Chương 13: Coulson sent running scared. -12
Alex was very satisfied after his talk with Bruce Banner aka the Hulk. He had carefully planned the meeting and gone through many possible scenarios to prepare himself. Thankfully, His hard work paid off, and Bruce agreed to go out and study SCP-1555, which had been prepared for him.
Alex knew well enough that this was just the start, but he was sure that by the time the Hulk should have been demolishing Harlem, he would instead be working for the Foundation; he had even celebrated getting his hands on his first Avenger with a bottle of champagne.
Still, after that night, Alex had been taking a small break. And by small break, he had been working hard every day, just not scheming quite as much.
"System, how are my points looking?"
[Ding! Host has 4143 points! Continue to work hard and bring glory to the Foundation!]
"System, please summon a random SCP." Alex finally said after trying to find a god to pray to before giving up since he was afraid he might end up summoning that god.
[Ding! Understood, Host, please stand by as the random SCP is summoned!]
[Ding! Warning! Host a SCP has appeared in the world and is outside Foundation control! Host is asked to deal with the situation and follow the Foundation's goal of Securing, containing, and Protecting!]
[Ding! Warning! SCP-2399 has appeared!]
"Okay this is fucking bad. This is one of those XK-class Keter entities. That can't be stopped and can't be contained. This world is so fucked, isn't it? I can only hope that something can be done with some of the more powerful techs in this universe."
Alex collapsed back in his chair as yet another massive threat to the world spawned in, and he could do nothing to stop it, nor could he get a reward.
[Ding! Congratulations to Host for getting SITE-027, a class 4 Foundation facility in Norway! 50 class B combat personnel, 500 class C combat personnel, 450 research personnel, 1000 administrative personnel, and 150 maintenance personnel. SITE is also equipped with Foundation space monitor equipment and units!]
[Ding! Congratulations to Host for getting 112 Foundation satellites! And a backdoor into all other satellites currently in orbit around Earth!]
[Ding! Congratulations to Host for getting SITE-057, a class 3 Foundation facility in Mexico! 500 class C combat personnel, 50 research personnel, 100 administrative personnel, and 30 maintenance personnel!]
Looking up at the system panel floating in front of his face, he was at least satisfied with the rewards. The two SITEs he got his hands on were both useful since being able to monitor space was a huge boon, and SITE-057 even had a launchpad for satellites and other rockets.
'Still, the reward for getting this thing contained would probably be huge! Such a waste of 1000 points! A deadly threat and little to make up for the danger.'
Alex overcame the temptation to summon another SCP, ignored SCP-2399, and got back to his work for the day. While he did so, some of his other actions got attention around the world, one being the sudden disappearance of the Hulk, which sent waves in the heart of a one-eyed pirate.
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[Triskelion]
*Bang!* Nicholas Fury slammed his hand down onto the table and looked up at Coulson with fury in his eye.
Before him stood the poor, nervous, and sweating Coulson, who had come to deliver a report he didn't want to hear. "Care to repeat that Coulson?"
"Yes sir… well it would seem we lost sight of Banner again, the three agents we had watching him… well sir, they have disappeared sir."
"How! How did we lose him!? How did we lose our agents!? Damnit, Coulson, I want answers!" Fury thundered at his nervous subordinate.
"We don't know, sir, they just disappeared one day. Same as with their target, no signs of it being done by him either." Coulson nervously reported.
"So we lost the target again, and we lost our agents, and we know nothing? Only this time, we didn't lose the target due to him going green? Damnit, Coulson, this looks like someone took him!"
Coulson could only nod his head while feeling like crying as he endured his boss's abuse.
"Well, we have found one possible clue, sir."
"Why didn't you start with that Coulson? What is it then?" Fury said while glaring hard at Phil.
"Well, it seems that the Ricci family have started to move in there around the same time we lost contact with our agents. We are not sure if there is a connection, but it's the only clue." Coulson finally said.
That made Fury pause for a moment. He didn't think the Ricci would take Banner, but they could have taken out his agents as they moved into the area. "Find out, go and talk with Ricci. Find out what he knows." Fury finally said and dismissed Coulson to be left alone with his thoughts.
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[Ricci mansion in New York.]
Coulson didn't think it would have been so easy getting an appointment with Mr. Ricci. Yet as soon as he had said where he was from, they had acted like they knew about the supposed super secret organization and let him inside.
As he was led inside, his one-man escort grew to a full eight highly armed men who looked about ready to riddle his body with bullets at the slightest twitch. Something that made Coulson all the more nervous.
Still, he couldn't back out now and followed them through the mansion, the destination however wasn't an office but to luxurious pool area towards the back of the manor.
What met him was the curious sight; a young man in a pitch-black suit was lounging in a reclining chair as he watched the still water with a glass of wine in his hand.
"I apologize for meeting you out here, but you came here in my break. Do forgive me, Mr. Coulson, was it?" he said, glancing at Coulson. "Sit, why don't you."
"Yes, it's fine, thanks," Coulson gave him a nervous smile as he felt at least a dozen pairs of eyes on him hidden around in the shadows. He only slightly glanced at the offered seat before politely rejecting it.
"I'm Phil Coulson, an agent of the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division." Coulson was cut off from his introduction with a raised hand.
