Chapter 68: Tense Meeting
Chapter 68: Tense Meeting
(Want to read ahead of what I've posted so far? Go to my patreòn and get early access chapters.
As of this chapter, the patreòn is 10 chapters ahead at chapter 78. I'll be writing 1 or 2 more chapters today. /AlienWarlord
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"You're late!" Fury shouted in annoyance.
"Yeah, but we're here now so relax." Peter says jokingly as he takes a seat across from the angry pirate.
"I'm a busy man, unlike you and Stark. Rearranging my schedule for these meetings is a headache. The least you can do is arrive on time." Fury starts to rant.
"Okay, you're right about Tony-" Peter says as Tony turns to him with a betrayed look on his face.
"Hey!" He shouts.
"-but I've been busy in Japan, setting up everything for the Avengers, performing my heroic duties, and a bunch of other nonsense that I can't disclose just yet. Trust me, I've been busy too, but you don't hear me whining about it." Peter says as Erik steps forward.
"I apologize, my subordinate was causing trouble which slowed us down." Erik says as he extends his hand toward Fury, but the angry man doesn't accept his handshake.
"Take a seat." Fury practically orders as he leaves Magneto hanging.
"Don't mind him." Peter says as he pulls out a chair for Erik. "He's always grumpy."
"..." Fury simply glared at Peter in return as Tony and Magneto took a seat. "Where's Professor Xavier?"
"..." Erik looked at Peter questioningly upon heading this, as he was never informed that Charles would be here.
"Erik and Charles have a rocky past. I thought it would be best to have their meetings separately. At least for now." Peter answers.
"That's smart of you." Erik comments from the side. "Charles doesn't trust me anymore, so it would be best to recruit us individually."
"Exactly, and we can enjoy the drama that unfolds on the first Avengers Council meeting when he finds out that Erik is with us as well." Peter says, causing Magneto to smirk in anticipation.
"I like the way you think, Spider-Man." Erik remarks happily.
Although Erik gets a kick out of messing with Charles and the X-men, deep down he does find it appealing to work side by side with them again. Erik finally felt that they were moving in the right direction.
For far too long, he and his subordinates have raided countless laboratories or detention centers, just for two other similar facility to take their place. Instead of constantly chasing the next bad guy, Erik felt that he was finally getting somewhere with his cause. Even if it was still early.
"Alright, let's get down to business." Fury cuts in before they could go off-topic. "I don't have time to be here all night."
"Sure, I fully agree with Erik joining the Avengers council, so it's up to you two to ask the questions you need." Peter says, getting an appreciative nod from Erik, as he sits back, planning to mainly listen through this meeting.
"Fine, tell me about Shield and your attacks on their facilities." Fury gets straight into what he wanted to know.
"They held meta-humans captive and were experimenting on them, so I did what I always do." Erik says with an uncaring shrug.
Erik didn't know that he was talking to the director of Shield, so he answered without a care in the world.
"What would that be?" Tony asks.
"I killed those that deserved it and took the meta-humans to safety." Erik answers simply.
Fury took a folder from his jacket and slapped it down in front of Magneto.
"Is this a correct depiction of what happened?" Fury asks as Erik opens the file and begins reading.
After a moment of silence, Magneto tosses the file back to Fury with an annoyed look on his face.
"No, that's a complete fabrication." Erik denies it vehemently.
"Do you remember this incident?" Fury asks while holding up the folder.
"Yes, I have feelers out everywhere, looking for any signs of missing children or other suspicious activity. In this case. A contact of mine was in Austin Texas and witnessed some government types abducting a child from his own home. The parents were killed and the boy was taken to that facility." Erik explains in distaste as he points to the folder in Fury's hand. "We raided the compound and found a few other meta-human children as well. They were being held captive and experimented on as usual."
"I see..." Fury mutters as he places the file back inside his jacket. "Is this how all of your encounters with Shield have gone?"
"Yes." Erik answers simply once again.
"..." Fury became quiet as he thought about all of this.
He found it hard to swallow that some high-level member or members of Shield were acting without his knowledge or authorization, but he can only ignore the evidence for so long.
"Is there a reason or purpose behind these questions?" Magneto asks.
