章 28: The Traitor, The Baron, and The Twins
Notes: Just a warning here for the future people who will call me out. The events that happen in this novel do not follow the timeline of the MCU or any other movies to the dot.
There are many things happening at the same time and many events that are either too early or too late when compared to the MCU.
There are many reasons why. First, this isn't an MCU fanfic but a Marvel fanfic. Two, there are some things in the MCU that don't make sense...like how other heroes don't help out when shit happens. I know this is cause of budget and some shit in the filming but it just won't make sense in a real Marvel world scenario.
So I had to come up with a lot of reasons which then caused the timeline to change a lot and other events happening at the same time.
There's other reasons too but...Anyway, just enjoy the novel up to as much as you can tolerate :P
Also, Merry Christmas everyone!
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As Natasha, Ophelia, and Felicia started their missions, Benjamin has also begun to move.
He wasn't alone, however, as he decided to call a certain someone to assist him.
David Morrow, or better known by his real name, Grant Ward. The double agent of HYDRA.
He called him a while ago saying he has a lead on a big case and wanted Grant to go with him to watch his back.
Grant, not knowing the details but figuring it's a good chance for him to get close to Benjamin, naturally accepted and they soon met up.
Benjamin rented a van and drove to their meeting place. It was a pretty secluded area and there weren't any people passing by.
Grant rode in front and looked at the back of the van.
Seeing as the van was empty, he asked.
"What's with the creepy van?"
"Hm? Oh, I needed a big enough car to put in all the important people later. I'd bring a bus but this is all I can get on such short notice."
"What's the op?"
Grant asked, wanting to know what operation they were going to do.
"Just a simple smash and grab. I'll do the smashing, you do the grabbing."
Benjamin chuckled, not saying the complete details.
Grant raised a brow at that but didn't ask anymore.
After a while, Grant frowned as he noticed they were actually leaving New York but he still didn't pry as he only needed to do what he was told.
But after some more time, all Grant could see were trees…he can't help it anymore so he asked.
"Uhh sir? Why are we out in the woods?"
"The place we'll be hitting has a very secret hideout here."
"What exactly are we up against?"
"HYDRA."
"!!!"
Grant's eyes widened for a fracture of a second before reverting back.
"...HYDRA? No offense but…this makes this a SHIELD op. I can't let you go."
"SHIELD won't do anything. They have their hands full already."
"What do you-"
"Shh. We're here."
Before Grant could ask, Benjamin motioned him to quiet down as they finally reached their destination.
Grant turned and saw a well-hidden 'shed' a few meters away.
Benjamin got out and looked around.
"Stay here and get the van ready. This won't take long."
"Sir! You can't-"
Grant tried to stop him but Benjamin already went inside the shed.
Inside, Benjamin looked around and scanned the place with his HUD Contacts and found a secret lever on the tools hung on the wall.
The next moment, the whole floor shook and slowly descended.
"Classic secret hideout."
Benjamin clicked his tongue and waited.
There were hidden cameras in the forest earlier and in the shed so HYDRA should already be fully expecting him.
He reckons that the instant the doors opened, there would be an army ready to shoot at him.
Sure enough, the doors opened and Benjamin saw a whole team of HYDRA agents holding what looked like energy rifles at him.
Suddenly, a holographic image appeared in front of them and revealed a bald German man with a monocle.
"Greetings, Kapitän Freed. Although I zo not know how you found zis place, I shall give you two options. Surrender. Or die."
Faced with this threat, Benjamin smiled.
"Baron Wolfgang von Strucker. You have been surrounded by me. Surrender now. There's nowhere for you to run."
Baron sneered.
"I knew Ophelia would fail to rope you in. In zat case, zis shall be your grave. But zon't worry. We will make sure to study your body very well zo you may continue to contribute to herr Skull."
He waved his hand and his hologram disappeared.
The next moment, the HYDRA agents immediately started to fire their weapons!
Benjamin just smiled and in an instant, his entire body was covered in white.
The HYDRA agents continued to shoot at him and created a dust cloud that blocked their vision.
Only after a few more seconds did they stop at the command of their team leader.
"Hold!"
Everyone stopped firing and waited with bated breaths for the dust to settle.
When the dust finally settled, they saw…nothing!
"Where-!?"
The team leader was about to shout when suddenly, a hand appeared in front of him and slammed his face to the ground!
Everyone then saw a pure white silhouette amidst their group and…his head was a skull that caught on fire!
Benjamin looked at them and sneered.
"Boo."
"F-fire!!"
"Shoot him!!!"
Everyone started to panic as they fired at Benjamin.
However, none of their shots managed to pierce through his symbiote armor so Benjamin continued his rampage while being surrounded by them.
The fight didn't take long.
Behind the cameras, Strucker had only turned around when he left then got curious why the feed suddenly grew silent.
When he turned to look at the monitor again, he was shocked to see a white figure with a skull head that was on fire.
Around him were flickers of electricity here and there as he stood above the numerous 'corpses' beneath him.
