Bang!
Christopher took a hit and as he turned around, he saw a striking woman holding tightly onto his neck, a look of terror spread across Tupac's face.
"Listen, there's no time for chitchat. I'm SHIELD Agent Natasha. Don't ask what S.H.I.E.L.D. is, but it's not the same group as those trying to kill you. Right now, you have to tell me what you've encountered. Who are your opponents and what exactly do they want?"
"Calm down! Calm down! We'll tell you everything, just don't kill him!" Tupac yelled, desperately grasping the handrails along the shaking walls, shouting with a voice filled with anger, "We don't know who they are, but they're trying to kill us. We could only come here to hide from them."
"I know they're trying to kill you. The Federal Bureau of Investigation—I got your names from questioning an agent. What I want to know is why they want to kill you!"
"Because we wrote a song." Christopher took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down and said, "They'd been following Tupac, went to his house and found he mentioned Mexico in his new song that's about to be released."
"Mexico? What's happening in Mexico?"
"God, don't you watch the news?" Tupac, clearly on the verge of breakdown from prolonged stress, said, "The Mexican communists led a peasant uprising! They've almost completely taken over Guadalajara! That's exactly what I'm talking about!"
Natasha was stunned.
"What did you say?!! Mexico? The Communist Party?? Peasant uprising?!! It succeeded?!!!"
"It hasn't completely succeeded!!" Tupac was shaken vigorously again, fell to the ground, hit his head on the corner of the wall, blood covered his face, and amidst the clamor, he shouted, "The leadership was overthrown in a recent internal conflict!!! I hoped they would come together, so I wrote a song about the Peruvian hero, Tupac!"
"The time is now, to put differences aside and unite like brothers!!" Water started flooding the cabin. Christopher, soaking wet but propped against the wall, roared out the phrase three times.
Natasha stood frozen, looking at Tupac and Christopher as if they were two dead men, then swore in disbelief.
Hearing Russian, Tupac's eyes bulged. He mustered his last bit of strength, got up from the ground, and lunged at Natasha. They both crashed to the floor together.
Natasha tried to break free, but Tupac held onto her tightly and said to her.
"You're a Soviet?! You're here to help, right?! Go downstairs, to the first floor! Go quickly! A woman said she was waiting for me there!!"
The waves surged in and the three were separated. Natasha struggled to surface, seeing Batman aiding Shiller up to the third floor. From the staff lounge map, above the third floor were guest bedrooms for rest.
Natasha breathed a sigh of relief, wiped the water off her face, and her mind was incredibly confused.
She had only been in this universe for a few days, busy every day helping Nick with this investigation and that. Forget about watching the news; she didn't even have a moment to rest. She had no understanding of what exactly was going on in this world.
But what was going on now? It was 1996, and how could someone mistake her for a Soviet?!
And what was the situation in Mexico?!
Natasha held her breath and dived down into the water.
She swam through the staff lounge corridor, climbed out of the water, grabbed the handrail and hoisted herself halfway out of the water, then dashed upstairs as quickly as possible.
She needed to find a usable phone or computer, or even just the most recent newspaper would do. She had seen a magazine rack in the pantry before.
As she walked out from the staff corridor on the third floor, she saw Stark knocking on the glass.
Natasha wiped her wet hands, and Stark flew in through the window, saying, "I knew something was off. This ship isn't powered by physics alone; there might be magic at play here, but the energy signature vanished quickly. Did something happen on board?"
"Batman." That was the only word Natasha managed to get out before she took a breath and asked Stark, "Can your armor connect to the internet?"
"What the hell kind of nonsense are you spouting? My supermolecular energy power armor can't connect to the internet?! Your ideas are as old as you are!"
Stark was smug, having finally found a way to retaliate against Natasha, but in the next second, she lunged at him like a madwoman, grabbing Stark by the throat, shouting, "Get online, tell me what's going on with the Soviet Union and Mexico!!!"
Caught off guard, Stark was knocked against the glass by her, but in the next second, he instinctively raised his armor's altitude, causing Natasha to crash to the floor and scrape against the broken glass. Blood smeared her face, making her appear even more deranged.
Stark was dumbfounded; the Black Widow, whether in bed or on a mission, was always extraordinarily calm, and he doubted that she could even get agitated.
"But what is happening here?" This Natasha looked utterly insane, like a hobgoblin who had crawled out from hell.
"Cool it!" Stark was somewhat panicked too. He landed on the ground, helped Natasha up, and said, "I'll check right now, though that's all ancient history... Huh???"
The first piece of news Stark found on the network of this universe was, "Supreme Soviet Leader Vasilyevich Romanov expressed his important views on the internal issues of the Mexican Communist Party, urging both sides... "
Too shocked to contain himself, Stark read it aloud, and then he and Natasha just stood there, stunned.
