Bab 234: Reactions (III) & On the Way to Egypt...

[SHIELD Headquarters, New York]

Nick Fury just finished watching Leviathan's broadcast for the second time and he confirmed that Leviathan was a shameless manipulator. It wouldn't take a genius to know that Leviathan or Reo was manipulating their own citizens against them. This was going to be a problem… even without the satellites, Fury was able to keep an eye on the mutants teleporting in this so-called safe haven.

After a week of hard work, they were finally able to find out the location of their safe haven or better known as Genosha Island but Leviathan had decided to give it a new name, Elysium. But it was always known as Genosha Island but that wasn't the problem… even after they found out where the mutants have holed up they weren't able to do anything… after all, Leviathan had already crippled their defense systems.

Well, it wasn't Fury's intention to kill them, after all, not everyone there would put up a fight. He wanted to mount an attack and capture the island, it was clear now that mutants were a threat to their planet, and under the command of someone like Leviathan, they could be an unstoppable force. From what Fury had seen, Leviathan could already destroy a whole city without too much effort.

The experts have found something very disturbing from the video of Leviathan destroying those Sentinels. Fury was already involved with Trask Industries so he obviously knew about the Sentinels. The experts told him that Leviathan created a singularity with his power… in other words a black hole… that was not something nice, and Leviathan could possibly destroy the whole planet.

Fury had no idea how he was even going to kill or capture something like that. He has seen Leviathan's power and it scared him… but he knew that no matter how strong the mutants were they will become weak at some time… he would strike at that moment but before he could do anything he needed to do surveillance.

But surveillance was also quite impossible to do on Elysium. First of all, all of their satellites were compromised and there was a chance that as soon as he points the satellite in Elysium's direction, Leviathan was going to find out. So, using satellites was out of the question… so he had only one option. Physical Surveillance.

He had seen the reports that some unknown barrier was surrounding the whole island. He had already prepared a team for experiments but unfortunately, the team wasn't ready and after this broadcast, he wasn't sure anymore if he could send the team or not. The President and the World Security Council have already ordered him to do damage control for now.

(A/N: For those who don't know World Security Council was formed before Nicky Fury started the search for Captain America in Greenland, this was before Project PEGASUS)

"Hah!" Nick Fury released a frustrated sigh and took one more look at his precious pager. He can no longer call her back… with the current situation she would never help Nick and he knew it very well. He was too late to make a decision but the past can't be changed now…

[Kamar-Taj, Nepal]

The Ancient One could be found calmly sitting in her usual place in all her bald glory. The Ancient One had a peaceful look on her face, she was happily sipping her tea with a content look on her face.

It was quite clear that the Ancient One was happy, she was happy because it was finally over. All this chaos was finally over and she was very glad for that. With Reo continuously interfering she was unable to get a look at the stable future… it was always inconsistent even with the Eye of Aggamotto. The future has finally settled down and she was able to view the changes in the world…

The Ancient One found that the future has changed drastically but it was leaning towards the good side. The Ancient One knew that a lot of bad things were also going to happen but she was quite sure that Reo or someone from his group would interfere at that time. Only Luna could confirm her theories…

'I should pay a visit to Luna and invite her for another tea party' the Ancient One mused and pulled out a packet of chips from under the table.

[Unknown Location]

Wolfgang von Strucker wasn't a happy man, at least he wasn't a happy man now. Even though he knew he should have been angry he couldn't bring himself to be angry. Just a day ago he got the report of mission failure… the mission to get rid of Leviathan has failed before it even started.

Strucker had seen the reports of how his men had died and he felt lucky that he wasn't there along with Sublime and his men. Yes, he was angry about the death of his men, the loss of captured mutants, and the loss of Project ETERNITY but he was not a fool.

He knew that Leviathan was responsible for this slaughter but he had no way of attacking Leviathan now. Sometimes you must make peace with your losses and this was a situation like that. Sublime was also gone… this was what scared him even more. Yes, there was a chance that Sublime has gone into hiding but he knew better than that.

Sublime wasn't someone who would accept defeat… he would have returned to Strucker for the future plans but Sublime was completely gone… there were no traces of him left behind in that base. Strucker has seen the fate of his men and there was no way that Leviathan would have allowed Sublime to escape… from whatever Strucker has seen about Leviathan, he would get rid of Sublime first before attacking anyone else.

