MARVEL Photon: the Primes (Chapter 2)

Fury: Shamed is the second chapter of MARVEL Photon: the Primes,

Fury: Shamed
'''SHIELD Summit, former Manhattan bay, SHIELD Danger Classification: 4 '''

“In light of the attack on the PEGASUS Facility, SHIELD has now put in place the Vision Protocol.” The announcer’s voice booms through the building. “Starting 1300 today, 27 Vision Androids will be patrolling the surrounding area. All Agents and Scientists are asked to keep away from the androids, and remain working as usual. Agents are also to report for a briefing in the Sub-Room, starting in 33 minutes. Director Fury has also asked me to thank you on his behalf for your cooperation.”

The agents sit in the underground Sub-Room. Nick Fury stands at the front, talking to Clint Barton. “Do whatever it takes. Find him. Take him out.”

Barton nods, “Director Fury, I can have his head on your desk by this time next week. I just need some strategizing, weapons access and time to assassinate.”

Nick nods and waves him away. He turns to face the crowd of Agents and yells, “Okay, as you’re aware, PEGASUS has been attacked. It’s been in every announcement for the past three days. What you don’t know however, is the culprit.” He presses a button on a small remote and an image of Kang appears behind him. “We are unaware of his name, but we are aware of the organisation he works for.” The Agents smile, “The organisation is called Kang. We know of its existence through a recorded message sent to us by an anonymous ally.”

Fury presses another button and the screen behind him shows the video. The Kang bomber stands across the room from the person filming it. “We are to understand that you are an ally of SHIELD. So therefore I have a message for you to pass on. We are Kang, dedicated to the destruction of the world’s most powerful entities. You might be happy to know that SHIELD isn’t high on our list of targets. You’re in fact near the bottom. I personally will be taking care of our targets, as I’m the one who was shadowed. Consider yourselves unlucky. I’m the one who has a history of oppression, specifically caused by your precious Director Fury. But we’re not here for revenge, we’re here to prove that SHIELD, and the United States isn’t all it’s hyped up to be. We’re going to show you that there are powers out there much greater than you.” The video turns static.

“He’s said some negative comments about me, that I let you hear. So you know how serious I am about this. I want them…”

The video returns. The Kang member stands close to the camera, his masked face taking up most of the screen, “Hello Director Fury and his…let’s say little soldiers. You’re now watching a private message from your friendly neighbourhood Kang.” He puts his finger over the slit that acts as the mask’s mouth, “Shhh! You’ll miss the best part.” He picks up the camera and turns it, showing Big Ben in London, England. “Up until now, you’ve seen our nice, little warm ups. Now it’s time to start the list of big threats. Starting with ye olde England.” The camera turns back to the bomber, “Believe it or not, this is live!”

Fury reacts, calling into his communicator, “He’s in London! MI13, if you’re getting this, Kang is in London!”

“Now, the best part about this, is that you can see Fury’s reaction. Is he calling MI13?” Kang laughs, “He’s not. Because he turned his communicator off before the meeting.” The Agents gasp, not able to do anything about the bomber. “You may be wondering how we know this. But that’s my little secret. But I’ll tell the Primes when they come.”

“WHAT!?” Fury yells. He turns to Clint, “How does he know about that!?” Clint shrugs his shoulders.

“Fury has been an icon to the American people for years. So I wonder what will happen, when he finds out MI13 are watching. And SWORD. And the leaders of England, France, Australia, Russia and Germany. His name is now black marked. But my favourite part about all of this, is that every single television screen on the planet, is now about to see Big Ben get blown to smithereens!” He turns the camera to face it again. “And 3…2…1…” Big Ben suddenly explodes, Kang’s signature blue energy pulsing away from it, chunks of stone, metal shrapnel, and glass fly in all directions. “Nicholas Damien Fury, I have now effectively destroyed your reputation. Good luck.” He sniggers, “I said WE weren’t here for revenge, however I am. And Goodbye.” The video turns static and disappears.

Fury sits on the edge of the slightly raised platform, and rests his head in his hands.



'''Asgard Nightclub, Manhattan, SHIELD Danger Classification: 1 '''

Don Blake sits in one of the upstairs rooms, on the red leather couch. “It’s good to be back.” He smiles, sipping at his beer.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Glad to have you back. Sorry about the…um…***hole treatment I gave you.” Hank sits on the sofa opposite, a glass of wine in his hand. “So, how did Alaska treat you?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“It was nice to get away from SHIELD for a while. Three months was just enough to get my head cleared of all the distractions.” He smiles at Hank, happy they were on civil terms once more.

<p class="MsoNormal">Hank leans forward, puts his glass on the table between them and asks nicely, “What happened with the coma?”

<p class="MsoNormal">Don gulps, “I woke up one day, and saw bright lights everywhere I went. Started hearing voices in my head, what I assume to be past memories coming to me, and then I collapsed into a coma. When I woke up a week later, I felt completely fine, like nothing had happened. Well, besides the occasional headache.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Tell him the truth.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Two pills in the morning get rid of that thought, so it’s all good.” He laughs.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Lying won’t get you anywhere.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“So you’re all good? Nothing else at all?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Tell him!”

