Chapter 55: Arc 2: Chapter 11: The Incompetent Keller

"Rumble"

Following a bumpy vibration, at dawn, the plane carrying Fury lands in Kennedy International Airport.

Due to the special mission they were undergoing, as soon as the plane touched down, several black cars quickly speed into the airfield. In a few minutes, Merlin sits in an extended car, while Barton and Natasha sat behind in a car that looked like an escort car.

In front of Merlin, a female agent whom he has never seen before was talking with Fury.

"Firstly, congratulations on completing what even Miss Carter herself could not do, Officer Fury."

The female agent looked to be in her later 20s, she seemed to be very capable. What attracts people's attention are the strands of wine-red hair in her black long hair, which gave her a serious yet slightly playful temperament, along with the black glasses she wore, she had a surprisingly unique yet dignified look.

And Fury was very familiar with the female agent.

"Victoria, I'm surprised, a busybody like you came today to greet us."

Fury leans against his seat with a bottle of water in his hand, he looks at the female agent in front of him and says:

"Did something happen?"

The female agent looks at Merlin, to which Fury waves his hand and tells Victoria:

"Merlin's trustworthy, he's the rookie recommended by Miss Carter, and he's proven his value in the operation we did. Merlin, this is agent Victoria Hand, a senior agent of the SSR, an intelligence officer in the main base, as well as one of my friends."

"Hello, Miss Victoria."

Merlin sits in the corner and tries to diminish his existence. He greets agent Hand and picks up a magazine, seemingly uninterested in the conversation between the two.

"Alright then."

Hand makes a hand gesture and the agent who's driving presses a button that causes a baffle to rise between the driver's seat and the rear seat, effectively blocking all sound transmission. After doing all this, the female agent's expression becomes serious, and she tells Fury:

"Officer Fury, two days after you left New York, Keller brought his men and assumed control of the main base and the academy. He, on behalf of the Congress, announced the revoking of the structure of the SSR, and that an organization called Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate will take its place."

Fury seemed to know about what Hand was going to say, he wasn't surprised and takes a sip of water, then he tells his two subordinates:

"I knew about these beforehand about half a month ago. No need to worry about Keller, what he'll be taking over are just some periphery departments, and the really important parts of the SSR are still well under our control."

"Agent Felix Leiter was transferred to base 'Sandbox' three months ago, agent Garrett will stick to his post in the branch office in Europe, agent Stratton will be staying at Bethesda medical base, and while Colonel Robert is temporarily dallying, he'll be assuming important positions on a later date."

"As for the Academy, screw that, that academy with the outdated philosophies and systems is about to be torn down anyway."

Brilliance flashes in Fury's eyes as he says:

"The new academy will be rebuilt in the future, and agent Weaver is working her part in it. As for you, hand, you received the transfer notice too, didn't you?"

"Mmm."

Agent Victoria Hand nods, she takes out a piece of paper from her pocket and looks at it, then she tells Fury:

"The Raft...I thought I was being exiled by Keller, but it turns out to be arrangements you've made beforehand. Officer Fury, you're quite cunning."

"It's not cunning, Victoria."

Fury sighs and says:

"The CIA and the NSA, even the USSS, all believe that there is no use for the SSR to exist. They think that we're using too many resources, and those resources were originally meant for them. So they've been looking for their chances to permanently dismember us...the sudden end of the Cold War gave them that chance."

"Miss Carter and Officer Pierce realized this long ago, and they've made plenty of preparations for it, as for me, I'm just here to close up their work. But for the upcoming years, we'll be having a hard time, for all of us. Kohler's just a nobody pushed onto the stage by our colleagues, the only reason he's here is to cause fission from our core and bury us."

"We have to lay low, Victoria."

Fury tells the female agent in front of him:

"Send a message to our former comrades on my behalf, tell them to stay dormant. Don't rashly show up before the time's right. Pierce has successfully entered the World Security Council, I trust that it won't be long until he finds a way to foil these malicious plots against us."

"Mmm."

Agent Hand nods, she lets out a breath and tells Fury:

"The few days you were gone made people panic, Keller was arrogant, he openly claimed that Pierce was an incompetent leader, and even tried to slander Miss Carter, but he learned his lesson after being retaliated by the riled up agents. He began playing tricks, the senior agents that wouldn't bend to his rule were either canned or were transferred to remote positions."

Agent Hank secretly glanced at Fury and continued:

"And there's bad news involving you, Officer Fury."

"Hmm?"

Fury raises his head and looks at his subordinate, agent Hand lowers her voice and tells him:

"Keller abolished the agent selection standards Miss Carter had set when he came to power. He announced that SHIELD will be using a brand new grading system for agents. Keller graded agents into 6 levels, based on their seniority, ability, and official position."

"He shamelessly graded himself as the first level 6 agent, all his cronies were graded as levels 4-5; those who refused to follow under him were all graded as level 3s and below."

"And you, Officer Fury, is now a non-military level 3 agent of SHIELD. You aren't allowed to do field missions without approval, and your office has been moved from the top floor to the underground basement. Even your car has been confiscated...Keller's shaming you on purpose, Officer Fury, he's forcing you out, without a doubt."

"In his dreams!"

Fury says so in a mocking and vicious tone, like a provoked lion, he grits his teeth:

"The SSR is our organization! That scum dares to try and make it into his! We'll see...who'll laugh the last laugh!"

A dozen minutes later, the car stops in front of a tall building in Manhattan, then, Fury and Merlin open the car door and exit the car. 

