POV Rio
The last few days of January were uneventful. I spent most of it researching other anomalies that might have appeared in recent times, but there wasn't anything of note. That is, not in any civilian networks. I took the chance to sneak into the Shield office in NYC to access their computers. I could have done so from the outside, but that would set off alarms, and I figured this was the best time to make this move, as the NYC office was working with a skeleton crew. As such, the security was quite loose. The other reason I was doing it this way was that I intended to leave a backdoor to their servers, giving me access to anything that is added in the future, and I couldn't do that if I forced my way in.
Getting into the building was incredibly easy. Even those on duty didn't seem to be paying much attention to anything and were just slacking off. I even saw a group of five guys playing poker despite a strong suspicion they were on duty. In either case, I quickly gained access to the server room, where I connected a device and started the careful process of hacking into their servers without them noticing. To do so, I just needed the servers to think my computer was a Shield computer and to accept some code from it.
It took about an hour before I was satisfied no one would notice what I did. I didn't just want to leave an access port but also download everything I could, without triggering any alarms, with that last part taking the longest. Once I was done, I stored my equipment and left the same way I came. And sure enough, as I left, I saw the same guys still playing poker.
"You heard the news?" says Guy One.
"What news? You're gonna have to be more specific than that?" says Guy Two.
"A new guard position opened up," says Guy One.
"Where?" asks Guy Three.
"The Box," responds Guy One.
Gulp
"The Box? As in... You know THE Box?" asks Guy Four nervously.
"That's what I heard, and moreover, if the position doesn't get filled, they might start calling for volunteers," says Guy One conspiratorially.
"Damn it! I really hope they don't send me there. I hear anyone who gets assigned there is never heard from again," says Guy Two.
"I've heard that the pay is good, but with recent budget cuts, I have a feeling that isn't as true anymore," says Guy Three somewhat despondently.
"Sigh. I guess that's as good a reason as any to quit," says Guy Five.
"Quit? Really?" asks Guy Four.
"Yeah, Shield just isn't what it used to be. How many agents have we lost in the past year? Too many to count, then the budget cuts and unpaid overtime. Honestly, I joined cause I wanted to make a difference, but I just don't feel that anymore. I figure it's best to quit before they send me to some god-awful assignment like clearing out that last hive or The Box, or that investigation into the other alien parasite situation. And don't even get me started on the damn potatoes," says Guy Five with a sad and almost exhausted tone.
"But aren't you only a year out from retirement?" asks Guy One.
"Yeah, a little under one year left, but seeing the trajectory we are going now, I can't even be certain they will let me retire or that they can afford to pay me my pension," says Guy Five with a long sigh.
"When you put it like that... Yeah, I guess I can't blame you," says Guy Three.
I listened for a bit longer, but eventually their conversation didn't go anywhere, and I left. But I had learned a lot in that short conversation. For one, it seems Shield isn't doing so great anymore. And more interestingly, something about another alien parasite, which I felt could be related to Symbiotes, given that it was the first thing that comes to mind when someone says alien parasite in Marvel.
'I'll need to check out the files I gained access to. Though I have a feeling some files will only have hard copies and nothing digital.'
Finding that info would be a massive hassle, since I would have to figure out where they store the physical files, and I could be certain they wouldn't be at the NYC branch office. Likely in some undisclosed location that you can't easily find.
I teleport back to the Watchtower and start reading over the files I have. And I quickly realise something interesting. The Box is a prison and storage facility for basically anything not normal. However, info on the facility is extremely scarce in the records. All I got was a fairly long list of things sent there and several shipping manifests.
'Huh? Where the hell are they getting all those potatoes?'
The Box had been shipping out hundreds upon hundreds of tons of potatoes, some are used for Shield's food requirements, but the rest were shipped out to basically anywhere that needed food. But what was so odd was that the shipments had been happening for almost four months, and in the quantities shown, it should be impossible. Now, theoretically, I suppose it could be possible if The Box is a massive potato farm in the middle of the ocean, but I highly doubt that. Well, the middle of the ocean might not be that accurate, as technically it was halfway between Bermuda Island and the USA, specifically at 35°00'00.0"N 70°00'00.0"W.
'Maybe they make the prisoners farm potatoes like some off-brand gulag?'
Whatever the case was, I would need to make a trip to The Box and see if there were some items I could borrow... Permanently. Besides The Box, there was a good amount of information on people of interest I might want to eliminate in the near future. Though their locations were unusable due to the intelligence's age, it was enough evidence for me to be certain that Ghost Rider would like to visit them. Oddly enough, Shield was pretty useless when it came to arresting people, at least people of political or economic power.
'Meh. What's a few less rich and powerful people in the world?'
POV Shift John Wick
Bzz Bzz Bzz
I open my eyes and look at the wrist watch.
[Anomaly Detected: Please Head To The Security Room]
I get out of bed quietly and make my way to the security room. Where I see the golem waiting for me. Before either of us could say a thing, the alarm went off.
"Intruder Alert! Unknown Enemy In The Manor!" the computer says.
"A Red Spy's in the base!" the golem yells in alarm.
The golem grabs a gun from the wall and starts yelling as they run to the area where the spy was detected. I grab some guns and send a message to Helen to get to the safe room. Then I moved to a sniper's nest where I saw I wasn't alone.
"Snipings a good choice, mate," says the Sniper with a heavy Australian accent.
'Why did Rio make the golems so odd?'
I shake my head and look down range at who was breaking into the manor.
"What the? Is that a mud monster?" I ask aloud.
"Can't rightly say," the Sniper replies.
I watch as the fastest of the golems runs up towards the intruder. I recall he was named Scout or something.
