Triskelion, Washington DC-
-December 16, 2009, 2120h local-
Fury was trying to make sense of the report that Coulson had just handed over. In particular, this report was focused on one of the projects he had placed outside of SHIELD's control, A tandem project for the Avenger's initiative, Project TAHITI, or Terrestrialized Alien Host Integrative Tissue Induction.
Fury thought of this project during the time he met Carol Danvers. He had figured out two crucial details in Mar-Vell's notes in the space laboratory. First of all, Kree were a hardy humanoid species capable of at least thrice the regeneration speed as Homo sapiens. Secondly, Kree had a similar DNA makeup to Homo sapiens. His scientist even discovered that the Kree DNA was the source of the anomalous genetic fragments found in human DNA. This basically confirmed that the enigmatic missing link was an alien. But discovering the origin of humankind was not his goal. It was the regenerative properties of the Kree.
Fury acquired a heavily damaged Kree body from when Carol fought the Accusers. He was able to hide and preserve the body through some of his private contacts. Good thing, too, since he now knew that SHIELD was infected with HYDRA.
"Lewis Seaver, or Patient number 3, survived the transfusion just like everyone else. And just like everyone else, he has exhibited some problematic mental episodes, presumably caused by the genetic memory of the GH35…" Coulson reported. "Subjects 1 through 3 are still going into some kind of trance and drawing some kind of symbols. Overall, the symbols they are drawing are slightly different from each other, with some overlaps."
"Are they able to function properly?" Fury asked. Even if the subjects enter a trance from time to time, it was a small price to pay to keep them alive.
"Only the first few months, after that, they slowly descend into madness. Placing more importance into drawing the symbols than taking care of themselves. Subject 1 needs to be put to sleep time to time just so someone can put some nutrients into his body." Coulson answered with a little sadness in his voice. The sight of his fellow agents slowly losing their sense of self maked him question the viability of the project.
Fury released a grunt when he heard Coulson's answer.
"Any suggestions?"
"I can only think of one solution, sir…" Coulson said before pulling out another file packet from his arms, opening it, and placing it in front of Fury. "That's an experimental procedure created by a doctor/ scientist in California. It would completely wipe the memory of the patient after creating a copy of it. This procedure could also place false memories."
"Hmm. Do it. Start with subject 1. Try to make it seem like he was just on an extended vacation if you can." Fury ordered, to which Coulson replied in affirmative.
Coulson picked up the folders and said his goodbye. But before he could leave, Naruto dropped down from the ceiling.
"Boss sent me to tell you that Stark's Mansion is under attack." The now assumed Naruto clone said calmly.
"What!?" Fury exclaimed while suddenly standing up from his chair. "Coulson, send a counter-assault team to Stark Mansion now!"
"Don't…" The Naruto clone countered. "Wait for the report!"
"What do you mean, wait for the report?" Fury asked with a raised eyebrow.
"There's no need to send a team for now since Boss and Tony are handling it…" Naruto's clone replied. "He wants you to sit and wait for a report of the attack to come in since Boss knows for a fact that you sent a surveillance team to the wedding."
Fury quickly understood the reason behind Naruto's request. He knew that there was a team near Stark Mansion, so, at the very least, he should know about it any second now due to the sensitive nature of this event. If, for some reason, he doesn't receive word of this incident or it takes a long time, then he could get some idea where there are some holdups in the communication ladder.
"Coulson, prepare a capture and containment crew as well as paramedics. Wait for my call before sending them out…" Fury amended his previous order. Coulson nodded before leaving to do what he was ordered. "Give me some details."
"There are 25 men. 24 of them are a standard assault team. Tony should be taking care of them, no problem." Naruto answered.
"How about the last one?"
"Boss is taking care of him, so no need to worry..." The Naruto clone replied. "Though if you want to know, the 25th guy is the Winter Soldier."
"Fuck. So, it really is HYDRA, huh?" Fury commented. "You have any idea about what they want?" He asked, reasonably sure of the answer.
"That's easy. They want Tony's suit…" Naruto confirmed Fury's suspicion. "They're just going about it in a roundabout manner since it looks like the Winter Soldier's target is Pepper."
"A Hostage? That might just work if you weren't there, of course."
"Boss is banging his head on the wall since he didn't see this one coming…" The clone confessed. "Ever since HYDRA has gone underground, Boss has pulled back on a lot of their surveillance. Only making sure to check in on them from time to time. I have got a feeling that there will be a lot more jobs in the future."
"HA! Rookie move!"
"Boss sent a swarm of clones to look into it. It turns out HYDRA's science team sent the crew without notifying the higher-ups. Kind of understandable since communications dropped to a minimum…" Naruto let out. "One of the higher-ups heard about the mission, though, so one of them is in the control room. Tell me, where's Pierce?"
"Damn it. I should've known. He said he had an emergency a few hours ago and left with a reserve STRIKE team." Fury exclaimed while slowly thinking about how to work to his advantage. Maybe get something from Pierce.