There was nothing he could do any more with Leviathan's latest broadcast. He simply wasn't strong enough to deal with Leviathan, the plan was ruined because the bait was taken away and there was no way that he would be able to lure Leviathan in the same manner, and from the broadcast, he understood that the mutants were already gone…

He will not lose his life… he was going to accept his defeat to live today so he can fight tomorrow…

[POV Natasha]

I shot up from my bed with a gun in my hands… my breathing was erratic and heavy. My whole body was sweating and I could feel my heart thumping in my chest, for a few seconds my heart kept banging within my chest, it was almost too painful… I looked around with fear in my eyes and found myself in my new room…

"Fuck…" I released a huge sigh and lowered my gun, seeing that I am still on Elysium. Sometimes, I forget about it… it mainly happens when I see those nightmares. I dropped back in the bed and tried to calm down… I looked at the gun in my hands, well, it was just a realistic model I asked Momo to make for me when I saw her ability to create anything from thin air… quite an absurd and mind-boggling ability if you ask me… she also has the ability to transform anything into something else permanently.

Well, Momo asked me if I wanted a real gun or not, that was a really nice gesture to show her trust but I denied it. I didn't need a gun anymore, I was completely free but I found that it was easier to fall asleep with a gun under my pillow even though it was a fake. Old habits, die hard I guess… I saw that it was already morning, one look at the clock and I knew that I needed to get up…

A groan escaped my mouth and I pulled myself out of the bed, I put away the fake gun under my pillow. I stretched my body and walked into the bathroom, after finishing my morning rituals I finally walked into the shower. I turned on the shower and a satisfied moan escaped from my lips when the hot water touched my skin… I placed my palms on the wall and relaxed beneath the shower of hot water.

After a nice and long shower, I finally walked out of my bathroom wrapped in a towel. I pulled out a pair of panties and a sports bra for today… I remembered that when I came here I had nothing on me except my spy suit. I have already thrown it out into the ocean… if I have any choice then I would rather die than go back to that life. Even if I can't leave this island… I have never been happier in my life…

After I was in my panties, I took off the towel and put on my bra. I wrapped the towel around my head and walked in front of the mirror and I dried my hair as best as I could with a towel. Most of the days I didn't like using a hairdryer, I only use it when I was in a hurry. After I was satisfied with my hair, I took out a pair of jeans and a white tank top from my cupboard. Taking a jacket to wear over my tank top I left my room.

When I arrived in the kitchen, I saw that everyone else was already there. I sat down in my usual place and patiently waited for Reo to finish cooking the food. Reo's foods are really sensational… I have no idea how long he had to practice to make food like that. It was completely criminal… women should be better than men in this department but from what I have seen, all the girls around me are completely abysmal in this department…

Well, I am no one to complain, after all, I am also hopeless like them… I remembered Reo's speech last night. I kind of wonder if Reo is actually a bad guy but even if he was I won't have a problem with that… after all, he was also responsible for saving me from my hell of a life. He would have been a good politician… after all, I have never seen a shameless manipulator like him before in my life.

Soon Reo was finished with the food and the girls helped him set up the food… setting up a sandwich was the best I could do. Like any other day… Momo devoured more food than all of us combined. It has become a common scene by now.

After I was done with my food, I patiently waited for Momo to finish her food. It took Momo 5 more minutes to finally finish the food. Momo walked up to me after washing her mouth.

"We will be going on a trip today" Momo spoke in an excited tone. She was more cheerful than other days… I very well knew about her bubbly personality and I also knew that she had sex last night… I knew that because of her mood, I have been a spy for almost all of my life and it was kind of natural for me to notice all those signs.

"Sure, where will we be going?" I asked Momo in an interested tone. Obviously, I wanted to get out of this island… not to run away but just for a break, I have been stuck here for a few weeks.

"Egypt… that's all I know" Momo said and shrugged her shoulders. From the corner of my eyes, I noticed that Reo was coming towards us. So, he was also coming with us… quite fine with me.

"So, are you guys ready?" Reo asked us with his usual smile plastered on his face. I know that smile wasn't fake… even when threatening people he had that smile on his face… that made his threats even scarier.

