DC HERO AT MARVEL

"Are you sure Nick Fury said that?"

Anton expression turned peculiar.

I ordered someone to kill the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.? Why don't I know about it?

"I'm very sure," Eddie said in a serious tone.

"When Tony Stark contacted me and shared this, I repeatedly confirmed it with him. He insisted he saw and heard it with his own eyes and ears."

"Now, this is interesting..." Anton suddenly laughed. "HYDRA response is far more extreme than I expected."

"Anton, this is serious," Eddie said with a frown.

"If Nick Fury genuinely believes we're trying to kill him, S.H.I.E.L.D. will stand against the Justice League.

Then we won't just be dealing with HYDRA, whose influence inside S.H.I.E.L.D. is an unknown magnitude, but also S.H.I.E.L.D. itself.

The situation is turning against us. We need to clear ourselves of suspicion quickly."

"There no clearing it now," Anton replied.

"Nick Fury isn't that dumb. If he saying something as direct as 'Batman is the mastermind trying to kill me,' then he not Nick Fury anymore."

"But he still said it..." Eddie trailed off, then suddenly gasped as realization struck. "You're saying… Nick Fury has already been replaced by HYDRA?"

"Exactly." Anton nodded. "It very likely… no, it almost certain he been replaced."

"I'll tell Tony right away," Eddie said, preparing to end the call.

"Wait." Anton sounded suspicious. "When did you and Tony Stark become so close?"

"Uh, during the alien invasion led by Lang in New York. I saved him once," Eddie said with a laugh.

"Later, when you were shooting your movie, he invited me to a few parties."

"Parties?"

Anton mulled it over and quickly realized Eddie was referring to the chaotic timeframe after Lang invasion of Earth, during the period when Tony was throwing wild parties, as depicted in Iron Man 2.

He smirked. "Fine, but remember, you're still part of the Justice League. Don't let him rope you into the Avengers."

"Of course not. They're not paying me," Eddie joked before hanging up.

It seemed he was off to tip off Tony Stark.

Sitting at home, Anton contemplated the information Eddie had just shared, along with the military intel. His brows furrowed in thought.

Ding-dong!

Just then, his phone chimed with a new message. It was from John Keller, the Secretary of Defense, who had contacted him earlier.

[Anton, meet me at the New York airport in half an hour.]

"This urgent?"

Anton clicked his tongue in mild annoyance.

Normally, it took about 40 minutes to fly from Washington to New York, but Keller wanted to meet at the airport in half an hour.

Clearly, emergency protocols were in effect.

Keller attitude made it evident that the military was furious—angry with no clear outlet for that anger.

It wasn't that they couldn't identify a culprit; the problem was the lack of evidence.

The military hotheads had been publicly humiliated. Internally, they were convinced that HYDRA was the mastermind behind the deaths of the Cobra prisoners who died immediately upon arriving at the military prison.

The Daily Bugle claimed HYDRA was embedded in S.H.I.E.L.D.

But where was the evidence?

And the Daily Bugle was backed by Batman.

Even though the military had a strong working relationship with Batman and wanted to trust him, they couldn't take his word alone as justification to turn on S.H.I.E.L.D. That kind of conflict was simply not going to happen.

Half an hour later.

Anton picked up Keller from a military aircraft.

Their meeting was cordial.

At this point, Batman and the military were essentially bound together on multiple levels.

The key wasn't just Batman earlier promise to nominally place the Justice League under military jurisdiction but also the Wayne Corporation, backed by the Jamison family, which Anton represented.

The Wayne Corporation had entered the weapons industry, pulling a significant number of military contracts away from Hammer Industries.

The partnership between Batman and the military wasn't just about goodwill; it was tied to mutual interests.

"Where the evidence?"

Keller climbed into Anton car, his face stern.

"Anton, we want to trust you, but you need to provide solid evidence. Without it, we have no reason to intervene.

After all, S.H.I.E.L.D. is backed by the World Security Council. You know as well as I do that the council doesn't just consist of our country representatives other member nations of the U.N. are involved as well."

The implication was clear: taking a shot at S.H.I.E.L.D. required justification, not baseless accusations.

"I understand," Anton replied, pulling the car into a narrow alley.

He got out and opened a manhole cover, gesturing to Keller. "Let go. The person you need to meet is down here."

Keller hesitated for a moment, then seemed to understand.

This was the domain of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Following Anton into the sewer, Keller first encountered the Turtles and their mentor, a large rat.

Dr. Connors and Dr. Banner were not present; Anton had them avoid the meeting.

Bruce Banner was still officially a fugitive in the military eyes. While the military likely suspected that Banner was under Batman protection, they didn't press the issue due to their cooperative relationship with Batman.

At this point, with the Justice League nominally under military jurisdiction, Banner was effectively an unofficial member of the military.

