The Magus In Marvel

A week had passed since their last gathering, and the team found themselves once again at the same donut shop. The atmosphere was lighter than before, though an undercurrent of tension still lingered. Everyone was present—except for Nick Fury.

The door swung open, and Fury walked in with his usual air of authority, a thick file in his hand. Without a word, he placed it on the table. The team exchanged glances, waiting for an explanation.

Tony, now back to his usual self, leaned back in his chair and smirked. "Wow. We're going old school now? Paper files? What's next, carrier pigeons? Maybe we should invest in some messenger ravens. I hear they never fail."

Fury ignored the quip, his expression grim. "I did some digging based on what the kid told us. And the things I found weren't exactly optimistic."

Steve furrowed his brow. "How bad is it?"

Fury exhaled. "As per my estimate, over fifty percent of S.H.I.E.L.D. is compromised. HYDRA has its roots deeper than we thought."

The room fell into stunned silence. Natasha crossed her arms, her jaw tightening. Clint let out a low whistle, shaking his head.

"And you're sure you didn't trip any alarms while digging through all this?" Natasha asked, suspicion lacing her voice.

Fury shot her a look. "I've been in the spy business longer than most of you have been out of diapers. Back in my day, we didn't rely so much on technology. I know how to cover my tracks."

"Oh great," Tony muttered. "We've got a pre-internet boogeyman on our side. If only we had some dial-up modems, we'd be unstoppable."

Natasha rolled her eyes, but Clint chuckled under his breath. Steve, as usual, remained focused. "So what's the plan?"

Tony leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table. "First step is taking out the brains—Arnim Zola. He's their command center. I've already prepared countermeasures for dealing with him. Plus, I've put together plans to extract all the data he's been hoarding. That information is going to be key for our next moves."

Rin, who had been quietly analyzing the situation, finally spoke up. "I drafted contingency plans for scenarios like this. Here's the outline: Step one—neutralize Zola and secure his data. Step two—analyze that data and use it to determine our next move."

Clint raised an eyebrow. "Step two is 'figure out step two'? Sounds very improvisational."

"That's because it is," Rin replied. "We don't know what we'll find in Zola's data. Making premature plans would be reckless."

Tony shrugged. "It's not the worst plan I've heard. Plus, I'd rather work with real intel than go in blind."

Steve nodded. "We'll do it. We take down Zola first. Everything else follows."

One by one, the others voiced their agreement. The battle for S.H.I.E.L.D. had begun.

Tony sighed dramatically. "You know, if we survive this, I'm making a new rule—no more secret evil organizations infiltrating our secret good organizations. It's getting exhausting."

Clint smirked. "Yeah? Good luck enforcing that one."

Steve gave Tony a look. "Maybe try focusing on the task at hand instead of making up new rules?"

Tony put a hand over his heart. "Ouch, Cap. That almost sounded like sarcasm."

Steve shook his head, but there was a faint hint of a smile.

As the team got up, their expressions turned serious, ready to proceed with taking down Zola. But just as they were about to head out, Steve awkwardly raised a hand. "Uh... does anyone actually know where Zola is?"

They all froze, exchanging embarrassed looks. Fury, who was still sitting, sighed and rubbed his temples. "Unbelievable."

Slowly, all eyes turned to Rin.

She exhaled. "I know the place. Follow my directions."

............

"Well, this is awkward," Tony muttered, glancing around as the team stood in front of a secret bunker at Camp Lehigh—the very place where Steve Rogers had once trained. He stuffed his hands into his pockets and smirked. "I mean, of all the places HYDRA could pick for their evil lair, they go with Steve's old stomping grounds? Talk about predictable."

Steve's expression was unreadable, but there was a tightness in his jaw as he stared at the facility. "This place used to stand for something else. Now, it's just another one of HYDRA's hiding spots."

Natasha arched a brow. "So, what's the plan? Knock and ask nicely?"

Tony shrugged. "Well, I was thinking more along the lines of 'blow the door off its hinges and storm in,' but I'm open to suggestions."

Clint patted his quiver. "I vote for Tony's plan."

Fury gave them all a sharp look. "We do this smart. Not loud. Zola's not just a regular target—he's an AI now. If we trip the wrong wire, he could wipe every bit of intelligence before we even get close."

Tony sighed, dramatically gesturing toward himself. "And that, dear friends, is why I'm here. Tech genius, billionaire, snappy dresser. I have a few tricks up my sleeve."

Steve crossed his arms. "Just make sure none of those tricks get us all killed."

Tony scoffed. "Please, Cap. Have a little faith. I've only almost killed us a handful of times."

Clint smirked. "Yeah, that's what concerns us."

Natasha ignored their banter, eyeing the facility. "We need a way in that doesn't alert Zola the moment we step inside."

Rin, who had been silent until now, spoke up. "I can get us in. But once we're inside, we need to move fast. If Zola senses a breach, he'll start erasing everything."

Tony tapped his watch. "No worries, I've got a virus ready to slow him down. We just need to plug it into his system."

Fury nodded. "Then let's move."

Steve took a deep breath and looked at his team. "Everyone ready?"

One by one, they nodded, their expressions turning resolute.

Tony grinned. "Alright then. Let's go crash HYDRA's party." He tapped a few commands on his wrist interface, activating a localized signal jammer. "And just to make sure they don't call for backup, I've set up a nice little field that filters out any distress messages sent from within. No reinforcements, no last-minute SOS—just us and whatever horrors Zola has waiting inside."