The calm expression on Nick Fury's face didn't last for more than a second. Behind Henry's smile, he saw neither the gloating of a victor nor the satisfaction of an avenger, but pure indifference. It was as if this massive steel fortress was, in his eyes, truly nothing more than a toy to be crushed underfoot.
'Damn it, what kind of monster is this guy?!'
Touched? A flash of self-deprecating irony crossed Fury's eye. The only thing he felt right now was the icy chill of death. He was a veteran of a hundred battles; he had faced Nazis, alien invaders, and the most heinous criminals imaginable. But he had never been afraid, because he always believed that everything was under control.
Today, he began to doubt his own grip on reality.
"You don't look very touched, Director Fury."
Henry's smile remained unchanged as he looked around the wrecked office, curling his lip. "The decor is decent, but it's not very sturdy. I suggest you switch to more eco-friendly materials next time, like Vibranium. Oh, by the way, Stark Industries is now the exclusive agent for Wakandan Vibranium. Since we're so well-acquainted, I can give you a 2% discount."
Standing to the side, Talos felt his knees shaking. What kind of monster was this man?! That punch hadn't just shattered the energy shield; the residual energy radiating from him made even a battle-hardened Skrull warrior like Talos want to drop to his knees in submission. He subconsciously glanced at Fury, hoping his partner had some kind of countermeasure.
However, he only saw Fury's dark, grim face. He knew then—it was over. Everything was over. Talos's heart sank into an abyss.
"Henry Stark," Fury finally spoke, his voice low and raspy. "Do you have any idea what you're doing? You are declaring war on the most powerful organization in the world. This is self-destruction."
He tried to regain the initiative using the rhetoric and gravitas he excelled at. However, Henry reacted as if he had heard a massive joke, letting out a sharp scoff.
"The most powerful intelligence organization in the world?" Henry walked slowly toward Fury. Each step felt like he was treading directly on the hearts of Talos and Fury. "Fury, do you have some kind of misunderstanding regarding the word 'powerful'?"
He extended a finger and tapped lightly on Fury's desk.
*Tap.*
The crisp sound echoed. "In your view, hiding in the shadows using conspiracy and betrayal to manipulate people stronger than you... that's 'powerful'?"
He tapped again.
*Tap.*
"In your view, staking the future of humanity on a bunch of homeless alien squids... that's 'powerful'?"
His finger descended once more.
*Tap.*
"In your view, taking power you don't understand to develop weapons you can't control... that's 'powerful'?"
Henry looked up, staring directly into Fury's angry lone eye. His smile slowly vanished. "No, Fury. That isn't power. That is stupidity."
The moment his words fell, his finger pressed down gently.
*CRUNCH!*
There was no explosion, no roar. Before the eyes of Fury and Talos, the desk rapidly splintered and collapsed. In seconds, it was reduced to a pile of scrap.
The office fell silent, save for the heavy breathing of Fury and Talos and the distant echoes of explosions outside. *Is this really a human?!* Fury looked at the debris, feeling as if his own heart had been pressed by that finger. It was shattered. The legendary composure he took pride in was gone, replaced by the suffocating shadow of death.
"Who are you, really?" he asked again. It wasn't the first time he had asked, but he was now absolutely certain this man wasn't just Howard Stark's son.
"Me?" Henry withdrew his finger, his smile returning. "I'm just an enthusiastic citizen who can't stand race-traitorous behavior like yours."
"Comm is in, Henry!" Tony's voice suddenly crackled in Henry's ear, breaking the frozen atmosphere. "Hey, how's it going over there? Having a nice chat with the cyclops? Do you need me to fly in and provide some background music? How about AC/DC? I think it suits that constipated look on his face."
'This bastard always picks the perfect time.' Henry rolled his eyes internally.
"Shut up, Tony," he replied crossly. "The lead is giving an important speech. Can you have a little situational awareness and stop trying to steal the scene?"
"Speech? I'm guessing it's a one-sided beatdown," Tony said, sounding quite entertained. "Do you need me to record this via satellite? High-def 4K. We can sell it to the Daily Bugle later. I've already thought of the headline: *'Shocking! S.H.I.E.L.D. Director's Office Forcefully Demolished by Unknown Individual, the Reason Behind It Is...'*"
"Get lost!"
