Marvel: A Tale of Shadows

Ethan grunted from the exertion. He dodged to the side and used the momentum to propel himself behind the Black Fox. Slithering around the man's body, putting the older man in a chokehold.

They collapsed back and he tapped quickly against Ethan's arm. Ethan let go and the man took a few deep breaths and nodded, "with that. I consider your training complete." He looked at Ethan who just raised an eyebrow in surprise, "ha… I am getting too old. I am glad I am retiring."

Ethan frowned, "retiring? What are you going to do next?"

He waved at the warehouse with various exercise equipment. "I am running a gym. It will have everything from the shooting range in the basement, to those acrobatic beams. I am going to send out pamphlets in a few weeks. I was actually hoping you could help set up a site and electronic security."

Ethan nodded, "I can do that. If I am done with training then what am I doing now?"

Black Fox went to answer but looked past Ethan and chuckled before turning around and climbing out of the ring. "Now you are mine." Ethan turned around and saw a woman standing there. Her muscles were visible through her pants suit. The most distinctive feature that he immediately recognized was the same one he talked to before when he used the First Line's network.

"What do I call you?" Ethan asked as he climbed down out of the boxing ring. "I doubt you will give me a real name, but I have no description since you only appear with a rubber mask and wig." He walked towards the woman.

"All members of First Line are given a code name when they join up. What type of codename you are given depends on your job description. Handlers, Operatives, Freelancers, and the Hidden." The woman began. "I am a handler, so my name is Liberty Lion."

"Oh and what am I considered?" Ethan asked in surprise.

"You are a freelancer. While you do work for us, it is unlikely it will be your only job. So the role of Freelancer was decided for you. Which means you will only ever interact with other Freelancers and Handlers. Handlers and Operatives work for life, dedicating all aspects of their life. The Hidden are people like your parents, they go undercover." Liberty Lion explained as she began walking away.

Ethan followed her as they walked to a private conference room. "I assume my parents' status changed from Hidden to Operatives?"

"That is correct. I had them embedded into the Hydra branch that resides within Shield. But they got outed by their handler who went rogue. Fortunately they had already attained the list of Hydra agents within Shield. Which has since grown unfortunately, but I am hoping eventually you will be able to help with that." She turned on a computer and turned it to him.

"Is that my first assignment?" Ethan asked as he sat down in a chair she motioned at.

"No, as a freelancer you take on hired work." She explained, only for a moment letting slip her British accent. "It is how we hide our targeted work. This time we are tracking a terrorist for hire. You can research him for yourself, but Shield has codenamed him, 'The Architect'. He recently blew up a building in Chicago. An underworld boss's entire family was killed, he reached out and hired us."

Ethan looked over the information on the computer. "So I need to figure out who this person is and…" He trailed off glancing at the woman as his fingers raced across the keyboard.

"You will track him down. Making a report of his crimes, including proof digital would be fine. Then you will kill him, leaving a mark. Then most importantly, make certain no one can track it back to you." Liberty Lion sat down across from him.

Ethan took a deep breath and frowned, "I think I am starting to get the idea. I am doing this for every hit?"

"Yes, all assassinations need to be done this way. But as a Freelancer you will not only be doing assassinations. There are thefts, mercenary work, and other work you will do as well." She explained.

Ethan sighed and looked around for a moment, but Liberty Lion tossed a USB drive to him. Ethan caught it and nodded, plugging it in. He quickly downloaded all the provided information. "I assume you want photo proof of completion?"

"Sometimes having it make the news is enough." Liberty Lion answered, "just a public notation will be enough. If they live in a remote area I will have to ask for proof."

"Understood. Is there a way you want me to contact you?"

She handed him a card that had a number on one side and an address on the back. "Contact the number and say the target name and status when you are done. As for the address on the back, keep an eye on the address. When we put the symbol in graffiti on the door it means you have an assignment. The symbol is in invisible ink on the card." She then took the laptop and walked out. "The assignment information can be found in your locker here."

—-----------------

Several weeks earlier.

"Wow, check out that Dad!" His daughter pointed excitedly at the flute that was on display. It was not the only instrument on display.

It was a Blues and Jazz festival. Celebrating both genres and their effects on the industry and American culture as a whole. It was one of the biggest events of the year for them. His family always went out, mostly because the festival was a ceasefire between the rival underworld bosses.

