-Rio de Janeiro, Brazil-
-February 21, 2010, 0700h local-
"Wow..." T'Challa said in awe. "I don't think I can last more than five minutes in a straight-up fight without a suit."
T'Challa and Naruto are looking at The Hulk breaking through the storefront. Naruto had to admit that seeing the Hulk in person is a lot more intimidating than watching a video. Ten or so feet high with green skin and red-veined eyes. He took on more dangerous people, but the sheer primal force the Hulk is exuding is like facing a bijuu for the first time, although a lot less pressure.
"Don't sell yourself short..." Naruto started. "You'll last ten minutes before getting pounded to a pulp."
T'Challa turned his head and looked at Naruto incredulously.
"You don't know how to talk to people, do you?" T'Challa replied with a raised eyebrow.
"That's funny coming from you, Mr. 'I'm always talking in an enigmatic whisper.'" Naruto countered, effectively shutting T'Challa up. "How's the little princess anyway?"
"You have a weird sense of when to start small talk..." T'Challa commented, but Naruto just shrugged. He released an involuntary sigh. "She's doing great. Ten years old and already finishing up her high school courses. I'm sure she would finish her college courses in three years. Maybe a doctorate in four."
"What's that specialized course you guys have again?"
"Wakandan Parallel Development in Science and Technology and a whole bunch of other things, but that's what I'm thinking she's going to take." T'Challa answered.
"God damn overachievers." Naruto remarked.
"Hey, that's my sister you're talking about..." T'Challa rebuked before getting a bit more subdued. "But she's really an overachiever."
Naruto released a hearty laughed that T'Challa mirrored. The round of laughter only stopped when another roar came from the Hulk.
"Shouldn't you send the backup now?" T'Challa asked.
"Not yet..." Naruto reached for the handheld radio and opened up the line. "Erik! How are you doing, buddy?"
"Running..." Erik briskly replied. "What you want me to do now?"
"I want to know how good of a shot you are..." Naruto said. "There's a billboard to your right. That should give you a great vantage point to snipe the black ops, dude."
"The ammo you gave me is kosher. What do you want me to do with it?"
"Sow some confusion down there. We need to get them to back off for quite some time, and scaring the shit out of them would do just fine."
"They're special forces. They don't get scared easily."
"Not them, the General, or at least the people around him..." Naruto corrected. "Make enough trouble, and he has no choice but to regroup and wait out the storm. Even if he's a General, he still needs the military backing him."
"You're really an asshole, aren't you?" Erik mused out loud. "Fine, fine. I'm going to get on shooting."
"Thank you!" Naruto said before dropping the radio. "I should call my backup."
"Yes, you should. They won't last long. The Hulk would turn his attention to the civilian population not soon after." T'Challa replied.
Naruto nodded before disappearing. T'Challa opened up his Kimoyo Beads that are projecting the battlefield a few kilometers away from them. This was done by a Wakandan satellite hovering over the area. This particular satellite is designed for his personal use and rarely checked by anyone else, so it's perfect for 'looking around.'
The Hulk is plowing through the Blackops platoon. He's tanking the rain of gunfire and ripping through MRAPs and SUVs alike. He's attacking anyone and anything that catches its attention, giving particular interest to the people currently shooting.
Blonsky's experience is working well for him. He was able to go through his magazines and 40 mm grenade ammo without getting the big guy's attention. It looked like he had done this by firing at the same time as the others and hiding behind cover.
"How are they doing?" Naruto suddenly asked.
T'Challa put on his Black Panther helmet before turning around since he could feel that there's someone with Naruto. When he turned around, he saw a relatively tall woman with brown hair, wearing a full black tactical suit. She has two pistols hanging at her hips, along with a few short blades and magazines. However, her get-up's most striking detail is two grey gauntlets shaped like a small kite shield. Based on the lines running through the shield and its unnecessary thickness, it should be able to extend to a usable shield. As he was looking over the shield, he noticed that it was made from a very familiar metal.
"Naruto?" T'Challa called out. Naruto hummed in acknowledgment. "IS that Vibranium?"
"Yup! Found a Vibranium meteorite in Madagascar. Had to purify the shit out of it, though." Naruto replied.
T'Challa had no choice but to nod. Wakanda has essentially claimed every Vibranium found in the country. They had also placed strict and paranoid guidelines for taking as small as an mg of Vibranium out of the country. If a piece of raw Vibranium is found out of the country, they adopt a noncontact policy about it. War Dogs would keep track of the Vibranium but would not interfere unless it could harm Wakanda. This is the same approach used when Howard Stark found a Vibranium meteorite just outside of Wakanda.
