Fury paused the video and dismissed the holographic screen as he was alerted that the agents he had requested were at the door.
He buzzed them in and stood up while Natasha, Clint, Coulson, and Hill came in. "Romanoff, do you have something for me?"
As soon as the door closed behind them, he went straight to business. Yet the people there all knew him well and had expected all that.
"Only barely managed to finish it before you called us back in here, sir." Natasha said as she put down a datapad on the table.
"Well, that wasn't a moment too soon." Fury said, taking the datapad and uploading the data into his own personal network.
"Sir, you said there was a situation." Coulson asked, as he knew there had to be some important reason for Fury to call them all back here so soon after sending them out like that the day before.
Fury didn't say anything but instead clicked on a button, bringing up the holographic screen and starting to play the video from before.
The video was the footage from a security camera. Showing a mass of black cars making a blockade in front of the building the camera was attached to.
Next, a Chinese man wearing black leather-like armor stepped out of a car and was joined by many armed people.
What happened next was the real shocking part. The man held his hand out towards the building and camera. Then everything exploded, and the feed went black before shifting to another angle.
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Wenwu stepped out of the car and started to walk up towards the building; his men stepped up beside and behind him. Their behavior and weapons quickly alert the crowd of civilians around.
Panic set in within moments, and people started screaming and running. He looked up at the doors before him with disdain in his eyes. As he stopped, so did his men, waiting for him to act first.
They didn't have to wait long as he quickly raised an arm and channeled the power of his rings. Sending forth a wave of pure destruction at the building before him, the heavily reinforced security doors and the very walls around them were torn apart as his heart had been after the death of his wife.
This act of his was the signal his men had waited for as they stormed the building. Wenwu himself also charged into the building. His rings glowed with his fury as he easily tore through any resistance.
Storms of bullets stopped before they even had a chance to reach him, thanks to his rings.
Wenwu's entrance into the stronghold echoed like a tempest, his presence alone causing a ripple of fear through the ranks of the defenders. The building, a nondescript fortress hiding in plain sight, now became the stage for a vendetta fueled by loss and Fury.
As Wenwu advanced, his men spread out, engaging in skirmishes with the stronghold's guards. The air was thick with the sound of gunfire, the clang of metal, and the crackle of the rings' power.
"Secure the perimeter! Don't let anyone escape!" Wenwu commanded, his voice cutting through the chaos. His men acknowledged with shouts of affirmation, moving with practiced efficiency. The defenders were well-trained but visibly shaken by the raw power displayed by their assailant.
Moving with unstoppable force, Wenwu did not care for their home ground advantages. Charging right into whatever defense lines they could put up. Hails of bullets and grenades met him, yet with the ten rings, he was invincible.
Wenwu stood firm, his rings pulsating with energy. "You dare stand against me?" he shouted, his voice booming with authority. With a swift motion, he unleashed a wave of energy, knocking the attackers off their feet. The rings allowed him to manipulate the very air, creating barriers and launching projectiles with precise control.
He wasn't here merely to knock his enemies to the ground, so as they lay defenseless, he unleashed giant waves of flames at them from his arms. Causing his enemies to scream loudly as they burned to death.
One particularly bold agent managed to get close, swinging a blade with deadly accuracy. Wenwu caught the blade with his bare hands, shattering it into pieces before reaching out and snapping the fool's neck.
Alone, he would have been more than enough to take out this base, yet he wasn't alone; his loyal men had surrounded the building, and piles of bloody corpses were forming outside the entrances as those who tried to flee were shot down without mercy.
As Wenwu pressed deeper into the heart of the stronghold, the intensity of the conflict escalated. The defenders, realizing the gravity of the threat, activated automated defense systems. Turrets emerged from hidden compartments in the walls, their barrels rotating to target the intruder. Wenwu, unfazed, extended his arms, his rings glowing with a fierce light. With a concentrated burst of energy, he disabled the turrets, turning them into twisted metal sculptures that testified to his power.
The corridors echoed with the sound of combat, a maze of gunfire and death. Wenwu's men engaged in fierce firefights with the nameless agents, the air thick with the smell of gunpowder and the metallic tang of blood. Despite their numbers and preparation, the agents were systematically outmatched and overwhelmed by Wenwu and his forces; their tactics and firepower were no match for the supernatural prowess of the rings.
Wenwu encountered a group of agents fortified behind a makeshift barricade, their weapons trained on the corridor. Without hesitation, he charged forward, a human tempest. As bullets flew towards him, he raised a hand, and a barrier of air deflected them harmlessly aside. Reaching the barricade, he unleashed a powerful shockwave, sending agents flying in all directions, their screams mingling with the sound of breaking bone and tearing metal.
There would be no prisoners today and no mercy, either. Wenwu entered deep into the facility, past the lines of defense mounted to stop him. Now, he faced no trained combat operatives but quivering scientists and bureaucrats.
Standing in the innermost command center of the base, he couldn't help but smile at the carnage he had left in his wake, the smell of blood and death. The very air filled with pure terror. Oh, how he had missed this.
His musings were cut short by a particular foolish woman who shot at him with a small handgun. The bullet came no closer to harming him than the others.