His wife chuckled as she was pulled along by their son, who was excited at seeing the original instrument of his favorite musician. While they were going one direction he followed his daughter who was running off in the other direction. As they separated he glanced at his bodyguards and two of them quickly split off following his wife and son.

He quickly followed his daughter who stopped at a display showing off a shiny silver saxophone. "Dad look it is-" She did not get a chance to finish her sentence as an explosion rocked the area. A plume of fire shot up in the air in the distance.

The man quickly looked towards his guards then he looked at his daughter. "Sweetie-" He did not get a chance to finish his sentence as an explosion engulfed him, throwing him down. He felt pain throughout his entire body.

But before he went unconscious he looked to where his daughter was and saw her bleeding, one of her legs was missing. He reached out weakly and one of his bodyguard's ran up to her and started doing first aid. Then he went unconscious.

Several hours later he woke up in a hospital bed. He blinked awake and looked around. His bodyguards were standing around. He looked at one and the guard immediately looked away. A doctor raced in when he noticed the man was awake.

The doctor and nurses immediately started doing checkups on him. He was still a bit dizzy but as it went away his head snapped forward as the events caught up with him.

"My family, where are they?" He grabbed the doctor's arm with an iron grip and glared. The doctor looked to the bodyguards who looked away, avoiding eye contact.

"I am sorry-" The door slid open in time to save him as an older man walked in. His right hand man. The doctor took the moment to slip out.

"Boss," The man then looked at the guards and tilted his head. Basically telling them to get out.

"What happened?"

"It was a homegrown terrorist attack. There were several explosions throughout the entire festival. It was a lot more flash than bang, but it appears you were close to one of the central points." He explained with visible sadness.

"My family… where are they?" The Underworld Boss asked.

The man flinched and sighed, "Your wife and son were at the central point of another bomb. The initial explosion instantly killed them. Your daughter's life is not in danger, but she is in a medically induced coma. She lost one leg and bled quite a bit, but it appears having a former military combat medic on the payroll saved her life."

The Underworld Boss was shaking in anger. "Find the bomber, find the terrorists, and give the man who saved my daughter's life a hefty bonus. Then go and call for a convention of the bosses, I want their cooperation. This was an attack on Chicago, we will hit back."

—------------------

The man was slobbering while crying. He was a complete mess, honestly the Underworld Boss could not blame him. The torture the man was undergoing was extreme.

"I swear I don't know anything else. The only thing we know is the nickname he goes by, The Architect. He is a terrorist for hire, we got his name from contacts we made." The man was still crying, "now can you please release me."

"You still haven't told us the names of your contacts. We will need all of them, and anyone else in your cell and group you know about." The Underworld Boss shook his head, "you made a mistake by attacking a festival popular with all the underworld gangs."

"Fine, I was contacted by a few different groups. I can't tell you all of them, because they will kill me but-" The terrorist did not get a chance to finish his sentence. The person torturing him suddenly stabbed a thin needle into the terrorist's knee. "Ahhh!"

"Try again!"

"Hydra, The Hand, The Guild, and Hellfire. The Guild is the one that got me in contact with The Architect. There were only five in my cell, you killed the rest of them. The White Power Group has another cell in New York I know about. I can give you all their names." The terrorist cried out.

The Underworld Boss nodded to the torturer, "don't stop until you get names for every contact and the way to contact them."

As he walked out he could hear the terrorist screaming in terror. Once he was outside he climbed inside his SUV. The SUV pulled away and one of his men handed him a file. "Someone reached out. They would not give a name of their group, only gave a number to contact them. Impossible to trace."

"What was their offer?" The Boss asked as he opened the folder.

"They offered to kill The Architect for us, they would provide proof of kill and even evidence identifying them." The subordinate answered. "But who is The Architect?"

"He was the explosive expert hired by the White Power Group. He is responsible for setting up the explosives. How is other business going?"

"Good, the drug trade and smuggling is going-" The SUV stopped and the Boss looked out the window. "I can give my report later sir."

The Underworld Boss smiled brightly and climbed out of the SUV. He walked towards the form of his young daughter who was rolling her chair towards the vehicle.

"Daddy!" She happily called as she came over to him.

"My darling daughter, how are you today? Did you escape the doctors once again?" He asked and she giggled in response. "What are we doing today?"

"Mhmm… the doctors wanted to give me a check up but I wanted to run- I mean I wanted to explore." The Underworld Boss visibly flinched at his daughter recalling the fact she could never run again.

"Okay then let's explore. Remember you get discharged tomorrow." He reminded her.