"The person you need to see is around the corner," Anton said, turning to look at Keller.

Keller trusted that Anton wouldn't lead him into harm way and stepped forward without hesitation.

Around the corner, he saw a man with a metal arm.

When Keller got a clear look at the man face, his expression changed dramatically.

As a high-ranking government official and military representative, there was no way he didn't recognize this man.

"This!"

Keller spun around to glare at Anton, his voice filled with shock. "It him!"

"Yes, it him," Anton replied immediately, confirming Keller thoughts.

"I'm one hundred percent certain. This man is Bucky Barnes, Captain America wartime comrade."

"What the hell is going on here?"

Keller took a deep breath, looking between Anton and the Winter Soldier. A powerful sense of curiosity welled up within him.

"I have a theory," Anton began.

"It a long story, but fortunately, we're not short on time right now."

He then started explaining the intricacies of the situation to Keller.

In Washington, at a certain residence.

After receiving the intel from Eddie, Tony frowned instinctively, sensing that the situation was becoming increasingly complex.

Nick Fury had been replaced?

Recalling the severely burned, bullet-riddled, and weakened Fury they had dug out of the rubble, Tony fell into deep thought.

It wasn't outside the realm of possibility.

"Jarvis," he suddenly said,

"pull up the surveillance feed for Nick Fury hospital room."

"Yes, sir," Jarvis complied.

At that moment, Nick Fury had just undergone surgery. Having escaped life-threatening danger, he was now resting in bed.

Tony observed for a while.

Since he didn't know Fury well enough to notice any differences, he remained silent for a moment before deciding to visit the hospital in person.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Tony saw Coulson, Black Widow, and Hawkeye—Fury loyal subordinates—standing anxiously outside the door.

"Tony, why are you here again?" Black Widow asked, looking at him in surprise.

"I couldn't sleep, so I came to check on him," Tony replied casually. He then asked her, "Do you really think Batman is the mastermind?"

"I don't know," Black Widow admitted, shaking her head. "Batman is very mysterious. No one can really figure him out."

"Forget it." Tony changed the subject. "How Fury doing?"

Black Widow replied, "The surgery is over. He woke up briefly, said a few words to us, and then fell back asleep."

Tony pressed further, "Do you think there anything wrong with him?"

"Wrong?" Black Widow looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"Never mind!" Tony waved it off, glancing at Fury through the glass before turning and leaving.

Black Widow and the others watched his retreating figure, baffled.

"Jarvis, take control of the hospital surveillance," Tony commanded as he turned a corner.

Reaching the surgical room where Fury operation had been conducted, Tony rummaged through a trash bin outside and found the clothes Fury had been wearing. They were stained with Fury blood.

He cut off a piece of the fabric and left the hospital.

Later.

After conducting a thorough analysis, Tony compared the DNA from the bloodstained fabric to Nick Fury records in S.H.I.E.L.D. internal database.

There were no discrepancies.

The man in the hospital was, biologically, the Nick Fury he knew.

"If the person in the hospital is Nick Fury, then it means Eddie lied to me…"

Tony closed his eyes, deeply conflicted. Part of him wanted to accept the facts, but another part refused to believe it.

"Batman, could it really be you?"

He vividly recalled the time Batman and Cyborg had stepped in to save him when he faced Iron Monger.

Though Batman had acted more like a spectator at the time...

At that moment.

S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters.

A notification popped up on Pierce phone.

[Someone just accessed the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters database to check Nick Fury DNA information. It appears to be Tony Stark AI.]

Seeing this, Pierce broke into a silent smile.

The message automatically deleted itself moments later, something Pierce was already accustomed to.

"Trying to play against me?"

His eyes turned cold. "Batman, you're still too naive."

From the moment Pierce had decided to use face-swapping technology to replace Nick Fury and have his own man take over as Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., he had prepared for every contingency.

After rescuing Cobra master of disguise, Zartan, from the military, Pierce had immediately substituted Zartan DNA information for Nick Fury in S.H.I.E.L.D. internal database.

He had tasked none other than Dr. Arnim Zola, the digital ghost of HYDRA, with executing the operation, ensuring no trace of tampering was left behind.

Clearly, his plan had worked perfectly.

Now, with Tony Stark obtaining what seemed to be definitive results, suspicion would only further shift toward Batman.

In a few days, Pierce would coordinate with the "Nick Fury" who had been revived and together petition the World Security Council to sanction Batman.

At that point, they would have legitimate grounds to mobilize the Avengers against Batman.

Once the Avengers and the Justice League clashed, Pierce could sit back and reap the rewards.

Regardless of which side suffered losses, the ultimate beneficiary would be him.

As for the HYDRA problem within S.H.I.E.L.D.…

That was even simpler!

Who would ever suspect that both the head and second-in-command of S.H.I.E.L.D. were HYDRA operatives?