Wenwu's smile didn't falter as the bullet froze mid-air, inches from his face, before dropping harmlessly to the floor. The woman's eyes widened in horror as she realized the futility of her actions. With a flick of his wrist, Wenwu sent a gust of wind that disarmed her, the gun skittering away into the shadows.
"Please," she begged, her voice trembling, "spare us!"
Wenwu's gaze was unyielding, his voice cold as steel. "There is no mercy for those who stand against me." And with that, he unleashed a surge of energy from the rings, a wave of force that swept through the room, leaving silence in its wake.
With the stronghold's defenders vanquished, Wenwu signaled to his men to commence the next phase of their operation. A select group of his forces, skilled in cyber operations, quickly moved to the command center's computers.
They began the meticulous process of extracting data, hacking into the facility's encrypted files with precision and speed. The screens flickered as data poured in, revealing the extent of the operations, the locations of other facilities, and the names of key operatives.
"Sir, we've accessed the mainframe," one of the men announced, his eyes scanning the rapidly updating screens. "We have everything we need."
Wenwu nodded, his thoughts already turning to his next target. "Download everything. Leave nothing behind." As the data transfer concluded, he watched his men plant explosives throughout the building. The charges were set with meticulous care, ensuring that the destruction would be total, erasing all evidence of their presence and the secrets the building held.
With a final glance at the stronghold that had once been a bastion of his enemies, Wenwu and his men exited the facility. They moved with purpose, each step taking them further away from the carnage and closer to their next conquest. As they reached a safe distance, Wenwu turned to watch the building one last time.
"Detonate," he ordered, his voice devoid of emotion.
The explosion was monumental, a fiery blossom that consumed the structure, reducing it to rubble and ash. The shockwave rippled through the air, a testament to the power at Wenwu's command. The flames illuminated the night, casting long shadows as they danced in the destruction's wake.
Wenwu turned away, the firelight reflecting in his eyes. The stronghold's downfall was but the first step in his campaign of vengeance. With the information secured, he now had the means to dismantle his enemies, piece by piece.
The night was silent as he and his men disappeared into the darkness, the echoes of the explosion a grim reminder of the fate that awaited those who crossed Wenwu.
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As the building exploded, the final recordings also came to an end, leaving the room in total silence. "That was our main base of operations in China," Fury said, informing everyone about the conclusion they had already drawn from the logo on the defenders' clothes.
Hill was the first to break the silence that followed Fury's words. "How bad is it?"
"Over two thousand confirmed so far. Many more we have lost contact with." Fury's words causing the grim reality of the situation to set in.
"That's why this is so important." He said, waving the datapad around. "We need to know what he is capable of and how to deal with him."
"Now we at least have some footage of him in action to use to confirm some of the things Ricci himself was unsure about." Natasha said, trying to find any ray of light in this dark situation.
Clint, ever the pragmatist, leaned forward, squinting at the remnants of the video playing in a loop on the screen. "So, we're dealing with someone who can nullify our standard defense measures, walk through gunfire like it's not there, and take out a fortified base single-handedly. Any bright ideas on how we counter that?"
Fury nodded solemnly, the weight of the situation evident in his gaze. "Yes, Coulson, it does. Wenwu's actions are those of a man who's lost everything and blames us for it.
His grief has turned into a vendetta against S.H.I.E.L.D., and he's using every ounce of his considerable power to exact his revenge."
Hill shifted uncomfortably, the implications of Coulson's words sinking in. "If that's true, then we're not just dealing with random attacks. He's targeting us deliberately. We need to figure out why he believes we're responsible and correct that misconception before this escalates further."
Natasha interjected, her tone analytical. "Correcting that misconception, assuming we can even get close enough to communicate with him, won't be easy. He's clearly not in a place to listen, not after what he's done.
Our best bet might be to find out who actually is behind the attack on his wife and bring them to justice publicly."
Clint frowned, pondering the logistics of such an operation. "Even if we identify the real culprits, capturing them and proving their guilt to Wenwu's satisfaction will be a monumental task. And all the while, we'd be under constant threat from his attacks."
Fury stood, his resolve hardening. "It's a monumental task, but it's what we have to do. We need to start gathering intelligence and find out who could've carried out the attack on his wife and why. Meanwhile, we'll increase our defensive measures and do whatever it takes to protect our people."
Coulson nodded, already considering the next steps. "I'll coordinate with our intel teams and start digging into every possible lead. We'll also need to reach out to our allies to see if they've encountered anything similar or have any information that could help."
Hill added, "I'll oversee the evacuation and make sure our defensive protocols are up to date. We can't afford any more losses."
"Barton, I need you to work over Romanoff's intel and see if you can find anything we can use. And Agent Romanoff, I need you now more than ever, yet the chance to get into this Cabal Ricci might have been part of isn't something we can let go of. I need you to buy time; once we get a fix on this situation, then you can go undercover."
Fury continued to hand out orders to those who hadn't taken up tasks of their own. He wished he had better options to deal with this situation, yet right now, his project, avengers, was still in its infancy.
With a final nod of determination, Fury concluded, "Let's get to work. Coulson set up a command center and keep me updated on all developments. Hill, ensure our bases are secure, and our agents are safe. Barton, Romanoff, you know what you have to do. We're all counting on you."
A/N
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