and behold, she had stumbled across one he was anticipating. 

'What did he call them? Sentinels? Yeah. That was the name. We had to stop them before Nimrod or some, but he did say he was positive he could handle the machine if he had enough time to grow.'

Anne tapped the spear-shaped badge on her suit and began to talk into it. Cole chuckled over the line and told her she did good alerting him, and he had a prize for her. 

'Did he get something new? Anne was observant; she had to be in her line of work, she was a thief, and paying attention usually meant life or death for her profession. She knew he gathered new gear after battles; she wasn't sure if others noticed, but something in her told her not to speak about it. Even her cat-like curiosity wasn't curious to discover what would occur if she went against her gut.