Marvelous Mutations

Outside the grocery store, everything remained eerily quiet.

It seemed that the people who had been chasing Nick Fury hadn't arrived yet.

Inside, Sharon came down from the second floor, laptop in hand. She moved quickly, her face calm but focused.

Fury immediately reached out and took the laptop from her. Despite the pain from his wounds, sharp, burning, and unrelenting, he didn't hesitate for a second. He had to know what secrets were stored inside the USB.

He plugged in the flash drive and began working quickly, his fingers moving with precision. A few taps and clicks later, the files were suddenly wide open.

No encryption. Nothing blocking his access.

Fury's eye widened in disbelief.

'That robot really isn't simple…'

He'd already known its combat capability was terrifying, but this? Cracking these heavily encrypted files with such ease?

Still, his astonishment only lasted a moment. Right now, what mattered most was the content of the files.

As he began reading, Sharon quietly stepped aside. She didn't ask questions. As a former top-tier S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, she understood that some things were better left unseen, especially without the director's clearance.

Meanwhile, Luke sat calmly in his gaming chair, as if nothing important was happening.

He didn't try looking at the screen.

He didn't ask what the files contained.

He didn't even seem remotely curious.

Even Fury found that odd. Most people would be dying to know what had nearly gotten him killed.

But what he didn't realize... was that Luke already knew it all. He had known what was on the USB from the very beginning.

As Fury read through the files, line by line, his expression slowly darkened.

The deeper he went, the uglier his face became, until finally, when he reached the final section, he slumped back into the chair like the air had been knocked out of him.

There was shock in his eyes.

Panic.

And pain.

He whispered to himself, "No wonder they tried to kill me… No wonder Pierce was pushing so hard for Project Insight... It was Hydra. All along, it was their plan from the start."

For the first time in a very long time, Nick Fury felt truly shaken.

It wasn't just the betrayal of S.H.I.E.L.D. being nearly consumed by Hydra from the inside out.

It was the personal betrayal, the deception, he was completely deceived by the man he trusted most, the one he saw as a brother-in-arms, was at the very heart of it all.

Alexander Pierce.

The files didn't lie. Every major decision, every secret order, it all traced back to him.

Fury gritted his teeth. He had been completely and utterly fooled.

But Nick Fury was still the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Even in this state, even after the shock, he wasn't one to stay down for long. After a few deep breaths, he sat up straighter.

He didn't even bother removing the USB.

Instead, he slowly turned his head and looked directly at Luke.

"Did you know?" he asked quietly. "About any of this?"

Luke, still relaxed, gave him a small smile and shook his head.

"I didn't know everything," he said calmly. "I just heard that there might be some Hydra people hiding inside S.H.I.E.L.D."

Then he casually raised his hand and began counting on his fingers. "The leader should be Alexander Pierce, your new World Security Council Secretary. Then there's Rumlow from your STRIKE team, along with most of his squad. Oh, and that bald guy… Sitwell, I think?"

Fury stared at him in disbelief.

Every name Luke listed was in the documents.

He really did know.

Fury's voice dropped. "If you had told me earlier, I wouldn't have ended up in this mess."

"You never asked," Luke replied with a grin. "I figured you already knew."

'That's complete bullshit!' Fury growled inwardly. 'If I had really known, would I be in this situation right now?'

But he didn't say that aloud.

Right now, Luke was the only one he could rely on. Complaining wouldn't help.

Still... Luke's logic made a strange kind of sense.

He hadn't asked.

Thus Luke hadn't offered.

Suddenly, a soft sound came from outside, a whimper.

A dog's whimper.

But in Doggo's voice, there was something… off.

A strange tone. Almost like fear.

Luke's face shifted into an amused smile.

He knew Doggo all too well.

That "fear" wasn't fear at all.

This dog had gotten sneakier and more dramatic ever since gaining intelligence.

He wasn't scared, he was baiting them.

Just then, the motion-activated light outside the grocery store turned on.

From inside, they could clearly see it flicker to life.

Fury stood immediately. Despite his injuries, he moved quickly to the door, gun in hand. He crept toward the entrance, then opened it just a crack to peek outside.

Luke, by contrast, didn't move at all.

He stayed in his chair, eyes calm, back slightly reclined. He had complete trust in Doggo.

Even Sharon didn't react. As if her agent instincts had dulled slightly, it seemed like Luke's confidence had rubbed off on her in a bad way.

That said, it wasn't that Fury didn't trust the dog. His movements were just a natural response, a habit carved into him over decades.

Then…

A barely audible sound cut through the night.

Pfft~!

A gunshot.

A silenced gunshot.

So soft, Fury almost didn't catch it.

He quickly widened the door gap and looked out.

And what he saw made him tense up instantly.

Doggo lay on the ground, a pool of blood slowly spreading around his body.

Motionless.

Limp.

Fury froze. He hadn't fully accepted the idea that this adorable, chubby husky could also be the terrifying three-headed beast he'd seen causing destruction and decimating armies.

But right now, that didn't matter.

He turned to Luke. "Your dog is hurt," he said grimly.

Luke barely reacted. He waved his hand casually. "Just wait. Don't be surprised later."

Fury frowned and looked back outside.

Luke's attitude made no sense. Didn't he care at all?

They didn't even know how many enemies were out there.

Who knew what kind of weapons they had?

This wasn't just some street gang. These were S.H.I.E.L.D infiltrators. Hydra.

They had access to advanced tech. Elite firepower.

What if Doggo really was dead?

And yet... Luke wasn't concerned at all.

Fury clenched his jaw. So cold-blooded…

Just then, there was another sound from outside.

Footsteps.

Many of them.

Quiet, but not quiet enough.

Too many to count.

Fury's eyes widened as he peeked again through the doorway.

A small army had gathered outside.

More than a hundred people. All heavily armed.

Some of them were even holding rocket launchers.

Such an overkill. It's just a grocery store!

But Fury didn't panic. He didn't move. He kept perfectly still, quietly watching, though sweat had started to bead on his palms.

And then, out of the corner of his eye...

He saw Doggo wink at him.

Fury blinked.

No way...

He rubbed his eyes, looked again…

Another wink.

The dog was acting.

He wasn't hurt at all.

He was playing dead.

Fury pulled the door shut slowly, the corner of his mouth twitching.

He couldn't believe it.

Luke's dog was a little demon.

…