"Imma clippy-clopped my hoof up your ass!" yells the Scout.
Crunch
Scout gets torn to pieces by the intruder, but I can't tell how they did it. Then came the next golem.
"I'm a unicorn from Hell, and I'm comin' for ya!" Demogolem yells while launching explosives at the enemy.
I keep a close eye the entire time to see if I can understand how they are attacking and defending themselves. As the smoke cleared, the creature was completely unharmed.
"Crikey, that can't be good," Sniper comments.
BOOM
The Demoman exploded, and metal chunks went everywhere. The response was swift several golems came all at once and attacked the intruder.
"Hahahahaha! I am bulletproof!" screams the Heavy Golem.
Bang
The Sniper and I also add on and try to attack from a blind spot. With the Soldier, Pyro, Medic, and Engineer Golems attacking with the Heavy Golem. I watch as the bullets and other attacks all stop before reaching the enemy as if they were caught mid-air by some invisible barrier, though one of the attacks reveals something.
"Are those arms?" I mutter.
It was really hard to tell, but it did almost look like there were invisible limbs. But before I could say for certain what I saw, I felt a spike of fear and hit the deck.
Fwoosh
All the projectiles from the attacks rebound all at once, and the entire area is riddled with holes that slowly start to repair thanks to the enchantments Rio placed on the manor.
"Ugh, Bloody Hell, that hurt," says the Sniper as he slowly repairs the massive damage done to his head from the attack.
I peek over the ledge and see that all the Golems were dispatched, all except one, which I hadn't seen yet.
'Oh, there he is.'
Ding
"Sacre Bleu!" the Spy says as he attempts to stab the intruder in the back, but it seems to fail miserably.
Crunch
"Uh, I think they spotted us," the Sniper comments before our position gets pelted by metal.
I take cover and start crawling away as I need to get to the security room. In the meantime, I pressed the Code Red alarm, which would activate every security measure in the manor.
"Hold it off for as long as you can!" I order while crawling away.
"I'll do what I can," the Sniper replies.
I make my way back to the security room and pull out the emergency communicator Rio left here for this kind of situation. I press the call button and wait to get a response.
"Hello?" Rio says.
"Ah, thank god, we got a situation at the manor, something has broken in and is tearing all the golems to pieces. We've already lost the special golems you made," I reply.
"What!? Not the mercenaries! I've worked so hard on those, and I was just about to upgrade them to Promethium!" Rio complains.
"About the intruder," I mention.
"Oh yeah, where are you and is Helen safe?" Rio asks.
"She's in the safe room, and I am in the security room, but uh, not sure how much longer the golems will last. The creature is tearing them to pieces as we speak," I comment.
"Okay, give me a moment. I will be there shortly," Rio replies.
I breathe a sigh of relief, and the call ends moments later. Rio appears, and he looks at the camera feeds.
"No idea what that is, what can it do?" Rio asks.
"It might have invisible arms or tendrils that it uses for defence and offence. Other than that, it looks like it could be made of mud, twigs, and other related things, but it's tough to say," I report.
"Hmm, so maybe some kind of Mud Elemental? No, that wouldn't explain the invisible tendrils, how odd. Whatever, I'll deal with it. Head to the safe room and don't come out until I give the signal. If needed, use the teleportation array in there to get to the Watchtower and wait for me there," Rio says firmly.
"Got it, will you be okay?" I ask.
"Probably, if there is one thing I am confident in, it is escaping," Rio says with a smile.
"Okay, good luck," I reply before quickly making my way to the safe room.
POV Shift Rio
Once John left, I went back to watching the cameras and thought about how best to deal with this situation.
'I could go get Gaia's help. Then again, I don't want to pester her with something small. Meh, I'll test the waters first.'
I teleport near the intruder and create an illusory copy to go and meet the intruder.
"Hello there," I say with a smile.
The intruder looks right at me, then suddenly moves faster than I can track, destroying my illusory copy in a way I didn't expect.
'She tried to grab me, I think, but fairly softly?'
A second illusory copy appears and looks at her.
"Whoa there, Missy, I don't know why you broke into my house, but I must kindly ask you to calm down and explain yourself," I demand.
I was also a bit more certain that what I was facing was a living being and not an elemental of some kind.
"You..." the creature says so softly I barely catch it.
"Uh? Me?" I ask while pointing at myself.
She vanishes again and grabs my copy, but this time, even softer, but she quickly realises it's an illusion and looks almost upset.
'Just a bit closer.'
We do this song and dance once more before she steps below a device I had built into the hallway for capturing intruders.
Vrmmmm
A dome of white light encapsulates the intruder in a Ray Shield or the best equivalent I could design with second-hand rumours and speculation.
"Now that you are unable to move, perhaps you will explain why you are here," I ask once more.
"You..." the creature says again, this time far more audible.
"Yes, you said that before, but I need more to go off of than just me," I complain.
"You..." the creature says again.
My eye twitches, and I start getting annoyed, but before I can respond, their eyes dim and they say one last thing before collapsing to the ground.
"Rio..." the creature says.
Thud
They fall to the ground, and I consider whether I should open the ray shield or whether this is a trick.
'I have an idea.'
I rummage through my inventory before finding what I wanted and pulling it out.
Poke Poke
I use the stick I pulled out to poke them through the shield using magic, and they don't react.
'Meh, good enough for me.'
I open the shield and get a closer look at the intruder. They were covered in mud, dead leaves, twigs, and other unmentionables, and they smelt pretty bad.
"What is it with smelly people showing up in my home?" I complain while having one of the few remaining golems carry them to a room, a room specially enchanted to hold prisoners.