"Enough about that. We're just waiting for the Boss to finish his fight with the Soldier. Let's talk about something else. Like maybe Doctor Banner and the ever-stupid General Ross?" The clone said with a grin.
"Don't…" Fury promptly replied. "He just hired a mercenary to capture Banner. Can you believe it!? trying to capture Banner while the guy is hiding in Rio." He ended with a groan.
"Have they found him?"
"Not yet from what I can tell. They think he's somewhere in Mexico, which he was a year ago. It's just a matter of time before they find him."
"You going to send anybody to help the guy?"
"Ross and I had an 'agreement,' SHIELD will not interfere with the military in this matter as long as they give us constant reports and give us access to Banner after they get him. Mostly to make sure they are not dissecting him or some shit."
"And here I thought you guys were the ones who wanted to open him up." Naruto clone joked, but it looked like Fury didn't appreciate it judging by his expression.
"We won't even try to open him up. Even getting some biological samples might be out of the question…" Fury replied. "First of all, that's not how we do it at SHIELD…" Naruto raised an eyebrow at Fury's statement causing him to amend his statement. "We are not supposed to. We normally just tag them and give them a contact. Secondly, Banner might just change during the procedure."
"So, that's the real reason then." Naruto said while nodding his head sagely.
"Either way, Ross and I never said that a third party couldn't interfere with their operation." Naruto flashed a mischievous grin.
"Don't worry, Nicholas…" Fury's nosed flared when he heard Naruto using his first name. "I already have a plan brewing to help the guy in case something happens. I'm even planning on smuggling him back stateside."
"Please don't…" Fury replied, almost pleadingly. "I don't want a hulking green monster inside the country."
"Don't overreact. It's not going to be that bad…" Naruto reassured with a wave of his hand. "Besides, with how smart Banner is, he would have found a way back into the country if he wanted to, and Ross will be the one to get burned if something happens…" He added before he suddenly focused on something. "Call Coulson. They are almost done."
Fury nodded before picking up his desk phone and dialing a number.
"You have green light."
-Stark Mansion, Long Island, New York-
-December 16, 2009, 2200h local-
Naruto jumped a few feet in front of the downed Winter Soldier, who was struggling to get up. He was looking around the area, and he had a feeling that this 'fight' would be a little surreal due to the still organized and intact wedding venue. He mentally created a list of goals that he wanted to accomplish in this encounter. First, he needed to make sure that Barnes 'escaped' this 'fight.' This was to make sure that Steve and Peggy would be the ones to help the guy. Secondly, the camera just had to go so he could keep HYDRA in the dark.
The Winter Soldier slowly stood up, the super-soldier serum working overtime to heal his injuries. As soon as he got up, he checked his abdomen as well as his arms and legs before glaring at the masked man.
"Are you ready?" Naruto asked with a wide grin under his mask.
Sergeant Barnes didn't even try to continue the conversation and just pulled out a knife. The two just stared at each other, waiting for someone to make the first move, but it looked like Naruto's patience ran out first.
The blonde ninja decided to take out the camera strapped by the side of his head. He threw a kunai aimed squarely at the forehead of the mechanical armed soldier. Barnes jumped out of the way, but Naruto was already expecting this and launched a sharp kick aimed towards his head. The soldier got grazed by the side of the head, effectively destroying the camera.
"Oh. Did I break your camera, sunshine? How about I break you next?" Naruto teased with a sadistic grin, but The Winter Soldier remained stoic.
Barnes rushed Naruto with the intent of a quick takedown since it was clear that he couldn't win in a prolonged fight. He aimed a stab towards Naruto's temple, but his opponent blocked it, causing him to drop the knife into his other hand and tried to stab again at the abdomen. Naruto anticipated the maneuver and grabbed a hold of the Soldier's wrist. Seeing that they were virtually at a standstill, The Winter Soldier jumped and did a double dropkick that impacted Naruto's chest. This effectively created space between the two of them.
"That's rude. You don't just drop kick a person…" Naruto groaned out, faking that he's hurt. "It's unfair that you have a pointy thing. I want one too! Wait, I have one." He continued before pulling out a tri-pronged kunai.
The Winter Soldier just stared at Naruto disinterestedly. He shifted his knife to his left hand and pulled out his pistol. Naruto flashed a grin at the Winter Soldier's action because it looked like he would now have some semblance of a fight.
Barnes decided to make the first move this time. He fired a shot towards Naruto, but it was easily dodged, so he rushed him while firing through half of his clip. Naruto also ran at the Winter Soldier, but he was dodging or deflecting the bullets with his kunai. When they were finally within arms reached of each other, they crossed blades.
Sergeant Barnes had the upper hand, though, since he would fire his pistol from time to time. This pushes the tempo of the fight in his favor, but it ended when he ran out of bullets causing him to toss the gun away and shift the knife back to his right hand. He was using his metal arm to deflect Naruto's kunai, but the plate armor covering his arm was slowly getting stripped off.