Both Momo and I nodded our heads, Reo's smiled widened "Then let's go" Reo said and extended his hand towards me. I hesitantly took his hand while Momo happily grabbed his hand. The next instant, I felt the whole world spinning around me… it was a very bad experience, suddenly everything became normal and I dropped to my knees because of nausea… I almost emptied my food on the ground… now that I noticed I was standing on grass… whereas I was on a concrete floor just a few moments ago…

This must be their fabled teleportation ability… I have seen them using it before but never used it. I remember that when Nemuri saved me we traveled through teleportation but that was a lot different than this method. I had to use all of my willpower to keep my food where it was… "That was bad" I groaned and pulled myself up to my feet.

"Don't worry, you will get used to it" Reo said in an assuring tone but I didn't hold much hope, and from what he just said I feel like we are going to travel using that method.

"No thank you" my retort was instantaneous. Oops, that was an automatic reaction, Reo and Momo looked at me for a few seconds before they burst out laughing.

"So, where are we? I don't think this is Egypt" even though I was slightly peeved that they were laughing at me, I didn't mind it much. I was glad that they were not angry with me.

"This is our home in New York. We call it the Knox" Momo said pointing towards my back, I turned around and saw a huge building. Wow… having a home like that must be nice. My house when I was in SHIELD was a dump… after all, that was all I was able to manage with my measly pay. My room on Elysium is much better than my previous home.

After that, Reo and Momo led me inside, it was their garage, I was almost blinded by an outrageously shiny car… who the fuck drives a car like that?? I screamed the question in my mind.

"That's Nemuri's car" Reo deadpanned, he must have noticed where I was looking or he also had a similar kind of reaction when he saw that car. Of course, it was Nemuri's car, why the hell did I even think that someone else could be that bizarre…

We arrived in front of a blue car, it was stylish and it was much better than that shiny piece of junk. All three of us entered the car, I took the back seat. I left the front seats for Reo and Momo. We drove out of the compound and after a long drive, we arrived at JFK International Airport.

So, we were going to take a flight to Egypt, one question suddenly popped into my head. "Can I ask you a question if you don't mind?" I asked Reo who was parking the car in a nice spot.

"Yeah sure" Reo said and all of us exited the car.

"Why are we taking a flight when you can teleport?" I asked Reo in genuine curiosity. Reo locked the car and we started to walk towards the airport.

"Well, I need to know about the place before teleporting and I have never been to Egypt" Reo said with a shrug, well, it kind of makes sense. Momo rummaged through her pockets and handed me a paper with some kind of ancient text inscribed on it.

"Slap it on your shirt like this" Momo said and slapped the paper on her shirt. The text glowed blue for a second and the whole paper vanished. Without even bothering I slapped the paper on my chest, the text glowed for a second, and then the paper disappeared, I saw that Reo did the same.

"It's an anti-surveillance rune" Momo explained to which I nodded even though I didn't understand it completely. Looks like Momo understood the problem and started to describe it "It basically stops anything from recording your video or audio… you won't show up in cameras or things like that".

I nodded my head, this thing was completely genius, whoever made it must be really intelligent. It must have been Momo who has made it. We finally arrived at the entrance and as soon as Reo pointed his hand in their direction they didn't even bother with us… we simply entered the airport. Reo must have done something…

The same thing happened in the line of the boarding pass and the checks. It almost seemed like the guards were happy to let us pass. Nobody around us said anything we simply entered the flight and sat down in the first class.

"What did he do to those guards?" I asked Momo while gesturing towards Reo who was ordering drinks for us.

"He Imperiused them, it basically makes you someone's slave" Momo said in a dismissive tone. Is this what Nemuri used on me when we met for the first time? It must have been… I am pretty sure that at that time I was her slave. I should be angry but I am not… after all, because of that meeting Nemuri became interested in me and pulled me out of my shitty life.

"Did you make the paper with that anti-surveillance thing too?" I asked Momo pointing towards my shirt. Momo looked at me for a few seconds before she started chuckling.

"No… no, it was Nemuri who made that" Momo answered me with a smile on her face. This is blasphemy!! This must be a lie!!

"Oh… you don't need to make faces like that. Nemuri is very intelligent and smart when driven, she has made a lot of stuff, she had even made her own spells… but unfortunately, she is a lot more interested in her porn collection and causing mayhem around the world" Momo finished with a smile on her face. It's kind of hard to believe that… but Momo wouldn't lie about something like this.

Reo finally returned and sat down beside Momo and turned towards me "Natasha, don't be shy, order anything you want, this is going to be a long flight" Reo said with his usual gentle smile on his face but this time his tone was slightly different… it almost felt like he cared for me…