"We can't hand over Natasha Romanoff to Keller, the bastard will kill her without hesitation. I'll leave her to your custody, Victoria, take her to the Island Prison to be reviewed, agent Barton will be there to assist you. You must protect Natasha, she has a high chance of becoming one of us, becoming our most excellent action expert."

"No problem, leave it to me, sir."

Agent Hand responded, then the motorcade turns in direction and heads to the outskirts of New York.

As they see them off, Merlin pulls down his baseball cap and tell Fury in a helpless tone:

"Sir, you've been demoted to a non-militant level 3 agent, and even lost your office and car. Does that mean I'm also not going to get the mission and transport you promised me?"

"No!"

Fury takes out his glasses, puts them on his face, and tells Merlin:

"Continue with your mission, stay away from the main base for the time being to not attract Keller's attention. I'll get you your partner, he'll meet up with you tomorrow; don't worry about your salary, the project has already been approved, so are the fundings, approved by Pierce himself, Keller can't do a damn thing about it. As for your transport...come with me."

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Fury turns around and enters the main building, he rides on the elevator and reaches the lowest level of the parking lot.

Merlin wanders around the parking lot with Fury, and they finally find Fury's car, only that it has been locked by a lock.

Fury takes off his glasses and strokes on his beloved car, then he turns around and winks at Merlin.

Merlin understands and smiles, he steps forward, takes a deep breath, and kicks on the car's lock. The lock breaks under the strength enhanced by the Super-Soldier serum.

Fury grabs a hammer, breaks open the car window, and takes the car keys, then he throws them at Merlin. He drops the hammer on the side and claps his hands, he tells Merlin:

"The car's yours, take it away!"

"What about you?"

Merlin throws his bag into the car and looks back at Fury, who snorts and answers in a gloomy tone:

"I'm going to go talk with my 'old friend' Kohler."

"So to speak, who is this Kohler?"

Merlin reverses the car and converses with Fury through the broken window:

"I can tell that both you and agent Hand are disdainful towards him, is he your opponent?"

Opponent? Hell no, he's not worthy!"

Fury explains in a dissatisfied tone:

"Keller's an old agent too, he's been working with the CIA, but compared to his ability to cut corners, his abilities in the agent line of work are utter trash. Keller has a renowned title in the world of intelligence, called 'the Incompetent'. The most famous thing he did was a claim that he stole a highly confidential intel from the Soviet Union."

"For his so-called intel, our agents battled the soviet agents in Crimea, which almost caused a war to break out and turn the Cold War into a hot one, that was the one time when the balance between the two sides was too close to being broken. But in reality? Keller's intel was useless, at least, it wasn't as useful as he claimed it to be."

"Following his intel, we captured 7 spies in Europe, but we lost over 100 intelligence officers to do that."

Fury finishes talking about the Incompetent Keller's 'glorious history', then he says in contempt:

"This was an absolute disgrace, yet Keller had the balls to say that he contributed to national security. He's an expert in cutting corners, he even avoided the judgment of the military court and went into hiding, until many years later, today, he reappears to bite on the SSR. That is a true imbecile! An arrogant retard!"

"Then why does he hate you so much?"

Merlin asks:

"He scorched the earth with you by withdrawing your position, even went to such lengths to humiliate you."

"He doesn't hate me, Merlin."

Fury sighs and explains to Merlin:

"The people behind him want to take down Alexander Pierce, which was my former boss. Pierce is in the World Security Council now, a lot of people are eyeing for his position but they can't target him directly, so they set their sights on me. If I'm discovered to be flawed in any way, it'll affect Pierce directly."

"So?"

Merlin asks back:

"Do we just take it?"

"Fierce retaliation takes time, Merlin."

Fury continues:

"And the chance won't just fly at us, we have to find it ourselves. When Keller shows his true colors, we'll flip him off the stage for good! But these have nothing to do with you, you're just an ordinary agent in the name list of SHIELD. Do your work, Merlin, the list you're making...is important."

"Alright, I get it."

Merlin puts on his sunglasses and waves Fury goodbye, he says:

"Then take care! I'll contact you immediately if I find anything."

"No!"

Fury interrupts Merlin, he hands him a note with an address on it, he tells him:

"Maintain one-line contact with me. If you find anything, come find me at this address...do not be tailed."

"Don't worry! I'm experienced with that."

Merlin turns the car keys and the Ford lets out a roar before carrying Merlin out of the parking lot.

The sound of the car's roar and the lock being broken attracts the attention of two agents, as Fury was about to leave the parking lot, the two stand in his way and formally tell Fury:

"Agent Fury! You have no right to destroy confiscated property! Such act of destruction needs to be..."

"So you're saying, that you're going to punish me?"

Fury savagely interrupts the agent's word, he steps forward and pressures the agent like a 1.9m wall. He extends his finger and taps on his chest, saying viciously word-by-word:

"Let Keller come tell me that!"

"If he has anything he wants to say to me, tell him to tell it to my face! Not send two meaningless nobodies!"

The two young agents were stunned by Fury's viciousness and they couldn't say anything else.

After all, not only is the man in front of them an excellent special agent, he was also once a true elite soldier who traveled around the gates of death many times.

Even if Keller had demoted Fury, everyone in the building knows that Nick Fury is the real boss around here.

"Where's my office?"

Fury asks in a gloomy tone, to which a trembling agent responds by pointing to the roof, Fury glares at him and walks into the elevator.

As the elevator doors close, Fury mumbled to himself:

"Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage Logistics Directorate?"

"Pooh! What f****ng name is that!"

 

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