Suddenly, the skull-headed man turned his head and his fiery voided eyes stared directly into the camera as if he could see him through the monitor.
Strucker unconsciously stepped back in fright.
"W-what is this!? This wasn't in the intel! That fucking Zola! No threat to HYDRA he said!? Fuck!"
Strucker slammed his fist on the desk, startling the nearby agents.
One of the agents asked him fearfully.
"W-what should we do now, herr Strucker?"
Strucker fell silent for a moment then decided.
"Release the twins."
"B-but, they're still not ready…"
"DO IT!!!"
"U-understood!"
The agent quickly ran to a special section of the basement where two rooms were located and surrounded heavily by weapons and guards.
The rooms contain a pair of brothers and sisters who were both selected and experimented on using Loki's scepter that was taken from the Battle of New York.
Initially, the scepter fell into the hands of SHIELD but Strucker was able to get it due to HYDRA being deep undercover in SHIELD for a long time under the guise of 'studying' the scepter.
Be that as it may, they could only hold on to the scepter for a week before they had to return it so as to not arouse any suspicions just yet.
Still, with that one week, they managed to run some tests on the twins who then surprisingly developed…interesting abilities.
Because they haven't had in-depth tests yet, their abilities were only labeled as such:
Wanda Maximoff: Telekinesis, Mind control.
Pietro Maximoff: Superspeed.
The agent took a deep breath and motioned for the surrounding guards to open the doors.
Soon, a man with white hair and a woman with long brown hair walked out. On their necks was a rather thick collar.
Neither of them had any super suits and only wore white shirts and pants since they are still treated as lab rats by HYDRA.
"Herr Strucker's orders. Eliminate the intruder."
Wanda and Pietro looked at each other and could see each other's paleness.
It has been a while since the two met as both of them would usually be experimented on separately.
The rooms they were in were also sturdy and Wanda's walls were made specially to prevent her mind control from reaching out to the agents outside.
Finally able to leave, Wanda's first thought was to control everyone here and escape but…
"Do not do anything strange. If herr Strucker sees you using your abilities on us, the bombs on your necks will explode. If you even try to remove those collars, they also explode."
"..."
Both Wanda and Pietro gritted their teeth.
If it was just her, she might take the risk. But if, because of her action, her sibling gets hurt…
It wasn't only Wanda who thought this way but Pietro too.
As such, the two of them could only nod.
"Good. Now go."
Meanwhile, back at Benjamin.
Having finished clearing around four floors now, Benjamin continued to make his way down further.
At this moment, two figures appeared before him.
Benjamin only guessed based on their looks that these two must be Wanda and Pietro Maximoff.
Using the HUD Contacts only confirmed his guess.
[Wanda Maximoff - Scarlet Witch. Affiliated with HYDRA]
[Pietro Maximoff - Quicksilver. Affiliated with HYDRA]
Sure enough, it's indeed them…but does this mean Ultron will be appearing soon?
Benjamin thought for a moment and shook his head.
Many things in this world have occurred that are similar to the MCU plot in his previous world but there are also many changes and many more things added.
It's still not determined if Ultron will indeed appear soon.
But…I suppose I should drop by and check in on Stark later…
Benjamin made a mental note and focused on the two in front of him.
"Hm?"
After looking at them once more, he noticed the two were wearing rather thick collars…unless that's a new fashion nowadays, it seems that these two aren't here out of their own volition.
But the collars also mean that their brainwashing isn't complete yet. Otherwise, there would be no need for the collars.
Since that's the case…
But before Benjamin could make a move, Pietro suddenly disappeared and reappeared behind him.
Benjamin had yet to react but his symbiote had already reacted for him, instantly creating spikes on his back and stab at the rushing Pietro.
Pietro's eyes widened and quickly tried to evade but his momentum was already fast. In the end, he only managed to avoid being impaled in his vital organs but still ended up getting pierced on his shoulder.
"Pietro!"
Wanda shouted in panic when she saw this.
Angered, her eyes glowed red and her hands also similarly glowed red.
The metal plates on the floor and ceiling suddenly bent and rushed toward Benjamin.
Benjamin released more spikes and impaled these metal plates to stop them.
Suddenly, his hand moved and chopped at Pietro's neck with a subtle force. Just enough to knock him out temporarily.
"Stop!"
Wanda panicked again and tried to hurl things at Benjamin but Benjamin casually deflected them with the symbiote.
Meanwhile, he took out a Small Recovery Pill and fed it to Pietro who gulped it down after his mouth and nose were blocked.
Benjamin sighed when he saw this.
To think that he could feed a pill to an unconscious person like this instead of mouth-to-mouth…that damn System really played me back then!
[Host, stop complaining. Host got to kiss Black Widow. What more do the host want!?]
Benjamin ignored the system and checked on Pietro's wound.
After confirming he was recovering, he placed him down and turned to look at Wanda who was still frantically throwing things at him.
These two were basically newbies at the moment and they don't know how to use their powers yet.
Most likely, they only developed their abilities recently.
Seeing as throwing stuff didn't work, Wanda tried to control Benjamin's mind but…
"Ahhhhh!!!"