"Anyway, this is... Uhmm... I want to say Miss America, but that's sexist... Captain Britain? Nah, sound like a cheap imitation..." Naruto continued with his musing.
His two audiences just ignored him and approached each other, trying to get a read. After a few seconds of stare down, the new arrival decided to break the silence.
"Prince T'Challa, I think it's only fair that I introduce myself since our mutual friend seems to be in his own world..." The woman started. Hearing his name, T'Challa released an involuntary sigh. Of course, Naruto would blurt that secret out. With no point hiding his identity, T'Challa removed his mask to reveal his face. "Depending on how extensive is Wakanda's knowledge on the world as a whole, You might have heard of me..." She started. This caused T'Challa to skim through his memory, and the woman in front of him is triggering something, but he can't just seem to figure it out. "I'm Margaret Elizabeth Carter. Peggy for short."
T'Challa raised an eyebrow when he heard the name. Peggy Carter is a well-known figure, especially to the Wakandan royalties. This is due to her contribution to the Second World War and, more importantly, SHIELD's creation. However, as far as he's aware, Peggy Carter had died more than two years ago. Not to mention the fact that she's almost 90 years old.
"I have to say, I'm happy to see you alive and well, Ms. Carter." T'Challa greeted half-jokingly.
"Yeah. I have Naruto to thank for that..." Peggy replied, giving T'Challa most of the information he needs. "So, can you tell me how's the big guy doing?"
"You should ask about the soldiers. They're getting pummeled. It's a wonder how they managed to last this long..." T'Challa answered. "We also have guys shooting them with incapacitating rounds from time to time."
Peggy took only a second to process the information before turning around and tapping Naruto on his shoulder, causing him to turn around.
"Come on. I don't want the civilians to get caught in the crossfire." Peggy said.
"Ok. Just wait for a second. Wear your helmet in the meantime. We don't want to mess up with your big debut..." Naruto replied before walking towards the radio. "I'm going to drop the backup 50m north of the battlefield, wearing an old school tactical suit. Do you copy?"
"Copy. It would be best if you hurried, though. There are only ten combat-ready men left." Erik advised.
"Ugh. I really thought someone like Blonsky would last longer..." Naruto mused to himself before turning towards Peggy. "Ready?"
"Yes." Peggy answered before Naruto, and she disappeared.
-Rio de Janeiro, Brazil-
-February 21, 2010, 0710h local-
Emil Blonsky would never admit it, but he's having the time of his life. The thrill of the hunt, and now, the fight. Only his training gave him enough pause to give his men orders. But after ten minutes of brutal back and forth, even Blonsky had to frown. It's fun when you have the chance to get out of the situation, but there's no thrill in the hunt if there's a 100% chance you would get pummeled to the ground. Add the fact that someone is shooting some form of tranq darts to the team, and you got a soldier's worst nightmare.
Peggy was dropped somewhere north of the general area. She can clearly hear gunfire and destruction. Without missing a beat, the super-soldier ran towards the highway. She took a moment to assess the situation before heading straight to the Hulk.
A few meters before Peggy reached the Hulk, she jumped high off the ground and delivered a devastating punch straight to the green guy's face. This caused the Hulk to stagger backward.
"Ceasefire! Ceasefire! Ceasefire!" Blonsky ordered. He has no idea if the person is a backup or not, but he wouldn't want to take any chances. "Take the injured and the dead out of here. See if there are any usable cars in the area. Make sure not to get the target's attention." He added.
The team quickly followed his order and opened up civilian cars in the vicinity, and they started loading the downed teammates. While this was happening, Blonsky decided to do some information gathering. He first took out a portable video camera from his pack and set it down on the ground while pointing to the fight. He also started to collect as much of the incapacitating bullets as he can find. Maybe Ross could find something about it, as well as the unexpected appearance of the Killmonger. It's not like Ross could punish Stevens publicly since Rio is a black ops operation.
"Sir, we're ready to go." One of Blonsky's men informed him.
Blonsky took one last look at the fight before picking up the video camera and leaving. He's sure that Ross would turn red when he hears about it in the debriefing before focusing his attention on the apparent super-soldier. The video would certainly give them some clues on the third party's identity.
Peggy has been given quite the workout. More than what she usually experienced in field missions ever since she changed. However, this level is less than what she had experienced when Naruto trained her to get used to her new body.
The female super-soldier is using her speed to keep the Hulk's attention on her. She focuses on giving 'light' strikes on her target's lower legs, especially the knees. This isn't enough to hurt the guy but just enough to annoy and slow him down. When she noticed that the soldiers are out of the general area, she started with the final step to force the Hulk out of Rio.
Peggy jumped a few meters back, placing some distance between them. She pulled out one of her pistols—a seven-round desert eagle with modified .50 caliber rounds. Naruto had given her four types of rounds that might work in driving the Hulk off the city.