"Who is Romanov?" Stark asked, utterly confused.
"I don't know," Natasha answered, just as puzzled.
"Wait, what's your full name again? Natasha Romanoff? And you said you don't know?!"
"Half the people in Russia bear the name Romanoff!" said Natasha as she rushed over to grab Stark's mask, but Stark pushed her away, saying, "What are you doing? My battle armor is a Symbiotic Battle Armor. It's integral, it can't be..."
Ultimately, Stark activated a holographic projection, and both of them started to read the latest political news. The only significant event that had occurred internationally was the incident in Mexico.
The matter was rather simple, and most reports didn't cover much detail. Essentially, it was an issue within the leadership of the Mexican Communist Party, which American media referred to as the anti-government army. They accused their former supreme leader of sacrificing his comrades for conquest and portrayed him in the media as a tyrant who acted despotically and treated lives with utter disregard.
Vasilyevich Romanov, the top leader of the Soviet Union, had commented on the situation about 40 hours earlier. He believed that it was someone's sabotage, the manifestation of America's excessive interference with a Cold War mindset in regional ethnic conflicts. He urged the Mexican people not to be swayed by the conspiracy, to stay steadfast on their path, unswervingly loyal, and stated that, if necessary, the Communist International would provide assistance.
Stark watched, bewildered. He had always been indifferent to political news and was still shocked to realize that the Soviet Union was still around in 1996.
Natasha, however, appeared pensive. Suddenly, she stood up, thinking, and said, "Mexico's leader fled, there are about 200 Federal Bureau of Investigation agents on the ship, and two famous Black rappers voiced their opinions... Someone wants to kill two birds with one stone!"
Natasha climbed up quickly, striding toward the service corridor. Stark followed her and yelled, "Where are you going? I need your help to investigate..."
"I can't help!" Natasha said unexpectedly sternly. "Now is not the time for investigation. We need to stabilize the ship first."
Stark thought she made sense—the ship capsizing would be bad for everyone. Right now, it seemed he might be the only one capable of maneuvering the ship.
However, he was still confused and as he followed Natasha into the service corridor, he asked, "What do you mean by killing two birds with one stone?"
"They often use this tactic; decades without innovation. I can't believe that this universe's FBI is actually somewhat capable. They've played a series of tricks."
"What do you mean?"
"Usually, they would just instigate a rift between two leaders of the organization they're targeting, causing disputes over interests or ideologies, and ultimately forcing one side to defect. At the weakest moment of the defecting side, they assassinate him and frame the other, then arrange for the assassin to enact revenge, taking out the other side under that pretext."
"That way, the whole affair turns into both sides creating a conflict, disregarding the bigger picture, assassinating each other for personal gain. Hence the fall of the organization would be their own fault; they could reap the benefits as a bystander and gain both profit and good image."
"There aren't many who can withstand deliberately plotted incitement. It's the same principle as never testing human nature; thus, their schemes often succeed."
"But this time, they finally innovated a bit. They started by instigating disputes between two factions within two organizations—the leaders of the Mexican Communist Party and two figureheads in the Black rapper community."
"Then they congregated these factions together. If I'm not mistaken, that fleeing Mexican leader is also on the ship, along with some people following him, wanting to aid him. And those two Black rappers also have many fans and followers."
"If this ship were to capsize and everyone died, who do you think the FBI would blame for the accident?"
Stark came to a realization and said, "I know what they would say. People from both sides had a conflict on the ship, a severe altercation that affected the ship's navigation, leading to a maritime disaster with no survivors."
"Exactly. So what do you think both the Black community and Mexicans would think? They would all believe the others were the killers. In this way, the FBI can resolve the conflict without bloodshed, watching the tiger fight the dragon, solving two major problems at once."
"But you said there are over 200 agents on this ship, those agents…"
"They don't care," Natasha said with a cold laugh. "They're all just expendables, after all. Dead men tell no tales."
"But these agents must have a leader..."
"If there was one, they've abandoned him."
The woman wearing a Gunfish mask clumsily climbed up the stairs, escaping the surging waters. She took a deep breath and turned to look at Oliver, who had already reached the second-floor railing.
"You now realize the extent of your foolishness," Oliver said calmly as he watched her. "They never intended for anyone on this ship to survive."
"I thought as much," Amanda said, even more composed than he.
Oliver frowned, but Amanda showed a wild smile and said, "Guess why they sent me here?"
Oliver stared at her without speaking.
"Two months ago, I defied all orders, mobilizing all resources to chase a serial killer from the West Coast to the East Coast. Desperate, he boarded the ship."
"He…"
"He killed all my family."
The ship gradually stabilized, with the waters slowly receding, but just then, there was a scream from the second-floor restroom.
"Ahhhhhhhh!"
Both Oliver and Amanda turned their heads.