She was met with a strong backlash instead!
Protecting against mental attacks wasn't something Benjamin had on his list of abilities. However, the System naturally wouldn't let any 'virus' infiltrate him. It's not that the System itself cares about its Host. Rather, it is a means of self-defense to protect itself.
Thanks to that, Benjamin got a free Mental Immunity without needing to buy it in the store!
The backlash Wanda felt was too strong and caused her to instantly faint.
Benjamin saw the two of them unconscious and couldn't help but scratch his cheek.
Umm…that was a bit too easy…wasn't it?
Benjamin sighed.
Well, it can't be helped. They're still new to their powers. Anyways…I should do something about those collars.
He thought for a moment then decided to just directly crush it and throw it away.
With both hands each holding a collar, he took a deep breath and activated the Spin Ring to slow down time around him in case these collars are rigged to explode upon removal.
Just like that…
*BOOM!!!*
Two explosions rang out on both sides.
As for Benjamin, Wanda, and Pietro, they were all protected by the symbiote surrounding them.
"Well, good to know that it worked."
Benjamin wiped an imaginary sweat on his forehead.
Honestly, he was 50/50 on whether that would work or not.
It was a good thing that both Wanda and Pietro were unconscious and didn't hear it. Otherwise, it's unknown how they would react…
Benjamin then had two symbiote arms carry the two while he continued to walk deeper into the HYDRA base.
Strucker, watching all this, gritted his teeth and once again smashed on the desk.
He continued to issue orders upon order but it was all useless.
Even the other mutants they had captured were defeated easily by Benjamin and freed. Now they had joined him to trash the place.
Wanda and Pietro also woke up from the disturbance and upon knowing they were freed by him, they also joined in on the fight to destroy these people who had experimented on them.
Naturally, Benjamin prevented all of them from killing.
It wasn't that he was very uptight with the no-killing policy but he just believes that death is too easy of a punishment for these people.
The mutants were reluctant but still agreed on behalf of him saving them.
It didn't take long at all before they managed to capture all the HYDRA agents and Strucker himself.
Once everything was done, Benjamin asked the mutants what they plan on doing next.
"I can send you guys to wherever you want but you best behave and don't do anything illegal. Otherwise, I'll be coming for you next."
The mutants looked at each other and sighed.
Most of them wanted to be sent home where they can, hopefully, live a normal life.
Some of them asked to go to the school they'd heard about that's sheltering mutants.
There's also some who wanted to join the EPD when they heard that Benjamin was leading the team.
Both Wanda and Pietro also asked to join.
As such, Benjamin opened up various portals for them.
For those who wanted to return home, he sent them near their homes.
For those who wanted to join the EPD, he sent them to New York and asked them to report the next day.
For now, he arranged them to sleep in a nearby hotel. Naturally, he paid for it. Only for a night each though. He also grouped them up so he only needed a few rooms.
As for those who wanted to go to Charles Xavier's School of Gifted…since it would be troublesome to just open a portal and drop them off, he figured he should go along with them and explain to Professor X.
Before leaving, he made sure to send the captured Baron Strucker as well as several important people to Grant Ward who was still waiting for him above.
As for the rest of the HYDRA agents, he temporarily bound them in the base for now and placed a magic formation around them to prevent them from escaping. He couldn't portal them all directly to prison as he didn't know where he'd put such a large group.
He would ask SHIELD for a place but SHIELD is a mess right now so might as well let them stay here for now.
Back outside, when Grant saw Strucker and the rest, he was speechless.
Benjamin ignored his reaction and pushed the captives to him.
"Send these back and lock them up."
"...Understood."
Benjamin looked at Grant with a gaze full of meaning before turning away.
He naturally could've portal-ed Strucker and the rest directly in prison but they still need to serve a purpose.
That purpose being…a test for the one known as Grant Ward.
He wanted to know if this guy will turn on him at this moment…or continue his undercover as a SHIELD agent.
Naturally, if he does turn on him, he will be able to instantly find him as he left a small tracker on Strucker, Grant, and the van.
Even if they somehow removed the tracker, he just needed to wait till one of them mentions his name and he can find them immediately.
Benjamin was sure they would mention him if they do escape at least once to curse at him. He wasn't worried about not being mentioned at all.
As for why he needed to test Grant?
Well, it was mostly his own curiosity really. And he felt like playing around a bit.
Thinking that, he texted Ophelia and Jessica who knew about Grant, and explained what he did. Then he asked them if they wanted to bet on him to see if Grant will defect or not.
Both Ophelia and Jessica betted that he will surely defect so Benjamin betted he won't. The loser will then have to listen to what the winner says for a whole day.
Benjamin chuckled in his mind.
He wasn't worried about losing. Anyway, he feels like if they win, they would suggest some weird sex play and if he wins, he would also suggest a weird sex play so either way…it's still a win for him!
Once that's been settled, he went back to the group of mutants who wanted to go to Xavier's school.
Benjamin was somewhat looking forward to meeting the infamous X-men in this world.
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