Henry cut the communication with Tony. He looked at the fluctuating expression on Fury's face and shrugged. "You see, my partner is getting impatient. So, let's skip the boring parts where we test each other and get straight to the point."
He pulled over a chair and sat down arrogantly, crossing his legs. "Nick Fury," his tone became level. "I didn't come here to negotiate with you, nor did I come to declare war. I'm here to fire you. And then send you to see God."
"Fire me?" A flash of absurdity crossed Fury's eye. "On what grounds?"
"On what grounds?" Henry laughed, gesturing to the burning headquarters outside and then to himself. "On the grounds that I want you out of this seat right now, and you have zero ability to resist. Is that reason enough?"
He paused, his smile turning icy. "From its inception, S.H.I.E.L.D.'s mission was to protect the world against unknown threats. It was a grand vision. But in your hands, it rotted. You turned it into a breeding ground for lies and conspiracies, a tool to satisfy your personal need for control, and a ticking time bomb that could betray humanity at any moment."
"You failed the trust of my father and Aunt Peggy. You failed the expectations of the world. So, you're fired. From this moment on, I am taking over S.H.I.E.L.D."
These words struck Fury like a thunderclap. 'Take over S.H.I.E.L.D.? Is he insane?!' Did he think S.H.I.E.L.D. was Stark Industries? That you could just walk in and take it?
"In your dreams!" Fury's eye burned with rage and madness. "S.H.I.E.L.D. is directly under the World Security Council! It exists to maintain global order! Who do you think you are? A tyrant with power? Do you think you alone can take on the entire world?!"
"I don't need to take on the entire world." Henry shook his head, looking at Nick like he was an idiot. "Have you spent so much time as a leader that you think everyone follows your rules? I only need the people who truly want to protect the world on my side. As for you..."
He looked at Fury with indifference. "As for you and your so-called order and contingencies—in my eyes, they are all pathetically fragile. Carol Danvers, right?"
Nick Fury was instantly stunned. His lone eye widened in total disbelief. His gaze suddenly shifted to Talos, who had been trying to stay inconspicuous.
"And then there's one of your biggest hole cards: the Skrulls."
Talos's body jolted violently!
"Do you really think they'd willingly slave away for you forever, Fury?" Henry shook his head again. "They help you because you gave them a hollow promise—finding them a new home. But decades have passed. Have you fulfilled that promise? No. You've just used their abilities, treating them as your best tools to monitor the world. You even turned a blind eye to their infiltration and persecution."
"You..." Talos stared at Henry, his face masked in shock. *How could he know all this?!*
"Did you think I didn't know, Talos?" Henry looked directly at him. "How many of your kinsmen are being used as lab rats by HYDRA, undergoing inhumane experiments? And your boss here, this 'great' Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., looks the other way. Because a Skrull race that depends on him serves his interests best. He doesn't want a powerful ally; he wants a pack of obedient pets."
These words hammered into Talos's heart. He wanted to argue, but he found he couldn't say a word. Because everything Henry said was the truth. Over the years, he had mentioned the disappearances of his people to Fury multiple times, but Fury always brushed it off with various excuses. Talos had assumed it was an internal S.H.I.E.L.D. issue. He never imagined it was Fury's tacit approval.
"No... impossible..." Talos shook his head in a daze. He looked at Fury, hoping to see a shred of denial. But he only saw that dark, brooding face. Silence was admission. Talos's heart went cold.
"See that, Fury?" Henry spread his hands. "That's your 'power.' An alliance built on lies and deception is like a castle made of sand. One wave, and nothing is left."
He stopped looking at the crumbling Talos. His gaze fell back on Fury, his voice turning lethal. "Now, the game is over."
Fury was silent. He knew he had no cards left. The Skrulls were wavering, and his final trump card was far across the stars, unable to arrive in time. He had lost. He had lost everything.
But Nick Fury would never just sit and wait for death. A flash of madness crossed his eye. Even if he died, he would drag this bastard who ruined everything down to hell with him! His right hand moved stealthily toward a small red button under the armrest of his chair—a self-destruct device powerful enough to vaporize the top floor.