<p class="MsoNormal">Dr Blake stands up and stretches. Approaching the television, he asks, “What’s been up in the world? I haven’t really stayed in contact with…well, the world.” He grabs the remote and flicks through the channels, stopping at the news.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Nothing much. Nelson Mandela’s in hospital. The Australian Labour Party had a battle of the prime ministers. SHIELD has officially ended all connections to Syria given the civil war, and just this morning Director Fury was given a big black mark across his name.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“I heard about that.” He bites his lip, “Serves him right really. Like that Kang fellow said, Fury obviously didn’t care enough to tell MI13. I feel bad for England to be honest. I understand Fury has some issues with England, but that was the lowest of the low.” Images of the Big Ben massacre flash across the screen. “Why now? Why…” He realises something, and rushes to the table, pulling his laptop out of his bag on the floor. “The travel distance between Afghanistan and Australia, takes over 14 hours. Plus there’d be the travel from the Nuclear Warhead facility, to whatever mode of transport. Given the isolation of the facility in the desert, that’d take at least an hour. Then, there’s about a three hour drive from anywhere along the northern coastline of Australia to the location of the testing site, giving a grand total of 17 plus hours. But the thing is, the bombings were only 15 hours apart.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“How can that be possible? All the footage has shown the exact same man at each of the sites. Same height, width, body proportions, everything. So what…? Does he have an identical twin? Some  sort of new super-fast form of vehicle?” Hank stands and looks at the television. “Wow, this is pretty fun. Maybe next we can work on proving Stark’s fraud.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Don looks up and smiles, “That’d be nice.” He types on his laptop, “There has to be something missing. Something…something not right.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“What if they use voice changers to sound the same. It’s not the same person, but in fact people imitating one person.” He smiles. “This is exciting.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Yes, it is.” He looks at Hank, “We should team up more often.”

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">'''Stark Tower, Manhattan, SHIELD Danger Classification: 2 '''

<p class="MsoNormal">“Mr Stark, you seem to not be understanding. The entire pharmaceutical division has gone bankrupt! It’s one of your company’s biggest sources of income. You are potentially losing millions.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Tony just sits in his chair behind his desk, “If it goes bankrupt, it goes bankrupt. What can I do?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“A small loan from you could…”

<p class="MsoNormal">Tony interrupts Dr Hogan, “I don’t give out loans. Tough luck. Pharmaceuticals were last year anyway.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“But…but…” He becomes angry, “You know what? No! I’ve been with this company for 20 years! I’m not leaving because you let my department go bankrupt! Who do you think you are!? You say Don’s got a God Complex, at least he has morals! He joined SHIELD again at the drop of a hat to help stop a terrorist threat! You? You’re letting one of your biggest divisions crumble apart!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Out.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Sorry, what?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Get out! You’re fired!”

<p class="MsoNormal">Dr Hogan frowns, “Fine! With the state of the company under your leadership, it’s actually a relief!” He storms out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

<p class="MsoNormal">Tony stands and looks out the glass wall behind his desk. He looks across at the SHIELD Summit, watching bolts of lightning shoot up from the ground. He frowns, “Constantly outshining everyone!” He spins around and knocks a stone statue of his armour off of his desk, causing it to smash on the marble floor.

<p class="MsoNormal">

<p class="MsoNormal">'''SHIELD Summit Outdoor Training Centre, SHIELD Danger Classification: 7 '''

<p class="MsoNormal">Don stands inside a white circle painted on the ground. Bruce Banner stands about twenty metres away, “Okay, we’ll try this again. Try and hit the target.” He looks at the massive generator, which has a red circle painted on it.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Can’t you just plug it into the mains? Or I could put the hammer up close!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Mains wouldn’t give it the sudden charge it needs to start up. And a close up shot would overload it. My calculations put you at having to stand within that circle and shoot, or it will be either too much or too little.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Don sighs, “Okay, here we go!” He swings the hammer, and as it comes into the position of pointing at the red circle, he squeezes the handle, a blast of electricity shooting out. However, not fast enough and it misses, instead shooting upwards. “Damn it!”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Stop stressing Don. Stress and anger can cause all sorts of problems.” He smiles, “It might be better inside.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“No, that’ll cause too much damage.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Oh, no no no. This energy generator is going to be placed in a chamber lined with rubber. It’s a defence in case of some sort of overload. If the generator explodes, we don’t want electricity flying everywhere.” He looks at Don’s hammer, “Well, any more.” Bruce yells to a group of soldiers, “Excuse me! Would you mind helping me get this back inside?” The soldiers hurry over and begin pushing it in.

<p class="MsoNormal">“Where’s it going, doc?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“To its’ chamber.” He smiles, and looks up at the SHIELD skyscraper. “It’s pretty amazing, to be honest.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Don looks up as well, impressed with the building, “Yeah. I was surprised Fury wanted a skyscraper to be honest. He always seemed more of the ‘island fortress’ kinda guy. You know, man-made island with a massive base on it.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“That sounds like him.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Don sees Fury march out of the building, “Speaking of the devil. Fury! I have some…” He stops, noticing six black-uniformed soldiers behind, guns pointed at Fury himself. “Fury, what’s happening?” The soldiers stop, one of them stretching their hands out and grabbing Nick’s shoulder to signal him to stop. A SHIELD jet rolls along the concrete area, stopping metres from the soldiers. “Fury! What’s happening?”

<p class="MsoNormal">“That f***ing Kang has caused the SHIELD Executive Council to have me removed from my position as Director.” Fury looks angry, “They’re taking me to a location that’s apparently classified so they can’t tell me. They’ve already found my replacement. See ya, Don. Nice knowing you.” He turns away, not wanting to look at Don, as he’s marched into the back of the jet.

<p class="MsoNormal">“He may have been many things, but at least Fury respected his agents.”

<p class="MsoNormal">Bruce watches the jet as it begins to race along the runway. “As far as bosses go, he was okay, I guess.”

<p class="MsoNormal">“Nicholas Damien Fury has been removed of his position as Director of SHIELD. Any employees unhappy with this decision are asked to either accept this turn of events, or leave.” The announcers’ voice booms through the building and across the concrete runway. The jet lifts off the ground, with almost everyone in the building looking out the window, watching it fly away.