As for Naruto, he held himself back a lot through out the fight, though a bit less than normal. It was upgrading from fighting an academy student to a genin if he was a Kage or even an Otsutsuki. Not much change but a change nonetheless.
Naruto was slowly getting bored of the fight, so he decided to end the battle and give Barnes a reason to retreat. He waited for Barnes to switch his knife to his metal hand again before making his move.
When the Winter Soldier tossed his knife to his left hand and did a downward strike, Naruto deflected it with his kunai, so it harmlessly passed just in front of his face. Before Barnes could recover, Naruto did a leg sweep, effectively laying the Soldier flat on his back.
Naruto quickly grabbed onto the metal wrist while placing a knee onto Barnes back. With a quick tug and twist, he pulled out the prosthetic arm. It looked like it was pretty painful too since the usually stoic and silent Soldier released a brief scream. He tossed it aside and grabbed a hold of both of Barnes' ankles, and threw him far out of the wedding grounds, effectively giving the guy a reason to escape. He used his Shinigan to look and see what Barnes was going to do.
Naruto saw him make a call through his radio. After a few seconds, the Winter Soldier started marching towards the tree line. He created a clone and popped it, informing all of his clones about what had happened.
"That was too easy..." Naruto mused before walking towards the metal arm and picking it up. He then used his Shinigan again to look in on how Tony was doing. "It looks like he's also done too, huh."
Naruto leisurely walked towards the front lawn while still carrying the arm. When he reached the front yard, he saw Tony dragging the knocked-out assault team towards the fountain. He was sitting the guys around the fountain after making sure that he tossed their weapons away and destroyed their tech.
"Need help?" Naruto asked, causing Tony to look up towards him.
"Nah…" Tony replied through his suit's speakers. "Is everyone okay?"
"Yep…" Naruto answered, emphasizing the p. "You can leave this to me. Check on Pepper and Morgan."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. They must be worried about you. You can find them in the wine cellar…" Naruto said. Tony nodded before walking back inside the house. "You also might want to study this thing." He called out while waving the arm around.
"What the hell is that?"
"An arm."
"I know that it's an arm. What are you doing with a metal arm?"
"The guy that missed Pepper earlier had this on him, so I took it off. Might be something that interests you."
Tony released an audible groan before taking it from Naruto's hand. It was evident that Tony was a little weirded out due to him carrying the arm as far away from himself as possible. Naruto let out a chuckle seeing the awkward situation.
Naruto finished up Tony's job of lining up the soldiers. He made sure that all if them would remain asleep by injecting them all with knockout drugs. He also took out his phone and took a photo of each of the members of the assault team. This could be used later by Fury, just in case, this event gets 'lost' in the mix. Even with how high profile this even was supposed to be, SHIELD/HYDRA might just sweep everything under the rug.
The blonde ninja also took note of the tech that they had used, giving more focus to the communicators. He pocketed one of the intact ones before destroying the rest. A few minutes later, Rhodey, Happy, Tony, and Pepper, who was now wearing some sweats, walked out of the mansion. The other guests must have stayed inside the house.
"Where's the big bad?" Rhodey asked, seeing that there are only 24 guys sat around the fountain.
"Got away. Lost his arm, though, so that's a plus…" Naruto answered with a straight face. "He ran back towards the tree line outback."
Everyone bought the lie, seeing no reason for Naruto to lie.
"What are we going to do with them?" Pepper inquired, giving the unconscious men some scathing look. She was miffed that someone tried to do something on her wedding day. She really didn't want to be one of those girls losing their minds when somebody ruined their wedding, but she could be forgiven after what happened today.
"I called Fury to pick these guys up. There should be a team coming anytime now." Naruto replied.
Almost ten minutes later, a caravan of SUVs and vans drove straight into the mansion. Naruto's grin dropped when he saw who was leading the team, Jasper Sitwell.
"I'm going inside the mansion…" Naruto informed the group, which slightly surprised them. "Whatever happens, don't trust the leader of that group. Call your attorney and your security team. Contact Fury too, just to be sure…" The group tensed when they heard Naruto's statement. Tony and Rhodey flexed their hands to prepare for anything that might happen. "Relax. He won't do anything blatant. I just want you guys to be alert."
Naruto walked inside the mansion when he saw the group nod in understanding.
"Call Jeff and Cane. Tell them to come ASAP. After that, call Fury or Coulson, whoever answers first." Tony ordered JARVIS while still wearing his armor.
"Of course, sir." JARVIS replied.
Sitwell walked towards the group while eying the unconscious men. He was able to legitimately intercept Coulson's order about the fiasco on Stark Mansion. Pierce also gave him the order to retrieve the men and, if not possible, dispose of everyone. He also made a mental note to ask about the blonde masked man that went inside.
"I'm Agent Sitwell. Fury sent me to make sure that everything's okay." Sitwell introduced himself.