However, before his finger could even lift, let alone touch the button—
"I know exactly what you're trying to do, Fury," Henry's voice drifted over. "You want to hit that button, trigger the self-destruct, and take me with you. It's such a cliché, unoriginal idea."
Fury's body froze. A chill rose from his gut. *How does he know?!*
"As for you, Talos." Henry didn't turn to look at him. "Are you thinking about shifting into my form to ambush me? Or maybe Tony's form to make me hesitate? Save it. The cellular structural changes and energy fluctuations of your shapeshifting are more obvious to my eyes than a firefly in the dead of night."
Talos froze as well; he had indeed just had that thought.
"Alright, are the last words finished?" Henry stood up slowly, the smile gone. "Since you're done, time to hit the road."
Fury's pupil contracted. He tried to speak, but he never got the chance.
*ZAP!!*
Two searing red beams flashed from Henry's eyes! Fast—so fast Fury couldn't react. He didn't even feel pain. The moment his consciousness met the red glow, he was erased. No explosion, no screams. Nick Fury, the king of spies who had dominated the world for decades, simply vanished.
"Fu...ry..." Talos looked at the empty space before him, his mind a blank slate as terror flooded his brain. He instinctively tried to flee.
However, another red beam locked onto him. "And you, alien squid," Henry's voice was ice. "Squids like you don't deserve to live. In your next life, remember to pick a better boss."
*ZAP!!*
The red light flashed. Talos's body vanished into nothingness along with him.
The office suddenly became quiet, save for the chaos outside and Henry's steady breathing.
"Done." Henry patted his hands, feeling a sense of relief. He turned to look at the empty spots left behind and curled his lip. "Honestly, had to force my hand. I wanted to chat a bit more to squeeze some other secrets out of you."
He shook his head, pushing it aside. His gaze pierced through the reinforced concrete beneath his feet. In his vision, the structural map of the Triskelion appeared clearly. Every wire, every room, and every panicked agent was laid bare. Finally, his sight locked onto a secret vault deep underground, protected by layer upon layer of security.
And at the center of the vault sat a cube radiating a brilliant blue light.
"Found you."
He grinned, his figure vanishing instantly. He didn't use the doors; his body smashed straight through the floors, plummeting into the depths of the headquarters!
*BOOM!!*
The door of the underground vault suddenly buckled inward, twisting before being blasted open by immense force. The dozen elite agents guarding the door didn't even have time to realize what was happening before they were swept away by the violent shockwave, slammed into the walls, and knocked unconscious.
Amidst the swirling dust and alarms, a black figure stepped through the hole. Henry ignored the flashing alarms and the automated turrets and walked straight to the center of the vault. He looked at the Tesseract sitting in its energy containment field and let out a satisfied smile.
"Alright, my furnace."
He stepped forward and reached out, ignoring the energy barrier, and gently took the cube into his hand. "Now, the experiment can begin."
The Tesseract was in his hand. Violent energy surged from the cube, through his palm, and into his body. An ordinary carbon-based lifeform would have been disintegrated the moment they touched this power. To Henry, however, it felt like an ice-cold soda. His cells greedily absorbed the energy, converting it into nutrients and storing it.
"Mmm, tastes good." Henry felt the fullness within him and nodded. "Much more efficient than sunbathing. A bit of a kick to it, though—like drinking moonshine. Goes straight to the head."
He tossed the Tesseract casually in his hand, the blue glow casting deep shadows over his armor.
"Henry! What's your status?!" Tony's panicked voice exploded in the comms. Just a moment ago, he had seen the top floor of the Triskelion swallowed by white light. In that instant, he felt like his heart had stopped. He had been ready to charge in and tear Nick Fury to pieces.
"Keep it down, Tony," Henry's voice replied, cutting off Tony's impending tirade. "I just went downstairs to grab something. No need to get all dramatic. Can you be a bit more mature? You're a CEO."