"Let me introduce you." Peter says and gestures toward Fury. "Erik, this is Nick Fury, the Director of Shield."
When these words left Peter's mouth, Fury's metal chair morphs, locking him into place as a large kitchen knife comes flying over from inside and rests on his neck.
While this was happening, Tony stood from his seat as rocket-like objects came flying out of his workshop, destroying any obstacles along the way.
The projectiles shoot towards Tony, which surprises Erik, who thought he was being attacked. These objects morph and slow mid-air as they attach to Tony's body. Within seconds, the Ironman suit forms around him, but instead of the usual red and gold, this suit was black and grey.
As Tony raises his hand and charges his palm thruster, which glows in a bright blue light, he aims straight at Magneto's chest.
"Release him and remove the knife or I'll blow a hole in your chest, old man." Tony threatens dangerously.
Acting quickly, Erik tries to use Starks suit against him, as he knew it was made out of metal, but nothing happens. Seeing Magneto furrow his brow in frustration, Tony smirked as his palm thruster pulses threateningly.
"You won't find a single speck of metal in or around my body." Tony gloats as his helmet snaps closed and his voice becomes more metallic. "I even had the shrapnel near my heart removed in preparation for you. My suit is made completely of Polyamideimide as well."
"In normal people language. He's saying that his suit is made of plastic." Peter says as he sees the confused looks on both Fury and Erik's faces. "How do you get it so the thrusters don't melt?"
"Now isn't the time for this!" Fury interrupts angrily as he still feels the blade of a sharp kitchen knife on his neck.
"Right, why don't we all just calm down?" Peter relents and tries to mitigate the situation. "This is a bit of a misunderstanding. Fury here may be the Director of Shield, but he isn't the one behind the facilities you raided. Someone in Shield is doing things behind his back, which is why he was asking you about that situation."
A stressful moment of silence ensued as the air became heavy before Erik let out a sigh. Soon after, the knife fell from Fury's neck and landed on the table.
"I apologize for my outburst." Erik says as he looks toward Tony expectantly.
"Fine..." Tony mutters reluctantly as his palm dims and his arm lowers.
"..." An awkward silence fills the air as Tony's helmet opens and he takes a seat with his suit still on.
As Erik takes a seat as well, Peter could see a vein begin to throb in Fury's forehead.
"Release me..." Fury commands with a dangerous amount of calm in his voice.
"Oh, my apologies again." Magneto releases Fury from his metal restraints, pretending to have forgotten.
"..." Fury rubs his chaffed wrists after he's released and sends one last single-eyed glare in Erik's direction.
"Now that we all got that out of our systems, let's get back on track. Fury is a busy man after all." Peter says jokingly.
"Shut up, you idiot. You caused all of that." Fury snaps in annoyance.
"True, but it's best to rip the bandaid off quickly. Now, do we have any more questions?" Peter says with a shrug.
"Yeah, do you know who is running these experiments on meta-humans?" Fury gets back on track
"In Shield? No, if I knew who it was they would be dead by now. Though one name comes up here and there. Baroness. She seems to be the one to oversee these operations, but it's just a nickname." Erik gives all the information he knows.
"Baroness..." Fury mutters as he thought of possible individuals that fit this name. "I'll look into it. If you find another facility like this, contact me and I can do some investigating before you turn the place upside down."
As he says this, Fury takes a card with a phone number on it from his pocket and hands it over.
"I'll see what I can do..." Erik says as he takes the card and pockets it.
Peter knew that the card had to have some sort of tracker in it, but he decided to throw Fury a bone and not say anything. If Erik is smart he'll figure it out.
"Tony, any questions from you?" Peter asks.
"No, Just a warning." Tony says as he looks toward Magneto. "We're serious about this. I have a lot to make up for so If you compromise that, you won't like the consequences..."
When Tony throws down these threatening words, the thrusters on his palms pulse dangerously once again as his helmet slams shut.
"Are we clear?"
...
"Crystal."
A/N: 1600 words
[DONT FORGET MY STONES! During my years of solitude, contemplating my former rule, I've come to a realization... I was completely wrong... I should have been harder on you disgusting peasant swine! I hereby mobilize the which remains of my army and declare Marshall Law! hehehahaHAHA!]