"I want to know why you are here, Mr. Coulson, and not our usual contact in Agent Sitwell!" Ricci barked at him, and Coulson could hear all around him the sounds of weapons being drawn.
Coulson was surprised to hear Sitwell's name come up out of nowhere and scared by the guards getting ready to shoot. "Wait, stop, stop! Please, I was sent by the director to talk with you."
"So you do know Sitwell after all. Oh, don't look surprised. I could see recognition in your face at his name. Still, that didn't answer what director Pierce wants and why he didn't send Sitwell."
Coulson had no idea what was going on here. As far as he knew, Ricci should not know about the Strategic Homeland Intervention Enforcement Logistics Division, much less have any contact with them. Still hearing Pierce's name, he figured it was above his rank and would just report it to Fury when he got back.
"Well, you see, Mr Ricci, I was sent to ask you a few questions. You see, we lost a few agents and an asset in La Rioja, and we knew you also seemed active in the area and wanted to know if you knew anything."
"So you come here for answers, do you? Or maybe you even think I had something to do with it? Guess that is why they sent you, in case I killed you. Pierce wouldn't lose someone important as Sitwell and just some random person like you instead."
Coulson could only swallow the insult at being called disposable but swore he would complain to Fury about not being told about Sitwell.
"What I can tell you, agent, is that I lost men in La Rioja. One moment, they were down there; the next, gone! So I sent enough men down there to raze the fucking place to the ground if needed!" Ricci shouted angrily and threw his wine glass into the marble around the pool.
"They found no answers to what happened to my men, so I fucking took the damn place as my own and got rid of every last gang down there daring to stand in my way!"
Coulson quickly got a picture of what the situation was. Clearly, someone had killed not just his own men but also Ricci's, properly clearing out anyone who could be there to watch over Banner. This had angered "overkill" Ricci, who sent down even more men to avenge the slight against him.
Now, the questions of who killed those men and why remained, as well as if Banner left as Ricci's men started to make chaos or if the death of his agents was connected with Banner going missing.
"And did you find out who was behind the death of your men, Mr. Ricci?" Coulson asked, cursing whoever was stupid enough to anger the "Overkill" Ricci, which made him come here before the man himself.
"I just told you we found nothing! My men were just gone, no trace. At least I can forgive my men for finding nothing if even you guys are clueless as well. Now leave before I send you back to Pierce in a body bag."
After that, Coulson quickly fled the expansive mansion and returned to his boss with the report and a complaint about why Sitwell wasn't sent instead.
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Alex watched as Coulson fled under the escort of his guards, lifted his hand up, and accepted the new glass placed in it a moment later. Taking a sip to wet his throat after that yelling, he leaned back to relax and went over the conversation repeatedly.
'Indeed, it would seem Pierce never told Fury about his deal with me. I guess he used the money to fund Hydra. Still, this is good; Fury will be busy dealing with Pierce and will forget about me again quickly.'
Overall, Alex was happy with the meeting; he saw Phil Coulson and played around with Fury. Now to throw some more bait out soon enough as the fish entered his reach and wait for Fury to bite.
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[Fury's office.]
Fury was not happy. He had just dismissed the angry Coulson. Now, Fury liked being in control and hated not being in control.
Another thing he hated almost as much was not knowing things. And right now, he was angry because he didn't know something he should have known. Which meant he didn't have control over the situation.
Cursing under his breath, Fury made his way over to Pierce in such a clear foul mood he scared everyone he came across on the way.
He kicked open the door and smacked it closed behind him while glaring at his former mentor. Fury really hated not knowing!
"What have you in such a foul mood Fury?" Alexander asked as he looked up from his work.
"I want to know why I was not made aware of the deal with Ricci? What else have I not been made aware of? What else is hidden from me as the damn director!" Fury said loudly and with anger in his voice.
"A deal with Ricci? That old thing? You know how we work, Fury; we make a lot of deals with the underworld to help maintain order." Pierce waved away his concerns.
"Yes, and I normally know about those deals! Yet I knew nothing about this one. Coulson almost got killed because they said their contact is Sitwell."
"Sitwell? Hmm, he doesn't deal with such things anymore. I guess that because we don't talk much with them, they still consider him their contact? Sitwell should have given the task of handling the deal to someone else years ago." Pierce said patiently.
"What is the deal? Why was I not made aware of it, and what other deals are there I am unaware of?" Fury barked off a list of questions while banging his hand down on the desk.
"Just the standard deal, really; we wouldn't target them; we tell them about anyone going after them, and they keep paying us. Now, it's not something I pay much attention to, so I can't say I know why you were never informed. And yeah, we had plenty of deals like the one with the Ricci; ask Sitwell for more. He would know who the person in charge should be by now." Pierce said calmly and dismissingly.
His tone did little to calm down Fury, but he understood that it made sense that Pierce wouldn't know about it since the deal was not that important a thing.
Huffing Fury left, never noticing the look Pierce gave him or knowing that Pierce made a call right after the door closed behind him.
Fury then went to look into this whole affair to find out about other deals, why he didn't know about them, and what had happened to the money. And by that, he meant that he would send Coulson to find out the truth.
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