The first one is a 'sonic' round. This would release a localized burst of high-frequency sound the moment it impacts. Secondly, a 'stink' bullet is made from a concentrated skunk spray. The third bullet is a simple flash bullet. Finally, a 'spicy' round that releases a cloud of capsaicin crystals on impact. She received three seven-round magazines of each ammo type from Naruto.
Peggy opted to use the 'spicy' bullet first to see how the Hulk would react to a different kind of pain. She fired two rounds towards her target, one to the face and one to the chest.
A white cloud of capsaicin crystals surrounded the Hulk, which immediately sent him into a coughing fit. He kept on scratching his face and throat, trying to get rid of the burning sensation. He can't even concentrate on the cause of the pain.
Seeing the 'spicy' bullet's effectiveness, Peggy pulled out her second pistol and changed its magazine to a 'sonic' round. She fired a 'sonic' round and a 'spicy' round in succession every twenty seconds. She takes a step forward with each shot she takes, hoping to push the Hulk.
The super-soldier is fully expecting the green behemoth to run away any moment now, but she underestimated his tenacity. Having enough of the circumstance, The Hulk blindly rushed towards Peggy's direction. She was able to dodge the charge, but the Hulk had quickly recovered and started sending debris towards her.
The situation worsens as time goes on since the Hulk is mixing charges, throwing debris, and punching, effectively decreasing her window to fire some shots in. With no other choice, she holstered her guns and took out to grenades. One is a smoke/flash grenade, which would disorient the Hulk, while the other is a 'spicy' grenade. Combining the two would hopefully distract the Hulk long enough for her to get out while dissuading the Hulk from engaging the possible targets. She just needs to step in again in case her plan fails.
Peggy crouched to dodge a car thrown by the Hulk before sliding the grenades to his feet. Not five seconds later, the two grenades exploded. It started with a loud bang, and a bright flash of light before smoke and capsaicin crystals started covering a section of the highway. She quickly turned back around and started running to a nearby building that would give her a vantage point of the Hulk.
She could see the Hulk looking around for her after the smoke dissipated. His eyes are red from the capsaicin irritant. To her relief, the Hulk jumped high up into the air, presumably out of the city, after not finding his previous target.
"Wow, didn't expect the 'spicy' bomb to work that well..." Naruto said as he suddenly appeared beside Peggy. "Don't worry. The big guy is already out of the city."
"That's good." Peggy replied while trying to catch her breath.
"I think my theory that Banner is somewhere inside the Hulk has been confirmed..." Peggy flashed Naruto a questioning look, prompting him to continue. "Well, he started jumping to the north. Of all the directions to escape to, why north?"
"Because that's where Dr. Banner was supposed to go." Peggy answered.
"Exactly..." Naruto said with a toothy grin. "Come on. Let's get you back. Steve must be worried right about now."
-Triskelion, Washington DC-
-February 22, 2010, 0900h local-
"... Currently, Banner is in Guatemala. I have a guy with him that would help him back stateside." Naruto recounted the events in Rio, making sure to leave some key details. Like the presence of the Wakandan prince and the not so dead founder of SHIELD.
"And that guy is Erik Stevens, right?" Fury asked while leaning back on his chair.
"Yup."
"And what about the super-soldier?"
"What soldier?"
"This soldier..." Fury answered while pushing a button on his desk. A video projected behind him showing Peggy fighting the Hulk. "Even the get-up looks a lot like the Cap."
"Huh. Forgot about that part..." Naruto stated with a straight face. "Well. I found a super soldier and some Vibranium lying around, so there you go. Before you ask, I'm not going to answer any question about the said super-soldier."
"I need to know if somebody out there is creating an army of super-soldiers." Fury stated with a stare.
"Only the usual attempts. Nobody even came close to a usable method. In fact, testing had dropped in the past year since some of the funds are funneled to the creation of an Exo suit."
Although Fury would never say it, he's released that Naruto's answer is in line with his intelligence report. Every country nation with a competitive military is currently working on recreating Tony Stark's Ironman suit. This is due to the fact that creating a tech suit is more feasible than changing a body's physiology. It would also be more 'cost-effective' and would give more benefits like flight and armor. Even the US has dumped ten billion dollars for its development alongside Hammer Industries.
"So, what's the payment this time?" Fury inquired.
"I got something different this time..." Naruto replied while reaching for something beside him. He pulled out a folder and placed it on the table. Fury took the folder and opened it before showing an involuntary frown. "I want one of your prospective enhanced operatives to disappear and release a scientist from your employ. I think their names are Ava Starr and Dr. Bill Foster."