Hearing Henry's familiar voice, Tony's heart settled back into place. He took a deep breath and muttered, "Went downstairs to grab something?! You call that scene 'grabbing something'?! Do you have any idea—"
"I know, I know," Henry interrupted. "I know that old fox Fury triggered a self-destruct to try and take me with him. Unfortunately, his firework was smaller than the one at your birthday party last year. By the way, he's retired. Very permanently. Oh, and his green-skinned pet went along to collect the pension too."
Tony had thought of many ways to deal with Nick, but he hadn't expected Henry to settle it so quickly. But soon, other thoughts surfaced. "Henry, while I agree with what you did, do you know how much trouble this is going to cause?"
Honestly, this wasn't just hitting the roof; it was blowing the sky off. Killing the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. was practically declaring war on the world. The political fallout, diplomatic pressure, and media attacks—Tony could already see what Stark Industries was about to face.
"Trouble?" Henry scoffed, his tone dismissive. "Tony, since when did you become so hesitant? Trouble is only called 'trouble' when you aren't strong enough. When you're powerful enough, trouble just becomes someone else's problem."
"As for what you're worried about..." His voice turned cold. "I'll personally have a 'friendly chat' with those useless bags of wind at the Council. As for the media? Let them write whatever they want. I want to see if their heads are harder than my fists."
"Alright, now stop nagging like an elder. Clear those annoying flies out of the sky and bring the others to the vault for a meeting. Our operation is just beginning. I don't have time to waste processing bodies."
Henry cut the comms again. Tony rolled his eyes, laughing out of sheer frustration.
'This bastard! Always the same! Causes the biggest mess and then dumps the whole thing on me like nothing happened!'
Still, he looked down at the chaotic Triskelion below, thought about Henry's arrogant but unarguable words, and finally sighed in resignation. Well, what could he do? He was his brother.
"Jarvis." He pulled himself together, his voice returning to calm confidence. "Lock onto all remaining hostile aircraft. Notify the others: meeting in the vault in five minutes. Let's end this boring party."
...
Five minutes later, in the underground vault.
Tony arrived with the team, all of them smelling of cordite. Henry was sitting leisurely on a pile of scrap, tossing the blue Tesseract in his hand like a common glass marble. At his feet lay dozens of elite S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, sprawled out in various states of unconsciousness. The core vault of S.H.I.E.L.D. now looked like his private living room.
"You guys are too slow," Henry said, glancing at them and curling his lip. "I've already played a round of poker down here."
The others stared at him, unsure of what to say. Their expressions grew solemn, especially when they saw the cube in his hand.
"Is that the Tesseract?" Dr. Banner asked, adjusting his glasses. "Such pure energy... it's warping the surrounding space! This completely defies all known laws of physics!"
As a scientist, he felt excitement and obsession rather than fear. This thing was more fascinating than gamma rays or any energy he had ever seen. Wanda frowned; she could feel the immense power within the cube. It felt strange to her, as if it were being contained inside.
"So..." Pietro scratched his head, breaking the silence as he pointed at the cube. "This was the target? A glowing Rubik's Cube? Doesn't look like much."
"Doesn't look like much?" Tony rolled his eyes. "Kid, the energy this thing releases in a second could probably power all of New York City for a hundred years. You call that 'not much'?" He walked over to Henry, looking at the Tesseract with a complex gaze. "So, you really... Fury...?"
"Shh." Henry put a finger to his lips and smiled mysteriously. "A proper magician doesn't reveal his tricks so easily. All you need to know is that as of now, the S.H.I.E.L.D. Director's office has a job opening."
Tony's lip twitched. :This bastard really knows how to add insult to injury.'
"Alright, since everyone is here." Henry stood up and casually tossed the Tesseract to Banner. "Bruce, hold this for me. Be careful, don't treat it like a common battery. It has a temper. Try to feel it, rather than analyze it."
"Me?" Banner caught the Tesseract, feeling like he was holding a nuclear bomb that could go off at any moment. He was visibly nervous.
Henry ignored him and turned around. His gaze pierced through the thick walls, scanning the chaotic headquarters. Then, he spoke plainly.
"Jarvis."
"Yes, sir."
"Take over all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s internal broadcast systems."
"Complete, sir."
"Good."
Henry cleared his throat. His voice boomed through the speakers in every corner of the Triskelion, reaching the ears of every agent.